About the Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1216

The Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, Opus 1216, was designed by G. Donald Harrison in 1953 for First Methodist Church of Tacoma. It was restored by Bond Organ Company and installed in First Baptist's sanctuary in 2007. It is one of only a handful of Aeolian-Skinners nationwide that is tonally unaltered, for which it received a historic organ citation at the the 2008 Organ Historical Society conference.

G. Donald Harrison was a pioneer of "American Classic" organ, whose tonal design was modeled on the principal choruses of the Baroque organ, moving away from the rich, orchestral sound of the Romantic organ. The American Classic style was geared towards versatility, but with particular emphasis on a clean attack of pipe speech and clarity of texture in contrapuntal music. Opus 1216 is an excellent example of this style, handling a wide variety of repertoire well. Although it is a modest-sized instrument, containing only 34 stops, its tonal coherence, enclosed expressive divisions, and registrational aids make it a flexible and effective instrument for both choral accompanying and solo repertoire.

Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1216 Photo Galleries
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