Janette Fishell Beethoven recording

Yumiko Tatsuta performs Max Reger’s Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H, opus 46, on C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 135, in Auer Hall on the campus of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington.

In the February 2023 issue of The Diapason, Tatsuta discusses historically informed registration ideals for opus 46, taking into account data from registration aids of Sauer Opus 650 in Willibrordi Cathedral, Wesel, Germany, on which the work was premiered and applying it to use with Fisk Opus 135.

Subscribers are welcome to read the article by logging into https://www.thediapason.com/.

Dr. Yumiko Tatsuta Ding is full-time faculty in the music department of Kwassui Women’s University in Nagasaki, Japan, where she also serves as the university organist. She is an internationally active performer, scholar, and educator who was the first Asian female to receive the doctoral degree from the organ department at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, under the tutelage of department chair, Janette Fishell.

Dr. Yumiko Tatsuta Ding is full-time faculty in the music department of Kwassui Women’s University in Nagasaki, Japan, where she also serves as the university organist. She is an internationally active performer, scholar, and educator who was the first Asian female to receive the doctoral degree from the organ department at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, under the tutelage of department chair, Janette Fishell.

Dr. Tatsuta received numerous international awards and grants, such as the Japanese Upcoming Artist Award (sponsored by the Japanese Government, Agency for Cultural Affairs), for which she was also named as an exchange artist in the United States/Japan friendship program in 2017 and 2018, and was selected as the recipient of DAAD scholarship sponsored by the German government for her graduate study at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart.

Yumiko Tatsuta

Introduction

The Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H (1900), opus 46 of Max Reger (1873–1916), is one of the composer’s crowning achievements for the organ written during a career that has given us more than 200 organ works that are widely performed. In this article, the author will look at the question of registration for performing opus 46. This will take into consideration the historical registration and components of the Walze (Rollschweller) of the Sauer organ, Opus 650, on which opus 46 was premiered by Karl Straube (1873–1950), a champion of Reger’s music. The author will provide a solution for reproducing German Romantic registration on the Maidee H. and Jackson A. Seward Organ,
C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 135, in Auer Hall of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana, as a model for general solutions on various modern instruments. It is hoped that the solutions and ideas presented will not only promote performance of Reger’s opus 46, but will be useful as well in performing both the remainder of his repertoire and music by such composers as Joseph Rheinberger (1839–1901), Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877–1933), Franz Schmidt (1874–1939), and other members of the German high-Romantic tradition.

Historical registration

Registration of Reger’s organ music has been a controversial issue since the composer did not provide clear indications of what stops he preferred. Another reason is the general lack of familiarity with the German Romantic organ as compared with its French or English counterparts among American organists. In general, Reger provides either dynamic markings (with a wide range from pppp to fff, and Organo Pleno) or rather vague suggestions such as “dunkel” (“dark” in German). He sometimes provides pitch indications for stops, but if one blindly follows the pitch instructions on modern organs, the result will most likely be far from the sound Reger desired. I propose a registration combination based on data¹ that were kindly provided by the German organ builder Christian Scheffler and his colleagues, experts of Romantic German organ restoration, particularly with Sauer organs.²

Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H, opus 46, was premiered on Wilhelm Sauer’s organ, Opus 650, built in 1895 for Willibrordi Cathedral in Wesel (Rhein), Germany, where Straube held his first full-time church organist position, starting in 1897.³ The event occurred in summer 1900, several months after the completion of the composition in February of that year.⁴ The specification of the organ is provided in Table 1. (The cathedral was heavily damaged, and the organ was destroyed during bombing raids in 1945.)

The organ features three manuals and pedal, six unison couplers, one octave coupler, one preset piston for reeds, one Rollschweller, one expression shoe for Manual III, and three kinds of preset pistons for mf, f, ff that affect all the manuals and the pedal simultaneously. This specification can be a great guide for recreating the sound of Reger’s music. Moreover, what I consider to be the key to making appropriate registrations and crescendos can be learned by the study of those three preset pistons and in the Rollschweller at each stage. I am grateful to Christian Scheffler and colleagues for their assistance and for providing me previously unpublished information about these registration devices of the Sauer organ.

The components of the Walze (Rollschweller) are provided in Tables 2.1 and 2.2. The levels are numbered from 1 to 73, in the order in which they are added as one turns the Rollschweller.

Tables 3.1 and 3.2 demonstrate the components of the preset pistons. “Werk” indicates manual, and “P” stands for pedal. The principal manual of the organ is Manual I, the bottom keyboard.

Reger’s sound world

In German Romantic organs such as those built by Sauer or Walcker, there are many soft stops of various colors. These would include Voix céleste, Aeoline, Lieblich Gedackt, Geigen Principal, Dolce, Dulciana, Harmonika, Fugara, etc., some of which are not often found in modern American organs or instruments built in different traditions. These stops create a very special quality at the beginning stage of the Walze, and they are the foundational sound of German Romantic organ registration.⁵ As important as they are, the key for reproducing an authentic Reger registration on Fisk Opus 135 lies in finding equivalence for them.

As can be seen from the order of stops being added in the Walze, the Sauer organ offers a wider variety of inflections within the ppp to mp range than it does from mf to fff. From levels 1 to 13, there are only 8′ stops used in manuals and 16′ and 8′ stops in the pedal, and those stops are flutes or strings. From levels 14 to 27, principal stops are introduced, including in the pedal. From level 28, 4′ pitch stops are found. Beginning at level 44, stops higher than 2′ are drawn, including mutations. Level 49’s 8′ Vox humana and level 50’s Oboe 8′ are the first reed stops to be added. From that point, the crescendo is made rather abruptly toward the end, which is level 73, with mixtures and relatively loud reed stops added to each division. In short, levels 1 to 49 cover the range of pppp to mf, and levels 50 to 73 range from f to fff.

As we examine opus 46, the greatest dynamic level short of Org Pl indicated by the composer is più fff, not ffff, while his softest indication is pppp. This tells us that he might have found the range of pppp to mf more important in his music. Moreover, according to Reger’s piano performance reviews, we find many descriptions regarding his frequent use of pianissimo.⁶ Given the nature of his scores, this might seem surprising, but there is clear evidence for this.

In addition to composing, Reger had been an active collaborative pianist since his youth at the conservatories in Sondershausen and Wiesbaden beginning in 1890. At that time, he was mostly playing accompaniment for soloists’ exams or concerts.

After his well-received performance of the premiere of his Violin Sonata in A, opus 41, in Munich in December 1900, the frequency of his activity as a performer gradually increased beginning in 1901, especially after moving to that city. In later periods of his life when he was most active as a performer, the frequency of his piano and conducting performances exceeded one hundred per year.⁷ Therefore, it can be an important key to understanding the performance practice of Reger’s organ music by considering the kind of music making Reger had been engaged in with other instruments.

There are critics who described Reger’s piano performances in a positive light, utilizing terms such as “soft touch,” “a pianist who can draw songs from the piano at his own will,” “thoughtful accompaniment cradles the singer,” and “very sustainable (ausdauernd) touch,”⁸ while others more critically stated “extreme pianissimo,” “because of his almost constant admiration of pianissimo, it was hard to hear the harmonic foundation,” or “we could not hear anything at all no matter how closely we paid attention to, or it was too little and unclear, so the singer’s part was often heard as floating in the air without any harmonic support.”⁹ One notices many pianissimo indications in his compositions both for piano and organ as well as his vocal and chamber music.

As for his conducting, similar opinions are found in the concert reviews such as, “As a conductor, his interpretation is also sensitive and precise. Here again, it is obvious he is fond of that mysterious pianissimo. But this is not because he is seeking for the effect of it, but it is rather something special that is already with his soul.”¹⁰ Or, “The unshakable chamber music performance tradition, whose foundation was established by Bülow, has pianissimo sound quality just as Reger’s characteristic, and it never collapses no matter how flexible it becomes. It resonates soft and sensitive, just as Reger’s daydreaming pianissimo accompaniment.”¹¹

In contrast, descriptions about his f or ff are relatively rare: “It is obvious that Reger is an attractive pianist. His pianissimo has a smell of magic, and his fortissimo is never too loud, but has the power of the orchestra.”¹² Another critic wrote, “All he needs to do is just place his fingers on the keyboard, and then there will be soft and fulfilling sound in the room. In the soft pianissimo, it is as spirited as singing. In the lively fortissimo, there will be a substantial and comfortable sound.”¹³

From noting the frequent appearance of fff in his organ scores among multitudes of written notes, one could be led to a misunderstanding that Reger asks for extremely loud or tutti registrations, but his specialty was creating expressive and tender pianissimos. This would seem to echo the very gradual and colorful range of the initial stages of the Walze, in which a nuanced differentiation of soft dynamics is clearly available.

There is also an interesting description of his piano performance in one of the reviews, mentioning “Reger’s tenderness (zartheit), as he was drawing the Voix céleste sound of the organ from the piano.”¹⁴ From this review, we can assume that Reger was trying to express the Voix céleste or equivalent sound of the organ in terms of volume and characteristic.

Practical suggestions for registration

In light of this knowledge of Reger’s organ sound world, one can apply this to registering an American instrument. C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 135 is a worthy model for our discussion.

Although most of the crescendos are considered to have been made with the Walze at that time, I assume there must have been performance assistants to accomplish some of the registration changes, as well. For example, there are numerous places when both of the performer’s feet are completely occupied but the music asks for a crescendo or a decrescendo, as in bar 24 in the “Phantasie” (Example 1).

Dynamics, tempo, and rubato all combine in creating the large-range phrases in this music. A crescendo marking means more than just changing the volume; it means increasing the energy of a phrase, which can be accomplished by accelerating the tempo or including various kinds of accented articulations depending on the musical textures. The same varieties of approaches (tempo ritardando, more over-legato, etc.) can be applied when making a decrescendo, implying the loss of energy. This is accomplished not merely through one dimension, but can also engage several aspects of the music.¹⁵ The organist must employ several different techniques regarding tempo and articulation in addition to simply drawing more sound out of the instrument. Lastly, changing volume alone can be undertaken through a combination of means, including the use of expression shoes, the Rollschweller, or changing manuals.

Also, on the third beat of measure 25, Reger asks for a sudden registration change to ff from the decrescendo in measure 24. In principle, the Walze is a device for making crescendos and decrescendos by rolling it upwards or downwards, so it cannot be used for a sudden registration change such as Reger asks for here. One can assume it was done by a combination button, ff specifically for this case; however, there are also places that the music requires a sudden change to pp or p with a specific indication of coupler(s) off. The instrument on which it was premiered did not have a combination button for this action (with Sauer Opus 650, all six unison couplers are on by level 12 of the Walze). Therefore, there must have been the combined use of the Walze, preset combination buttons, and registration assistants in order to perform the required registration changes.

In correspondence with Christopher Anderson, a noted Reger scholar, he suggested that while Straube could readily play these large-scale works of Reger without assistants, there is evidence that he did indeed work with assistants on occasion.¹⁶ Furthermore, Dr. Anderson suggests that Straube was very much involved in projecting his reputation and abilities for performing this music without registration assistants.

In registering this work on Fisk Opus 135, I decided to use the sequencer in order to reproduce fine-grained differentiations available by means of the sort of Walze found in the Sauer organ, in order best to approximate the sound of the instrument with which Reger would have been familiar. In order to best capture the effect of this now unavailable technology, I used assistants to aid the registrations during my performance. It would be fascinating to perform this work on an instrument with a sophisticated Rollschweller in place.

What follows is the procedure I used to devise my own Walze.

Determine what resources are available on the organ.

In order to produce the Walze crescendo as closely as possible to the original Sauer Opus 650, I needed to determine what equivalent or nearly equivalent stops are available on Fisk Opus 135 and what are not. For this step, Steven Dieck, now president emeritus and chairman of the board of C. B. Fisk, Inc., lent me great support and advice. 

Table of equivalent stops

Manual I (C–f3)

Sauer: Fisk:

16′ Principal—16′ Montre

16′ Bordun —

16′ Gamba —

8′ Principal—8′ Montre

8′ Hohlflöte —

8′ Viola di Gamba—8′ Gambe

8′ Doppelflöte —

8′ Gemshorn—8′ Spire Flute

8′ Traversflöte—8′ Flûte harmonique

8′ Quintatön —

8′ Geigenprincipal —

8′ Gedackt —

5-1⁄3′ Quinte —

4′ Octave—4′ Prestant

4′ Spitzflöte —

4′ Fugara —

4′ Rohrflöte—4′ Chimney Flute

2-2⁄3′ Rauschquinte II —

3-1⁄5′ Gross-Cymbel III —

2′ Piccolo —

Mixture V—Plein jeu harmonique II–VI

Scharf V—Plein jeu VI

Cornett III–V —

16′ Trompete—16′ Trommet

8′ Trompete—8′ Trommet

Manual II (C–f3)

16′ Geigenprincipal —

16′ Bordun—16′ Quintaton

8′ Principal—8′ Principal

8′ Rohrflöte —

8′ Salicional—8′ Viole d’amore

8′ Flûte harmonique —

8′ Spitzflöte —

8′ Harmonika —

8′ Gedackt—8′ Gedackt

8′ Dolce—8′ Flute Celeste

4′ Octave—4′ Octave

4′ Flöte—4′ Hohlflöte

4′ Gemshorn—4′ Violina

4′ Flauto dolce —

2-2⁄3′ Rauschquinte II—2′ Quarte de Nasard

Mixtur IV Mixture IV

Cornett IV —

16′ Fagott—16′ Clarinet

8′ Tuba—8′ Cornopean

8′ Oboë —

Manual III (C–f3, Schwellwerk)

16′ Salicional —

16′ Lieblich Gedackt—16′ Bourdon

8′ Principal—8′ Diapason

8′ Konzertflöte—8′ Flûte traversière

8′ Schalmei —

8′ Lieblich Gedackt—8′ Bourdon

8′ Aeoline —

8′ Voix céleste—8′ Voix céleste

8′ Dulciana—8′ Viole de gambe

4′ Praestant—4′ Dulciane

4′ Traversflöte—4′ Flûte octaviante

4′ Violine —

2-2⁄3′ Gemshornquinte—2-2⁄3′ Nasard

2′ Flautino—2′ Octavin

Harm. aetherea III —

8′ Clarinette —

8′ Vox humana—8′ Voix humaine

Pedal (C–d1)

32′ Contrabass —

32′ Untersatz—32′ Principal

16′ Principal—16′ Montre

16′ Violon —

16′ Subbass—16′ Soubasse

16′ Gemshorn —

16′ Bassflöte—16′ Bourdon (Sw)

10-2⁄3′ Quintbass—10-2⁄3′ Quinte

8′ Oktavbass—8′ Octave

8′ Violoncello—8′ Violoncelle

8′ Gedackt—8′ Bourdon

8′ Viola d’amour—8′ Spire Flute

4′ Flöte—4′ Octave

Cornett III —

32′ Contraposaune—32′ Contre Posaune

16′ Posaune—16′ Posaune

8′ Trompete—8′ Trommet (Gt)

4′ Clairon—4′ Clairon

One will notice that there are a number of stop equivalents missing on Fisk Opus 135 in Auer Hall. To compensate for this, I made some adjustments by using both Swell and Positive expression shoes and using alternative stops case by case in the music.

Apply the stops we have according to the components of the Walze of Sauer Opus 650.

Now we apply the stops one by one with Tables 2.1 and 2.2 (see page 12).

1) Sauer: II/I, III/I, III/II, III/P, 8′ Aeoline (III), 16′ Bassflöte (P); Fisk: II/I, III/I, III/II, III/P, 8′ Viole de gambe (III), 16′ Bourdon (P), both expression boxes shut

2) 8′ Liebl. Gedackt (III); Fisk: 8′ Bourdon (III)

3) 8′ Dolce (II); Fisk: 8′ Flute Celeste II (II)

4) 8′ Gedackt (II), 16′ Subbas (P); Fisk: 8′ Gedackt (II), 16′ Soubasse (P)

5) 8′ Dulciana (III), II/P; Fisk: II/P, 8′ Flute Celeste II (II), open Swell box slightly

6) 8′ Salicional (II); Fisk: 8′ Viole d’amore (II)

7) 8′ Gemshorn (I), 8′ Gedackt (P); Fisk: 8′ Spire Flute (I), 8′ Bourdon (P)

8) 8′ Rohrflöte (II), 16′ Gemshorn (P); Fisk: open Positive box slightly

9) 8′ Spitzflöte (II); Fisk: open Positive box a bit more

10) 8′ Konzertflöte (III); Fisk: 8′ Flûte traversière (III)

For levels 11 through 17, since most of the equivalent stops are missing on Fisk Opus 135, one can open both of the expression boxes up to half to compensate in the crescendo.

11) 8′ Gedackt (I); Fisk: —

12) 8′ Schalmei (III), I/P; Fisk: I/P

13) 8′ Quintatön (I); Fisk: —

14) 8′ Principal (III); Fisk: 8′ Diapason

15) 8′ Hohlflöte (I); Fisk: —

16) 8′ Flute harmonique (II); Fisk: —

17) 8′ Harmonica (II), 16′ Violon (P); Fisk: —

18) 16′ Lieblich Gedackt (III); Fisk: 16′ Bourdon (III)

19) 8′ Principal (II), 8′ Viola d’amour (P); Fisk: 8′ Principal (II), 8′ Spire Flute (P)

20) 8′ Geigenprincipal (I); Fisk: —

21) 8′ Traversflöte (I), 8′ Cello (P); Fisk: 8′ Flûte harmonique (I), 8′ Violoncelle (P)

22) 16′ Bordun (II); Fisk: 16′ Quintaton

23) 8′ Viola di Gamba (I); Fisk: 8′ Gambe

24) 16′ Salicional (III); Fisk: open Swell box slightly

25) 16′ Bordun (I); Fisk: open both boxes slightly more

26) 8′ Principal (I); Fisk: 8′ Montre (I)

27) 8′ Octavbaß (P); Fisk: 8′ Octave (P)

28) 4′ Traversflöte (III); Fisk: 4′ Flûte octaviante (III)

29) 16′ Geigenprincipal (II); Fisk: open Positive box slightly

30) 4′ Flauto dolce (II); Fisk: open Positive box a bit more

31) 16′ Principal (P); Fisk: 16′ Montre (P)

32) 4′ Violine (III); Fisk: open Swell box slightly

33) 8′ Doppelflöte (I); Fisk: open both boxes slightly

34) 4′ Flöte (II); Fisk: 4′ Hohlflöte (II)

35) 4′ Rohrflöte (I); Fisk: 4′ Chimney Flute (I)

36) 4′ Flöte (P); Fisk: 4′ Octave (P)

37) 4′ Gemshorn (II); Fisk: 4′ Violina (II)

38) 16′ Principal (I); Fisk: 16′ Montre (I)

39) 4′ Spitzflöte (I); Fisk: open both boxes slightly

40) 4′ Prästant (III); Fisk: 4′ Dulciane

41) 8′ Doppelflöte (I); Fisk: open both boxes slightly

42) 4′ Octave (II); Fisk: 4′ Octave (II)

43) 4′ Fugara (I); Fisk: open both boxes slightly

44) Gemshornquinte 2-2⁄3′ (III); Fisk: Nasard 2-2⁄3′ (III)

45) 2′ Flautino (III); Fisk: 2′ Octavin (II)

46) 4′ Octave (I); Fisk: 4′ Prestant (I)

47) Quinte 5-1⁄3′ (I); Fisk: fully open Positive box and open Swell box to 90%

48) III Harm. Aetheria (III); Fisk: fully open Swell box

49) 8′ Vox humana (III); Fisk: 8′ Voix humaine (III)

50) 8′ Oboe (II); Fisk: 8′ Hautbois (III)

51) II Rauschquinte (II); Fisk: 2′ Quarte de Nasard (II)

52) II Rauschquinte (I); Fisk: —

53) III Cornett (P); Fisk: —

54) 2′ Piccolo (I); Fisk: 2′ Doublette (I)

55) IV Mixtur (II); Fisk: 2′ Doublette (II)

56) 8′ Trompete (P); Fisk: 8′ Trommet (P)

57) V Mixtur (I); Fisk: II–VI Plein jeu harmonique (I)

58) 10-2⁄3′ Quintbass (P); Fisk: 10-2⁄3′ Quinte (P)

59) V Scharff (I); Fisk: VI Plein jeu (I)

60) 8′ Tuba (II); Fisk: 8′ Cornopean (II)

61) 16′ Fagott (II); Fisk: 16′ Clarinet (II)

62) IV Cornett (II); Fisk: IV Mixture (II)

63) 8′ Clarinette (III); Fisk: —

64) 16′ Posaune (P); Fisk: 16′ Posaune (P)

65) 32′ Untersatz (P); Fisk: 32′ Principal (P)

66) III–V Cornet (I); Fisk: —

67) III Groß Cymbel (I); Fisk: —

68) 8′ Trompete (I) Fisk: 8′ Trommet (I)

69) 16′ Trompete (I); Fisk: 16′ Trommet (I)

70) 32′ Contrabaß (P); Fisk: 16′ Contrebasse (P)

71) 4′ Clairon (P); Fisk: 4′ Clairon (P)

72) 32′ Contraposaune (P); Fisk: 32′ Contre Posaune (P)

73) Octavkoppel; Fisk: Octaves graves coupler

Regarding the couplers, I followed Reger’s original indications in the score, since organs by different builders have different Walze components. The coupler indications included in the Walze vary from instrument to instrument. For example, the Walze components list of the Ladegast organ in the cathedral of Schwerin, Germany, does not have any coupler indications, although one can assume all couplers must have been on from the beginning.17 On the other hand, there may be opposite cases as well.18

Here I provide some excerpts with explanations:

In Example 2, I have marked with red circles the coupler indications (K=koppel) that are designated by Reger. The opening registration includes only the II/P and III/P pedal couplers. At più fff, one adds I/P, following the indication. The Walze levels I chose here are 65, 68, and 72 for each step of greater dynamics, starting from fff to Org Pl. Since Org Pl represents the highest dynamic level in this piece, I applied level 72 for whenever one sees that dynamic level indication. (Level 72 is the second highest dynamic in the Walze, and the highest level 73 is achieved by adding the octaves graves coupler. I have reserved this for the end of the fugue.) Since Reger uses the fff indication frequently, I used level 65 as a guide for level number mapping.

In this section, there are dynamic levels from Org Pl to fff to pppp in four measures. Just as at the beginning, I have set level 65 as fff and level 72 as Org Pl. Since both the crescendo and decrescendo do not have much room for gradual increase or decrease of the sound, I have set the goal for each end first and filled in with the Walze level with most appropriate octave levels (16′, 8′, 4′, 2′). For example, since I wanted to create the softest sound at the end of measure 10 (Example 3), I set level 2 with the Swell box closed. In the beginning of measure 10, there is an indication of ppp with nur 8′, meaning only 8′ pitch stops. So I located level 17 there, which is the highest Walze level without any pitches other than 8′ for the manuals. However, I did not always follow Reger’s octave indications. For example, in the beginning of measure 11, he indicated +4′, but I decided not to follow that immediately since the dynamic gap between level 2 with box closed versus +4′, which is level 28, is too great and sounds abrupt. Instead, I used level 18 in the beginning of the bar, and as I open the Swell box gradually, go to level 28, which is the first level that includes a 4′ stop. Again, the goal of this crescendo is toward fff at the end of the measure, which is level 65, so I tried to fill in the levels between as smoothly as possible by using both logical thinking of octave doubling included in the levels and using my own ears to experiment in Auer Hall through repeated playing.

Regarding the pedal couplers, although I followed Reger’s indications by taking them off one by one toward ppp in measure 10 in the first half of the excerpt, I decided to add III/P once we start the crescendo in measure 11, so the pedal line can also make a crescendo as I open the Swell box. This particular spot in the piece offers several interesting challenges for registration. From the middle of measure 24 to the beginning of measure 25 (Example 4), there is a decrescendo from Org Pl to p in a very short span. This type of crescendo or decrescendo is found frequently in Reger’s music, which can be effectively performed by using the Rollschweller or the Walze concept. For the sake of practicality, instead of using all levels from 72 to 41, I chose nine levels to make it work effectively to my ears. I have located the numbers mostly on beats and more frequently towards the end of the decrescendo.

Other interesting elements in this section are the dynamic, manual, and coupler indications in measure 25. There is +I/P indicated on the third beat, but the same coupler is to be taken off on the next beat. Also, the decrescendo indication is written from p towards the third beat, which is ff. Although they all seem to be Reger’s original indications since this information may be found in the manuscript, first printing, and current edition, after conducting several experiments, I made the decision not to make any specific registration change nor use an expression shoe, but only to create a dynamic change by following the manual change indication.

Conclusion

One of the greatest challenges in performing the organ music of Max Reger is developing an approach to registration. I have focused on this, beginning with a study of a historically informed disposition of the Sauer organ, Opus 650, on which Reger’s opus 46 was premiered. I paid particular attention to the components of the Walze for Sauer Opus 650 as a strategy for registration. This was the key for understanding what the music was expected to sound like.

The characteristic of the crescendo created by the Walze runs through an enormous range of soft registrations from pppp to p, which matched Reger’s own sound world as exemplified by contemporary descriptions19 of his piano playing. The wide variety of soft registrations in this Sauer Walze encourages us to pay close attention to the shaping of Reger’s softer dynamics in all of his organ music, not only opus 46.

Using the dynamic profile suggested by the Sauer Walze, we can begin to imagine how we might register Reger’s organ music on contemporary American instruments. In contrast to the example of the high German Romantic instruments, many American instruments do not have quite the same range of softer stops. It would seem that the breadth of soft stops in these German instruments is greater than what is found in most organbuilding traditions. In the process of providing a model of the Sauer Walze for Fisk Opus 135 in Auer Hall, I undertook certain adjustments using Swell and Positive expression shoes to fill in the gaps to mimic the long, finely graded crescendo from pppp to p. Using this construction and closely reading Reger’s dynamics and coupler indications enabled me to create a reasonable replication of a German Romantic instrument. I hope this exercise will provide a useful approach for others undertaking this extensive work. This approach can also underlie registration interpretations for other works by Reger and potentially other composers such as Franz Liszt, Julius Reubke, and Franz Schmidt, whose music dynamics are indicated in a similar manner and whose music was performed on similar instruments.

Notes

1. Material shared by Christian Scheffler and his colleagues via email, January 5, 2021.

2. Christian Scheffler Orgelwerkstatt website, orgelwerkstatt.de.

3. Christopher Anderson, Max Reger and Karl Straube: Perspectives on an Organ Performing Tradition (Aldershot, Hants, England: 2003), 29–30. 

4. Ibid., 360.

5. Jon Laukvik and Christopher Anderson, trans., Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing, Part 2: The Romantic Period (Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2010), 158–159.

6. Kouga Higashiyama, “Study of Max Reger’s Performance Style as a ‘Pianist’ by the Analysis of his Concert Reviews コンサートレビューの分析による「ピアニスト」マックス・レーガーの演奏スタイル研究” (DMA diss., Kyoto University of the Arts, 2018), 52–61. The author identifies the following as his original source: Ottmar Schreiber and Ingeborg Schreiber, Rezensionen, Max Reger in seinen Konzerten, Teil 3 (Bonn: Dümmler,1981).

7. Ibid., 25.

8. Ibid., 43–53. 「柔らかなタッチ」「ピアノから歌を意のままに引き出すピアニスト」「声楽家にぴったりと寄り添う心のこもった伴奏」「とても持続力のある ausdauernd タッチ」.

9. Ibid., 50–53. 「極端なピアニッシモ」「ほとんど絶え間なくピアニッシモを崇拝し続けるせいで和声の土台が聞き取れず」「どんなに注意を集中していても全く何も聞こえなかったり、あるいはあまり に小さく不明瞭で、歌のパートが和声の支えも全く無く、ただただ空中に漂っているように聞こえたりす ることがしばしばあったからだ。」.

10. Ibid., 58. 「今や指揮者としての解釈でも、同様の繊細さや確実さを示している。ここでも、彼がしばしば神秘的なピアニッシモへ没入することを好んでいるのが目立つ。しかしこれは彼が効果を求め ているのではなく、彼の魂に備わった特別な素質なのだ。」.

11. Ibid., 58. 「揺るぎないアンサンブル——ビューローによってその基盤が築かれた——は、そのピアニッシモの音質が既にレーガーの特質を完全に備えている一方で、どれほど柔軟になっても、決し て崩れるような素振りを見せなかった。レーガーのピアノ伴奏の静かな夢想のように、柔らかく繊細に響 く。」.

12. Ibid., 52.   「レーガーが魅力的なピアニストだということは確実だ。彼のピアニッシモの香りには魔力があり、フォルティッシモの力は、騒がしくなることなく、オーケストラの勢いを備えている。」. 

13. Ibid., 52. 「彼はただ鍵盤に指を載せさえすればよい、そうすれば柔らかく充実した音が空間に響く。とても柔らかなピアニッシモでは生き生きと、歌うように。活気のあるフォルティッシモでは満 ち足りた心地よい音が。」.

14. Ottmar Schreiber and Ingeborg Schreiber, Rezensionen, Max Reger in seinen Konzerten, Teil 3 (Bonn: Dümmler, 1981), 330.

15. Jon Laukvik and Christopher Anderson, trans., Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing, Part 2: The Romantic Period (Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2010), 258, 289, 304–305. 

16. Email exchanges with Christopher Anderson.

17. Jon Laukvik and Christopher Anderson, trans., Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing, Part 2: The Romantic Period (Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2010), 158.

18. The degree to which a Walze or crescendo shoe can be reconfigured after the installation of the instrument may be variable. But for the purposes of this research project, I am working with the Walze list provided to me by the restorer of the instrument in question.

19. Kouga Higashiyama, “Study of Max Reger’s Performance Style as a ‘Pianist’ by the Analysis of his Concert Reviews コンサートレビューの分析による「ピアニスト」マックス・レーガーの演奏スタイル研究” (DMA diss., Kyoto University of the Arts, 2018), 50–58.

Bibliography

Literature:

Alain, Olivier, Masayoshi Nagatomi, and Masayoshi Ninomiya. The History of Harmony. Tokyo: Hakusui Publisher, 1969.

Anderson, Christopher. Max Reger and Karl Straube: Perspectives on an Organ Performing Tradition. Aldershot and Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2003.

———, ed. and trans. Selected Writings of Max Reger. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2006.

Busch, Hermann J. “Die Orgelwelt Max Regers.” In Zur Interpretation der Orgelmusik Max Regers, edited by Hermann J. Busch, 6–28. Kassel: Verlag Merseburger Berlin GmbH, 1988.

Cadenbach, Rainer. Max Reger und seine Zeit. Regensburg: Laaber, 1991.

Falkenberg, Hans-Joachim. Der Orgelbauer Wilhelm Sauer, 1831–1916: Leben und Werk. Lauffen: Orgelbau Fachverlag Rensch, 1990.

Hayashi, Tatsuya. New Harmonies. Tokyo: Altes Publishing, 2015.

von Hase-Koehler, Else. Max Reger—Briefe eines deutschen Meisters: Ein Lebensbild des Musikers und Komponisten. Leipzig: Kohler & Amelang, 1928.

Laukvik, Jon. Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing, Part 2: The Romantic Period. Translated by Christopher Anderson. Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2010. 

Piston, Walter, and Mark DeVoto. Harmony. 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1987.

Popp, Susanne, ed. Der junge Reger: Briefe und Dokumente vor 1900. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2000.

———, ed. Max Reger: Briefe die Verleger Lauterbach & Kuhn, Teil 1. Bonn:
Dümmlers Verlag, 1993.

Reger, Elsa. Mein Leben mit und für Max Reger. Leipzig: Koehler und Amelang Verlag, 1930.

Reger, Max. Beiträge zur Modulations lehre von Max Reger. Frankfurt: C. F.
Kahnt, 1904.

Schreiber, Ingeborg, and Ottmar Schreiber (ed.). Rezensionen: Max Reger in seinen Konzerten, Teil 3. Bonn: Dümmler, 1981.

Stein, Fritz Wilhelm. Max Reger/von Prof. Dr. Fritz Stein. Potsdam: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion, 1939.

Tournemire, Charles. Précis D’éxécution: De Registration Et D’improvisation à L’orgue. Paris: M. Eschig, 1936.

Wünsch, Christoph. Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H für Orgel op. 46 von Max Reger. Motivische, harmonische und formale Disposition Festschrift für Susanne Popp. Reger-Studien No.7. Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag, 2004.

Dissertations:

Adams, David. “‘Modern’ Organ Style in Karl Straube’s Reger Editions.” Ph.D. diss., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2007.

Anderson, Christopher. “Reger, Straube, and the Leipzig School’s Tradition of Organ Pedagogy, 1898–1948.” Ph. D. diss., Duke University, 1999.

Harrison, Daniel. “A Theory of Harmonic and Motivic Structure for the Music of Max Reger.” Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1986.

Higashiyama, Kouga. “Study of Max Reger’s Performance Style as a ‘Pianist’ by the Analysis of his Concert Reviews.” DMA diss., Kyoto University of the Arts, 2018.

Kim, Sung Joo. “Max Reger’s Symphonische Fantasie und Fuge, Op. 57: A Study of Thematic and Harmonic Structure and Issues of Performance Practice.” DMA diss., University of Washington, 2012.

Schaffer, Mark Andrew. “The Use of Variation Principle in the Works of Max Reger.” Ph.D. diss., University of Cincinnati, 1989.

Smith, Jane Ann. “The Relationship of Max Reger’s Beitrage zur Modulationslehre to His Establishment of Tonality in Representative Organ Works.” DMA diss., University of Arizona, 2002.

Journal articles:

Anderson, Christopher. “Max Reger as ‘Master Organist’? What we think and what we know,” RCO Journal 9 (London, United Kingdom: 2015), 18–45. i.rco.org.uk/rco-journal-volume-9-2015.

Bruggaier, Eduard. “Helmut Walcha und Max Regers Orgelmusik: Eine vorsichtige Korrektur.” Ars organi: Internationale Zeitschrift für das Orgelwesen 55, no. 3 (September 2007): 167–179.

Mead, Andrew. “Listening to Reger.” The Musical Quarterly 87, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 681–707.

———. “Cultivating an Air: Natural Imagery and Music Making.” Perspectives of New Music 52, no. 2 (2014): 98–99, doi.org/10.7757/persnewmusi.52.2.0091.

Scores:

Liszt, Franz. Sämtlich Orgelwerke, Band 2. Edited by Martin Haselböck. Wien: Universal Edition, 1984.

Reger, Max, Alexander Becker, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefan König, and Stefanie Steiner-Grage. Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H, opus 46. Stuttgart: Carus, 2014.

Reger, Max, Dean Billmeyer, and Christopher Anderson. An Introduction to the Organ Music of Max Reger. Colfax, NC: Wayne Leupold Editions, 2016.

Reger, Max, and Gerard Alphenaar. Fantasia and Fugue On B-A-C-H. New York, NY: Edward B. Marks Music Corp., 1957.

Reger, Max. Choralfantaseien nach der Reger Gesamtausgbe (Hans Klotz) durchgesehen Von Martin Weyer: mit einer Einführung von Hans Haselböck. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1989.

———. Chorwerke a cappella; revised by Hermann Grabner Gruppenleiter. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel,1961.

———. “Fantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H, opus 46.” Selected organ works. Tokyo: Ongakuno tomo, 1990–1994.

———. Fantasie und Fuge über Den Namen Bach / Fantasia and Fugue On the Name Bach: Opus 46, Organo Solo. Wien: Universal Edition, 1928.

———. Phantasie und Fuge Für Orgel über B-A-C-H, Opus 46: Faksimile des Autographs. Wien: Universal Edition, 1984.

———. Phantasien und Fugen, Variationen, Sonaten, Suiten: I. Edited by Alexander Becker. Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag, 2011.

———. Phantasien und Fugen; Introduction, Variationen und Fuge: op. 73; Introduktion, Passacaglia und Fuge: op. 127. nach der Reger-Gesamtausgbe. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel,1987.

———. Quintett für Klavier, 2 Violinen, Viola und Violoncello, Op. 64. Liepzig: C. F. Peters, 1987.

———. Sämtliche Werke. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1954.

———. Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 132. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf und Härtel,1958.

———. Werke für klavier zweihändig. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1957–1965.

———. Zwei Romanzen, Op. 50, für Violien und Kleines Orchester. Munchen: Hoflich, 2000.

———. Zwölf Stücke. Op. 59, nach der Reger-Gesamtausgbe. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1987.

Schumann, Robert. Werke für Orgel oder Pedalklavier. Edited by Gerhard Weinberger. Detmold: G Henle Verlag 1986.

Tournemire, Charles, and Maurice Duruflé. Cinq Improvisations Pour Orgue. Paris: Durand, 1958.

Unpublished Paper (shared by the author):

Mead, Andrew. “Max Reger and the Art of Variation.” Presented at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music, Theory Colloquium, 2017.

Online sources:

Nagley, Judith and Martin Anderson, “Reger, Max.” In Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2001–. Accessed August 10, 2021. doiorg.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.23064.

“Curriculum Vitae,” Max Reger Institut, accessed June 20, 2020. max-reger-institut.de/en/max-reger/curriculum-vitae.

“The Circle of Fifth,” Soundfly, accessed August 10, 2020. flypaper.soundfly.com/write/how-the-circle-of-fifths-can-help-your-songwriting.

“Max Reger Chronology,” Max Reger Institut, accessed August 4, 2021, max-reger-institut.de/media/max-regerchronologie.pdf.

“1884/1995 E. F. Walcker & Cie/Eule Organ,” Organ Art Library, accessed August 10, 2021, organartmedia.com/en/callido/83.html#consoles.

Click here for a recording of Yumiko Tatsuta’s performance of Max Reger’s Phantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H in Auer Hall.

Neal Campbell

Neal Campbell is the organist of Trinity Episcopal Church in Vero Beach, Florida. He previously held full-time positions in Connecticut, Virginia (including ten years on the adjunct faculty of the University of Richmond), and New Jersey. He holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, including the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, for which he wrote his dissertation on the life and work of New York organist-composer Harold Friedell. He has studied, played, and recorded on many of the organs discussed in this article.

Editor’s note: the first part of this series appeared in the February 2022 issue of The Diapason, pages 12–17.

Introduction

Based on correspondence in Barbara Owen’s and Charles Callahan’s books, we learned in the previous issue that it was Alexander Schreiner who, as the Tabernacle organ was nearing completion, asked G. Donald Harrison to have his name appear on the console in addition to the standard company nameplate. Harrison obliged by providing an ivory plate with a facsimile of his signature along with the opus number and date. In the ensuing years until his death in 1956 Harrison continued the practice of signing some organs built by Aeolian-Skinner with which he was personally involved.

Before identifying and commenting on those signature organs, a list which continues this month, I showed the progression of Harrison’s tonal ideas in the years leading up to the Tabernacle organ, based on his own words in letters to various of his associates and friends contained in Callahan’s books. In particular, GDH related that the organ for the Groton School was a turning point in the development of his tonal theories, and he considered it the smaller companion to the Tabernacle design. Also cited are several examples of both Harrison’s and Schreiner’s assessments of the Tabernacle organ in the years immediately following its completion.

Following the list of signature organs in this issue, I also comment on some organs built prior to the Tabernacle organ containing GDH’s signature plate and, assuming the Tabernacle organ to be the first organ GDH signed, I offer details as to their relative importance in the company trajectory. There follows commentary about significant Aeolian-Skinner organs of the era that do not contain Harrison’s signature, and then some brief commentary on the organs built in the era of Joseph S. Whiteford and the company’s final years.

In enumerating and commenting on the signature organs, the list and details are complete and accurate so far as I know. I have played many of the organs, but not all. I imagine there are signature organs of which I am unaware. For example, since beginning work on this article I learned via a Facebook page devoted to G. Donald Harrison and the American Classic Organ that the organ in the Worcester Art Museum bears a GDH signature plate. There likely are others, and I would be glad to hear from those with knowledge of them, preferably with documentation, and from those with additional commentary to what I provide here. Communications may be sent through the editor. Who knows, there may be an addenda or part 3 in the future!

Opus 1149: New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., 1948.

The first organ for this congregation was built by Hutchings, Plaisted, & Co. in 1873 for the original church. This was later rebuilt by John Brown and later still by Ernest M. Skinner & Son of Methuen. In 1948, the church signed a contract with Aeolian-Skinner for additions to the existing instrument, and in 1951 another contract was signed as Opus 1149-A for a rebuilding and re-installation in the present church.²⁹

This organ, now gone, was a very beautiful example of Aeolian-Skinner’s sound, even though it was of modest content and pedigree. My teacher, William Watkins, was the organist of the church at the time each contract was completed, and he and Joseph S. Whiteford did the work together on a very modest budget. Whiteford was a native Washingtonian, and he and Watkins were good friends; this was at about the time Whiteford became Harrison’s assistant at Aeolian-Skinner.

At the time, the church was famous for the preaching ministry of the Reverend Dr. Peter Marshall, who was also the chaplain of the United States Senate. Watkins at that time was a prominent concert organist, and he provided a serious program of organ music at services. The church maintained a choir of 100 singers directed by Charles Dana Beaschler. Watkins told me that he simply asked Harrison to sign the organ when they moved into the new church. At the time Watkins was probably the best-known organist in the country aside from Virgil Fox, his teacher. The organ as it turned out was entirely worthy of the Aeolian-Skinner legacy, but GDH had nothing to do with it personally. He complied with the request solely on the strength of his associations with Whiteford and Watkins. So, if it happened here, it likely happened in other places—an important clue when considering criteria that may have influenced Harrison’s decision to sign an organ.

By the time I knew the organ as a substitute in the early 1970s the signature plate had disappeared, though the screw holes where it had been were clearly visible. When the church eventually obtained a new console and made some additions during the tenure of Wesley Parrott, a replacement signature plate was made and affixed to the new console.

Opus 1150: Annie Merner Chapel of MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Illinois, 1952.

Robert Glasgow taught here before he went to the University of Michigan, and the organ was installed early in his tenure. He praised the organ in his address to the American Classic Organ Symposium in 1988. The college closed in May 2020, and the fate of the organ is still being determined.

Opus 1173: First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas, 1949.

This organ was a rebuild of a 1935 M. P. Möller, and it retained much of the pipework and structure, as well as three complete stops from the previous Henry Pilcher’s Sons organ. Nevertheless, it became one of the company’s most successful and best-known organs.

It was used for examples supporting GDH’s narration in Volume I of King of Instruments, and in Volume II played by Roy Perry, the organist of the church for forty years and one of Aeolian-Skinner’s most successful representatives and finishers. Two tracks were also played by William Watkins on Volume II, although he was identified ignominiously as the “staff organist,” owing to union regulations at the time. Volume X featured Opus 1173 in a complete issue entitled “Music for the Church,” featuring works for choir and organ. The only organ piece on the album was Bruce Simonds’s Prelude on Iam sol recedit igneus played by Roy Perry, who also played all of the choral accompaniments.

The cover photo of the new Trompette-en-Chamade for Opus 1173 was used for the first time on Volume X and continued to be featured in company brochures and other volumes of the King of Instruments series, becoming something of an Aeolian-Skinner icon. The company claimed that the stop was the first such built in America.

Opus 1174: First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas, 1951.

This organ provides an interesting contrast to its slightly older sister organ in Kilgore in that it was a completely new organ designed by Harrison for the new church, has not been altered or added to, and was placed in a strikingly modern, large edifice designed with the organ’s success in mind at the outset. The nave of the church is 92 feet high at the peak of the ceiling, and it seats 1,700 persons. The church’s pastor, the Reverend Dr. W. Morris Ford, was the driving force in both the building of the new church and the organ, and for many years thereafter musical events of significant proportions were included in the church’s program. The leading organists of the day, including Virgil Fox and Catharine Crozier, played there. An article about this organ appeared in the June 1954 issue of The American Organist stating:

Catharine Crozier made tape-recordings during the 1952 Christmas holidays for two L.P. discs [on the Kendall label]; Harold Gleason says Longview beats anything he has heard in Europe.

Opus 150-A: Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, New York City, 1953.

This organ is justly famous and needs little introduction, except to note that it used significant portions of the original instrument, one of Ernest Skinner’s early successes, especially structural components and orchestral stops. The organ has many unique attributes, and its success draws in large part from Harrison’s experience prior to his coming to the United States, when he worked closely with Willis on the organ in Liverpool Cathedral, a building approaching the size of St. John the Divine. For example, letters by GDH tell that in some stops the pipes for the individual notes are doubled, even tripled in the treble ranks, and that for the first time in many years Aeolian-Skinner built and voiced completely new Tuba stops for the organ.

An amusing story from the canon of oral tradition tells of Norman Coke-Jephcott, organist of the cathedral during the planning stages, and GDH visiting after dinner at Coke-Jephcott’s club in the presence of others, when Harrison asked “Cokie” if he had given any thought to what they might name the newly designed special trumpet stop at the west end of the cathedral. Cokie said that he really had not, so Harrison asked him how he planned to use it. Cokie said, “Well . . ., I suppose for state occasions.”

That is how this famous stop, voiced by Oscar Pearson on fifty inches of wind pressure, came to be called the State Trumpet. It was a major departure from the two previous horizontal reeds Aeolian-Skinner built for Opus 1173 and Opus 1208, which were essentially standard Trompette Harmonique designs voiced on moderate pressure, but mounted horizontally.

The cathedral organ is featured on Volume I of the King of Instruments in examples played by Joseph Whiteford to accompany Harrison’s narration. The instrument is again featured on Volume VI in a program played by Alec Wyton, who had recently been appointed organist of the cathedral, and on Volume VIII, played by his predecessor, Norman Coke-Jephcott.

Opus 825-A: St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire, 1953.

Opus 1196: Covenant Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1949.

This was a completely new four-manual organ for the new church building of this flagship congregation of the denomination. Richard Peek was the organist at the time, and he and his wife, Betty, directed the music here for over forty years.

Opus 1200: New England Conservatory, Boston, Massachusetts, 1949.

Originally displayed at the 1950 American Guild of Organists convention in Boston, this experimental organ saw many years of use in a studio at the conservatory. The console has three plates on it, and students recall that in addition to the company nameplate and the GDH signature plate, there was a plate identifying its use at the convention. The organ is now owned privately.

Opus 1201: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Mount Kisco, New York, 1952.

A new three-manual organ of classic design was installed in casework designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, architect of the church, which contained the former instrument. The organ featured a divided Swell division, such as was first used in one of Ernest White’s studio organs at St. Mary the Virgin in New York City, and later at Christ Church, Bronxville, New York, Opus 1082. The Positiv division is suspended from the ceiling at the entrance to the side chapel, across the chancel from the main organ. Edgar Hilliar, organist of the church from 1948 until 1984, directed much of the design, and he recorded a complete program for Volume IV of the King of Instruments series.

Opus 1208: St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, New York City, 1951.

At the time the organ was installed, St. Philip’s was one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country and was a significant religious and political presence among the many churches in Harlem. The organ was a rebuild of the former 1943 Hillgreen-Lane organ of three manuals, reusing the console. It featured the company’s second Trompette-en-Chamade, which is similar in appearance to the one for Opus 1173 in Kilgore, Texas, except St. Philip’s is at the west end of the church.

Opus 1216: First Methodist Church, Tacoma, Washington, 1953.

Since relocated to First Baptist Church, Seattle, Washington.

Opus 1235: St. John Lutheran Church, Forest Park, Illinois, 1954. 

Photographs of the stopjambs of this organ were used as the cover of company brochures in the 1960s. The Positiv was prepared for at the time and later added by Berghaus Organ Company to a design somewhat different than the original.

Opus 968-B: Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1955.

This was a large, four-manual organ of over 100 ranks with obvious Harrison attributes. The instrument also included an English organ from 1785 built by Samuel Green that had been donated to the church, made playable as a division of the organ. The unenclosed divisions were placed in a shallow gallery surrounding the Green organ over the altar, while the enclosed divisions were in attic chambers, including an Antiphonal division in the tower. The organ was an anachronism in the Colonial-era church, but it was very effective and saw much varied use in recitals several times a week for the many tourists who flocked to Williamsburg. The organ was replaced in 2019 by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Opus 96.

Opus 1257: Winthrop College, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 1955.

Opus 1265: The Temple, Atlanta, Georgia, 1954.

Emilie Spivey, the organist of The Temple, commissioned Harrison to rebuild the 1931 Henry Pilcher’s Sons organ that had been installed in the new edifice. The new organ retained twenty-two ranks from the Pilcher. Virgil Fox was the consultant.

Opus 1275: Cathedral Church of All Saints, Albany, New York, 1953.

This is a rebuild of a 1904 Austin Organ Company instrument, retaining the console and some of the chests and pipework. There is a signature plate indicating that Harrison was responsible for the Great and Positiv divisions, and another indicating that Whiteford finished the Swell and Choir.

Opus 724-A: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1956.

Significant structural portions and the three-manual console were retained from the previous organ, but little of the previous pipework was used in this rebuild, which was in the factory simultaneous with Opus 205-A for St. Thomas Church in New York City. Inasmuch as Harrison died while finishing the organ in St. Thomas, this organ may justly be identified as the last organ personally finished by G. Donald Harrison. Designed and installed during the tenure of Thomas Dunn, certain aspects of the unusual design and stop nomenclature have been attributed to him. The original Aeolian-Skinner nameplate and GDH signature plate were stolen, and the present console contains replacements.

Over the years, during the long tenure of Richard Alexander, additions to the organ included a new four-manual console built by Austin and several vintage Skinner stops, which were placed in the large ceiling chamber toward the front of the nave where most of the original Skinner organ had been located. A new Grand Choeur division built by Schoenstein was also added.

Opus 205-A: St. Thomas Church, New York, New York, 1956.

Much has been written about this famous organ, and it has become the fodder of legend, beginning with the fact that G. Donald Harrison died on the evening of June 14, 1956, after spending a day of tonal finishing on the organ as it neared completion, working against the clock to have it ready for the American Guild of Organists national convention a few weeks later. There was a subway strike in New York at the time, and GDH could not get a taxi, so he walked several blocks in extreme heat to the apartment he and his wife maintained on Third Avenue. Upon arriving home he felt poorly, but after dinner he relaxed and felt better. As he was watching Victor Borge on the television, he threw his head back roaring in laughter—and died of a sudden heart attack.

Many alterations were made to the organ over the years beginning in the late 1960s when the organ was barely a decade old. Toward the end of Gerre Hancock’s tenure he retrofitted nameplates on the right stop jamb documenting the provenance of the organ: The Ernest M. Skinner Co., Boston; Aeolian-Skinner; and Gilbert Adams. He also placed a GDH signature plate under the bottom manual near the General Cancel button.

Marcel Dupré made two stereo recordings for the Mercury Living Presence series of LPs in 1958, which assured the organ of a place in the annals of Aeolian-Skinner history. Private recordings of rehearsals and concerts by Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, Alexander Boggs Ryan, and Garnell Copeland made on the organ before the long series of alterations have recently been remastered and made available as CDs, the latter two of which are found on the Aeolian-Skinner Legacy series of recordings obtainable through the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

Signature organs prior to Opus 1075

Several organs built prior to the Salt Lake Tabernacle Opus 1075 also have a Harrison signature plate affixed to the console. Assuming that the Tabernacle organ was the first that Harrison signed as Barbara Owen states (see endnote #1), the exact circumstances of the placements of signatures on these pre-existing organs are subjects of further conjecture and add another layer of mystique to a subject that is inherently somewhat esoteric and imprecise.

The trajectory of Harrison’s organs culminating in the Tabernacle organ design has already been traced. That some of these organs were later given Harrison’s signature is entirely logical, as they contain many design precedents found in the Tabernacle organ that led Alexander Schreiner to ask Harrison to sign it in the first place. In that Harrison and Aeolian-Skinner later made alterations to some of these organs, it is likely that GDH himself directed his signature plate to be affixed at that time. In others the provenance is less obvious, and the exact logistics regarding their placement may be details consigned to the ages. I have attempted only to document what I know to have been in place at the time of this writing or at some point in the past. It is not difficult to fabricate these signature plates, and in several instances where the original nameplates have been stolen or broken, replacement replicas have been made available with relative ease.

Nora Williams told the story of someone in the console engraving department who would routinely make keychain fobs out of Harrison signature plates to hand out to workers and friends! So, the mystique continues.

Opus 909-A: All Saints Episcopal Church, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1933, 1940–1949.

The organ was recorded for Volume XI of the King of Instruments series played by Henry Hokans, the organist of the church at the time.

Opus 910-A: Grace Episcopal Cathedral, San Francisco, California, 1933, 1952.

Richard Purvis played a program of his compositions for Volume V of King of Instruments, although he was identified simply as “staff organist.”

Opus 927: Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, Connecticut, 1935, 1949.

Opus 932-A: Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis, Tennessee, 1935, 1952.

Harrison’s professional correspondence mentions his traveling to Memphis to work on the organ. Adolf Steuterman was the long-time organist of Calvary Church, a respected musician in that city, and was friendly with GDH.

Opus 936: St. John’s Chapel, Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, 1935, 1945–1962.

The organ was featured for Volume VII of King of Instruments, played by Marilyn Mason.

Opus 940: Episcopal Church of the Advent, Boston, Massachusetts, 1935, 1964.

Opus 1024: University of Texas at Austin, Recital Hall, Austin, Texas, 1941.

This was a large, four-manual organ for the recital hall in the new music building, containing the usual four manual divisions, plus a Positiv, Bombarde, and floating String organ. A new console was provided in 1965 as Opus 1024-A, which does not contain a Harrison signature plate. The organ has since been installed in a new church building for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Amarillo, Texas, which has been widely documented on video, and a signature plate is not on it.

However, in a letter to Brock Downward for his dissertation about Harrison, E. William Doty, professor emeritus and long-time organ teacher at the university, wrote that:

After the College of Fine Arts had been in existence for two years, the Board of Regents authorized the construction of a music building plus an organ to go in the recital hall . . . . Its acoustics were designed by C. C. Potwin of Electrical Research Corporation. He was recommended by Paul Boner, UT Professor of Physics, who was one of several consultants on the building and the organ. Ned Gammons of Christ Church, Houston, now at Groton School was another consultant whose ideas on design were incorporated . . . . In my judgement [sic] G. Donald Harrison was the greatest artist tonal designer of the first half of this century and we are very proud that he signed the University of Texas organ because in his judgement it was one of his best.³⁰

So, the mystique continues, but there is no doubt that this organ in its new home is a success and probably far exceeds its effectiveness in its original location according to those who knew it then, including Gerre Hancock who studied on it with Doty when he was a student at the university.

Opus 1036: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1942.

Conclusions

Beginning with the Groton organ in 1935, which Harrison himself identified as a turning point in his design of the Classic organ, it is a fairly straightforward task to identify further similar designs throughout the 1930s and 1940s leading up to the Tabernacle organ in 1945—and from thence to others in a similar trajectory, which GDH himself then signed, up until his death in 1956. Even so, if one were listening to a variety of the company’s instruments during this period, whether signed or not, there is no foolproof, obvious, definite distinction. Similarly, from a technical standpoint there are no absolute defining attributes or “smoking gun” signals that separate an organ that GDH signed from one he did not. They each bear a family resemblance in sight and sound, and some may be said to be more effective than others for any number of tangible and intangible reasons. It is, however, a given assumption that these signature organs are considered to be the best of the best that the company built.

In addition to tonal and technical attributes, however, there is another intangible aspect to the signature question that, from a purely scientific standpoint, is difficult to precisely define. Given the uniform tonal success of each of the signature organs along GDH’s developing Classic designs, I feel certain that, when all is said and done, Harrison’s reason for signing an organ also represented some very personal, quiet tribute of his own bestowing—some personal affinity GDH had for the way a particular job turned out, occasioned by its design and outcome together with perhaps some pleasant personal association with the incumbent, such as clearly was the case with Opus 1149 in Washington. Or perhaps there was the sense of a successful achievement that involved working with a collaborator on the job that reminded Harrison of his association with Schreiner and the outcome of the Tabernacle organ. There may have been some personal affinity that prompted Harrison to pronounce his own benediction on the job. And Philip Steinhaus’s letter to William Self at the outset of part 1 of this article confirms that the signature organs represent jobs with which Harrison was “deeply and personally involved.”

There certainly are wide varieties of styles to the signature organs, located in places humble and impressive, sizes small and large. Most of them are complete organs of GDH’s sole design that echo his aspirations for the Tabernacle organ, although there are obvious exceptions that contain significant portions of other builders’ work. Some signature organs are rather straightforward manifestations placed in ideal locations, and some are very unusual schemes or are the result of challenging layouts and unusual engineering solutions, such as Opus 1201 in Mount Kisco.

Some scholars and historians have posited that signature organs contain only pipework designed and finished by G. Donald Harrison. However, there are several examples that clearly suggest otherwise, such as the Washington and Kilgore organs cited previously, but also Opus 1265 at the Temple in Atlanta, Opus 1275 for the Cathedral in Albany, Opus 1208 in Harlem, Opus 1134 for Symphony Hall in Boston, and the various rebuilds of original Skinner organs that are indicated by the suffix letter “A” following the original opus number.

It is also very interesting to consider some important Aeolian-Skinner organs that were not signed by Harrison, including two of the company’s most famous: The Mother Church in Boston (Opus 1203 in 1949, the largest single organ produced by the company) and The Riverside Church in New York (Opus 1118, 1947–1955). Each is a very large, beautiful organ, in a prominent church in a major city, containing many singular attributes associated with Harrison and the American Classic Organ movement. Each possesses a sound that is unmistakable as being from Aeolian-Skinner of the era. However, each of these landmark organs was designed under the significant influence of others—in this case Lawrence Phelps and Virgil Fox, respectively. That is, their design inception was just the opposite of Opus 1075 for the Salt Lake Tabernacle where GDH was given a free hand and charged at the outset to build the organ as he saw fit. So it seems likely that GDH may not have been moved to sign organs so closely associated with others, even though they were still built by Aeolian-Skinner.

In neither case, though, can it be said that Harrison or the company in any way denigrated these organs or regarded them with less favor than the signature organs. The organ in The Mother Church was featured twice in the King of Instruments series of recordings (Volumes IX and XIII) and in reissues. GDH was quick to praise the sounds that Virgil Fox got from the Riverside organ when writing to Willis about it. When Harrison died suddenly in 1956, Virgil Fox immediately offered to play for his funeral—though in the end the small service at St. Mary’s Church in Hampton Bays, Long Island, had no music whatsoever.

The large organ formerly in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, Massachusetts, was not signed by Harrison, for the presumed same reason, that it was the result of the collaborative design of Ned Gammons of the Groton School and George Faxon, the organist of the church. Yet, the organ contains all of the hallmarks of the American Classic movement—lavishly so in fact, and it was featured in the first two volumes of King of Instruments. There appears to be no obvious hints of pettiness or retribution in Harrison’s decisions regarding jobs that he did not sign.

St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia is yet another example of a large, prominent organ in a notable urban parish church with the same Harrison tonal attributes as contained in its contemporary sister organs in Advent in Boston and Groton, yet it was not signed by Harrison. We know that Harrison and/or Aeolian-Skinner later made significant alterations at both Advent and Groton, and it is easy to readily assume that GDH, or someone else, added the signature plates at that time. If that be the case, it is ironic that St. Mark’s, which has received no substantive alterations, does not bear Harrison’s signature, while the other two that have been altered do!

Harder to document are instances where there exists a beautiful example of Harrison’s work without the signature, and where it is known that GDH had difficult dealings in some aspect of the job with representatives of the church and/or the incumbent organist. I personally know of a couple of likely candidates for that scenario—but it is hard to substantiate, there is little to be gained by “outing” a church in this way, and in the end it is of little consequence, except that in the process these places are permanently deprived of the intangible benefit of Harrison’s privately bestowed, yet very obvious public stamp of approval for all to see as the years pass by.

For the researcher, and especially for the player, the presence of the Harrison signature plate on the console suggests an invitation to simply consider the organ on another level, to check the organ’s provenance and files, to try to see who was behind a given project, and attempt to discover the lines of continuity between Harrison and the project, further appreciating the music the organ produces in that light. In providing commentary on the signature organs, I have been able to dig deeper in some cases than others, and in no way do I present this monograph as the end of the story on this topic.

Aeolian-Skinner after Harrison

In the years after Harrison’s death, Joseph Whiteford continued the practice of placing his nameplate on many organs, but to my knowledge it was never in the form of his signature. Although I have not researched it carefully, it also appears that a larger percentage of the company’s total output during Whiteford’s tenure as tonal director received his nameplate. Of course, the total number of organs the company built continued to decrease as the 1960s led inexorably to the company’s sad denouement in 1972.

Much has been written, and even more spoken, about Aeolian-Skinner’s demise. Twenty-five years after the company closed, Michael Gariepy, who had been on the company’s technical staff, wrote:

There were four “coffin nails” which sealed the fate of Aeolian-Skinner—

1. The death of G. Donald Harrison;

2. The Southeast Expressway, which split the operation in two;

3. The departure of Joseph Whiteford from the company;

4. The move to Randolph; such were the disruptions caused by relocating the company that it took six months to return to “normal” operational efficiency.³¹

There is no doubt that Harrison’s prestige brought credit and contracts to the company, and his death is generally thought to have been the beginning of its end—and that may be so. But there is every indication, including Dun & Bradstreet reports, that Aeolian-Skinner was never in a favorable financial position following World War II and its attendant inflation. Joseph Whiteford clearly was not the typical career “organ man” that Harrison had been. There is no doubt that many of the old-timers in the company did not resonate to his patrician ways and may have lacked confidence in his leadership. But in the post-Harrison years Joseph Whiteford designed some impressive organs, including those for the symphony orchestras in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. And under his successor Donald Gillett’s direction, Aeolian-Skinner built the organ in the new Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington.

Many “Hail Mary” attempts were made to keep the company afloat in its closing days, and there were valiant attempts to adapt to the changing times and tastes, such as moving to a more economical and efficient factory outside of Boston and introducing tracker-action organs. Roy Perry told me that Martin Wick seriously pursued the idea of purchasing Aeolian-Skinner and moving it to Texas, with Roy as tonal director. Martin said he had no trouble building Chevrolets in one factory and Cadillacs in another! But his board did not go along with the idea. In the end it was all too little, too late.

Having played many organs designed by G. Donald Harrison, Joseph Whiteford, and Donald Gillett over my entire professional career, I feel that many of Aeolian-Skinner’s organs built since 1956 are very beautiful indeed and are landmarks easily on a par with some of those the company built under Harrison. It is prescient to read what Emerson Richards said about Joseph Whiteford when he wrote to Henry Willis shortly after Harrison’s death:

I think that he [Whiteford] has more ability than he is given credit for but he is impatient and for some reason does not inspire confidence—just why I cannot say.³²

In considering Aeolian-Skinner after Harrison’s death, Charles Callahan’s sage advice in the introductory material to his second book is still worthy of consideration:

The pendulum of taste and opinion is constantly in motion. Caught up in the enthusiasms of a particular moment in time, it is all too easy for anyone to belittle others’ achievements. Perhaps Joseph
Whiteford and his work are overdue for a fair assessment.³³

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Charles Callahan, William Czelusniak, Allen Harris, Douglass Hunt, Allen Kinzey, and Larry Trupiano in the preparation of this article.

Notes

1. Barbara Owen, The Mormon Tabernacle Organ: An American Classic (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1990), 43.

29. Allen Kinsey and Sand Lawn, comp., E. M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List (Richmond, Virginia: Organ Historical Society, 1997), 152.

30. E. William Doty to Brock W. Downward, December 14, 1974. Downward diss., 97.

31. Michael Gariepy to Charles Callahan, February 9, 1996, Callahan, Aeolian-Skinner Remembered, 372.

32. Emerson Richards to Henry Willis III, July 12, 1956. Callahan, The American Classic Organ, 433.

33. Callahan, Aeolian-Skinner Remembered, xvi.

Bibliography

Alexander, Richard. “A Survey of the Pipe Organs Designed by G. Donald Harrison.” Master’s thesis, Yale University, School of Music, 1970.

Barnes, William Harrison. The Contemporary American Organ. 8th ed. Glen Rock, NJ: J. Fisher & Bro., 1964.

Berry, Ray, Seth Bingham, Charles M. Courboin, Everett Titcomb, Ernest White, William Self, Alec Wyton, George Faxon, Robert Baker. “G. Donald Harrison, 1889–1956: A Tribute to a Great Man.” The American Organist, vol. 39, no. 7 (July 1956): 230–231.

Bethards, Jack. “The Tabernacle Letters: The Story of the Salt Lake Organ in the Words of G. Donald Harrison and Alexander Schreiner.” The Diapason, vol. 81, nos. 6–8 (June 1990: 14–17; July 1990: 8–9; August 1990: 10–11).

______ . “The 1988 Renovation—A Builder’s Perspective.” The American Organist, vol. 22, no. 12 (Dec. 1988): 71–78. [re: the renovation of the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ].

Blanton, Joseph Edwin. The Organ in Church Design. Albany, TX: Venture Press, 1957.

Buhrman, T. Scott. “Arthur Hudson Marks.” The American Organist, vol. 22 (June 1939).

Callahan, Charles. The American Classic Organ: A History in Letters. Richmond, VA: The Organ Historical Society, 1990.

______ . Aeolian-Skinner Remembered: A History in Letters. Minneapolis: Randall Egan, 1996.

Cundick, Robert. “The 1988 Renovation—An Organist’s Perspective.” The American Organist, vol. 22, no. 12 (Dec. 1988): 79–80.

Downward, Brock W. “G. Donald Harrison and the American Classic Organ.” D.M.A. diss., Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, 1976.

Fesperman, John. Two Essays on Organ Design. Raleigh, NC: The Sunbury Press, 1975.

Harrison, G. Donald. “Organ,” in Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1944.

______ . “Slider Chests?” The Organ Institute Quarterly, 3 (Summer 1953).

______ , and Emerson L. Richards. “Chorus Reeds, French, English, and American.” The American Organist, vol. 24, nos. 4–7 (April 1941: 107–108; May 1941: 141–143; June 1941: 172–174; July 1941: 203–204).

Kehl, Roy. “The American Classic Symposium in Salt Lake City.” The Diapason, vol. 80, no. 5 (May 1989): 10–11.

King, John Hansen. “The King of Instruments.” The Diapason, vol. 94, no. 5, April 2003.

Kinsey, Allen, and Sand Lawn, comp. E. M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List. Richmond, VA: The Organ Historical Society, 1992, 1997.

Langord, Alan C. “Aeolian-Skinner: A Study in Artistic Leadership.” Bachelor’s thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1959.

Nies-Berger, Édouard. Albert Schweitzer As I Knew Him. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2003.

Owen, Barbara. The Mormon Tabernacle Organ: An American Classic. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1990.

Richards, Emerson L. “Advent Organ in Boston.” The American Organist, vol. 19, no. 9 (September 1936): 304–307.

_______ . “An American Classic Organ Arrives.” The American Organist, vol. 26, no. 5 (May 1943): 104–108.

_______ . “Boston Symphony Hall’s Third Organ.” The American Organist, vol. 33, no. 1 (January 1950): 17–22.

_______ . “Curtis Institute’s New Organ.” The American Organist, vol. 25, no. 1 (January 1942): 10–14.

Schreiner, Alexander. “The Tabernacle Organ in Salt Lake City.” Organ Institute Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 1 (1957).

_______ . “100 Years of Organs in the Mormon Tabernacle.” The Diapason, vol. 58, no. 11 (November 1967): 19.

Zeuch, William E. “An Appreciation of the Work of G. Donald Harrison.” The American Organist, vol. 16, no. 9 (September 1933): 438–439.

About The American Organist magazine entries: for most of the twentieth century the official journal of the American Guild of Organists was The Diapason, independently owned, edited, and published in Chicago. Simultaneous with The Diapason was an organists’ journal titled The American Organist, published by T. Scott Buhrman in New York City. These two journals coexisted until 1967 when the AGO established its independent journal, initially titled MUSIC: The AGO/RCCO Magazine reflecting that it was the official journal of the American Guild of Organists and the Royal Canadian College of Organists. After Buhrman died in the 1960s his journal continued briefly, but it soon ceased operations. The AGO soon adopted the title The American Organist for their official magazine, but it is not in any way related to Buhrman’s magazine. In this bibliography the two 1988 entries referring to The American Organist refer to the magazine’s later iteration as the journal of the AGO.