Hook and Hastings Pipe Organ - A Proper Instrument
Reid Center Hook and Hastings Pipe Organ in 1906 at the Church's dedication.
The Reid Center excels as a performance venue, as it was originally designed as such. Designed by Tiffany Studios of New York, the sanctuary (originally called “the auditorium”) has excellent acoustics, auditorium-style seating and a “state of the art (in 1906)” Hook and Hastings pipe organ that can fill the auditorium with music.
In late 1904, the church’s building committee was beginning to work with the Hook and Hastings Company of Boston on the manufacture of the organ. Early correspondence shows that $5,000 had been allotted to the purchase of a fine instrument, but on November 29, 1904, Daniel Reid’s second wife, Clairesse, died. In a letter dated December 12, Reid told his friend and building committee member, Frank Glass, that, “I want you to have a first-class organ, one that is up to date in every way – by this I mean first class Church organ…. As to the price, I expect to pay for the organ myself as a sort of memorial to Mrs. Reid. In order that you may have the right kind of an organ I do not want you to feel handicapped on the three or four thousand extra money which you speak of [in a previous letter] in the purchase of the proper instrument.” Newspaper coverage at the dedication reported that he ultimately spent $20,000 on the instrument.
Hook and Hastings was selected both for its excellent reputation and the company’s ability to build an expansive instrument where the pipework is placed at a distance from the console. This required electrification at a time when electricity was a relatively new idea. Electricity had only become available in Richmond as a public utility in 1902.
When the pipe organ was completed in 1906 and installed in the new Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church, it appeared very much as we see it today -- as two “organs,” one located to the left and the other to the right of the console where the organist is seated. Richly carved woodwork facades enclosed both organs, each containing two divisions: the Swell and Choir divisions to the left and the Great and Pedal divisions to the right. A fifth Echo division was located in the north tower, over the audience’s right shoulder. Tonally, the Hook and Hastings pipework reflected the romantic, symphonic organ sounds favored at the time.
No pipework above 2’ existed in the original specifications. Even though additional ranks of pipes were later added, the original Hook and Hastings pipework can be heard to this day making the Reid Center organ a prized vintage instrument.
Hook and Hastings Pipe Organ at The Reid Center, May 2022
W. H. Donley of Indianapolis, the organ’s designer, performed the first recital on May 14, 1906. This concert, a day after the dedication of the church, was the formal dedication of the organ, and was so well attended that the Richmond Item reported that the audience “taxed the capacity of the auditorium and gallery” of the church.
W. H. Donley of Indianapolis, organ designer
Daniel Reid was out of the country in May, so could not attend the church dedication. His first sight of his finished gift occurred in early June, and Mr. Donley made the trip from Indianapolis on June 10 to present a private recital for Mr. Reid and about one hundred invited guests.
Organ recital program from May 14, 1906.
Mr. Donley’s enthusiastic endorsement of the Hook and Hastings organ reflects the excitement and high regard surrounding the instrument at its dedication in 1906. The Richmond Palladium quoted him as stating “The organ would make the central point of attraction in some of the greatest cathedrals in Europe. It is the most modern and the most complete organ of its size in America.”