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Nolte Organ Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Kenosha, Wisconsin

What can you do with a late 1920s Kilgen organ that has a host of problems? That is the question the organ committee at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Kenosha, Wisconsin, asked us when we first met with them. They had already rejected both the idea of replacing the instrument with a new organ, and a lower-quality rebuild that would replace the electro-pneumatic action with an electro-mechanical action. Based on our preliminary look at the organ, we agreed to design a rebuilt instrument that would be visually attractive, mechanically reliable, and tonally more complete. Because of the reasonable but limited budget, we would use as much of the old instrument as possible, and some additions would have to be left as “prepared for.”
The worship space is a very modern room with good acoustics for music and the spoken word. The interior decoration is modern, tasteful, and quite plain. Stained glass windows depicting biblical scenes are located in the clerestory on either side of the sanctuary. They feature various shades of blue, purple, and brown. Stations of the cross are painted on the upper walls in shades of brown and gold. The lower walls form an elliptical footprint and feature mosaic art behind the two side altars. The baldachin is a free-form plaster and mosaic arch over the tabernacle, illuminated with an oculus in a sunburst of beams in the chancel ceiling. The reredos consists of simple paintings on the wall and two statues. In sharp contrast, the original organ, located in the balcony, was quite ugly.
The tonal resources of the organ consisted of three stopped 16' ranks, eight 8' ranks, and one 4' rank distributed over three manuals and pedal. The only reed was the Vox Humana. Through the former organist, the church had acquired several more ranks of pipes that were being stored in the balcony: a 32' Subbass, a 16' Open Diapason, a 16' manual Bourdon, and a capped 8' Oboe.
The console shell was in poor condition, and its style was not appropriate for the room. The three keyboards with ivory naturals and ebony sharps were in moderately good condition. The electrical switching system in the console and relay was the source of numerous dead notes in the stops and couplers.
The blower still worked, but would not last indefinitely. For budgetary reasons it would not be replaced. (The blower failed a few months after the organ was playing, and had to be replaced.) Two large regulators needed restoration. The two Swell boxes and their shutters were not serviceable. Because of the extensive unification of the organ, all of the chests were unit chests. The original chest leather, dating from 1928, was still in excellent condition and would provide many more years of reliable service.
The pipework had suffered some minor damage, and some pipes did not speak properly. The Great 8' Diapason was overly large and loud. Tonal improvements in the Principal chorus were the highest priority, especially since congregational singing has become more important than it had been when the organ was originally installed.
For the visual design of the organ, we began with a CAD drawing of a façade that would emphasize the vertical line of the organ, even though it was installed in a low, wide space measuring 12 feet by 29 feet. This drawing was further refined with an artist’s rendering, and finally a scale model was used to determine sight lines and other details. The façade includes narrow side towers and an arch to reflect elements in the chancel. To further emphasize the vertical line, the wood 16' Open was put into the façade, and a “V” was cut into the center of the wall in front of the organ to expose more length of the longest pipes. The toes of the treble pipes follow the line of the “V.” As the smaller pipes rise higher and higher, they seem to fade into the background like a perspective drawing. Shading the smaller pipes darker and darker enhances the illusion. The maple and purpleheart grilles that support the pipes also taper to the vanishing points that are located high on either side of the façade. The side towers and the arch are made of walnut and maple. The wall cap is walnut.
Tonal improvements were limited to the Principal chorus and the substitution of an Oboe for the Vox Humana. The Trumpet, Mixture, mutations and other stops to straighten the specification are dependent on the prosperity of the organ fund. The 30-note Open Wood has been extended with new pipes to play at 16', 8', and 4' in the Pedal. These pipes were painted and placed in the façade. The 8' Open Diapason in the Great was discarded, except for the bottom octave of open wood pipes. These were reconditioned and revoiced with the flues shimmed outward so beards are no longer necessary for good speech. Ten of these pipes are in the side towers of the façade. The original 4' Octave became the rest of the 8' Diapason, and new ranks were added at 4', 22⁄3', and 2' pitches. Because all of the stops are on unit chests, and the new relay and switching system utilizes a multiplex system, several stops are currently being played at additional pitches for greater flexibility in registrations. For example, the Choir Melodia has been wired to play at 22⁄3' and 13⁄5' just by adding a stop action and one wire.
While a new solid state switching system and multi-level combination system were always part of the design, originally we planned to renovate the old console because of the limited budget. We planned to save the keyboards and to repair and refinish the console shell. During the project, the organ fund did quite well, the 32' Subbass pipes were sold, and we gave the church a very good price on replacing the console shell. When the church agreed to add the new console, it exceeded the production budget and schedule, but we think the results are worth it.
The design calls for a very low profile three-manual console so that the organist can also direct the choir. The elliptical footprint of the sanctuary is carried over to the console footprint, and to the elliptical etched glass music rack. The music rack casts an elliptical purpleheart shadow onto the console top, and from the purple ellipse, there is a solid maple elliptical sunburst pattern to the console rim. The outside of the console is made from birdseye maple. The gorgeous grain patterns were book matched around the perimeter by carefully selecting and re-sawing the individual boards. The interior woodwork of the console is purpleheart, a South American tropical wood. The key cheeks, stop boards, knee panel, pedalboard, and sharps are all made of purpleheart. The same material is used in the upper part of the grille behind the façade pipes.
The original ivory and ebony keyboards were saved for the new console. The keyboards in the new console are adjustable so that the lowest manual can be set for any distance from 71⁄" to 10" of overhang in front of the pedal sharps. This covers the full range in the AGO console specifications, and allows each organist to adjust the keyboards to the most comfortable position. A pencil tray above the top manual slides in and out with the keys under the music rack so that the key tails remain covered when the keys are moved. Knobs under the keydesk lock the keyboards in place.
The organ committee and parish were a pleasure to work with. Some of the circumstances were a little unusual. The organ project began when there was no organist at the parish. During the project, the interim music director, whose expertise was piano and vocal music, preferred to have no input into decisions on the project. Also, several months after the contract was signed, the pastor, Rev. John Richetta, retired. We were able to have the organ playing for his retirement, although the project was far from complete. Special thanks are due to the parish secretary, Peggy Dixon. Through her efforts, even with significant changes in the parish staff, communication continued seamlessly. The new pastor is Rev. Dominic Thomas, and the new music director is Rita Torcaso.
John M. Nolte established Nolte Organ Building & Supply, Inc. in 1986. The firm currently employs five full-time and several part-time workers in their well-equipped shop. They are known internationally for their expertise in wood pipe making and voicing. They are also known for their innovative and creative designs. Benjamin Nolte assisted with the design of the façade and was responsible for building and installing it. Jeremy Nolte assisted with the design and building of the console.
The firm is currently building a three-manual and pedal mechanical-action practice organ. All of the pipes in this instrument are made of maple and walnut.
For more information and pictures, see <www.nolteorgans.com&gt;.
—John Nolte

Cover photo by Benjamin Nolte; other photos by Benjamin Nolte and John Nolte.

 

Original Kilgen stoplist

GREAT
8' Open Diapason
8' Doppelflute
8' Gamba
8' Melodia
8' Dulciana
4' Octave
4' Flute
Chimes

SWELL
16' Bourdon
8' Violin Diapason
8' Stopped Diapason
8' Quintadena
8' Salicional
8' Vox Celeste
4' Flute d’Amour
4' Salicet
2' Flautino
8' Vox Humana
Tremolo

CHOIR
16' Dulciana T.C.
8' Violone Cello
8' Melodia
8' Dolce
4' Flute
2' Piccolo
8' Synthetic Oboe
Tremolo

PEDAL
16' Subbass
16' Bourdon
16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Cello
8' Flauto Dolce

19 couplers

New Nolte stoplist

GREAT
16' Bourdon
8' Open Diapason
8' Doppelflute (ext Bourdon)
8' Gamba
4' Octave
22⁄3' Quint
2' Octave
IV Mixture (prepared)
8' Trumpet (prepared)
Chimes

SWELL
16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Violin Diapason
8' Stopped Diapason (ext)
8' Salicional
8' Vox Celeste
4' Violin Diapason (ext)
4' Flute d’Amour (ext)
4' Salicet (ext)
2' Flautino (ext)
8' Oboe
Tremolo

CHOIR
16' Dulciana (ext, 1–12 Lieb Ged)
8' Gamba
8' Melodia
8' Dulciana
4' Gamba (ext)
4' Flute (ext)
4' Dulcet (ext)
22⁄3' Nazard (ext)
2' Flute (ext)
13⁄5' Tierce (ext)
8' Clarinet (prepared)

PEDAL
16' Open Diapason (façade)
16' Subbass
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw)
8' Open Diapason (ext)
8' Bourdon (Sw)
4' Choral Bass (ext)
16' Trumpet (prepared)
8' Trumpet (prepared)
4' Oboe (Sw)

10 couplers
32-level combination system
Transposer

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Fabry, Inc., Antioch, Illinois
First Presbyterian Church,
Lincoln, Illinois

Nestled in the geographic center of Illinois, Lincoln enjoys having the distinction of being named before Abraham Lincoln became president. While old Route 66 continues to weave through downtown, I-55 now bypasses the town as new development draws travelers on their way to and from Springfield. During the middle part of last century, Gratian Organ Builders installed an 18-rank, electro-pneumatic pipe organ in the sanctuary that has served the church well. Within the past 10 years the church remodeled the front of the church and at that time an 8′ Pedal Principal comprising 32 notes was added as a façade.
As is the case with many churches whose instruments are used regularly but receive little or no major maintenance, First Presbyterian found that resources would best be spent on a major overhaul rather than on small, stop-gap measures. The church elected to have Fabry, Inc. completely rebuild the organ. While the initial plan was to save the windchests, this proved to be impossible.
The organ encompasses two chambers that sit at right angles to each other at the front corner of the sanctuary. Both of these chambers were packed to the gills with pipework and chestwork. It was decided to remove everything and place it in a more logical manner. As it turned out, new chests were constructed and this allowed the elimination of all but the necessary offset chests. In all, the following was completed: complete replacement of the relays, both console and chamber, a rebuilt console with a Peterson ICS-4000 system, new chests with Peterson electric pipe valves, new tuners on washed pipework, releathered reservoirs with reconfigured curtain valves, three additional reservoirs, a new blower and new chamber lighting.
Fabry, Inc. would like to thank Julie Kasa, music director; Janis Klockenga, secretary; and the Rev. Phillip Blackburn, pastor, for their cooperation and patience with all the facets of this very involved project. Fabry employees that worked on this project included David G. Fabry, David J. Fabry, Philip A. Spressart, Steven Ellis, and Clem Wirfs.
—Phil Spressart

GREAT
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Gamba
8′ Melodia
8′ Dulciana
4′ Octave
4′ Flute Harmonic
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
Mixture III
8′ Trumpet
Tremolo
Chimes (25 tubes)
Zimbelstern

SWELL
16′ Bourdon
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Quint
8′ Gedeckt
8′ Salicional
8′ Vox Celeste (TC)
8′ Aeoline
4′ Principal
4′ Flute d’Amour
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Flute
8′ Oboe
Tremolo
Chimes

PEDAL
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt
16′ Subbass
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Flute
8′ Dolce
8′ Principal
4′ Choral Bass
4′ Flute
Mixture III
16′ Trumpet
8′ Trumpet
8′ Oboe
Chimes

Great to Great 16, UO, 4
Swell to Great 16, 8, 4
Pedal to Great
MIDI to Great
Swell to Swell 16,UO, 4
MIDI to Swell
Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
MIDI to Pedal

Konzelman Pipe Organs,
Hoboken, New Jersey
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Stamford, Connecticut

James Konzelman first became interested in organ building in the mid 1960s after a friend loaned him The Contemporary American Organ by William H. Barnes. He made minor repairs in his home parish of St. Henry’s, Bayonne, New Jersey, and helped several organist friends with minor repairs on their church pipe organs. In the late 1960s Konzelman worked for Westinghouse Aerospace, Baltimore, Maryland, troubleshooting radar guidance and missile control systems. Later, while in the army, he taught a course in radar at Fort Bliss, Texas. This background in electronics became valuable later on as more and more electronic circuitry was introduced into the pipe organ.
In 1972, Konzelman went to work for the Church Organ Company, Edison, New Jersey, where he studied voicing and tuning techniques with Russell W. VanCamp. When VanCamp retired in 1974, Konzelman became the tonal director, designing and voicing many organs for that firm until the establishment of his own company in 1977.
Since 1977, Konzelman Pipe Organs has built and rebuilt many organs. Major rebuilds and new organs include the Cathedral-Basilica of St. James, Brooklyn, NY; Church of Our Lady of Grace, Hoboken, NJ; Church of the Heavenly Rest, NYC; Second Presbyterian Church, NYC; Blessed Sacrament Church, NYC; Union Congregational Church, Upper Montclair, NJ (chapel organ); Nativity Lutheran Church, East Brunswick, NJ; Newark Abbey, Newark, NJ; Emmanuel Lutheran Church, New Brunswick, NJ; St. Anne Church, Rochester, NY; St. Henry’s Church, Bayonne, NJ; St. Vincent’s Church, Bayonne, NJ; Mount Carmel Church, Bayonne, NJ; Grace Lutheran Church, River Edge, NJ; and Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church, Larchmont, NY.
The assistance of John A. Stokes, Louis Scarpa, David Fedor and Paul-Martin Maki is gratefully acknowledged by the builder. The organ at St. Francis Episcopal Church has two manuals and pedal, 18 voices, 24 ranks, and 1519 pipes.
Photo credit: Helen Neafsey

GREAT (expressive)
16′ Viola (Swell)
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Rohrflöte 61 pipes
8′ Viola (Swell)
8′ Viola Celeste TC (Swell)
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Koppelflöte 61 pipes
2′ Super Octave 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes
8′ Trompette (Swell)
8′ Hautbois (Swell)
8′ Krummhorn 61 pipes
Tremulant
Chimes prepared for
Great to Great 16, UO, 4
Swell to Great 16, 8, 4
Antiphonal to Great

SWELL (expressive)
16′ Viola 73 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Viola (ext)
8′ Viola Celeste TC 49 pipes
4′ Principal 73 pipes
4′ Nachthorn 73 pipes
22⁄3′ Nasat 61 pipes
2′ Octave (ext)
2′ Nachthorn (ext)
13⁄5′ Terz 61 pipes
2′ Plein Jeu IV 244 pipes
16′ Basson (1–12 half length) 73 pipes
8′ Trompette 73 pipes
8′ Hautbois (ext)
4′ Clairon (ext)
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16, UO, 4
Great to Swell
Antiphonal to Swell

ANTIPHONAL
16′ Festival Trumpet prepared for
8′ Festival Trumpet prepared for
4′ Festival Trumpet prepared for

PEDAL
32′ Resultant (from Subbass 16 and
Swell Gedeckt 8)
16′ Subbass 56 pipes
16′ Rohrgedeckt (Great, ext)
16′ Viola (Swell)
8′ Principal (Great)
8′ Bourdon (ext)
8′ Rohrflöte (Great)
8′ Viola (Swell)
51⁄3′ Quint (Great)
4′ Choral Bass (Great)
4′ Bourdon (ext)
32′ Bombarde (Sw ext, 1–12 electronic)
16′ Bombarde (Swell, ext)
16′ Basson (Swell)
8′ Trompette (Swell)
8′ Hautbois (Swell)
4′ Krummhorn (Great)
Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Antiphonal to Pedal

Solid-State capture combination action with 25 levels of memory, 12 general pistons, 8 pistons per division, general pistons and pedal pistons are duplicated by toe pistons. Reversibles for: Great to Pedal, Swell to Pedal, Swell to Great, Tutti. Set and General Cancel, and Scope pistons. Crescendo pedal with one standard and three settable crescendos. Two-manual and pedal drawknob console with bone naturals, ebony sharps, and tracker touch.

Organs in the Land of Sunshine: A look at secular organs in Los Angeles, 1906–1930

James Lewis

James Lewis is an organist, organ historian and commercial photographer. He has researched the organs of California for over 35 years and has published articles on the subject in several periodicals. This article is a small section of a much larger text of a forthcoming book from the Organ Historical Society.

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Introduction
Los Angeles is home today to many wonderful organs. During the early twentieth century, pipe organs were constructed for spaces beyond the typical church, theater, or university setting. This article traces the histories of over a dozen pipe organs in private homes, social clubs, school and church auditoriums, and even a home furnishings store. It provides a glimpse of organbuilding—and life—in a more glamorous, pre-Depression age.

Temple Baptist Church
Come back in time to the spring of 1906, where we find the Temple Baptist Church of Los Angeles readying their new building for opening. Although the new complex was financed by a religious organization, it was not designed as a traditional church building. Architect Charles Whittlesey produced plans that included a 2700-seat theater auditorium with a full working stage, two smaller halls, and a nine-story office block, providing the burgeoning city with a venue for various entertainments and civic events, and Temple Church with facilities for church activities. Even though the official name of the building was Temple Auditorium, it was also known over the years as Clune’s Theatre and Philharmonic Auditorium. In addition to church services, the Auditorium was used for concerts, public meetings, ballet, silent motion pictures, and beginning in 1921, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Light Opera Association.
It was the first steel-reinforced poured concrete structure in Los Angeles. The auditorium had five narrow balconies and was decorated in a simplified Art Nouveau-style influenced by Louis Sullivan’s Auditorium in Chicago. Color and gold leaf were liberally used, and the concentric rings of the ceiling over the orchestra section were covered with Sullivanesque ornamentation and studded with electric lights. Concealed behind this area, on either side of the stage, was the organ.
The Auditorium Company ordered a large four-manual organ (Opus 156) from the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut. Similar to the auditorium itself, the instrument was used more for secular occasions than for church services. It was the first large, modern organ in Los Angeles and contained such innovations as second touch, high wind pressures, an array of orchestral voices, and an all-electric, movable console with adjustable combination action.
The instrument had a partially enclosed Great division, with a large selection of 8′ stops that included four 8′ Open Diapasons. Second touch was available on the Swell keyboard through a Great to Swell coupler. The Choir division was labeled Orchestral and contained a variety of soft string and flute stops along with three orchestral reeds. The Solo division was on 25″ wind pressure and unenclosed except for the Harmonic Tuba, unified to play at 16′, 8′ and 4′ pitches. 25″ wind pressure was also used in the Pedal division for the Magnaton stop, playable at 32′ and 16′. An article about the Auditorium in the Architectural Record magazine stated “the roof is reinforced with steel so that the tones of the large organ will not cause any structural damage.”1 A mighty organ, indeed!
The four-manual console was located in the orchestra pit and movable within a range of 50 feet. Its design was influenced by the early consoles of Robert Hope-Jones and featured two rows of stop keys placed above the top keyboard, a style affectionately known as a “toothbrush console,” because to an active imagination the two rows of stop keys looked like the rows of bristles on a toothbrush.
In 1912, Dr. Ray Hastings (1880–1940) was appointed house organist, and he played for church services, silent motion pictures, radio broadcasts, public recitals, and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.2
Temple Auditorium and its mighty Austin organ served Los Angeles for many years, but by the 1950s the place was beginning to look a bit tired. Sometime after World War II, the interior was painted a ghastly shade of green, covering up all the color and gold of the original decorative scheme. In 1965 the Philharmonic Orchestra and Light Opera both moved to the new Los Angeles Music Center and the Auditorium never again operated as a theater.
The organ began to develop serious wind leaks, and the 25″-wind-pressure Solo division and Pedal Magnaton were finally disconnected. A supply-house console replaced the original Austin console in the 1960s and was moved out of the orchestra pit to the stage.
Sunday morning services of Temple Baptist Church became sparsely attended as people moved out of Los Angeles to the new suburbs. There did not seem to be any use for the old Auditorium, and the complex finally succumbed to the wrecker’s ball in 1985. The pipework from the Austin organ was sold off piecemeal and the chests were left in the chambers to come down with the demolition of the building. What began as Los Angeles’s first, modern organ of the 20th-century came to an ignominious end.

Temple Auditorium, Los Angeles
Austin Organ Company, 1906, Opus 156

GREAT
(unenclosed)

16′ Major Diapason
16′ Contra Dulciana
8′ First Diapason
8′ Second Diapason
8′ Third Diapason
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Claribel Flute
4′ Octave
4′ Hohl Flute
3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
(enclosed)
8′ Horn Diapason
8′ Violoncello
8′ Viol d’Amour
8′ Doppel Flute
4′ Fugara
III Mixture
16′ Double Trumpet
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion

SWELL
16′ Gross Gamba
8′ Diapason Phonon
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Echo Viole
8′ Vox Angelica
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Rohr Flute
8′ Flauto Dolce
8′ Unda Maris
8′ Quintadena
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Flageolet
III Dolce Cornet
16′ Contra Posaune
8′ Cornopean
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
Tremolo
Vox Humana Tremolo

ORCHESTRAL
16′ Contra Viole
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Viole d’Orchestre
8′ Viole Celeste
8′ Vox Seraphique
8′ Concert Flute
8′ Lieblich Gedackt
4′ Violina
4′ Flauto Traverso
2′ Piccolo Harmonique
16′ Double Oboe Horn
8′ Clarinet
8′ Cor Anglais
Tremolo

SOLO
8′ Grand Diapason
8′ Flauto Major
8′ Gross Gamba
4′ Gambette
4′ Flute Ouverte
2′ Super Octave
8′ Orchestral Oboe
8′ Saxophone (synthetic)
16′ Tuba Profunda
8′ Harmonic Tuba (ext)
4′ Clarion (ext)

PEDAL
32′ Contra Magnaton
32′ Resultant
16′ Magnaton
16′ Major Diapason
16′ Small Diapason (Gt)
16′ Violone
16′ Bourdon
16′ Dulciana (Gt)
16′ Contra Viole (Orch)
8′ Gross Flute
8′ ‘Cello
8′ Flauto Dolce
4′ Super Octave
16′ Tuba Profunda (Solo)
8′ Tuba (Solo)

Swell Sub
Swell Octave
Orchestral Sub
Orchestral Octave
Solo Sub
Solo Super
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Pedal Octave
Great to Pedal
Orchestral to Pedal
Solo to Pedal
Swell to Great Sub
Swell to Great Unison
Swell to Great Octave
Orchestral to Great Sub
Orchestral to Great Unison
Solo to Great Unison
Solo to Great Octave
Great to Swell Unison Second Touch
Swell to Orchestral Sub
Swell to Orchestral Unison
Swell to Orchestral Octave
Solo to Orchestral Unison

Tally’s Broadway Theatre
Eight years after the Temple Auditorium organ was installed, Tally’s Broadway Theatre took delivery on a four-manual organ advertised as “The World’s Finest Theatre Pipe Organ.” The 47-rank organ had been ordered early in 1913 from the Los Angeles builder Murray M. Harris, but by the time it was installed in 1914 the name of the firm had been changed to the Johnston Organ Company and the factory moved to the nearby suburb of Van Nuys.
Tally’s instrument must have been the original “surround sound,” as most of the pipework was installed in shallow chambers extending down both sides of the rectangular-shaped auditorium. The Choir division was on the stage and had its own façade, while the Echo was behind a grille at one side of the stage. Positioned on a lift in the orchestra pit, the four-manual drawknob console was equipped with a roll player.
This was not the sort of theatre organ that would come into prominence during the 1920s, a highly unified instrument full of color stops all blended together by numerous tremolos. Tally’s organ was not that much different from a Murray M. Harris church organ, except for the saucer bells and a lack of upperwork.
Installation was still underway when it came time for the opening concert, but since the show must go on, the event took place. A reviewer wrote “while the unfinished and badly out of tune instrument, under the skillful manipulation of an excellent performer, did give pleasure to a large portion of the big audience, nevertheless it was an unfinished and badly out of tune instrument and as such it could not favorably impress the ear of the critic.”3
Charles Demorest, a former student of Harrison Wild in Chicago, who played at Tally’s, was also the organist at the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, and gave Monday afternoon recitals on the organ in Hamburger’s department store. In the May, 1914 edition of The Pacific Coast Musician it was mentioned that “Charles Demorest is doing much to uphold good music for the motion picture theatres by the quality of his organ work at Tally’s Broadway Theatre, Los Angeles, where he has a concert organ of immense resources at his command. This instrument is a four-manual organ equipped with chimes, saucer bells, concert harp and echo organ. Mr. Demorest plays a special program every Wednesday afternoon at four o’clock where an orchestra and soloists further contribute to the excellence at the Tally Theatre.”4
In the mid-1920s, the May Company department store next door to Tally’s was doing a booming business and needed larger quarters. Negotiations with Tally led to the theater being purchased and torn down to make way for a greatly expanded May Company building. The organ was crated up and moved to Mr. Tally’s Glen Ranch, where it was stored in a barn. It was eventually ruined by water damage when the roof leaked.

Tally’s Broadway Theatre
Johnston Organ Company, 1914

GREAT
16′ Double Open Diapason
8′ First Open Diapason
8′ Second Open Diapason
8′ Viola
8′ Viol d’Amour
8′ Tibia Clausa
8′ Clarabella
4′ Octave
4′ Wald Flute
8′ Trumpet
Cathedral Chimes
Concert Harp
Saucer Bells

SWELL
16′ Bourdon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Violin
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Aeoline
8′ Stopped Flute
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Harmonic Piccolo
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Horn
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana

CHOIR
16′ Double Dulciana
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Dulciana
8′ Lieblich Gedackt
8′ Quintadena
4′ Dulcet
8′ Clarinet

SOLO
8′ Diapason Phonon
8′ Harmonic Flute
8′ Tibia Plena
8′ Harmonic Tuba
8′ Orchestral Oboe

ECHO
8′ Flauto Dolce
8′ Unda Maris
8′ Concert Flute
8′ Orchestral Viol
4′ Flute d’Amour
8′ Vox Mystica

PEDAL
32′ Acoustic Bass
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Bourdon
16′ Contra Basso (Gt)
16′ Dulciana (Ch)
16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)
8′ Violoncello
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Flute
16′ Trombone

Swell Tremolo
Choir Tremolo
Solo Tremolo
Echo Tremolo

Trinity Auditorium
In 1914, inspired perhaps by the success of Temple Auditorium, Trinity Southern Methodist Church opened their new Trinity Auditorium, a large Beaux Arts structure on South Grand Avenue containing a multi-use 1500-seat auditorium and a nine-story hotel with rooftop ballroom.
An organ was ordered from the Murray M. Harris Company, but just like the Tally’s Theatre organ, it was installed under the name of the Johnston Organ Company. The organ was a four-manual instrument of 63 ranks situated above the stage floor, but within the proscenium arch, with an Echo division in the dome at the center of the room. The drawknob console was at one side of the orchestra pit.
The tonal design was typical of a large, late Murray Harris organ, boasting an assortment of 8′ stops and big chorus reeds on both the Great and Solo, but without the usual Great mixture. The Tibias, Diapason Phonon in the Swell and the slim-scale strings of the Solo division, stops not normally found on Harris organs, show the influence of Stanley Williams, the firm’s voicer since 1911, who had worked with Hope-Jones in England.
Arthur Blakeley was house organist and played for church services, silent motion pictures, weekly public recitals and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, who used the building from 1918 to 1921. It was noted that by May 1915, Blakeley had provided music for 108 performances of a film entitled “Cabiria” and played over one hundred different compositions in his weekly recitals, ranging from works by Bach, Handel and Wagner to Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm.5
There was one area in which Trinity Auditorium failed to emulate Temple Auditorium—financing. To construct the auditorium and hotel complex the church secured such a heavy mortgage that one newspaper account claimed it was financed clear into the 21st century. A few years after it opened, Trinity Auditorium was taken over by a management company that continued to operate it as a public venue, and the church moved to humbler quarters.
Trinity Auditorium was a popular place for meetings of the local AGO chapter, and among the artists heard there were Pietro Yon, Charles Courboin, and Clarence Eddy. The organ continued to be used for films, concerts and later on, radio broadcasts, but by the 1940s it had become a liability. To save the expense of upkeep on an instrument that by then was only occasionally used and to secure more space on the stage, the organ was removed and broken up for parts.

Trinity Auditorium
Johnston Organ Company, 1914

GREAT
16′ Double Open Diapason
8′ First Open Diapason
8′ Second Open Diapason
8′ Viola di Gamba
8′ Viol d’Amour
8′ Tibia Clausa
8′ Doppel Floete
4′ Octave
4′ Harmonic Flute
22⁄3′ Octave Quint
2′ Super Octave
16′ Double Trumpet
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion
Cathedral Chimes

SWELL
16′ Lieblich Bourdon
8′ Diapason Phonon
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Aeoline
8′ Vox Celeste
8′ Lieblich Gedackt
8′ Clarabella
4′ Principal
4′ Lieblich Floete
4′ Violina
2′ Harmonic Piccolo
IV Dolce Cornet
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Cornopean
8′ Oboe
Tremolo

CHOIR
16′ Double Dulciana
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Dulciana
8′ Quintadena
8′ Melodia
4′ Wald Floete
4′ Dulcet
8′ Clarinet
Tremolo
Concert Harp

SOLO
8′ Gross Gamba
8′ Tibia Plena
8′ Harmonic Flute
8′ Viole d’Orchestre
8′ Viole Celeste
16′ Ophicleide
8′ Tuba
4′ Tuba Clarion

ECHO
16′ Echo Bourdon
8′ Echo Diapason
8′ Viol Etheria
8′ Unda Maris
8′ Concert Flute
4′ Flauto Traverso
8′ Vox Humana
Tremolo
Concert Harp (Ch)

PEDAL
32′ Double Open Diapason
32′ Resultant
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Violone
16′ Tibia Profundo
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)
16′ Dulciana (Ch)
16′ Echo Bourdon (Echo)
8′ Octave
8′ Violoncello
8′ Flute
16′ Trombone
16′ Ophicleide (Solo)
8′ Tuba (Solo)

University of Southern California
In 1920, the University of Southern California placed an order for a large concert organ to be built by the Robert-Morton Organ Company and installed in the new Bovard Auditorium on the USC campus. Under a headline reading “Organ Attracts,” the Los Angeles Times told that “a great increase of interest is being manifested by the faculty and student body of the organ department, USC, since the announcement was recently made that the new organ, one of the largest in the southwest, is soon to be installed in the auditorium of that institution. The instrument will be provided with eighty stops and 500 pipes.”6 Well, perhaps a few more than 500!
Bovard is a large auditorium graced with a dollop of Gothic tracery, originally seating 2,100 on the main floor and in two balconies. The Robert-Morton organ, the largest instrument built by the firm, was located in concrete chambers on either side of the stage and completely enclosed, except for the 16′ Pedal Bourdon. It was not an ideal installation, as the Swell and Choir divisions were placed so they spoke onto the stage area and the Great and Solo were located in the auditorium proper. For organ recitals, the stage curtains had to be open so the audience could hear the entire instrument.
By 1920, the builder no longer made drawknob consoles, so the Bovard organ was supplied with a four-manual horseshoe console. It was placed in the orchestra pit and had color-coded stop keys; diapasons were white, flutes blue, strings amber, reeds red, and the couplers were short-length black stop keys placed over the top keyboard.7
The organ had two enormous 32′ stops. When the instrument was completed at the Van Nuys factory, low C of the 32′ Bombarde was assembled outside the main building and supplied with air so that its sound could be demonstrated for the local residents.
In June of 1921, the organ was dedicated in two recitals given by the British virtuoso Edwin Lemare. It was a well-used instrument in its day, providing music for university events, concerts, commencement exercises, and it served as the major practice and recital organ for many USC organ students.
By the mid-1970s the organ had fallen out of favor and some of the pipework was vandalized by students, causing the instrument to become unplayable. It was finally removed from the auditorium in 1978, and the undamaged pipework was sold for use in other organs.

University of Southern California
Robert-Morton Organ Company, 1921

GREAT
16′ Double Open Diapason
8′ First Open Diapason
8′ Second Open Diapason
8′ Third Open Diapason
8′ Viola
8′ Erzahler
8′ Doppel Flute
8′ Melodia
4′ Octave
4′ Wald Floete
2′ Flageolet
V Mixture
16′ Double Trumpet
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion

SWELL
16′ Bourdon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Horn Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Celeste
8′ Aeoline
8′ Viol d’Orchestre
8′ Viol Celeste
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Clarabella
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Violin
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Piccolo
III Cornet
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Cornopean
8′ Flugel Horn
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Clarion
Tremolo

CHOIR
16′ Contra Viole
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Dulciana
8′ Quintadena
8′ Concert Flute
8′ Flute Celeste
4′ Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Piccolo

SOLO
8′ Stentorphone
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Gamba
8′ Gamba Celeste
8′ French Horn
8′ English Horn
8′ Saxophone
8′ Clarinet
8′ Orchestral Oboe
8′ Tuba
Harp
Chimes

ECHO
8′ Cor de Nuit
8′ Muted Viole
8′ Viole Celeste
4′ Zauberfloete
8′ Vox Humana
Tremolo

PEDAL
32′ Double Open Diapason
32′ Resultant
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Bourdon
16′ Violone (Gt)
16′ Lieblich Bourdon (Sw)
16′ Contra Viole (Ch)
16′ Echo Bourdon
8′ Principal
8′ Flute
8′ Cello
8′ Dulciana
4′ Flute
Compensating Mixture
32′ Bombarde
16′ Trombone
16′ Fagotto (Sw)
8′ Trumpet

Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre
When Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre was constructed at Sixth and Hill Streets in 1923, Tally’s Broadway Theatre must have looked rather dowdy in comparison. The Metropolitan, a monumental piece of architecture, was and remained the largest theater in Los Angeles and had a four-manual, 36-rank Wurlitzer Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra, Opus #543. This was the largest organ built by Wurlitzer at the time, beating out the celebrated Denver Auditorium organ by one rank. The 36 ranks of pipes were divided between two sections of the theater: 24 ranks in chambers located over the proscenium arch and 12 ranks in the Echo division at the rear of the balcony. Albert Hay Malotte, Gaylord Carter and Alexander Schreiner were Metropolitan organists at various times, accompanying films and presenting organ solos enhanced by lighting subtly changing color to match the mood of the music.
James Nuttall, who installed the organ, escorted a writer for the Los Angeles Times through the newly installed instrument and provided a description of its resources:
The tonal chambers, or swell boxes as they are technically termed, each measure 20 feet long and 11 feet wide, and are arranged above the proscenium arch. They are constructed in such a manner that they are practically sound proof, being built of nonporous inert material, with the interior finished in hard plaster. The front wall of each chamber facing the auditorium is left open and into this opening is fitted a mechanism built in the form of a large laminated Venetian blind. The opening and closing of the shutters in this Venetian blind produce unlimited dynamic tonal expression from the softest whisper to an almost overwhelming volume.
In the basement of the theatre is the blowing apparatus consisting of two Kinetic blowers connected directly to a twenty-five horsepower motor. Each of the blowers is capable of supplying 2500 cubic feet compressed air per minute. The compressed air is used to work the electro-pneumatic actions as well as to supply the various tone producers.
There are four manuals on the console, and the pedal board on which the bass notes are played with the feet. The stop keys number 236 and these are arranged above the keyboards on three tiers and are divided into departments of independent organs. The lowest manual is the accompaniment organ, the middle keyboard is the great organ and is so arranged so the echo organ may be played from this manual. The third manual is a bombarde organ and the top one is the solo organ.8

Although the advent of sound motion pictures silenced many of the organs in Los Angeles theaters, the Metropolitan organ was in use much longer due to the continuation of live stage shows well into the 1950s. In 1960 the theater was closed and by 1961 it had been demolished and the organ broken up for parts.

Poly-Technic High School
Poly-Technic High School was one of several high schools in the Los Angeles area to have a pipe organ. For their new auditorium, completed in 1924, the school ordered a four-manual organ from the Estey Organ Company. Decorated in the Spanish Renaissance style, the auditorium seated 1,800 and had a full working stage. The organ was installed in chambers located on either side of the proscenium, with the console in the orchestra pit.
The instrument had an automatic roll player in a separate cabinet and a console with Estey’s recent invention, the “luminous piston stop control.” These were lighted buttons placed in rows above the top manual of the console. When pushed, the button lit up signifying that that particular stop was on. Another push turned the stop off. This system presented all sorts of problems; it was inconvenient to use, the “luminous piston” was difficult to see under bright lights, it could give an organist a very nasty shock, and some organists could not resist spelling out naughty words with the lights.
The organ had a clear, pleasant sound in the auditorium’s good acoustics due possibly to Estey’s local representative Charles McQuigg, a former voicer of the Murray M. Harris Company, who installed and finished the instrument. Crowning the full organ was a reedless Tuba Mirabilis voiced on 15″ wind pressure, an invention of William Haskell of the Estey Company. The pipes looked like an open wood flute, but sounded like a stringy Horn Diapason. It was a rather convincing sound, until one knew the secret.
Classes in organ instruction were offered at Poly High, the instrument was used for recitals and public events held in the auditorium, and the roll player was used to play transcriptions of orchestral works for music education classes.
The organ eventually fell silent due to lack of use, lack of maintenance, and problems with the luminous pistons. When the auditorium was refurbished in 1979, the organ was removed so that the chamber openings could be used for stage lighting trees. It was sold, put into storage, and eventually broken up for parts.

Poly-Technic High School
Estey Organ Company, 1924, Opus 2225

GREAT
8′ Open Diapason I
8′ Open Diapason II
8′ Dulciana
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Melodia
4′ Flute Harmonic
8′ Tuba
Harp

SWELL
16′ Bourdon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Viole d’Orchestre
8′ Viole Celeste
8′ Stopped Diapason
4′ Flauto Traverso
8′ Oboe (reedless)
8′ Cornopean
8′ Vox Humana
Tremolo
Chimes

CHOIR
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Viol d’Amour
8′ Clarabella
8′ Unda Maris
4′ Flute d’Amour
8′ Clarinet (reedless)
Tremolo

SOLO
8′ Stentorphone
8′ Gross Gamba
8′ First Violins III
8′ Concert Flute
4′ Wald Flute
2′ Piccolo
8′ Orchestral Oboe
8′ Tuba Mirabilis (reedless)

PEDAL
32′ Resultant
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)
8′ Bass Flute
8′ Tuba Mirabilis (Solo)

The Uplifter’s Club
One of a number of organs installed in Los Angeles’s private clubs was this instrument built by the Skinner Organ Company in 1924 for the Uplifter’s Club. Located in the remote Santa Monica Canyon section of Los Angeles, the club was formed in 1913 as a splinter group of the Los Angeles Athletic Club by a number of wealthy members, for “high jinx.”9 Recreational facilities were constructed in the canyon and some members built cabins and cottages to use for weekend retreats.
In 1923 construction on a large clubhouse began and in 1924 the three-manual Skinner organ was installed. The instrument was a large residence-style organ with many duplexed stops and a roll player mechanism. The organ provided music for the relaxation of members, music for skits and plays, and occasionally a local organist was invited in to play a recital of light selections.
During World War II the club began selling off its holdings, and by 1947, it had disbanded. The organ was sold to the First Methodist Church of Glendale, where it was treated to a number of indignities to make the instrument more suitable for church use, the result being at great odds with the original intent of the organ.

The Uplifter’s Club
Skinner Organ Company, 1924, Opus 449

MANUAL I
8′ Diapason
8′ Chimney Flute
8′ Gedackt
8′ Violoncello
8′ Voix Celestes II rks
8′ Flute Celestes II rks
4′ Orchestral Flute
4′ Unda Maris II rks
8′ Vox Humana
8′ French Horn
8′ Tuba
Tremolo
Harp
Celesta
Chimes
Kettle Drums

MANUAL II
8′ Chimney Flute
8′ Violoncello
4′ Orchestral Flute
8′ Corno d’Amore
8′ English Horn
8′ Vox Humana
8′ French Horn
8′ Tuba
Tremolo
Chimes
Kettle Drums

MANUAL III
8′ Diapason
8′ Voix Celestes II rks
8′ Flute Celestes II rks
8′ Gedackt
4′ Unda Maris II rks
Tremolo
Harp
Celesta
Piano (prepared)

PEDAL
16′ Bourdon
16′ Echo Lieblich
16′ Gedackt
8′ Still Gedackt
16′ Trombone (Tuba)

The Elks Club
Located just off the fashionable Wilshire Corridor facing Westlake Park was the Elks Club, a 12-story building constructed in 1926 to contain a lodge hall, dining rooms, lounges, swimming pool, tennis and racquetball courts, a full gymnasium, and residential facilities for members. Entering the building, one encountered a monumental reception hall some 50 feet in height, with a vaulted ceiling painted with scenes from mythology. A wide staircase rose dramatically to the Memorial Room that functioned as a lobby for the lodge room.
On the front page of the Van Nuys News for November 18, 1924 was an article announcing “H. P. Platt, manager of the Robert-Morton Organ Company, announces that his concern has been awarded a contract for constructing a huge pipe organ to be placed in the new Elks Temple of Los Angeles. Specifications for the huge organ will make it the largest unified orchestra pipe organ in the United States. The contract price was said to be $50,000.”
“Unified orchestra pipe organ” is probably the best description for the four-manual, 60-rank organ that the Robert-Morton firm installed in the Elks Club in 1926. The stops are divided into Great, Swell, Choir, Solo and Pedal divisions, but the contents of each are not what one would expect in either a concert or theatre organ.
The main organ is in four chambers, one in each corner of the lodge room, with Echo and Antiphonal divisions speaking through openings centered over the entrance doors. These two divisions were heard in either the lodge room or the Memorial Room by means of dual expression shades. A two-manual console in the Memorial Room played the Echo/Antiphonal divisions so an organist could entertain lodge members lingering in the Memorial area before a meeting without the sound penetrating into the lodge room.
Currently, the instrument is unplayable. The two-manual console has been disconnected and although the four-manual console remains in position, over half of the ivories are missing. Workmen stomping through the pipe chambers on various occasions have trod on many of the smaller pipes, a few sets are missing, and water leaks have damaged other portions of the organ.
Stepping back in time to happier days, we can read about the organ when it was the talk of organ-playing Los Angeles. In December, 1925, a Los Angeles newspaper reported “the new $50,000 organ for the Elk’s great temple will be given its official test before officers of the Elk’s Building Association tomorrow evening. The test recital will be at the plant of the Robert-Morton Organ Company, builders of the instrument. For the benefit of members of the lodge and the public, the recital will be broadcast over KNX radio between 7 and 7:30 o’clock. A half an hour of cathedral and concert music will be played on the huge instrument by Sibley Pease, official organist of the Elk’s lodge.”10
In May 1926, Warren Allen, organist of Stanford University, gave the opening recital, playing compositions by Bach, Boccherini, Saint-Saëns, Douglas, Wagner and ending with the Finale from Vierne’s Symphony No. 1. A reviewer noted that “the organ is an instrument of concert resources and full organ is almost overpowering in tone. It ranks as one of the finest in the city.”11
For many years the organ was used almost every day of the week for lodge meetings, concerts and radio broadcasts. Dwindling membership and the expense of upkeep on the huge Elks building caused the remaining members to find smaller quarters in the late 1960s. Left abandoned for a while, the building has seen use as a YMCA, a retirement center, and a seedy hotel; it is currently being rented for large social events and filming. Due to the extensive damage done to the organ and the great expense of a restoration, this is probably another large, once-popular instrument that will never play again.

Elks Temple, Los Angeles
Robert-Morton Organ Company, 1926

GREAT
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Gamba (TC)
8′ First Diapason
8′ Second Diapason
8′ Tuba
8′ French Horn
8′ Kinura
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Clarinet
8′ Doppel Flute
8′ Gamba
8′ Violin I
8′ Violin II
8′ Violin III
8′ Quintadena
8′ Dulciana
4′ Tuba Clarion
4′ Octave Diapason
4′ Doppel Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
III Cornet
Harp
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
Chimes
Strings F
Great 2nd Touch
8′ Tuba
8′ French Horn
8′ Gross Flute
8′ Gamba

SWELL
16′ Contra Fagotto
16′ Tibia Clausa
16′ Swell Bourdon
16′ Violin (TC)
8′ Trumpet
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Violin
8′ Tibia Mollis
8′ Tibia Clausa
8′ Gedackt
8′ Orchestral Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
8′ Violin I
8′ Violin II
8′ Violin III
8′ Viol d’Orchestre
8′ Viole Celeste
8′ Salicional
8′ Aeoline
4′ Octave Diapason
4′ Tibia Clausa
4′ Bourdon Flute
4′ Flauto Traverso
4′ Vox Humana
4′ Violina
4′ Salicet
22⁄3′ Bourdon Nazard
2′ Bourdon Piccolo
Harp
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
Chimes
Bird
Strings P
Strings MF
Swell 2nd Touch
16′ Fagotto
16′ Trumpet (TC)
16′ Bourdon
8′ Tibia Clausa
4′ Flauto Traverso

CHOIR
16′ Violin (TC)
16′ Double Dulciana
8′ English Diapason
8′ Flugel Horn
8′ Clarabella
8′ Clarinet
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Viola
8′ Violin I
8′ Violin II
8′ Violin III
8′ Dulciana
8′ Unda Maris
4′ Harmonic Flute
4′ Violina
4′ Dulcet
2′ Flageolet
2′ Dolcissimo
Snare Drum Tap
Snare Drum Roll
Tom-Tom
Castanets
Sleigh Bells
Wood Drum
Tambourine
Strings F
Choir 2nd Touch
8′ English Diapason
8′ Flugel Horn
8′ Clarabella
8′ Clarinet

SOLO
8′ Tuba Mirabilis
8′ Stentorphone
8′ Philomela
8′ Gross Gamba
8′ Oboe Horn
4′ Tuba Clarion
4′ Gambette
Chimes

ANTIPHONAL
8′ Trumpet
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Hohl Flute

ECHO
16′ Echo Bourdon
8′ Night Horn
8′ Flute Celeste
8′ Viol Sordino
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Fern Flute
4′ Violetta
Bird

PEDAL
32′ Resultant Bass
16′ Double Open Diapason
16′ Trombone
16′ Pedal Bourdon
16′ Swell Bourdon
16′ Echo Bourdon
16′ Contra Fagotto
16′ Violone
16′ Dulciana
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Tuba
8′ Pedal Flute
8′ Doppel Flute
8′ Echo Bourdon
8′ Cello
8′ Dulciana
4′ Tuba Clarion
4′ Dulcet
III Cornet

Pedal 2nd touch
Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Tympani
Bass Drum/Cymbal
Buttons Above Solo
Klaxon
Telephone
Cow Bell
Bird
Tremolos
Swell
Great
Choir
Solo
Antiphonal
Echo
Swell Vox Humana
Echo Vox Humana
Couplers
Pedal Octaves
Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Choir to Pedal 8
Solo to Pedal 8
Swell to Swell 16, 4
Choir to Swell 16, 8, 4
Solo to Swell 16, 8, 4
Great to Great 16, 4
Swell to Great 16, 8, 4
Choir to Great 16, 8, 4
Solo to Great 16, 8, 4
Choir to Choir 16, 4
Swell to Choir 16, 8, 4
Solo to Solo 16, 4

Barker Brothers
Barker Brothers, the pre-eminent home furnishings store of Los Angeles, moved into a new building in 1927. Occupying all of 7th Street between Flower and Figueroa Streets, the 12-story façade was in Renaissance Revival style and loosely patterned after the Strozzi Palace in Florence. Entering through the main doors, the visitor stepped into a 40′ high lobby court furnished with leather sofas and chairs, oriental carpets, and a decorated vaulted ceiling.
During the 1920s, Barker Brothers served as the southern California representative for the Welte Organ Company. Their previous store had a Welte organ used to entertain customers, and when Barkers moved out, the instrument was rebuilt into two organs; the main section went, with a new console, to the Pasadena home of Baldwin M. Baldwin, and the Echo division, also provided with a new console, was packed off to Mrs. Belle Malloy in San Pedro.
Barker Brothers’ new store had three Welte organs. In the lobby court was a four-manual, 26-rank concert organ that was played daily for the store’s patrons. The four-manual drawknob console was centered along the east side of the lobby and the chamber openings high on the wall had gold display pipes. A three-manual, nine-rank theatre-style instrument was in a 600-seat auditorium on the 10th floor, and a two-manual, 10-rank organ with player attachment was installed in the interior design studio.
On the evening of March 28, 1927, the three Welte organs were dedicated, beginning with the instrument in the lobby court and then moving to the auditorium organ, where members of the Los Angeles Organists’ Club entertained. Guests were invited to hear the residence organ in the interior design department and enjoy the automatic roll player device.
Among the organists playing the lobby court organ on that evening were Albert Hay Malotte and Alexander Schreiner. Malotte played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and the quartet from Verdi’s Rigoletto, but Schreiner no doubt stole the show when he played the “Great” g-minor fugue of Bach and closed the program with Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.12
The lobby court organ was very popular with Los Angeles residents and the daily recitals were well attended. Welte designed the instrument for maximum flexibility; the Great and Choir shared stops, while the Swell and Solo were independent divisions, except for the Great Tuba Sonora that was available on the Solo at 16′, 8′ and 4′ pitches.
When the Welte Organ Company closed in 1931, the residence organ was sold to a home in the Brentwood section of the city. The auditorium instrument was eventually sold to the Presbyterian Church in La Canada, but the lobby court organ was kept in use until the early 1950s. After the Second World War, the daily organ recitals were popular with older folks who lived in affordable but respectable downtown residential hotels. The store management felt having pensioners strewn about the lobby lowered the tone of their upscale operation and removed the organ in 1955, selling the console to a private party and the pipe work to a local church.
There was a more insidious reason for removing the Welte organ. Barker Brothers had become the local agents for the new Hammond Chord Organ and didn’t want competition from the “real thing” while an employee was demonstrating the new electric device. The Los Angeles Times for May 12, 1955 announced: “A musical tradition at Barker Bros. has been broken! Barker Bros. pipe organ of some 30 odd years vintage is no longer the cornerstone of the store’s tradition. One fine day it was an impressive part of the main lobby and the next day, the massive monolith was a legend. A compact, sweet little number, modern in design and execution, has replaced the pipe organ. The Hammond Chord Organ now reigns supreme. A representative from Barker’s Piano Salon on the mezzanine floor is in daily attendance at his Chord Organ post.”

Barker Brothers Store
Lobby Court Organ
Welte Organ Company, 1927

GREAT
16′ Double Open Diapason
8′ Principal Diapason
8′ English Diapason
8′ Tibia Minor
8′ Claribel Flute
8′ Viola
4′ Octave
4′ Forest Flute
8′ Tuba Sonora
Harp
Celesta
Piano

SWELL
16′ Lieblich Gedackt
8′ Diapason Phonon
8′ Philomela
8′ Gedackt
8′ Violin II rks
8′ Solo Violin
8′ Salicional
8′ Vox Angelica
4′ Chimney Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Flautino
13⁄5′ Tierce
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Trumpet
8′ Oboe Horn
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Octave Oboe
Tremolo
Vox Humana Vibrato
Harp
Celesta
Piano

CHOIR
16′ Contra Viol
8′ English Diapason
8′ Tibia Minor
8′ Claribel Flute
8′ Flute Celeste
8′ Viola
8′ Muted Violin
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Viola
4′ Traverse Flute
2′ Piccolo
8′ Clarinet
Tremolo
Choir 2nd Touch
8′ Principal Diapason
8′ Tibia Minor
8′ Tuba Sonora
8′ Clarinet
Celesta
Chimes
Solo to Choir
Swell to Choir

SOLO
8′ Tibia Clausa
8′ Violoncello
4′ Harmonic Flute
16′ Tuba Profunda
8′ Tuba Sonora
8′ French Horn
8′ English Horn
4′ Cornet
Tremolo
Harp
Celesta
Chimes
Piano

PEDAL
32′ Acoustic Bass
16′ Diaphonic Diapason
16′ Bourdon
16′ Violone (Gt)
16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)
8′ Octave
8′ Flute
8′ Cello (Gt)
8′ Gedackt (Sw)
16′ Tuba Profunda (Solo)
8′ Tuba Sonora (Solo)
4′ Cornet (Solo)
16′ Piano
8′ Piano
Chimes

Organ studios, residences,
theaters

During the 1920s, many American organ builders maintained organ studios in Los Angeles to provide prospective customers with a sample of their wares. The studio usually featured a residence-style organ, complete with automatic player, in a home-like setting. The Skinner Organ Company went so far as to install a residence organ in the home of their local representative, Stanley W. Williams.13 The Aeolian Company displayed their Opus 1740 in the George Birkel Music Company, where fine pianos and phonographs were also available. Wurlitzer had a studio in downtown Los Angeles and a second showroom in the posh Ambassador Hotel, where they installed a Style R16, three-manual, ten-rank residence organ. In an overstuffed room off the hotel’s main lobby, patrons of the hotel could relax and listen to organ music presented several times a day by a member of the Wurlitzer staff.
Residence organs were popular additions to many of the fine homes built in Los Angeles before the Depression hit. Members of the movie colony enjoyed organs in their homes, and the Robert-Morton Company built instruments for Thomas Ince, for Marion Davies’s immense beach house, and for Charlie Chaplin, who used the organ to compose most of the music for his films.
Aeolian had organs in the homes of Harold Lloyd, cowboy actor Dustin Farnum, and Francis Marion Thompson, in addition to instruments in the residences of radio pioneer Earle C. Anthony, oil baron Lee Phillips, department store mogul Arthur Letts, and Willits Hole, who had an Aeolian organ in the art gallery wing of his Fremont Place mansion.
The Estey Organ Company’s sole contribution to the film colony was a small four-rank unified organ in the Hollywood home of “Keystone Kop” Chester Conklin.
There were a number of Welte residence organs scattered around Los Angeles, including a two-manual instrument in the home of John Evans, a property later owned by actress Ann Sheridan and Liberace. The large Welte organ in Lynn Atkinson’s exquisite Louis XVI-style home was in a ballroom that opened onto terraced gardens. The exterior of the estate was used as the television home of the “Beverly Hillbillies,” although the then-current owner finally tossed out the production company because too many tourists were knocking on the front door wanting to meet Jed Clampett.
The largest residence organ in Los Angeles was in the 62-acre estate of Silsby Spalding. The Aeolian organ (Opus 1373) had three manuals, six divisions, a 32′ Open Diapason, and 67 ranks of pipes. It was installed in the Spalding’s large music room in 1919 and spoke through three tall arches faced with ornamental metal grilles.
Two very exclusive and elegant apartment buildings in Los Angeles each had a Robert-Morton organ in the living room of the largest apartment. “La Ronda” and the “Andalusia” were both located on Havenhurst Drive and built in the Spanish style with enclosed gardens and fountains surrounding the apartments. The organ in the Andalusia had four ranks of pipes, a roll playing mechanism plus xylophone, marimba, chimes, celesta, and a small toy counter. La Ronda’s Robert-Morton organ had five ranks of pipes, no roll player, and fewer percussion stops.
There were a number of secular organs that had been planned toward the end of the 1920s, but were never built, and one could argue that with several of the instruments, their early demise was a desirable thing.
During the 1920s, Charles Winder ran the Artcraft Organ Company, a small firm that built garden-variety organs for neighborhood churches throughout southern California. In 1926 Winder announced the formation of a new company, The Symphonaer Company, to build “symphony concert organs.” The announcement continued: “The Symphonaer Concert Organ is described as an instrument that reproduces the true symphony orchestra, giving the effect of every instrument used in the largest of symphony orchestras.” A $1,000,000 plant was to be built offering employment to 100 craftsmen. Joining the venture was the British concert organist Edwin Lemare, who would serve as director of music and specifications. Built alongside the factory would be Symphonaer Hall, a recital hall equipped with a large Symphonaer organ, where Lemare would give frequent recitals and broadcast the instrument over a local radio station.14 The enterprise died in the planning stages and the Artcraft Organ Company went broke in 1928.
Alexander Pantages ordered a five-manual Robert-Morton organ for his spectacular Hollywood Pantages Theatre that opened in 1930. Although the theater was and still is a success, the organ was never built due to the advent of sound films, an expensive lawsuit in which Pantages was involved, and the closing of the Robert-Morton Company. The four large organ chambers remain empty to this day.
The Hollywood Bowl, the world’s largest natural amphitheater, is used as a popular venue for summer concerts, accommodating audiences of up to 18,000. The Hollywood Bowl program for July, 1929, published a letter from the Bowl manager relating that organist Edwin Lemare was working to interest the Hollywood Bowl Association in installing an outdoor organ in the amphitheater. The letter went on to state that Lemare had prevailed on an organ builder to install an organ in the Bowl provided that $10,000 was spent to build enclosures for the instrument.15 Fortunately, the scheme never progressed past the planning stage.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
In the late 1920s, the Welte Organ Company submitted a proposal to the Civic Bureau of Music and Art of Los Angeles to build a five-manual outdoor organ for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.16 The Coliseum, opened in 1923, covers a total of 17 acres and originally seated 76,000. Although there is nothing in the proposal stating where the organ would be located in the huge stadium, concrete enclosures may have been planned in and around the Peristyle, a focal point along the east end of the huge structure.
The installation of an organ in the Coliseum would have been an even greater acoustical nightmare than an organ in the Hollywood Bowl. Among the features of the proposed specification was a fifth manual called “Orchestral” that was home to four separately enclosed divisions, Diapason, Brass, String and Woodwind, three of which had their own pedal sections. The console would have stopkeys placed on angled jambs and a remote combination action. Nothing ever came of the proposal, and the 1929 stock market crash and closing of the Welte Corporation in 1931 sealed the instrument’s fate.
The proposal reads:

The Welte Organ Company, Inc., hereby agrees to build for the Civic Bureau of Music and Art, Los Angeles, California; herein referred to as Purchaser, and to install in the Coliseum, Los Angeles, California—ONE WELTE PIPE ORGAN. Ready to use and in accordance with the following specifications, viz: Manuals, five, compass CC to C4, 61 notes; Pedals, compass CCC to G, 32 notes; the windchests of manuals affected by octave couplers to be extended one octave above the compass of the keyboard, to 73 notes. Electro-pneumatic action throughout. Philharmonic pitch A-440. Console type, concert; stop control, stopkeys and tablets. Combination action adjustable at the console, visibly affecting the registers. Remote control inside setter.

Los Angeles Coliseum

GREAT - Manual II
16′ Double Diapason
16′ Bourdon
8′ First Diapason
8′ Second Diapason
8′ Third Diapason
8′ Violoncello
8′ Double Flute
8′ Clarabella
51⁄3′ Quint
4′ First Octave
4′ Second Octave
4′ Third Octave
4′ Tibia Plena
4′ Harmonic Flute
31⁄5′ Tenth
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
V Plein Jeu
V Cymbale
16′ Double Trumpet
8′ Tromba
4′ Clarion
8′ Grand Piano
4′ Grand Piano
Minor Chimes
Great 2nd Touch
Diapason Section
Brass Section
String Section
Woodwind Section
Solo to Great 8
Tower Chime
2′ Glockenspiel

SWELL - Manual III
16′ Quintaton
16′ Contra Viola
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Horn Diapason
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Tibia Clausa
8′ Harmonic Flute
4′ Octave
4′ Geigen Principal
4′ Salicet II rks
4′ Flute Couverte
4′ Traverse Flute
31⁄5′ Tenth
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
2′ Piccolo
VI Mixture
16′ Contra Posaune
8′ Cornopean
8′ Trumpet
8′ Oboe Horn
8′ Vox Humana II rks
4′ Clarion
8′ Grand Piano
4′ Grand Piano
Swell 2nd Touch
Diapason Section
Brass Section
String Section
Woodwind Section
Solo to Swell 8
Chimes
2′ Glockenspiel

CHOIR - Manual I
16′ Waldhorn
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Waldhorn
8′ Tibia Minor
8′ Viol d’Orchestre
8′ Violes Celestes II rks
8′ Claribel Flute
8′ Quintaphon
4′ Octave
4′ Wald Flute
4′ Violin
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
2′ Flageolet
13⁄5′ Seventeenth
11⁄7′ Septieme
1′ Twenty-Second
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Clarinet
8′ Vox Humana II rks
4′ Clarion
Minor Chimes
2′ Glockenspiel
8′ Grand Piano
4′ Grand Piano
2′ Xylophone
Snare Drum, Tap
Snare Drum, Roll
Choir 2nd Touch
Diapason Section
Brass Section
String Section
Woodwind Section
Solo to Choir
Chimes
2′ Glockenspiel
Snare Drum, Roll
Triangle

SOLO - Manual IV
16′ Violone
8′ Diapason Magna
8′ Tibia Plena
8′ Solo Gamba
8′ Gamba Celestes II rks
8′ Harmonic Flute
4′ Octave
4′ Concert Flute
4′ Solo Violin
III Cornet
16′ Ophicleide
8′ Tuba Mirabilis
8′ Tuba Sonora
8′ Military Trumpet
8′ French Horn
8′ Orchestral Oboe
4′ Clarion

ORCHESTRAL - Manual V
Diapason Section
16′ Major Diapason
8′ Double Languid Diapason I
8′ Double Languid Diapason II
8′ Diapason Phonon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Geigen Principal
4′ Double Languid Octave
4′ Octave
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
11⁄3′ Nineteenth
1′ Twenty-Second
IX Grand Chorus
Diapason Section Pedal
16′ Diaphonic Diapason
16′ Diapason
102⁄3′ Quint
8′ Diapason Octave
8′ Octave
4′ Super Octave

Brass Section
16′ Trombone
16′ Serpent
8′ Tuba Magna
8′ Tuba Sonora
8′ Tuba Mirabilis
8′ French Trumpet
8′ Muted Trumpet
8′ Post Horn
8′ French Horn (closed tone)
8′ French Horn (open tone)
51⁄3′ Corno Quint
4′ Tuba Clarion
4′ Trumpet Clarion
22⁄3′ Corno Twelfth
2′ Cor Octave
Brass Section Pedal
32′ Contra Bombarde
16′ Bombarde
16′ Trombone
8′ Trumpet

String Section
16′ Contra Basso
16′ Violin Diapason
16′ Contra Viola
8′ Violin Diapason
8′ Violin Diapason Celeste
8′ Violoncello I
8′ Violoncello II
8′ Cello Celestes II rks
8′ Nazard Gamba
8′ Gamba Celeste
8′ First Violin
8′ Second Violin
8′ Third Violin
8′ Violin Celestes II rks
8′ First Viola
8′ Second Viola
8′ Viola Celestes II rks
8′ Muted Violins III rks
4′ String Octave
4′ Violins II rks
4′ Muted Violins III rks
2′ String Fifteenth
III Cornet des Violes
String Section Pedal
32′ String Diaphone
16′ Double Bass
16′ Violone
8′ Cello

Woodwind Section
16′ Bassoon
16′ Bass Saxophone
8′ First Saxophone
8′ Second Saxophone
4′ Soprano Saxophone
8′ English Horn
16′ Bass Clarinet
8′ Basset Horn
8′ First Clarinet
8′ Second Clarinet
8′ Orchestral Oboe
8′ Kinura
8′ Orchestral Flute
4′ Solo Flute
2′ Solo Piccolo

PEDAL
64′ Gravissima
32′ Diaphone
32′ Violone
16′ Diaphone
16′ Major Bass
16′ Diapason
16′ Violone
16′ Contra Basso (String)
16′ Tibia Clausa
16′ Wald Horn (Ch)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Contra Viola (String)
102⁄3′ Quint
8′ Diaphone
8′ Principal
8′ Octave
8′ Violoncello
8′ Wald Horn (Ch)
8′ Flute
51⁄3′ Octave Quint
4′ Super Octave
4′ Fifteenth
4′ Tibia Flute
V Harmonics
V Fourniture
32′ Contra Bombarde
16′ Bombarde
16′ Tuba Profunda
16′ Serpent (Brass)
16′ Ophicleide (Solo)
16′ Double Trumpet (Gt)
16′ Contra Posaune (Sw)
16′ Contra Fagotto (Ch)
8′ Bombarde
8′ Tuba Sonora
4′ Bombarde
4′ Cornet
16′ Grand Piano
8′ Grand Piano
Bass Drum, Stroke

Pedal 2nd Touch
64′ Gravissima
32′ Diaphone
32′ Contra Bombarde
Solo to Pedal 8
Solo to Pedal 4
Diapason Section 8
Diapason Section 4
Brass Section 8
Brass Section 4
Tower Chimes
Minor Chimes
Thunder Drum, Stroke
Thunder Drum, Roll
Kettle Drum, Roll
Chinese Gong
Persian Cymbal
Vibratos
Choir
Choir Vox Humana
Swell
Swell Vox Humana
Solo
Woodwind
String, Fast
String, Slow

Conclusion
The stories of these instruments testify to the near-ubiquity of the pipe organ early in the twentieth century, including its use in films and stage shows. Even film actors owned and played pipe organs, in a golden age that now survives only in recollections such as this.

 

 

New Organs

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Glück New York,
New York, New York
Leon Lowenstein Memorial Auditorium, Congregation Emanu-El, New York, New York

The Fox Memorial Pipe Organ began its career as M. P. Möller’s Opus 9718 of 1962, designed by Dr. Robert S. Baker in collaboration with John H. Hose, tonal director of the Möller firm. The instrument was installed behind draperies in the amphitheatre choir loft of the 1,100-seat auditorium, which is designed to transform from a concert and lecture venue into a fully equipped summer sanctuary. Only the 16' Contrebasse and 16' Hélicon are partially visible from the auditorium. The placement of the instrument near the choir’s microphones (also used for radio broadcasts) forced an unhappy situation of under-scaled and feebly winded pipes, with closed toe holes and mouth heights as low as 1/6 cut-ups.
After 45 years, the temple contracted with Glück New York to tonally redesign the instrument and replace its mechanical systems. The solid-state drawknob console retains the original ivory keyboards and tiger maple pedalboard. The organ’s remote pneumatic relays and combination stacks were replaced with solid-state equipment.
The new tonal design moved from a typical American church organ of the period toward a warmer, fuller, rounder sound. Some of the mid-century tonal concepts that were of no use in the synagogue service (such as the two pseudo-baroque 4' reeds) were replaced by voices more essential to the liturgy. Many of the flue pipes had been left with untreated languids and were cut up only high enough to get them to speak. Furthermore, they had not had their toe holes opened, and could be considered essentially new and unvoiced, an added bonus in the context of the project. The unusual Shofar stop was designed by W. Adolph Zajic (1909–1987) and built with only six pipes; the organ’s new relay is prepared to fill out the stop in the future.
The new specifications were drawn up by Sebastian M. Glück, artistic and tonal director of the firm, who also carried out the voicing and tonal finishing. Albert Jensen-Moulton, general manager, was responsible for all technical aspects of the project. The three other pipe organs in the temple complex include a IV/135 in the sanctuary and a III/35 in Beth-El Chapel, both by the Glück firm. A fourth pipe organ, a II/7 Wilfred Lavalée in Greenwald Hall, was removed in the 1990s.
Sebastian M. Glück

Fox Memorial Pipe Organ
Leon Lowenstein Memorial Auditorium, Congregation Emanu-El, New York, New York

GRAND-ORGUE
Manual II, unenclosed, 31'4' wind
16' Bourdon
8' Montre
8' Bois ouverte
8' Violon sourdine
4' Prestant
2' Doublette
Plein jeu IV
8' Shofar
Tremblant
Jeux empruntés:
8' Bourdon (Pos)
8' Voix angélique (Pos)
8' Voix mystique (Pos)
4' Flûte (Pos)
8' Hautbois (Réc)

RÉCIT-EXPRESSIF
Manual III, enclosed, 4' wind
8' Viole de gambe
8' Voix céleste
8' Flûte à cheminée
4' Prestant
4' Flûte harmonique
2' Flûte à bec
Fourniture III
16' Basson
8' Trompette
8' Hautbois
Tremblant
8' Trompette de fête (Pos)

POSITIF-EXPRESSIF
Manual I, enclosed, 4' & 6' wind
8' Violon sourdine (G-O)
8' Voix angélique
8' Voix mystique
8' Bourdon
4' Prestant (prep)
4' Flûte
22'3' Nazard
2' Quart de nazard
13'5' Tierce
8' Clarinette
Tremblant
8' Trompette de fête

PÉDALE
Unenclosed, 4' wind
16' Contrebasse
16' Sous basse
16' Violoncelle sourdine (ext G-O)
16' Bourdon (G-O)
8' Octavebasse
8' Flûte
8' Bourdon (Pos)
8' Violon sourdine (G-O)
4' Quinzième
4' Cor de nuit
Mixture II
32' Aliquots graves
16' Hélicon
16' Basson (Réc)
8' Trombone
8' Basson (Réc)

Fabry, Inc., Antioch, Illinois
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Immanuel Presbyterian Church has held a place of honor on Yankee Hill, overlooking Lake Michigan. In 1881 the church purchased what is now the core of the present instrument. Nearly all of the unison voices and lower are from the original instrument, including the 16' Double Open Diapason and 16' Principal, both of which are wood. During the next 120 years, additions and rebuilds occurred, bringing the instrument to its current state, still preserving over 75% of the original instrument. In 1965, the organ was fitted with a used Austin three-manual console. While the console worked well for a time, it was clear a new console was needed. When Fabry, Inc. was contacted to do the work, the previous curator had left many parts, tools and pipes in the organ area. Among these items was an 8' French Horn, purchased by the church and awaiting installation.
Fabry, Inc. undertook the following to improve the usability and tonal palette of the organ. An all-new three-manual drawknob console was custom crafted by David G. Fabry to control the 67-rank, 71-stop instrument. Utilizing the ICS-4000 combination action and relay system, this console and interface brings the 1881 Hook & Hastings into the 21st century. The aforementioned French Horn received a new chest built by David G. Fabry, and was installed in the String division with its own dedicated electric tremolo. A new electric extension of the 16' Bassoon in the Swell was installed, fully utilizing this rescaled 8' stop to a greater degree. Other smaller jobs, such as bracing and reworking the ventilation system were also completed at this time. While one half of the organ had been re-wired with PVC-coated wiring, the other half was brought up to standard.
Fabry, Inc. would like to thank the Rev. Deborah A. Block, pastor; Steven J. Jensen, organist; and John S. Komasa, director of music.
Phil Spressart

GREAT
16' Open Diapason
16' Bourdon
8' Open Diapason
8' Chimney Flute
8' Doppel Flute
8' Aeoline (TC)
8' Gamba
8' Gemshorn
4' Octave
4' Harmonic Flute
22'3' Twelfth
2' Fifteenth
2' Waldflöte
2' Mixture IV
16' Double Trumpet
8' Trumpet
8' Tuba Mirabilis (Ped)
4' Clarion
Cathedral Chimes
Great 4
Great Unison Off
Great 16

SWELL
16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Open Diapason
8' Stopped Diapason
8' Viole d’Gambe
8' Viole Celeste
4' Octave
4' Flute Traverso
22'3' Nazard
2' Flautino
13'5' Tierce
11'3' Plein Jeu III
16' Bassoon (1–12 elec.)
8' Hautbois
8' Trumpet
8' Vox Humana
4' Clarion
Tremolo
Swell 4
Swell Unison Off
Swell 16

CHOIR
8' Geigen Principal
8' Melodia
8' Viol d’Amour
8' Viol Celeste
4' Octave
4' Stopped Flute
2' Piccolo
11'3' Larigot
22'3' Mixture II
8' Clarinet
8' Tuba Mirabilis (Ped)
8' Harp Celeste
Mockingbird
Cymbelstern
Tremolo
Choir 4
Choir Unison Off
Choir 16

STRING
8' Dulciana
8' Violon Cello
8' Cello Celeste
8' Violin Sordo
8' Violin Celeste
8' French Horn
Tremolo

PEDAL
32' Violone (1–12 elec.)
32' Contra Bourdon (1–12 elec.)
16' Double Open Diapason
16' Principal
16' Bourdon
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw)
16' Violone (Gt)
8' Octave
8' Bass Flute
8' Holzgedeckt
8' Violin Cello
4' Fifteenth
2' Mixture III
32' Bombarde (1–12 elec.)
32' Contra Trombone
16' Bassoon (Sw)
16' Double Trumpet (Gt)
16' Trombone
8' Tromba
4' Tromba

W. W. Kimball Op. 7231 Restoration, St. John’s Cathedral, Denver

Michael Friesen

Michael Friesen, of Denver, Colorado, is an organ historian who specializes in the history of organbuilding in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. He was President of the Organ Historical Society from 2003 to 2007.

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St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Denver, Colorado, has announced that Spencer Organ Company, Inc. of Waltham, Massachusetts will restore the cathedral’s historic 5,949-pipe organ built by W. W. Kimball of Chicago. The four-manual, 96-rank Kimball organ, Op. 7231 of the firm, was dedicated on May 18, 1938, and was the last major instrument constructed before Kimball ceased organ-building operations in 1942 after the outbreak of World War II.
Founded in 1857, Kimball was a major manufacturer and supplier of musical instruments, primarily pianos and reed organs. Pipe organ manufacture began in 1891. Altogether, the company built and installed 7,326 organs throughout the United States and abroad. Most of the firm’s large instruments have been replaced, neglected, or substantially rebuilt. The Denver Kimball is now prized because of its completely original condition (not a pipe has been changed), preserving a rich English Cathedral aesthetic popular between the wars.
Although the instrument has been well maintained during its 71 years, it has developed the mechanical problems that come to all pipe organs with age and wear through heavy use. To preserve the instrument and keep it in optimal condition, the cathedral has committed to a comprehensive restoration process. Much of the organ was removed in June 2009, not only for restoration, but also to allow repairs and improvements to the organ’s chamber (built in a part of the cathedral intended as a temporary brick structure that has since become permanent). The organ restoration will include replacement of leather components, repair and renewal of mechanisms, and a thorough cleaning and re-regulation of all pipes.
The Spencer Organ Company, Inc., founded in 1995 by Joseph Rotella, specializes in the restoration of electro-pneumatic pipe organs. The Spencer firm, with eleven employees, has been entrusted with the restoration and maintenance of numerous Skinner, Aeolian-Skinner, and Kimball organs. The Denver project is a two-year program of staged work, beginning with the June removal and scheduled for completion in fall 2011.
The Kimball restoration is part of an effort at St. John’s to improve several aspects of the building in commemoration of its 150th anniversary in 2010–11, which includes the 100th anniversary of the cathedral building itself. (The parish was founded in 1860; the current cathedral building was dedicated in 1911.) Fund-raising for those projects and anniversary programs is underway. The cathedral is considering the commission of new organs for the rear gallery and St. Martin’s Chapel, details of which will be announced later. Throughout this process, St. John’s will continue its extensive music program without interruption.
St. John’s has purchased an instrument built in 1869 by the Boston, Massachusetts firm of E. & G. G. Hook, its Op. 476, for use as a temporary instrument while the 1938 Kimball organ undergoes restoration. The Hook was formerly in the First Methodist Church of Lawrence, Massachusetts, its original home. The congregation currently using that building did not need the Hook for their worship and offered it for sale through the Organ Clearing House.
The Hook is a two-manual, 17-stop, tracker-action instrument, contained in a free-standing walnut case with Victorian-stencilled façade pipes. Co-restorers are Richard C. Hamar of Norwich, Connecticut and Susan Tattershall of Denver, with additional materials and/or labor furnished by Norman Lane and Rick Morel of Denver, Rubin Frels of Victoria, Texas, Barbara Owen of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Michael Quimby of Warrensburg, Missouri. In addition, over 1,400 hours have been contributed to the project by many parish volunteers and non-parishioner friends, from youth to adult, who have helped with various tasks, ranging from making new trackers, cleaning all parts of the organ, sanding the old varnish off the case, and re-stencilling the decorative components.
The restoration project follows the Organ Historical Society’s Guidelines for Conservation and Restoration for pipe organs. The pedal action, which was converted to tubular-pneumatic action in 1911 by the Hutchings Organ Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, has been returned to mechanical action in Hook style. Subsequent tonal alterations had included substituting a 22⁄3′ mutation stop and a 2′ flute for the 8′ Keraulophon and 4′ Violina ranks in the Swell, respectively, and a 4′ Flute d’Amour displaced the 16′ Bourdon on the Great, which was moved to a jump slide. The Keraulophon pipes were found in the organ, and have been repaired and restored to their original place; the jump slide and the Flute d’Amour were removed, with the Bourdon being returned to its original location, which required a redesign of the toeboard. The 2′ principal rank will remain in the organ for the time being until suitable replacement Violina pipes are found. The case has been given a new traditional shellac finish, and the façade pipes are being restored to their original color scheme. Thus the original musical aesthetic, mechanical functioning, and appearance of the Hook is being restored to the greatest extent possible.
Coincidentally, St. John’s had previous relationships with the Hook firm, purchasing two organs from them in succession: first, a small organ in 1875, which was used in its original church building in downtown Denver, and then a second, large three-manual organ in 1881 for the first cathedral located at 20th and Welton Streets, which burned in 1903.
The Hook organ has been placed on the floor of the nave in the back of the cathedral while repairs and refurbishing of elements of the cathedral chancel are undertaken. St. John’s began offering a recital series on the Hook in January 2010. Further concert dates will be announced. For additional information, contact the Cathedral Music Office at 303/577-7717. 

St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral
Denver, Colorado
W. W. Kimball Company
Chicago, Illinois
Op. 7231, 1938

4 manuals, 96 speaking stops, 96 ranks, 5,949 pipes

Great (61 notes, Manual II, unenclosed, except as noted *)
16′ Double Diapason
16′ Quintaton*
8′ First Diapason
8′ Second Diapason
8′ Third Diapason*
8′ Harmonic Flute*
8′ Bourdon*
8’ Gemshorn*
4′ First Octave
4′ Second Octave*
4′ Flute Harmonique*
22⁄3′ Octave Quint
2′ Super Octave
IV Fourniture
III–V Full Mixture
16′ Contra Tromba*
8′ Tromba*
4′ Clarion*
Tremolo (for enclosed labial stops)
Chimes (Solo)

Swell (61 notes, enclosed, Manual III)
16′ Contra Salicional
16′ Echo Lieblich
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Hohl Flöte
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Rohrflöte
8′ Flauto Dolce
8′ Flute Celeste
8′ Aeoline
8′ Aeoline Celeste
4′ Octave Geigen
4′ Traverse Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
III Cornet
V Plein Jeu
16′ Waldhorn
8′ Trumpet
8′ Cornopean
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Clarion
Tremolo
Chimes (Solo)
Harp (Choir) 8′
Celesta (Choir) 4′

Choir (61 notes, enclosed, Manual I)
16′ Contra Dulciana
8′ Diapason
8′ Concert Flute
8′ Viola
8′ Dulciana
8′ Unda Maris
4′ Prestant
4′ Lieblich Flöte
4′ Viola
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Piccolo
13⁄5′ Tierce
16′ Bassoon
8′ Trompette
8′ Clarinet
8′ Orchestral Oboe
Tremolo
Harp (8′, 61 bars)
Celesta (4′, from Harp)
Chimes (Solo)

Solo (61 notes, enclosed, Manual IV)
16′ Contra Gamba
8′ Flauto Mirabilis
8′ Gamba
8′ Gamba Celeste
4′ Orchestral Flute
4′ Gambette
2′ Piccolo Harmonique
8′ Tuba Mirabilis
8′ French Horn
8′ Cor Anglais
4′ Clarion
Tremolo
Chimes (25 tubular bells)
Harp (Choir) 8′
Celesta (Choir) 4′

Pedal (32 notes, unenclosed [except for enclosed borrows])
32′ Open Diapason (ext.)
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Principal
16′ Double Diapason (Great)
16′ Geigen
16′ Violone
16′ Bourdon
16′ Contra Gamba (Solo)
16′ Contra Salicional (Swell)
16′ Echo Lieblich (Swell)
16′ Contra Dulciana (Choir)
8′ First Octave (ext. Op. Diap.)
8′ Second Octave
8′ Geigen (ext.)
8′ Cello (ext. Violone)
8′ Flute (ext. Bourdon)
8′ Stillgedeckt (Swell 16′ Echo Lieblich)
8′ Dulciana (Choir 16′ Contra Dulciana)
4′ Super Octave
4′ Flute (ext. Bourdon)
IV Mixture
32′ Contra Waldhorn (ext.)
16′ Trombone
16′ Waldhorn
16′ Tromba (Great)
16′ Bassoon (Choir)
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion
Chimes (Solo)

Antiphonal (Manual IV; prepared for, 21 blank drawknobs)

Antiphonal Pedal (prepared for, 7 blank drawknobs)

Summary
Division Stops Ranks Pipes
Great 18 25 1,489
Swell 23 29 1,973
Choir 16 16 1,132
Solo 11 11 791
Pedal 28 15+7 ext. 564

Total 96 96 5,949

Couplers and Accessories
# = indicator light provided

Couplers (by tabs on coupler rail):
Great Sub 16′
Great Super 4′
Swell Sub 16′
Swell Unison Off
Swell Super 4′
Choir Sub 16′
Choir Unison Off
Choir Super 4′
Solo Sub 16′
Solo Unison Off
Solo Super 4′
Great to Pedal 8′
Great to Pedal 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′
Swell to Pedal 4′
Choir to Pedal 8′
Choir to Pedal 4′
Solo to Pedal 8′
Solo to Pedal 4′
2 blanks [intended for Antiphonal to Pedal 8′, 4′]
Swell to Great 16′
Swell to Great 8′
Swell to Great 4′
Choir to Great 16′
Choir to Great 8′
Choir to Great 4′
Solo to Great 16′
Solo to Great 8′
Solo to Great 4′
Choir to Swell 8′
Solo to Swell 8′
Swell to Choir 16′
Swell to Choir 8′
Swell to Choir 4′
Solo to Choir 8′
Great to Solo 16′
Great to Solo 8′
Great to Solo 4′
5 blanks [intended for Antiphonal division coupling to be determined]

Reversibles (by thumb piston and toe stud):
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Choir to Pedal
Solo to Pedal
Antiphonal to Pedal
Swell to Great
Choir to Great
Solo to Great
#Mezzo Sforzando (settable)
#Sforzando (settable)
#32′ stops off
#16′ stops off

Combinations (by thumb piston):
General 1–10
Great 1–8
Swell 1–8
Choir 1–8
Solo 1–8
Antiphonal 1–6
General Set
Cancel

Combinations (by toe stud):
General 1–10
Pedal 1–8
Pedal to Combinations On/Off (all manual divisions)
Pedal to Combinations 1st/2nd Touch
Pedal Movements:
balanced Enclosed Great expression pedal
balanced Choir expression pedal
balanced Swell & Master expression pedal
balanced Solo expression pedal
#balanced Crescendo pedal
#Chimes Soft (hitchdown)
#Chimes Sustain (hitchdown)
#Harp Sustain (hitchdown)

Accessories:
Expression Pedal Adjuster
#Signal Light
#Current Light

____________________________

St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral
Denver, Colorado
E. & G. G. Hook
Boston, Massachusetts
Op. 476, 1869

2 manuals, 17 speaking stops, 15 ranks, 772 pipes

Great (58 notes, CC–a3)
16′ Bourdon [TC]
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason Bass
8′ Melodia [TC]
8′ Gamba [TC]
4′ Octave
2′ Fifteenth
II Mixture [11⁄3′ + 1′]

Swell (58 notes, CC–a3,
enclosed)
8′ Stopped Diapason Bass
8′ Stopped Diapason Treble [TC]
8′ Keraulophon [TC]
4′ Flute Harmonique
2′ Principal [originally 4′ Violina]
8′ Bassoon
8′ Oboe [TC]

Pedal (27 notes, CC–d1)
16′ Sub Bass
8′ Flöte

Couplers and Mechanicals
Swell to Great
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell Tremulant
Bellows Signal
Four Composition Pedals:
Great Forte
Great Piano
Swell Forte
Swell Piano

Pipe Organs of the Keweenaw: Houghton County, Michigan

Janet Anuta Dalquist
Default

Introduction

The Keweenaw Peninsula, the northernmost part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States. The land was mined by prehistoric miners, starting in 3,000 B.C., and has produced over 1.5 billion pounds of pure copper. Its major industries are now logging and tourism. The northern end, referred to locally as Copper Island, is separated from the rest of the peninsula by the Keweenaw Waterway, a natural river that was dredged and expanded in the 1860s across the peninsula between the cities of Houghton on the south side and Hancock on the north.
The Keweenaw’s importance in mining led to the founding of the Michigan College of Mines (now Michigan Technological University) in Houghton in 1885. From 1964–1971, the University of Michigan cooperated with NASA and the U.S. Navy to run the Keweenaw Rocket launch site.
In the Keweenaw, many artifacts, buildings, and locations have been documented and preserved for local historical museums and the Keweenaw National Historic Park. What have not been documented are the historic pipe organs in the area. It is the intent of this article to do that. Included are a brief description and history of each church structure and a description, stoplist, and photos for each pipe organ featured. Information was gleaned from books about the area, brochures and bulletins from the individual churches, clippings from Upper Peninsula newspapers, and people—the local organists and pastors and local historic preservationist, Ed Yarbrough. A bibliography is included at the end of the catalog.
In 1995 the Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) for the first time included a pipe organ recital and work-shop in their concert schedule. Two major events happened at that time. First, the Keweenaw group formed the Organists of the Keweenaw, and since then we have met three or four times a year sharing in presenting programs for each other. The second event was an organ crawl to visit the historic organs that David Short had “rediscovered” thirty years earlier. Shortly after, I began collecting material for a catalog of the Keweenaw organs.
David Short has been a partner with me in the collection of this material. In his early enthusiasm he became acquainted with all the instruments listed and registered some of them with the Organ Historical Society. I am indebted to him for providing access to the buildings and the instruments and providing much of the history. I collected the stoplists, wrote the histories from the collected sources, did all the photography, and formatted the information. He read the draft and corrected technical errors. It is to him that I dedicate this catalog. Errors are strictly my own.
These magnificent music machines are a valuable historic resource in the Keweenaw. They reflect the boom days of the copper mining era when people of wealth who lived in the area sought the best music for their churches and arranged for the purchase of these instruments. To replace any one of these pipe organs at this time would cost a minimum of $200,000 and many times more for the larger instruments. Their great value requires regular maintenance and care similar to any other major investment such as automobile or home. Well-maintained pipe organs live for centuries. A loss of any one of the Keweenaw pipe organs is a loss of history, loss of a valuable asset, and, because they are wind instruments similar to the human voice, a loss of the very best way to lead the people of a congregation in their song.
We hope this catalog will trigger interest in the organs of the Keweenaw from the local folk as well as travelers to this unique place. To see the organs, visitors may contact the church offices to make arrangements for a convenient visit.

History

People have always had their songs. Prior to the boom of the music publishing industry in the early 1900s, people matched their voices with whatever instruments they had—homemade or store-bought. Angus Murdoch writes in Boom Copper of the “Grand Callithumpian” parade in Calumet (Boom Copper, 1943, 199), where bands from all over the Copper Country gathered for the Fourth of July celebration. The bands were from mining companies, lodges and guilds, various “locations,” and represented various ethnic groups. Larry Lankton quotes Bishop Baraga being surprised at “the fast spreading of civilization on the shores of Lake Superior . . . [where] there was even a piano on which a young American woman played very skillfully . . . Many settlers undoubtedly brought musical instruments with them. Others special-ordered instruments at frontier stores. By as early as 1849–50, John Senter’s store in Eagle River did a modest trade in musical instruments, selling an accordion, a melodion, bass violas and bows, a violin and bow, guitars and guitar strings. Flageolets, and a German flute, a tuning fork, and a violin and cello instruction book” (Beyond the Boundaries 1997, 168–169). The ethnic folk brought with them their song. They sang drinking songs, folk songs, or parlor songs such as published in The Gray Book of Favorite Songs, and they sang their hymns. Much of what defined ethnic identity and culture through the decades was the song of the church in their hymnals. Indeed, the religious belief of people is, in large part, learned and remembered from the words and tunes of their hymns. It was only in the last decades of the 20th century that some foreign-language hymnals ceased to be used and the hymns begun to be sung in English. During all that time the leader of that song was, and still is, the organ.
Reed pump organs were common in both church and home. Thurner, in writing about the early 20th century, quotes Clare Moyer who recalled a pump organ in her home (Strangers and Sojourners, 1994, 187). Most likely, church congregations that could not afford pipe organs bought reed pump organs instead. Some of these instruments, now over 100 years old, still survive. At least two are currently used during summer services in local chapels. Others, also in working order, can be seen in local museums.
Acquisition of pipe organs probably reflected the wealth of the congregation. Some instruments from the late 19th century cost little over $2000. The Boom Copper folks wanted for their local churches what they had had “out East”—the pipe organ. This was not uncommon for people in remote areas. During the “Gold Rush” in Canada’s Dawson City in the Yukon, a frame Presbyterian Church, built to hold 650 people, had a pipe organ, which had been shipped to the church by steamboat up the Yukon River. The Congregational Church in Calumet bought a Garret House organ in 1870 from the manufacturer in Buffalo, New York. It was shipped—keydesk, 16' metal and wood pipes and all—to Lake Linden and then transported up the hill to Calumet. Some time later, the congregation decided to get a larger organ and bought a Hook & Hastings instrument, again from “out East.” The Garret House was given to the Lake Linden Church and made the journey back down the hill. Sad to say, the Calumet church met with disaster when both the building and the organ were destroyed by fire. The congregation joined with the Presbyterian congregation that had in their building a 1905 Estey organ.
Both the Estey, which was rebuilt in 1970, and the Garret House, which has been cleaned and reconditioned, are still in use. There is a great irreplaceable investment in the Keweenaw pipe organs! Thurner writes that the German Lutherans in Laurium built a church “early in the twentieth century [which had] an altar with elaborate wood carving, three steeple bells, and an organ . . . ” (Strangers and Sojourners, 134). Armas Holmio describes the Finnish Lutheran Church that was built in 1889 on Reservation Street in Hancock: “In the balcony of the new church, which was the most imposing one owned by Finnish Americans of that time, there was a large pipe organ . . . ” (History of the Finns in Michigan, 2001, 188). That organ, a Kilgen dating from 1915, was moved to the newly constructed Gloria Dei building after the Lutheran Church mergers in 1964.
The Houghton Methodists suffered several fires, the last one in 1916 destroying a pipe organ, according to Terry Reynolds’ history of the church (Grace of Houghton, 37). Until their new building was erected, the Methodists worshiped for a time with the First Presbyterians on Franklin Square, and then separately in the Masonic Temple. When the Methodists decided to purchase an organ for their new church, the Presbyterians apparently took advantage of the opportunity. Both churches dealt with the same company during the same period of time and ended up with similar instruments, the Methodists’ Maxcy-Barton organ being somewhat larger. When the Presbyterian church was razed to allow for highway expansion down Montezuma Hill, their Maxcy-Barton was purchased by a local party and installed in the family home.
Sadly, the same did not happen for the large Austin organ in the First Congregational Church of Hancock, which was razed about the same time. The music history of that church, which included among others the notable baritone Will Hall, was impressive. The organ had played a huge musical role in the church and community, but unfortunately could find no local home, and was sold to a party outside of the area.
Another organ has lain in state for over 30 years. When one local church closed, no home could be found for the pipe organ. Pastor John Simonson dismantled the instrument and made plans to install it in an enlarged garage on his property. The project was not completed, and the organ now awaits resurrection, hopefully to be placed in the St. Anne Heritage Center in Calumet, where it could be used for concerts, weddings, and other events and to echo the music of the ethnic people of the area.
The Keweenaw boasts pipe organs dating from 1870 to 1968. All are in working order and in regular use, and several are tracker organs. All of the Keweenaw tracker organs now have electric blowers; however, two of the trackers can still be hand pumped. One has a detached and reversed keydesk. Several of the Keweenaw organs are in their original state with no changes having been made. They were installed with electric blowers and with either electro-pneumatic or electro-magnetic action. Three have been moved to different locations. Although the consoles have been moved in at least two churches, the innards of the instruments remain the same. One organ has been enlarged to meet the specifications for the original instrument. Others have been so enlarged with additional pipes and digital circuitry that they no longer resemble the original instrument. Only two organs have three manuals. One has an echo organ placed at the opposite end of the sanctuary from the main organ chamber. Another is a beautiful one-manual, no-pedalboard organ with fully exposed pipes. The Keweenaw pipe organs are irreplaceable treasures, a legacy from those folks of the Boom Copper days who sought to bring the best of instruments to their churches for their peoples’ song. These are instruments worthy of preservation, care, and constant use. Let them be heard!

Pipe Organs of the Keweenaw, Houghton County, Michigan

Calumet, Laurium
Community Church, Calumet. Estey, 1907; Verlinden 2M, 1970
St. Paul the Apostle, Calumet. Kilgen 2M, 1869; Lauck, 2001
St. Paul Lutheran (Missouri Synod), Laurium. Schuelke 2M, 1902; Verlinden, 1963

Hancock, Houghton
First United Methodist, Hancock. Kimball 2M, 1905; electro-pneumatic 1958; refurbished, Lauck, 2005
Gloria Dei Lutheran, Hancock. Kilgen 2M, 1915?; moved to new location 1969; rebuilt and enlarged, Fabry, 2000
Grace United Methodist, Houghton. Maxcy-Barton, 1931; rebuilt, Verlinden, 1971
Michigan Technological University. Wurlitzer, 3M, c1920; installed at MTU, John Wagner, Wicks, 1970–1975
David and Carol Waisanen residence. Maxcy-Barton 2M, c1931–1933; moved from original location, 1975
Sts. Peter & Paul Lutheran (Missouri Synod), Hancock. Haase 2M, 1901; modified and electrified, Haase, 1960; rebuilt, Roscoe Wheeler, 1997
Trinity Episcopal, Houghton. Austin 3M, 1913, 1976, 1987

Lake Linden, Hubbell
Heritage Center (former First Congregational Church), Houghton County Historical Museum, Lake Linden. Garret House 2M, 1870; cleaned, Dana Hull, 2001; restored, Helmut Schick, 2002
St. Cecilia RC, Hubbell. Felgemaker 2M, c1900
St. John’s Lutheran (Missouri Synod), Hubbell. Verlinden 1M, 1968
St. Joseph’s RC, Lake Linden. Casavant Frères 2M, 1916; overhauled 1957; electro-pneumatic, Verlinden, 1982; cleaned, new console, J. A. Hebert, 1995; additions, Lauck, 2001
Lake Linden United Methodist, Lake Linden. Lancashire-Marshall 2M, 1893; Hugh Stahl, 1950

Keweenaw area
Rockland Roman Catholic. Garret House, 1859 (not functional)

 

Calumet and Laurium

Community Church of Calumet
201 Red Jacket Road, Calumet, MI 49913; 906/337-4610.
Estey tracker 1907; rebuilt, Verlinden “incorporating most of the stops from the original organ,” electro-pneumatic, 1970. 2M/28 stops, 16 ranks
Placement: center front of sanctuary in well of choir loft, facing organ chamber

GREAT (enclosed)
8' Open Diapason 61 pipes
8' Melodia 61 pipes
8' Dulciana 61 pipes
4' Octave 61 pipes
4' Waldflote 12 pipes
2' Fifteenth 12 pipes
II Grave Mixture 122 pipes
8' Trumpet 61 notes
16' Great to Great
4' Great to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
Four combination pistons

SWELL (enclosed)
16' Bourdon 73 notes
8' Stopped Diapason 73 pipes
8' Salicional 73 pipes
8' Voix Celeste TC 49 pipes
4' Principal 73 pipes
4' Flute d’Amour 12 pipes
4' Salicet 61 notes
22⁄3' Nazard 61 notes
2' Principal 61 notes
2' Flautino 61 notes
13⁄5' Tierce 57 notes
8' Trumpet 73 pipes
4' Clarion 61 notes
Tremolo
16' Swell to Swell
4' Swell to Swell
Swell Unison Off
Four combination pistons

PEDAL (enclosed)
16' Bourdon 32 pipes
16' Lieblich Gedeckt 12 pipes
8' Octave 12 pipes
8' Bass Flute 32 notes
8' Gedeckt 32 notes
4' Choral Bass 32 notes
8' Trumpet 32 notes
8' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal

Deagan Chimes - 21 bells
Expression pedal for entire organ
Crescendo pedal
Sforzando toe piston
Great to pedal reversible toe piston

The Calumet Congregational Church was the church of James MacNaughton and Alexander Agassiz and represented the elite and wealthy of the community. The original church, built in 1874, burned down in 1949. In 1971 the congregation merged with the Calumet Presbyterian Church, which had been built in 1894 to serve the Scottish Presbyterians in the area. The merged churches, first named the Federated Church, then became the Community Church of Calumet (Congregational-Presbyterian). In 2005 the congregation separated from the Presbyterian Church (USA) in order to lease the basement facilities to the Copper Country Community Arts Council. It retains affiliation with the United Church of Christ.
The organ was originally built from two Estey trackers from Brattleboro, Vermont. Estey was in business from 1846–1960 and manufactured more than 3,200 pipe organs during the first half of the 20th century. On November 5, 1969, the Calumet organ was removed by Verlinden Organ Company, Milwaukee. Roman J. Leese, president of Verlinden, designed a new chamber, and the organ was reinstalled with most of the original pipes on July 13, 1970. It was converted to electro-pneumatic, and the console was moved from next to the chamber to a well at the opposite side of the choir loft. It is totally under expression. The first service with the new installation was played July 17, 1970, with James Abrams at the console. Dedicatory recitalist on November 5, 1970, was Harvey L. Gustafson. (Source: church records by Charles Stetter)

St. Paul the Apostle Church
301 Eighth Street, Calumet, MI 49913; 906/337-2044.
Kilgen, 1905, reverse tracker, 2M, 17 stops; oak, 18' wide, 9' deep; original cost $4,000. Rebuilt, cleaned, new trackers, manuals regulated, 1 stop* added, Lauck, 2001. Pneumatic pedal, hand pump preserved.
Placement: rear balcony, facing front of sanctuary

GREAT
8' Open Diapason
8' Trompette*
8' Melodia
4' Octave
4' Flute d’Amour
2' Fifteenth
16' Bourdon

SWELL (enclosed)
8' Violin Diapason
8' Salicional
8' Aeoline
8' Oboe Gamba (2 ranks, non-reed)
8' Stopped Diapason
4' Violina
4' Flute Harmonique
2' Flautina
Swell to Great
Tremolo

PEDAL
16' Bourdon
8' Violon Cello
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal

Pneumatic assist
Five foot pedals: soft to loud

The parish was established in 1889 by Slovenian immigrants and was originally named St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church. The original 1890 wood frame building was destroyed by fire in 1902. The new twin-spired church was built of Jacobsville sandstone from 1903 to 1908 at the cost $100,000. In 1928 St. Joseph’s Parish absorbed St. Anthony’s Polish Parish. After 1966 they absorbed St. Mary’s (Italian), St. Anne’s (French), St. John’s (Croatian), and took the name St. Paul the Apostle Parish. The structure was designated an Historical Building in the State of Michigan in 1983.
The 1905 Kilgen organ is a reverse tracker. Although operating with electric power, the organ retains the original pump and can be operated in that manner. (Source: church brochure)

St. Paul Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod)
146 Tamarack, Laurium, MI 49913; 906/337-0231.
Schuelke, 1902; rebuilt Verlinden, 1963
Placement: rear balcony, right side of console faces the front of the sanctuary

GREAT
8' Diapason
8' Melodia
8' Dulciana
4' Principal
III Mixture
8' Trumpet
16' Great
4' Great
Great Unison Off
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
Chimes
Tremulant

SWELL
8' Geigen
8' Bourdon
8' Salicional
8' Celeste
4' Harmonic Flute
2' Fifteenth
II Sesquialtera
16' Krummhorn
8' Krummhorn
8' Trumpet
4' Fagotto
16' Swell
4' Swell
Swell Unison Off
Chimes
Tremulant

PEDAL
16' Bourdon
8' Octave Bass
4' Fagotto
8' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal
4' Swell to Pedal

Presets are inside the organ chamber

The congregation formed in 1879. The first church building was located on Scott Street in Calumet. The present building was dedicated 1899.
The Schuelke tracker organ was given to the congregation in 1902 by Mr. Ernest Bollman. In 1929 two recitals were performed by Mr. Martin, Chicago, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church. In 1961 Rudolf Patsloff donated the trumpet rank, which is mounted to the left of the chancel in the front of the church. Franz Ziems, organist for many years, left a bequest to renovate the organ. Renovation was completed by Verlinden Co., Milwaukee, in October 1963. The dedicatory recital was played by Rev. Harvey Gustafson, Minneapolis. He played four more recitals after that time. The chimes were given in memory of John Messner. The casework of the chamber is the work of Arthur Jarvela. (Source: e-mail from church organist Jan List)

 

Hancock and Houghton

First United Methodist Church
401 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI 49930; 906/482-4190.
Kimball, 1905, tracker, 2M, 11 ranks; rebuilt to electro-pneumatic action 1950; new wind lines, 1998; refurbished 2005 by Fabry, Antioch, Illinois.
Placement: front left dais; console is on a moveable platform
Console: not AGO, but radiating pedalboard

GREAT
8' Open Diapason
8' Melodia
8' Dulciana
4' Principal
4' Flute
22⁄3' Twelfth
2' 15th
4' Great to Great
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great

SWELL 8' Violin Diapason
8' Stopped Diapason
8' Gamba
4' Flute d’Amour
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Flautino
Tremolo
16' Swell to Swell
4' Swell to Swell

PEDAL
16' Bourdon
16' Gedeckt
8' Principal
8' Bass Flute
4' Flute
8' Great to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal

The congregation of the First Methodist Church organized in 1860, the first of any denomination to be established in Hancock. The first building was erected in 1861. The present structure of Jacobsville sandstone and brick was dedicated in 1903.
In 1905 the Kimball tracker organ was installed, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Roberts. The console was built into the paneling of the chamber with the choir loft on either side and in front, with the organist’s back to the choir and congregation. In 1950 the organ was converted to electro-pneumatic and the console moved from its tracker position to a well at the opposite side of the choir loft. In 1998 the sanctuary was renovated and choir loft was leveled to make a flat dais across the chancel area. The organ console was placed on a moveable platform and new wind lines installed by Fabry, Inc. In 2005 Fabry also replaced slide tuners in the pipes, installed a new blower, and repainted the pipes located above the paneling fronting the lower part of the chamber. (Sources: Monette; church organist Carol Waisanen)

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (ELCA)
1000 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI 49930; 906/482-2381.
Kilgen, 1915? 2M; moved to new building, 1969; console rebuilt and preparation made for additions, Fabry, 2002
Placement: rear balcony; left side of console faces front of sanctuary

GREAT
8' Diapason
8' Gedeckt
8' Dulciana
4' Principal
4' Flute d’Amour
4' Dulcet
12th Dolce
15th Dolce
13⁄5' Dolce Tierce
16' Great to Great
4' Great to Great
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
Chimes
Unison Off
MIDI to Great

SWELL
8' Violin Diapason
8' Gedeckt
8' Salicional
8' Voix Celeste
4' Principal
4' Flute d’Amour
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Flautino
8' Trompette
8' Oboe
Tremolo
16' Swell to Swell
4' Swell to Swell
Unison Off

PEDAL 32' Resultant
16' Bourdon
16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Diapason
8' Bass Flute
8' Gedeckt
4' Choral Bass
8' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal
4' Swell to Pedal

Memory Select
Transposer
Swell presets: 5, Swell to Pedal
Great presets: 5, Great to Pedal
Generals: 10, Tutti
Toe studs:
General cancel
10 generals
Swell to Pedal
Great to Pedal
Resultant
Tutti

The Gloria Dei congregation traces its roots to 1867 when the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation was formed. It was reorganized in 1880 as the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The first wood frame building was partly destroyed by fire in 1896 and again in 1909. A brick building was constructed in 1910. Shortly after, a member of the congregation, Andrew Johnson, gave the first pipe organ to the church. In 1955 the name of the church was changed to St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1962 most of the national Lutheran church bodies merged into the Lutheran Church of America. Salem Lutheran (Swedish) and St. Matthew’s (Finnish) merged in 1966 and adopted the name Gloria Dei.
The present building was constructed in 1969, and the Kilgen organ from St. Matthew’s was moved and installed in the new structure. In 2002, the organ was rebuilt by Fabry, Inc. of Fox Lake, Illinois. (Sources: Monette; church records and members)

Grace United Methodist Church
201 Isle Royale, Houghton, MI 49931; 906/482-2780.
Maxcy-Barton, 1931; rebuilt Verlinden, 1971
Placement: left of chancel, below dais

GREAT
8' Open Diapason
8' Melodia
8' Salicional
8' Dulciana
4' Octave
4' Wald Flute
4' Dulcet
22⁄3' Twelfth
2' Fifteenth
16' Great to Great
4' Great to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
Chimes

SWELL
16' Bourdon
8' Stopped Flute
8' Salicional
8' Dulciana
8' Vox Celeste
4' Principal
4' Flute d’Amour 4' Salicet
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Flautino
13⁄5' Tierce
8' (Syn) Orchestral Oboe
16' Swell to Swell
4' Swell to Swell
Unison Off
Tremulant

PEDAL
16' Sub Bass
16' Bourdon
8' Octave
8' Bass Flute
8' Bourdon
8' Cello
4' Choral Bass
4' Flute
8' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal

3 pistons and cancel on Swell
3 pistons and cancel on Great
One toe stud, coupler
1 expression pedal
1 crescendo pedal

Grace’s history from 1854 to 2004 is documented in booklet form by Professor Terry Reynolds of the Social Science Department of Michigan Technological University. The church stems from a “Methodist Class” that formed in 1854, an outgrowth of Methodist missions that had begun around 1832 with the Ojibwa natives of the Upper Peninsula. A frame building was constructed in 1859 and in 1890 money was first raised to purchase an organ. In 1893 a new sandstone structure was built and again, in 1907, church records show efforts to raise money for an organ.
An organ must have been installed in that structure as the church history reports a fire in 1916, which destroyed, among other things, the organ. The present Maxcy-Barton was installed in 1931. It is most likely that the Maxcy-Barton organ of the First Presbyterian Church was also installed at that time as the organs are similar except that the Methodist instrument is larger. In 1971 Verlinden rebuilt the instrument and in the 1990s the console was moved from the dais to the main floor level on left side of the chancel. (Source: Reynolds)

Michigan Technological University
MacInnes Ice Arena, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931.
Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, c1920; installed May 1975
Placement: platform on rafters, west wall of MacInnes Ice Arena, access on a 50-ft. ladder climb
1119 pipes, 15 ranks, 130 stops
drums
bells
130 stops
24 notes, cathedral chimes
32-note pedalboard

This instrument was first installed in the Presbyterian Church, Utica, New York, and later moved to the home of James Thomas, who added theatre organ components from two Pennsylvania theatre organs and accessories from a Boston radio station. The instrument, valued at $75,000, was donated to MTU in the late 1960s through the efforts of John Wagner, class of ’61. It was moved to MTU in 1970 with initial installation done by Wagner and completed by the Wicks Organ Company, Highland, Illinois.
The organ was first played for Michigan Tech’s commencement exercises May 1975 by Gerrit Lamain, director of the Suomi College (now Finlandia University) Choir, Hancock, and later of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lamain entertained hockey fans prior to Michigan Tech’s games until he left the area, returning regularly to play for Tech’s commencement exercises. The console is mounted on a high platform at the west end of the MacInnes Ice Arena. Access is achieved by climbing a 50-foot ladder. An article and pictures featuring this instrument can be found in the April 2000 “Alumnus” magazine of Michigan Tech. (Source: Nordberg)

David and Carol Waisanen residence, Hancock, MI.
Maxcy-Barton, Oshkosh, WI, 2M, 8 ranks, 1931–33?, electro-pneumatic; installed by owner, 1975
Placement: music room, console on balcony (former back porch); organ chamber installed with original paneling and grillework

GREAT
8' Open Diapason 61 pipes
8' Melodia 73 pipes
8' Dulciana 61 pipes
4' Flute 61 notes
Unison Off

SWELL
8' Stopped Diapason 73 pipes
8' Salicional 73 pipes
8' Vox Humana 61 pipes
4' Flute d’Amour 61 notes
Tremulant
Unison Off

PEDAL
16' Bourdon 12 pipes
(20 notes from Sw St. Diap.)
8' Flute (from Sw St. Diap.)

Couplers
16' Great to Great
4' Great to Great
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
8' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal

Combination pistons:
3 Swell, controlling Swell and Pedal organs and couplers, cancel
3 Great, controlling Great and Pedal organs and couplers, cancel

Balanced expression pedal
Balanced adjustable crescendo pedal

First installed in the First Presbyterian Church, Houghton between 1931 and 1933, it is believed that this instrument was installed during the same period that a larger Maxcy-Barton was placed in the Grace Methodist Church. Maxcy organs were custom built to fit the acoustics of the space. The organ chamber in the Presbyterian church was at the front of the sanctuary and enclosed in a wooden grillework similar to the one in Grace. The detached console was located below the rostrum and in front of the choir loft, which was an elevated tiered area at one side of the chancel. The building was razed in 1976 due to highway construction, and the instrument was purchased by a private party. The owner converted his back yard to a vaulted music room. The organ chamber is enclosed in the original wood grillework from the church and the console sits on what used to be the back porch of the home. (Sources: The Daily Mining Gazette; Waisanen)

Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod)
323 Hancock Street, Hancock, MI 49930; 906/482-4750.
Haase, tracker 1901; modified and electrified by Haase Organ Co., Marengo, IL, 1960; rebuilt, Roscoe Wheeler, Curran, MI, 1997
Placement: balcony, rear of church, left side of console faces front of sanctuary

GREAT
8' Principal
8' Quintaten
8' Gemshorn
4' Octave
22⁄3' Twelfth
2' Fifteenth
8' Great to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal
16' Great to Great
4' Great to Great

SWELL
8' Rohr Gedeckt
8' Salicional
4' Koppel Flute
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Flautino
8' Oboe
Swell Unison Off
Tremolo
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
16' Swell to Swell
4' Swell to Swell
8' Swell to Pedal

PEDAL
16' Sub Bass
16' Quintaten
16' Posaune
8' Principal
8' Rohr Flute
8' Oboe
4' Choral Bass

Great expression pedal
Swell expression pedal
Crescendo pedal
Sforzando pedal piston
Swell enclosed
Great open

Presets for Swell and Great individually and in combination; located within the organ chamber.
MIDI to Swell, Great, Pedal
Schulmerich carillon keyboard attached to console

The congregation, the first Lutheran one in the Copper Country, was founded in 1867 as the Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Peter and Paul’s Gemeinde in Hancock. The first church structure was built in 1867 and the present church structure in 1881.
In 1901 the organ was purchased for the sum of $500 from St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The dedicatory recital was played by Professor Karl Haase. Most of the original pipes were constructed in Berlin, Germany by August Laukhuff Orgelteile. New ones were constructed and added by the Durst Organ Co., Erie, Pennsylvania. Under the Rev. Mr. Boomhower the organ was refurbished in 1997 at the cost of $25,000. Improvements included work on all inner mechanical works and solid state circuitry. Total cost for repairs and improvements up to 1998 was $30,000. This church also houses in its belfry tower three bells of 1,000, 800, and 600 pounds. (Sources: Monette; service bulletin)
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An organ built by J.L. van den Heuvel
style='font-weight:normal'>, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, has been installed at
the Church of the Holy Apostles, New York, NY. Originally installed at Castle
Shiloah, Fairview, TX, it was relocated by the Organ Clearing House, and
revoiced by Rosales Organ Builders. When a fire destroyed the Church of the
Holy Apostles in 1990, it also destoyed the church's Casavant organ. The parish
entered into an agreement with Rosales Organ Builders for a new instrument. As
the restoration of the building consumed available funds, it became apparent
that the congregation could no longer afford the new organ. In an effort to
make the best use of monies available, Rosales agreed to explore alternatives.
In 1991, Joseph and Marla Mooibroek of Fairview, TX, commissioned J.L. van den Heuvel
to build an organ for their home. The organ was installed in Castle Shiloah in
1994. In 1996 the Mooibroeks decided to sell their residence and organ. Manuel
Rosales examined the organ and notified Holy Apostles about its availability.
The Organ Clearing House, Alan Laufman, executive director, moved the organ to
its new home. After the two-month reassembly, Manuel Rosales revoiced the organ
for its new environment. The organ is housed in a Dutch Baroque-style case with
detailed sculpture and carvings. Tonally it is in early French romantic style.
The Organ Clearing House staff, Alan Laufman, executive director, included
Amory Atkin, Terence Atkin, William Dixon, Whitney Flecher, George Gibson,
Richard Hamar, Scott Huntington, and Joshua Wood. Manuel Rosales was assisted
by Peter Batchelder, Timothy Fink, and Scot Huntington. Donald Joyce is music
director of the church. Compass is 61/32. The nave of the church is used each
day for one of the parish's outreach programs--the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, which
serves over 1,000 meals per day. Photo by Amy Reichman.

GRAND ORGUE

16' Bourdon

8' Montre

8' Flûte a cheminée

8' Flûte harmonique

4' Prestant

2' Doublette

 Plein Jeu III-V

 Cornet IV (MC)

8' Trompette

 Tremblant

Pos/G.O.

Réc/G.O.

RÉCIT

8' Flûte traversière

8' Viole de Gambe

8' Voix céleste

4' Flûte Octaviante

2' Octavin

8' Basson-Hautbois

8' Voix Humaine

Tremulant

POSITIF

8' Bourdon

8' Salicional

8' Unda Maris

4' Flûte à fuseau

22/3' Nasard

2' Flageolet

13/5' Tierce

1' Piccolo

8' Clarinette

8' Trumpet Royal (horizontal)

   Tremulant

  Chimes

  Zimbelstern

  Réc/Pos

PÉDAL

32' Bourdon (electronic)

16' Soubasse (1-24 G.O.)

8' Flûte

8' Violoncelle

16' Basson

4' Chalumeau

  G.O./Péd

  Pos/Péd

  Réc/Péd

Bond Organ Builders, Inc., Portland, OR, has completed the restoration of the organ at St. Mary's
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, also in Portland. The organ was
originally built in 1904 by the Los Angeles Art Organ Co., opus 42, under the
direction of Murray M. Harris, for Holy Cross Catholic Church in San Francisco.
It was severely damaged in the 1906 earthquake. Falling debris largely
destroyed the Great and Choir divisions; the original Fleming windchests for
these divisions were replaced by new chests of the Spencer design. Repairs were
carried out by a local firm using new pipes, windchests, and other parts
supplied by Murray Harris. Some original stops survived, notably the Great 16'
and 8' Diapasons, most of the 4'Octave, and the Doppel Flute, as well as the
Choir Melodia. The Great Second Open Diapason was added at this time, and the
Choir tremolo deleted. By the 1980s, the organ was in need of a complete
restoration; nevertheless, it was heard at the 1988 OHS convention. The church
was damaged again by the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, and the parish closed
at that time. In 1995, the Archdiocese of Portland acquired the organ.
Disassembly and removal from Holy Cross Church began in September, 1995.
Smaller internal parts were carried by hand down a narrow staircase from the
balcony. Windchests, pedal pipes, reservoir, etc., were too large to handle in
this manner. A crane was erected outside the church, a hole was broken in the
roof just large enough to allow the crane hook to pass into the building, and
the large parts were lowered to the floor.

Restoration began with a thorough cleaning. All parts of the
original patented electro-pneumatic action were retained and restored,
including releathering. All pipes were washed and voiced for the new room.
Damaged pipes were repaired, missing pipes replaced. Front casework and console
were well preserved; it was necessary only to clean and repair scratches. Side
casework was re-engineered to provide access to the mechanism inside and
strengthened. The console mechanism was retained in its entirety, including 10
combination pedals. Stenciling on the facade pipes was copied, the pipes
stripped, and new paint applied using the original design. After much
deliberation, it was decided to add Mixtures to the Great and Swell, as well as
a Pedal 16'  Trombone. The
additions were carried out after study of extant mixtures and trombones built
by Murray Harris. 41 ranks, 37 stops.

GREAT

16' Double Open Diapason

8' Open Diapason

8' Open Diapason (2nd)

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Viola d'Amour

8' Doppel Flute

4' Octave

22/3 Octave Quinte

2' Super Octave

Mixture III-IV*

8' Trumpet

SWELL

16' Bourdon

8' Violin Diapason

8' Viol d'Orchestre

8' Aeoline

8' Voix Celeste

8' Stopped Diapason

4' Fugara

4' Harmonic Flute

2' Flautina

                        Cornet
IV*

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana

                        Tremolo

CHOIR

8' Geigen Principal

8' Dulciana

8' Melodia

4' Violina

4' Flute d'Amour

2' Harmonic Piccolo

8' Clarinet

PEDAL

32' Resultant*

16' Open Diapason (wood)

16' Bourdon

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw)

8' Violoncello

8' Flute Stop'd

16' Trombone*

*additions by Bond

Berghaus Organ Company, Inc., Bellwood, IL, has built a new organ for Trinity Lutheran Church,
Faribault, MN. The new organ comprises 23 ranks (1,263 pipes) on two manuals
and pedal. Slider windchests are used for the Great, Swell, and Pedal
divisions, with an all-electric action windchest for the Trompete stop. The
movable oak console has keyboards of maple naturals and rosewood sharps. Stops
and couplers are controlled by tilting tablets placed above the top keyboard.
Preparations have been made for future installation of MIDI. The Swell division
is located in wooden chambers to the left and under expression. Great division
is to the right of the Swell, and the Pedal is housed in a chamber behind the
Great.

GREAT

8' Principal

8' Rohrfloete

4' Octave

4' Spillfloete

22/3' Nasat

2' Hohlfloete

13/5' Terz

IV Mixtur

8' Trompete

                        Tremulant

                        Chimes

                        Zimbelstern
(prep)

SWELL

8' Gedackt

8' Viola

8' Celeste

4' Spitzfloete

2' Principal

11/3' Quinte

III Scharf-Zimbel (prep)

8' Schalmei

Tremulant

8' Trompete

PEDAL

16' Subbass

8' Offenbass

4' Choralbass

II Rauschquinte (prep)

16' Still Posaune

8' Trompete

4' Trompete

Temple Organs, St.
Joseph, MO, has rebuilt the 1968/1986 Wicks organ at West Hills Presbyterian
Church, Omaha, NE. All original pipework was retained in new casework of oak
trim over birch panels, painted to match the church walls. A new 3-manual
console includes an Artisan control system, with preparation for future digital
additions. The Principal, Octave, and Subbass form the facade. The low octave
of the 16' Trumpet, by Killinger, was added as a donation by one of the
church's organists, Dr. Ted Holyoke. Music director is Dwaine Price.

Analysis

16' Subbass (44 pipes)

16' Gedeckt (97)

8' Principal (61)

8' Geigen (73)

8' Gemshorn (61)

8' Gemshorn Celeste (77)

8' Bourdon (73)

4' Octave (73)

22/3' Twelfth (61)

16' Trompette (85)

8' Oboe (61)

                        Chimes
(25 tubes)

GREAT

8' Principal

8' Bourdon

8' Gemshorn

4' Octave

22/3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

Mixture III

8' Trompette

Chimes

Couplers

SWELL

16' Gedeckt

8' Geigen Principal

8' Rohrgedeckt

8' Gemshorn

8' Gemshorn Celeste

4' Prestant

4' Bourdon

22/3' Quinte

2' Blockflöte

13/5' Tierce

Scharf III

16' Trompette

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

4' Clarion

Tremulant

Couplers

CHOIR

Digital preparation

10 knobs

Couplers

PEDAL

16' Subbass

16' Lieblich Gedeckt

8' Principal

8' Pedalflöte

4' Choralbass

4' Rohrflöte

2' Super Octave

Mixture III

16' Trompette

8' Trompette

8' Fagotto

4' Clarion

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