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Aeolian-Skinner

December 15, 2023

Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1960), Arthur Hudson Marks (1875–1939), Joseph Silver Whiteford (1921-1978), and G. Donald Harrison (1889–1956). The company was formed from the merger of the Skinner Organ Company and the pipe organ division of the Æolian Company in 1932.

Æolian-Skinner organ in Arlington Street Church, Boston, Massachusetts

Skinner period edit

The Skinner & Cole Company was formed in 1902 as a partnership of Ernest Skinner and Cole, another former Hutchings-Votey employee. By 1904 the partnership had dissolved, and the "Ernest M. Skinner & Company" purchased the Skinner and Cole assets, in the form of the contract for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City[1] from the former company for $1.

Between 1904 and 1910, the firm produced approximately 30 instruments, including several new instruments of Skinner's design, in the 60- to 80-stop size range.

By 1912 the firm had perfected the "Pitman Windchest" to a state of simple technical elegance. (A "wind chest" is the large box, normally built of wood, upon which the sound producing pipes are "planted", and which contains the valves and mechanisms which control the wind supply to the pipes.) The Pitman chest allows the air to be held constantly pressurized, directly at the valves located beneath each of the thousands of pipes, which increases responsiveness to the player, and eliminates noise and other problems found with the "Ventil"-style chests, which apply wind only when a stop is drawn. Virtually all major builders of electro-pneumatic action organs, including M. P. Möller, W. W. Kimball (both firms now defunct), Schantz, and Reuter, use some form of the Pitman windchest to this day, although most have only recently begun to credit Skinner with the design and subsequent refinements that make it an industry benchmark.

 
The 1928, Opus 750 at Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia, Missouri was a favorite of organist James Thomas Quarles.

Skinner also developed and perfected numerous parts of the "actions" for the instruments, as well as the Whiffletree Shade Motor, a mechanical device that moves the expression shades in a smooth, fluid motion without the "slam" that often accompanies mechanical expression shade controls. This allowed the instruments to provide quick and responsive control of the expression (volume) levels of the different parts of the instrument.

In 1914 the Skinner Organ Factory company moved into a new factory building in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston at Crescent Avenue and Sydney Street.[2][3]

Harrison period edit

G. Donald Harrison joined the Skinner firm in July 1927, and slowly began to influence how Skinner organs were built. After several years of conflict between Ernest Skinner and Arthur Marks, Harrison was appointed Vice-President and Tonal Director of Æolian-Skinner in 1933. The company’s tonal philosophy continued to turn from the romantic-style orchestral instruments built under the direction of Skinner to a classically eclectic style. Organists began to look to the past to find direction for the future, and in doing so they found that they were in sympathy with the ideas being developed by Harrison. These ideas included the provision of smaller-scaled diapasons, along with more higher-pitched and mutation stops in place of large-scaled unison diapasons, color reeds and flutes.

During Harrison's tenure from 1933 until his death in 1956 (while doing tonal finishing on the organ at St. Thomas Church, New York City, which was completed by Arthur Birchall after Harrison's death), the tonal design of Æolian-Skinner organs changed a great deal, but retained and perfected many of Ernest Skinner's mechanical innovations. The company used Skinner's Pitman windchest, for example, throughout its existence. Also the high quality and distinctive design details of the Æolian-Skinner console were preserved.

Notable instruments built or rebuilt during the Harrison period include (date, consoles/ranks):

Whiteford period edit

After Harrison's death in June 1956, former Vice President Joseph S. Whiteford was appointed President. Whiteford joined the company in 1948 and had distinguished himself through research in the field of musical acoustics as it relates to church music. Under his direction, Æolian-Skinner built pipe organs for five of the foremost symphony orchestras in America. His love for vocal music led him to emphasize the role of the organ in accompanying singing. He had a charismatic personality that was well suited to the prestige of the Æolian-Skinner name. In fact, his personal involvement secured major contracts that were directly commissioned without competing bids. His tonal work was not without criticism, including from within the company- e.g. Donald Gillett's unhappiness with Whiteford's "string quartet Greats". For more information see Dr Charles Callahan's book Aeolian-Skinner Remembered.

Notable instruments from the Whiteford period include:

After the Whiteford's resignation in 1966, John J. Tyrell, Donald M. Gillett, and Robert L. Sipe served as president until the company ceased operations in 1972.

Aeolian-Skinner Records edit

Beginning in 1954, Aeolian-Skinner produced a series of LP records titled The King of Instruments. These LPs are devoted to the tone and history of the modern organ. Volume 1, The American Classic Organ, contains a descriptive discussion written over both sides of the LP cover by Tyler Turner and Joseph Whiteford on the beginnings of the American classic organ. The five recorded sections on the record, with G. Donald Harrison as narrator describing the five selections, are "I-Principles", "II-Flutes", "III-Strings", "IV-Reeds", and "V-Mixtures and Mutations". Organ demonstrations come from the Aeolian-Skinner organs of St. John the Divine, Symphony Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral (Boston), and First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

  • Volume 1: "The American Classic Organ"
  • Volume 2: "Organ Literature-Bach to Langlais"
  • Volume 3: "Organ Recital" – Robert Owen, Christ Church; Bronxville, New York
  • Volume 4: Edgar Hilliar at St. Mark's; Mount Kisco, New York
  • Volume 5: "Music of Richard Purvis" – Grace Cathedral; San Francisco, California
  • Volume 6: "The Cathedral of St. John the Divine" Alec Wyton-Organist
  • Volume 7 "Marilyn Mason in Recital" St. John's Chapel; Groton, Massachusetts
  • Volume 8: "Norman Coke-Jephcott at St. John the Divine
  • Volume 9: "The Mother Church; Boston, Massachusetts" – Ruth Barrett Phelps
  • Volume 10: "Music of the Church" – Organ and choir recital at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Kilgore, Texas
  • Volume 11: "Henry Hokans at All Saints" (Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Volume 12: "Pierre Cochereau at Symphony Hall" (Boston, Massachusetts
  • AS313: "Organ Music and Vocal Solos" – Ruth Barrett Phelps and Frederick Jagel, tenor, at The Mother Church, Boston
  • AS315: "Catharine Crozier Program I" – RLDS Auditorium, Independence, Missouri
  • AS316: "Catharine Crozier Program II" – RLDS Aufitorium, Independence, Missouri
  • AS317: "Phillip Steinhaus" – organ of All Saints Church, Pontiac, Michigan
  • AS318: "Two Great Organs" Albert Russell, organs of Philharmonic Hall, New York, and Asylum Hill Cong. Church, Hartford, Connecticut
  • AS319: "Duruflé Requiem" Albert Russell and choir
  • AS320: "John Weaver Playing Liszt and Mozart" – Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, New York
  • AS322: "Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé" – organ of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri
  • AS323: "Ronald Arnatt" – organ of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri
  • AS325: "Clyde Holloway" – organ of National Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC
  • AS327: "Robert Anderson in a Program of 20th Century Music" – organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation, Rochester, Minnesota
  • AS328: "Robert Anderson in a Program of 19th Century Music" – organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation, Rochester, Minnesota
  • AS329: "Robert Anderson in a Program of 18th Century Music" – organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation, Rochester, Minnesota
  • AS 306: Ruth Phelps at the Mother Church; Boston, Massachusetts
  • AS 322: Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé at Christ Church Cathedral; St. Louis, Missouri
  • AS 326: Alexander Boggs Ryan at the Cathedral of Christ the King; Kalamazoo, Michigan
  • ASC 501: "Two Great Organs" Albert Russell, organs of Philharmonic Hall, New York, and Asylum Hill Cong. Church, Hartford, Connecticut (Ampex reel-to-reel tape)
  • ASC 502: Catharine Crozier at the RLDS Auditorium, Independence MO (No. 1309, 1959) – Program I (Reubke, Langlais, Roger-Ducasse, Alain) (Ampex reel-to-reel tape)
  • ASC 503: Catharine Crozier at the RLDS (Community of Christ) Auditorium; Independence Missouri (Ampex reel-to-reel tape)

References edit

  1. ^ Opus 113, 1904 Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Organ History July 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 25 Dec 2010)
  2. ^ "Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1757 Skinner Organ", Dorchester Historical Society, April 5, 2012
  3. ^ Whitney, Craig R., All the Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters, PublicAffairs, Perseus Books Group, 2004. Cf. p.65
  4. ^ "A Pipe (organist's) Dream". http://newsletters.mayo.edu/newscenter/Article.aspx?contentID=DOCMAN-0000160588[permanent dead link]. Accessed August 26, 2016.
  5. ^ . Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  6. ^ "Pipe Organ Database | Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. (Opus 1203, 1952) First Church of Christ, Scientist - Extension".
  7. ^ "Seymour Congregational ChurchAeolian-Skinner Opus 1261, 1955Seymour, CT".
  8. ^ "Bishop Oxnam to Speak at Chapel Dedication", Enoch Pratt Library vertical file, Baltimore Evening Sun, April 2, 1958
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  10. ^ . Nycago.org. June 14, 1962. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  • Callahan, Charles (1990). The American Classic Organ: a History in Letters. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society.
  • Callahan, Charles (1996). Æolian-Skinner Remembered: a History in Letters. Minneapolis: Randall M. Egan.
  • Holden, Dorothy (1985). The Life and Work of Ernest M. Skinner. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society.
  • Owen, Barbara (1990). The Mormon Tabernacle Organ: An American Classic. Salt Lake City: The American Classic Organ Symposium.
  • Ochse, Orpha (1975). The History of the Organ in the United States. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

External links edit

  • JOURNEYS; Old Pipes, Heavenly View: A Search for Musical Bliss
  • The Riverside Church, Nave Organ
  • - see nr 11
  • Two Unusual Organ Concerts

December 15, 2023
aeolian, skinner, Æolian, skinner, organ, company, boston, massachusetts, american, builder, large, number, pipe, organs, from, inception, skinner, organ, company, 1901, until, closure, 1972, figures, were, ernest, skinner, 1866, 1960, arthur, hudson, marks, 1. AEolian Skinner Organ Company Inc of Boston Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972 Key figures were Ernest M Skinner 1866 1960 Arthur Hudson Marks 1875 1939 Joseph Silver Whiteford 1921 1978 and G Donald Harrison 1889 1956 The company was formed from the merger of the Skinner Organ Company and the pipe organ division of the AEolian Company in 1932 AEolian Skinner organ in Arlington Street Church Boston Massachusetts Contents 1 Skinner period 2 Harrison period 3 Whiteford period 4 Aeolian Skinner Records 5 References 6 External linksSkinner period editThe Skinner amp Cole Company was formed in 1902 as a partnership of Ernest Skinner and Cole another former Hutchings Votey employee By 1904 the partnership had dissolved and the Ernest M Skinner amp Company purchased the Skinner and Cole assets in the form of the contract for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City 1 from the former company for 1 Between 1904 and 1910 the firm produced approximately 30 instruments including several new instruments of Skinner s design in the 60 to 80 stop size range By 1912 the firm had perfected the Pitman Windchest to a state of simple technical elegance A wind chest is the large box normally built of wood upon which the sound producing pipes are planted and which contains the valves and mechanisms which control the wind supply to the pipes The Pitman chest allows the air to be held constantly pressurized directly at the valves located beneath each of the thousands of pipes which increases responsiveness to the player and eliminates noise and other problems found with the Ventil style chests which apply wind only when a stop is drawn Virtually all major builders of electro pneumatic action organs including M P Moller W W Kimball both firms now defunct Schantz and Reuter use some form of the Pitman windchest to this day although most have only recently begun to credit Skinner with the design and subsequent refinements that make it an industry benchmark nbsp The 1928 Opus 750 at Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia Missouri was a favorite of organist James Thomas Quarles Skinner also developed and perfected numerous parts of the actions for the instruments as well as the Whiffletree Shade Motor a mechanical device that moves the expression shades in a smooth fluid motion without the slam that often accompanies mechanical expression shade controls This allowed the instruments to provide quick and responsive control of the expression volume levels of the different parts of the instrument In 1914 the Skinner Organ Factory company moved into a new factory building in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston at Crescent Avenue and Sydney Street 2 3 Harrison period editG Donald Harrison joined the Skinner firm in July 1927 and slowly began to influence how Skinner organs were built After several years of conflict between Ernest Skinner and Arthur Marks Harrison was appointed Vice President and Tonal Director of AEolian Skinner in 1933 The company s tonal philosophy continued to turn from the romantic style orchestral instruments built under the direction of Skinner to a classically eclectic style Organists began to look to the past to find direction for the future and in doing so they found that they were in sympathy with the ideas being developed by Harrison These ideas included the provision of smaller scaled diapasons along with more higher pitched and mutation stops in place of large scaled unison diapasons color reeds and flutes During Harrison s tenure from 1933 until his death in 1956 while doing tonal finishing on the organ at St Thomas Church New York City which was completed by Arthur Birchall after Harrison s death the tonal design of AEolian Skinner organs changed a great deal but retained and perfected many of Ernest Skinner s mechanical innovations The company used Skinner s Pitman windchest for example throughout its existence Also the high quality and distinctive design details of the AEolian Skinner console were preserved Notable instruments built or rebuilt during the Harrison period include date consoles ranks Rochester Minnesota St Marys Hospital Chapel 1932 4 San Francisco California Grace Cathedral Opus 910 1934 IV 125 G Donald Harrison signature organ Groton Massachusetts Groton School 1935 III 95 New Haven Connecticut Trinity Church on the Green 1935 III 78 Boston Massachusetts Church of the Advent 1935 III 77 Minneapolis Minnesota Northrop Auditorium Opus 892C 1936 IV 102 Ithaca New York Cornell University Sage Chapel 1940 III 69 New York New York Church of St Mary the Virgin 1942 IV 76 Salt Lake City Utah Mormon Tabernacle 1948 V 204 G Donald Harrison Signature organ Boston Massachusetts Symphony Hall 1949 IV 80 G Donald Harrison signature organ St Mark s Episcopal Church Mt Kisco New York 1952 5 G Donald Harrison signature organ Boston Massachusetts The First Church of Christ Scientist Opus 1203 1952 IV 241 6 Jacksonville Illinois MacMurray College Annie Merner Chapel 1952 Opus 1150 IV 59 New York New York Cathedral of St John the Divine 1953 IV 141 Opus 150 A first organ to have the state trumpet G Donald Harrison signature organ Rock Hill South Carolina Winthrop University Opus 1257 1955 IV 78 G Donald Harrison signature organ Seymour Connecticut Seymour Congregational Church Opus 1262 1955 7 New York New York Saint Thomas Church Manhattan 1956 G Donald Harrison signature organ Harrison died while finishing the voicing Whiteford period editAfter Harrison s death in June 1956 former Vice President Joseph S Whiteford was appointed President Whiteford joined the company in 1948 and had distinguished himself through research in the field of musical acoustics as it relates to church music Under his direction AEolian Skinner built pipe organs for five of the foremost symphony orchestras in America His love for vocal music led him to emphasize the role of the organ in accompanying singing He had a charismatic personality that was well suited to the prestige of the AEolian Skinner name In fact his personal involvement secured major contracts that were directly commissioned without competing bids His tonal work was not without criticism including from within the company e g Donald Gillett s unhappiness with Whiteford s string quartet Greats For more information see Dr Charles Callahan s book Aeolian Skinner Remembered Notable instruments from the Whiteford period include Detroit Ford Auditorium 1957 III 71 Dismantled immediately prior to the auditorium being demolished in 2011 The organ will be installed in St Aloysius Catholic Church in downtown Detroit Westminster Maryland Baker Memorial Chapel 1958 8 Independence Missouri RLDS Auditorium 1959 IV 113 Honolulu St Andrew s Cathedral 1960 IV 72 Ypsilanti Michigan Eastern Michigan University Pease Auditorium 1960 Still in full working order and used for regular performances 9 New York City Church of the Epiphany 1962 10 Atlanta Cathedral of St Philip 1962 IV 98 New York City Lincoln Center Philharmonic Hall 1963 IV 98 Removed and incorporated into the Crystal Cathedral now Christ Cathedral organ Garden Grove California After the Whiteford s resignation in 1966 John J Tyrell Donald M Gillett and Robert L Sipe served as president until the company ceased operations in 1972 Aeolian Skinner Records editBeginning in 1954 Aeolian Skinner produced a series of LP records titled The King of Instruments These LPs are devoted to the tone and history of the modern organ Volume 1 The American Classic Organ contains a descriptive discussion written over both sides of the LP cover by Tyler Turner and Joseph Whiteford on the beginnings of the American classic organ The five recorded sections on the record with G Donald Harrison as narrator describing the five selections are I Principles II Flutes III Strings IV Reeds and V Mixtures and Mutations Organ demonstrations come from the Aeolian Skinner organs of St John the Divine Symphony Hall St Paul s Cathedral Boston and First Presbyterian Church Kilgore Texas Volume 1 The American Classic Organ Volume 2 Organ Literature Bach to Langlais Volume 3 Organ Recital Robert Owen Christ Church Bronxville New York Volume 4 Edgar Hilliar at St Mark s Mount Kisco New York Volume 5 Music of Richard Purvis Grace Cathedral San Francisco California Volume 6 The Cathedral of St John the Divine Alec Wyton Organist Volume 7 Marilyn Mason in Recital St John s Chapel Groton Massachusetts Volume 8 Norman Coke Jephcott at St John the Divine Volume 9 The Mother Church Boston Massachusetts Ruth Barrett Phelps Volume 10 Music of the Church Organ and choir recital at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Kilgore Texas Volume 11 Henry Hokans at All Saints Worcester Massachusetts Volume 12 Pierre Cochereau at Symphony Hall Boston Massachusetts AS313 Organ Music and Vocal Solos Ruth Barrett Phelps and Frederick Jagel tenor at The Mother Church Boston AS315 Catharine Crozier Program I RLDS Auditorium Independence Missouri AS316 Catharine Crozier Program II RLDS Aufitorium Independence Missouri AS317 Phillip Steinhaus organ of All Saints Church Pontiac Michigan AS318 Two Great Organs Albert Russell organs of Philharmonic Hall New York and Asylum Hill Cong Church Hartford Connecticut AS319 Durufle Requiem Albert Russell and choir AS320 John Weaver Playing Liszt and Mozart Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity New York AS322 Maurice and Marie Madeleine Durufle organ of Christ Church Cathedral St Louis Missouri AS323 Ronald Arnatt organ of Christ Church Cathedral St Louis Missouri AS325 Clyde Holloway organ of National Presbyterian Church Washington DC AS327 Robert Anderson in a Program of 20th Century Music organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation Rochester Minnesota AS328 Robert Anderson in a Program of 19th Century Music organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation Rochester Minnesota AS329 Robert Anderson in a Program of 18th Century Music organ of Zumbro Lutheran Congregation Rochester Minnesota AS 306 Ruth Phelps at the Mother Church Boston Massachusetts AS 322 Maurice and Marie Madeleine Durufle at Christ Church Cathedral St Louis Missouri AS 326 Alexander Boggs Ryan at the Cathedral of Christ the King Kalamazoo Michigan ASC 501 Two Great Organs Albert Russell organs of Philharmonic Hall New York and Asylum Hill Cong Church Hartford Connecticut Ampex reel to reel tape ASC 502 Catharine Crozier at the RLDS Auditorium Independence MO No 1309 1959 Program I Reubke Langlais Roger Ducasse Alain Ampex reel to reel tape ASC 503 Catharine Crozier at the RLDS Community of Christ Auditorium Independence Missouri Ampex reel to reel tape References edit Opus 113 1904 Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Organ History Archived July 2 2014 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 25 Dec 2010 Dorchester Illustration of the Day no 1757 Skinner Organ Dorchester Historical Society April 5 2012 Whitney Craig R All the Stops The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters PublicAffairs Perseus Books Group 2004 Cf p 65 A Pipe organist s Dream http newsletters mayo edu newscenter Article aspx contentID DOCMAN 0000160588 permanent dead link Accessed August 26 2016 Opus 1201 St Mark s Episcopal Church Mount Kisco NY Archived from the original on November 19 2019 Retrieved December 15 2017 Pipe Organ Database Aeolian Skinner Organ Co Opus 1203 1952 First Church of Christ Scientist Extension Seymour Congregational ChurchAeolian Skinner Opus 1261 1955Seymour CT Bishop Oxnam to Speak at Chapel Dedication Enoch Pratt Library vertical file Baltimore Evening Sun April 2 1958 Opus 1348 Eastern Michigan University Archived from the original on October 20 2014 Retrieved October 16 2014 Church of the Epiphany Episcopal New York City Nycago org June 14 1962 Archived from the original on June 29 2013 Retrieved January 6 2013 Callahan Charles 1990 The American Classic Organ a History in Letters Richmond The Organ Historical Society Callahan Charles 1996 AEolian Skinner Remembered a History in Letters Minneapolis Randall M Egan Holden Dorothy 1985 The Life and Work of Ernest M Skinner Richmond The Organ Historical Society Owen Barbara 1990 The Mormon Tabernacle Organ An American Classic Salt Lake City The American Classic Organ Symposium Ochse Orpha 1975 The History of the Organ in the United States Bloomington Indiana University Press External links editJOURNEYS Old Pipes Heavenly View A Search for Musical Bliss AEolian Skinner history timeline and opus lists The Riverside Church Nave Organ The World s Largest Pipe Organs see nr 11 Two Unusual Organ Concerts 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aeolian Skinner amp oldid 1168683049, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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