Faucher to rebuild 1938 Casavant console

John Bishop

Connectivity

It does not seem that long ago that packing a briefcase for a business trip meant gathering file folders and notebooks. Today, all my files are digital, and my briefcase is full of chargers for iPhone and iPad and the power cord for my laptop. I admit to carrying an HDMI cord with adapters so I can plug into the television in a hotel room and watch movies or other good stuff using laptop, iPad, or phone, and I carry an extension cord to be sure I can set up camp comfortably. I add to all that a Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to music and NPR programs with rich sound. There are a lot of wires in my wireless life.

My desk at home similarly includes wires that make the essential connections of my life, and I had to add one more yesterday. The printer in a drawer under my desk, happily connected to Wi-Fi, suddenly went hermit on me and refused to perform. I ascertained that the Wi-Fi connection had failed and spent most of an hour mucking around with passwords, straightened paper clips, and reset buttons . . . to no avail. If this had happened at our home in Maine, I would have jumped into the car (it was snowing) and driven forty-five minutes to Staples to buy a cord. Luckily, I was in New York, where Staples is immediately across the street from us. The only door I have to pass is an ATM. Even though it was snowing, I did not bother with a jacket and ran across to get the cord. I fished it through the hole I had made for the printer’s power cord, and I was back in business.

I suppose I will want to renew the Wi-Fi connection sooner or later, but as I only paid $125 for the printer, I may just buy another one rather than spending more time trouble-shooting. Wendy’s printer is working fine, as is all of our other wireless gear, so I feel safe assuming that the printer is the culprit. It is not all that long ago that I put paper directly into a typewriter, and there was no question about the need for connectivity.

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Toward the end of the nineteenth century, scientists and engineers were racing against each other to perfect the harnessing and application of electricity for everyday life. J. P. Morgan’s mansion at Madison Avenue and East 36th Street in New York City was illuminated by Thomas Edison in 1882. There was a fire that spoiled Mr. Morgan’s expensively appointed study that necessitated replacing a lot of wiring, but he was very proud to be on the forefront of that revolution and invited hundreds of people to parties at his home, encouraging them to marvel at the new equipment.

Three years earlier, E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings had completed a 101-rank masterpiece of an organ for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts. I have not done the research, but I feel safe guessing that it was the largest organ in the United States at that time. (https://pipeorgandatabase.org/OrganDetails.php?OrganID=7254) Just look at that Great Chorus! Though the organ now has electric action opening the pallets, it was built without electricity, with mechanical key and stop action and a human-powered wind system.

Within ten years of the completion of the organ at Holy Cross, organbuilders were experimenting with electric power in pipe organs. Builders like George Hutchings and Ernest M. Skinner were developing the electro-pneumatic actions with which we are familiar today. In 1906, Mr. Skinner completed his massive instrument (Opus 150) for the newly unfinished Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. With four manuals and eighty-four ranks, it was among the first really large fully electro-pneumatic organs in the world, completed just twenty-four years after the Holy Cross organ. (http://aeolianskinner.organhistoricalsociety.net/Specs/Op00150.html) And by the way, it had electric blowers.

That was quite a revolution. It took barely a generation to move from tracker action, proven to be reliable for over five hundred years, to electro-pneumatic action—that new-fangled, up-and-coming creation that provided organists with combination actions, comfortable ergonomic consoles (decades before the invention of the word ergonomic), myriad gadgets to aid registrations, and, perhaps most important, unlimited wind supplies. Many organists were skeptical of the new actions, thinking that because they were not direct they could not be musical.

In spite of the skepticism, electro-pneumatic organs sold like fried dough at the state fair. Before the end of 1915, the Ernest M. Skinner Company produced more than 140 organs (more than ten per year), forty-six of which had four manuals. (Who would like to go on a tour of forty-six pre-World War I four-manual Skinner organs? Raise your hand!) The negative side of this is the number of wonderful nineteenth-century tracker organs that were discarded in the name of progress, but it is hard to judge whether the preservation of those instruments would have been advantageous over the miracles of the innovation of electro-pneumatic action.

And a generation later, what went around came around when the new interest in tracker-action organs surged, and scores of distinguished electro-pneumatic organs were discarded in favor of new organs with low wind pressure and lots of stops of high pitch.

§

Early electro-pneumatic organs relied on elaborate electro-pneumatic-mechanical switching systems for their operation. Keyboard contacts operated matrix relays to control keyboard and stop actions. Consoles were packed full of coupling and combination machines, inspired along with the development of the vast multiplication of switching systems that supported the spread of the telephone. The wiring diagram of a Skinner organ is remarkably similar to the old telephone switchboards where operators inserted quarter-inch plugs into sockets to connect calls.

Along with “traditional” organs for churches and concert halls, the advance of electric actions fostered the theatre organ, a vehicle that allowed a musician to rollick through the countryside along with the antics and passions of the actors on the screen. The invention of double-touch keyboards expanded the scope of organ switching, as did the ubiquitous “toy counters” that duplicated the sounds of cow bells, train whistles, sleigh bells, thunder and lightning, car horns, and dozens of other sound effects that might have a use during a movie. Those novelty sounds were not synthesized, but produced by the actual instrument being manipulated, struck, shaken, or stirred by an electro-pneumatic device. Push the button marked “Castanets,” and a half-dozen sets of castanets sound across the Sea of Galilee. Ole!

The original switching system of a big electro-pneumatic organ is a thing to behold—electric relays in rows of sixty-one, seventy-three, or eighty-five (depending on the number of octaves in a rank, a windchest, or a keyboard). Each relay has a contact for each function a given key can perform. In a big four-manual organ with sub, unison, and super couplers every which way, multiple windchests for each division, and unified stops around the edges, one note of the Great keyboard might have as many as twenty contacts in various forms. Sometimes you see that many contacts physically mounted on each key, with miniscule spacing, and tiny dots of solder holding the connections fast. Spill a cup of coffee into that keyboard, and your organ technician will spend scores of billable hours cleaning up after you.

One organ I worked on for years was in fact two. The organ(s) at Trinity Church in Boston included a three-manual instrument in the chancel and a four-manual job in the rear gallery. Of course, both had pedal divisions. The console functioned as a remote-control device, its keyboards, stopknobs, pistons, and expression pedals operated a complex relay in a basement room directly below. The outputs for seven keyboards and two pedalboards (491), 175 stop knobs, 45 coupler tabs, 7 pistons, and 4 expression pedals (48 for shutters, 60 for crescendo) were in the cable going to the basement, a total of 826 conductors. But wait, there’s more. Since the combination action was also in the basement, the conductors from the combination action that operated the drawknobs and couplers were in the same conduit, bringing signals up from the basement. Drawknobs and couplers totaled 220, and each needed three wires (on coil, off coil, and sense contact)—660. All together, the console cable comprised 1,486 conductors.

When my company was engaged to install the new solid-state switching and combinations in that organ, we wired all the equipment to the existing relays in the basement and chambers, bought an orphaned console for temporary use and equipped it with new stop jambs with knob layout identical to the original, and set everything up with plug-in connectors. After the evening service one Sunday, we cut the console cable, dragged the original console out of the way, placed the temporary console, and started plugging things in. With just a little smoke escaping, we had the organ up and running in time for the Friday noon recital. One glitch turned up. One of my employees consistently reversed the violet/blue pair of conductors in our new color-coded cable so throughout the complex organ, #41 and #42 (soprano E and F) were mixed up!

When something goes wrong like a dead note or a cipher, physical electric contacts are fairly easy to trouble-shoot. Once you have acclimated yourself to the correct location, you are likely to be able to see the problem. It might be a bit of schmutz keeping contacts from moving or touching, it might be a contact wire bent by a passing mouse. Organ relays are often located in dirty basements where spiders catch prey, stonewalls weep with moisture, and careless custodians toss detritus into mysterious dark rooms. Many is the time I have seen the like of signs from a 1963 rummage sale heaped on top of delicate switching equipment.

Oxidation is another enemy of organ contacts that are typically made of phosphorous bronze wire that reacts with oxygen to form a non-conductive coating, inhibiting the operation of the contacts. Also, in a simple circuit that includes a power supply (organ rectifier), switch (keyboard contact), and appliance (chest magnet), a “fly-back” spark jumps across the space between contacts as a note is released. Each spark burns away a teeny bit of metal until after millions of repetitions the contact breaks causing a dead note. You can see this sparking clearly when you sit with a switch-stack with the lights off while the organ is being played.

You can retro fit a switching system by installing diodes in each circuit (which means rows of sixty-one) that arrest the sparks. You can replace phosphorous bronze with silver wire that does not oxidize, but you still have to keep the whole thing clean and protected from physical harm.

§

Just as the telephone companies have converted to solid-state switching, so has the pipe organ industry. Solid-state equipment is no longer new; in fact, it has been around as long as electro-pneumatic organs were before the revival of tracker organs. But perhaps some of you don’t actually know what “solid-state” means. A solid-state device controls electricity without any physical motion. Circuits are built using semi-conductors. What is a semi-conductor? A device that conducts electricity under certain circumstances or in particular ways, less fully than a standard conductor. A piece of wire is a conductor. Electricity travels freely over a piece of wire in any direction.

A great example of a semi-conductor is the diode I mentioned earlier that contains “fly-back” sparks when a circuit is broken. The diode can do this because it conducts electricity in only one direction. It has a wire on each end to connect to a circuit, and power can flow from the switch through the diode to the magnet (if you have installed it facing the right way!). When the contact is released, the power cannot come back through the diode from the magnet to the switch. Semi-conductor.

Some semi-conductors are in fact switches (transistors) with three legs. Apply power to one leg, and power flows through the other two. Integrated circuits are simply little gadgets that contain many transistors. Resistors are gadgets that reduce the flow of power by resisting it. The advance of electronics has been enabled by the reduction of size of these components. I have transistors in my toolbox that are replacements for common organ controls that are each the size of my pinkie fingernail. Huge! I have no idea how many circuits there are in my iPhone, but it must be millions.

I first worked with solid-state organ actions in the late 1970s. One job was in a rickety Anglican church on East 55th Street in Cleveland where we were installing one of the earliest Peterson combination actions in an old Holtkamp organ. The church had a dirt crawl space instead of a basement, and as the apprentice, it was my job to crawl on my belly with the rats (yup, lots of them), trailing cables from chamber to console. We followed the directions meticulously, made all the connections carefully, crossed our fingers, and turned it on. Some smoke came out. It took us a couple hours to sort out the problem, and we had to wait a few days for replacement parts, but the second time it worked perfectly. I do not believe we were very sure of what we had done, but we sure were pleased.

In around 1987, I became curator of the marvelous Aeolian-Skinner organ (Opus 1202, 1951) at the First Church of Christ, Scientist (The Mother Church) in Boston. With over 230 ranks and 13,000 pipes, the instrument had heaps of electro-pneumatic-mechanical relays. As I came onboard, wire contacts had started to break at a rapid rate, and as the switches were mounted vertically, when a contact broke, it would fall and lodge across its neighbors causing cluster ciphers. Ronald Paul of Salt Lake City, Utah, had been contracted to install a new solid-state switching system, and I was on hand to help him with many details. I was assuming the care of the organ from Jason McKown who had worked personally with Ernest Skinner at the Skinner Organ Company and cared for the Mother Church organ since it was installed. Jason was in his eighties and still climbed the hundreds of rungs and steps involved in reaching the far reaches of that massive organ.

Jason looked over all the shiny gear, bristling with rows of pins and filled with those fiberglass cards covered with mysterious bugs, shook his head, and said, “this is for you young fellows.”

Swing wide the gates.

Over the past fifty years, most of us have gotten used to solid-state pipe organ actions. In that time, we have seen the medium of connections go from regular old organ cable to “Cat5” to optical fiber. I know that some of the firms that supply this equipment are experimenting with wireless connections. I suppose I may be asked to install such a system someday, but while I am committed to solid-state switching and all its benefits, I am skeptical about wireless.

Forty years ago, I was organist at a church in Cleveland that had a small and ancient electronic organ in the chapel. I was happy enough that I almost never had to play it, but there was one Thanksgiving Day when the pastor chose to lead an early morning worship service in the chapel. Halfway through that service, human voices blared out of the organ, decidedly irreverent human voices. The organ was picking up citizens band radio transmissions from Euclid Avenue in front of the church. I dove for the power cord. “Roger that, good buddy. Over and out!”

We have wireless remote controls for televisions, receivers, radios, even electric fans, and it is often necessary to punch a button repeatedly to get the desired function to work. And there was that printer yesterday, choosing idly to skip the bounds of our Wi-Fi router and booster, requiring the introduction of a new wire.

When I think of a wireless connection between the console and chambers of a large pipe organ, I imagine sweeping onto the bench, robes a-flutter, turning on the organ, pushing a piston, and garage doors throughout the neighborhood randomly opening and closing. Swing wide the gates, I’m coming home.

John Bishop

A restoration story

A couple months ago, I wrote in these pages about Fritz Noack, the pioneering builder of mechanical-action pipe organs who learned the trade working for great European firms and came to the United States to build more than 160 organs (see August 2021 issue, pages 14–15). Fritz passed away on June 2 at the age of 86, and I recounted his career in the context of the frenzy of mechanical-action organs, especially as it was centered in the Boston area. At the same time Noack and others were getting started, Nelson Barden was focusing on the restoration of early twentieth-century electro-pneumatic-action organs, the very instruments so many churches were suddenly overly eager to replace.

Nelson was born in 1934 and apprenticed with Roy Carlson of Magnolia, Massachusetts, beginning in 1955, two years before E. Power Biggs brought the iconic Flentrop organ to the Busch-Reisinger Museum (now known as Busch Hall) at Harvard University. Carlson maintained many of the prominent organs in Boston including those in Symphony Hall, First Church, Old South Church, and Second Church (now Ruggles Baptist Church). Early in his time with Carlson, the combination action of a new organ in a junior college auditorium failed just weeks after the dedication concert. The builder of the organ could not solve the problem, and the organist called Roy who in turn sent Nelson to investigate. He noticed that the power-supply feed wires of the combination action were of different colors than those for the organ, and after scouring the building, “discovered” an independent twenty-four-volt generator that powered the combination action. It was turned off. He turned it on. Voilà!

Nelson was quickly recognized as a wunderkind whose aptitude and musical ear equipped him to solve bewildering mechanical glitches, set excellent temperaments, and tune large organs for the most discriminating organists. Those organists began engaging him personally for their maintenance programs, and by the time he was twenty-five years old he was supporting himself with eighteen tuning and maintenance contracts in the Boston area.

The Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company was prominent in Boston and typically restored their own instruments. Second Church in Boston had a forty-five-rank Skinner organ “down front” (Opus 226) and an eighty-three-stop organ by Möller in a rear gallery (Opus 3903), all played from a console located on the floor in front of the congregation, and the organist wished to have the console moved to the gallery. Aeolian-Skinner chose not to bid on the complex project involving a large organ by another builder, and Nelson Barden made what he considered to be a high bid and was awarded the contract. The organist left the church a few years later, and his successor insisted that the console should be moved back to its original location. This time Nelson knew just what the project would cost and accomplished the work with a larger profit margin.

After working from the basement of a friend’s apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts, Nelson found space in the former Chickering Piano Factory in Dorchester, knowing he would have to work hard to meet the $140 monthly rent. By 1963, he had seventy-eight maintenance contracts. When that number had grown to 107 by 1971, he decided to scale back and focus specifically on restoration.

Counterculture

Nelson was establishing his restoration business in the midst of the tracker-action frenzy. Companies like C. B. Fisk, Inc., Noack Organ Company, and Andover Organ Company were producing dozens of new instruments. Nelson told me simply that he was not moved by tracker-action organs, preferring to work on the “gorgeous” electro-pneumatic-action organs
of the early twentieth century, especially those built by Ernest Skinner and the Skinner Organ Company. He gained a deep respect for the innovations that allowed pneumatic actions to work so reliably and sensitively, and developed techniques expressly for this unique work, setting the standards for generations of restorers of pipe organs.

Nelson maintained the fleet of organs owned by Boston University, so naturally he was summoned when John Robinson, secretary of the university’s board of trustees, wished to remove the Skinner organ from his home in Greenwich, Connecticut. A quick inspection of the organ revealed that sewage pipes running through the ceiling of the basement organ chamber had leaked for decades, and he recommended that it would not be practical to restore the badly damaged organ. Mr. Robinson had other ideas. The organ would be restored to museum-quality condition and donated to the university.

BU president John Silber and chairman of the board of trustees Arthur Metcalf came to visit the organ. When Metcalf saw the two-manual Skinner console, he announced, “The organ in my house has three keyboards.” Nelson asked, “Dr. Metcalf, where do you live?” The next day, Nelson and his assistants arrived at Metcalf’s residence in Winchester, Massachusetts, which was originally built for William E. Schrafft, Boston’s “Candy King,” who equipped it with an Aeolian organ.

Dr. Metcalf pressed his hands together and dramatically announced, “I think they should get married,” and the concept of the Boston University Symphonic Organ was born. Nelson Barden & Associates was appointed restorers-in-residence at the university and situated in a fully equipped restoration studio in the Fuller Building on Commonwealth Avenue, built for the Peter Fuller Cadillac-Oldsmobile automobile dealership. It was a blast to drive up the interior circular ramp to Nelson’s fourth-floor studio.

Nelson Barden & Associates worked for more than fifteen years combining the two organs, adding several others, and expanding the instrument to 107 ranks with additional stops and many percussions. Nelson collaborated with his associate Sean O’Donnell, mathematics professor John Irwin, and Roy Battelle to create a sophisticated digital player with advanced editing capabilities, allowing the fragile paper rolls to be transferred to digital files. The organ could be played from both Skinner and Aeolian roll players, the digital system, and from a four-manual Skinner console. It was ultimately installed in Metcalf Hall of the George Sherman Union on the university’s campus, where it was dedicated in honor of president John R. Silber and has been heard by thousands of students and visitors.

The Boston University Symphonic Organ stands as an eloquent example of the art of restoring electro-pneumatic-action pipe organs. Part of Nelson’s vision was that the appearance of a restored organ was important to the overall artistic effect, and along with new techniques for the accurate and intricate restoration of leathered actions, he developed methods for the restoration of the finish on organ pipes, windchests, and all other components of the instrument. Even the screws and hardware were run through bead-blaster cleaning machines to remove rust, adding to the “like new” appearance of the organ. The BU organ is thirty feet tall and one hundred feet wide. Most of the organ is enclosed behind a dazzling array of expression shutters. Visitors walk on parquet floors behind the two stories of chambers. Sliding glass doors allow viewing of each chamber, and polished brass handrails complete the effect. Walking through the organ while it is playing a complex orchestral score is a dizzying experience. You can see photos and read a marvelous essay about the organ written by Jonathan Ambrosino at http://www.nbarden.com/gfx/BUSO-History.pdf.

Nelson Barden & Associates is also well-known for having restored the 113-rank Skinner organ at Old South Church in Boston, and for the creation of the recently completed “Skinner” organ with over 125 ranks for the Church of the Transfiguration at the Community of Jesus in Orleans, Massachusetts, a new installation made up primarily of combined and restored Skinner organs and components.

Passing the baton

When the BU organ was completed and the university needed the studio space in the Fuller Building, Nelson Barden & Associates moved to a workshop space in Waltham, Massachusetts. Having passed his eighty-seventh birthday this summer, Nelson was planning his retirement, aware that he would have to find new homes for the vast collection of wood and metal working machines, hand tools, and other equipment he had accumulated over his long career. He the told me, “I prayed to Saint Cecilia.”

On June 15, news broke of a devastating fire destroying the workshop of Dobson Pipe Organ Builders in Lake City, Iowa. At the time of the fire, Dobson was about a third of the way through the construction of their ninety-ninth organ, a large, new four-manual instrument for Saint James’s Church, King Street, in Sydney, Australia. It was to include a Vox Humana made by the Skinner Organ Company they had purchased from Nelson’s associate Peter Rudewicz, and immediately after the fire, Dobson president John Panning called Peter to ask if a replacement rank was available. There was, and it was soon apparent that one company was eager to sell its equipment and the other was in immediate need of it.

An agreement was quickly reached, and arrangements made to pack and ship the entire contents of Nelson’s workshop to Dobson. The Organ Clearing House helped with the packing and chartered a semi-trailer that turned out to be driven by Bob Mead, one of our regulars. This was the fourth load Bob had hauled for OCH in 2021, and he delivered it to Dobson’s temporary workshop on August 2. It seems a miracle that all that well-seasoned organ building equipment will continue to sing together in the same choir, helping to build organs for the next generation.

It’s all art

I visited Nelson Barden’s workshops many times over the years, both in the Fuller Building and in Waltham. During the restoration of the BU organ, Nelson developed a theatrical lecture presentation of the work they were doing that he first shared with the BU board of trustees. He generously presented it for the staff of my Bishop Organ Company in the late 1980s and famously ran it six times for the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in 1990, and I know that countless others were treated to this show, gaining a higher understanding of the art of the organ and the art of organ restoration. The fastidious details of Nelson’s methods have been applied to the restoration of historic mechanical-action organs, pianos, harpsichords, and many other facets of the world of historical restoration. His career has influenced the preservation of many electro-pneumatic-action instruments that might otherwise have been replaced with new tracker organs.

I believe that the revival of building organs in classical styles has led us all to a higher understanding of the art through the limitless study and experimentation that went into recreating ancient methods. The concurrence of reconstruction of old methods of organ building with the development of new techniques of organ restoration means that the entire art of the organ has been elevated. Today, organ builders in the United States and Europe are building and restoring high quality organs of all types and descriptions.

The evolution of the pneumatic-action and electro-pneumatic-action organ to include expression enclosures and a dizzying array of registration devices invented by such geniuses as Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Henry Willis, and Ernest Skinner did not sully the reputation or effectiveness of the classic beauties of Arp Schnitger and Elias and George Hook, but added to the breadth and depth of the art. As Silbermann and Hildebrandt organs inspired Bach, so Cavaillé-Coll organs inspired Franck, Vierne, Widor, Dupré, and a host of other great musicians. Ernest Skinner changed the landscape forever with his colorful tonal innovations, elegant consoles, and the spectacular design of the pitman windchest that sports the fastest and quietest stop action of any pipe organ—even a careless user cannot make it noisier. The vast repertory of music for the organ from Scheidt and Sweelinck through Demessieux and George Baker is only possible because of the huge variety that is the world of the pipe organ.

I am often asked what is my favorite organ, a question I find impossible to answer. I might say it is the last organ I heard, but that one might have been a stinker—there is such a thing. There are some iconic “best in the world” organs, and those I have played are worthy of the distinction. I love any beautiful instrument that has been well maintained and loved by the people that own and play it. I love any organ that has been the center of the life of a congregation through generations of festivals, marriages, and funerals. I love a great new organ that is being heard for the first time for the daring and skill of those who made it, paid for it, and prepared a good home for it. I love a beautiful, intimate instrument in a distant local church, and I love a majestic behemoth in a great cathedral or concert hall. I love an organ carefully restored with constant attention to the intentions of the original builder, and I love the first third of the Dobson organ destroyed in the June fire. What matters is that an organ is built with care and integrity, that it is designed with intent and purpose, and that it is faithful to the six-hundred-year legacy of the instrument.

Nelson Barden & Associates and Dobson Pipe Organ Builders are two companies within the same industry with radically different philosophies, methods, and practices. The fact that Nelson’s tools and equipment would be useful to Dobson shows that whether you are restoring a Skinner organ or building a grand new instrument, it is simply all about organs. Both companies devote huge amounts of time and energy to achieving the highest results. Both have raised the standards, inspiring firms across the country with the depth of their work. As Nelson retires from his career and Dobson rebuilds after its fire, the legacy of American organ building flourishes.

Inspiration

In the 1980s and 1990s, I was a newly independent organ guy in the Boston area. I was lucky to work on some of the great organs there and to have contact with some of the “old timers” who had worked with Mr. Skinner. They referred to him formally and with reverence as they came from a time when a young employee would not dream of addressing his boss as “Ernest.” They were in their eighties when I was in my forties. Nelson is of the generation in between. He is a marvelous teacher—there’s a troupe of fine organ craftspeople who got their start in his shop—and he was generous to me with advice and suggestions as I learned my way. After I joined the Organ Clearing House, I collaborated often with Nelson, especially as he sent us across the country to “harvest” the Skinner organs destined to become part of the great instrument at the Community of Jesus.

Helping to move Nelson’s equipment to Iowa has given me a chance to reflect on his contribution to our art. I admire his contrariness, insisting that fine electro-pneumatic-action organs were worth restoring as so many of his contemporaries were newly excited about tracker organs. He helped get us to this place of excellence in every style of organ, and Saint Cecilia was paying attention.

A. Thompson-Allen Company, New Haven, Connecticut; Derry Presbyterian Church, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Editor's note: Click on the link above to view the front cover of the April 1951 issue of The Diapason and announcement of Opus 1132 for the Church of the Redeemer, New Haven, Connecticut.

The organ’s first career

In 1951 New Haven’s Church of the Redeemer, founded in 1838, moved into a neo-colonial structure designed by prominent local architect Douglas Orr. The new church was located in the city’s East Rock neighborhood and quickly took its place among Orr’s other distinguished buildings that remain popular to the present day.

The church’s organist-choirmaster, Hope Leroy Baumgartner (1891–1969), was assigned the task of designing a suitable organ for the new sanctuary. A student of Horatio Parker and Harry Benjamin Jepson, Baumgartner was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree from the Yale School of Music in 1916. In 1919 he was appointed to the faculty as an associate professor where he taught composition and music theory with distinction until his retirement in 1960.

As a teacher, Baumgartner was famous for his attention to detail, so it is no surprise that he took an intense interest in the designing of Church of the Redeemer’s new organ, to be built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company as their Opus 1132. The April 1951 issue of The Diapason carries a front-page article describing the completion of the new organ, noting:

The organ was designed by H. Leroy Baumgartner, organist and choirmaster of the church, associate professor of the theory of music at Yale University and noted composer. Professor Baumgartner spent several years developing the scheme for this instrument and provided detailed instructions for its construction, which included drawings specifying the placement of the controls at the console. A feature of the organ will be an unusually large number of mechanical controls, some of which were designed by Professor Baumgartner.

Baumgartner was especially known for accompanying oratorios as part of his music program, and he wanted an instrument that would facilitate complex registrational changes. Not only did he specify several highly unusual console controls, but he also had some idiosyncratic ideas about the design of the stoplist.

The founder of our company, Aubrey Thompson-Allen, was assistant to G. Donald Harrison while Opus 1132 was being negotiated. Harrison had become exasperated with Baumgartner’s incessant micromanaging of the details of the organ’s stoplist and console controls, ultimately placing a large stack of correspondence in Aubrey’s hands and asking him to go to New Haven to see if the contract somehow might be finalized and signed. Ultimately it was, and an order was given for an instrument of fifty-one speaking stops controlled by a three-manual console, with a floating Positive division that could be played from the Great or Choir manuals.

In an effort to wring the greatest number of stops from the complement of pipes, a number of compromises had to be made. To cite only one example, the 8′ Rohr Bordun in the Swell served also as the unison flute for the Great, Choir, and Pedal divisions, which had none of their own. To save expense, the design of the organ omitted the use of chest relays, with the result that this flute would not “travel” with any of the couplers and had to be drawn separately on any manual to which the Swell might be coupled.

For more than sixty-five years, Opus 1132 provided reliable and beautiful music under the hands of several musicians. Each of them learned to accommodate the organ’s peculiarities, including an amazingly complicated setterboard that controlled the combination pistons. The members of the Church of the Redeemer cherished their Aeolian-Skinner organ and maintained excellent stewardship of it, including a basic releathering of the chassis and the installation of a multi-level combination action in 2007, even as the congregation was beginning to contemplate its own future.

By 2018 the membership had dwindled to about 170 dedicated people, and they found it increasingly difficult to keep their large physical plant maintained to the standards they had set for themselves. After exploring possible mergers with other Congregational churches in the area, the members voted to close the church and sell the property, ending Redeemer’s 180-year history of service to New Haven. Consistent with the congregation’s strong commitment to its core values, more than $2.2 million was donated to other churches and entities having similar values and missions, including almost $800,000 set aside as the Church of the Redeemer Community Legacy Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

Unable to find a buyer willing to continue the building’s use as a church, after two years the congregation sold the property to a developer for conversion to apartments, with the stipulation that the external appearance of the church and its parish house would be preserved as a neighborhood landmark. The organ was offered for sale, and while several church delegations were enthusiastic about the instrument, none of them could undertake the project. As the deadline for interior demolition approached, the organ’s fate looked increasingly uncertain. Those who knew and loved Opus 1132 became anxious for the organ’s future.

In late September 2019, a committee from Derry Presbyterian Church in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which had been searching for an Aeolian-Skinner organ, heard about Opus 1132’s availability, and on October 4 visited Church of the Redeemer. Yale Institute of Sacred Music student Jerrick Cavagnaro engagingly demonstrated the instrument for the committee, and it was love at first sight. They were impressed by the organ’s musical qualities and excellent state of preservation, and in short order, contracts were drawn up and signed. On November 3 a farewell concert was played by several prominent local musicians, with members of the Derry Presbyterian Church present to formally receive the instrument. Removal of the organ began immediately afterwards, just as construction equipment started to appear on the property.

—Joseph F. Dzeda

Restoration and relocation of Opus 1132

The restoration of this fine Aeolian-Skinner was perfectly straightforward for us as we have restored a number of Skinner and Aeolian-Skinner organs over the last fifty years. After we removed the organ from Church of the Redeemer we proceeded to complete the restoration. We had releathered the organ ten years earlier, but this did not include restoration of the pipework and new gaskets for all the chests and windlines.

The flue pipes were cleaned, repaired, and fitted with new stainless slide tuners. The wood flutes were cleaned and shellacked, with the stoppers releathered. Then each stop was placed on my voicing machine to be regulated for power and speech. The wind pressures were reset to the factory records. All the pitman and unit chests had been fully rebuilt and were in perfect condition. Anything that was not done during the previous work was now completed, including new gaskets for all the pitman and unit chests and assorted windline flanges.

The original console and all relays and wiring were replaced. The old console was painted and was unsuitable to go with the other woodwork in the church. A new oak console with Peterson solid-state was built by Organ Supply Industries and was matched to the existing furniture in the new location. We made every attempt to replicate the appearance of an Aeolian-Skinner console, especially with knob, coupler, and piston layout.

We wanted to restore the organ tonally to the way that G. Donald Harrison had originally designed it. In the final specification the organ did not contain unison flutes on the Great, Choir, and Pedal. The unit Swell 16′ Rohr Bordun had to do the job on all manuals and pedal. GDH was dead set against this, and he eventually put the project in Aubrey Thompson-Allen’s (assistant to GDH) hands.

We have endeavored to complete the specification with the addition of:

• A new Skinner-style Choir 8′ Concert Flute.

• A repurposed 1930 Skinner Great 8′ Flute Harmonique.

• A repurposed Pedal 16′–8′ Bourdon, retained from the Hershey church’s former Reuter organ.

In its previous home the Pedal Bombarde was buried in a tone pocket in the Choir organ and was ineffective. We have relocated it, unenclosed, with the Pedal division just behind and slightly above the Great division. It is a fine “English Trombone” and is very successful in its new location. This and all of the other reeds in the organ have been beautifully restored by Broome and Company.

Relocating the organ designed for a completely different organ chamber presented many challenges, especially as Opus 1132 is much larger than the former organ. The entire organ was reconfigured and assembled in our erecting room. The organ had originally been installed either side of the chancel with the Choir, Positive, and Pedal on one side and the Swell and Great on the other. There were always pitch issues with the Great and Positive being in different locations, and it could be perilous to combine them!

The new chamber has the Swell and Choir in identical swell boxes on either side of the chamber, with vertical shutters on the front and diagonally on the sides, with the shades angled to project the sound out into the church. The Great and Positive, which are on chromatic chests, are installed next to each other with the treble end facing the chamber opening and passage boards between the chests for tuning access. This has eliminated the pitch differences that had existed. The entire organ is on one level except for the Great and Pedal zinc basses that had been in the façades of the Redeemer organ. These were cut to speaking length and placed on new chests above the Great and Positive. Aeolian-Skinner often did this when space was at a premium.

The Pedal organ has been placed at the back of the main chamber starting with the 16′ Contra Bass and continuing forward with the 16′ Bourdon and then the 16′ Bombarde. The mouths are at different heights to ensure adequate speaking room, and every effort has been made to have all of the windchests accessible for maintenance.

The entire wind trunk system is made up of either new galvanized metal or the original windlines unsoldered and reconfigured as needed. All of the Aeolian-Skinner flanges were retained.

The original Spencer blower was retained and restored by Joseph Sloane. The hubs and turbine fans had been badly damaged when the fans were removed to service the motor in the past. New fans and hubs had to be manufactured and installed, and the old single-phase induction motor was replaced with a new three-phase motor. We have found the single-phase motors to be unreliable after 70–100 years and warrant replacement for safety and reliability. Also, the blower never had a static reservoir, instead having a small Spencer pressure regulator. Not only did this have inadequate capacity, but it also allowed wind noise into the chamber through the windlines, caused by fan turbulence. We have installed a vintage Skinner reservoir over the blower to overcome these issues. Now up in the chamber the organ is silent with the wind on.

This very rewarding project was completed by the following members of the ATA Company:

• Kurt Bocco—reservoirs, wind trunks and installation.

• Joseph Dzeda—wiring and keeping the company in order during our many weeks away.

• Joe Linger—all windchests and installation.

• Sam Linger—all windchests and installation.

• Nick Thompson-Allen—pipe restoration and voicing and installation and tuning.

• Nate Ventrella—wiring and installation.

• Zack Ventrella—layout, console and wiring, installation, and tuning.

Also, we thank:

• Chris Broome—all reed pipe restoration.

• Joseph Sloane—blower restoration and installation.

• Bryan Timm and Organ Supply Industries—new console, new Peterson solid-state, new chests for the Great and Pedal basses and the two added stops, and the new pipes for the Concert Flute.

And finally:

• Grant Wareham—organist and liaison with the church, whose help and patience have been greatly appreciated.

—Nicholas Thompson-Allen

The musician’s perspective

Opus 1132 is a wonderful instrument. It is ideal for all types of choral accompanying, fills the room well for congregational singing, and can tackle almost any type of organ repertoire.

All five divisions are exceedingly useful and come together for an excellent chorus. The Swell gives everything I would expect from an Aeolian-Skinner Swell division, and the 16′ Clarinet doubles beautifully as a color reed. I’ve also found that removing the mixture and super-coupling the division into the chorus works very well for a “chorus-crowning” brilliance.

The addition of the Harmonic Flute gives added strength to an already-strong Great division. Similar in scale to the Principal Flute on the Newberry Memorial Organ at Woolsey Hall, it serves as a subtle third diapason from midrange down and scintillates impeccably in the soprano range. The rich, warm Montre and firm Diapason complement each other perfectly. The 2′ and Quint can serve as an alternate mixture before adding the Fourniture to crown the chorus.

A pair of Erzhälers on the Choir give the signature light Skinner string shimmer and are exceedingly useful for quiet moments either in repertoire or in services. The Koppelflöte and new Concert Flute make a beautiful pair and blend nicely with the Viola. The English Horn is predictably delectable. With a non-mounted cornet and a sparkling Cymbal, the Positive rounds out the organ nicely.

The Bombarde is at its best in the Pedal—it’s an excellent, present reed at both 8′ and 16′ pitch. The addition of the 16′ Bourdon, from the Reuter instrument (Opus 1499) previously installed in the space, rounds out the bass end of the Pedal division beautifully. Adding the 102⁄3′ Quint stop produces a strong 32′ resultant and anchors the organ perfectly.

It was truly a pleasure to work with Nick Thompson-Allen, Joe Dzeda, Zack and Nate Ventrella, Joe and Sam Linger, Kurt Bocco, and everyone at Thompson-Allen, who all worked very hard throughout this project. Through all the challenges this project threw them (including the physical puzzle of putting the pipework in the existing chamber, complex wiring, and pandemic-related delays), they displayed the utmost of professionalism. My thanks as well to Bryan Timm of OSI for the console, which is so close to Aeolian-Skinner specifications, I often forget it is, in fact, brand-new. I feel very lucky to preside over this fine organ.

—Grant Wareham

Total speaking stops: 59

Total ranks: 45

Total pipes: 2,794

Builder’s website: www.thompson-allen.com

Church’s website: www.derrypres.org

Cover photo by Robert J. Polett, Photographer

 

View a PDF of Opus 1132’s first front cover in The Diapason, April 1951, at the website. Click on the cover feature for the March 2022 issue.

GREAT (3¾″ pressure)

16′ Rohr Bordun (Swell)

8′ Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Montre 61 pipes

8′ Flute Harmonique (1) 61 pipes

8′ Rohr Bordun (Swell)

4′ Octave 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Quinte 61 pipes

2′ Super Octave 61 pipes

IV Fourniture 244 pipes

8′ Bombarde (Pedal) 17 pipes

Chimes (in Choir) (2) 20 notes

SWELL (4″ pressure)

16′ Rohr Bordun 68 pipes

8′ Spitz Principal 68 pipes

8′ Rohr Bordun (ext 16′) 12 pipes

8′ Viole de Gambe 68 pipes

8′ Viole Celeste (CC) 68 pipes

4′ Prestant 68 pipes

4′ Holzflöte (3) 68 pipes

2′ Spitzflöte 61 pipes

III Plein Jeu 183 pipes

16′ Bass Clarinet 68 pipes

8′ Trompette 68 pipes

8′ Oboe 68 pipes

8′ Vox Humana (4) 68 pipes

4′ Clarion 68 pipes

Tremulant

POSITIVE (3″ pressure)

8′ Singend Gedeckt 61 pipes

4′ Nachthorn 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nasat 61 pipes

2′ Blockflöte 61 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Terz 61 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Larigot 61 pipes

III Cymbel 183 pipes

CHOIR (4″ pressure)

16′ Erzähler 61 pipes

8′ Viola 68 pipes

8′ Concert Flute (5) 68 pipes

8′ Erzähler (ext 16′) 12 pipes

8′ Kleine Erzähler (TC) 49 pipes

4′ Koppelflöte 68 pipes

4′ Erzähler (ext 16′) 12 pipes

8′ English Horn 68 pipes

Tremulant

8′ Bombarde (Pedal)

PEDAL (5″ pressure)

32′ Resultant (16′ Bourdon, 10-2⁄3′ Rohr Bordun)

16′ Contra Bass 32 pipes

16′ Bourdon (6) 32 pipes

16′ Rohr Bordun (Swell)

16′ Erzähler (Choir)

10-2⁄3′ Quint (from Bourdon)

8′ Principal 32 pipes

8′ Gedeckt (ext Bourdon) 12 pipes

8′ Rohr Bordun (Swell)

8′ Erzähler (Choir)

5-1⁄3′ Quint 32 pipes

4′ Super Octave (ext Princ) 12 pipes

4′ Rohr Bordun (Swell)

16′ Bombarde 32 pipes

16′ Bass Clarinet (Swell)

8′ Bombarde 12 pipes

4′ Bombarde 12 pipes

Chimes (Great)

Notes

(1) 1–12 Organ Supply Industries, 13–61 Skinner Organ Co. 1930, chest by Organ Supply Industries

(2) Old Chimes and action reused by Aeolian-Skinner in 1951

(3) Old Hall Organ Company pipes reused by Aeolian-Skinner in 1951

(4) Skinner & Son pipework, installed in chest preparation, 2007

(5) Pipes and chest by Organ Supply Industries, to Skinner scales

(6) Pedal Bourdon from previous organ by Reuter

 

2007 - Releathering, multi-level combination action, and addition of Skinner & Son Vox Humana

2020 - Relocation, completion of chassis and pipework restoration, additional stops as noted. Console by Organ Supply Industries, reed pipes restored by Broome and Company, LLC, Spencer Turbine blower restored by Joseph Sloane

John Bishop

Control freaks

A little over a year ago, I bought a slightly used 2017 Chevrolet Suburban. It replaced a 2008 Suburban that I drove 250,000 miles. I prefer buying cars that have 10,000 or 15,000 miles on them because I think the first owner absorbs the loss of the “new car value,” and I get to buy a fancier car for less money. The first Suburban was black. Wendy thought Tony Soprano while I thought Barack Obama. My colleague Amory said “Special Agent Bishop” when I arrived at his house to pick him up. But the funnier thing was that while sitting in an on-street parking spot in New York City in the big black car, people would open the back door and get in, thinking I was the limo they had ordered. That happened several times, and each time brought a good shared laugh.

I like to have big, comfortable cars because I drive a lot (between 1985 and 2018, I drove six cars a total of nearly 1,250,000 miles, which is an average of about 38,000 miles a year), and because I carry big loads of tools, organ components, and, um, boat stuff. I can put an eight-foot rowing dinghy in the back of the Suburban and close the door. The new Suburban gets about forty percent more miles to the gallon. But the biggest difference is the electronics.

Sitting at a stoplight facing uphill, I move my foot from the brake to the accelerator to start moving, and a sign on the dashboard lights up, “Hillside brake assist active.” I am told that I am Driver #1 for the auto-set feature for seats and mirrors (and steering wheel and pedals). I am told when my phone connects to Bluetooth or when Wendy’s phone is not present in the car. I am told when the rain sensor is operating the wipers. I am told when my tire pressure is low. I am told when I am following a car too closely. And to the amusement of friends and family, and a little excitement for me, the driver’s seat buzzes when I get close to things like Jersey Barriers, trees, or other cars. It sounds like the gabbling of eider ducks when they are rafting together in big groups at sea.

The feature I like best is Apple CarPlay. When my phone is plugged into the charger, my Apple icons show up on the dashboard touchscreen giving me easy and safe access to Apple Maps, Google Maps, hands-free messaging, and phoning. I can activate Siri with a button on the steering wheel and place a call or record a reminder, so I have no excuse for forgetting things. One of the icons is my Audible account so I can listen to my library of ebooks as I drive.

I expect there is a downside to all these gadgets. Any organbuilder knows that there is a whopper of a wiring harness snaking through the car and a CPU somewhere deep in the bowels of the vehicle, and I imagine that the most expensive repairs I will face down the road will be correcting cranky electronics.

One thing leads to another.

I am thinking about electronic controls because I was amused recently by a post on Facebook by Damin Spritzer¹ who wrote, “Does anyone else have anxiety dreams about Sequencers? *Laughs weakly and makes more coffee.*” There ensued a flurry of responses, some thoughtful and provocative, some ridiculous, and some downright stupid. This conversation brought to my mind several themes I have developed over the years about the advances of pipe organ control systems and various colleagues’ reactions to the relevance, convenience, and pitfalls of new generations of this equipment.

In the late 1980s, I took over the care of the heroic Aeolian-Skinner organ at The First Church of Christ, Scientist (The Mother Church), in Boston, Massachusetts. With 237 ranks and well over 13,000 pipes, this was quite a responsibility. Jason McKown, then in his eighties, who had worked personally with Ernest Skinner in the 1920s, was retiring after decades of service, and before I arrived, the church had contracted with another organ company to install a solid-state switching and combination system. Jason’s comment was simple, “This is for you young guys.” I was present to help with that installation, and, of course, was responsible for maintaining it. That was before the days of effective lightning protection, and whenever there was a thunderstorm, we had to reprogram the Crescendo memory. I had a helper who memorized that huge list of stops, and I could trust her to drop by and punch it in.

Marie-Madeleine Duruflé played a recital at Boston’s Trinity Church for the 1990 convention of the American Guild of Organists. A few days before she was to arrive to prepare for her performance, the solid-state combination system in the organ stopped working and the organ went dead. The company that built the system sent a technician with a bale of spare cards, and we worked through two nights to get the organ running again, just in time for Madame Duruflé to work her magic.

The Newberry Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall at Yale University is one of the great monuments of twentieth-century organbuilding. With more than a 165 voices and over 12,500 pipes, it is high on the magic list of the largest Skinner organs, and Nick Thompson-Allen and Joe Dzeda have been its curators for over fifty years. Nick’s father, Aubrey Thompson-Allen, started caring for the organ in 1952. That huge organ is played regularly by dozens of different people, and one might expect that a combination system with multiple levels would have been installed promptly there. But at first, Joe and Nick resisted that change, correctly insisting that the original equipment built by Ernest Skinner’s people must be preserved as a pristine example of that historic art and technology.

However, along with Yale’s teachers, they understood that the change would be a big advantage for all involved, including the durability of the organ itself. Knowing that the cotton-covered wire used in Skinner organs would soon be no longer available, they proactively purchased a big supply. At their request, Richard Houghton devised a plan that added 256 levels of solid-state memory while retaining the original combination action and retaining the original electro-pneumatic actions to operate the drawknobs and tilting tablets as pistons were pushed and settings engaged. Houghton was sensitive to all aspects of the situation, and the 1928 console still functions as it did ninety-one years ago, while serving the procession of brilliant students and performers who use that organ for lessons, practice, and performance. The addition of the new equipment was accomplished with great skill in the spirit of Mr. Skinner under Joe and Nick’s supervision. Neat bundles of green and red cotton-covered wire wrapped in friction tape connect the hundreds of circuits of the console to the new unit, just as if it had been installed by Mr. Skinner’s workers in 1928. A side benefit was the elimination of countless hours spent resetting pistons as each organist took to the bench, hours lost for valuable practice, hours when the huge blower was running to support that mundane task.

Next

The sequencers to which Dr. Spritzer was referring are accessory functions of the more advanced solid-state combination systems that allow an organist to set sequences of pistons whose individual settings are advanced during performance by repeatedly pressing a piston or toe stud labeled “Next.” In addition, some systems allow the organist to program which pistons would be “Next,” so some make all the buttons have that function, while others choose buttons that are easy to reach and difficult to miss.

There is a steep learning curve in gaining proficiency with sequencers. It is easy enough to punch a wrong button or to fail to insert an intended step, so double-checking before performing is advised. And malfunctions happen, leaving a performer stranded with an unintended registration in the heat of battle. In thirty-six hours, Dr. Spritzer’s post attracted 135 “Likes” and 185 responses from organists who have had those magic moments. The brilliant performer Katelyn Emerson chimed in, “When the sequencer jumped no fewer than 16 generals on the third to last page of Liszt’s Ad nos, and I landed on nothing more than an 8′ Gamba, I had nightmares for weeks.” Reading that, I thought, “If it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.”

Here are a few other replies to Dr. Spritzer’s post:

“No music was written for sequencers, so I don’t use them.”

“Didn’t have to dream it. I lived it.”

“When forward and back are unlabeled brass pedals one inch apart, only mayhem will ensue.”

“I just stick to mechanical action.”

“You know, I’m a sequencer phobic. I’ve had situations where I hit it and it zipped up five pistons.”

“Petrified of the things . . . . Yes, that’s why I never use them.”

Any colleague organbuilder who has or might consider installing a sequencer in an organ console should jump on Facebook (or get a friend to help you), find Dr. Spritzer’s post, and read this string of responses.

There are two basic ways that piston sequencers work. One is that you set all the pistons you need, and then set them in a chosen sequence. You can reuse individual settings as often as you would like, and there is no meaningful limit to the number of steps in a saved sequence. You can go back and edit your sequence, adding or deleting settings mid-way through. This is sometimes referred to as the “American” system.

The “European” system is a little different. It runs through General pistons in order, then scrolls up to the next level of memory and runs through them again. The scrolling continues through all the levels. This seems limiting, because it specifies exactly the order in which you must set pistons, and if you want to return to a setting, you have to program another piston the same way. In both styles, there is typically an LED readout on the console showing the current step in the sequence, and which piston it is, and if there isn’t, there should be.

If there are so many pitfalls, why bother? One of the great things about the state of the pipe organ today is that there are so many brilliant players who concertize around the world. If you perform on twenty or thirty different organs each year, especially those with big complicated consoles, you might take comfort in finding handy gadgets that are common to many of them. If you are adept and comfortable using sequencers, you do not have to go fishing around a big complex console looking for Swell 1, Great to Pedal, General 22, Positiv to Great 51⁄3′, Great 6, All 32′ Stops Off. You just keep hitting “Next.” Some consoles are equipped with “Next” buttons up high, so your page-turner can press it. (If you need that kind of help, maybe you should try the autoharp.)

Some teachers discourage the use of sequencers. Stephen Schnurr, editorial director and publisher of The Diapason, wrote that he “forbids” his students to use them in public performances at Valparaiso University where he teaches. He confirmed my guess, that he is encouraging them to “stand on their own two feet” and learn to play the organ seriously “the old-fashioned way.” That reminds me of my apprenticeship in Jan Leek’s workshop in Oberlin, Ohio, where he made sure I could cut a piece of wood straight and square by hand before teaching me the use of the super-accurate stationary machines. Further, Schnurr believes it is important that students do not rely on sequencers so heavily that they are bamboozled when faced with a console that does not have one. After all, I would guess that well over half of all organs do not have piston sequencers.

Looking at the other side of the issue, a few months ago, the Organ Clearing House installed a practice organ at the University of Washington, specially intended to expose students to the latest gadgets. We expanded a Möller Double Artiste to include a third independent unified division and provided a three-manual drawknob console with a comprehensive solid-state combination action that includes a sequencer. The organ allows students to develop proficiency using a sequencer in the safety of a practice room. It also features two independent expression boxes.

The old-fashioned way

The Illinois organbuilder John-Paul Buzard drives “Bunnie,” his Model A Ford, across the picturesque countryside, sometimes alone, and sometimes in the company of fellow members of a club of Model A owners. It looks like a ton of fun and great camaraderie, especially as club members help each other through repairs. Nevertheless, I will bet he uses a vehicle that is more up to date in the context of daily life. I am not an expert, but I am guessing that the Model A would be taxed if pressed into the mileage-hungry travel routines of an active organ guy. The Michelin radial tires on my whiz-bang Suburban are much better suited for endless hours at, um, eighty miles-per-hour than the 4.75 x 19 tires on the Model A.

In 1875, E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings built a spectacular organ with seventy stops and 101 ranks (Opus 801) for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts. The company’s workshop was within walking distance, and Frank Hastings reveled in taking potential clients to see it. It was equipped with a pneumatic Barker lever to assist the extensive mechanical keyboard and coupler actions, ten registering composition pedals, and a fourteen-stop Pedal division, complete with four 16′ flues, a 12′ Quint, and a 32′ Contra Bourdon. Anyone familiar with the construction of such organs knows that represents about an acre of windchest tables.

Thirty-one years later, in 1906, the Ernest M. Skinner Company built a four-manual, eighty-four-rank organ (Opus 150) for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York, New York. That organ had electro-pneumatic action throughout, pitman windchests, and an electro-pneumatic combination action with pistons and a crescendo pedal. That is a quantum leap in pipe organ technology in thirty-one years.

Look back to the iconic Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Sulpice in Paris, France, built in 1860. This was likely the most advanced instrument of its time, and the myriad original mechanical and pneumatic registration machines are still in use. We can reproduce how Widor, Dupré, and countless other genius players managed that massive instrument (although the presence of an electric blower takes away some of the original charm—it must have been quite a chore to maintain a brigade of organ pumpers to get through performances of Widor’s organ symphonies). Louis-James Alfred Lefébure-Wély was the organist there when the instrument was new, but Cavaillé-Coll realized that he was not the equal of the instrument and championed Widor as the next titulaire. Widor exploited the vast tonal resources of that great organ transforming the art of organ playing, inspired and enabled by Cavaillé-Coll’s technological innovations.

Ernest Skinner, with his comprehensive combination-actions, helped enable innovative artists like Lynwood Farnam develop new styles of playing. Widor and Farnam were apparently not above using complex and newly developed controls to enhance their command of their instruments. Their organbuilders demanded it of them.

I first worked with solid-state combinations in the late 1970s. Those systems were primitive, and excepting the revolutionary availability of two levels of memory, they had pretty much the same capabilities as traditional electric and electro-pneumatic systems. As the systems got more complex, they were sensitive to flukes like lightning strikes, and their developers worked hard to improve them. Recently I commented to a colleague that we all know that Mr. Skinner’s systems could fail. A hole in a piece of leather could mean that the Harmonic Flute would not set on divisional pistons. He agreed but replied that a good organ technician with a properly stocked tool kit could open up the machine and fix the problem in an hour or so. Some organbuilders are now proficient with electronic repairs, while others of us rely on phone support from the factory and next-day shipment of replacement parts to correct problems.

§

I could repair almost anything in my first car. There were two carburetors, a mechanical throttle, a manual choke, and an ignition rotor. When you open the hood of my Suburban, you see some plastic cowls and some wires and assume there is a cast engine block down in there. To start the car, I step on the brake and push a button. The key must be present, but it stays in my pocket. If I leave the key in the car and shut the doors, the horn gives three quick toots, telling me that the car knows better than to lock the doors. But I suppose someday it will smirk, toot twice, and lock me out.

Next.

Notes

1. Dr. Damin Spritzer is assistant professor of organ at the American Organ Institute of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, artist in residence at the Cathedral Church of St. Matthew in Dallas, Texas, and an active international recitalist. You can read more about her at http://www.ou.edu/aoi/about/directory/spritzer-bio.

Michał Szostak

Michał Szostak, Polish organist, researcher, and author, completed a doctorate degree in organ performance in February 2019. He studied organ performance at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw with Andrzej Chorosiński, as well as organ improvisation at the Pontificio Istituto Ambrosiano di Musica Sacra in Milan with Davide Paleari. He regularly performs organ recitals in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, and has recorded three CDs. His organological research is regularly published by Polish and international organ magazines. From 2011–2018 he was the music director and principal organist of the Basilica in Licheń Stary. For further information: www.michalszostak.org.

Between 2002 and 2007, in Licheń Stary, near the geographical center of Poland, the Polish organbuilder Zakłady Organowe Zych built a monumental instrument of 157 stops. Designed by Andrzej Chorosiński, the instrument is now the largest organ in Poland and is controlled by a six-manual console.

Licheń Stary has a population of approximately 1,500 people. After World War II, priests of the order of the Marian Fathers promoted the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary here, centered around a small seventeenth-century oil painting of the Blessed Virgin. The ever-increasing number of pilgrims visiting the village could not be accommodated in the small local church housing the painting.

The Marian Fathers decided to build a new and larger church for the painting and pilgrims, an edifice that would become a minor basilica and consequently the largest church edifice in Poland. Construction began in 1992, and Pope Saint John Paul II blessed the building in 1999, though construction continued into 2002. The size of the basilica is 3,237,000 cubic feet, and the usable area is 247,600 square feet. The length of the nave is approximately 456 feet, while the width of the transept with uneven shoulder lengths is approximately 472 feet.¹ With the completion of construction there was a need to equip the interior with liturgical elements, including a pipe organ.

The motivator of the pipe organ project was Reverend Eugeniusz Makulski, MIC, a great lover of organ music and the person most responsible for the construction of the shrine. In mid-2002, when construction of the basilica was nearly complete, Father Makulski finalized the plans that would lead to the construction of a pipe organ to adorn the monumental interior. He decided the organ must be exceptional and worthy of the largest church in Poland; it would have at least 100 stops with a beautiful and noble sound and visual appearance. The other stipulation was that at least some of the instrument had to be playable by June 14, 2003.²

After analyzing various organbuilders’ bids, the Marian Fathers entrusted the project to the firm of Zakłady Organowe Zych. The signing of the contract for the construction of the first part of the organ, the instrument for the west gallery, took place on August 21, 2002.

The organ firm, headed by Dariusz Zych, had to rely on acoustical plans for the instrument concept to avoid disappointments and surprises at the final stage of this work. The starting point for the development of the whole specification by Andrzej Chorosiński was the unrealized project by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll for Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.³ Based on the measured analysis of the acoustic parameters of the basilica, Chorosiński began to develop the specification of the organ and the composition of stops. The fact that the Licheń Basilica has five galleries (one in the main nave, two in the west and east aisles, and two galleries in the sanctuary), gave rise to the concept of creating a spatial sound unit composed of five elements. The great organ of the basilica has been placed in the southern, western, and eastern parts of the church. The project was completed with two Chancel Positives on two small balconies at both presbytery gables, where the apse connects to the main nave. The scales of the stops, as well as the compositions of composite stops (mixtures, etc.), were individually developed by Chorosiński.

Zakłady Organowe Zych accomplished all design work, construction of organ cases, windchests, key and stop actions, wooden ranks and wooden resonators of reeds, as well as assembly of all elements, voicing, and tuning. Subcontractor companies that were commissioned to carry out specific assignments included: KOART Krzysztof Cieplak (structures made of stainless steel), Otto Heuss GmbH from Lich, Germany (consoles, electronics, Zimbelstern, tubular bells), Aug. Laukhuff GmbH & Co. KG from Weikersheim, Germany (West Organ façade pipes), Jacques Stinkens
Orgelpijpenmakers BV from Zeist, the Netherlands (façade pipes for the South Organ), Süddeutsche Orgelpfeifenfabrik Roland Killinger GmbH from Freiberg on the River Neckar, Germany (reeds for West Organ, East and West Positives), Orguian Lda. from Avidos, Portugal (reeds for the South Organ), and Ryszard Chacinski from Kobylka near Warsaw (metal labial stops). Decorative elements adorning the organ cases were carved in wood by Janusz Regulski and Tomasz Kusnierz from Sochaczew near Warsaw, and then gilded in the goldsmith’s workshop of Henryk Kwiatkowski from Poznań.

All assembly, voicing, and tuning were completed before July 2, 2006, so that during the solemn Mass that day, when the famous painting of Our Lady of Licheń was introduced to the basilica, a fully prepared instrument could be heard. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world took part in the ceremony of transferring the image to its new home.

One month later, on August 1, 2006, there was a technical and artistic reception of the completed organ made by a commission consisting of representatives of the Marian Fathers, organbuilders, organists, and musicologists, who were all very pleased with the work. The acceptance protocol was signed by members of the commission composed of Rev. Wiktor Gumienny, MIC, Father Superior of the Licheń Shrine; Professor Urlich Grosser, German conductor and organist; Professor Roberto Padoin, organist and professor at the Conservatory B. Marcello in Venice; Reverend Dr. Jacek Paczkowski, chairman of the church music committee of the Diocese of Kalisz; Reverend Dr. Mariusz Klimek, director of the Church Music Study of the Diocese of Torun; Siegfried Sauer, organbuilder from Germany; Adam Klarecki, organist of the Wloclawek cathedral; Jacek Łukasik and Robert Grudzien, organists; and Jaroslaw Adamiak, then organist of the Licheń Shrine. Artistic decoration of the cases took nearly another year, and the dedication of the organ took place on the first anniversary of the transfer to the basilica of the famous painting of Our Lady of Licheń on July 2, 2007, during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Wieslaw Alojzy Mering.

Description of the organ

The organ of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń comprises 157 stops, 12,323 pipes, and five “organs” (in the chronology of construction): the West Organ, the South Organ (located in three organ cases on the same gallery above the main entrance), the East Organ, the East Chancel Positive, and the West Chancel Positive. The South Organ and the West Organ are fully independent instruments and have their own consoles. The East Organ and both Chancel Positives do not have their own consoles and can be played only from the main console. An organist playing from the main console has eleven independent divisions from which to choose. The key action is mechanical-electric, while the stop action is electric; windchests are slider and pallet, and the alloys of pipe metals contain tin up to 85–90%. All divisions of the instrument have a manual compass of C–c4 and pedal compass of C–g1. The layout of all parts of the organ throughout the basilica is presented in Figure 1.

The South Organ

The core of the whole organ of the Licheń Basilica is the South Organ, which contains the principal divisions of the instrument. The South Organ is the second in chronological order of construction, built between mid-2003 and 2005. This eighty-one-stop instrument with four manuals has a typical sound arrangement for the nineteenth-century French Romantic period: Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale. In addition there is a high-pressure Solo division placed on Manual IV. In each division one finds a full set of basic stops (Jeux de Fonds) in the form of principals, flutes, and strings, as well as stops—according to Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s nomenclature—available (Jeux de Combinaisons) in the form of mutations, mixtures, cornets, and reeds.

The console is placed centrally in the organ case and on a multi-stage elevation. Registers are placed on either side of the keydesk: on the left side for the Pédale and Grand-Orgue, on the right side for the Positif, Récit-expressif, and the Solo division. The stop action is electric, while the key action is mechanical (for the majority of the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale windchests) and electric (for the entire Solo division, as well as selected portions of the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, Pédale windchests, and double pallets for bass notes). The Récit-expressif section is enclosed in a swell box controlled by a balanced shoe with electric action; next to the expression shoe is a crescendo roller, which allows seamless dynamic changes. The player sits with his back to the main altar, and the console has a solid-state combination action system with an extensive storage capacity.

The South Organ consists of three separate organ cases placed on the same gallery on the axes of the main and side naves and is anchored on a twenty-ton steel structure. Architecturally, the cases are inspired by the organ case built between 1999 and 2003 by Schoenstein & Co. for the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. A great majority of the façade pipes are speaking pipes. The main case contains the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, Solo, and most of the Pédale division. In the side cases there are windchests for several Pédale stops (divided on C and C-sharp sides).

Each side case has its own small blower and a separate wind system. The wind system of the main South Organ’s section is fed by three electric blowers: the first blower feeds the Grand-Orgue, Positif, and Pédale, the second feeds the Récit-expressif, and the third feeds the high-pressure Solo division.

The South Organ contains the tallest open wood pipes of the whole organ, which belong to the Pédale 32′ Subcontrabasse, a principal stop. In this section there is also a second 32′ stop, the Contrabombard, the tallest reed resonators in the organ. The instrument also contains the largest tin pipes of the Licheń organ, located in the central organ case. The largest has a length of 25-1⁄2 feet, a diameter of one foot, and weighs 330 pounds.

The West Organ

The West Organ, placed on the gallery above the left transept of the basilica above the Pieta Porch, was built between August 2002 and June 2003. This two-manual instrument includes 51 stops enhanced with Zimbelstern and Tympan imitating the sound of a storm (Pédale d’Orage). Registers are placed at either side of the keydesk: on the left for the Pedal and the Hauptwerk sections, on the right side for the Schwellwerk division and additional devices. The instrument contains both mechanical and electric-action chests, double pallets for low keys, and electric stop action. All couplers are electric. As in the South Organ, the Schwellwerk is enclosed in a box managed by a balanced expression shoe with electric action, in addition to a crescendo roller. The console, slightly elevated, is centrally integrated into the organ case. The player sits with his back to the main altar, and the console features an extensive solid-state combination action.

The specification of the West Organ is slightly non-standard, divided between two manuals and pedal. Initially, it was planned that this instrument would have three manuals, however, due to the constraints imposed by basilica architect, Barbara Bielecka, on the dimensions of the organ case, it was decided to limit the number of manual divisions while maintaining a wealth of stops. In each section there is a full range of principals (in the Hauptwerk based at 16′, in the Schwellwerk at 8′, in the Pedal at 16′), enriched with flute stops of all types, strings, and reeds. In the Pedal section there is one 32′ stop, a stopped wood Bourdon. All divisions have mutation stops (2-2⁄3′, 1-3⁄5′, 1-1⁄3′, 8⁄9′) and at least one mixture (in the Hauptwerk there are two mixtures and a cornet). This instrument was conceived for performing Baroque pieces; however, thanks to a large number of foundation stops (as many as eleven manual stops, i.e., 30%, are at 8′), Romantic and symphonic pieces also work well. In the West Organ are also placed tubular bells with a compass from g to g2.

The placement of pipe flats in the organ case reflects the arrangement of the divisions inside the instrument. In the central part of the case (three double flats, each crowned with a group of small pipes) we see the Hauptwerk, the Schwellwerk above it (another three double flats, each crowned with a group of small pipes, the wooden shutters of the swell box located just behind the façade), and two symmetrical pedal towers—left side C, right side C-sharp. The façade pipes belong to the 16′ Principal from the Hauptwerk and the independent 16′ Principal from the Pedal. The organ weighs a total of thirty tons.

The blessing and dedication of the West Organ took place on June 14, 2003, by Bishop Roman Andrzejewski, while the inaugural concert was performed by Andrzej Chorosiński. The event, which was very popular with the media, attracted many outstanding guests from around the world.

The East Organ

The East Organ, built between September 2005 and 2006, is housed in twin towers with trapezoidal bases placed between high windows on the east gallery, which crowns the right transept of the basilica over the Four Evangelists’ Porch. The instrument has eight stops; the key and stop action are electric, and the windchests are slider and pallet. Looking from the center of the basilica, the left tower contains two windchests, placed one above the other, with C side pipes, while the right tower is similar with C-sharp side pipes.

The external structure of the organ cases reflects the internal arrangement of windchests for flue pipes. Each case has two main pipe flats separated by horizontal resonators of the Trumpets (16′, 8′, and 4′) and one small set of pipes at the very top, which are dummy pipes. Both towers are supplied by one blower that is placed in the left tower; the channel supplying air to the right tower runs along the gallery floor. The whole instrument is supplied with air under high pressure. As a result of this treatment, the volume of the eight stops of the East Organ is equivalent to the sound of fifty-one stops along with the super-octave couplers of the West Organ. This instrument can only be played from the main console and may be assigned to any of the six keyboards and pedalboard.

The West Chancel Positive

Built in 2006, the West Chancel Positive, with seven stops (plus Nachtigall), has electric key and stop action. Everything, including the blower, is enclosed in a single case, a mirror image of the East Chancel Positive. This instrument does not have a separate console, but rather is played from the main console only, as a floating division. This section, richly equipped with string stops, perfectly matches the ethereal voices of the Récit-expressif section of the South Organ. With proper registration, it surrounds the listener with the impression of “heavenly voices” (Vox Coelestis).

The East Chancel Positive

The East Chancel Positive was completed in 2006 and features eight stops constructed with early Baroque scaling and electric key and stop action. The whole instrument is enclosed in a single case like the West Chancel Positive. This division also does not have a separate console, but is a floating division of the main console. The disposition of this instrument was inspired by early Baroque Flemish organs and pairs well with the West Organ. With proper registration and manual changes, the East Chancel Positive and the West Organ can produce dialogue effects, concertino and tutti, in a manner characteristic of instrumental concertos of the Baroque era.

Where are the largest pipe organs in Europe?

On the basis of the criterion of organ classification in terms of size (i.e., number of ranks and auxiliary devices managed from one console) published by the author in 2017 in Polish⁴ and English⁵ literature on the subject, the organ of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń is the largest instrument in Poland, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest in the world. Among ecclesiastical organs, it is the tenth largest instrument and has one of the largest consoles in the world. The console of the Licheń organ is also the largest console among Polish organs and is one of the largest consoles in Europe.

The organist playing from the main console has a total of eleven fully independent divisions: nine manual divisions and two pedal divisions. Most divisions can be assigned at will on the six manuals and pedalboard, allowing ultimate flexibility.

The monumental main console is located in the sanctuary of the basilica. The lowest manual keyboard has the deepest key movement, while the top keyboard, the shallowest. The manual keyboards, moving from the lowest to the highest, are inclined at increasing angles. The main console is connected to all sections by a wired computer network and MIDI system. For each of the main console’s keyboards and pedalboard, it is possible to assign each section of the West Organ, the East Organ, the West Chancel Positive, the East Chancel Positive, and Manual IV of the South Organ. The Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale from the South Organ can be assigned only to manuals I, II, III, and pedalboard on the main console (plus standard section couplers within the South Organ).

The console is equipped with two balanced expression pedals to control two swell boxes (right, Schwellwerk of the West Organ; left, Récit-expressif of the South Organ). On the left side of the expressive pedals, there is a crescendo roller with two pre-programmed crescendos (smooth or stepwise). The console is equipped with a separate solid-state memory system; it has a cut-out switch for all reeds, as well as Tutti and General Tutti switches and General Cancel. The console was made in the workshop of Otto Heuss GmbH and is a work of art.

Conclusion

The course of history is surprising when considering a proposal for a project in 1875 by one of the greatest organbuilders of all times intended for the largest Catholic church in the world inspires the creation of a new organ 130 years later in the largest basilica of Poland, a country that did not even exist on the maps of Europe when Aristide Cavaillé-Coll lived. Though Cavaillé-Coll invited many great personalities from the world of politics, the Vatican authorities did not manage to materialize the project at Saint Peter’s Basilica; yet a priest in a relatively poor country with the support of countless pilgrims offering their small donations for this purpose did. Really, history can be amazing!

Several compact discs of organ music have been recorded so far on the organ of the Licheń Basilica. In 2003, Andrzej Chorosiński recorded organ literature, which was the first recording of the West Organ. In 2007, a Belgian organist of Polish descent, Karol Golebiowski, recorded a second album with the entire organ. In September 2017 the author recorded the third album, Ave Regina Caelorum, including improvisations on Gregorian and Polish Marian themes in two Romantic cyclic forms: organ symphony and symphonic poem on the South Organ. In June 2018 he recorded the fourth album, French Inspirations: the Second Half of the 19th Century, including literature of Franck, Lefébure-Wély, Lemmens, Guilmant, and an improvised five-movement organ symphony. (These last two discs can be found on eBay.)

I cordially invite you to Licheń Stary, where one can hear and see the largest organ in the largest ecclesiastical interior of Poland.

Notes

1. Krzysztof Jedrzejewski, Przewodnik po Sanktuarium Lichenskimm (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2014), p. 181.

2. Organy Licheński (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2007), p. 22.

3. For more information on this organ proposal, see Ronald Ebrecht’s book, Cavaillé-Coll’s Monumental Organ Project for Saint Peter’s, Rome: Bigger than Them All (Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books, 2011).

4. Michal Szostak, “Wielkie organy Bazyliki w Licheniu w zestawieniu z najwiekszymi organami swiata,” Wokol nowych organow w kosciele NSPJ w Tarnowie, ed. Pawl Pasternak (Tarnów, Poland, Biblos, 2017, ISBN 978-83-7793-504-0), and Michal Szostak, Lichenskie organy na tle najwiekszych instrumentow Polski, Europy i swiata (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2017, ISBN 978-83-64126-14-7).

5. Michal Szostak, “The World’s Largest Organs,” The Organ, No. 382, November 2017–January 2018, ISSN 0030-4883, pp. 12–28.

Specification of the organ:

South Organ

GRAND-ORGUE (Manual I)

16′ Montre

16′ Bourdon

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte Harmonique

8′ Gamba

8′ Kopula

8′ Dolce

5-1⁄3′ Quinte

4′ Prestant

4′ Flute

4′ Salicet

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Doublette

1-3⁄5′ Tierce

IV Gr. Fourniture

IV Mixtur

V Gr. Cymbel

IV Cymbel

16′ Bombarde

16′ Fagot

8′ Trompet

8′ Hautbois

4′ Clairon

IV–I

III–I

II–I

POSITIF (Manual II)

16′ Violon

8′ Diapason

8′ Flûte Harmonique

8′ Salicional

4′ Prestant

4′ Flûte

4′ Viole

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Piccolo

III Sesquialtera

V Plein Jeu

III Scharf

16′ Dulcjan

8′ Cromorne

8′ Clarinette

8′ Jannhorn

Tremolo

IV–II

III–II

Recit-expressif (Manual III, enclosed)

16′ Bourdon

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte Traversiere

8′ Rurflet

8′ Gamba

8′ Voix Celeste

4′ Prestant

4′ Flûte Traversiere

4′ Viola

2-2⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Doublette

V Cornet

IV–V Fourniture

16′ Basson

8′ Trompet

8′ Hautbois

8′ Vox Humana

4′ Clairon Harm.

Tremolo

IV–III

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed)

8′ Flauto Major

8′ Gamba

8′ Keraulophon

V Cornet

8′ Tuba Mirabilis

Pedale

32′ Subcontrabasse

16′ Contrabasse

16′ Violonbasse

16′ Subbass

10-2⁄3′ Quintbass

8′ Octavbass

8′ Flûte

8′ Flûtebass

8′ Cello

4′ Choral

2′ Ocarina

III Sesquialtera

V Hintersatz

IV Mixtur

32′ Contrabombard

16′ Bombard

10-2⁄3′ Quinttrompet

8′ Trompet

4′ Clairon

IV–P

III–P

II–P

I–P

West Organ

HAUPTWERK (Manual I)

16′ Prinzipal

8′ Octave

8′ Holzflöte

8′ Bourdon

8′ Gamba

8′ Gemshorn

4′ Oktave

4′ Szpicflet

4′ Viola

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Superoctave

1′ Flageolet

V Cornet

V Mixtur

IV Mixtur

16′ Trompet

8′ Trompet

4′ Trompet

II–I

Super I

SCHWELLWERK (Manual II, enclosed)

16′ Quintadena

8′ Prinzipal

8′ Rohrflöte

8′ Salicet

4′ Prestant

4′ Traversflöte

4′ Gemshorn

2-2⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Oktave

2′ Piccolo

1-3⁄5′ Terz

1-1⁄3′ Larigot

8⁄9′ None

V Scharf

16′ Dulcian

8′ Krummhorn

8′ Clarinette

Tremolo

Tubular Bells

PEDAL

32′ Bourdon

16′ Prinzipal

16′ Subbass

16′ Violonbass

8′ Oktavbass

8′ Fletbass

8′ Cello

4′ Choral

4′ Bourdon

II Sesquialtera

IV Mixtur

16′ Bombard

16′ Fagott

8′ Trompet

4′ Clairon

II–P

Super I–P

I–P

Zimbelstern

Tympan

East Organ

8′ Diapason

8′ Gedeckt

4′ Prestant

2′ Oktave

III–IV Cymbel

16′ Tuba Magna

8′ Tuba Mirabilis

4′ Clairon

West Chancel Positive

8′ Vox Humana (labial, 2 ranks)

8′ Gamba

8′ Aeolina

8′ Vox coelestis

4′ Prinzipal

4′ Fugara

III Harmonia Aeth.

Nachtigall (nightingale)

Tremolo

East Chancel Positive

8′ Gedeckt

4′ Prinzipal

4′ Hohlfloete

4′ Quintade

2′ Dezchen

III Zimbel

8′ Regal

4′ Zink

Tremolo

A. Thompson-Allen Company, New Haven, Connecticut; Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia’s Society Hill

Society Hill is Center City Philadelphia’s oldest residential neighborhood, a one-quarter square-mile area that was first settled in the 1680s. It took its name from the Free Society of Traders, an association of merchants and landowners chosen by William Penn to shape the future of that growing city. During the nineteenth century, as Philadelphia’s population expanded westward away from the Delaware River, the area became rundown and disreputable, and by the end of the Second World War was one of that city’s worst slums. A successful urban renewal program begun in the 1950s largely returned Society Hill to its former character. Today it is known for its expanse of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century row houses, traversed by narrow cobblestone streets lined with brick sidewalks and punctuated by street lamps after a design by Benjamin Franklin.

Saint Peter’s Church

Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, at the corner of Third and Pine Streets, was originally intended as a “chapel of ease” for nearby Christ Church and was built to accommodate the burgeoning congregation of that parish. On land donated by two of William Penn’s sons, architect-builder Robert Smith (1722–1777) designed a church based upon Christopher Wren’s “auditory” style. With this plan, sightlines and speech clarity are of primary importance, especially for a worship service focused upon Scripture and preaching. The first services in the church were held on September 4, 1761.

It is an edifice of breathtaking elegance in its simplicity. To stand within its sun-drenched walls, absorbing the ambience of centuries, is to experience a whiff of eighteenth-century Philadelphia. Many civic luminaries have been members of Saint Peter’s. Mayor Samuel Powel, who lived just down Third Street, often shared his family’s pew with George and Martha Washington. 

Saint Peter’s is one of two churches of its type surviving in America, the other located in Cooper River, South Carolina, built in 1763. In these churches, the pulpit and lectern are at the opposite end of the main aisle from the altar, which is placed against the east wall, beneath a large Palladian window. Most of the tall box pews have seating on three sides. Following the readings and sermon, the congregation turns and faces the altar for the rest of the service. 

In 1832 Saint Peter’s and Christ Church parted ways and became separate parishes. Ten years later, the vestry commissioned William Strickland to build a new tower to accommodate a chime of eight bells given by Benjamin Chew Wilcocks. The soaring 210-foot tower and steeple are conspicuously out of scale with Robert Smith’s church, perhaps to allow the bells to be heard at a greater distance, or possibly to reflect the congregation’s desire to establish a strong visual presence in its neighborhood.

Earlier instruments

The first permanent organ for Saint Peter’s was constructed by Philip Feyring (1730–1767), who died the year it was completed. His two-manual instrument consumed almost half of the north gallery and caused regular complaints from those seated nearby that it was too loud. In 1774 the vestry voted to remove the organ and put it into storage until it could be sold. Fortunately, nothing happened for fifteen years, and then in 1789 Feyring’s organ was moved to a newly constructed organ loft above the altar, where it continues to cover most of the Palladian window behind it.  

This instrument served Saint Peter’s for more than fifty years and in 1815 was either rebuilt or replaced (vestry records are sometimes incomplete). Little is known about this second instrument apart from its short career in the church. In 1829 London-trained organ-builder Henry Corrie furnished a new instrument using some of the pipes from the 1815 organ. Corrie’s work served for twenty-seven years, but in 1855 local builder John C. B. Standbridge reported that it was beyond repair. The following year he signed a contract for a new instrument, dedicated in 1857.  

Hilborne Roosevelt rebuilt the Standbridge organ in 1886 and added a third manual to the console. Within two years, however, the vestry began to consider replacing the “double quartet” that stood with the organ in the loft, with a men-and-boys choir on the main floor of the church. Charles S. Haskell, a former employee of the Roosevelt firm, electrified the organ in 1892 and provided a four-manual console placed among the new choir stalls on the main floor. Additions in 1911 included a small Echo Organ, located within the walls of the original tower immediately behind the pulpit door, and a Choir Organ, placed unfortunately beneath an iron grate under the choir stalls in a basement chamber.

The Choir Organ suffered from constant dampness and regular water seepage, especially following a heavy rainfall. Eight years after the Choir Organ was installed, Haskell had to remove portions of that division for repairs. A contract dispute between Haskell and the vestry ensued in 1921, with the builder refusing to return the parts taken from the church. About 1928 the Choir Organ was completely removed, and its chamber abandoned.  

The Skinner organ

Weary of their troublesome instrument, parts of which were very old, the vestry contracted with the Skinner Organ Company to build an entirely new instrument, their Opus 862, finished in November 1931. It is a three-manual, 49-stop organ placed entirely within the organ case, which was enlarged (probably in the 1892 rebuilding) by bringing the façade forward to the edge of the organ loft. Nothing except Feyring’s case remains of the earlier instruments, and there is credible speculation that even it was made by David Tannenberg of nearby Lititz, Pennsylvania.  

As the Skinner organ approached fifty years old, its pneumatic leatherwork began to fail. Saint Peter’s vestry was committed to keeping the organ in good order, and much of the instrument was releathered as necessary to keep the organ playing reliably. At ninety-one years, the Skinner organ holds the record for the longest tenure of all of Saint Peter’s instruments. The current work is the first comprehensive restoration of this organ.  

—Joseph F. Dzeda

The restoration of Opus 862

The mechanism and pipework were found to be mostly complete. The original “vertical selector” electro-pneumatic console was long gone and had been replaced, first by an Austin tab console in the 1970s, and then by a solid-state console by David Harris in 1985. Richard Houghten updated and rebuilt this console in 2017, and it remains as such. All of the components of the 1931 chassis remain and have been fully restored.  

Opus 862 underwent tonal changes characteristic of their time. The 4′ Flute on the Great was replaced by a high-pitched mixture, and the Great 8′ Tromba, enclosed in the Choir expression box, was revoiced as a bright Trumpet. The Choir Nazard was replaced by a 4′ Principal. The Class A Deagan Cathedral Chimes were removed, along with their electric action, from the Swell box, and the Harp/Celesta was removed from the Choir box in preparation for tonal additions that were never realized.  

The pipework was mostly complete and has been restored to the original specifications except for one missing stop, the Swell Aeoline. This stop was a 75-scale string, also sometimes called Echo Gamba or Dulcet. These are very rare. We did replace it with a 75-scale Dulcet from an earlier Skinner. Also missing were the Harp and Chimes. These have been replaced with identical items from Opus 659.

The blower has been fully restored by Joseph Sloane, converting the original motor from two-phase to three-phase. The reeds have been restored by Chris Broome of Broome & Co., LLC, to the original specifications. The original reed tongues were gone and had been replaced with thinner tongues and reduced loading. Chris Broome has replaced these using the thickness and loading schedules as listed in the Skinner records. The goal of the restoration has been to restore the organ to “as built” condition throughout.

From the Skinner documents we have acquired, it is clear that Opus 862 was overseen and designed by Ernest Skinner personally. For point of reference, we are going to compare Opus 862 with Opus 836, Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey. We are including the original voicer’s charts for both organs. Opus 836, again from factory documents, was clearly overseen by G. Donald Harrison. The two organs are similar in many ways. The strings and flutes are identical for the most part, but the chorus reeds and principal choruses are quite different. As indicated in the reed voicer’s charts, the Swell chorus reeds are “Skinner” in 862, and the Swell chorus reeds are “English” in 836. The “Skinner” reeds are harmonic at 2′ F-sharp and the “English” reeds are harmonic at 1′ F#, and the harmonic pipes are spotted metal. The “Skinner” reeds have different shallots and loading producing a rounder, fuller, and refined tone. The “English” reeds are brighter with more “clang” and are reproductions of Willis reeds. The specifications of the “English” reeds were part of the exchange established between Skinner and Henry Willis III during their quid pro quo arrangement of exchanging Skinner’s mechanical innovations with Willis’s pipe construction and reed voicing details. Both of these reed choruses are beautiful in their own way, but the differences are very obvious.

The same can be said for the principal choruses. If you compare the two flue voicer’s charts, you will notice that there are no 1/4 mouths in 862. The upper work is more restrained in 862, and conversely more pronounced in 836. The biggest and most noticeable difference is that if you run up the scale on any of the Diapason stops, 862 gently fades, while 836 is pushed to the limit. I believe that this is due to the Willis influence as carried out by Harrison. It is interesting to note that Harrison abandoned both of these tonal set ups after 1932. These are both beautiful Skinner organs from the same period but realized differently by Skinner and Harrison.

—Nicholas Thompson-Allen

Frederick Lee Richards’s 1992 paper, Old St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia: An Architectural History and Inventory (1758-1991), provided much of the historical information cited above.

Builder’s website: www.thompson-allen.com

Church’s website: www.stpetersphila.org

Photo credit: David Ottenstein Photography (©2022 David Ottenstein)

 

GREAT (5″ wind pressure)

16′ Bourdon (Pedal) 17 pipes

8′ First Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Second Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Principal Flute 61 pipes

8′ Erzähler 61 pipes

4′ Principal 61 pipes

4′ Flute 61 pipes

II Grave Mixture (2-2⁄3′ – 2′) 122 pipes

Enclosed in Choir box 10″ w.p.

8′ Tromba 61 pipes

8′ French Horn 61 pipes

Chimes (in Swell box) 20 tubes

SWELL (Enclosed) (71⁄2″ wind pressure)

16′ Echo Lieblich 73 pipes

8′ Diapason 73 pipes

8′ Rohrflöte 73 pipes

8′ Salicional 73 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste (CC) 73 pipes

8′ Aeoline 73 pipes

4′ Octave 73 pipes

4′ Flute Triangulaire 73 pipes

2′ Flautino 61 pipes

III Mixture (C-14) 183 pipes

16′ Waldhorn 73 pipes

8′ Cornopean 73 pipes

8′ Oboe 73 pipes

8′ Vox Humana 73 pipes

Tremolo

CHOIR (Enclosed) (6″ wind pressure)

16′ Contra Gamba 61 pipes

8′ Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Concert Flute 61 pipes

8′ Gamba 61 pipes

8′ Dulciana 61 pipes

8′ Unda Maris (TC) 49 pipes

4′ Flute 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes

8′ Clarinet 61 pipes

8′ English Horn 61 pipes

Harp (TC) 49 bars

Celesta (CC) 12 bars

Tremolo

PEDAL (6″ wind pressure)

32′ Resultant

16′ Diapason (bearded) 32 pipes

16′ Bourdon 32 pipes

16′ Echo Lieblich (Swell)

16′ Contra Gamba (Choir)

8′ Octave (ext Diapason) 12 pipes

8′ Gedeckt (ext Bourdon) 12 pipes

8′ Still Gedeckt (Swell)

8′ Cello (Choir)

32′ Fagotto 12 pipes (10″ w.p., ext Sw Waldhorn)

16′ Trombone 12 pipes (10″ w.p., ext Gt Tromba)

16′ Waldhorn (Swell)

Chimes

49 stops, 38 ranks, 2,457 pipes