As some of you may know, I own an Aeolian Player Pipe organ,
Opus 1280.  It was ordered by Helen Gould Shepard on August 23,
1913.  That means that later this summer, the organ will enter its
centennial year.

Over the last two years, I have considered many ways to celebrate
this centennial.  No conclusions have been reached, but I feel
strongly that I should make some effort in that regard.

Many of us own centennial instruments, so the concept is not unique.
What is significant concerning any Aeolian residence organ is the
manner in which they were used.

Today, we generally hear organ music in two different styles.
Church music is what often comes to mind.  Added to that is the lively
Theatre renditions that we get to hear in the great venues that sport
those wonderful instruments.  But late in the nineteenth century, many
public auditoriums contained organs that pre-dated the Hope-Jones
theatre instruments and also radically departed from church organs.
They were orchestral in nature imitating large orchestras and much more
versatile than church instruments.  It was this format that Aeolian
pursued.

Aeolian stressed that their organs were designed for the residence
and should not be considered "churchy", but more like the orchestral
auditorium organ.  Based on their well-established music roll business
for pianos and reed organs, Aeolian made rolls for the pipe organ that
could imitate most symphonic music of the day.  Key to that era was
opera -- the opera transcriptions that Aeolian made for the organ are
superb.  They were arranged, and could not be hand played.  The Aeolian
instrument was well matched to those scores.

The voicing of the pipes allowed, through mixed high and low registers,
the illusion that two separate themes with different voices were being
played on one rank of pipes at the same time.  Thus, full orchestral
renditions emerged from a two manual instrument.  The illusion is that
as many as four or more distinct voices occur simultaneously.

This type of musical rendition only exists on a self-playing instrument.
Band organs also possess this ability, but they do not have the broad
spectrum of tone color and volume.  This makes the Aeolian unique
among organs.  It is this concept that I want to celebrate during the
centennial of opus 1280.  The art of the Aeolian is a collaboration of
organ designers, roll arrangers, organists and wealthy patrons.  It
will never happen again.

How should I celebrate?  Open houses, programs, seminars, live artists,
rolls?  What are your comments?

Showing off the wonderful Aeolian Harp and the skill of roll arrangers
is the basis of a Podcast I've just posted.  Chaminade's "Les Sylvains"
has just been put on my web site at:

http://aeolianorgan.com/aeolian/Podcast_5/Entries/2013/6/26_Les_Sylvains%2C_Duo_Art_roll_3302.html 

This music clearly departs from the "church" sound and uses many voices
combined with the harp for a gorgeous rendition.

Bob Taylor
Missouri