Rice Memorial Organ

The Rice Memorial Organ
Aeolian Skinner, Opus 909  2000
The History of the Organ

Great - Manual II
(18 registers)
16’ Montre 61 pipes
8’ Principal 61
8’ Flute Harmonique 61
8’ Bourdon 61
8’ Gamba 61
5 1/3’ Grosse Quinte 61
4’ Octave 61
4’ Rohrflote 61
3 1/5’ Gross Tierce 61
2 2/3’ Quinte 61
2’ Doublette 61
1 3/5’ Tierce 61
1 1/7’ Septieme 61
IV Fourniture 244
III Cymbale 183
16’ Bombarde 61
8’ Trompette 61
4’ Clairon 61
  Unison Off  
Console Great

Console Swell

 Swell - Manual III
(18 registers)
16’ Bourdon 61 pipes
8’ Geigen 61
8’ Rohrflote 61
8’ Viole de Gambe 61
8’ Voix Celeste 61
8’ Flauto Dolce 61
8’ Flute Celeste (TC) 61
4’ Geigen Octave 61
4’ Bourdon 61
4’ Fugara 61
2’ Octavin 61
VI Plein Jeu 366
III Cymbale 183
16’ Bombarde 61
8’ Trompette 61
8’ Hautbois 61
8’ Vox Humana 61
8’ Clarinet 61
4’ Clairon 61
8’ Trompette en Chamade (Antiphonal) 61
  Tremulant  
16 Swell  
  Unison Off  
4 Swell  
Choir - Manual I
(18 registers)
16’ Gemshorn 12 pipes
8’ Montre 61
8’ Lieblich Gedackt 61
8’ Gemshorn 61
8’ Viola 61
8’ Viola Celeste 61
8’ Dulciana 61
8’ Unda Maris (TC) 49
4’ Prestant 61
4’ Lieblich Flote 61
2 2/3’ Nasard 61
2’ Piccolo Harmonique 61
1 3/5’ Tierce 61
1 1/3’ Larigot 61
1’ Blockflote 61
V Plein Jeu 305
16’ Dulzian 61
8’ Cromorne 61
4’ Rohr Schalmei 61
8’ Trompette a Capot (Antiphonal)  
  Chimes  
  Tremulant  
16 Choir  
  Unison Off  
4 Choir  
Console Choir
Console-Choir Positiv - Manual I
(7 registers)
8’ Gedeckt 61 pipes
4’ Principal 61
4’ Spillflöte 61
2’ Principal 61
1 1/3’ Nasat 61
II Cornet (TC) 98
III Zimbel 183
  Tremulant  
16 Positiv  
  Unison Off  
Pedal
(16 registers)
32’ Soubasse 12 pipes
16’ Contrebasse 32
16’ Montre (Great)  
16’ Soubasse 32
16’ Gemshorn (Choir)  
16’ Bourdon (Swell)  
10 2/3’ Gross Quinte 32
8’ Principal 32
8’ Gedackt Pommer 32
8’ Bourdon (Swell)  
6 2/5’ Gross Tierce 32
5 1/3’ Quinte 32
4 4/7’ Septieme 32
4’ Octave 32
4’ Harmonic Flute 32
2’ Nachthorn 32
V Mixture 160
32’ Contre Bombarde 12
16’ Bombarde 32
16’ Bombarde (Great)  
8’ Bombarde (Great)  
8’ Trompette 32
4’ Clairon 32
4’ Schalmey 32
8’ Trompette a Capot (Antiphonal)  
  Chimes  
Console-Solo Bombarde - IV
(12 registers)
8’ Montre 61 pipes
4’ Octave 61
VIII Fourniture 319
16’ Bombarde 61
8’ Trompette Harmonique 61
4’ Clairon Harmonique 61
8’ Flute Major 61
8’ Gamba 61
8’ Gamba Celeste 61
8’ French Horn 61
8’ English Horn 61
8’ Clarinet (Swell) 61
8’ Tuba 61
  Tremulant  
  Unison Off  
Antiphonal - Manual IV
(9 registers)
8’ Spitz Geigen 61 pipes
8’ Bourdon 61
4’ Prestant 61
4’ Koppelflote 61
2’ Fifteenth 61
IV-V Plein Jeu 257
16’ Trompette en Chamade 61
8’ Trompette en Chamade 61
8’ Trompette a Capot 61
8’ Tuba (Bombarde)  
  Unison Off  
Console Solo

The History of the Organ

The first building of All Saints Church located on Pearl Street, Worcester, was finished in 1846 and furnished with an organ. As it was still only partially paid for by 1853, the organ “was claimed by the owner, and removed.” Later that same year it was replaced at a cost of $600.00. Research has failed to reveal who built the first two organs. The third, a two-manual tracker, was the product of William A. Johnson, Opus 163, installed when the building was enlarged in 1864. Unfortunately the Johnson organ was destroyed by fire on Easter Tuesday 1874.

The second building of All Saints was built on the corner of Pleasant and Irving Streets in 1877. Under the direction of Choirmaster Isaac N. Metcalf, the Saint Cecilia Club raised $920.57 toward an organ; insurance on the Johnson organ paid $2,377.70. The new organ, built by Hutchings, Plaisted & Co., Opus 66, 1876, was a three-manual instrument of 46 registers at a cost of $6,858.07 “for organ and motor.” (Hutchings, Plaisted & Co. supplied their Opus 66a, 1876, a 1-11 for the Chapel of All Saints.) In 1912, the church used a bequest of $2,000.00 “to install an electric motor for the main organ, together with essential wiring.”

In 1923, Mrs. Lucy Draper Rice offered the church a new organ in memory of her husband, William Ellis Rice. The three manual-instrument, built by E. M. Skinner, Opus 406, 1923, was dedicated May 18, 1924. On January 20, 1932, both the church and organ were destroyed by fire.

Aeolian-Skinner supplied a three-manual organ (Opus 895, 1932) for temporary use in Huntington Hall until a new building could be finished. Aeolian-Skinner’s Opus 897, 1932, a 2-rank practice organ, was installed in the Choir Room. Opus 909, 1933, was installed in the new church building which opened for worship on Easter Sunday 1934.

Changes and additions to the organ, designed by William Self in cooperation with G. Donald Harrison, were made in the years 1940 to 1943, delayed in completion because of World War II. Albert W. Rice, son of William and Lucy Rice, made the improvements possible. Additional alterations were made by Mr. Harrison in subsequent years and at one time more than 1,500 pipes were removed to the Aeolian-Skinner factory in Boston for revoicing or replacement. In 1951, the original enclosed Bombarde division was completely revised and the shutters removed.

The Antiphonal Organ was added in 1963, built under the direction of Joseph Whiteford of Aeolian-Skinner Gilbert F. Adams did the tonal finishing. In 1967, Mrs. Mary Gage Rice gave a new console in memory of her husband Albert, who died in 1965. In 1975, Mrs. Rice gave a new pair of horizontal Trumpets, provided by the Berkshire Organ Co. Berkshire also made some other tonal modifications in 1976 at the suggestion of William Self. David W. Cogswell of Berkshire designed the new mixture scales and composition with voicing by Judd Fitzgerald, a former voicer for Aeolian-Skinner.

By the late 1990s, the pneumatic switching system controlling the organ was showing signs of constant use, and needed either complete restoration or replacement. Through the generosity of the Leonard H. White Family, the church engaged Southfield Organ Builders of Springfield, who re-outfitted the console with new solid state equipment. Keyboards and cabinetry were restored and the entire organ was rewired in compliance with the National Electrical Code. At the same time, several ranks of pipes that had been removed over the years were recreated (following Aeolian-Skinner shop notes) to enrich the tonal palette of the instrument.

In the 1930s, orchestral colors (English Horn, French Horn, Solo Flute, Solo Strings) were considered indispensable in a large organ. The All Saints organ was a site for experimentation and development by Aeolian-Skinner of alternate sounds such as the French Bombarde reeds and large mixtures.

In the Rice Memorial Organ one can trace the entire twentieth century pendulum swing of organ building tastes. The orchestral sounds once present have been re-created while the “classic” additions of French reeds and mixtures have been preserved as well. The result is an organ of unusual variety, great power, clarity and brilliance. The re-dedication of the Rice Memorial Organ of four manuals and pedal, 7 divisions, 135 ranks and over 7,000 pipes took place during the Lenten Recital Series 2000.

The two manual Choir Room organ, Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 897, 1932, had fallen prey to vandalism and water damage rendering it unusable for the last quarter century. In 1996, Timothy E. Smith refurbished the instrument to playable condition.

Joyce Hokans. Compiled from writings of Alan Laufman for the Organ Historical Society, 1983, and The NorthEast Organist, 1996; and Timothy E. Smith, Organ Consultant.

This page was updated ~ Thursday, May 3, 2007
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