Man Wants Biggest Organ for His Living Room

newsmax.com ^ | 9-20-03 | With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[ovrtaxt]

Posted Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003 5:56 PM EDT

Man Wants Biggest Organ for His Living Room

Jasper Sanfilippo, a collector of musical devices, doesn’t play the organ and neither does his wife, but he does have the distinction of owning the biggest organ in the world, which is on proud display in an oversized living room of his estate in Barrington Hills, Ill., according to a feature in Forbe’s magazine.

While Radio City's Wurlitzer, the world's second largest, has 4,500 pipes, Jasper's has 8,000, says Tom Hazleton, an acclaimed theater organist. "If this doesn't blow your socks off, nothing will," Hazleton says.

Sanfilippo built a 27,000-square-foot living room in which to house the biggest Wurlitzer pipe organ in captivity. The immense instrument is feed air (10,000 cubic feet per minute) via a 50hp, 440-volt blower and can play "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" with the same ease as a Debussy delicacy.

Fortunately for the non-player owner, the organ has a feature permitting the capture of keystrokes, recalling every note of every artist who's played at the Sanfilippos' home, as well as the tonal settings he chose -- and even the lighting in the room.

Included are buttons that summon thunder, surf, tom-toms and a glockenspiel, and a 32-note set of bells (the largest weighing 426 pounds).

Scoff if you like, but experts agree that Sanfilippo has created something extraordinary, says organist John Giacchi.

Victory at Sea, a favored selection, has palpable 25-foot swells.

[tophat9000]

Is it a "pump" Organ?

[StriperSniper]

Surely someone will have to handle it!

Shouldn't that be Handel? I prefer Bach anyway. ;-)

[Elliott Jackalope]

I'm actually impressed that you knew that. Good job!

[Atchafalaya]

Come on? For real?

[Amazed1953]

I sometimes post a pic in these threads, but I ain't going there this time.

[sinkspur]

Correction to my #18 above.

The Wanamaker organ is not a Wicks; it is also an Aeolian-Skinner.

[Elliott Jackalope]

OK, now you're starting to scare me....

[Buck W.]

I once shot a big organ in my pajamas...

[Dr. Zoo]

I think these giant musical instruments are Phenomonol!

But as expected, this has turned into a sex thread...

I have seen pictures of these magnificent instruments, and heard them. They are amazing.

[dighton]

Let me take this other glove off
As the vox humana swells,
And the beauteous fields of Eden
Bask beneath the Abbey bells.
Here, where England's statesmen lie,
Listen to a lady's cry.

-- John Betjeman, In Westminster Abbey.

[sinkspur]

I can't play anything but the radio, but I've always loved pipe organs.

I've got everything Virgil Fox ever produced (Fox being the single most prolific and talented concert organist of the 20th century), and just about everything E. Power Biggs released. I also prize my collection of Alexander Schreiner, the 25-year organist at the Mormon Tabernacle.

I also have an extensive collection of George Wright, Dick Leibert (the long-serving organist at Radio City Music Hall), and Simon Gledhill, a British organist who is likely the most versatile living theatre organist.

There is simply nothing like pipes and power!

[fqued]

And, indeed, those are small pipe organs compared to the one in Atlantic city, and the Sydney Auditorium which has an open 64-foot rank.

a normal rank (without extensions) has 61 pipes, so 8000 pipes would only be about 130 ranks. Denver, where I work on pipe organs, has two organs with about a hundred ranks, and there are plenty of organs with over 130 ranks.

This article was written by someone who knows little or nothing about pipe organs.

Second point: SIZE DOES NOT MATTER, whether the organ is human or mechanical. the best pipe organs are not the largest, but the best voiced and built. I have worked on realtively small organs that are truly fine, and on large organs that I consider mediocre.

[ovrtaxt]

Sex thread?!?

We're having a nice talk about organs, and some pervert has to come along and debase it by bringing up sex! Stop that!

[Ichneumon]

I don't know if it's still there or not, but 20+ years ago in Indianapolis, Indiana, there was a family restaurant named "Pipe Organ Pizza" which had an ENORMOUS, um, wind instrument built into one wall. They always had an organist playing various tunes, and he gladly took requests. It was quite an experience.

[Dr. Zoo]

What are the large ones that you see as really fine instruments?

And thanks for your expert input.

[shaggy eel]

,,, maybe this guy's wife thinks an organ this size will draw her husband's attention away from her. Maybe she feels threatened. You know how it can be with people who think past big to grand...

[ovrtaxt]

I have worked on realtively small organs that are truly fine, and on large organs that I consider mediocre.

Is it just me, or are the guys who are all trying to crack jokes here secretly questioning the sexuality of the ones who are seriously talking about their admiration of organs?

[RadioAstronomer]

"Pipe Organ Pizza" which had an ENORMOUS, um, wind instrument built into one wall

There was also one in Denver :-)

[Publius6961]

Holy Cow!

[sinkspur]

Do you actually voice pipes?

I read as much as I can about pipe organs, but I can certainly tell the difference between a pneumatic and an electronic. The older Aeolian pneumatics required the organist to be in good physical condition to work the stops, especially if he's playing a Bach or Widor piece.

I assume you work on concert organs. Has a new theatre organ even been installed anywhere in the last 20 years? Is Wurlitzer even in business?