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Web Exclusives:
Under the Ivy October 19, 2005: A
mighty wind
“I have a firm belief that the organ and the music of the Chapel as a whole will grow to have a very real purpose and significance in the life of the University,” wrote University Chapel organist Ralph Downes in the Nov. 9, 1928, issue of PAW. “Princeton is noted for athletics and football; why should it not be equally notable for its musical tradition?” Downes was understandably excited about the prospects for religious music on campus. Earlier in the year, on Memorial Day, the new University Chapel had been dedicated in a two-part ceremony with “a medieval spirit, in keeping with the 14th-century architecture of the structure.” The afternoon service was a musical concert of selections from Bach’s “Mass in B Minor,” played on the University’s magnificent new organ. “One of the grandest instruments I have ever seen,” as Downes described it, the organ was built for the chapel by the Skinner Organ Co., the most revered firm in American organ-making. Ernest M. Skinner, the company’s founder, had become fascinated with organs at a young age. According to a company history, he worked for several different organ makers and in 1898, at age 32, traveled to Europe to study. Three years later he started his own company, combining what he had learned overseas with the new technology of the day. Though Skinner was a terrible businessman – consistently behind deadline and over budget – his instruments were so impressive that he continued to draw customers. In 1919, Skinner and his company received what would be at once their salvation and their downfall: the attention and financial interest of millionaire chemist Arthur Marks. Marks bought a controlling share in the company, and soon had it operating in excellent financial shape. But before a decade passed, he came to see Skinner as a liability, and hired a replacement. By 1930, Skinner had been forced out of the company he founded. Despite the turmoil at the organ company, Princeton’s organ – finished before Skinner’s ouster – “remained essentially in the earlier Skinner tradition – that of the finest and most opulent Romanticism,” according to the Mander Organ Co., which undertook a 1990 restoration of the instrument. Over the years, however, Princeton’s organ had become unrecognizable from its original state. Downes himself began the tinkering, making small alterations. These efforts had “minimal effect,” according to Mander’s account (http://www.mander-organs.com/leader.html), but the 1950s changes wrought by University organist Carl Weinrich were more profound. Current University organist Eric Plutz explains that not only did Weinrich love the music of Bach – a renowned organist in his lifetime – but also Weinrich’s tenure as University organist coincided with a worldwide fad for the music of the early 18th century. Organ builders began building new organs and adjusting existing ones to suit the demand. “This often meant thinner and more high-pitched pipes were replacing the big, warm sounds of the early part of the 20th century,” Plutz explains. “Weinrich made modifications to the organ at the Chapel in an attempt to make it more adept at playing the music of Bach, and in the process, radically changed the design of Ernest Skinner’s concept as it was shown in the organ.” While Mander’s account diplomatically accepts Weinrich’s desire to “adapt the instrument to the demands of the ‘Baroque Revival,’ ” the organ company couldn’t conceal its pain at the condition in which the organ was eventually left. “We found the mightiest stop -- the Tuba Mirabilis – in a pathetic heap in an underground storage area beneath the chapel,” the history records. Mander did not recreate the original organ in its restoration; instead, it attempted to “retain all that was best and characteristic of the Skinner work,” while “nudging” the organ “towards a broader usefulness, albeit in a voicing style compatible with that of the surviving original work.” Today, Plutz says, “The sound of the organ is extraordinary – capable of every dynamic level, from a whisper to a roar. It is capable of performing music from nearly every period. What is perhaps most impressive of all is the room into which the organ speaks. The acoustics of the chapel seem to fit hand-in-glove with the sound of the organ. It is a great combination.” While once again the organ is at its magnificent
best in its magnificent setting, one challenge for Plutz is to interest
today’s undergraduates in its regal sound. For the wider community,
faculty, graduate students, and local residents, however, the organ
still has a large appeal. “For those who know it’s here,”
says Plutz, “it’s a treasure.”
Jane Martin ’89 is PAW's former editor-in-chief. You can reach her at paw@princeton.edu
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