Saturday had been designated National Organ Day in the UK --- we're talking about musical instruments --- until COVID-19 derailed it. The event's already been rescheduled for 2021 although a variety of virtual performances went forward, but I couldn't find anything online this morning that I liked.
So here, instead, is a brief presentation from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs about one of Iowa's organ treasures, the 1896 Kimball in the Union Sunday School building at Clermont. The building --- and its organ --- are owned by the state of Iowa as part of the Montauk Historic Site. The house called Montauk, home of Iowa's 12th governor, William Larrabee and perched on a hilltop above the town, is the centerpiece of the site.
Gov. Larrabee bought and installed the organ for his daughter, Anna (1869-1965), longtime Union Sunday School organist. I've borrowed the exterior image here from The Oelwein Dailly Register; the shot of the organ from Iowa's Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, which repaired the instrument in recent years.
According to Dobson, "This instrument is the largest remaining unaltered tubular-pneumatic organ built by W.W. Kimball." A restoration was undertaken in 1979-80 by the Hendrickson Organ Co. of St. Peter, Minnesota, but miscalculations then brought about the need for further work --- by the Dobson staff. During ordinary times, the Department of Cultural Affairs offers a concert series featuring the organ, but we have no way of knowing how that will (or won't) develop this year.
I have a very modest history with this instrument. Years ago, on a whim, I dropped in at the tourism office then operating in Clermont while driving from one place to another and found myself the only tourist in down. The guide and I set out with a set of keys and stopped, among other places, at Union Sunday School where both us tried our hand (not at all skillfully) at the organ.
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