have significant work completed on the organ. At that time, the 1958 console was rebuilt and updated with more modern technology. Needed repairs were made to wind chests and some tonal voicing and regulating was done, as well. Robert Glasgow, a fitting choice as a professor at the University of Michigan, played a program to celebrate this work to the organ in November of 1989.
The Aeolian Company Today we associate pipe organs with churches and perhaps even concert halls, but certainly not with residences. However, pipe organs served as the home orchestra in the early twentieth century. The residence pipe organ was championed by the Aeolian Company, which installed nearly 1,000 of them. Founded in 1878 in New York, the Aeolian Company by the 1920s was the largest and most successful musical instrument manufacturer in America. The name “Aeolian” comes from Aeolus, the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. Aeolian excelled in creating self-playing instruments, including pipe organs. Music could only be heard in live performances before the advent of self-playing instruments. The Aeolian pipe organ factory was in Garwood, New Jersey, and it produced the most expensive organs in the world. Most owners of residence pipe organs could not play, and they did not need to. Organ music, symphonic and operatic transcriptions, as well as popular songs were recorded onto perforated paper rolls that allowed the instruments to play automatically. Many famous organists including Marcel Dupre and Louis Vierne recorded rolls for the Aeolian Company. Many of the wealthy simply needed the organs for dinner music and soirées. Aeolian organs were considered the premier symbol of musical opulence: “The Final Touch of Beauty for the Well Planned Home,” claimed an Aeolian ad from the era. Aeolian organs were installed in the homes of DuPonts, Carnegies, Eastmans, Fords, Schwabs, and Rockefellers. Horace Dodge even had an Aeolian installed on his yacht. Unfortunately, in 1932, because of the Great Depression along with the increasing popularity of the phonograph and radio, the Aeolian Company merged with its fiercest competitor, the Skinner Organ Company, to create the Aeolian-Skinner Company. Due to stipulations of the merger, the Aeolian-Skinner Company became simply the Skinner Company and the Aeolian Company practically vanished. Having an Aeolian instrument today is rare. Home organs were difficult to maintain and succeeding generations usually had no need or interest in the instrument. In addition, many of the metal pipes in these unused home organs were used for scrap metal in WWII. 6
The 1958 installation of the organ was not ideal; attempting to fit original organ windchests designed for a large single organ chamber into the auditorium’s three separate chambers was difficult. The work completed in 2008 by the Schantz Organ Company allows Wesleyan’s organ to be perfectly tailored for our space. The pipes of the organ sit on new chests that allow the sound to enter directly into the room. Previously, much of the sound of the organ had been lost because of poor placement of the organ in the organ chambers. Now, the pipes from the chamber behind the stage have joined the rest of the organ in the two main chambers. The sound of Aeolian Opus 1542 fills the room as never before.
The American Guild of Organists has designated 2008-2009 as the International Year of the Organ. Churches and music organizations across the world offered special programs on or around Sunday, October 19, 2008 through the International Organ Spectacular. Wesleyan will play special tribute to the International Organ celebration through several events, including a Macon Symphony Orchestra Master Works event with Wesleyan Organist and Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Michael McGhee on October 18, 2008 in the Wesleyan College Auditorium. This event featured a performance of Guilmant’s Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, op. 42. MICHAEL MCGHEE, Wesleyan College Assistant Professor of Music and College Organist; B.M. (Organ Performance) Shorter College 1999; M.M. (Organ Performance) University of Georgia 2001; D.M. (Organ Performance and Literature) Indiana University School of Music 2005. We give special thanks to Michael McGhee for his contributions to this feature article. As Wesleyan’s Organist, Dr. McGhee teaches courses in organ, harpsichord, music theory, music history and literature. He is an active performer and has won numerous organ competitions. In addition, he is an accomplished church musician and an active member of the American Guild of Organists.