OHS convention: 2003
2004-10-30 - Status Note: There 1997 -Database Manager
2004-10-30 - Built for Christ Lutheran, York, PA, then to chapel of that church. Rebuilt by Midmer Organ Co. in 1905, 1-12. To Historical Society 1945. Erected 1958 by Fred Furst. In 1994 keyboard, tubular pneumatic pedal and winding system were by Midmer. Restored (phase 1) 1990 by J. R. Brunner. In 1994 was in foyer of Historical Society. -Database Manager
2009-04-25 - Updated through on-line information from Paul Marchesano. -Database Manager
2012-12-12 - Updated through online information from Evan. -Database Manager
2023-12-01 - This Tannenberg organ is now being restored by the Brunner Shop in Silver Spring, PA (Hans Herr and Thomas Becker, owners). -Philip T. D. Cooper
Source: Using historical records - most notebly the diary of Frederick William Marshall that lists the stops on the 2 Tannenberg organs in Old Salem.
Manual (54 notes.) Principal 8 (27 in facade), Groβ Gedact 8 (stopped wood; pine & walnut), Viola di gamba 8 (lowest 12 Quintadena bass), Principal Octav 4, Flaute 4 (open wood; pine & walnut), Quinte 3, Sub Octav 2, Mixtur (2-3 ranks; C - e: 1 1/2' 1' f-b: 2' 1 3/5' 1 1/2' c1 - e2: 4' 3' 1/ 3/5' f2 - f3: 4' 3 1/5' 3'), Trompet 8 (lowest 7 pipes wood resonators.)
Pedal (25 notes.) Sub Baβ 16 (stopped wood), Violon Baβ 8 (open wood), Coppel (pedal coupler)
Typed stoplist from the OHS PC Database. Source: Source not recorded Date not recorded
York Historical Society, York, PA 1804 David Tannenberg (stoplist Ray Brunner, PIPORG-L, 1997) MANUAL C-f''' 54 notes 8' Principal 8' Gedackt (stopped wood) 8' Viol de Gamba 4' Octav 4' Floet (open wood) 3' Quint 2' Super Octav Mixtur II-III Rks. C 19-22 f 15-17-19 c' 8-12-17 8' Trumpet (original missing, possibly originally wood) PEDAL C-c' 25 notes 16' Sub Bass (stopped wood) 8' Octav Bass (open wood) Coppel (Manual to Pedal coupler) The presence of a tierce in the mixture is interesting, particularly since Tannenberg was one of the earliest organbuilders to use equal temperament. The pressure is very low, around 1 5/8", I think. I never cease to be amazed at the quality of Tannenberg's work and his artistry. The chests are built of beautifully dovetailed oak and walnut, and look not so much like a piece of mechanism as a beautifully artistic abstract picture done in marquetry. The metal pipework is approximately 60% tin / 40% lead. A thought occurred to me about this a while ago. When Tannenberg began building organs around 1765 Pennsylvania was still a British colony and the government would have been discouraging the manufacture of instruments like organs in the colonies. Raw materials like pipe metal would have been hard to come by. After the Revolutionary War shortage of foreign exchange would have been another problem with regard to importing raw materials. On the other hand solder would have been readily available for plumbing and soldering lead roofs, etc. A 60/40 tin/lead solder is normally used for this purpose. Do you suppose Tannenberg bought solder in bulk and melted it down to make his pipes? Tannenberg belongs very much to the Saxon tradition of organbuilding in favoring lightly voiced organs on low pressures with fairly high-tin content pipework, which is hardly surprising because of the part of Germany he came from. The Scottish organbuilder David Hamilton, who had trained in Dresden, was another example. Built in 1804 for Christ Lutheran Church in York, Pa. The organ was substantially altered in 1905 by Midmer at which time it was moved to the chapel . Changes included cutting off the sides of the case and folding the lower panels and side imposts out to make a wider front. Dummy zincs were installed on the side imposts and the upper side panels and rear of the case were discarded. The manual windchest, originally supported by the casework, was placed on an internal framework and a parallel rise reservoir and feeders were installed in it. The stop action was replaced and the Pedal pipes were installed on tubular pneumatic chests. The center tower was cut down about 12" and the 3 center pipes were mitered back. The wind pressure was raised as were the cutups on some of the pipework. The organ was dismantled and put in storage around WWII. In about 1959 the Historical Society engaged Fred Furst, a York organ builder to "restore" the organ. The reassembled it essentially as Midmer had left it. Unfortunatlely all of Furst's organ were painted Ticonderoga Yellow, as he had a friend who worked for a pencil company and provided him with the paint. He painted EVERYTHING [Ray Brunner PIPORG-L 1997] Our restoration of the Tannenberg organ included stripping off all of the yellow paint which was very tedious. Furst had painted every square inch of the roller board, rollers , roller arms, Pedal pipe(inside and Out), windchest , inside of the pallet box, and everything except the manual pipework. He raised the pitch of the organ, carefully preserving all of the metal he cut off of the pipes for posterity in case anyone wants to solder on all these little slivers. We restored the casework, replacing the missing pieces and reconstructing it so the chest can again sit in the impost and be supported properly. The manual windchest was completely restrored and the stop action reconstructed. The center tower was restored to its original height and the pipes unmitered. Unfortunately we had to leave the Pedal pipes on the pneumatic chests which required keeping the pressure higher than original. We compromised on about 2 1/4"since this was the minmum pressure at which we could get the pneumatic chests to work. The third rank of the Mixtur was gone, so we had to decide what it was. I deduced it was a tierce in the following way. Tannenberg always scaled his principals the same regardless of what pitch they were at--in other words C1 of a 2' was exactly like C2 of a 4' or C3 of an 8'. Also he marked all the ranks as if they were unisons, so C1 in a Quint is marked G and C1 in a Tierce if marked E . As the Mixtur rack board and toe board were unaltered, I found that the e pipes of the principal ranks exactly fit the c holes in the rack, indicating that it was a Tierce. Yes, the windchest had a separate set of pallet valves for the coupled Pedal notes. They were opening by a completely separate action from a shifting square rail on the Pedal trackers. This type of coupler does not pull down the manual keys when the Pedal is coupled as it is completely independent. It is of course missing, having been removed by Midmer. Our work on the organ is only a first phase of what we planned as a 3 phase project. In addition to replicating the Pedal windchest a nd action, an authentic winding sysem needs to be made. Hopefully there will be funding for future work on it. One more thing- The Trumpet stop was replaced by Midmer with an Oboe from TC. The Midmer pipes are still in place for now. [Ray Brunner PIPORG-L 1997]
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