David Bridgeman-Sutton pays tribute to a survivor of fashionable thinking
A Most Eloquent Music
1. Woolsey Hall and the Newberry Organ
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The bi-centenary of Yale University in 1901 was celebrated in suitable manner. Appeals to alumni for funds had been generously answered; among new facilities that resulted was Woolsey Hall. This is a large and splendid building, of a design that owes much to the Renaissance. Seating 2,700 people, it provides an impressive and spacious setting for University ceremonies and a concert hall of exceptional quality. (See pic. 1)
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The organ - an essential furnishing - was a memorial to John Stoughton Newberry, of Detroit. The builder was George S. Hutchings, whose company had recently merged with Votey, to form the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company. Hutchings was then at the pinnacle of his career, the quality of his work and association with some noted instruments keeping full the order-book of his rapidly expanding company. Specification and choice of builder were influenced by Professor Samuel Simons Sanford, who suggested – unsuccessfully – that stops by Hope-Jones should be included. Sanford had heard this builder’s work at Worcester Cathedral. He was a regular visitor to the Three Choirs festival and a friend of Edward Elgar, whose honorary doctorate at Yale he sponsored.
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In 1915, 13 years after the organ was opened, it was enlarged by J.W. Steere & Son. The founder, John Wesley Steere (1824-1900), had acquired a reputation both for the quality of his instruments (and their cases) and for tenacity. Threat from financial difficulty, fire and flood had all been overcome by this remarkable man. His son continued the business and much of his work remains in the Newberry organ. Later (1920) ill-fortune struck and the factory was again consumed by fire. The younger Steere - then approaching 70 - had had enough; he sold out to Ernest M Skinner.
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2. Schematic diagram of organ layout
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This very nearly brought the history of the Newberry organ full circle. Ernest Skinner had been foreman and vice-president of George Hutchings’ company until shortly before the contract for the Woolsey Hall organ was awarded. He left, amicably and with regret on both sides, to found his own company. (The first order he secured as an independent builder, was for the Unitarian church in Ludlow, Vermont. This greatly pleases at least one resident of the original Ludlow, in Shropshire, England! So, too, does the happy coincidence that Skinner had been born in the town of Clarion, Pennsylvania.)
3. The console.
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By 1928, when he was asked to complete the Newberry Memorial Organ, Skinner was widely regarded as the most accomplished and inventive builder in the United States. He had much in common with his friend in England, Henry Willis, not least a conviction that his own views were unquestionably and invariably correct. The two men also shared an ability to rebuild and enlarge organs in a way that resulted in instruments of notable unity and cohesiveness.
Few problems seem to have arisen at Woolsey Hall; the three builders involved had similar tonal ideals as well as a belief in first-class craftsmanship. Picture 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the final layout, superimposed on a photograph of the Hall. There are 143 registers, spread over seven manual and two pedal divisions. |
The specification will be found at the Thompson-Allen website. It embodies many of the principles for a large concert-hall instrument urged by George Ashdown Audsley in his The Organ Of The Twentieth Century. The principal choruses are fully developed with plentiful upper work. (The contrasting schemes of Hope-Jones and his followers, with their abbreviated choruses, have caused some to condemn, unheard, all organs of the period.) The string chorus is invaluable in transcriptions - though its use is not compulsory for those who stand aloof from such things! To keep the number of manuals to four, this division is “floating”, while the Echo and Orchestral divisions are both playable on of two manuals. Reeds, chorus and orchestral; mutations and a wide range of stops for accompaniment are all there.
4. Twin blowers.
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5. The relay room.
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To be appreciated, the instrument should be heard - many will only do this by way of a recording: fortunately, several CD s are available, and from these an idea of the range and quality of the instrument may be gauged; close listening for many subtleties is worthwhile. Those four Opens on the Great, used individually, each impart a distinctive quality to the chorus above.
It is remarkable - and a tribute to the good taste of a leading American University - that the organ has survived. Many remember the period (c.1950-1980) when innumerable organs were altered and many ruined beyond repair by mistaken neo-classical ideas. Far too many of Ernest Skinner’s organs were overtaken by “fashion”.
Travellers to New England should not miss the chance of making closer acquaintance of this organ if chance comes their way.
It is remarkable - and a tribute to the good taste of a leading American University - that the organ has survived. Many remember the period (c.1950-1980) when innumerable organs were altered and many ruined beyond repair by mistaken neo-classical ideas. Far too many of Ernest Skinner’s organs were overtaken by “fashion”.
Travellers to New England should not miss the chance of making closer acquaintance of this organ if chance comes their way.
David Bridgeman-Sutton,
June 3, 2007
June 3, 2007
Picture credits:
Thanks to Joe Dzeda of Thompson Allen for all photographs – and for much information. Ochese’s History Of the Pipe Organ In the United States and Audsley have also been consulted.
Thanks to Joe Dzeda of Thompson Allen for all photographs – and for much information. Ochese’s History Of the Pipe Organ In the United States and Audsley have also been consulted.
