It was December 24, 1925 when Mr. and Mrs. George D. Duncan,along with their daughter Dorothy, attended the annual Christmas Eve program atthe Spreckels Outdoor Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, San Diego. Mrs. Duncan wassoon to have a child and the small maternity hospital was only about a mileaway. Two days later, the Duncans celebrated the arrival of their second child,Douglas Ian. But I am way ahead of the story!
Could a pipe organ, sounding out into the open air in apark-like setting, be built? This is a question that entered the mind of agentleman named John D. Spreckels. He had a great fondness for music, had amusic room added to his mansion in Coronado (a city across the bay from SanDiego), and he spent many hours at the console of his three-manual Aeolianplayer organ. He consulted organ builders and organists about the additionalproblems that might be caused by climatic conditions in tuning and on the working parts of the instrument. Hevisited often with his good friend, well-known organist Humphrey John Stewart.John D. held ownership in a beautiful private pleasure park, loved thearea's temperate climate that all San Diegans enjoyed, and he wanted toshare those things which he found joyous with others.
The birth of Balboa Park
The story as related to me, beginning in 1957 by Fred W.Reif (1889-1964), who spent his working life as a purchasing agent forone of the Spreckels- owned companies, and in retirement served the San DiegoHistorical Society, is as follows. About the beginning of the twentiethcentury, John D. and his brother Adolph B. began making investments in and nearSan Diego. Transportation was a key to developing their many ventures, and theSpreckels brothers acquired local and suburban railways. At the end of one oftheir streetcar lines was the pleasure park called "The Bluffs."John D. renamed the park "Mission Cliff Gardens" and made manyimprovements so as to increase the number of passengers on the San DiegoElectric Railway. There were magic lantern shows, soft refreshments,beautifully maintained gardens, a central pavilion for Sunday band concertsand, along the crest of the escarpment overlooking wide Mission Valley, werevistas extending from the Pacific Ocean to the distant mountains. In theforeground could be seen the ruins of the first of the twenty-one Californiamissions, San Diego de Alcala. It was at this location, so I was told, thatJohn D. thought about an outdoor-speaking pipe organ. Why, it might attractriders to the trolley line! That was about 1910, and San Diego had a populationof a little less than forty thousand.
A stock market panic in 1907 had left many folks uncertainabout investing in San Diego; however, the Spreckels brothers could onlybelieve in a dynamic future! San Diego had a great natural harbor, completionof the Panama Canal was set for 1915, and it would be the first port of call onthe western side of the United States. In 1909 a member of the Chamber ofCommerce came up with a great idea--celebrate the opening of the canal withan exposition! When the much larger Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco heardabout the harebrained idea from the little town down south, they announced thattheir city would have a fair and San Diego could forget their plans. John D.Spreckels, who had come from San Francisco a few years before, thought that SanDiego needed a boost and he subscribed $100,000 toward an exposition. Othersfollowed and soon the support and approval of the concept grew to one milliondollars! In 1910 the citizens passed bonds for park improvements. Finally,there was an agreement that both San Diego and San Francisco would hold fairsin 1915. The San Diego Exposition Company arranged to use some of the mostlyundeveloped City Park. CITY PARK!! What an awful name for the location of aFAIR--the name was changed to BALBOA PARK! The next two years saw theexposition company making many changes--in the location within the park,in the architecture of many of the exposition buildings, and in the selectionof the New York architectural firm of Bertram Goodhue. Many of his buildingdesigns were of the lavish Spanish Baroque.
An organ for Balboa Park
Again we have Mr. John D. Spreckels enter the picture! Forseveral years he and the officers of the electric railway had desired aright-of-way through City (now Balboa) Park to the growing residential areabeyond. He also wanted to give the fair an organ, and the officers of theexposition company wanted a fine pipe organ. Ah, behind the scenes there werenegotiations! It was announced that the Spreckels brothers would give the fairan organ (perhaps the same one that was planned for Mission Cliff Gardens) andthe rail line was extended into the park giving the fair an added easternentrance. The Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut was awarded the bidfor an instrument of four manuals, 46 ranks, and 3024 pipes costing
Several sites were considered for the location of theexposition organ and finally, whenBrazil decided not to exhibit, the pavilion was located at the south end of thefair's central mall--the Plaza de Panama. The pavilion design
Spreckels owned the morning newspaper, The San Diego Union,and reported in the March 17, 1914 edition that work had begun on the structureto house the organ. It was finished in seven months. The local citizens wereintrigued by all the work at the fair, and the exposition company allowed the public to enter theconstruction site on Sundays.Among those who came for a visit were Mr. and Mrs. Austin D. Thomas who hadrecently come to the United States from Wales. He had accepted the post asorganist and choirmaster of the newly built 1400-seat First Presbyterian Churchwith its three-manual thirty-rank Johnston organ. I enjoyed many visits withMr. Thomas and he related that methods used in constructing the pavilion werevery interesting. First, Albright erected two rather large rectangular concretetowers to support the large metal folding door. Then, he told me, after thedoor was in place atop the towers, the building was built up and over the bigdoor. At each side of the main building are quarter round peristyles withCorinthian-style columns that support an attractive balustrade above.Incorporated in the decorations affixed to the structure are places for lightglobes to outline the building at night. Harrison Albright was not a trainedarchitect, and all of his hotels, office buildings and houses have a castsameness. The Organ Pavilion is no exception!
The San Diego Union reported on October 20, 1914 that theAustin organ had arrived. The installers must have been busy because, as Mr.Thomas related, nine ranks did not sound at the first hearing of theinstrument. The appointment of the Official Exposition Organist was made byJohn D. Spreckels, Dr. Humphrey John Stewart, along with an organ tuner and abuilding custodian, a Mr. Douglass. The custodial duties included more thanjust keeping the building and grounds clean. He had to crank open and thenclose the big ten-ton folding door by hand! Perhaps I should interject a storyabout the door. For about eighteenyears, Mr. Douglass cranked the heavy door open for each concert and, after theprogram, lowered it holding back the force of the weight with a hand brake. Itwas a lot of work and he was not getting any younger! One day he went to seethe director of Balboa Park and he said something like this, "I am tiredof opening and closing that big heavy door and I want you to install anelectric motor to operate it." The following day Mr. Douglass appeared atthe director's office and he repeated his words. On the third day, the parkdirector thought Mr. Douglass was serious! There would be no organ concert ifthe door did not open. City workmen found a Ford Model A back axle, attached anelectric motor to the end of the shaft, and presto, the cheap drive worked forthe next thirty years!
1915--The Panama-California Exposition
The dedication of the organ and pavilion took place on NewYear's Eve 1914 at nine o'clock before the formal opening of thePanama-California Exposition at midnight. Many thousands were in attendance andfilled the open area reaching up the mall. Perhaps the words of H. Austin Adamsin his book, The Man, John D. Spreckels,best describe that wonderful evening:
The occasion was one never to be forgotten. As John D. roseto offer his gift to the people of San Diego, he was so moved by the ovation hereceived that his voice was choked by tears. At last, when another and louderoutburst of applause died down, he said simply to the president of the ParkCommission, John F. Forward, Jr., "I beg you to accept this gift onbehalf of the people of the city of San Diego." On either side of himwere seated high government officials, the governors of many states, foreigndiplomats, and scores of others prominent in the business and social world. Butas he stood there trying to control his emotion sufficiently to read the formaldeed of gift, he looked not around him but out over the enormous sea of facesturned up to him in gratitude and honor--the faces of the"undistinguished many" for whose benefit he had conceived and carriedout this noble thing. He managed, somehow, to read the deed. Few caught thesequence of the words, so broken was his utterance; but through the breaks allcaught a glimpse--their first in many cases--of the real John D.
Mr. Forward elegantly responded and was followed by theHonorable Samuel M. Shortridge of San Francisco who gave an overly long floridspeech. Ah! At last, the more than ten thousand people in attendance could hearthe Austin Outdoor Pipe Organ. The program follows:
Part One - Organ Solos - Dr. Humphrey John Stewart - Organist
1) Processional March (Music Drama Montezuma), Stewart
2) Fantasia on Christmas Melodies (Written for Opening),Stewart
3) Overture ("Guillaume Tell"), Gioacchino [sic]Antonio Rossini
Part Two - The fifty-piece San Diego Popular Orchestra underthe direction of Chesley Mills and the People's Chorus of 250 voicesdirected by Willibald Lehmann
1) Pomp and Circumstance (Orchestra), Edward Elgar
2) The Heavens Are Telling (The Creation), Franz JosephHaydn (Chorus and Orchestra)
3) Overture (Orchestra), Jacques Offenbach
4) The Marvelous Work (The Creation), Haydn
Finale - Orchestra, Chorus and the Spreckels Outdoor Organ
5) Unfold ye Portals (The Redemption), Charles Gounod
Of the first year of the Panama-California Exposition, itcan be said that the outdoor speaking pipe organ was the main attraction. Inhis Balboa Park Research, Richard W. Amero said, "During its briefexistence of one year, the Spreckels organ has sent forth melody more timesprobably than any other organ in America in a like period. Only seven times inthe 365 days of the year has Dr. Stewart been forced to abandon his dailyrecitals because of weather conditions. Eight numbers were played at eachrecital making a total of 2,864 selections played during the year of1915." Among the guest organists who came to play that first year wereClarence Dickinson and William C. Carl of New York; Roland Diggle and ErnestDouglas from Los Angeles; and from Auckland, New Zealand, Harold Gregson. Whenthe great contralto, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, would join HumphreyStewart at the pavilion, it was reported that 20,000 would pack the area. Herstrong voice would soar above the organ (there was no amplification in thosedays) and the crowd would roar with enthusiastic approval. The little town ofSan Diego put on quite a show in 1915 and the exposition came to a closeshowing a profit.
So popular was the fair in San Diego that it ran for asecond full year, this time as thePanama-California Interntional Exposition. San Francisco had been selected in1915 as the site for an international event--now it was San Diego'sturn! Exhibits were brought from the big city up north, and while theattendance was not as great as that of 1915, the International Exposition of1916 was a success. Dr. Stewart played 1,768 selections and concerts werecanceled eighteen times. Among the guest artists in 1916 were John Doane ofChicago (later to retire in San Diego); Uda Waldrop from San Francisco (laterplaying the Spreckels Organ at the Palace of the Legion of Honor); and Royal A.Brown (who became Dr. Stewart's assistant.)
When the second exposition closed on New Year's Eve1916, it was again the famed contralto Madame Schumann-Heink, who at the strokeof midnight sang "Auld Lang Syne." As her voice was heard, theoutline lighting of the pavilion and the lights of the fair buildings wereextinguished, the grounds fell to near darkness, Madame Schumann-Heink led achorus in the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" while bombsexploded, flags of nations were unfurled, and atop the pavilion building apyrotechnic display in glowing colors read "World Peace 1917."
The year 1917 saw Mr. Austin D. Thomas play for two weekswhile Humphrey Stewart went on holiday in San Francisco. In 1918, Royal AlbertBrown became the assistant organist and played one concert each week. The year 1919 saw a total of 2,270selections by 385 composers performed.
Humphrey John Stewart
Perhaps now is a good time to tell about the first threemusicians who served as resident organists at Balboa Park. The Spreckels familyhad long known and admired Humphrey John Stewart. Born in London on May 22,1856, he served as a choir boy and studied organ in his youth, and later playedat Holy Trinity, Tulse Hill, London. It was in the United Kingdom that hebecame known as a composer and as a fine recitalist. At the age of thirty, hecame to San Francisco and played at three churches: The Advent, Trinity, andFirst Unitarian. While in the Bay Area, he wrote compositions for orchestra,choir, and organ, and served as the conductor of the Handel and Haydn ChoralSociety. He also wrote two of his three music dramas which were given at theBohemian Grove in the California Redwoods. In 1901, he became the OfficialOrganist at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, where he performedrecitals on the large four-manual Emmonds Howard Organ (a Westfield,Massachusetts builder) in the 180-foot-high domed Temple of Music. At the closeof the fair, he accepted the post as organist and choirmaster of TrinityChurch, Boston, staying two years before returning to San Francisco to play forthe next seven years at St. Dominic's Church. In going to San Diego atthe end of 1914, he set a much higher standard for organ music, a standard notknown before. In the late spring of 1917, Humphrey Stewart played a Prelude andFugue by Mendelssohn, a Guilmant Sonata, three of the larger Preludes andFugues of Bach, original works by then-living composers in Europe and theUnited States, and transcriptions of classical orchestral compositions. Stewartwas noted for his ability to hold his audience in rapture with his resourcefulimprovisations! After serving as Exposition Organist for two years, thenplaying another sixteen full years as the Official City Organist, Dr. Stewartpassed away on December 28, 1932. The best words to describe him were publishedin the January 2, 1933 issue of The San Diego Union:
COMPOSER PAYS STEWART TRIBUTE
The Union yesterday received the following letter from EdwinHenry Lemare, famous organist and composer, former municipal organist at SanFrancisco and Portland (Maine), who now resides in Hollywood.
"Editor The San Diego Union: I am indeed grieved tohear of the passing of my dear friend and confrere, Humphrey J. Stewart. Fewknew him as I did and no one enjoyed a closer friendship. As a noted concertorganist, he never failed to uphold the great traditions of his art.
"The people of San Diego were indeed fortunate inhaving that public spirited citizen, the late John D. Spreckels, present theorgan and later subsidize Dr. Stewart's services for so many years. Thesetwo men were always the closest of friends and Dr. Stewart never ceased tomourn the loss of his admiring patron.
"Although an Englishman (!) Dr. Stewart had anunbounded sense of humor and few could equal him in conversation, or hisability at repartee.
"It was at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, ofwhich he was an old and honoredmember, that I first met Dr. Stewart, and the many happy days spent together inthe Bohemian Grove never will be forgotten. Everyone there loved him, nor couldit be otherwise, as his kind and affectionate nature magnetized all who methim.
"His passing is an irreparable loss, not alone to theBohemian Club, but to all centers of the past activities. Dear old Humphrey! Weshall never cease to love and revere your memory.
"May his good soul rest in peace.
Edwin H. Lemare"
May I again interject a story? Royal A. Brown once told methat Humphrey Stewart had a hand in selecting the stop list for the SpreckelsOutdoor Organ. I have for years pondered this statement!
Royal Brown
The San Diego City Council appointed HumphreyStewart's assistant, Royal Albert Brown, as the Official Civic Organist.Born in Texas in 1890, Mr. Brown came to San Diego when he was in his earlytwenties. He played piano with the small chamber orchestra in the
Royal Brown, like his predecessor, worked to improve standards of organ music in the area. Inthe 1930s, he brought Albert Riemenschneider from Baldwin-Wallace College,Berea, Ohio, who gave lectures, played, and helped organists mark music in fingering and phrasing of Bach. Thestudents sat at small tables grouped around the park organ console. What awonderful outdoor classroom experience it must have been! A new-three manualAustin organ was installed at St. Joseph's Church in the last year of Dr.Stewart's life, and Mr. Brown succeeded him there also. Later he went toplay at the Union Congregational Church in La Jolla. Royal Brown composed andarranged many pieces for organ, and none, to the best of my knowledge, haveever been published. Each year he would perform his "Balboa ParkSuite," musical expressions of buildings and the grounds near the organpavilion. Another well remembered work was his "PedalÉtude," a tour de force that, had it been published, would be onconcert programs today! His repertoire was extensive, he played all of thelarger works of Bach, the fourteen "Stations of the Cross" byDupré, the "Ad nos" by Liszt, and the "Sonata on the94th Psalm" by Reubke.
Perhaps I can share with you two stories about Royal Brown.It was a raw December day, a Saturday in 1951, and I was the organist andchoirmaster of Grace Lutheran Church which is located on the north side ofBalboa Park. The building was not heated, I was weary of practicing in thecold, and I went out for a bite to eat. As I warmed in the small cafe, I beganto wonder, "How does Royal Brown manage to play on a day as cold asthis?" Off I went to the 2:30 program at the park! The few listenersheard a faultlessly played concert, and I sat through the hour and wondered whyI had the nerve to complain about the cold. I drove him home that afternoon,and as we drew up in front of his house he handed me an envelope. Inside was ahand-written holiday card in red and green ink with original music set to thewords "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Thesecond story was told me by a park gardener. Mr. Brown liked to arrive at thepark on the streetcar. As he walked from the station toward the pavilion, hewould wander through the Rose Garden, pause, look furtively about, casuallylight a cigar, and then snip off a rosebud. Thus, the second resident organistalways had a fresh rose boutonniere for his concert! The gardeners watched inamusement, the stems were always properly cut, they liked Mr. Brown, and theynever said a word to the park officers. And those cigars, they smoked up mycars on the way to AGO meetings.He was the right person to fill the post of Official Civic Organist at exactlythe right time. Royal Albert Brown died on October 28, 1954.
Charles Shatto
Charles Rollin Shatto was born in Iowa in 1908 and wasbrought to the San Diego area as a young child. His father accepted thepastorate of the Congregational Church in National City (a city adjacent to SanDiego). The church structure, built in the 1880s, was an ornate woodenVictorian building and, at the back of the choir loft, was a one-manual trackerorgan with an attractively painted pipe façade. This organ fascinatedyoung Charles and he studied piano with a local piano teacher. The ChineseCongregational Church needed an organist and young Charles helped out byplaying their foot-pumped reed organ. As he grew, he studied organ with Mr.Brown and Dr. Stewart and made two trips to Paris to take instruction in organand composition. Mr. Shatto took the position as the senior organist of FirstMethodist Church of San Diego playing the then-new 29-rank, three-manual HenryPilcher organ. He served the church for many years until one tragic day when hewas in a vehicular accident. The car caught on fire, his wife was killed, andhe escaped with two badly burned hands. Painfully, he recovered, took a lesserpost at the Park Boulevard Methodist Church, arranged for a better pipe organto be installed, and remained until 1957. In the autumn of 1957 he accepted theposition as organist at the French-speaking Parish of Notre Dame des Victories,San Francisco. He served the church for twenty-five years, had the smallfour-manual Murray Harris organ restored to its original specification, andenjoyed his tenure where contemporary French compositions could be played withappreciation. Mr. Shatto was a noted sight reader, played complex music withease, and wrote thirty-nine works for organ. Among his writings are two musicalsketches, "Cabrillo Bridge" and "Sunrise from the CaliforniaTower"--both Balboa Park landmarks. His "Poem" waspublished in 1964 in the California Organist Collection.
While in San Francisco in September 1976, I went to hearCharles Shatto play on the newly restored organ at his church. After theservice, he graciously extended an invitation to have lunch. Fine! We climbedinto his car and off we roared down narrow city streets, up and down hills,missing parked vehicles by inches, and arrived at a fine restaurant onFisherman's Wharf. He climbed out of the car in fine spirits. I arrivedfeeling as if I were leaving the world's best roller coaster! The lunchand conversation were most enjoyable and the ride back to the church was mostmemorable!!! I later learned that he was famous for his driving--very,very famous. Charles Rollin Shatto died on New Year's Day 1983.
And so, this narration comes full circle. The yet to be bornchild, whose parents attended that Christmas Eve program in 1925, grew toadulthood hearing the great music played by Stewart, Brown, and Shatto. InSeptember of 1957 Douglas Ian Duncan took his place at the console of Mr.Spreckels' generous bequest to the people of San Diego as the fourth inthe line of civic organists. During his more than twenty-year tenure he hadplayed 1,249 public recitals when he retired on February 5, 1978.
Postscript
Douglas Ian Duncanserved the Naval Training Center as well as Congregational, Lutheran, andEpiscopal churches in the San Diego area. He directed the Lutheran OratorioSociety, the Episcopal Choral Society, and the music program at the San MiguelSchool. He studied at the University of Redlands and obtained his degree fromCalifornia Western University. His principal instructors were Lillie M. High,Margaret W. Dow, Charles H. Marsh, and Dr. Walter Teutsch. All of hisinstruction and playing were in southern California. He now lives in retirementin the desert.
Jared Jacobsenbecame the Fifth Official Civic Organist in 1978 and served through 1984. Hewas born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, came to San Diego first to be the organistand choirmaster of St. James-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, and later served St.Leander's Roman Catholic Church, San Leandro, California. He holds agraduate degree from the University of Arizona, and is now the organist andteaches music at The Bishop's School, La Jolla, California. He has fordecades spent his summers on the staff of the Chautauqua Institute insouthwestern New York state.
Robert Plimpton cameto Balboa Park in 1985 and played for more than sixteen and a half years. Onhis retirement, the City of San Diego granted him the title of Official CivicOrganist Emeritus. Born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, he graduated from EasternCollege, St. David's, and studied with Robert Elmore, Anton Heiller andMarie-Claire Alain. He came to San Diego to be the organist at the FirstPresbyterian Church and now serves San Diego's First United MethodistChurch.
The present organist at Balboa Park is the world-renownedconcert artist, Carol Williams. Born inthe United Kingdom, trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, she cameto the United States to extend her education. She has an Artist Diploma fromfrom Yale University, and her DMA was earned from the Manhattan School ofMusic. Her studies have been with David Sanger, Daniel Roth, Thomas Murray, andMcNeil Robinson. Dr. Williams has performed all over the world includingNotre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Westminster Abbey in London, and RiversideChurch in New York City.
In 2005 the Spreckels Organ will be celebrating 90 years; onSaturday January 1 at midday, a five-hour concert was presented to celebratethis wonderful Austin organ and historic venue. Throughout the year many eventsare planned; information can be found at <www.sosorgan.com>.
The author wrote the above article in honor of the ninetiethyear of performance at the world's largest outdoor organ. The above wordsbrought as much enjoyment for him as did playing in the open air for twentyyears, six months and
