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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Jeremy Filsell, Piano
Peter Richard Conte, The Wanamaker Organ
Macy's Department Store, Philadelphia
A Sonic Tour-de-Force - [OAR-155]
$16.98

At the world's largest musical instrument, the Wanamaker organ of 464 ranks located in the famous Philadelphia department store (now Macy's), Peter Richard Conte plays the "orchestra" to Jeremy Filsell's brilliant pianism at the Steinway in the beloved Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, who emigrated with his wife and daughter to America from his native Russia in December 1917 as life there became dangerous following the Russian Revolution. No stranger to Philadelphia, Rachmaninoff famously recorded his piano concertos with the Philadelphia orchestra and conducted some of his symphonic music. Now, the world's greatest orchestral organ seconds the great Philadelphia orchestra in rendering thrilling performances of these great masterworks, captured with amazing sonic impact.

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, op. 1
Mvt. 1 Vivace
Mvt. 2 Andante cantabile
Mvt. 3 Allegro scherzando

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, op. 18

Mvt. 1 Moderato
Mvt. 2 Adagio sostenuto - Più animato - Tempo
Mvt. 3 Allegro scherzando

Playing Concertos as a Duo: The Challenge
by Jeremy Filsell

Performing piano concertos in duet versions is hardly new. First up, one finds that any concerto score purchased is always presented in an arrange­ment for two pianos. Beyond the publishing practicality, this medium is the obvious way for a soloist to learn, and then test, his mettle (for the hire of a private orches­tra is hardly inexpensive...), provid­ing one can find a tame and willing partner ... and indeed a space with two pianos.
It can perhaps be the perception that orchestral parts in some of the great Romantic concerti play a subordinate role beneath notably florid and virtuosic piano parts, for in earlier music, almost equal roles were far more common, involving perhaps more authentic dialogue between opposing elements. It is hard to discern into which category the concerti of Sergei Rachmaninoff might fall, for these great works were written largely as personal showpieces—for arguably the most brilliant of modern-era pianists. While undoubtedly, there are moments of orchestral subservience (this might be more apparent in the 3rd concerto), Rach­ma­ninoff’s vivid writ­ing involves orches­tral parts with important material, often decorated by typically inventive piano filigree. It could be claimed that playing these works in keyboard duet form allows this sense of shared material to be more apparent. Beyond this ... there is much fun and exhilaration to be had.

In organ-piano duo, there is a perceptible need for certain passages to be performed at the less than break-neck tempo customarily available to soloist and conductor in close proximity—and when a soloist is closely embraced by orchestral dialogue behind and before. The distances involved in organ and piano duo create challenges in a vast space like that of the Wanamaker Organ’s home. With the organ console situated some 50 feet away (famously, amongst the women’s lingerie) from the piano, residing on the gallery beneath the six floors of pipework, the aural challenges are manifold. Ensemble certainly becomes the greater task than playing myriad notes ...

Given such distances, and without a conductor, the basic task of timing in this duo form becomes a curiously tricky one. There is the swift realization of just how much a conductor in one’s peripheral vision facilitates the creation of mutually convincing moments of expression. An organist and pianist trying to negotiate such moments of artistic intimacy at 50 feet of distance sometimes requires leaps of faith; an element of blindfolded pinning-­the-­tail-­on-­the-donkey can often be the sensation in more ferocious passages, during which pianist cannot hear the organ and the organist cannot hear the piano. To talk through such moments in advance and to simulate the hand gestures becomes the only way of preparing, before much is left to intuition and chance! However, to perform with Peter Conte is to work with someone with such an innate sense of shape and line that musical trust and virtuosic chances taken work just fine. Moreover, to hear quite how remarkable the unique Wanamaker instrument sounds in the hands of Peter Conte is hardly to mourn the absence of an orchestra. Let’s hope you agree.

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos
by William T. Van Pelt
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) parlayed an invitation to mount a ten-concert tour in Scandinavia into an escape for his family from the danger and escalating chaos in Russia following the Revolution. With his wife and two daughters, Rachmaninoff departed St. Petersburg on December 22, 1917, settled in Copenhagen, and performed through October, 1918. Deciding to make the United States the family’s new home, New York City became his base for decades thereafter.

Born to musical and aristocratic parents, Sergei had been comfortable in his first decade of life until the family fortune and five large estates had disappeared, forcing him to rely on his musical gifts and the support of family and friends through his teens and lean times during his education and early career. With the family’s relocation to an apartment in St. Petersburg, Sergei continued musical study from age 10 at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the arrangements having been made by his beloved, former live-in, teacher from whom he had received private lessons at home during his earlier childhood. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1885, living almost four years with the family of his piano professor. He finished a year early, receiving his diploma in May, 1892.

He developed careers as a piano recitalist, conductor (including 89 performances in two years at the Bolshoi Theatre, 1905-06), and composer. Having found that performing paid the bills, he reluctantly limited the time he devoted to composing. His fortunes turned permanently to wealth shortly after his arrival in the United States. He built a summer home in Switzerland ca. 1931 and summered there through 1939, often composing happily.
Before departing Russia, Rachmaninoff had composed three piano concertos. The fourth piano concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra came later, in 1926 and 1934.

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, op. 1, was composed in July, 1891, while Rachmaninoff visited the beautiful and welcoming country estate of his aunt Varvara, his father’s sister who had married Alexander Alexandrovich Satin. The Satins had also housed him in their Moscow home beginning in 1890, while he continued studies at the Moscow Conservatory. (Sergei married the Satins’ daughter, Natalia, his first cousin, in 1902.) The First Piano Concerto was performed, the first movement only, on March 17, 1892, with Rachmaninoff at the piano and the orchestra conducted by Vasily Safonov, who had become director of the Moscow Conservatory in 1889. Its dedicatee, Alexander Siloti, a cousin and former teacher of Rachmaninoff, played it frequently as his own fame and demand as a performer increased. Rachmaninoff revised the work extensively in 1917, having completed two more piano concertos before undertaking the revision. The revised version is played almost exclusively today, and is the version performed by the composer in concerts and recordings.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, op. 18, was completed in April, 1901, and is probably the public’s favorite of Rachmaninoff’s five works for piano and orchestra. The latter two movements were performed in Moscow on December 2, 1900, by Rachmaninoff with Alexander Siloti conducting. They performed the entire work in Moscow on October 27 and November 9, 1901.

The Second Piano Concerto was the first piece Rachmaninoff had completed after emerging from three years of depression and writer’s block. At the suggestion of his aunt, psychotherapy and hypnotherapy were administered between January and April, 1900, by Dr. Nikolai Dahl, to whom Rachmaninoff dedicated the work. This dark period in Rach­maninoff’s life had been triggered by his loss of confidence following a very poor reception for his Symphony No. 1, premiered in 1897, and a series of events, financial woes, and other personal problems which seem to have begun following the death of his idol, Tchaikovsky, in November, 1893. The story of Rachmaninoff’s response to therapy is frequently told and is the recent subject of a fantasized stage musical, Preludes, written and composed by Dave Malloy and premiered at Lincoln Center in New York in June, 2015.

Rachmaninoff embraced recording, both piano rolls and phonograph records. During a decade beginning in 1919, he made 35 Ampico piano rolls of his own compositions and those of other composers, and also in 1919 recorded eight works on Edison phonograph records. In 1920, he switched record companies, making many famous recordings with RCA Victor during the rest of his life. His recording collaborations with the Philadelphia Orchestra, both as pianist in his own works and conducting his own works, remain in distribution.

Jeremy Filsell
Jeremy Filsell is one of only a few virtuoso performers as both pianist and organist. He has appeared as a solo pianist in Russia, Scandinavia, New Zealand and throughout the USA and UK. His concerto repertoire encompasses Bach, Mozart and Beethoven through to Shos­ta­kovich, John Ireland, and Rach­ma­ni­noff. He has recorded solo piano music of Herbert Howells, Bernard Stevens, Eugene Goos­sens, Johann Esch­mann, Rach­ma­ni­noff and two discs of French Mélodies with baritone Michael Bundy.

Jeremy Filsell is on the international roster of Steinway Piano Artists and has recorded for BBC Radio 3, USA, and Scandinavian radio networks in solo and concerto roles. His discog­ra­phy comprises more than 30 solo recordings. Gramophone magazine commented on the series of 12 CDs comprising the premiere recordings of Marcel Dupré’s complete organ works for Guild in 2000 that it was “one of the greatest achievements in organ recording.“ In 2005, Signum released a 3-disc set of the six organ symphonies of Louis Vierne, recorded on the 1890 Cavaillé-Coll organ in St. Ouen, Rouen. He has taught at universities, summer schools, and conventions in both the UK and USA and has served on international competition juries in England and Switzerland. Recent solo engage­ments have taken him across the USA and UK and to Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, Nor­way, Australia and New Zealand. In North America, he concer­tizes under the auspices of Philip Truckenbrod Concert Artists.

As a student of Nicolas Kynas­ton and Daniel Roth, Jeremy Filsell studied as an Organ Scholar at Keble College, Oxford before com­plet­ing graduate studies in piano with David Parkhouse and Hilary McNamara at the Royal College of Music. He received a PhD in Musicology at Birmingham Conservatoire/BCU for research involving aesthetic and interpretative issues in the music of Marcel Dupré. Before moving to the USA in 2008, he held Academic and Performance lectureships at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and was a lay clerk in the Queen’s choir at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He combines an international recital and teaching career with being director of music at The Church of St. Alban’s in Washington, artist-in-residence at Washington National Cathedral, and Professor of Organ at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

Peter Richard Conte
Peter Richard Conte is an organist whose technical facility, brilliant ear for tonal color, and innovative programming style identify him among the great “orchestral” organists. In 1989, he was appointed Wanamaker Grand Court Organist at what is now the Macy’s Department Store in downtown Philadelphia—the fourth person to hold that title since the organ first played in 1911. He performs concerts twice daily, six days weekly, on the largest musical instrument in the world. Mr. Conte is Principal Organist of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and, since 1991, Choirmaster and Organist of Saint Clement’s Church, Philadelphia, where he directs a professional choir in an extensive music program in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.
Mr. Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer and arranger of organ transcriptions. His Grand Court concert is streamed live on YesterdayUSA.com on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. He has been featured on National Public Radio and on ABC television’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight. For eleven seasons, his monthly radio show The Wanamaker Organ Hour, aired on Temple University Radio. Mr. Conte performs extensively throughout North America under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, and has appeared as a featured artist at American Guild of Organists’ national and regional Conventions. He performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philly Pops, and has appeared with numerous other orchestras.
Peter Richard Conte has taught organ improvisaton at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey. He is the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington. In 2013, the Philadelphia Music Alliance honored him with a bronze plaque on the Avenue of the Arts’ Walk of Fame. His numerous recordings appear on the Raven, Gothic, JAV, OHS, ProOrgano, Dorian, and DTR labels.

The Grand Court Organ
Built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair (Louisiana Purchase Exposition), the Wanamaker Organ was designed by renowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley (1838- 1925), author of The Art of Organ-Building, a lavishly illustrated and exquisitely printed, two-volume tome published 1904 and still referenced frequently. Containing 10,059 pipes, the organ was conceived and built on such high standards of quality and size that its $105,000 cost of construction led its builder into bankruptcy.

Following the World’s Fair, the organ was stored until 1909 when Wanamaker’s sent organbuilder George W. Till (1866-1962) to examine it and then authorized him to buy it for the Philadelphia department store. Requiring two years to install after its arrival in 13 freight cars, The Grand Organ was first heard in the store’s seven-story atrium on June 22, 1911, at the moment when England’s King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. At the close of the store’s first year of business, the organ was prominently featured when the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, officiated at a ceremony of dedication.

Despite the immense size of the organ, which vied with one or two other organs as being the largest in the world in 1911, the tone was judged inadequate to fill the huge court. William Boone Fleming (1849-1940), a Boston-trained organbuilder who moved to California in 1900 and supervised construction of the original organ and its move to the Philadelphia store, was hired to direct a staff of 40 full-time workers to enlarge the organ in a new workshop established in the attic. He retired in 1927 at age 79. George W. Till was also on the staff and remained so until 1938, primarily addressing tonal matters.

Lavish construction and elegant work­man­ship makes the Wanamaker Organ both a tonal wonder and a monument to superb craftsmanship. The largest pipe is made of flaw­less Oregon sugar-pine three inches thick and more than 32 feet long—so large that a Shetland Pony was once posed inside for publicity photos. More than 8,000 pipes were added to the organ between 1911 and 1917, and from 1924 to 1930 an additional 10,000 pipes were in­stalled, bring­ing the total number of pipes to 28,482. Commanding these huge resources is a massive console with six keyboards and 729 color-coded stop tablets. There are 168 piston buttons under the keyboards and 42 foot con­trols. The console weighs 2.5 tons; the entire instrument weighs 287 tons.

During the lifetimes of John Wanamaker and his son Rodman, the world’s foremost musicians were brought to the store for brilliant after-bus­iness-hours concerts, among them Marcel Dupré, Louis Vierne and Nadia Boulanger from France; Fer­nando Germani and Marco Enrico Bos­si from Italy, and Alfred Hollins from Scotland. Sales counters were removed for seating. At a 1919 Musicians’ Assembly, virtuoso Charles M. Courboin joined Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orches­tra to perform before a standing-room-only crowd of 15,000. Courboin (1884-1973) , a Belgian organ virtuoso who moved to the United States in 1904, played frequently at the New York and Philadelphia stores and largely developed the tonal ideas incorporated into the second enlargement of the Grand Court Organ.

Great or­ganists have continued to appear at the store. In 1986, the evening-concert tradition was continued as Keith Chapman marked the Wana­maker Or­gan’s 75th anniversary; Peter Richard Conte presented a 90th anniversary concert in 2001. In 2008, Macy’s celebrated its 150th anniversary with a Philadelphia Orchestra concert under Maestro Rossen Milanov that was co-sponsored by the Friends. Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante  was presented for the first time with the organ and orchestra for which it had been written. Peter Richard Conte presided at the console.

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ at Macy’s has been thril­ling Philadelphia shoppers and visitors every business day since 1911. Eighty years later, in the fall of 1991, an organization of Friends was formed to support the preservation and musical mission of this American treasure. Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, Inc., is a worldwide group of sponsors and supporters formed to encourage the preservation and musical mis­sion of this American masterpiece. A modest introduction contribution entitles the donor to become a Friend and to receive four issues of The Stentor, the Soci­ety’s quarterly newsletter and restoration update. Google the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website.

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, Philadelphia

MAIN PEDAL ORGAN (5"-22") 50 ranks, 1665 pipes
    64    Gravissima (resultant) (wood)    25 pipes
    32    Contra Diaphone (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Diaphone (wood)    12 pipes
    8    Stentorphone (metal)    12 pipes
    32    First Contra Open Diapason    (wood) 32 pipes
    32    Second Contra Open Diapason    (metal) (Great)
    32    Contra Bourdon (wood)    32 pipes
    16    First Open Diapason (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Second Open Diapason (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Third Open Diapason (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Violone (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Gamba (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Dulciana (metal)     (Choir)
    16    Bourdon (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Soft Bourdon (wood)     (Swell)
    16    Open Flute (wood)    32 pipes
    8    Second Tibia (wood)    12 pipes
    4    Second Tibia (wood)    12 pipes
    10-2/3    Open Quint (metal)    32 pipes
    10-2/3    Stopped Quint (wood)    32 pipes
    8    First Tibia (wood)    32 pipes
    8    Open Diapason (wood)    32 pipes
    8    Octave Soft Bourdon (wood)    32 pipes
    8    Octave (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Soft Flute (wood)    32 pipes
    4    Soft Flute (wood)    32 pipes
    4    First Tibia (wood)    32 pipes
    8    First Cello (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Second Cello (metal)    32 pipes
    4    Principal (metal)    32 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    32 pipes
    32    Grand Mutation X (metal, 1,5,8,10,12,15,17,19,22,24)
             220 pipes
    32    Mixture VIII (metal, 1,5,8,10,12,15,17,19)    (Great)
    16    Mixture VI (metal) (Great) (this is the same
         mixture as above, less the 16 Open Diapason
         and the 10 Quint)
        Mixture VII (metal, 10,12,15,17,19,22,24)    224 pipes
    32    Contra Bombarde (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Bombarde (wood/metal)    12 pipes
    8    Bombarde (metal)    12 pipes
    16    Trombone (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Tuba (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Euphonium (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Contra Fagotto (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Octave Fagotto (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Tromba (metal)    32 pipes
    4    Clarion (metal)    32 pipes

Each of the following pedal divisions is grouped with the main pedal stop tablets, but enclosed in the chamber with its respective manual organ.

ETHEREAL PEDAL ORGAN 4 ranks, 128 pipes
    32    Acoustic Bass (wood)     32 pipes
            (16 Diapason below plus independent 10)
    16    Diapason (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Bombarde (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Bombarde (metal)    32 pipes

ECHO PEDAL ORGAN 2 ranks, 64 pipes
    16    Open Diapason (wood)    32 pipes
    16    Stopped Diapason (wood)    32 pipes

STRING PEDAL ORGAN 17 ranks, 652 pipes
    32    Contra Diaphone (wood) (24")    32 pipes
    16    Diaphone (wood)    12 pipes
    8    Diaphone (wood)    12 pipes
    32    Contra Gamba (metal) (24")    32 pipes
    16    Gamba (metal)    12 pipes
    8    Gamba (metal)    12 pipes
    16    First Violone (wood)    32 pipes
    8    First Violone (wood)    12 pipes
    16    Second Violone (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Second Violone (metal)    12 pipes
    4    Violone (metal)    12 pipes
    16    Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    8     Viol (metal)    12 pipes
    16    Viol (metal; tuned slightly sharp)    32 pipes
    8    Viol (metal; tuned slightly sharp)    12 pipes
    32    Mixture XII 32’ Contra Diaphone plus the following:
    16    Mutation Diaphone (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    10-2/3    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    8    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    5-1/3    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    4    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    2-2/3    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    2    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    1-3/5    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    1-1/3    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes
    4/5    Mutation Viol (metal)    32 pipes

VOX CHORUS PEDAL ORGAN 2 ranks, 64 pipes
    16    First Vox Humana (metal)    32 pipes
    16    Second Vox Humana (metal)     32 pipes

CHOIR ORGAN (5") 24 ranks, 1452 pipes
    16    Double Dulciana (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Dulciana (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Open Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Violin Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Stopped Diapason (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Concert Flute (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Salicional (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Quintadena (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Vox Angelica (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Vox Celeste (metal)    49 pipes
    8    Keraulophone (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Forest Flute (wood)    61 pipes
    4    Salicet (metal)    61 pipes
    2    Piccolo (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Soft Cornet VI (metal; 22,15,17,19,22,26)    366 pipes
    16    Saxophone (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Saxophone (metal)    61 pipes
    8    English Horn (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Clarinet (metal)    61 pipes

GREAT ORGAN (5"-16")
Unenclosed Great 28 ranks, 1696 pipes
    32    Sub Principal (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Contra Gamba (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Double Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    10-2/3    Sub Quint (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Diapason Phonon (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Diapason Major (metal)    61 pipes
    8    First Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Second Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Third Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Fourth Diapason (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Gamba II (metal)    122 pipes
    8    Major Tibia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Mezzo Tibia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Minor Tibia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Double Flute (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Nasard Flute II (metal)    122 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    61 pipes
        Mutation VIII (32’ series)    476 pipes
    8    Harmonic Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
Enclosed Great 29 ranks, 1159 pipes (Expressive, in Choir)
    8    Covered Tibia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Harmonic Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Principal (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    3-1/5    Tierce (metal)    61 pipes
    2-2/3    Octave Quint (metal)    61 pipes
    2    Super Octave (metal)    61 pipes
        Mixture VII (metal, 12,15,19,22,24,26,29)    427 pipes
    16    Double Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Tuba (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Harmonic Clarion (metal)    61 pipes
Great Chorus (Unenclosed) 14"-16", 11 rks, 779 pipes
    8    Chorus Diapason Magna (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Chorus Stentorphone (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus First Diapason (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus Second Diapason (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus Third Diapason (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus Major Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus Double Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Chorus Gamba (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Chorus Octave (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Chorus Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    2-2/3    Chorus Nasard (metal)    61 pipes

SWELL ORGAN (5"-22") 53 ranks, 3312 pipes
    16    Double Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Soft Bourdon (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Stentorphone (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Horn Diapason (wood/metal)    61 pipes
    8    Violin Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Bell Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Orchestral Flute (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Harmonic Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Grand Flute II (wood)    122  pipes
    8    Double Flute (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Tibia Dura (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Clarabella (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Melodia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Soft Dulciana (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Gamba Celeste II (metal)    122 pipes
    8    Gamba (metal)    61 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint Bourdon (wood)    61 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute II (metal)    122 pipes
    4    First Octave (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Second Octave (metal)    61 pipes
    2-2/3    Nazard (metal, from String Mixture)    
    2    Piccolo (metal)    61 pipes
        String Mixture V (metal, 15,19,22,26,29)    265 pipes
        Mixture VI (metal, 12,15,17,19,22,26)    366 pipes
    16    Bass Tuba    61 pipes
    16    Bass Trombone    61 pipes
    16    Contra Fagotto (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Double Oboe Horn (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Tuba    61 pipes
    8    Trombone (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Oboe (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Fagotto (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Horn (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Bassett Horn (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Clarinet II (metal)    122 pipes
    8    Clarinet (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Vox Humana II (metal)    122 pipes
    4    Harmonic Clarion (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Musette (metal)    80 pipes

ORIGINAL STRING 18 ranks, 1098 pipes
    16    Contra Bass (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Violoncello (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Viol (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Viol (metal, tuned slightly sharp)    61 pipes
    8    Viola (metal)    61 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint Viol (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Octave Viol (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Violina (metal)    61 pipes
    3-1/5    Tierce (metal)    61 pipes
        Corroborating Mixture V (metal, 15,17,19,22,26)
            305 pipes
        Viol Cornet IV (metal, 12,15,17,22)    244 pipes

SOLO ORGAN (15") 51 ranks, 3713 pipes
    16    Double Open Diapason (metal)    73 pipes
    16    Grand Viol (metal)    73 pipes
    8    First Diapason (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Second Diapason (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Third Diapason (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Violin Diapason (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Viol (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Viol (metal, tuned slightly sharp)    63 pipes
    8    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Tierce Flute II (metal)    146 pipes
    8    Chimney Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Clarabella (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Gemshorn (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Nasard Gamba II (metal)    146 pipes
    8    Grand Gamba (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Grand Gamba (metal; sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Quintaphone (metal)    73 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint Diapason (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    73 pipes
    3-1/5    Harmonic Tierce (metal)    73 pipes
    2-2/3    Twelfth Harmonic (metal)    73 pipes
    2    Piccolo (metal)    73 pipes
        Grand Mixture VI (metal; 5,8,12,15,19,22)    438 pipes
        Mixture VI (metal, 12,15,19,22,24,26)    438 pipes
        Mixture V (metal, 8,12,15,17,19)    365 pipes
    16    Double Trumpet (metal)    73 pipes
    16    Tuba (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Trumpet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Soft Tuba (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Cornopean (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Ophicleide (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Musette (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Ophicleide (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Tuba (metal)    73 pipes

ETHEREAL ORGAN (25") Fifth Man. 23 ranks, 1670 pipes
    16    Bourdon (wood)    23 pipes
    8    First Open Diapason (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Second Open Diapason (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Clear Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Double Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Grand Gamba (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Gamba (metal; tuned slightly sharp)    64 pipes
    5    Quint Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    2-2/3    Twelfth Harmonic (metal)    73 pipes
    2    Harmonic Piccolo (metal)    73 pipes
        Mixture IV (metal, 5,8,12,15)    292 pipes
    16    Tuba Profunda (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Tuba Mirabilis (metal)    73 pipes
    8    French Trumpet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Grand Clarinet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Post Horn (metal, 15” was 20")    73 pipes
    4    Tuba Clarion (metal)    73 pipes

ECHO ORGAN (5") 23 ranks, 2013 pipes
        The Echo is an ancillary organ and
        may be played on any manual.
    16    Bourdon (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Open Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Violin Diapason (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Stopped Diapason (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Night Horn (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Clarabella (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Melodia (wood)    61 pipes
    8    Orchestral Viol (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Soft Viol (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Soft Viol (metal; tuned slightly sharp)    61 pipes
    8    Unda Maris II (wood/metal)    210 pipes
    5-1/3    Open Quint (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Mellow Flute (wood)    61 pipes
        Mixture VI (metal, 5,8,12,15,17,19)    366 pipes
        Cornet Mixture V (metal, 12,15,17,19,22)    305 pipes
    16    Double Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Trumpet (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Capped Oboe (metal)    61 pipes
    8    Euphone (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Vox Humana II (metal)    122 pipes

ORCHESTRAL ORGAN (15") 22 ranks, 2312 pipes
        The Orchestral division is an ancillary organ
        and may be  played on any manual.
    16    Contra Quintadena (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    8    Duophone (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Tibia (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Covered Tibia (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Concert Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Mellow Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    String Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Double Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    8    Hollow Flute (wood)    73 pipes
    4    Octave (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Harmonic Flute (metal)    73 pipes
    4    Orchestral Flute (metal)    61 pipes
    4    Covered Flute (wood/metal)    73 pipes
    2    Harmonic Piccolo (metal)    61 pipes
    16    Bassoon (metal)    73 pipes
    16    English Horn (metal)    73 pipes
    16    Bass Clarinet (metal)    73 pipes
    16    Bass Saxophone (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Oboe (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Bassett Horn (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Bassoon (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Orchestral Clarinet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Saxophone (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Orchestral Trumpet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Orchestral Oboe (metal)    73 pipes
    8    First French Horn (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Second French Horn (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Third French Horn (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Kinura (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Muted Cornet (metal)    73 pipes
    8    English Horn (metal)    73 pipes

VOX HUMANA CHORUS (15”) 8 ranks, 572 pipes
    16    Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    First Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Second Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Third Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Vox Humana (metal)    73 pipes
    8    Seventh Vox Humana (metal)    61 pipes

STRING ORGAN (15") 88 ranks, 6340 metal pipes
        The String division is an ancillary organ and
        may be played on any manual.
    16    Violone    73 pipes
    16    First Contra Gamba    73 pipes
    16    Second Contra Gamba    73 pipes
    16    First Contra Viol    73 pipes
    16    Second Contra Viol    73 pipes
    16    First Viol    73 pipes
    16    Second Viol    73 pipes
    8    Violin Diapason    73 pipes
    8    Gamba    73 pipes
    8    Nasard Gamba II    146 pipes
    8    Nazard Gamba II (sharp)    146 pipes
    8    First Cello (natural)    73 pipes
    8    First Cello (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    First Cello (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Second Cello (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Second Cello (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Second Cello (flat)    73 pipes
    8    First Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    First Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    First Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Second Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Second Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Second Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Third Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Third Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Third Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Orchestral Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Orchestral Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Orchestral Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    First Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    First Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    First Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Second Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Second Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Second Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Third Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Third Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Third Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Muted Violin (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Muted Violin (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Muted Violin (flat)    73 pipes
    4    First Orchestral Violina (natural)    73 pipes
    4    First Orchestral Violina (sharp)    73 pipes
    4    Second Orchestral Violina (natural)    73 pipes
    4    Second Orchestral Violina  (sharp)    73 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint Violina (natural)    73 pipes
    5-1/3    Quint Violina (sharp)    73 pipes
    3-1/5    Tierce Violina (natural)    73 pipes
    3-1/5    Tierce Violina (sharp)    73 pipes
    2-2/3    Nasard Violina (natural)    73 pipes
    2-2/3    Nasard Violina (sharp)    73 pipes
    2    Super Violina (natural)    61 pipes
    2    Super Violina (sharp)    61 pipes
    8    First Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    First Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Second Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Second Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Third Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Third Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fourth Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Fifth Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    8    Sixth Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    4    First Octave Dulciana (natural)    73 pipes
    4    First Octave Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
    4    Second Octave Dulciana (nat’l.)    23 pipes
    4    Second Octave Dulciana (sharp)    73 pipes
        Dulciana Mutation V (selective: 12,15,19,22,26)    
            305 pipes

PERCUSSION ORGAN
Each stop may be coupled to any manual without affecting other stops in the division.
Major Chimes: 37 tubular chimes, tenor C to c1
Minor Chimes: 25 tubular chimes, tenor G to g
(In 2015, A=435 Aeolian Chimes replaced anA=440 set of J. C. Deagan orchestra chimesthat replaced a “plunky” set of Beech chimes in 1959.)
Celesta: 49 metal bars, tenor C to c2 (Mustel Celesta)
Gongs: 49 metal bars, tenor C to c2 pneumatic action, with gradated brass resonators resembling water canteens
Piano II: 88 notes. (This is an upright piano with an attached vacuum action.)
Metalophone: 49 metal bars, tenor C to c2
Piano I (Prepared)
Harp I
Harp II (Prepared)
The Echo division has a single chime note that is played by a Choir-manual piston.
Chinese Gong: An 82”-diameter gong has been acquired and eventually will be played via a toe stud.

STENTOR ORGAN (15"-100") Sixth manual
    16    Tuba Magna (Centennial Tuba) 25”
    8    Tuba Magna    61 pipes
These are the only unenclosed high-pressure manual reed stops in the Wanamaker Organ. The original Stentor division, with pressures as high as 100" and a Pedal department featuring a 64’ Diaphonic Bombarde, was never installed. The Stentor manual is in operation, so that any of the ancillary divisions may be played from it. Some manual stops that are suitable for solo work are duplexed on the Stentor keyboard, so that they may be played against alternate registrations on their home divisions.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Jeremy Filsell, Piano<BR>Peter Richard Conte, The Wanamaker Organ<BR>Macy\'s Department Store, Philadelphia<BR><BI>A Sonic Tour-de-Force</BI>
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