1949 Aeolian-Skinner Organ - Holy Name Oratory - Madison, Wisconsin

Brent Johnson talks with John Sittard about the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner organi originally built for First Congregational Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin and installed in Holy Name Oratory in Madison, Wisconsin in 2017 by Bruce Case.
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[@matthewray7065]

An absolutely outstanding instrument. Flawless match for the space. And wow, those Celestes are truly ethereal.

[@maxwellfowler3091]

This instrument sounds so beautiful! I have listened to this video several times with headphones and with my stereo system. The organ is amazingly flexible for the number of ranks. Also, this organist is excellent at demonstrating the range of sounds.

[@bobmcrobertson848]

Fantastic- another fine demo of a delightful smaller organ! I especially liked how relaxed the pace was of the demonstration. The organist took the time to let us hear each stop enough to really get a feeling for how it sounded in the upper and lower registers- alone and in combination. And thanks to the organ builder this lovely organ isn’t sitting unused with the console being employed as a mixer table. It’s in this space, played and loved by a very fine musician.

[@michaelmeyer7426]

Excellent demonstration of this organ's service capacities!

[@richardlowe4751]

What a great demonstration - get him back again!

[@EElgar1857]

One of the finest small organs I've ever heard, beautifully played & demonstrated!

[@danielmkubacki]

Wow nice 1949 Aeolian-Skinner. It sounds beautiful.

[@ryandye7797]

Spectacular small instrument. Beautifully restored!

[@Durufle68]

What a gem and pleasure to play

[@anglicanman1]

Beautiful marriage of Church and Organ.

[@TheB3Nut]

What a lovely instrument, and a stone's throw from where I live! (You were killing me with the Franck E major chorale during the pipe crawl BTW! I'm just an ear-playing bar-band B-3 player, but...yeah. Franck's 3 Chorales slay me, especially the Am...uff da.) Thanks for this!

[@thebog11]

I play the pipe organ and the B3. I took pipe organ lessons at college because I thought some of the skills would transfer over to rock. I ended up becoming the organist at the church I took lessons at. 8 years ago, they let me give a recital of pipe organ and a few rock/R&B tunes on my chopped C3 with drums and a few other instruments.

[@louiedamico3710]

I recently heard the 1951 Aeolian-Skinner at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas and that flute/string celeste combo is magical in person!

[@williamsimonds5429]

A Skinner Organ to cherish.

[@joshroberts4281]

Love the sounds of this G. Donald Harrison! Also love hearing the Thomas Tallis Testament played here. Thank you Brent for bringing up the Dr. Schaffer comment about the "what if Wangerin" organ building progression vs Aeolian Skinner a la Harrison. The thought still lingers with me.

[@paulford1071]

Just beautiful

[@Tracy-s2c]

Nice organ nice sound

[@markbiondolillo5562]

I miss playing a Skinner!

[@pauljames5914]

I live in Milwaukee but id LOVE to play this beautiful sounding organ!

[@walterstout7014]

I love me some G. Donald Harrison Aeolian Skinner!!

[@PointyTailofSatan]

How do great builders like Aeolian-Skinner and Cavaillé-Coll go out of business? Mismanagement? I used to play a rather famous Casavant in Toronto, and every time I touched it, I was so thankful that Casavant is still going strong after 140 years.

[@barton1931]

Brent, it would really be nice if you would alo post the Specs and stoplist of these organs you're featuring.

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

Look in the description for under the video for a link to the spec.

[@citylimits8927]

I always thought it interesting that relatively few Aeolian-Skinners were installed in Catholic Churches during the G. Donald Harrison period. This organ is a rarity, even though it didn’t find itself in its current location until just recently.

[@speaks3703]

St. Philip is the Episcopal cathedral in Atlanta, so also not Roman Catholic

[@citylimits8927]

@ My mistake! Corrected. Thanks!

[@walterannas8486]

I've seen Mollers in older Catholic Churches, probably a matter of ethnic preferences by the Church music people.