United States — Celebrating Organ Culture in the “Great Melting Pot”

April 26, 2019, 9:00 pm

Share this Post

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York (Photo: Nathan Laube)

The final edition of All the Stops explores pipe organs in the “Great Melting Pot” — the United States. Many cultures and traditions influenced pipe organs in America, particularly during the Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, and the Roaring Twenties. Featured instruments include the Kotzschmar Organ in Portland, Maine, which was given to the city by the publishing magnate Cyrus H.K. Curtis and built by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut in 1912; the Hook & Hastings organ in Buffalo, New York, an instrument that was first heard during the US Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia; and the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, one of the largest pipe organs in the world, with over 28,000 pipes and 450 stops, all housed in Philadelphia’s Macy’s department store.

Playlist

PORTLAND, Maine, USA
Merrill Auditorium – City Hall
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, by Johannes Brahms; transcription by Nathan J. Laube

BUFFALO, New York, USA
St. Joseph’s Cathedral
Concert Overture No. 1 in C minor, by Alfred Hollins

Five Short Pieces, by Percy Whitlock
Folk Tune

Grand Sonata, Op. 22, by Dudley Buck
Scherzo – Vivace non troppo

Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 1, by George Frideric Handel; Andante transcription by William Thomas Best

Piéces d’Orgue, Livraison No. 1, Op. 15, No. 2, by Félix Alexandre Guilmant
Marche Religieuse (sur un thème de Händel)

Cortège et Litanie, Op. 19, No. 2, by Marcel Dupré

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, USA
Macy’s Department Store – Wanamaker Organ
Peter Richard Conte, Grand Court Organist
Variations on an Original Theme – Enigma Variations, Op. 36, by Edward Elgar
Nimrod

KENNETT SQUARE, Pennsylvania, USA
Longwood Gardens – Ballroom
Prelude in G-minor (Alla marcia), Op. 23, No. 5, by Sergei Rachmaninoff; transcription by Gottfried H. Federlein

Overture to William Tell (1829), by Gioacchino Rossini; transcription by Nathan J. Laube

PORTLAND, Maine, USA
Merrill Auditorium – City Hall
Overture to Tannhauser, by Richard Wagner; transcription by S.P. Warren; E.H. Lemare; N.J. Laube

All the Stops — All the Numbers

BUFFALO, New York, USA
St. Joseph’s Cathedral

1876 E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings, Op. 828; 1925 Tellers-Kent Organ Company; 1976 Schlicker Organ Company; 2000 Andover Organ Company

II. GREAT (61 notes)

16’ Open Diapason +
8’ Open Diapason +
8’ 2nd Open Diapason (ext. 16’)
8’ Doppel Flöte +
8’ Gamba +
6’ Quinte +
4’ Octave +
4’ Flute Harmonique +
3’ Twelfth +
2’ Fifteenth +
III-IV Cornet +
IV Mixture +
V Cymbale
16’ Trumpet +
8’ Trumpet +
4’ Clarion +

I. CHOIR (61 notes, unenclosed)

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt
8’ Geigen Principal +
8’ Melodia +
8’ Rohr Flöte +
8’ Dulciana +
4’ Octave
4’ Fugara +
4’ Flute d’Amour +
2 2/3’ Quint Flöte
2’ Piccolo +
1 3/5’ Tierce
1 1/3’ Octave Quint
III Mixture
8’ Trumpet
8’ Cromorne
8’ Clarinet +
8’ Vox Angelia (free-reeds) +
4’ Clarion (ext. Trumpet)

III. SWELL (61 notes, enclosed)

16’ Bourdon +
8’ Open Diapason +
8’ Stopped Diapason +
8’ Quintadena +
8’ Viola +
8’ Voix Céleste
4’ Octave
4’ Violina +
4’ Flauto Traverso +
2 2/3’ Nazard + (from 1876 III Cornet)
2’ Flautino + (from 1876 III Cornet)
1 3/5’ Tierce + (from 1876 III Cornet)
IV Mixture
16’ Contra Fagotto
8’ Cornopean +
8’ Oboe (ext. Fagotto) +
8’ Vox Humana +
Chimes

IV.SOLO (61 notes, unenclosed)

8’ Stentorphon +
8’ Tuba Mirabilis +
V Grand Cornet (TC)

IV. CELESTIAL (61 notes, enclosed)

16’ Gemshorn
8’ Philomela
8’ Gemshorn
8’ Dolcan Gamba
8’ Gamba Céleste
8’ Spitzflöte
8’ Spitzflöte Céleste
4’ Hohlpfeife
2’ Harmonic Piccolo
8’ French Horn
8’ Cor Anglais
Celestial Bells

PEDAL (32 notes)

32’ Bourdon +
16’ Open Diapason +
16’ Violone +
16’ Bourdon (ext. Bourdon) +
16’ Dulciana (from GREAT 16’ Diapason)
16’ Gemshorn (from CELESTIAL)
16’ Lieblich Gedeckt (from CHOIR)
12’ Quinte (ext. Bourdon)
8’ Octave (ext. Open Diapason) +
8’ Bell Gamba +
8’ Violoncelle (ext. Violone) +
8’ Gemshorn (from CELESTIAL)
8’ Gedeckt (from CHOIR 16’)
5 1/3’ Octave Quinte
4’ Principal
4’ Super Octave (ext. Bell Gamba) +
IV Mixture
V Harmonics
32’ Contra Bombarde
16’ Trombone (ext. Bombarde) +
16’ Bassoon (from SWELL)
8’ Trumpet (ext. Bombarde) +
8’ Posaune
8’ Oboe (from SWELL)
4’ Clarion (ext. Bombarde)

Technical Information

+ signifies the original 1876 stops

Electric Action with Slider Chests
Full modern complement of console aids

All Standard 16’ 8’ 4’ Couplers

Tremolo for CHOIR, SWELL, CELESTIAL

Several blank knobs for prepared stops