Saint John's Organ Information
THE E. & G. G. HOOK
HOOK & HASTINGS ORGAN COMPANY
George and Elias Hook, sons of a cabinet maker, who themselves apprenticed as cabinetmakers, returned following their apprenticeship to their hometown of Salem, Massachusetts to set up shop in 1827. Elias began his career by opening a store that sold musical instruments, music and supplies. George was commissioned soon after his return to build a chamber organ. He was surprised many years later, in 1871, to have this same instrument returned to him to be taken in trade for a new, larger instrument. This first organ is still extant and resides in the Essex Institute in Salem where it is now used for concerts held at the museum.
In 1828, Elias also built an organ on his own, this one for Tabernacle Church in Salem. The brothers began building organs together the following year and in 1831 moved their shop to Boston. During their first ten years in business, they built four organs per year. With one exception, the first one hundred organs in their opus list (built between 1829 and 1849) were for Massachusetts locations. The territory covered for the next one hundred organs (1849-1856) included Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio—as well as Massachusetts.
Business was so good that they built a new factory in 1853—the largest in the United States. During the 1850s the company constructed an average of sixteen organs per year. Except for the Civil War years, when resources were scarce, the number of instruments continued to increase. [This is the timeframe in which our organ was constructed. In 1863 the firm produced only thirteen organs. However, one of these was the huge instrument for Immaculate Conception, Boston. It is Opus 322 and ours is Opus 326.] The firm had to constantly improve their facilities in order to keep up with the demand. By 1871, the production rate had reached 52 organs—an average of one per week!
Hook organs were highly acclaimed for both their cabinetry and their tonal work. European-trained organists acclaimed these instruments as being especially good for playing the European literature. George, who served as tonal director and head voicer for the company, was highly regarded for his ability to voice pipes in an artistic manner. Hook organs are known for their smooth and clear tone, for reeds that have a particularly good sound and tend to stay in tune, and for an action that is light, crisp, and responsive. The many surviving Hook organs testify to the quality and excellence of these instruments.
In 1872, the name of the company was expanded to include Francis Hastings, who had become a partner in the firm. By this time, Elias and George were 65 and 67 years old respectively, and had been grooming Hastings, then 36, for some time to take over responsibility for the company. The tradition of excellence in organ building continued into the 20th century under the new name, “E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings.”
Barbara Owen: The Organ in New England
OUR NEW ORGAN
E. & G. G. Hook, Opus 326 (1863)—Hook and Hastings, Opus 2478 (1923)
The organ to be installed in our church was built as Opus 326 by the E. & G. G. Hook Organ Company of Boston in 1863. It was a three-manual and pedal organ of 35 ranks and was installed within an organ chamber in the Shawmut Street Church in Boston. However, within only a few years the church felt they needed a larger instrument and they purchased, again from Hook, a three-manual and pedal organ of 63 ranks, Opus 398.
In 1866 a committee from the Pine Street Congregational Church in Lewiston, Maine, purchased this organ for their church. They paid $4500 for the instrument! At Pine Street the organ was to be free-standing so the present walnut case was built to surround it. In 1923 the “new” firm of Hook & Hastings refurbished the organ, gave it a detached console, electrified the action and re-numbered it as Opus 2478. When the Pine Street Church merged with the Universalist Church as “The Federated Church” the Pine Street building was demolished.
In 1940 the organ was moved to the Foss Street Methodist Church in Biddeford, Maine, where it replaced a two-manual and pedal E. L. Holbrook tracker action organ of 1863. Leon Lancey, organist at the Foss Street Church arranged the purchase for $850! The instrument remained with the Methodists until 1999 when, due to declining numbers, the church elected to close. The Foss Street building has since been demolished.
Due to the excellent quality and historic nature of this organ it was rescued in the spring of 2000 by the late Alan Laufmann of the Organ Clearing House. At that time it was placed in storage with the OCH at its facility in Harrisville, New Hampshire, awaiting its new—and fourth—home in Quincy, Illinois.
The organ will stand on the north wall of the building in the space occupied formerly by the High Altar. It will speak directly down the nave. The neo—classical case will be refinished to its original patina and the façade pipes will be gold-leafed. The console will be a vintage Aeolian-Skinner which will be refinished to match the furnishings in the sanctuary, The exterior will match the furniture and the interior will match the organ case. The console will be on a moveable dolly and there will be three plug-in locations. The dolly will have a skirt to match the exterior of the console and an oak floor to match the sanctuary flooring.
There will be new magnets and wiring to control the 1863 slider chests. The action that has been in place since the 1923 work by Hook and Hastings still had life in it but re-leathering will extend the long-term reliability. It will also provide more up-to-date electro-pneumatic pull-down system to operate the original slider windchests and eliminate the tube magnets. The drawknob and coupler units will be replaced with equipment from Harris Precision Products. The console will include solid state switching and a 100-level combination action by Peterson ElectroMusical Products.
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