Ernest M. Skinner was one of the most influential organ builders in American history. He built, or rebuilt organs for America’s most significant venues, including the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Woolsey Hall at Yale, St. Thomas Church and St John the Divine (both in New York City), and many others. Two trips to Europe provided him with ideas for a type of organ which was uniquely his own. In 1898 he traveled to England where he was tutored by “Father” Henry Willis, whose innovations included high-pressure chorus reeds and solo Tuba stops. Later he returned to study the English Romantic organ with Henry Willis III, and the French Romantic Organ with Marcel Dupré, where he became influenced by mutation stops and mixtures). While the English and French Romantic organs had observable influences on Skinner’s work, he also produced many innovations on his own. Among these were the invention of new organ stops (many in imitation of orchestral color) and the Pitman wind chest, which became a standard in electric-action American organs for the first half of the twentieth century.

Skinner’s first company failed, but was re-organized after World War I with the financial assistance of Arthur Marks, who became the company’s President. In 1924, Mark brought the young Englishman G. Donald Harrison into the company. Together, they made several landmark instruments, including one for the University of Michigan, two for the chapel of Princeton University, and the recently restored organ of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago. Skinner was losing control of his company, however, as Marks wanted Harrison to replace him. Skinner sold his interest in the company, and purchased the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, with an attached organ building shop. The terms of the agreement prevented him from building new organs, or using the Skinner name for five years. Shortly, his old company merged with the Æolian to form the Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, with Harrison as its Tonal Director.

The immediate history following these events were not kind to Skinner or his legacy. Although he finished the last great organ of his career at the Washington National Cathedral in 1938, by 1941 his company filed for bankruptcy, and in 1943 his shop burned to the ground, which for all practical purposes, ended his career. Even worse, most of his large instruments became subjected to tonal revisions and additions that accommodated a swinging pendulum of taste. Many of these “modernizations” were carried out by Harrison at Æolian-Skinner. Of Skinner’s organs, only a few instruments retain their original tonal palette, with the Yale organ (pictured above) being an outstanding example. Skinner died in 1960 at the age of 94.

This week, we are featuring E. M. Skinner organs in the Gothic Catalog, with special pricing on the recordings listed below.