Reed Organ (Harmonium)
  • RobertRobert
    Posts: 343
    I thought these things that used to be ubiquitous in parlours and small churches were wheezy, brassy, noisy white elephants. But it seems on closer investigation that they sound bad because they've fallen into disrepair; when restored and cared for, it is surprising what they can sound like. Seems to me that they would be a better option for most churches that lack a pipe organ than the digital versions: they sound real, and would also be a more suitable instrument for non-professionals.

    This organ the guy in these videos is playing is a common parlour "pump organ" he restored himself:

    A "prelude": https://youtu.be/BxvKyMp2h3E
    A hymn: https://youtu.be/UDVyhm1kDVE
    A "postlude": https://youtu.be/viXcfnMJtqI
    Thanked by 3JonathanKK irishtenor CharlesW
  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    Yes!

    We have one of these at home, not as fancy. You pump it with your feet. It gives a new perspective on harmonium repertoire, e.g. Franck's L'Organiste.

    An interesting thing are the divides in the keyboard which allow the bass and treble to have different sounds and so forth.
    Thanked by 1ClergetKubisz
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RMgTJE9N7I

    You might enjoy this. They were not bad instruments. This is a Mason & Hamlin American reed organ.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,296
    That's actually pretty great! Thanks @Robert for sharing!
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    Robert does have a cogent point: they're real.
    I've seen many in past times and played a few.
    I can't say that I have much appreciation for them - as bygone relics, yes; but not really as musical instruments. They always remind me of accordions, accordions being the only real instruments which just may (may) be less desirable than an organ simulacrum.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    My church had a reed organ from 1926 until 1953 when they raised enough money for a pipe organ. Not unusual, since those early years were spent raising funds for buildings and a school. "Reedies" were common in churches, homes, and even French cathedrals where they were often used for daily liturgies.
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    We used my Hinners reed organ for quite a few years at Our Lady of Walsingham. It had 6 octaves, C-C, 8 stops under expression, and one stop exposed, plus a 13 note 16' Subbass. And there was only one coupler - 4' super - that extended the entire keyboard. When we no longer needed it, and my in-laws' parish "keyboardist" refused to use it, I sold it to Shepherd School of Music at Rice U. for $2,000. (Not bad for a $175 find in central Illinois antique shop!)

    It was very similar to this one, except that I also had a 2-rank Celestina in bass.

    https://www.harpgallery.com/showroom/item20711.html
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    Franck's L'Organiste.

    Alexandre Guilmant
    http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Guilmant,_Alexandre
    L'organiste Liturgique (Liturgiste)
    L'organiste Pratique

    Michael Hendron (youtube channel Mustel1887)
    Describing stops
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2pemHzlwvo
    Guilmant
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbQcDNatKU
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkJSF3pn0x0

    Jon Scott (youtube channel ScottBrothersDuo)
    Guilmant
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT66EV2SfjU
    Franck
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nraHaqiSc
    Debussy
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEQ-Lh9nQ8M
    Saint-Saens
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5vy5QZoigM
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvWTbSR3vC0

    I think I would rather have this instrument than the digital I have at home.
    Thanked by 1eft94530
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    For AGO members of our Forum there is in the current issue of TAO an account of Saint-Seans' organ symphony's original performances and reception in the US, and his multiple visits to this country. Particularly amusing is an early review of it, which concludes that 'all his ingenuity...[as] one of the most accomplished masters...now living...could not avail to save this invention of his fancy from a short shrift and a speedy oblivion'. Further, it is said that it '...resembles the earth before creation, for it is without form and void...'.

    The account of the various organs available at its several performances on this continent reveal the paucity of appropriate instruments 'over here' suitable for to capture this work's grandeur. Even a harmonium (can you imagine it?!) was used, a thing which he lamented.
    _______________

    Also in this issue is a brief article about St George's, Hanover Square, by a visiting American doctoral candidate. This was G.F. Handel's church. The new organ there is by the American builder, Richards, Fowkes & Co., of Ooltewah, Tennessee. (Do you know them, Charles?)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Yes, they have a couple of instruments in my city. They both seem to be in buildings that don't work that well with the instruments. One is in a Presbyterian church that is, in reality, a concrete rectangular box. The organ drowns out the choir. I have noticed that music in that building has a harshness to it. Not surprising the organ sounds the same. A fellow AGO member noted that sitting in the balcony creates enough distance from the organ to soften the harshness a bit. Several of us dislike the instrument to the point of not attending any AGO programs there.

    The other organ is in a former gym at the university that has been converted into a recital hall. You have to sit in certain sections to hear the organ well. Move out of those seating sections and the organ gets a bit lost in that space. It doesn't sound bad at all, but seems not properly scaled for that building. It is kind of like they built a stock instrument without regard to the building. Also, Knoxville humidity is horrendous. One of the students told me keys and parts routinely stick and jam on the organ. We are talking about a former gym, so I don't know about the air conditioning system there. The parking situation is so outrageous that people not already on campus don't make much of an effort to go there.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen
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