St. Thomas More Catholic Church


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Church of St. Thomas More
(Roman Catholic)

65 East 89th Street, near Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10128
http://www.thomasmorechurch.org

Organ Specifications:
► II/23 Lively-Fulcher Pipe Organ Builders (1998)
► I/7 Flentrop Orgelbouw (1960)
► III/23 Hall Organ Company (<1931)
• II/30reg M.P. Möller, Inc., Op. 1808 (1914)
• II/ Müller & Abel (after 1893)

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas More was established in 1950 by Cardinal Spellman to serve the Carnegie Hill area of Manhattan. St. Thomas More, the church's patron saint, was the first layman to hold the post of Lord Chancellor of England. He resigned in protest over the divorce of King Henry VIII from Queen Catherine, and was ultimated beheaded after he refused to acknowledge the King as the head of the English Church. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935.

Somewhat ironically, the edifice was built in 1870 as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Beloved Disciple, established by St. Luke's P.E. Church to serve the Home for Indigent Christian Females. Originally located near St. Luke's building at Hudson and Grove Streets, the home's move to 89th Street meant its elderly residents could no longer conveniently attend services. Miss Caroline Talman, who was active in Episcopal philanthrophy, agreed to finance the new church, designed in Country Gothic style by Hubert & Pirsson. The Church of the Beloved Disciple continued until the mid-1920s, when the Church of the Heavenly Rest, a much larger congregation (then at Fifth Avenue and 45th Street) began construction of its present facilities nearby at Fifth Avenue and 90th Street. Beloved Disciple agreed to merge with Heavenly Rest, retaining its identity in the naming of a chapel in the new building. The old church was sold in 1929 to the Eighty-ninth Street Reformed congregation, and in 1950 it was sold to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas More.

Lively-Fulcher Pipe Organ Builders
Washington, D.C. (1998)
Electric slider action
2 manuals, 23 registers, 20 stops, 23 ranks

The organ in St. Thomas More was built in 1998 by Lively-Fulcher Pipe Organ Builders of Washington, D.C. All of the pipes are installed in a chamber behind a case on the left side of the chancel, while the two-manual terraced drawknob console is located with the choir in a room on the opposite side.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes

Bourdon *

2 2/3

Cornet III ranks

preparation

Open Diapason

1 1/3

Furniture IV ranks

244

Stopped Flute

Trumpet

Flûte Harmonique

Tremulant

Principal

Great Sub Octave

Open Flute

Swell to Great

Fifteenth

* 1-12 from Pedal Subbass

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed

Chimney Flute

2 2/3

Sesquialtera II ranks

preparation

Salicional

1 1/3

Larigot

Voix Celeste (TC)

Hautboy

Principal

Tremulant

Tapered Flute

Swell Sub Octave

Harmonic Flageolet

Swell Super Octave

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

Subbass

Trumpet (fr. Trombone)

—

Principal

Great to Pedal 8'

Bass Flute (fr. Subbass)

—

Great to Pedal 4'

Fifteenth (fr. Principal)

—

Swell to Pedal 8'

Trombone

Swell to Pedal 4'

Adjustable Combinations (8 memory levels)

Swell Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb)
Great Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb)
Pedal Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (toe)
General	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb & toe)
	General Cancel (thumb)
	Setter (thumb)

Reversibles

Great to Pedal (thumb & toe)

Swell to Great (thumb & toe)

Swell to Pedal (thumb & toe)

Tutti (thumb & toe)

Expression

Balanced Swell Pedal

Chapel Organ

Flentrop Orgelbouw
Zaandam, The Netherlands (1960)
Mechanical action
1 manual, 6 stops, 7 ranks

This small organ was built in 1960 for St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Penn. About 1966, the organ was sold to a private individual who planned to install it in his West Side residence in New York City. For several years, though, the organ was stored in The Spike, a bar on Eleventh Avenue at 20th Street in Chelsea. Sometime around 1990, the organ was moved to St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church on West End Avenue. In 1995, the organ was relocated to St. Thomas More Church where it was used in the church and, later, the chapel. In 2009, the organ was sold to organist Renée Anne Louprette for her New Jersey residence.

Manuaal – 56 notes

Holpijp

Quintadeen

Prestant

Roerfluit

Gemshoorn

Cymbel I-II fach

Pedaal – 32 notes

permanently coupled to manuaal

Previous organ built for Eighty-ninth Street Reformed Church: Hall Organ Company West Haven, Conn. (<1931) Electro-pneumatic action 3 manuals, 37 registers, 21 stops, 23 ranks After the building became the Eighty-ninth Street Reformed Church, the Hall Organ Company of West Haven, Conn., was contracted to rebuild the 1914 Möller organ. Hall installed new chests and a new three-manual stop-key console. Following are the specifications taken from the relay action after the organ was removed in 1998 by Sebastian M. Glück of New York City.

Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
16	Diapason	73	4	Harmonic Flute	61
8	First Diapason	61	8	Tuba Sonora	61
8	Second Diapason (fr. 16')	—		Tremolo
8	Clarabella	61		Chimes
8	Dulciana	61		Harp
8	Erzahler	61

Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon	97	2	Piccolo (fr. Bourdon)	—
8	Horn Diapason	61	1 3/5	Tierce (fr. Bourdon)	—
8	Salicional	61		Dolce Cornet III ranks	183
8	Voix Celeste (TC)	49	8	English Horn	61
8	Gedeckt (fr. Bourdon)	—	8	Oboe	61
8	Aeoline	61	8	Orchestral Oboe	61
4	Flute d'Amour (fr. Bourdon)	—	8	Vox Humana	61
2 2/3	Nazard (fr. Bourdon)	—		Tremolo

Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8	Diapason (2nd Diap.)	GT	8	Clarinet	61
8	Clarabella	GT		Tremolo
8	Cello	GT		Chimes	GT
8	Doppel Flöte	61		Harp	GT
4	Harmonic Flute	GT

Pedal Organ – 32 notes
32	Resultant	—	8	Grand Principal	GT
16	Diapason	44	8	Gross Flute (ext. 16' Diap.)	—
16	Bourdon	32	8	Dolce Flute	SW
16	Lieblich Gedeckt	SW	16	Trombone (ext. GT)	12

Previous organ, built for the Church of the Beloved Disciple:

M. P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 1808 (1914)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 30 registers

In 1914, the M.P. Möller firm built a new two-manual organ with 30 registers for the Church of the Beloved Disciple, original owners of the building. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

Previous organ, built for the Church of the Beloved Disciple:

Müller & Abel
New York City (after 1893)
Mechanical action?
2 manuals

The first-known organ in the building was built sometime after 1893 by Müller & Abel of New York City. This organ was donated to the New York Penitentiary when a new M.P. Möller organ was installed in 1914. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

Sources:
     "Church on 89th St. Receives Blessings," The New York Times (July 10, 1950).
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Flentrop Orgelbouw web site: http://www.flentrop.nl/indexuk.html
     Glück, Sebastian. Specifications of Hall Organ Co. organ (<1931) when removed in 1998.
     Lively-Fulcher Pipe Organ Builders web site: http://lively-fulcher.com/index.html
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.

Illustrations:
     Lawson, Steven E. Church exterior and interior; console of Lively-Fulcher organ (1998).
     Louprette, Renée Anne. Flentrop organ (1960) in St. Thomas More Chapel.

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