The Organ Forum

thanks for the excellent info.

The harmonic clarabella that I mentioned could well be a harmonic clarabel. It's interesting that it is on the choir in the organ I mention rather than the solo as mentioned in your quote, but I think it would work well in the solo division of that organ as well.

I remember seeing the stop name Harmonic Clarabel or Clarabiel on the Vocalion organs of yesteryear.  Also Aeoline was a popular stop on many of the reed or pump organs in the late 1800's - early 1900's.

It is amazing at how these older stop names seem to reappear every few years, or show up on older organs that we find along the way.  Keep the good info coming.  It is all so educational.

James

sesquialtera16:

Your assumption concerning the Whiteford Aeolines is entirely in error. If you simply consult the opus list and the specs and dates you will see quite readily that the organs he placed these ethereal strings in were NEW. Sorry to burst your bubble. I admit I am wrong often myself on many organ topics especially on the difference between block and cap on wood pipes.

Well then I would bet the Aeolians used in those organs were not built new. Crawl around any Aeolian Skinner and you will find many a stop reused from older organs.

Case in point the signature series Aeolian Skinner opus 1410 in Orlando... 8 Bordon on the great came out of the pedal division of an older aeolain skinner organ in NYC, the 16' contra bass is an old "major Bass", the 4 harmonic flute was from the great division of an older aeolian skinner organ...etc... However the opus list these ranks as new. New to the Organ.... but not new construction.

 I admit I might be wrong... but untill I see it for myself Ill stick to my assumption...... So no "bubble busted" here

The A-S shop notes specify where a stop is coming from; new, used, old, another opus etc. Example: The A-S at Independence Missouri where Dr Obetz once was resident organisr was built with NEW eolienne pipes in the late 50s. These were revoiced to flauto dolces non tapered in 1990 and i had the pleasure of asking Dr Obetz for an autograph here in Warren Ohio in 1990 at a recital he gave and when he saw the corrections  i had made to the Auditorium stoplist regarding the former aeolines he was surprised that any one was aware that they had been revoiced to flutes.

I have a bad habit of posting in terms that are lacking in graciousness, It is the flaw I grapple with. Since I am very well studied up for over 40 years i over react when something appears contrary to what i know or believe to be correct. i used poor communication when I said ''bubble'' etc.i still think Whiteford used mostly new pipes for the Aeolines but i will allow for the possibility that you may be correct.

Now if you had been talking about a taperd stop I would not hesitate to belive you.... Whiteford loved him some taperd pipes.... to much so...

The a-s organ at st phillip cath in atlanta is a joe whiteford job. the chir had all tapered flues till the 90s when the acoustics were redone and on the same day I and dr obetz suggested the same a-s voicer to redo the organ. the old ch 2 blockflote went to the gt and the 12th from the gt became a new 2 principal on the ch thus ending an era of all tapered choir ranks.

GDH prior to joe whiteford loved quintatons. it was he who in the mid 30s began the trend toward 16 quintatons on the gt. by his death in 1956 the st thomas a-s he was tonally finishing had 5 of them. a quintaton 16 in the ch;quintade 16 in the gt;quintflote 16 in the sw;quintaton 32 in the grand choeur; and pommer 8 in the pedal.

joe whiteford expanded on the tapered stops beyond gdh and so the cleveland ohio rebuild of the 1930 skinner at ch of the covenant has a spitzviola 8 in the ch where a geigen previously stood; spitzflote in the positiv; gemshorn in the gt. joe also like spitzgambas. gdh had viola pomposas witgh slight tapers. i am not a great fan of overdoing the tapers. a mild taper yes but not too much 1/2 tapers.

work done by

jh hendriksen

born 1932 holland

worked in organ business in holland 1947-57 including time at Pels orgelbeau

emigrated to Boston 1957

voicer for a-s

received raise on second day by j whiteford for excellent voicing skill

head flue voicer 1964-71 succeeding   goodman who worked at skinners 1911-1964

worked on jobs such as lincoln center; academy of music philly; st bartholomew nyc, riverside for tony bufano including grand chorus in gallery

wall st

flagler pres st augustine fl

4th pres chicago

for quimby he has done

1st baptist in jackson miss

st margaret in cal

LDS Reformed Independence MS

1st pres ft wayne IN

grand av methodist kansas city MS

as an independent he voiced all of the pipes at WNC 1973-76 including the reeds                                                                                                                              

mpsnknox:

Who did the rebuild of saint phillip's?

Speaking of that church, there is an excellent recording of that organ by Todd Wilson: In A Quiet Cathedral

It is a two disc set of mainly meditative pieces.  What a nice idea for an organ recording.

mpsnknox:

He's working on a large house organ some where out in Kansas I think? I saw the spec once. Looks like it will be a fun instrument when its finished. Lots of celestes.

dr peter mccander halstead kansas

In describing this unlikely “stop”, whose name comes from the German “fuchs” (fox), “schwanz” (tail), and “schwank” (joke), I could not possibly improve upon Wedgwood, whose entry reads as follows:

One of the strange accessories sometimes found in old German organs. A stop-knob bearing the inscription “Noli me tangere” (“Do not touch”) was attached to the console. As a reward for their curiosity, persons who, regardless of this injunction, touched the knob, thereby set free the catch of a spring, causing a huge foxtail to fly out into their faces. Sometimes the foxtail was simply attached to the stop knob. Having once drawn the tail out of the jamb, it was a matter of some difficulty to replace it. Meanwhile, the recalcitrant culprit was subject to the chaff of his comrades. There is a foxtail near the dwarf “Perkeo”, guarding the great Tun at Heidelberg Castle. St. Andrea, Erfurt; St. Gertrud, Hamburg.

Regarding Fuchsschwanz, Adlung writes: “Of course the name is not written on [the stopknob].”

You can enjoy a Keraulophone at West Point Cadet Chapel.  Also, the Whitelegg-era Moller Dulcianas also tended to be Keraulophone-like in construction, and decidedly stringy as some say is "proper" for the kind.

     Best,

             Nathan 

KleinErzahler:

You can enjoy a Keraulophone at West Point Cadet Chapel.  Also, the Whitelegg-era Moller Dulcianas also tended to be Keraulophone-like in construction, and decidedly stringy as some say is "proper" for the kind.

is it a real keraulophon with a hole behind at the top of the pipe or is it a dulciana named keraulophone?

     Best,

 

             Nathan