Mercer University has acquired and has dedicated a new organ for the organ teaching studio in McCorkle Hall, Townsend School of Music. The instrument, the Giuseppe Englert Memorial Organ, was originally built by Victor Gonzalez in 1953 in Paris. Its home for 59 years was the salon in the apartment on the Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg (in full view of the impressive gold-leaf dome of Les Invalides, where one finds the tomb of Napoléon) of Giuseppe Englert and his wife, Jacqueline Englert-Marchal, the daughter of celebrated blind French organist André Marchal. Giuseppe Englert, a former student of Marchal, spent his career as a university professor and composer of electronic music.
Upon the death in April 2012 of Mme Englert-Marchal, the Gonzalez organ was offered as a gift to Mercer University by Michel Snethlage, the nephew of Jacqueline and Giuseppe Englert. The new organ professor at Mercer, Jack Mitchener, was a friend of Jacqueline Englert and Michel Snethlage and was delighted to accept the organ so that his students might benefit from it. The instrument arrived in Macon, Georgia, in October 2012 and French organ builder Robert Martin spent several weeks in November and December rebuilding the organ in its new home. Ronald Gibson, Halbert Gober, and Bud Taylor participated in various aspects of the reconstruction as well. Mercer organ majors also took part in the process of rebuilding the organ, including countless hours spent unpacking innumerable parts of the instrument, connecting the stop and key action, and cleaning and installing pipes.
There was a weekend celebration, April 10–12, 2013, to inaugurate the organ. The festivities included a dedication ceremony and inaugural concert featuring Jack Mitchener as well as guest organists Marie-Antoinette (“Maritouca”) Vernières (a good friend of the Englerts who was the last person to play the organ in Paris and the first to play it in its new home at Mercer), Ralph Tilden (a former student of André Marchal and good friend of the Englerts), Guillaume Gionta from Marseille, France, and Robert Martin (the organ builder and also Organist of the Cathedral in Marseille). The inaugural events also included a lecture on Cavaillé-Coll by Robert Martin and an “Open House” concert featuring Mercer organ students and others from the community.
The instrument is a fine example of neo-classical organ building from the shop of Victor Gonzalez. It has fifteen independent stops and 18 ranks. Both manual divisions (Grand Orgue and Récit) are under expression; the Montre 8 is in the façade, the Pedal Soubasse 16, Bourdon 8, and Flute 4 are exposed as is the Régale rank. The latter was added to the organ several years after the original installation in Paris and is on an off-set electric action chest. The organ otherwise has mechanical key and stop action, although the stops knobs turn allowing push-down combination pedals to activate whichever stops have been set. The organ has a wide dynamic range, sweet and gentle when the boxes are closed and full and robust when open. However, the sound is never terribly loud. It is appropriately voiced for a teaching studio and is a successful instrument for all of the repertoire. The manual compass is 61 notes while the pedal is 32 notes.
—Jack Mitchener
