click on images to enlarge Salem United Methodist Church 211 West 129th Street at Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. (7th Avenue) New York, N.Y. 10027 Organ Specifications: ► IV/26 M. P. Möller, Op. R-442 (1952) ► III/32 Geo. Jardine & Son (1887) Salem United Methodist Church was founded in 1881 as a mission of St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church. The mission first met in a storefront at 250 St. Nicholas Avenue, and later moved to 232 West 124th Street, a private home. In 1908, the New York City Missionary and Church Extension Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church purchased six brownstones on 133rd Street and Lenox Avenue, renovating them to create a chapel and meeting rooms for the Salem mission. That same year, Salem was reorganized as a separate church. By the early 1920s, Salem's membership had grown to over 600 and larger facilities were needed. In 1923, Salem purchased the imposing Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church (also known as the West Harlem M.E. Church) for $258,000, after Calvary decided to relocate to the Bronx. Salem Church has been home to many of Harlem's cultural and intellectual elite, including singer Marian Anderson and poet Countee Cullen.             M. P. Möller, Inc. Hagerstown, Md. – Opus R-442 (1952) Electro-pneumatic action 4 manuals, 33 stops, 26 ranks This organ was originally built in 1931 by the Möller Organ Company as Opus 5796, and was one of two Möller organs installed in the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue. As built, Opus 5796 had three manuals, 75 registers, and 22 ranks, plus an Artiste Reproducing Roll Player. The location of this organ in the hotel is unknown, but it may have been installed in a smallar ballroom or in the M.P. Möller Company Showroom on the 4th floor. The larger organ, Opus 5795, was installed in the Grand Ballroom and had four manuals, 102 registers and 76 ranks, plus an Artiste Reproducing Rolle Player. In 1952, Möller's Opus 5796 was removed from the hotel and rebuilt for Salem Methodist Church. All parts that were to be releathered or rebuilt were returned to the Möller factory, and the organ was thoroughly cleaned, tonally regulated, repitched and tuned for its new home at Salem Methodist Church. Möller added two stops on the Great: a 4' Octave and a III-rank Mixture; and a new 10 HP blower and blower reservoir were installed. Möller also built a new four-manual console that included many blank drawknobs for future additions; it is believed that Virgil Fox had input on the console design, as evident by the inclusion of a Swell to Great 2' coupler. In later years, additions and changes to the organ were carried out by the Schantz Organ Company. Click here to view the Möller Factory Specification for Op. R-442. Note that Möller incorrectly refers to the original Waldorf organ as Op. 5766 instead of Op. 5796. (Op. 5766 went to First Evangelical Church in Indianapolis, IN.)                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed with Choir 8   Diapason 61 8   Solo Trumpet 61 8   Doppel Flute 73   Tremolo 4   Octave 61   Chimes 21 tubes 4   Harmonic Flute 49   4 blank drawknobs   Mixture III ranks 183                 Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Bass Flute 97 8   Voix Celeste [TC] 61 8   Geigen Principal 73 4   Violina [Violin] — 8   Traverse Flute [Bass Flute] — 8   Oboe 61 8   Orchestral Strings II ranks 134 8   Vox Humana 61 8   Violin 73   Tremolo 8   Salicional 73   7 blank drawknobs                 Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed 8   English Diapason 73 8   Flute [Concert Flute] — 8   Concert Flute 85 8   French Horn 61 8   Viola 73 8   Clarinet 61 8   Viola Celeste [TC] 61   Tremolo 8   Viole Dolce 73   Harp [TC] 61 bars 8   Vox Angelica 73   4 blank drawknobs                 Solo Organ (Manual IV) – 61 notes, enclosed     7 blank drawknobs                           Anitphonal Organ – 61 notes, enclosed (Playable from Great through coupler pistons placed on key jambs. Stops to be affected by Great couplers.)     7 blank drawknobs                           Anitphonal Pedal – 32 notes     4 blank drawknobs                       Pedal Organ – 32 notes 32   Resultant — 8   Viola CH 16   Violone 32 8   Dolce Flute SW 16   Bourdon [ext. GT Dop. Fl.] 12 8   Tromba GT 16   Lieblich Gedeckt SW   14 blank drawknobs 8   Major Flute GT                     Couplers     Great to Pedal 8', 4'       Solo to Great 16', 8', 4'       Swell to Pedal 8', 4'       Great 16', 4'       Choir to Pedal 8', 4'       Swell 16', 4', Unison       Solo to Pedal 8', 4'       Swell to Choir 16', 8', 4'       Swell to Great 16', 8', 4', 2'       Choir 16', 4', Unison       Choir to Great 16', 8', 4'       Solo 16', 4', Unison                   Adjustable Combinations     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4-5-6 affecting Great Stops     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4-5-6 affecting Swell Stops     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4-5-6 affecting Choir Stops     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 affecting Solo Stops     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 affecting Antiphonal Stops     Pistons No. 1-2-3-0 affecting Inter-manual Couplers     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4-5-6 affecting Pedal Stops (duplicated by toe studs)     Pistons No. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 affecting Full Organ (duplicated by toe studs)                 Pedal Movements     Great to Pedal Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)     Swell to Pedal Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)     Choir to Pedal Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)     Solo to Pedal Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)     Balanced Expression Pedal – Great-Choir Organ     Balanced Expression Pedal – Swell Organ     Balanced Expression Pedal – Solo Organ     Balanced Expression Pedal – Antiphonal Organ     Balanced Crescendo Pedal     Sforzando Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)     All Swells to Swell Reversible (duplicated by manual piston)                 Accessories     Action Current Indicator (light)     Expression Indicator (light)     Crescendo Indicator (thermometer type with light)     Sforzando Indicator (light)     All Swells Indicator (light)             George Jardine & Son New York City (1887) Tracker-pneumatic and mechanical action 3 manuals, 28 stops, 32 ranks The organ built by George Jardine & Son was located on the platform behind the pulpit and featured a fan trumpet in the facade. Jardine used tracker-pneumatic action for the Great and Swell organs, and straight tracker for the Choir and Pedal. The following specifications were recorded in 1924 by Louis F. Mohr, Sr. (1862-1949), who serviced organs in the area for many years.                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes 16   Double Open Diapason 58 4   Principal 58 8   Open Diapason 58 2   Piccolo 58 8   Gamba 58   Sesquialtera, 3 ranks 174 8   Doppel Flöte 58 8   Trumpet 58 8   Claribella 58                     Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon 58 2   Flageolet 58 8   Open Diapason 58   Cornet, 3 ranks 174 8   Salicional 58 8   Trumpet 58 8   Lieblich Gedackt 58 8   Oboe 58 4   Echo Flute 58 8   Vox Humana 58 4   Violino 58   Tremulant                 Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes 8   Viola 58 4   Flute Harmonic 58 8   Melodia 58 8   Clarinet 58 8   Clariana 58                 Pedal Organ – 30 notes 16   Open Diapason 30 8   Violoncello 30 16   Bourdon 30                     Couplers     Great to Pedal       Swell to Great       Swell to Pedal       Choir to Great       Choir to Pedal       Swell to Choir                   Pedal Movements     Great to Pedal reversible       3 combinations to Great Organ       2 combinations to Swell Organ     Balanced Swell Pedal                       Sources:      "Another Jardine Organ", article in The Musical Courier, October 10, 1888. Courtesy Dale W. Hansen, Archivist, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.      Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.      Hickman, Cynthia. Harlem Churches At the End of the 20th Century. New York City: Dunbar Press, 2001.      Mohr, Louis F. Sr. Specifications of Geo. Jardine & Son organ (1887); courtesy Larry Trupiano.      Stern, Robert A.M., Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman. New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. New York City: The Monacelli Press, 1999.      Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifications of M.P. Möller organ, Op. R-442 (1952).   Photos:      eBay.com: postcard of church interior             | NYC AGO Home Page | Back to NYC Organ Project List |