GREAT (Man.2) (10 w.p.)
1 Open Diapason 16 (leathered, 13-24 wood,
1-12 missing)
2 Bourdon 16 (wood)
3 1st. Open Diapason 8 (from # 1)
4 2nd. Open Diapason 8 (1-12 wood)
5 Geigen Principal 8 (1-12 wood)
6 Gross Flute 8 (wood)
7 Gamba 8 (1-12 wood)
8 Clarabella 8 (wood)
9 Flute Celeste 8 (tenor C, wood)
10 Gedeckt 8 (from #2)
11 Gemshorn 8 (changed 1932, was Doppel
Flute)
12 Octave 4 (from #4)
13 Harmonic Flute 4
14 Flute dAmour 4 (from#6 )
15 Gemshorn 4 (from#11)
16 Harmonic Piccolo 2 (from#13)
17 Mixture 3rks. (1rk,2-2/3, from#7and#17)
18 Trumpet 16 (1-12 missing)
19 Trumpet 8 (from #18)
20 Tuba Profunda 16 (from Solo #65)
21 Harmonic Tuba 8 (from Solo #66)
22 Clarion 4 (from Solo #67)
ECHO
(Man.2)
(10 w.p.)
23 Open Diapason 8 (1-12 wood)
24 Gross Flute 8 (wood)
25 Gamba 8 (1-12 wood)
26 Gamba Celeste 8 (tenor c)
27 Melodia 8 (wood)
28 Gemshorn 8 (1-12 wood)
29 Octave 4 from #23
30 Gambette 4 (from #25)
31 Flute 4 (from #27)
32 Tuba (harmonic from tenor c)
33 Tremulant
34 Chimes (21 notes AA-f)
SWELL
(Man.3)
(10 w.p.)
35 Contra Viole 16 (1-12 wood)
36 Gedeckt 16 (wood)
37 Diapason Phonon 8 (leathered,1-12 wood)
38 Open Diapason 8 (1-12 wood)
39 Viole dGamba 8
40 Flute Traverso 8 (wood)
41 Viola 8 (from #35)
42 Stopped Diapason 8 (from #36)
43 Viole dOrchestre 8
44 Viole Celeste 8 (tenor c)
45 Spitz Flute 8 (1-12 wood)
46 Salicional 8
47 Octave 4 (from #38)
48 Wald Flute 4 (wood)
49 Flute 4 (from #40)
50 Salicet 4 (from #46)
51 Flageolet 2 (from #48)
52 Dolce Cornet 3rks. (1rk.,2-2/3, from #43
and #52)
53 Contra Fagotto 16
54 Cornopean 8
55 Fagotto 8 (from #53)
56 Vox Humana 8
57 Clarion 4 (from #54)
58 Tremulant
SOLO
(Man.4)
(10w.p.)
59 Stentorphone 8 (leathered, 1-12 wood)
60 Philomela 8 (25-49 missing, wood)
61 Cello 8
62 Vibrant String 8
63 Flute 4 (from #60)
64 Cor Anglais 8
65 Tuba Profunda 16 (25w.p., 1-36 wood
resonators, harmonic at #43, double harmonic at #54)
66 Harmonic Tuba 8 (from #65)
67 Clarion 4 (from #65)
68 Tremulant
CHOIR
(Man.1)
(10 w.p.)
69 Quintaten 16 (1-24 wood)
70 Open Diapason 8 (1-12 wood)
71 Geigan Principal 8 (sic., 1-12 wood)
72 Concert Flute 8 (harmonic, wood)
73 Gemshorn 8 (1-12 wood)
74 Quintadena 8 (from #69)
75 Dulciana 8 (1-12 wood)
76 Octave 4 (from #71)
77 Hohl Flute 4 (wood)
78 Flute 4 (from #72)
79 Fugara 4 (from #79)
80 Piccolo 2 (from #77)
81 French Horn 8
82 Orchestral Oboe 8
83 Clarinet 8 (belled)
84 Tremulant
85 Harp (stopped wood resonators, 61n.)
PEDAL
(10w.p.)
86 Double Open Diapason 32 (1-5 25, 1-7
resultant, from GGGG, wood)
87 Contra Bourdon 32 (1-7 resultant, from
GGGG, wood)
88 Open Diapason 16 (from #86)
89 Violone 16 (from Great #5)
90 Bourdon 16 (from #87)
91 Contra Viole 16 (from Swell #35)
92 Octave Bass 8 (from #86)
93 Cello 8 (from Solo #61 and 62)
94 Flute 8 (from #87)
95 Contra Bombarde 32 (from Solo #65)
96 Tuba Profunda 16 (from Solo #65)
97 Contra Fagotto 16 (from Swell #53)
98 Harmonic Tuba 8 (from Solo #65)
99 Clarion 4 (from Solo #65)
100 Echo Bourdon 16 (wood)
101 Echo Flute 8 (from #100)
COUPLERS
Pedal Octaves
Great to Pedal
Great to Pedal 4
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Pedal 4Choir to Pedal
Choir to Pedal 4
Solo to Pedal
Solo to Pedal 4
Great 4
Swell to Great
Swell to Great 4
Swell to Great 16
Choir to Great
Choir to Great 4
Choir to Great 16
Solo to Great
Swell 4
Swell 16
Choir to Swell
Choir to Swell 4
Choir to Swell 16
Solo to Swell
Choir 4
Choir 16
Swell to Choir
Swell to Choir 4
Swell to Choir 16
Solo 4
Solo 16
Swell to Solo
Swell to Solo 4
Swell to Solo 16
COMBINATION
ACTION
Great and Echo 1-8
Swell 1-8
Choir 1-8
Solo 1-8
Pedal 1-8
Full Organ 1-6
Setter
CHEEK
BUTTONS
Unison Off/On for Swell, Choir, Solo
Stage Shades On/Both/Off
Great On/Both/Echo On
BALLANCED
PEDALS
Great and Choir
Swell
Solo
Echo
Crescendo
TOE
LEVERS
Pedal pistons 1-8 (duplicate)
Full organ pistons 1-6 (duplicate)
Setter (duplicate)
Great to Pedal Reversible
Sforzondo Reversible
Indicator lamps for;
Voltage (w/push button to activate)
Crescendo (5 lamps)
Sforzondo
Voltmeter
Three standard switches for blowers
Left: Solo and Swell (10 hp 2 stage, Kinetic, single phase)
Right: Great and Choir (7-1/2hp Kinetic, single phase)
Echo: (3hp Kinetic, single phase)
Video by Jeff Lyons of Garland Mullen
playing the Coliseum Organ, and of Jeff interviewing
Garland, in 1984
[YouTube video accessed in March of 2024]
History:
The
illustrious
history of this large pipe organ began in 1918 when a contract
was produced between M. P. Moller and the Joint Centenary
Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the building of
an organ to be temporarily installed at the Methodist Church
Centenary celebration in Columbus, Ohio in 1919. Two
cities, Macon, GA and Evansville, IN, both wanted the instrument
following the Centenary, but the negotiating efforts of
Evansville leaders such as Mayor Bosse and Dr. Alfred Hughes of
the University of Evansville were ultimately successful, and the
city of Evansville purchased the organ for the coliseum with
much celebration by the local press and citizenry.
Dr. Alfred Hughes, the first president of Evansville College,
pledged to raise $5000 toward the purchase cost of $31,500 from
friends of the college and church, and his pledge was made in
the name of Evansville College.
The organ was named in memory of Milton Z. Tinker, who came to
Evansville in 1867 and worked as superintendent of music in the
Evansville public schools for 47 years. It was used for
for city, county, community and college events, and was closely
associated with the growth of the music department at the
college. (See history link under UE Organ Studio website
below.)
The organ was rebuilt by Mφller around 1933 as opus 6059.
A Moller Artiste Player mechanism was added around the time of
the rebuild which allowed the instrument to be played without an
organist for events in the coliseum. The organ was played
by famous organists including the following:
1939: Marcel Dupre - with daughter on piano - attendance: 1,500
1946: Alexander Schreiner - organist at Mormon Tabernacle
1947: Flor Peeters - Belgian organist and composer - attendance:
"small group"
1949: E Power Biggs - attendance: 1000
1952: Richard Ellsasser - organist at Wiltshire Methodist
Church, Los Angeles
1953: Virgil Fox - RCA recording artist - attendance: 400
1954: Fernando Germani - organist at St Peter's in Rome
(Information collected from local Evansville newspaper archives
by Evansville A.G.O. chapter member Matt Kincaid.)
In March 1961, at one of the first meetings of the newly-formed
Evansville Chapter of the A.G.O., chapter secretary Clifford
Kincaid gave a presentation on the history of the coliseum
organ.
After the city built the new Vanderburgh Auditorium in the
1960s, the coliseum was no longer used as a major concert
venue. Around the same time the University of Evansville
had new organs built on campus for teaching and recitals.
The organ at the coliseum fell into disuse and disrepair.
Over the years, local organ enthusiasts including Garland
Mullins, Jeff Lyons and Kurt von Shekel donated many hours of
labor trying to keep the organ in playable condition, but the
financial support needed for a proper restoration of the
instrument was never forthcoming.
In 2005 Dr. Douglas Reed, professor of organ at the University
of Evansville and then Dean of the Evansville A.G.O. chapter,
along with the University of Evansville Student A.G.O. chapter
and the city chapter, began a series of annual concerts to help
restore interest in the coliseum organ and in the legacy of Mr.
Tinker.
By 2012 the condition and safety of the Moller organ in the
coliseum had deteriorated to the point that those responsible
for the coliseum agreed that the instrument should be
removed. The University of Evansville, after discussions
with city, county and coliseum officials, approved the
fundraising for a project to remove salvageable portions of the
organ from the coliseum and store them, for possible use in a
future organ project at the university. The idea of re-purposing
some portions of the Moller organ in a new organ in a renovated
and possibly expanded Neu Chapel was discussed. A campaign to
raise $20,000 for the removal and storage of portions of the
organ was initiated through the university's Office of
Institutional Advancement in the fall of 2012. The Evansville
Chapter of the American Guild of Organist donated $10,000 toward
this project, and the U.E. Student Chapter pledged to raise
$5,000. Part of these funds were used for the construction of
wooden trays for the storage of organ pipes. A professional
organ builder was hired to help remove the pipes and pack them
in the trays. Students, staff and friends of the university and
the local A.G.O. chapters helped carry the pipe trays, the
larger pipes, the console and the player unit case from the
coliseum and loaded them on trailers for transporting in early
September of 2013. Three of the largest wooden pipes, windchests
and other components of the organ were left behind due to space
limitations or difficulty in removal. Storage space was
generously donated by a supporter of the university.
After several years it became clear that the stored portions of
the organ would not be used in an organ project at the
University of Evansville. In 2019, the Vanderburgh County Board
of Commissioners, which manages the coliseum and its contents,
made arrangements for the stored portions of the organ to be
returned to the coliseum until a decision could made on what to
do with them. Some of our Evansville A.G.O. chapter members
played roles in renewed conversations by the County
Commissioners regarding options for the future of the stored
portions of the organ as well as the windchests and other
components that were still intact in the coliseum chambers.
Restoring the organ for use within the coliseum was one option
discussed in early 2024, but the cost was determined to be
prohibitive and that option was dropped from consideration.
In March of 2024 the Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation in
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, agreed to
acquire some of the remaining portions of the Tinker Organ,
including the organ pipes and console, envisioning their use in
a future organ project as part of the ongoing restoration of the
historic Lynnewood Hall. The Mission of the Lynnewood Hall
Preservation Foundation includes "educational and cultural
engagement by honoring history and artisan craft" and using the
Lynnewood Hall estate as "a stage for arts education, literary
excellence, musical entertainment, and general cultural
engagement through the pursuit of knowledge."* This seems to be
a fitting project for a continuation of the legacy of the Milton
Z. Tinker Memorial Organ.
Some of the largest wooden pipes, left behind in the previous
move, were cut in half so that they too could be removed from
the chambers in the coliseum. An Evansville A.G.O. member worked
to remove rackboards (which hold pipes in place on windchests)
from the windchests so the rackboards could be included among
the preserved items. In April 2024 those involved in the
Lynnewood project were seeking additional funding and Evansville
volunteers to help with removing portions of the organ from the
coliseum. A couple of members of the Evansville A.G.O. chapter
donated money to this removal phase of the project.
On May 22 and 23 of 2024 several Evansville A.G.O. chapter
members helped with the gathering and loading of organ
components, this time bound for Pennsylvania. All of the pipe
trays were loaded, along with the console, the harp, many single
wooden pipes, rackboards, some offset chests and miscellaneous
items. Several dozen of the largest wooden pipes were not taken
due to space limitations in the trucks, and main chests had
already been disposed of as new chests are to be built for the
organ in PA.
-Compiled for this Evansville A.G.O. webpage, in part from the
sources listed below, by webmaster Neal Biggers. (Updated May
2024)
A portion of the original contract for the organ.
Segment of Evansville Courier review on Nov. 6, 1939 of Dupre
concert; Sunday Courier and Press article on Nov. 6, 1949 of
Biggs concert; Evansville Courier article on January 9, 1953
of Virgil Fox concert.
Tinker Memorial Concert in November 2008 in Neu Chapel, and
Tinker Organ pipes on display at U.E.
Pipes, console and player unit case were moved to
temporary storage space in September 2013.
Sources: