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Fifth Ave Presbyterian Church

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Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Organ <br><br> According to <a href="http://www.nycago.org/organs/nyc/html/FifthAvePres.html">the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists</a>, George Jardine & Son of New York City built the original organ in 1855 for Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. When the present church was built in 1873-75, Jardine was asked to move and rebuild the organ. “In 1893, a new organ of 3 manuals and 44 stops was built by John Odell of New York City. Both the Jardine and Odell organs were powered by a hydraulic motor—a steam engine pumped water to a tank above the tower's E. Howard & Co. clock, then the water flowed by gravity to a basement cistern, operating the feeders of the bellows. A gradual conversion to electric power followed. In 1913, Ernest M. Skinner of Boston was awarded the contract to build his Opus 206, a new four-manual and pedal organ for the Sanctuary.” Skinner also carved the magnificent case, which strongly resembles the organ in St. Bartholomew's. The organ was altered in 1945 and again in 1955. In 1961, Austin Organs, Inc. of Hartford, Conn. installed an entirely new organ that was later altered.
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Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Organ

According to the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, George Jardine & Son of New York City built the original organ in 1855 for Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. When the present church was built in 1873-75, Jardine was asked to move and rebuild the organ. “In 1893, a new organ of 3 manuals and 44 stops was built by John Odell of New York City. Both the Jardine and Odell organs were powered by a hydraulic motor—a steam engine pumped water to a tank above the tower's E. Howard & Co. clock, then the water flowed by gravity to a basement cistern, operating the feeders of the bellows. A gradual conversion to electric power followed. In 1913, Ernest M. Skinner of Boston was awarded the contract to build his Opus 206, a new four-manual and pedal organ for the Sanctuary.” Skinner also carved the magnificent case, which strongly resembles the organ in St. Bartholomew's. The organ was altered in 1945 and again in 1955. In 1961, Austin Organs, Inc. of Hartford, Conn. installed an entirely new organ that was later altered.

churchcathedralphotoKent Beckernot my day job photographyFifth Avenue Presbyterian5th Ave PresbyterianNew Yorkorgan

  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian <br><br> Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, located at 5th avenue and 55th, has a spectacular, unique interior. The seating is similar to a theater or stadium with balcony seats. The sanctuary floor slopes upward with pews that fan out, facilitating the view of the centrally located pulpit. Above the pulpit is a choir loft and massive organ. With this design, the entire congregation can easily see and hear the speaker and music. According to <a href="http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID041.htm">NYC Architecture</a>, there are no right angles in the interior unlike more rigid Gothic cathedrals. <br><br> New York firm Kimbel and Cabus designed the ash woodwork including the pews, pulpit, and gallery front. Most of the original woodwork remains. The firm’s pieces have been acquired recently by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. <br><br> According to <a href="http://www.fapc.org/">the church website</a>, the church’s founding dates to 1808. Early congregation members included Oliver Wolcott, Jr., former Secretary of the Treasury, Archibald Gracie, whose Gracie Mansion is now the home of the Mayor of New York. Richard Varick, an aide to George Washington and former Mayor of New York. The congregation moved several times before settling in the current location. The site of the Presbyterian Church of Cedar Street was in downtown New York, which is currently the plaza area for the Chase Bank complex. The church later bought land at Duane and Church streets and finished construction of a new church in 1836. For some reason, a move was made to 19th Street and 5th Avenue in 1852. Soon this church was insufficient and land was purchased at 55th Street and 5th Avenue and the new church was dedicated in 1875.
  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Ceiling<br /> <br /> I was captivated by the patterns and symmetry of the vast, sprawling ceiling at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and wanted to capture the ceiling in its entirety. This is not an easy task given the size of the ceiling and this took some planning to pull off. On my second visit, I used a tripod several feet off the floor with a 10-22 mm wide angle lens at 10 mm (16 mm with 1.6X crop factor). However, even at 16 mm, the exposure was not wide enough to capture the lights, and I really wanted the lights to frame the photo. On my third visit, I took the tripod down further so that the camera was about six inches off the ground. I took multiple overlapping frames spanning the ceiling with the intent of stitching the photos together. Exposures were at 100 ISO, f6.3, and 15 seconds in RAW format.<br /> <br /> Post production, I stitched three overlapping photos together in Photoshop Elements. I used the crop and straighten features in Aperture 3 to ensure that the final photo was symmetric. Eventually, I was able to work with the exposures to capture the lights, which frame the photo.
  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Ceiling<br /> <br /> I am amazed by the sharpness and detail that some lenses provide, such as my 10-22 mm. While playing with the Fifth Avenue ceiling photo one evening (previous photo), I wondered if I could count the number of squares in what looked like a heating/air conditioning panel on the ceiling. I blew it up many times and this is the result: 17 X 17 square holes for a total of 289 squares. The photo also captures the substantial detail surrounding the panel.
  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Organ <br><br> According to <a href="http://www.nycago.org/organs/nyc/html/FifthAvePres.html">the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists</a>, George Jardine & Son of New York City built the original organ in 1855 for Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. When the present church was built in 1873-75, Jardine was asked to move and rebuild the organ. “In 1893, a new organ of 3 manuals and 44 stops was built by John Odell of New York City. Both the Jardine and Odell organs were powered by a hydraulic motor—a steam engine pumped water to a tank above the tower's E. Howard & Co. clock, then the water flowed by gravity to a basement cistern, operating the feeders of the bellows. A gradual conversion to electric power followed. In 1913, Ernest M. Skinner of Boston was awarded the contract to build his Opus 206, a new four-manual and pedal organ for the Sanctuary.” Skinner also carved the magnificent case, which strongly resembles the organ in St. Bartholomew's. The organ was altered in 1945 and again in 1955. In 1961, Austin Organs, Inc. of Hartford, Conn. installed an entirely new organ that was later altered.
  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Stained Glass The beautiful stained glass windows were designed and produced in Montreal, Canada. According to <a href="http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID041.htm">NYC Architecture</a>, the designs, “…inspired by the English Reform precepts of the 19th century, allow more light to penetrate the interior. There were no Biblical figures of saints who could be worshiped apart from God - an iconoclastic fear still prevalent among some austere 19th century Presbyterians.”
  • Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Stained Glass The beautiful stained glass windows were designed and produced in Montreal, Canada. According to <a href="http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID041.htm">NYC Architecture</a>, the designs, “…inspired by the English Reform precepts of the 19th century, allow more light to penetrate the interior. There were no Biblical figures of saints who could be worshiped apart from God - an iconoclastic fear still prevalent among some austere 19th century Presbyterians.”
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