Part 18 Musical Selections: A Magnificent Organ for the Modern Age

Once the sanctuary was dedicated in the new church, built at 310 Broadway, the Estey organ that for the previous few years had been placed in storage, was now in place in the pipe chambers and the console was located at the back of the choir loft. This old instrument served well from March of 1948 until the purchase of a new one that would be installed between July and October of 1960. In time a new organ to be installed would call for a 3-manual console. The old Estey of 7 and ½ ranks of pipes or stops was hooked up and played through the 3 manual arrangement. A Northern New England convention of the American Guild of Organists was held in Portland in 1949 and Dr. Cass played one of the recitals on the Estey. Dr. Cass asked no one to view the console until after the recital. Those in the audience were asked to guess how many stops the organ had. No one guessed under 15, twice the actual number! The tonal quality and the quality of the organist had fooled the experts.


In 1958, together with a new parsonage, and educational building, the new organ was deemed financially possible, and bids were sought from five organ builders, four bids were for pipe organs and the fifth was for an electric organ. The question that was presented to each was what they would be able to provide for $30,000. The Reuter and Shantz companies submitted almost identical specifications and equal quality, but Jason Tilton, who by now was New England agent for Reuter, proposed to give his 10% commission back to the church, which he did and this decided the matter in favor of Reuter of Lawrence, Kansas.

The organ was built in the factory exactly to the size specifications of the chambers which were to be its permanent home and then was torn down and trucked to South Portland. Installation and tonal finishing took place between July 17, 1960 the last play date for the Estey and October 9, 1960, the first Sunday with the Reuter. On that date, after a piano prelude, the organ was first used to accompany the singing of the Gloria Patri, followed by anthems and hymns by both choirs.

The new organ has 1520 pipes, three manuals or keyboards and is full pedaled. Jason Tilton of the Reuter Company planned its tonal resources with suggestions from Dr. Cass. There were many hours of discussion that went into the plan. The church paid an additional $500 to have Reuter’s head tonal supervisor come and voice every pipe to give the most desirable tone for this church sanctuary. It was exhausting to accomplish that with all of the pipes and so some were not done.

Using the traditional names for the divisions of the organ, the Great, the Swell and some of the pedal pipes are in the chamber to the organist’s right, and the choir division is on the opposite side of the chancel, together with the pedal pipes above the pastor’s study.

The beautiful wooden organ grille work was the generous gift of Leona Woodbury, the widow of John Woodbury who is memorialized in the Rose Window. It was dedicated April 29, 1962. The dedication of the Reuter Organ came on April 23, 1963 with a recital by George Faxon, organist of Trinity Church in Boston, and Dr. Cass’s teacher for twenty years. The Reverend William Chamberlain was our minister during the acquisition years for the Reuter. David Wallace, the custodian of the instrument for many years evaluated the organ for insurance purposes in 1995. The estimated cost of replacement at that time was estimated at $350,00 to $400,000. In 2004 that estimate would be very low for its present value. The final episode in the early life of the Reuter was the gift by the family in memory of Leona Woodbury, of the set of Deagan Class A chimes, and their dedication on December 6, 1964. This year, 2004, is a 44th anniversary celebration of the Reuter organs faultless service.