by Maarten van der Vlugt
In articles about the Mortier firm, published in this magazine over the past years only a few times dance organs with 123 keys were mentioned. In most instances the subject was dealt with a single line. With proper pride the editors of HP present, for the first time in history, the story of a 123 key Mortier; one of the (at most) two ever built.
In the past few years a list was made by Mortier enthusiasts with as much as possible information about these instruments with as much information as possible about building numbers, building years and owners. Although I disagree with this list on some points - the building numbers and dito years of the earliest instruments are disputable- one thing is quite clear: from nr. 1070 (Peter Benoit from 1936) to the last organ nr. 1092 the list is almost complete. Only two numbers are failing: 1083 and 1084. Both organs must have been delivered in 1939. Lucky for us the Mortier firm issued postals with pictures of its new models, that were also used for correspondance with clients. On one such postal a modern dance hall organ is depicted with the names "Jazz orchestra " and "Louis Oudenaert de Cort" on the front. On the rear we can read "Builders of organs and orchestrions of all sorts, Mortier factory Ltd, 62 rue de Breda, Antwerp", and, most important, "type 1939 (123 keys). This proves the existance of at least one 123 key organ.
In the documentation of the Mortier organ preservation society in Terneuzen is part of the Mortier accountancy from 1949. In these papers the name of Victor Fondue (a major organ renting business in Brussels) appears twice, for repairs to a 123 key instrument [red.: on September 7th 1949 two invoices were written out for 162.057 and 149.609 Belgian francs. Both invoices are for "revision of a 123 key organ". They were issued on the same day, so it may have been a split bill for one order. The total figure is rather high -one could buy two orchestrions for it- so the revision must have been rather radical.]
In 1964 I saw a front identical to the one on the original Mortier postal, except the name on the base of the centre part. Instead of Louis Oudenaert de Cort there stood "Liberator". It is not clear if we are dealing with the same organ or with a second one. In my collection of scale sticks ( probably ever used by the music marker Marcel Bartier) there are two different 123 keys examples. One of them reads "Wolfs", but that one cannot be that of a newly-built organ. It has only 8 bass and 10 accompaniment notes and the missing notes are simply left blank, so we may deal with a rebuilt 84-key type.
For the original 123 key layout they started with a 112-key scale like that of nr. 1078, now with the Milhous Brs. in the USA. The second melody (derde zang) section was complemented from 12 to 20 notes and four temple-blocks were added to the percussion.
(The original keyframe layout: loos=empty, tegenzang=counter melody [C48-G67], accompaniment [C48-B59], bass[C36-B47], zang=melody [G67-F89], derde zang=second melody).
The pneumatic system of 1937, consisting of small wind chests with round valves was also applied to the 123 key organ. Probably this system was introduced under the pressure of the competition by the Decap Brothers who caused a furore at the time with their first 121 key organs. A small version of this system could already be found in older models for the general tremolo and that of the jazz flute and vibraton registers. It was also used for the accordion pneumatics. Round valves were seen in a 112 keyframe.
About 1963 Rein van den Broek bought a 123 key organ. He stored it at his fathers premises. The mutual relation between the two people caused the standstill of the organ for several years, but in 1967 they decided to restore it to a playable condition. New music was only readily available for 121-key Decap organs, so the Mortier was converted slightly to play this music. Subsequently the organ was rented out to several fairs in the Brabant region and it became well-known to us.
In about 1969 Rein van den Broek sold the instrument to Cor Bezems. This man had an American customer who bought organs and the organ was exported to the USA. By sheer luck the 121 key "Splendid" Decap organ was still rented out at that time, so that organ escaped the fate of being exported.
After having been stored in a leaking truck for years the organ was bought by the present owner Paul Dyer in Fortville, Indiana. He not only restored the instrument, but he also built a completely new front for it; a copy of the front for the Taj Mahal Mortier (this organ is currently playing in Australia). I wrote to Paul for the building number, which turns out to be 1084. He also sent some pictures. On the picture of the pipework in the main chest it is clearly visible that the layout of the pipes is the same as in the 121 key Decap organs, so the Mortier firm kept a close eye on its competitors at that time.