When Cincinnati's Music Hall opened in 1878, excitement was heightened by the unveiling of the new Hook and Hastings organ. The organ cost $32,695 and was installed at the western-most wall of the auditorium. Reuben Springer had contributed a sizable amount of that figure, with the rest of the funding provided by the community. ''Here was a glorious temple within which to enshrine the king of instruments,'' said George Ward Nichols, president of the Music Hall Organ Association, a group that was incorporated with the goal of getting the funding to build the organ.

The mechanical portion of the organ was built in Boston. The organ stood two stories high, fifty feet wide and thirty feet deep. Its 6,237 pipes were enclosed in an elaborate wooden casing carved in Cincinnati by School of Design students and graduates -- all women -- of Benn Pitman and father and son woodcarvers Henry and William Fry.

Robert Rogers designed and built the screen of native wild cherry. William Fry carved the center, while the students completed the carving. The theme was nature, ''reflecting music's origin within the early reed instruments, bird songs, and the rustle of leaves''. Panels named the great composers: Schumann, Schubert, Wagner, Beethoven, Mozard, Haydn, Bach, Rossini, and others.

Today, many of these carvings line the orchestra pit. They are not often seen, however, because the pit is not often lowered for productions. There are several carvings on public display at the Cincinnati Art Museum in the Museum's Cincinnati Wing.

While a wonderful work or both fine and performing art, the organ provided great challenge to anyone who played it. The sound was so slow in coming that, during a fast tempo, the organist needed to anticipate the conductor by nearly a bar of music!

At the time it was installed, the organ was the largest in the United States and one of five largest in the world.

For a long time, organ concerts were the thing in Cincinnati. Organ concerts featuring a prominent vocalist.

As part of the multi-year renovation begun in the late 1960s, a Baldwin Multi-Waveform (electric) organ was installed Music Hall in 1974. The Corbett Foundation financed the purchase and installation and the organ was dedicated by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra music director Thomas Schippers.

The Mighty Wurlitzer that was originally installed in Cincinnati's Albee Theatre has been installed in the Ballroom of Music Hall. Get more information on Music Hall's Mighty Wurlitzer.

Read an article written by Mary Ellyn Hutton on the Hook & Hastings Organ.

The Cincinnati Organ is a book edited by George Ward Nichols and published by Robert Clarke & Co. in 1878. This publication has extensive details about the organ, its construction -- even a list of the names of the women who carved the panels, along with illustrations. Google created a digital copy of this book and makes it available online here.