St. Joseph's Old R. C. Cathedral, Buffalo, NY 1876 E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings, Op. 828 One of its unique original attributes was a unified pedal - each Pedal stop (32 Bourdon, 16 Open Wood, 16 Violone, 8 Bell Gamba, 16 Trombone - there may have been a soft `16' Lieblich - I don't recall now) was playable at its unison and its octave pitch, and each had an extra octave of pipes at the top end. The mechanism to do this was like a small mechanical "console" of 30 notes (or perhaps 27 - I don't recall) with a mechanical "coupler" for each version of each stop - so that in effect when you played the 32' Bourdon, you were 'really playing a "32' Bourdon to pedal 8" coupler. The 16' Bourdon was, in effect a mechanical "32' Bourdon to Pedal 4" coupler, etc. etc. The organ was electrified by Tellers in 1925 - and the original Barker lever action for the Great and this wonderful unit action for the Pedal were removed and replaced by conventional electro-pneumatic systems of the time - the main chests still slider and the Pedal stops all on individual chests, addressable note by note. The Solo, which had a "Roosevelt" style ventil chest for the Tuba and Stentorphone that sat over the Swell and above the present facade like a "crown" was taken down and the chest disabled. The pipes were stored in the balcony - and the Stentorphone bass displayed in the front and had most of its pipes decorated to match the remainder of the facade work. (This electrification was the first job Herman Schlicker, then a new Tellers employee, worked on. He went independent in 1931; and prior to coming to Tellers, he had worked for a short time at WurliTzer. He had come from Germany (Steinmeyer, Schwenkedel,) and France (Gonzales,) and Denmark (Marcussen) before coming to the states to learn the organbuilding of the future - Theater Organ style!!! For 1976, we completely releathered the actions, reworked the blower, cleaned the organ, rebuilt the console, added some auxiliary reservoirs to help the shaky wind, and revived the Tuba, laying it at a 45 degree angle pointing out on top of the Swellbox, unseen. The organ was sympathetically reregulated, and although nothing was added , there was console provision for some additional Pedal registers in the future. I did reconstruct the Great II - IV Cornet (4, 3-1/5, 2-2/3, 2!) which Tellers had ravaged to try to turn into a regular Mixture, and found pipes of the same vintage to make up the deficiencies. It was a wonderful Cornet! Richard Morris made a recording on it for the Bicentennial time - but I lost track of the organ after I left Schlicker in '74. IT should still be there. Tthere were TWO St. Joseph's Cathedrals - this one from the 1870's and St. Joseph's "New" Cathedral from (I think) the 1920's. THe "New" Cathedral had an American Casavant in the back balcony, and it was in terrible condition. The building was torn down after its marble was so ruined by the Buffalo weather that it because structurally unsound. The Towers had been taken down before I came to Buffalo in 1963. The organ was quite pleasant - although at the time of its building, the lyric and singing, smaller scale tone of the Hooks had been replaced by a more robust and slightly tubbier tone of the Hook & Hastings's. THe Swell had no 2' nor Mixture, and no octave nor suboctave reeds - the Choir was rather delicate and "Mew" sounding - the Great was fine (except for the main 8' Open - TUBBY) and the Pedal was grand The 32' Bourdon low CCC had (like the rest of that octave) a pneumatic assist to help open the large valve. This must have been somewhat of a novelty in 1876, for there is evidence in the structure of a little staircase leading up to the chest under Low CCCC, and there was a glass panel in the side of the chest whereby you could watch that note 'work' when played. THere was a door from the outside leading into that staircase! What fun! But all in all, a fine piece of Americana - not as fine as the Roosevelt from the same exhibition I suspect, but a wonderful old organ. I hope that it is still there - but I do not know for certain.[e-mail Dec 1998 - Ken W. List ==================== 01/15/99 14:47:00 To: Brian E Shaw/West/Aerospace/US@Aerospace Subject: Centennial Organ Dear Mr. Shaw: I am the Director of Music at St. Joseph Cathedral. Your e-mail was forwarded to me by our Communications Office. I have copious information on the organ, and will share whatever you wish to have! The organ still exists, largely intact. We are about to undertake a 1 million dollar renovation of the instrument to preserve all that is still extant, and expand the instrument along historical lines. The original mechanical/pnuematic action was replaced in 1928 with electric pneumatic action. The alterations done in the 1930's include: the Swell 4' Violina was retuned as an 8' Celeste, the orginial Vox Humana replaced with a Gottfried reed, and the Tuba and Stentorphon moved into the Swell Box (can you imagine!!!) An Unda Maris 8' added to the Choir, and a 16' Lieblich to the Pedal.The Choir Division was enclosed at this time. All done by Tellers. In the 1970's,the winding plan was altered, and the Tuba placed on its side as a faux chamade. A new 3 manual console replaced the 4 manual 1928 Tellers console. The Swell Mixture composition was changed slightly, and missing pipes in both Great Mixtures replaced with "old pipes"- not very successfully. All of this was done by Schlicker. Slider seals were added as well. Now, the Andover Organ Company is poised to return this spectacular instrument to its original grandeur. The original specification will be restored, the winding system returned to its original plan, new electric actions will replace the poorly-working electric-pneumatic actions. It was quickly agreed by all parties (i.e. Andover, Barbara Owen - project consultant, and I) that an attempt to replicate the original action would be futile. No advantage to the speech would be obtained -the pallets are enormous, and the wind pressures high. The broad layout of the interior would further complicate the action. The original chests will be repaired and retabled. The walkways from the Exposition will be repaired. The organ will be expanded following the specifications of both the Boston Cathedral, and the Cincinnati Music Hall Organs - the Centennial Organ's sisters. The facade will be restored; the dark varnish from the 1930's will be removed to reveal the rich glow of the American Black Walnut. The paint (most of it original) will be cleaned and restored, as will all the stencilling. A new 4 manual console will be built by Bob Turner, following Andover's specifications. It will follow Hook & Hastings own designs for the shell. The interior will be a festival of natural woods with ebony, rosewood, maple, boxwood, cherry and, of course, lots of walnut. Newly released ivory will grace the keys. There's much more to tell. I am only too happy to answer any inquiries you may have. Do you have a copy of the Centennial Organ brochure from the Exposition? I'd be happy to send a photocopy - no charge of course. I look forward to your reply. Mark W. DiGiampaolo St. Joseph Cathedral 50 Franklin Street Buffalo NY 14202 716.854.2561 01/18/99 13:02:00 To: Brian E Shaw/West/Aerospace/US@Aerospace Subject: Re: Centennial Organ Dear Mr. Shaw, The Centennial Brochure is on its way; actually, its the publicity brochure printed by Hook and Hastings in 1877 which contains the 2 pages from the Exhibition Brochure, as well as reviews and accounts of the instrument by newspapers and visitors. It makes for great reading, although the print is small in parts. A friend, who is a George Custer fan, claims that this is the organ on which "Nearer My God to Thee" was played when Custer's death was announced at the Exhibition. He related that everything in the Main Hall came to a standstill for this solemn moment. I have not been able to find any corroborative evidence. Have you found any account of this in your research on the Exhibition? As regards recordings, there is one CD available from the Organ Historical Society with Richard Morris as organist. It was made in 1976, right after the emergency repairs by Schlicker. The vinyl title was "Fugues, Fantasias, and Variations." I believe the CD uses the same. The phone for OHS is (804), 353-9226. Best of luck in your ongoing endeavor. I will keep you abreast of all developments. Mark W. DiGiampaolo