We are very happy to share this fascinating letter, provided Courtesy of Longwood Gardens. The event mentioned in the letter is the opening of the 51st Triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church (Diocese of New Jersey) held in Boardwalk Hall in 1934, and for which Swinnen played. This letter is unusually important in identifying specific works performed for this opening concert for which we otherwise have no written records. A photo of the event appears with this post as well. The following biographies are presented to introduce the individuals mentioned in the letter (Wikipedia with additions):. Emerson Lewis Richards (July 9, 1884–1963), an attorney, was a Republican New Jersey State Senator from Atlantic City who served as the acting Governor of New Jersey in 1933 during the tenure of Arthur Harry Moore as President of the New Jersey Senate. He is the principal architect of the Atlantic City organs, and very much responsible for the idea of creating the worlds largest pipe organ in the then Atlantic City Convention Center (now Historic Boardwalk Hall). They were to be not just as a piece of (for the era) standard stage sound equipment, but a national tourist attraction. Firmin Swinnen (1885-1972) Born in Belgium, Swinnen became an organist at the Antwerp cathedral, until World War I caused him to flee to the UK. He played many recitals in Great Britain for war charities, and then he moved to the US, where he played the Austin organ in the Rialto Theater in New York City, and then to the Rivoli theater. At the Rivoli, Swinnen specialized in lengthy improvisations during silent films using theater organs - massive pipe organs with a variety of sound effects and percussion sounds. He was organist/choirmaster at Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Greenville, Delaware from 1925 to 1956, a church which was supported by the duPont family. He played the organ pedal keyboard solo part in the concerto version Mr. Frank Stewart Adams wrote for the opening Allegro of Widors Fifth Symphony. Commentators noted that Few men can improvise musically interesting caprices, scherzos, toccatas, and gavottes by the hour. From 1923 to 1956, he was a concert organist in residence at Longwood, the Du Pont estate, where he played for Pierre S. du Pont on a massive 1930 Aeolian organ which he also designed. With its 10,010 pipes which took fourteen railway freight cars to transport to the grounds, the Aeolian organ was one of the largest organs installed in a residential setting. The organ was used for charity concerts in the indoor tropical gardens. George Donald Harrison (April 21, 1889 – June 14, 1956) crafted some of the finest and largest pipe organs in the United States. Born in Huddersfield, England, he started out in 1914 as a patent attorney but after military service he began to pursue an interest in pipe organ building working with Henry Willis & Sons of London. After immigrating to America, Harrison joined the Skinner Organ Company in 1927 where he spent the remainder of his career. After the Skinner Company merged with the Aeolian Organ Company, forming the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in 1933, he became the companys tonal director and president. While the bulk of his work was as a tonal designer and voicer, Harrison is most famous for his association with American Classic organ design. This design concept (its name coined by Senator Emerson Richards), was partly a reaction to the proliferation of romantic-orchestral symphonic organs that had been in fashion to that point. The symphonic organ sought to emulate the effects of a symphony orchestra with imitative solo reeds, colorful flutes and warm string-toned stops. The American Classic organ, on the other hand sought a return to design principles of the eighteenth century, particularly the development of clean diapason choruses topped by several brilliant mixtures. The organs also contained stops and expressive divisions evocative of the romantic organ writing of the 19th and early 20th-century French school. The voicing of these instruments, in particular, allowed for a clear interpretation of fugal passages and chorale writing where each inner voice could be heard and articulated clearly. Harrison, along with other builders such as Walter Holtkamp, conceived the American Classic organ as a single instrument that could effectively and convincingly play music of all styles and eras with equal facility. In many, if not most of his instruments, he is considered to have achieved this goal, adapting his instruments effectively to the particular acoustic qualities of American concert halls and churches. Harrison’s design concept was illustrated when he wrote: “To me, all art is international; one can draw from the best of all countries. I have used the technique at my disposal to produce instruments which I consider suitable for expressing the best in organ literature. I have no use for copying successful works of the past; such a method is doomed to failure. It seems to me the only way to build artistic and successful instruments is to have knowledge of what has gone before, and to thoroughly understand the underlying principles upon which the great works of the past have been based. The works produced are then originals, and while they can possess all the advantages of other good work, they have their own personality and reflect their own good time.” The pipe organs at the Church of the Advent in Boston and at St. John’s Chapel, Groton Massachusetts are often as cited as the first “turning point” instruments produced by Aeolian-Skinner under Harrison’s direction. Each contained Positiv divisions on low wind pressure with several different high-pitched mixtures - a vast departure from the norm in organ building at the time. But Harrison’s characteristic wisdom, restraint and diplomacy ensured that these rather revolutionary instruments made their appearance without offense. The tide soon turned in American organ building, and before long it seemed that everyone wanted an Aeolian-Skinner in their church or institution. Other builders adapted their product to the new and evolving market as well. A heavy smoker, Harrison died of exhaustion suffering from a heart condition, after weeks of overworking himself during hot summer months for the rebuilding of the E.M. Skinner organ at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue for the 1956 AGO national convention in New York City. Ernest M. Skinner, although much older, outlived Harrison by four years. Aeolian-Skinner pipe organs built under Harrisons direction are considered by many to be the apotheosis of the American organ builders art for their period. Unfortunately many of Harrisons masterworks have now been altered, rebuilt or modified in such a way as to no longer be representative of his aesthetic.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 19:00:38 +0000
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