Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church

88 Hanson Place at South Portland Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
http://www.hansonplace.org

Organ Specifications:
88 Hanson Place at S. Portland Avenue (since 1963)
► III/38 Casavant Frères, Op. 3416 (1979)
• III/13 Hope-Jones Organ Company (1910)
► II/23 J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co., Op. 52 (1866)
810 Park Place, near Nostrand Avenue (1960-1963)
• unknown

The decade of the 1950s was a time when large numbers of Seventh-day Adventists from the Caribbean were settling in New York City to further their education, develop their careers and take advantage of available employment opportunities. In 1957, a small group began to investigate the possibility of establishing a church that would meet their spiritual needs, uphold their cultural heritage, and provide a worship service that was reminiscent of their homeland.


Primitive Methodist Church (1929)

On October 14, 1958, the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists accepted the charter members of this new church under the name The Inter-American Seventh-day Adventist Church. The first months of services were held at the Coptic Church called the Church on the Mount at 1393 Pacific Street in Brooklyn. Due to the rapidly increasing membership, the congregation was forced to move to the larger Primitive Methodist Church at 810 Park Place, which had a seating capacity of 250. On April 17, 1960, the congregation purchased it for $7,500, and it became their first church home.

Within two years this facility could not accommodate the membership. The congregation rented space from the Trinity Baptist Church at 179 New York Avenue, and held services there for two weeks. In October 1962, the congregation moved to the Miller Memorial Nazarene Church, 595 Classon Avenue, where Sabbath services were held until July 17, 1963.


Present Sanctuary

An unrelenting search was conducted by the members of the church for a more spacious church building. In 1963, the historic Hanson Place Baptist Church, located at the corner of Hanson Place and South Portland Avenue, became available and was purchased by the congregation. This church was built in 1860, just before the Civil War and has been designated as a New York City and National Historic landmark. Its ecclesiastical architecture combines elements and decorative detail in both the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. The first Sabbath service was held at the new Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church on July 20, 1963, with an attendance of more than 500 individuals.

Casavant Frères organ, Op. 3416 (1979) in Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church - Brooklyn, N.Y. (photo: Casavant Frères)

Casavant Frères, Limitée
St. Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada – Opus 3416 (1979)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 28 stops, 38 ranks

The Casavant Frères Factory Specification, dated March 1, 1978, shows that Casavant provided a three-manual oak console with stops and couplers controlled by tilting tablets above the upper keyboard. In 1979, the new organ was installed behind the existing facade.

Great Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes

Bordun

Oktave

Prinzipal

Mixtur IV ranks

224

Hohlflöte

Trompete

Oktave

Chimes

preparation

2 2/3

Quinte

Positiv Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes

Gedackt

Sesquialtera II ranks

112

Prinzipal

Scharf III ranks

168

Rohrgedackt

Dulzian

Oktave

Tremulant

Swell Organ (Manual III) – 56 notes, enclosed

Rohrflöte

Waldflöte

Gemshorn

Scharf III ranks

168

Schwebung (TC)

Oboe

Spitzflöte

Tremulant

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

Subbass

Mixtur III ranks

Oktave

Posaune (half-length)

Oktave

Trompete

Couplers

Great to Pedal

Positiv to Great

Positiv to Pedal

Swell to Great

Swell to Pedal

Swell to Positiv

Adjustable Combinations (hold-set type)

Swell Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Great Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Positiv Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Pedal Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (toe)
General	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb & toe)

Reversible Pistons

Great to Pedal (thumb)

Swell to Pedal (thumb)

Positiv to Pedal (thumb)

Full Organ (thumb)

Expression

Balanced Swell Pedal

Crescendo Pedal

Indicator Lights

Crescendo

Wind (pedalboard light)

Full Organ

Robert Hope-Jones Co.
Elmira, N.Y. (1910)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 13 ranks

In 1910, the Robert Hope-Jones Company of Elmira, N.Y. built a new organ for Hanson Place Baptist Church. Although this organ had only thirteen ranks of pipes, Hope-Jones employed an extensive unification of stops through an electrical relay, allowing a large number of tonal combinations. Hope-Jones' consoles were typically controlled by stop-tabs arranged in a "horseshoe" curve, as seen in the photos at right of the Hanson Place console. This was one of the last organs built before the Hope-Jones company (along with its patents) was bought in 1910 by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. of North Tonawanda, N.Y. Hope-Jones worked with the Wurlitzer Organ Co. for several years, developing the "Wurlitzer Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra" that would eventually become the Wurlitzer theatre organ.

Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.

The Robert Hope-Jones organ was acquired by Dr. Adrian Phillips of Phoenix, Arizona, when it was replaced by a new Casavant Frères organ in 1979.

Previous organ in Hanson Place Baptist Church: J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co. New York City – Opus 52 (1866) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 20 stops, 23 ranks The earliest known organ in the present building was built in 1866 by J.H. & C.S. Odell of New York City for the Hanson Place Baptist Church. The following specification was recorded by F.R. Webber (1887-1963), whose "Organ Scrapbooks" are in the possession of The Organ Historical Society Archives in Princeton, N.J.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes
16	Open Diapason	56	4	Wald Flute	56
8	Keraulophon	56	2 2/3	Twelfth	56
8	Dulce	56	2	Fifteenth	56
8	Stop Diapason	56		Sesquialtera, 3 ranks	168
8	Clarionet Flute	56	8	Trumpet	56
4	Principal	56

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon Bass	12	4	Principal	56
16	Double Diapason (TC)	44	2	Fifteenth	56
8	Open Diapason	56		Cornet, 2 ranks	112
8	Dulciana	56	8	Hautboy	56
8	Stop Diapason Bass	12		Tremolo
8	Stop Diapason Treble (TC)	44

Pedal Organ – 25 notes
16	Grand Double Op. Diap.	25

Couplers, &c
	Swell to Great			Composition Stop
	Swell to Pedal			Bellows Alarm
	Great to Pedal			Patent Reversible Coupler

Combinations
1.	Full Great Organ
2.	Full to Principal
3.	All the 8-foot Stops
4.	Keraulophon, Clarionet Flute and Dulce
5.	Clarionet Flute, Dulce and Wald Flute
6.	Dulce and Clarionet Flute
7.	Dulce Solo
8.	Wald Flute Solo

Sources:
     Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church website: http://www.hansonplace.org
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Petty, Bynum. J.H. & C.S. Odell Annotated Opus List.
     Scheer, Stanley. Casavant Frères Factory Specification, Opus 3416 (Mar. 1, 1978).
     Webber, F.R. "Organ Scrapbook" at American Organ Archives, Organ Historical Society (Princeton, N.J.) with specification of J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 52 (1866). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.

Illustrations:
     AJWB Collection. Church bulletin (Sep. 24, 1977) showing Robert Hope-Jones Co. organ (1910).
     American Organ Archives, Organ Historical Society (Princeton, N.J.). Photos of Robert Hope-Jones Co. console for Hanson Place Baptist Church. Courtesy Bynum Petty, Archivist.
     Casavant Frères Archive. Console of Casavant Frères organ, Op. 3416 (1979). Courtesy Jeff Scofield.
     Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church web site. Interior.
     Lawson, Steven E. Exterior.
     Scofield, Jeff. Console of Casavant Frères organ, Op. 3416 (1979).
     Sperr, Percy Loomis. Photo (1929) of Primitive Methodist Church. New York Public Library.

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