Here’s how the first concert organ in the U.S. ended up in a Boston suburb
By Paula Ebben
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METHUEN, Massachusetts (WBZ) — When you drive past Methuen Memorial Music Hall in Methuen, Massachusetts, you might think it’s an old city building. But it was built by a very wealthy local man just to house one spectacular instrument.
The hall is the home to “The Great Organ,” the first concert organ in the United States.
Organist Fred MacArthur said its greatness lies in its history, age, and sound. Even the organ’s intricate carved case is one of the most recognized in the world.
“If you were to show this to any organist, anywhere, they would say ‘Methuen,'” MacArthur said.
How such a prized organ ended up in this town 30 miles north of Boston is the story of changing musical tastes, rapidly changing times and one man’s passion to save an important piece of American musical history.
The organ was built by E.F. Walcker and Company in Ludwigsburg, Germany during the Civil War for the Boston Music Hall, which is now the Orpheum Theater. The case is carved out of wood from the Black Forest, which could not be reproduced today.
The hall’s executive director, Ashley Haseltine, said when well-to-do Bostonians took “the Grand Tour” of Europe in the mid-1800s, they heard impressive concert organs and wanted to bring the sound back to Boston.
MacArthur pointed out The Great Organ arrived in a time when daily life was free of the modern sounds of cars, machines, or any recorded music.
“I think attending concerts back then was much more emotional,” said MacArthur, “because they didn’t very often hear live instruments.”
By pulling out the various stops on the organ console created in Germany, concertgoers heard reeds, flutes, or violins often for the very first time. Hence the expression, “pulling out all the stops,” which meant to create an overwhelming sound with an organ.
“People would travel – and still do – multiple days to hear this organ played,” said Haseltine.
The Great Organ was state of the art in 1863, with more than 6,000 pipes and 85 stops, which, when pulled, force air up through a huge but intricate bellows with electropneumatic action and slider windchests that create its distinct sounds.
After 21 years, however, times had changed, and the massive organ was crowding out the newly formed Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1880s.
“Over time,” Haseltine said, “as the orchestra was ready to expand, the organ got booted out, traded up and put into storage for several years.”
Methuen millionaire and interior designer Edward Frances Searles, an organist himself, jumped at the chance to buy The Great Organ as a showpiece for his hometown. Searles built the music hall just to house it, and he did it with flair.
“He really took care when he was designing the interior of the hall to match the grandeur of the organ, including specific architects and engineers that designed an acoustic bounce throughout the space, so we don’t need any microphones for our concerts in here,” said Haseltine.
The concert hall was dedicated in 1909 and became a non-profit cultural center in 1946.
Searles also owned an organ company, which has since burned down. It once operated in what is now the hall’s parking lot. The organ inside the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. was made there on the property and is a copy of the Great Organ.
The hall has hosted a summer series that began right after World War II. The fall variety series culminates with an always sold-out Christmas concert, and it can be rented for weddings and memorial services. And as Searles intended, all Methuen fourth-graders get a musical history lesson in the building every spring.
“Mr. Searles’ mission was a lot of community, bringing art to the local Merrimack Valley and supporting children and really connecting all of those pieces together, so that’s been the forefront driving the board ever since,” said Haseltine.
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