G. Donald Harrison

Who was G. Donald Harrison?

George Donald Harrison crafted some of the finest and largest pipe organs in the United States. Born in Huddersfield, England, he started out in 1914 as a patent attorney but after military service he began to pursue an interest in pipe organ building working with Henry Willis & Sons of London.

After immigrating to America, Harrison joined the Skinner Organ Company in 1927 where he spent the remainder of his career. After the Skinner Company merged with the Aeolian Organ Company, forming the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in 1933, he became the company's tonal director and president. While the bulk of his work was as a tonal designer and voicer, Harrison is most famous for his association with "American Classic" organ design. This design concept, was partly a reaction to the proliferation of romantic-orchestral "symphonic" organs that had been in fashion to that point. The symphonic organ sought to emulate the effects of a symphony orchestra with imitative solo reeds, colorful flutes and warm string-toned stops. The American Classic organ, on the other hand sought a return to design principles of the eighteenth century, particularly the development of clean diapason choruses topped by several brilliant mixtures. The organs also contained stops and expressive divisions evocative of the romantic organ writing of the 19th and early 20th-century French school. The voicing of these instruments, in particular, allowed for a clear interpretation of fugal passages and chorale writing where each inner voice could be heard and articulated clearly. Harrison, along with other builders such as Walter Holtkamp, conceived the American Classic organ as a single instrument that could effectively and convincingly play music of all styles and eras with equal facility. In many, if not most of his instruments, he is considered to have achieved this goal, adapting his instruments effectively to the particular acoustic qualities of American concert halls and churches.