Organ History

The Pipe Organ

Music has been a part of Longwood's Conservatory since it first opened. In 1921, an Aeolian pipe organ with 63 stops and 3,650 pipes was installed at a cost of $54,200 in the northeast corner of the Exhibition Hall to sound into the greenhouses and, two years later, into the Music Room. Pierre du Pont enlarged the organ to 79 stops in 1923 but finally gave it to the University of Delaware, where it remained until 1964.

In January, 1929, Pierre du Pont ordered a much larger Aeolian organ for Longwood's new Ballroom. Designed by Longwood organist Firmin Swinnen, the instrument was custom built in Garwood, NJ, and cost $122,700. It has 10,010 pipes divided into 146 ranks (or sets), 237 stops (View the Stop List in pdf format) and couplers, five 32-foot pedal stops, and 61 combination pistons. Its 364 percussion tones include chimes, drums, cymbal, and 9-foot Weber concert grand piano playable from the organ console. A Duo-Art roll player could play the entire organ automatically. The instrument weighs 55 tons and is installed in nine chambers that, together, are 63 feet wide, 23 feet deep, and 40 feet tall. The chambers are located behind damask-covered openings along the north wall of the Ballroom. Wind is supplied by electric blowers totaling 72 horsepower.

In 1957-59, a new bleached mahogany console by M. P. Möller of Hagerstown, MD, was constructed and installed. (The original 1929 console now plays the Great Auditorium organ in Ocean Grove, NJ.) At the same time, the instrument was completely releathered and, although the basic tonal scheme was preserved, 11 ranks of pipes were replaced and the reeds were revoiced. Total cost of the rebuild was $150,709. If constructed today, the organ would cost millions of dollars.

The Möller console has now been disconnected and a new solid state console by Robert M. Turner, Organ Builder, looking very much like the old Aeolian console, has been delivered and is in storage in the Ballroom.  All new SSL solid state relays have been installed along with a computer recorder/player by Nelson Barden Associates that will be used to record new concerts as well as play back all the old Aeolian Duo-Art roll performances.  Over the next 3-4 years, a complete renovation of the instrument will take place, along with the creation of an organ museum behind the pipe chambers with new windows cut to reveal views of the pipes.

The Longwood instrument is probably the world's largest residence organ, although the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, three times as large, is the world's largest playable instrument. Longwood's is a superb example of an American orchestral organ, with hefty wind pressures and scaling sufficient to ensure that it will be heard throughout the main greenhouses. They don't build organs like this anymore!

The Longwood Organ traditionally has been played many Sunday afternoons from 2:30-3:30 pm during October through April, and up to 6 times a day during the Christmas display. At present, it is undergoing a complete renovation that will last into 2011.

Numerous recordings (1 video, 14 compact discs, and 15 tape cassettes) of the Longwood Organ are sold at the Longwood Gardens Shop in the Visitor Center or can be ordered by mail (visit The Gardens Shop for more information).

See Organist Justin Hartz performing on Longwood's Organ in a Youtube video.