- Curtis Organ
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The Curtis Organ, named for publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis, is one of the largest pipe organs in the world with 162 ranks and 10,731 pipes. It was manufactured by the Austin Organ Company as its Opus 1416 in 1926 for the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition. It was known as the "Organists' Organ" because the specifications were formulated by Henry S. Fry, John McE. Ward, Rollo F. Maitland, Frederick Maxson, and S. Wesley Sears, all prominent Philadelphia organists.[1]
Curtis acquired the instrument after the Exposition went bankrupt [2] and donated it to the University of Pennsylvania, where it was incorporated into Irvine Auditorium at the time of the building's construction.
The organ contains one of the largest Universal Air Chests ever built by Austin. In its original configuration in the Auditorium building, the organ spread 75 feet across its platform at the Sesquicentennial Exposition. This pressurized room under the pipes allows access to the organ's pneumatic mechanisms while it is playing, and was touted as being able to seat 100 people to dinner comfortably. The organ's mechanical actions were renewed in the 1950s through the generosity of Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, daughter of Cyrus H. K. Curtis and founder of The Curtis Institute of Music. In the 1990s, the organ was connected to a customized MIDI interface, making it, at that time, the world's largest MIDI-capable instrument. In more recent times, the Austin Organ Company carried out a complete mechanical restoration of the organ (with a new console and relay system added), carefully preserving the organ's tonal integrity. It was rededicated in October 2002.
Discography featuring the Curtis Organ
• Music From The Curtis Organ, Ted Alan Worth (1988) [CORS CD-141601]
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ken Cowen (1999) [CORS CD-141602]
References
- ^ http://www.austinorgans.com/about-us-photogallery-content.htm Austin Organ Company webpage including the Curtis Organ
- ^ http://www.phillyhistory.org/blog/archive/2008/10/30/the-sesquicentennial-exposition-of-1926.aspx "...the entire festival was placed into equity receivership by the United States District Court on April 27, 1927." Philadelphia City Archives, Record Group 232, Sesquicentennial Exhibition Association.
External links
Curtis Publishing Company Magazines (years published by Curtis)Tribune and Farmer (1879–1884?) · Ladies' Home Journal (1883–1968) · The Saturday Evening Post (1898–1969, 1971–1982) · Country Gentleman (1911–1955) · Jack & Jill (1938–1969) · Holiday (1946–1977) · The American Home (1958–1968) · Bride to Be · Status (?–1969)Key FiguresGeorge Horace Lorimer · Louisa Knapp Curtis · Edward William Bok · Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist · Ben Hibbs · Ada Campbell RoseCurtis-Martin Newspapers, Inc. NewspapersKey figuresCurtis Circulation Company .Legacy Curtis Institute of Music · Curtis Hall Arboretum · Bok Tower Gardens · Curtis Organ · The Lyndonia · Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · The Dream Garden · Curtis Center · Kotzschmar Memorial OrganCategories:- Electric and electronic keyboard instruments
- Pipe organs
- University of Pennsylvania
- Musical instrument stubs
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