We had a wonderful birthday concert for the Spreckels Organ on January 1.
The concert was from 12 noon until 5 pm and around 7,500 people came to celebrate the event. There was much coverage from the local papers and various television stations.
Visit the following link to view photos taken by Robert Harrington, Spreckels Organ Society Photographer.
www.robert-harrington.com/spreckels/050101_90th/index.htm
Spreckels Outdoor Organ at 100 years
In summer 2001, I had just finished my doctorate at the Manhattan School of Music and was living in New York City when I read about an open position in San Diego as civic organist. I applied along with a hundred other organists. I love all kinds of music and just knew this was the job for me because that is just what the Spreckels Organ venue is about: music for all people of the world.
I was appointed Civic Organist and Artistic Director of the Spreckels Organ Society in October 2001. This venue demands a versatile music program every Sunday or the seats become empty. Little did I know that I was in for a roller-coaster ride of hard work. I soon found my footing as a self-appointed ambassador of the Spreckels Organ. As a concertizing organist, I encourage people to engage in the salubrious sounds of the pipe organ, and in doing so, hopefully gain a larger audience. We have always been blessed with appreciation and support from the people of San Diego and all those that visit from around the world.
As the seventh civic organist of San Diego, another position I hold is to work with the Spreckels Organ Society in producing their International Summer Organ Festival each year from June through September. Since this organ was given to San Diego under the condition that they cannot charge admission, the Spreckels Organ Society was formed to preserve, promote, and program this organ. The society has transformed this civic organ with their volunteer efforts, raising money for a new console, additional ranks, and the continued maintenance; the organ has become a world-class instrument.
With the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the organ, I wish to inform the reader of what has happened with the instrument and people who surround this venue.
When I began my tenure, I decided to have printed programs for every Sunday’s concert. The programs are always posted on the website the week before each performance, at www.spreckelsorgan.org.
I truly believe that when this instrument was given by the Spreckels brothers, they intended to enrich the community—not just through organ concerts, but also by using the great organ to help others. On these lines, I decided a series of benefit concerts would be a worthy way to give back to the community.
With my love of animals, I started “Bark in Balboa Park,” and all the donations for that Sunday concert have gone to the Humane Society of San Diego. They always bring animals and boutique items and this has turned into a family event. In 2015 we will have our tenth anniversary of this event.
Every January 1—whatever day of the week it falls on—we do an extra 2 p.m. concert, and this event will benefit a worthy charity in the San Diego area.
This year, I will do my second 12-hour organ marathon to raise money for our wounded vets. All donations will go to CAF’s Operation Rebound—a fantastic organization in San Diego.
We are now live streaming the Sunday and Monday concerts. This was a dream I had a while ago, and I must thank the Spreckels team for making this happen.
If you have never visited this venue, then may I suggest you add the place to your “bucket list?” San Diego is a beautiful city and Balboa Park is the heart of the environment.
I have made wonderful friends with my predecessors. Here are some thoughts from key people around the organ.
Dr. Carol Williams, melcot.com
San Diego Civic Organist
Artistic Director, Spreckels Organ Society
A history of the venue and its people
The Spreckels Outdoor Organ and Pavilion was a most remarkable gift to the City of San Diego. It was a daring and courageous concept to think that a pipe organ could sound into the open air and that programs could be played throughout the year. That it is in outstanding use and condition for a full one hundred years is truly extraordinary. Seven Official Civic Organists (the correct title for the post) have served in all kinds of weather and performed all kinds of music, transcriptions, classical, and theatrical, and given to the general public the joy of a municipal organ. This writer has heard all seven of these musicians play and would like to express a few thoughts on each of these fine persons.
Humphrey John Stewart came to play as the 1915 Panama-California Exposition Organist, and then again in 1916 when the Exposition became International, and continued as the Official City Organist until his death on the 28th of December 1932. During the more than nine thousand concerts played almost daily by Dr. Stewart, he used colorful registrations and often concluded with a grand improvisation. The writer’s mother took her son to his programs!
Royal Albert Brown had assisted Dr. Stewart and was appointed as the “Civic” organist in 1933. Except during the years of the Second World War, he played four times each week and all public holidays until his passing on October 28, 1954.
Charles Rollin Shatto served from fall 1954 until late summer of 1957 and introduced many contemporary French organ composers.
Douglas Ian Duncan had grown up hearing the park organ; when faced with its possible closure, he returned the programming to a lighter fare in the style of Mr. Brown.
Jared Jacobsen became the Fifth Official Civic Organist in 1978 and is remembered for his brilliant playing and insightful historic comments. He served until 1984.
Robert Plimpton became the sixth to serve the post, playing for well over sixteen years. His extensive musical background, having served in very important church positions, brought to Balboa Park a most extensive repertory.
The seventh and current artist is Carol Anne Williams, the first woman to serve as a municipal organist. She has built on the past devotion of those who served before her and has carried the concerts to new heights.
The gift of John D. and Adolph B. Spreckels resounds loud and clear, in rain and cold, fair and warm days, giving its hometown a rich century of musical enjoyment and treasure.
Douglas Ian Duncan
Fourth Official Civic Organist
(1957–78, Retired)
Reflections on the Spreckels Organ, 1978–1984
My first encounter with the remarkable outdoor organ in the heart of Balboa Park was early in 1978. I had moved to San Diego eighteen months earlier, fresh out of graduate school, to serve an Episcopal parish in La Jolla that had just installed a new and very nice Austin organ; its curator, Lyle Blackinton, also took care of the 1915 Spreckels instrument. When it became apparent that the civic organist position might be opening up there, Lyle arranged for me to have some hands-on time.
I distinctly remember the hiss of sprinklers nourishing morning-sun-dappled grass as I parked my car behind the organ pavilion that first time (a sound that has welcomed me back every time in the ensuing thirty-six years). From the moment I sat at the Spreckels console, I felt at home there, and just a few months later, after an extensive audition process, I was named the Fifth Civic Organist of the City of San Diego, a post I was privileged to hold for the next seven years. It was my, and our city’s, great good fortune that my predecessor Douglas Ian Duncan had stubbornly refused to allow both the instrument and civic position to fade away during an especially stressful time in its history, enabling me to continue his stewardship and to continue building attendance and enthusiasm.
Shortly after I began my tenure two major arson fires were set within a month of each other, in the Aerospace Museum and the historic Old Globe Theatre, both near the Organ Pavilion. In the aftermath of these fires great interest began building to assess and then preserve the unique heritage of all of the buildings from the world’s fair for which the park was created in 1915. (Only the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the nearby Museum of Man were originally intended to be permanent; San Diego’s benign climate had assisted in preserving all of the rest.) A citizens’ group called The Committee of 100 stepped forward with the intention of preserving this heritage, and one of their first projects was the refurbishment of the Organ Pavilion, including the replacement of the existing organ console which, while not quite “at death’s door,” was nonetheless showing its age. The Austin firm was commissioned to build this replacement, which then served us ably until 2010. After much lively discussion, Lyle Blackinton and I seized the opportunity to make preparations on the 1980 console for some judicious tonal additions—not to alter the original grand sound of the instrument, but to enhance its tonal palette. These additions were eventually realized through the efforts of the Spreckels Organ Society, a grass-roots enthusiast group chartered in 1987 to support the original vision of the Spreckels brothers in ways unable to be accomplished by the City of San Diego.
So what is it like to play the Spreckels Organ? Playing a vast variety of organ literature while directly enjoying San Diego’s renowned year-round climate is fantastic. And the occasional frustration of presenting music with no traditional supporting acoustic is more than balanced by the daily opportunity to bring new listeners to the pipe organ. (Balboa Park is a vast public space in the center of a great metropolitan area; every time you fire up the organ, even in the wee hours of the morning, a hundred listeners will materialize out of the trees to cheer you on!) The core instrument from 1915 retains its original visceral thrill, with the oh-so-carefully-chosen later additions lending extra purr and growl, whimsy and fireworks as desired. After 99-plus years, the unique and historic Spreckels Outdoor Organ continues to be a favorite venue for all who encounter it.
Jared Jacobsen
Fifth Official Civic Organist (1978–84)
The formation of the Spreckels Organ Society
I began my relationship with the Spreckels organ in June 1984 when Civic Organist Jared Jacobsen resigned to take a church music position in the San Francisco Bay area. As an east coast classical organist, I admit to being not much interested in a 1915 outdoor orchestral organ designed to entertain Sunday audiences in a city park. But I reluctantly agreed to fill in as interim while the city sought a successor.
The civic organist was an independent contractor with a purchase order from the city for 52 Sunday concerts. I had barely begun when curator Lyle Blackinton mentioned that there was a tradition of not having Sunday concerts in February and using those on four Monday evenings in August. My second full month in the job found me playing eight totally different programs on four Sunday afternoons and four Monday evenings. The difference between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening was huge: Monday evening audiences were much more intentional; a greater dynamic range of the organ could be used in the cooler evening air, inviting more serious repertoire.
Jared Jacobsen had built a loyal following of organ fans who began asking why we couldn’t do “more.” The City of San Diego offers a special use permit to organizations to develop programming for the benefit of the public, using the city facilities without charge. It was obvious that such an organization was needed to expand the use of the Spreckels Organ. I phoned the people who expressed an interest in the organ and invited long-time friend Vivian Evenson to chair the effort. We met in February 1988, adopting the name Spreckels Organ Society, naming Vivian Evenson Founding President and the others Founding Trustees. We immediately wrote our bylaws and established ourselves as a non-profit charity with the IRS and the State of California. We were an official arm of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department.
Our initial projects were to expand the number of summer Monday evening concerts, restore the February Sunday afternoon concerts, design publicity cards to be distributed in hotel tourist racks, work with the San Diego public schools to present a 45-minute concert every Friday to fifth-graders participating in a week-long Balboa Park program, establish a membership base, and actively recruit financial support. We defined our mission: “to preserve, program and promote the Spreckels Organ as a world-treasure for all people.”
In the beginning we barely paid more than the city’s budgeted $100 per concert. As support grew we were gradually able to pay better fees and enhance the position of Civic Organist/Artistic Director. Within a few years our International Summer Organ Festival became a major part of San Diego’s cultural life, attracting audiences of 2,000 or more each week. Performers and repertoire were chosen to represent the widest possible cultural diversity. We commissioned new music and collaborated with other performing arts groups. I am honored to have had a small part in fulfilling the vision of the donor John D. Spreckels, who gave this organ “for the free use and enjoyment…of the people of all the world.” I thank all who have worked to expand this vision.
Robert Plimpton
Sixth Official Civic Organist (1984–2000)
From the Curator
The Spreckels Organ has played an important part in my life, as it was this instrument that captured my interest in the “King of Instruments” when I first heard it as an eleven-year-old in 1948. I began working as an apprentice to the previous curator Leonard Dowling in 1954 and took over the position in 1974.
During these past sixty years I have had the privilege to hear all of the civic organists, except for the first, Humphrey Stuart. Each of these artists played an important part in the organ reaching its centennial year.
The City of San Diego also must be commended for its one hundred years of support for the position of Civic Organist and for the on-going maintenance of the organ and pavilion. Many municipalities have let famous instruments slip into disrepair and have ultimately been abandoned.
The organ has also benefited from the generosity of local support groups such as The Committee of 100 and the Spreckels Organ Society who have partnered with the City to preserve and program this great instrument.
During my tenure as curator, it has been my goal to preserve the historic integrity of the original symphonic organ and also ensure that the subsequent additions made be done in a seamless manner that enhances this grand instrument. As the Spreckels Organ celebrates its centennial anniversary, it seems appropriate that after forty years as the curator of the organ that it is now time pass the position to my long-time associate, Dale Sorenson, who also shares a great passion for the instrument.
Lyle Blackinton
Curator, Spreckels Organ, 1974–2014
The Spreckels Organ Society comes of age in time for the Centennial Celebration.
The great Spreckels Organ and Pavilion have been at the heart of Balboa Park and San Diego, California, ever since brothers John D. and Adolph Spreckels gave the “citizens of San Diego and the world” this wonderful gift on December 31, 1914. The organ has been in almost continuous use since that time. Its programming and maintenance were entirely the responsibility of the City of San Diego until 1988, when the civic organist, Robert Plimpton, and a small group of enthusiastic supporters of the organ organized the Spreckels Organ Society (SOS), “to preserve, program and promote the Spreckels Organ.”
SOS started with a small, dedicated Board of Trustees, some basic bylaws, and a big vision. We wanted more and more people to hear the organ, appreciate its vast capacity to produce a broad range of sonic experiences, and educate our children on the joys of music in general and the sounds achievable through the unamplified workings of this fabulous instrument. Our first summer, in addition to the regular Sunday afternoon free concerts, we programmed four Monday evening free concerts—showcasing artists from outside San Diego, with national and international reputations.
Through the years since 1988, SOS has grown steadily, in membership, budget, and in outreach. The International Summer Organ Festival features at least ten separate concerts, and the very best organists from around the world take the stage under the warm skies of Balboa Park every summer and thrill our ever growing audiences. The Spreckels Organ itself has grown with the addition of new ranks and new percussion. Our beloved civic organist, Dr. Carol Williams, performs, composes, and supervises the programming. The Centennial Celebration Concert was a once-in-a-lifetime event recalling our rich history and celebrating a revitalized, expanded organ, soon to be the World’s Largest Outdoor Pipe Organ once again.
As the Spreckels Organ turns 100, the Spreckels Organ Society reaches a new level of maturity. Through steady support of our trustees, our patrons, our volunteers, and our generous audience members, SOS is able to hire a full-time Executive Director, who has the happy task, with an enthusiastic Board of Trustees, of guiding SOS into the second 100 years. As we like to say, “Together we made it happen.”
George Hardy
President, Spreckels Organ Society
Cover photo: Representing the Spreckels Organ Society is George Hardy, president of the Spreckels Organ Society, and representing the City of San Diego is San Diego Civic Organist Carol Williams (photo credit: Robert E. Lang, Spreckels Organ Society).
Article arranged and compiled by Kerry Bell.
Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Douglas Ian Duncan served the Naval Training Center as well as Congregational, Lutheran, and Episcopal churches in the San Diego area. He directed the Lutheran Oratorio Society, the Episcopal Choral Society, and the music program at the San Miguel School. He studied at the University of Redlands and obtained his degree from California Western University. His principal instructors were Lillie M. High, Margaret W. Dow, Charles H. Marsh, and Dr. Walter Teutsch. All of his instruction and playing were in southern California. He now lives in retirement in the desert.
It was December 24, 1925 when Mr. and Mrs. George D. Duncan,along with their daughter Dorothy, attended the annual Christmas Eve program atthe Spreckels Outdoor Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, San Diego. Mrs. Duncan wassoon to have a child and the small maternity hospital was only about a mileaway. Two days later, the Duncans celebrated the arrival of their second child,Douglas Ian. But I am way ahead of the story!
Could a pipe organ, sounding out into the open air in apark-like setting, be built? This is a question that entered the mind of agentleman named John D. Spreckels. He had a great fondness for music, had amusic room added to his mansion in Coronado (a city across the bay from SanDiego), and he spent many hours at the console of his three-manual Aeolianplayer organ. He consulted organ builders and organists about the additionalproblems that might be caused by climatic conditions in tuning and on the working parts of the instrument. Hevisited often with his good friend, well-known organist Humphrey John Stewart.John D. held ownership in a beautiful private pleasure park, loved thearea's temperate climate that all San Diegans enjoyed, and he wanted toshare those things which he found joyous with others.
The story as related to me, beginning in 1957 by Fred W.Reif (1889-1964), who spent his working life as a purchasing agent forone of the Spreckels- owned companies, and in retirement served the San DiegoHistorical Society, is as follows. About the beginning of the twentiethcentury, John D. and his brother Adolph B. began making investments in and nearSan Diego. Transportation was a key to developing their many ventures, and theSpreckels brothers acquired local and suburban railways. At the end of one oftheir streetcar lines was the pleasure park called "The Bluffs."John D. renamed the park "Mission Cliff Gardens" and made manyimprovements so as to increase the number of passengers on the San DiegoElectric Railway. There were magic lantern shows, soft refreshments,beautifully maintained gardens, a central pavilion for Sunday band concertsand, along the crest of the escarpment overlooking wide Mission Valley, werevistas extending from the Pacific Ocean to the distant mountains. In theforeground could be seen the ruins of the first of the twenty-one Californiamissions, San Diego de Alcala. It was at this location, so I was told, thatJohn D. thought about an outdoor-speaking pipe organ. Why, it might attractriders to the trolley line! That was about 1910, and San Diego had a populationof a little less than forty thousand.
A stock market panic in 1907 had left many folks uncertainabout investing in San Diego; however, the Spreckels brothers could onlybelieve in a dynamic future! San Diego had a great natural harbor, completionof the Panama Canal was set for 1915, and it would be the first port of call onthe western side of the United States. In 1909 a member of the Chamber ofCommerce came up with a great idea--celebrate the opening of the canal withan exposition! When the much larger Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco heardabout the harebrained idea from the little town down south, they announced thattheir city would have a fair and San Diego could forget their plans. John D.Spreckels, who had come from San Francisco a few years before, thought that SanDiego needed a boost and he subscribed $100,000 toward an exposition. Othersfollowed and soon the support and approval of the concept grew to one milliondollars! In 1910 the citizens passed bonds for park improvements. Finally,there was an agreement that both San Diego and San Francisco would hold fairsin 1915. The San Diego Exposition Company arranged to use some of the mostlyundeveloped City Park. CITY PARK!! What an awful name for the location of aFAIR--the name was changed to BALBOA PARK! The next two years saw theexposition company making many changes--in the location within the park,in the architecture of many of the exposition buildings, and in the selectionof the New York architectural firm of Bertram Goodhue. Many of his buildingdesigns were of the lavish Spanish Baroque.
Again we have Mr. John D. Spreckels enter the picture! Forseveral years he and the officers of the electric railway had desired aright-of-way through City (now Balboa) Park to the growing residential areabeyond. He also wanted to give the fair an organ, and the officers of theexposition company wanted a fine pipe organ. Ah, behind the scenes there werenegotiations! It was announced that the Spreckels brothers would give the fairan organ (perhaps the same one that was planned for Mission Cliff Gardens) andthe rail line was extended into the park giving the fair an added easternentrance. The Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut was awarded the bidfor an instrument of four manuals, 46 ranks, and 3024 pipes costing
Several sites were considered for the location of theexposition organ and finally, whenBrazil decided not to exhibit, the pavilion was located at the south end of thefair's central mall--the Plaza de Panama. The pavilion design
Spreckels owned the morning newspaper, The San Diego Union,and reported in the March 17, 1914 edition that work had begun on the structureto house the organ. It was finished in seven months. The local citizens wereintrigued by all the work at the fair, and the exposition company allowed the public to enter theconstruction site on Sundays.Among those who came for a visit were Mr. and Mrs. Austin D. Thomas who hadrecently come to the United States from Wales. He had accepted the post asorganist and choirmaster of the newly built 1400-seat First Presbyterian Churchwith its three-manual thirty-rank Johnston organ. I enjoyed many visits withMr. Thomas and he related that methods used in constructing the pavilion werevery interesting. First, Albright erected two rather large rectangular concretetowers to support the large metal folding door. Then, he told me, after thedoor was in place atop the towers, the building was built up and over the bigdoor. At each side of the main building are quarter round peristyles withCorinthian-style columns that support an attractive balustrade above.Incorporated in the decorations affixed to the structure are places for lightglobes to outline the building at night. Harrison Albright was not a trainedarchitect, and all of his hotels, office buildings and houses have a castsameness. The Organ Pavilion is no exception!
The San Diego Union reported on October 20, 1914 that theAustin organ had arrived. The installers must have been busy because, as Mr.Thomas related, nine ranks did not sound at the first hearing of theinstrument. The appointment of the Official Exposition Organist was made byJohn D. Spreckels, Dr. Humphrey John Stewart, along with an organ tuner and abuilding custodian, a Mr. Douglass. The custodial duties included more thanjust keeping the building and grounds clean. He had to crank open and thenclose the big ten-ton folding door by hand! Perhaps I should interject a storyabout the door. For about eighteenyears, Mr. Douglass cranked the heavy door open for each concert and, after theprogram, lowered it holding back the force of the weight with a hand brake. Itwas a lot of work and he was not getting any younger! One day he went to seethe director of Balboa Park and he said something like this, "I am tiredof opening and closing that big heavy door and I want you to install anelectric motor to operate it." The following day Mr. Douglass appeared atthe director's office and he repeated his words. On the third day, the parkdirector thought Mr. Douglass was serious! There would be no organ concert ifthe door did not open. City workmen found a Ford Model A back axle, attached anelectric motor to the end of the shaft, and presto, the cheap drive worked forthe next thirty years!
The dedication of the organ and pavilion took place on NewYear's Eve 1914 at nine o'clock before the formal opening of thePanama-California Exposition at midnight. Many thousands were in attendance andfilled the open area reaching up the mall. Perhaps the words of H. Austin Adamsin his book, The Man, John D. Spreckels,best describe that wonderful evening:
The occasion was one never to be forgotten. As John D. roseto offer his gift to the people of San Diego, he was so moved by the ovation hereceived that his voice was choked by tears. At last, when another and louderoutburst of applause died down, he said simply to the president of the ParkCommission, John F. Forward, Jr., "I beg you to accept this gift onbehalf of the people of the city of San Diego." On either side of himwere seated high government officials, the governors of many states, foreigndiplomats, and scores of others prominent in the business and social world. Butas he stood there trying to control his emotion sufficiently to read the formaldeed of gift, he looked not around him but out over the enormous sea of facesturned up to him in gratitude and honor--the faces of the"undistinguished many" for whose benefit he had conceived and carriedout this noble thing. He managed, somehow, to read the deed. Few caught thesequence of the words, so broken was his utterance; but through the breaks allcaught a glimpse--their first in many cases--of the real John D.
Mr. Forward elegantly responded and was followed by theHonorable Samuel M. Shortridge of San Francisco who gave an overly long floridspeech. Ah! At last, the more than ten thousand people in attendance could hearthe Austin Outdoor Pipe Organ. The program follows:
1) Processional March (Music Drama Montezuma), Stewart
2) Fantasia on Christmas Melodies (Written for Opening),Stewart
3) Overture ("Guillaume Tell"), Gioacchino [sic]Antonio Rossini
Part Two - The fifty-piece San Diego Popular Orchestra underthe direction of Chesley Mills and the People's Chorus of 250 voicesdirected by Willibald Lehmann
1) Pomp and Circumstance (Orchestra), Edward Elgar
2) The Heavens Are Telling (The Creation), Franz JosephHaydn (Chorus and Orchestra)
3) Overture (Orchestra), Jacques Offenbach
4) The Marvelous Work (The Creation), Haydn
Finale - Orchestra, Chorus and the Spreckels Outdoor Organ
5) Unfold ye Portals (The Redemption), Charles Gounod
Of the first year of the Panama-California Exposition, itcan be said that the outdoor speaking pipe organ was the main attraction. Inhis Balboa Park Research, Richard W. Amero said, "During its briefexistence of one year, the Spreckels organ has sent forth melody more timesprobably than any other organ in America in a like period. Only seven times inthe 365 days of the year has Dr. Stewart been forced to abandon his dailyrecitals because of weather conditions. Eight numbers were played at eachrecital making a total of 2,864 selections played during the year of1915." Among the guest organists who came to play that first year wereClarence Dickinson and William C. Carl of New York; Roland Diggle and ErnestDouglas from Los Angeles; and from Auckland, New Zealand, Harold Gregson. Whenthe great contralto, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, would join HumphreyStewart at the pavilion, it was reported that 20,000 would pack the area. Herstrong voice would soar above the organ (there was no amplification in thosedays) and the crowd would roar with enthusiastic approval. The little town ofSan Diego put on quite a show in 1915 and the exposition came to a closeshowing a profit.
So popular was the fair in San Diego that it ran for asecond full year, this time as thePanama-California Interntional Exposition. San Francisco had been selected in1915 as the site for an international event--now it was San Diego'sturn! Exhibits were brought from the big city up north, and while theattendance was not as great as that of 1915, the International Exposition of1916 was a success. Dr. Stewart played 1,768 selections and concerts werecanceled eighteen times. Among the guest artists in 1916 were John Doane ofChicago (later to retire in San Diego); Uda Waldrop from San Francisco (laterplaying the Spreckels Organ at the Palace of the Legion of Honor); and Royal A.Brown (who became Dr. Stewart's assistant.)
When the second exposition closed on New Year's Eve1916, it was again the famed contralto Madame Schumann-Heink, who at the strokeof midnight sang "Auld Lang Syne." As her voice was heard, theoutline lighting of the pavilion and the lights of the fair buildings wereextinguished, the grounds fell to near darkness, Madame Schumann-Heink led achorus in the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" while bombsexploded, flags of nations were unfurled, and atop the pavilion building apyrotechnic display in glowing colors read "World Peace 1917."
The year 1917 saw Mr. Austin D. Thomas play for two weekswhile Humphrey Stewart went on holiday in San Francisco. In 1918, Royal AlbertBrown became the assistant organist and played one concert each week. The year 1919 saw a total of 2,270selections by 385 composers performed.
Perhaps now is a good time to tell about the first threemusicians who served as resident organists at Balboa Park. The Spreckels familyhad long known and admired Humphrey John Stewart. Born in London on May 22,1856, he served as a choir boy and studied organ in his youth, and later playedat Holy Trinity, Tulse Hill, London. It was in the United Kingdom that hebecame known as a composer and as a fine recitalist. At the age of thirty, hecame to San Francisco and played at three churches: The Advent, Trinity, andFirst Unitarian. While in the Bay Area, he wrote compositions for orchestra,choir, and organ, and served as the conductor of the Handel and Haydn ChoralSociety. He also wrote two of his three music dramas which were given at theBohemian Grove in the California Redwoods. In 1901, he became the OfficialOrganist at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, where he performedrecitals on the large four-manual Emmonds Howard Organ (a Westfield,Massachusetts builder) in the 180-foot-high domed Temple of Music. At the closeof the fair, he accepted the post as organist and choirmaster of TrinityChurch, Boston, staying two years before returning to San Francisco to play forthe next seven years at St. Dominic's Church. In going to San Diego atthe end of 1914, he set a much higher standard for organ music, a standard notknown before. In the late spring of 1917, Humphrey Stewart played a Prelude andFugue by Mendelssohn, a Guilmant Sonata, three of the larger Preludes andFugues of Bach, original works by then-living composers in Europe and theUnited States, and transcriptions of classical orchestral compositions. Stewartwas noted for his ability to hold his audience in rapture with his resourcefulimprovisations! After serving as Exposition Organist for two years, thenplaying another sixteen full years as the Official City Organist, Dr. Stewartpassed away on December 28, 1932. The best words to describe him were publishedin the January 2, 1933 issue of The San Diego Union:
The Union yesterday received the following letter from EdwinHenry Lemare, famous organist and composer, former municipal organist at SanFrancisco and Portland (Maine), who now resides in Hollywood.
"Editor The San Diego Union: I am indeed grieved tohear of the passing of my dear friend and confrere, Humphrey J. Stewart. Fewknew him as I did and no one enjoyed a closer friendship. As a noted concertorganist, he never failed to uphold the great traditions of his art.
"The people of San Diego were indeed fortunate inhaving that public spirited citizen, the late John D. Spreckels, present theorgan and later subsidize Dr. Stewart's services for so many years. Thesetwo men were always the closest of friends and Dr. Stewart never ceased tomourn the loss of his admiring patron.
"Although an Englishman (!) Dr. Stewart had anunbounded sense of humor and few could equal him in conversation, or hisability at repartee.
"It was at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, ofwhich he was an old and honoredmember, that I first met Dr. Stewart, and the many happy days spent together inthe Bohemian Grove never will be forgotten. Everyone there loved him, nor couldit be otherwise, as his kind and affectionate nature magnetized all who methim.
"His passing is an irreparable loss, not alone to theBohemian Club, but to all centers of the past activities. Dear old Humphrey! Weshall never cease to love and revere your memory.
"May his good soul rest in peace.
Edwin H. Lemare"
May I again interject a story? Royal A. Brown once told methat Humphrey Stewart had a hand in selecting the stop list for the SpreckelsOutdoor Organ. I have for years pondered this statement!
The San Diego City Council appointed HumphreyStewart's assistant, Royal Albert Brown, as the Official Civic Organist.Born in Texas in 1890, Mr. Brown came to San Diego when he was in his earlytwenties. He played piano with the small chamber orchestra in the
Royal Brown, like his predecessor, worked to improve standards of organ music in the area. Inthe 1930s, he brought Albert Riemenschneider from Baldwin-Wallace College,Berea, Ohio, who gave lectures, played, and helped organists mark music in fingering and phrasing of Bach. Thestudents sat at small tables grouped around the park organ console. What awonderful outdoor classroom experience it must have been! A new-three manualAustin organ was installed at St. Joseph's Church in the last year of Dr.Stewart's life, and Mr. Brown succeeded him there also. Later he went toplay at the Union Congregational Church in La Jolla. Royal Brown composed andarranged many pieces for organ, and none, to the best of my knowledge, haveever been published. Each year he would perform his "Balboa ParkSuite," musical expressions of buildings and the grounds near the organpavilion. Another well remembered work was his "PedalÉtude," a tour de force that, had it been published, would be onconcert programs today! His repertoire was extensive, he played all of thelarger works of Bach, the fourteen "Stations of the Cross" byDupré, the "Ad nos" by Liszt, and the "Sonata on the94th Psalm" by Reubke.
Perhaps I can share with you two stories about Royal Brown.It was a raw December day, a Saturday in 1951, and I was the organist andchoirmaster of Grace Lutheran Church which is located on the north side ofBalboa Park. The building was not heated, I was weary of practicing in thecold, and I went out for a bite to eat. As I warmed in the small cafe, I beganto wonder, "How does Royal Brown manage to play on a day as cold asthis?" Off I went to the 2:30 program at the park! The few listenersheard a faultlessly played concert, and I sat through the hour and wondered whyI had the nerve to complain about the cold. I drove him home that afternoon,and as we drew up in front of his house he handed me an envelope. Inside was ahand-written holiday card in red and green ink with original music set to thewords "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Thesecond story was told me by a park gardener. Mr. Brown liked to arrive at thepark on the streetcar. As he walked from the station toward the pavilion, hewould wander through the Rose Garden, pause, look furtively about, casuallylight a cigar, and then snip off a rosebud. Thus, the second resident organistalways had a fresh rose boutonniere for his concert! The gardeners watched inamusement, the stems were always properly cut, they liked Mr. Brown, and theynever said a word to the park officers. And those cigars, they smoked up mycars on the way to AGO meetings.He was the right person to fill the post of Official Civic Organist at exactlythe right time. Royal Albert Brown died on October 28, 1954.
Charles Rollin Shatto was born in Iowa in 1908 and wasbrought to the San Diego area as a young child. His father accepted thepastorate of the Congregational Church in National City (a city adjacent to SanDiego). The church structure, built in the 1880s, was an ornate woodenVictorian building and, at the back of the choir loft, was a one-manual trackerorgan with an attractively painted pipe façade. This organ fascinatedyoung Charles and he studied piano with a local piano teacher. The ChineseCongregational Church needed an organist and young Charles helped out byplaying their foot-pumped reed organ. As he grew, he studied organ with Mr.Brown and Dr. Stewart and made two trips to Paris to take instruction in organand composition. Mr. Shatto took the position as the senior organist of FirstMethodist Church of San Diego playing the then-new 29-rank, three-manual HenryPilcher organ. He served the church for many years until one tragic day when hewas in a vehicular accident. The car caught on fire, his wife was killed, andhe escaped with two badly burned hands. Painfully, he recovered, took a lesserpost at the Park Boulevard Methodist Church, arranged for a better pipe organto be installed, and remained until 1957. In the autumn of 1957 he accepted theposition as organist at the French-speaking Parish of Notre Dame des Victories,San Francisco. He served the church for twenty-five years, had the smallfour-manual Murray Harris organ restored to its original specification, andenjoyed his tenure where contemporary French compositions could be played withappreciation. Mr. Shatto was a noted sight reader, played complex music withease, and wrote thirty-nine works for organ. Among his writings are two musicalsketches, "Cabrillo Bridge" and "Sunrise from the CaliforniaTower"--both Balboa Park landmarks. His "Poem" waspublished in 1964 in the California Organist Collection.
While in San Francisco in September 1976, I went to hearCharles Shatto play on the newly restored organ at his church. After theservice, he graciously extended an invitation to have lunch. Fine! We climbedinto his car and off we roared down narrow city streets, up and down hills,missing parked vehicles by inches, and arrived at a fine restaurant onFisherman's Wharf. He climbed out of the car in fine spirits. I arrivedfeeling as if I were leaving the world's best roller coaster! The lunchand conversation were most enjoyable and the ride back to the church was mostmemorable!!! I later learned that he was famous for his driving--very,very famous. Charles Rollin Shatto died on New Year's Day 1983.
And so, this narration comes full circle. The yet to be bornchild, whose parents attended that Christmas Eve program in 1925, grew toadulthood hearing the great music played by Stewart, Brown, and Shatto. InSeptember of 1957 Douglas Ian Duncan took his place at the console of Mr.Spreckels' generous bequest to the people of San Diego as the fourth inthe line of civic organists. During his more than twenty-year tenure he hadplayed 1,249 public recitals when he retired on February 5, 1978.
Douglas Ian Duncanserved the Naval Training Center as well as Congregational, Lutheran, andEpiscopal churches in the San Diego area. He directed the Lutheran OratorioSociety, the Episcopal Choral Society, and the music program at the San MiguelSchool. He studied at the University of Redlands and obtained his degree fromCalifornia Western University. His principal instructors were Lillie M. High,Margaret W. Dow, Charles H. Marsh, and Dr. Walter Teutsch. All of hisinstruction and playing were in southern California. He now lives in retirementin the desert.
Jared Jacobsenbecame the Fifth Official Civic Organist in 1978 and served through 1984. Hewas born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, came to San Diego first to be the organistand choirmaster of St. James-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, and later served St.Leander's Roman Catholic Church, San Leandro, California. He holds agraduate degree from the University of Arizona, and is now the organist andteaches music at The Bishop's School, La Jolla, California. He has fordecades spent his summers on the staff of the Chautauqua Institute insouthwestern New York state.
Robert Plimpton cameto Balboa Park in 1985 and played for more than sixteen and a half years. Onhis retirement, the City of San Diego granted him the title of Official CivicOrganist Emeritus. Born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, he graduated from EasternCollege, St. David's, and studied with Robert Elmore, Anton Heiller andMarie-Claire Alain. He came to San Diego to be the organist at the FirstPresbyterian Church and now serves San Diego's First United MethodistChurch.
The present organist at Balboa Park is the world-renownedconcert artist, Carol Williams. Born inthe United Kingdom, trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, she cameto the United States to extend her education. She has an Artist Diploma fromfrom Yale University, and her DMA was earned from the Manhattan School ofMusic. Her studies have been with David Sanger, Daniel Roth, Thomas Murray, andMcNeil Robinson. Dr. Williams has performed all over the world includingNotre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Westminster Abbey in London, and RiversideChurch in New York City.
In 2005 the Spreckels Organ will be celebrating 90 years; onSaturday January 1 at midday, a five-hour concert was presented to celebratethis wonderful Austin organ and historic venue. Throughout the year many eventsare planned; information can be found at <www.sosorgan.com>.
The author wrote the above article in honor of the ninetiethyear of performance at the world's largest outdoor organ. The above wordsbrought as much enjoyment for him as did playing in the open air for twentyyears, six months and
Jay Zoller is organist at South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta, Maine, where he plays the church’s historic 1866 E. & G.G. Hook organ. He holds degrees from the University of New Hampshire and the School of Theology at Boston University. He is a retired designer for the Andover Organ Company and currently designs for the Organ Clearing House. He resides in Newcastle, Maine, with his wife Rachel. Zoller, as a high school student in 1961, was fortunate to hear Heinz Wunderlich play at the Methuen Memorial Music Hall on Wunderlich’s first American tour. They began a professional relationship in 1989, when Zoller played in a masterclass that Wunderlich was giving. Since then, Zoller has studied some of the Wunderlich organ works with Professor Wunderlich and has performed many of his organ compositions in recital. In addition to writing several articles about Wunderlich for The American Organist, Choir and Organ, and The Diapason, he has played in all-Wunderlich recitals in Hamburg, Germany in 1999, 2004 and now again in 2009. His article, “Heinz Wunderlich at 90,” appeared in the April 2009 issue of The Diapason.
Birthday concerts in Hamburg
My wife, Rachel, and I flew out of Newark on Thursday, April 23, and landed Friday morning at Tegal Airport in Berlin, Germany. Our friend Matthias Schmelmer, who will be important later in this story, helped us to the Hauptbahnhof. There we took a fast train for the two-hour ride to Hamburg, where the birthday celebrations were to take place. As one of the recitalists, I had been given an hour and a half of practice time on Friday evening the 24th, and an hour the next morning to prepare for the first concert, which was to take place on Wunderlich’s birthday itself, April 25. There were five other organists participating, as well as a vocal ensemble, so the time we had available was limited and valuable.
I was to play the Fuga Variata, a piece Wunderlich had written in 1942 during the war. Suffering from jet lag and with my wife practically falling asleep beside the console, I found the allotted time barely enough to register the piece. After a night of rest, I was looking forward to my hour of practice the next morning. Imagine my surprise when, arriving in the balcony, the performer practicing before me said that we had a cipher on the Hauptwerk. Luckily, we found a key to the organ case, and I was able to fix the problem. My years of organbuilding came in handy!
The four-manual Beckerath organ in St. Petri had been completely rebuilt by the Schuke Organ Co. since my visit five years ago. Several new stops were added to make the choruses more complete, along with a new console and, most welcome, a new solid-state system with multiple memories; all was done in keeping with the Beckerath sound.
Unlike many churches in the USA, German churches have hard surfaces within large spaces, and refrain from using carpeting. As a result, the sound is unlike almost anything you hear in this country. I gauged the reverberation in St. Petri to be 6 to 8 seconds—long enough to require some adaptation in one’s playing to allow for it.
The performance of “Former students playing music of Heinz Wunderlich” went very smoothly. The Kontrapunktische Chaconne was played by Dörte Maria Packeiser (Heidenheim, Germany); next I played the Fuga Variata; a chorus under the direction of Cornelius Trantow sang Four Motets for unaccompanied chorus; Izumi Ikeda (Fukuoka, Japan) played the Sonata Tremolanda Hiroshima; Andreas Rondthaler (Hamburg) played Dona Nobis Pacem with violinist Solveigh Rose; Emotion and Fugue was played by Eva-Maria Sachs (Erlangen); and the program ended with Orgelsonate über ein Thema played by Sirka Schwartz-Uppendieck (Furth). As in subsequent concerts, the church was full and the audience enthusiastic. All the performers ended the evening with dinner at a local restaurant with Professor Wunderlich.
Ökumenische Messe
The next day, Sunday, a performance of the Wunderlich Ökumenische Messe (Ecumenical Mass) took place as part of the morning service at St. Petri. It was sung by the Hamburger Bachchor St. Petri under the baton of the St. Petri music director, Thomas Dahl. This is a very effective setting of the Mass for a cappella choir, and the experienced chorus of St. Petri made it memorable. The music was soaring and lyrical, with suggestions of Gregorian chant, and put me in a contemplative frame of mind.
Sunday afternoon we toured an amazing exhibit of the works of Edgar Degas at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, followed in the evening with dinner at the home of Thomas Dahl with his wife Steffi and their two delightful daughters. We were able to inspect the two-manual Fürer organ in the little village church of St. Nicholas next door, where Thomas is able to practice. Although a much smaller church than St. Petri, the beautiful interior of wood and plaster is sympathetic with the organ, making a clean and distinct sound.
After being tourists on Monday, we boarded a train on Tuesday for Bremen where we toured again, the highlight being the St. Petri Church—a huge, garishly painted cathedral, possessing four organs. In the main part of the sanctuary is the large Sauer organ originating from 1893. During several rebuilds, it has been enlarged to its present four manuals and 98 registers. A three-manual Bach Organ was built in 1966 and sits primly in a side aisle balcony. The remaining two organs are a one-manual Silbermann Positiv from 1732/33 and a one-manual and pedal Wegscheider organ from 2002, which accompanies the choir.
Wunderlich’s 90th birthday concert
Following an afternoon in the contemporary art museum, we returned to Hamburg in time for Heinz Wunderlich’s recital at St. Jacobi in the evening. The recital was played on the Kemper organ, which has been restored since my last visit five years ago. The church is also the home, of course, of the famous Arp Schnitger organ, which dominates the end of the church in the second balcony. The Kemper sits on one side of the lower balcony. Professor Wunderlich chose four pieces for his program: Bach, Präludium und Fuge in h-Moll, BWV 544; Wunderlich, Sonata Tremolanda Hiroshima; Reger, Fantasie und Fuge über B-A-C-H, op. 46; and Wunderlich, Sonata über den psalm Jona.
Professor Wunderlich’s playing, at ninety, is still immaculate, and the Kemper was appropriate for the music on the program. Although I have heard the Schnitger organ on several occasions and have played it myself, I couldn’t help but wish that we could have heard the Bach on the Schnitger organ instead. In any event, American recitalists should acquaint themselves with all of Wunderlich’s music, as it is of the highest quality.
Organ and orchestra
On Wednesday evening, we gathered at St. Petri again for the final Wunderlich birthday concert, a program for chorus, organ, and orchestra. Thomas Dahl had a demanding evening with the Organ Concerto No. 7 in B-flat Major, op. 7, no. 1, of Georg Friedrich Handel; Heinz Wunderlich’s Easter cantata, Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag, written in 1992; the premiere performance of Wunderlich’s Concerto for Organ and Orchestra on the Name B-A-C-H; and Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, “Wie der Hirsch schreit,” op. 42. The soprano soloist was Dorothee Fries and the organist Andreas Rondthaler. The chorus was once again the Hamburger Bachchor St. Petri. The evening was exciting, with the Wunderlich Concerto being only one of many highlights for me.
One other Hamburg organ that deserves mention is in the Church of St. Georg. The church, which is dedicated to the Trinity, was built in 1747 and destroyed by bombs in 1943. Only the damaged steeple remained, which was repaired, and a new church, representative of 1950s architecture, was built. The sanctuary, which was designed to serve the purpose of a concert hall as well, seats 700 people, has galleries large enough for an orchestra, and boasts a 1959 E. F. Walcker & Co. organ with 36 registers.
Berlin
On Thursday morning, we boarded the train for our trip back to Berlin. Having never been to Berlin, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it, but we found the city a delight, with the transit easy to get around on, and more things to see than we could possibly include in our remaining week. The city has been rebuilt, and like Hamburg, construction seems to be going on constantly.
Our friend, Matthias Schmelmer, is the director of music and organist at Kirche zum Heiligen Kreuz (the Church of the Holy Cross) in Berlin. Thanks to his many contacts, I was able to see and play more organs than I ever would have on my own. The largest is the Sauer organ in the Berliner Dom. The cathedral itself is an impressive building, with a dome reminiscent of St. Paul’s London or St. Peter’s Rome, and the organ is equally impressive. At 7,000 pipes and 113 registers on four manuals and pedal, it is one of the largest in Germany. Once I determined that the swell pedals worked opposite to ours in the USA and that the Great is the lowest manual, I was off for an enjoyable evening.
The organ built for Princess Amalia in 1755 by Peter Migendt and Ernst Marx was the next instrument on our agenda on Monday morning. It had had several homes since it was built, but is now located in the Berlin Karlshorst. The organ is awaiting restoration in the fall, but is completely playable in its small church. It has two manuals and pedal with 25 stops. The sound is clear and bright, and the reeds, which were added in 1960, are compatible with the time period. A complete delight!
Monday afternoon brought us to Schmelmer’s own church, with its rather unique, for Germany, E. & G. G. Hook organ. Much has been written about this 19th-century American transplant from Woburn, Massachusetts, and I won’t add to that now. Suffice it to say that it has a wonderful new home in a very live building. The building itself is unique in that a steel structure has been added internally, with catwalks around the central area so one can walk around the church at the balcony level. Built in behind arches throughout are glassed-in offices and conference rooms that look out on the sanctuary proper. In the center of the church and extending up into the dome is a large tent hanging by ropes or cables. I can only imagine that it is to deaden the reverberation somewhat.
Across the street in a quiet cemetery lies the grave of Felix Mendelssohn. We spent several meditative moments at his graveside and that of his sister, Fanny and her husband, William Hensel.
Leipzig and Dresden
On Tuesday we fulfilled a lifelong desire of mine, to visit the churches where J. S. Bach worked for the last decades of his life. Although we did not hear the organs in either St. Nicholas or St. Thomas, we sat enjoying the atmosphere and were able to pay our respects at the grave of the greatest of composers. Later, we walked to the home of Felix Mendelssohn, which is not far away, and got a taste of his home and life. Of particular delight were his drawings and watercolors displayed there.
We had also wanted to visit Dresden and were glad we did. After a bus tour around the city, we found our way to two churches that showed two different methods of reconstruction. The Kreuzkirche had been completely burned out during the fire bombing of February 13, 1945. The church, which seats 3,200, was rebuilt in a simple style and rededicated on February 13, 1955. The raw plaster walls, which were intended as a temporary measure, were kept as a reminder of the night of terror when tens of thousands of Dresden people were killed. The great Jehmlich organ, which was destroyed, was replaced by a new Jehmlich organ of 76 registers and four manuals and pedal.
The restoration of the Frauenkirche was finished in 2005 and was completed in exquisite and loving detail. It is an almost unbelievable place, with its marbleized and gold-leafed surfaces, exquisite colors, central altar of which 80% had been saved from the rubble, and glorious organ. We were fortunate that as we walked in, the new organ built by Daniel Kern, with four manuals and pedal and 67 registers, began to play. As the organist demonstrated the instrument, we sat overwhelmed by the sound and the beauty of the space around us. (See Joel H. Kuznik, “Dresden’s Frauenkirche: Once a Silbermann, Now a Kern,” in The Diapason, February 2006.)
Max Reger’s organ
The last organ I played in Berlin was ordered and designed by Max Reger. In 1913, the acquisition of an organ was planned for the Schützenhaussaal, where Max Reger was conductor of the ducal orchestra. Since Reger wished to have a movable console, the contract was signed with Steinmeyer, the only company capable of the work at the time. Reger ordered the organ very informally using only a post card!
The organ was built for Reger, and in the end he was satisfied with the results. The dedication recital was played by Karl Straube on April 19, 1914. Unfortunately, illness forced Reger’s resignation soon afterward, and so he only played it for the Duke’s funeral on June 26. In August, World War I began and the organ wasn’t used any more. Today the organ sits in the Weihnachtskirche (Christmas Church), which began as a community hall. The room is not large, and the organ speaks from behind wood latticework directly and loudly into the space. It was an exciting experience to sit at the console where Reger and Straube sat!
In addition to organs, we visited many historical sites including remnants of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag. Our primary interests were in the many museums that Berlin has to offer, however. One of the most outstanding for us was the Berggruen Museum with its large collection of Picasso, Matisse, Klee, Braque, and Giacometti. We highly recommend it.
We were reluctant to end this memorable trip with its concerts, organs, museums and serendipitous surprises.
Recitalist, teacher and recording artist, Marie-Claire Alain is one of the leading personalities in the world of organ music. Born into a family of musicians at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, she studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, where she won four first prizes, soon followed by several awards in international competitions.
Marie-Claire Alain’s concert tours have led her throughout the world, including numerous trips to the United States and Canada since 1961. Critics praise the clarity of her playing, the musicality of her interpretations, the purity of her style, and her mastery of registration.
Greatly sought after as a teacher and justly famous for her lectures illustrated with musical examples, Marie-Claire Alain bases her teaching on extensive, unrelenting musicological studies in organ literature and performance practices of early music. After teaching for sixteen summers in Haarlem, The Netherlands (1956–1972), she now holds a workshop every summer in Romainmôtier, Switzerland, where the house organ from her family home in France is located. She taught for many years at the Conservatoire National de Region de Rueil-Malmaison, followed by several years at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris. Her discography is impressive, containing over 220 recordings, including the famous “integrales” or complete works (J. S. Bach, Couperin, de Grigny, Daquin, Franck, Handel, J. Alain, etc.), which have won her numerous Grands Prix du Disque in France and abroad. In addition, an educational DVD featuring Mme. Alain was produced by the American Guild of Organists in 2002. Marie-Claire Alain has received honorary doctorates from Colorado State University (Fort Collins), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, The Boston Conservatory of Music, McGill University, Montréal, Canada, and most recently in 2006 from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1984, she was named International Performer of the Year by the New York City AGO chapter, and in 1999 was given the AGO Lifetime Achievement Award. In France, she was awarded the degree “Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.”
As an outgrowth of her great interest in the pipe organs of her own country, Mme. Alain serves on a commission of the French government for the promotion and construction of new pipe organs in France. Classic CD magazine named her one of “The Greatest Players of the Century” in 2001 in a list that included the entire classical music world. For many years, she has been an adjudicator at organ competitions all over the world. In 1999 she was president of the jury of Concours Suisse de l’orgue, and on several occasions she has presided over the juries of the Concours International de Chartres and of the Musashino International Competition in Tokyo.
—Stephen Hamilton
In 1965, a brilliant young student of Arthur Poister, Byron L. Blackmore, moved to my hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin, to assume the city’s only full-time church position. I had the privilege of being his first organ student at the age of 13, and it was Byron who introduced me to the artistry of Marie-Claire Alain. He had me purchase her recordings of de Grigny, Couperin, Bach, Handel and Jehan Alain, and from these recordings my life completely changed. I immediately fell in love with her incredible musicianship, her extraordinary attention to detail, touch, ornamentation, breath, style and, above all, music-making, and I knew I wanted one day to be her student.
I met Marie-Claire for the first time at a concert she performed in Rochester, Minnesota, when I was 14 years old. She made a very ordinary electric-action organ come alive. Following the concert, we spoke at the reception in French, and she patiently coached our conversation along, helping me with my first year “command” of the language. She was so kind, warm and encouraging. She gave me her home address in L’Etang-la-Ville and told me to keep in touch. I couldn’t believe such a great artist would be so kind and take so much time with a young student. Many years later, I realized I was the same age as her only son, Benoit. She has always had a loving maternal relationship with all of her students.
Throughout my high school and early undergraduate years, I followed her around the country for masterclasses and concerts. The most memorable was her week-long seminar at Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1971. It was amazing to see her deal with so many diverse students. She had an uncanny way of meeting every student where they were and helping them change by opening their ears and minds. She received her first honorary doctorate on this occasion and, twenty years later, I had the honor of placing a doctoral hood over her head as Chair of the Organ and Harpsichord Department at the Boston Conservatory. After my junior year at Oberlin, I decided to take a year off and go to Paris to study privately with Marie-Claire. We worked mainly on classical French works, Buxtehude, and Jehan Alain. Her attention to detail, her pleas to always listen to the music, and her insistence that the organ itself was one’s best teacher changed my approach to performing and certainly influenced me greatly in my own teaching. As I was particularly interested in Buxtehude, she encouraged me to go to North Germany and play the historic organs, which I did. Because of this, I devoted the next ten years of my life to an intensive study of Buxtehude and the North German masters of the 17th century.
Marie-Claire Alain taught all her students to question, to be stylish, eclectic, open, inquisitive, ready to do research, always prepared to learn and change one’s mind, and to live as a 20th-century musician. She stressed the importance of knowing, studying and performing music of our entire heritage and to be “diversified” (she was using this term years before investment companies did!). Her performances of music including the complete classical French masters, Muffat, Bruhns, Bach, Franck, Liszt, Widor, Jehan Alain, Duruflé, Messiaen and Charles Chaynes were all equally thrilling.
The most moving day of my life was in Paris in January, 1995, when Marie-Claire invited me to move from “vous” to “tu”—but it never feels right when I do this. The respect I have for our “Mâitresse” is too great. Happy birthday, dear Marie-Claire—thank you for all you have given the world—you will live forever!
—James David Christie
Professor of Organ
Oberlin Conservatory
It is both a privilege and an honor to be invited to join with those who are contributing tributes to Marie-Claire Alain. Like many, I first became acquainted with her through her prolific recordings and writings. It was not until the 1981 organ workshop at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, that I had the opportunity to observe her as a recitalist and teacher, and to get to know her as a person. My wife Marian was at the conference with me, and we were completely captivated at how the remarkable personality of Mme. Alain showed forth in all that she did—conducting classes and performing. Her enthusiasm and love for many different styles of music, along with her attention to detail and appropriate fingering, were things that those of us who were observers could retain far into the future.
Marian and I both found Mme. Alain to be supremely generous with her musical ideas, and gracious in letting us “pick her brain”! I clearly recall Marian remarking wistfully how she wanted so much to play Franck’s E-Major Choral, but her hands were too small. The immediate response was “Oh nonsense! I’ll show you how to do it!”
Aside from music and pedagogy, Marian was quite taken with her many other interests, especially relating to her home life—her children and the roses she tended to with loving care. We couldn’t get over how, being a genius, she was so very down-to-earth!
Regarding Mme. Alain’s stature as a teacher and scholar, the two occasions that gave Marian and me the best opportunities for observation and assimilation were the Fort Collins workshop and then, sometime later, a similar week at the Eastman School of Music.
The five-day Fort Collins event included a recital, which was divided in half and played on two different organs. The first part, devoted to Bach, was played on the 3-manual Casavant (1969) at the university. The second half was at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church where the organ is a 2-manual Phelps (1974). This program included Nivers, Franck, and Alain. It was of interest to me to note the effective way in which she handled the Franck and Alain on an unenclosed instrument that was predominately North German in style.
I was also greatly interested in her class presentation of the connection between French and German organ music. There were five groups of music for illustration:
1. Music written on religious texts. (from Couperin Parish Mass, Bach Partita O Gott du frommer Gott)
2. Use of liturgical melodies (four excerpts from de Grigny Mass; Bach, four chorales from BWV 651) 3, 4. Bach’s influence through the 19th century (Bach Prelude & Fugue in a minor, Franck Choral No. 3 in a minor, Bach Passacaglia, Franck Choral No. 2 in b minor)
5. Connections of J. Alain with J. S. Bach (Bach Sonata No. 3 in d-minor, Alain Variations sur un thème de Clement Janequin, Choral Dorien, Choral Phrygien, Litanies).
Marian and I gained so much from the sessions that week that I find myself wishing I could hear them all over again!
One especial gesture of kindness that I cannot forget is the beautiful note that Mme. Alain wrote to me following Marian’s death ten years ago. This letter completes the esteem and admiration we both had for Mme. Alain for all these years—as a performer, teacher, and a wonderful person!
This is to wish her continuing great joy and success for many, many years!
—David Craighead
Professor Emeritus
Eastman School of Music
Like my friend and colleague Jim Christie, I was also a young person in Wisconsin when I first came to know of Marie-Claire Alain. Playing the organ was my first love, and it was during my senior year in high school that I went to hear her play a recital at Northwestern University. The program made such an impression on me that to this day, 35 years later, I can still remember some of the compositions that she performed.
My decision to enroll at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music was largely based on the fact that their organ teacher, Miriam Duncan, had recently returned to the States after a year of sabbatical study in Europe. During that year she was a student of Anton Heiller, but also took some lessons from Mme. Alain, specifically to study early French music. So, having the opportunity to study with a student of Marie-Claire Alain, I soaked up information and performance practice like a sponge. All I wanted to do my freshman year was to play early French music! Quite coincidentally, in the fall of my sophomore year, I happened to win a contest in which I played Clérambault’s Second Suite. Anton Heiller was on the jury and was the first to plant the seed that perhaps I might want to study with Mme. Alain myself some day. That’s exactly what I did during my senior year. After graduate school I went back to France for two more years.
Mme. Alain’s students traveled to her home in L’Etang-la-Ville, a western suburb of Paris. (In about the mid-1970s, she affiliated herself with the conservatory at Rueil-Malmaison, and so students after me studied in a more structured conservatory environment.) It was such a relaxed environment (including her cat sitting on the window sill) that it was more an atmosphere of friends getting together than a young student in the presence of a great teacher. My lesson time was on Tuesdays at 10:15, and I was her only student of the morning. Sometimes the lessons were an hour; sometimes they stretched to 90 minutes or more.
I’ll never forget my first lesson. One can imagine what a bundle of nerves I was, yet Marie-Claire put me instantly at ease with a simple admonishment: “You’re not here to impress me with how well you play, nor to make me cry with what beautiful music you can produce. You’re here to learn.”
And so it was, for three years, countless lessons during which we covered all of the major French Baroque literature, nearly the complete works of Bach, and most of the music of Jehan Alain, Franck and other French masters, as well as a generous smattering of North German music, too. The repertoire at each lesson was totally different. Only once did I play the same piece twice.
Mme. Alain’s teaching style was similar to what I had been used to as an undergraduate. She started with the assumption that one could at least play the notes and beyond that very little was ever necessarily right or wrong. Often she would throw out a provocative question about interpretation just to quiz general knowledge of a period and style. On more than one occasion I caught her purposely stating something totally contrary just to see if I’d have the wherewithal (or nerve?) to contradict her! More than anything, Marie-Claire made a very conscious effort to allow her students the freedom to express themselves at the organ. I remember her saying “the last thing the world needs is a bunch of little Marie-Claires running around!” Since then I’ve always been of the opinion that the mark of a really great teacher is one who can teach without stifling the spirit or creativity of the student. Her students bear her imprint without being her clone.
In the 30 years that have elapsed since those days as a student in France, I have been continually impressed with Marie-Claire’s continued interest in her former students. It is often said that her students are like her children and that, while they grow up and move away, the bond remains nonetheless. When I consider the sheer number of students that she has taught over her impressive career, I wonder how she has time to do anything else except to keep up with her extended family. Recently, I’ve heard Marie-Claire play any number of times and, like Horowitz or Rubenstein, who played well into their 80s, she continues to play beautifully. Clearly you’re not ready to retire from performance, Marie-Claire! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your wisdom, your guidance, your inspiration, and, most of all, for your enduring and loving friendship.
—Thomas F. Froehlich
Organist, First Presbyterian Church
Dallas, Texas
One of the great pleasures for me during the past 30 years of teaching at McGill has been those numerous occasions when Marie-Claire Alain came to give masterclasses and play concerts. The most memorable of these was in November 2001 when her visit happily coincided with the Fall Convocation, and McGill was able to confer a Doctor of Music, Honoris Causa, on her. The text of the citation that I read was as follows:
“Marie-Claire Alain is one of the legendary musicians of our time. Mme. Alain was born in 1926 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye into a home full of music. Her father, Albert Alain, who had studied with Caussade, Guilmant, and Vierne, was an accomplished church musician, performer, and composer. Her brother, Jehan, killed in action in 1940, left a legacy of some of the 20th century’s finest organ music. A second brother, Olivier, became a leading musicologist. By the age of 12, Marie-Claire was already, on occasion, replacing her father in the organ loft. Her own teachers, after her father, included such illustrious musicians as Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé, André Marchal, and Gaston Litaize: a goodly heritage indeed.
“As concert organist, Mme. Alain has toured worldwide and made over 200 LP recordings and more than 60 CDs, and earned numerous prizes, including multiple Grands Prix du Disque. “As a pedagogue, Mme. Alain has had a spectacular career. Students from the four corners of the globe have flocked to Paris to study with her, their names reading like a veritable Who’s Who of the organ world today. Probably no other organ teacher has produced so many prize winners at international competitions. Her courses are legendary, her teaching marked by an open questioning manner and a quest for authenticity in matters of historical performance practice.
“Mme. Alain has also been a champion of historical instruments, evidenced by the great care she takes to choose the most historically appropriate instrument for each recording project. This obviously entails exhaustive research.
“As a scholar, Mme. Alain has published numerous articles on performance practice, many of which have been widely translated. We are pleased to note frequent citation in musicological literature of one of her articles published by McGill in L’Orgue à notre époque, a collection of papers and proceedings of an organ symposium held at the University in 1981 on the occasion of the installation of the French classical organ in Redpath Hall.
“Marie-Claire Alain has been named a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music. The city of Lubeck granted her the Buxtehude Prize in recognition of her work promoting early German music, and the city of Budapest awarded her the Franz Liszt Prize. In France, she is a Commander of the Légion d’honneur and a member of the Ordre Nationale du Mérite and of the Ordre Nationale des Arts et Lettres.”
The 2001 visit of Marie-Claire also happily coincided with the 20th anniversary of the splendid Wolff organ in Redpath Hall. She gave masterclasses on both weekends before and after convocation and played a memorable recital. During the planning stages of this organ in the late 1970s, she was always ready and willing to answer questions, or to point us in the right direction and open doors. Needless to say, planning an historical copy in the 1970s was somewhat more nerve wracking than it might appear today. It was a great adventure, and Marie-Claire knew how to encourage us to stay the course whenever doubts set in.
There are many anecdotes that come to mind. One of the most memorable for me dates from 1969 when she invited all her students to come to Poitiers. She had just completed a recording session over the preceding two days, and there she was giving us a class on this great Clicquot. The energy and the generosity were breathtaking to say the least. And of course there was wonderful food and wine in a little restaurant sympathique!
A story that I love to tell my students, especially those having difficulty remembering where the stops are, concerns a visit to play a concert on the von Beckerath in my church in Montréal. I met her at the airport around 11 am and we proceeded to the church. She spent about half an hour trying out various registrations and asking my opinion but she never wrote anything down. Then we went off for a leisurely lunch bien arosé. After lunch she went to her hotel to rest and to study her scores. That evening she played her concert from memory and pulled all her own stops in the process. All the registrations worked magically! What métier!
There were the many occasions when she traveled for concerts and I would go along as assistant, especially during the Haarlem organ academies. Not only did I get a chance to play some incredible organs, but we drank some splendid wine.
When all the faculty were assembled to teach at the 2003 McGill Summer Organ Academy, I realized that half of the fourteen were her former students. I think that even she was a little surprised—at least momentarily—when I announced this at the opening dinner. Has there ever been an organ teacher more admired and loved by her former students than Marie-Claire Alain?
—John Grew
University Organist, Chair of Organ Area, Schulich School of Music,
McGill University
Artistic Director,
McGill Summer Organ Academy
It was in 1961, when I was a 13-year-old organ student, that the Des Moines (Iowa) Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presented Marie-Claire Alain in a concert at University Christian Church on the Walter Holtkamp pipe organ. It was impressive to hear her performing from memory, and captivating to hear Litanies for the first time.
From that moment, I became obsessed with finding all of her recordings. My quest took me to every bookstore and record shop in central Iowa, and unearthed recordings of Couperin, de Grigny, Buxtehude, Pachelbel, Franck, Alain, and Widor; Musical Heritage Society had the good sense to issue her performances of all the works of Bach.
In 1967 during my college years, Mme. Alain performed in St. Louis at the Priory on an instrument with mechanical action. I remember her playing all six of the Bach Schübler Chorales, the third Trio Sonata, the St. Anne Prelude and Fugue, and the Franck Pastorale as well as Messiaen’s Dieu Parmi Nous and both of the Jehan Alain Fantasies. The clarity and vibrancy of her rhythm coupled with her registrations made this concert an unforgettable example of personal expression and music making.
From 1972 to 1986, I taught organ and theory at a small college in Virginia that was fortunate to have a new concert hall housing a Flentrop organ. In 1973, 1978, 1982 and 1985, Marie-Claire Alain came to campus for concerts and masterclasses. It was inspiring and exciting to hear her perform and teach as well as to have the opportunity to solidify a blossoming friendship. As a pedagogue, Mme. Alain has sought out scores and documents that helped bring historical research alive and into the mainstream of today’s teaching.
In 1973, an inquiry about private study took me to Paris for the first of several such sojourns. Her enlightened teaching brought current performance practices to my inner musical ear and new expressive sensitivity to my playing especially in early French music and the music of Bach. Our lessons on her house organ or at her church at St. Germain-en-Laye shall forever remain as highlights of my career.
Since moving to New York City in 1991, it has been a joy to present Mme. Alain in concert at The Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal) in four special events. Her New York City appearances have been inspiring. Her preeminence as a musician has been noted in the New York Times referring to her as “the Grande Dame of the organ world” and by the New York City AGO chapter bestowing upon her its “Performer of the Year” accolade. The AGO national council presented her with a lifetime achievement award following her concert at The Church of the Holy Trinity in October 1999. The education committee of the Guild further endorsed Mme. Alain’s prominence as a teacher by filming her masterclasses at Holy Trinity and the University of Kansas for the AGO Master Series.
We all come together to honor Marie-Claire Alain on her 80th birthday as a performer, teacher, scholar and friend, and to celebrate her life, her love of music, and her lasting influence on our profession. —Stephen Hamilton
The Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal)
New York City
In the late 1960s, while I was an undergraduate student at St. Olaf College, my teacher, Robert Kendall, arranged for his students to travel to Minneapolis to hear a recital by Marie-Claire Alain. The recital was held in the cavernous sanctuary of Central Lutheran Church, and on that evening every seat was occupied. There was a sense of anticipation as the crowd was waiting for the first sight of the performer, and it was evident that we would be experiencing something exceptional that evening. I remember the thunderous applause when she appeared—a tiny figure facing that huge crowd—and I remember that she performed completely from memory. But even now, over 40 years later, I vividly remember being completely transported by her music making. I had no idea that organ playing could be so beautiful, could communicate so clearly. I wanted to meet her after the recital, but the crowd completely engulfed her, and we students were whisked away back to Northfield. That evening I vowed to meet her someday and thank her for that recital. Little did I know how our lives would intersect. Through the years, I heard her play many times both in North America and in Europe. I not only got to meet her, but to study with her, and she became the dominant musical force in my life. I discovered that not only can she communicate with her playing, but that as a teacher Marie-Claire is without peer. Whenever I feel my busy schedule overwhelming me, I have only to remind myself of Marie-Claire’s prodigious output as a performer, recording artist, teacher, and scholar, and I realize I’m moving in slow motion in comparison. While most of us know Marie-Claire as the recipient of numerous awards and honors, her greatest pride has been her family—both the family that she grew up in and the family that she created. Without the inspiration, love and support of her family, she could not have had the career that has brought her so many accolades. Her home is full of laughter, good food and good wine. My wife Patti and I treasure the evenings that we spent with Marie-Claire and her late husband, Jacques Gommier. I don’t think we have ever laughed more than on those occasions. The close and gregarious relationship that she enjoys with her children and grandchildren is reflected in her music making. Marie-Claire likes good food. She likes to read books; in fact, she learned English in large part by reading novels in English. She loves flowers, especially roses, and has always made room for a big garden in her yard. She finds knitting a good way to relax. She loves to drive—fast!! She has traveled more than anyone I know.
I recently reminisced with Marie-Claire about the first time I heard her play. She was pleased to know that she had achieved the goal she sets each time she performs—to communicate her love of the music. It has been my great fortune to know Marie-Claire—as a teacher, a colleague and a friend. Happy Birthday Marie-Claire!
—James Higdon
Dane and Polly Bales Professor of Organ
The University of Kansas
Some 40 years ago, I took a carload of students from Albion College (Michigan) to hear a little-known organist from Paris perform one of her first concerts in the United States. We were all dazzled by her technique, musical sensitivity, versatility of style, but above all, her ability to communicate with the audience. My friendship with this great artist, Marie-Claire Alain, began when we met and visited after her recital.
As a result of that first encounter I arranged to study with her during the early summer of 1966 at the Alain family home in St. Germain-en-Laye on the now famous “Alain Organ,” and also on the smaller house organ in her home in L’Etang-la-Ville. Later that summer I took her classes at the International Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
This petite young lady sat on the bench at that huge St. Bavo console, would swing around to face the various student groupings, and instantly switch from French to German to Italian to English. Amazing! She had a command of the music like no one else I had ever known. Always gracious and kind, she gently corrected and coached us with skill and authority.
A particularly memorable experience happened during that Haarlem experience. She announced to the class that she would be playing a recital on the famous Schnitger organ in Zwolle, and since I had a car I volunteered to be her chauffeur. Now if I were preparing a recital—anywhere—I’d arrive at least one day in advance. But arriving mid-afternoon on the day of the recital was apparently plenty of time for her, and that commenced only after we first took time for a beer to quench the thirst after a warm afternoon drive.
She graciously let me spend some time “trying out” the great Schnitger—a real challenge for me since its pitch was one step higher than A=440, and my ears and fingers couldn’t reconcile playing the Bach E-flat Prelude in the key of F. Obviously this was not a problem for her.
We had dinner across the town square, and when the check hadn’t arrived just minutes before the recital was to begin, I remained to settle up while she hurried across the plaza. By the time I arrived she had already begun what was to be a brilliant performance to a packed church. What an ability to concentrate!
After that wonderful summer there were many more occasions to experience our friendship, usually in conjunction with a recital. Many of those times she was a guest in our home, occasionally joined by her husband Jacques Gommier. Being a true friend, she invited us to be their guests in Paris and Maule. Marie-Claire Alain has countless friends in this country and Europe as witness the long receiving lines after every recital. Even though she may be exhausted after a demanding day of teaching and playing, she’s always warm and friendly to all who greet her, and always available for advice and counsel—and a hug.
This remarkable artist has made more friends for the organ than any one other person I know. Happy birthday, dear friend.
—John Obetz
Professor Emeritus
Conservatory of Music
University of Missouri at Kansas City Organist Emeritus, the Community of Christ World Headquarters (formerly RLDS), Independence, Missouri
I first heard Marie-Claire Alain play in Detroit in 1964. The following day, she was on campus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with Marilyn Mason. Dr. Mason was driving her to Lansing for a masterclass and recital, and I was invited to accompany them. As I observed Mme. Alain’s work with students in the masterclass, I realized that she had not only an enormous wealth of knowledge to share and could immediately analyze what might help the person’s playing, but also was exceptionally kind and down to earth. Right then I began to formulate the idea of studying with her. A few weeks later when she played in Evanston, Illinois, I drove over to hear her. Afterwards I got up the nerve to ask if I might come to study with her.
I went to Paris after completing my master’s degree at Michigan. I was 22 years old, knew little French, yet felt instantly at home. As it turned out, I was her first full-time American student.
On the day of my first lesson, she picked me up at the train station in St. Germain-en-Laye and took me to the family home. In the parlor was a 4-manual organ. My lessons would be on the Alain organ! We got right to work and later that afternoon I went back to Paris with a large list of repertoire to learn. From then on, after lessons I tried to write down everything she said in a notebook as I took the return train. I still have that notebook.
Our lessons were usually two hours in length. As they progressed, I came to understand that pieces needed to be learned in their entirety for the first lesson, and “perfected” by the second. Except for large Bach works, pieces were seldom brought a third time. My repertoire grew by leaps and bounds. She would allow me to play a piece through before making comments. Good work on my part was met with generous praise; criticisms were delivered gently. She got to the important things immediately. Once in a while, for example, she might show me fingerings for a small hand. But her approach to everything was musical first and foremost; technical work came only when necessary to express the music. She was always kind, often funny, and lessons were an absolute joy. (See continuation of this article.)
