Simmons & Willcox
1859

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church

38 Ten Broeck Street
Albany, NY, US

57 Ranks - 3,026 Pipes
Instrument ID: 50214 ● Builder ID: 5766 ● Location ID: 9684
⬆️ These are database IDs that may change. Don't use as academic reference.VIEW STOPLIST

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STOPLISTS

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CONSOLES

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Builder: Unknown
Position: Unknown
Design: Unknown
Pedalboard Type: Unknown
Features:
3 Manuals (58 Notes)30 Note Pedal4 Divisions48 StopsMechanical With Pneumatic Assists Key ActionMechanical Stop Action

Stop Layout: Unknown
Expression Type: Unknown
Combination Action: Unknown
Control System: Unknown or N/A

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DETAILS

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This instrument is: Extant and Not Playable in this location

Christian Tedesco on December 20th, 2024:

This instrument is described in Dwight's Journal Sept 17 1859 to have the same features as the instrument built for Appleton Chapel, mainly cone chests, a crescendo pedal, tri-pressure wind system (implying the use of a higher pressure for some stops or divisions as well as a higher pressure for the action). This instrument was additionally equipped with a reversed console and barker machine.


Database Manager on October 5th, 2017:

The key action is reversed, the organist looking away from the organ. ... The "Pneumatic Pressure" takes the labor from his fingers, and throws it back upon the bellows blower, so that the touch is never harder than that of a Grand Piano.


Database Manager on September 3rd, 2016:

Updated through online information from Scot Huntington: The organ was not a success, and was rebuilt shortly after installation by Henry Erben. There is some suspicion gleaned from contemporary accounts of the Erben rebuild, that the reason for the technical failure of the Simmons is that may have used cone-valve chests, (Kegellade), which quickly succumbed to the Albany climate. The organ was rebuilt by J.H. & C.S. Odell in 1912. The church was closed in 1994, and has deteriorated badly in the intervening years. After several subsequent changing of hands and aborted plans for reuse, the building was deeded back to the city of Albany in 2013. As of this 2016 update, the building still sits crumbling and unused, with no clear plan for a mandatory multi-million dollar rehabilitation, or future. A survey of the Odell is needed to determine how much of the Simmons and Erben pipework may still survive, although the original Simmons 32' open wood Diapason is still extant, and can be glimpsed through the broken windows in the tower.


Database Manager on August 20th, 2012:

Updated through online information from T. Daniel Hancock.


Database Manager on August 17th, 2012:

Identified through online information from T. Daniel Hancock. -- The "American Musical Directory," Thomas Hutchinson, New York, 1861 reports "Size of organ--3 banks keys, 40 stops, 2-1/2 octaves pedals. Built by Simmons & Willcox, of Boston, in 1859."

Related Instrument Entries: J. H. & C. S. Odell & Co. (Opus 483, 1912)

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