Once in a Lifetime

When the late Mr. Beckerath of Hamburg, whose father did the famous painting of his friend Brahms at the piano, completed the pipe organ in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh, he said, ‘’‘’Dies ist mein Meisterstück.” His masterpiece. I have written about it before (NR, April 9, 1968). The late E. Power Biggs played the Beckerath in Saint Paul’s—Biggs, who had not only played but made recordings on the greatest pipe organs in the world, all around the world—and said, “It is quite the finest instrument I have ever played.”

My old friend Paul Koch is the music director of Saint Paul’s, and so I happen to go to Pittsburgh when the visiting artists give their free public recitals on the Beckerath organ. Since there have been attempts at vandalism, the artist is locked into the organ loft, alone, and the audience sits as a congregation, far below, in the abyss of the mighty church.

WR

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William F. Rickenbacker

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When the late Mr. Beckerath of Hamburg, whose father did the famous painting of his friend Brahms at the piano, completed the pipe organ in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh, he said, ‘’‘’Dies ist mein Meisterstück.” His masterpiece. I have written about it before (NR, April 9, 1968). The late E. Power Biggs played the Beckerath in Saint Paul’s—Biggs, who had not only played but made recordings on the greatest pipe organs in the world, all around the world—and said, “It is quite the finest instrument I have ever played.”

My old friend Paul Koch is the music director of Saint Paul’s, and so I happen to go to Pittsburgh when the visiting artists give their free public recitals on the Beckerath organ. Since there have been attempts at vandalism, the artist is locked into the organ loft, alone, and the audience sits as a congregation, far below, in the abyss of the mighty church.