Pipe Organ At Mullica Church

MULLICA TOWNSHIP _ The historic Batsto-Pleasant Mills United Methodist Church here, built in 1808, has great acoustics for instrumental music.

But until now, it didn’t have a pipe organ.

Steven Ball, the organist at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, bought a home within walking distance of the church and was instrumental in arranging for the loan of a pipe organ built by a friend of his in Rome, said Billie Jane Maul, of Margate.

Maul has volunteered with the restoration of the Boardwalk Hall organ, and helped get this organ installed, she said.

The instrument was by Daniel Tacinni as a sample of his work for American clients, she said. It was installed in the church this month. 

The instrument is exceptionally unique, said Maul, containing only 177 pipes and using traditional methods of building from centuries ago.

Maul said the instrument is completely mechanical, “requiring no electricity other than the blower, which produces the compressed air to make the pipes sound.”

The tuning of the instrument follows an earlier system as well, said Maul. The musical distance between each note is not equal, as it is in modern instruments.

 “This system, called 'unequal temperament,' was widely used in Italy hundreds of years ago and allows for an exceptionally sweet sound in some keys,” she said.

The church is one of the oldest Methodist church structures in the country and was consecrated by pioneering Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury.

But the property has held a church building even longer. It dates to the start of the 18th Century, she said, and the area’s first Scottish settlers.

The church’s Music Director Jim Commander will play the organ at a Nov. 5 celebratory concert, along with visiting artist Steven Ball.

 

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/pac/unusual-pipe-organ-on-loan-to-pinelands-church/article_2ed3f919-4dad-5c2e-8538-107f448ae218.html

Related posts at
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2017/11/pipe-organ-dedication-concert-in-mullica.html

Lines on the Pines

Batsto Pleasant Mills Church
The Batsto-Pleasant Mills Church was built in 1808 and replaced a little log meeting house that had outgrown its congregation. It was Joseph Ball who deeded land for the church and William Richards who provided the funds for the building. It soon became an important stop for circuit riding preachers.
The Pleasant Mills Cemetery, adjoining the church, is one of the most historic burial places in South Jersey with the oldest marker dated 1732. It is the final resting place of soldiers as far back as the Revolutionary War. The graves of Jesse Richards, his wife, most of his eight children and many other family members are there.

This Methodist church continues to serve the area communities today. The church is located at the intersection of Rt.542 and Rt.623, a short drive from the Village.