1892 Woodbury & Harris Organ - St. Mary's Church - Charlestown, Massachusetts

[@jrorganbuilding]

For me, this type of instrument along with Hook and Hastings, Johnson, Roosevelt, etc. Represent the pinnacle of American Organ building. This type of tonal palette is second to none.

[@brnmcc01]

I agree, there are some Hook and Hastings instruments that give me goosebumps when hearing them :)

[@natecamilleri3937]

Hinners too!

[@jimroan9185]

I was fortunate to be the organist here in the 1970s. I loved playing there. The church is also magnificent. You can find a few pieces on KZbin played by Rosiland Mohnsen in concert.

[@andre26071955]

This instrument deserves it to be preserved for future generations.

[@williamsimonds5429]

What a gorgeous organ. So surprising for that vintage. Bright and some chiff. You need to keep Peter Sykes on hand for every organ you demonstrate. He is the best you have for that purpose.

[@billraty14]

The plenum heard in the Gade piece (at 33:25) is glorious! The mixtures are bright but not shrill, and the foundations seem to have string overtones with Goldilocks balance (not too loud, not too soft, just right). The Pedal Trombone is jolly, smooth and resonant, and it doesn't take much imagination to hear an orchestral trombone playing because of the wooden boots.

[@MrLESiPhone]

Peter Sykes does a terrific job of demonstrating this instrument. This is the first Woodbury & Harris Organ that I have ever heard. It has a beautiful sound.

[@TheProsaicCult]

this organ has a perfect stop list. a really great instrument.

[@paulh5293]

A fabulous sound. What a diapason that is on the Great! Beautiful, rich singing stop. And that Pedal Dulciana is gorgeous. Beautiful craftsmanship throughout the organ too. I've never understood the Victorian thing about putting an unenclosed clarinet anywhere but that apart, a fine selection of stops brilliantly demonstrated by Peter Sykes. As always, thanks Brent and team for posting.

[@RichardJClark]

Fantastic! Gorgeous organ. Gorgeous phrasing from Maestro Sykes.

[@citylimits8927]

The large Johnson 3-manual organ at Cass Community United Methodist Church in Detroit was also built in 1892 and it too is unaltered. Like this beautiful Woodberry & Harris organ, it too has a gorgeous sound and local pipe organ enthusiasts have been trying to save it. Thanks for this video, Peter, Brent, and Lee!

[@HobbyOrganist]

Wow what a complex action! Amazing the console hadn't been replaced or messed with to "modernize" it and add MIDI garbage to it!

[@InventorZahran]

MIDI can be useful and convenient, but forcibly integrating it into a historic console is inappropriate and dishonors the legacy of the instrument.

[@SpitzPrincipal4]

= ENJOYED This one! A lot of the stops on there have a beautiful French- flavor- much like a Cavaille-Coll.

[@cateclism316]

The 2' stops and mixtures make this instrument shine. The principals are gorgeous as well. Should I go on?

[@alanrogers5106]

When the video started, I thought the church looked like a Patrick Keeley creation. Wikipedia says I was right. I LOVE his architecture.

[@fortepiano_enthusiast-f8t]

sounds fantastic, greetings from Vienna

[@whs1325]

What a fabulous instrument! I heard Dana Robinson play a jaw-dropping rendition of Widor's Symphonie Gothique on this organ at the 2000 OHS convention. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it all these years later.

[@SeattleBoatdog]

What a gorgeous instrument!!

[@Tracygriffith-dz2ys]

Very nice organ and nice sound

[@Landon_Durrant]

This has to be one of the best organs that you have recorded since that Kimball in Ohio.

[@chuckt8457]

This is how an organ should sound.

[@patmeaden]

Great video! I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to practice on this instrument when I’m in town for school

[@rbaltimo]

Pure unadulterated beauty of sound

[@BostonCathedralMusic]

This is incredible and fascinating!

[@malourogers]

What beautiful sweet flues❤️

[@biopoweruk]

What a beautiful organ! I also really liked your depricating expression 'mush mouthed'!

[@louisglen1653]

Very nice organ!

[@Velostigmat]

Wow. This is a pilgrimage organ, and now I see what the action complaints were about.

[@ericalbany]

This might be the perfect late 189th c organ

[@miltronix]

I *should* know, but don'r. What is the piece that Mr. Sykes plays at the end? Thanks.

[@samschaeffer8236]

I wonder if the Harris is Murray Harris, the California organ builder.

[@RichardHarrold1991]

Nope, @Velostigmat has left a comment below - it was Charles T. Harris. Although both Harrises worked for Hutchings around the same era...

[@samschaeffer8236]

@RichardHarrold1991 Thank you for this information.

[@bernardchauvette-oq8rq]

is it tuned to 423hz ?

[@Yaledmot]

Curious - is the "Harris" Murray M. Harris before he left for California?

[@Velostigmat]

No, Charles T. Harris. He voiced flue pipes at Hutchings and worked for Johnson. He was in Woodberry & Harris 1888-1894 but also had associations with James Treat and E. W. Lane. Murray M. Harris apprenticed with Hutchings 1889-1894, so he might have known Charles Harris, but your guess is as good as mine.

[@williamsimonds5429]

NO CELESTE - Oh No

[@brnmcc01]

Yeah I think this organ could have used a couple more strings or at least a string celeste, but there was probably limited space/time/money available in 1892, so they did a pretty good job of what they had to work with. On the other hand it's voiced very well, everything blends together well, nothing is overpowering like a shrieking Tierce or mixture. The mixtures add just the right touch of brightness and fill in the harmonic series without overpowering the principles/fundamental notes.

[@Velostigmat]

Celestes were still kind of a new taste in the 1890s. Boston organbuilding was quite Ango-Germanic at the time, and neither of the grand Hook/Hook & Hastings organs at Immaculate Conception Church and Holy Cross Cathedral had an undulant. Immaculate Conception had one added in 1902. The 1897 Hutchings at the Mission Church has one celeste.