The Cathedral's Eccles Memorial Organ

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

The Eccles Memorial Organ, now 15 years old, was built by Kenneth Jones and Associates of Ireland. In addition to liturgical music, the organ is used for concerts and recitals.IC photo by Chris Young

The Bishop’s Dinner: A Benefit for the Cathedral of the Madeleine will be held Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008, with Bishop Wester at the Grand America Hotel. We hope all patrons of the Cathedral will continue to support this ongoing effort for preservation of this historic and architecturally significant building that stands as a beacon in our community.

SALT LAKE CITY — Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, was rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine during its extensive interior renovation from 1991 to 1993. It was during this time that the Cathedral of the Madeleine’s second organ, the Eccles Memorial Organ was built and installed.

"I don’t specifically recall the day the old Kimball organ was taken out, but I do remember that we saved some of the old pipes to use with the new organ," Msgr. Mannion told the Intermountain Catholic in an Aug. 28 interview.

The new organ was built by Kenneth Jones and Associates of Ireland.

Msgr. Mannion said he was very happy with the Eccles Memorial organ, which was donated by the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation. One of the conditions of the donation was that the organ would be used not only for liturgical music, but would also be used for concerts and public recitals.

"The Cathedral of the Madeleine has kept with that condition," Msgr. Mannion said. "Not only does the cathedral present an annual organ festival, but it has also invited guest organists from time to time. I believe the organ has more than proven itself in its 15 years.

Kenneth Jones and Associates were selected to build and install the organ after a committee of organists – from St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, the University of Utah, the Salt Lake Tabernacle, and the Cathedral of the Madeleine – looked at quite a few companies. They narrowed the selection down to two organ builders, Jones and one from Germany, and settled on Jones.

"One of the deciding factors was that the German builders wanted to be paid in Deutschmarks, while Kenneth Jones was willing to be paid in American dollars. That was a blessing for us because shortly after the decision was made, the country experienced Black Friday, and stocks fell dramatically," said Msgr. Mannion. "Happily, the stock market recovered and stocks came back up before the organ was installed, and there were no hard feelings about it."

Despite some growing pains, which Msgr. Mannion said, "are natural for any major organ building project," the cathedral got what it wanted, "and that’s what’s important."

By the time of the restoration, the cathedral organist was Gregory Glenn, who would go on to become liturgy director for the Cathedral of the Madeleine and founder of the Madeleine Choir School.

By the time Msgr. Mannion was named rector of the cathedral in 1986, the organist was Michael McPhee. "Michael stayed for a couple of years, then moved on to Seattle," Msgr. Mannion said. "Then Greg came in 1988. He worked first as liturgy director for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, then came to the cathedral as our organist. It took time to realize the extent of Greg Glenn’s talents and skills. Since then, there has been a whole string of fine organists. Only with the new organ could we retain the services of such accomplished organists."

The best in organ music fits the Cathedral of the Madeleine, he said "because the cathedral if the mother church of the diocese. It is the bishop’s church, and it’s supposed to serve as an example for all the churches in the diocese."

Msgr. Mannion said the liturgical renovation, including the sanctuary, was the priority during the renovation project.

"We wanted to bring the sanctuary into consistency with the norms that occurred in the church after Vatican II. I was a challenging project that took a lot of forethought so the new aspects of the cathedral would match the old.

"I was quite amazed at how non-controversial the project turned out to be. It took good communication, listening, and consultation. The parish even took the two years the cathedral was closed well. We just moved everything, including the good liturgies over to Lowell School on the weekends.

Msgr. Mannion and I recalled the near tragedy that happened in the Cathedral of the Madeleine in September 1997. A couple of days after the death of Mother Teresa, during a Mass for the repose of her soul, an electrical line for the organ, located in the basement of the cathedral, caught fire.

The cathedral was filled with people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, including a number of dignitaries. There weren’t any visible flames, but it wasn’t long before the cathedral began to fill with smoke. The Fire Department was notified, and they went to work with their axes on the organ boxes.

Throughout the crisis and despite the smoke, no one in the cathedral panicked. Msgr. Mannion stood up and explained the problem, and everyone remained calm. The fire was put out, the smoke cleared, and the Mass went on, with only moderate damage to the organ boxes that were repaired within a couple of weeks.

For further information on the Bishop’s Dinner contact Father Joseph Mayo or Ms. Laurel Dokos-Griffith at 328-8941