James Blaine Jamison, organ designer. Photo: The Diapason.
"This new organ is unique in its majestic power and beautiful tone colorings, and distinctive in that it represents the first instance of a parish church in California installing an instrument of cathedral type and tone.
Departing from the conventional tonal design common to American Church Organ in the past, the St. Paul's Instrument embodies the traditional effects exemplified in the largest and best European cathedral organs."
- October 1934, James B. Jamison of Austin Organ Company, Hartford, Conn., tonal architect of St. Paul's organ.
Departing from the conventional tonal design common to American Church Organ in the past, the St. Paul's Instrument embodies the traditional effects exemplified in the largest and best European cathedral organs."
- October 1934, James B. Jamison of Austin Organ Company, Hartford, Conn., tonal architect of St. Paul's organ.
A Tradition of Music
The Whalley & Genung organ was purchased and installed at the Fourteenth Street location, moved with the building to Webster Street, and finally to the brand new church built on Montecito Avenue. You can see the organ in this photo, located to the far left, above the sanctuary. Photo: The Oakland Tribune.
From its founding in 1861, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Oakland, placed music and the pipe organ at the center of its worship life. The parish’s first permanent church building, purchased in 1871 and located at Franklin and Fourteenth Streets, acquired its first organ that same year. In 1889, a new instrument by Oakland organ builders, Whalley & Genung was installed.
Although it served the parish for decades and later moved with the congregation and church building from Fourteenth Street across town to Webster Street and later to the church’s current location on Montecito Avenue, the organ was controversial from the outset. It had been selected and built without the advice of parish organist W. J. McDougall, who objected strongly to the process and resigned his post in protest. In his view, the instrument reflected the compromises typical of less expensive organs of its era. Early acolytes also recalled the unusual arrangement of the instrument in the present church, where access to the console required climbing through an opening in the sacristy ceiling.
Although it served the parish for decades and later moved with the congregation and church building from Fourteenth Street across town to Webster Street and later to the church’s current location on Montecito Avenue, the organ was controversial from the outset. It had been selected and built without the advice of parish organist W. J. McDougall, who objected strongly to the process and resigned his post in protest. In his view, the instrument reflected the compromises typical of less expensive organs of its era. Early acolytes also recalled the unusual arrangement of the instrument in the present church, where access to the console required climbing through an opening in the sacristy ceiling.
A Memorial Takes Shape
The Rev. Dr. Alexander Allen, St. Paul's Rector 1906-1932, led the parish through the 1906 earthquake, building the current church building in 1912, and the devastation of the 1929 stock market crash.
The death of rector the Rev. Dr. Alexander Allen in 1932, prompted the parish to consider a permanent memorial. After more than a year of discussion and many proposed alternatives, the question was finally put to Mrs. Allen and the family. Their response was simple: a new pipe organ. On January 8, 1934, the vestry unanimously approved the proposal, describing it as both “appropriate and necessary.”
Responsibility for the project was given to the Rev. Ronald Merrix and St. Paul’s Advisory Committee of Organists, chaired by Wallace A. Sabin, a leading West Coast organist and the first dean of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The committee drew on a wide circle of advisors from across North America, including Tertius Noble (St. Thomas Church, New York City), Sidney Lewis (Grace Cathedral, San Francisco), Stanley Bulley (Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria), William Carruth (Mills College), Connell Keefer Carruth (St. Paul’s organist, 1919–1948), and other noted musicians.
Nine prominent organ builders from the United States and Canada were evaluated. The field was eventually narrowed to two finalists: the W. W. Kimball Company of Chicago and the Austin Organ Company of Hartford. Austin was ultimately selected, influenced in significant part by the work of their designer James B. Jamison, whose growing reputation was tied to a new conception of the American pipe organ, one that unified English, French, German, and American traditions while being carefully adapted to each building’s acoustics.
Responsibility for the project was given to the Rev. Ronald Merrix and St. Paul’s Advisory Committee of Organists, chaired by Wallace A. Sabin, a leading West Coast organist and the first dean of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The committee drew on a wide circle of advisors from across North America, including Tertius Noble (St. Thomas Church, New York City), Sidney Lewis (Grace Cathedral, San Francisco), Stanley Bulley (Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria), William Carruth (Mills College), Connell Keefer Carruth (St. Paul’s organist, 1919–1948), and other noted musicians.
Nine prominent organ builders from the United States and Canada were evaluated. The field was eventually narrowed to two finalists: the W. W. Kimball Company of Chicago and the Austin Organ Company of Hartford. Austin was ultimately selected, influenced in significant part by the work of their designer James B. Jamison, whose growing reputation was tied to a new conception of the American pipe organ, one that unified English, French, German, and American traditions while being carefully adapted to each building’s acoustics.
Designing a Landmark Instrument
Rather than rejecting the established orchestral approach of American organ building, Jamison sought to refine it, by including greater clarity, brilliance, and structural balance. Central to his approach was the development of a reconfigured Diapason Chorus, incorporating upper pitches and mixtures that gave definition and transparency, while preserving warmth and foundation. The result was an instrument equally effective in Anglican worship, choral accompaniment, and concert performance.
Austin built the organ to Jamison’s design, and Jamison worked with Felix Schoenstein & Sons of San Francisco, then the leading organ builders on the West Coast, as they installed and voiced it for the acoustics of St. Paul’s.
Before the organ was fully completed, Jamison described its intended character: “This typical cathedral organ design is particularly adapted to St. Paul’s, by reason of the resonant acoustics, the character of the service, and the dignity of the church building. What has proven in the history of the English Church to be the most appropriate musical instrument, will adorn St. Paul’s services as no other type of organ could.”
Austin built the organ to Jamison’s design, and Jamison worked with Felix Schoenstein & Sons of San Francisco, then the leading organ builders on the West Coast, as they installed and voiced it for the acoustics of St. Paul’s.
Before the organ was fully completed, Jamison described its intended character: “This typical cathedral organ design is particularly adapted to St. Paul’s, by reason of the resonant acoustics, the character of the service, and the dignity of the church building. What has proven in the history of the English Church to be the most appropriate musical instrument, will adorn St. Paul’s services as no other type of organ could.”
The 1934 Dedication
Dedicated as the Alexander Allen Memorial Organ in October 1934, it immediately received widespread acclaim. Distinguished performers including Marcel Dupré, Günther Ramin, Alexander McCurdy, Wallace Sabin, Sidney Lewis, William Carruth, and St. Paul's organist Connell Keefer Carruth, presented a series of recitals that established St. Paul’s as a major center for organ performance in the Bay Area.
Changing Musical Tastes
Like many significant American instruments, however, the organ was later affected by changing mid-20th-century musical aesthetic tastes. During the 1950s through the 1990s, a movement favoring the historic model of Baroque instruments led to widespread alterations of earlier Romantic and orchestral designs, including those by Skinner and Austin. Instruments once praised for their richness and color were increasingly judged inadequate for Bach and earlier repertoire.
In the words of Jack Bethards, prominent expert in the field of organ design, “After the War, European organs became accessible for study, so people went and studied them, and assumed that if you want to play the music of Bach, and the other Baroque masters, you had to make organs the way they were made at the time [of the composers] . . . It became a fever of changing organs in this country to sound like German Baroque organs. Unfortunately, the people doing it didn't have a very true conception of what real German baroque organs were like, and therefore there were a lot of compromises, which ended up providing a rather screechy, top-heavy, unpleasant sound.” Listen to more of Mr. Bethards' remarks in the video below.
As a result, in the Diapason chorus of the organ at St. Paul’s, the very complete chorus of 16’ 8’ 8’ 4’ 2-2/3’ 2’ and two mixtures, was thought to lack the brilliance and articulation that was popular in the decades after World War II, and our organ was “updated” with poorly constructed pipework purchased off the shelf from a German supply house.
Many of the organ’s original pipes were thrown away, resulting in a distinct lack of balance in the main Diapason Chorus. Fortunately, many decades later, our parish purchased pipes from a Methodist church in Pennsylvania that were identical in scale and voicing to some of the lost originals that were (remarkably) designed by the same designer and voicing experts as those who originally designed and voiced our 1934 Austin organ. After their installation, the Great division of the organ came into balance again.
Other misguided revisions from that time included cutting off the tops of pipes (including the strings in the Swell division). The intent was to make the tone “warmer,” but the result was that they became very difficult to keep in tune. Also during this period, the grand acoustics of the room were significantly diminished by the installation of carpeting on the floor of the nave (later removed during the building’s seismic retrofit in 1997).
In the words of Jack Bethards, prominent expert in the field of organ design, “After the War, European organs became accessible for study, so people went and studied them, and assumed that if you want to play the music of Bach, and the other Baroque masters, you had to make organs the way they were made at the time [of the composers] . . . It became a fever of changing organs in this country to sound like German Baroque organs. Unfortunately, the people doing it didn't have a very true conception of what real German baroque organs were like, and therefore there were a lot of compromises, which ended up providing a rather screechy, top-heavy, unpleasant sound.” Listen to more of Mr. Bethards' remarks in the video below.
As a result, in the Diapason chorus of the organ at St. Paul’s, the very complete chorus of 16’ 8’ 8’ 4’ 2-2/3’ 2’ and two mixtures, was thought to lack the brilliance and articulation that was popular in the decades after World War II, and our organ was “updated” with poorly constructed pipework purchased off the shelf from a German supply house.
Many of the organ’s original pipes were thrown away, resulting in a distinct lack of balance in the main Diapason Chorus. Fortunately, many decades later, our parish purchased pipes from a Methodist church in Pennsylvania that were identical in scale and voicing to some of the lost originals that were (remarkably) designed by the same designer and voicing experts as those who originally designed and voiced our 1934 Austin organ. After their installation, the Great division of the organ came into balance again.
Other misguided revisions from that time included cutting off the tops of pipes (including the strings in the Swell division). The intent was to make the tone “warmer,” but the result was that they became very difficult to keep in tune. Also during this period, the grand acoustics of the room were significantly diminished by the installation of carpeting on the floor of the nave (later removed during the building’s seismic retrofit in 1997).
Restoration and Renewal
Organ historian and curator Michael Page, up inside the organ loft among the pipes.
We are fortunate that, although restoration to many parts of the organ is needed, meticulous upkeep and research by former parishioner and lifelong organ repairer/restorer Michael Page, has brought our Austin organ into very good condition. Importantly, in addition to various informed improvements and repairs, he completed an extensive and much-needed re-leathering of the pouches in the wind chest (which distribute air through the pipes), significant work to the well-being of the organ and saving the parish hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Even in its altered state, the organ remains a clear expression of James B. Jamison’s design philosophy. Conceived specifically for the acoustics of St. Paul’s, it reflects his aim to create instruments that were not simply large, but artistically proportioned to their space, capable of supporting Anglican liturgy while functioning as concert instruments of distinction.
St. Paul’s Director of Music Benjamin Bachmann, FAGO, MMus, recalls: “When I first sat down and played the organ at St. Paul’s Oakland … I knew that I was playing a hidden gem. With its beautiful choruses and wonderful solo stops, I was playing one of the finest instruments I had encountered in the Bay Area.”
He also notes one of the instrument’s historic innovations: “The Austin organ at St. Paul’s is a landmark instrument for more than its tonal design and voicing: it also featured Austin’s first capture combination console with a setter button. This device, now ubiquitous, was revolutionary at the time.”
Even in its altered state, the organ remains a clear expression of James B. Jamison’s design philosophy. Conceived specifically for the acoustics of St. Paul’s, it reflects his aim to create instruments that were not simply large, but artistically proportioned to their space, capable of supporting Anglican liturgy while functioning as concert instruments of distinction.
St. Paul’s Director of Music Benjamin Bachmann, FAGO, MMus, recalls: “When I first sat down and played the organ at St. Paul’s Oakland … I knew that I was playing a hidden gem. With its beautiful choruses and wonderful solo stops, I was playing one of the finest instruments I had encountered in the Bay Area.”
He also notes one of the instrument’s historic innovations: “The Austin organ at St. Paul’s is a landmark instrument for more than its tonal design and voicing: it also featured Austin’s first capture combination console with a setter button. This device, now ubiquitous, was revolutionary at the time.”
Looking Ahead
Today, St. Paul’s Austin organ remains one of the few significant instruments of its kind on the West Coast. Designed specifically for the building’s acoustics and liturgical life, it continues to serve worship and inspire musicians. The parish remains an active center for music and the arts, welcoming thousands of visitors each year for concerts and services featuring local, national, and international artists.
It is now clear that a significant effort of historic restoration is necessary. After almost 50 years of service, the console needs to be replaced and updated. Among other work, much of the pipework needs to be cleaned, deteriorated pipes need repair or replacement, and pipework previously removed or altered needs to be restored to its proper place.
To learn more about St. Paul’s organ, contact our Music Director Benjamin Bachmann, FAGO, MMus: [email protected].
Learn More:
- Organ Specifications
- Church History
- Church Home Page
It is now clear that a significant effort of historic restoration is necessary. After almost 50 years of service, the console needs to be replaced and updated. Among other work, much of the pipework needs to be cleaned, deteriorated pipes need repair or replacement, and pipework previously removed or altered needs to be restored to its proper place.
To learn more about St. Paul’s organ, contact our Music Director Benjamin Bachmann, FAGO, MMus: [email protected].
Learn More:
- Organ Specifications
- Church History
- Church Home Page
The organ's decorative pipes and east window, "The Resurrection," in the warm after noon light.