The Temple of Music

A SPLENDID BUILDING FOR THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION

     The Temple of Music, designed by Esenwein & Johnson, of Buffalo, for the Pan-American Exposition, will cover a plot of ground 150 feet square, and will be located on the north-west corner of the Esplanade and the Court of Fountains. The exterior of this handsome building will be treated architecturally after the style of the Spanish Renaissance. It will be octagonal in shape, with octangle pavilions at each corner. The main entrance will be through the pavilion on the corner of the Esplanade and Court of Fountains. Each of the facades of the main building will have a richly ornamented colonnade. Between the columns will be large window openings and ornamental panels, each bearing a portrait bust of some musical composer. The cornice, frieze and balustrade of the main building will be designed in a florid adaptation of the Spanish Renaissance, and the balustrade will carry tablets bearing the names of noted musicians and composers. On the corners above the pavilions will be groups of statuary, representing music, dancing, etc.
     The chief features of the drum of the dome will be star-shaped windows resembling those seen in the ancient Spanish mission buildings. These windows will light the interior of the auditorium. The dome and the roofs of the pavilions will be richly gilded. Gold and brilliant coloring will be freely used in all the exterior decoration. The crown of the dome will be 136 feet above the grade of the Court of Fountains, and the Temple and its pavilions will form a very attractive part of the landscape scheme of the entire group of Exposition buildings.
     The auditorium, which will seat 1,200 persons, will be a few steps up from the grade of the building, and in addition the restaurants and balconies will give a further seating accommodation for 1,600 people. The other pavilions, in addition to the one used for the main entrance, will be occupied by the stage and for a fully equipped restaurant, with the necessary kitchen adjuncts, serving rooms, etc. The auditorium is only a few steps below the floor grade of the restaurant, and the partition between the restaurant and auditorium will be glazed, so that people seated at the tables can overlook the audience and enjoy the concert or entertainment at the same time. The flat domed roof of the auditorium will be [122][124] supported by eight massive piers. Between the piers will be large arches opening into the galleries, to the main entrance and leading to the stage. Over each of the eight large arches will be a cartouch [sic] bearing an inscription indicating one of the grand divisions of music—Oratorio, Grand Opera, Symphonic Music, Lyric Music, etc. The lighting will be through the star-shaped windows previously mentioned, passing through eight ceiling lights, each having 320 square feet of glass. The front of the galleries will be decorated with a frieze of singing cherubs. An elaborate and complete system of heating and ventilating will be adopted for this building. Numerous and commodious entrances and exits will be provided, so that absolute safety to visitors will be assured. The interior, as well as the exterior of the Temple of Music, will be treated with a view to securing the best architectural effects.
     In the Temple of Music will be erected one of the largest and finest organs in the United States. It will be an exceedingly beautiful and complete instrument, with all the latest improvements in organ building. It will have four manuals and about fifty speaking stops and will be voiced on three different wind pressures. The action will be the most complete style of tubular pneumatic. The mechanical contrivances and combinations will be most complete and will include many varieties not hitherto used. Of the four manuals the great organ will have fourteen stops, two 16-foot stops, six 8-foot stops, three 4-foot stops, one 2-foot stop, a twelfth and a four rank mixture.
     The swell organ will have fourteen stops, one 16-foot stop, nine 8-foot stops, three 4-foot stops and a three rank mixture.
     The choir organ will have eleven stops, one 16-foot stop, seven 8-foot stops, two 4-foot stops and one 2-foot stop.
     The sole organ will have three 8-foot stops and one 4-foot stop.
     The pedal organ will have ten stops, one 32-foot stop, five 16-foot stops, one 10-foot stop and three 8-foot stops.
     There will be a number of couplers, pedal movements and adjustable combinations of the most modern type. The case will be of Gothic design, to harmonize with the architecture and decorations of St. Louis Church, Buffalo, for which the organ is intended after it has served it [sic] purpose at the Exposition. An interesting fact in connection with this instrument is that it will be built in the city of Buffalo. The contract has been awarded to Emmons Howard & Son, the well-known organ building firm, now of Westfield, Mass., but who have arranged to begin work in their new factory at Buffalo, and hence the organ, which will be seen at the Exposition, will be the first large organ manufactured in the city of Buffalo.