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The Reigning Monarch of Instruments
by Norman Fulkerson
 The
Wanamaker is not only the world’s largest organ, it is also
the largest musical instrument on earth.
Moreau Claude, an organist from Paris, appreciates
such things. After all, he has a beautiful organ in his own home
and has studied under Marcel Dupre1.
For his 70th birthday, his daughter bought him a ticket to go
see this grand organ and fulfill his lifelong dream. It was a
round-trip ticket however since this instrument’s home is
not in Europe but inside the Lord and Taylor department store
in downtown Philadelphia and can be seen only in America.
After hearing the organ play on Monday and Tuesday,
a happy Mr. Claude and his daughter got back on the plane Wednesday
for the long trip home. According to the official organist, Peter
Conte, such trips are not uncommon. “There are other people
in Europe”, he said, “that save up for years to come
over and see it.” Such trips he referred to as veritable
pilgrimages.
It seemed odd to me that such a thing would
exist in a department store. That is the reason I had to see it
for myself. As I walked through the doors and past the men’s
clothing area I arrived in the Grand Court which is 112 feet long
and 66 feet wide.
Expecting to merely hear an instrument of great
quality, my first thought upon seeing this organ was how stunningly
beautiful it was. Its golden hue and multilayer structuring emits
a defined sense of hierarchy synonymous with queenly dignity.
I felt I was truly being received in audience by something a brochure
I picked up aptly defined as "The Reigning Monarch of Instruments."
Her throne is appropriately located high above the gallery on
the south end of the court; a gallery which seats 100 musicians
on special occasions.
History of the Wanamaker
The history
of this organ is as rich as her regal surroundings.
In the late 1800’s a man by the name of John Wanamaker opened
a “new kind of store.” It was to be a place where you
could buy just about everything under one roof. It was said in those
days that “if you couldn’t buy it at Wanamaker’s,
you couldn’t get it in Philadelphia.”
One thing Mr. Wanamaker lacked, however, was
an organ for the entertainment of his customers. He believed music
was just as important to a well rounded life as work and exercise.
He thus began a trend which was common in the early 1900’s
for department stores to provide soothing organ music for their
shoppers.
Peter Conte considered this practice to be a continuation of an
English tradition of having an organ in a central public space.
“In those days, they couldn’t afford an orchestra”,
he said, “so the organist became a one-man band who would
play transcriptions of everyone’s favorite orchestral music.”
A new acquisition
for the Wanamaker Store
And so it was that John Wanamaker’s son Rodman bought the
famous Louisiana Purchase Organ now known simply as The Wanamaker.
It had been displayed at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
and was sitting in a warehouse after plans for installing it in
the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium fell through.
After being transported to Philadelphia on thirteen
freight cars, the organ was too small to fill the cavernous spaces
provided for her. Not a problem for Rodman. “As long as
I live”, he boasted, “we will continue to enlarge
it until it combines the grandeur of a great organ with the tone
colors and beauty of a great symphony orchestra.”
One hundred years later, she is over twice as
large as the original St. Louis organ. According to Peter Conte,
“it’s the size of three symphony orchestras.”
Those unfamiliar with organs will appreciate its grandeur by comparing
it with other organs. The world renowned Cavaillé-Col organ
in Notre Dame Cathedral has 7800 pipes. The Sydney Opera House
grand organ boasts of 10,000. The Wanamaker has no fewer than
28, 482. And the variety is equally staggering. Some pipes are
as small as a child’s pinky while the largest one, being
32 feet long, would allow the same child to play hide and seek
inside.
The Curator
Back in the 20’s, there were 40 full-time employees looking
after her. Today there are only two. One of them is Curt Mangel.
He is the curator. However, this title in no way describes all he
has done for an instrument described as “unplayable”
in 1991 by Peter Conte. He has literally brought it back to life
and describes what he does as a “labor of love.” Now
it is operating at 96 percent of its capacity.
He was interested in organs since he was a young boy and laments
the fact he first visited the Grand Court only eight years ago.
Amazed with the organ’s beauty, he also noticed it needed
a lot of work. Realizing the importance of this instrument, he organized
a group of professional volunteers to come in for one solid week
to work on it. He ended up staying as a volunteer for five years.
Lord and Taylor eventually hired him as a consultant.
I was able to go behind the scenes where the menagerie of pipes
is located and saw first hand the almost countless screws and bolts
that were replaced to make it what it is today. I was in awe at
the laborious precision of the restoration accomplished under the
direction of this one man. He is
someone you cannot help but like although he is a man of few words.
When speaking about his work on this organ, he looks to the horizon
as if to distance himself from the value of his labors, not wanting
credit for the good he does.
The Friend
Wallace J. Mclean is a proud volunteer with an
organization called The Friends of the Wanamaker Organ. He is
a 78 year-old man with the eyes of a 14 year-old. That was his
age when he first heard the Wanamaker played. “I never forgot
it,” he said.
He derives an obvious joy being there and described
his reason for becoming a volunteer very succinctly. “I
have been taking from the organ all my life” he said. “Its
payback time now.” He speaks with passion about the organ
as tears well up in his eyes.
Such enthusiasm is not uncommon around the Wanamaker. A shopper
named Ethel May McSparren stopped by while we were speaking to
give her testimony. She is from Lancaster, Penn., and first heard
the organ around Christmas time when she was three years old.
“I almost cried when I heard it start,” she said,
“I did not know they were still playing it. I wish my father
was alive so he could hear this.”
A relic of the past
is saved from the “god of consumerism.”
Before leaving, I saw a couple who seemed noticeably more moved
than the rest. They were Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hoppe from Waverly,
New York. They both looked well considering they had just finished
a six-hour train ride. Like the Frenchman, he too was celebrating
a birthday with a trip to see the Wanamaker, compliments of his
wife.
“I could not have given him a better gift,”
said Mrs. Hoppe. “He was so happy when I told him we were
coming, he was grinning from ear to ear.” With camera in
hand, she was snapping photos of the majestic organ pipes high
above her while her husband stood in silent admiration.
He had acquired a taste for music some years ago but admitted
there was nothing like live music. Holding his hands up in an
almost prayer like gesture, he added, “But to think that
Boze is coming close to reproducing this.”
This comment said it all. Organs may come and go but there is
nothing like the Wanamaker on planet earth. More impressive than
its size and the appreciation of those who come from far and wide
to hear it is the resolution of those determined to preserve her.
Many people would not expect to see Americans make the Herculean
effort of these men to save such a relic of the past. Nor would
they think it possible for a high-end store like Lord and Taylor
to support this endeavor.
I could almost hear them suggest piping
computer-generated music behind the façade of this magnificent
organ as an alternative to expensive repairs. Others might go
a step further and suggest getting rid of the organ altogether.
Sacrificing her to the “god of consumerism,” would,
after all, free up a lot of space which could be used for more
merchandise.
However, that is not what Lord and Taylor chose to do. And with
the help of a dedicated curator, an accomplished organist and
a lot of dedicated “friends,” its sound is live and
its appearance grand. It can be heard and appreciated -- only
in America.
For more information on the Wanamaker Organ, log on to: www.wanamakerorgan.com.
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