Scan 25
Musical Courier 1895-04-17: Vol 30 Iss 789, 1895
16 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 26. See the scan on archive.org.
1A Carl Picture.
3The picture presented this week of Mr. William C. Carl, organist, the favored friend and pupil of Guilmant, was struck off by a flash light the other day, with Mr. Carl seated at his own permanent organ in the First Presbyterian Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street. Mr. Carl had just returned from an active recital tour, and was preparing to set out on another. All his dates are booked to the end of the season, and he was caught in the act of running over one of his excellent recital programs. The sheet before him is a Communion in A flat, dedicated to him by Guilmant, one of the compositions of and each tour becomes so much more emphasized in my mind, that I will be glad to let it have ventilation. I speak," said Mr. Carl, "of the lack in this country of a uniform system in the construction of organs."
4"Is there not a uniformity among the first-rate makers, the builders of such organs as you will likely find in prominent places?"
5"There is a resemblance, but not a uniformity. And of course, as you suggest, the differences of the prominent ones are easy to memorize; but take the vast horde of organs you will meet in good towns all over the States, the conflicting arrangement of stops, placing of manuals, width of pedal board, &c., brings one face to face over the choir underneath, and then place at the left those stops affecting the swell organ with the pedal stops beneath, as is done abroad, we would have uniformity. But the random ideas of builders do not seem to meet any objection here. I speak from a sad peripatetic experience."
6Asked what he thought would be the result were an inexperienced organist to be called from his home instrument to play on an organ thus confusingly planned in mechanism Mr. Carl answered modestly, "I really do not know. I think he would find it almost impossible. It takes me several hours to master how things are situated. I fear the looking after new technical regulations would hopelessly confuse any organist at all nervous. I myself am
8MR. WILLIAM C. CARL AT THE ORGAN IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
10the master which Mr. Carl has had the honor to have had published in his dedication. For the past few years, in addition to his church and much recital work in the city of New York, Mr. Carl has been specifically active in the introduction throughout the provinces of really high-class organ music, played in a scholarly fashion. His activity is phenomenal, and the fact that he has a New York Sunday service will not prevent his giving them a recital of the classics on Saturday evening in a Maine town if he thinks trains can be made to carry him back afterward in time for duty.
11"I shall give three recitals in New York before the season closes," said Mr. Carl. "About my trips, what have I to say? Well, what I have to say is old as well as new, but it has occupied my attention for so long, and over with a comparatively new instrument; that is, the manipulation is at times as novel as though one had hardly fronted an organ desk before."
12On this topic, with which he had made himself conversant at home and abroad, Mr. Carl could speak from a full memory without any questioning.
13"There are some excellent organs built in America," he said, "but there are hosts which, without view to any obvious end but the builders' varying fancy, present such an arrangement of stops, manuals and pedals that when I find myself in a strange town with one such I am obliged to practice a familiar program four or five hours at least, in order to master their confusion before the recital.
14"If every builder would put the stops affecting the great organ at the right of the performer with the stops governing not nervous, happily; if I were, all the time taken in voyages of discovery would hardly prevent me from inextricable confusion when it came to the point of performance. One's nerves are needed for freedom of interpretation, and the force of having to remember that you must pull out at the right or push in at the left contrary to custom would naturally upset a nervous temperament.
15"I will give you an idea of the variety of confusion confronting an organ tourist," said Mr. Carl. "We will assume that the organs met are of the same size—that is, three manuals and thirty-five speaking stops. The first organ will have the stops assigned to the great organ placed at the performer's right, and those for the pedal organ below. To the left are the stops belonging to the swell and choir. The couplers are manipulated by thumb pistons placed un-
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