Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church

7 West 55th Street at Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10019
http://www.fapc.org

Lecture Room
Organ Specifications:
► II/5 Ernest M. Skinner Co., Op. 206 (1913)
► II/10 Hilborne L. Roosevelt, Op. 36 (1879)

See also the organs in the Sanctuary and Chapel.



When the present Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church was built in 1875, an adjacent two-story Church Annex extended to the west of the Sanctuary. On the ground floor of the Church Annex was a large Lecture Room which included a small organ gallery along the east wall. The Church Annex and Lecture Room were replaced in 1925 by the present 10-story Church House, a facility containing meeting rooms and the present Chapel.
         
Ernest M. Skinner Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 206 (1913)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 11 registers, 5 stops, 5 ranks


The $30,000 contract awarded in 1913 to the Ernest M. Skinner Company included both the large four-manual organ in the Sanctuary, and a small duplexed organ for the Lecture Room. At the request of then-organist Frank L. Sealy, the smaller organ included console and chest preparations for two additional stops (Cornopean and Unda Maris), but these stops were never installed.
               
Great Organ
8
   Diapason
8
   Dulciana
8
   Gedackt
4
   Flute
SW
               
Swell Organ
8
   Diapason
GT
8
   Gedackt
8
   Salicional
4
   Flute
8
   Dulciana
GT
   
               
Pedal Organ
16
   Bourdon  
8
   Gedackt  
           
Hilborne L. Roosevelt
New York City – Opus 60 (1879)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 11 registers, 10 stops, 10 ranks


The first organ installed in the Lecture Room of the Church Annex was built in 1879 by Hilborne L. Roosevelt of New York City. Roosevelt's May 16, 1879 letter, recorded in the Trustees' Minutes, stated:
"Gents. I propose to construct and erect in your Lecture Room by Sept. 1st 1879, an Organ of the best materials and workmanship to occupy a space of about eight feet wide and five feet deep, to cost the sum of $1,800 including gilding and decorating the pipes, but the case to be furnished by you and decorated by me."
Roosevelt's proposal was adopted.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
16
   Bourdon (TC)
46
8
   Melodia *
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
4
   Principal
58
8
   Dulciana *
58
    
* grooved
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Violin Diapason (TC)
46
4
   Flute
58
8
   Stop. Diapason Treble (TC)
46
8
   Oboe (TC)
46
8
   Stop. Diapason Bass
12
     Tremulant  
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Bourdon
30
        
               
Accessories
    Swell to Great       Bellows Signal  
    Swell to Octaves          
    Swell to Pedal       Balanced Swell Pedal  
    Great to Pedal          
    Pedal Octaves          
           
Sources:
     Aeolian-Skinner Archives web site: http://home.cfl.rr.com/aeolianskinner/
     Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Archives. Courtesy Dale W. Hansen, Church Archivist
     Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church web site: http://www.fapc.org
     Holden, Dorothy. The Life and Work of Ernest M. Skinner. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1987.
     Kinzey, Allen, and Sand Lawn, comps. E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List. New Rev. Ed. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     Kraege, Elfrieda A. "The History of Music at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church 1808-1972". Courtesy Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.