Pipe Up

The Methuen Memorial Music Hall, with its lavish English baroque-inspired interior, was built to house the first concert organ [6] in the United States. It’s worth a visit, even for those who find the music emitted by the 6,088-pipe instrument a bit bombastic, or associated only with church services. People bring “baggage to the table,” says concert organist Carson P. Cooman ’04, [7]research associate in music and composer in residence at Harvard’s Memorial Church, just as they do with “other forms of classical instruments…in a world where pop music reigns.” He took up the organ at age 10, mastering its traditional range and flourishes, as in J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, but now he specializes in contemporary works. He’ll perform “Yankee Doodle Variations,” by Carlotta Ferrari, among other pieces, on July 18 for the hall’s summer and fall concert series. [6]

Watching organists, dwarfed by 64-foot pipes, maneuver keys and pedals while you puzzle out the musical mechanics can be half the fun. (Air vibrating through different-sized pipes produces the panoply of sounds.) The Methuen organ was built in 1863 in Germany for the Boston Music Hall. Edward F. Searles, a rags-to-riches, Methuen-born interior designer, bought it later and built the hall. The splendor speaks to his respect for the instrument; the three-foot-thick walls to its power.