The 1971 Aeolian Skinner Organ, Opus 1516

The Sanctuary organ at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago has 126 ranks, numbering 6,603 pipes, and is the largest instrument in the city and one of largest in the Midwest. Some of the existing pipe work dates back to 1914 when Ernest M. Skinner was contracted to build the first pipe organ. That organ contained 59 ranks. Among them was a stop invented by Skinner called the Kleine Erzähler, which means "little storytellers," a stop of which he was most proud.

In 1946, the Aeolian/Skinner Company made additions to the Great, Choir, and Pedal divisions. By the middle of the 1960s, the organ was in poor mechanical condition, and the church decided to replace the modified E.M. Skinner with a new instrument. The Aeolian/Skinner Company was selected. The organ was expanded to 125 ranks. Significant E. M. Skinner ranks that were retained included the Kleine Erzähler and Celeste, French Horn, Voix Humaine, Clarinet (Corno di Bassetto), Fagotto (Antiphonal Pedal Trompete 16'), and the Geigen Prinzipal 32', much of which is in the large case. The old echo organ, housed above the east balcony, was replaced by an unenclosed antiphonal division with complete pedal. The high pressure Festival Trumpet is located there as well.

In 1989, the firm of Goulding and Wood of Indianapolis was consulted regarding deficiencies of the organ that needed to be corrected (i.e., the Swell organ was at the back of the chamber and spoke directly into the large pedal Prinzipal pipes; the half-length 32' Kontra Trompette in the Pedal lacked adequate support for the entire instrument). Other alterations included relocation of the Swell, Positiv, and Pedal chests; the replacement of the Swell Trompette with a new stop and the substitution of the Positiv Rankett 16' with the existing Swell Trompette; the extension of the Pedal Posaune 16' to 32' to replace the lighter weight existing Kontra Trompete; the addition of a Subbass 16' to the pedal; the raising of wind pressures to the Positiv, Swell, and Antiphonal; the revoicing of the pipes for those divisions; and a case for the Positiv with a new Prinzipal 8' replacing the existing Spitzprinzipal. The organ was cleaned, tuned, and regulated to accommodate the new acoustic that resulted from the removal of three inches of horsehair felt from the ceiling during the restoration of the Sanctuary and the installation of a new oak ceiling.

GREAT 16 Geigen Prinzipal 8 Prinzipal 8 Gemshorn 8 Bordun 8 Flûte Harmonique 4 Oktave 4 Spitzflöte 2 Super Oktave 2 Blockflote II Sesquialtera IV/V Kornett (t.c.) IV/VI Mixtur IV Scharf 16 Kontra Trompete 8 Trompete 8 Festival Trumpet (Antiphonal) 8 French Horn (Enclosed in Choral) Chimes

SWELL (Enclosed) 16 Flûte Conique 8 Montre 8 Bourdon 8 Viole 8 Viole Celeste 8 Kleiner Erzähler 8 Erzähler Celeste 4 Prestant 4 Flûte Ouverte 2 2/3 Nazard 2 Doublette 1 3/5 Tierce IV Plein Jeu IV Cymbale 16 Bombarde 8 Trompette 8 Hautbois 8 Voix Humaine 4 Clairon Tremulant

POSITIV 16 Quintade 8 Prinzipal 8 Rohrflöte 4 Prinzipal 4 Koppelflöte 2 Oktave 2 Flachflöte 1 1/3 Quint 1 Sifflöte IV/V Mixtur II Zimbel II Terzian 8 Trompete 8 Krummhorn Tremulant

CHORAL (Enclosed) 8 Holz Gedeckt 8 Flauto Dolce 8 Flûte Celeste 4 Spitzflöte 2 Waldflöte III Mixture 8 Corno di Bassetto 16 Festival Trumpet (t.c.) 8 Festival Trumpet 4 Festival Clarion Tremulant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANTIPHONAL 8 Prinzipal 8 Gedeckt 4 Oktave 2 Hellflöte IV/V Mixtur 8 Trompete Tremulant

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL 16 Holzprinzipal 8 Oktave 4 Choral Bass 16 Trompete

 

 

 

PEDAL 32 Geigen Prinzipal 16 Prinzipal 16 Subbass 16 Bordun 16 Geigen Prinzipal (Great) 16 Quintade (Positiv) 16 Flûte Conique (Swell) 8 Oktave 8 Pommer Gedeckt 8 Spitzflöte 4 Choral Bass 4 Spillflöte 2 Nachthorn IV Mixture IV Scharf VIII Grosskornett 32 Kontra Posaune 16 Posaune 16 Bombarde (Swell) 16 Kontra Trompete (Great) 8 Trompete 4 Schalmei Chimes

COUPLERS Great to Pedal 8 Postiv to Pedal 8 Positiv to Pedal 4 Swell to Pedal 8 Swell to Pedal 4 Choral to Pedal 8 Choral to Pedal 4 Antiphonal to Pedal 8 Great to Great 16 Swell to Great 16 Swell to Great 8 Swell to Great 4 Choral to Great 8 Positiv to Great 8 Antiphonal to Great 8 Positiv to Positiv 16 Positiv Unison Off Great to Positiv 8 Swell to Positiv 8 Choral to Positiv 8 Antiphonal to Positiv 8 Swell to Swell 16 Swell to Swell 4 Swell Unison Off Choral to Swell 8 Antiphonal to Swell 8 Choral to Choral 16 Choral to Choral 4 Choral Unison off Swell to Choral 8 Antiphonal to Antiphonal 4 Antiphonal Unison Off Chancel Organ Off Antiphonal Organ Off

The solid state combination action of 1971 was replaced by Peterson Electro Musical-Products, Inc., in 1982 and includes four levels of memory controlling twelve general pistons and eight divisional piston, (except the Antiphonal which has five). In addition, there are five master pistons, crescendo pedal and two tuttis.

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