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Please direct your gift to the “House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc.”

One Amazing Set of Pipes

By Paul D. Dolinsky, 33° | Supreme Council, 33°, SJ, Grand Organist

One majestic highlight of our building is its majestic pipe organ located in the Temple Room. The Schantz Pipe Organ in the Scottish Rite Temple is No. 1747 and was built in 1980. It replaced a Kimball Organ built from 1915–16. The Harp and Chimes were retained from the Kimball Organ and installed in the new Schantz. The instrument is a draw knob design with two keyboards (manuals) and a pedal keyboard with a total of 1,417 pipes.

Photo: Organ pipes located in the chamber in the Temple Room’s domed ceiling (Photography: Elizabeth A. W. McCarthy)

The lower keyboard is called the Great Manual and includes a complete principal chorus, representing the traditionally-recognized pipe organ sound. This chorus in annotated with flute and string sounds (stops) as well as a reed stop called the Trompette.

The Great Manual is further highlighted by a large mixture of high pitched pipes that crown the principal chorus, chimes from the original Kimball Organ, and finally, a very powerful Festival Trumpet which completes the full pipe organ sound.

The upper or Swell Manual includes solo and complimentary sounds to the Great Manual and is smaller in scale. It features complete flute and string choruses as well as a beautiful solo oboe stop. Finally, there is a harp stop from the original Kimball Organ.

The Pedal Manual includes large principal and flute sounds as well as a very large Trompette which underpins the full pipe organ sound. Many stops or sounds that are available on the manuals are also available on the pedal. Detail of the House of the Temple organ’s pipes in the organ chamber.

Except for the Festival Trumpet, all the pipes are located in an organ chamber within the dome. Volume is mechanically-controlled by a series of louvers facing into the room that can be opened and closed by the organist through controls on the console. There are many other features on the organ to assist the organist in changing sounds and volume that can be operated by the hands or the feet. These include the many buttons beneath the manuals and toe studs above the pedals which can be set to provide the many combinations of exquisite and majestic sounds this fine organ can produce.

Photo above right: Schantz Organ Console (Photography: Arthur W. Pierson, Pierson Photography)

Help Save This Musical Treasure!

Our magnificent organ has served us valiantly for 40 years, but currently is in a seriously deteriorated condition and about only about 50 percent operable. As you can read above, there are numerous parts to the instrument. Many of the pipes are collapsing through metal fatigue, the leather in the large bellows needs replacing, electronic connections between the organ console and the pipe chamber need to be updated with current technology, and the console itself is failing.

Photo: The harp percussion tubes of which there are 61 were retained from the 1913 Kimball Organ and reused in the Schantz Organ. The tiny leather bellows, which push air to activate a hammer to hit the harp tube, are deteriorated and cracked. (Photography: Elizabeth A. W. McCarthy)

The Schantz pipe organ is a fine American classic pipe organ worthy of preservation and restoration. Our goal is to restore our Schantz pipe organ and endow its upkeep and maintenance in perpetuity. This will include:

• removal, cleaning, and fixing the deteriorated pipes
• rewiring the pipe chests
• re-leathering the bellows
• upgrading and expanding to current digital connections and technology

We are asking for your generous support for this project that will ensure the future of fine music in our rituals as well as provide an opportunity to share the splendors of the House of the Temple with our growing Fraternity. Your gift to the House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc., is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

To give online, please visit https://sms.scottishrite.org/make-a-gift or via the button below and select “House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc.” for the foundation.

Donate Online to the Pipe Organ Campaign

You also can mail your check payable to the “House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc.” to: House of the Temple; 1733 16th Street NW; Washington, DC 20009. Please include “Pipe Organ Campaign” in the memo line.

If you are interested in learning the latest news of our progress, or knowing more about the project, please contact Phil Shortt, 32°, from our Development Office, at 202–777–3143 or [email protected].

The above story is adapted from two Scottish Rite Journal articles by Ill. Dolinsky, “One Amazing Set of Pipes, Schantz Pipe Organ at the House of the Temple” (May/June 2016) and “Saving the House of the Temple’s Musical Treasure: Restoring the Sacred Harmony of the Schantz Pipe Organ” (January/February 2024).