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Ernest Martin Skinner (born 1866 in Clarion, Pennsylvania – November 26/27, 1960) was one of the most successful American pipe organ builders of the early 20th century. His electro-pneumatic switching systems advanced the technology of organ building in the first part of the 20th century. ==Biography== Skinner was born in Clarion, Pennsylvania, in 1866 (exact date unknown), to the touring concert singers Washington and Alice Skinner. His father organized a music company in Taunton, and his son attended rehearsals and performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, which stimulated his interest in music. When he was a teenager, the family moved to West Somerville, Massachusetts, where he attended high school for approximately six months. In his autobiography, he stated that the reason for leaving his schooling was his inability to understand Latin, but Dorothy Holden in her biography ''The Life and Work of Ernest M. Skinner'' attributes it to the fact that the family fortunes declined precipitously and Ernest was obliged to assist in supporting the family. It was during this time that Ernest saw his first pipe organ and later got a job as a bellows pumper at fifteen cents per hour. He also repaired his first organ at this early stage of life. He became a "shop boy" for George H. Ryder, a small organ builder located in Reading, Massachusetts. It was here that Ernest's interest in the pipe organ began to be take shape. After four years here, he was summarily fired one morning. This departure proved fortuitous, for it led to his employ at the shop of preeminent Boston organ builder George Hutchings (1835-1913), first as a tuner, then quickly rising to the post as factory superintendent, during his twelve years with that firm. The 1897 Hutchings organ at the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, commonly known as the Mission Church, in Boston, drew national attention and acclaim for Hutchings, although he failed to mention his young factory superintendent, Ernest Skinner, by name. Skinner made the first of two public trips to England, crossing the Atlantic on a cattle steamer in 1898. Skinner was exposed to the work of "Father" Henry Willis, the celebrated London builder whose high-pressure chorus reeds and tuba stops were to set the benchmark for much of the 20th century. Skinner was given free access to the large Willis organ at St George's Hall, Liverpool, and was able to meet privately with "Father" Willis, who tutored the young Skinner in voicing practices and techniques not yet known in the United States. Skinner then crossed the English Channel to visit France where he met Louis Vierne, the famed blind organist at Notre-Dame in Paris. Upon his return to Boston, Skinner made his first Pedal Trombone modeled after the work of "Father" Willis for the 1900 Hutchings organ installed at Boston Music Hall. The first documented instance of the Pitman windchest, as developed by Skinner, appeared in the 1899 Hutchings-Votey organ installed at the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church in Brooklyn, New York, although other sources mention origins in Hutchings organs as early as 1893. In 1901, Skinner decided to strike out on his own, to develop his dream of a more expressive pipe organ by exploiting all the benefits to be gained by the "new" electro-pneumatic action. In 1902, Skinner entered into a partnership to form the Skinner & Cole Company. with another former Hutchings-Votey employee. By 1904 the partnership had dissolved, and the "Ernest M. Skinner & Company" purchased the Skinner and Cole assets. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ernest M. Skinner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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