"Mammoth" Aeolian-Skinner - Independence, Missouri

[NYCFarmboy]

Any updates on this one:

[Guest]

Re: "Mammoth" Aeolian-Skinner - Independence, Missouri

That organ is in the auditorium at Community of Christ church (RLDS i think) in Independence. their website is www.cofchrist.org. that organ is still there and quite functional. There are several videos on their website featuring the organ. It has probably one of the greatest American Classic sounds I have ever heard. They also have a 4/100+ Casavant in their Temple.

[MattAshby]

Please visit the YouTube channel, KnocheCollective, to hear this organ and read further about its history and current status. I took two vinyl LPs, converted to digital files, and created amateur videos to illustrate something about the respective hymn tunes.

Favorite Hymns from The Auditorium Organ with Bethel Knoche

[NYCFarmboy]

thanks for that update!

[Mirabilis]

Was this organ moved from the Re-organized Latter-Day Saints church in Independence, MO to another church?
What was the completion date of this organ? Did G. Donald Harrison actually install it or was it Joe Whiteford?

[Mirabilis]

According to the Aeolian-Skinner opus list the dedication recital was not played until 1959; Catharine Crozier played it.
When was the organ sold and moved to Community of Christ Church (RLDS)?

[michaelhoddy]

If the organ was actually completed in the later (1958-59) timeframe, Harrison would already have been dead two years, so it's more likely a Harrison design (and it looks like one) that was installed by others.

[m&m's]

No sale or move. Some years ago the RLDS changed its name to Community of Christ Church

[Mirabilis]

The Aeolian-Skinner opus list shows the installation date as 1956.

[pictureroll]

Harrison would have been working on St Thomas in 1956 in order to get it ready for the AGO convention that summer.
He died in June of that year.

Jerry F Bacon ♫♫

[Guest]

It is indeed a Harrison design. But after his death, Joseph Whiteford made the principal scales smaller. The tonal finishing was by Arthur Birchall and Donald Gillette.

[pictureroll]

You want Mammoth try St Barts in NYC and or Riverside Church also in NYC.

[beel m]

Interesting that you mentioned the change to H's design by W. Don Gillette was quoted (by Charles Callahan) as lamenting, in another context, Whiteford's "string quartet Greats." Lots of good reading about this and the Independence organ in Dr Callahan's book...
R, Bill Miller, Phila PA

It is indeed a Harrison design. But after his death, Joseph Whiteford made the principal scales smaller. The tonal finishing was by Arthur Birchall and Donald Gillette.