Gemeinhaus Saal - Old Salem, North Carolina

(now located in the Single Brothers' House)

1798

Tannenberg had contracted for a new organ for the Salem congregation in 1794 but it was not constructed until 1798. Early in the spring, the organ was delivered and installed by Philip Bachmann. The cost was £150. It was played for the first time on May 22, 1798. The organ was moved at least once before being dismantled and placed in storage in 1864. It remained there for 100 years during which time, many of the pipes were use in the rebuilding of the larger 1800 Tannenberg. In 1964, the organ was set up in the Single Brothers' House by Charles McManis. Since the original stop list was not known at that time and most of the Viola da Gamba and Quinta Dena were missing, the restorer deduced that the other stops were a Quinte 3' and a Terz 1 3/5'. Recently, the diary of Frederic William Marshall has come to light in which he recorded the stop list of this organ as well as the larger 1800 Tannenberg. The stop list is very interesting as it is somewhat unusual for an organ from the 18th century to have five stops with no 2'.

The organ was restored by Taylor and Boody in the summer of 2007. As part of this work, the original pipes including the front pipes were restored and put back in their proper places on the original windchest. The case was also restored and painted white as it had been originally.

For detailed photos of the restoration process, see this page on Taylor and Boody's web page.

The original stop list was:

Source for the stop list: The diary of Frederic William Marshall of 1801. Marshall copied the stop names of both of Tannenberg's organs in Salem.

Listen to improvisation on the various stops alone and in combination (recorded November, 2009):

Grob Gedackt 8F.

Principal 4F.

Flauta 4F.

Quinta Dena 8F.

Viola di Gamba 8F.

Grob Gedackt 8F. und Flauta 4F.

Grob Gedackt 8F. und Quinta Dena 8F.

Grob Gedackt 8F., Quinta Dena 8F. und Flauta 4F.

Grob Gedackt 8F. und Viola di Gamba 8F.

Grob Gedackt 8F., Viola di Gamba 8F. und Flauta 4F.

Grob Gedackt 8F., Quinta Dena 8F. und Principal 4F.

Click on thumbnails for larger pictures:

1st photo taken after restoration by Taylor & Boody (photo courtesy of Old Salem Museums & Gardens). Other photos taken by the author in November of 2009.