Cover feature

From the organbuilder

It has been a high honor for me and my firm to design and build this new three-manual pipe organ for the St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica. The new Gallery Organ of 51 stops and 72 ranks of pipes was installed beginning in July 2014 and completed in October, having spent the previous two years in construction. The basilica is home to St. Vincent Archabbey, the oldest American Benedictine monastery, St. Vincent Parish, St. Vincent College, a four year co-educational institution, and St. Vincent Seminary.

This organ is the culmination of 18 years of thought, prayer, vision, and tenacity on the parts of the Benedictine community and the organbuilder. Nearly 20 years ago, I was asked to provide consulting services to address the failing organ previously installed in the basilica. The need for a new organ had become apparent to most all the monks because of the old organ’s deteriorated mechanical condition, but its greatest flaw was that the former instrument was tonally only about 30 percent as large as would be required to fill this large building with a wide variety of tone colors and volume levels. Abbey Organist and Choir Director Rev. Cyprian Constantine, OSB, embarked on a tireless effort to educate his confreres and superiors to what was really required, if sacred music at the abbey, parish, college, and seminary were to be taken to the highest level.

Following the old organ’s demise, use of an electronic instrument gave the community the time to raise the funds to begin construction. Sufficient funds had been raised from the parish in a previous campaign to allow us to design and construct a small Apse Organ and a console, which would control both it and the planned-for Gallery Organ. The Apse Organ is installed in two small chambers carved out of the sacristy behind the apse and utilizes the best pipework from the previous organ as well as new stops. From its installation in 2007 until the new Gallery Organ arrived, the Apse Organ accompanied the college’s choral ensembles and monastic services in the Great Choir; the electronic instrument was used for parochial Masses and services in the nave.

When it was determined to proceed with the Gallery Organ, the budget allocated for it 18 years previously was insufficient for the complete instrument and could not be increased. We had a dilemma on our hands: if we built an organ to simply accommodate the budget, it would repeat the past mistake of being too small for the basilica’s heroic size, volume, and the musical requirements placed upon an instrument in such an important and enormous place. So, we decided to build an organ with the infrastructure of a complete instrument of the correct size, installing the Great, Swell, and Pedal, but preparing the Choir division for future addition. This would provide the abbey with heroic bodies of sound to support the liturgical needs and accommodate a goodly body of the solo organ literature. The prepared-for Choir division will include a wide variety of softer orchestral reed colors and flue choruses for more registrationally involved choral accompaniments, and will act as a secondary foil to the Great for playing solo literature requiring three independent manual divisions. Currently a single console controls both organs. A second gallery console is also prepared for future addition for recitals and solo work, so the organist doesn’t have to suffer the delay of sound reaching his ears—while playing in real time—as at present.

Architecturally, the gallery posed a challenge: the gallery is not large, nor is the wheel window located high enough up on the wall to allow a generous configuration of pipes and their mechanical systems to live under it. Additionally, we were instructed that the organ must be located entirely in the gallery with no pipes over the rail. After reviewing the many drawings I had made during past years, Rev. Vincent Crosby, OSB, the abbey’s resident artistic director, suggested that he simply wanted to see pipes in the gallery, with only the amount of casework necessary to support them. This general direction and a rough sketch was the genesis for the visual design.

The Great division is split into two windchests located just behind the front of each of the large façade pipe groupings. The Swell is located on the right; the prepared-for Choir division will be on the left. The large 32′ and 16′ Pedal Trombone resonators and the 16′ Double Open Diapason basses are made of wood so that they can lie down under the window, with the remaining Pedal stops, the Solo Tubas and Trombas standing vertically under and around the window. The large façade pipes are all made of copper-lined polished tin, comprising the Pedal 16′ First Open Diapason, the continuation of the Great 16′ Double Open Diapason from the wood basses behind, the Pedal 8′ Principal, and the Great 8′ First and Second Open Diapasons. The smaller façade pipes in the central display are from the Pedal 4′ Open Flute. The largest pipe in the façade, low CCC of the 16′ Pedal First Open Diapason weighs over 350 pounds and required six men to hoist into the gallery; the smallest pipe’s speaking length is only an eighth of an inch. The metal pipes were all made in
the south of Germany, coincidental to the south German heritage of St. Vincent Archabbey. 

The decorations on the cases’ woodworking take their cues from the painted decorations in the colonnades in the basilica. These include 24-karat red-gold-leafed interlocking rings on a deep green background between maroon and gold-leaf striping, with blue enameled rosettes with gold-leaf highlights centered in each ring. Although the lower portion of the case cannot be seen from the main floor, being blocked by the solid balcony rail, it is made of 1½′′-thick solid white oak, incorporating Romanesque arches in each panel opening, stained and finished to match the other woodworking in the basilica.

John-Paul Buzard’s tonal style is easy to describe, but the most difficult to carry out successfully: “classically symphonic” (a term coined by a reviewer in The Diapason), Buzard organs intend to play music from every historical and nationalistic school with musical éclat and flair. (A bold statement, to be certain!) The challenge in achieving success in this difficult style is how to create an instrument that plays most everything, yet has its own singular and very individual artistic character. But, because we are Americans in the 21st century, I believe that our liturgical and concert organs need to be able to play everything. Therefore, every historic and nationalistic style of organbuilding is represented to some degree in each Buzard organ, but interspersed through the instrument evenly so that a balanced eclecticism is achieved. We don’t create this by building entire divisions of the organ in single styles as many do: a German Great, a French Swell, an English Choir, for example. The reason that we could in good conscience prepare the Choir division for the future is because of this even-handed dispersion of the style of the stops’ construction and voicing. When the Choir division is installed, then this instrument will be a complete artistic achievement. Although this organ is currently very impressive sounding, I liken it to a tapestry that is missing a color or two of embroidery.

The sumptuous acoustical environment of the basilica allowed us to truly freely exercise our voicers’ art. The St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica has, at its maximum, a reverberation time of 6.5 seconds; bass frequencies are nicely amplified by means of hard reflective surfaces on the walls, floor, and ceiling. This allowed us to achieve the rare effect that depending upon the piece of music played, you can easily imagine yourself in Paris, Haarlem, or York Minster! 

The organ was dedicated in a solemn service and concert on Sunday, November 23, 2014. Our own tonal associate, Jonathan Young, filled in for Father Cyprian Constantine, OSB, as recitalist, due to Father Cyprian’s need for emergency retinal surgery. Everyone on the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders brings his or her own individual talents to the family table (although not every one of us can sit down and play a concert with two weeks’ notice!). And a new generation of organbuilders is being nurtured at the Buzard shop, as you will note in the “Here and There” column of this issue of The Diapason.

Deepest thanks to Father Cyprian Constantine, OSB, Father Donald Raila, OSB, Father Stephen Concordia, OSB, Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, OSB, and all the priests and monks at St. Vincent who were so complimentary and encouraging of
the project.

Thanks especially to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders for their tireless efforts.

 

Charles Eames, Executive Vice President and general manager

Brian K. Davis, Tonal Director

Keith Williams, Director, Service Department

David Brown, Foreman, Service Department 

Shane Rhoades, Foreman, Production department 

Trevor Dodd, Service Technician 

Christopher Goodnight, Master Cabinetmaker

Dennissia Hall, Receptionist and Administrative Assistant

John Jordan, Service Technician

Michael Meyer, Master Cabinetmaker 

Dennis Northway, Chicago-area Representative and Service Technician

Jay Salmon, Office Manager

Stuart Weber, Service Technician

John Wiegand, Service Technician

Ray Wiggs, Console and Windchest specialist

Jonathan Young, Tonal Associate

—John-Paul Buzard

 

From the tonal associate 

(and recitalist)

There are some unusual sounds in this organ, designed and scaled by our Tonal Director Brian Davis, who grasped the potential of the basilica and took full advantage of the unique acoustical environment to use some stops that don’t typically work in American churches. The empty room features around six seconds of reverberation and, perhaps more importantly, strong side and rear reflections, especially from the curved wall at the apse. The organ contains no fewer than three harmonic flutes, including the very wide-scale 8′ on the Great that functions like a true French Flûte Harmonique. The chorus reeds in the Swell are harmonic as well, and contrast nicely with the German-style Great Trumpet. Very unusual among American organs is this Vox Humana, built in French style and based on an example by Callinet. The large 8′ Great First Open Diapason and a mounted Cornet elevated six feet above the north Great windchest are particularly effective in the accompaniment of congregational singing; the bass-friendly room enables the pedal registers to provide a generous amount of gravitas without being pushed. A main chorus that extends up through five-rank Mixture and three-rank Scharff provides clarity in an acoustic that has the potential to be muddled at times.

Not surprisingly, the organ plays French music with ease. But, some of the stops that we might think of as being peculiarly “French” lend themselves very well in this room to other schools. The Vox Humana in particular is quite the chameleon, at home in Böhm’s Vater unser im Himmelreich as much as it is in Franck’s A-Major Fantasy. One of the more ravishing sounds on the instrument is the Swell Celeste, which extends all the way to low C.

I had the honor of playing the dedication recital when Fr. Cyprian Constantine, the incumbent organist, had to undergo emergency eye surgery. I chose a program that was French-biased but eclectic, including music from Preston, Widor, Franck, Bach, Vaughan Williams, and Tunder—the latter, music that typically isn’t played on “symphonic” organs like this. But the variety of colors, clear principal choruses, generous flutes, and panoply of reeds enable a wide range of literature to be rendered effectively. Tunder’s chorale fantasy on In dich hab’ ich gehoffet, Herr, especially, sounds amazing here—not what one would expect!

—Jonathan Young

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 31: St. Bede Catholic Church, Williamsburg, Virginia

This new instrument was just installed this spring, the tonal finishing completed during April and June. This is the 31st new pipe organ built by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders of Champaign, Illinois, and
the first of two new Buzard organs to be installed in Williamsburg churches. Williamsburg Presbyterian Church will receive Opus 32 next spring for their new Georgian style building at the entrance to Colonial Williamsburg.

The organ at St. Bede Catholic Church is the result of eight
years of planning and dreaming, hoping and praying. St. Bede’s
communicant strength is about 3,000 families, formerly located in a small
landlocked building close to Colonial Williamsburg. The former site simply could not accommodate the parish’s phenomenal growth, nor could the entire parish worship together. When planning the new building, St. Bede’s pastor, the Rev. Monsignor William Carr, insisted that the new
church include a pipe organ, and that the organbuilder be commissioned to work with the architect from the beginning. The new building, designed by architect Tom Kerns, seats 1,500 and is expandable to seat 2,000.

The then music director, and later consultant for the project, Steve Blackstock, formed a musical instruments committee to select the
organbuilder, as well as other musical instruments for purchase. The musical instruments committee directly communicated with the parish’s building committee (called the core committee) as the new building was planned, to make sure that the organ’s requirements were supported throughout the process.

Even though this church is not located in the Colonial District, there was great concern on the part of the core committee that the building relate to the area’s Georgian architecture--no small feat for a big round room--and that, since the organ case would be the significant visual element in the church, it must reflect appropriate features of Georgian design. A great emphasis was placed on the importance of art and
music as direct participants in liturgical expression, and the organ had to
appeal to all the senses in this surprisingly intimate--although rather
large--space. 

As the building’s design process unfolded, and the cost estimates exceeded projections, significant “value engineering” of the building was undertaken to allow the church to be built. The organ project was shelved and its estimated cost applied toward the building. It became apparent that an organ, whenever it would be installed, would need a small antiphonal division at the opposite end of the church to assist in congregational singing, due to a change in building materials.
Certain stops in the organ were prepared for future addition, to lower the
initial price. The music personnel changed, and the parish concentrated upon building the church. 

Once the building was up, Monsignor Carr’s passion for building the new pipe organ was rekindled. His love of fine art and artistic liturgical expression is infectious. It was through his inner fire that he established the notion in the minds of the parishioners that the church was simply not finished until the pipe organ was installed. Although at the time the church did not have an organist, our contract was signed the week following
the new building’s dedication. 

As the organ’s installation date approached, the parish hired organist Neil Kraft of Ohio to be their new director of music. He has already established himself in the Tidewater area as a musician of high
caliber, and the perfect person to develop an inclusive parochial music
program, with the organ as the principal musical instrument. A concert series to celebrate the dedication of this new instrument is being organized. The opening recital was played by Erik Wm. Suter on Sunday, September 30, and John Scott will play in June of 2006. The church is working on sponsorship of a concert featuring the Virginia Symphony, but this is currently in the planning stage. The new pastor, the Rev. John Abe, is committed to making St. Bede known for beautiful music, both in liturgical and concert contexts, for Williamsburg and the greater Tidewater area.

The organ case stands three stories tall and is made of 11/2-inch thick solid white oak and white oak veneers. Walnut is used for the pipe shades and accenting trim details. This is truly heroic cabinet making! The façades incorporate pipes of the Great 16’ Double Open
Diapason (the low 20 notes of which are shared in the pedal), the Great First and Second 8’ Open Diapasons, and the Pedal 8’ Principal. The
16’ Pedal First Open Diapason of wood stands behind the organ case and is stained and finished in a dark walnut color. Resonators of the low octaves of the Pedal 32’ and 16’ Trombones are made of beautiful, clear pine, continuing upscale in thick 52% tin pipe metal as this stop becomes the manual Tromba, voiced on 7” wind. The big Tuba stands vertically in the Choir box just behind the shutters, and is certainly the Tromba’s big brother, being voiced on nearly 30” pressure!

The Procession Organ’s case is also of white oak, to match the Main Organ case. Its pipe shades are carved basswood. Celtic crosses
have been cut into the tower tops and are enameled in rich, dark purple (the manufacturer’s color name “Monsignor” led to the whimsical
decision to incorporate it into the case in honor of Monsignor Carr), and
outlined in gold leaf. When played with the Main Organ, the Processional
Organ’s two Principal stops have the effect of “pulling” the sound out of the Main Organ’s case and surrounding the listeners with an
incredibly inescapable, voluptuous tone.

The console of 11/2-inch thick white oak is attached to an easily moved platform. And it’s a good thing, because the organ is heard in its best balance starting about 15 feet away from the case. We utilize
AGO radiating, concave pedalboards for their superior ergonomics. In a modern, eclectic pipe organ, the pedalboard’s shape should not limit an
organist’s ability to play in styles other than that which a flat pedalboard
dictates.

Those who have followed our work know that our instruments
are liturgical organs that play literature remarkably well. Our style is in
direct response to the need for an organ to function liturgically and
musically, but not at the expense of a particular historical, national, or
idiosyncratic musical style. Only a classic concept of organbuilding can truly accomplish this, and I think only an organist-trained organbuilder has the ability to empathize with modern American musical requirements, reconcile these to classic organbuilding practices, and know how to achieve the intended results. 

Slider windchests keep the tonal design physically honest,
and offer speech, voicing, and tuning advantages (as well as virtually no
long-term maintenance). Our proprietary Slider Pedal Chest allows us to play a single rank of pedal pipes at several pitches--without giving up slider chest speech, tuning stability, and repetition characteristics. Because they’re pedal stops, and usually only one note is played at a time, we can scale these individual ranks to be appropriate for two or three tonal contexts and save the client some money. 

Although we were one of the first American organbuilders to
reintroduce the Tuba into modern practice, in 1991 at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Champaign, our tonal innovations are often of a subtler (and quieter) nature.  For example, in this organ we have specially developed Dolcan-shaped pipes for the metal top octaves of open wood ranks; they sound like wood pipes, but stay in tune. We have perfected Walter Holtkamp’s Ludwigtone as our Flute Cœlestis, its plaintive and gentle celesting tone evocative of something heavenly, which
explains the pun in the nomenclature. We have refined the 18th-century French Flûte à Bibéron (“Baby-Bottle Flute”) to be a colorful chimney flute tone suitable for solos, the foundation of a flute chorus, or secondary foundation for a principal chorus.

The sound of the organ is warm and rich, filling the space
nicely with a generous foundation. Each chorus has its own distinctive color, so there is no redundancy within each family of sound. The organist is able to lead congregational singing with a wide variety of color, at many different volume levels. And, recitalists won’t be disappointed in the tonal
resources and the informed manner of their disposition and execution. 

Everyone seems to have found “favorite” stops in this instrument. Of course the Pontifical Trumpets titillate the eye and ear, and most visitors want to hear them right off the bat. However, my 16-year-old son Stephen, already an organist of greater accomplishment than his father, fell in love with the Choir 8’ English Open Diapason while preparing a recital for the Tidewater POE held last June. “It has something to tell you,” he says. What higher compliment can an organbuilder receive? After all, shouldn’t pipe organs have a strong emotional appeal, so that when played they grab you and don’t let go? yes"> 

Henry Willis once said that truly great organs are only created when 90% of the project’s effort is expended upon the last 2% of perfection. After the organ is built, installed, and voiced, it’s that last step of careful, time-consuming, painstaking tonal finishing that imparts a living soul into the instrument. That you feel “connected” while listening or playing is no happy accident, but the result of careful listening and exacting craftsmanship on the part of the voicer working on the pipes. It is only when one is working at this level that organbuilding is truly an art.
And, it is only when clients have the sensitivity and sensibility to know the
difference that truly world-class pipe organs are commissioned.
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It has been a tremendous honor to build this instrument, and
to work with Father Abe, Monsignor Carr, Steve Blackstock, Neil Kraft, and the wonderful people at St. Bede’s Church. We look forward to many years of wonderful music-making and musically inspired liturgies at St. Bede’s.

Deepest thanks to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders who have made this instrument so much more than the sum of its parts:

Charles Eames, executive vice-president, chief engineer,
general manager

Brian K. Davis, associate tonal director, head voicer, director, tonal department

Phillip S. Campbell, business manager

Keith Williams, director, service department

Shayne Tippett, shop manager

Stuart Martin, cabinet maker

C. Robert Leech, cabinet maker

Bob Ference, cabinet maker and service technician

Lyoshia Svinarski, wind system construction

Kenneth McCabe, wind system construction

Ray Wiggs, console, electrical systems, wind chest
construction

Evan Rench, pipe maker, voicer, racking, tonal associate

Stephen P. Downes, pipe preparation, racking, tonal
associate

Todd Wilson, service technician, installation

Stuart Weber, service technician

Jay K. Salmon, office manager

JoAnne Rench, receptionist

--John-Paul Buzard

43 straight speaking stops, 54 ranks, across three manuals
& pedal

GREAT ORGAN (4” wind)

16’ Double Open Diapason (tin in façade)

8’ First Open Diapason (tin in façade)

8’ Second Open Diapason (1–8 from 16’)

8’ Viola da Gamba (tin)

8’ Claribel Flute (open wood)

4’ Principal

4’ Spire Flute

22/3’ Twelfth

2’ Fifteenth

13/5’ Seventeenth

2’ Fourniture V

V Cornet (tenor C, preparation)

8’ Trumpet (preparation)

8’ Tromba (Ped)

4’ Clarion (from Tromba)

8’ Major Tuba (in case)

8’ Tuba Solo (melody coupler function)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets (polished copper, horizontal,
over entry door)

SWELL (4” wind)

8’ Violin Diapason

8’ Stopped Diapason (wood)

8’ Salicional

8’ Voix Celeste

4’ Principal

4’ Harmonic Flute

2’ Octavin

22/3’ Full Mixture V

16’ Bassoon (full length)

8’ Trompette

8’ Oboe

4’ Clarion

Tremulant

8’ Major Tuba (Ch)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets

CHOIR ORGAN (4” wind)

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt

8’ English Diapason

8’ Flûte à Bibéron

8’ Flute Cœlestis (doubled open wood)

4’ Principal

4’ Suabe Flute (open wood)

22/3’ Nazard

2’ Recorder

13/5’ Tierce

11/3’ Mixture IV

16’ English Horn (preparation)

8’ Clarinet

Tremulant

Cymbalstern

8’ Major Tuba (30” wind)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets (51/2” wind)

PROCESSIONAL ORGAN

(4” wind, housed in a case over the entry doors)

8’ Open Diapason (tin in façade)

4’ Principal

PEDAL (various pressures)

32’ Double Open Diapason (1–12 digital)

32’ Subbass (1–12 digital)

32’ Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital)

16’ First Open Diapason (open wood)

16’ Second Open Diapason (Gt, tin-façade)

16’ Bourdon

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

8’ Principal (tin-façade)

8’ Bass Flute (ext 1st Open)

8’ Bourdon (ext 16’)

8’ Gedeckt Flute (Ch)

8’ Spire Flute (preparation)

4’ Choral Bass (ext 8’)

4’ Open Flute (ext yes">  8’ Bourdon)

32’ Contra Trombone (from 16’, wood)

16’ Trombone (wood)

16’ Bassoon (Sw)

8’ Trumpet (from 16’)

4’ Clarion (from 8’)

8’ Major Tuba (Gt)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets

The organ has a full set of inter- and intra-manual couplers. These have been omitted from this specification for brevity and ease of reading.

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 38
St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, is a vibrant Christian community of 5,000 families, located about twenty minutes north of the San Antonio International Airport in a new residential neighborhood on Thousand Oaks Drive. They have a well-deserved reputation for superior community outreach, building several Habitat for Humanity houses per year and operating a traveling meal program for the needy. Former organist and director of music and liturgy Lena Gokelman contacted me nearly twelve years ago to share ideas for a new pipe organ for the large church building then being planned. She and their consultant, Fr. James Brobst, traveled to Illinois to hear and play our instrument at Holy Family Catholic Church in Rockford, and were immediately convinced of the need to have the Buzard Sound at St. Mark’s.

St. Mark’s had no pipe organ in its original temporary sanctuary, and the majority of parishioners had never heard one. It was a daunting endeavor to educate the parish about the difference that a pipe organ could make in their liturgical and musical lives, and then convince them that they needed one! A long-standing parishioner was convinced, and through his anonymous generosity, made it happen.
This new organ is our 38th, and was designed to visually complement the sculpture of the Christus Rex, incised into and built out from the brick wall at the front of the assembly. The building seats about 1,000 people and is surprisingly lively in its acoustical environment. The organ itself is raised 18 feet above the floor and sounds nicely down the building’s axis. Sonically it fills the entire room whether playing soft or loud. The woodwork in the façade is solid white oak, stained and finished to relate to the church’s other woodworking. Pipes in the façade are made of polished tin and flamed copper.

Two sets of horizontal trumpets emphasize the aural excitement that a pipe organ can bring to a liturgical occasion. A high-pressure Tuba made of polished tin is in the organ’s façade; a polished copper set of Pontifical Trumpets on lower pressure is mounted over the entry doors. Lest one think that resources were squandered on an unnecessary luxury of two chamades, they were included only after the organ’s chamber space had been completely filled with the stops necessary for a full and proper classically conceived and romantically executed specification.

The choral singers are located in a “bump-out” area to the right of the building’s axis. Because the choir is effectively in another room, and cannot hear the organ clearly, we built a four-stop Choral Organ to accompany their singing, housed in a small free-standing case that stands behind them. These four stops are of sufficient tonal variety and volume gradations to support the choral singing in perfect balance. Stops from the main portion of the organ may also be used to supplement the Choral Organ’s sound.

The instrument contains 35 independent stops and 43 ranks of pipes across three manuals and the pedal keyboard. As in all Buzard organs, there is a wealth of tonal variety, even if the instrument is modest in size. At the hand of our tonal director Brian Davis, no two diapasons sound exactly alike; the flutes are liquid in tone and often take their cues from their orchestral counterparts; strings impart a warmth and keenness to the palette. The chorus reeds are spectacular, each stop having its own depth and degree of éclat; the plaintive German Romantic Oboe is a tremendously effective solo player, but also colors the Swell flues subtly. All metal pipes are made of rich, high tin-content metal of generous thickness. On-site tonal finishing took a month to accomplish.

The organ’s engineering was accomplished by our executive vice-president and chief engineer, Charles Eames. This instrument has the distinction of affording him one of his greatest challenges: designing a pipe organ with a 14-inch steel beam running through its center! Although chamber space was provided for a “future organ” when the church was built, neither architects nor contractors thought anything wrong about running a steel beam through its middle! Although the organ occupies a “chamber,” the instrument is still housed in a free-standing case. This allows the sound to effortlessly project into the church, and for us to minimize any variables while installing on-site. This also afforded us the opportunity to build a ventilation system that brings conditioned air from the church up to the top of the organ, spilling down naturally, thereby keeping the instrument in tune.

The parish is “between organists.” So, in order for the parishioners to hear what an organ could do for worship, I played for the three Sundays that I was in San Antonio voicing the organ. The first Sunday, people heard only those few stops that were finished. But by the second and third Sundays, I played the hymns, prelude, and postlude using the versatility of the entire instrument. The organ has been extremely well received by the parishioners, clergy, and the wider community. Organist David Heller will be dedicating it in a Solemn Pontifical Mass followed by a concert on Saturday, November 21.

My deepest thanks go to St. Mark’s for commissioning us to build this organ, especially to Pastor Kevin Ryan, administrator “Dot” Hamlin, our contact person Lena Gokelman, music director Dolores Martinez and her assistant Courtney Guernsey, facility manager George Wetherill, and Irene Marin, who makes the best tortillas I’ve ever tasted!

A pipe organ is far more than the sum of its parts, or the sum of the labor-hours of the tremendously dedicated individuals with whom I am blessed to work. They all deserve special recognition:

David Brown, foreman, service department and installation
Brian K. Davis, tonal director
Stephen Downes, metalworking, tonal assistant, installation
Charles Eames, executive vice-president and chief engineer
John Jordan, service technician
C. Robert Leach, cabinetmaker façade, general woodworking, installation
Stuart Martin, cabinetmaker façade and console cabinetry
Shane Rhoades, cabinetmaker, winding system, installation
Jay Salmon, office manager
Lyoshia Svinarski, cabinetmaker and wood finishing
Stuart Weber, service technician
John Wiegand, service technician and installation
Ray Wiggs, console, electrical and windchest specialist, installation
Keith Williams, director, service department
—John-Paul Buzard

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas
Buzard Opus 38, completed August 1, 2009: 35 stops, 43 ranks

GREAT – Manual II
Unenclosed, 4″ wind pressure
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Open Diapason (polished tin
in façade)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Harmonic Flute
8′ Bourdon
4′ Principal
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
2′ Mixture V (breaks at octaves)
Tremulant
8′ Tromba (ext Ped 16′ Tbn)
4′ Clarion (ext 8′)
8′ Major Tuba (polished tin, horizontal)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (polished copper,
horizontal)
Great to Great 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choral to Great 16′, 8′, 4′

SWELL – Manual III
Enclosed, 4″ wind pressure
8′ English Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste (tc)
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Recorder
13⁄5′ Tierce
22⁄3′ Full Mixture V
16′ Bassoon (full length)
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
Tremulant
Cymbalstern
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Swell to Swell 16′, UO, 4′

CHORAL – Manual I
Encased, 3½″ wind pressure
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Octave
4′ Flute
Tremulant
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Choral to Choral 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Choral 16′, 8′, 4′

PEDAL – Unenclosed
32′ Subbass (1–12 digital, ext)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital, ext)
16′ Open Diapason (flamed copper and
polished tin in façade)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Gt)
16′ Metal Gedeckt (flamed copper in
façade of Choral Organ case)
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Spire Flute
8′ Bourdon (ext 16′)
8′ Gedeckt Flute (Gt)
4′ Choral Bass (ext 8′)
4’ Open Flute (ext 16′)
16′ Trombone (wood)
16′ Bassoon (Sw)
8′ Trumpet (ext 16′)
4′ Clarion (ext 16′)
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choral to Pedal 8′, 4′

Goulding & Wood Organ Builders, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Opus 50

The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Lexington, Kentucky

 

From the organbuilder

“Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” could well serve as the motto for the organ project at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, Kentucky. The Gothic revival building holds a wealth of architectural and design detail, culminating in an extravagance of carved furnishings in the chancel. Wainscot paneling in the sanctuary depicts scenes from the life of Christ, and the reredos displays a large tableau of the Last Supper. 

Liturgical worship in the parish matches the opulence of the setting, with an unusually well-developed choral program encompassing all ages. Over the past twelve years, organist and choirmaster John Linker has built a music department known throughout the area for excellence. The Good Shepherd choirs have held residencies in English cathedrals and this summer made their first concert tour of continental Europe.

Throughout this period of musical expansion, the congregation has been served by a 1970s neo-Baroque organ of modest resources. Although the instrument was a fine example of its aesthetic approach and served the parish well for forty years, the organ was inadequate for the scope of the music program as it has evolved. It contained only one manual reed and no celeste rank. In short, the organ struggled to keep up with the demands of accompanying Anglican chant psalmody and the choral music of Stanford and Howells. 

Conversation about replacing the organ began nearly a decade ago, yet while the need was never in dispute, external forces seemed to derail the discussion at every turn. Building on the foundation laid by Fr. Robert Sessum, interim rector Fr. Ron Pogue seized the opportunity during the time of transition in leadership to force the issue. The committee moved quickly under the focused leadership of chair Joseph Jones, and a contract was signed after a brief flurry of activity.

The organ is thus designed primarily as a handmaiden for musical liturgy in the Anglican tradition as it has been received by the American church. The instrument’s resources are uniquely tailored to the setting it serves in every regard. Recognizing the value of a wide tonal palette, the chancel instrument is double the size of the previous organ, gaining variety in tone rather than increase in volume. A new chamber was created by renovating a second-story storage room, allowing organ on both sides of the chancel for the first time. The existing chamber, formerly housing the Swell, now holds the Choir in intimate proximity to the voices it accompanies. The Swell resides within the new chamber, high in the chancel where its robust voice can speak freely into the room. The Great is divided in twin cantilevered cases facing each other, with the plenum stops on the cantoris side and color stops on the decani. Maximizing the versatility of this arrangement, the two halves of the Great can be silenced through individual Unison Off controls and coupled to the fourth manual separately. This allows, for instance, the Great principal cornet to dialogue with the Great Trumpet.

Early on, the committee determined that having a division in the back of the room would be a top priority. For all the storied choir-centric nature of the Anglican tradition, worship in America resoundingly seeks to involve the assembly in song. With the acoustically compromising arrangement of chancel chambers off the central axis of the room, an Antiphonal organ on the back wall would help unify music-making throughout the church. Whenever the issue of funding was raised, the Antiphonal division was widely recognized as the most palatable sacrifice, yet it remained a strong desire among the committee. Thanks to the efficacy of the fund-raising campaign and the generosity of the Miller and Wrigley families, the committee was able to avoid any limitations. Twin cases frame the majestic western lancet window, and the polished display pipes reflect the colorful light from the stained glass. The polished brass Festival Trumpet completes the visual effect with a regal touch.

Any student of organ design will recognize the predictable nature of stop lists from instrument to instrument across styles of organ building. The distinctive quality of tonal design lies in the careful specification of scales, mouth widths, and voicing techniques. All of these details are meticulously overseen by our head voicer, Brandon Woods, who works with each stop through design to final regulation in the room. In this he is ably assisted by David Sims, who contributes to each step of the process. This instrument features a weight in tone and variety in color consistent with the demands of accompanying voices in a sensitive, supportive manner. Each division includes an 8′ principal stop, each of varying volume and personality. The plenum choruses complement each other in combination as well as stand individually with integrity. As with many of our recent instruments, mouth widths below 1′ C on principal pipes are kept fairly narrow, allowing the upper lips of mouths to rise. This imparts a tone with generous fundamental development. With diapason chorus stops, this yields 8′ and 4′ stops with compelling and distinctive personalities. Higher-pitched stops and mixtures step back in scaling and broaden in mouth width to permit more upper partial development. Volume and speech are reserved in these stops, preventing them from dominating the texture. The result is a chorus with sheen but whose power comes from the fundamental.

The reed stops of the organ traverse a wide spectrum of musical effect. The Great Trumpet has lead resonators of generous scale and shallots with sharply tapered openings. These combine for a sound rich and heavy, blending into the principal chorus seamlessly. The Swell reed chorus features parallel openings on the shallots for a full-throated brilliance that pours from its chamber. The Choir’s Clarinet is gentle and voluptuous in the style of E. M. Skinner stops. The instrument is crowned by two solo reeds, the Choir Tuba and the Antiphonal Festival Trumpet. The Tuba is a typical high-pressure reed, in the style of Willis, with a broad, enveloping tone. The Festival Trumpet is commanding, speaking from its dramatic position, yet mild enough to use (sparingly) in chords.

Celeste ranks are of particular note in this organ. In addition to the ubiquitous strings in the Swell and Dulciana in the Choir, the Antiphonal contains a Diapason Celeste. Both unison and celeste ranks use slotted pipes to encourage the undulation, and the keen tone that derives from the slots makes for a distinctive sound. The timbre is unapologetically diapason in quality, and the vigorous sound of the two ranks together fills the room in a luxuriant wash of sound.

Windchests throughout the organ feature our unique electro-pneumatic slider and pallet design. The combination of tone channels running across stops and wholly pneumatic action enables the pipework to speak incisively yet without any harshness in attack. Further, the stops meld together as they draw wind from a common source. Arranging the mechanics and structure proved to be an extremely challenging task, particularly as the new Swell chamber’s dimensions continued to be a moving target throughout design and even construction of the organ. Staff design engineer Kurt Ryll and shop manager Mark Goulding nonetheless arrived at a layout that, if not commodious, certainly supports maintenance access to every component. Moving about the organ for routine tuning is remarkably simple, belying the complexity of the design necessary to achieve this.

The cabinetry of the organ and console was executed by Robert Duffy and Robert Heighway, culling elements from the room, such as the Tudor roses that adorn the rood screen and ornamental bosses featured in the reredos. The console uses marquetry to separate the divisions within the stop jambs and to frame the burled central panel of the music desk. Throughout the organ, both internal and visible details are finished with an attention to detail consistent with the quality of woodworking in the church.

The sum of all these disparate parts is an instrument that truly speaks forth, carrying the people’s song and supporting the choir in their leadership. While our intention was for it to be specifically suited to the worship of this congregation, we made no attempt to embody shallow or derivative notions of English organ building. This is an American instrument embracing the gamut of organ literature, hymnody, and choral music employed by the congregation. In realizing this goal we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of organist and choirmaster John Linker and committee chair Joseph Jones. We also recognize the steady leadership of the rector, Fr. Brian Cole, who inherited a project already underway and oversaw the completion with a dedication and enthusiasm as if it were his own. We look forward to sharing with the congregation in the upkeep of the organ, watching as it enlivens the worship at Church of the Good Shepherd and enriches the musical life of Lexington.

—Jason Overall

Goulding & Wood, Inc.

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Robert Duffy, casework, cabinetry, and wood carvings

John Goulding, reed racking

Mark Goulding, shop foreman, general shop construction

Chris Gray, general shop construction

Robert Heighway, console cabinetry, casework cabinetry, and slider chests

Jerin Kelly, wind chests, general shop construction

Phil Lehman, office manager

Tyler MacDonald, wind chests

Jason Overall, office support and tonal design

Kurt Ryll, case design and engineering

David Sims, system wiring, tonal finishing

Michael Vores, structure, expression boxes, general shop construction

Brandon Woods, tonal design, voicing, and finishing.

 

From the organist & choirmaster

Goulding & Wood Opus 50 (named “The Miller and Wrigley Organ”) is the physical manifestation of many years of consideration, consultation, site visits, fundraising, and, of course, prayer. On my appointment to the Church of the Good Shepherd in 2001, it was immediately apparent that the previous neo-Baroque instrument had limited resources for accompanying the Anglican liturgy. As more and more electro-magnets and memory capture components failed, it was decided to replace the instrument with an organ more suitable to the fine Gothic architecture of Good Shepherd, and having a more diverse tonal palette, rather than to restore the previous instrument.

Upon his retirement in 2009, former rector Fr. Robert Sessum suggested to the congregation that the next project in the immediate future of Good Shepherd should be to replace the organ. The congregation heeded the advice of Fr. Sessum, and over the next two years an organ committee and organ capital campaign committee were formed under the guidance of the interim rector, Fr. Ron Pogue. Our new rector, Fr. Brian Cole, oversaw installation of the new instrument. It is a privilege to have worked with these three clergymen in seeing the dream of a new instrument for Good Shepherd come true.

In selecting a builder, the committee had their work cut out for them. My personal preference favors mechanical action, as I have found tracker instruments to be superior tools of artistic expression. Early on in the process, however, our committee had to dismiss this as an option due to Good Shepherd’s architecture and our desire to have symmetrically balanced cases on both sides of the chancel, as well as an Antiphonal division at the west end to better support hymn singing. After reviewing numerous designs, specifications, and participating in site visits, the committee unanimously chose Goulding & Wood.

Over many months we worked closely with Goulding & Wood president Jason Overall and head voicer Brandon Woods on a specification that would meet Good Shepherd’s liturgical needs and be unique. We agreed to reuse some of the finest pipework from the old instrument in the new organ. The former Great 8′ Principal and 4′ Octave were revoiced and now reside in the Choir as 8′ Open Diapason and the 4′ Principal. The former 16′ Subbass (which was, in fact, from the parish’s Pilcher organ from the 1920s) was revoiced and at home again in Good Shepherd. The Pedal 4′ Schalmey as well as the Zimbelstern were also worthy of recycling.  

As its primary function is to accompany the Anglican liturgy, a complete and powerful Swell division is a must. The new Swell boasts a complete principal chorus, luscious strings, and harmonic flutes at 4′ and 2′ pitches, as well as a full complement of 16′ through 4′ reeds. While the Swell, Choir, and Pedal divisions appear fairly standard in specification, it is the Great and Antiphonal divisions that have the most innovative design and function. The Great is divided on both sides of the quire, and as such, each side can be coupled separately to the fourth manual to solo out melodies of hymns or other innovative uses. In addition to having a complete principal chorus, the Antiphonal also boasts a “Diapason Celeste.” While a Voce Umana or a Fiffaro might be common in Italian organs, a stop such as this is rarely found on English-inspired American organs. Furthermore, this stop is indeed an open, full-bodied, English-style Diapason. Though its use in repertoire is extremely rare (it is likely not the sound Frescobaldi had in mind!), it is incredibly useful in improvisations. The sound of this celeste is rich and embodying. Indeed, the entire instrument draws a new level of musicality and creativity from those fortunate to play it, and it is the prayerful congregant who receives the greatest benefit.

The people of Good Shepherd take great pride in our choir program, which has attained a high degree of international recognition over the past decade. Attention to and participation in congregational hymn singing is now at an all-time high for this parish. Now that this glorious instrument is in place, matching the beauty of the choir, the architectural environment, and the mighty singing of the congregation, we eagerly anticipate reaching new heights in our spiritual and musical journeys, and discovering new ways in which we are all able to see glimpses of heaven right here on earth.

—John Linker

 

From the organ committee

The organ committee consisted of a cross-section of the congregation, Dr. Schuyler W. Robinson, professor of organ at the University of Kentucky, and our church organist/choirmaster. The committee’s charge was to determine the type, size, and placement of the future instrument, and to set the budget. Its most important task was to find the perfect fit between the church and the company selected to build the instrument. The committee hired a consultant to help it identify the best North American organ builders, and we invited five of them to Lexington to present preliminary designs and cost estimates for the project. The committee then sent our two organists to play instruments representative of each builder. 

After careful deliberation, we chose Goulding & Wood of Indianapolis. Their plan was exciting and seemed to fit our needs perfectly. When the instrument was ready for installation, Goulding & Wood issued an invitation to the congregation to come to their workshop in Indianapolis to hear the organ before their team dismantled it and began to transfer it to Lexington. A few weeks later, the first pipes arrived and were paraded into the nave of the church, led by our bagpiper, and were blessed during a short service. The new and exciting musical voice of the Church of the Good Shepherd is a dream come true.

—J. R. Jones

Organ Committee Chair

 

From the rector

One of the real gifts of the Episcopal/Anglican tradition is the ability to keep a healthy tension between tradition and change. At Good Shepherd, the arrival of Goulding & Wood Opus 50 (the “Miller and Wrigley Organ”) is a fine example of that gift. 

The builders from Goulding & Wood were very sensitive to the change that takes place when an instrument like this is placed in an historic space. Throughout the weeks of building on site, we welcomed parishioners and community members to visit our church during construction. Numerous photographs and videos, both formal and informal, were taken to record the work. Even though the builders were guests to our space, they served as good hosts, as long-time members and newcomers asked questions while the installation process unfolded. 

Now that it is in place, the organ appears to have always been in our liturgical space. The antiphonal division now frames the glorious Abbott Window in the rear of the church and accentuates the colors of the stained glass. The new organ has also already been a catalyst for more vigorous congregational singing. The old organ console has been refashioned to make a smaller altar for our Sunday evening Eucharist. 

We are all blessed to be a part of Good Shepherd’s story at this time. The Miller and Wrigley Organ, while new, affirms the great strengths of traditional Anglican worship. Because of its incredible versatility, this instrument will serve as an anchor as we expand the musical life of the parish in arts offerings to the Lexington community. 

—The Rev’d Brian Cole

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 34

Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church (ELCA), Racine, Wisconsin

From the designer and builder

Did you know that the Jetsons are parishioners of Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church, Racine, Wisconsin? You know them: George, Jane (his wife), daughter Judy, and his boy, Elroy. Outside the world of futuristic fiction, they must have had an influence in the design of this church building, which is locally known as “The Space Ship Church.” Built in 1975, it is a dish with an inverted saucer as its roof; large plate glass windows surround its perimeter, filling in the space at which the two join.

This building’s unique shape determines how it is accessed and used—functionally and liturgically. Ahead of its time in terms of accessibility, upon entering at ground level, one enters the lower level fellowship areas and upper level worship area by a series of switch-back ramps that wind around the building’s diameter. Liturgically, this is a church in “three-quarter round,” which presents its own challenges for communion and processional traffic flow.

The building’s shape also determines its acoustical environment, and therefore the limits of a pipe organ’s physical and tonal design. Consultant Scott Riedel guided the church in improving the acoustics and creating a better area for music-making, by altering the shape of the walls facing the congregation, filling in gaps between ceiling beams, and replacing the carpeting in the choir’s seating area with hardwood flooring. And, in fact, sound is now heard more clearly and evenly through the room, especially in the outer ring of seating at the edge of the room’s diameter. But, the remaining carpet and pew coverings do their work too well, absorbing bass frequencies.

We were able to observe this phenomenon clearly before the church’s former organ was removed. The 16¢ pedal sounds were weak in the church, but in the lower level fellowship hall, the tone boomed to overtake normal conversation.

The organ chamber, while perfectly sited across the front of the worship area, is horizontal in nature, with a maximum ceiling height of 14'. Congregational seating comes to within four feet of the organ’s left side; the choral singers are about eight feet from the right side. The wide layout, and very present location of the organ, demanded that the design be practical, and required a very gentle touch in its scaling and voicing. Since the pipes could not be elevated above the congregation’s heads, the sound is produced directly at the level of people’s ears, requiring very refined voicing. The enclosed accompanimental divisions of the organ needed to be located to the right, nearer the choir, which meant that the Great needed to be on the left. People on the left side of the organ would be only four feet away from the Great Mixture. Oh, yes, there were also four steel roof support columns in the organ chamber, which could not be moved, and had to be worked around.

Those of you who have followed our work, or played our instruments, know that our organs have a smooth, warm, pervading, and significantly grand tone. They can be bright when they need to be, but the various stops are not inherently so. (The last thing we want to do is voice the high pitches in the mixtures to be bright!) Our organs are not crowned by high-pitched mixture-work (as in neo-classic organs), but by the heroic blend that results from mixtures and reeds singing together, reinforcing unison pitch. In the case of this church, we needed to fill the entire building (basement included) with bass frequencies, and gradually decrease the intensity of tone as the pitches rose, in order to have the organ sound smooth, balanced in the tonal spectrum, and consonant with our artistic style. To have achieved the balance it has—whether one is sitting next to the Great Mixture, or in the outside ring—is a testament to the organ’s solid construction, painstaking attention to scaling, and countless hours of listening and adjusting the sounds in the church. Our head voicer, Brian Davis, was promoted to the position of tonal director as a result of this organ’s success in the face of such overwhelming challenges.

The visual design’s “prime directives” were to bring order to random asymmetry, lead the eye toward the center of the worship area, emphasize what little verticality the space actually has, and give a dignified prominence to a steel sculpture in front of the organ—the base of the church’s three-bladed steeple, which pierces the roof and ascends to a needle point in the sky.

The three arms of the steeple are of unequal width, connected by horizontal welded rods, and form a sculpture in the nature of a cross. Original descriptions of the sculpture allude to the Trinitarian symbolism of its three blades. The organ chamber is located immediately behind the sculpture, the center portion curved in the outline of the stone font, the sides on a slightly reverse curve as the chamber returns to the side walls. Aside from the planned asymmetry of the steel sculpture, the exact dimensions and precise placement of the organ chamber behind the sculpture could not be ascertained until the old organ was removed and the chamber developed by moving offices and closets previously flanking the former instrument. The chamber space itself was asymmetrical as registered to the centrally located sculpture.

We decided to design the organ’s façade in three sections, not only to emphasize the Trinitarian symbolism, but to give us some practical constructional flexibility in reconciling the many dimensional variables. Even though everything was accurately constructed in the shop to careful measurements taken once the organ chamber was constructed, we still needed to do more woodworking on-site than we would have liked, or than other situations have ever required.

The center section, being behind the flat-black steel sculpture, needed some visual grounding, but not heaviness. The former organ was basically dark, with lots of black grille-cloth, which made the steel sculpture disappear. We therefore displayed the centrally located large wood pipes in a light, natural finish in the center section, with the horizontal bright polished copper reed resonators wrapping themselves around the sculpture from above and behind. This central display is symmetrical, and acts as a perfect backdrop to gently soften the tension created by the wide-versus-narrow blades of the sculpture in front. The low octave of the 8¢ Pedal Principal flanks this display of the wood pipes, the pipes being mounted on toeboards that follow the curve of the font, to act as a transition to the façade’s side elements.

In order to provide motion, rhythm, and verticality to this horizontal instrument, the left and right sides feature the largest of the polished tin Principal pipes, mounted on casework with a toeboard “sill” lower than that of the center section. The façade pipes’ feet are significantly lower than the windchests in the organ, so we had to hide the chests and reservoirs behind them with black felt to eliminate potential visual confusion. The pipes on the outside edges are supported by arched toeboards, rising above the façade’s sill (or impost if this were an organ case), which we enameled blue to relate to other colors in the room. The largest Pedal Principal pipes we could fit in the façade are from 16¢ FFF, which sit on the floor, to break the horizontal line of the sill and challenge the height of the central steel sculpture. As the compass of this stop ascends, the smaller pipes are racked up on the sill, but the mouth line forms one continuous rising arch, leading the eye inward. Subtle touches of pipe spacing from the edges of the upright casework members were added to subtly influence one’s viewing of the “symmetrically asymmetrical organ.”

The tonal design of this instrument is fairly typical of what we do, with the exception of the four-stop Solo Organ, which is at home on the bottom manual keyboard. The Great, Swell, and Pedal are full and well developed, consonant with our style. The Solo offers some evocative coloristic sounds and the flexibility of a third keyboard in a situation in which there was neither room nor money for a full Choir Organ. Usually our organs’ solo reeds are Tubas. But, in this close acoustic, we were extremely concerned that the high volume, located so close to the listeners, would drive them all out onto Green Bay Road and us out of town on a rail! We therefore opted to make these Trombas, on lower pressure with slightly more open shallots for a relatively dark tone, but at a solo volume in balance with the rest of the organ. The Great 8' Trumpet is truly a luxury. This Trumpet is a beautifully blending chorus reed and also very useful for solo work. The Swell reed battery, though, is what’s worth writing home about! Here’s the power in the organ, beautifully tailored for its uses in a wide variety of contexts, but it is never too loud in the room. The Swell 16' Bassoon, which plays in the Pedal as well, perfectly balances not only the Swell battery, but also the Great full chorus for those many times when it is used as a “pointed” pedal reed and the darker, heavier Trombone would be too much.

It has been a pleasure to work with the people of Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church, and consultant Scott Riedel, on this new instrument. Pastor Stephen Samuelson, music director Joshua Brown, and the organ committee fell in love with our instruments after hearing the organ we built at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Glenview, Illinois. Their vision for how the new organ would transform their unique worship space was inspiring. It was our privilege to be given the challenges and create something truly beautiful.

—John-Paul Buzard



From the organist and director of music

Like any good Lutheran, I must start with a confession. Five years ago, when I pulled up to Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church for my first interview, I thought “Who designed this thing, Frank Lloyd Wrong? It embodies disappointing American church architecture with its wide squat room, plenty of carpet and more wasted space than the inside of an SUV!”

Fortunately, like any good Lutheran, I put my trust in God’s abiding grace, and returned to Mt. Pleasant as their organist and director of music to discover the beauty of this building. A ribbon of windows keeps the outside world in plain sight, and the roof line surrounds the building with a crown of thorns. The triune tower rises up from the baptismal font, punctuating this architectural statement, which has served as the church’s very best evangelism tool since its completion 30 years ago!

The church’s former small organ had been assembled in an ad hoc manner through the years, and suffered from the oppressive acoustical environment and poor chamber layout. With the able guidance of Scott Riedel and Associates, the church crafted a plan to remodel the sanctuary, double its reverberation time, and replace the aging organ. The organ committee considered many fine builders. John-Paul Buzard’s warmth of tone, quality of workmanship, and, to quote the Senior Pastor Stephen Samuelson, “bang for the buck,” all contributed to the church’s final selection of his firm.

This unique American church required an equally unique American organbuilder. John-Paul Buzard and his team tackled the church’s twin challenges of odd architecture and unforgiving acoustics with great aplomb. In the process they demonstrated that the best organbuilders, particularly for American churches, need a flexible approach to fit a wide range of applications. From high gothic architecture with grand acoustics to restrained “prairie style” architecture with limited acoustics, John-Paul Buzard has adapted and delivered stunning results while maintaining his tonal style and uncompromising quality.

Opus 34, the result of three years’ careful planning and execution, has both matched and enhanced the sanctuary’s architectural style. More importantly, it has brought an entirely new dynamic to the worship life of the congregation. With a tonal scheme based on a wide array of 8¢ pitches, the organ fully supports the congregation’s singing and easily fills the room with sound. The two complete principal choruses allow the organ to lead congregations of varying sizes, from 10 to 600. The wide selection of reed and flute stops offers ample color and variety for responding to hymn texts and playing repertoire.
The organ was first played for worship on Reformation Sunday 2006, and Mary Preston will play the inaugural recital this month. I am grateful to all of the Buzard staff who worked at a strenuous pace to deliver and install our organ, and to Scott Riedel for his insight and guidance throughout the project. Finally, a special thanks to the staff, worship and music and organ committees, and members of Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church who had the long-term vision required to undertake this project.

—Joshua Brown

Buzard Opus 34
33 stops, 40 ranks

GREAT (4" wind)

16' Lieblich Gedeckt

8' Open Diapason

8' Flûte à Bibéron (wide chimneys)

8' Viola da Gamba

4' Principal

4' Spire Flute

22⁄3' Nazard

2 Fifteenth

13⁄5' Tierce

11⁄3' Mixture IV

8' Trompete

Tremulant

Cymbalstern

8' Festival Trumpet (Solo)

Great to Great 16', UO, 4'

Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'

Solo to Great 16', 8', 4'

SWELL (4" wind)

8' Violin Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Salicional

8' Voix Celeste (gg)

4' Principal

4' Harmonic Flute

2' Recorder

2' Full Mixture IV

16' Bassoon

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

4' Clarion

Tremulant

8' Festival Trumpet (Solo)

Swell to Swell 16', UO, 4'

Solo to Swell 8'

SOLO (4" wind)

8' Harmonic Flute

8' Flute Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)

4' Open Flute

8' Clarinet

8' Festival Trumpet (horizontal)

Tremulant

Chimes

Solo to Solo 16', UO, 4'

Swell to Solo 16', 8', 4'

PEDAL (4" wind)

32' Subbass (1–12 digital)

32' Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital) (Gt)

16' Open Diapason (in façade from FFF)

16' Bourdon (stoppered wood)

16' Gedeckt (Gt)

8' Principal

8' Bass Flute (ext 16')

8' Spire Flute

4' Choral Bass (ext 8')

4' Open Flute (ext 16')

16' Trombone

16' Bassoon (Sw)

8' Trumpet (ext 16')

8' Festival Trumpet (Solo)

Great to Pedal 8', 4'

Swell to Pedal 8', 4'

Solo to Pedal 8', 4'