Emanuele Marconi to National Music Museum

Richard Rephann, 82, harpsichordist and director emeritus of the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments, died on December 29, 2014, in Hamden, Connecticut. Born February 9, 1932, in Frostburg, Maryland, Rephann attended the Johns Hopkins University Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he studied organ with Arthur Howes and piano with Mieczyslaw Munz and Alexander Sklarevsky. He earned a teaching certificate in piano in 1953 and then supported himself by working in hobby shops, playing piano for ballet classes, and teaching in both public and private schools. Returning to Peabody, he completed a Bachelor of Music degree in piano in 1959. 

In 1961 he became a harpsichord student of Ralph Kirkpatrick at Yale University. During those early years at Yale, he served as organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wallingford, Connecticut; in the summers between 1962–65, Rephann worked for Frank Hubbard, learning much about harpsichord design and construction. After hours, Hubbard helped him build a single-manual Italian instrument that is currently being re-voiced in the workshop of Frank Rutkowski. Harpsichords were not the only building fascination for Rephann, however. He was also a classic car enthusiast, owning classic cars—such as the Triumph TR3 pictured—and building models of them as well. 

After completing his master’s degree at Yale, in 1964 Rephann was appointed to the Yale University School of Music as instructor in harpsichord playing and as assistant curator of the Collection of Musical Instruments. He served as director of the collection from 1968 to 2006 in addition to holding the rank of full professor (adjunct) of organology and harpsichord playing in the School of Music. In 2006 he was awarded the Morris Steinert Award, the museum’s highest honor, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of the collection, its role in the university, and its presentation to the New Haven community for more than forty years.

Located in a former fraternity house, thanks to Rephann’s financial and collections development oversight, the Collection of Musical Instruments was transformed into a facility for the scholarly study, exhibition, and conservation of historical musical instruments. Early in his tenure, Rephann instituted an annual concert series of music from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. According to the Yale University website, it is now the longest-running series of its kind in the country, often presenting instruments from the collection in performance. In addition, Rephann began having these performances recorded in the early 1980s, making the series one of the most well-documented early music series in existence. 

Rephann commenced a restoration and conservation program in the late 1970s with an endowment from George P. O’Leary and worked with leading conservation experts to create guidelines for the restoration of the collection’s instruments, particularly the string and keyboard instruments. He brought full-time conservators to the museum staff in 1982, guiding the laudable “de-restoration” of instruments that had experienced injudicious repairs in earlier years. These instruments now maintain integrity as historic artifacts while sounding as close as possible to the intent of their original sound. Laurence Libin, emeritus curator of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, noted: 

Richard’s chief curatorial interest was in historical keyboard instruments, for which he wisely advocated conservation or conservative restoration and careful documentation over repair or renovation. By thus maintaining the integrity of the Yale collection, he best served the interests of organologists, musicologists, instrument builders, and historically minded musicians.

Rephann demonstrated the value of the collection as an academic resource. For his “Art of Continuo Playing” and “History of Keyboard Instruments” courses, the museum functioned as a laboratory in which students could study the development of musical instruments in their cultural contexts. Many students utilized historical instruments in the collection in recitals; this sort of use was one of Rephann’s goals for the courses. Recognizing the inherent interdisciplinary potential of the instruments, he also encouraged professors throughout the university to utilize the collection for special presentations dealing with the course subject matter, often with demonstrations or performances as part of the presentation. Former student Paul Jacobs, now chair of the organ department at the Juilliard School, notes:

Richard was, in every regard, a consummate gentleman. As a teacher and mentor, students witnessed a spirit of generosity, wisdom, and kindness. The benefit of Richard’s friendship—beginning in those highly formative years as a student—has continued unceasingly to influence my musicianship and worldview. He will be deeply missed.

The collection tripled in size under Rephann’s leadership, funded to a large extent through his own development initiatives but also through the board of advisors, and associates of the collection, a museum membership organization Rephann established in 1977. Publications involved checklists and catalogues of the Yale collection, and also the Pedro Traversari Collection in Quito and the Schambach-Kaston Collection of Rare Strings and Bows, now in Tokyo.

In many ways, the Collection of Musical Instruments was Rephann’s chief focus, yet he appeared regularly in harpsichord performances around the country. He particularly liked to work with repertoire he thought was especially suited to the nationalistic idiosyncrasies of Italian, Flemish, French, German, or English harpsichords, and in his later years felt acute affinity for the music of Johann Jakob Froberger, Louis Couperin, Jean-Henri D’Anglebert, François Couperin, and Jean-Phillipe Rameau. Recordings of some of his live performances are contained within the museum archives. Rephann was also a studio teacher whose students are now organists and harpsichordists around the world. Former student Corey Jamason, now professor of harpsichord and director of historical performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, writes:

Richard Rephann was one the most elegant musicians I have ever known. Incapable of making an unpleasant sound or violent gesture, his performances of French baroque music were models of refinement and sophistication and his performances of Froberger were without equal. His touch at the instrument was always utterly controlled and his ornamentation always exceedingly tasteful and appropriate. Although perhaps not well known among the general public, he was nonetheless one of the greatest harpsichordists in the second half of the twentieth century. He was an incredible teacher, always patient, but he also had extremely high expectations for his students.

Rephann is survived by his wife, Susan E. Thompson; daughter, Lola Voysest Rephann of Jersey City, New Jersey; brother, Oliver Rephann of Simpsonville, South Carolina; brother-in-law, Rev. Kirk E. Thompson of Saint Johnsbury, Vermont; sisters-in-law, Claudia R. Thompson of Wooster, Ohio, and Julia A. Thompson of Friday Harbor, Washington; nephews, James Thaddeous Rephann and Evan Thompson Keefe; nieces, Anne Marie Rephann Moore, Cameron Thompson Exner, and Laurel Thompson Exner; his first wife of seventeen years, Lola Odiaga of New Haven; and his colleague of thirty-five years, Wm. Nicholas Renouf of Guilford.

A memorial concert will be scheduled during the coming year. Contributions in Rephann’s memory may be sent to the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments (www.collection.yale.edu) or to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit (www.alzheimers.yale.edu).

Photos courtesy of Susan E. Thompson.

Vermillion, South Dakota

Larry Palmer is a contributing editor for The Diapason.

In an historic first for the United States, three regional
early keyboard societies (Southeastern, Midwestern, and Western) met for a
joint conference ("Four Centuries of Great Keyboard Instruments: What
They Tell Us") at the National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota,
May 16-19. Gratifying as it was to participate in this possible first
step toward a national organization, the main attraction of the Vermillion
gathering was the Museum and its superb collection of historic musical
instruments.

150 registrants overfilled the concert venue named for
Museum founder Arne Larson, and the group often spilled from the tearoom into
hallways for breakfast and coffee breaks. Still, the capable and welcoming
staff were able to overcame most difficulties and make all feel
welcome--sometimes rather warmly so! From an elegant buffet reception at
the home of University of South Dakota President Jim Abbott to the closing
party at program co-chair John Koster's rural retreat, physical hungers
and thirsts of the crowd were well served. All other meals, included in the
modest registration fee, were taken together in the University's Coyote
Student Center. Communal dining, a feature of previous gatherings in
Vermillion, was an appreciated convenience in this small Midwestern college
town.

A recital capped each jam-packed day. Two of these proved to
be especially fortuitous partnerships between artist and instrument. Closing
the conference, Andrew Willis played his aptly-chosen program on an
early-19th-century Viennese piano by Anton Martin Thÿm. For the first half
he chose works by Moscheles, Field, Hummel, and the rarely-performed Sonata
in E minor, opus 70 of Carl Maria von
Weber. Following intermission Willis gave transcendent performances of
Schubert's Moments Musicaux
(the fifth, in F minor, will never sound right again without the piano's
Turkish percussion effects) and Beethoven's E Major Sonata
style='font-style:normal'>, opus 109, perhaps the musical highpoint of the
conference. Among several visiting European artists, Miklós
Spányi stood out for his effortless musicality and consistently
interesting playing in a program of sonatas by Johann Eckard, C. P. E. Bach,
and Joseph Haydn, performed on the colorful Spath & Schmahl 1784
Tangentenflügel (using the correct spelling of Spath, without its
ubiquitous umlaut, as discussed by Michael Latcham in an illuminating lecture
on this instrument and its maker).

A concert by Tilman Skowroneck (earnest performances of
works by Louis and François Couperin and Rameau) introduced the resonant
1785 Jacques Germain harpsichord. Luisa Morales gave straightforward readings
of Iberian sonatas, allowing only two of them to be heard on the wiry and
virile José Calisto Portuguese harpsichord of 1780, and playing far too
many more on a beefy 1798 Joseph Kirckman double harpsichord, utilizing the
kaleidoscopic possibilities for registrations available on this instrument.
Morales was joined by Spanish folk dancer Cristóbal Salvador for her two
concluding Scarlatti sonatas, after which Salvador led a post-concert dance
class for those brave enough to participate.

The conference schedule listed an additional (and
overwhelming) 32 lectures or short performances! This attendee, for one, found
it impossible to attend all of them, especially those given late in the afternoons.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> 

Some memorable programs included: 

* A deeply moving clavichord recital of Bach preludes
and fugues, played by wounded warrior Harvey Hinshaw, who had tripped while
loading his instrument late at night for the trip to Vermillion. Fortunately
neither Harvey nor his fine Lyndon Taylor clavichord sustained permanent
damage, although each showed bruises from the unfortunate altercation.

* Carol lei Breckenridge's Mozart played on two
clavichords from the Museum's collection: a 1770 Swedish instrument and
an 1804 Johann Paul Kraemer & Sons, built in Göttingen.

Three consecutive Sunday afternoon programs dealt with
repertoire from the now-historic 20th century, as well as some new works of the
fledgling 21st:

* Larry Palmer spoke about Herbert Howells' Lambert's
Clavichord, the first published clavichord music of the revival period.
Recorded examples played on clavichord, harpsichord, and piano served as
illustrations. Inferior sound equipment forced an impromptu performance of the
first clavichord example on the Wolf harpsichord.

* Attractively garbed in gold happy coat,
Berkeley-based Sheli Nan presented some of her own harpsichord compositions,
complete with video camera to record her every gesture.

* Calvert Johnson, with understated virtuosity, presented
a superb concert of harpsichord music by Japanese women composers Makiko
Asaoka, Karen Tanaka, and Asako Hirabayashi (now there is a focused
specialization!) on the Museum's 1994 Thomas & Barbara Wolf
harpsichord, an instrument tonally modeled on the Germain instrument, but
tastefully decorated in sober black and red with gold bands, rather than the
18th-century instrument's unfortunate color scheme of raspberry pink and
ultramarine, with a gratuitous 20th-century "French bordello" lid
painting

The original Germain, an exceptionally fine-sounding
instrument, was the most utilized harpsichord of the conference. It was heard
in programs played by Elaine Thornburgh, Paul Boehnke, Nancy Metzger, Nanette
Lunde, and Jillon Stoppels Dupree, who proved to be a passionate advocate for
the far too little-known music of Belgian composer Joseph-Hector Fiocco.

A smaller gem, the Museum's recently-acquired Johann
Heinrich Silbermann spinet (Strasbourg, 1785) was heard in performances by Paul
Boehnke and Asako Hirabayashi.

The "home team" of faculty members from the
University of South Dakota made major contributions:

* Piano professor (and program co-chair) Susanne Skyrm
played appropriate music on the soft, clavichord-like piano by Manuel
Antunes  (Lisbon, 1767) as well as
a much-appreciated traversal ("from the sublime to the ridiculous,"
she noted) of music by Beethoven (three Bagatelles
style='font-style:normal'>), Vorisek, and Herz. This program concluded with the
bellicose Siege of Tripoli: An Historical Naval Sonata
style='font-style:normal'> by Benjamin Carr, for which Professor Skyrm employed
all the "Drums, Bells, and Whistles" available on the Thÿm
piano. Her partner in hilarity was handkerchief-waving narrator, Dr. Matthew
Hardon.

* Organ professor Larry Schou demonstrated the fine
six-stop organ by Christian Dieffenbach (Pennsylvania, 1808) as well as the
1786 Josef Loosser house organ from the Toggenburg Valley of Switzerland.

Virtuoso lectures included:

* Peggy Baird's slide presentation showing
keyboards in a wide variety of paintings ("Music for the Eye and Art for
the Ear"), delivered with her usual irrepressible wit.

* Ed Kottick's informative and entertaining
"Tales of the Master Builders," amusing vignettes from his
just-published book A History of the Harpsichord (Indiana University Press).
Hermann [Pohl] the Hapless, indeed!

* Sandra Soderlund's well-organized, informative
talk on Muzio Clementi, enriched by musical examples played on a square piano
by John Broadwood, London, circa 1829.

San Francisco's Laurette Goldberg invented some
Goldberg Variants on harpsichord history in an amazing after-dinner ramble
following a memorable vegetable, chicken, or beef Wellington banquet on Monday
evening.

Throughout the meeting several instrument makers displayed
examples of their work. Among these a French double harpsichord by Knight
Vernon featured a splendidly light action; Paul Irvin's 1992 unfretted
clavichord produced a generous volume of sound; and Owen Daly's
Vaudry-copy harpsichord delighted these ears and fingers, as did finely crafted
instruments by Robert Hicks and Douglas Maple.

During her first visit to the United States in the early
1960s, harpsichordist Isolde Ahlgrimm was especially amused by the ubiquitous
pink flamingo representations she saw in many suburban front yards. It was with
a sense of recurring cultural history that my eyes were captivated by the colorful
pink bird statue displayed at the Museum's visitors' desk, visible
through the windows of the Larson Concert Hall. Closer inspection showed it to
be a hand drum, dubbed the "Flabonga," a gift to Museum Director
André Larson.

Because of unavoidable travel difficulties, papers by David
Chung (Hong Kong) and Eva Badura-Skoda (Vienna) were read by Museum staffers.

So what did these examples from four centuries of great
keyboard instruments have to teach us? For this listener they reinforced, once
again, that most music sounds better, and far more interesting, when played on
period instruments tuned in appropriate temperaments. They underscored how vast
the variety of historic keyboards is. They showed how comparatively
monochromatic a tonal range the contemporary piano presents, and how
impoverished it is by its paucity of coloristic devices such as modulators,
bassoon stops, bare wood (or variously-covered) hammers, and Janissary
percussion.

Keyboards from Vermillion's National Music Museum
(formerly known as The Shrine to Music) demonstrated that informed restoration
and constant care permits them to function as superb instruments for music.
Curator John Koster announced early in the proceedings that keeping 1588
strings in tune for the weekend would be a major task! He managed it with grace
and skill, as he did his many other responsibilities during the conference.

It was encouraging to note a number of other visitors to the
Museum during our time there. Many of them were young students, a group
distinctly, and disturbingly, not well represented on the rosters of our
keyboard societies. I would urge each reader to plan a visit to this
outstanding American museum, and, if possible, to make this collection of early
keyboard instruments known to a student. A virtual visit to these holdings is
available through the Museum's website: <www.usd.edu/smm&gt;.

Robert E. Fort, Jr. died on January 29 in DeLand, Florida. A native of Ocala, Florida, he was a graduate of the University of Florida, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Craighead. He earned a doctor of sacred music degree from the School of Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied with Vernon deTar. Dr. Fort taught at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and at Stetson University, and was a lifelong church musician, serving most recently as organist-choirmaster at the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand. Active in the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, he was an honorary lifetime member and had served as its president; he also served as dean of the Central Florida AGO chapter and was a member of the Hymn Society and the American Choral Directors Association. Dr. Fort wrote widely on church music topics and led workshops and hymn festivals throughout the country. Robert Fort is survived by his wife of 49 years, Patricia Mims Fort, and his children, Robert Fort III and Carolyn Fort.

Timothy J. Oliver died in Frankfort, Kentucky on January 5. He was 71. Born in Cincinnati, he earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State College and subsequently studied organ with Arnold Blackburn at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a master of music degree. Active in the Lexington, Kentucky AGO chapter, Oliver initiated and for many years maintained the chapter’s organ academy; he had also been a member of the music and liturgy commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, helping to plan and rehearse the 1995 diocesan centennial service. Timothy Oliver had served as organist at Midway Presbyterian Church, following his retirement as organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Versailles after a long tenure. He held a similar position at Versailles Presbyterian Church, establishing a children’s and a handbell choir, and leading the renovation of the church’s Pilcher organ; he also served at Church of the Ascension in Frankfort. He twice directed the Woodford Community Choir and was a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Organ Historical Society. Timothy Oliver is survived by many friends and several cousins.

French organist Michel Pinte died of a heart attack in Malaga, Spain, on October 21, 2008. Born on July 21, 1936 in Etrepagny (Eure, in Normandy), he was buried in the nearby cemetery in Doudeauville-en-Vexin. A Requiem Mass was celebrated in his memory on November 8, 2008, at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris, where he had served as organist for 29 years.
Michel Pinte began to play the organ for Masses at the parish church in his home town at the age of ten. Two years later, he began organ lessons in Rouen with Jules Lambert (substituting for him) and then with Marcel Lanquetuit. In 1956, during his military service, he served as organist at the Saint-Philippe cathedral in Algiers. When he returned to Paris in 1962, he studied piano with Irène Baume-Psichari, harmony with Yves Margat, Gregorian chant with Henri Potiron at the Institut grégorien, and organ with Jean Langlais at the Schola Cantorum, where he received his diploma in virtuosic organ interpretation and improvisation in 1964. He also studied later with Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier, Marie-Louise Girod, and Suzanne Chaisemartin.
After substituting at numerous churches (notably in Paris at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Passy and on the choir organs at Saint-Augustin and the Versailles cathedral), in 1968 Pinte was named titular of the Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin choir organ at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris. In 1973, he requested Victor Gonzalez to enlarge this organ to 32 stops with six adjustable pistons, enabling him to play the entire repertory comfortably. He later entrusted the maintenance of this organ to Bernard Dargassies. In 1979, Michel Pinte also assisted Suzanne Chaisemartin on the 1868 Barker/Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin Grand Orgue (III/53) and was appointed as her co-titular in 1990. He retired in June 1997, and spent his final years in Marbella, Spain (Malaga).
During his retirement, Michel Pinte performed even more concerts in Europe and the United States. In Spain, he performed for the organ weeks in Grenada in 1999 and in Madrid in 2000, and at the Palau de la Música in Valencia in 2007 (for more details, see <www.musimem.com&gt;). Audiences appreciated his eclectic programs that highlighted nineteenth and twentieth-century repertory (notably works by Demessieux, Vierne, and Widor as well as lesser-known works) and were captivated by his final brilliant improvisation on a well-known theme.
His solid technique and his open spirit allowed him to express himself easily and freely, to fully share his vital love of music with others. To cite one example, those who attended his concert at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C. on November 13, 1986, will never forget his stunning improvisation on America the Beautiful. This cultural ambassador will long be remembered for his vast artistic knowledge, his creative imagination, and his good sense of humor.
—Carolyn Shuster Fournier
Paris, France

Travis R. Powell, age 36, died on January 19 in Carey, Ohio. A student of Donald MacDonald, he earned a bachelor of church music degree from Westminster Choir College, and a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was a student of Robert Anderson. Powell was director of music–organist at the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio, where he directed the shrine chorale and a children’s choir and played over 650 Masses a year. He also taught general music at Our Lady of Consolation School and was artistic director of the Carey Ecumenical Choir; he had previously served at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe Cathedral in Dallas. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Organ Historical Society, American Choral Directors Association, Choristers Guild, and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

Robert Wendell Robe died on January 24 in Tampa, Florida. He was 79. Born July 8, 1929, in Zanesville, Ohio, he attended Meredith College in Zanesville and Capitol University. A church musician for 64 years, he began his musical career as organist for St. Luke’s Lutheran Church and played for “The Coffee Club,” a local radio program. He held organist positions at Webb City Presbyterian Church, New Haven Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Forest Hills Presbyterian and Wellspring United Methodist churches, both in Tampa, Florida, and until last year at the Kirk of Dunedin Community Church in Dunedin, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Robe, two daughters and three sisters.

Mary Landon Russell died November 20, 2008, in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, at age 95. She attended Dickinson Junior College and in 1936 earned a bachelor of music degree from Susquehanna University. In 1957 she earned a master of arts degree from Pennsylvania State University, and did further study at the Chautauqua Institution School of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music. She taught at Lycoming College from 1936 until her retirement in 1978, when she was named associate professor of music emerita and continued as a part-time piano teacher there for another twenty years.
Mrs. Russell was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Guild of Organists, of which she was a past dean of the Williamsport chapter, the Williamsport Music Club, and the National and Pennsylvania Federations of Music Clubs. She was also a 50-year member and honorary regent of the Lycoming Chapter, Daughters of the America Revolution, and was awarded the Martha Washington Medal from the Tiadaghton Chapter (Sons of the American Revolution) for her “History of the Music of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.” She is listed in Outstanding Educators of America; during her 50th year of teaching at Lycoming College, the school’s Alumni Association established the Mary Landon Russell Applied Music Fund, which provides financial aid to musically gifted students. Mrs. Russell frequently served as organist at Covenant-Central Presbyterian Church, and in other area churches.

Nunc Dimittis

Joseph Peter Fitzer, born February 6, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, died July 21. In 1970, he received a doctorate degree from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, with concurrent study at the School of Music of De Paul University, also in Chicago. He authored two books on nineteenth-century Catholic thinkers, particularly Johann Adam Moehler, as well as numerous articles for The Diapason and The American Organist magazines. He served on the faculty of St. John’s University, New York, from 1970 until 1988, teaching philosophy of religion and modern church history, and also as organist and choirmaster of churches in New York, North Amherst, Massachusetts, and Chicago. Fitzer was married to Susan Pollack Fitzer (died 2012), to Mary Molina Fitzer (died 2005), and to Mary Gifford. Joseph Fitzer is survived by his wife, Mary Gifford, his son, Paul Fitzer, and two granddaughters, Katherine and Elizabeth Fitzer.

Michael D. Friesen, 63, died June 19 in Denver, Colorado. He was born August 12, 1953, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he attended local schools. He attended Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing degree. In 1977, he earned the master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina. As part of his degree work, he interned with Air France in Paris, using his weekends to visit the great organs of Europe by train. He later attended Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois, where he earned a master’s degree in public administration around 1991. In 2001, he completed a master’s degree in American history at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

After working in international marketing with the Addressograph Multigraph Corporation, Friesen began a career as a civic administrator. After developing an award-winning recycling program for the Village of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, he served as assistant village manager for Algonquin, Illinois, and village manager for Lakewood, Illinois, and later, Meade, Colorado. 

Michael Friesen was married to Susan Werner Friesen from 1978 until 2001. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Ann.

Friesen had a life-long love of the pipe organ, beginning with organ lessons from his mother, Evelyn Friesen. He continued his organ studies while at Valparaiso University. He had developed his own master list of organbuilders by the late 1970s, compiled from The Diapason, The American Organist, and The Tracker, a list from which he planned to visit every builder’s shop. During their honeymoon, the Friesens visited three organbuilders’ shops, and each family vacation included a visit to at least one new builder.

Michael attended his first Organ Historical Society convention with Susan in 1980, in the Finger Lakes region of New York. They were charter members of the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the OHS, establishing the chapter’s journal, The Stopt Diapason, for which they were the first editors and publishers. Friesen’s extensive research on the history of Chicago pipe organs in the 19th and 20th centuries was and remains highly respected; issues of The Stopt Diapason are archived at the chapter’s website and are still regularly used by researchers in their work today. When the OHS held its first convention in Chicago in 1984, most of the research for the convention handbook was carried out by Michael Friesen. He was a frequent contributor of articles to The Diapason, The American Organist, and The Tracker, as well as articles on pipe organ history for the journals of the Denver Historical Society and the Colorado Historical Society. He served as consultant for new mechanical-action organ projects, as well as relocation and restoration projects for historic pipe organs. He was active in projects commissioning new music compositions, especially “Introit Psalm and Alleluia Verse,” composed by Richard Wienhorst for the Friesens’ wedding, published by Chantry Press. He was dean of the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists from 2010 to 2011.

Michael Friesen is survived by his former wife, Susan Werner Friesen, his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Roscoe (Avery), three grandchildren (Matthew, Julia, and Benjamin), his mother, Evelyn Friesen, two sisters, Sandra Henson (David) and Janice Kuske (Kevin), one brother, Douglas Friesen (Anna-Marie), five nephews and three nieces, three great nieces and three great nephews. A memorial service was held June 24 at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Cathedral, Denver, Colorado.

Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, an Italian organist, harpsichordist, musicologist, teacher, and composer, died July 11 in Bologna, Italy. He was born October 7, 1929, in Bologna. He studied, organ, piano, and composition at the conservatory in Bologna, and later studied organ with Marcel Dupré at the conservatory in Paris, France. He graduated from the university at Padua in 1951. He taught at universities and conservatories in Bologna, Bolzano, and Parma in Italy and Freiburg in Switzerland. He was a guest instructor at various universities in the United States, including Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He regularly taught organ courses at Haarlem, the Netherlands, and at Pistoia, Italy. He served as organist of the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, sharing duties with Liuwe Tamminga. With Renato Lunelli, he founded the journal L’organo in 1960. An active performer, he presented recitals throughout Europe and the United States. Tagliavini was a recognized authority in historical performance practice for the Baroque organ and harpsichord, and was a strong supporter of the historic organ movement in Italy. He was a prolific recording artist, earning several awards for his LP and CD discs. He was awarded several honorary degrees, including a doctorate in music from the University of Edinburgh and a doctorate in sacred music from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. As a musicologist, he published numerous papers and edited critical editions of music.

A look at the life and contributions of Luigi Tagliavini is planned for a future issue of The Diapason. Also, see comments on Tagliavini’s work at Southern Methodist University in Larry Palmer’s “Harpsichord News” in this issue.

James Earl Bratcher, Garland P. Bruce, Delores Bruch Cannon, Henri Delorme, Morley J. Lush

James Earl Bratcher died on August 14. He was 77. In 1974 he formed the New Mexico Symphony Chorus and served as assistant conductor of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. Bratcher earned degrees in voice, organ, and education from the University of New Mexico; after completing his master’s degree, he moved to New York City, where he enrolled in the Union Theological Seminary. He performed with the original Robert Shaw Chorale and as a soloist in concerts with Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne, among others. 

Bratcher taught at Bethel College in Tennessee and Columbus College in Georgia, then returned to Albuquerque in 1970 and directed choirs and taught English at Eldorado High School. In the late 1980s, he joined a Lutheran Benedictine monastery in Michigan; when the order became cloistered, he moved to Orlando, Florida, as a Franciscan monk. There he established a home for AIDS patients and homeless men; he returned to Albuquerque in 1995.

Bratcher was one of the originators of Opera Southwest, which began in 1972 as Albuquerque Opera Theatre, serving as its artistic/music director from 1979–1987 and in the mid-1990s. A member of the University of New Mexico John Donald Robb Musical Trust board of directors since 2003, Bratcher arranged and edited John Donald Robb compositions and traditional Hispanic music, most recently editing Robb’s Requiem for its April 2012 debut by the Bach Society of St. Louis. He was completing manuscripts for the second edition of Robb’s Hispanic Folk Songs of New Mexico at his death. He also staged Robb’s folk opera Little Jo at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in 2005, and designed the program for a February 2012 Robb Concert. In 2004, Bratcher received the Albuquerque Arts Alliance Bravo Award for Excellence in Music. 

Garland P. Bruce died July 9 in Bluefield, West Virginia. He was 82. A Bluefield native, in his youth he played in small churches as a substitute pianist and organist; he studied organ with Elizabeth French. For more than 30 years he was organist-choirmaster at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bluefield, where he built the music program; the annual Christmas candlelight service was the area’s largest musical event. Bruce appeared on the March of Dimes telethon on WVVA, and played at venues throughout the area. Garland P. Bruce is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary Josephine, four stepchildren, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Delores Bruch Cannon, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, died October 22. Born September 22, 1934, in Independence, Missouri, she earned an associate’s degree from Graceland College in 1954 and a B.S.Ed. in 1956 from Central Missouri States. She taught high school English and music for two years at the Laboratory School in Odessa, Missouri, and subsequently music in elementary schools in Independence, Missouri. 

She received an M.M. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1969 and a D.M.A. from the University of Kansas in 1979. Her college teaching career began at Emporia State University in 1975, followed by three years as an assistant instructor at the University of Kansas. In 1978 she was appointed assistant professor and artist in residence at Park College. She joined the organ department in the School of Music at the University of Iowa in 1979 and was appointed professor of music in 1987; she was head of the organ department from 1989–92, and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts in 1992–93. She retired from the University of Iowa in 1999. 

Her interest in historic instruments led to fellowships and research grants in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Mexico. She performed in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. She held leadership positions at local, regional and national levels in the American Guild of Organists. As a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Cannon served on its national board of directors and was a contributing editor for the journal CrossAccents. As a member of the Organ Historical Society, she was a founding member of the Eastern Iowa chapter. Cannon was married to Ron Bruch and later to Donald Cannon, who survives her, along with sons Cris Alan Bruch and Gregory Scott Bruch; a sister, a brother, stepdaughters, and stepsons, along with numerous other family members.

Henri Delorme, organist of the Clicquot organ of Souvigny, France, died on August 18, just before his 69th birthday. As a young man, while studying French, Latin, and Greek to become a teacher, Henri Delorme studied organ with Joseph Hetsch and Michel Chapuis, piano with Hélène Boschi, and musicology with Marc Honegger. After he had passed the agrégation (the highest competitive exam for teachers in France), he spent most of his teaching career at the Lycée Banville in Moulins (Allier), where he was appreciated for his diverse cultural background, his good humor, and love for the humanities, which he endeavored to impart to and share with his pupils. 

Upon the untimely death of organist and organ scholar Henri Legros, Delorme became the incumbent organist (titulaire) of the François-Henri Clicquot organ (1783) of Souvigny, from 1971 until his death. He wrote articles for Marc Honegger’s music dictionary (Dictionnaire de la Musique) and also published the exhibition catalogue and the papers of the symposium he had organized for the 1983 bi-centenary of the Souvigny organ. The publication also included an inventory of the organs of the Allier region. During his career, he wrote several articles on the organ for various journals.

Henri Delorme conducted many organ classes for various age groups, from primary school pupils to university students and professional musicians. He was a guest teacher for the Souvigny week of Summer Institute for French Organ Studies (SIFOS), founded by Gene Bedient and Jesse Eschbach. Delorme was an indefatigable advocate of his instrument and gave organ recitals in France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.

The founder of the Association Saint-Marc, which now runs the music festival of Souvigny, he was the chairman of the Fédération Francophone des Amis de l’Orgue (FFAO) from 1992 to 2002. He was also the official organ adviser for historical organs in the Auvergne region and in Brittany from 1996 to 1998.

Learned, curious, good-humored, Henri Delorme was an endearing man and very special organist, with a great gift for improvising in the French classical style. He knew, understood, and played the Clicquot organ in Souvigny better than anyone else and contributed greatly to its reputation. His death will be a great loss to the organ world.

—Pierre Dubois

Pierre Dubois is Professor of English at the University of Tours, France. He has been deputy organist at Souvigny since 1984 and is artistic director of the Souvigny music festival (Journées Musicales d’Automne de Souvigny).

In the mid-1970s, when I first began hearing about historic French organs, the name of a town that surfaced regularly was Souvigny. Little did I know that a few years later, I would not only visit the church but have the opportunity over many subsequent trips to study in detail the treasure of St-Pierre et Paul: the 1783 organ of François-Henri Clicquot. Equally important, I would become an acquaintance and subsequently a good friend with the Souvigny organist, Henri Delorme. 

Jesse Eschbach and I hatched the concept of the Summer Institute for French Organ Studies in 1985 and we took our first small group to Souvigny/St-Dizier the summer of 1986. Henri Delorme was first and foremost a gentleman in the best sense of the word. He was always generous with his time, his knowledge, his musicianship, his scholarship, and his willingness to help visitors understand and appreciate French culture and an important part of that: the French organ. In 1994 I organized a small Bedient organ recital tour for him in America.

To quote my colleague, Jesse Eschbach, “Henri was a big voice in France and we will feel his loss acutely.”

—Gene Bedient

Morley J. Lush, age 93, died July 11 in Concord, Massachusetts. Born in Cambridge, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard. He was the chief engineer and president of Rawson Lush Instrument Co., a maker of scientific instruments in Acton, Massachusetts. Lush served as organist and choir director for the Church of the Good Shepherd, Acton, was a bell ringer at Christ Church, Cambridge, and producer of the radio show The King of Instruments on WCRB for 50 years. He was an active member of the Acton Historical Society and the Boston AGO chapter. Morley J. Lush is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Nutter Lush, a daughter, a son, three grandsons, and a brother.

James Leslie Boeringer, born March 4, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died January 12 of pancreatic cancer. He earned a BA in organ performance from the College of Wooster (Ohio) in 1952, an MA in musicology from Columbia University in 1954, a doctorate in sacred music from the former Union Theological Seminary in New York, New York, in 1964, and completed post-doctoral studies at New York University. Boeringer received associate certification from the American Guild of Organists in 1953. He presented recitals in organ and harpsichord in 20 of the United States, and in England and France.

Beginning with his first church position, as organist of Homewood Baptist Church in Pittsburgh in November 1947, he served churches in Ohio, New Jersey, New York City, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and London, England. He moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1992 and served as organist at Church of the Pilgrims (Presbyterian) Washington, Messiah Lutheran Church in Germantown, and Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, in Georgetown, playing his last service December 29, 2013, just two weeks before his death.  

Boeringer served as executive director of the Moravian Music Foundation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as university organist and on the faculty at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee; at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, he was a professor and chair of the music department. A Phillips Distinguished Visitor at Haverford College, he founded the Krisheim Church Music Conference in Philadelphia, and directed the Creative Arts Festival at Susquehanna University from 1972 to 1975, and the Moravian Music Festival in 1981 and 1984.  

As a composer Boeringer wrote 23 published original works for chorus and organ, organ solo, chamber ensemble, and other combinations, including a cantata and a song cycle; and about 50 unpublished pieces, including an oratorio with full orchestra. He wrote more than 25 hymn tunes and hymn texts, some of which appear in Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Moravian, and ecumenical hymnals. Selected works are available through the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) website (imslp.org).  

He authored the three-volume Organa Britannica: Organs in Great Britain, 1660–1860, as well as other books on hymnody and biographies of organists and composers of church music. His essays were published in periodicals and books. 

A widely published arts critic and scholar, he wrote numerous articles and reviews, which appeared in the Journal of Church Music; Moravian Music Journal; Music, the A.G.O. Magazine; The Organ Yearbook (Netherlands); The Musical Times (London); The New York Times; The American Organist; The Diapason; and The Tracker. He was the editor for the Society for Organ History and Preservation.  

Boeringer published fiction under a pseudonym. A member of Equity, he has a long list of theater credits in a variety of roles including actor, singer, director, music director, composer, narrator, and chorus arranger. He had an abiding interest in historic buildings and moved and restored two log cabins in his lifetime, and was an avid gardener.  

James Leslie Boeringer is survived by his wife of 58 years, Grace, and children Lisa Stocker, Greta, and Daniel, and a brother David.  

Peter Rasmussen Hallock died April 27, 2014, in Fall City, Washington; he was 89. A composer, organist, liturgist, and countertenor, among other activities, he was long associated with St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral of Seattle. Hallock began organ study with Clayton Johnson of Tacoma. He enrolled at the University of Washington, but was drafted into the United States Army, serving from June 1943 until February 1946 as chaplain’s assistant and sharpshooter in the Pacific theater during World War II. Returning to the University of Washington, he studied organ with Walter Eichinger and composition with George McKay, then studied at the College of St. Nicholas at the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in Canterbury, England, becoming the first American choral scholar at Canterbury Cathedral, under the direction of Gerald Knight. He completed the RSCM program and received a bachelor of arts degree in music from the University of Washington in 1951 and master of arts degree in music from the same institution in 1958.

Peter Hallock became organist/choirmaster of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, on October 28, 1951, a position he held until retirement in 1991. At St. Mark’s, he founded a chant study group in the mid 1950s that became known as the Compline Choir, which remains in the forefront of the resurgence of interest in the Office of Compline. He was instrumental in the cathedral’s acquisition of a four-manual Flentrop mechanical-action organ in 1965. At the cathedral, Hallock also introduced Advent and Good Friday processions as well as liturgical drama. He was named Canon Precentor, the first lay person in the Episcopal Church to hold this title, named an associate of the RSCM, and was honored with an honorary doctor of music degree by the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. In 1992, he became organist at St. Clement of Rome Episcopal Church, Seattle, remaining until March 2013. Hallock was also well known and respected for his countertenor concerts, with performances throughout the United States. As a composer, Peter Hallock created more than 250 works, from occasional church music to extended anthems, dramatic works (sacred and secular) to music specifically written for the Compline Choir. Among his many publications was The Ionian Psalter.

Peter Rasmussen Hallock is survived by his sisters, Matilda Ann Milbank of Los Altos, California, and Barbara Hallock of Kent, Washington, as well as several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. Memorial gifts may be made to the Compline Choir of St. Mark’s Cathedral or to the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia, Seattle.

Robert Burgess Lynn, 83 years old, passed away February 11 in Houston, Texas. A native of Colorado Springs, he studied organ and piano with Roy Harris, Frederick Boothroyd, and Joanna Harris while in high school. In 1952, he earned a BA at Colorado College (where he studied with Frederick Boothroyd and Max Lanner, and was chapel organist), and a master’s in organ from the Juilliard School of Music, received Honorable Mention in the AGO Young Artists’ Contest in Organ Playing in San Francisco, and married Elaine Steele, also a musician. In 1956, Lynn received a Fulbright Scholarship to study organ playing and construction with Finn Viderø under the auspices of the University of Copenhagen. His studies were briefly delayed when the family’s ship, the Stockholm, collided with the Andrea Doria, which subsequently sank. During his time in Copenhagen, he saw and played several great organs, including the organ at Sweden’s Malmö Museum, built in 1520, and at the Royal Chapel in Copenhagen, built in 1827. Lynn became a Fellow of the AGO in 1964, receiving the highest marks of any candidate in Section I of the FAGO examinations. 

Robert Lynn taught from 1954 to 1971 at Allegheny College as an assistant professor of music. In 1973, he received his PhD in musicology from Indiana University; his dissertation was entitled “Renaissance Organ Music for the Proper of the Mass in Continental Sources.” From 1971 to 1997, he served as professor of musicology at the University of Houston where he also directed the Collegium Musicum and the graduate studies program. His monograph, Valentin Haussmann (1565/70–Ca. 1614): A Thematic-Documentary Catalogue of His Works, was published by Pendragon Press. In 1997, he was named professor emeritus. 

Lynn also enjoyed visiting professorships at Rice University, Indiana University, and the University of Siegen. While a resident of Houston, Lynn was well known for his organ recitals in addition to his role as harpsichord soloist, playing in many concerts associated with the Houston Harpsichord Society (now Houston Early Music). From 1982 to 2004, he was the founding director of the Houston Bach Choir and Orchestra at Christ the King Lutheran Church. Lynn served as director of music and organist at St. Francis Episcopal Church for 25 years, and also as long-term interim organist at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church. Memorial contributions may be made to the Bach Society Houston, 2353 Rice Blvd, Houston, TX 77005, or to the Christ Church Cathedral Music Program, 1117 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002.

Fred S. Mauk died on April 7, two weeks before his 83rd birthday, after a short illness. Mauk did his undergraduate study at Stetson University and Rollins College, where he earned a degree in music, and received his master’s degree in 1958 from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He held church music positions in Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida, his last position being director of music for 33 years at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where he retired in 2011; at St. Mark’s he installed a pipe organ (purchased from a church in North Carolina) in the sanctuary.

An active member of the Central Florida AGO chapter, Mauk served in many chapter positions, including dean, and was instrumental in coordinating the 1993 regional AGO convention in Orlando. He was also known for his encouragement of young musicians, his sense of humor, his organizational skills, his many interests, including old cars and antique car shows, and his ability to work well with everyone. 

Mary Lou McCarthy-Artz, age 78, died at her home in Plymouth, Indiana, on May 7. Born November 18, 1935, Mary Lou Smith graduated from high school in 1953, marrying her first husband, Joseph L. Merkel, two years later. She studied piano at the Jordan Conservatory of Music, Butler University, in Indianapolis. After her husband’s death, she married Rodney Evans and moved to Covington, Indiana, where they lived for more than twenty years. It was there, while holding down a full-time job as an executive secretary, that she began working part-time as organist at nearby Catholic parishes: St. Joseph, Covington; St. Bernard, Crawfordsville; and Holy Family, Danville, Illinois. In 1993, she began full-time ministry as organist and choir director for the motherhouse of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Ancilla Domini, in Donaldson, Indiana. A long-time member of the American Guild of Organists, she had served as chapter dean and had recently earned her CAGO certificate. Mary Lou McCarthy-Artz is survived by her husband, Donald Artz, two daughters, Nancy Merkel Starkey of Jacksonville, Florida, and Janet Evans Snyder of Georgetown, Illinois, as well as two grandchildren. ν