A large 1870 E. & G. G. Hook organ, previously in Woburn, Massachusetts, has been moved to Holy Cross Church, Berlin, Germany,where it will be dedicated in concert by Thomas Murray on Sunday, October 21,2001. Professor Murray of Yale University has recorded several Hook organs.
Originally in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Woburn, the organ became available when that church closed in 1991. The 3/39 organ, Opus 553, had been built for the Woburn church in 1870, during a prolific period of organbuilding by the country's then pre-eminent firm, E. & G. G. Hook. Installed in a chamber in the front of the church, its large scales could not compensate for the small chamber opening and the dry acoustics of the church. By 1970, church membership had declined and funds were scarce. The organ was maintained for several years by Charlie Smith, an enthusiastic member of the congregation.
Now free-standing in the rear gallery of Holy Cross Church (Kirche zum Heiligen Kreuz) in Berlin, Germany, the organ at this writing is completely set up and receiving final regulation and tuning. Four stops were playable in mid-July when we visited--the Great 16' Double Open and 8' Open Diapasons, the Swell 16' Bourdon and the Solo 16' Lieblich Gedeckt. Each spoke splendidly into the ample, resonant space of the church. The organ has been installed against the rear wall, leaving easily enough space in the deep balcony for a choir or orchestra. Eule Orgelbau of Bautzen, Germany (near Dresden) was engaged to restore and install the Hook.
In 1991, several area organists played a farewell concert in the Woburn Church. The Organ Clearing House began dismantling the organ and packing it for shipment the next day. The organ was placed in storage for a time until a suitable location for it could be found. Holy Cross seemed the ideal location, and funds were collected for the installation. The organist, Herr Gunther Kennel, having first heard the Hook sound on recordings, enthusiastically supports the project.
Holy Cross is a large brick evangelical church, which had been partially destroyed in World War II. Now reconstructed and designed for multiple uses, the church space can flexibly be partitioned by soundproof glass walls and curtains. A large central tent in the ceiling unfolds to transform the central space into a theater. While we were playing the organ, about 25 people were meeting in another room, while activities proceeded in a third area, a drop-in center for troubled people. The church hosts many concerts, theater productions and other performances, sometimes two or three simultaneously. The church is financially stable, and likely to nurture the organ for many years to come.
The organ façade is now substantially changed. The middle portion of the case, originally the entire façade at Woburn, remains unchanged up to the impost level except for a slight extension at each end to complete the corners. Large extensions in the style of the case flank the central portion, somewhat set back from the prominent central section. Thus, the organ looks considerably wider. Pipes of the central section have been rearranged to align with the Great chest. A "V" of small non-speaking pipes fills the space in the middle. The original stenciling was discovered under the gold paint and may be subsequently restored.
The Hook fills a void in Berlin. Virtually all early Romantic organs in that city were destroyed during or after World War II. The Hook will be an important presence in the concert life of Berlin. The Hook brothers would have relished such enabling acoustics 131 years ago.
The new installation owes much to the vision and expertise of Uwe Pape, organ consultant, author and publisher of many books on the organ, including The Tracker Organ Revival in America, Berlin, Pape Verlag, 1976, and Organs in America, Berlin, Pape Verlag, vol 1, 1982, vol 2, 1984.
--Lois and Quentin Regestein, Boston
