World's Largest Functioning Musical Instrument: Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia
Key topics
The Wanamaker Organ, touted as the world's largest functioning musical instrument, has sparked a wave of nostalgia among commenters who fondly recall visiting the iconic Philadelphia department store as kids, enjoying the organ concerts and festive light shows. As some lament the store's closure, others offer reassurance that the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ society is working to preserve the instrument, with sporadic concerts expected to continue. The sheer scale and complexity of the organ has also inspired humorous remarks, with one commenter joking that it requires an "orangutan to play it properly." Amidst the reminiscing, a few commenters veer off-topic, sharing unrelated musical anecdotes that add a lighthearted touch to the discussion.
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- 01Story posted
Dec 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM EST
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Dec 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM EST
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Does it have a stop labeled "Vox Dei"?
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJyUwk6L9lA
You'll want to give https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To a watch, where Rob Scallon takes us on a trip to discover how incredible these instruments are, and should highlight just how little an organ is like a piano (not even "four pianos") and how much it really is an entire orchestra.
I love this follow-up quote: "I think because I was so young I absolutely knew it was totally possible to do, I was fully determined and without consulting any professionals I had no barrier stopping me."
https://www.alexanderpiano.nz/page/the-alexander-piano
There's also something quintessentially New Zealand about the whole story - making it in a mate's garage, and then moving the project to a farm tractor shed when it got too big and the inaugural concert that looks like it's still in the same shed, the photo of the tractor moving it for the outdoor concert...
“The Great Stalacpipe Organ is an electrically actuated lithophone located in Luray Caverns, Virginia, USA. Covering 3.5 acres of the cavern, it is considered the world's largest instrument by Guinness World Records.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stalacpipe_Organ
A great place to visit btw
https://www.mindspace.me/philadelphia/wanamaker/
:(
Still an impressive object.
In December they also have a huge light show featuring the organ and a very cool Charles Dickens walk-through village.
Those low frequencies though are the draw for me.
The lowest frequency I have come across in pop music might be the backing organ from the song "Prologue" on ELO's album Time. I had the vinyl in the day… One wonders: even with RIAA bass compensation, I suspect it might have been close to jumping the needle out of the groove.
John Wanamaker purchases the organ to move it to 13th and Market, which took a series of freight cars to transport.