aeolian.meadowbrook-hall-oakland-univ.rochester.mi.us AEO-MEAD.ROC Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 19:34:07 -0500 From: - Cullie Mowers Subject: AEolian #1444 - Meadowbrook Hall This former home, now the conference center for Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, is surely one of the most personal as well as most opulent mansions in America. While there are scores of "Great Houses", some larger than Meadowbrook Hall, few if any have the hundreds of personal touches which reflect the lives of the owners. The home was built in 1926-29 for Alfred G. and Matilda Wilson. Mrs. Wilson was the widow of John Dodge, who, with his brother Horace, founded the automobile company; her inheritance from the Dodge estate was very substantial. Alfred G. Wilson, a wholesale lumber dealer whom Mrs. Dodge met at church (!), was also wealthy. After their marriage in 1925, the Wilsons toured Europe and England extensively, in the company of their architect, William Kapp. From this tour came many of the design ideas for Meadowbrook Hall. Virtually all of the workmanship and materials, however, are American, at Matilda Wilson's insistence. Nothing written can replace the experience of a personal tour. In brief, despite its size and magnificent workmanship, the Hall seems much "friendlier" than many such buildings. In many of the rooms, all of the hardware (including door hinges, light switch plates, etc.) is designed to reflect the function of the room, or the occupant's interests. Mr. Wilson's lumber industry background results in a staggering array of different woods used in panelling, doors, and furniture. There *is* a secret (stone) staircase, incidentally! In an alcove connecting the Drawing Room and the Library, just off the two-story Great Hall, is the console of AEolian #1444, a 3m of 65-70 ranks. My data do not specify the composition of the three mixtures, so the rank count is estimated within that range. The organ has two player mechanisms - one in the console behind the music rack, and the other in a wall cabinet behind the bench. The organ was designed for the unfinished Grosse Pointe, Michigan home of John and Matilda Dodge, but may never have been installed there. [Does anyone out there know?] In Meadowbrook Hall, the main chamber rises through the basement and 1st floor levels, with grillwork opening into the Library and the hallway; the Antiphonal is in the top level of the house, and speaks through openings in the upper flight of the magnificent Grand Staircase. The data above are taken from Oakland University's "Guide to Meadowbrook Hall" and from my recollections; the stoplist below is slightly edited from the O.H.S. Organ Yearbook for 1977, documenting the Society's Detroit-based National Convention. [NOTE on stop names: in the interests of simplicity and user-friendliness for non-professional owners, AEolian used "generic" stop names in their residence organs; the unexciting labels, however, do *not* indicate mundane or redundant sounds! Also: "Vibrato String" indicates a celeste rank which also draws the preceeding unison rank; true two-rank celeste stops are noted.] GREAT: (Man II) 16' Dulciana 8' Diapason F Diapason MF Flute F Flute P String F String MF String P String PP 4' High Flute 2' Piccolo Mixture (Diapason) 8' Trumpet Clarinet Tremolo Man II Octave Man II Sub Great Silent Man III to Man II Man III Sub to Man II Man III Octave to Man II Man I to Man II Man I Sub to Man II CHOIR: (Man I) [Duplexed from Gt] 8' Diapason MF Flute F Flute P String F String MF String P String PP 4' High Flute 2' Piccolo 8' Clarinet Tremolo Man I Octave Man I Sub Choir Silent Man III to Man I SWELL: (Man III) 16' Deep Flute 8' Diapason F Flute P Quintadena Flute String F Vibrato String F String MF Vibrato String MF String P Vibrato String P String PP Vibrato Dulciana MF (2 rks) 4' High Flute 2' Flageolet Mixture (String) 16' Deep Bassoon 8' Trumpet Oboe Orchestral Oboe Clarinet Vox Humana F Vox Humana P Tremolo Man III Octave Man III Sub Swell Silent SOLO: (Floating) 8' Diapason Flute Vibrato String (2 rks) Trumpet Clarinet Tremolo Solo Silent ANTIPHONAL: (Floating) 16' Deep Flute 8' Diapason Flute F Flute P String F String MF Vibrato String MF String PP Vibrato String P (sic) 4' High Flute Mixture (String) 8' Trumpet Oboe Clarinet Vox Humana Tremolo Antiph Octave Antiph Sub Antiph Silent PEDAL: 16' Deep Diapason Deep String Deep Flute F Deep Flute P (Sw) Deep Dulciana (Gt) 8' Flute String F 16' Deep Trumpet F Deep Bassoon (Sw) 16' Antiph. Flute F Antiph. Flute P (Ant) Pedal Silent Man I to Ped Man II to Ped Man II Octave to Ped Man III to Ped Man III Octave to Ped Great to Ped Reversible (Reversibles which couple Swell to Pedal Reversible the divisions, rather Choir to Pedal Reversible than the keyboards.) PERCUSSIONS: (All floating) Chimes F Chimes P Antiphonal Chimes F Antiphonal Chimes P Harp F Harp P Antiphonal Harp F Antiphonal Harp P This is not the organ on which one might choose to perform a program of Buxtehude, Bach, Franck or Messiaen. However, as a palette of elegant, subtly-differentiated colors for transcriptions and/or *very* high-class background music, it's hard to beat. AEolian's tonal and mechanical work were about as top-shelf as the industry ever got, and #1444 is no exception. I know of no available recordings of this organ. Cullie Mowers ------------------------------