1897 Farrand and Votey Pipe Organ - St. Luke's United Methodist Church - Dubuque, Iowa

[@jarrossgar]

I just bought a 35 Rank Farrand & Votey. Hoping to get it installed at the church I play for in Utah!

[@NateDulcimer]

Nice! Is there a specification from its former location on the Pipe Organ Database? Also, with 35 ranks, is it a 2 or 3 manual?

[@jarrossgar]

@@NateDulcimer opus 94, 1890/1891

[@Msjudibeefl]

Beautiful sounds; I love hearing it every Sunday😊! I hope we can get to be there in person soon!

[@PapaLynn1]

For sure, go see the St Martin’s organ if you are ever in Louisville! It is a stunning instrument in a magnificent acoustic!

[@johnball3487]

Hi Lum!!!

[@BenZuzelski]

Great video, I love these! You need to come to Grand Rapids MI where there are SO many wonderful organs to hear and tour, they are also all relatively close to each other! From Cathedrals, Basilicas, small churches and concert halls, there would be immense number of videos! Let me know if you would want to come visit.

[@organist1982]

Wow, I heard the tierce rank in the Great mixture as soon as he demonstrated it! I wouldn't have expected that.

[@Gg-jq7ht]

Tasty!

[@davidcraggs3770]

Very good organ . Hope you succeed in having the Trombone 16Ft installed on the Pedal.

[@louisglen1653]

Very nice organ!

[@zimbelstern62]

This organ sounds so much like a 2m 1930 Hinnrers I played many years.

[@charlesmoore2106]

There is one in Pottsburgh at Calvary U M C.

[@grantfarragher]

I have been playing a two manual 1892 Farrand and Votey. Some pipes from another instrument were added later. Sadly, in the the 1980s all of the original reeds were removed among other things.

[@ksbear2]

Mr. Barland needs to submit a stop-list to the OHS. It isn't on that site.

[@RowlandLee-t7f]

Farrrand and Votey were the successors to Roosevelt, and then (via Hutchings and Votey) became part of Aeolian. Is the Doppelflote similar to a Roosevelt one? Is the Clarinet a free-reed rank?

[@Velostigmat]

The Doppelflote should be very similar to Roosevelt. After Hilborne Roosevelt died, his brother Frank decided to sell the company, and F&V bought the intellectual property and moved the business to Detroit. (They also bought Grandville Wood & Son around the same time.) William Farrand and Edwin S. Votey split in 1897. Farrand stayed with reed organs, while Votey took the pipe organ division with him and founded the Votey Organ Company. That company was bought by Aeolian in 1899. Votey then merged with George Hutchings in 1901. Votey invented the Pianola piano player about 1895-1896 and became the vice president of Aeolian in 1897. I suspect he was involved in a number of companies but that's for further research.

[@organist1982]

I'm curious about the lack of a Pedal 16' reed. Wouldn't a 16' Trombone or the like have been standard in an organ this size in that time period?

[@Gg-jq7ht]

If they could afford it.

[@organist1982]

@@Gg-jq7ht I personally would rather have a pedal 16' reed before having any sort of 3rd manual division.

[@SpitzPrincipal4]

Partially yes, but each company had their quirk. Hook and Hastings without question would have installed one. Yet in such a time as the 1900's era it was oddly much more common to have Flue's on the Pedal instead of a dedicated Pedal reed. You'd be fortunate to see a 16' Fagotto even on the Swell division in early specifications. A Trumpet 8' was usually as low as it got on the Pedal divison, with frequently a Gedackt 16', Bourdon 16', Open Diapason 16' and often the novelty of a 16' reed was replaced by an Acoustic Bass 32' or Untersatz 32'. On later organs that were overhauled, rebuilt or re-worked by companies decades later from the time of original installation they would end up adding a 16' octave of pipes to the 8' Trumpet of original specification for at least SOME sort of a 16' reed to accentuate the pedal line. Agreed- the 16' Pedal Reed would be my first preference!

[@drdylanman]

What does the bellows signal stop do (that's on the pedal)?

[@KennyCnotG]

It would have indicated to the people operating the bellows when to start or stop

[@drdylanman]

@@KennyCnotG Ohhhh, I get it. Thats from when the bellows were probably manually operated. 🙂 Thanks!

[@nathanwille3996]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Methodists didn't call their congregation "St. Luke's" because Luke is the patron saint of physicians. Luke was a physician. That's probably why they chose the name.

[@brucetominello7440]

You always have to play the organ you have not the one you wish you had.

[@SpitzPrincipal4]

Well said!

[@tomprivate3362]

The provided link goes to a H&H at a Catholic church.

[@ojotut]

Interesting, but quite disappointing. It would be nice to see the full stop list. The acoustics are dry, and the demonstration less than inspiring. I'm sure the organ functions fine for service playing. I guess like most people, this organ does its job, but doesn't stand out from the crowd.

[@TruckguyTruckguy]

very dead acoustics in there and not room for sound to get out nicely