The original organ at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was built by the E.M. Skinner Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Skinner’s 31 rank Opus 604 was completed in 1926. In 1958, the organ was rebuilt by a European firm in attempt to update and brighten the tonal character of the organ.
By the 1980s, the organ was in unreliable condition. The slider windchests added in the 1950s were jammed and inoperable due to sap from the pine sliders, and the Antiphonal Organ was gradually coming unanchored from the back wall. Metal fatigue was such a problem that even 4' basses were collapsing.
St. Paul’s Church contracted Muller Pipe Organ to restore and improve the instrument. A plan was developed to preserve and restore the Skinner pipework and augment it with new pipes in an American Classic style. The original Skinner windchests were rebuilt, and the balance of the organ was installed on new windchests.
The restored Skinner pipework includes the Swell 16' Bourdon, 8' Gedeckt, 4' Harmonic Flute, 8' Salicional and Voix Celeste, and 8' Flauto Dolce and Flute Celeste; the Choir 8' Concert Flute and Clarinet; and the Pedal 16' Subbass and 8' Flute. The balance of the organ is made up of new pipework.
A restored and updated masterpiece, the organ now reflects the evolutionary process that the instrument in general has processed through in the 20th century. With the restoration of the original Skinner pipework, and the addition of new pipework, the organ retains the charm and character of the Skinner organ, but is supplemented with a fire and clarity found in organs built new today. To showcase the new organ, Dr. Gerre Hancock, Organist and Choirmaster of St. Thomas Church in New York, played the dedication recital.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Jackson, Michigan
