Photographs by Chris Sheridan
St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral was completed on a large lot at the cor-ner of Mott and Prince streets in 1815. Its current organ was built in 1868 by Henry Erben, perhaps the greatest organ builder of his time. “Erben was a New York builder who made more organs than anybody in the world,” says Lamen-zo, the organist and music director at the old cathedral. “He built all of the great cathedral organs in America – and all of them, except this one, were ripped out and replaced over the next century.” This one survived because it was left behind in 1879 when the archdiocese moved into its new cathedral uptown. As new tech-nology came along, the original organs on Fifth Avenue were replaced, but not the Erben organ in SoHo.
The result today is a magnificent historic instrument in dire need of resto-ration. Most of the organ’s 2,500 pipes are signed – marked 1868 – by the artisans who made them. “It’s a completely mechanical action,” Lamenzo says. “And because of that, it’s very expressive. The only thing that’s electric is an electric blower added to the in-strument in 1915. Prior to that, the or-gan’s bellows were cranked by hand.”
Summer is the best time of year to hear the Erben organ, says Lamenzo, “because it’s nice and humid, and the cracks get smaller. Come winter when the heat comes on, the cracks get bigger and I have to be very selective about which stops I use. It’s a process of deterioration. The only way to rec-tify it is to take out all the pipes and the wind-chests to fix the problems.”
Martin Scorsese, who was an altar server at Old St. Patrick’s, is the Honorary Chair of Friends of the Erben Organ, a non-profit dedicated to the organ’s restoration. “We’re about 12 percent of the way to our goal of $2 million,” Lamenzo says. For now, the Erben organ can be heard at Masses, concerts and during tours of the church. To book a tour or contribute to restoration efforts, visit erbenorgan.org.
Read the full issue of Archways Fall 2019 here!