Bless This House - Stanford Olsen & the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Brian Ebie & Laura Ebie -- A Thanksgiving Prelude for Flute & Organ

Brian Ebie plays Karg-Elert's March Triomphale Op.65 -- Fayette Opera House

Brian Ebie Performing on the Glasgow Organ Series at the Fayette Opera House

Brian Ebie and a Silent Movie at the Suffield United Church of Christ

Silent Movie Night! Laurel & Hardy starring in Habeas Corpus

On Monday, October 20, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. the Suffield Historical Society will present the 1928 silent movie Habeas Corpus starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.  

Step back in time as this hilarious silent movie is accompanied by organist Brian Ebie at the organ console of the Suffield United Church of Christ 1115 Ohio 43, Mogadore, OH 44260.  

Brian will improvise a movie soundtrack as the film is projected, just like being at a movie theatre in the 1920's!

Habeas Corpus is a short silent comedy film where Laurel and Hardy are hired by a mad scientist to rob a grave.  Hilarity ensues, as only Laurel and Hardy can do it, as they sneak into a scary graveyard at night and try to start digging up the dead fellow to bring back to the mad scientist.  

Three years ago The Suffield Historical Society watched Lon Cheney's 1927 movie  Phantom of the Opera with Brian at the console of his Schantz Pipe Organ.  

Laurel & Hardy at the Suffield United Church of Christ will be every bit as fun and exciting! Come and bring a friend! Refreshments to follow.  Free and open to the public.  

Get ready for Halloween with a funny silent movie!

The M. P. Möller Organ Company Chandelier Pipe Organ

The M. P. Möller Organ Company was once the largest pipe organ builder in the United States.  Operating in Hagerstown, Maryland from 1875 - 1992, Moller built over 11,730 instruments, many of which are still playing in churches, universities, and elsewhere.  Probably their nearest competitor in terms of output was Wicks Organ Company of Highland Illinois, with an opus list of nearly 7,000 instruments.  Wicks still exists today, though not as large an organization as it once was, having significantly downsized in 2011.

An experimental design of a "chandelier organ" was built by Möller employees to be suspended from a high ceiling and to allow the tone to gently descend on the listeners.  In keeping with the tradition of the Echo or Ethereal or even Antiphonal divisions sometimes incorporated into pipe organs, the chandelier organ would have provided a simple flute and principal sound producing tone from a different direction than the main organ.

Möller built only two of these instruments.

I recently found photographs in my old picture files, having saved them from online when this instrument went up for auction on eBay in 2002 or 2003.  The collection included various views of the chandelier organ, as well as a picture of the small console that was built to play it independently of a main pipe organ.  Doing a bit of research I learned that the instrument I have pictured is now, after restoration by Keith Williams and the service team at Buzard Organ Company, playing as part of a 1968 Wicks Pipe Organ in St. Thomas the Apostle, Catholic Church, Crystal Lake, Illinois. 

The second Möller chandelier organ was recently donated to an exhibit on the Möller Pipe Organ Company at Discovery Station in Hagerstown, Maryland. 

Just a short article on what I think was and is a very cool pipe organ!  Please check out my album of additional photos of the M. P. Möller Organ Company Chandelier Organ

Brian Ebie plays Hogwarts Hymn from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ...

I made a lunchtime visit to the pipe organ I built at Mogadore Christian Church in Mogadore, Ohio.  It was a hot summer day, one of the few we've had this year.  I decided to record a piece that I have long thought would be great on an organ... Hogwarts Hymn from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  I hope you enjoy it!

Recorded using an iPad, iMovie, and an Apogee MiC 96k.

Special thanks to Laura for editing and making it look great!

The First Mormon Tabernacle Organist

The First Mormon Tabernacle Organist 

By Brian Ebie

Anyone who has traveled to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah is of course familiar with the famous 206-rank Aeolian Skinner pipe organ in the Mormon Tabernacle, and perhaps even the 130-rank Schoenstein pipe organ in the LDSConference Center.  And while these are certainly the most famous instruments on Temple Square, there are many other smaller pipe organs that are used for concert and practice by the Tabernacle Organists Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen, and Andrew Unsworth.   The Assembly Hall boasts a 65 rank Robert Sipe Tracker, and the Joseph Smith Building a 45 rank Casavant.  Additionally, there are three practice organs located in the offices under the Assembly Hall by Austin, Casavant, and KennethCoulter.  Two Dowd Harpsichords and a continuo organ and some 75 pianos also reside on Temple Square.

But it was a humble reed or “pump” organ, maker unknown, which traveled across the plains on the Mormon Trail in the year 1862 and often carried on the back of pioneer John Daynes that would lead to the birth of the great pipe organ tradition on Temple Square. 

The reed organ carried across the plains on the back of John Daynes, 

father of the first Tabernacle Organist, Joseph Daynes.  

There was much hardship and difficulty, treacherous conditions, poor weather, sickness and death accompanying the Saints as they traveled west.  Physical exhaustion and lack of food contributed to terrible conditions along the trail. There was little else to do but travel by day and sleep by night.  But on one particular evening, around a campfire and circled wagons and handcarts, John Daynes’ young son Joseph played the little pump organ and entertained the tired travelers with songs and hymns.  Brigham Young, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stopped by the encampment and noticed the young Joseph and being so taken with the music and the positive mood it created for the weary pioneers, proclaimed “There is our organist for the great Tabernacle organ!”  Brigham had often been asked who would play the new organ in the Tabernacle to which he would reply that the Lord would provide men able to do all things that were necessary.

Young Joseph Daynes (1851-1920) was sent to New York to study organ and returned to become the first official Tabernacle Organist.   He was known for his excellent sight-reading, sensitive accompaniment, and compositions as well as being a proficient organist. 

You may even be familiar with his most famous hymn, "As the Dew from Heaven Distilling," which is the closing hymn for the MormonTabernacle Choir's broadcast each Sunday of “Music and the Spoken Word.”

Brian Ebie visits The Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Memorial Pipe Organ

This past Saturday, Laura and I went to buy a cello in Indiana, Pennsylvania. 

We met the fellow selling it at Indiana University, Pennsylvania (IUP), where he is a student.  In the room where he demonstrated the cello to us I was able to visit this AWESOME tracker pipe organ built by the RJ Brunner Pipe Organ Company.  I found out that it was originally built for a private residence and the owners donated the pipe organ, along with the largest monetary donation in their history to the American Guild of Organists.  This donation will go toward scholarships and other endeavors.

The organ is a two-manual, mechanical action organ which comes to IUP via a special, renewable lease from the American Guild of Organists. The organ casework is gilded in 22-karat gold leaf, inspired by the early Pennsylvania German pipe organs built by David Tannenberg (1728–1804).   I didn't get to play it, but it was enough just to see it.  When I finally build my home tracker organ, I will definitely be inspired by this instrument.

An excellent time-lapse video of the installation can be found on YouTube:

A last look at the Tannenberg-inspired casework.

Brian Ebie plays Liebster Jesu, Wir sind hier - J S Bach BWV 731

Brian Ebie plays Marche Heroique (Excerpt) by Herbert Brewer at the Morm...

Tim's Vermeer

Laura and I streamed a movie through Amazon Prime this weekend entitled "Tim's Vermeer."  It's the story of inventor Tim Jenison's attempt to re-create "The Music Lesson" by Johannes Vermeer by using a camera obscura optical device and strategically placed lenses and mirrors.  It's a brilliant film produced by Penn and Teller and narrated by Penn Gillette.  I immediately identified with Tim, especially since he's built his own pipe organ in his shop!  

I didn't know about the "Vermeer Controversy"  until this film.  Vermeer appears on the scene at the age of 21 with no provenance to speak of and begins producing images with photographic realism. 

Using "Vermirrors," inventions of his own, and relevant historical approaches, optical lenses, and hand-ground pigments for his paints, Tim explored how Vermeer might have created his paintings.  Tim traveled to sites around Europe to study original locations and paintings and to gain a better understanding of Vermeer's environment.  For five years Tim Jenison worked toward the goal of re-creating this masterpiece.  He's not an artist, not a painter, and approached this from an experimental

This is an excellent film and I highly recommend watching it when you feel like a brainy romp through art history.  You can find it here on Amazon. 

This picture shows a side-by-side comparison of Tim's Vermeer on the left and the original on the right.

On the difference between Praise Choruses and Hymns

Brian and Laura Ebie organ and flute concert Sunday, July 6, 2014 at Remsen Christian Church

Paul Harvey on Father's Day

I grew up listening to Paul Harvey and still remember his great narratives on fathers, mothers, Christmas, Easter, Farmers, Dogs, and other seasons and times. I wanted to share this one on dads again.  Enjoy Paul Harvey's tribute to fathers.  "Good day!"

Fathers, Fathers, Fathers

By Paul Harvey

A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.  A father is a thing that growls when it feels good and always laughs very loud when it's scared half to death.  A father is sometimes accused of giving too much time to his business when the little ones are growing up.  That's partly fear, too.  Fathers are much more easily frightened than mothers.

A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child's eyes.  He's never quite the hero his daughter thinks . . . never quite the man his son believes him to be.  This worries him, sometimes.

So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

A father is a thing that gets very angry when the first school grades aren't as good as he thinks they should be. He scolds his son . . . though he knows it's the teacher's fault.

A father is a thing that goes away to war, sometimes.  He learns to swear and shoot and spit through his teeth and would run the other way except that this war is part of his only important job in life which is making the world better for his child than it has been for him.

Fathers grow old faster than other people.  Because they, in other wars have to stand at the train station and wave goodbye to the uniform that climbs aboard . .

And while mothers can cry where it shows . . . fathers have to stand there and beam outside . . . and die inside.

Fathers have very stout hearts, so they have to be broken sometimes or no one would know what's inside. 

Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough . . . so they can have grandchildren that are smarter than anybody's.

Fathers fight dragons . . . almost daily. They hurry away from the breakfast table . . . off to the arena which is sometimes called an office or a workshop.  There, with calloused practiced hands they tackle the dragon with three heads:  Weariness, Work and Monotony.  And they never quite win the fight but they never give up. Knights in shining armor . . . fathers in shiny trousers . . . there's little difference as they march away to each workday.

Fathers make bets with insurance companies about who'll live the longest.  Though they know the odds they keep right on betting.  Even as the odds get highter and higher . . . they keep right on betting . . . more and more.

One day they lose.

But fathers enjoy an earthly immortality . . . and the bet's paid off to the part of him he leaves behind.

I don't know where fathers go when they die. But I've an idea that after a good rest . . . wherever it is ...  he won't be happy unless there's work to do.  He won't just sit on a cloud and wait for the girl he's loved and the children she bore.  He'll be busy there, too . . . repairing the stairs . . . oiling the gates . . . improving the streets . . . smoothing the way.

J.S. Bach Prelude in C Major BWV 545 -- Brian Ebie Schantz Pipe Organ

Brother James' Air played by Brian Ebie

Mogadore Christian Church John Cook Fanfare for Organ

Saying Goodbye to my Schantz Pipe Organ

 

Saying Goodbye.

My 1942 Schantz Pipe Organ, which I've restored, rebuilt, played, owned and loved since 1992 has been sold and is on it's way to Texas.  I will greatly miss the beautiful, sweet sound of that organ, and the reliability of it's mechanics.  It was a pleasure to play and listen to.  Just a couple years ago, Mormon Tabernacle Organist Clay Christiansen played it during a visit to our house.  He was impressed, remarking that "it is as versatile as an organ many, many times it's size!"

Prelude.

In 1992 I learned about the closing and sale of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Barberton, Ohio.  I remembered a nice little pipe organ that barely worked anymore, which I had played in that church for a wedding in 1988, four years earlier. 

After many inquiries and losing out and getting back in, I was eventually able to purchase the organ, a Schantz pipe organ, for $900.00.  A long-held dream of mine, to have a pipe organ at home, a "Hausorgel", was finally coming to fruition! 

Offertory.

I lived in Akron at the time in a small Cape Cod styled home.  There wasn't really room for a church pipe organ there, so I insulated, drywalled, and heated my garage.  I built a chamber for the pipes, chests, and reservoir, a sound-dampening enclosure for the Zephyr blower, and lights over the console to read music by.  Over time, I made several modifications and upgrades, including adding three ranks of pipes, reconfiguring the stoplists, and converting the original stop control system to a Peterson Electro Musical Products solid state multiplex switching system. 

Special Music.

The Schantz pipe organ gave me many, many years of enjoyment and was a source of happiness in my life and in the lives of many in the community.  A second installation in my father's building allowed us to host silent movies, such as the 1927 Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Cheney, and other silent movies starring Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel & Hardy.  We had nearly 100 people packed in many times while we'd project the silent movie and I would provide accompaniment from the organ console, improvising a soundtrack for the movie. 

Postlude.

In 2012 I purchased a small Wicks pipe organ, called the Wicks Fuga De Luxe.  It's a four-rank pipe organ, contained in a beautiful cabinet.  I immediately knew it would "fit" in our home, and I wouldn't have to drive to a different location in another town to play my Schantz.  The difficult decision was made to sell the Schantz.  I am so happy that it is going back into church work, to lead congregations and choirs in praising the Heavenly Father in song.  Under the expert care of Paul Jernigan and Shawn Sanders of Pipe Organ Technicians of Houston, the Schantz will be so well taken care of and will be refitted to a new purpose.

It was my honor to know this organ so well, to share so much music with it, and to be able to learn on it, teach on it, and share it's power and beauty with countless friends, family, and audiences.

I've made a YouTube video of pictures of the organ and a soundtrack of me playing Brother James' Air on this organ, as set by Dale Wood.  You can find that video here: Brian Ebie's Schantz Pipe Organ YouTube

The Last Picture of Brian Ebie's Schantz Organ Assembled

Brian Ebie's Schantz Pipe Organ fully disassembled

Pipe trays just before loading Brian Ebie's Schantz Pipe Organ

Schantz Organ Packed and Ready to be loaded

The Crew

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