The Mormon Tabernacle Organ
The organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle is one of the most famous musical instruments ever made.
Accompanying the Tabernacle Choir each week on its Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and in daily recitals and numerous performances at Church conferences and other public concerts, this organ has probably been heard by more people around the world than any other.
While not the world’s largest, it is one of the finest pipe organs ever built. Constructing the original organ required artistic craftsmanship and perseverance in the face of great obstacles.
Australian-born organ builder Joseph Ridges fashioned pipes from tall, straight-grained pine that ox-drawn wagons hauled from some three hundred miles away into Salt Lake City. Since its completion, the organ has been renovated and enlarged several times.
The Aeolian-Skinner Company of Boston built the present organ. Several of the famous golden pipes, made of wood staves fashioned from Utah timber, still play today.