THE DIAPASON AN INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY DEVOTED TO THE ORGAN AND THE INTERESTS OF ORGA.\'ISTS Sixty. third Year, No. 11 - Wllole No. 755 OCTOBER, 1972 Subscr;ptioru $4.00 a year - 40 cents d co/11 Reed Organs in the Floyd C. Miles Collection of Musical Instruments By James H. Richards It seems almost axiomatic that col­ lectors of musical materials arc seldom musicians. or, indeed, arc not associ­ atcd wilh music in any other way than through the collections they build. This has been true, (or inslance, of shcct music colleclon, slich otS Harry Dichler, Frances G. Spencer, and H:lrry Driscoll. whose huge assemblage of musical Americana later became a part of the New York Public Library. Such is also Interior of the Miles Collection of Musical In,trumenh, showing a number of the reed the case with Floyd C. MiI~, whose col· organ).. lC(:lion of musical AmeriClna of a dif· ferent son comprises onc of the more prominenl attractions of the city of to the smallest varieties inlelll..led to be 10lle produclion, Ihe forms in which Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Currently plaCed on a table or even held in the reed organs were built arc almost be­ shown commercially as Miles Mountain lap. With one exception. a Trayser yond reckoning. Thc work of numerous Musical Muscum, the Collection was harmonium built in Stuttgart. Germany, firms is represented. from that or rela­ I. Aeolian archeslr.lle, ca. 1895. hegun as :I. hobby by its owner, whose these instruments are all of American til'cly obscure makers, to inslruments by aClil'itll'S in real estate and other local manufacture; the earliest dates from such well·known companies a5 Estcy business \'cntures were rar rcmoved ca. 1835, while the latest was built ca. and Mason and Hamlin. In the present from any musiClI considerations. Dat­ 1900. No 11\'0 arc exactly alite, re·af· study, the organs oC the Collection have ing frolll 1955. the collection began rinning the truism that, in spite of been placed in fivc groups according with a Wilcox and While self-playing their basic similarity in the manner of (ConlirlUed, page 6) reed org:1O. Miles' interest was only whetlcd, howc\·cr. and the organ was soon joined by a Coinola nickelodeon. lufonnatlon painstaldngly acquired by word of mouth, correspondence, and personal search led to the procurement of other instruments: and today. con­ taining literally thousands of items. the Collection stands as a monument 10 ils owner's industry and far-ranging II. Rocking melodeon of unknown origin. efforts in a Held which he has made Not. the short key", espc<ially his own. 1 he Collcction currently consists prin· cipally of instruments of the string and keyooard families, as well as examples of early automatic instruments: music ooxes of many sizes and types. early phonographs. and various sorts of aulo· malically operated pianos and organs. The stringed instrument collection em· phasizes the various dulcimer. zither, and ,'Iolin types such as might be con· VII. (above) Estey & Co. reed argon, ca. sidered characteristic or the folk music lE8.5. VIII. (right, Mason & Hamlin "Lint of lhe region. The heart of lhe Col· organ." The two foot control, above the leclion, however. is a group or fony­ pedal, are not pumping treadles. but oper· odd reoo organs. r.mging in size from ate the creKendo and ,weU Mechanisms, 01 III. Rocking melodeon with button, in lieu large lwo·manual and ped:fII instrumenls In the pipe organ. of Iceys, built by Cha,hts Austin. IV. Small free-tlonding inshumenl by N. I . Jewett. V. (left) Melodeon built by Peloubet, Pel'on & Ca., New Ya'L VI. (right' Two-manual melodeon manufactured by o.orge A. "tnce. Consultants and the Art of Organ Building THE DIAPASON There b: prob.,bt), no other ~rson morc detrimental Co the an of organ build. E_IW."" ... 1000 ing than the so-called "organ consultant!' In Euro~, these people are called. "organ expt'rts," and the same might apply to organ building in Engl:and and the Continent, alchou8h the citcunulanct'S \onry 10 some d~ (7racfnnark ,.,",ned.., U. S. PDf.,., 0II1c.) An "org<ln consultant" is supposed 10 be an upn. on orgaru and organ build­ S. E. CRDENSTEIN. p..ww.., (1009·1057) ing. His purpose is to d~ign or partkip.... c (prnumilbly wilh an org:ln builder) in the doign 0( an organ. FOI' lhis reason, his work bean much innurntt on the OCTOBER. 1972 ROlEn SCHUNIMAN end mulL Frrqurnlly, Ihe ttSuh of his e(forts drtcrminrs the entire success or fellt.,. failure or a particut.:u instrumcnL There is pr0b3bly no motc complu laSt in .he whole field of instrument FEATURES buildint than the .kill and artisanship required 10 design and build a good DOROTHY ROSER organ. Good organ builden know th:u the complexity of the (ask requirrs Ihon Reed Orqana in the Floyd C. MU .. lu';:"e" Mer".,e, Collec:tion 01 Mualcal hwwmenta I •• to spend tong yean learning 1I0t only the business of organ structure and design, but also the usc of the instrument with music of aU kinds. Furthermore, because WESLEY vas the organ is so large an instrument, and because 50 much o[ ic.~ function is tied Amoll SchUck: "Homav. '0 Empo,... AMI".", Eelit., Cbarle. V" - Introduction 10 architecture and acoultics, good oq;an builders also know that they must spend by M. S. Xaatn.... tnzulale4. long yean learning skills in these allied, but \'Cry important, fields. There has by Raymond Mabry 4..5 ••1 never been any approach to replace the long apprenticeship procedu~ in organ building. No school, no book.learning, and no amount of wishful thinking can How Time Wa.. Notated Ia Ea"'y replace the on-the-job experience. K.yboard Mule:. Part I A,. In'enl.'ional Mo""'., DnoUd 10 by Tb • ..-cm Hull.'.. 12 Let us consider what a good organ builder must learn. He must be an ex~n Ill. Or,n and' '0 Or.onuc. .,.,. woodworker and cabiMt maker; he must be an experienced metal worker; he C"un::J. Mtulc mwt know something aboul le\'ers and the physics of action-buildingj he must ha\'e experience with scientiCic mathematics; he must be an expert dr.:artsmanj he r""~ must know 50mCthing about electricit),; and nnally, he must know :J. greal dea.l EdUorial .... _. Olfl<. about the acoustical pro~rties or sound. Enn U he knew all of these, he 11m would EDnORIAL 2 .34 Sotdla WtllHult ANmN, cWe.,o. not be an organ builder. He musl then learn what an orpn ii, both as a REVIEWS IU., 89805. r •..",..,.. 31ll-lfA7-3140 design, a struclure, and also as a musical instrument. This means he must learn SubacrlplloR pric•• ' •• 80 • , .... Itt _- 5OI11ething about otg3n Inwic and how it is to be played. Then he must learn New Choral Mu.k 2-3 cane•• Sm,Ie CO,"" .0 cmll. Bac. how that music is to sound. He must lram the skill of "Dicing pipes, or setting H.w Rec:ord1av. 3. 20 ..umber. mor. '''on 'we ,• .,.. old. 15 them, and laying them OUI on windchl!lts. He must also 10m how 10 tune and cen". Fa,..',. aub.crlplloru ""'" .. Orqan Musk 20 "aid in Unl,.d S,.,.. ,.... or aM rqulate the instrumenL Furthermore, he must learn how to do all this so that Orqan Recitals: LondoD. ED91cmd ."..,..,.,.,., "'... eef. it is pleasing to the cye o[ the beholder. The degree with which he performs by L. reDkiDs 21 all these things is thc degree whh which he is held as an artist b)' those who LETI'ERS TO THE EDITOR 21 must play and listen to his instruments. The longel'ity or his instruments will Adce,''-'n, rG'•• on appUcodon. leU others o[ his craftsmanship. CALENDAR 22·23 Rou'ine il • .,.. 10, publicollon ,,"ut b. It is no wondu, then, that organ builders (good onl!l, at 1('"35t) take great pride ORGAN RECITAL PROGRAMS 24·25 in their instruments:. They will spare nothing to make a nne and lasting product, rec.'ced no' lo'er ,h,," ,h. lOa. 01 ,II. and they will care to make it a work o[ arL CLASSIFIED ADVERnSEMENTS 21·27 mo",h 10 auure 'rumion In ,h. '.. u. lor ,II. n.rl mon'h. For ,.d'al ,ff&. Docs the "organ consultant" go through this same proccs.s, and does he han ,ram. emd ""mill", cOP,. til. clo .. the same skill and artistry as the organ buildu? Wc wish that ",'c could say yes, All .ubscriben arc u'lcd to amd in, dal. '- ,h. S'h. MaI.riab lor ,e_ but the answer must be mon assurtdly in the ncgath'e - with the glaring excep­ changa o( addl'Cll promptly ta the "'no Mould' reoch ,he oilic. '" ,h. tion or a hand[ul o( men throughout the Western part of the world ollice o[ The Dillpuoa. Chaa.1~ h •. Most orpn consultantt ha\'e IcartK'd what little they know rrom books, a mUlt reach u! be(OTe the: 15th of the "quickie" coune taken at some school, a smattering o( experience working for month preceding t.he datc or tbe short periods with an org2n builder or two, and (inaU)' by the trial and enOf' fint issue 10 be mailed 10 the new Second-clo.u "..,::e poHl ell CII,. method. And ret, the consultant ortrn has the po,,'!!r to determine the Sloplist, addrCII. The DilipascHl cannot pro- r4,0. m., """ ., addUtonoJ m"ulftl olfic•• la.... d rh. DIopcua .. the scaling, the la)'out, and the phyliQI l0(2tion of the instrumenL He J1lO5t • ide duplicate cor,ies mbKd because mo"''''" o[ a .ubsaiber'! ailure to noli[y.