TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionA modern chamber organ that was constructed in 1961 by the Schlicker Organ Company of Buffalo, New York. It was built for noted American sculptor, Richard Lippold, of Locust Valley, New York and designed for solo and ensemble Renaissance and Baroque music. It is not a church organ, but is intended for chamber music. Hermann Schlicker was among the immigrant pioneers in the United States of the Baroque revival. He was active from the 1940’s to the 1970’s. The instrument is entirely mechanical, except for the electric blower which supplies wind. Mechanical linkage from keyboards and pedals opens valves beneath the pipes. The design is rendered in oak and mahogany, and brass and steel fittings. The pipes are copper, oak and tin. After the death of the chamber organ’s original owner in 2002, the organ was disassembled and stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. The Tides Institute learned of the organ’s existence in 2016 from someone who knew the institute’s North Church space in Eastport, Maine and its exceptional acoustics. They thought the organ and North Church space would be a perfect match. The institute was able to purchase the disassembled organ and had the pieces transported to Eastport. In spring of 2018, the organ was reassembled and installed in the North Church space. That summer, an early music concert was performed in the space with Ensemble Abendmusik based in Boston with one of the world’s leading organists, James David Christie, giving inaugural performances with the organ.   Photo caption: Modern chamber organ reinstalled in the Tides Institute’s North Church space. The organ was constructed in 1961 by the Schlicker Organ Company of Buffalo, New York. Flentrop organ pipes: https://www.flentrop.nl/ukflentroporgan.html.