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[ NOISE ]
>>Robert Coulter: OFF. Do you have the octave on?
That makes life easier.
Go ahead. Hey, there we go.
It was the sound. I've always been fascinated by the sound
of the organ. Even back as a child I remember going to a revival
at the First Baptist Church in Danville. They had an old pipe organ that--the sound
was so fascinating to me that as a seven or eight year-old boy
after the service I am roaming around opening every door I can find
trying to find out where the organ is because I just wanted to see it.
There are 1,604 individual handmade pipes
within the organ and they range in size from a pencil
to 20 feet long.
Andrew, pedal borden 16 low "C", please.
[ ORGAN NOTE ] There you go.
The church this came from was quite large. It was a very large space, a very tall room
and the organ was honestly not terribly successful because it was undersized for that space.
The organ being the size it is is ideal for this room
and because it was trying to be a little bigger than it actually was
here it was honestly perfectly sized and perfectly scaled and a really happy
marriage to the acoustic of this room.
It was built in 1963 by Aeolian-Skinner.
All the mechanics are restored, leather replaced. The console
was stripped of multiple layers of lead-based white paint
and primer and finally we were able to see underneath all that paint the console is actually
very beautiful maple with mahogany top and mahogany top
for the bench and then all mahogany interiors.
The previous organ in the space was also an Aeolian-Skinner. That was the instrument that Dr. Hancock
learned on. In addition to being very, very fine
instruments I also know there was a fair amount of sentimental
value for him in finding another Aeolian-Skinner to return into the space.
>>Judith Hancock: I know that most of you who knew Dr. Gerre are missing him
at this annual event. This purchase
and installation of the Aeolian-Skinner was Dr. Gerre's last
gift to the University of Texas that he loved dearly.
[ ORGAN AND SINGING ]