Hear this Harmonium (MP3 format - QuickTime or iTunes recommended)
This harmonium was built by the New York firm of Waters & Sons in 1858. This date is confirmed by an inscription inside the instrument and by serial number records. I purchased it in the late 1960s from a private party in central Pennsylvania, and restored and tuned it. It has an unusually wide range of stops for a harmonium: 2', 4', 8', and a 16' sub bass. There is an octave (downward!) coupler that, when engaged, also gives the organ a two-stage keyboard. You can press the keys to a first level for accompaniment and can bring out a solo or the full organ by pressing the keys fully.
I restored the organ with original materials (leather for the bellows, and such), and tuned the reeds. I was able to find matches for the various natural materials needed for the restoration in the back rooms of hardware stores that had been in business for a century or more, in closets and garages of old houses, and in barn lofts. A lot of people helped out by introducing me to others who had what I needed. A blacksmith replaced one broken spring rivet with another he made by hand that exactly matched the remaining originals.
There is a knee swell in front and a forte swell on top. I
placed a leather gasket across the opening to the vox humana stop, which can
be removed if you wish to restore it; otherwise, all stops are fully functional.
There are no missing notes.
There are two music compartments in the base of the instrument, which are
lockable, and the key has survived with the harmonium, not having been lost
in all this time! The stool came with the organ, I do not know if it was supplied
by Waters & Sons.
Musically, it is an especially nice instrument, with a rich tone. The restored bellows and valves do not leak; you can pump up the organ, wait, and then play it for a few moments without pumping again. If you think of an Estey organ of the same period as a Chevrolet, you can think of a Waters & Sons organ as a Cadillac. The external woodwork is handsome and in excellent shape for its 145 years of age.
I am selling it because I am lucky enough to have obtained a pipe organ recently. As nice as this harmonium is, as any harmonium could be, it does not compare with a real pipe organ for the kind of music -- renaissance and baroque -- that I usually play. Not that I don't like the music typical of harmonium performances, but with a grand piano, a harpsichord, and the pipe organ, our music room is overfilled and I do not have time to play them all. In this short excerpt, I am playing a waltz in the style of the 19th century on the instrument (MP3 format - QuickTime or iTunes recommended).