The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-24

in developing and improving the eraat
WIND instrument but it is a uninue
instrument in this city because it is the
only one constructed upon what 10
known as the universal wind chest
system
It is difficult to trace the kinsbin
petWeen any pipe organ, no matter
how constructed, and the insipni iffee
ana undlgnified penny whistle. 1t is
especially difficult TO trace a kinshiD
DetWeen the organ at ST Clemens
church and a penny whistle for the
IorlIlef IS apparently bellowIess, and.
as everybody knows, it is the bellows
t tnat formed the connecting link be-
tween the penny whistle. the finest ~
wind instruments. and the nine o,.oyoI,
the biggest. In place of a bellows re-
ceptacle there is, in the organ at e.
SlelHentS, room large enough tn hold
TOUR or five people. To be sure jf
so many people We're compelled ~
spend many hours in this room thew
would be apt to compare it to the ter
rlDle black hole of Calcutta, for If is
without ray of light, and it is not
nlgh enough to permit anybody over
nVe feet tall to stand erect in if. Ru+
a brief visit to the room repays one
Tor any discomfort he may experience.
Every organ pipe stands directly
over the room and has its own valve.
AAiSll IciIl NC from underneath
Whlle the instrument is in use. In this
chamber is revealed the whole n1echan-
ism OF the organ. The room lies half
way between the basement and the
moor Of st. Clements church. 1t is far
removed from the gilded Gothic pines
and from the claVier or keyboard. but
IL is more important than either those
pipes or the keyboard, for it really rep
resents the lungs of the instrument.
a llNi6iIa
To stand inside those lungs when
the organ is being played is to eni0v
UNDUE experience. 1t requires only
little effort of the imagination TO
make one fancy that he is in the tabled
cave of the winds when every wind
IS moaning for an exit The tremen-
dous air vibrations at first deafen. but
when the deafness passes away one
feels that he is listening to an organ
that is being played during a storm.
Ihere is swish, as of the sea- outside
the room, and it is extremely probable
that II the visitor fingered in the room
long enough he would fall a victim to
an attack of NAL de mer-that is, if
he happened not to have acquired his
sea legs.
The new organ at St. Clements
church was made by Hartford
Comm firm Of organ builders. 1t is
a two manual organ, and it's voice is
nicely adapted to the size of the church
Unlike the organs in other St Paul
churches, the stops of this instrument
in st. Clements are above the key
boards instead of at the sides. It has
twenty speaking stops and a great
many cOuplers, which are conveniently
grouped instead of massed together
1t has also the concaYe and radiating
pedals, which rise to meet the feet of
the performer instead of forcing him
to execute a number of pedal gymnas-
tics, such as the old pedal keyboard
demanded. -.,,r-.
Arrangement Is Convenient. a..a.
AS is the custom in so many Episco-
pal churches today, where boy choffs
are maintained, the clavier or Keyboard
of the new organ at st. Clement,s--is y
placed at the side of the chancel OPP
posite the pipes. If the organist is also
chOlrmaSter, the arrangement is q most
convenient one, for it makes it much
easier for him to direct and to play
the organ at the same time. Even
when the organist is not the choiit&-
master, it is much more satisfactory
to him to have the choir in full sight
than it would be to depend upon a
mirror for an occasional glimpse Of the
singers. The connection is by electric
lty, tubular pneumatic, it is called, and
it acts in quick response to pres
sure on the keys. When Ca
liph Haroun al Raschid present.
ed Charlemagne with an organ, as
we are informed he did in the year
A. D. S22, the great emperor prob
ably regarded the gift more in the
light of curio than as a valuable in
strument Certainly the Arab who made
the organ, although 1t undoubtedly
represented his best work, could point
to no very ingenious mechanism to
~ h &c cta7. hot ,T,,1
high. But as the mechanism became
more intricate, the cost of organs in
creased.
The st. Clements church organ cost
$4,000. The largest organ built on the
same plan in this country cost $780,
600. 1t is in ST. Marks church in Phil
adelphia. The organ chamber of this
instrument is eighteen feet by eight,
which means that it would make a
very comfortable auditorium for ten
people who desired to hear the music
and the rush of the wind into the pipes
at the same time. There is a similar
instrument in the cathedral at Albany,
n. Y.
Although Prof. McVey has proved
conclusiveIy that we suffer by COM
parison with Minneapolis, in the matter
of organs the city up the river is very
much behind St. Paul. The Peoples
church organ IS the largest in the
Twin Cities, the st. Clements church
organ is the most unique. Indeed, in
the whole Northwest there is no other
church which possesses an organ con-
structed upon the universal wind chest
system. For it is the most modern as
we'll as one of the oldest (if we be-
lieve the story of Ctesibius) organs.
The St. Clements church organ is to
have its christening a week from
Wednesday night, when Mr.. Fairclough,
organist of the Church of St. John
the Evangelist, will give a recital. He
will be assisted by ST. Johns choir.
--~-~-o-o-~-o-~-~-~->o~~-~ -~-~-~~~-~~-o~~-~.-
speak of him or seeing him call at the
house.
The reply to the fathers letter was as
follows.