2019-08-12 - According to the New York City Organ Project website, This 1840 Erben organ was originally built for the French Episcopal Church du St. Esprit, located at Franklin and Church Streets in NYC. It was a G-compass organ: manuals were GGG to f' (58 notes), and the pedal compass was CCC to C (25 notes). In 1863, the French church was sold at auction, and the Erben organ was bought by the Church of the Mediator, who had the organ moved and installed in their current building. That building was purchased by First Moravian in 1869. In 1906, Thomas H. Wood of New York City rebuilt the 1840 Erben organ. He reworked the instrument to be a CC-compass instrument: manual compass of CC to f' (54 notes), and a pedal compass of CCC to E (29 notes). Total cost of the rebuild was $600. In 1969, the organ was rebuilt by Samuel O. Donelson of New York City. In 2008, Meloni & Farrier Organbuilders of Port Chester, N.Y., were contracted to restore the organ to as close as possible to the original 1840 Henry Erben design. The manual key frames and Swell bass chest were extended to GGG. Missing pipes from the 1902 rebuild were fabricated in the Meloni & Farrier shop, using the existing pipes as a scale measurement. Many of the pipes were bent or broken, and required extensive repair and revoicing. All key action and stop action parts were either cleaned and restored, or replaced where none existed. The organ also received a new blower. The restored organ was dedicated on Sunday, May 17, 2015, with Elaine Comparone, organist. -Database Manager
2019-08-12 - In August of 2019, Anthony Meloni posted on a Facebook organ group that the organ was for sale. The congregation will be moving to a new church and Meloni & Ferrier will be building them a new organ. A developer purchased the property and the organ must be removed. -Database Manager
Source: Stoplist from the NYC AGO New York City Organ Project Date not recorded
New York, New York
First Moravian Church
Henry Erben 1840
Meloni & Farrier 2015 2/17
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GREAT (I) GGG, AAA-f SWELL (II) from F22 PEDAL CC-c
8' Open Diapason 58 8' Open Diapason 37 16' Open Diapason 25
8' Stop'd Diapason Treble 29 8' Stop'd Diapason 37
(c29) 8' Viola 37
8' Stop'd Diapason Bass 28 4' Principal 37
(GGG-B28) 4' Flute 37
8' Dulciana (c29) 29 2' Piccolo 37
4' Octave 58 II Cornet 74
2 2/3' Twelfth 58 8' Hautboy 37
2' Fifteenth 58
8' Trumpet (CC-f) 54 CHOIR (II) GGG-E
8' Stop'd Diapason Bass 21
4' Principal 21
[Received from Jeff Scofield December 26, 2019]Regrettably, it is not possible to display the information about the sponsor of this pipeorgandatabase entry or if there is a sponsor. Please see About Sponsors on Pipe Organ Database.