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Music

A Brief History of the Organs and Organists of the Church

by Dr. John Weaver, Director of Music/Organist Emeritus

The merging of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church with the Phillips Presbyterian Church resulted in the construction of the present building at 73rd Street in 1900. A very large organ built by Casavant Frs. of Ste. Hyacinthe, Quebec, was installed. It consisted almost entirely of 16' and 8' stops with only a few 4' stops and hardly any upperwork. Interestingly, the great Italian organist, Fernando Germani, used its stoplist as the sole example of North American organ building in his published treatise on representative instruments from around the world. The legendary Seth Bingham presided over this organ as the church's Director of Music from 1913 until his retirement in 1951. The Rev. Robert Lee succeeded Bingham with his wife, Dorothy, serving as organist. In 1961 the old instrument was replaced by an entirely new organ, also by Casavant, designed by Lawrence Phelps in conjunction with George Markey, who had just succeeded the Lees. John Weaver succeeded Dr. Markey in 1970. Upon Dr. Weaver’s retirement after 35 distinguished years of service to MAPC, Andrew Henderson became Director of Music and Organist in July, 2005.

A few changes and additions have subsequently been made since the new organ was installed in 1961. In the mid-60s new pipes from the M. P. Möller Co. replaced the Swell reed chorus because the Casavant reeds, being on very low wind pressure, would not stay in tune. In the mid-1970s, we converted the Great 2' Doublette into a 1 3/5' Tierce, making a very strong Sesquialtera with the 2 2/3' Quint (the stoplist still shows four 2' manual stops). Peterson electric motors replaced the pneumatic swell motors in 1996.

In 2000, as a result of the Fund for Renewal, we were able to make several major additions to the range and power of the instrument. Three additional stops (Gt. 8' Open Diapason, Ch. 8' Principal and Ped. 16' Open Diapason) were added by the Schantz Organ Company, and three digital voices (Gt. 16' Bourdon, Pedal 32' Open Wood and 16' Open Wood) were added by Walker Industries. In addition, Schantz provided a new console, located in the center of the chancel on a lift. The console takes advantage of the latest technology, and its location is ideal for conducting the choir. The organ now has a total of 73 ranks and 4,194 pipes, not including the three digital voices by Walker. Both the Swell and the Choir divisions are enclosed with the exception of the 8' Bombarde and 8' Principal in the Choir. A generous assortment of couplers and pistons also contributes to the organ's unusual flexibility. It is installed across the front of the church on three levels, most of the pipes being hidden by acoustic cloth and an ornate oak frame. The three new stops added in 2000 are mounted in front of the screen.

Originally, the blower was installed in the basement right next to the steam room, resulting in the instrument having severe tuning problems and leather failure after only ten years of service. In 1972, Ronald C. Bishop (the area representative of the Schantz Organ Co.) was engaged to re-leather the entire organ. At his recommendation, the blower was relocated to an area with normal interior temperatures resulting in a vastly improved stability to the tuning of the whole organ. During that period, many thought that Perflex, a synthetic alternative to the use of leather in electro-pneumatic organs, would be the answer to the increasingly short life of traditional leather. This was a time at which the air quality of most large cities was also contributing to leather failure. Mr. Bishop guaranteed the Perflex for an astonishing 15 years. When it began to fail in 1977, just five years later, he assumed the complete releathering of the instrument without any charge to the church. The organ continues to be serviced and tuned by Mr. Bishop's firm, with the actual work done lovingly and skillfully by John Gulick.

Tonally, the instrument is typical of the work of Casavant during that period. Lawrence Phelps was relatively new to the company as Tonal Director. He completely revised the sound concept of their tonal ensemble primarily by lowering wind pressures, reducing the scale of the foundation stops, and increasing the quantity and brilliance of the upperwork. When new, this organ was almost universally ridiculed as being much too brilliant; however, many subsequent installations have proved that it was simply ahead of its time. The six stops added in 2000 have given the instrument a more solid tonal foundation for 19th and 20th century music.

1961 Casavant Organ at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church

*Installed in August 2000 by Schantz Organ Co. New Console by Schantz, May 2000

 

 

 

 

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