Washington Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1852 in Washington, D.C. From early on, beginning in 1869, the congregation included organ music in their worship. Over the years, the synagogue has owned several organs, including an 1898 Kimball organ in their 8th and I Streets building. In 1952, Washington Hebrew Congregation chose their current location at Macomb Street. President Harry Truman laid the cornerstone of the new building, and it was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955 when completed. For the new building, Washington Hebrew Congregation ordered a new organ from Aeolian-Skinner in 1954 that was completed a few years later in 1956.

This Aeolian-Skinner was the last G. Donald Harrison organ constructed in Washington, D.C., and has been tonally unaltered since. When designing the organ, the synagogue decided to spend the majority of their budget on pipework to build an organ that could properly fill their large sanctuary. As a result, the Aeolian-Skinner is an incredible-sounding organ with a fairly simple console. In the early 1990s, the Di Gennaro-Hart Organ Company refurbished the organ and added a new Solid State relay while maintaining the organ’s original specification. At the same time, a new capture system was added with 32 levels to increase the capabilities of the combination action. In the sample set, I added a manual transfer that swaps the Great and Choir keyboards, which can further increase the versatility of this instrument.
The organ is located at the front of the sanctuary behind screens in the ceiling above the bimah and speaks down onto the congregation. This Aeolian-Skinner presents a wonderful example of the American Classic organ design that can faithfully play all genres of organ repertoire. 
The organ at Washington Hebrew Congregation, however, is not a perfectly straightforward Aeolian-Skinner. To make the modest-sized instrument fill the grand 2,300 seat sanctuary, G. Donald Harrison scaled the organ's principals larger than usual (halving on the 18th rather than the usual 17th pipe). As a result, the foundations have both the normal clarity of Aeolian-Skinner principals while also possessing unusual warmth that is particularly useful when playing Romantic works. Given its larger-than-usual foundations, Harrison also included large Swell reeds, such as the Bombarde 16, and large mixtures, like the Choir Zimbel III, both of which are copies of equivalent stops of the Aeolian-Skinner at Riverside Church in New York.

The Great Division is based on a very strong principal chorus ranging from the Violone 16 up through the Fifteenth 2. The principal chorus is crowned by two mixtures. A warm and broad Fourniture IV-VI and a bright Cymbel III-V. To color the principal chorus, the Great has a lovely Bourdon 8 that acts as a bright flute complementing the principals. The other 8ft foundation is the Gemshorn 8. When designing the organ, Washington Hebrew Congregation’s organist desired a Hohlflote on the Great and insisted Harrison include it. Harrison, on the other hand, believed the usual Gemshorn 8 would be more appropriate. As a result, when designing the organ, Harrison named the stop a “Holzflote,” however, in reality, Harrison built Gemshorn pipes (the pipe shop notes specify “Great type Gemshorn”). During the refurbishment in the 1990s, the stop was renamed to resemble the type of pipes used. The Gemshorn is smooth and acts nicely to color the Great chorus or to blend with the foundations of other divisions. The Great also has an amazing 4ft Flute Harmonique that can either work in the chorus as a 4ft flute to color the large Gross Octave or be played down an octave as a solo harmonic flute. Finally, the Great has a set of high-pressure, en Chamade trumpets. These speak over the rest of the organ and crown the organ’s Tutti. Interestingly, Harrison did not place these trumpets horizontally, but instead, vertically. 

The Swell Division acts like a French swell with a series of warm foundations at 8 and 4. These include an ethereal Flute Dolce and accompanying Flute Celeste, which offer a subdued shimmering celeste. In addition to the warm foundations, the division has two mixtures. The Plein Jeu IV is a warmer mixture that works fabulously either with the principals or with the reeds to add some sparkle. The Scharff III adds clarity to the chorus that proves useful when playing precise literature such as Bach. The Swell also has three prominent chorus reeds spanning from the 16ft Bombarde to the 4ft Clairon. These strong, French-accented reeds work particularly well for playing French Romantic music. Additionally, the Swell has an Hautbois 8 that, like many Aeolian-Skinner oboes, sounds almost like a soft trumpet. The final swell reed is a quiet but colorful Vox Humana 8. To add additional color, Harrison equipped the Swell with a tremulant and 68-note chests on all 16, 8, and 4ft stops that allow the stops to super couple while playing notes in the top octave.

The Swell tremulant was weaker than the Choir tremulant. For situations where you might want more tremulant, I have included a strengthened tremulant for the Vox Humana, which can be toggled on and off on the Blower screen. The switch enables an additional modeled tremulant that serves to strengthen the sampled tremulant, making the Vox Humana slightly more colorful.

The Choir Division has a number of colorful and delicate stops. The division has a number of amazing soft flutes ranging from 8ft to 1ft with colorful strings both strong and soft. The division, in accordance with the practices of the time, has a bright principal chorus built upon a 4ft Montre spanning up to a sparkly Zimbel III. The division also includes three reeds at 16, 8, and 4ft, each of which can be used as either a color reed (when played at 8ft) or as a soft chorus reed that acts as a softer alternative to the Swell reeds. To add to the versatility of the organ, in the sample set, I added an enclosed tuba to the Choir, which works well either as a prominent solo reed or as a complement to the Trompette en Chamade to form a very potent high-pressure reed. Using a switch on the Blower screen, this Tuba 8 can be made to either couple like any other Choir stop or be unaffected by couplers. The Choir also has 68 note chests and a tremulant.

Lastly, the Pedal Division acts as a very strong bass to the rest of the organ. It is built off of a truly wonderful wood Contrebasse that has both power and great tone. The Bourdon alike is a strong bass stop with an exceptional color and playable both at 16ft and at 32ft. The Pedal also has a number of softer 16ft stops borrowed from other divisions. The quietest stop is the Sanftbass, which is formed by extending the Choir Cor de Nuit down the octave. The Pedal then builds onto its strong 16ft foundation with a number of independent 8 and 4fts, as well as the borrowed Cello 8. The Pedal flutes are capped by a warm and very useful Fourniture III. The Pedal also has a very powerful Ophicleide that is unified at 16, 8, and 4ft with a strong Contre-Bombarde 32 extended from the Swell Bombarde 16 and that is enclosed in the Swell.

The organ’s four divisions work wonderfully together and enable the organ to easily play works from any period as Harrison's American Classic organs were designed to do. Like all Aeolian-Skinners, the Washington Hebrew Congregation organ also works wonderfully when accompanying services and playing liturgical music and hymns. 

I would like to give a special thanks to Mohan Mistry, current Director of Engineering, and the rest of the staff at Washington Hebrew Congregation for their amazing support of this project. Without them, this sample set would not have been possible.