Robert Hope-Jones

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Robert Hope-Jones (9 February 1859 in Cheshire, England — 13 September 1914 in Rochester, New York, United States, is considered to be the inventor of the theatre organ in the early 20th century. He thought that a pipe organ should be able to imitate the instruments of an orchestra, and that the console should be detachable from the organ.^[1]

Among his innovations were a kind of electro-pneumatic action, the Diaphone and the modern Tibia Clausa with its strong 8′ flute tone. The Tibia eventually became a staple of theater organs. The thunderous 32′ Diaphone was less successful, but made an impression on audiences of the era.

Hope-Jones organs were also noted for such innovations as stoptabs instead of drawknobs and very high wind pressures of 10″ – 50″ to imitate orchestral instruments. He used expression liberally, sometimes enclosing the entire organ behind thick swell shades for great expressive power. He also used a system of unification which multiplied considerably the number of stops relative to the number of ranks.^[2]

He built 246 organs between 1887–1911 and his company employed 112 workers at its peak.^[3]Hope-Jones eventually merged his organ building operations with Wurlitzer in 1914. Shortly thereafter, Robert Hope-Jones ended his life by suicide in Rochester, New York, frustrated by his new association with the Wurlitzer company, it is said.^[2]

Few Hope-Jones organs have survived to the present time. The organ at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, built by Hope-Jones in 1908, has most of its original Hope-Jones ranks still intact and playable, although it has been vastly enlarged since then.^[4] Another fully-preserved Hope Jones organ is his opus 2 at the First Universalist Church in Rochester, New York, which has been described as sounding "weighty and lush", with large-scaled 8′ stops.^[2]