A. Philip Randolph Campus High School


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A. Philip Randolph Campus High School

433 West 135th Street at St. Nicholas Terrace
New York, N.Y. 10031

Organ Specifications:
► III/31 Estey Organ Company, Op. 2937 (1931)
► II/3 Estey Organ Company "Grand Minuette" (c.1929)

The A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, named for the black civic leader, is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem on the campus of the City College of New York. The school was established in 1979 as an educational collaboration between the Board of Education and The City College of New York. As one of the city's "magnet schools," Randolph has three programs or "houses" – medicine, engineering, and humanities.

New York Training School for Teachers - New York City (Photo: Estey Organ Company)

Randolph High School occupies a building designed in the Collegiate Gothic style by William H. Gompert, Architect & Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education. Constructed from 1924 to 1926, the building opened as the first built for the New York Training School for Teachers, established in 1898 to provide elementary school teachers for the Board of Education. The Training School became the New York Teachers Training College in 1931, but a surplus of teachers during the Depression led to the abolishment of the school in 1933.

In 1936, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia established the High School of Music & Art in the vacant facility, an event he described as “the most hopeful accomplishment” of his administration. The school was made up of three departments: Art, Instrumental Music, and Vocal Music. In 1984, Music & Art and its sister school, the High School of Performing Arts, were merged into a new school, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts at a new building in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan.

In 1997, the building was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Estey Organ, Op. 2937 (1931) at New York Training School for Teachers - New York (Photo: Estey Organ Company)

Estey Organ Company
Brattleboro, Vt. – Opus 2937 (1931)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 49 registers, 31 stops, 31 ranks

In the Great Depression year of 1931, the Estey Organ Company received a welcome and very large contract for seven identical organs to be installed in New York City high schools. The $168,000 contract made the average cost of each organ $24,000. Each organ was equipped with a three-manual console that included ivory keys and an automatic roll-player.

These organs were installed in Jamaica High School (Op. 2932), Far Rockaway High School (Op. 2933), and Richmond Hill High School (Op. 2938) in Queens; Theodore Roosevelt High School (Op. 2934), James Monroe High School (Op. 2935), and DeWitt Clinton High School (Op. 2936) in The Bronx; and the New York Training School for Teachers (Op. 2937), later the High School of Musical Art, in Manhattan.

The Estey organ in the New York Training School for Teachers was installed in two chambers, one on either side of the stage, that were masked with display pipes. This organ was discarded in the 1970s, although the display pipes are extant.

Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed with Choir (6" pressure)

1st Open Diapason (Heavy)

Fifteenth *

2nd Open Diapason

1 1/3

Nineteenth *

Doppel Flute

Mixture III ranks [draws * stops]

Concert Flute

Tuba [10" pressure]

Gamba

Tromba (fr. 16')

—

Dulciana

Clarion (fr. 16')

—

Harmonic Flute

Tremolo

Octave

Harp (TC)

—

2 2/3

Twelfth *

Celesta

61 bars

Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed (6" pressure)

Lieblich Gedeckt

Oboe (synthetic)

—

Horn Diapason

Waldhorn

Stopped Flute

Cornopean

—

Viol d'Orchestra

Clarion

—

Viol Celeste

Vox Humana [sep. trem. & box]

Aeoline

Tremolo

Traverse Flute

Harp

Violino

Celesta

Flautino

Mixture III *

* 12th & 15th from Flautino; ind. Tierce

Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed (6" pressure)

Contra Dulciana

Piccolo

Geigen Principal

Clarinet

Concert Flute

English Horn

Dulciana (fr. 16')

—

Tremolo

Unda Maris

Harp

Harmonic Flute

Celesta

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

Acoustic Bass

—

Major Flute (fr. Op. Diap.)

—

Open Diapason

Flute (fr. Bourdon)

—

Bourdon

Dulciana

Lieblich Gedeckt

Trombone

Contra Dulciana

Tromba

Couplers

Great to Pedal 8', 4'

Swell to Choir 16', 8', 4'

Swell to Pedal 8', 4'

Great 16', 4', Unison Off

Choir to Pedal 8', 4'

Swell 16', 4', Unison Off

Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'

Choir 16', 4' Unison Off

Choir to Great 16', 8', 4'

Adjustable Combinations

Swell & Pedal	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb) *
Great & Pedal	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb) *
Choir & Pedal	Pistons 1-2-3-4-5 (thumb) *
Pedal & its couplers	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Full Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb & toe)
	* double-touch brings on Pedal stops

Reversibles

Great to Pedal (hand and foot)

Choir to Pedal (hand and foot)

Swell to Pedal (hand and foot)

All Swells to Swell

Pedal Movements

Balanced Swell Pedal

Crescendo Pedal with indicator

Balanced Great & Choir Pedal

Sforzando Pedal with indicator


	Estey Ad in The Diapason (Jan 1931)

	Estey Ad in The Diapason (Jan 1931)

	Interior of an Estey Grand Minuette

Estey Organ Company
Brattleboro, Vt. (c.1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 23 stops, 3 ranks

In the January 1931 issue of The Diapason was an advertising insert for the Estey Organ Company. This insert included photos (shown at right) of an Estey "Minuette" organ on the auditorium stage of the New York Training School for Teachers (now A. Philip Randolph Campus High School). As this organ does not appear on the Estey Company Opus List, it was possibly 'on loan' from the Estey Showroom prior to the installation of the much larger Estey organ in 1931.

Estey's first example of a "Grand Minuette" (Op. 2800) was built in 1929 for Connie's Inn in Harlem. The Grand Minuette had three unified ranks on 8" wind pressure, and all of its pipes were contained in a grand piano-type case that measured 8'4" long by 5'5" wide by 3'3" high. The case and piano-type bench of Op. 2800 were finished in Whitewood, ivory and gold. Following are the specifications for Estey's Op. 2800 installed in Connie's Inn.

Solo Melody (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed

Bass Viol

Octave

Diapason

Flute d'Amour

Oboe (synthetic)

Violina

Clarinet (synthetic)

2 2/3

Twelfth

Tibia Clausa

Piccolo

Violin

1 3/5

Tierce

Saxophone (synthetic)

Accompaniment Organ(Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed

Contra Violone

Octave

Diapason

String

Viola

Flute

Gedeckt

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

Violone

Flute

'Cello

Accessories and Special Features

General Tremolo

Current and wind lights

Balanced Swell Expression

4 spare contacts – Solo

Crescendo Pedal

4 spare contacts – Accomp.

5-note Chimes [E, F#, G#, A#, B]

4 spare contacts – Pedal

Stop Analysis
4	Open Diapason	61
8	Stopped Flute	85
16	Salicional	85
	Total	231

Sources:
     Carnahan, John. Factory Shop Order for Estey Organ, Op. 2800 (1929) – Grand Minuette model.
     Carnahan, John. Factory Shop Order for Estey Organ, Op.2937 (1931).
     "City Will Open Schools of Art and Music In Fall to Encourage Gifted Students," The New York Times (May 29, 1935.
     Dolkart, Andrew S. and Matthew A. Postal. Guide to New York City Landmarks (Third Edition). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004.
     Estey Pipe Organ website: www.esteyorgan.com.
     "Memorial for La Guardia," The New York Times (Sep. 27, 1947).
     "Two Test Schools Are Opened By City," The New York Times (Feb. 4, 1936).

Illustrations:
     Estey Organ Company advertisement, The Diapason (Jan. 1931, Vol. 22, No. 2). Photos of "Grand Minuette" organ onstage at New York Training School for Teachers. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Estey Pipe Organ website. Exterior; Interior of auditorium, "Grand Minuette" model.
     Sol Architecture and Partners, LLC website: http://www.sol-architecture.com/. Exterior (1983) of High School of Music & Art.

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