Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City
 
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Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch
(Episcopal)

552 West End Avenue at 87th Street
New York, N.Y. 10024
http://www.saintignatiusnyc.org

Organ Specifications:
552 West End Avenue at 87th Street (since 1902)
► III/44 Casavant Frères, Op. 2892 (1966)
► I/7 Flentrop Orgelbouw (1960)
► II/9 Skinner Organ Company, Op. 777 (1929)
• unknown (1886 Hook & Hastings moved?)
56 West 40th Street (1872-1902)
• II/29 Hook & Hastings, Op. 1321 (1886)
• I/ Ferris & Stuart (1862)
437 Seventh Avenue (1871-1872)
• George Jardine & Son (1869)

St. Paul's Dutch Reformed Church - New York City  
St. Paul's Dutch Reformed Church
  
The Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch was founded in December of 1871 by the Rev. Dr. Ferdinand C. Ewer during a time that marked the height of antagonism between the evangelical Low Church and the ritualistic High Church Episcopalians. Dr. Ewer left his rectorship at Christ Church following a dramatic controversy over his defiant stand for the Catholicity of the Church, the centrality of the historic episcopate, and his devotion to the Anglo-Catholic movement. In the early months of the parish, the congregation rented the former Holy Light Church (a parish for the blind) at 437 Seventh Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, before renting and eventually purchasing the former St. Paul's Dutch Reformed Church, located at 54-56 West 40th Street and facing Reservoir-square (known later as Bryant Park).

By the turn of the century, the surrounding neighborhood was beginning to lose its residential character, and many parish members had moved to the recently fashionable Upper West Side. Likewise, a cruciform church in a more scholarly Gothic manner would be necessary for Father Arthur Ritchie’s increasingly elaborate liturgy carried out in due and ancient form. A site 75 by 100 feet was bought at the present location—creating the space needed for liturgical processions. Notwithstanding the stringent objections of other Episcopal churches in the area (of which there were six from 69th Street to 99th Street), Bishop Potter approved the move. Perhaps he was tired of arguing with Fr. Ritchie as he was eager to get him out of his very visible mid-town location. Charles Coolidge Haight, the noted architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings in New York and New Haven, and most famous for his work at the General Theological Seminary, was hired to design a new church for the parish.

  Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (drawing on linen by Charles C. Haight, architect)
Saint Ignatius’ Church is located in a neighborhood that was developed with brownstones (single family houses) in the 1880s and with successive waves of high-rise apartment houses in the 1930s and again in the 1950s. The church building is English Gothic in character, distinguished by its stained glass windows (from Birmingham, England, ca.1925), its Roman brick interior, and its Guastavino ceiling tiles, which are interlocking and self-supporting. The church proper, which seats about 325 persons, occupies most of the building. There is a tower that houses the Sacristy, a Library/Common Room and, on the top floor, a one-bedroom apartment.
Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)  
On January 5, 1902, the first services were held in the crypt of the new church, and on October 19 of the same year, in the newly completed building upstairs. Bishop Potter expressed his disapproval of the Catholic ritual of Saint Ignatius’ Church by his absence from the formal opening, although he readily gave assent to Father Ritchie’s request to invite Bishop Charles Grafton—a distinguished Anglo-Catholic prelate—of the Diocese of Fond du Lac in Wisconsin. Unable to pay the sizeable mortgage on the new building due to unfilled hopes for funds from Father Ritchie’s will, St. Ignatius was not consecrated until February 8, 1925. Much of the existing furniture and decorations date from this period, when the slightly enriched parish hired the celebrated Boston architects Cram and Ferguson to design decoration for the chancel, nave, and Lady Chapel.
           
  Casavant Frères Organ, Op. 2892 (1966) at the Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
Casavant Frères, Limitée
St. Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada – Opus 2892 (1966)
Electro-pneumatic key action
3 manuals, 33 stops, 44 ranks



The Casavant Frères organ is installed in the original choir gallery of the north transept, behind the organ case that was modified by the Skinner Organ Company. The detached three-manual rocker-tab console is located on the nave floor. Since its installation, the organ has been modified.
               
Grand Orgue (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
   Montre
61
4
   Flûte à fuseau
61
8
   Flûte à cheminée
61
2
   Flûte à bec
61
4
   Prestant
61
1 1/3
   Fourniture IV ranks
244
               
Positive (Manual II) – 61 notes
8
   Bourdon
61
1 3/5
   Tierce
61
4
   Principal
61
2/3
   Cymbale IV ranks +
244
2 2/3
   Nasard
61
8
   Cromorne
61
2
   Octave
61
    
+ orig. Cymbale III ranks (1/3')
               
Récit expressif (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Bourdon
61
16
   Basson [L/2]
61
8
   Gambe
61
8
   Trompette
61
8
   Voix céleste *
61
4
   Clairon *
61
4
   Prestant *
61
8
   Voix humaine *
61
4
   Flûte conique
61
     Tremulant  
2
   Doublette
61
    
° orig. Cymbale IV ranks (1-1/3')
1 1/3
   Plein Jeu V ranks °
305
        
               
Choir (console preparation only)
8
   Flûte [to be placed in choir gallery and played only through coupler to Positive]
             
Pédale – 32 notes
32
   Basse acoustique *
—
4
   Octave
32
16
   Montre
32
2
   Fourniture III ranks
96
16
   Soubasse
32
16
   Bombarde [L/2]
32
8
   Octave basse
32
4
   Chalumeau
32
8
   Flûte bouchée
32
        
           
* not included on original contract
Couplers
    Grand Orgue to Pédale   Positive to Grand Orgue
    Positive to Pédale   Récit to Grand Orgue
    Récit to Pédale 8', 4'   Récit to Positive
             
Combination Pistons (hold-set type)
   
Grand Orgue Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Positive Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Récit expressif Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)
Pédale Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb & toe)
General Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb & toe)
  General Cancel (thumb)
             
Reversible Pistons
    Grand Orgue to Pédale (thumb & toe)   Récit to Pédale (thumb & toe)
    Positive to Pédale (thumb & toe)   Full Organ (toe)
             
Accessories
    Balanced Swell Pedal   Crescendo indicator light
    Crescendo Pedal   Full Organ indicator light
        Wind indictor light
             

 
Casavant Frères Organ, Op. 2892 (1966) at the Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
  
Casavant Frères Organ, Op. 2892 (1966) at the Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
     
Casavant Frères Organ, Op. 2892 (1966) at the Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
  
Episcopal Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
           
  Flentrop Organ (1960) once in St. Ignatius of Antioch Church - New York City (Flentrop Orgelbouw)
Previous organ in present church:

Flentrop Orgelbouw
Zaandam, The Netherlands (1960)
Mechanical action
1 manual, 6 stops, 7 ranks




This "orgelpositief" was built in 1960 for St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Penn. About 1966, the organ was sold to a private individual who planned to install it in his West Side residence in New York City. For several years the organ was stored behind a chain link fence in The Spike, a bar located on Eleventh Avenue at 20th Street in Chelsea. About 1990, the organ was moved to St. Ignatius of Antioch, and still later (c.1995) to St. Thomas More Catholic Church for use in their chapel. The organ has since been purchased for the residence of Renée Anne Louprette.
               
Manuaal – 56 notes
8
   Holpijp
56
        
8
   Quintadeen
56
        
4
   Prestant
56
        
4
   Roerfluit
56
        
2
   Gemshoorn
56
        
    Cymbel I-II fach
88
        
               
Pedaal – 32 notes
    permanently coupled to manuaal      
           
Skinner Organ Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 777 (1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 24 stops, 9 ranks, 573 pipes


This organ was originally built for the Scarsdale, N.Y. residence of Otto Meyer (1875-1935), who was president of the Meyer-Brown Corporation, New York rubber merchants. At an unknown time, the organ was moved to St. Ignatius of Antioch Church where it was installed behind the existing organ case. In 1966, the organ was acquired by David Friedell, who installed the organ in his Sparta, N.J. residence, then in Newton, N.J.; in 1999 most of the chests and pipes were removed to Mr. Friedell's residence in Stonington, Maine.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
    Expression I       Expression II  
8
   Diapason
61
16
   Bourdon [unit]
97
8
   Voix Celeste II ranks
122
8
   Chimney Flute
—
8
   Flute Celeste II ranks
110
4
   Flute
—

     
2 2/3
   Nazard
—
       
2
   Piccolo
—
       
8
   Flugel Horn
61
       
8
   Vox Humana
61
       
8
   English Horn
61

     

  Tremolo  
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
    Duplicate of Great          

     

     
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
   Bourdon
MAN
        
16
   Gedeckt
MAN
        
               
Couplers
    Swell to Pedal   Great 4'
    Great to Pedal   Swell 16', 4'
    Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'    
           
  Organ in the Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City (Wurts Bros., c.1900)
Hook & Hastings?
Boston, Mass. – Opus 1321 (1886)
Electro-pneumatic action?
2 manuals, 29 registers





It is not known who built the original organ in the present church, but it seems possible that the 1886 Hook & Hastings organ (Op. 1321) was electrified and moved from the previous church. The opposite photo (Wurts Bros., c.1900) shows an organ case that is very similar to the one today. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
  Hook & Hastings organ, Op. 1321 (1886) in chancel of Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch - New York City
Organ in church located at 56 West 40th Street:

Hook & Hastings
Boston, Mass. – Opus 1321 (1886)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 29 registers


This organ by Hook & Hastings was installed in the chancel of the previous church on West 40th Street. It is possible that the organ was moved to the present church in 1902.
Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Organ in church located at 56 West 40th Street:

Ferris & Stuart
New York City (1862)
Mechanical action
1 manual


The specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Organ in church located at 437 Seventh Avenue:

George Jardine & Son
New York City (1869)
Mechanical action


The specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     Aeolian-Skinner Archives web site: http://aeolian-skinner.110mb.com/
     Casavant Frères, Limitée Factory Specification (Oct. 27, 1964), Opus 2892. Courtesy Stanley Scheer.
      Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch web site: http://www.saintignatiusnyc.org
     Flentrop Orgelbouw web site: http://www.flentrop.nl/indexuk.html
     Gray, Louis H. "A History of Parish of Saint Ignatius in the City of New York: 1781-1946," published on the church web site.
     Kinzey, Allen, and Sand Lawn. E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List (New Revised Edition). Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Sachs, Charles L. "The Charles F. Zabriskie Photographic Collection," master's thesis for State University of New York College at Oneonta, 1982.
     Services in a New Edifice: Opening of St. Ignatius P.E. Church at West End Avenue and West Eighty-seventh Street," The New York Times (Oct. 20, 1902).
     Trupiano, Larry. Electronic correspondence regarding Skinner Organ, Op. 777 (1929).
     Van Pelt, William T. The Hook Opus List, 1829-1916 in Facsimile. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1991.

Illustrations:
     Flentrop Orgelbouw. Flentrop organ.
     Gray, Louis H. St. Paul's Dutch Reformed Church.
     Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.). Photo (c.1900) of organ in present church. Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
     Lawson, Steven E. Interior; Casavant organ and case.