Saint Thomas Church Great Organ

The great organ was built in 1913 by Earnest M. Skinner Organ Company of Boston. It was rebuilt in 1956 with further alterations in the late 1960s and early 1980s. It consists of six divisions, this electro-pneumatic instrument features a Trompette en Chamade under the rose window. There are four manuals, 115 stops, 138 ranks, and about 9,050 pipes according to the Saint Thomas guide. Like information on the other Saint Thomas organ, I have no idea what this means, except that this is a very big organ. For much more detail, see The New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

The Rose Window is 25 feet in diameter and is late French Gothic. Flamboyant in design, it is similar to the west rose window of Amiens Cathedral (1221) according to the Saint Thomas guide. Below the window is the Loening-Hancock Organ. It is a mechanical or tracker two-manual instrument with pedal, 22 stops, 32 ranks, and 1,551 pipes. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds impressive. It was built in 1996 by Taylor and Boody Organbuilders of Stanton, Virginia. The highly ornamented case is influenced by 16th century Dutch organ builders according to Saint Thomas.

James Humphries Hogan (1883-1948) designed stained glass windows at Saint Thomas. He was a noted stained glass artist for James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars), Ltd. of London from age 14 until his death in 1948. He made windows for many of England’s churches including the 100 foot high central windows of Liverpool Cathedral. Some consider the windows at Saint Thomas to be some of the finest designs.

The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, was an English glassmaker and stained glass window manufacturer. The company started in the 17th century but became well known as a result of the 19th century Gothic Revival. In 1962 the company name was changed back to Whitefriars Glass Ltd. It specialized in freeform glass ware until Caithness Glass purchased the firm in 1981. See Wikpedia for more detail.

In 2007, conservation began on the windows. It required three years and $20 million to restore the 9 million pieces of glass. The largest windows each required 4,500 man hours, the labor of one artisan for two and a half years. See the Saint Thomas website and a New York Times article for more detail.

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