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.
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. |