1925 Wangerin Organ, Masonic Center, Madison, Wisconsin

[@caseyflorida]

Love Dr. Schaeffer's knowledge of organs and his skills at playing!

[@praestant8]

He's rather young and still learning.

[@thebog11]

@@praestant8 You've got to be kidding me. He improvises as well as any musician ever featured on this program, and he's much more knowledgeable than all of them. Of course we are all still learning, but they don't just give organ doctorates to anyone - and I'm willing to bet his doctorate is in organ.

[@williamralph5442]

It's facinating that 1920's technology still sounds great...Thank you.

[@mwangerin]

Thank you for this informative video on the Wangerin organ at the Masonic center in Madison. My grandfather, Paul Wangerin was a first cousin of Adolph Wangerin (1873-1956) who was the founder of the Wangerin Organ Company of Milwaukee. As indicated in the presentation there were and still are many Wangerin organs in Wisconsin and especially in the Lutheran churches in Milwaukee. I am aware of several Wangerin organs still in use in the city, some of which have had new electronics and consoles added but some in still remarkably original condition. This includes the following Lutheran churches: Ascension, St. John’s (Hillside), St. Marcus, St. Stephen’s, and Sherman Park. I am in possession of the owner’s plaque from St. Sebastian Catholic Church which also had a Wangerin organ until it was rebuilt about 20 years ago. I served for nearly 33 years as one of the pastors at Mount Olive Milwaukee, which also had a large 3 manual Wangerin organ until 1987 when it was replaced by a Berghaus (even though several of the large wooden pedal ranks were retained). In the comments in the video, mention was made of a large Wangerin organ in a church in Milwaukee which is not currently accessible. I believe that is the organ in the old Immanuel Lutheran Church building on Teutonia and Meinecke in Milwaukee. Adolph Wangerin was a member of that congregation and served on the school board around 1916. In 1912, Wangerin-Weickhardt installed a new organ there with 35 speaking stops and 46 mechanical stops (as described in the German history of the congregation from 1916). Immanuel built a new church which was dedicated in 1925. Their 75th anniversary booklet from 1941 describes the expansion of the organ in 1940 from 35 speaking stops to 55 and describes it as one of the largest organs in the Missouri Synod at that time. In the late 1960’s, Immanuel merged with St. Peter’s church and sold their building. I was at the last service held at Immanuel church with my father and have not been in the building since. I do not know if the organ is still there or in what condition it is though some years ago I heard that it had probably been damaged by vandals. It would be an interesting assignment to ascertain the current status or even existence of the organ. Rev. Mark E. Wangerin (Glendale, Wisconsin)

[@DrKristinaRizzotto]

Good demonstration of a lovely instrument, Dr. Schaeffer! I thoroughly enjoyed this and I’m always impressed by your encyclopedic knowledge of all-things organ :)

[@deborahkrausssmith6126]

There is a 2-manual, 14-rank Wangerin-Weickhardt, c. 1921, at St. John's United Church of Christ in Monroe, WI. It's still maintained quite well. I played that instrument for a good chunk of my career as a church musician; the sounds on this video are all quite familiar, as well as how the chamber looks (including the swell chamber door with the little wooden latch) Thanks, Andrew and Brent, for this video!

[@pierrelauwers8719]

This organ is a gem, and deserves protection !

[@drewedwards6172]

I absolutely loved hearing this organ! These are the tones I dream of!

[@kilgenbuff]

This organ was cited as an historic instrument worthy of preservation by the OHS. The firm's magnum opus was a 4/54 for St. Vibiana Cathedral, Los Angeles in 1929. Wangerin built above average, quality church organs for the medium price range market.

[@OrganNLou]

WOW, for once we have a nice sounding room in a Masonic auditorium! Nice organ and room! Thank You guys!!

[@brucevipond2222]

Fantabolous episode!

[@mjfreeman]

Once upon a time there was a Wangerin organ at St. Vibiana Cathedral in Los Angeles. Austin built a new organ using some of the Wangerin and Dobson used some of it in their organ for Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. Good ranks.

[@joshuag.4873]

Wow! Didn't know that. I knew some ranks from the "old organ" were spared, but other than the tuba, I wasn't sure of the details. Do you know which ranks were included from which era?

[@mjfreeman]

@@joshuag.4873 I know the Bourdon and Open Wood 16 in pedal solo strings major flute

[@wurlitzer895]

Greetings from London, UK. Very much enjoyed this video and the organ sounded superb. Thank you so much. Peter A :) :) :)

[@markaustin4370]

Wonderful sounds! Love the Doppelflote

[@kontrahylian]

To respond to Andrew's statement about the Wangerin-Barton Theatre Organ in the state Iowa it is located in downtown Cedar Rapids, at the the Theatre Cedar Rapids (Formerly the RKO Iowa Theatre when it opened in 1928.). It is also true that the console of that instrument is in fact studded with rhinestones, so much so that It is called by locals and enthusiasts alike as the "Rhinestone Barton." This organ and a noteworthy 12-rank Wurlitzer at the Paramount Theatre (Located less than 2 1/2 blocks to the Southwest of this Theatre) are survivors of a calamitous flood of the Cedar River in 2008. Today both theatre organs are the iconic symbols of Theatre Organs in the state of Iowa, If anything I highly recommend visiting these instruments they are definitely not to be missed or passed up.

[@tmsenzig]

There is a nice Wangerin in Kaukauna, Wis. at Holy Cross Church that had some additions by J.C. Taylor about 20 years ago.

[@theodoremikellguerrant4918]

I played a 9-rank Wangerin-Weickhardt organ at the McFarland Lutheran Church near Madison in 1972-73, long since replaced by I believe a Casavant when the new sanctuary was built. It was tubular pneumatic and had issues. They had located the blower over a back door where it brought in very cold air.

[@leetingler619]

As they explored the chambers l was taken aback by the lack of dust. The pipes also seem to be in excellent condition too. Yes with some restoration the Wangerin should sing once again

[@harmonicoutreach]

Wonderful sounding instrument, very strong reeds, beautiful strings and great doppelflote. More character than a Skinner from the same time.. just wish diapasons were a little larger in scale.

[@chrisingle5839]

Well done, as always. Hope to see you ar Reunion again sometime!

[@JLHoopes1]

I just bought a sample set of this organ from Evensong to use with Hauptwerk and I am really enjoying it. Seeing and hearing this video has really helped learn more about this organ. I really appreciate it. The sample set version that I bought, which is called "wet", has pretty good acoustics and all of the stops work, including those not playable when the video was made, although there are a few "clunkers", like the F above middle C and the E flat above the next C, on the Salicional Celeste in the Echo. So I don't generally use this stop with the other strings. However, with Hauptwerk you can easily transpose, so I could use this stop, depending on the key I am playing in. I also think that if I had a higher version of Hauptwerk (I only have 4.2) I may be able to voice individual notes. The main reason I bought this sample set was for the nice sounding chimes, which work well, but I am certainly enjoying the many other stops. I have about 20 other sample sets, all from Europe, and this is one of my favorites.

[@StoreeDenson]

Beautiful. It is great that Evensong Music Sampled this organ for Hauptwerk and GrandOrgue VPO.

[@ScoG33]

He mentioned it’s a common problem with the stop tabs, but didn’t ever really say why.

[@matthieubazile3350]

Great instrument! Would love to see this organ be restored.

[@TheCLPVideos]

The unloved, and underappreciated Wangerous of the world. I have played two of them here in Dayton, OH. One at the University of Dayton, which has since been replaced by an electronic instrument, and it's big brother at Our Lady Of The Rosary Catholic Church. The Rosary organ has just undergone a complete electrical restoration.

[@frederickwagoner4179]

Please make a trip to Nashville First Baptist one of the best Schantz organs built!

[@danjohnson7479]

The UW School of Music, at one time, used to use this Masonic hall for concerts, often involving their orchestra, harpsichord and choirs. Sometimes this organ was included. The new UW concert hall does not include an organ, so perhaps back to the future! There is a local legend that Virgil Fox came to town, complete with a black velvet cape, and gave a concert across the street at Bethel Lutheran. After this concert, he took some listeners across the street to play transcriptions on this organ, being that many organs of this vintage were designed for this type of music. Dr. Schaeffer elevated his wonderful tour with a Joplin/Biggs transcription, a perfect choice! My only regret is that the Wadsworth at St. James was not included in this Madison tour of organs because this is a great combination of organ and room!

[@williammitchell1864]

Dr. Schaeffer, Does the Fern Flute, mean that this particular flute pipe is made of Fern wood?

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

Fern in this case is the German word for far, so the stop name means a distant flute. Such stops can be made from either wood or metal.

[@jrzzrj]

Great instrument. I didn't listen to every minute of this video. but I missed any tremolo in the Joplin medley. Is there any??

[@rowenerickson319]

I know of a Barton church organ at St. Mary's in Oshkosh

[@stepheneggert9474]

I've seen old coke cans used as tuning sleeves

[@LarcR]

This organ clearly needs extensive work, but it should prove a worthwhile investment. It has some fantastic sounding ranks.

[@521wurlitzer]

How about the tie between Wangerin and Barton?

[@88THUMBS]

According to Dave Junction’s 3-volume treatise on theater organ builders, Dan Barton relied heavily on Wangerin to fill his orders. There are supposedly many Barton organs that are entirely Wangerin-built, save possibly the console. Wangerin built some theater organs as well, but their horseshoe consoles were nowhere as attractive as their straight organ consoles.

[@johnjablonski2155]

How many pipes in a rank? Or does each stop equal a rank ?

[@TheProsaicCult]

61 keys and 30 pedals. A rank represents the actual pipes, themselves. If you activate the flute stop there will be 61 pipes, and so on. This can vary depending on several factors such as time at which it was built. A stop can also be a coupler which can reassign ranks of pipes between divisions. On this Wangerin instrument the white stops are the ranks of pipes and the black stops are the couplers. Stops, keys and pedals can be electronically actuated or mechanically so. Tracker (mechanical) organs have made a huge comeback over the last 10 years, and rightly so. If given proper maintenance they can remain in good working order for centuries.

[@pauljames5914]

Wish I had a hauptwerk sample of this organ. Such a sweet sou nd

[@johnball3487]

I would bet that Jerome Myer made a lot of the metal flue pipes!

[@timdaugherty5921]

Looks like an Austin organ

[@PointyTailofSatan]

Interestingly, to turn on the organ, you need to use a secret handshake,

[@timdaugherty5921]

I see he is married

[@scotto40]

🐕

[@denovadiddeldorf8324]

Fabby Poo

[@derherrvonhabenichts7462]

Anglicising the German names does not endear you to me