The Pipe Organ at Second Presbyterian Church

The pipe organ at Second Presbyterian Church has four manuals, and 44 ranks of pipes totaling 2,524 pipes. The majority of the pipes are located behind the large organ case. Several ranks of pipes are located in a room off the balcony. These pipes are intended to produce a celestial “echo” effect, so that section of the organ is appropriately called the “Echo Division.” A tonal opening in the wall can be seen on the south wall of the balcony. A set of Deagan tubular chimes is also located in the balcony on the south side. These chimes are played from the organ console, and were most likely installed in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The console of the organ is located in the south end of the choir loft.

The first organ to be installed in the sanctuary was built by Johnson & Son of Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1873, their opus 410 (three manuals, 59 stops). Just a few years later, a new and highly fashionable organ was installed at Epiphany Episcopal Church on nearby Ashland Avenue by the Detroit firm of Farrand & Votey. This inspired the Church congregation to have Farrand & Votey install a new instrument, however it appears that some of the pipes of the original Johnson organ were retained.

As we know, a fire destroyed the interior of the church on March 8, 1900. The congregation immediately began to reconstruct the interior with the Howard Van Doren Shaw  design.  In 1901, the Hutchings-Votey organ company  of Boston, Massachusetts, installed a three manual, 53 stop organ, opus 535. It again appears that Hutchings-Votey used what they could salvage from the Farrand & Votey organ.

On July 9, 1917 a contract was signed with the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut, for Opus 767, a four-manual, 44 rank, 50 stop instrument with electro-pneumatic action.  However, this was actually just a rebuild of the existing organ.  Austin added a new 4-manual console (which is the same console that exists today), and moved various ranks of pipes from the existing Great, Swell, and Choir divisions to form a Solo division.  Since all of the pipework in the organ was still the pipes of the previous three builders dating from 1873 to 1901, the original pitch of the organ was A435.  At the time of this 1917 rebuild, the Austin company was asked to re-pitch the organ from A435 to A440.  However, this must have proved too costly as it was never done, and the organ remains at A435 pitch today.

Well-known organist Edward Eigenschenk, D. Mus., aago, (July 6, 1903-December 4, 1977) served as Organist and Director of Music to Second Presbyterian Church from 1929 to 1977. A concert musician who made several recordings, Eigenschenk was best known at Second Presbyterian Church for the annual production of Theodore Dubois’ Seven Last Words. For this, a special “Thunder” stop was installed in the Choir division. The Thunder stop consists of a piece of sheet metal connected to a pneumatic device which shakes the sheet of metal to imitate thunder. This type of device was commonly found among the various sound effects used in theater organs of the 1920s. This thundersheet most likely was removed from a theater organ in the late 1930s when many theaters began to fail, or were removing organs no longer required due to the demise of silent movies. Dr. Eigenschenk is reported to have played the organ for theaters in Chicago, so he was probably aware of any theater organ that was being dismantled, and he was able to acquire it for the church.

During the late 1960’s, it is thought that there was some type of damage, possibly vandalism, to the organ—specifically, the Choir division. To remedy this situation, some pipes were acquired from Lake Forest Presbyterian Church, as they were about to purchase a new organ.  Several ranks in the Choir division were replaced, and ranks of pipes were rearranged. Some ranks were relocated to the Echo division.

Swell (Manual III—Enclosed, 5-3/4″ wind pressure)

Choir (Manual I–Enclosed)

Solo (Manual IV—Enclosed, 10″ wind pressure)

Echo (Manual IV, presently unenclosed)

Pedal