Images(3)

Pipe organ

Date1808

Place MadeBethel, Pennsylvania, United States, North America

SignedGold stenciled signature on front of 1884 nameboard (same text handwritten on back of nameboard): Built 1808, by Christ Dieffenbach, Berks Co., Pa. / [within unfurling banner] Rebuilt 1884, by Thos Dieffenbach Millersburg, Pa.
DescriptionSingle manual tracker organ with 6 stops.

When the Zion Lutheran & Reformed Church was torn down in 1883, the organ was dismantled and sent to Thomas Dieffenbach (grandson of Christian Dieffenbach), who rebuilt the organ and added additional stops and a pedalboard. In 1969 these features were reversed back to the organ's original disposition.

The facade pipes, originally undecorated, were polychromed by Thomas Dieffenbach's nephew, Jacob Dieffenbach.

Compass: CC-d3 (51 notes)

The organ has a typical Dieffenbach stoplist, here written in the unusual order in which the six ranks of pipes stand on the wind chest, from front to back:
Principal 4' (metal pipes, 28 bass and tenor pipes in facade)
Quint 3' (metal pipes; 6 bass pipes facade)
Salicet 4' (metal pipes)
Gedackt 8' (stopped wood pipes)
Floete 4' (open wood pipes)
Octave 2' (metal pipes)

1884 additions by Thomas Dieffenbach (preserved separately):
Open diapason 8'
Dulciana 8'
Subbass 16'
Pedalboard (CC-g; 20 notes)

DimensionsHeight: 11’3”
Width: 7’
Depth: 3’
ProvenanceOriginally installed in Zion Lutheran & Reformed Church, Orwigsburg, PA. Dedicated on October 16, 1808. The organ was used in the new church until 1940 when a new organ was purchased. The Dieffenbach organ was saved by Raymond Bauer, who sold it to Thomas S. Eader in 1968. Daniel M. Meyer inherited the organ from Eader in 1988.

Purchased from Daniel M. Meyer, Meyer Organs & Harpsichords, Alexandria, Virginia, May 1990.
Published ReferencesThomas S. Eader, "The 1808 Christian Dieffenbach Organ," The Tracker, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Spring 1971), pp. 2-4.

Raymond J. Brunner, That Ingenious Business: Pennsylvania German Organ Builders (Birdsboro, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania German Society, 1990), p. 117.

"Pennsylvania German Organ Installed in Abell Gallery," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 1 (October 1991), pp. 1-2.

"Dieffenbach Organ Installed at USD," Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society, Vol. 21, No. 1 (February 1992), p. 10.

André P. Larson, "Early American Pipe Organ," South Dakota Musician, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Winter 1992), cover and p. 22.

John Koster, "Dieffenbach Organ a Monument to Early American Craftsmanship and Musical Culture," Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. 23, No. 3 (April 1996), pp. 4-6.

John Koster, "A Pennsylvania Organ in South Dakota," The Tracker, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Spring 2006), p. 37.

“Keyboard Conference Participants Say ‘Wow!’,” National Music Museum Newsletter 32, No. 2 (May 2005), p. 7.

John Koster, “Historical Organs in the Museum Context,” The Tracker 50, Nos. 3 & 4 (Summer/Fall 2006), p. 31.

Gregory Crowell, "A Familiar Voice in a Foreign Land," The Tracker 51, No. 3 (Summer 2007), pp. 3-6. photo on p. 4.

King, T. Wilson, “National Music Museum is a real treasure,” Buzz! 12.14.2010.

Lammers, Dirk. “Filled with Rare Instruments, SD’s National Music Museum Looks to Raise $15M for Revamp.” Associated Press, Published: 17 February 2013. As seen on Washington Post website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/filled-with-rare-instruments-sds-national-music-museum-looks-to-raise-15m-to-revamp/2013/02/17/8c29ca62-7929-11e2-9c27-fdd594ea6286_story.html as seen on 18 February 2013. (This instrument is seen in a photograph that accompanies the article)

“The Dieffenbach Musical Heritage: From Pipe Organ Builders to Organists.” , Lancaster Farming, Lancaster, PA. March 22, 2019.
https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farm_life/antiques_and_history/the-dieffenbach-musical-heritage/article_104246ee-607c-5ecd-9d6b-0aed5d56d4c2.html

Credit LineArne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, and J. Laiten Weed Estate, 1990

Object number04905

On View

On view