50th Anniversary of the Hradetzky Organ
We will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the installation of our Hradetzky Gallery Organ with a special service on October 26th, 2025 at 3:00 pm.
The service will feature the organ in recital, along with our church’s choir and brass ensemble. Of special note is that the service will feature the famous British coronation anthem, “I Was Glad” by C.H.H. Parry, which was also sung at the installation service there in 1975.
A reception will follow. No admission is charged; a free-will offering will be collected.
In the autumn of 1975, the New York Times reported on the installation of a new church organ here at the United Methodist Church in Red Bank, NJ. The event was noteworthy for being the inauguration of the first instrument in the United States designed and built by Gerhard Hradetzky, the third generation builder of the firm Orgelbau Hradetzky, of Obernergern, Austria. It was also the first Hradetzky instrument designed and installed for a location on the east coast of the US, the previous six being at locations west of the Mississippi River.
Also noteworthy is the fact that, in a time when most churches in the US had shifted to the convenience and ease of maintenance of fully electronic instruments, here at UMCRB, we chose to replace an electro-pneumatic organ (a pipe organ that is controlled by an electric console) with a mechanical-action “tracker” instrument. Herbert Burtis, then the Director of Music and Fine Arts at the church, noted that he’d received numerous requests from musicians eager to visit and play the instrument. Mr. Burtis moved on from the church in 1977, and died in 2021; the requests from curious organists, however, have continued.
Director of Music and Worship, Evan Courtney, said “I have colleagues from all over who contact me wanting to come and play the instrument. One of our summer concert series recitalists, who is currently studying at Julliard, cold-emailed me a few months ago. I’m always happy when people want to come play this beautiful organ.”
After the organ was installed, Mr. Burtis inaugurated a concert series to showcase the new instrument and to help fund the expense of the maintenance. The series he initiated was continued by Burtis’s successor at the organ, William Todt, and over the years it featured talent from around the US and Europe. A guest book that has been kept since the initiation of the concert series includes artists from such music bastions as the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, Duke University, the Eastman School of Music, the Julliard School, Westminster Choir College, and Yale University. Famous names in the organ world like Daniel Roth, Peter Eben, David Craighead, Simon Preston, and Karen McFarlane have all scribed their names in this precious artifact to the beauty of the Hradetzky organ. Heartfelt notes from the book include comments like, “What a thrilling instrument!” “The finest positive action ever. I was greatly inspired.” “Thanks for the pleasure of playing such a beautiful instrument!”
“The sentiments from the guestbook really do speak to how we as a congregation feel about the instrument, and I love being able to play it every week,” said Mr. Courtney, who has been with the church since August 2015. “It’s also a testament to the congregation’s love for good organ music in worship that the instrument has been maintained so well over these 50 years. We’re excited to celebrate that.”