Marion R. Frazier III Residence

12 East 12th Street – 12th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10011


Marion R. Frazier III was a self-taught technician who owned the Automatic Musical Instrument Company, located at 12 East 12th Street. He was for some time New York's only full-time professional repairer of what are known as reproducing grand pianos and reproducing pipe organs, and of nickelodeons, barrel organs, and orchestrions.
               
  Welte-Mignon Organ (1916) in Welte-Mignon Studio - New York City
  Organ set up in Welte & Sons Studio
Welte & Sons Company
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (1916)
Actually built by the Ernest M. Skinner Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 253 (1916)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 33 stops, 28 ranks



This organ was subcontracted to the Ernest M. Skinner Company (Op. 253) by Welte & Sons Company of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It was subsequently sold to Eugene I. Meyer and installed in his 28,322-square-foot mansion at "Seven Springs" in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. Mr. Meyer (1875–1959) was an American financier, public official, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, first President of the World Bank, and publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He was the father of Katharine Graham, who took over the reins of the Post in 1963.

Welte & Son organ (1916) in Speyer Technik Museum, Germany  
Welte Organ relocated to Speyer Technik Museum  
At an unknown time, possibly in the 1970s when the estate was given to Yale University, the organ was sold to Marion R. Frazier of New York City, who installed it in his Automatic Instrument Company studio. In 1990 Frazier sold the organ to Claes O. Friburg, Copenhagen, Denmark, but in 1991 the organ was crated and stored in Shaftsbury, Vt.

In 1993 the organ was acquired by the Speyer Technik Museum, Speyer, Germany, where it was restored by Gotthard Arnold and his team of the "Fachstätte Historischer Musikautomaten".
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
73
4
   Principal
61
8
   Violin Diapason
73
4
   Flute Harmonic
61
8
   Flute Traverso
73
8
   Bassoon (Fagotto)
73
8
   Violin Solo
73
    
Harp
61 notes
8
   Viol d'Orchestre
73
8
  
Chimes
25 notes
8
   Voix Celeste
73
        
 
     
 
     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Diapason
73
16
   Clarinet
61
8
   Horn (Gross Flute)
73
8
   Oboe
61
8
   Bourdon
73
8
   Cor Anglais
61
8
   Flute Dolce
73
8
   Vox Humana
61
8
   Viola di Gamba
73
     Tremulant  
8
   Aeoline
73
        
4
   Viola
61
     Echo (Key Stop in Console)  
               
Orchestral Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Diapason (Violin Diap.)
GT
4
   Flute Harmonic
GT
8
   Concert Flute (Fl. Trav.)
GT
8
   Trumpet
61
8
   Gamba (Vln. Solo)
GT
8
   Orchestral Oboe
61
8
   Quintadena
61
8
   French Horn
61
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
   Subbass *
44
8
   Flute [ext. Subbass]
—
16
   Bourdon (Soft)
32
16
   Trombone
32
16
   Violin Bass
32
    
* "Loud voiced to go with Tutti"
               
Couplers
    Great to Pedal   Swell to Orchestral
    Swell to Pedal   Orchestral to Swell
    Orchestral to Pedal   Swell Super, Sub
    Swell to Great Sub, Unison, Super   Orchestral Super, Sub
    Orchestral to Great    
               
Orchestral Effects
    Balance Swell Pedal   Bass Drum
    Creszendo [sic]   Free Combinations
               
Fixed Combinations
   
Great Organ Pianissimo, Piano, Mezzoforte, Forte, Tutti
Swell Organ Pianissimo, Piano, Mezzoforte, Forte, Tutti
Orchestral Organ Pianissimo, Piano, Mezzoforte, Forte, Tutti
Whole Organ Pianissimo, Piano, Mezzoforte, Forte, Tutti
               
Sources:
     Kinzey, Allen and Sand Lawn, comps. E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List (New Rev. Ed). Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     "Puzzles," The New Yorker (Vol. 54):24.
     Rothstein, Edward. "Highbrow Piano Comes to Brunch at the Ballroom," The New York Times (Jan. 8, 1982).
     Speyer Technik Museum web site: http://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/en/welte-organ
     Stout, Edward Millington III (Hayward, Calif.). Specifications of Ernest M. Skinner organ, Op. 253 (1916) built for Welte & Sons Company. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Illustration:
     Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. II. Welte & Sons organ case (1916).
     Lewis, James. Welte & Sons organ (1916) in Speyer Technik Museum, Speyer, Germany.