Chapel of the Beloved Disciple at Church of the Heavenly Rest - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)

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Church of the Heavenly Rest
(Episcopal)

2 East 90th Street at Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10128
http://heavenlyrest.org

Chapel of the Beloved Disciple

Organ Specifications:
► II/14 Austin Organs, Inc., Op. 1874; rev. (1962)
► II/14 Austin Organ Company, Op. 1874 (1929)

See also the organs in the Church.



Reredos in the Chapel of the Beloved Disciple at Church of the Heavenly Rest - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)  
The Chapel of the Beloved Disciple was dedicated by Bishop William T. Manning, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Henry Darlington, the rector, on Sunday, June 23, 1929. It was named for the former church of the same title, founded in 1870 at 67 East 89th Street to serve residents of the Home for Indigent Christian Females, and financed by philanthropist Caroline Talman. In 1925, the Church of the Heavenly Rest, then located on Fifth Avenue at 45th Street, merged with the Church of the Beloved Disciple, after which services for the combined congregations were held at the 89th Street church for four years while the present church was being built. The chapel was built with funds from the sale of the Church of the Beloved Disciple to the congregation of the Harlem Reformed Church.

  Choir gallery in Chapel of the Beloved Disciple at Church of the Heavenly Rest - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
The architects of the chapel were Mayers, Murray & Phillip, who also designed the church complex. A cloistered gate opening on Fifth Avenue to the south of the church was the original entry to the chapel's narthex. The interior of the 200-seat chapel is in the English decorative Gothic style, with stenciled designs on the mottled plaster walls, and also on the ceiling and roof trusses. The small chancel features a reredos of opus sectile, executed in the Powell Studios of London, and communion rails of bronze supported by angel figures. The floor is of Southern flagstone in russet tone. At the back is a gallery for the organ and a small choir.
               
  Austin Organ, Op. 1874 (1929) in Chapel of the Beloved Disciple at Church of the Heavenly Rest - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
Austin Organs Inc.
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 1874 (1962)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 23 stops, 14 ranks



In 1962, Austin Organs reconfigured the original 1929 Austin organ to the following specification:
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Gedeckt
73
     Great 4'  
8
   Dulciana
73
     Great Unison Off  
4
   Principal
SW
    
Swell to Great 16'
  
4
   Flute Harmonique
73
    
Swell to Great 8'
  
2
   Blockflöte
61
     Swell to Great 4'  
    Mixture III ranks
183
    
Chimes [a22-e41] *
20 bells
8
   Trompette
61
        

     
 
      
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Gedeckt (ext. GT)
12
8
   Hautbois
85
8
   Spitz Principal
73
4
   Hautbois (fr. 8')
—
8
   Gedeckt
GT
8
   Vox Humana (sep. box)
61
8
   Dulciana
GT
     Tremulant  
8
   Voix Celeste (TC)
61
     Swell 16'  
4
   Principal
73
     Swell 4'  
4
   Flute Harmonique
GT
     Swell Unison Off  
16
   Basson (ext. Hautbois)
—
        

     

     
Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed
16
   Subbass
32
     3 blank tabs  
16
   Gedeckt
SW
        
8
   Gedeckt
GT
 
   Great to Pedal 8'  
16
   Basson
SW
     Swell to Pedal 8'  
8
   Hautbois
SW
     Swell to Pedal 4'  
               
* moved from M.P. Möller organ, Op. 1808 (1914) in Church of the Beloved Disciple
               
Adjustable Combinations
   
Swell Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb) & Cancellor bar
Great Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb) & Cancellor bar
Pedal Organ Pistons 1-2-3 (toe) & Cancellor bar
Full Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 & Cancel (thumb; 1-4 dup. by toe)
               
Reversibles
    Great to Pedal (toe)      
    Swell to Pedal (toe)      
    Sforzando (toe)      
               
Expression
    Balanced Swell Pedal (with indicator)      
    Crescendo Pedal (with indicator)      
               
  Choir gallery in the Chapel of the Beloved Disciple at Church of the Heavenly Rest - New York City (photo: Samuel H. Gottshos, 1929)
Austin Organ Company
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 1874 (1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 17 registers, 11 stops, 11 ranks




A small two-manual organ was installed by the Austin Organ Company behind an oak screen in the choir gallery of the chapel. The contract dated March 4, 1929 (fourteen months after the contract for the much larger organ in the church) shows that the chapel organ cost $8,000. All of the pipes were enclosed in a single expression box. Two memorial stops, the Concert Harp and Chimes, were moved from the M.P. Möller organ, Op. 1808 (1914) in the Church of the Beloved Disciple on 89th Street.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed with Swell
8
   Open Diapason
73
     Great 16'  
8
   Gedackt
73
     Great 4'  
8
   Salicional
73
    
Great Unison Off
  
8
   Dulciana
73
    
Swell to Great 16'
  
4
   Flute Harmonique
73
     Swell to Great 8'  
8
   Corno d'Amore
73
     Swell to Great 4'  
           
Chimes [a22-e41] *
20 bells

     
 
      
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Violin Diapason
73
8
   Vox Humana (sep. box)
61
8
   Gedackt
GT
     Tremolo  
8
   Salicional
GT
     Swell 16'  
8
   Dulciana
GT
     Swell 4'  
8
   Voix Celeste (TC)
61
     Swell Unison Off  
4
   Flute Harmonique
GT
    
Harp [g1-g56] *
49 bars
8
   Oboe
73
        

     

     
Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed
16
   Sub Bass
32
     Great to Pedal 8'  
16
   Lieblich Gedackt (ext. Ged.)
12
     Swell to Pedal 8'  
8
   Flute (Gedackt)
GT
     Swell to Pedal 4'  
               
* moved from M.P. Möller organ, Op. 1808 (1914) in Church of the Beloved Disciple
               
Adjustable Combinations
   
Swell Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb) & Cancellor bar
Great Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb) & Cancellor bar
Pedal Organ Pistons 1-2-3 (toe) & Cancellor bar
Full Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 & Cancel (thumb; 1-4 dup. by toe)
               
Reversibles
    Great to Pedal (toe)      
    Swell to Pedal (toe)      
    Sforzando (toe)      
               
Expression
    Balanced Swell Pedal (with indicator)      
    Crescendo Pedal (with indicator)      
               
Sources:
     Church of the Heavenly Rest Archive. Courtesy Molly Pickering Grose.
     Church of the Heavenly Rest web site: http://heavenlyrest.org
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     "Manning to Dedicate New Chapel Today," The New York Times (June 23, 1929).
     Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001.
     Stern, Robert A.M., Gregory Gilmartin, and Thomas Mellins. New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. New York City: Rizzoli International Publications, 1987.

Illustrations:
     Gottsho, Samuel H. 1929 photo of chapel interior with view toward choir gallery.
     Lawson, Steven E. Chapel interior; console and screen of Austin Organ, Op. 1874 (1962).