Letter from Ernest M. Skinner to “The American Organist”

The American Organist,
467 City Hall Station,
New York City, N.Y.

Gentlemen:

I would like to make reference to your editorial in the issue of May 1929, with special attention to your statement regarding the organ for the Atlantic City Auditorium, i.e. “I believe the reason more bids were not entered was that most of our competent builders gave it too little actual study.” I can assure that this was not the case with respect to ourselves. The fact that we did give it study was one of the reasons why we did not submit a bid, but only one of them.

I might mention another of the reasons was that the specifications, without taking into account any remote control combinations or special construction or two consoles, called for 1242 stops and stated that there was $300,000 available, which reduced to $241.00 a stop, something less than the pre-war price for average construction, with no 32’s, 64’s or 100″ wind pressure to consider. As it now stands, the specification calls for 1042 stops and the contract, I believe, was let for $340,000.00. This leaves about the average pre-war price of an 8′ stop. The number of stops and the sum available would prohibit the Skinner Company from entering the competition, as I have no doubt it did others.

I might name another reason, provided we agreed with the specifications in toto and the price was sufficient to allow us to build the organ at a fair profit; the organ with its unusual features, remote control combinations and double consoles, could not be built in less than one year by the Skinner organization, which would cut us off from any other business for at least a year, which would be in some cases a very unfortunate position in which to place ourselves. I would rather build the organ for the National Cathedral at Washington of 100 stops than to build the Atlantic City Auditorium of 1,000 stops, regardless of price. The Atlantic City job might shut us out of a chance to build others.

Contrary to what Mr. Richards says, it is not the question of losing one’s nerve, or the size of the instrument, or insuring ourselves against our own ignorance, nor is it a question of exposing bunk, but it is a perfectly straightforward matter of choice and common sense. Neither is it a question of meeting a perfectly definite standard common to competitors. There is no minuteness of detailed exactness or design of construction or insistence of painstaking care that the Senator could possibly set down that would equal the normal quality of the output and standards of construction that the Skinner Company have set for themselves. The Senator should not forget that the Skinner Company are organ architects and have more than theoretical background. They have not only a practical background but have built several hundred organs that are finer in detail and design than anything ever specified by the Senator or our old friend Audsley or any other architect.

If the Senator will point out one detail in his specifications that has so discouraged the builders, in his opinion, I will point out ten details in the no11r1alSkinner construction that are not mentioned in his specifications. I regret the Senator has fallen into the error that Audsley invariably made. He bundled all the organ builders into one group which he described as ”groove-loving tradesmen,” and similar characterizations and never mentioned the fact that there were exceptions and to those exceptions belong the credit of making the organ the king of instruments, of their own volition and not because they were pounded into it by any organ architect. A great work of art in the shape of a painting is not made so because someone stands behind the painter with a club. No more is a great organ a work of art because someone stands behind the builder with a club. Great organs are created only by artistic organ builders and organ builders who want to make them great organs for love of the art.

The Senator says his specifications call for nothing that has not been done before, but I will point out one little item that has not been done before, nor will it be done in the present instance, and that is to build an organ under present conditions at the rate of $241.00 per stop. We will hear more of this later.

I am indebted to Senator Richards for giving me credit for my French Horn, in which connection he says everybody makes them now, without giving Skinner credit for it. I would like to amend this slightly by saying that nobody makes the Skinner French Horn except the Skinner Company. I have heard most of the attempts and not one of them really approaches the Skinner French Horn, or shall we say the orchestral instrument of that name.

There is one other Skinner device that is spoken of in these specifications, and that is the pitman windchest, for which the Senator does not give the Skinner Company credit. The pitman windchest is one Skinner device which threatens to become universal. It is used by the great majority of the American builders and one English builder and I believe it has now found its way into France.

I hope the above explanation will make it clear that failing to bid on the Atlantic City organ is not an evidence of loss of nerve or the size of the job or the fact that we were disinclined to live up to definite specifications, especially the latter. The Skinner organ is built under the most exacting specifications to which any builder has ever been committed.

Very truly yours,
Ernest M. Skinner