click on images to enlarge All Souls Church (Unitarian Universalist) 1157 Lexington Avenue at 80th Street New York, N.Y. 10021 http://www.allsoulsnyc.org Organ Specifications: 1157 Lexington Avenue at 80th Street (since 1932) ► III/53 Holtkamp Organ Company (1989) ► III/37 Austin Organs Inc., Op. 1707 (1932) 249 Fourth Avenue at 20th Street (1855-1932) ► III/40 Ferris & Stuart (1856) 548 Broadway near Spring Street (1845-1855) • III/33 E. & G.G. Hook, Op. 65 (1844) Chambers Street (1821-1845) • unknown   Church of the Divine Unity   The Unitarian Universalist society known today as All Souls Church was founded in 1819 as the First Congregational Church in the City of New York. The first church, built from 1820-21 and located on Chambers Street between the Broad Way and Church Street, was dedicated on January 21, 1821. A new church was built in 1845 on Broadway, near Spring Street, and the congregation voted to call itself "The Church of the Divine Unity."     Church of the Holy Zebra (c.1855) Following the northerly movement of residents, the society moved to a new church on southeast corner of Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South) and 20th Street. Built from 1853-55, the new edifice was designed by Jacob Wrey Mould. One prominent architectural critic pronounced it "the most unfortunate ecclesiastical edifice ever to be erected not only in New York, but anywhere else in the world for that matter." In fashioning the first major example of Byzantine Revival architecture in the United States, the architect employed two radically different kinds of brick, the reddest possible Philadelphia brick and a light yellow brick (Caen stone) from Italy. He juxtaposed the two in broad alternating stripes from top to bottom. Hence the church's nicknames: the Beefsteak Church, and, soon thereafter, the Church of the Holy Zebra. All Souls Church would influence Leopold Eidlitz, architect of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal) on Madison Avenue and Temple Emanu-El on East 43rd Street. By the 1920s, the congregation sought to move uptown, and in the Spring of 1929 sold its Fourth Avenue property for $475,000 to an investment developer. Land was purchased on the southeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 80th Street and plans were drawn for a new church that would cost $1.25 million. In the interim, the congregation worshiped in the MacDowell Club at 166 East 73rd Street. With the onset of the Depression, the purchaser of the old property defaulted and the property reverted to the congregation. Luckily, the son of the late George F. Baker, a banker and philanthropist who had been a trustee of the church for more than half a century, arranged to cover the interest on the loan taken out for the new church. On August 23, 1931, the old landmark church was destroyed by fire. The present church was designed by Hobart Upjohn, Richard Upjohn's grandson, and was built from 1931 to 1932. Upjohn's austere interpretation of the Georgian style is noted for its crisp geometry with few traditional details, and at the time of its construction symbolized an openness to non-Gothic architecture. A prominent feature of Upjohn's design is the noble tower that rises from a rectangular base to a square lantern with an octagonal steeple. The new church was dedicated on Sunday, November 13, 1932.             Holtkamp Organ Company Cleveland, Ohio (1989) Mechanical key action Electric stop and combination action 3 manuals, 40 stops, 53 ranks The 1989 Holtkamp organ is installed at the rear of the gallery, in direct line of sight and sound to the sanctuary, with surround space for choir and small orchestra. The exposed pipework has a 16' Principal tower of three pipes decorated in deep gold with decorative appliqué of metal plates. Mechanical key action was used throughout except for the 16' Principal and 16' Subbass.                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes 16   Pommer 61 2   Superoctave 61 8   Principal 61   Mixture IV ranks 244 8   Gedackt 61     Scharf III ranks 183 4   Octave 61 8   Trumpet 61 4   Spitzflöte 61                     Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed 8   Gamba 61 1 1/3   Larigot 61 8   Voix Celeste [GG] 54   Plein Jeu IV ranks 244 8   Rohrgedackt 61 16   Dulzian 61 4   Geigen Principal 61 8   Oboe 61 4   Traverse Flute 61 4   Clairon 61 2   Ottava 61   Tremolo             Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed 8   Gemshorn 61 1 3/5   Tierce 61 8   Copula 61   Fourniture III ranks 183 4   Praestant  61 8   Vox Humana 61 4   Rohrflöte 61 8   Cromorne 61 2 2/3   Nazard 61 4   Schalmey 61 2   Doublette 61   Tremolo               Pedal Organ – 32 notes 16   Principal 32 4   Choralbass 32 16   Subbass 32   Rauschwerk IV ranks 128 10 2/3   Grossquinte  32 16   Posaune 32 8   Octave 32 8   Trumpet 32 8   Flute 32   Glockensonne                             Austin Organs, Inc. Hartford, Conn. – Opus 1707 (1932) Electro-pneumatic action 3 manuals, 50 stops, 37 ranks The original organ in the present All Souls Church was built in 1932 by Austin Organs of Hartford, who installed the pipes in chambers on either side of the rear gallery. Six of the Swell stops were double-enclosed within the Swell expression box, allowing for a quasi-Echo division. Of the 38 combons on the Austin stop-tongue console, those affecting the manuals were on double-touch, with the second touch operating the Pedal stops. Organist Bruno Huhn played the dedicatory recital on Sunday, November 6, 1932.                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed with Choir 16   Diapason 61 8   Gemshorn 61 8   First Diapason 61 4   Principal 61 8   Second Diapason 61 2 2/3   Twelfth 61 8   Gross Floete 61 2   Fifteenth 61 8   Harmonic Flute 61 8   Tuba 61             Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon 73 2   Flautino † 61 8   Diapason 73 1 3/5   Tierce † 61 8   Clarabella 73   Mixture III ranks [draws † stops] — 8   Viole d'Orchestre 73 16   Oboe 85 8   Viole Celeste 73 8   Cornopean 73 8   Chimney Flute * 73 8   Oboe [ext.] — 8   Flute Celeste [TC] * 61 4   Oboe [ext.] — 8   Aeoline * 73 8   Vox Humana * 61 8   Voix Celeste [TC] * 61   Tremulant 4   Flauto d'Amore * 73   Tremulant Vox 2 2/3   Nazard † 61   * double enclosed             Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed 8   Diapason 73 2   Piccolo 61 8   Concert Flute 73 8   Corno d'Amore 73 8   Quintadena 73 8   Clarinet 73 8   Dulciana 73 8   Harp 61 bars 8   Unda Maris [TC] 61 4   Harp-Celesta — 4   Flauto Traverso 73   Tremulant             Pedal Organ – 32 notes 32   Bourdon 56 8   Diapason [ext.] — 16   First Diapason 44 8   Bourdon [ext.] — 16   Second Diapason GT 16   Tuba [ext. GT] 12 16   Bourdon [ext.] — 16   Oboe SW 16   Bourdon SW 8   Tuba GT             Organ installed in previous Church of the Holy Zebra at 249 Fourth Avenue at 20th Street: Ferris & Stuart New York City (1856) Mechanical action 3 manuals, 34 stops, 40 ranks                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes 16   Tenoroon 56 2 2/3   Twelfth 56 8   1st Open Diapason 56 2   Fifteenth 56 8   2nd Open Diapason 56   Sesquialtera, 3 ranks 168 8   Stopped Diapason 56   Mixture, 2 ranks 112 4   1st Principal 56 8   Trumpet 56 4   2nd Principal 56 4   Clarion 56             Swell Organ (Manual III) – 56 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon 56   Cornet, 3 ranks 168 8   Open Diapason 56   Sesquialtera, 2 ranks 112 8   Dulciana 56 8   Trumpet 56 8   Stopped Diapason 56 8   Hautboy 56 4   Principal 56 8   Vox Humana 56             Choir Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes 8   Open Diapason 56 4   Rohr Flute 56 8   Dulciana 56 4   Wald Flute 56 8   Viol d'Amour 56 2   Fifteenth 56 8   Stopped Diapason 56 8   Cremona 56 4   Principal 56                 Pedal Organ – 27 notes 16   Open Diapason 27 16   Bourdon 27 16   Dulciana 27                 Organ installed in previous church known as the Church of the Divine Unity at 548 Broadway: E. & G.G. Hook Boston, Mass. – Opus. 65 (1844) Mechanical action 3 manuals, 33 stops Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.             Original church known as the First Congregational Church on Chambers Street between Broad Way and Church Street: It is unknown at this time whether the original church possessed an organ.             Sources:      "All Souls' Church Lays Cornerstone," The New York Times, February 8, 1932.      "All Souls Church Opens New Home," The New York Times, November 14, 1932.      "All Souls' Church Swept by Flames," The New York Times, August 24, 1931.      All Souls Unitarian Church website: www.allsoulsnyc.org      The American Organist, November, 1932. Specifications of Austin Organ, Op. 1707 (1932); courtesy Jeff Scofield.      Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.      "New-York Church Architecture," Putnam's Monthly, Vol. II, No. IX (September 1853). New York: G. P. Putnam & Co., 1853.      Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001.      Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977.      Stern, Robert A.M., Gregory Gilmartin, and Thomas Mellins. New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. New York City: Rizzoli International Publications, 1987. Photos:      "New-York Church Architecture," Putnam's Monthly, Vol. II - September 1853 - No. IX. Church of the Divine Unity.      Rust, John: Holtkamp organ and church exterior             | NYC AGO Home Page | Back to NYC Organs List |