Most of you already know this about me. So bear with me. I am the organist for my Masonic Lodge in San Pedro as well as the organist for San Pedro Harbor Chapter Order of Eastern Star. Now you’d think that seeing as organist is part of my job title, that I played an organ. Nay, not so. I play a piano.
It seems that real organs at Masonic Lodges are rather rare in Southern California. I have yet to see a working organ in the lodges that I have visited. Some day I will figure out why that is.
Most of the lodges in Massachusetts actually have an organ. Some of the larger buildings actually have a working pipe organ. Although, many of the pipe organs are getting rather old and falling into disrepair. For example, the Lowell Masonic Center in Lowell, MA has a pipe organ and alas it no longer works. I did get to play it before it had to be shutdown. Repairs of pipe organs can run into 6 digits.
Now i would be happy if I can get our hall association to pay to get the piano tuned. Am I the only one who hears the off tune piano?
But back to Organs. My former church in Billerica, MA has an excellent electronic organ made by the Allen Organ Company. They put the speakers behind the pipes in the chancel, so you think that the sound is coming from the pipes. Fabulous sound. When I played that organ, I couldn’t hear anyone singing. I could only tell they were singing by seeing their lips move.
So what got me started writing a blog post about organs? I saw a post on FB about a Compton Organ at the Apollo Theater. So without further ado here are a couple of videos of organ performances.
Here is a video of music of “42nd Street” played on a Wurlitzer. Turn up the volume.
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