Organ & Carillon 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 4-5 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 2008.

Christmas Sing-alongs for the 2006 Christmas Display will be held in the Special Events Pavilion using a 3-manual, 53-stop Renaissance Digital Organ from the Allen Organ Company. Sing-Alongs will return to the Ballroom for the 2007 Christmas Display using whatever has been restored. Additional information will be posted here when available.

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).

The Chimes Tower

Pierre du Pont constructed Longwood’s 61-foot-tall stone Chimes Tower based on a similar structure he had seen in France. He purchased the largest set of tower chimes he could find from the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago after first borrowing one chime to test its carrying power. Twenty-five tubular chimes were installed in the upper tower chamber and Mr. du Pont installed a switch in the Peirce-du Pont House so he could activate the chimes from his residence.

In 1941, the Deagan Company approached Mr. du Pont with word of their newly developed electronic imitation bells. Mr. du Pont noted, however, that he had "definitely decided not to make any change in the chimes at Longwood."

In 1955, a year after Mr. du Pont's death, the Deagan Company again contacted Longwood, noting with electronic-age enthusiasm: "Your Tower Chimes are outmoded and obsolete. So many important changes have taken place since 1930 that what you have at Longwood positively cannot be compared with what we have to offer today." In 1956, the original chimes were replaced with a 32-note electronic carillon.

From 1956 to 1981, the electronic carillon sounded the quarter hours and played 16,000 daytime concerts and 600 evening concerts. In 1989, the electronic bells, which were in unacceptable playing condition, were disconnected.

The idea of restoring real bells to the tower was first proposed in 1977 by Schulmerich Carillons of Sellersville, PA. After 23 years of sporadic discussions and several trips to inspect instruments in this country and abroad, the Gardens signed a contract with Schulmerich's cast bell supplier, the Dutch firm Royal Eijsbouts, in June 2000 to build a 62-bell carillon.

Longwood closed the Chimes Tower in February 2001 to renovate the structure for the new carillon in the top chamber. The roof was demolished, the bells and frame were assembled then lifted in by crane, and a new concrete roof was installed. The upper portion of the tower remains closed now that the bells are in (except after scheduled live concerts by a carillonneur), but the lower stairway is open for public use. Video monitors show the carillonneur at work during live performances, or a video on how the instrument works at all other times. The official inaugural concert was on Memorial Day, May 28, 2001 at 3:00 pm and featured Robin Austin, Princeton University carillonneur.