St. John's Church

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PIPE ORGANS AT ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

By Ralph B. Valentine
Organist and Choirmaster

St. John's Church, Hartford
Photo from A History of St.
John's Church, 1841-1995
by Gary E. Wait

The first organ for the original St. John's Church on Main Street in Hartford was built in 1841 by E. and G. G. Hook of Boston. The instrument, Opus 47, consisted of two manuals and twenty-two stops and was soon replaced by the same company's Opus 295 of two manuals and thirty stops in 1861.

When Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan and the trustees of the Wadsworth Atheneum offered to buy the old church in order to use the land for a splendid new art museum, parishioners decided that the time had come for St. John's to relocate to West Hartford.

A magnificent new building, designed by Bertram Goodhue, of the renowned firm of Cram and Goodhue, was completed in 1909.

St. John's Church, West Hartford
As Originally Built
Drawing by Bertram Goodhue

The Austin Organ Company of Hartford was chosen to build a two manual tubular pneumatic instrument of fourteen ranks, eight of which were retained from the 1861 Hook organ in the original edifice. Both original instruments in the Hartford and West Hartford buildings were the memorial gift of two brothers, John O. Enders and Dr. Thomas B. Enders. The new 1909 organ, Austin's Opus 231, was installed in the present chamber in the left side of the chancel at a cost of $3850.00. The organ cases were handsome in appearance and contained several speaking pipes. The large scaled sixteen foot Open Wood pipes were attached to the sloped ceiling of the chamber as they are in the current installation.

The organ continued to give reliable service for many years. In June of 1945 the builders supplied a new console, swell shade engine, fan tremolo, and generator and electrified the original tubular stop action at a cost of $2500.00.

Plans for a completely new instrument were drawn up in 1949, and a three manual instrument of 37 ranks was dedicated in September 1950 by Dr. Robert Baker. Austin Organs, Inc. was once again chosen to build the instrument, Opus 2123, and members of the Austin family, who attended St. John's, generously underwrote the entire cost of the project. A new chamber on the right side of the Chancel provided space for the Swell division which was hidden by a facade of gold pipes. The new instrument, which was personally finished by Richard J. Piper, recently arrived Tonal Director at Austin from the prestigious Willis firm in England, elicited many favorable reviews and was used by the company for many years to demonstrate its best work to prospective clients.

In 1955, a 250 seat chapel was added to accommodate the large church school program, and members of the Austin family donated a seven rank unit organ (Opus 2237) to provide music for Sunday services.

In 1978, thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Robinson, Jr., a nine rank Antiphonal Organ, including horizontally mounted trumpets, was added to the main instrument in the sanctuary.

The venerable Austin in the church performed faithfully for over forty years without any major repairs until the night of Saturday, October 10, 1992, when a devastating fire caused considerable damage to much of the building and the organ.

The fire destroyed a significant portion of the beautifully carved main case in the chancel and spread to the large scale 16 foot open wood pipes which were fastened to the ceiling of the Great Organ chamber. The roof collapsed on the Swell Organ division on the right side of the chancel, crushing many of the pipes. The majority of the pipes of the Antiphonal Organ melted from the intense heat caused by the fire, and the console, which was located in the sacristy, suffered extensive smoke and water damage.

Austin Opus 231 With Its Carved Case
St. John's Archives

In spite of the considerable water and fire damage, a decision was made to try and use as much of the former instrument as possible in designing and constructing its replacement. As a result, approximately 38% of the pipework in the new instrument has been recycled from the 1950 Austin and three of the original windchests have also been reused. Thanks to a generous gift by the family of Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Robinson, Jr., a number of tonal improvements became possible.

In drawing up the plans for the new organ, every effort was made to address the weaknesses and shortcomings of its predecessor: the first step was to remove a massive stone arch in the main chamber which formerly had blocked the tonal egress of approximately 60% of the Great, Choir, and Pedal pipes and replace it by a simple thin I-beam which could support the new Grand Orgue windchest and make a significant improvement in the sound of the new instrument.

The Choir Organ, which formerly was situated behind and below the Great Organ, was relocated to the right side of the chancel in a new chamber constructed beside the Swell Organ where its contribution to the total ensemble is dramatically increased. Tuning and maintenance of the entire organ is also facilitated by having all the pipes of each separate division at the same approximate level above the chancel floor.

Austin Opus 2761
This photo appeared on the cover of
The American Organist
November, 1996, and is from
Austin Organs, Inc.

Many tonal additions were made to the Pedal Organ, which was sadly inadequate in the 1950 design, having contained only 56 pipes of its own (out of a total of nearly 3,000).

The Antiphonal Organ remains basically similar to its design when it was constructed in 1978 although it is now winded from the main blower.

The new three manual drawknob console is placed in the chancel area where an organist is able to judge the balance between the sound of the organ, choirs, and congregation much more accurately than the previous console installation in the sacristy. It is equipped with Solid State combination action with 25 memory levels and is fully MIDI compatible which allows for maximum flexibility in utilizing the many sound possibilities of the instrument.

The two new cases on the right side of the chancel handsomely reflect the restored original on the left. All the cases, including the one in the left transept, now contain speaking pipes of polished zinc from the 8' Montre, Violon, and Flûte Harmonique of the Grand Orgue as well as the 8' Octave Basse of the Pédale. Additional attractive panelling has been constructed for the chests of the Antiphonal Organ.

The instrument contains a total of 51 stops, 64 ranks, and 3721 pipes.

Organ Specifications
Organ Dedicatory Concerts