Photographer Andre Costantini’s assignment was to capture the story of a Wurlitzer organ that will be moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to its new home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. See how his unique perspective and the clarity of his Tamron lenses achieve visual music through the medium of still photography.
Article rating: 7.97
Andre Costantini is a New York-based advertising and portrait photographer who has traveled throughout the U.S., Germany, and Japan for a variety of clients. In addition to shooting for Tamron, he has an emphasis in clients involved in theatre, art, dance, and music. Constellation Productions hired him recently for a long-term project: capturing the journey of a Wurlitzer organ from its current location inside a private home to the soon-to-built Constellation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Wurlitzer will be an integral part of the new arts center, with one of the four main rooms designed around it.
“Wurlitzer built only three of these five-manual organs,” said Andre. “The ‘five’ refers to the number of keyboards.” The organ was originally built into the Michigan Theatre in Detroit in 1926, then re-installed into a home in Wisconsin in 1946, before it the most recent owner, Bill Brown, built his home in Phoenix around it in 1962. Brown passed away earlier this year.
“This organ was designed to score silent movies,” said Andre. “With it, one musician could simulate the sound of an entire orchestra. It was cheaper to hire one person who could play this organ than to hire a full orchestra.”
Some of the pipes can create the sounds of brass instruments, others wood. “Even the marimbas and the glockenspiel,” Andre said. “Bellows are attached to a compressor underneath and the operator could do things like add vibrato by controlling the airflow at a fast rate.”
Photographically, the Wurlitzer represented both a challenge and opportunity for Andre. “It was impossible to get one picture of the entire organ—it was spread throughout the house.”
Luckily, Andre had two days to experiment. “Basically, I wanted to make visual music,” Andre said. “So I used a shallow depth of field with both long and wide lenses to isolate the plane of focus for dramatic effect.”
Andre works with two digital cameras, the Nikon D70s and the Fuji S3. “Most of these images were captured with three Tamron lenses,” Andre said. “The 11-18mm f4.5-5.6 wide angle…
One need only spend a few minutes with Andre’s photographs to anticipate how the music of this Wurlitzer organ will soon be captivating an entirely new audience in Cambridge, Massachusetts. To learn more about Andre’s other projects, including his portraiture, go to http://www.sillydancing.com/. For more information about the Constellation Center go to: www.constellationcenter.org.
The pictures are beautiful. What an interesting way to show an organ.
Unfortunately the history of the organ is wrong. It was originally in the Paradise Theater in Chicago. Went to other locations and then to Bill's home where it is up until now.
Posted by: Tom Fizzell Nov 1, 2006 @ 10:43 AM EST
Another 5-manual Wurlitzer that you said was Bill Brown's originally installed in the Michigan Theatre in Detroit is actually the Wurlitzer currently installed in the home of Fred Hermes in or near Racine, Wisconsin. Bill Brown's was from the Paradise Theatre in Chicago.
Posted by: Jack Moelmann Nov 1, 2006 @ 11:49 AM EST
The three 5 manual Wurlitzer organs were:
5 manual 21 rank Marboro Theatre Chicago (now in the former Loew's Theatre Providence, RI)
5 manual 21 rank Paradise Theatre Chicago (greatly enlarged in Bill Brown's residence in Phoenix. Point of fact, this organ, in a previous location, was a major recording instrument for the late George Wright when this organ was in the Richard Vaughn Studio in Southern CA)
5 manual 28 rank Michigan Theatre, Detroit (this organ was removed in the early 1960s or late 1950s by present owner Fred Hermes, as noted by Jack Moelmann above. Mr. Hermes has enlarged this instrument to around 34 ranks.)
Posted by: Tom DeLay Nov 1, 2006 @ 1:24 PM EST
One of the first things 'Bill Eidson' needs to accomplish is the correct spelling of "Wurlitzer" ...... not Wurlizter. I notice that a few others have already given notice of the true history and origin of the Bill Brown Wurlitzer. For many, many years the organ was installed in a suberb of Los Angeles after being removed from the Paradise Theatre in Chicago, and before being purchased by Bill Brown where it was installed in his home in Phoenix, AZ. It was used extensively for the exquisite recordings by that great master of 'theatre organ', GEORGE WRIGHT.
Posted by: Jack Darr Nov 1, 2006 @ 1:36 PM EST
I had to rate this article Poor for the same reasons listed by Jack Darr, Tom De Lay, etc. Mr. Eidson needs to research his material better. This Wurlitzer was probably the best known of the three 5 manual Wurlitzers made owing to its being used for a slew of recordings by the late great George Wright. He didn't even include a full photo of the magnificent console. Pretty pictures are fine but its equally important if not more so that the text accompanying them be factually correct.
Posted by: don story Nov 1, 2006 @ 2:1 PM EST
Mr. Brown was so gracious to show this organ to my young cousin, a budding young organist. He even allowed him to play the instrument. He was quite a gentleman and helped a young organist to see what can be done with a lot of practice! Bill will be missed as a friend of music.
Posted by: Susan Etheridge Nov 1, 2006 @ 4:38 PM EST
I find it hard to believe that such basic facts about the Organ have been incorrectly reported. Such a historic instrument deserves better than such shoddy reporting. I do however like the photographs...
Posted by: steven worthington Nov 1, 2006 @ 9:5 PM EST
Greatly interesting. Super photos and a text that was understandable! Thanks!
Posted by: Dennis Bertwell Nov 8, 2006 @ 4:16 PM EST
I VE BEEN VIDEO TAPING SINCE 1984 AND TAPED CONCERTS AT BILLS ,
HOME SEVERAL TIMES..WE WERE OLD FRIENDS , I AM 86 AND HILDA 88 AND BILL MADE THE REMARK AS WE SAT OUT IN THE LOBBY " HELL BOB, YOU AND HILDA ARE THE ONLY ONES HERE IN OUR AGE GROUP"
WE ALSO SAT NEXT TO EACH OTHER AT LEDWONS.
NOW I M CHECKING HOW THE HECK DO I USE OR PICK CAMERAS OR WHATEVER FROM MY SON .
AS FOR THOSE WHO REJECTED AND I SENT TO ALL OVER THE WORLD AND I AM SURE 2ND TOUCH GROUP WILL GET INVOLVED
WE MAY GET TOGETHER AGAIN AND THIS IS A NICE THING.
RE THOSE REJECTED I THINK THEY SEE SPAM AND I LL GO ONE ONE ONE WITH THEM.
GOOD LUCK
Posted by: BOB PASALICH Nov 8, 2006 @ 7:59 PM EST
While historic accuracy is a worthy aim, surely the most important point is the publicity that this project can generate. The Great General Public neither knows nor cares which-theatre-what-came-from, but they may be attracted by these artistic, often beautiful photos that offer different perspectives on an old instrument. Congratulations to Constellation Productions for caring enough to hire an excellent professional photographer to document the move to Cambridge!
Posted by: Steve Ashley Nov 9, 2006 @ 2:40 AM EST
While historic accuracy is a worthy aim, surely the most important point is the publicity that this project can generate. The Great General Public neither knows nor cares which-theatre-what-came-from, but they may be attracted by these artistic, often beautiful photos that offer different perspectives on an old instrument. Congratulations to Constellation Productions for caring enough to hire an excellent professional photographer to document the move to Cambridge!
