My Son William, With Dr. Keith Chapman In 1982
Experience the Wanamaker Organ !!!
I have many beautiful memories of watching the gifted Grand Court
Organist Keith Chapman playing the incomparable Wanamaker Organ!
The sound of this huge instrument fills the entire Grand Court which
is 14 stories high!! I have been to that store many times! BTW, my
maternal grandmother worked there as a payroll clerk a long time ago.
My family made annual trips to the Wanamaker Store for the
Christmas program,
at which time there was a huge screen
covering the pipe case, upon which there were
wired many
thousands of computer driven light displays, which "kept time"
with the Christmas music program. Since the new store business
Macy's has now occupied
these premises, We know now that
this tradition has being maintained.
Usually, I visited the store on my own, and walked up to the
second floor, so I could sit in the
Console guest platform! It Surely
provided a spectacular view of the Grand Court!
There was a
tremendous sound emanating and projecting from most of those 28,543 pipes
in 461 ranks, especially when there was a full registration Crescendo!
This organ sustained some damage due to moisture during
building reconstruction activities.
The echo division had to
be repaired by another company in New England, and the
console,
all 2-1/2 tons of it, had to undergo repair and
refurbishment of the stop jambs. The organ still
was effectively
playable due to the establishment of a remote registration
"patch" console.
It was quite a sight to see the main console
being played without stop jambs on both right and left sides!
The console was reassembled, and a summer dedication concert was conducted there to celebrate the "rebuild".
I enjoy visiting the Grand Court again and again to
hear the more and more
restored (with each visit,
there is noticeable improvement!!)
Wanamaker Organ play its splendorous harmonies!
Since the fall of 2007, work to relocate and
re-install the
Orchestral Division into
its new chamber on the
4th floor (Juniper Street side) is in progress, and is largely completed.
The last of the pipes left to install
are the reed ranks. Spring and
Summer 2008 were spent refurbishing the Orchestral Division
components (the pipes and their Pitman actions, windchests,
magnet wiring, etc.). All of the Orchestral Division
is expected to be in
service in late October 2009. When this occurs, the Wanamaker Organ will be
100% playable,
all 461 ranks of 28,543 pipes!! WOW!
After the Orchestral Division Dedication concert, when ALL of the
organ will be capable of being played, then the Friends Symposium and the
curator team will start work on needed
areas of the organ, such as the choir division, which needs an overhaul.
Because of the fact that the Wanamaker Organ is a
National Landmark,
I surely hope one day that
a US President will issue Kurt Mangel a Congressional Gold Medal,
and that the President will present
this award in the Grand Court after
he hears the Wanamaker Organ's full power of sonic brilliance!
Kurt
is the
leader of the Wanamaker Organ curator team, and also leads the activities
of the Organ
Symposium crews in this magnificent restoration project!
A lot of information will reach you each quarter from the
Friends Of The Wanamaker Organ,
in the form
of the quarterly Stentor
when you join that society dedicated to the preservation and continuous use
of that magnificent instrument! The cost is very low when
you consider that the 4 booklets you get every year are
packed with details and history on this organ and its concerts
and maintenance status! The organ is presently played
by current and talented Grand Court Organist Peter Conte.
After 82 years, the Philadelphia Orchestra AND the
Wanamaker Organ played together!!
The date: Sept 27, 2008.
This was a live concert I attended, the "Concert
of the Century" as far as I am concerned :)
The CD of the
live recording is RELEASED and IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE NOW !!
Keep an eye on the "FOWO" website
for all recordings, INCLUDING ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEW RELEASES!
Here are some pictures I took of the Wanamaker Organ 6 manual console with Keith Chapman present:
My Son William, With Dr. Keith Chapman In 1982
Dr Keith Chapman Adjusting The Stops, 1982
I have the complete collection of Keith Chapman's
works on both CD's
and records; plus a 3-CD copy of the "Lost Wanamaker Radio Productions I &
II" :)
The President of the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, Ray Biswanger, has
written an excellent book on the origin, history, and complete construction details
of the Wanamaker Organ. Stay tuned by JOINING:
"The "Friends of The Wanamaker Organ"!!
PLEASE VISIT the Wanamaker Organ the very FIRST Chance you
get;
I guarantee it to be one of the (if not THE) GREATEST musical experiences in
your life!!
Some Special Links For The Wanamaker Organ:
The Friends Of The Wanamaker Organ Home
Page
Wanamaker Grand Court
Organ
The Ultimate Book on Wanamaker Organ
History is completed!
A Basic Division Pipe Count for the Wanamaker
Specification
The Wanamaker Organ Stoplist
- NOTE: A rank of 'Vox Humana' reeds within the
Orchestral Division is being added during the current restoration project.
These new 61 pipes
bring the total Wanamaker Organ specification to 462 ranks, 28, 543 pipes!
The "upgraded" acoustic (without the curtain) sounds of the Wanamaker were recorded with DTS
and HDCD
format on CD "Magic"; performed
at night by Peter Richard Conte;
released Nov 2001.
Three divisions at that time remained to be restored:
Swell (71 ranks, 4422 pipes);
Choir (24 ranks, 1452 pipes); and the
Orchestral (39 ranks, 2811 pipes).
These awaited restoration and were been silent since 1990's; thus, these were
not playing during the
recording of "Magic". So; of the 28, 543 pipes installed, 8685 pipes were
not operational.
Despite that gigantic amount missing (like the average whole cathedral organ),
the resources
available made a very beautiful listening experience, especially with the
string, great, ethereal, echo,
and pedal divisions working as a "team", under the brilliant playing (and
transcriptional talents)
of the current Wanamaker Organist, Peter Richard Conte.
Subsequent recordings include:
"Legacy":
This contains works by composers who played the Wanamaker Organ, (Louis Vierne, and
Marcel Dupre). It also includes works by a composer who played the
original antecedent version
organ (The original Murray Harris St Louis Exposition "World's Fair organ, 5
manuals, 10,000 pipes,
which were transferred-console, {windchests / blowers, too}; -and pipes - in 13
freight cars - to the
Philadelphia Pa store, and dedicated as operational in 1911); played then by
Felix-Alexandre Guilmant.
Another important work included in this CD was the Bach Chorale (BWV478) "Komm,
Susser Tod"
("Come, Sweet Death") piece. This work originally was transcribed for the
Philadelphia Orchestra by
Leopold Stokowski, which work inspired Virgil Fox to transcribed the composition
in order to take
advantage of the Wanamaker Organ's tremendous String Division (88 ranks, 6340
pipes!).
It was played by Mr. Fox at the AGO Convention in 1939. When "Legacy" was
recorded at night,
by Peter Richard Conte, two
Divisions had been previously brought back to full operational status:
The
Choir and Swell Divisions.
Midnight at the Grand Court:
This recording was also done at night with all store
activity silent, including elevator bells quieted,
and the custodial services absent!
A Wanamaker Organ Christmas!
Vintage Yuletide favorites: (played with all 28,400+ pipes and 461 ranks of
tonal spread available!)
16 selections played in the late 50's by Barron Smith;
1 Mini-concert selection, "Ave Marie", played in the
late 30's by Charles M. Courboin; and:
6 concert selections played in the mid-60's by Pau Mickelson.
All of it is fantastic music!!!. Great for the
Christmas Season!
Special picture of Wanamaker Console refinished!
An Interesting Quote From John Wanamaker (Store Founder and Original owner of the installation):
" I learned thirty years ago that it is foolish to scold. I
have enough trouble
overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that
God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence. "
- John Wanamaker "The King Of Merchants"
An as-yet un-restored Giant Pipe Organ: Atlantic City Auditorium Organ:
Size & Basic Facts: Seven manuals (3 extended to 6 or 7 octaves),
1,439 stop keys, 1,255 speaking stops, 455 ranks (approx. 140 now playable),
33,112 pipes.
A Society on The Greatest Virtuoso to play the Wanamaker Organ: