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A new organ for Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago

April 30, 2016
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March 18, 2016, marked an important milestone in the history of the pipe organ in Chicago. Chicago was founded in 1837, and the first traceable organ was installed in the city that same year by Henry Erben of New York City, in St. James Episcopal Church (now the Cathedral). Nearly 180 years later, the largest organ in the city was dedicated in concert just a few short blocks away at historic Fourth Presbyterian Church. The organ is Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc., Opus 71.

Fourth Church, founded in 1871 with the merger of North and Westminster Presbyterian Churches, built its present edifice along what is now North Michigan Avenue between 1912 and 1914. At that time, the “Lincoln Parkway,” as it was then known, was not nearly as developed and fashionable as it is now. Today’s neighbors include high rises such as the John Hancock Center.

The English and French Gothic church was designed by Ralph Adams Cram; the accompanying buildings the church erected at the same time were designed by Chicago’s Howard Van Doren Shaw. For this grand, new building, which was the city’s largest Presbyterian church, the Ernest M. Skinner Company of Boston installed its Opus 210, a four-manual, 57-rank organ. This was Mr. Skinner’s second organ to be finished in the city, the first, Opus 207, completed about a month earlier. The specification included many Skinner specialties: English Horn, French Horn, Orchestral Oboe, a high-pressure Tuba Mirabilis, and an early Kleine Erzähler. Opus 210 was typical of Mr. Skinner’s work of the period, but the organ suffered, as did many organs of the day, from being cramped in poorly designed chambers that did not allow the sound of the instrument to freely emerge and command the nave. In 1946, Aeolian-Skinner freshened the instrument with modest additions to the Great, Choir, and Pedal divisions, but this did little to alleviate the organ’s innate problems.

In 1971, Aeolian-Skinner returned to Fourth Church, commissioned to build its Opus 1516, a four-manual, 125-rank organ. It was the last four-manual organ completed before the builder closed its doors. A “period piece,” with the latest tonal thinking in its design, the organ was an instrument played by countless artists in recital throughout its 45-year history. Yet, for this author and many others, the best place to hear the organ was from the console, in the choir gallery just outside the main chamber at the front of the nave. In 1994, Goulding & Wood of Indianapolis made slight modifications to the organ and installed a new case in the south balcony, at the same time that an acoustical renovation was carried out in the sanctuary, a project that included removal of three inches of horsehair from the ceiling and the installation of a new oak ceiling. Despite good efforts, the largest organ in Chicago still did not speak well into the church, and within fifteen years, mechanical issues became problematic.

Fourth Church is an active congregation with 5,200 members. With numerous choirs and instrumental ensembles that enrich worship, the congregation also sponsors recitals and concerts that provide programs several times most any week. The church’s organ plays a vital role in this downtown ministry. Fourth Church embarked on an ambitious program to replace the organ with a new and unique instrument to the city that will serve the church for its next century or more. An extensive educational program about the need for the new organ and its funding brought enthusiastic and generous responses. A $3 million dollar project came to fruition with Quimby Opus 71. The Aeolian-Skinner organ was removed in August 2014, and some of its pipework (and that of Skinner Opus 210) would be reused in the new organ. A new tonal opening was created in the south balcony to improve tonal egress.

The new five-manual console (only the second in Chicago, and the only here today) was hoisted into the choir balcony in November 2015. On Sunday, November 22, a portion of the instrument was used and dedicated in worship. A reception for donors and other invited guests that month included a short recital, to the great delight of all in attendance. A new case for the Positiv division was constructed in the north balcony, in the same style as that in the south balcony. Skinner’s original façade in the choir gallery is still in use, as well. The completed organ comprises 142 ranks and 204 stops.

The Friday evening before Palm Sunday, a near-capacity crowd filled the pews of the floor of the nave for the dedicatory concert by John W. W. Sherer, organist and director of music for Fourth Church for exactly twenty years. Attendees waited in electrified anticipation for the beginning of the program. Sherer’s program included: March on a Theme by Handel, Alexandre Guilmant; Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach; Prelude on ‘Iam sol recedit igneus,’ Bruce Simonds; Fantasy in E-flat Major, Camille Saint-Saëns; Giga, Enrico Bossi; Marche Héroique, A. Herbert Brewer; and Symphony VI in G Minor, Charles-Marie Widor.

Reverend Shannon J. Kerschner, pastor, opened the evening with brief remarks and a prayer. Sherer’s program was the focus of the evening, an excellent choice of music to put the new organ through its paces. Sherer’s smiling face throughout the evening assured those in attendance he was enjoying the music as much as we all were. His program selections and registrations were carefully calculated to show off the best sounds of the organ. (The Positiv and Antiphonal divisions were not finished for this program.) Sherer’s playing throughout the evening was masterful; his technique in this difficult literature demonstrated wide breadth of musicality. To me, the Widor symphony was the finest of the evening, bringing together the broadest ranges of color and dynamic, with attention to the great emotions of the work.

The new organ provides a unique voice to the metropolitan area, and for this, we are grateful to Sherer, Fourth Church, and Quimby for their vision and hard work. Chicago has a wide palette of organ sound, but nothing quite like this instrument. The dedication brochure notes that the instrument is “conceived as an American symphonic organ, with English Romantic leanings, and is especially notable for individually beautiful and characteristic tone colors, which, while widely diverse, nevertheless blend together seamlessly to create a wide range of ensembles.” With seven manual divisions (Great, Swell, Choir, Positiv, Orchestral, Fanfare, and Antiphonal), the instrument certainly lives up to its design principles. (To view the organ’s stoplist, visit quimbypipeorgans.com/in-progress/new/fourth-presbyterian-church.)

One might be concerned that 142 ranks in a room this size would be entirely too much. The organ does indeed command the room (in a way the previous organs never were able to do), but it does not become so burdensome that one begins to look for exit signs. This organ has broad fundamental, coupled with upperwork, a combination not heard in this space before. The orchestral voices are lovely, and for this writer, undoubtedly the strings are the most remarkable. The Quimby organ is surely the most flexible of the three instruments that have graced this building. The only instrument of this builder in the city and its immediate suburbs, it is a welcome addition to our rich artistic scene.

The only disappointment of the evening was the lack of organists in attendance. In our day, with fewer and fewer pipe organs under commission, with churches closing or no longer using their organs, Fourth Church is to be enthusiastically thanked for its commitment to its music program and outreach. We need to support these events with at least our presence. But if you missed this event, there will be plentiful opportunities, as the church has many organ recitals scheduled in the near future.

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