Jan Hus Presbyterian Church - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
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Jan Hus Presbyterian Church

351 East 74th Street
New York, N.Y. 10021
http://www.janhus.org/





The Jan Hus Ceskobratrsky Presbyterni Sbor, or Bohemian Brethren Church, was founded in 1877. Located in the area once known as Little Bohemia, the eclectic Romanesque Revival building with hints of Victorian Gothic was designed by R.H. Robertson and built in 1888. The church is named for Jan Hus (1369-1415), the Bohemian priest who was a religious thinker and reformer. Hus used his pulpit to denounce the Roman Catholic Church's practices of indulgences, papal infallibility, and anything not biblically-based. Consequently, the Roman Catholic Church considered the teachings of Jan Hus heretical, excommunicating him in 1411; he was then condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake in 1415. Martin Luther would later study the sermons of Jan Hus and continue his cause, ultimately leading to the Reformation.
           
J.H. & C.S. Odell
New York City – Opus 251 (1888)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 13 stops, 13 ranks


The handwritten Agreement dated March 15, 1888 between J.H. & C.S. Odell Company and Jan Hus Presbyterian Church states that Odell would install a "Size No. 9" specification in the church on or before August 1st of that same year for the sum of $1,750. An Odell Size 9 organ had a case of "appropriate and approved design, made of Walnut, Chestnut, or Ash," with "the large speaking pipes displayed in front to be gilded, silvered, or richly ornamented in gold and colors." The organ measured 16 feet high, 11 feet, 3 inches wide, and 7 feet, 3 inches deep.

This organ was removed in 1969 by Alan Laufman and Guy Henderson, but the organ case and display pipes are extant in the church.
                 
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
  Open Diapason  
58
4
   Wald Flute [TC]
46
8
  Keraulophon [TC] *  
46
4
   Octave
58
8
  Melodia [TC]  
46
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Unison Bass  
12
    
* grooved bass

 

       

 

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason  
58
4
   Violina
58
8
  Dulciana [TC]  
46
2
   Flautino
58
8
  Clarionet Flute [TC]  
46
8
   Oboe [TC]
46
8
  Stopped Bass  
12
     Tremolo  
                 
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
  Bourdon, large scale  
27
        
                 
Mechanical Registers
    Swell to Great         Patent Reversible  
    Swell to Pedal         Bellows Signal  
    Great to Pedal         Balance Swell Pedal  
                 
Composition Pedals on Great Organ
    Piano            
    Forte            
           
Sources:
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Jan Hus Presbyterian Church web site: http://www.janhus.org/
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Odell Company Opus List, compiled by Sand Lawn and courtesy David Scribner.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifications of J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ, Op. 251 (1888).

Illustration:
     www.panoramio.com: exterior (2009) by "thearch."