St. Brigid's Catholic Church - New York City
Church of St. Brigid
(Roman Catholic)

119 Avenue B at East 8th Street
New York, N.Y. 10009


Organ Specifications:
119 Avenue B at East 8th Street (1848-2001):
► II/5 Kilgen Organ Company, Op. 7600 (1952)
► IV/54 J.C.B. Standbridge (1855 or 1867)
• II/30 Henry Erben (1849)
East 4th Street (ca.1840-1848):
• William H. Davis (1847)


The rich history of St. Brigid's begins in the 1840s, with the increased influx of Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine. Many settled in the area then known as the Dry Dock District (stretching from the East River to Avenue B and from Houston to 12th Street), and found employment as laborers at the East River Shipyards. When a temporary chapel at East 4th Street soon proved inadequate, plans were made to build a new church on the corner of 8th Street and Avenue B, dedicated to "the Mary of Gael," St. Brigid, and designed to serve the burgeoning Irish-American community.

Patrick Keely (1816-1896), an up-and-coming Catholic Church architect, was chosen to design the new church. After completing the altar and reredos for St. James Pro-Cathedral and building St. Peter and Paul's Church in Brooklyn in 1846, Keely's services became highly sought after, ushering in a new era in Catholic building to serve growing immigrant communities. At his death in 1896, Keely was said to have built over 600 churches and religious edifices, stretching north to Canada, south to South Carolina and west to Iowa. Locally, one can see examples of Keely's work at St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street, and Mary, Star of the Sea on Court Street in Brooklyn, among others; major works elsewhere include Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.

  St. Brigid's Catholic Church - New York City
St. Brigid's cornerstone was laid on September 10th, 1848, and construction was completed in fifteen months. Designed in the Carpenter's Gothic style, the building is without transepts or apse, and features a nave flanked by a north and south aisle, each with a second-story seating gallery fronted by elaborate wainscoting, and a vaulted ceiling. The stations of the cross were purchased in Paris in the 1870s, and are believed to be the work of Théophile-Narcisse Chauvel. The stained glass windows, imported from Bavaria, were also installed at that time, and a carved marble and Caen stone altar built by Theiss & Janssen was made to replace the wooden altar. Also in the church was the original Keely organ case with its intricately stenciled organ pipes, and the towering five-pinnacle reredos that was carved by Keely himself.

St. Brigid's Catholic Church - New York City  
Undated photo showing steeples  
The exterior of St. Brigid's was modified over time, most notably in 1962, when its two steeples were removed due to maintenance and safety concerns, and the building was stuccoed.

In its most robust days the parish ranked as high as third in the diocese in providing funds toward the building of St. Patrick's Cathedral. As the Irish population on the east side declined, St. Brigid's served newer immigrant populations, such as Slavs and especially Italians during the late 19th century and, from the 1950s onward, the growing Latino community.

In 2001, the church was closed after the building had become unsafe when the rear wall of the building began to pull away from the rest of the structure. Despite huge protests and litigation from parishioners and organized area residents, the Archdiocese gutted the interior of this historic Irish parish church, removing the altar, pews, organ, and stained glass windows. In May 2008, the Archdiocese announced that an anonymous donor had given $21 million to restore the church and endow the school.
 
Kilgen Organ Company
St. Louis, Mo. – Opus 7600 (1952)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 13 stops, 5 ranks


This small Kilgen organ was enclosed in one Swell box. The organ was removed in July 2005.
                 
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Diapason
61
       Great to Great 16', 4'  
8
   Dulciana
61
       Unison Off  
8
   Gedeckt
SW
       Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'  
4
   Flute
SW
          
                 
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Gedeckt [unit]
85
  
8
   Syn. Oboe
—
8
   Salicional
73
       Tremolo  
4
   Flute
—
       Swell to Swell 16', 4'  
2 2/3
   Nasard
—
       Unison Off  
2
   Flautino
—
          
                 
Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
32
       Swell to Pedal 8'  
8
   Bass Flute [ext.]
12
       Great to Pedal 8'  
4
   Block Floete [ext.]
12
          
 
  J.C.B. Standbridge organ case at St. Brigid's Catholic Church - New York City (Save St. Brigid website)
 
Organ case designed by Patrick Keely

J.C.B. Standbridge
Philadelphia, Penn. (1867) (1855 acc. to Ochse)
Mechanical action
4 manuals, 48 stops, 54 ranks




John C.B. Standbridge (1800-1871) was born in England, but at the age of seven moved with his family to Philadelphia. Although he received a degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Standbridge ultimately pursued his interest in music. In the 1830s he became the organist at Christ Church in Philadelphia. He built his first organ in 1840, and by the 1850s became an organbuilder full-time, installing most of his organs in the Philadelphia area. The Standbridge organs were noted for their sweetness of tone, but the firm was not known for excellent cabinetry work or beautiful organ cases. In 1868, Standbridge enlarged an H.F. Berger organ by adding a Solo division that used electric action, making him one of the first, if not the very first, to use electricity in organs. (Hilborne L. Roosevelt exhibited an organ a year later, in 1869, which used electricity.)

It is not certain when the Standbridge organ in St. Brigid's Church was built. Orpha Ochse, in The History of the Organ in the United States, writes, "in 1855 he [Standbridge] built an organ for St. Bridget's [sic] Roman Catholic Church, New York."

An announcement in The New York Times (Sept. 7, 1884) stated: "The organ in St. Bridget's Church, in Avenue B, one of the largest in the city, has been taken apart, cleaned, and improved, and will be used for the first time this morning." No further details are available.

Lynnwood Farnam (1885-1930), noted concert organist of the early 20th century, recorded the following specification of the 1867 Standbridge organ at St. Brigide [sic] R.C. Church:
                 
Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes
16
   Double Open Diapason
58
  
4
   Traverse Flute
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
  
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Violin
58
  
2
  Fifteenth
58
8
   Gamba
58
       Mixture II ranks (19-22)
116
8
   Stopped Diapason
58
  
 
   Sesquialtera IV ranks
232
8
   Melodia
58
  
8
   Trumpet
58
4
   Principal
58
  
4
   Clarion
58
4
   Octave Violin
58
          

       

     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
58
  
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
  
2 
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Kalophone [sic]
58
  
1 3/5
  Seventeenth
58
8
   Clarabella Angelica
58
       Sesquialtera II ranks (19-22)
116
8
   Stopped Bass
12
  
8
   Cornopean
58
8
   Stopped Diapason
46
  
8
   Oboe
58
4
   Principal
58
  
8
   Clarinet
58
4
   Chimney Flute
58
  
 
      

       

     
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
   Open Diapason
58
  
4
   Chimney Flute
58
8
   Dolcan
58
  
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Viol d'Amour
58
  
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Stopped Diapason
58
       Mixture II ranks (19,22)
116
4
   Principal
58
  
8
   Clarinet and Bassoon
58
                 
Solo Organ (Manual IV) – 58 notes [not tracker; possibly tubular- or electro-pneumatic]
8
   Open Diapason
58
  
8
   Oboe
58
4
   Harmonic Flute
58
       Bells  
8
   Trumpet
58
  
 
   Three spare slides  

       

     
Pedal Organ – 29 notes
16
   Double Diapason (wood)
29
  
8
   Violoncello
29
16
   Double Open (metal)
29
  
16
   Trombone
29
16
   Bourdon
29
          
                 
Couplers, &c
"Coupler Great and Choir Sub Octaves" Pedal Check
"Coupler Pedals and Great" Wind
"Coupler Pedals and Choir" Tremolo
"Coupler Great and Solo" 4 large wooden composition pedals to Gt.
"Coupler Choir and Swell" Balanced swell-pedal
"Coupler Great and Swell"  
    
Henry Erben
New York City (1849)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 25 stops, 30 ranks


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
   
William H. Davis
New York City (1847)
Mechanical action


This organ, built by William H. Davis, may have been installed in the first church building. The specification of this organ has not yet been located.
   
Sources:
     Amateau, Albert. "St. Brigid’s gets a reprieve, but loses its organ," The Villager (July 27–Aug. 2, 2005).
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Farnam, Lynnwood. "Organ Notebook," pp. 1348 (specification of Standbridge organ). John de Lancie Library, The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia; Sally Branca, Archivist. Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
     Foster, Margaret. "Neighbors Fear NY Archdiocese Will Raze 'Famine Church' Soon," Preservation Online (June 20, 2005).
     "In the Catholic World," The New York Times (Sept. 7, 1884). Cleaning, etc. of Standbridge organ.
     Keely Society web site: http://www.keelysociety.com
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Ochse, Orpha. The History of the Organ in the United States. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975.
     Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977.
     Save St. Brigid web site: http://onno.us/site/SaveStBrigid/
     Save St. Brigid's NOW! web site: http://www.savestbrigidsnow.netfirms.com/
     Trupiano, Larry. Specification of Kilgen Organ Co. organ, Op. 7600.

Illustrations:
     Archiseek Online Architectural Resources. Color interior (also in The Village Voice)
     Kevin Daley. Color exterior
     Save St. Brigid web site: http://onno.us/site/SaveStBrigid/. Keely organ case.
     Trupiano, Larry. Exterior showing original steeples.