 The Thomas G. Shepard Memorial Organ located in the gallery of First Church
was built by the M. P. Möller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Maryland in 1930. It
is placed behind a simple screen of gold ornamental pipes alternating with a
wooden lattice design, permitting ample sound egress into the meeting-house.
Opus 5713 is a three-manual instrument placed in two side-by-side chambers;
the Swell Organ chamber is on the left side of the gallery (viewed from the
pulpit) and the Great and Choir Organs share a larger chamber to the right. The
entire instrument is under expression, allowing a remarkable degree of nuance in
registrations, and permitting the ultimate in flexibility and subtle shading
when accompanying a choir or a congregational hymn. The expression shades are of
the characteristic individual-action type; effective swell boxes permit the
sound of the organ to progress from nearly inaudible to heroically powerful
without the slightest hint of a bump in the crescendo.
 The stoplist of the organ gives little idea of its musical qualities. There
are no mixtures or independent mutations, most of the instrument’s power being
centered on the unison pitch. But by careful scaling, a judicious amount of
unification and duplexing, and a complete array of unison, sub- and
super-couplers, the organ’s ensemble is satisfying and lacks no clarity.
The Swell Organ consists of eight ranks: Diapason, Gedeckt, Viole
d’Orchestre, Salicional, Vox Celeste, Cornopean, Oboe and Vox Humana. A Pedal
Bourdon unit also shares the Swell box. The Salicional rank is unified to play
at 8’ and 4’ pitch; the Gedeckt unit plays at five pitches from 16’ to 2’. From
these modest resources are derived enough stops to form an agreeable ensemble,
one having power and clarity, as well as the necessary subtlety for most
accompanimental purposes. The Cornopean is successful as a chorus reed, while
the sugary Oboe finds much use for both solo and ensemble work. The ethereal and
haunting Vox Humana, in its own enclosure and provided with an effective
tremolo, is one of the finest examples of its type to be found.
 In the adjacent chamber are two large duplexed chests placed end to end.
Stops are both unified and shared between the Great and Choir divisions. The
windchest nearest the Swell division contains the boldly foundational First
Diapason and the milder Second Diapason, this latter duplexed to furnish a
double for the Great Organ chorus. A colorful Doppel Flute plays on both the
Great and Choir manuals, as does the keen Viole de Gambe. Also on this chest is
an attractive Melodia, playable on the Great at 8’ pitch and on the Choir at 4’
pitch.
The other main windchest in this chamber contains the Choir Organ’s English
Diapason, serving also as a 4’ Octave on the Great manual; a lucid Harmonic
Flute that can be played at unison pitch on the Choir manual and 4’ pitch on the
Great manual; a soft Gemshorn available to both Great and Choir manuals; and a
gentle and intriguing Dulciana with its flat-tuned companion, a haunting Unda
Maris of remarkable beauty. Also on this chest is a colorful and woody Clarinet.
 Lastly, on a pair of elevated unit chests above and between the two main
windchests, is placed a Tuba of considerable power, available on both Great and
Pedal divisions at 16’, 8’ and 4’ pitch. The lowest twelve notes of this stop
provide a solid and smooth bass to the entire organ, without the slightest hint
of rasp or buzz. Finally in this chamber is a floor-shaking Pedal Diapason unit
that defines the full organ and feeds the acoustically dry room with the
foundational bass it requires.
An Echo Organ of some six stops was never installed, and its intended
location remains unclear. The console is placed at an angle about halfway down
the left gallery of the church, thereby allowing the organist to hear the organ
and direct the choir to great advantage.
 In early 2004 the organ narrowly escaped being ruined by the ceiling
collapsing onto the pipework and mechanism. A quick rescue effort was mounted to safely place the organ’s
pipework in trays and cover the mechanism to prevent further damage to the
fabric of the organ. By the end of 2004 the ceiling had been re-plastered and
the pipework cleaned and repaired. Today the Shepard Memorial Organ once again
serves the congregation of First Church with reliable distinction.
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