Music Department

Pipe Organs at Vassar

Vassar College has possessed a pipe organ since its opening in 1865. Counting the new Paul Fritts, the college currently has seven such instruments. The largest, built in 1967 by Gress-Miles, resides in the Chapel. It occupies the same space as the original chapel organ of 1904, which allowed for the retention of the hand-carved façade designed by the architects of the Chapel, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge of Boston. The Gress-Miles organ has four manuals and pedal, 99 stops and 5,710 pipes. It has mainly direct electric action.

Next in size comes the Paul Fritts organ, with two manuals and pedal, 34 stops and 2,418 pipes. It can be pumped by pedal (though it also has an electric blower for everyday use) and possesses mechanical stop and key action (“tracker action”). This means that the keys are connected to the pipe valves mechanically, without pneumatic or electric assistance. The Fritts organ replaces a 1964 three-manual instrument with 69 stops, about half of which was newly built by the firm Gress-Miles. The other half consisted of revoiced pipework from the original instrument built by Kimball in 1931. This hybrid organ has been acquired by the United States Military Academy at West Point and is installed in the Old Cadet Chapel there.

Thekla Hall, on the fourth floor of Skinner Hall, houses an organ built by Thomas Hall early in the 1820s. It possesses one manual and five stops. This is considered to be one of only two Hall organs in existence. It was restored to playable condition by Susan Tattershall, then of Rhinebeck, NY, in 1994.

In frequent use as an accompanying instrument in the baroque repertoire is the Taylor and Boody continuo organ made in 1987. This instrument was designed and built by Bruce Shull. It has oak pipes (Gedackt 8′ and Blockflöte 4′).

The smallest organ in our collection is the Memling Portative, which was fashioned by Phil Levin in 1981 to resemble the instrument frequently depicted by the Flemish painter Hans Memling. It is used in performances of medieval and Renaissance music.

Two practice organs complete the collection: from 1910 by Estey Organ Co. of Brattleboro, Vermont; and from 1964 by Gress-Miles of Princeton, New Jersey. These are located in practice rooms 226 and 126 of Skinner Hall.

Specifications of the Paul Fritts Pipe Organ in Skinner Hall of Music

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* Double draw
** Bottom octave transmission from Hauptwerk
*** Transmissions from Pedal

Specifications of the Gress-Miles Organ in the Vassar College Chapel

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Couplers (Unison only; not affecting Trompette-a-Pavillon)
Pedal, Positiv, Great, Swell, Brustwerk Unison Offs (Knobs)
Brustwerk to Swell, Great, Positiv, Pedal
Swell to Brustwerk, Great, Positiv, Pedal
Great to Positiv, Pedal
Positiv to Great, Brustwerk, Pedal
Twelve general pistons
Eight pistons for each division
Sforzando I, II, and Ill