Music Ministry - Organ

History of the Organ at Church Street

Pipe organs began appearing in Tennessee churches before the Civil War - in Memphis, in Bolivar, in Greeneville, to name a few - but if there was one in the building on Church Street at that time, it has not been noted. Many churches used reed organs, meoldeons or pianos, and this may have been the case at Church Street. We do know that the church had an organ of some kind by 1874, since the records state that “Miss I. Jackson” was serving as organist at a salary of $65 a year (Platt 11). Miss Jackson is also mentioned, along with a Mr. Price, in December 1875; both were being paid $18.75 for 1-1/2 months of service (Platt 12). The program for the 1941 dedication of the Ault window (above the altar) states that Henry Theodore Ault, who joined Church Street in 1873, “was on the committee to secure money for the church’s first organ, and sang in the choir at the dedication concert.” If the statement is accurate, it must refer to the organ played by Miss Jackson.

By 1875, construction had begun on what was to be the last Methodist church on Church Street. Soon after the building was completed in 1878, a two-manual Hook & Hastings pipe organ was installed, at a cost of $1275 (Platt 12, 24). The console was placed “at the front and center of the organ pipes”, which were in the front of the sanctuary. Apparently the choir of that time was the source of some discontent: Dr. Platt reports, under the date of Aug. 31, 1878: “Have vocalists in the Church who would equal any choir in the city but for their indifference, the matter is referred to the Board” (Platt 12).

Besides Miss Jackson and Mr. Price, one of the earliest Church Street organists was Somers Van Gilder, who played for “many years” before 1897, the year in which Prof. H. Eugene Parsons was appointed as organist and director (Platt 18). Prof. Parsons, who began his tenure in 1897, resigned in 1909 after twelve years’ service. According to the records, he had not been paid for six months (Platt 20), though reasons for this are not known. Edith Conover was chosen as the new organist. In the next year, 1910, Prof. E.C. Cornell was brought in to direct a chorus choir and quartet. (Platt 20).

By 1915 there was some dissatisfaction with the Hook & Hastings organ, and an agreement was made with the Moller organ company whereby they would install an instrument for $4250 and take the old organ (Platt 21). Some remodeling was necessary in order to accomodate the new and larger three-manual organ, as it was “recessed back into the church parlors” (Platt 24).

In 1920, Madame Charlotte Nelson Brailey was hired at $60 a month to sing solos and to assist with the choir at the Sunday service (Platt 22). Edith Conover remained as organist until October 1922, when she resigned after thirteen years. At that point Elizabeth “Miss Bess” Platt, a member of the congregation since 1902, was chosen as organist and director (Platt 22). She was to preside over the organ and choir for the next forty-one years, a record unequaled at Church Street.

On the night of February 19, 1928, Miss Bess was the organist for the evening service, playing as an offertory “The End of the Road” (Platt 27). The title was prophetic: during that service, fire broke out and the church was destroyed.

The idea of a new building for Church Street had been circulating for several years before the fire, but there had been some opposition to it, and no action had been taken. Now there was no question that a new church had to be built, either in the old location, or, as it turned out, at the southwest corner of Main Avenue and Henley Street.

In 1928, pastor Percy Knickerbocker was contacted by the Pilcher organ company of Louisville; they had recently built a large four-manual organ for First Methodist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, but the church had defaulted on the contract due to the Great Depression. Later in the year, after much negotiation, a contract was signed with Pilcher, according to which the church would pay $17,500 for the organ. The original price of the (about) 60 rank instrument was listed at $29,500. The inaugural recital was played by Frankin Glynn, a well-known Memphpis organist, on June 18, 1931.

By the 1960’s, the Pilcher was needing major restoration work to keep it in good service.In 1962, W. Paul Worley, who came from Emory’s Candler School of Theology, was appointed Senior Minister. Dr. Worley was eager to put the church’s music on a more professional basis and to have a fine pipe organ installed - an Aeolian-Skinner, “the Rolls Royce of organs,” he sometimes said. In February 1963, Miss Bess Platt, now almost 80, resigned as Organist-Director. Arthur and Zoanne Bayer, graduates of Westminster Choir College, became the new leaders of the Church Street music program.

The idea of a new organ was set forth in the bulletin of Friday, June 19, 1964, though by that time, a contract had already been signed with the Boston firm of Aeolian-Skinner, one of the most respected in the country. The neo-classic 46 rank, three-manual organ was installed at a cost of about $100,000 (Platt 85). It was first used in a service on Sunday, May 22, 1966, with Pat Burch at the console and Arthur Bayer directing the choir. Prior to its installation, some much needed accoustical matters were addressed. The soft-plaster walls were painted for the first time to offer more reflective harder surfaces for improved reverberation of “sound” in the nave; the cork ceiling remained intact, however. This move also created a good amount of consternation of some in the congregation. The inaugural recital was played on May 23, 1966, by Alec Wyton, then Organist and Master of Choristers at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

From August, 1966 to July, 1969, Calvin Bower served as Organist and Choirmaster. From 1969 to 1978, William E. “Bill” Gray led the Church Street music program. James R. Rogers took up the mantle of Organist-Choirmaster in March, 1979, and has continued to the present day. Between 1966 and 1984, the Aeolian-Skinner remained at its original size, thought by many to be inadequate for the space it inhabited. In 1984, with major gifts from Mrs. Robert (Nancy) Heller, and smaller gifts from several other members, ten new ranks of pipes and a four-level solid state memory capture action were added along with various tonal revisions by the Randall Dyer & Associates, organ builder. The Zimbelstern stop (the sound is of tinkling bells) was soon added with a gift from Mrs. Ed (Harriet) Albers.

In 1998, the Board of Trustees, with full understanding of the treasure Church Street possessed in its fine Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, made the decision to restore the organ (completely releathering the instrument) and to make several additions as recommended by Mr. Rogers. The Randall Dyer & Associates, an organ builder located in Jefferson City, was chosen to do the work. The most notable of the additions are the nine-rank antiphonal division (playable both from its own two-manual console and from the front organ console) and the new four-manual solid state (and state-of-the-art) console which is now movable from its “pit” position to alternate positions in the center of the chancel giving visibility of the organist to the listener. Certain revisions to the Great, Swell and Choir divisions were made possible by a gift from the estate of Jama McDonald Hollingsworth. In a second addendum, installation costs of several ranks from a 1931 Moeller instrument given to the church by the Fred Shofner family, plus three new Solo division stops, the Tuba 8’, English Horn 8’ and Pedal Open Wood 16’ were underwritten from gifts from long time choir member Verna McLain. The current Aeolian-Skinner - Randall Dyer & Associates stands at 82 ranks. The organ, in and of itself, is a magnificent work of art that will serve Church Street Church and the greater Knoxville community long into this, the 21st century.

-Allison Ensor and James R. Rogers