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
30,000 pipes 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 cannot wait to
revisit the Grand Court again and again to
hear the more and more
restored (with each visit, there is noticable improvement!!)
Wanamaker Organ play its splendorous harmonies!
In the Fall of 2007, work to install the
Orchestral Division into
its new chamber on the 4th floor will be underway. Spring and
Summer 2007 were spend 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
spring 2008. When this occurs, the Wanamaker Organ will be
100% playable, all 462 ranks of 28,543 pipes!! WOW!
Because of the fact that the Wanamaker Organ is a
National Landmark,
I surely hope Pres Bush 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.
Here are some pictures I took of the Wanamaker Organ!
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",
AND 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!
Further Information on the Wanamaker Organ pipe count:
Only the Orchestral Division remains to be
restored. This restoration is being done at the store.
(Now owned by Macy's). I expect this division to be brought back into
service before 2009, two years
before the true (Year 2011 A.D.)
Centennial Anniversary of the Grand Court Wanamaker Organ.
I hope they do
another CD/DVD
of this colossal instrument playing at full strength!!!
462 ranks, 28, 543 pipes
!!!! :)
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 :)
Here is a
marvelous picture someone else took, of the magnificent event!!
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: