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PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS ST. EDMUND'S AEOLIAN-SKINNER PIPE ORGAN TO BE FULLY RESTORED
By, Robert B. Packer, Member of the Vestry and Chairperson of the Committee for the Restoration of the Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ
(January 8, 2006)
"IT IS THE KING OF INSTRUMENTS" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
We at St. Edmund's are the fortunate beneficiaries of the uncompromising foresight of the early congregants, Vestry and Rector of our Parish who, nearly fifty years ago, decided that an investment in a world class instrument should complement the newly dedicated Sanctuary. This investment is formally known as Aeolian-Skinner Opus Number 1323we know it as our pipe organ. Unlike some other works of art, a pipe organ needs tender care and preservation. It is comprised of not only stately metal pipes, but of sensitive leathers, woods and multiple moving parts. When activated, it is a virtually living, breathing organism (no pun intended, the noun comes from the Latin, meaning an instrument of vital function), which will not survive forever in the absence of "restorative therapy". For a variety of reasons not necessary to dwell upon now, we have mustered only that maintenance necessary to slow or retard disintegration, but no treasure can long endure under such circumstances, and our Aeolian-Skinner is no exception. Fifty years is a long time to postpone a complete physical examination and to prescribe appropriate restorative therapy.
Since the late 1990's, our organist and music director, Debbie Alonzo, the Rector and many others have labored tirelessly, below the radar of most of us, to develop the interest and funding necessary to revitalize and restore this world-class instrument. Since the completion of the renovation of the church and the realization of the dramatically improved acoustics, an entirely new conception of a serious organ restoration and enhancement project began to develop so as to fully reveal the unexploited potential of what we already had in place that is, possibly the finest pipe organ in the San Gabriel Valley.
Of course, such an ambitious project, if designed and executed properly, would be expensive. The initial attempts at attracting grant donations were unsuccessful, and we continued along the course of what is colloquially known as "preventative maintenance" simply doing enough so that we would have "organ music" during services. As many of you have doubtlessly noticed, the organ suffered from this band-aid approach. The systems would not hold air due to cracking leather pouches which hold the base of the pipes. The noise from the aging air blower became so distracting that the entire instrument had to be shut down during our Rector's sermon and the Eucharist. Many pipes simply no longer functioned, and for multiple technical reasons, our organ was (and is ) in serious danger of being damaged irremediably. through this unavoidable neglect.
On April 22, 2004, Ms. Alonzo re-presented the dilemma to the Vestry and Rector, and a preliminary decision was made to form a committee to try once again to evaluate the organ's needs (particularly in light of the renovation of the church) and determine the
feasibility of funding a restoration project. I was allowed the honor of chairing the committee charged with this effort, and, as with many other labors of love, the more we learned about our Aeolian-Skinner organ and what we really might do with the right people with a shared vision of not only a proper restoration but, to actually enhance and improve the instrument so as to realize the original intent of the builders the more ambitious we became with the project.
We were fortunate to obtain the consulting services of Thomas Harmon, PhD, Professor and University Organist, Emeritus, of UCLA. Dr. Harmon personally supervised the restoration of the UCLA Aeolian-Skinner organ in Royce Hall, is a former President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and, until his recent retirement to Medford, Oregon, was the long time organist for the First Methodist Church in Santa Monica. Dr. Harmon visited our church in late 2004 and personally evaluated the organ.[1] As he does not engage in actual restoration work, he acted as our consultant as bids were obtained from four recommended organ builders/restorers. What we learned is that St. Edmund's has no ordinary instrument it possesses a true classic treasure with a unique history.
When our organ was built and installed in 1957, Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston was the most highly respected organ builder in America t he benchmark by which the quality of all competitors was measured. The uncompromising quality of their workmanship, artistic inspiration of tonal design, voicing and tonal finishing conferred a reputation upon the Aeolian-Skinner as the "Stradivarius" of American pipe organs. Our organ was built and designated as Opus 1323, between the larger organ supplied to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City and the Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan, the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While the President and Tonal Director of Aeolian-Skinner, the renowned G. Donald Harrison, died shortly before the installation of the organ at St. Edmund's, his creative ideals, according to Dr. Harmon, are clearly present in our organ. There is correspondence between his successor, Joseph Whiteford and the company's West Coast representative, Lawrence Schoenstein, commenting about the quality of the "San Marino organ" which Schoenstein installed. This correspondence is fascinating as it describes the "dry" acoustics of the church which presented significant challenges to the tonal finishing of the instrument. This problem was so significant that Schoenstein enlisted the advice and assistance of Donald Gillette, the head tonal finisher at Aeolian-Skinner, to complete the project. Thus, St. Edmund's was the beneficiary of the artistic input of three of the most legendary organ builders of the time Harrison, Whiteford and Gillette. Dr. Harmon found that with the major improvement to the acoustics of the church, the potential for enhanced effectiveness of the organ through renovation and judicious additions of new pipework was obvious. And, this could be accomplished, in the right hands, in keeping with the American Classic Organ tradition of Aeolian-Skinner.
After a full presentation to the Vestry and the Rector, it was decided, that, if the funding could be established, our congregation, and, indeed the entire surrounding community, deserved a fully restored and also thoughtfully enhanced Aeolian Skinner Opus 1323 pipe organ which could become a centerpiece of the Southern California musical scene. The first step towards the realization of this vision was to adopt the bid of Mr. Manuel Rosales, owner of Rosales Organ Builders of Los Angeles, as the focus of a proposal to potential grant donors. As many of you know, Mr. Rosales designed and supervised the construction of the magnificent organ at the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and is the Curator of that organ.
Manuel J. Rosales is Artistic and Tonal Director of
Rosales Organ Builders, founded in 1973. In addition to the Disney Hall masterpiece, Mr. Rosales restored the Aeolian-Skinner Opus 430 at the First Methodist Church in Pasadena, Opus 701 within Good Samaritan Hospital, Opus 676 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church and Opus 446 located at St. John's Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. His company has built over 25 organs throughout the United States and he served as the consultant for the restoration and reconstruction of the Harris Organ moved from the old St. Paul's Cathedral to St. James' Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He currently serves on the Technical Advisory Board for the restoration of the famous Wanamaker Department Store (now Lord & Taylor) Organ in Philadelphia the largest pipe organ in America.
There is no question that the proposal of Rosales Organ Builders is ambitious and breathtaking in its historical respect and in its vision for taking advantage of our new acoustics with thoughtful additions. It is also an expensive enterprise approximately $408,000. While in 1999 a similar, but less ambitious proposal received a muted reception from potential donors, this time, through the grace of God, we received a bequest of $100,000 from the estate of Louisa Martineau specifically directed towards this project, and then, with an assist from our very persuasive Rector, on July 19, 2005, we were advised that, upon review of our grant proposal, the Trustees of The Ahmanson Foundation approved an award of $200,000. Accordingly, as this is written, we have already received 75% of funding necessary to complete this important restoration and upgrading of this invaluable asset of our parish. Very recently, several parishioners have earmarked generous financial gifts, beyond their operating pledges, to the organ project to bring our goal even closer to being accomplished.
Manuel Rosales will start the project this month, and it will be completed in stages, the organ never being totally out of commission. We anticipate full completion within two years, perhaps slightly longer depending on the availability of replacement pipes and other essential materials from artisans on the east coast and in Europe. Accordingly, since payment is in installments, we need to raise the balance (approximately $97,000) over the next two years. In the coming months, the restoration committee will announce opportunities for you to participate in funding the balance needed. We will ask you to do what our predecessors did in the 50'sthat is, to provide the parish and the community with a world class musical instrument. We expect the project to attract the interest of not just our existing congregants, but to draw out those who, in addition to being potentially attracted to St. Edmund's for its Rector and its family values, will see us for our intent to develop a world class music program as well. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions about the details of Mr. Rosales project. Thanks to the grace of God and the generosity of our congregants and friends, the proper restoration and enhancement of Opus 1323 no longer is a "pipe dream" it is a reality.
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