Bass Trombone Wauchope: Methuen Pipe Organ, Worchester Art Museum

The Methuen organ was the original organ at the Boston Music Hall, home of the BSO before Symphony Hall was built. The Organ was going to be trashed, but a wealthy organ lover bought it, built the spectacular Methuen Music Hall to house it, and it has been maintained and performed on ever since by a group dedicated to preserving this magnificent instrument. Mark Slawson and I attended a performance by a brilliant young German organist from Leipzig who performed a very fine recital of music of composers from Leipzig (Bach, Mendelssohn, Karg-Ellert, etc.), and as always, the organ, the building and the acoustics made a huge impression. What a sound!

The organ had a major renovation by Aeolian-Skinner in 1947.

The Worchester Art Museum is a very fine museum. It has an outstanding collection and featured in our visit a "Watercolors Unboxed" exhibit which was outstanding. Of course. the Sargent watercolors were especially wonderful.

The outside building is plain, almost factory-like, but to walk in and see the incredible facade of the organ is this baroque setting is to be awestruck.

Here is the modern portable console, with the original in back.

detail

Part of the pedal division

The original console

On to the Worchester Art Museum

Dewitt Parshall
Hermit Creek Canyon 1910-16

Constant Troyon
Apple Harvest in Normandy 1850

Julien Dupre
Les faneuses (The Haymakers) 1886

Winslow Homer
Coast in Winter 1992

Childe Hassam
Sylph's Rock, Appledore 1907

Cecilia Beaux
Helen Bigelow Merriman 1908

Alfred Stevens
Une Mere (A Mother) 1870

detail of above

The museum's great courtyard, and floor mosaic

Kulah Khud, 1700's Persia

Horned Kulah Khud, 1900's Pujkab
The Worchester Art Museum absorbed the Higgins Armory Collection, one of the world's most extensive collection of ancient arms and armor.

And on to the fantastic water color exhibit

Gustave Baumann
Grand Canyon 1927
We saw a wonderful exhibit of Bauman at one of the museums in Santa Fe

Rockwell Kent
Boy on Cliff 1926

Winslow Homer
Boys and Kitten, (detail) 1873

These next two Sargent watercolors are stunning.

John Singer Sargent
Derelicts, 1917

John Singer Sargent
Muddy Alligators 1917

Awa Tsireh (Alfonso Roybal)
Symbols of Clans 1925-30

And back to some of the regular collection

Gilbert Stuart
Russell Sturgis 1822
A painting Rembrandt might have been proud of.

Asher B. Durand
The Capture of Major Andre 1833
Ever since I have done the 300th. anniversary of our church's timeline, I have been fascinated, maybe even obsessed with, the story of Benedict Arnold. Everyone who has seen "Hamilton" is familiar with the story of his treachery (in the timeline, I have a photo of Arnold's oath of allegiance to the American cause, signed by him!). Andre was the British spy that Arnold gave the plans of West Point to; Andre was captured and hanged.

Albert Pinkham Ryder
Joan of Arc, 1880
Another slight obsession. Ryder is one of the more mysterious and noir figures of art, and especially in his case, the deterioration of his technique only adds to the threatening aura.