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WE WELCOME YET ANOTHER
INSTRUMENT OF PRAISE FROM HARVARD
Dedication of the Holbrook Organ (swf)
Unexpected blessings are something for which we are always grateful, especially when these assist us in offering praise to the God from whom all blessings flow. Such is the case with the arrival of a small, antique but glorious organ for use in our current worship space, on loan to us from Memorial Church Harvard University. How did this come about?
Many of you will recall that Harvard has made available to us on very generous terms the magnificent Opus 46 organ from Appleton Chapel. That organ is being replaced by a new instrument built by Fisk, the same group that crafted the Opus 46. The new organ necessitated not only the removal of the original organ but an additional, much smaller, antique organ as well. The Opus 46 is in storage awaiting its introduction into our proposed sanctuary when God permits us to build that space. Meanwhile, Harvard could find no proper place for the storage of the smaller organ. Again, most generously Harvard called and asked if we could put the antique organ to good use in our current worship space in Covenant Hall. Of course we were more than happy to oblige, and the instrument arrived in Austin this past June.
The instrument was built by Edwin L. Holbrook (1824-1904) of East Medway, Mass., in 1862 and was first employed in the Universalist Church in Southbridge, Mass. It was later removed by organist aficionado Barbara Owen and rebuilt and enlarged by Charles Fisk in 1966. It was placed in the rear gallery of Harvard Memorial Church to serve as a temporary instrument between the time of the removal of the Aeolian-Skinner organ and the installation of the new Fisk Opus 46, the very organ which will eventually serve in our new sanctuary. The Holbrook organ has remained in this location and been in continuous use for the past 45 years. Next year will mark its 150th birthday!
In the lovely, sensitive and reverberant acoustic of Covenant Hall this small instrument should serve our congregational and choral singing very nicely. It was installed the week of August 14, 2011 by organ builder Mark Nelson who has cared for this organ and our large Fisk Opus 46 organ for the past thirty-two years. For all of us it represents a hope for even more glorious praise in the years to come when the sanctuary is constructed and the Fisk Opus 46 is in place. May God be praised for this surprising blessing on our liturgical life!
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