Organs

HISTORY OF THE ORGANS

With a contract dated January 24, 1938, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, committed to the purchase of a new pipe organ built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. of Boston, MA. The new instrument replaced an earlier instrument by the Hutchings-Votey Organ Co. of Cambridge, MA, which was built in 1907 and destroyed by fire on March 22, 1938. Ned Gammons, Organist & Choirmaster, served as a consultant for the design of Aeolian-Skinner, Op. 976 and the dedication of the instrument took place during morning and evening services on March 12, 1939.

Revisions to the instrument have since been completed by Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. (1954 and 1968); William Stephens, and the companies of Visser & Associates and Schoenstein & Co. (1980-1990); the addition of an antiphonal organ the by Schantz Organ Co. (1991); revisions and additions by John Hendriksen (1993); and a new console, additions, and restoration work by Richard Houghten, Manuel Rosales, and Joe Sloane (2012). The current instrument contains 66 stops, 90 ranks, and 5,045 pipes.

CATHEDRAL ORGANS

66 STOPS, 90 RANKS, 5,045 PIPES

In the Cathedral Choir

Edwin Robinson Spotts Memorial Organ
Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co., Boston, MA, Op. 976 (1938)
Rebuilt and enlarged in 1954, 1968, 1993, and 2012

In the Cathedral Nave

William N. Barnard Memorial Antiphonal Organ
Schantz Organ Co., Orrville, OH, Op. 1990 (1992)

THE GOLDING CHAPEL ORGAN
4 STOPS, 4 RANKS, 316 PIPES

The Golding Chapel Organ
Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co., Boston, MA, Op. 3013 (1939)
Refurbishment, additions, and new control system by Richard Houghten, Inc. (2019)