Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church - New York City
Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church

232 West 11th Street
New York, N.Y. 10014
http://www.w11church.com




Organ Specifications:
► III/21 M.P. Möller, Inc., Op. 3860 (1923); enlarged
► II/15 M.P. Möller, Inc., Op. 3860 (1923)
► II/23 Richard M. Ferris (1856) – moved (1883)






The Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church worships in an edifice originally built as the North Baptist Church. Reporting on the cornerstone-laying service on September 29, 1881, The New York Times spoke approvingly of plans for the first floor Sunday School rooms and the adjacent “Lecture-room”. The account continued: “The main body of the church will be on the second floor, and will be reached by two flights of stairs, one on either side. It will have a gallery reaching half-way round the front part of the building. The structure when completed, will seat 600 and will, exclusive of the ground, cost about $44,000.”

Lawrence B. Valk designed the Queen Anne-style brick building with brownstone trim. Construction moved rapidly on West Eleventh Street and the new Baptist Church was consecrated on June 25, 1882 during morning, afternoon and evening services. The final cost, which apparently included the land, was given as $77,239.50. The New York Times report noted that all the building expenses had been paid “with the exception of $30,000.”

The church’s “greatest benefactor” in 1882 (as its 1947 year-book states) was millionaire philanthropist John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller was a lifelong self-disciplined Baptist who by the 1880’s “had given millions” to Baptist causes. Records shows that Rockefeller contributed the final $5,000 needed to pay off the construction debt, and also gave the “beautiful grand organ” and most of the funds for the stained glass memorial windows.

By the 1940s, North Baptist Church had dwindled to only 112 members. In March 1947, the congregation sold their Eleventh Street building for $80,000 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and moved to nearby 213-215 West Eleventh Street where they were in existence until 1961.

The church sanctuary is particularly notable for its unusual piano nobile plan with the worship space on the second floor. Notable interior features today include the original pews, and other woodwork, the large organ dominating the south wall, the vaulted ceiling supported by four large columns and the balcony supported by slender cast-iron colonettes. Concealed inside the floor of the podium is a 1,000-gallon baptismal tank, which is still used by the Seventh-day Adventist congregation. The door to the right of the organ is a false door, designed solely to balance the flanking door to the left.
               
  M.P. Möller Organ, Op. 3860, in the Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church - New York City
Unknown Builder
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 24 registers, 21 stops, 21 ranks





The pipe organ in the church has as its basis the 1923 organ built by M.P. Möller for the United Community Centre in Cedarhust, L.I. This organ originally had two manuals and 15 ranks. At an unknown time the organ was revised and enlarged to three manuals and 21 ranks by an unknown organ builder. The pipes which comprise the present Choir division are old and may have been reused from the previous Ferris organ.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
8
   Open Diapason
8
   Gemshorn
8
   Stopped Flute
8
   Gamba
8
   Doppel Flute
8
   Tuba (harmonic)
8
   Melodia
 
Chimes
24 tubes
               
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Gedeckt [unit]
8
   Salicional
8
   Gedeckt
8
   Voix Celeste (TC)
4
   Gedeckt
8
   Oboe
2
   Gedeckt
8
   Vox Humana (sep. box)
8
   Diapason
  Tremulant
8
   Viol d'Orchestre
 
Harp
49 bars
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   [String]
8
   Vox Humana  
8
   Metal Flute
8
   Oboe  
8
   Bell Clarinet
  Tremulant  
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed
16
   Open Diapason (ext. GT)          
16
   Bourdon          
             
M. P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 3860 (1923)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 30 registers, 15 stops, 15 ranks


In 1923, the M.P. Möller Company built a two-manual organ with forty-five registers for the United Community Centre in Cedarhurst, L.I. At an unknown time this organ was moved to the Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church. This organ was later enlarged to three manuals. Following are the Factory Specifications (Oct. 23, 1923) of the organ when built.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed (5" wind)
16
   Bourdon
73
4
   Gemshorn (fr. 8')
—
8
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Flute (fr. Melodia)
—
8
   Doppel Flute
73
8
   Tuba
73
8
   Melodia
73
 
Chimes
20 tubes
8
   Gemshorn
73
  3 Blank Tablets
8
   Gamba
73
 
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed (5" wind)
16
   Bourdon [unit]
97
8
   Salicional
73
8
   Gedeckt
—
8
   Vox Celeste (TC)
61
4
   Orchestral Flute
—
4
   Octave (fr. Op. Diap.)
—
2 2/3
  Twelfth
—
4
   Salicet (fr. 8')
—
2
   Piccolo
—
8
   Oboe
73
1 3/5
   Tiercena
—
8
   Vox Humana
61
8
   Open Diapason
73
 
Harp
49 bars
8
   Viole d'Orchestre
73
  3 Blank Tablets  
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed (5" wind)
32
   Resultant
—
8
   Octave Bass (fr. 16. O.D.)
—
16
   Open Diapason
44
8
   Flute
SW
16
   Bourdon
GT
8
   Tuba
GT
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt
SW
   
             
Couplers
    Great to Pedal   Swell 4, 16
    Swell to Pedal   Swell Unison Separation
    Swell to Great 16, 8, 4   Great Unison Separation
    Great 4, 16    
               
Adjustable Combinations
   
Swell and Pedal Stops Pistons 1-2-3-4
Great and Pedal Stops Pistons 1-2-3-4
               
Mechanicals
    Great Tremulant   Crescendo Indicator
    Swell Tremulant   No Tremulant on lowest octave of manual to pedal borrows.
               
Pedal Movements
    Balanced Swell Pedal for Great   Great to Pedal Reversible
    Balanced Swell Pedal for Swell   Organ Bench with music shelf
    Grand Crescendo Pedal    
               
Richard M. Ferris
New York City (1856)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 23 registers, 21 stops, 23 ranks


Ferris built this organ for installation in the Crystal Palace, which was located at Sixth Avenue and West Forty-second Street next to the city reservoir on land which is now Bryant Park. However, due to a dispute between Ferris and the Crystal Palace committee, the organ was instead sold to Calvary Baptist Church on West 57th Street. In 1883, Calvary Baptist Church erected a new building with a new J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, and the Ferris organ was moved to the North Baptist Church.

The following specifications were recorded (May 1920 & Jan. 1927) by Louis F. Mohr & Co., and organ service concern in the area. Mohr noted that the "Old heavy wood case" across the gallery measured 20 feet wide by 8 feet deep (inside case) with 5 feet outside of the case at center, and the height was about 18 feet at the sides and 25 feet at the center. There were three flats of eight pipes each, plus six wooden pipes at each wing. About 1912, a 1 HP Spencer Orgoblo electric motor was installed.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes
8
   Open Diapason
56
3
   Twelfth
56
8
   Dulciana
56
2
   Fifteenth
56
8
   Stopped Diapason treble (TC)
44
4
   Flute
56
8
   Stopped Diapason bass
12
2
   Piccolo treble (TC)
44
8
   Viol d'Amour (TC)
44
     Sesquialtera, 2 ranks
112
4
   Principal
56
8
   Cremona
39
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon (TC)
44
8
   Dulciana (TC)
44
8
   Open Diapason (TC)
44
     Cornet, 2 ranks
112
8
   Stopped Diapason treble (TC)
44
8
   Trumpet (TC)
44
8
   Stopped Diapason bass
12
8
   Hautboy (TC)
44
4
   Principal
56
        
               
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
   Bourdon
27
   
16
   Open Diapason
27
        
               
Couplers ("3 Couplers")
    Great to Pedal       Swell to Great  
    Swell to Pedal          
               
Mechanicals
    2 Combinations on Great          
    Swell Pedal          
               
Sources:
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church website: http://www.w11church.com
     Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Apr. 1920 & Jan. 1927) of Richard M. Ferris organ (1856) in North Baptist Church. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977. Specifications of Richard M. Ferris organ (1856).
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifcation (Oct. 23, 1923) of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 3860 for United Community Centre Inc., Cedarhurst, L.I.

Illustrations:
     Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church web site. Exterior; interior.