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  St. Clement's Episcopal Church - New York City
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St. Clement Episcopal Church

423 West 46th Street
New York, N.Y. 10036
http://stclementsnyc.org


Organ Specifications:
423 West 46th Street (since 1920):
► II/5 Wicks Organ Company, Op. 2076 (1941)
► II/8 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 367 (1899)
108 Amity Street (1831-1920):
• III/32 John Lowe (1814); reb. by Henry Crabb (1851)
► II/13 Hall & Erben (1825)



St. Clement's Episcopal Church, located just west of the Theatre District in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, occupies a Victorian Gothic church originally built for the Faith Chapel of the West Presbyterian Church. Edward D. Lindsey designed the building, which was constructed from 1870-72. About 1897, Faith Chapel merged with Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on West 66th Street, and the vacated building was used by St. Cornelius Episcopal Church.

Original St. Clement's Episcopal Church - New York City (1844 print by Louis Delnoce)  
1844 print of original church
at 108 Amity Street
  
St. Clement's Protestant Episcopal Church was founded in 1830. During the next year the society built its first church at 108 Amity Street (renamed West Third Street in 1875) in Greenwich Village, where they remained for forty-five years. In 1920, St. Clement's merged with and moved to St. Cornelius Church on West 46th Street. Around the same time, the congregation absorbed members of the Chapel of St. Chrysostom, which was the first mission chapel established by Old Trinity Church.

In 1962, St. Clement's was reconfigured to include the Off-Broadway American Place Theatre, founded by the Rev. Sidney Lanier and Wynn Handman. In 1971, the American Place Theatre moved to its own home, but St. Clement's continued a notable theatre ministry, experienced every Sunday through its "Mass in the Theatre." The church is New York's oldest, continuously used, Off-Broadway theatre.
             
Wicks Pipe Organ Company
Highland, Ill. – Opus 2076 (1941)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 20 registers, 5 stops, 5 ranks


A new organ was built in 1941 by the Wicks Pipe Organ Company of Highland, Illinois.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Diapason  
4
   Diapason  
8
   Stopped Flute  
4
   Stopped Flute  
8
   Dulciana  
  Tremulant  

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Stopped Flute (TC)  
4
   Salicional  
8
   Stopped Flute  
4
   Dulciana  
8
   Salicional  
2 2/3
   Dulciana  
8
   Dulciana  
2
   Dulciana  
8
   Unda Maris (TC)       Tremulant  
4
   Stopped Flute [ext.]          

     

     
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
   Stopped Flute *  
8
   Dulciana  
16
   Dulciana [ext. GT] *  
8
   Salicional  
8
   Stopped Flute      
* possibly common pipes with hi-lo pressures
               
Stop Analysis
     
Pipes
16
   Stopped Flute
85
8
   Diapason
61
8
   Dulciana
85
8
   Salicional
85
8
   Unda Maris (TC)
    61
   
Total
377
             
J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co.
New York City – Opus 367 (1899)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 8 stops, 8 ranks


The Articles of Agreement (July 18, 1899) between the Odell Company and the Rector and trustees of St. Cornelius P.E. Church state that Odell would build a new organ with the following specification for a consideration of $1,400. Odell indicated the organ would be set up complete and ready for use on or before the first day of December 1899.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
   Open Diapason
61
8
   Stopped Diapason Bass
12
8
   Dulciana (TC)
49
4
   Octave
61
8
   Melodia (TC)
49
   

 

 

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Salicional (TC)
49
8
   Unison Bass
12
8
   Stopped Diapason (TC)
49
4
   Rohr Flote
61

 

 

     
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Bourdon
30
        
               
Couplers
    Swell to Great   Swell to Pedal
    Swell to Great Octaves   Great to Pedal
         
Pedal Movements
    Great Organ Forte   Great to Pedal Reversible
    Great Organ Piano   Balanced Swell Pedal
         
Mechanical Accessories
    Bellows Signal    
    Tremulant    
             
  Henry Crabb organ (1851) at St. Clement Episcopal Church - New York City
Organ in church located at 108 Amity Street:

John Lowe
Philadelphia, Penn. (1813) – orig. in St. John's Chapel
Rebuilt by Henry Crabb, New York City (1851)
Mechanical key and stop action
3 manuals, 32 stops



This organ was originally built by John Lowe in 1813 for St. John's Chapel of Trinity Parish, but it had been captured by the British in the War of 1812. The Lowe organ was eventually recovered and installed in the chapel, serving until it was replaced in 1839 by an organ built by Thomas Robjohn. For the next twelve years, the Lowe organ was stored in the tower of St. John's Chapel. In 1844, the organ was donated to St. Clement's by Trinity Corporation but it was not installed until 1851, after being rebuilt by Henry Crabb of New York, who also provided a new case. The rebuilt organ lasted into the 20th century and was repaired by Louis F. Mohr & Co. in 1903. According to The American Musical Directory of 1861, the organ had "3 banks keys, 32 stops, 1½ octaves of pedals" and was "Built by Henry Crabb, sen., in 1852."

Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
             
Organ in church located at 108 Amity Street:

Hall & Erben
New York City (1825)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 13 stops, 13 ranks, 604 pipes


John Pintard, a chief supporter of the General Theological Seminary and founder of the American Bible Society, wrote a letter to his daughter in which he mentioned attending a service at St. Clement's Church, and that the organ recently installed there had previously been used in St. Thomas Church. This organ was built by Hall & Erben in 1825 was used as a rental instrument and was sold to St. Clement's Church in 1831; it was later sold to the Free-Will Baptist Church in 1866.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes [G, A to F]
8
   Open Diapason
58
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Stop Diapason
58
2
   Fifteenth
58
4
   Principal
58
8
   Cremona [TF]
37
4
   Flute
58
        

 

 

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes [G, A to F], enclosed
8
   Open Diapason (TF)
37
8
   Dulciana (TF)
37
8
   St. Diapason Bass
21
4
   Principal (TF)
37
8
   St. Diapason Treble (TF)
37
8
   Trumpet (TF)
37
               
Pedal Organ – 17 notes [G, A to C], 13 pipes
16
   Double Open Diapason
13
        
               
Couplers
    Great Organ to Swell    
    Great Organ to Pedals    
               
Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     The American Organist (April 1942). Specification of Wicks Organ, Op. 2076 (1941). Courtesy Jeff Scofield.
     Boston Organ Club Newsletter? (date unknown). Specifications of Henry Erben organ (1831) – actually the Hall & Erben Organ (1825) as installed in the Free-Will Baptist Church. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Ochse, Orpha. "A Glimpse of the 1860s," The American Organist (Nov. 1969).
     Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977.
     St. Clement's Episcopal Church website: http://www.stclementsnyc.org/
     Speller, John. "Henry Crabb: An Ancient Tradition of Organbuilding Moves from Devonshire to New York," The Tracker (43:3, 1999).

Illustrations:
     Exterior. http://www.hellskitchennyc.com
     Organ Historical Society American Organ Archives: Henry Crabb organ (1851) in St. Clement's Church. Courtesy John Speller.