PhilanthropistJohn D. Spreckels commissioned the organ's manufacture. A commemorative plaque on the right side of the console states: "John D. Spreckels has generously given the organ in this temple for the pleasure of those who, like himself, are lovers of music AD MCMXXIV." Spreckels donated the organ as a tribute to his brother Adolph, who was dying from syphilis. Adolph died before the organ was completed.[1]
Setting
The organ is located in the museum's Rodin gallery. It was designed to blend into the museum's structure; its 4,500 pipes are not visible to visitors. The ceiling of the gallery is canvas so that the organ can be heard throughout the gallery and museum; the canvas ceiling is painted as a trompe-l'œil to resemble a marble apse.[2]
The organ has four manuals, 107 stops and 4,500 pipes in 63 ranks. The instrument comprises a great organ, swell organ, choir organ (featuring a 16-foot contra dulciana), choir organ echo, solo organ, solo organ echo, an arch organ outfitted with an 8-foot arch clarion, a 64-foot gravissima and a 32-foot bourdon profunda.
Like other Skinner organs, the instrument was designed to replicate an orchestra.[2]