Organs in the Land of Sunshine: A look at secular organs in , 1906–1930 James Lewis

Introduction 8′ Echo Viole 8′ Vox Angelica Los Angeles is home today to many 8′ Gemshorn wonderful organs. During the early 8′ Rohr Flute twentieth century, pipe organs were 8′ Flauto Dolce constructed for spaces beyond the typi- 8′ Unda Maris cal church, theater, or university setting. 8′ Quintadena This article traces the histories of over 4′ Principal 4′ Harmonic Flute a dozen pipe organs in private homes, ′ social clubs, school and church auditori- 2Flageolet III Dolce Cornet ums, and even a home furnishings store. 16′ Contra Posaune It provides a glimpse of organbuilding— 8′ Cornopean and life—in a more glamorous, pre-De- 8′ Oboe pression age. 8′ Vox Humana Tremolo Temple Baptist Church Vox Humana Tremolo The organ at Tally’s Broadway Theatre Come back in time to the spring of extended down both sides of the audi- 1906, where we fi nd the Temple Bap- ORCHESTRAL torium. 16′ Contra Viole tist Church of Los Angeles readying 8′ Geigen Principal their new building for opening. Al- 8′ Viole d’Orchestre chambers extending down both sides though the new complex was fi nanced 8′ Viole Celeste of the rectangular-shaped auditorium. by a religious organization, it was not 8′ Vox Seraphique The Choir division was on the stage and designed as a traditional church build- A view of the orchestra section of Tem- 8′ Concert Flute had its own façade, while the Echo was ing. Architect Charles Whittlesey pro- ple Baptist Auditorium after the original 8′ Lieblich Gedackt behind a grille at one side of the stage. color scheme was painted over. The or- 4′ Violina duced plans that included a 2700-seat ′ Positioned on a lift in the orchestra pit, theater auditorium with a full working gan was installed over the box seating 4Flauto Traverso the four-manual drawknob console was and behind the curved plaster grilles. 2′ Piccolo Harmonique stage, two smaller halls, and a nine-sto- 16′ Double Oboe Horn equipped with a roll player. ry offi ce block, providing the burgeon- 8′ Clarinet This was not the sort of ing city with a venue for various enter- In 1912, Dr. Ray Hastings (1880– 8′ Cor Anglais that would come into prominence during tainments and civic events, and Temple 1940) was appointed house organist, and Tremolo the 1920s, a highly unifi ed instrument Church with facilities for church activi- he played for church services, silent mo- full of color stops all blended together ties. Even though the offi cial name of tion pictures, radio broadcasts, public SOLO by numerous tremolos. Tally’s organ was 8′ Grand Diapason the building was Temple Auditorium, it recitals, and with the Los Angeles Phil- ′ not that much different from a Murray was also known over the years as Clune’s harmonic Orchestra.2 8Flauto Major M. Harris church organ, except for the 8′ Gross Gamba Theatre and Philharmonic Auditorium. Temple Auditorium and its mighty 4′ Gambette saucer bells and a lack of upperwork. In addition to church services, the Au- Austin organ served Los Angeles for 4′ Flute Ouverte Installation was still underway when it ditorium was used for concerts, public many years, but by the 1950s the place 2′ Super Octave came time for the opening concert, but meetings, ballet, silent motion pictures, was beginning to look a bit tired. Some- 8′ Orchestral Oboe since the show must go on, the event and beginning in 1921, the Los Angeles time after World War II, the interior 8′ Saxophone (synthetic) took place. A reviewer wrote “while the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Light was painted a ghastly shade of green, 16′ Tuba Profunda unfi nished and badly out of tune instru- 8′ Harmonic Tuba (ext) Opera Association. covering up all the color and gold of the ′ ment, under the skillful manipulation of It was the fi rst steel-reinforced poured original decorative scheme. In 1965 the 4Clarion (ext) an excellent performer, did give pleasure concrete structure in Los Angeles. The Philharmonic Orchestra and Light Op- PEDAL to a large portion of the big audience, auditorium had fi ve narrow balconies and era both moved to the new Los Angeles 32′ Contra Magnaton nevertheless it was an unfi nished and was decorated in a simplifi ed Art Nou- Music Center and the Auditorium never 32′ Resultant badly out of tune instrument and as such veau-style infl uenced by Louis Sullivan’s again operated as a theater. 16′ Magnaton it could not favorably impress the ear of Auditorium in Chicago. Color and gold The organ began to develop serious 16′ Major Diapason the critic.”3 leaf were liberally used, and the concen- wind leaks, and the 25″-wind-pressure 16′ Small Diapason (Gt) Charles Demorest, a former student 16′ Violone tric rings of the ceiling over the orchestra Solo division and Pedal Magnaton were ′ of Harrison Wild in Chicago, who played section were covered with Sullivanesque fi nally disconnected. A supply-house 16 Bourdon at Tally’s, was also the organist at the 16′ Dulciana (Gt) ornamentation and studded with electric console replaced the original Austin con- 16′ Contra Viole (Orch) Third Church of Christ, Scientist, and lights. Concealed behind this area, on ei- sole in the 1960s and was moved out of 8′ Gross Flute gave Monday afternoon recitals on the ther side of the stage, was the organ. the orchestra pit to the stage. 8′ ‘Cello organ in Hamburger’s department store. The Auditorium Company ordered a Sunday morning services of Temple 8′ Flauto Dolce In the May, 1914 edition of The Pacifi c large four-manual organ (Opus 156) from Baptist Church became sparsely attend- 4′ Super Octave Coast Musician it was mentioned that the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, ed as people moved out of Los Angeles 16′ Tuba Profunda (Solo) “Charles Demorest is doing much to Connecticut. Similar to the auditorium to the new suburbs. There did not seem 8′ Tuba (Solo) uphold good music for the motion pic- itself, the instrument was used more for to be any use for the old Auditorium, ture theatres by the quality of his organ Swell Sub secular occasions than for church services. and the complex fi nally succumbed to Swell Octave work at Tally’s Broadway Theatre, Los It was the fi rst large, modern organ in Los the wrecker’s ball in 1985. The pipe- Orchestral Sub Angeles, where he has a concert organ Angeles and contained such innovations work from the Austin organ was sold off Orchestral Octave of immense resources at his command. as second touch, high wind pressures, piecemeal and the chests were left in the Solo Sub This instrument is a four-manual organ an array of orchestral voices, and an all- chambers to come down with the demo- Solo Super equipped with chimes, saucer bells, con- electric, movable console with adjustable lition of the building. What began as Los Swell to Pedal cert harp and echo organ. Mr. Demorest combination action. Angeles’s fi rst, modern organ of the 20th- Swell to Pedal Octave plays a special program every Wednes- The instrument had a partially enclosed century came to an ignominious end. Great to Pedal day afternoon at four o’clock where an ′ Orchestral to Pedal Great division, with a large selection of 8 Solo to Pedal orchestra and soloists further contribute stops that included four 8′ Open Diapa- Temple Auditorium, Los Angeles to the excellence at the Tally Theatre.”4 Austin Organ Company, 1906, Opus 156 Swell to Great Sub sons. Second touch was available on the Swell to Great Unison In the mid-1920s, the May Company Swell keyboard through a Great to Swell GREAT Swell to Great Octave department store next door to Tally’s was coupler. The Choir division was labeled Orchestral to Great Sub doing a booming business and needed (unenclosed) Orchestral to Great Unison Orchestral and contained a variety of soft 16′ Major Diapason larger quarters. Negotiations with Tally string and fl ute stops along with three or- ′ Solo to Great Unison led to the theater being purchased and 16 Contra Dulciana Solo to Great Octave chestral reeds. The Solo division was on 8′ First Diapason torn down to make way for a greatly ex- ″ ′ Great to Swell Unison Second Touch 25 wind pressure and unenclosed ex- 8Second Diapason Swell to Orchestral Sub panded May Company building. The cept for the Harmonic Tuba, unifi ed to 8′ Third Diapason organ was crated up and moved to Mr. ′ ′ ′ ″ ′ Swell to Orchestral Unison play at 16 , 8 and 4 pitches. 25 wind 8Gross Flute Swell to Orchestral Octave Tally’s Glen Ranch, where it was stored 8′ Claribel Flute pressure was also used in the Pedal divi- ′ Solo to Orchestral Unison in a barn. It was eventually ruined by wa- sion for the Magnaton stop, playable at 4Octave ter damage when the roof leaked. ′ ′ 4′ Hohl Flute 32 and 16 . An article about the Audito- 3′ Twelfth rium in the Architectural Record maga- 2′ Fifteenth Tally’s Broadway Theatre Tally’s Broadway Theatre zine stated “the roof is reinforced with (enclosed) Eight years after the Temple Auditori- Johnston Organ Company, 1914 8′ Horn Diapason steel so that the tones of the large organ um organ was installed, Tally’s Broadway GREAT will not cause any structural damage.”1 A 8′ Violoncello Theatre took delivery on a four-manual ′ 16′ Double Open Diapason mighty organ, indeed! 8Viol d’Amour organ advertised as “The World’s Finest ′ 8′ Doppel Flute 8First Open Diapason The four-manual console was located ′ Theatre .” The 47-rank organ 8′ Second Open Diapason 4Fugara ′ in the orchestra pit and movable within III Mixture had been ordered early in 1913 from the 8Viola a range of 50 feet. Its design was infl u- ′ Los Angeles builder Murray M. Harris, 8′ Viol d’Amour 16 Double Trumpet ′ enced by the early consoles of Robert 8′ Trumpet but by the time it was installed in 1914 8Tibia Clausa ′ 8′ Clarabella Hope-Jones and featured two rows of 4Clarion the name of the fi rm had been changed ′ stop keys placed above the top key- to the Johnston Organ Company and the 4Octave 4′ Wald Flute board, a style affectionately known as SWELL factory moved to the nearby suburb of ′ 16′ Gross Gamba 8Trumpet a “toothbrush console,” because to an ′ Van Nuys. Cathedral Chimes active imagination the two rows of stop 8Diapason Phonon Tally’s instrument must have been 8′ Violin Diapason Concert Harp keys looked like the rows of bristles on 8′ Gemshorn the original “surround sound,” as most Saucer Bells a toothbrush. of the pipework was installed in shallow

24 THE DIAPASON

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 24 10/12/09 11:27:55 AM SWELL 8′ Dulciana 16′ Bourdon 8′ Quintadena 8′ Open Diapason 8′ Melodia 8′ Violin Diapason 4′ Wald Floete 8′ Violin 4′ Dulcet 8′ Voix Celeste 8′ Clarinet 8′ Aeoline Tremolo 8′ Stopped Flute Concert Harp 4′ Harmonic Flute 2′ Harmonic Piccolo SOLO 16′ Contra Fagotto 8′ Gross Gamba 8′ Horn 8′ Tibia Plena 8′ Oboe 8′ Harmonic Flute 8′ Vox Humana 8′ Viole d’Orchestre 8′ Viole Celeste CHOIR 16′ Ophicleide 16′ Double Dulciana 8′ Tuba 8′ Geigen Principal The interior of Trinity Auditorium show- 4′ Tuba Clarion ′ Bovard Auditorium at USC showing the 8Dulciana ing the 1914 Johnston organ 1921 Robert-Morton organ 8′ Lieblich Gedackt ECHO 8′ Quintadena 16′ Echo Bourdon 4′ Dulcet Trinity Auditorium was a popular place 8′ Echo Diapason don. It was not an ideal installation, as the 8′ Clarinet for meetings of the local AGO chapter, 8′ Viol Etheria Swell and Choir divisions were placed so and among the artists heard there were 8′ Unda Maris they spoke onto the stage area and the SOLO Pietro Yon, Charles Courboin, and Clar- 8′ Concert Flute Great and Solo were located in the au- 8′ Diapason Phonon ence Eddy. The organ continued to be 4′ Flauto Traverso ditorium proper. For organ recitals, the 8′ Harmonic Flute 8′ Vox Humana ′ used for fi lms, concerts and later on, ra- stage curtains had to be open so the audi- 8Tibia Plena dio broadcasts, but by the 1940s it had Tremolo ence could hear the entire instrument. 8′ Harmonic Tuba Concert Harp (Ch) 8′ Orchestral Oboe become a liability. To save the expense By 1920, the builder no longer made of upkeep on an instrument that by then PEDAL drawknob consoles, so the Bovard or- ECHO was only occasionally used and to secure 32′ Double Open Diapason gan was supplied with a four-manual 8′ Flauto Dolce more space on the stage, the organ was 32′ Resultant horseshoe console. It was placed in the 8′ Unda Maris removed and broken up for parts. 16′ Open Diapason orchestra pit and had color-coded stop 8′ Concert Flute 16′ Violone keys; diapasons were white, fl utes blue, 8′ Orchestral Viol Trinity Auditorium 16′ Tibia Profundo ′ ′ strings amber, reeds red, and the cou- 4Flute d’Amour Johnston Organ Company, 1914 16 Bourdon plers were short-length black stop keys 8′ Vox Mystica 16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw) ′ placed over the top keyboard.7 GREAT 16 Dulciana (Ch) ′ PEDAL 16′ Double Open Diapason 16′ Echo Bourdon (Echo) The organ had two enormous 32 32′ Acoustic Bass 8′ First Open Diapason 8′ Octave stops. When the instrument was com- 16′ Open Diapason 8′ Second Open Diapason 8′ Violoncello pleted at the Van Nuys factory, low C of 16′ Bourdon 8′ Viola di Gamba 8′ Flute the 32′ Bombarde was assembled outside 16′ Contra Basso (Gt) 8′ Viol d’Amour 16′ Trombone the main building and supplied with air 16′ Dulciana (Ch) 8′ Tibia Clausa 16′ Ophicleide (Solo) ′ ′ so that its sound could be demonstrated 16 Lieblich Gedackt (Sw) 8Doppel Floete 8′ Tuba (Solo) for the local residents. 8′ Violoncello 4′ Octave 8′ Gross Flute 4′ Harmonic Flute In June of 1921, the organ was dedi- 2 University of Southern California 8′ Flute 2⁄3′ Octave Quint cated in two recitals given by the Brit- 16′ Trombone 2′ Super Octave In 1920, the University of Southern ish virtuoso Edwin Lemare. It was a 16′ Double Trumpet California placed an order for a large well-used instrument in its day, provid- Swell Tremolo 8′ Trumpet concert organ to be built by the Robert- ing music for university events, concerts, Choir Tremolo 4′ Clarion Morton Organ Company and installed commencement exercises, and it served Solo Tremolo Cathedral Chimes in the new Bovard Auditorium on the as the major practice and recital organ Echo Tremolo SWELL USC campus. Under a headline reading for many USC organ students. 16′ Lieblich Bourdon “Organ Attracts,” the By the mid-1970s the organ had fallen Trinity Auditorium 8′ Diapason Phonon told that “a great increase of interest out of favor and some of the pipework In 1914, inspired perhaps by the 8′ Violin Diapason is being manifested by the faculty and was vandalized by students, causing the success of Temple Auditorium, Trin- 8′ Salicional student body of the organ department, instrument to become unplayable. It was ity Southern Methodist Church opened 8′ Aeoline USC, since the announcement was re- fi nally removed from the auditorium in 8′ Vox Celeste their new Trinity Auditorium, a large ′ cently made that the new organ, one of 1978, and the undamaged pipework was Beaux Arts structure on South Grand 8Lieblich Gedackt the largest in the southwest, is soon to be sold for use in other organs. 8′ Clarabella Avenue containing a multi-use 1500-seat ′ installed in the auditorium of that insti- 4Principal University of Southern California auditorium and a nine-story hotel with 4′ Lieblich Floete tution. The instrument will be provided 6 Robert-Morton Organ Company, 1921 rooftop ballroom. 4′ Violina with eighty stops and 500 pipes.” Well, ′ An organ was ordered from the Mur- 2Harmonic Piccolo perhaps a few more than 500! GREAT ray M. Harris Company, but just like the IV Dolce Cornet Bovard is a large auditorium graced ′ 16′ Double Open Diapason Tally’s Theatre organ, it was installed 16 Contra Fagotto with a dollop of Gothic tracery, originally ′ 8′ Cornopean 8First Open Diapason under the name of the Johnston Organ ′ seating 2,100 on the main fl oor and in 8′ Second Open Diapason Company. The organ was a four-manual 8Oboe two balconies. The Robert-Morton or- ′ Tremolo 8Third Open Diapason instrument of 63 ranks situated above gan, the largest instrument built by the 8′ Viola ′ the stage fl oor, but within the prosce- CHOIR fi rm, was located in concrete chambers 8Erzahler ′ 8′ Doppel Flute nium arch, with an Echo division in the 16 Double Dulciana on either side of the stage and completely ′ dome at the center of the room. The 8′ Geigen Principal enclosed, except for the 16′ Pedal Bour- 8Melodia drawknob console was at one side of the orchestra pit. The tonal design was typical of a large, late Murray Harris organ, boasting an as- sortment of 8′ stops and big chorus reeds on both the Great and Solo, but without the usual Great mixture. The Tibias, Dia- pason Phonon in the Swell and the slim- scale strings of the Solo division, stops not normally found on Harris organs, show the infl uence of Stanley Williams, the fi rm’s voicer since 1911, who had worked with Hope-Jones in England. Arthur Blakeley was house organist and played for church services, silent motion pictures, weekly public recitals and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, who used the building from 1918 to 1921. It was noted that by May 1915, Blakeley had provided music for 108 performanc- es of a fi lm entitled “Cabiria” and played over one hundred different compositions in his weekly recitals, ranging from works by Bach, Handel and Wagner to Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm.5 There was one area in which Trinity Auditorium failed to emulate Temple Auditorium—fi nancing. To construct the auditorium and hotel complex the church secured such a heavy mortgage that one newspaper account claimed it was fi nanced clear into the 21st century. A few years after it opened, Trinity Audi- torium was taken over by a management company that continued to operate it as a public venue, and the church moved to humbler quarters.

NOVEMBER, 2009 25

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 25 10/12/09 11:28:23 AM ′ 4Octave roll player mechanism. The organ pro- 4′ Wald Floete 2′ Flageolet vided music for the relaxation of mem- V Mixture bers, music for skits and plays, and oc- 16′ Double Trumpet casionally a local organist was invited in 8′ Trumpet to play a recital of light selections. 4′ Clarion During World War II the club began selling off its holdings, and by 1947, it SWELL ′ had disbanded. The organ was sold to 16 Bourdon the First Methodist Church of Glendale, 8′ Open Diapason 8′ Horn Diapason where it was treated to a number of in- 8′ Salicional dignities to make the instrument more 8′ Celeste suitable for church use, the result being 8′ Aeoline at great odds with the original intent of 8′ Viol d’Orchestre Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre show- the organ. 8′ Viol Celeste ing the organ grilles above the prosce- 8′ Stopped Diapason nium and the four-manual console in The Uplifter’s Club 8′ Clarabella the orchestra pit Skinner Organ Company, 1924, Opus 449 8′ Gemshorn ′ 4Violin The tonal chambers, or swell boxes as MANUAL I 4′ Harmonic Flute 8′ Diapason ′ they are technically termed, each measure 2Piccolo 20 feet long and 11 feet wide, and are ar- 8′ Chimney Flute III Cornet 8′ Gedackt ′ ranged above the proscenium arch. They 16 Contra Fagotto are constructed in such a manner that they Los Angeles Poly-Technic High School 8′ Violoncello 8′ Cornopean with Estey organ Opus 2225 8′ Voix Celestes II rks ′ are practically sound proof, being built of 8Flugel Horn nonporous inert material, with the interior 8′ Flute Celestes II rks 8′ Oboe 4′ Orchestral Flute ′ fi nished in hard plaster. The front wall of used for recitals and public events held 8Vox Humana each chamber facing the auditorium is left 4′ Unda Maris II rks 4′ Clarion in the auditorium, and the roll player was ′ open and into this opening is fi tted a mech- used to play transcriptions of orchestral 8Vox Humana Tremolo anism built in the form of a large laminated 8′ French Horn Venetian blind. The opening and closing works for music education classes. 8′ Tuba CHOIR The organ eventually fell silent due to Tremolo ′ of the shutters in this Venetian blind pro- 16 Contra Viole duce unlimited dynamic tonal expression lack of use, lack of maintenance, and prob- Harp 8′ Geigen Principal lems with the luminous pistons. When the Celesta ′ from the softest whisper to an almost over- 8Dulciana whelming volume. auditorium was refurbished in 1979, the Chimes 8′ Quintadena Kettle Drums ′ In the basement of the theatre is the organ was removed so that the chamber 8Concert Flute blowing apparatus consisting of two Ki- 8′ Flute Celeste openings could be used for stage lighting MANUAL II ′ netic blowers connected directly to a trees. It was sold, put into storage, and 4Flute twenty-fi ve horsepower motor. Each of 8′ Chimney Flute 2 ′ 2⁄3 Nazard eventually broken up for parts. 8′ Violoncello ′ the blowers is capable of supplying 2500 2Piccolo cubic feet compressed air per minute. The 4′ Orchestral Flute compressed air is used to work the electro- Poly-Technic High School 8′ Corno d’Amore SOLO Estey Organ Company, 1924, Opus 2225 8′ English Horn ′ pneumatic actions as well as to supply the 8Stentorphone various tone producers. 8′ Vox Humana 8′ Gross Flute GREAT ′ There are four manuals on the console, ′ 8French Horn 8′ Gamba 8 Open Diapason I 8′ Tuba ′ and the pedal board on which the bass ′ 8Gamba Celeste notes are played with the feet. The stop 8Open Diapason II Tremolo 8′ French Horn 8′ Dulciana keys number 236 and these are arranged ′ Chimes 8′ English Horn 8Gemshorn Kettle Drums ′ above the keyboards on three tiers and are ′ 8Saxophone divided into departments of independent 8Gross Flute 8′ Clarinet 8′ Melodia MANUAL III organs. The lowest manual is the accompa- ′ 8′ Orchestral Oboe 4Flute Harmonic 8′ Diapason ′ niment organ, the middle keyboard is the ′ 8Tuba great organ and is so arranged so the echo 8Tuba 8′ Voix Celestes II rks Harp organ may be played from this manual. The Harp 8′ Flute Celestes II rks Chimes third manual is a bombarde organ and the 8′ Gedackt top one is the solo organ.8 SWELL 4′ Unda Maris II rks ECHO 16′ Bourdon ′ Tremolo 8′ Cor de Nuit 8Open Diapason Harp 8′ Muted Viole Although the advent of sound motion 8′ Salicional ′ Celesta 8′ Viole Celeste pictures silenced many of the organs in 8Viole d’Orchestre Piano (prepared) 4′ Zauberfl oete 8′ Viole Celeste Los Angeles theaters, the Metropolitan ′ 8′ Vox Humana organ was in use much longer due to the 8Stopped Diapason PEDAL Tremolo 4′ Flauto Traverso ′ continuation of live stage shows well into ′ 16 Bourdon 8Oboe (reedless) 16′ Echo Lieblich PEDAL the 1950s. In 1960 the theater was closed 8′ Cornopean ′ ′ 16 Gedackt 32′ Double Open Diapason and by 1961 it had been demolished and 8Vox Humana 8′ Still Gedackt 32′ Resultant the organ broken up for parts. Tremolo 16′ Trombone (Tuba) 16′ Open Diapason Chimes 16′ Bourdon Poly-Technic High School 16′ Violone (Gt) Poly-Technic High School was one CHOIR The Elks Club 16′ Lieblich Bourdon (Sw) 8′ Violin Diapason ′ of several high schools in the Los Ange- ′ Located just off the fashionable 16 Contra Viole (Ch) les area to have a pipe organ. For their 8Viol d’Amour Wilshire Corridor facing Westlake Park 16′ Echo Bourdon 8′ Clarabella 8′ Principal new auditorium, completed in 1924, the 8′ Unda Maris was the Elks Club, a 12-story building 8′ Flute school ordered a four-manual organ from 4′ Flute d’Amour constructed in 1926 to contain a lodge 8′ Cello the Estey Organ Company. Decorated 8′ Clarinet (reedless) hall, dining rooms, lounges, swimming 8′ Dulciana in the Spanish Renaissance style, the Tremolo pool, tennis and racquetball courts, a full 4′ Flute auditorium seated 1,800 and had a full gymnasium, and residential facilities for Compensating Mixture working stage. The organ was installed SOLO members. Entering the building, one en- 32′ Bombarde 8′ Stentorphone ′ in chambers located on either side of the ′ countered a monumental reception hall 16 Trombone proscenium, with the console in the or- 8Gross Gamba some 50 feet in height, with a vaulted 16′ Fagotto (Sw) 8′ First Violins III chestra pit. ′ ceiling painted with scenes from mythol- 8′ Trumpet 8Concert Flute The instrument had an automatic roll 4′ Wald Flute ogy. A wide staircase rose dramatically to player in a separate cabinet and a console 2′ Piccolo the Memorial Room that functioned as a Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre with Estey’s recent invention, the “lumi- 8′ Orchestral Oboe lobby for the lodge room. When Grauman’s Metropolitan The- nous piston stop control.” These were 8′ Tuba Mirabilis (reedless) On the front page of the Van Nuys atre was constructed at Sixth and Hill lighted buttons placed in rows above the News for November 18, 1924 was an ar- Streets in 1923, Tally’s Broadway The- top manual of the console. When pushed, PEDAL ticle announcing “H. P. Platt, manager 32′ Resultant atre must have looked rather dowdy the button lit up signifying that that par- 16′ Open Diapason of the Robert-Morton Organ Company, in comparison. The Metropolitan, a ticular stop was on. Another push turned 16′ Bourdon announces that his concern has been monumental piece of architecture, was the stop off. This system presented all 16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw) awarded a contract for constructing a and remained the largest theater in Los sorts of problems; it was inconvenient to 8′ Bass Flute huge pipe organ to be placed in the new Angeles and had a four-manual, 36-rank use, the “luminous piston” was diffi cult 8′ Tuba Mirabilis (Solo) Elks Temple of Los Angeles. Specifi ca- Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra, to see under bright lights, it could give tions for the huge organ will make it the Opus #543. This was the largest organ an organist a very nasty shock, and some largest unifi ed orchestra pipe organ in built by Wurlitzer at the time, beating out organists could not resist spelling out The Uplifter’s Club the . The contract price the celebrated Denver Auditorium organ naughty words with the lights. One of a number of organs installed was said to be $50,000.” by one rank. The 36 ranks of pipes were The organ had a clear, pleasant sound in Los Angeles’s private clubs was this “Unifi ed orchestra pipe organ” is prob- divided between two sections of the the- in the auditorium’s good acoustics due instrument built by the Skinner Organ ably the best description for the four- ater: 24 ranks in chambers located over possibly to Estey’s local representative Company in 1924 for the Uplifter’s Club. manual, 60-rank organ that the Robert- the proscenium arch and 12 ranks in the Charles McQuigg, a former voicer of Located in the remote Santa Monica Can- Morton fi rm installed in the Elks Club in Echo division at the rear of the balcony. the Murray M. Harris Company, who yon section of Los Angeles, the club was 1926. The stops are divided into Great, Albert Hay Malotte, Gaylord Carter and installed and fi nished the instrument. formed in 1913 as a splinter group of the Swell, Choir, Solo and Pedal divisions, Alexander Schreiner were Metropolitan Crowning the full organ was a reedless Los Angeles Athletic Club by a number of but the contents of each are not what organists at various times, accompany- Tuba Mirabilis voiced on 15″ wind pres- wealthy members, for “high jinx.”9 Recre- one would expect in either a concert or ing fi lms and presenting organ solos en- sure, an invention of William Haskell of ational facilities were constructed in the theatre organ. hanced by lighting subtly changing color the Estey Company. The pipes looked canyon and some members built cabins The main organ is in four chambers, to match the mood of the music. like an open wood fl ute, but sounded and cottages to use for weekend retreats. one in each corner of the lodge room, James Nuttall, who installed the or- like a stringy Horn Diapason. It was a In 1923 construction on a large club- with Echo and Antiphonal divisions gan, escorted a writer for the Los An- rather convincing sound, until one knew house began and in 1924 the three- speaking through openings centered geles Times through the newly installed the secret. manual Skinner organ was installed. The over the entrance doors. These two di- instrument and provided a description of Classes in organ instruction were of- instrument was a large residence-style visions were heard in either the lodge its resources: fered at Poly High, the instrument was organ with many duplexed stops and a room or the Memorial Room by means

26 THE DIAPASON

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 26 10/12/09 11:28:41 AM ′ Harp 16 Echo Bourdon was in Renaissance Revival style and Glockenspiel 16′ Contra Fagotto Xylophone 16′ Violone loosely patterned after the Strozzi Palace ′ in Florence. Entering through the main Chimes 16 Dulciana ′ Strings F 8′ Open Diapason doors, the visitor stepped into a 40 high Great 2nd Touch 8′ Tuba lobby court furnished with leather sofas 8′ Tuba 8′ Pedal Flute and chairs, oriental carpets, and a deco- 8′ French Horn 8′ Doppel Flute rated vaulted ceiling. 8′ Gross Flute 8′ Echo Bourdon ′ ′ During the 1920s, Barker Brothers 8Gamba 8Cello served as the southern California repre- 8′ Dulciana SWELL 4′ Tuba Clarion sentative for the Welte Organ Company. 16′ Contra Fagotto 4′ Dulcet Their previous store had a Welte organ 16′ Tibia Clausa III Cornet used to entertain customers, and when 16′ Swell Bourdon Pedal 2nd touch Barkers moved out, the instrument was 16′ Violin (TC) Bass Drum rebuilt into two organs; the main section The lodge room of the Elks Club. The 8′ Trumpet Snare Drum went, with a new console, to the Pasade- four-manual console is visible in the left 8′ Open Diapason Tympani ′ na home of Baldwin M. Baldwin, and the hand corner and the Echo/Antiphonal 8Violin Bass Drum/Cymbal Echo division, also provided with a new divisions are above the entrance doors 8′ Tibia Mollis at the right side of the picture. 8′ Tibia Clausa Buttons Above Solo console, was packed off to Mrs. Belle 8′ Gedackt Klaxon Malloy in San Pedro. 8′ Orchestral Oboe Telephone Barker Brothers’ new store had three of dual expression shades. A two-manual 8′ Vox Humana Cow Bell Welte organs. In the lobby court was a console in the Memorial Room played 8′ Violin I Bird four-manual, 26-rank concert organ that the Echo/Antiphonal divisions so an or- 8′ Violin II was played daily for the store’s patrons. 8′ Violin III Tremolos ganist could entertain lodge members ′ The four-manual drawknob console was lingering in the Memorial area before a 8Viol d’Orchestre Swell centered along the east side of the lobby 8′ Viole Celeste Great meeting without the sound penetrating 8′ Salicional Choir and the chamber openings high on the into the lodge room. 8′ Aeoline Solo wall had gold display pipes. A three-man- Currently, the instrument is unplay- 4′ Octave Diapason Antiphonal ual, nine-rank theatre-style instrument able. The two-manual console has been 4′ Tibia Clausa Echo was in a 600-seat auditorium on the 10th disconnected and although the four- 4′ Bourdon Flute Swell Vox Humana fl oor, and a two-manual, 10-rank organ manual console remains in position, over 4′ Flauto Traverso Echo Vox Humana with player attachment was installed in 4′ Vox Humana half of the ivories are missing. Workmen ′ the interior design studio. stomping through the pipe chambers on 4Violina Couplers On the evening of March 28, 1927, the 4′ Salicet Pedal Octaves various occasions have trod on many of 2 three Welte organs were dedicated, be- 2⁄3′ Bourdon Nazard Great to Pedal 8, 4 the smaller pipes, a few sets are missing, 2′ Bourdon Piccolo Swell to Pedal 8, 4 ginning with the instrument in the lobby and water leaks have damaged other por- Harp Choir to Pedal 8 court and then moving to the auditorium tions of the organ. Glockenspiel Solo to Pedal 8 organ, where members of the Los Ange- Stepping back in time to happier days, Xylophone Swell to Swell 16, 4 les Organists’ Club entertained. Guests we can read about the organ when it was Chimes Choir to Swell 16, 8, 4 were invited to hear the residence organ the talk of organ-playing Los Angeles. In Bird Solo to Swell 16, 8, 4 in the interior design department and December, 1925, a Los Angeles newspa- Strings P Great to Great 16, 4 enjoy the automatic roll player device. Strings MF Swell to Great 16, 8, 4 per reported “the new $50,000 organ for Swell 2nd Touch Choir to Great 16, 8, 4 Among the organists playing the lobby the Elk’s great temple will be given its 16′ Fagotto Solo to Great 16, 8, 4 court organ on that evening were Albert offi cial test before offi cers of the Elk’s 16′ Trumpet (TC) Choir to Choir 16, 4 Hay Malotte and Alexander Schreiner. Building Association tomorrow evening. 16′ Bourdon Swell to Choir 16, 8, 4 Malotte played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in The test recital will be at the plant of the 8′ Tibia Clausa Solo to Solo 16, 4 Blue and the quartet from Verdi’s Rigo- Robert-Morton Organ Company, build- 4′ Flauto Traverso letto, but Schreiner no doubt stole the ers of the instrument. For the benefi t of Barker Brothers show when he played the “Great” g-mi- CHOIR members of the lodge and the public, ′ Barker Brothers, the pre-eminent nor fugue of Bach and closed the program 16 Violin (TC) 12 the recital will be broadcast over KNX 16′ Double Dulciana home furnishings store of Los Angeles, with Wagner’s . radio between 7 and 7:30 o’clock. A half 8′ English Diapason moved into a new building in 1927. Oc- The lobby court organ was very popu- an hour of cathedral and concert music 8′ Flugel Horn cupying all of 7th Street between Flower lar with Los Angeles residents and the will be played on the huge instrument 8′ Clarabella and Figueroa Streets, the 12-story façade daily recitals were well attended. Welte by Sibley Pease, offi cial organist of the 8′ Clarinet Elk’s lodge.”10 8′ Gemshorn 8′ Viola In May 1926, Warren Allen, organist ′ of Stanford University, gave the opening 8Violin I 8′ Violin II recital, playing compositions by Bach, 8′ Violin III Boccherini, Saint-Saëns, Douglas, Wag- 8′ Dulciana ner and ending with the Finale from 8′ Unda Maris Vierne’s Symphony No. 1. A reviewer 4′ Harmonic Flute noted that “the organ is an instrument 4′ Violina of concert resources and full organ is 4′ Dulcet 2′ Flageolet almost overpowering in tone. It ranks as ′ one of the fi nest in the city.”11 2Dolcissimo Snare Drum Tap For many years the organ was used Snare Drum Roll almost every day of the week for lodge Tom-Tom meetings, concerts and radio broadcasts. Castanets Dwindling membership and the expense Sleigh Bells of upkeep on the huge Elks building Wood Drum caused the remaining members to fi nd Tambourine smaller quarters in the late 1960s. Left Strings F abandoned for a while, the building has Choir 2nd Touch 8′ English Diapason seen use as a YMCA, a retirement cen- 8′ Flugel Horn ter, and a seedy hotel; it is currently be- 8′ Clarabella ing rented for large social events and 8′ Clarinet fi lming. Due to the extensive damage done to the organ and the great expense SOLO of a restoration, this is probably another 8′ Tuba Mirabilis 8′ Stentorphone large, once-popular instrument that will ′ never play again. 8Philomela 8′ Gross Gamba 8′ Oboe Horn Elks Temple, Los Angeles ′ Robert-Morton Organ Company, 1926 4Tuba Clarion 4′ Gambette GREAT Chimes 16′ Open Diapason ′ ANTIPHONAL 16 Gamba (TC) ′ 8′ First Diapason 8Trumpet ′ 8′ Open Diapason 8Second Diapason ′ 8′ Tuba 8Hohl Flute 8′ French Horn ′ ECHO 8Kinura ′ 8′ Gross Flute 16 Echo Bourdon ′ 8′ Night Horn 8Clarinet ′ 8′ Doppel Flute 8Flute Celeste ′ 8′ Viol Sordino 8Gamba ′ 8′ Violin I 8Vox Humana ′ 4′ Fern Flute 8Violin II ′ 8′ Violin III 4Violetta 8′ Quintadena Bird 8′ Dulciana 4′ Tuba Clarion PEDAL ′ 32′ Resultant Bass 4Octave Diapason ′ 4′ Doppel Flute 16 Double Open Diapason 2 ′ 2⁄3′ Twelfth 16 Trombone ′ 16′ Pedal Bourdon 2Fifteenth ′ III Cornet 16 Swell Bourdon

NOVEMBER, 2009 27

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 27 10/12/09 11:29:02 AM designed the instrument for maximum SOLO 8′ Tibia Clausa fl exibility; the Great and Choir shared 8′ Violoncello stops, while the Swell and Solo were 4′ Harmonic Flute independent divisions, except for the 16′ Tuba Profunda Great Tuba Sonora that was available on 8′ Tuba Sonora the Solo at 16′, 8′ and 4′ pitches. 8′ French Horn When the Welte Organ Company 8′ English Horn closed in 1931, the residence organ was 4′ Cornet sold to a home in the Brentwood section Tremolo Harp of the city. The auditorium instrument Celesta was eventually sold to the Presbyterian Chimes Church in La Canada, but the lobby Piano court organ was kept in use until the early 1950s. After the Second World War, the PEDAL daily organ recitals were popular with 32′ Acoustic Bass 16′ Diaphonic Diapason older folks who lived in affordable but ′ respectable downtown residential hotels. 16 Bourdon 16′ Violone (Gt) The store management felt having pen- 16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw) sioners strewn about the lobby lowered 8′ Octave the tone of their upscale operation and 8′ Flute removed the organ in 1955, selling the 8′ Cello (Gt) console to a private party and the pipe 8′ Gedackt (Sw) Wurlitzer’s over-decorated studio at Silent screen comedian Chester Conk- work to a local church. 16′ Tuba Profunda (Solo) the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles lin at the Estey automatic organ (Opus There was a more insidious reason for 8′ Tuba Sonora (Solo) where guests could listen to organ mu- 2781) in his Hollywood home 4′ Cornet (Solo) sic presented several times a day removing the Welte organ. Barker Broth- ′ 16 Piano 16 ers had become the local agents for the 8′ Piano Coliseum. The Coliseum, opened in new Hammond Chord Organ and didn’t Chimes of the largest apartment. “La Ronda” and 1923, covers a total of 17 acres and origi- want competition from the “real thing” the “Andalusia” were both located on nally seated 76,000. Although there is while an employee was demonstrating Havenhurst Drive and built in the Span- nothing in the proposal stating where the new electric device. The Los Ange- Organ studios, residences, ish style with enclosed gardens and foun- the organ would be located in the huge les Times for May 12, 1955 announced: theaters tains surrounding the apartments. The stadium, concrete enclosures may have “A musical tradition at Barker Bros. has During the 1920s, many American or- organ in the Andalusia had four ranks of been planned in and around the Peri- been broken! Barker Bros. pipe organ of gan builders maintained organ studios in pipes, a roll playing mechanism plus xy- style, a focal point along the east end of some 30 odd years vintage is no longer Los Angeles to provide prospective cus- lophone, marimba, chimes, celesta, and the huge structure. the cornerstone of the store’s tradition. tomers with a sample of their wares. The a small toy counter. La Ronda’s Robert- The installation of an organ in the Col- One fi ne day it was an impressive part studio usually featured a residence-style Morton organ had fi ve ranks of pipes, no iseum would have been an even greater of the main lobby and the next day, the organ, complete with automatic player, roll player, and fewer percussion stops. acoustical nightmare than an organ in massive monolith was a legend. A com- in a home-like setting. The Skinner Or- There were a number of secular or- the Hollywood Bowl. Among the fea- pact, sweet little number, modern in de- gan Company went so far as to install a gans that had been planned toward the tures of the proposed specifi cation was sign and execution, has replaced the pipe residence organ in the home of their lo- end of the 1920s, but were never built, a fi fth manual called “Orchestral” that organ. The Hammond Chord Organ now cal representative, Stanley W. Williams.13 and one could argue that with several of was home to four separately enclosed reigns supreme. A representative from The Aeolian Company displayed their the instruments, their early demise was a divisions, Diapason, Brass, String and Barker’s Piano Salon on the mezzanine Opus 1740 in the George Birkel Music desirable thing. Woodwind, three of which had their own fl oor is in daily attendance at his Chord Company, where fi ne pianos and phono- During the 1920s, Charles Winder pedal sections. The console would have Organ post.” graphs were also available. Wurlitzer had ran the Artcraft Organ Company, a small stopkeys placed on angled jambs and a a studio in downtown Los Angeles and fi rm that built garden-variety organs remote combination action. Nothing Barker Brothers Store a second showroom in the posh Ambas- for neighborhood churches throughout ever came of the proposal, and the 1929 Lobby Court Organ sador Hotel, where they installed a Style southern California. In 1926 Winder stock market crash and closing of the Welte Organ Company, 1927 R16, three-manual, ten-rank residence announced the formation of a new com- Welte Corporation in 1931 sealed the GREAT organ. In an overstuffed room off the pany, The Symphonaer Company, to instrument’s fate. 16′ Double Open Diapason hotel’s main lobby, patrons of the hotel build “symphony concert organs.” The The proposal reads: 8′ Principal Diapason could relax and listen to organ music announcement continued: “The Sym- 8′ English Diapason presented several times a day by a mem- phonaer Concert Organ is described as The Welte Organ Company, Inc., here- 8′ Tibia Minor ber of the Wurlitzer staff. an instrument that reproduces the true by agrees to build for the Civic Bureau of 8′ Claribel Flute Residence organs were popular addi- symphony orchestra, giving the effect Music and Art, Los Angeles, California; 8′ Viola herein referred to as Purchaser, and to in- ′ tions to many of the fi ne homes built in of every instrument used in the largest stall in the Coliseum, Los Angeles, Califor- 4Octave Los Angeles before the Depression hit. of symphony orchestras.” A $1,000,000 4′ Forest Flute nia—ONE WELTE PIPE ORGAN. Ready 8′ Tuba Sonora Members of the movie colony enjoyed plant was to be built offering employ- to use and in accordance with the following Harp organs in their homes, and the Robert- ment to 100 craftsmen. Joining the ven- specifi cations, viz: Manuals, fi ve, compass Celesta Morton Company built instruments for ture was the British concert organist CC to C4, 61 notes; Pedals, compass CCC Piano Thomas Ince, for Marion Davies’s im- Edwin Lemare, who would serve as di- to G, 32 notes; the windchests of manuals mense beach house, and for Charlie rector of music and specifi cations. Built affected by octave couplers to be extended SWELL Chaplin, who used the organ to compose alongside the factory would be Sym- one octave above the compass of the key- 16′ Lieblich Gedackt board, to 73 notes. Electro-pneumatic ′ most of the music for his fi lms. phonaer Hall, a recital hall equipped action throughout. Philharmonic pitch A- 8Diapason Phonon Aeolian had organs in the homes of with a large Symphonaer organ, where 8′ Philomela 440. Console type, concert; stop control, 8′ Gedackt , cowboy actor Dustin Far- Lemare would give frequent recitals and stopkeys and tablets. Combination action ′ num, and Francis Marion Thompson, in broadcast the instrument over a local ra- adjustable at the console, visibly affecting 8Violin II rks 14 8′ Solo Violin addition to instruments in the residences dio station. The enterprise died in the the registers. Remote control inside setter. 8′ Salicional of radio pioneer Earle C. Anthony, oil planning stages and the Artcraft Organ 8′ Vox Angelica baron Lee Phillips, department store Company went broke in 1928. Los Angeles Coliseum 4′ Chimney Flute mogul Arthur Letts, and Willits Hole, Alexander Pantages ordered a fi ve- 2 GREAT - Manual II 2⁄3′ Nazard ′ who had an Aeolian organ in the art gal- manual Robert-Morton organ for his 16′ Double Diapason 2Flautino ′ 3 ′ lery wing of his Fremont Place mansion. spectacular Hollywood Pantages The- 16 Bourdon 1 ⁄5 Tierce ′ 16′ Contra Fagotto The Estey Organ Company’s sole atre that opened in 1930. Although the 8First Diapason ′ contribution to the fi lm colony was a theater was and still is a success, the 8′ Second Diapason 8Trumpet ′ 8′ Oboe Horn small four-rank unifi ed organ in the organ was never built due to the advent 8Third Diapason ′ 8′ Violoncello 8Vox Humana Hollywood home of “Keystone Kop” of sound fi lms, an expensive lawsuit in ′ 4′ Octave Oboe Chester Conklin. which Pantages was involved, and the 8Double Flute 8′ Clarabella Tremolo There were a number of Welte resi- closing of the Robert-Morton Company. 1 5⁄3′ Quint Vox Humana Vibrato dence organs scattered around Los An- The four large organ chambers remain ′ Harp 4First Octave geles, including a two-manual instrument empty to this day. 4′ Second Octave Celesta ′ Piano in the home of John Evans, a property The Hollywood Bowl, the world’s larg- 4Third Octave later owned by actress Ann Sheridan and est natural amphitheater, is used as a 4′ Tibia Plena Liberace. The large Welte organ in Lynn popular venue for summer concerts, ac- 4′ Harmonic Flute CHOIR 1 ′ 3⁄5′ Tenth 16 Contra Viol Atkinson’s exquisite Louis XVI-style commodating audiences of up to 18,000. 2 ′ 2⁄3′ Twelfth 8English Diapason home was in a ballroom that opened onto The Hollywood Bowl program for July, ′ 8′ Tibia Minor terraced gardens. The exterior of the es- 1929, published a letter from the Bowl 2Fifteenth 8′ Claribel Flute V Plein Jeu ′ tate was used as the television home of manager relating that organist Edwin V Cymbale 8Flute Celeste the “Beverly Hillbillies,” although the Lemare was working to interest the Hol- ′ 8′ Viola 16 Double Trumpet ′ then-current owner fi nally tossed out the lywood Bowl Association in installing 8′ Tromba 8Muted Violin ′ 8′ Voix Celeste production company because too many an outdoor organ in the amphitheater. 4Clarion ′ tourists were knocking on the front door The letter went on to state that Lemare 8′ Grand Piano 8Viola ′ 4′ Traverse Flute wanting to meet Jed Clampett. had prevailed on an organ builder to in- 4Grand Piano 2′ Piccolo The largest residence organ in Los stall an organ in the Bowl provided that Minor Chimes 8′ Clarinet Angeles was in the 62-acre estate of Sils- $10,000 was spent to build enclosures Great 2nd Touch Tremolo 15 Diapason Section by Spalding. The Aeolian organ (Opus for the instrument. Fortunately, the Brass Section Choir 2nd Touch 1373) had three manuals, six divisions, scheme never progressed past the plan- 8′ Principal Diapason ′ String Section 8′ Tibia Minor a 32 Open Diapason, and 67 ranks of ning stage. Woodwind Section 8′ Tuba Sonora pipes. It was installed in the Spalding’s Solo to Great 8 ′ large music room in 1919 and spoke Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Tower Chime 8Clarinet ′ Celesta through three tall arches faced with or- In the late 1920s, the Welte Organ 2Glockenspiel Chimes namental metal grilles. Company submitted a proposal to the SWELL - Manual III Solo to Choir Two very exclusive and elegant apart- Civic Bureau of Music and Art of Los 16′ Quintaton Swell to Choir ment buildings in Los Angeles each had a Angeles to build a fi ve-manual outdoor 16′ Contra Viola Robert-Morton organ in the living room organ for the Los Angeles Memorial 8′ Open Diapason

28 THE DIAPASON

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 28 10/12/09 11:29:20 AM Pedal 2nd Touch 64′ Gravissima 32′ Diaphone 32′ Contra Bombarde Solo to Pedal 8 Solo to Pedal 4 Diapason Section 8 Diapason Section 4 Brass Section 8 Brass Section 4 Tower Chimes Minor Chimes Thunder Drum, Stroke Thunder Drum, Roll Kettle Drum, Roll Chinese Gong Persian Cymbal Vibratos Choir Choir Vox Humana Swell Swell Vox Humana Liberace at the Welte organ in his Hol- The Robert-Morton organ in one of Solo lywood home, originally built for John the plush apartments at La Ronda in Woodwind Evans Hollywood String, Fast String, Slow 8′ Horn Diapason ORCHESTRAL - Manual V ′ The Hollywood Pantages theatre. The 8Viola da Gamba Diapason Section organ chambers were prepared for a Conclusion 8′ Salicional 16′ Major Diapason ′ ′ fi ve-manual Robert-Morton organ that The stories of these instruments testi- 8Voix Celeste 8Double Languid Diapason I was never installed. 8′ Tibia Clausa 8′ Double Languid Diapason II fy to the near-ubiquity of the pipe organ 8′ Harmonic Flute 8′ Diapason Phonon early in the twentieth century, including 4′ Octave 8′ Open Diapason PEDAL its use in fi lms and stage shows. Even ′ ′ 64′ Gravissima 4Geigen Principal 8Geigen Principal ′ fi lm actors owned and played pipe or- 4′ Salicet II rks 4′ Double Languid Octave 32 Diaphone ′ ′ 32′ Violone gans, in a golden age that now survives 4Flute Couverte 4Octave ′ ■ ′ 2 ′ 16 Diaphone only in recollections such as this. 4Traverse Flute 2⁄3 Twelfth ′ 1 ′ ′ 16 Major Bass 3⁄5 Tenth 2Fifteenth ′ Notes 2 ′ 1 ′ 16 Diapason 2⁄3 Twelfth 1⁄3 Nineteenth ′ 1. Architectural Record, February 1905, p. 2′ Fifteenth 1′ Twenty-Second 16 Violone ′ 16′ Contra Basso (String) 117. 2Piccolo IX Grand Chorus ′ 2. “Organist Hastings Dies.” Los Angeles VI Mixture Diapason Section Pedal 16 Tibia Clausa ′ ′ 16′ Wald Horn (Ch) Times, Dec. 3, 1940, A/15. 16 Contra Posaune 16 Diaphonic Diapason ′ 3. Pacifi c Coast Musician, November 1914, 8′ Cornopean 16′ Diapason 16 Bourdon 2 ′ p. 6. ′ 3′ 16 Contra Viola (String) 8Trumpet 10 ⁄ Quint 2 ′ ′ 8′ Diapason Octave 10 ⁄3 Quint 4. Pacifi c Coast Musician, May 1914, p. 7. 8Oboe Horn ′ 5. Pacifi c Coast Musician, May 1915, p. 4. 8′ Vox Humana II rks 8′ Octave 8Diaphone ′ ′ 8′ Principal 6. Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1920, 4Clarion 4Super Octave ′ 8′ Grand Piano 8Octave III/30. ′ 8′ Violoncello 7. The Diapason, August 1921, p. 3. 4Grand Piano Brass Section ′ Swell 2nd Touch 16′ Trombone 8Wald Horn (Ch) 8. Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1923, ′ 8′ Flute III/27. Diapason Section 16 Serpent 1 ′ 5⁄3′ Octave Quint 9. “Finding Aids for the Uplifter’s Club Brass Section 8Tuba Magna ′ String Section 8′ Tuba Sonora 4Super Octave Records,” U.C.L.A., n.d. ′ 4′ Fifteenth 10. Los Angeles Evening Express, Decem- Woodwind Section 8Tuba Mirabilis ′ Solo to Swell 8 8′ French Trumpet 4Tibia Flute ber 17, 1925, p. 9. Chimes 8′ Muted Trumpet V Harmonics 11. Pacifi c Coast Musician, May 15, 1926, p. ′ ′ V Fourniture 14. 2Glockenspiel 8Post Horn ′ 8′ French Horn (closed tone) 32 Contra Bombarde 12. “Organ Recital Program–Barker Bros.,” ′ 16′ Bombarde March 28, 1927. CHOIR - Manual I 8French Horn (open tone) ′ ′ 1 ′ 16 Tuba Profunda 13. Skinner Organ Company, Opus #690, 16 Waldhorn 5⁄3 Corno Quint ′ 8′ Open Diapason 4′ Tuba Clarion 16 Serpent (Brass) 1928. ′ ′ 16′ Ophicleide (Solo) 14. Venice Vanguard, February 11, 1926, p. 8Waldhorn 4Trumpet Clarion ′ ′ 2 ′ 16 Double Trumpet (Gt) 15. 8Tibia Minor 2⁄3 Corno Twelfth ′ 8′ Viol d’Orchestre 2′ Cor Octave 16 Contra Posaune (Sw) 15. The Diapason, August 1929, p. 4. ′ 16′ Contra Fagotto (Ch) 16. Collection of the author. 8Violes Celestes II rks Brass Section Pedal ′ 8′ Claribel Flute 32′ Contra Bombarde 8Bombarde 8′ Tuba Sonora 8′ Quintaphon 16′ Bombarde James Lewis is an organist, organ historian ′ ′ 4′ Bombarde 4Octave 16 Trombone ′ and commercial photographer. He has re- 4′ Wald Flute 8′ Trumpet 4Cornet ′ 16′ Grand Piano searched the organs of California for over 35 4Violin years and has published articles on the subject 2 8′ Grand Piano 2⁄3′ Twelfth String Section ′ ′ Bass Drum, Stroke in several periodicals. This article is a small 2Fifteenth 16 Contra Basso section of a much larger text of a forthcoming 2′ Flageolet 16′ Violin Diapason 3 book from the Organ Historical Society. 1⁄5′ Seventeenth 16′ Contra Viola 1 1⁄7′ Septieme 8′ Violin Diapason 1′ Twenty-Second 8′ Violin Diapason Celeste 16′ Contra Fagotto 8′ Violoncello I 8′ Clarinet 8′ Violoncello II 8′ Vox Humana II rks 8′ Cello Celestes II rks 4′ Clarion 8′ Nazard Gamba Minor Chimes 8′ Gamba Celeste 2′ Glockenspiel 8′ First Violin 8′ Grand Piano 8′ Second Violin 4′ Grand Piano 8′ Third Violin 2′ Xylophone 8′ Violin Celestes II rks Snare Drum, Tap 8′ First Viola Snare Drum, Roll 8′ Second Viola Choir 2nd Touch 8′ Viola Celestes II rks Diapason Section 8′ Muted Violins III rks Brass Section 4′ String Octave String Section 4′ Violins II rks Woodwind Section 4′ Muted Violins III rks Solo to Choir 2′ String Fifteenth Chimes III Cornet des Violes 2′ Glockenspiel String Section Pedal Snare Drum, Roll 32′ String Diaphone Triangle 16′ Double Bass 16′ Violone SOLO - Manual IV 8′ Cello 16′ Violone 8′ Diapason Magna Woodwind Section 8′ Tibia Plena 16′ Bassoon 8′ Solo Gamba 16′ Bass Saxophone 8′ Gamba Celestes II rks 8′ First Saxophone 8′ Harmonic Flute 8′ Second Saxophone 4′ Octave 4′ Soprano Saxophone 4′ Concert Flute 8′ English Horn 4′ Solo Violin 16′ Bass Clarinet III Cornet 8′ Basset Horn 16′ Ophicleide 8′ First Clarinet 8′ Tuba Mirabilis 8′ Second Clarinet 8′ Tuba Sonora 8′ Orchestral Oboe 8′ Military Trumpet 8′ Kinura 8′ French Horn 8′ Orchestral Flute 8′ Orchestral Oboe 4′ Solo Flute 4′ Clarion 2′ Solo Piccolo

NOVEMBER, 2009 29

Nov 09 pp. 24-29 .indd 29 10/12/09 11:29:39 AM