Search - Virgil Fox :: Girard College Recordings

Born in 1750 and raised in Bordeaux, France, Stephen Girard came to the United States in 1776. From construction, shipping and banking, Girard eventually became the country's wealthiest citizen. Upon his death, Girard left and estimated $ 5 million to founding Girard College, a private tuition-free school for fatherless boys, as Girard himself has been. The Skinner Organ Company of Boston was contracted in the late 1930 for a comprehensive four-manual instrument. Space for the Organ was gradually worked out with the architects and a ceiling location was ultimately chosen. Glorious acoustics and a lavishly complete specification marked this instrument as a triumph for Skinner. Only a few months after its completion, however, Skinner was stripped of his power at Aoelian-Skinner. Although he went on to build a few more authentic Skinners, history has made of Girard the last authoritative Skinner statement. Although the organ has undergone some changes (one Great mixture replaced, Solo Tuba choir and Pedal Bombarde revoiced), it remains a defining instrument of the late romantic style, in an acoustical and architectural environment of commanding grandeur. - Jonathan Ambrosino