just dropping by to acknowledge the quality of this video essay, as it's better than a lot of ones today despite being uploaded in 2008, the year this website was literally created
Unless it is specially designed for the purpose, an organ outside is like a piano without a soundboard... the building is the most important part of the organ... Transplants are seldom successful, the best place would be in the original space or one very nearly the same size and shape, with similar acoustic properties. Any tonal modifications made by Lemare are long gone without the building it was built for... such a great loss...
The Oakland Municipal Auditorium or Henry J. Kaiser Center opened in 1915. Seems like a perfect new home for the Exhibition Organ. A great beginning to restoring the historical heritage of both cities as well as paying homage to the acoustic values of the building and it's surrounding areas.
A valuable testament to this special instrument. Thank you. Today is as good a time as any to struggle to preserve fine organs like this one. At the least the public needs to be made aware of these great instruments, and organists have to work harder than ever to protect their complicated, expensive, but incomparable instrument, whether in religious edifices or not. I hope the plans presented on the citizens' page pan out. If I were a (multi) millionaire...
I remember that Organ well as I know my own hands!i was a securty officer There from 1979 to 1985! I never did know about the Earthquake damage that happened in 1989.I would love to see it again in its Glory Alas i'm disabled now and have no way to go there no funds either I think daily of my job there and the love I still have for that great place! i was 35 yrs old when I left!
A happy/sad story, extremely well spoken by the commentator. The municipality would without hesitation find money for new sports facilities. The fate of this instrument will ultimately be decided by politics; there aren't many votes for an organ compared with new housing complexes, roads, schools etc. The organ of Auckland Town Hall (of 1911) was, 2 yrs ago, fully rebuilt by Klais at a cost of over $NZ3 million. If Auckland could do it, why not SF, much bigger than Auck., with its resources?
What is status of this restoration? Among the instruments I play are theater pipe organs. I moved out of California in 2004 but have fond memories of this organ and the old Fox Theater organ on Market St. As the Fox was being torn down I was allowed in to see its console. The organ and console was sold to Disneyland where I guess it is still played but probably in a much smaller number of ranks. I hear that the original pipes were stored poorly and many pipes were damaged beyond repair. On the last day it was played, recordings were made and issued as three LP records and later a couple of them were issued on a CD. I have the full set. Believe the CD is still available....excellent performance and memories. The sad part for me is that for about 4 years my office was in the high rise office building that was built where the old Fox used to be. The other SF organ I loved was the Skinner pipe organ in the Palace of the Legion of Honor. I also had the opportunity to get up into the pipe chamber which is up in the attic and set back a bit. They pipes and shutter mechanism isn't visible from the galley that they play into. The dome and high walls are actually painted canvas to mimic the stone used in that large room. It was fun to look up when the organ was playing and see the "stone walls" vibrating a bit ;-) It was an unusual organ ins that it also had some nods to theater organs which were in their hay day wen that organ was built. I used to enjoy attending the concerts by various staff organists....I always enjoyed Ludwig Altman's and Mr. Purvis's performances. If one is outside the museum (near the Thinker sculpture) and look above the entrance you will see a large rectangular piece. That can be opened so the organ would play out into the courtyard which overlooked the Golden Gate and Bay. I don't know if it was opened more than one time....at the end of WWII when the soldiers returned on ships from the South Pacific war theater. Don't get me started on how SF tosses wonderful historical facilities in the junk heap. I have fond memories of Playland at the Beach amusement park which was torn down to make room for condos....and how about the US largest swimming pool near the zoo called the Fleishhacker. I believe it is still there at least partially. II was so large the lifeguards used rowboats to patrol it. Other cities like Oakland recognized what they had....the Paramount Theater and its organ that was restored as a gorgeous building. Don't get me
The organ has been restored and installed in the home music room of the owner of Acme Organ Institute in Seymour, Indiana. Videos of the organ being played can be seen on the Acme Organ Institute TH-cam Channel and my own channel, Mason and Hamlin Ampico.
Vic: This is a truly insightful and interesting documentary on the remarkable PPIE organ. San Francisco is about to lose another historic organ in the First Church of Christ, Scientist. There is a concert October 26, 2008, at 2 pm. I hope you will find time to document this exceptional Kimball organ.
By the way, what WERE the Pedal ranks that were destroyed? It occurs to me that the Organ Clearing House might have some suitable replacement ranks (which of course would have to be re-voiced to fit in with the rest of the organ!) Another possibility might be to check with various organ building firms to see if they had possible replacement pipe ranks for sale, or that they might be willing to donate.
This organ needs to be brought back home, reassembled, and played for all in the same tradition. The fact that funds designated for the organ were used to rebuild the city after the earthquake, but not put back makes SF looks bad. I'm surprised a very wealthy person or company does not invest to bring it back. It would certainly make them look good:)
they could have saved the FOX in 63 with its grand architecture,acoustics and mighty Wurlitzer organ,so it seems like they still dont know how to appreciate these magnificent instriments.
Yeah the loss of The Fox in SF was highly lamentable. I know the organ is now at the El Capitan in Hollywood but it doesn't sound quite the same. I heard that it was revoiced and put on lower pressures and suffers from less than ideal chamber installation. What were they thinking??? At least it gets played regularly but is basically limited to playing Disney tunes which I feel is a disservice to the instrument.
Yet if it had remained in the auditorium, what would have happened to it? Ultimately, a pipe organ must be removed for restoration, you can't do all the work on-site, yet many organs DO return. Here's hoping a home could be found for this organ in SF - I'm currently sounding out the Asst.Organist at Grace Cathedral to see if it could potentially go on the rear gallery there...
Don't forget, SF demolished the San Francisco Fox Theatre too which had a large good sounding Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. See the organ removal and theatre demolishon video's here on youtube. These videos will move you on what the SF goverance did. : - |
The time when SF was a place on the West Coast where culture reigned passed many decades ago. Today it is simply a home for homeless and demented. To see this once beautiful city and area utterly destroyed by an earthquake would make my day. It's often called karma.
I'm aware it is a very large instrument - I just don't have a clue how big the gallery is! Could it perhaps stand on the floor of one of the transepts instead?
After becoming curious about Brooks Hall due to it being list on various Muni maps, I looked it up and found out about this Pipe Organ. It would be wonderful if this organ was put to use again I'm a little confused about how much restoration work is left. The video says that San Francisco ordered it back from Austin before they had finished, but then it says that it is essentially fully restored as it sits in Brooks Hall. Was the work finished before the organ was shipped back to San Francisco?
Why must the entire organ be sent to Austin Organs? Could Schoenstein not repair the organ a section (windchest) at a time in the hall? What was the reason for the Cease Work Order? Austin was seeking additional funds?
The "Cease Work" order was a direct result of the construction company in charge convincing someone in City Hall that the funds could be better used for "Asbestos Abatement". No one cares about pipe organs, so they were able to reallocate the FEMA money with little resistance. Schoenstein was not setup to remanufacture Austin parts and most likely encouraged decision makers that Austin Organs be the company to do the work. The work could not be done on site as the hall was undergoing earthquake repairs and then used for other things.
It's used in American Coaster Enthusiasts 1915 World's Fair documentary, around the 21-minute mark. So far, it seems to be the only place it can be found on TH-cam. I heard it there and I had the same question you did! th-cam.com/video/urYlkzW4oYk/w-d-xo.html (the documentary)
Does anyone know what is going on with the plans for this organ? I've seen nothing on the website or elsewhere for that matter regarding any motions towards getting this great organ into a venue. Very sad that it sits in storage. As previously posted, the Kaiser Auditorium would be a great venue, although selling something like a pipe organ to Oakland might be a tough one.
The console was sold to a private collector named John Rust in Indiana...who has more money than good sense. He started with Reuter Opus 822 ( www.reuter822.com/ ), got another Reuter, and just kept going. He also owns one of the 7 remaining, extant Thomas Appleton tracker organ from the early 19th century. *sigh*
Check out the program for the 1988 Organ Historical Society National Convention. I am sure the credits for the singer will be somewhere there. organsociety.org
You can hear it in American Coaster Enthusiasts' 1915 World's Fair documentary. th-cam.com/video/urYlkzW4oYk/w-d-xo.html (it's around the 21-minute mark) I have no clue who the singer is, but this seems to be the only place on TH-cam that you can hear it.
What happened to the city that knows how! Why not look to the venues available like the Opera House (it has organ bays), Herbst theater or some of the Catholic churches that are collecting dust.
This typical of San Francisco what a shame they have no guts to get this done with all that is in the city what a source of pride this would be. They lost the theater and organ in the fox theater in 1961 and Oakland has there paramount organ how about a little competition San Francisco
Can you explain the politicians behind the decision to stop the restoration of the organ? Our family has always regarded the city as a vast insane asylum (but with the best climate in the world), and we never go there, have never looked for a residence there, and don't think about San Francisco much. So really, any insight into this situation would be appreciated. Was restoration cancelled, in order that someone might steal the allocated money?
It would be a shame for Austin Op. 500 to be scrapped for want of a venue, especially with the outright-replacement pipes for those destroyed in the quake of 1991 fully assembled and only in need of voicing. Golden Gate Park before the rebuilt Academy of Sciences, perhaps, as part of a new stage-house?
If they have to replace the Pedal ranks that were destroyed, they might also want to consider adding an appropriate mixture stop to the Pedal division. Mind you, when I say "appropriate," I mean a Romantic-styled mixture, not a Baroque "screamer"! It would have to be custom-designed and scaled, of course--and yes, I know, there would be a need for additional funding!
(dammit, I guess we can't make paragraphs here anymore) How stupid is THAT?! (the city's decision). I liked the bit of passion Kimberly was showing when interviewed. She wasn't very happy about this.
SF got a free organ and made it a focal point that would bring commerce to their city for 60 plus years, yet they couldn't keep it going? After the Fox Theater loss how about changing your attitude SF?
Beautiful organ, it's too bad that it's sitting hidden away instead of being enjoyed by the masses in San Francisco and its tourists. Something like this should be put back into working order, it's probably costing more just to store it than it would to actually have it running and played.
not the point. If the city cannot recognise the historical significance, and beauty of this instrument, then they certainly do not deserve to own it, especially when they want it to decay. And yes i believe sf is a beautiful city, but taxation is heavy there, and liberty is trampled.
just dropping by to acknowledge the quality of this video essay, as it's better than a lot of ones today despite being uploaded in 2008, the year this website was literally created
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. We hope to start uploading more videos soon!
@@vicferrer1 awesome!!
I had no idea the city was sitting on such a treasure. Well done.
Unless it is specially designed for the purpose, an organ outside is like a piano without a soundboard... the building is the most important part of the organ... Transplants are seldom successful, the best place would be in the original space or one very nearly the same size and shape, with similar acoustic properties. Any tonal modifications made by Lemare are long gone without the building it was built for... such a great loss...
The Oakland Municipal Auditorium or Henry J. Kaiser Center opened in 1915. Seems like a perfect new home for the Exhibition Organ. A great beginning to restoring the historical heritage of both cities as well as paying homage to the acoustic values of the building and it's surrounding areas.
A valuable testament to this special instrument. Thank you. Today is as good a time as any to struggle to preserve fine organs like this one. At the least the public needs to be made aware of these great instruments, and organists have to work harder than ever to protect their complicated, expensive, but incomparable instrument, whether in religious edifices or not. I hope the plans presented on the citizens' page pan out. If I were a (multi) millionaire...
I remember that Organ well as I know my own hands!i was a securty officer There from 1979 to 1985! I never did know about the Earthquake damage that happened in 1989.I would love to see it again in its Glory Alas i'm disabled now and have no way to go there no funds either I think daily of my job there and the love I still have for that great place! i was 35 yrs old when I left!
@VicFerrer It works now. I want to thank you again for your work--its quite entertaining to watch your stuff. Best wishes!
A happy/sad story, extremely well spoken by the commentator.
The municipality would without hesitation find money for new sports facilities. The fate of this instrument will ultimately be decided by politics; there aren't many votes for an organ compared with new housing complexes, roads, schools etc.
The organ of Auckland Town Hall (of 1911) was, 2 yrs ago, fully rebuilt by Klais at a cost of over $NZ3 million. If Auckland could do it, why not SF, much bigger than Auck., with its resources?
It would be a pity to lose this beauty.
What is status of this restoration? Among the instruments I play are theater pipe organs. I moved out of California in 2004 but have fond memories of this organ and the old Fox Theater organ on Market St. As the Fox was being torn down I was allowed in to see its console. The organ and console was sold to Disneyland where I guess it is still played but probably in a much smaller number of ranks. I hear that the original pipes were stored poorly and many pipes were damaged beyond repair. On the last day it was played, recordings were made and issued as three LP records and later a couple of them were issued on a CD. I have the full set. Believe the CD is still available....excellent performance and memories. The sad part for me is that for about 4 years my office was in the high rise office building that was built where the old Fox used to be.
The other SF organ I loved was the Skinner pipe organ in the Palace of the Legion of Honor. I also had the opportunity to get up into the pipe chamber which is up in the attic and set back a bit. They pipes and shutter mechanism isn't visible from the galley that they play into. The dome and high walls are actually painted canvas to mimic the stone used in that large room. It was fun to look up when the organ was playing and see the "stone walls" vibrating a bit ;-) It was an unusual organ ins that it also had some nods to theater organs which were in their hay day wen that organ was built.
I used to enjoy attending the concerts by various staff organists....I always enjoyed Ludwig Altman's and Mr. Purvis's performances. If one is outside the museum (near the Thinker sculpture) and look above the entrance you will see a large rectangular piece. That can be opened so the organ would play out into the courtyard which overlooked the Golden Gate and Bay. I don't know if it was opened more than one time....at the end of WWII when the soldiers returned on ships from the South Pacific war theater.
Don't get me started on how SF tosses wonderful historical facilities in the junk heap. I have fond memories of Playland at the Beach amusement park which was torn down to make room for condos....and how about the US largest swimming pool near the zoo called the Fleishhacker. I believe it is still there at least partially. II was so large the lifeguards used rowboats to patrol it.
Other cities like Oakland recognized what they had....the Paramount Theater and its organ that was restored as a gorgeous building.
Don't get me
The organ has been restored and installed in the home music room of the owner of Acme Organ Institute in Seymour, Indiana. Videos of the organ being played can be seen on the Acme Organ Institute TH-cam Channel and my own channel, Mason and Hamlin Ampico.
Vic: This is a truly insightful and interesting documentary on the remarkable PPIE organ. San Francisco is about to lose another historic organ in the First Church of Christ, Scientist. There is a concert October 26, 2008, at 2 pm. I hope you will find time to document this exceptional Kimball organ.
By the way, what WERE the Pedal ranks that were destroyed? It occurs to me that the Organ Clearing House might have some suitable replacement ranks (which of course would have to be re-voiced to fit in with the rest of the organ!) Another possibility might be to check with various organ building firms to see if they had possible replacement pipe ranks for sale, or that they might be willing to donate.
Come on, San Francisco. You are a great city and shouldn't be dawdling about this.
This organ needs to be brought back home, reassembled, and played for all in the same tradition. The fact that funds designated for the organ were used to rebuild the city after the earthquake, but not put back makes SF looks bad. I'm surprised a very wealthy person or company does not invest to bring it back. It would certainly make them look good:)
they could have saved the FOX in 63 with its grand architecture,acoustics and mighty Wurlitzer organ,so it seems like they still dont know how to appreciate these magnificent instriments.
Yeah the loss of The Fox in SF was highly lamentable. I know the organ is now at the El Capitan in Hollywood but it doesn't sound quite the same. I heard that it was revoiced and put on lower pressures and suffers from less than ideal chamber installation. What were they thinking???
At least it gets played regularly but is basically limited to playing Disney tunes which I feel is a disservice to the instrument.
Very interesting. My friend actually owns one of the two four-manual consoles this organ had.
Where did the F.E.M.A. funds go then? Oh, I need a second summer home,, could you please pull the funds on that Organ Restoration.
SF knows how to play the "game". You can bet they WERE spent....just not on what they were earmarked for.
@@RobertKarlBerta Lame!
Yet if it had remained in the auditorium, what would have happened to it? Ultimately, a pipe organ must be removed for restoration, you can't do all the work on-site, yet many organs DO return. Here's hoping a home could be found for this organ in SF - I'm currently sounding out the Asst.Organist at Grace Cathedral to see if it could potentially go on the rear gallery there...
Politics. Bah.
Wonderful program. Hope they manage to get things rolling!
Don't forget, SF demolished the San Francisco Fox Theatre too which had a large good sounding Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. See the organ removal and theatre demolishon video's here on youtube. These videos will move you on what the SF goverance did. : - |
The video dies about half-way through (during the part about the succession of curators from the Shoenstein company.
Thanks. Very interesting.
THE MECHANICS HALL YOU MENTION IS ACTUALLY IN WORCESTER MA NOT BOSTON
So after watching all the videos on the fan site, I gather the organ was never installed in the Embarcadero plaza?
So The Great City Of San Francisco cannot restore this Great Work of Art to the Building that was Built for it ?? For Shame .
The time when SF was a place on the West Coast where culture reigned passed many decades ago. Today it is simply a home for homeless and demented. To see this once beautiful city and area utterly destroyed by an earthquake would make my day. It's often called karma.
What is the current status of the two favoured locations - The Palace of Fine Arts and the Armoury?
I'm aware it is a very large instrument - I just don't have a clue how big the gallery is! Could it perhaps stand on the floor of one of the transepts instead?
After becoming curious about Brooks Hall due to it being list on various Muni maps, I looked it up and found out about this Pipe Organ. It would be wonderful if this organ was put to use again
I'm a little confused about how much restoration work is left. The video says that San Francisco ordered it back from Austin before they had finished, but then it says that it is essentially fully restored as it sits in Brooks Hall. Was the work finished before the organ was shipped back to San Francisco?
Why must the entire organ be sent to Austin Organs?
Could Schoenstein not repair the organ a section (windchest) at a time in the hall?
What was the reason for the Cease Work Order? Austin was seeking additional funds?
The "Cease Work" order was a direct result of the construction company in charge convincing someone in City Hall that the funds could be better used for "Asbestos Abatement". No one cares about pipe organs, so they were able to reallocate the FEMA money with little resistance. Schoenstein was not setup to remanufacture Austin parts and most likely encouraged decision makers that Austin Organs be the company to do the work. The work could not be done on site as the hall was undergoing earthquake repairs and then used for other things.
Vic Ferrer Thank you, Vic.
Where in the world can I find this recording of "Theme From San Francisco"?
I gotta know Vic xD
I’d also love to know
It's used in American Coaster Enthusiasts 1915 World's Fair documentary, around the 21-minute mark. So far, it seems to be the only place it can be found on TH-cam. I heard it there and I had the same question you did!
th-cam.com/video/urYlkzW4oYk/w-d-xo.html (the documentary)
What’s the song at the beginning?
The website does not come up you gave the link to. It says it's not found!
yes it is a shame to see an instrument like this sit in storage and not be refurbished
What's happening to the Kimball?
Does anyone know what is going on with the plans for this organ? I've seen nothing on the website or elsewhere for that matter regarding any motions towards getting this great organ into a venue. Very sad that it sits in storage. As previously posted, the Kaiser Auditorium would be a great venue, although selling something like a pipe organ to Oakland might be a tough one.
The console was sold to a private collector named John Rust in Indiana...who has more money than good sense. He started with Reuter Opus 822 ( www.reuter822.com/ ), got another Reuter, and just kept going. He also owns one of the 7 remaining, extant Thomas Appleton tracker organ from the early 19th century. *sigh*
Does ANYONE know the singer of the first song? So good! I need to find that version of Open your golden gates.
Check out the program for the 1988 Organ Historical Society National Convention. I am sure the credits for the singer will be somewhere there.
organsociety.org
You can hear it in American Coaster Enthusiasts' 1915 World's Fair documentary. th-cam.com/video/urYlkzW4oYk/w-d-xo.html (it's around the 21-minute mark)
I have no clue who the singer is, but this seems to be the only place on TH-cam that you can hear it.
PUT IT BACK!
What happened to the city that knows how! Why not look to the venues available
like the Opera House (it has organ bays), Herbst theater or some of the Catholic
churches that are collecting dust.
What is the current status of the organ? is it still sitting safely in storage?
It’s for sale if I’m not mistaken
This typical of San Francisco what a shame they have no guts to get this done with all that is in the city what a source of pride this would be. They lost the theater and organ in the fox theater in 1961 and Oakland has there paramount organ how about a little competition
San Francisco
Can you explain the politicians behind the decision to stop the restoration of the organ? Our family has always regarded the city as a vast insane asylum (but with the best climate in the world), and we never go there, have never looked for a residence there, and don't think about San Francisco much. So really, any insight into this situation would be appreciated. Was restoration cancelled, in order that someone might steal the allocated money?
It would be a shame for Austin Op. 500 to be scrapped for want of a venue, especially with the outright-replacement pipes for those destroyed in the quake of 1991 fully assembled and only in need of voicing. Golden Gate Park before the rebuilt Academy of Sciences, perhaps, as part of a new stage-house?
If they have to replace the Pedal ranks that were destroyed, they might also want to consider adding an appropriate mixture stop to the Pedal division. Mind you, when I say "appropriate," I mean a Romantic-styled mixture, not a Baroque "screamer"! It would have to be custom-designed and scaled, of course--and yes, I know, there would be a need for additional funding!
It looks like it's frowning 00:51
(dammit, I guess we can't make paragraphs here anymore) How stupid is THAT?! (the city's decision). I liked the bit of passion Kimberly was showing when interviewed. She wasn't very happy about this.
SF got a free organ and made it a focal point that would bring commerce to their city for 60 plus years, yet they couldn't keep it going? After the Fox Theater loss how about changing your attitude SF?
@SanFransisco The Fox Theater was destroyed in 1963, and now this?! It's absolutely deplorable. Wake up!
Beautiful organ, it's too bad that it's sitting hidden away instead of being enjoyed by the masses in San Francisco and its tourists. Something like this should be put back into working order, it's probably costing more just to store it than it would to actually have it running and played.
Then, all of the sudden, SF says stop working on Opus 500 and send it back... ????? What the %#@&? How stupid is THAT??!!
What a terrible shame. And I always thought San Francisco was a great city!
not the point. If the city cannot recognise the historical significance, and beauty of this instrument, then they certainly do not deserve to own it, especially when they want it to decay.
And yes i believe sf is a beautiful city, but taxation is heavy there, and liberty is trampled.
wow, gay jokes. I guess that's to be expected.