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Liberty Theatre - 3/20 Wurlitzer, 3 Manual "Special"
Seattle, Washington
1st & Pike
 
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Wurlitzer, opus #42, 1914, 3 manuals, 16 ranks + 4 ranks echo

   Rank               Pedal       Accomp      Great       Solo
16 Tuba Mirabilis        16 8     16t  8t     16 8 4         8
16 Tuba Horn             16          8                    16 8 4
32 Diaphonic Diapason 32 16 8                 16 8
16 Tibia Clausa          16 8          8t     16 8 4
 8 String (Gambe) II        8     16t  8t     16 8
16 Diaphonic String      16 8     16 8 8t                 16 8
16 Clarinet              16 8        8                    16 8
 8 Orchestral Oboe                               8
 8 Oboe Horn                         8                       8
 8 Viol d'Orchestre (II)             8 4                     8 4
 8 Flute                    8        8 4                     8 4 3 2
 8 Krumet                            8                    16 8
 8 Kinura                            8 4         8 4
 8 Vox Humana                        8           8

Echo division
 8 Trumpet                                       8
 8 String (Viole) II                             8
 8 Vox Humana                                    8

   Piano                    P        P                       P
   Harp                              H                       H
   Chrysoglott                       C                       B
   Glockenspiel / Bells              Gt          G           G/B
   Xylophone                         Xt          X           X
   Cathedral Chimes                  Ct                      C

   Accomp to ...                      4
   Great to ...             8                      4
   Solo to ...              8                    8
   Echo to ...                                   8

   Chambers: Main, Foundation, Tuba, Percussion
   Tremulants: General, Vox Humana, Foundation

(Note: 3 = 2-2/3'; "t" = second touch)

This very early Wurlitzer (installed July, 1914) also has an unusual specification. Other 3-manual Wurlitzers of this vintage tended to have a straight 6-rank Solo division, perhaps with a short keyboard running from tenor C for 37 notes; these were the styles 6 and 35. Here, all three main chambers were above the proscenium, with the bottom of the 32' Diaphone located behind the side grills.
 
It is probable that the Tuba chamber contained only the Tuba Mirabilis, as in the Isis theatre in Denver. The other 13 ranks were divided between the Main and Foundation chambers, but the precise allocation is not clear. The 3 Echo stops were of course in their own chamber and they could be coupled only to the Great manual, not to the Pedal as for most Wurlitzer Echo divisions.
 
The "Diaphonic String" was what was later called the "Diaphonic Horn" (or "Horn Diapason"). The 4' Kinura was very unusual. The Great had "Sforzando" touch for the Tuba and Foundation chambers, which, when activated, opened the swell shades a couple of stages but closed them back when a key was struck. (The resulting time delay in closing those few shades provided the sforzando.)
 
The console contained 3 full-compass manuals and a single stoprail on the horseshoe. The backrail also had a single row of tabs. This may have been one of the largest single-stoprail Wurlitzer consoles.
 
Stop matrix and interpretive text, courtesy Larry Chace. Stoplist data from "Theatre Organ" September 1994.


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