An Exciting Opportunity for UNMC through its Music Ministry!!!
By W. Kirk Denton, Organist
As many of you are aware, the Music Ministry of UNMC has been involved for several years identifying and offering solutions to address the chronic problems with our current Gottfried Organ. The general consensus of the several paid consultants, and the many independent organ maintenance and repair experts brought in to assess our situation has been, because of the limitations and compromises imposed during initial installation in 1929, that the organ as built harbors maintenance restrictions nearly impossible to rectify in a feasible and affordable manner.
After several years of searching for a desirable and affordable solution to rectify this problem, UNMC has recently been offered an exciting and unexpected solution to this problem that promises to be a potential boon, not only to our Music Ministry, but to the Church and the wider community as a whole.
After several months of researching creative solutions to our problem our current organ technician, David Storey, has found an historic organ in need of a new permanent home sitting literally in our own back yard. The organ, presently located in the McKim Mansion at 17th and R Streets, N.W. was built by the premier American organ builder of the 19th Century, Hook and Hastings of Boston. It was reportedly built as a gift to Mr. McKim’s wife, a concert organist, as a wedding present in 1905 and is still located in the ballroom of the mansion for which it was designed.
The McKim Mansion is presently slated for complete renovation into condominiums and the owners have been searching for a local permanent home where the organ can be installed, completely restored, and used and enjoyed on a regular basis. After considering several proposals for its placement, including American University and Shennendoah University, we have suddenly found ourselves in the position of being a front runner for the donation of this important and historic instrument.
The E. and G.G. Hook and Hastings Company, Boston, MA was founded in 1831 and from its inception set out to build a truly American concert organ to rival those being built in Europe. They were responsible for building some of the most prestigious organs of the 19th Century in America, including the famous Mechanics Hall organ in Worchester, MA and the concert organ for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Tufts University installed a Hook and Hastings in Goddard Chapel in 1883. That organ underwent a complete restoration last year. Many Universalist and Unitarian churches throughout New England contracted Hook and Hastings to provide them with instruments they considered appropriate to their use well into the early 20th century. Hook and Hastings remained active until 1935, a victim, like so many other organ builders of the time, of the depression.
As organ building changed in style in the 20th century, nearly all of these organs were drastically altered from their original specifications to reflect contemporary tastes and fashion. The number of un-altered American instruments of the period are few. However, in recent years, the few remaining unaltered organs of this genre have been the subject of renewed interest and reverence by organ enthusiasts, clergy and laity alike. To sing a Lowell Mason hymn accompanied by an original American instrument of this era is to experience the sounds and emotional impact intended when this music was written.
The McKim Organ, which is 35 ranks over three manuals and pedal board, has never been tonally altered from its original specifications, and only the console has been changed in any way, by changing it from its original entirely pneumatic configuration to electro/magnetic configuration in 1925 by the local Washington organ builder, Lewis and Hitchcock. In organ circles, this fact alone makes this organ a truly unique and historic instrument worthy of high regard.
The freestanding organ with its paneled case of quarter sawn oak and fully speaking gilt façade pipes would, by necessity, need to be installed in the balcony of UNMC, providing an extraordinary physical complement to the Sanctuary as well as an impressive aural presence. The console case is also constructed of oak with intricate gothic carving. It has rosewood, maple and ivory draw knobs and tab stops engraved in script. This console would be restored using solid state technology and be located in the front on the Sanctuary floor making the organ extremely flexible for use in worship as well as perfectly situating it for concert use.
On December 31, Michael O’Brien, Donna Simonton, and I were invited to inspect the organ with David Storey to access the structural and logistical possibilities of obtaining the organ for our use. When our delegation inspected the organ, the room was filled with representatives from the American Guild of Organists, The Organ Historical Society, as well as a former employee of Lewis and Hitchcock, who incidentally was personally involved in providing our present Gottfried Console in 1967. After retiring to UNMC and inspecting our physical accommodations, the entire delegation seemed wholeheartedly in support of helping us make this opportunity a reality.
Because of the severe time limitations presented by the construction schedule on the McKim Mansion, we would ask that the congregation be fully prepared to act quickly and decisively on the matter of whether or not we can accept this generous gift to our Church. David Storey is currently working on a proposal to advise us of the financial obligations we will incur in moving, storing, and reinstalling the organ in our Church. This would not be an inconsequential expense, but it would be far less than solving our current organ’s problems by all accounts. It would also be a small investment relative to the value of the instrument when fully restored. In addition, we have been offered many unsolicited offers of assistance by members of the organ community to help defray expenses through volunteer labor, concert fund raising and the like.
The Music Ministry of this Church believes that this is an unprecedented opportunity for UNMC, which will not only enhance our ministry to the congregation, but will also allow an enormous opportunity for potential outreach and visibility to the community as a whole. If our efforts are successful, we will be mounting a major fund raising effort, both within and outside of our congregation, to solicit support for the installation of this instrument into our Sanctuary. It is our hope to be able to present this fully restored instrument to the public in time for its Centennial Anniversary in 2005.
We thank you for your interest and support of this opportunity, and look forward to the continuance of the long history of fine music provided by the Music Ministry of UNMC through enrichment by this extraordinary gift.