Philadelphia’s Wanamaker Organ: Power, Warmth, and Lyricism

Last week, Macy’s announced that it is closing its Center City Philadelphia store in the iconic Wanamaker’s Building.

Built between 1904 and 1911 during the ascendancy of Wanamaker’s department store, the magnificent Beaux-Arts structure was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. Flanked by majestic columns, and clad in polished marble, its soaring seven-story tall central atrium culminates in a Renaissance-style mosaic ceiling. For shoppers, this Grand Court functioned as a bustling indoor “public square.” A 2,500 pound bronze Eagle sculpture, created in 1904 by August Gaul, was a popular meeting place. Since 1956, the space has hosted an annual Christmas Light Show.

Rising above the Grand Court, with six manuals and 28, 750 pipes, is the 287 ton Wanamaker Organ, the largest playable instrument in the world. Designed by George Audsley, and built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company, it was first heard at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Five years later, the organ was purchased by John Wanamaker, shipped, piece by piece, on thirteen freight cars, and installed over the course of two years. (Smithsonian Magazine) With the help of the non-profit Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, the instrument has been well maintained, and has been used for daily concerts.

The Wanamaker Organ is an instrument capable of “room-shaking” power, but it also exhibits a surprising orchestra-like richness. In 2015, Ray Biswanger, executive director of the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, commented to Smithsonian Magazine, “A lot of people are surprised that the organ can have subtlety, nuance, expression, lyricism…and that you can play it like an orchestra.”

The Wanamaker Building’s Grand Court, including the organ and Eagle, is protected as one of five interiors listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

Strauss: “Moonlight Music” from Capriccio

Peter Richard Conte has served as the Wanamaker’s Chief Organist since 1989. Here is his performance of the “Moonlight Music” from Richard Strauss’ opera, Capriccio:

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1

Between 1946 and 1965, American organist Virgil Fox was the principal organist at Riverside Church in New York City. Here is an excerpt from his 1964 recording featuring the Wanamaker Organ. This is Sir Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1:

Parry: Jerusalem

This informal recording from 2017 shows the way the sounds of the Wanamaker Organ accompanied and uplifted shoppers going about their daily business. The music is the majestic hymn Jerusalem, a setting of William Blake, composed in 1916 by Sir Hubert Parry:

The Philadelphia Orchestra with the Wanamaker Organ: Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie concertante

Wanamaker’s sponsored many free after-hours concerts featuring the organ. The first, in 1919, included Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra with organist, Charles M. Courboin. In the years that followed, famous organists such as  Marcel Dupré, Louis Vierne, and Nadia Boulanger performed on the organ.

In 1926, Rodman Wanamaker commissioned Belgian composer Joseph Jongen to write a work to celebrate the organ’s restoration. A series of unfortunate events, including the death of Jongen’s father, delayed the planned performance of Jongen’s Symphonie concertante, and ultimately led to its cancellationIn 1928, it was premiered in Brussels, followed by a performance at Carnegie Hall a few years later in 1935. Commenting on the four-movement work, the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, a friend of Jongen’s, said, “the role you assign to the King of Instruments and its abundant resources … is not limited or restricted; it is clearly a second orchestra that enriches the first.”

A performance of Jongen’s Symphonie concertante finally took place in the Grand Court on September 27, 2008, with Peter Richard Conte joining conductor Rossen Milanov and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Here is the final movement, Toccata, introduced by Roger Sherman, host of the radio program, The Organ Loft:

Additional concerts featuring the Wanamaker Organ may be heard here.

Featured Image: photograph by Kent Miller Studios/Macy’s

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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