BRINGING MUSIC BACK TO CA’ D’ZAN

Imagine: With the terrace doors open, a wondrous symphonic sound emanates from the Great Court, echoing across Sarasota Bay. Sparkling Gatsbyesque couples dance in the dazzling ballroom to Jazz Age standards. The fragrance of the rose garden perfumes the cool evening breezes along the bayfront. The restoration of Ca’ d’Zan’s spectacular 1925 Aeolian organ will make all of that possible again.

John Ringling ordered his custom-built Aeolian Duo-Art pipe organ in July of 1924, and it was installed in the Great Court at Ca’ d’Zan in January of 1925. The three-manual console included a mechanism that could play recorded music from 440 paper rolls, akin to a player piano. In addition to the organ’s $25,000 price tag, the Ringlings had to pay for their own generators, wiring, and installation, as well as have the organ casement built, which was Gothic in design to match the Venetian palazzo’s architecture. The enormous two-story organ chamber housed 2,289 organ pipes concealed behind two 17th-century Flemish tapestries on the mezzanine level of the Great Court.

Grand organs of this type were a sign of sophistication and glamour among the glittery set of the Gilded Age. The Fricks, Tiffanys, Woolworths, and Vanderbilts all entertained high society at their mansions with Aeolian player organs that boasted stereophonic sound and played everything from classical music to marching band tunes. The glorious theaters of the day possessed similar instruments.

According to Ron McCarty, who has served as Keeper of Ca’ d’Zan since 2002, the organ was truly the heart of the mansion and a key status symbol. As the main room for entertaining, the Great Court regularly hosted organ concerts by major musicians, musicales, and card games with family and friends, which were legendary in Sarasota circles. Mable Ringling loved giving elegant garden parties for 400-500 women, during which the organ would be played, refreshments would be served, and an opera singer might perform a few arias.

Ca’ d’Zan opened to the public in 1946, but it fell into disrepair due to lack of funds for upkeep. In 1996 the restoration of Ca’ d’Zan began, and it reopened in 2002. Unfortunately, the organ could not be refurbished at that time, and the current campaign to restore the organ represents the capstone of Ca’ d’Zan’s conservation project.

“Restoring this superb organ to its original beauty is really the last thing to do to finish this magnificent mansion,” said McCarty. “It is essentially untouched apart from tuning and the dismantling necessary to conserve it. Just over 1,000 of these unique organs were produced for American homes. During the wars, organ pipes were requisitioned to support the war effort, so it is extremely rare to have an organ of this top-of-the-line quality still intact.”

The Ringling plans to raise $1 million, which will cover the cost of restoring Ca’ d’Zan’s marvelous organ as well as establish an endowment devoted to its maintenance over time.

Among the elements to be restored are the leathers, or bellows; the pipes, which represent a broad range of sizes and sounds and are made of wood, zinc, and lead; and the casement. In addition, all the paper rolls will be digitized and made widely available.

Once restored to its original visual and sonic splendor, the Ca’ d’Zan Aeolian organ will serve as the centerpiece of a new era of musical encounters at The Ringling. From concerts by world-renowned professional organists to recitals by graduate students and emerging artists; from enhancing a docent tour of Ca’ d’Zan to late evenings on the terrace, the refurbished Aeolian organ will offer an enriched and unsurpassed historical experience of The Ringling and its cultural legacy.

“The restoration of John and Mable Ringling’s beautiful organ is critical to properly tell the story of this resplendent Gilded Age mansion and preserve the significant musical heritage that the Ringlings left us,” said Executive Director Steven High. “Now is the ideal time to bring back the joyous heart of Ca’ d’Zan for all to enjoy.”

For more information on the Aeolian organ restoration project and how you can help, please contact:

Anna E. von Gehr Senior Director for Development 941.359.5700 x5804 or anna.vongehr@ringling.fsu.edu