That's A Wrap! - Richmond, VA, Chapter of the American Guild of ...

American Guild of Organists, Richmond Chapter
John G. DeMajo, Editor
6001 Statute Street
Chesterfield, VA 23832
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In their quest to bring the finest musical entertainment to the home, Aeolian found a niche among the nation’s
most wealthy people. Not only was the residence organ a symbol of status, it also made available
music that was otherwise unavailable in the home setting at the time. Roll player mechanisms were provided
with most of the company’s installations, and Aeolian Organ Player Rolls covered a broad spectrum
of tastes, which thereby excluded no potential patron, nor his money.
The Gould home was later demolished, and the Gould-Shepard instrument has since been relocated, and
now stands, fully restored, in the residence of Robert W. Taylor in Columbia, Missouri. While the industrial
era may have drawn to a close, there are still remnants and reminders of this great period in American
history thanks to those who continue to appreciate the pipe organ and its music.
This issue completes another season in our virtual tour of “Organs in Strange and Interesting
Places.” Your editor, and the entire Richmond AGO Chapter communications staff, extend their
wishes for a happy and safe Summer. See you in September!
At the height of the industrial era in America, the Aeolian company, a leading manufacturer of pipe
organs suitable for residence installations, was producing organs at the rate of one per day. While
Aeolian’s products were well represented in the church, theatre and public venue sectors, many notable
examples of their work went to the residences of America’s rich and famous.
On August 23, 1913, Helen Gould Shepard, the daughter of railroad developer and industrialist Jay
Gould of New York, ordered Aeolian’s Opus 1280, a three manual, 34 rank instrument, for the home
she had inherited on New York’s 5th Avenue at the corner of 47th Street. The instrument was one of
two instruments that she ordered on that same date, with the second smaller instrument destined for
her home in Tarrytown (Lyndhurst) New York.
It was a time when horse drawn carriages outnumbered automobiles, which gives us insight into what
importance the organ played in these mansions, and the importance that was placed on them as a
“convenience” in the modern home of that era.