Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 196
Scan 196
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
11 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 170. See the scan on archive.org.
1ics who erected it under Mr. Hastings' direction. The New Haven Palladium gave credit for much of the success of the instrument to Mr. Sturm. The organ had 3 manuals, a Pedale ranging from C to D and 2000 pipes.
3After the opening recital the instrument was described thus—"In the voicing of the reed stops Messrs. Hook have been singularly successful. . . . Several professional organists present at the opening unanimously agreed that the reed pipes could not be surpassed in beauty and purity of tone. The diapasons extending through the whole organ bind the most distant tones together and fill up the intervals so that the ear is perfectly satisfied with the full harmony. Some of the stops are of such singular and rare beauty of tone that they deserve particular mention. The Viol da Gamba and the Violone imitate most exactly the effect of a stringed instrument. One can almost hear the peculiar tone produced by drawing the bow across the strings. The Geigen-Principal, a new stop is much admired. The Clarionet is a perfect imitation of that beautiful instrument, and the Flauto D'Amour is really a flute, only more exquisitely pure than we are often favored with hearing its original. No one who was present will ever forget the beauty of the Doppel Flöte as exhibited by Mr. Willcox in his solo. The execution belonged to the player but the full, sweet, yet delicate tone of this stop belongs to the builder."8
5The following seems to indicate that this was one of the first successful pneumatic action American instruments built after the arrival of the Music Hall organ. "One of the triumphs of mechanical skill . . . can only be appreciated by a close examination. The Pneumatic Lever is so arranged as to work the whole organ and thus enable the player to bring out its power with perfect ease. . . . Through the whole of the Trinity organ runs a network of valves and pistons like the nerves of the human body, communicating with the player as he sits at the keyboard and enabling him, by the slightest pressure, to convey his will to every part of the great instrument. Nothing is more extraordinary than the promptitude with which every pipe, from the vastest to the smallest responds to the finger."8
7THE SHAWMUT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH organ, Boston, built in 1866. This had 3 manuals, 51 speaking stops, 12 mechanical stops and 3485 pipes. "Tubular action was first used to a limited extent in this country in this organ."9 This organ was rebuilt by Austin-Treat.
98 Dwight's Journal of Music, Vol. 26, No. 15, October 13, 1866 p. 324, "New Organ in Trinity Church, New Haven," from the New Haven Palladium, September 8.
109 Lahee, Henry C. "Organs and Organ Building in New England." New England Magazine, December 1897 p. 501.
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