Pierre Lauwers

As a guy dealing with history I don't believe in breaktroughs that would be the grande oeuvre of unique people. You may of course prefer H-J's ideas as applied to the Wurlitzer theatre organ, which is a worthwile instrument, and very well done with that,such organs are true masterpieces of workmanship. But this organ isn't a "new" one, born in isolation; it is a part of a big chain, some elements of whom may please less. There would be no Wurlitzers had it been no Roosevelt,Thynne,Lewis, Schulze and all the german tradition that's behind Schulze. (I should add all what's behind Roosevelt: Walcker, etc...) Already many many church organs indeed. But even more: without H-J's church organs and Cath..., eh, let's say "liturgical organs", there would have been no Wurlitzer too. We cannot be content selecting, in the history, the "good" and scrap the rest, like childs do at dinner, taking the chips while refusing the salad. Up to now, each generation has done just that with organs. And today we wonder why our instrument does not have the place it deserves in the musical life; for me it's the main reason. Think of this: how many visitors would have a museum where 80% of the jobs presented would be zig-tents "corrected" ones or bland copies? We won't be able to manage our heritage correctly as long as we cannot appreciate it in all its styles from whatever period and taste. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Well, Let's be clear: for me, evidences are many Hope-Jones copied Hilborne Roosevelt lavishly. Try to do that with any US firm today... The true contributions of H-J to the organ are: -The combination logics (not to forget double touch etc) -Above all, his tonal ideas. About the last, we could discuss at *some*(more!) lenght, but fact is, do we like it or not, a sufficient number of examples should ( have been?) be preserved, and I mean not theatre organs only. But even there H-J does not stand alone. As voicer, or chief voicer, he had a certain Whiteley working with him, who might have been responsible for many a beautiful H-J's stop. (And later, indeed, worked on some rather important organs in the US). Whiteley had worked with a builder that was quite less known -and still is- than Hope-Jones, but was a favorite of Audsley (contrarily to H-J, who seems to have been for Audsley like a red flag in front of a bull): William Thynne! Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Here is another Roosevelt's example, where he did indeed use the Leclanché batteries. This was 1883, so even the cell's trick isn't H-J's. http://www.sover.net/~popel/GBroosevelt.html

I did read somewhere this organ (the previous one) was Howell's... Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers

Who made this organ? Is it too weak? With an organ having any qualities, first choice is to leave it alone, whatever style does it have. If it is really too weak, one could imagine: -A Stopped Diapason 16' on the great (which could be borrowed as a second pedal 16') -A Trumpet on the great (maybe with a second mixture with tierce) -A celeste on the swell, of course -Some more true ranks for the pedal To be done without removing anything else! Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers

Well, don't forget to open the garage's door in the first place. About Roosevelt electropneumatic action, I find in the catalogue: "In exceptionnal cases, when distances or akward position of main site renders such a course advisable, we have employed electricity in lieu of the ordinary action... ...One of the most successful instances is to be met with at Grace Church, New York city...We have also introduced it with equal success in the gigantic instrument built for the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden city, L.I."(1879-1883). This organ already had a magneto, which was driven by one of the steam machines that provided the energy to act the bellows The Great, Swell and Choir windchest had tracker action, while the Pedal and part of the stop action was pneumatic. The Tower, Chapel and Echo divisions(I cite again) "both key and drawstop, is electric....Were all the wires, used in making the electric connections of this instrument, stretched out in one continuous circuit, they would extend over a distance of 21 Miles... ...The Roosevelt windchests... are used exclusively in this organ, and, besides their many indisputable advantages over the ordinary form, it is here demonstrated that they are specially adaptable to the requirements of electric and tubular action." Remember: this instrument was built 1879-1883! Robert, why do you hide yourself? As for the electronic components replacing the relays etc as seen in theatre organs, they didn't arise before after WW II. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

The Roosevelt design looks terribly crude to me (Quote) This could be slightly unfair. Actually, the Roosevelt chest was a milestone in the history of the organ (from a non-baroque-only-the-rest-in-the-bin minded point of view of course). This design unites the Registerkanzelle, that is, a design in wich the grooves no longer feed all pipes of the same note together, but the pipes of the same register, to the Barker pneumatic lever. (According to Gerhard Walcker, the Registerkanzelle offers significant advantages in romantic organ with many 8' stops) During Roosevelt's debuts Walcker used the Kegellade chest, a Registerkanzelle-chest, with a tracker action that was assisted by Barker's pneumatic levers. Roosevelt certainly did know this system very well -there were enough germans working with him for that!- and decided to place the Barker lever inside the chest... So simplifying greatly the system. Moreover, he had the pneumatic levers working on the exhaust way instead of Barker' charge system. This chest was widely acclaimed worldwide and imitated -changing some details in order to circumvent the patents-. So this was a great pneumatic chest. Of course you can drive it in the context of an electropneumatic action an this is what H-J did. But of course with his Leclanché cells he couldn't go that far! The electropneumatic systems really began to take off with the advent of the dynamo... Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

I usually find it's a good time to go through the tuning (Quote) Really? Maybe I don't understand, but this I didn't encountered yet! I shall tell a friend to try this with the 16' Bombarde... Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers

This is what I do: there are ext. and borrowing only for the Pedal, never on a manual. You have three mixtures, not two. The "Plein-jeu" is a quint mixture intended for a quiet, silvery Diapason chorus (and fully british in charachter). The Diapasons to be cone-tuned, like the overblowing Flutes. The Scharff is the bridge between this chorus and the Trombas, while the Swell's progression harmonique is there to build a Full-Swell with the reeds. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Here is one I proponed for a similar exercise, but for a rather large church, and with less stops. So it's just an idea: Clavier I Bourdon 16' Open Diapason I 8' Open Diapason II 8' Gambe 8' (mezzo-forte) Flûte harmonique 8' Bourdon 8' Octave 4' Plein-jeu Scharff (avec tierce) Tromba 8' Octave Tromba 4' Clavier II (expressif) Salicional 16' Salicional 8' Dulciane 8' Voix céleste 8' Flûte traversière 8' Flûte octaviante 4' Octavin 2' Progression harmonique (avec tierce) Basson 16' Trompette harmonique 8' Hautbois 8' (Option: Clarinette 8') Clairon harmonique 4' Pédale Open Diapason 16' Contrebasse 16' Salicional 16' (emp. II) Soubasse 16' (emp.I) Basse 8' (ext. Diapason 16') Violoncelle 8' (ext.Contrebasse) Bourdon 8' (emp.I) Octave 4' (ext Diapason 16') Flûte 4' Trombone 16' Basson 16' (emp.II) Octave Trombone 8' (ext Trombone) No octave couplers. emp.=Borrowing There are other versions, much more softer with a secondary flue chorus made of genuine Dulcianas (up to a Dulciana Mixture) Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

wonder who came up with the "Roosevelt" chest first? (Quote) A certain Hilborne Roosevelt, in the 1870 years, inspired by the Walcker Kegellade chest and Barker's pneumatic lever (Source:Hilborne Roosevelt Organs catalogue, reprint by the organ litterature foundation) H-J came *slightly* later. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Well, thirthy-eight stops for a moderately-sized church, and this on two manuals, this seems rather many for such an exercise. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

I honestly believe that the Curé of Ste. Clothilde (during the tenure of César Franck) had a point when, in reply to the observation of his young assistant priest that Franck's playing was both moving and uplifting, said "Yes, my son, he will bring many more people to God than you or I." Well, it is said, tough, that the very first application of the electric ring bell was at St-Clothilde. In order to have the possibility for Franck's Curé to impone him silence! Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Thanks for that rather subversive page, MM, (It seems H-J isn't seen as a devil everywhere) BUT....Has H-J, or Wurlitzer,or both, got a patent or not, this chest IS (just) another version of the Roosevelt chest. Let's summarize on a three examples basis: -Roosevelt's chest has the valve on the same side as the pneumatic lever -Kerkhoff's has the valve on the opposite side -H-J's has the valve at the top of the "Kanzelle" So I have just to design a new one with the valve at the bottom in order to get a new patent... Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Ladies and gentlemen, If some of you are in Belgium this next Sunday, August the seventh, 4 P.M.: St-Julienne church, Salzinnes-Namur (Walcker organ 1907, modified 1962 but with 22 original stops, and whose voicing has already be controlled by Gerhard Walcker and found untouched) Olivier Schmitt from Metz, titular of the 1897 Bartolomae-Blési organ in Moyeuvre, and working for a degree in musicology at the Sorbonne university in Paris, will play a program entirely made of german romantic music (Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt and Reger). Gerhard Walcker, great-nephew of the organ-builder, will be present and will answer to any question. Free entrance with a voluntary contribution. A great afternoon! Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

The system you describe from Wurlitzer's organs has a name: the Roosevelt chest. Have a look here, scrolling down to the drawing showing the "sommier Roosevelt": http://forum.aceboard.net/18898-3199-19242-0-sommiers.htm The next drawing show an interpretation of the Roosevelt chest, in which the valve is on the other side of the channel; this is the Kerkhoff chest. It is incredibly quick and reliable. Several Kerkhoff organs reportedly worked without any trouble without any maintenance at all (save tunings!) for 40 years+ periods. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

there's no advantage whatsoever of pneumatc or electro-pneumatic over a well-made tracker action (Quoting) Well, that could be a bit too radical. For pre-1850 music, this is no doubt true. For later repertoire, there are many nuances. Other types of chests permit more subtelity, more shades than the slider chest; this is demonstrated by the Walcker society. The quickest acting chest is the membrane's "Taschenlade". This chest shows no inertiae at all. The "good feeling" a Schoenstein organ provides lays there. For Liszt, for instance, speed in action and repetition is more important than the feedback of a good tracker action, while for Bach or Grigny it's of course the reverse. Now of course a modern builder like Mr Mander can provide tracker action that are both sensitive and quick! Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

The Schoenstein's system is a "classic" (of the romantic period) one. It is an electropneumatic "Taschenlade" chest, with horizontal membranes. An important feature, that was used by Skinner, is the "compensating chamber" between the membrane and the foot and the pipe. It's as if a minimum of volume must obtain between the two in order to get good musical results. There lies one of Schoenstein's "secrets". Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

Well, a whole book would be necessary to answer properly. I'll just give some hints. -Sluggish pneumatic actions can be caused by: Too narrow tubes; too long tubes with no or not enough relays.Too low pressures in relation to the variables above. There are excellent pneumatic actions, especially in....The UK. In Belgium too I know of excellent examples. -Direct electric actions put a heavy burden on the magnets, that must be more powerfull than in electropneumatic designs by far. So there are concerns with 1)Reliability 2)Noise. Such systems work better with "unit" chests, where every pipe has his own valve and magnet, so that the required force is lower than in a slider-chest, whose valves have to feed several pipes. The best known direct electric action is the Wicks system, upon which a british firm (Kimball?) has improved by proponing a magnet whose weight of the moving parts has been divided by three (among other improvements). So there is hope for more developments, but maybe these systems have little interest in "classic" organ building; pre-1850 repertoire is best served with slider chests. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

You may find what you want here: http://infopuq.uquebec.ca/~uss1010/orgues/...ep.html#English Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers

Sorry, Mr Johnston, I suppressed the quote so that the disposition now appears only as you intended it. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

It may be interesting to compare this clang with Gilbert Benham's words in 1947 ("The organ quarterly") about the RAH's Harmonics: this stop was to be drawn after the mixture and the Cymbale, and even at least one or two reed stops; it intervened like a big slam Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers

What are "musicality" and "usefullness"? These two are subject to change, and often with that. I think the Harmonics stop must be understood in relation with the Trombas, tough it seems Arthur Harrison pretended it was an ordinary chorus top. Reedy, non-classic mixtures in romantic organs are better and better understand today. They have roots in the baroque tradition, moreover. Weigle of Stuttgart used tierce and flat twenty-first ranks in mixtures that were intended to work with his high-pressure flue stops. So maybe we just don't know enough of the matter to not reconstitute these stops before it's too late. Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

0): Now THIS organ is a masterpiece! BJ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes! And before the wars and the Orgelbewebung's destructions, there were hundreds and hundreds organs just like that one. There is one here in Namur (Walcker) one in Mirepoix (Link), another in Giengen (Württemberg, Link), to my "live" knowledge. So the "masterpiece" were rather the rule than the exception... Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.

The closely woven, counterpuntal nature of Reger's music is only able to truly come alive when played on an instrument which doesn't destroy it, which is probably why English organists continue to play Howells in preference. (Quoting) Dear Musing Muso, Yes, the music of Reger needs a polyphonic organ. But this does not mean a neo-classic one, whose powefull and high-pitched mixtures destroy completely the very soul of this music -as for howells music-. When you spend hours in and round a genuine late romantic german organ,while an organist -besides helping for tuning- plays Reger, you begin to understand why. Such an organ allows you to render a contrapuntic music perfectly clear with registrations like this: Hauptwerk Bourdon 16' Gamba 8' Prinzipal 8' Gedackt 8' Rohrflöte 4' Pedal Violon bass 16' Oktavbass 8' (or even without the 8'!) You can hear many examples on a CD recorded at Essen-Werden (Walcker 1900): Max Reger Grand organ works Variationen und Fuge über ein Originalthema Op 73 Introduktion, Passacaglia und Fuge, Op 127 Choralvorspiel "Komm, süsser Tod!" Gerd Zacher Aeolus AE 10411 2004 http://www.aeolus-music.com Best wishes, Pierre Lauwers.