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Schoenstein & Co. Pipe Organ Builders, Benicia, California

Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, Omaha, Nebraska

Aeolian-Skinner renovation

Schoenstein & Co. has completed the re-installation and tonal finishing of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1090 for Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska. The three-manual, 46-rank organ, designed in 1946 and completed in 1950, was dedicated as a war memorial to those lost in World War II. It has been a beloved part of this historic church ever since. In an effort to provide the church with the most complete instrument possible, too much organ was squeezed into too little chamber space. As a result, the organ has suffered throughout its life from lack of efficient maintenance access and proper tonal egress. Following a consulting study, we recommended alternatives for giving the instrument some breathing space. We found out just how much the people loved their Aeolian-Skinner when they opted for the most costly approach—enlarging the building to provide an entirely new organ chamber!

The whole organ including the blower was removed for top-to-bottom renovation in the factory. A new chassis with new expression boxes was built to relocate the divisions, creating an ideal set-up that surely would have been the preference of Aeolian-Skinner had the space been available. The electrical system, which had been partially replaced before, was completely redone with a Peterson ICS-4000 system. Two former tonal additions, a Swell 2′ Fifteenth and Choir 13⁄5′ Tierce, were retained, but on new windchests. One stop that had been lost, a rare Echo Salicional, was replicated according to Aeolian-Skinner specifications and re-installed. Only one stop was added—an Aeolian-Skinner-style Harmonic Trumpet located in the Choir. 

The organ was first used on Reformation Day, November 2, 2014. A solo recital was played by Christopher Marks, professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, on February 22, 2015. The organist of Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church is Mark Jones, and the director of music and fine arts is Barb Carlson.

—Jack Bethards

Schoenstein & Co.

 

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia

Advent Lutheran Church, 

Melbourne, Florida

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia

Advent Lutheran Church, 

Melbourne, Florida

Advent Lutheran Church in Melbourne, Florida is a relatively young church, founded in 1982; services were first held in a realtor’s office. From these simple beginnings, this vibrant ministry has continued to grow in an unbounded manner. When the present sanctuary was built in 2003, they could not fund a pipe organ, but importantly made future provision for an instrument in their new sanctuary; the space provided for the pipe organ and the chamber was sealed closed in the front rock wall of the church.

In 2010, a pipe organ committee was formed. Their study included not only engineering and cost factors, but also the ability to pay for the organ without impacting the operating budget. In 2011, a special congregational meeting was held to approve the purchase of a pipe organ from the A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, with installation to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the church’s founding.

When I first visited Advent Lutheran with our Florida representative, Herbert M. Ridgely Jr., I found we were blessed with a sanctuary where consideration had been given toward good acoustics and favorable placement for the organ. The front wall of the chancel is a solid concrete wall that lofts from floor to ceiling and is faced with native limestone. Beginning eleven feet off the floor was a 20′ x 20′ opening into the organ chamber. The floor for the organ was a solid poured-concrete slab capable of holding the tens of thousands of pounds of weight required for even a modest-sized instrument.

There are two choir lofts on the right and left sides of the sanctuary. The traditional choir is housed on the left side. The opposing niche on the right side is a space occupied by the accouterments needed for contemporary worship.

With the side locations of the choir lofts, and a sanctuary with more width than depth, our concern was that some choristers or congregants would be “around the corner” from the straight-on frontal exposure of the organ as it speaks into the sanctuary. We wanted to avoid an instrument that emphasized one division over another dependent upon where you were seated.

To provide more uniformity of speech, we planned the removal of the sidewall sections to the left and right of the organ chamber. Adjacent to the side openings were angled wall surfaces that we knew would reflect and refract the sound from the side alcoves behind the chancel wall into the room. These openings were finished with open, ornamental, oak grilles. In the chamber interior we placed the Great and Positiv windchests off-axis from the direct center, so they would be able to speak from the sides as well as the front exposure. The Swell division of the organ is laid out in a side-by-side configuration across the rear of the organ chamber. This minimizes the depth of the enclosed division and allows it to be spatially projected forward in an unimpeded manner to acoustically sit beside the pipework of the Great and Positiv. The result of the additional chamber openings and divisional placement is that the full resources of the organ are evenly heard throughout the room without any significant divisional bias. 

A constant challenge in organ building is having enough space in width, depth, and height. In this instance the internal chamber had “too much of a good thing” in terms of height. The loft inside the organ chamber went well over 25 feet above the top of the frontal opening, creating a significant tone trap that had to be addressed. The solution was to continue the Swell expression box roof over the Great and Positiv. The roof section was built with heavy timbers and made exceedingly thick, which provided an upper surface that was designed to be a refractory angle of incidence across a broad frequency spectrum to focus the organ resources out of the chamber. The end result is an even, coalesced diffusion of sound both inter- and intra-divisionally.

The organ case is built from hand-selected rift-sawn red oak, with a light-colored natural finish to match the church’s interior furnishings. The individual vertical segments of the façade and case are divided into multiple pipe flats that follow the radius of the front wall curvature. In this manner, the façade “bows” rearward from the cross to emphasize it as the central theme in the chancel.

The pipe shades at the top of the pedal towers are evocative of the concrete lace that holds the stained glass within the windows of the church. The polished surfaces of the organ façade pipes play on light in such a way that the façade takes on natural soft, even hues, melding with the church interior. The pipework in the organ façade contains the independent 16′ Principal, and bass registers of the 8′ Principal and the 4′ Choral Bass. 

We designed a terraced, drawknob console for this instrument. In addition to providing excellent sightlines for the organist to see both the choir and the congregation, its lowered profile makes it less dominant against the furnishings in the chancel. The console, including the built-in casters for mobility, is a diminutive 47½ inches tall. The console is built of red oak with a mahogany interior. The interior stop controls are turned of hardwoods with engraved inserts that were custom finished to match the bone and walnut keyboards. The keyboards are fitted with tracker touch.

Ever concerned with ease of registration and ergonomics, we were very careful in our design of the console interior. The drawknob and coupler controls are placed in the traditional locations with the Pedal and Swell stops on the left jambs, and the Great and Positiv on the right jambs. The stops are sequenced by pitch and family, with the primary division choruses aligned to be even to the manual into which they draw. The drawknobs feature oblique heads aligned on straight terraces, and angled inwards toward the performer, making the stops easy to see and draw because the stops on each terrace are within easy reach of the performer. 

For the combination system and relays, we used the new 8400 system from the Syndyne firm. All of the features that one comes to expect on a modern console control system are present—from multiple memories, to programmable crescendos, programmable sforzandos, blind checks, transposers, etc. The system allows centralized control for the combination system, playback/record, MIDI, and other functions, in a single integrated touch screen. One can save or import combination memories from and to an external USB drive, which provides infinite options to the performer. The screen and USB interface allows testing, configuration, and upgrades for the builder without the need for an external computer.

The organ chests are a combination of Blackinton-style electro-pneumatic slider chests and electro-pneumatic unit action chests for unit and duplex stops. 

The main manual chest winding system makes use of traditional spring-and-weight, ribbed regulators, and floating lid regulators that are fed from a large, central plenum. The enclosed reeds are provided with separate regulators to allow a pressure differential from the flue stops and permit independent tremulant control. All of the windchests are individually fitted with tunable concussion bellows for fine regulation. This allows stable winding that still maintains a presence of life.

Wind pressures on the organ are 3½′′ Great, 4′′ Swell flues, 5′′ Swell reeds, 2¾′′ Positiv, 3′′ Pedal and façade, and 8′′ for the Solo 8′ Festival Trumpet. The tremolos are electro-mechanical to provide a quiet, gentle, even undulation when the tremulants are engaged.

Prior to designing a stoplist, I find, as an organbuilder, it is incumbent to worship with the congregation. This cannot be a one-time event, as a church’s liturgy as it moves through the year is a rich pageant that cannot be conveyed, but has to be personally experienced to put the worship service in your own eyes, and more importantly your own ears. Personally, I find it illuminating to look into the eyes of the congregants who have asked me to build an organ for them. It instills me with the gravity of the task at hand and becomes a constant that I draw on throughout my working with the church. 

As I designed the stoplist, I envisioned an instrument where all of the resources could be considered for use in every service. I wanted a large enough specification to provide a rich palette of color and weight. It was important to avoid any sounds that were strident or overwhelming, as they didn’t have a place or use in this setting with this congregation. The ideal stop design would emphasize reliance on chorus massing to bring about larger stop dynamics which build upon one another. The goal was to design a specification that would allow gentle, sculpted voicing. 

Because of the German origins of the Lutheran church, I knew there would have to be an inclusion of the “Werkprinzip” in the specification. However, I also felt strongly that a single nationalistic focus would have been too limiting for this congregation. Ultimately the design of the instrument included many tonal facets that allow the organ to be a faithful purveyor of music from many periods, styles, and nationalities, in a cohesive, eclectic manner. Those who are familiar with our collective body of work will find present the balance of clarity and warmth that we seek in all of our instruments.

As we designed the principals, flutes, and strings in this instrument, we employed differing construction and materials in conjunction with careful scaling. The varied use of wood, metal, open, semi-open, stoppered, cylindrical, conical, and other variations, allow each flue stop its own unique voice and timbre. 

The organ is centered around the clean, robust principal chorus of the Great division. The 16′ Sub Principal of this division transitions from the façade into the slotted pipes of a Geigen Principal, which allows a thinner, defined register to ground the Great chorus. This stop is duplexed to provide an 8′ foundation for the Positiv principal chorus, and allows doubling of the 8′ line when coupled to the Great. The Great 8′ Bourdon and 4′ Nachthorn, in addition to being lovely solo voices, are valuable as thickening agents to the Great principal chorus, without overshadowing it. The enclosed Swell reeds are duplexed to the Great, which provides dynamic control of these stops by their enclosure.

The mixed media of wood, metal, stoppered, and open construction continues into the flutes of the Swell Cornet decomposé. These stops envelop one another and become almost svelte in their combined voice. The Swell Cornet is countered with a secondary principal-based Cornet in the Positiv division. In a departure from common practice, the individual Positiv mutations are placed on unit actions, which allow use of these stops at a variety of pitches and combinations. This becomes very useful for color and ornamentation and also facilitates the beginnings of building weightless mixture texture in the organ divisional ensembles by drawing these independent fifths.

For this instrument, we chose to employ strings of opposing qualities in the Positiv and Swell divisions. The Positiv 8′ Erzahler has a gentle broadness with a subdued edge-tone. It can support the most quiet and contemplative of moments in the service, and yet has enough body that, when coupled with the 8′ Holzgedeckt, provides the foundation for the Positiv principal chorus. In the Swell division, the gambas with their thinner scales, roller beards, and slotting have a keen and incisive, harmonically rich voice. These stops leave little doubt that they are strings and have a very distinctive edge-tone. The 8′ Gamba when drawn with the 8′ Rohr Gedeckt provides the foundational weight for the Swell principal chorus, and a compounded color that would be analogous to an independent 8′ Violin Diapason. 

With their large dynamic, the majority of the reeds were placed in the Swell enclosure. The 8′ Festival Trumpet is moderately scaled on relatively high wind pressure. With its thinner scaling and placed under expressive control, it can be registered into the full Great and Positiv choruses as a thinner ensemble reed when the expression box is closed. With the box open, it is an incisive, tightly drawn color that can bring a blaze to a solo line. The Swell reeds include a double tapered Oboe with lift lids and a large vowel cavity at 16′ and 8′ pitch, which balance against the éclat and fundamental of the large-scaled 8′ Trompette. 

The unenclosed manual reed on the organ is the 8′ Krummhorn in the Positiv division. It is built of brass with flared lift caps. By itself it is a very useful solo and/or ensemble stop, with the nose tone of a regal class of reed. It also effectively couples with the 8′ Holzgedeckt to provide a stop eerily reminiscent of the woody voice of a fine clarinet.

The Pedal division is grounded with three independent 16′ stops, including a large 16′ Posaune. It is a very complete pedal, with the gravitas to support the full forte of this instrument. The Pedal stops were given a forward position to eliminate shading and to allow gentler voicing. The result is a buoyant and harmonically rich pedal, where the inner voice is ever present. In addition to the independent registers, there are a number of manual-to-pedal duplexes, which broaden the available weight and color choices. 

The organ tonal finishing was accomplished by a team consisting of Arthur Schlueter III, Pete Duys, John Tanner, Bud Taylor, and Marc Conley. The organ was first used for worship in December 2012 and was dedicated on January 20, 2013 by organist Peter B. Beardsley. 

Every organ project has those individuals without which the project could not have been possible. In addition to thanking every single member of the congregation, the church council, and the organ committee, I personally want to single out senior pastor Reverend David Jahn, organist Lori Jahn, executive assistant to the pastor Carol Stanton, and organ committee co-chairs Pat Fuller and Jack Clark, for their very direct, hands-on work with our firm throughout this project.

Organ building is not the work of one person, but is a plurality or culmination of talents. We are very fortunate to have so many talented craftsmen and craftswomen at our firm. Our staff includes Arthur Schlueter Jr., Arthur Schlueter III, Shan Dalton, Marc Conley, Patty Conley, Bud Taylor, Robert Black, Dallas Wood, Al Schroer, John Tanner, Pete Duys, Barbara Sedlacek, Patrick Hodges, Jay Hodges, Kelvin Cheatham, Jim Sowell, Bob Weaver, Ruth Lopez, Michael DeSimone, Bill Zeiler, Chad Sartin, Steven Bowen, Jeff Moore, and Herbert M. Ridgely Jr. 

If you would like more information on this instrument and our firm, I invite you to visit the Schlueter Pipe Organ Company website at www.pipe-organ.com, write to me at A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, P.O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058, or feel free to reach me at [email protected]. 

—Arthur E. Schlueter III

John Bishop

Keeping up appearances

Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in New York City run north and south, parallel to each other a block apart. Together they form one of the world’s premier high-end shopping districts starting around 34th Street and continuing north. On Fifth Avenue, the shopping district ends at 59th Street, which is the southern edge of Central Park, a few blocks north of Trump Tower, and on Madison Avenue it continues north to perhaps 86th. That’s where you find the shops where people pay more for a handbag than I pay for a car. Saks Fifth Avenue, Shreve, Crump & Low, and Tiffany & Co. are some of the big landmarks. Rolex, Ferragamo, Versace, and Louis Vuitton continue the roster along with a host of lesser but equally dear names. The NBA Sportswear Store and the Disney Store are newer arrivals that cater to a different crowd.

Manhattan’s Upper East Side boasts some of the most expensive residences in the world. There’s a four-floor, 20,000-square-foot, 16-bedroom place on Central Park South that’s listed for $250,000,000. If you can afford a place like that, you can certainly afford a $100,000 handbag.¹

The sidewalks in that neighborhood are full of designer people with designer handbags, designer dogs, and designer facelifts, doing their expensive best to show the world who they are. While I expect many of them live in multi-million dollar homes and can actually afford all that, I’m sure there are people spending above the reasonable limits of their disposable income, going deep into holes to keep up appearances.

I’m reminded of an exchange I overheard 40 years ago in an auto parts store in Oberlin, Ohio, when a fellow customer asked the clerk for a CB antenna. The clerk asked what kind of radio he had, and the customer relied, “I don’t have a radio, I just want people to think I do.” That CB antenna had a lot in common with a $100,000 handbag.

 

What you see is what you get.

The pipe organ is the only indoor monumental musical instrument, and the only one with the possibility of having an architectural identity. Of course, many organs are housed in chambers, separate from the rooms into which they speak. Some of those have façades of organ pipes, while others have simple screens of cloth and wood. I’ve always felt that there’s something dishonest about concealing an instrument behind a grille. I love the feeling of walking into a building and knowing right away that I’m in the presence of a pipe organ. Whether the organ displays a simple fence of pipes with some woodwork surrounding to hold them up, or it has a grand decorated case, either freestanding or projecting from the front of a chamber, the visual information about the instrument is an exciting prelude to hearing it.

We can argue about when the development of the modern pipe organ began, but since I’m the one writing and there’s no one else here just now, and since I know I can back this up simply enough just with photos, let’s say that things were rolling along pretty well by the middle of the 16th century. By then, many organs had been built that had multiple manuals, stop actions that were easy to operate, and highly decorated architectural cases. An important feature of many of those cases was the fact that one could tell a lot about the content and layout of the organ with only visual information. The layout of the façade directly reflected the number of manuals, the principal pitches, and even the layout of the windchests.

There’s typically a Rückpositiv installed on the balcony rail, which is necessarily played by the bottom manual, because the tracker action would go down to the floor behind the knee panel (sometimes called kick-panel) and then under the pedalboard to the balcony rail. There’s an impost, the heavy molding that traverses the organ case above the console, forming the transition from the narrow base of the organ to the wider upper case. That upper case contains the Hauptwerk (Great), which includes the central Principal Chorus, the tonal foundation of the organ. The layout of that façade might show that the windchests are arranged diatonically (odd-numbered notes on one side, evens on the other), and it might further show that the trebles of the chests are arranged so major thirds are adjacent to each other. That’s when the “C side” (whole tones C, D, E, F#, G#, A#) is split, so one side reads “C, E, G#” while the other reads “D, F#, A#.” Likewise, the C# side of the organ is split so one side reads “C#, F, A” and the other reads “D#, G, B.”

That may seem complicated, but it’s a simple reordering of the notes that results in lovely symmetrical visual appearance. Also, in an organ tuned in a historic temperament, when major thirds are adjacent, chords draw beautifully in harmony with each other.

If there are three manuals, the top one might be a Brustwerk (literally, “Breast Work”) located above the music rack and below the impost. That division would be based on a higher Principal pitch, and would contain smaller, lighter stops—likely an 8′ stopped flute such as a Gedeckt, a single 4′, mutations, upper work, and a reed with short, fractional resonators such as a Schalmei or Regal.

The top manual of a three-manual instrument could also be an Oberwerk, a separate division above the Hauptwerk at the top of the case. If there are four manuals, you might have both Oberwerk and Brustwerk in addition to the Hauptwerk and Rückpositiv.

Some people are better at judging measurements than others, but I’m guessing that if challenged, most anyone could tell the difference between 16 and 32 feet. And, you could also pretty easily guess at a succession of lengths, each half as long as the one previous. So you know all you need to know to judge the pitches of the divisions in an organ with classic case design. If you’re sure that the largest pipes in the pedal towers are 16-footers, then you can tell that the Principal pitch of the Hauptwerk is 8′, the Positiv is 4′, and the Brustwerk is 2′. If the Pedal has 32′ Principal, the Hauptwerk is 16′, the Positiv is 8′, and the Brustwerk is 4′. In a four-manual organ, the Oberwerk is likely to be an 8′ division, with smaller scales than the Hauptwerk.

Are you not sure you could tell the difference between a 16′ or 32′ pipe? Sixteen feet is a length or width measurement for a room in an average home. Our bedroom in New York is about 16 feet long. If you could get a 32-footer into your living room, you live in a big house!²

Werkprinzip is a twentieth-century term coined to describe an organ that’s arranged in clearly defined divisions that can be easily identified by viewing the façade. This simple and elegant style of organ design evolved from the simplest ancient organs where the keyboard of the Positiv division was on the back of the Positiv case, and the organist had to turn around to play it.

 

The Hamburger Schnitger

Arp Schnitger (1648–1719) was a prolific organbuilder whose work influenced all of organ history since then. Forty-eight of his organs survive, a great achievement by modern standards. But when you realize that he accomplished all that without electricity, power tools, trucks, or even FedEx, Mr. Schnitger’s output seems staggering. I was introduced to his work as a kid by E. Power Biggs’s 1964 recording, The Golden Age of the Organ. Biggs was right in choosing that title. Schnitger’s organs were the epitome of the high Baroque with thrilling voicing, marvelous complex actions, and stunning architectural cases.  

One of his largest organs is in the Jacobikirche in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city. It has four manuals, 60 stops, and is a terrific example of a classic Werkprinzip organ. There are two 32′ pedal towers, a 16′ Hauptwerk, and an 8′ Rückpositiv visible. There are two additional divisions that cannot be identified just by looking at the façade, an 8′ Oberpositiv (at the top of the organ), and an 8′ Brustpositiv above the keydesk.³

The façades of the Hauptwerk and Rückpositiv cases reflect the windchest layout of major thirds. On either side of the large center towers, there are fields (flats) of façade pipes arranged with the largest in the center, the pipes getting smaller in each direction. I don’t know exactly which note is in the center of the flats, but by counting the pipes in the center and side towers, I’m guessing that it’s A# (below middle C) on the left, and B (below middle C) on the right. So starting in the center of the lower left flat and going toward one side, the pipes would be A#, D, F#, A#, D, F#—and in the other direction C, E, G#, C, E. To the right of the center tower, starting in the center, you have B, D#, G, B, D#, G#—and in the other direction C#, F, A, C#, F. If you’re confused, just think of these sequences as every other whole tone.

 

What window?

The First and Second Church in Boston, Massachusetts, is located at the corner of Berkeley and Marlborough Streets in the neighborhood known as the Back Bay. The fifth church building on that site was a large stone Gothic structure, built in 1867 with a large rose window and a tall stone steeple. The building housed a large Aeolian-Skinner organ—no coincidence, as William Zeuch, vice-president of Aeolian-Skinner, was organist of the church from 1930 until 1958, and famously played weekly organ recitals on Sunday afternoons to huge audiences.

There’s a story about that rose window. Leo Collins was organist at First and Second Church from 1964 until 1997. Shortly after he started there, interested in the newly emerging movement of the return to classic styles of organ building, he assembled an organ committee to research the possibilities of replacing the Aeolian-Skinner with a new tracker organ. Rudolf von Beckerath was invited to propose a new organ, and he traveled to Boston to present his design to the committee. Predictably enough, his drawing showed a tall free-standing organ case with pedal towers in front of the rose window. An elderly and proper woman, denizen of the Back Bay, asked him, “Mr. Beckerath, what about our window.” He replied, “We have covered windows lovelier than this.”

That project never happened because the building burned in 1968, leaving only the east wall with the rose window and the steeple. A new building was designed by architect Paul Rudolph that incorporated the remains of the stone edifice. Leo got what he wanted. The church commissioned a fine mechanical-action organ by Casavant Frères (Opus 3140, 1972) with three manuals and 64 ranks.⁴ I assume that the organ was paid for with the help of the insurance settlement after the fire. I first tuned the Casavant organ when I joined the staff of Angerstein & Associates in 1984, and six organists later, I still maintain the instrument.

While it may seem apocryphal, the story about Beckerath and the rose window was told to me by Leo Collins, who was present at that meeting. That’s a good way to lose a job.

 

A new way to look at it

The Casavant organ at First Church in Boston is a great example of a modern Werkprinzip organ. If you’ve been paying attention as you read, you can tell instantly just by looking at the photo that the Pedal has a 16′ Principal, the Great (at the top of the main case) has an 8′ Principal, and the Positiv has a 4′. The modern adaption of the style allows for a large Swell division above the keydesk. You can see that the Great and Positiv are arranged in major thirds: the largest pipes in each of the spiky towers, from left to right, are C, C#, D, and D#. So the “C” tower has C, E, G#, C, E, G#­. The next has C#, F, A, C#, F, A. The next has D, F#, A#, D, F#, A#. And the last has D#, G, B, D#, G, B.

Though you can’t see it, behind the shutters, the Swell is arranged in major thirds, mirroring the Great and Positiv.

The arrangement of the Pedal tower is unconventional. There are three towers that start with C, C#, and D, so minor thirds are adjacent. That means that tuning the Pedal is arpeggios on diminished chords. I assume that the three-tower arrangement is for visual effect. The three spiky pedal towers nicely answer the four of the main case. Perhaps Paul Rudolph was involved in that design.

While tuning the minor-third Pedal division is arpeggios on diminished chords, tuning the major-third divisions provokes a parody on the main theme of Johann Strauss’s An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), which starts with the three notes of a major triad. Altering that theme by playing two adjacent major thirds, with the answering treble triads adjusted accordingly, provides a comical effect—just the right tonic after tuning all the mutations and mixtures in that fully equipped organ.

§

While I’m talking about pipe organ façades, there’s another interesting thought to share. Many organ cases, both ancient and modern, have large towers in their façades. Some are round or multi-sided in plan, while some are “pointed,” triangular in plan. It’s easy to identify them as purely architectural elements, but they also conserve space within the organ case, as they bear the largest pipes of an organ outside the confines of the case. Giving them rounded or pointed profiles also diminishes the width of the entire instrument. Standing five or seven 32′ pipes next to each other would add up to a lot of additional width.

§

Of course, many wonderful organs have been built with clearly defined internal divisions whose façades don’t reflect the internal design. The massive Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Sulpice in Paris is a good example. There is a massive wood case festooned with a procession of larger-than-life statues that take up so much space that it’s a wonder the sound can get out at all. What appears to be a Rückpositiv is actually concealing the back of the console. Of course, that’s not a reflection on the quality or content of the organ, just another way to present the instrument as a monumental work of visual art.

I’ve been in many churches where a modest organ is concealed behind a huge case. In some of those cases, the organ is a small, cheaper replacement for a much larger original instrument. But sometimes, the monumental case was designed by the architect of the building, and there was no funding for an instrument of appropriate size. That’s the equivalent of the guy in the auto parts store who didn’t have a radio but wanted an antenna for appearances, or buying a $100,000 handbag to imply that you live in a $100,000,000 house. Who’s going to wash the windows?

 

Notes

1. Maybe you think I’m kidding. Google “Hermès crocodile bag” and see what you get.

2. Our standard pitch designations refer to the “speaking length” of a pipe, which is the measurement from the bottom of the pipe’s mouth to its tuning point. Almost all façade pipes are two or three feet longer than speaking length to allow for the height of the pipe’s conical foot, and any “false length” at the top to allow for a tuning slot at the back. So a 32′ façade pipe is often close to 40 feet long. A standard semi-trailer passing you on the highway is 53 feet long. I’ve been working with pipe organs for more than 40 years, and I still marvel at the idea of a 32′ organ pipe, a thousand-pound whistle that can play one note at one volume level.

3. You can see the specifications of the Hamburg Schnitger organ here: http://www.arpschnitger.nl/shamb.html.

4. You can see the specifications of the First Church Casavant organ here: http://database.organsociety.org/OrganDetails.php?OrganID=23152.

Foley-Baker, Inc.,

Tolland, Connecticut

St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Foley-Baker, Inc.,

Tolland, Connecticut

St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

 

From the builder

The Welte name is mostly known for its roll-player mechanisms, the Mignon reproducing piano, and their Orchestrion. However, as builders of traditional pipe organs, Welte’s output was small; organs were but one in a family of Welte “products” typical of the era’s massive instrumental output. In 1912, Welte opened a factory in Poughkeepsie, New York, but their earliest organs were purchased from other builders and fitted with Welte players. Since Welte was of German ownership, the First World War threw things into disarray, and after the war, ownership changed hands. A larger reorganization in 1925 by former Kimball man Robert Pier Elliot had Welte building its own organs of fine quality and for any venue: residence, theater, or church. But the firm struggled to gain a strong financial footing. It suffered a setback in 1927, repurchase and relocation in 1929, and finally absorption by Kimball of Chicago in 1931. Today, there are few surviving examples of Welte organs, and, even after our 42 years in business, we had never worked on one. St. Mark’s Minneapolis would be a new experience. 

The cathedral’s consultant was David Engen of Maple Grove, Minnesota. His request for proposal offered a general description of the organ’s overall condition. Our assumption was that we would see huge diapasons, pencil-scale strings, and tibia-like flutes, all on a massive chassis. In fact, the St. Mark’s Welte had been tonally and mechanically modified on two different occasions by M.P. Möller. Much of the Welte material was long gone, although the organ remained capable of producing an impressive volume of sound.

But it was clear the various rebuilds had compromised the instrument. The chamber was packed with non-Welte chests, flexible wind lines, dangling wires, and a chamber entrance door that barely opened, due to added ranks and equipment. There were reservoirs everywhere, fully 17 in the main organ. Tuning access was bad enough, while actual service work required unnecessarily heroic effort. One reason the organ continued to generate an impressive sound was the chamber’s placement and hard walls. More than projecting sound, the chamber almost seemed to amplify it. The cathedral’s impressive acoustics certainly helped as well. 

The organ was on its third console and had a dated relay system spread throughout four different areas of the building. In the basement, the large Spencer blower’s motor needed all new bearings. Adding insult to injury, HVAC ducts installed in the 1950s had seen the removal of the organ’s important static reservoirs, further compromising the wind supply.

At Foley-Baker, we love to save old organs. However, it was clear that at St. Mark’s, there wasn’t an old organ to save, just parts of one. Trying to determine what was possible and affordable would take both positive and practical thinking. If the organ were to be rebuilt, the results had to be worth the investment. 

We spent days measuring pipe scales and gathering details. There were interesting finds, such as high in the tower, where the Möller crew had stored some of the 1928 Welte pipework. There was much damage; some ranks were incomplete, while others were beyond repair. Our tonal director Milovan Popovic laid out rank after twisted rank on the large tower room floor. Out of this survey we found three Welte stops to reclaim: the Swell 4′ Clarion, Great 8′ Second Open Diapason, and the large-scale Swell 8′ Vox Humana. All three became valuable additions. 

As our familiarity with the cathedral’s music program and organ grew, so did our concepts for the renewed instrument. Tonally, we had 1920s Welte mixed with 1980s Möller. In 2012 it is perhaps too easy to criticize Möller’s radical changes as heavy-handed; they were in the spirit of the time, and had introduced a variety of useful colors, including mutations, large-scale strings, and solo reeds. In time, we decided just where and what reused ranks would work and what new ones had to be added to create a bold, cohesive American sound to fill the cathedral’s large nave.

The chamber size and shape dictated the same stacked layout as had existed from the beginning. For us, multi-level organs raise red flags for service accessibility. Without careful design, the new and larger instrument had the potential for being another service nightmare. Our solution was to start from scratch, using a new chassis designed and built at Organ Supply Industries. The elegant simplicity of their slider chests promised minimal maintenance and assurance of accessibility. Their built-in schwimmer-regulators greatly simplified the winding, adding space for more stops and wider passage boards.

Given the scales and pressures, effective swell boxes would be essential. The original Welte shades were rebuilt and fitted to new boxes of 11⁄2-inch-thick medium density fiberboard. The combination of the two makes for a marvelous range of expression; massive ensembles can whisper or roar.

In addition to restoring the 1928 Spencer blower, we were able to find and install appropriate static reservoirs. Unlike 1928, however, this equipment now stands in separate rooms dedicated for the purpose. The result is that, despite wind pressures from five to 20 inches, an indicator light is necessary to know that the wind is on. As we have done elsewhere, we designed and installed an automatic, in-chassis humidity system that requires minimal service attention and combats Minnesota’s problematic humidity swings. 

The low-profile Schantz console dating from 1990 was reused, with modified stop jambs, new drawknobs, and burled mahogany jamb faces for a sharper appearance. (Schantz graciously provided and installed new, easy-to-read piston buttons.) We installed a new electronic relay that is easily accessed by simply raising the now-hinged console lid.

Years of change had seen many stops swapped between divisions. The Choir Diapason had been moved into the Solo as a 4′ Octave. We returned it to the Choir at 8′ with a new bass octave. The Welte Second Open found in the tower became our Great Diapason. Other stops were also returned to their original 1928 locations. The renewed instrument is a blend of remaining Welte pipework, selected Möller ranks, and important new registers. All retained ranks were cleaned, repaired, and revoiced, perhaps none more important than original large pedal basses and their Welte chests. These provided the weight and heft we envisioned as a foundation for the new instrument. 

The reed stops presented their own challenge, with ranks by five different builders and, in some cases, using scales and pressures dictated by available—or unavailable—space. Working with Chris Broome of Broome & Co. LLC, we examined the potential of each rank for our new scheme. In the end, we designed and had built an all-new Great reed chorus. Having found the original 1928 Welte 4′ Clarion, we were able to use it to recreate Welte’s original Swell reed chorus; industrial strength pipes with a just-right massive sound. A small-scale yet piercingly loud Möller Trumpet, which had been taking up valuable room in a corner of the Great, was revoiced into an ideally scaled Choir Trompette. Chorus reeds now serve to cap wonderful choruses, enriched by solo stops such as the Skinner Clarinet or Kimball Corno d’amour. 

The new organ’s sound ties together all the good qualities that go into creating it: the new specification, high pressures and large scales, the chamber’s ability to project sound and the swell shutters’ ability to contain it, and the new layout and chassis, which provided optimal placement for all stops. As the bottom photo on the front cover clearly displays, even 1928 pipes can look (and sound) like new. We were really thrilled to hear Canon Musician Ray Johnston play the “new” organ at the inaugural concert on May 18, an outstanding program that included brass and the cathedral’s choirs. To him and David Engen we owe thanks for supporting us in this challenging and rewarding project.

Upcoming concerts involving the rebuilt organ are posted on the cathedral’s website. All photos of the cathedral and reconditioned instrument are by Mark Manring (www.manring.net). All other photos are from Foley-Baker, Inc. files.

—Mike Foley

 

From the canon musician

St. Mark’s Cathedral has long been known for its various music programs and concerts. Built as a parish church in 1910 and designated a cathedral in 1941, it has during that time seen six directors of music as well as a number of rebuilds and additions to the original four-manual Welte installed in 1928. As musical tastes changed throughout the century, the tonal plan of the organ became distorted, becoming a combination of classical and romantic sounds, leading to a loss of identity for the instrument. 

The various additions also led to a chronic lack of space within the organ chamber, preventing access for tuning and repair to pipes bending over with metal fatigue. Equally worrying was the damage done to the winding as abundant leaks had resulted in pressure drops throughout the organ. 

In 2010 the cathedral launched a capital campaign, included in which was repair to the organ’s winding. However, on closer inspection it soon became apparent that problems ran very deep and fixing the leaks would in fact be a waste of money. Major action was required. The choice was stark—total reconditioning or a new instrument. This was an easy decision: much of the original Welte chorus was in good condition and had such quality and character that it could become the basis of a major overhaul. 

Next came the biggest challenge—persuading the vestry and the congregation that a lot of money needed to be spent to keep the organ in working order. To many, of course, the organ sounded just fine, as it always had. As is often the case, organists’ abilities to mask faults and ciphers go unnoticed by the majority. However, thanks to many organ tours and presentations by both committee and builder, and the fact that music and the pipe organ are such an integral part of worship at the cathedral, we were able to reach our target of $1.2 million.

In consultation with our selected firm, Foley-Baker Inc., a new specification was drawn up that necessitated replacing one-third of the pipework and relocating ranks from the gallery to the main organ. Of primary concern was an instrument to accompany the liturgy, from providing subtlety and color for the cathedral choir’s large repertoire to giving stimulating leadership to congregational hymnody. If the organ could do both those things well it would surely prove to be an admirable recital instrument also. 

While not a particularly large four-manual instrument, at least by American standards, it has exceeded all expectations as a concert instrument: almost endless color, a vast dynamic range, and a character that is totally suited to the building, all exquisitely voiced. It is unashamedly in the English romantic style, and, having played many of the great cathedral organs in the U.K., I am delighted that we now have such a fine instrument in that tradition, as well as an organ that is true to its original intention.

—Ray Johnston

 

From the committee chair

In May 2012, the refurbished St. Mark’s organ was inaugurated for concert audience and worshipers. Those were thrilling experiences, the result of meticulous planning and craftsmanship by Canon Musician Raymond Johnston and Foley-Baker, Inc.

I was privileged to chair the organ planning committee during the last phase of its pre-construction work. This was undertaken in the context of St. Mark’s “Opening Our Doors” capital campaign, which, by any standard, was a clear success, raising over $3 million. I was also privileged to co-chair the capital campaign with Inez Bergquist, Doug Eichten, and Courtney Ward-Reichard. The capital campaign had three highly visible purposes: restore the exterior of the 100-year-old building to stop leaks and deterioration; improve a long list of interior infrastructure items; and repair/restore the pipe organ. The first two of those purposes were easy for members and contributors to see and understand, especially when ice formed inside the church and fell on folks in procession during Sunday worship. The organ was a different matter.

Even though much of the organ was well beyond maintenance and some of it dead or ciphering, it still sounded pretty good much of the time. Most of this was attributable to Ray Johnston’s talents and the marvelous acoustic characteristics of the St. Mark’s Cathedral space. We conducted behind-the-walls tours of the chambers to show potential donors the points of failure and the grossly antiquated control mechanisms, leaking air handlers, and failing wiring. We were also careful to explain that much of the tuned pipework and blower could be restored and would be maintained.  At the end of the many days, the congregation did contribute and one very generous, anonymous donor provided most of the funds needed for the more than $1 million organ project.

While Foley-Baker did their work, the entire instrument was removed and a digital organ was rented and used with speakers around the cathedral. Many regular attendees commented that they could “hear the difference” and had come to understand why it was appropriate to rebuild a fine pipe organ. That was brought home once again to me on Sunday last, when Ray Johnston offered Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s Choral Song and Fugue as the service postlude. Most of the congregation stayed to hear it and to celebrate the glory of the rebuilt organ.  

—Fred Moore

Frank Rippl

Chicago? Again? A third OHS national convention in the Windy City? What else was there to see and hear in the way of the pipe organ? There was a great deal—and splendidly presented with grace, good humor, brilliant scholarship, and midwestern charm. Chicago has world-class museums, architecture, shopping, dining, magnificent Lake Michigan—and stunning churches and pipe organs!

 

Sunday, July 8

Jonathan Ryan played the opening recital at St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church on Chicago’s North Side, on the fine 2m Fisk Op. 123 (2005) that stands on the floor in the rear nave’s left corner. Things got off to a lively start with Dupré’s transcription of Bach’s Sinfonia from Cantata 29. This robust Fisk has strong, dark, full-bodied reeds; clean, striking mixtures; singing flutes and strings, warm foundations, and a powerful fortissimo. Ryan’s playing had great drive; he saved the mighty reed sounds for a dramatic conclusion. In Sweelinck’s Balletto del Granduca, I liked hearing the full-bodied Trompette, flutes accompanying a Cornet and a jolly Zimbelstern, and a nice organo pleno to close. Fine playing.

Francis Jackson’s Prelude on East Acklam featured some very British sounds: celestes accompanied the 8′ Octave in the tenor register; I believe we heard the 4′ Open Flute. The organ more than held its own in the hymn “For the fruit of all creation.” How I love hearing OHS hymn singing! I was seated next to Stephen Schnurr and Dennis Northway, leaders of the convention. Their faces expressed great pleasure. That first hymn is always a wonderful affirmation for convention committee members—a moment of satisfaction after years of hard work. I was happy for them, and all who made this moment possible. This was indeed “the fruit of their creation.”

In György Ligeti’s (1923–2006) Étude coulée 1969 a busy, repetitive pattern of phenomenally fast notes in the flutes flew out over sustained pedal notes, then suddenly ended, flitting off to the upper reaches. A few chuckles were heard. 

Herbert Howells’ Rhapsody in C-sharp Minor, op. 17, no. 3, started big and then presented typical Howellsian dynamic and tonal variations. I liked the Hautbois 8′ as a chorus reed. The Great Prestant 16′ in the tenor range was grand. Ryan had a very fine sense of this piece’s architecture.

In No. 4 in A-Flat Major from Robert Schumann’s Six Canonic Etudes, op. 56, Ryan showed the rich foundations, ending with Viole de gambe 8′; No. 5 in B Minor offered pluck and life. George Baker’s Berceuse Paraphrase (1992) was a lovely combination of Vierne’s Berceuse with Away in a Manger—easy on the ear with celestes, solo flute, and soft pedal.

Jonathan Ryan closed with Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 7, no. 1—its lively toccata and angular fugue formed a test for hands and feet that he passed well! This excellent recital was a great start to our convention.

Buses took us downtown, where we had our choice of restaurants, then walked to Holy Name Cathedral for a recital by Wolfgang Rübsam on the 1989 4m, 117-rank Flentrop. With mechanical stop action and very deep mechanical key action, it is not for the faint of heart. Following a recent fire, the cathedral was closed for a time. The organ suffered only minor damage, to the Positief; building repairs, with a new terrazzo floor, improved the acoustics. The organ stands proudly in the rear gallery: its elaborate casework, in light-colored French quarter-sawn oak, starkly contrasts with the dramatic dark wooden ceiling. Herr Rübsam’s all-German program began with Bach’s partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig. Registrations were perfectly proportioned: cornets sang with grace and conviction, beautifully supported by foundations; the full plenum was rich and clear. Elegant playing throughout.

Chorale preludes followed: Helmut Walcha’s Jesu, deine Passion (canon at the sixth) in trio texture; Rübsam’s own Wie soll ich dich empfangen used an 8′ Principal with tremolo, a lovely pastel; Walcha’s Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott offered wonderful counterpoint against a sturdy pedal cantus firmus. Walcha (1907–91) was Rübsam’s teacher; Rübsam is recording Walcha’s complete organ works on the Naxos label. We then sang the hymn “A mighty fortress is our God.” Our singing that night was some of the week’s best!

Walcha’s Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ presented effective combinations of 8′ and 4′ flutes, Cornet with tremolo, and a pedal-reed cantus firmus. Rübsam’s own O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf: Entrée opened with a grand ff; Communio was a continually moving trio followed by a lush passage on strings and flutes; a lively Toccata followed, including the pedal 32′ Bombarde. This thrilling and joyful piece is a first-rate addition to the repertoire. 

More Walcha followed: an introspective Der Tag ist hin, mein Jesu, bei mir bleibe. Usually I’m pretty good at identifying registrations, but not with this organ and organist. Rübsam drew forth a fantastic variety of color—the Dutch reeds were so subtle.

Rübsam closed this perfect recital with Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor. Dynamics began softly but built quickly; tempo was langsam at first, but built momentum and energy. The fugue’s familiar melodies were given their due in perfect balance. I’ve never heard it played better. Rübsam’s wife, Jan, told me that he had had rotator cuff surgery on his shoulder in April. Only three weeks prior to the convention did he know he could play for us! The audience’s roar called him back to the balcony railing countless times. This was a memorable OHS evening.

 

Monday, July 9

Monday dawned bright and sunny. Cooler temperatures followed weeks of horrendous heat. With perfect weather, we were eager to get started. 

We divided into two groups. Mine went to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Valparaiso, Indiana to hear James Russell Brown play the 2m Hook & Hastings Op. 1417 (1889). The Atlas contains Stephen Schnurr’s two-page essay about this organ and Scot Huntington’s 16-page description of his firm’s work restoring the instrument. It stands at the back of the church resplendent in a beautiful oak case and painted façade; the 16′ Bourdon pipes form the sides of the case. One of our Biggs Fellows hand-pumped the organ for the recital. Brown began with Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from Solomon). The organ’s sound was clear and warm. In Bach’s Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 662, the Melodia accompanied the (partially new) 16′ Contra Fagotto played one octave lower, along with (I think) the 4′ Violina, a lovely sound. Brown played with great sensitivity and sweetness. Sur “La, mi, re,” by an anonymous 16th-century English composer, was played on an 8′ flute. 

Chorale Variations on St. Elizabeth (Crusader’s Hymn), from Frank Ferko’s (b. 1950) Music for Elizabeth Chapel (2001), is charming and would please your congregation. I was eager to see how Brown would bring off the late-romantic Elgar Nimrod from “Enigma” Variations (op. 36), arranged by William H. Harris, on a small tracker organ without stop pullers. He did reasonably well, using the piano and forte ventil-like toe studs, but it was ultimately awkward. Parry’s hymn “O praise ye the Lord!” (Laudate Dominum) was a good follow-up, in a fine demonstration of a very beautiful 19th-century organ.

A pleasant walk through a park-like setting complete with pond and fountain took us to First Presbyterian Church for our choice of lectures, one on the restoration of a 1926 Casavant that will be moved to Chicago’s St. John Cantius Church, about which we had received a DVD. I attended the other, “Issues in Restoration,” by Keith Williams of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, a fascinating consideration of “Why do we do what we do the way we do it,” that also explored the words “conservation” and “restoration”—entertaining and enlightening, with plenty of photos. 

We then drove to Gary, Indiana, once home to U.S. Steel. It has stunning views of Lake Michigan, and an attractive English Gothic-style Catholic cathedral, built and dedicated in 1950 to the Holy Angels. The 2m, 33-rank Phelps Casavant, Op. 2769, installed in 1963, stands in the rear gallery on either side of a large window, and speaks clearly down the nave in a grand acoustic. This was a much-anticipated recital—word was out that this organ was exceptional (it was), and we all love Derek Nickels’ playing (he did not disappoint!). Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 549, sounded clean and polished. The fugue began on the 8′ Krummhorn—an unexpected surprise—and built to a blazing full-organ finale. We were all smitten with this instrument; music by Ernst Pepping perfectly suited it: Wie soll ich dich empfangen (Grosses Orgelbuch, 1941), Vorspiel I, Andante cantabile showed the beautiful 8′ and 4′. Vorspiel II, Allegro Scherzando leapt about; a fine reed carried the tune. William Albright’s ever-charming Sweet Sixteenths—A Concert Rag for Organ (1975) was very well played with loads of wit. As it was about 90 degrees outside, and we were packed in the church without A/C, who knows how warm the church was, nor how warm Derek was up in the loft, but it never showed in his playing!

After “Father, we praise thee” (Christe Sanctorum)—brilliantly played and vigorously sung—Nickels closed with Dupré’s Variations sur un Noël, op. 20 (1922), a dazzling performance that lifted us out of the pews roaring our approval for this superb recital. (Derek was also in charge of the buses, and did his work very well, indeed!)

Next was Christ Temple Cathedral—Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. in the Roseland neighborhood. The present building was dedicated in 1926. Originally a Dutch Reformed church, in the 1960s and ’70s it and the neighborhood became largely African-American. The church is a well-maintained part of the community. Its 3m, 39-stop electro-pneumatic 1926 Hinners—the largest surviving Hinners in the Chicago area—stands in the front of the church in chambers on either side of the seated choir. Chicago organist and composer Clarence Eddy played the dedication recital. In 1954 Austin replaced the console. The organ fell silent in recent years, but was brought back to life by the Chicago-Midwest OHS chapter especially for our convention. Recitalist Mark Sudeith began with Wilhelm Middelschulte’s (1863–1943) Canon in F Major, dedicated to Clarence Eddy—cheery music using the foundation stops. Schubert’s Am Meer, arranged by Eddy, showed the beautiful soft strings and Vox Humana; the tone is warm and luxurious. Sudeith then played (from the original manuscript) Variations on a Folksong, “Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells,” by Florence B. Price (1887–1953), which displayed the solo reeds and ended with a lively toccata. The hymn “I’m happy with Jesus alone,” by Charles P. Jones Sr. (1865–1949), founder of the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A., was a rouser in the best sense—we loved it. The playing was first rate, and our voices filled the 1,150-seat church with joy.

Our buses took us to Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, on the University of Chicago campus, to hear the massive 72-bell carillon, the world’s second largest (the largest, also a gift of the Rockefeller family, is at New York City’s Riverside Church, with 74 bells). John Gouwens played a stunning program as we sat in the grass beneath the chapel’s soaring tower: Dave Grusin’s On Golden Pond (1981); John Courter’s Suite No. 4 (2009); an improvisation on a submitted hymn tune; and Roy Hamlin Johnson’s Victimae Paschali Laudes (1986).

My group had dinner at Augustana Lutheran Church; organist Daniel Schwandt allowed us access to the church’s new handsome 2m tracker built by Wahl Organbuilders of Appleton, Wisconsin. We took quite a shine to its clear voicing. Wahl reused pipework from an old Lyon & Healy organ as well as newly made pipes—a very successful blend. 

On to the First Unitarian Church, completed in 1931 in the English Perpendicular Gothic style, to hear three historic organs from Stephen Schnurr’s collection. There was also a Hammond player organ performing: another treat! Who knew there was such a thing? Gregory Crowell, making his ninth appearance at an OHS convention, began on a Henry Willis “Scudamore” organ (ca. 1857–1860) with Gottlieb Muffat’s Overture, Suite 1 in C Major. The one-manual, 54-note organ had two ranks: Open Diapason 8′ and Principal 4′, with a permanently coupled 25-note pedal. The pleasing sounds graced the early evening. Crowell then moved to a sweet-toned little George Jardine & Sons (ca. 1850s) (“the oldest American-built pipe organ in the Chicago metropolitan area,” according to the Atlas). He gracefully played Handel’s Voluntary in C Major, movements III and VI from Ernest Chausson’s Vêpres des Vierges, op. 31 (I enjoyed the flute in movement VI), and his own transcription of Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Wörte, op. 67, V. Moderato. 

A two-rank (no pedal) Hilborne L. Roosevelt, Op. 297 (1885) looked like an upright piano, having a reed organ’s foot-pumping pedals. It was meant to be portable. We heard Voluntary by Samuel Jackson (1818–1885), then some elegant Elgar: Vesper Voluntaries, op. 14, I. Andante and IV. Allegretto piacevole, with an effective Stopped Diapason. Praeludium in F-sharp Minor by Ernst Friedrich Richter (1808–1879) was interesting and well suited to the Roosevelt. Crowell concluded on the Willis, with Eric Thiman’s Postlude on “Nun danket alle Gott” and I. Allegro from Sonatine for Organ by Eberhart Egermann (b. 1933), good demonstration pieces, well played. We were grateful to Stephen Schnurr for making these instruments available (and to those who helped transport them!).

We returned to Rockefeller Memorial Chapel to hear Nathan Laube; the performance was broadcast over the Internet (available at: http://news.uchicago.edu/webcast/nathan-laube-live-2012-ohs-chicago-con…), an OHS first. The chapel is vast: long, wide, and high, with the main organ in front and a substantial gallery organ in the rear. The front 4m console plays both organs; a 2m gallery console controls just that organ. The room’s windows were never properly finished, so it lacks color, but is still quite impressive. The 132-rank Skinner Organ Company Op. 634 was built in 1928—a period in which Ernest Skinner built his magnum opus at Yale University’s Woolsey Hall, and huge organs at the University of Michigan and Princeton. This organ suffered some rebuilding efforts in the 1970s and later; several ranks were dispersed. In 2005 the Schantz Organ Company returned old ranks, replicated others, and replaced some with vintage Skinner pipework. Rededicated on June 7, 2008, the organ, while not exactly as Skinner left it, is once again a major part of the Chicago organ scene. 

OHS executive director Jim Weaver welcomed the audience, including those on the World Wide Web, then Nathan Laube opened with Allegro vivace from Widor’s Symphonie, op. 42, no. 5 (1878). This familiar music moved over us gently at first, followed by a good deal of aggression. Laube kept things in proportion, giving each melodic line its due, ending on full organ with those fabulous reeds. Laube spoke about growing up in Chicago; as a young boy he was taken to hear the E. M. Skinner organ at St. Luke’s, Evanston, and to Rockefeller Chapel, where he heard Wolfgang Rübsam play. He fell in love with these instruments and knew that playing the organ would be his career.

Mendelssohn’s Sonata in A, op. 65, no. 3 (1845), first movement ended in a blaze of glory, followed by the lovely Andante tranquillo. Laube’s transcription of Mendelssohn’s Variations serieuses, op. 54 (1841), with passages of great wit and virtuosity, wonderfully displayed this huge organ’s colors. Though young (he turned 25 the day before this recital), Laube is a master of the art of transcription. He reached deeply into the vast Skinner tonal palette, and brought us to places we might not have gone before—a brilliant performance. 

After intermission, he played Saint-Saëns’ Fantaisie in D-flat, op. 101 (1895). Its quiet opening showed beautiful strings and a solo flute that was to die for. A gentle reed chorus punctuated the flutes and strings, then stronger reeds were in dialogue with the foundations. A swelling crescendo then arose. Laube played it beautifully, announcing the ff section on a powerful reed, then slowly drifted back to quiet strings. 

In Funérailles (d’après Lamartine) from Laube’s transcription of Liszt’s Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173, no. 7 (1849), thunder-like pedal rumbles gave an ominous start, followed by a smashing fanfare played on the gallery organ’s horizontal trumpet. This piece is full of foreboding darkness, and Laube summoned forth remarkable color. A riotous pedal solo accompanied the active manual work, which featured a few blasts from a strong reed, and then gave way to a single flute. In two Brahms settings of O Welt, ich muß dich lassen, no. 3 employed a quiet 8′ Diapason on the choir, and no. 11 drew especially gorgeous foundations. Laube’s tempo was a bit restless, as though the soul longed to leave the body and journey heavenward. 

The world premiere of Laube’s transcription of Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture, op. 80 (1880), featured melodic lines and rhythmic passages carefully delineated, and blended into a musically rich and full whole. The concert concluded with Gaudeamus Igitur, so fun to sing in this full chapel, ending a wonderful day. 

 

Tuesday, July 10

In the suburb of Downers Grove we visited the charming Tivoli Theatre, where house organist David Rhodes played its 3m, 10-rank Wurlitzer, Op. 942. The third organ to grace this theatre (it was preceded by a Barton and a Wurlitzer), this instrument is owned and maintained by Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts (CATOE). We munched on popcorn as Rhodes entertained us with Richard A. Whiting’s Hooray for Hollywood (1937), and Charles Chaplin’s Smile, then accompanied a hilarious 1915 Chaplin short film, In the Park (possibly filmed in the Chicago area). Rhodes seemingly caught every nuance. In a hot dog-eating scene, he slipped in the “Oscar Mayer Wiener Song”—very clever playing and a fun start to the day.

Our next stop was very sentimental for me: the beautiful Noack organ, Op. 44 (1969) at the Convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph in La Grange Park. Installed the summer I graduated from college, this organ became a place of pilgrimage for us “Tracker Backers” on our visits to Chicago. It stands in a balcony in the rear of the nave of this handsome modern chapel. Originally the room had all hard surfaces, but now carpet covers the concrete floor, and padded chairs have replaced wooden seats. Though the acoustic is not as beautiful as it once was, the organ still sounds great. 

Thomas Wikman began with Buxtehude’s Partita on “Vater unser im Himmelreich”; I especially enjoyed the 4′ flutes with tremolo. In Antonio Cabezón’s Tiento del quinto tono, Wikman’s well-chosen registration—reeds and Sesquialtera II—led the way. This organ’s Italian accent spoke in Girolamo Cavazzoni’s Canzona sopra ‘Il e bel e bon’, played with good style. The sounds were as beautiful as I remembered. The music was cleanly and sensitively played. 

After the hymn “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” (Hyfrydol), Wikman gave us a sweet performance of Robert Lind’s Prelude on ‘Love Unknown’, then Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue, BWV 572, which worked quite well. The brilliant closing section brought this outstanding concert to a fine conclusion.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church in La Grange is the city’s oldest congregation, founded in 1874. The present French Gothic-style church was built in 1926. (Our Atlas noted that it was featured in the 1995 film While You Were Sleeping.) The 1970 electro-pneumatic Phelps Casavant, Op. 3062, 3m, 46 stops, 63 ranks, stands in a chamber to the right of the chancel. Stephen Schnurr, author of the OHS Organ Atlas 2012, began with the hymn “Lo, he comes with clouds descending” (Helmsley),  followed by Buxtehude’s Praeludium in A Minor, BuxWV 153. Schnurr used the Krummhorn to good effect. Flutes led to the final fugue and a fantasia presenting the full plenum and pedal reeds—a wonderful sound, in a fine performance. 

Next came the premiere of Variations on Hyfrydol, written by convention chair Dennis Northway. At one point the tune appeared in the tenor with imaginatively placed fast notes up top. Another movement used a canon between a trumpet and pedal foundations. After a beautiful movement with sweet strings and soft foundations, a fugue brought this very good new piece to a close. Well done!

A hallmark of Stephen Schnurr’s OHS recitals is the showcasing of young musicians and friends. This recital featured a mother and her children. Tenor Willson Oppedahl, a junior at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, movingly performed Thomas Matthews’ (1915–99) The Lord Is My Shepherd, beautifully sung with sincere conviction. Elegy for violin, harp, and organ, by Harold Friedell (1908–58), featured violinist Allison Alcorn, Willson’s mother; her daughter Kiersten Oppedahl played harp. This enchanting piece, very well presented, cast a spell over all of us. 

Horatio Parker’s Allegretto, from Sonata in E-flat, op. 65, was a good contrast. The Phelps Krummhorn was playful, especially in the lower register, while flutes 8′ and 4′ scampered above. Stephen closed with the Allegro from Widor’s Symphonie VI, op. 42, a fine choice for this outstanding exemplar of the Organ Reform Movement. This organ has a lot of oomph, and Dr. Schnurr used it to good effect, playing with marvelous style and color. 

La Grange’s First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1890. The present church was built in 1962. Its 1962 3m, 46-rank Aeolian-Skinner stands in a gallery at the rear of the long, narrow nave. David Jonies and Jay Peterson shared the concert. Peterson opened with Rheinberger’s Sonata No. 8 in E Minor, op. 132, Introduction and Passacaglia, which sounded very good, with clear sounds in every dynamic range. They then joined forces for Handel’s Organ Concerto in F Major, op. 4, no. 4. Jay Peterson played the four-stop 1981 Brunzema Op. 3 portative organ from the front, while David Jonies played the orchestra bits on the main organ in the gallery. The organs were well matched, and the performance spirited. 

Jonies then played Andantino from Vierne’s Pièces de fantaisie, op. 51, no. 2, showing the beautiful strings, and Naïades, op. 55, no. 4. Next, both played the Skinner: John Rutter’s Variations on an Easter Theme (O sons and daughters), featuring a fine solo on the Oboe. The hymn was: “O sons and daughters let us sing!” (O filii et filiae).

On to Oak Park, to the beautiful St. Catherine of Siena–St. Lucy Catholic Church, a Tudor Gothic-style building dedicated in 1934. Casavant Op. 1467, built in 1932, stands in the rear gallery in two chambers that frame a large Tudor-style window. A modest 3m instrument, it has everything you’d need to be its happy player. The lucky person playing for us was Rhonda Sider Edgington, who opened with Percy Whitlock. In Pastorale, Psalm 23:1 from Seven Sketches on Verses from the Psalms, a solo on the Clarinet was accompanied by flutes, a great choice that slowly revealed the organ’s beauty. Folk Tune, from Five Short Pieces, used what I believe was the Cornopean in the tenor range. The beautiful strings crept in—still fresh after 80 years.

The hymn Picardy (“Let all mortal flesh keep silent”) was a joy to sing in this resonant room. We then heard our first music by Chicago composer Leo Sowerby: Picardy from Meditations on Communion Hymns. Edgington knew just how to express Sowerby’s marvelous harmonic sense. Her closing selection displayed this organ’s strong foundation tone: August Gottfried Ritter’s (1811–85) Sonate Nr. 2 in E Minor, op. 19.

We went to Oak Park’s Grace Episcopal Church for our Annual Meeting, followed by dinner; some explored the neighborhood, with its historic and architectural sites. 

At nearby First United Methodist Church, Ken Cowan played the splendid 4m 1926 Skinner. The console stands in a front balcony behind and above the altar, with pipes in chambers on either side of the chancel; a two-rank Echo division is in the ceiling above the rear gallery. A division of select stops from the main organ speaks into the chapel, where the division has its own 2m console. 

Cowan began with Liszt’s arrangement of Otto Nicolai’s Festival Overture on the chorale “Ein feste Burg is unser Gott,” op. 31. This organ was completely restored without alteration in 2005–6 by the Spencer Organ Company of Massachusetts and Jeff Weiler & Associates; except for an added stop in 1937, it is as it was when Skinner delivered it, producing powerful foundation tone and floor-shaking pedal notes. Cowan’s arrangement of Liszt’s Consolation No. 3 in D-flat featured lush strings and flutes, and a Skinner French Horn, played with his usual sensitivity.

The hymn was “When the morning stars together” (Weisse Flaggen). Ken Cowan’s hymn playing, like everything else, is done with great art and grace.

John Ireland’s beautiful Elegiac Romance began with a sweet Oboe solo followed by a wonderful section with celestes—perfect for a summer evening. It included the French Horn, and then built to a mighty roar; the plaintive Oboe returned, and it ended with quiet strings. Cowan closed the first half with a blazing performance of Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, op. 7, no. 3. I liked the Clarinet’s clear, round sound. The playing was precise and yet supple, with the musical line clearly shaped. That fantastic fugue really galloped along.

This organ had been restored but not modernized: it lacks levels of memory. So, as in the good old days, Cowan had to come out during intermission and reset his pistons. He chuckled about it, but went about his work good-naturedly. 

Cowan then returned to his perch high above us to perform Rachel Laurin’s Étude Héroïque, demonstrating the assertive Gamba Celestes on the Solo division, and a sweet 2′ in a French Tambourin section of this piece. He closed with Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1 in D Minor, op. 42, giving this well-known work a new sheen through his musical creativity. The Pastorale showed the Clarinet again, the beautiful Vox Humana, and the Chimes. The Finale swept us along for a gleeful ride, with our pilot Ken Cowan giving the OHS another brilliant and memorable concert! We returned to our hotel fired up for the instrument we love, having just heard one its finest champions.

 

Wednesday, July 11

We began at Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School. The 1910 building is a masterpiece, incorporating elements of both Chicago and Prairie School styles. The 1925 Waveland Avenue wing included an auditorium seating nearly 1,800 and boasting three seconds of reverberation. The 4m Richard O. Whitelegg Möller proved to be one of the favorite instruments heard at this convention. The console abuts the front-left of the stage on the auditorium floor; pipes stand on a wide shelf at the back of the stage. We were told that this organ was delivered seven weeks after the contract was signed; the high quality of the work tells a great deal about Möller’s vast resources. (See Dennis Northway, “A new four-manual pipe organ in seven weeks: Möller Opus 6373 at Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School,” The Diapason, May 2012, pp. 26–29; audio file available at www.thediapason.com.) 

John Sherer, organist at Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church, presented a “Concert to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic.” “Music of 1912” began with Elgar’s Imperial March, brilliantly played. The instrument has an English town hall organ’s power and grandeur. In Edward Bairstow’s Elegy, gorgeous strings and flutes were played with just enough rubato. The pedal part rumbled quietly as though it were a creature of the deep ocean. 

In “Music Heard Aboard the Titanic,” John Philip Sousa’s rousing and entertaining El Capitan was followed by Edwin H. Lemare’s transcription of Barcarolle, from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, said to have been played one hour before the ship sank. Next came Irving Berlin’s Alexander’s Ragtime Band, which was played as the ship sank. Sherer played it very well. 

“Music to Honor the Titanic Victims” began with Joseph Bonnet’s touching In Memoriam. The organ gave us deeply moving sounds of sadness, grief, and horror, and images of the deep, cold ocean. The piece ended with a quiet farewell to the victims of this tragedy.

This beautiful organ is in need and most worthy of a complete restoration, but was made to sound quite fine this day. Sherer closed with The Navy Hymn, “Eternal Father strong to save.” Here the too-brisk, march-like tempo seemed to not match the words. An over-busy accompaniment threw us off the pulse, and twice Sherer modulated up. The rest of the concert, however, was lovely and inspiring. 

We then went to Glencoe and the beautiful North Shore Congregation Israel. It was a thrill to enter this holy space, designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki (who designed the Oberlin Conservatory of Music). A peaceful study in white overlooking Lake Michigan, the sanctuary is shaped like praying hands. Narrow windows start just above the floor and rise to form ceiling arches, allowing light to fill the space. The 3m, 46-rank electro-pneumatic Casavant, Op. 2768 (probably the largest untouched early Phelps Casavant in the Chicago area), perches on a free-standing rear balcony.

The recitalist was H. Ricardo Ramirez, director of music/organist at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral. Jehan Alain’s Les Fêtes de l’Année Israelite, AWV 85, in the style of Hebrew chant and song, began quietly on the Krummhorn and gradually grew to a Trumpet fanfare. This very approachable music was so appropriate to the space, with clear and refined sounds. We sang the hymn “God of might” (Adeer Hu) in both Hebrew and English. In Bach’s Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 530, the third movement showed the organ’s Sesquialtera. Ramirez closed with Duruflé’s Suite, op. 5. The Fagott 16′ played one octave lower was a very fine sound. The Toccata was thrillingly played.

In the leafy suburb of Winnetka, we visited Winnetka Congregational Church and its landmark 3m Martin Pasi tracker, Op. 18 (2008). Established in 1869, the church’s present building, Colonial with Art Deco and Egyptian touches in its lovely white interior, was built in 1936. The ornate North German-style case in front commands the eye with the Great in the middle, the Swell above the Great, and the Positiv cantilevered in front of the Great with the keydesk below, similar to John Brombaugh’s Op. 33 organ at Lawrence University in Appleton. The Pedal is in towers at the sides of the case; the 32′ Subbass is in the old chambers above and to the sides of the altar, where the previous Austin once stood. 

Nicholas Bideler, a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, began with Bruhns’s Praeludium in G Major, which sounded wonderful on this organ. Bideler’s playing had clear direction and he used the organ’s many colors very well. Next was Bach’s Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654. One tremulant affects the entire organ, and it was fine, although it did create a bit of a stir on that low pedal E-flat that starts the piece. I think Bideler used the Vox Humana with a 4′ flute as the solo line. His performance was imbued with the inner joy expressed in the chorale. 

In Karg-Elert’s Trois Impressions, Op. 72—I. Harmonies du soir, Bideler showed this versatile organ’s romantic voice. I enjoyed the Krummhorn and strings. “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” (Repton) was followed by Impromptu from Vierne’s 24 Pièces de fantaisie, 3^ème Suite, which worked quite well. Bideler closed with Duruflé’s Prélude, adagio et choral varié sur le theme di Veni Creator, Op. 4—III Choral varié. The triumphant ending was riveting. 

Grace Presbyterian Church in Winnetka had been First Church of Christ, Scientist, built in 1938—a white Colonial-style church, whose pewter and crystal lighting fixtures were imported from Czechoslovakia prior to World War II. The church was sold to Grace Presbyterian Church in 2012. The 1938 tonally and mechanically unaltered 2m W. W. Kimball Co. organ, Op. 7238, stands at the front. Both Swell and Great are enclosed in separate chambers. The first recital was given by William H. Barnes, of Evanston, on August 21, 1938. Our recitalist, Elizabeth Naegele, who, among other things, has the distinction of being Nathan Laube’s first organ teacher, opened with Lefébure-Wély’s Sortie in B-flat Major—jolly music, played with great spirit and flourish. In a salute to this building’s long history as a Christian Science Church, the hymn was Mary Baker Eddy’s 1896 “Saw ye my Saviour?” (Laundon). We sang it well, and she played it with great sensitivity to the text, using the organ’s colors nicely. 

Naegele then played five of the “versets” from Léon Boëllmann’s Heures mystiques, ending with Entrée III. I particularly liked the Oboe. Sonata II—III Seraphic Chant by Lily Wadhams Moline (1862–1966) was lovely music, beautifully played. Naegele ended this fine and well-chosen program with Let Us Break Bread Together from Communion Hymns for Organ, Vol. I, in a quite inventive setting by Edwin T. Childs (b. 1945). 

Our next visit, to Techny’s Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Society of the Divine Word, was highly anticipated as we had seen stunning photos of its interior. A huge complex, its property adjoins St. Joseph’s Technical School, whence the “Techny” nickname originates. The large Romanesque chapel, adorned with beautiful carvings, statues, chandeliers, and sconces (forged in the Techny shops), opened in 1923. The second-story gallery runs the entire perimeter of the chapel, and our musicians took full advantage of it. Acoustics were generous and rich. The 4m Wiener organ, some of whose ranks are reused from other instruments, stands in the rear gallery in an attractive case. Its condition is not great, but it was shown to its best advantage. 

We heard The Madrigal Choir of Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, led by Dennis Northway, along with young organists Madeleine Woodworth and Charlie Carpenter. Now in its twelfth year, the choir, made up of mostly high school students, is dedicated to singing music of the Renaissance. Mr. Carpenter began, playing Vierne’s Carillon sur la sonnerie du carillon de la chapelle du Château de Longpont (Aisne) from 24 Pièces en style libre, op. 31, no. 21, with skill and aplomb. 

The choir sang Kyrie Eleison from William Byrd’s Mass for four voices very well, in proper Anglican style. They surprised us by singing not from the rear gallery where the organ was, but from the perimeter gallery above the high altar. After Madeleine Woodworth played Divertissement from Vierne’s 24 Pièces en style libre, with plenty of drive from this powerful organ, the choir offered Blessed Are the Pure in Heart by Eric DeLamarter (1880–1953), a beautiful setting sung and conducted with great sensitivity. Woodworth led the hymn, Leo Sowerby’s “Come risen Lord, and deign to be our guest” (Rosedale). The choir moved to different places along that perimeter gallery each time they sang, slowly making their way to the organ loft—a magical effect. Northway led these well-trained students beautifully in Peter Lutkin’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You. 

A new setting of Ave Verum Corpus was by a familiar figure: 20 year-old Adam Gruber, an alumnus of this choir and organ student of Dennis Northway, who has played for us many times and is now a student at Oberlin. The piece was well constructed and showed that Gruber has a future in the art of composition. Charlie Carpenter, a current Northway student, played the Widor Toccata. Great job, Charlie! Kudos to Dennis Northway for giving these young people a chance to perform at the convention!

Buses then took us to Evanston, for dinner at the North Shore Hotel downtown, and then the treat of several neighborhood open consoles. Some of the young, fast-moving types, led by Nathan Laube, made it down to St. Luke’s Church and its magnificent E.M. Skinner. It was a grand, fun, free time. 

The day concluded at the Music Institute of Chicago. This building, a former Christian Science church, retained its 1914 E. M. Skinner organ, Op. 208 (the oldest functioning Skinner in Illinois, according to our Atlas), a modest 3m instrument whose pipes stand at the back of the platform in front of the 900-seat auditorium built in the Neoclassic style favored by Mary Baker Eddy. The console is on the stage. Recitalist Scott Montgomery began with Saint-Saëns’ Fantaisie in E-flat. The forte sections demonstrated the sturdy foundation stops echoed by the Cornopean—a great sound. Montgomery played Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596, in the Romantic tradition, with shades and all. I loved the ppp strings in the second movement. It worked surprisingly well.

In the Choral of Widor’s Symphony No. 7, op. 42, no. 3, Montgomery captured the mood nicely, alternating string, flute, and foundation tone. Scherzo from Vierne’s Symphony No. 2, op. 20, was an audience favorite; Montgomery did a fine job, and so did the Skinner. Huge flute sounds crowned the ensemble. Dudley Buck’s Variations on Home, Sweet Home, op. 30, displayed the big, bold Cornopean, Vox Humana, Flügel Horn, and the Great Philomela. The Swell Aeoline and Unda Maris closed the piece—wonderful sounds that made my mouth water. One young member was heard to say, “I want an E. M. Skinner in my church!” In a beautiful calm Calvin Hampton Lullaby, Montgomery summoned all of the organ’s softest sounds. The Swell Gedackt accompanied the Clarinet in the tenor range; the Vox Humana was heard again as a solo with a 4′ flute. Unda Maris and Aeoline were a great combination. This is a piece your congregation would love!

In Guilmant’s Caprice in B-flat, op. 20, no. 3 from Pièces dans différents styles, Book VI, there was a good deal of playful shifting of manuals—welcome after the Hampton’s quiet gentility, and very well played. This organ has no general pistons, so Montgomery employed two very skilled stop pullers. The hymn was Mary Baker Eddy’s “It matters not what be thy lot” (Gloaming). Montgomery closed his fine program with John Knowles Paine’s sturdy Concert Variations on the Austrian Hymn, op. 3, no. 1—always a good tour of an organ. We returned to the hotel tired but exhilarated. 

 

Thursday, July 12

Thursday dawned bright and sunny. At Chicago’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Luke (ELCA) we heard Erik Wm. Suter play the large 1963 3m Schlicker. The church’s long, high nave offers wonderful acoustics. The main organ stands in the rear gallery, with a Positiv mounted on the railing. The clear, refined sound includes marvelous mixtures that were like cooling drops of water. A smaller unit organ is in front of the church. Suter opened with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 541; he has a fine and clean technique, and tempos were perfect for both music and room. 

Dale Wood’s gorgeous setting of In Thee Is Gladness began with strings and a 4′ flute. We also heard lovely solo reeds. In “Come down, O love divine” (Down Ampney), Suter showed brilliant hymn leadership. His time as organist at Washington National Cathedral was evident in a grandiose and thrilling style of playing; his last verse reharmonization was a thing of wonder.

In Peter Eben’s Nedelní Hudba (Music for Sunday), Finale, Suter put the blazing reeds on full display. After a quiet section with strings, solo flutes, and quiet solo reeds, some growling and menacing pedal sounds took us back to the louder, livelier music. Organ and organist were a fabulous combination; this fantastic concert was a great start to the day. 

We proceeded to the huge and imposing St. Josaphat’s Church in Chicago, in Romanesque style with massive stone walls, blessed in 1902. The first organ in the rear gallery, built by the Wisconsin Pipe Organ Factory in 1902, was replaced in 1924 by a 3m Kilgen, Op. 3386, which used some pipes from the previous instrument and retained its case. In 2004, the Bradford Organ Company installed a “much traveled” 1872 2m Johnson Organ Company Op. 386 in the nave on the right side. Our recitalist Bernadette Wagner earned her bachelor’s degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University; she is now a graduate student at Arizona State University. Wagner began with two Brahms settings of O Welt, ich muß dich lassen on the Kilgen; diapasons were warm and rich in the reverberant space—nicely played. She then came downstairs to the Johnson organ for the hymn “Creator spirit, by whose aid” (Surrey). Bernadette Wagner and the room-filling sound of this 14 stop-organ were quite up to the task of accompanying us. 

Movements II and III of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 4 in B-flat, op. 65, featured the organ’s beautiful Clarinet, Oboe and Bassoon, and lovely flutes—very pleasing playing with a well-developed sense of musical line. Wagner closed her fine recital with Daniel Pinkham’s The Book of Hours, a nice demonstration of the various combinations on this well-made treasure from another century. 

Chicago’s Wicker Park Evangelical Lutheran Church, ELCA, was formally organized in 1879; the present Romanesque church was finished in 1907. The 1907 Möller tracker is still in use; sadly, however, only part of the Swell division was operable, so much of the program was compromised; at times it was difficult to even hear the organ. Our players were Dennis Northway and Adam Gruber. Northway opened with a very soft Clarence Eddy Prelude in A Minor, using the Möller’s beautiful strings very well, then played Harrison M. Wild’s ironically named hymn “Softly fades the twilight ray.” Adam Gruber played two selections from Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, and Northway played Pachelbel’s Aria Sebaldina from Hexachordum Apollinis (1699). I felt sorry for these gentlemen having to play an instrument not up to convention standards. We had to listen very carefully to hear anything, but I must say that it was always worth the effort. 

During free time downtown, we could either visit the Chicago Cultural Center in the grand old former public library, or, as I did, cross Michigan Avenue and visit Millennium Park with its fantastic Frank Gehry-designed bandshell, and the three-story Anish Kapoor “Cloud Gate” steel sculpture (known locally as “The Bean”). The entire complex is brilliant.

A problem arose, beyond the convention leaders’ control. The 1927 3m Estey at the John Murphy Auditorium of the American College of Surgeons was unable to be played. So our brave recitalist, Cathryn Wilkins, moved to a quite different venue and organ—the huge 4m Aeolian-Skinner in the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue, across the street from the 100-story John Hancock Center—and very quickly adapted her program. Designed for a very different instrument, the program did not make full use of this organ’s range, but was nevertheless entertaining. Wilkins played some waltzes by Brahms for piano, Vierne’s Scherzetto from 24 Pièces, and Le Cygne from Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. She ended with three movements from In Fairyland by Roy Spalding Stoughton (1884–1953)—a pleasant recital. 

Our buses took us to Navy Pier—a huge place with a highly charged carnival atmosphere. We boarded “The Spirit of Chicago” for a late-afternoon harbor cruise and buffet dinner. The dramatic Chicago skyline was very beautiful. We enjoyed each other’s company and the tasty food. 

As we were downtown at 6 pm, when traffic was busy (with numerous street carnivals), our buses got snagged—the only bus problem all week. Our evening recital was at St. Pauls United Church of Christ, founded in 1843 to serve German-speaking Protestants. In 1959 the present English Gothic-style building was completed and the 4m Aeolian-Skinner, Op. 1328, installed. Its main pipe chambers are situated above and on either side of the chancel. In 1998–2000 the Berghaus Organ Company completed the organ as originally planned, updating some of the mechanical features of the console, located at the front. 

Our performer was well-known Chicago organist David Schrader. It took about 40 minutes for everyone to arrive, and bless his heart, Schrader entertained us early arrivals with an impromptu performance, from memory, of Bach’s Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major. It was delightful. 

When the audience was finally in place, Schrader began with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548 (“The Wedge”). Some of the playing was rushed, which took away from the towering majesty of Bach’s music. The organ was more than up to the style, and Schrader used it quite well. In Commotio, op. 53 by Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), we heard mixture tone for a very long time, which, right after the Bach, grew tiresome. Finally, some flute sounds were heard, leading to contrasting dynamics in another section. A fugue began—Schrader’s tempos were just fine. We then heard what I believe was the lovely Gedeckt in the Antiphonal division, located high in the rear balcony—imaginative and colorful use of contrast. He used dramatic moments to good effect. The piece was OK, but it seemed to be longer than needed. Although Schrader played it well, my ears could have done with less mixture tone; at the end, he drew all of the high-pitched mixtures, bordering on painful after such a long piece.

After intermission, the lovely hymn “O blest Creator of the light” (Lucis Creator) was followed by Frank Ferko’s Symphonie brève (1987). The opening Andante had a running bass line in the pedals, with foundation stops and reeds in chords on the manuals. Attractive flute sounds accompanied a Cornet. The pedal motion returned with punctuations from those singular A/S reeds. The Toccata began on strings and flutes with fast figures. A bonny solo flute sounded out a tune in the pedal’s tenor range. We heard wonderful colors in this very appealing work. In the final Chorale, the use of mixtures and reeds was startling. The writing was fresh, sort of Messiaen or Langlais “lite”. 

Schrader closed with Reger’s Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, op. 135b. Plenty of contrast is called for and we got it, in a fine tour of this noble instrument’s fine solo voices and choruses. It was all beautifully played with great attention to the rhythmic and thematic structure.

 

Friday, July 13

The final day, devoted to regional organbuilders, began with Sebastian M. Glück’s lecture on “Innovation, Adaptation, and Stagnation: The Tonal Trajectory of the Roosevelt Organ.” Hilborne and Frank Roosevelt, aristocratic æsthetes as well as businessmen, were interested in organbuilding. Glück discussed their life and work, people who influenced them, and how their work still influences American organ building over a century after their deaths—most interesting.

We then were bused to Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest. Founded in 1902, the present English Gothic-style building was dedicated in 1931. The organ began as Skinner Organ Company, Op. 833, a 3m, 36-rank organ, rebuilt in 1956 by Schlicker. In 1987, it was rebuilt and enlarged to its present size by the Berghaus Organ Company of Bellwood, Illinois. The pipes are in twin chambers on either side of the altar, the console in a balcony over the left transept. The church has beautiful carvings and a live acoustic. 

Organist Karen Schneider Kirner began with a hymn: “As daylight steals across the skies.” Kirner wrote the tune, Morning Hymn, which was quite good. Eugène Gigout’s Grand Chœur dialogué made good use of the reeds. I could have done with less mixture tone. Kirner’s steady playing gave this majestic piece its just due. After Gigout’s Scherzo, from Dix Pièces, we then heard Variations sur un Noël bourguignon by André Fleury (1903–95), which showed some of the organ’s softer stops as well as fuller sounds. The music was attractive—like an updating of Dandrieu. 

This is a very loud organ. Seated in the front row, I wished that I had sat further back because Kirner may have crossed a line with overuse of tutti. Mixtures and reeds together over a long stretch of time is tiring.

A Gigue for the Tuba Stop by Donald Stuart Wright (b. 1940) was next—a thrilling piece, but again loud. My ears longed for strings and flutes played with the shades closed. Chicago composer Keith S. Kalemba’s (b. 1972) Toccata was also a loud piece. Kirner is a fine organist, but her programming choices were not wise. We did not hear any of the soft solo reeds. Another hymn followed: “Sing the Lord a new song,” to a tune written by Ms. Kirner. One final blazingly loud piece brought her program to a close: Marcel Dupré’s Carillon, from Sept Pièces, op. 27.

OHS convention recitalists usually take great pains to show the entire range and color of the organs to which they are assigned in thoughtfully and carefully chosen pieces. Sadly, this was not the case.

On to Wilmette, and St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church ELCA, to hear William Aylesworth, former organist at that church, long-time and well-loved performer at OHS conventions, and past OHS president. The church, founded in 1903, built its present English Gothic red brick worship space in 1923. Aylesworth told us that he was approached in the late 1980s by the Bradford Organ Company, offering to build an organ as an example of what they could do with recycled materials from other organs. The result was Bradford’s Op. 6 from 1990, a very successful 2m instrument. It stands in a small transept, with pipework in a chamber to the left of the altar, using a space formerly occupied by a Wangerin organ. 

Aylesworth began with “O God, our help in ages past” (St. Anne). Bill was organist here for 38 years, and knows how to lead a hymn in this space. It was beautifully played. Bach’s Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, BWV 680, wonderfully showed this organ’s great clarity. Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639, demonstrated the lovely Oboe with tremolo. In Dandrieu’s Trio avec Pédale, we heard the warm Clarinet, which came from a Hutchings organ. The beautiful Great 4′ Gedeckt, and the Swell 4′ Flute d’Amour (from a Johnson & Son organ, Op. 389) worked very well. Dandrieu’s Duo en cors de chasse sur la trompette used, I believe, the Great Trumpet, which came from a 19th-century organ. It had a surprisingly robust sound.

Aylesworth ended his fine recital with Guilmant: Three Nöels, op. 60, demonstrated more solo stops; Marche sur un thème de Hændel, op. 15, no. 2 was very well played and sent us out on a high!

At Glenview Community Church (UCC), we heard young organist Stephen Buzard in music for organ and brass quintet. The organ was built by Stephen’s father’s company: John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Op. 21 (1999). In the Colonial-style church the organ is in three chambers behind the altar; a rank of Principal pipes provides façades for each of them. The center chamber’s façade is of polished tin, while the flanking chamber façades are flamed copper. The console is in the French style; the organ as a whole is highly eclectic, speaking with a sturdy sound and a wide range of color and tone on its 69 ranks.

Bach’s Concerto in C Major after Johann Ernst, BWV 595, was a clean, spirited performance with just the right amount of rubato, followed by Buzard’s own transcription of Schubert’s Du bist die Ruh, D. 776, displaying strings and several beautiful solo stops (my favorite was the Great 4′ Open Flute with tremolo), played with sweet sensitivity. Duruflé’s Scherzo, op. 2, showed more of this instrument’s variety and range.

In Percy Whitlock’s Five Short Pieces, the Allegretto used the many flute stops. The Great Harmonic Flute was featured as a solo accompanied by the Choir strings. We also heard the Swell Trompette in the tenor range. Paean featured the Major Tuba 8′ stop (on 15 inches of wind), quite thrilling. We then sang Stephen Buzard’s arrangement of the hymn “How shall I sing that majesty” (Coe Fen, a marvelous tune). The time he spent in England was very much evident in his style of playing. Prelude, Elegy and Scherzo by Carlyle Sharpe (b. 1965) was commissioned for this convention by Rodney Holmes. Stephen used many beautiful solo stops in Elegy, beginning with a sad little song on the Choir’s Cor Anglais, then a tiny Cornet, the Corno di Bassetto, and this organ’s beautiful strings. The lively Scherzo for organ and brass is a good addition to the repertoire. 

Stephen Buzard ended this superb recital with Jeanne Demessieux’s Te Deum, op. 11, easily communicating the profound nature of this music, all very splendid. We heard this fine organ play music from many different periods and national styles with ease—and Stephen Buzard is someone to watch!

The grand finale of the convention was a visit to the Place de la Musique in Barrington Hills, Illinois. It has the world’s largest collection of restored automatic musical instruments, the largest theatre organ in the world (5m, 80 ranks), and is also the private residence of Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Sanfilippo. The 46-acre complex includes an enormous shed that houses most of the mechanical instruments and a huge carousel. We ate a picnic supper amidst this collection, then soon made our way to the 44,000 square-foot house with its huge theatre organ in a massive auditorium big enough to hold the entire convention. The organ comes from many sources—some new, some vintage. There are four 32′ ranks; the massive 32′ Diaphone and Bombarde pipes line the walls on either side of the stage, as do the countless percussions, including a set of 32 Deagan Tower Bells, the largest of which we were told weighs 426 pounds! 

Our multi-talented recitalist, Jonathan Ortloff (looking quite snappy in his bright red socks), presented a highly entertaining program of mostly familiar music played with great style and good humor. We heard the theme from Family Guy, some sweet salutes to the late Henry Mancini (Charade and Moon River), a bit of nostalgia for those of us of a certain age, “Puffin’ Billy” (or as I remember it, the theme from Captain Kangaroo). The Trolley Song used all manner of percussion sounds, which raised the roof! Ortloff’s transcription of Stravinsky’s L’Oiseaux de Feu (Tableau II) showed great skill. I really admire his generation of organists who have become so adept at the art of transcription. He ended with An American in Paris, which was great fun. But the part of the recital that left us all in pain with laughter was the hymn “Earth and All Stars” (Dexter), one not exactly on my list of favorites. The text is unintentionally humorous—I cannot get past “loud boiling test tubes” with a straight face. On this huge organ, Jonathan was able to illustrate each turn of phrase in sound effects that were hilarious and a perfect end to the evening. 

This was a very good convention. Instruments, recitals, performers, lecturers—the great variety never left us bored. Buses were agreeable, respectful of our needs, on time, and quiet during recitals. Food was filling and good, and the publications (Atlas, Handbook, and Hymnlet) were beautifully produced, with wonderful content. (Good companions to the above would be Pipe Organs of Chicago, Vols. 1 and 2, by Stephen Schnurr and Dennis Northway. Gorgeous photographs, specifications, and histories of each building and instrument will keep you entertained for hours.) This was the third OHS convention in Chicago; we certainly saw and heard a breadth and depth of pipe organ beauty that other cities would be more than pleased to have. We were treated with great humor and kindness all week long. The committee did an outstanding job! Bravo, Chicago! “It’s my kind of town.” 

The 2013 convention is in beautiful Vermont: http://www.organsociety.org/2013/. See you there!

 

 

Photo credit: William T. Van Pelt, III

Peragallo Pipe Organ Company, 

Paterson, New Jersey

St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel, New York City

Peragallo Pipe Organ Company, 

Paterson, New Jersey

St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel, New York City

 

The music ministry at St. Malachy’s Church in New York City 

On Monday, January 20, 2012, the New York Times published a feature article on the Paul Creston Memorial Pipe Organ, Aeolian-Skinner (1935), Opus 938, that was relocated to St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel, New York City, and rebuilt, renovated, and enhanced by the Peragallo Pipe Organ Company (2012) of Paterson, New Jersey. This vintage instrument has a storied past, which, coupled with its remarkable ‘rebirth,’ makes it a cultural landmark in its new home in the heart of New York City’s Theater District, the performing arts capital of the world.

In 2007, the late John Peragallo, Jr. received a call from a church in East Orange, New Jersey (formerly Hillside Presbyterian Church) about the organ, which had been damaged from a water leak in the roof. There was significant damage to the console, but the majority of the instrument, including the pipes and chests, remained mostly in good condition. However, the church no longer had the ability to maintain or use the organ and it was days away from being thrown away. Upon hearing this, Peragallo said to hold off on demolition. He returned the next day with his staff to dismantle the organ and began looking for a new home for it. John Peragallo, Jr.’s next call was to his friend, Reverend Richard D. Baker, pastor at St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel, to consider this instrument for installation at the church. With the guidance of then director of music Daniel Brondel, a proposal was developed in 2008. It was not until current director of music Mark Pacoe arrived in January 2009, that the project would gain traction. A comprehensive and multi-faceted fundraising and education campaign was launched in early 2009.

Over the next few years (2009–2012), St. Malachy’s Parish garnered widespread support for this extensive undertaking. St. Malachy’s is a relatively small parish that listed about 600 families on the register in 2009. Compared to its suburban counterparts that typically have rosters two and three times as large, St. Malachy’s is uniquely situated in the heart of the theater district and attracts regular visitors from around the world, as well as tourists on a daily basis. Fittingly, a campaign was developed to promote not only fundraising for this ‘King of Instruments,’ but also a liturgical and cultural outreach that resonates with all who visit and pray at The Actors’ Chapel. Through Fr. Baker’s vision, a high-quality music program, with its fine choral and liturgical tradition, was paramount in the challenge of acquiring such a fine, vintage instrument.

The new installation would be called the ‘Paul Creston Memorial Pipe Organ,’ honoring the legacy of the great American composer, who served as organist at St. Malachy’s from 1934–1967. During Creston’s time, there was a Kimball organ (15 stops) in the upper church and a Kilgen organ (20 stops) in the lower church (commonly referred to as The Actors’ Chapel, which was converted into the Encore Senior Center in 1978). Unfortunately, because of disrepair and other mitigating factors, both instruments were eventually removed in the late 1970s, when the church and the neighborhood were entrenched in difficult times and transition. Fr. George Moore was assigned to assess the dire existence of St. Malachy’s in the late 1970s, and became its pastor in 1978. Through Fr. Moore’s leadership, he re-galvanized St. Malachy’s influence and ministry in the neighborhood. Father Moore’s legacy is still felt today because of the measures he took then as a community activist and leader of the church. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Times Square and the Theater District became more attractive, commercial, and family friendly. The neighborhood surrounding St. Malachy’s was in the early years of a successful re-gentrification. While the church and surrounding areas were on the verge of ‘better days,’ it would be a very long time before a new pipe organ would sound again in the sacred place. In the 1980s, a two-manual electronic organ was installed and was used until obsolete in 2012. 

One of the most important challenges of this pipe organ project was how to promote St. Malachy’s rich history, its location, and its mission and ministry; this special place needed a worthy and versatile American classic organ, namely Aeolian-Skinner. The essential part of this campaign resides in the legacy of St. Malachy’s own distinguished composer and organist, Paul Creston. Future generations will benefit from the campaign and the new organ that embody Creston’s timeless ideals. Paul Creston is hailed as one of America’s leading 20th-century composers. During the 1940s–1960s, Creston’s music was performed regularly by leading orchestras across the nation, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony, to name a few. Legendary conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Arturo Toscanini, Eugene Ormandy, and Gerard Schwarz championed Creston’s music. In addition to Creston’s prolific compositional output, he also published authoritative books on music and devoted himself to teaching and academia, especially following his time at St. Malachy’s. ‘The Creston Creed,’ a self-penned statement about his philosophy of music and composition, expressed his strongest sentiments in the spiritual nature of creativity, music-making, and well-being. Creston’s ‘credo’ became the foundation of the Paul Creston Award that was established in 2009. This annual award honors a distinguished artist who embodies the Creston Creed, excellence in the arts, and is a significant figure in church music and the performing arts.

The first recipient of the Paul Creston Award (2009) was Frederick Swann, internationally recognized church musician and concert artist. At this inaugural Creston Award event, coupled with the official launch of the pipe organ campaign, an all-Creston program, ‘The St. Malachy’s Years’, was presented at the church. This unusual program included Prelude and Dance for solo accordion, his well-known setting of Psalm 23 for countertenor, and the Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra. Craig R. Whitney, former assisting managing editor of the New York Times and author of All the Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters, presented the keynote address about the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, Opus 938. Whitney’s address recounted American organ building in the 1930s, organ builder and Opus 938 consultant G. Donald Harrison, Opus 938’s relevance to the acoustical space and future usage at St. Malachy’s, and most interestingly, a novel and entertaining narration that enlivened Paul Creston’s legacy through the organ at The Actors’ Chapel. 

The second recipient of the Paul Creston Award (2010) was Bruce Neswick, then director of music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City, now on the faculty at Indiana University, Bloomington. The award event featured a professional orchestra, the Salvatones (a professional choral ensemble), and the New York Boychoir. This program, ‘Creston’s New York’, included music by American composers Copland, Gershwin, Larsen, and Corigliano. 

The third recipient of the award was David Higgs, chair of the organ department at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Higgs was presented the award at ‘Voices United’, a benefit event for St. Malachy’s Outreach Ministries and Covenant House New York at the historic Beacon Theatre in New York’s Upper West Side in November 2012. Higgs presented the headlining recital for the inaugural season of the Paul Creston Memorial Pipe Organ in April 2013, co-sponsored by the New Jersey Metropolitan and New York City chapters of the American Guild of Organists. Higgs performed Creston’s rarely heard, complex solo organ work Fantasia. This co-sponsored event was the first of its kind between these two AGO chapters and coincidentally connected the heritage of Opus 938 from the New Jersey chapter to its new home in the New York chapter.

The Concerts at St. Malachy’s series was initially developed to benefit the organ campaign through diverse and distinct programming, featuring instrumental, choral, Broadway, opera, chamber and symphonic performers. Concerts at St. Malachy’s programs have included the Fairbanks Trio (Asimov, Nagin and Hopkins), Danilo Pina (piano), ‘Love Notes—from Broadway to Opera’ (NY Bar Association), the Three Cantors—from Sanctuary to Stage, the Salvatones, the Orchestra of St. Malachy’s, the New York Boychoir, Face the Music, the Auburn University Show Choir, the Virtuosi (wind) Quintet, Sweet Plantain String Quartet, and Simon Boyar, Daniel Brondel, Deborah Jamini, and Joanna Arnold Darrow in a performance of Creston’s music. For the inaugural year of the new organ, Concerts at St. Malachy’s launched the ‘Fridays in October’ post-theater organ recitals at 11 p.m., and the ‘Fridays in December’ pre-theater organ recitals at 6:30 p.m. Other special performances included silent films, the Educational Outreach Series for school-age children through college-level music appreciation classes, massed choral performances and collaborations between St. Malachy’s Choir and tri-state regional choral societies, as well as full-length feature recitals. Inaugural-year recitalists included David Higgs, Mark Pacoe, David Ball, Jon Johnson, Michael Hey, Crista Miller, James Wetzel, Jonathan Ortloff, and Vincent Carr.

 

The builders 

The new installation of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 938 (1935) was completed by the Peragallo Pipe Organ Company of Paterson, New Jersey. The Peragallo Pipe Organ Company was founded in 1918 by John Peragallo, Sr., who developed his craft as an apprentice with the E. M. Skinner Company. His son, John Peragallo, Jr., who was a member of the American Guild of Organists, joined the company in 1949. 

Now in its fourth generation, the sons of John Jr., John Peragallo III and Frank Peragallo, having grown up in the business, now head the company. John III received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and also studied organ with Russell Hayton of Montclair and Leonard Raver of the Juilliard School. He also pursued musical studies at the New York School of Liturgical Music. Frank studied cabinetmaking with the Salesian Brothers of Don Bosco. 

John III and Frank are now joined by their sons, Anthony and John IV. Anthony received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Montclair State University. John IV received the Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and a Master’s of Architecture degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. 

The firm’s leadership is well rounded, with diverse skills and business acumen, and has distinguished the Peragallo Pipe Organ Company in fine pipe organ building and restoration. 

 

The organ 

The Paul Creston Memorial Pipe Organ includes 73 stops, 43 ranks of pipes, and 19 digitally sampled stops. These are all playable from two keydesks. A repurposed E. M. Skinner keydesk from Opus 524 is located in the gallery. The Aeolian-Skinner keydesk original to Opus 938 is located on the floor of the chancel. Both keydesks were completely updated with new key claviers and pedalboards, rocker tablets for stop control in the gallery keydesk and new drawknobs for the chancel keydesk. 

The tonal design was slightly modified with the addition of Walker components, primarily to expand the existing small pedal division and for a new floating division in the chancel for support of choral accompaniment. Several ranks of pipes were also added, including a Great four-rank mixture (12-15-19-22), 16′ Violone (façade, with 8′ Violoncello on the Great), and a hooded solo reed, the Actors’ Trumpet, on eight inches of wind pressure. The ranks of the original Dolce Cornet III of the Swell division were separated and installed independently as a 22⁄3′ Nazard, 2′ Flautino, and 13⁄5′ Tierce. The Grave Mixture II of the Great Organ was also separated and installed as the 22⁄3′ Twelfth and the 2′ Fifteenth. 

The casework of the instrument was designed and handcrafted to match the Gothic architectural style throughout the church. The façade includes the original pipes from the Aeolian-Skinner, along with the Violone 16′ comprising the towers. The case is adorned with gold accents found in the ceiling of the church and also features hand-crafted trefoil moldings and tower crowns featured throughout the nave. 

The superb acoustic of the church, at about three seconds, is a result of the high, narrow, neo-Gothic vaulting of the room. The room seats 350 comfortably, and provides an intimate and aesthetically pleasing setting for the dynamically subtle yet powerful instrument. While only steps away from the bustling theaters of Broadway and the frenzy of Times Square, St. Malachy’s is a hidden gem, a sanctuary where tourists, parishioners, neighbors, and people from all walks of life feel welcomed. 

For more information about St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel, the music calendar, and the Paul Creston Memorial Pipe Organ, see www.actorschapel.org or ‘Creston Memorial Pipe Organ’ on Facebook. 

We recognize those who made this restoration and relocation possible: Reverend Richard Baker, Mark Pacoe, Peggy Pugh, Daniel Brondel, Benjamin Lorello, Andy Nerhbas, John Peragallo Jr., and the parishioners and supporters of St. Malachy’s Parish. 

Information about the construction and rebuilding of this fine instrument can be found at www.peragallo.com.  

—Mark Pacoe, Director of Music, 

St. Malachy’s Church

—John Peragallo IV, Architectural Designer, Peragallo Organ Company

—John Peragallo III, Principal, Tonal Director, Peragallo Organ Company