A feature interview with: CULLIE MOWERS,

PRIEST & ORGAN RESTORER

Paulette Likoudis

Christmas is perhaps the most prominent time of year for Cullie Mowerspipe organs to raise their voices to the heavens. Although not all pipe organs are found in churches, their vital role in sacred music throughout the ages is undeniable.

The Rev. Culver (Cullie) Mowers was 14 years old when he was first introduced to the interior of a pipe organ. His father, a professional photographer, was helping with the rebuilding of the organ at Grace Episcopal Church in Syracuse, and Cullie assisted.

After his public school education, Cullie graduated with a fine arts degree from Syracuse University in 1964. He then attended Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating from the seminary in 1968.

He spent four years in small parishes in upstate New York, then moved to the Ithaca area in 1972 to become rector of St. Thomas Church in Slaterville Springs, where he still serves.

About 1976, Cullie decided to pursue his interest in organs, and worked for three years with Richard Strauss of Ithaca, before striking out on his own.

Strauss had cared for the Lodi Historical Society’s 1852 E. & G.G. Hook organ in the 1960s, and in the mid-70s he offered to show it to Cullie. The organ was first installed at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Canandaigua in 1852, and moved to the Lodi Methodist Church around 1910. The church, at Grove and Main Streets, was later conveyed to the Presbyterian community.

In 1975, Cullie’s phone rang and Lodi’s Presbyterian pastor said he wanted to remove the organ from the deteriorated building. Cullie and other volunteers dismantled the organ, finding dead raccoons and water damage. It was carefully stored in a barn in Tioga County. While the organ was in storage, the Lodi Historical Society was formed.

In 1988, the society brought the organ back to the Lodi building, and stored it until restoration began in 1994. Reinstallation began the following year, and the instrument was usable for three concerts in October 1996.

Victorian decorative art expert Anne Dimock of Trumansburg directed the restoration of the large pipes at the front of the organ’s case to the look they had received in 1872. Jerry Przygocki, also of Trumansburg, authentically restored the finish of the wooden parts of the case.

Cullie describes the Pre-Civil War organ: “It has a quiet elegance, not bombastic at all.” He explained that it was designed for an era when the neighborhood was quiet, with no automobile or truck traffic, nor radios or amplified music.

Players have said the organ’s personality is friendly and sophisticated. It is known for its ability to produce the music of a wide array of composers. Everything in it, said Cullie, sounds good. There are 563 pipes, with 439 made of an alloy of lead and tin, similar to pewter or zinc. The 124 other pipes are made of pine, with walnut “mouth” areas.

Around WWI, the organ received an electric blower, but the initials of many young hand pumpers remain carved in support beams behind the organ.

Cullie explains that more new pipe organs are now being built than at any time since the 1920s. All denominations are reflected in that interest. “Interest in electronic organs is declining because the sound of a pipe organ is simply better and warmer than what comes through a speaker, and they are infinitely repairable. Electronic technology changes, and parts become unavailable.”

In fact, the First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca is installing a new pipe organ valued at $1,000,000, one of the three largest in upstate New York.

Some church committees, Cullie notes, argue that no one “knows how to fix these antique things.” However, organs dating to the 1830s are fully functional, often with a once per year tuning. The world’s oldest known organ, circa 1396, at the Basilica of Valere in Sion, Switzerland is still in regular use.

The Organ Clearing House, founded over 40 years ago in a suburb of Boston, matches unwanted organs with new homes. The group has relocated thousands of organs since its formation. Major donors are often willing to facilitate that relocation.

“It is very rare to find an organ that can’t be moved,” said Cullie. He cited the removal of a large organ that was built into a 120’ high loft at the Philadelphia Municipal Auditorium. It now awaits purchase at the Organ Clearing House.

When he is not climbing into organs or emceeing the concerts where they are in action, Cullie (63) enjoys cooking, flower gardening, poetry, architecture and many types of music. He is a board member of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, and his wife, Polly, is a retired school librarian and organist. They live in a country house near Brooktondale.