Frobenius Organ, opus 517 - Making History November 8,2006

Making History at Holy Family
Events leading up to the Frobenius - Buxtuhude, #517 Organ Dedication on November 8, 2006

Hear the Frobenius Organ Dedication Concert

A very new, exciting turn of events for the Frobenius Organ, #517 has recently taken place.  In 1960, organ #517 was the latest attempt by the world famous organ builder (Frobenius) to construct an instrument with a transparent, clean temperment and sparkling sound that Dietrich Buxtehude was most likely to have used to compose his wonderful music.  In light of the fact that 2007 marks the 300th year of Buxtehude's death, and Holy Family Church in Chicago marks its sesquicentenial, 150th year of celebration, we are pleased to bring the two of these wonderful historic events together.  But first a little history...

In January 2006, final monies were secured and committed from the Hooper Foundation when the final location was agreed upon  with Father Jerry Boland accepting, in principal #517 being delivered to Holy Family Church.  Final preparations began that would lead to #517's shippment from Europe to the United States in order to secure this important piece of cultural heritage. To recap, it has originally come from St. Mariae kirke, Helsingör, Danmark (St. Mary’s Church, Elsinore, Denmark).  The town of Helsingör is situated at the Öresund, a three-mile narrow sound, which separates (today) the states of Sweden and Denmark. The town on the Swedish side of the channel is Helsingborg. Both towns were located at the narrowest channel between both countries and provided the ferry service from one country to the other.

The famous musician's family (Buxtehude) lived and worked on both sides of this strait. Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), their world famous son, got the position as an organist in Helsingör between 1660 and 1668. The small Lorentz-organ in this church became his instrument. He would have liked a bigger instrument with more possibilities, but during this time after the Thirty Years War with Europe, not to mention plague epidemics, money for art and music was rare. On this organ he probably composed many famous organ works.

When the organ taste changed in the 19th century, this organ was dismantled after about 200 years of existence. It was replaced in 1856 through a romantic Marcussen-instrument. More than a century later, however, by 1960, the musicological tastes again changed from Romantic sounds to "re-discover" the old music of the 17th century.  At this point, officials in Denmark decided that in this church should be again this kind of organ that it’s great son Buxtehude once played. So the well-known organ builder Frobenius was asked to build a kind of a copy of the Buxtehude-organ. World famous organists like Marie-Claire Alain, E. Power Biggs and many others recorded their now famous Buxtehude and Bach recordings there.

In the 70 and 80's, as musicologists explored and learned more about all kinds of  historic research and knowledge, the question was asked and the idea was born to consider rebuilding an almost 100%-copy of the Buxtehude-Organ. So this Frobenius organ, #517, though very beautiful, was for sale.  Furthermore, as many organists from around the world would go to St. Mariae kirke to "hear" what became known as "Buxtehude's organ"...they also made plenty of recordings with the advent of easy recording technology...so early on the organ became known within the elite musical circles as the Frobenius-Buxtehude Organ.

While a young organist/student, Jurgen Schwab was also one of these musicians that visited and recorded on the Frobenius-Buxtehude Organ.  Having studied with Grethe Krogh, and performed on this instrument and several other wonderful Danish organs, they laughed at the idea of some musicologists desire of getting rid of this instrument. Because of it's colorfully clear splendour, Jurgen commented in a moment of weakness, that if the instrument was ever to be sold for scrap, that he would like to buy it. 

In 1986, while touring, documenting various Danish organs with an eventual slide show and recording some music himself, if again came to Jurgen's attention that the organ would soon be for sale.  He and Friedemann Guldner made a special trip to explore contractually the opportunity to get this instrument.

Then in November 1995, while Jurgen Schwab (Kirchenmusikdirektor in Stuttgart/Germany) was in Florida performing with Keith Hooper (Chicago): they had met through the death of a mutual friend, Michael James whose last wish upon his death from lukemia at 31 to his father, was to get Jurgen and Keith together to carry on the tradition that Michael and Jurgen had had together. While in Bradenton on one of their twice annual intercontinental recital tours, Jurgen received a phone call from his wife, Elizabeth, that she had just been contacted by the Cultural Minister from Helsingör, Denmark that the instrument was now NOT for sale and that several churches in Russia and in Copenhagen were competing for the instrument!  Without thinking, he rejected the idea, and within a few hours of brainstorming, Keith, who had a relationship with the Rice Foundation, called Art Nolen and the seeds of a deal to get involved to purchase the instrument were planted.

Shortly thereafter, a check was written by the Rice Foundation to secure the Frobenius - Buxthude Organ, #517. Only at this point, however, did the ideas, creativity and real work begin from Jürgen Schwab and Keith Hooper.  Friend and colleague Friedemann Güldner from Mühleisen Organ Builders in Leonberg/Germany was contracted to dismantle, move and store the #517...whose firm had already carefully and delicately dismantled, rebuilt and organized the shipping and installation of Keith's purchase of the 1879 G. F. Steinmeyer Organ that currently sits in the west transip of Holy Family Church. With one project already under their collective belts, Muhleisen Organ builders agreed to be a partner.  The Frobenius - Buxtehude Organ #517 was stored until 2006 in his Leonberg/Germany factory while Keith and his family's Hooper Foundation began yearly allocations of donating money and investing it to maximize returns to pay for the eventual renovation, transportation, installation and maintainance costs. Since the historic façade of #517 had to stay in Helsingör, it was a thrilling coincidence that Holy Family Church in Chicago offered a historic organ façade with no organ behind it. So the perfect home for an organ, made for a Gothic acoustic, was found.

Fast forward to January of 2006.  While #517 had been stored, the wonderful interior of Holy Family was being transformed through the miraculous (and documented) efforts of Father George Lane, S.J. (and many wonderful donations from comitted and passionate friends) and his "Miracle on Roosevelt Street" was fast becoming the jewel of Chicago.  Holy Family, which once had the largest English speaking congregation in the U.S., was threatened with demolition in 1988.  But with a community-wide effort led by Father Lane, S.J., coupled with a national media appeal to "Say Prayers and Send Money," he saved the church at Christmas time, 1990.  Since that time, restoration work has continued virtually uninterupted, "Saving the Past to Serve the Future."  So, with the interior finially ready for installation, the substantial additional moneys allocated to this "installation" were segregated to work out the schedule to finish the project.

The process (since storage) has included: the build up of the Frobenius (#517) - Buxtehude Organ in the Mühleisen organ builders workshop in Leonberg/Germany.  Redesigning a few parts, but maintaining the historic integrety of the Frobenius - Buxtehude Organ's sound was critical.  Decisions were made with the consultation of many people, but among the most important were Jurgen Schwab, Grethe Krogh and Friedemann Guldner.  We know of no other example of this kind of creativity...dismantling, transporting, storing, rebuilding up with an efficient new design so the organ would fit behind the existing facade, then dismantling again, then packing, then shipping via train, then shipping container, then clearing customs under strict Homeland Security measures, then transporting again to the church, then housing 4 organ builders for two months, then carrying every single pipe and part to the second balcony, then building up, voicing, tuning, running electrical power...not to mention the committment of Keith's family, wife Cathy and personal efforts of Keith's, plus the Hooper Foundation's forsight to commit to the future maintainance of this historic Frobenius (#517) - Buxthude Organ.  We welcome all inspiration committed to this worldly venture, and Keith's Hooper Foundation would like to also remember Lois Hooper, co-founder of the Hooper Foundation along with her husband W. Stanley Hooper, who actually met as a first date at an organ recital at a concert while they attended the University of Minnesota, and who both must be proud of taking a dream and to turning it into reality.

And most recently, on October 23, 2006, in signing over the title of the Frobenius organ to Holy Family Church, the Rice Foundation and Holy Family Church have entered into a written agreement.

For your information the following are the terms:

The Frobenius Organ shall always be referred to, with out exception, in perpetuity as the:
Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Frobenius Organ

or in short, the

Rice Frobenius Organ

If for any reason at any point in the future, Holy Family Church decides to sell, give away, change the location or transfer ownership of the Frobenius Organ, the Rice name must remain with the organ;

Holy Family will supply us the appropriate legal documentation signifying that the Church is a duly qualified member of the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago and is a tax-exempt organization; and

There shall be a placard, placed and maintained in a prominent location and visible to the public (the location of which shall be approved by the president of the Rice Foundation), which will state that the organ is a gift from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation and that all performances, recitals, educational programs, recordings, advertising material, playbills, recording labels, etc. involving the organ will acknowledge that the Rice Organ has been donated to the Holy Family Church by the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation.

Father Boland, Holy Family Church, Muhleisen Organ Builders, Friedemann Guldner, Jurgan Schwab and Keith Hooper welcome the Rice Foundation's enthusiasm to this wonderful process and the spirit of worldly innovation and creativity, and welcome the generousity and continued finiancial support and maintainance from the Hooper Foundation.  We all look forward to Holy Family's Sesquicentenial and the 300th anniversary of Buxtehude's death...both in 2007.