Cover feature

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 42, St. Bridget Catholic Church, Richmond, Virginia

From the builder

The new organ at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia, is the 42nd new organ to come from the workshop of John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois. It was completed on October 1, 2013, and inaugurated by Ken Cowan in concert on November 15.

The organ’s visual design was guided by the parish’s desire to reclaim a large stained glass window, which the former organ completely blocked. Pastor Monsignor William Carr, who began his clerical career at St. Bridget as the assistant pastor in the 1970s, remembered the beauty of the occluded window and began discussions with John-Paul Buzard in 2005 about the possibilities. The deteriorating mechanical condition and musical limitations of the previous instrument hastened the desire to proceed. The Great Recession delayed the start of the project until the parish raised all the funds to purchase the organ, as their bishop required. 

The gallery’s floor space is quite limited and the window is large. But, the church’s acoustical volume and musical needs required an instrument of a larger tonal size than that which would have been possible with a traditional design. This required some outside-the-box creative thinking, and resulted in our recommendation that the Great division be suspended over the gallery rail, and that the enclosed divisions be thought of as more a divided Swell than independent Swell and Choir divisions. Area organist Grant Hellmers was invited to consult, and enthusiastically agreed that the design met both musical and architectural requirements. The Great’s profile is kept low in order to keep this portion of the organ below the field of glass. The former heavy wood railing was replaced with a more transparent wrought-iron rail. The two enclosed divisions are located in matching cases on either side of the window. The cases’ designs utilize shapes and details found elsewhere in the Tudor-revival building. The result is that the organ cherishes the window, and the gallery and organ are architecturally integrated into the entire worship space rather than being set apart.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Engineer Charles Eames created an instrument whose physical essence truly flows from the building, therein creating room for a larger instrument than the space would have otherwise held. With the new organ in place, the gallery has an additional 100 square feet of usable floor space for the choir and other musicians, which it did not have previously.

This is indeed a three-manual organ. The three-division design evolved from the original two-manual divided Swell concept. The introduction of the 8′ Claribel Flute into what became a somewhat untraditional Choir division allowed the instrument to take on its three-manual identity. The organ exhibits a far greater variety of tone colors and pitch ranges than is typical of many instruments of its size. And it has the uncanny ability to take on the appropriate tonal characteristics of various historical and national styles to fit the character of the musical composition. All of history informs and directs us in the evolution of our singular “Classically Symphonic” tonal style.

The engineering, mechanical systems, and pipe-making all support the artistic end result. The main manual windchests are all electrically operated slider and pallet chests. The chests for the unit stops have expansion chambers built into the very thick toe-boards, to replicate the winding characteristics of the slider chests. All of the pipes are made of high tin content pipe metal, even in the bass, rather than zinc. The large pipes play promptly without having to use beards. The result is fullness and warmth without any hardness or inelegance of tone quality, all the way to the bottom of the compass.

The church’s acoustics change drastically when the room is filled with people, and the church is nearly full every time the organ is used. Tonal Director Brian Davis ably met the challenges that this condition presents by scaling and voicing the instrument for optimal performance when the room is full. The result is that the organ is never too loud, but it fills the room with sound even when played softly. An entire congregation can be supported in its singing with a single 8′ Diapason; the strings are voluptuous and shimmering; the haunting Flute Cœlestis provides an air of mystery; the Choir reeds provide some of the most beautiful cantabile colors imaginable; the smooth and stately Tuba soars above full organ. Nearly every stop can be used with any other to create a new musical color.

Superior tonal design, sensitive voicing, and painstaking tonal finishing result in the exquisite blend and balance of the individual stops and their choruses, relating to both themselves and to the room. And, as Ken Cowan demonstrated to the delight of his audience, there are many ways that this instrument can render seamless dynamic changes. As is the case with all Buzard organs, symphonic color and romantic warmth never sacrifice sprightly clarity and transparency of tone for rendering polyphonic music. 

The church’s growing music program is under the direction of Allen Bean. The children’s program, which Bean instituted and includes both boy and girl choirs, has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

Thanks to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders whose professionalism shines forth in all the work we undertake!

John-Paul Buzard, Artistic Director

Brian K. Davis, Tonal Director

Charles Eames, Vice President and Chief Engineer

Keith Williams, Director, Service Department

Shane Rhoades, Foreman, Production Department and Cabinetmaker

David Brown, Foreman, Service Department

Christopher Goodnight, Master Cabinetmaker

John Jordan, Service Technician

Michael Meyer, Cabinetmaker

Dennis Northway, Chicago area representative and Service Technician

Jay Salmon, Office Manager

Stuart Weber, Senior Service Technician

John Wiegand, Service Technician

Ray Wiggs, Console and Windchest specialist

Jonathan Young, Tonal Department Associate

—John-Paul Buzard

As a first-time voicer on any project, let alone one of this size, the installation of the St. Bridget’s organ was an eye-opening experience for me. The tonal design of the instrument was set before I was brought onto the Buzard team, but I had the opportunity to voice several stops under the tutelage of Tonal Director Brian Davis. Because of the acoustical characteristics of the room, the organ had to have plenty of treble ascendancy while still maintaining warm foundations and good blend. Thus, the higher pitches “sang out” a bit in the voicing room, but the effect in the church is a lively sound, not at all top-heavy but not dark or muffled.

The organ proved an overwhelming success—clear choruses and the proximity of the Great case to the seating area mean contrapuntal music can be rendered quite effectively; the variety of reed colors available lend themselves to solo work as well as forming a striking Swell reed chorus; two contrasting strings in separate boxes add variety to the foundations; and the presence of two cornets, one in the Great, enables the organ to reproduce French Classical music particularly well. However, it is equally adept at handling more modern literature and orchestral transcriptions, as was demonstrated by Ken Cowan at the inaugural recital. 

Throughout the process of voicing and tonal finishing, I was struck by how each installed stop expanded the ability of the organ as a vehicle for improvisation and interpretation of literature. The body of music this instrument will render is indeed large, and with that in mind I went back to Richmond at the beginning of November to record enough music to demonstrate some of its capabilities, including pieces by Guilmant, Langlais, de Grigny, and several major Bach works. All came off admirably, a testament to the versatility of the instrument and the integration of colors not usually found on American organs, such as the large Pedal 4′ open flute.

The St. Bridget’s organ represents a tremendous outlay of time, energy, and planning in pursuit of an instrument that will handle repertoire of any period with a clear but rich sound, and one which I hope the congregation will treasure for years to come.

—Jonathan Young, Tonal Associate

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders

From the director of music

St. Bridget Parish, a Roman Catholic parish of about 7,000 registered members, is among the largest in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Established in 1949, with the building completed and consecrated in 1950, the parish has thrived since its inception. 

The church building is Tudor style with Gothic elements. Seating only 500, the church provides five regular Masses every weekend to accommodate parishioners. Four Masses are led by organ and cantor, with assistance from choral ensembles. The Sunday evening Mass is led by piano, guitars, and a contemporary choir.

I became Music Minister at St. Bridget in October 2005. The primary accompanying instruments at that time were a transplanted E. M. Skinner organ, which was ¼-step flat and in need of restoration, and a mid-1920s Steinway M, also in poor condition. The Parish Adult Choir of about 20 singers sang for one Mass on Sunday morning, and the other Masses were led by volunteer cantors.

Since then, the music ministry has grown. The Parish Adult Choir has grown to 35 voices, and choirs for children (absent from the music ministry for more than 30 years) include a Boy Choir of 11 singers, and a Girl Choir of nearly 30 choristers. The Boy and Girl Choirs, using the RSCM Voice for Life Program, have established themselves as important and valued ensembles, and distinguished themselves in performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

As the parish’s music ministry has grown, so has the need for an organ that could accompany an ever increasingly diverse music ministry, in a church whose acoustics change dramatically depending on the number of worshippers in the church.

The installation of our new instrument evolved out of conversation between Monsignor Carr and me in August 2005. The 1920s E. M. Skinner organ that so nobly served this parish since the 1970s, brought here from the now deconsecrated Monumental Church in downtown Richmond, was in need of restoration. Conversation quickly turned to action. Within a few months we had explored restoring and enlarging the Skinner organ, with additions that would give it the flexibility required for our growing program. We also received from John-Paul Buzard a proposal for a new instrument, one that would be tonally designed for our acoustical space, give us the flexibility we need to support choirs, cantors, and congregation, and uncover a great west window that is an architectural feature of the church.

The original design proposed by Mr. Buzard underwent several modifications over the following months. The stoplist was refined, as the organ became slightly smaller in scope than we originally envisioned, yet considerably more flexible. Mechanical components were also addressed in this process (another nod to flexibility), including independent swell shades on two sides of each enclosed division. The design process of this instrument was a delight for me as parish musician. The parish is forever grateful for the work of our Organ Project Consultant, Grant Hellmers, whose wisdom and experience helped define the parish’s needs in an instrument, and brought clarity to the process as St. Bridget personnel and I worked with the Buzard shop in the design phase.

Once the design was finalized, the Buzard shop began to plan the physical design of the instrument, and, under the direction of Tonal Director Brian Davis, began to envision the tonal color of each and every stop in the instrument. Mr. Davis’s ability to take the numbers that represented the (ever-changing) acoustical properties of the church, and to determine scale and timbre of each of more than 2,000 pipes in 38 ranks, producing more than 48 stops, proved to be remarkable. Charles Eames also worked magic, engineering the organ that John-Paul and Brian envisioned to fit into a relatively small space.

Several weeks of voicing accomplished by John-Paul Buzard, Brian Davis, and Jonathan Young brought St. Bridget Parish’s organ to completion. The instrument’s design, its pipes, its mechanicals, the construction of the instrument’s beautiful casework, its installation, its voicing, the work of St. Bridget Church’s own organ project committee, building committee, and staff, altogether required more than 20,000 hours of labor. I believe that even when it was labor bought and paid for, it was a labor of love, and that the Buzard shop always acted with a sense of vocation.

St. Bridget parishioners gave freely of their time to make sure the church was ready to receive the instrument. John McCulla coordinated our efforts with the Buzard shop. Richard Lewis designed the mechanical and electrical components the church provided. Terrence Kerner arranged for the addition of HVAC for the organ gallery. Patrick Ross and the St. Bridget maintenance staff were always on hand to help subcontractors and the Buzard crew with whatever they needed. These parishioners have remained involved even after the organ’s completion to assure the project is truly complete and in keeping with the church’s beautiful architecture.

Several enabling gifts allowed this project to move forward. In all, some 265 parishioners, a relatively small number of our many parishioners, made this instrument a gift to the parish. Additionally, still more parishioners have contributed to the Friends of Music Fund at St. Bridget, to enable an inaugural concert series, so that we can make it a gift to the Richmond community.

Because this platform is here for me to do so, I want to express my special gratitude to our Pastor, Monsignor Carr, who began this conversation more than eight years ago. He envisioned a pipe organ for St. Bridget Parish. He let the donors to the project know of our need. He guided Parish Council, Parish Finance Council, and all who made decisions about the organ throughout the process. And, if there is anyone who delights more in this instrument than I do, it is Monsignor Carr.

—Allen Bean

Minister of Music, St. Bridget Parish

Cover

Buzard Pipe
Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 29,
completed November, 2003

All Saints
Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia

Some years ago I was contacted about a new organ for All Saints Episcopal
Church by the assistant organist, Jefferson McConnaughey. We seemed to be
speaking the same language concerning how we thought organs should sound, and I
was eager to meet him, music directors Ray and Elizabeth Chenault, and to visit
the church. Our conversations were put on hold while the parish called a new
rector and undertook other projects. At the time we were blessed with
commissions to build the organ at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Oklahoma
City, and large instruments for Glenview Community Church (III/71) and Holy
Family Catholic Church of Rockford, Illinois (III/56).

A few years went by, and I was invited to visit the church. Judging from the
size of the instrument under discussion, I expected to enter a huge space.
Instead, the church was more modest than vast, the acoustic more understated
than generous. At first blush, it seemed that 40 stops could have adequately
met their needs. But, no real lady ever gives up all her secrets at once, and
so I patiently looked and listened.

I listened to their former instrument while walking around the room, and
observed the acoustical phenomena under which the musicians had been laboring
for so long. The organ, although installed in the chancel in relatively close
proximity to the congregation, diminished drastically in volume in the nave. I
concluded that a part of the organ had to be installed in the body of the
church, to support singing and "pull" the sound out of the main part
of the organ installed in the chancel. Additionally, sound generated in the
nave lost its energy quickly; sound simply didn't travel well without becoming
garbled.

The musicians wanted to be able to properly register an organ to
"text-paint" Anglican Chant, choral anthems and ceremonial music in
the Anglican musical tradition. They needed a wide variety of accompanimental
tone colors at every dynamic level so that the organ could always support the
singers, even at pianissimo volume levels. It was equally important that the
organ musically render the great body of organ literature, even that of the
French Baroque school, of which Mr. McConnaughey seemed quite fond. And, the
Chenaults are duo organists; the literature which has been (and has yet to be)
commissioned for them had to be accommodated. This requires a large organ, as
coloristic stops outside the component voices for the essential choruses had to
be included and integrated into the design. Fortunately, these stops were never
in competition for space or funding, nor were our classic concepts of the
hierarchical scaling of divisions within the instrument ever compromised. Some
specific organs were studied: The Temple Church, London; King's College,
Cambridge; and St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

There is a beautiful chapel behind the Epistle side choir stalls, at 90
degrees to the axis of the church, which also serves as an overflow room on
Sundays. Worshippers there were relegated to viewing services on a small
closed-circuit TV, and could not participate in the hymn-singing because, being
outside the body of the church, they couldn't hear the organ. If the new organ
were to address and meet all the musical and acoustical requirements of the
church, then the chapel also needed to have some pipes in it, so that those
seated there could feel a part of the worshiping community.

All of these requirements were brought to bear upon a single instrument. Yes,
I agreed, this instrument has to be large--very large. Even if the room seats
only 550 souls, the musical and physical requirements dictated an organ of a
size which one might initially think out of proportion.

The position and installation of the new Main Organ was relatively
straightforward. The Great, Swell, Choir, Tuba, and Pedal would have to be
installed in the chancel, in an enlarged version of their existing chamber,
plus spaces created by cantilevering steel platforms into the chancel space on
both Epistle and Gospel sides.

The antiphonal division, a romantic Solo Organ including a Diapason Chorus
which mirrors the Great, had to be installed in the nave. But there was no
floor space for cases, no desire to see columns, and windows everywhere, many
of them signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. By clever engineering of the diatonic
windchest layouts (which we had first used at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma
City) we were able to tuck the Solo Organ cases up in the rafters of the church
above the narthex, on either side of a central great window. By creative use of
perspective, we were able to engineer the location of the supporting steel
platforms so that they wouldn't block the view of the Tiffany windows in the
side aisles, yet give us sufficient height for the pipes inside the cases.

As conversations concerning the tonal design took shape, Ray, Elizabeth, and
Jeff fell in love with our tonal style which, while embracing eclecticism, has
its own unique personality. They visited both our large organs, and Jeff
actually played Sunday services on our Opus 7 organ at The Chapel of St. John
the Divine in my wife Linda's stead. The All Saints organ is a very logical
outgrowth of our style as practiced in our smaller organs, and as our two
larger organs have led us. The humble beginnings of Opus 7 at the Chapel, in
which we made 29 stops into a cathedral organ, can be seen all over this much
larger organ. Well-informed national and historical inspirations are
distributed throughout, so that the whole is at unity with itself. No German
Hauptwerk, French Récit or English Chair Organs for us. For example the
Great includes the mature English practice of 8' First & Second Open
Diapasons, married nicely to the French Fonds d'Orgue. A voluptuous Full English
Swell has continental fire by virtue of the authentic (but modified) French
reed battery, but the lyrical soft solo reed is a plaintive English Oboe. No
quirky nomenclature either. Although rooted in 19th-century English practice of
"Diapason, Principal, Twelfth, Fifteenth," etc., the stops in our
organs are what they say they are. If the Swell reed is spelled
"Trompette," you can be assured that you will hear a Trumpet with
French shallots and pipe construction.

The Great is based upon a 16' Double Open Diapason of tin which stands
proudly in the Gospel side case along with the rest of the division. A complete
Diapason chorus through Mixture, flutes at 8' & 4', and a Viola da Gamba
make up the flue work, and the reeds are Trombas, brought up to the manuals from
the Pedal Trombone. The Mixture breaks at octaves, rather than at fifth
intervals. In this way, one doesn't hear alternating unison and fifths playing
as the top rank, and the breaks are virtually unheard.

The Great also incorporates an harmonic corroborating stop which was more at
home in English and American concert organs of the early part of the last
century. Our four-rank Harmonic Mixture has in it a unison, a quint, a tierce,
and a flat-seventh. These are all the harmonics present in Tromba class reeds,
which are on the Great at 8' and 4' pitches. We originally included the
Harmonic Mixture as a way to prevent the dark Trombas from covering the
brightness of the mixture work in full organ, but have found that when used
sans Trombas, the ancient flavor of 18th-century Dutch organs is perceived in
an uncanny way. One could even imagine the wind to be unsteady--but of course
it's not!

The Solo has a Diapason Chorus nearly mirroring the Great, and despite its
distance from the Main Organ, it can exactly balance the Great Plenum in
certain contexts. The Solo contains a pair of E. M. Skinner-inspired Gambas,
the celesting rank in the case across the church from its unison pair. Now
that's a Celeste! The Flügel Horn, while a lyrical romantic solo reed, has
just enough harmonic interest to function beautifully as a chorus reed. The
Bassett Horn is certainly at home playing obbligato parts in Elgar, but has
just enough Cromorne in it to play Daquin with a French nose in the air.

One can use the Choir in a classic context, as a Positiv when a lighter foil
to the Great is desired. But this division is the real choral accompanying
workhorse. It's one of the most elegant, light, but profound Choir divisions we
have created. The Choir features a flute chorus from 16' up, and a proper
Diapason chorus complete with a four-rank quint mixture, a fifth interval
higher than the Great. But the luxurious feature in this day and age is our
Dulciana Chorus, which includes a three-rank mixture in which the 4' enters
early on at tenor C. Our Dulcianas are truly small Diapasons, and there is
nothing like the effect of accompanying voices with Diapason color, but at such
a soft volume. The Dulciana Mixture has many uses in coloring and painting
texts, 90% of which I would never have envisioned. Our Cornopeans are
small-scaled, but fundamental Trumpets as the original prototypes were, not the
horn-like Cornopeans one would otherwise love to hate. The Clarinet is truly of
English style, and the English Horn is orchestral in color with enough body to
be the foundation of the Choir reed battery, yet enough jazz in the color to
differentiate itself from the more fundamental Swell English Oboe.

The Chapel Organ includes a small-scaled Diapason Chorus at 8' and 4' to
lead the hymn-singing, and an 8' Aeoline and Vox Angelica. These very, very
soft string-toned stops allow the worshippers there to feel connected, and also
provide a powerfully effective pianissimo "wrap-around" effect as the
softest sounds concluding a smooth decrescendo. These little strings can just
be barely heard in the nave as the expression box closes on the Solo Flute
Cœlestis. When they play alone, they are literally in another room, off in
the distance.

In the All Saints organ, the Great, Swell, Choir, Solo, and a portion of the
Pedal divisions play upon 4 inches of wind pressure. The Trombones and Trombas
play upon 7 inches of wind, the Solo Festival Trumpets on 6 inches, and the
Major Tuba plays upon 20 inches of wind. The Tuba is housed in its own
expression box, and the organist can easily select which expression shoe may be
used to operate the Tuba's expression (or whether it is to remain open) by a
simple rotary switch. We aim to expand the color and dynamic range of the pipe
organ, while keeping the console controls simple and straightforward.

Before I was selected as their builder, Ray, Elizabeth, and Jeff charged me
to design the perfect instrument for all their requirements, and they would
undertake the responsibility of presenting this plan to the organ committee to
get their reaction, and see if the instrument would have to suffer at the hands
of "value engineers." Although my past experience made me somewhat
timid about presenting such a large (expensive) instrument as part of a
selection competition, we arrived at the specification of 63 straight speaking
stops, 87 ranks of pipes (5229 pipes overall), in five free-standing cases
throughout their church.

I will never forget the evening of a crucial organ committee meeting when I
received an excited telephone call from Ray. The musicians presented the
proposal and the room fell silent. People on the committee asked questions to
the effect: "Now, do all three of you musicians agree on this builder? Do
all three of you agree with each other in every respect to this instrument?"
When the answer was an emphatic yes, a committee member said: "How many
times do musicians agree with each other about anything, let alone every of the
many thousands of details in this organ's design!? This is what we need for All
Saints, and we need John-Paul to build it for us." A member of the
committee, Sarah Kennedy, later wrote a check for the entire project, in loving
memory and in honor of her family, The Kenans.

The organs' visual designs were developed during August and September of
2001. The first draft of the Chapel Organ's design was revised to be more in
keeping with the modern nature of the chapel (and less like King's College,
Cambridge). The Main Organ and the Solo Organs were built according to my first
pen-and-ink renderings.

All of my design drawings are executed by hand. The discipline of cleaning
the drafting table and truing the parallel bars and 90-degree instruments
contributes to clearing my mind of everything except what I need to think about
for the organ on the blank piece of paper.

It is always my goal to design organ cases which appear as though they had
always been in the church. The All Saints cases use shapes and colors found
throughout the room, and mirror the restrained nature of the Victorian Gothic
design. But the cases become vivid, exciting, and dramatic by incorporation of
the fabulous red enamel and gold leaf adorning the church's clerestory. The
inclusion of the red gave me license to add contracting pieces of red-stained
Honduras mahogany in the stained white oak cases. The soaring nature of the
Solo Organs, as their lines ascend while moving toward the great window, seemed
to cry out for heraldic angels, announcing the Great Day of Judgment on
gold-leafed trumpets. Thanks to parishioner David Foerster for making these
possible.

All of us will remember exactly where we were on 9/11. I was at the drafting
table finishing the designs for the Main Organ cases. I had penciled the
drawing the day before and was preparing to ink the drawing when I heard the
news reports. My entire staff came up to the drafting room and we all went to
the conference area where a small television showed us the horrors unfold as
the second airliner smashed into the second building. As we heard a large
airplane overhead, being sent to land at our local airport, I was asked if we
were going to close for the day. I said, no. We had to go about our task of
making beautiful things, especially in light of the ugliness that visited
itself on our country that day. If we wanted to take time off individually to
mourn our country's losses, go with my blessing, but the doors would remain
open and I would continue to draw a beautiful pair of pipe organ cases.

I set to cleaning out my India ink pens, and put on a CD of The English
Anthem II from St. Paul's Cathedral,
London.

Oh Lord, look down from heaven, and behold the habitation
of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: Where is Thy zeal and Thy strength? Thy
mercies towards me, are they restrained?

My deepest thanks to the musicians at All Saints Church, everyone on the
organ committee, Greg Kellison, chairman; Paul Elliott, the rector; David
Foerster, and Sarah Kennedy for selecting me and my firm for this tremendous
commission.

My overwhelming gratitude goes to the members of my staff whose hard work
and dedication made such an excellent instrument so sublime: Charles Eames,
executive vice president, general manager and chief engineer; Brian K. Davis,
associate tonal director; Keith Williams, service department director; Shayne
Tippett, shop manager; Jay Salmon, office manager; Evan Rench, pipe maker,
voicer; Steve Downes, tonal assistant; C. Robert Leach, cabinetmaker; Stuart
Martin, cabinetmaker; Kenneth McCabe, winding systems; Ray Wiggs, consoles,
windchests; Robert Ference, service technician; Stuart Weber, service
technician; Jonathan Borchardt, service technician; JoAnne Hutchcraft Rench,
receptionist.

--John-Paul Buzard

GREAT (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual II - unenclosed pipework

16' Double Open Diapason

8' First Open Diapason

8' Second Open Diapason (ext 16')

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Harmonic Flute

8' Bourdon

4' Principal

4' Spire Flute

22/3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

2' Fourniture V

13/5' Harmonic Mixture IV

16' Double Trumpet

8' Trombas (ext Ped)

4' Clarion (ext Ped)

Tremulant

Chimes

8' Major Tuba (20" wind)

8' Tuba Solo (melody coupler)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

SWELL (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual III - enclosed and expressive

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Salicional

8' Voix Celeste

4' Principal

4' Harmonic Flute

22/3' Nazard

2' Flageolet

13/5' Tierce

22/3' Full Mixture V

16' Bassoon

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana

4' Clarion (ext 16')

Tremulant

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHOIR (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual I - enclosed and expressive

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (wood)

8' English Open Diapason

8' Flûte à Bibéron

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16')

8' Dulciana

8' Unda Maris

4' Principal

4' Koppel Flute

2' Recorder

2' Mixture III–IV (Dulcianas)

11/3' Fourniture IV

Sesquialtera II (22/3' & 13/5')

16' English Horn

8' Cornopean

8' Clarinet

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (14 bells)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

ANTIPHONAL SOLO (4- & 51/2-inch wind)

Manual IV - in twin cases over the narthex (expressive)

8' Open Diapason

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Gamba Celeste (CC)

8' Melodia

8' Flute Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)

4' Principal

4' Flûte d'Amour

2' Doublette

11/3' Mixture IV

8' Flügel Horn

8' Corno di Bassetto

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (8 bells)

Chimes (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

PEDAL (various wind pressures)

32' Double Open Diapason (digital)

32' Subbass (digital)

32' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch, digital)

16' First Open Diapason

16' Second Open Diapason (Gt)

16' Bourdon

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

8' Principal

8' Bass Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16' Lieblich)

4' Choral Bass

4' Open Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

22/3' Mixture IV

32' Contra Trombone (wood)

16' Trombone (wood, ext 32')

16' Double Trumpet (Gt)

16' Bassoon (Sw)

8' Trumpet (ext 16')

4' Clarion (Sw)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHAPEL (4-inch wind, floating)

8' Open Diapason

8' Aeoline

8' Vox Angelica (tc)

4' Principal

Chapel on Great

Chapel on Swell

Chapel on Choir

Chapel on Solo

Chapel on Pedal

Intraddivisional couplers

Gt/Gt 16-UO-4

Sw/Sw 16-UO-4

Ch/Ch 16-UO-4

Solo/Solo 16-UO-4

Interdivisional couplers

Gt/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Ped 8, 4

Ch/Ped 8, 4

Solo/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Gt 16, 8, 4

Ch/Gt 16, 8, 4

Solo/Gt 16, 8, 4

Sw/Ch 16, 8, 4

Solo/Ch 16, 8, 4

Pedal Stops to Divisional Pistons

The Wicks Organ Company, Highland,
Illinois has built a new organ for the Barrington United Methodist Church,
Barrington, Illinois. In 1999 the church building was destroyed by fire. Their
losses included a 41-rank Möller pipe organ, which had been rebuilt as
recently as 1988. As planning for their new building began, the search for a
new pipe organ started. The church’s demands for their new organ were
that it had to be a great congregational organ, but also able to perform for
recitals as well. The sanctuary was to be a top-notch performance facility as
well as a place of worship. The church desired an organ of 3 manuals and 5
divisions, including an antiphonal. Each division was to have a principal
chorus, and the foundations of the Great organ were to be exposed.

The church committee heard many styles of instruments built by Wicks over
the last seven decades. This included, a North German neo-Baroque style
instrument, a symphonic organ scaled and designed by Henry V. Willis, an
American Classic, and an Aeolian instrument from the 1920s that had been
rebuilt by the Wicks Organ Company in conjunction with Mr. Madison Lindsey. The
service playing abilities of each instrument were demonstrated to the
committee, and they identified and found themselves drawn to the
English/symphonic style of the rebuilt Aeolian instrument. The organ committee
chose Wicks over several other builders after hearing several new Wicks
installations and the company ‘s recent success in exactly this style of
instrument.

The completed organ is described as an English service organ with orchestral
capabilities. The instrument is able to not only provide a seamless crescendo
from ppp to fff, but can do it with flair. In addition to service music, the
organ is able to perform every possible type of organ literature from the
Renaissance to the present. It is also able to realize orchestral
transcriptions with great skill, thanks to the presence of many orchestral solo
stops in each division, blending choruses, and 2-inch thick beveled and overlapping
felted shades. The completed organ consists of 24 ranks of pipes and 25 digital
voices. The Wicks design team pre-engineered space to accommodate real pipe
ranks to replace these voices. The Swell is on 7 inches of wind, the Pedal 10
inches; the Choir and Great are on 6 inches, with the exception of the
Clarinet, English Horn, and Tuba in the choir, which are all on 10 inches.

The solo reeds of this organ are of a unique style, derived from the
Willis/Wicks style reeds used in many Wicks organs over the decades, married to
the traditional ideas of Skinner solo reeds. The end results were clear,
smooth, stops of unique color and great versatility throughout the compass. The
greatest asset to the organ is the lively acoustical environment of the sanctuary.
The collaboration of the building committee, acousticians Kirkegaard &
Associates of Chicago, and the Wicks Organ Company have resulted in a
beautiful, successful combination of organ and room.

The console is drawknob style with 45-degree side jambs, a glass music rack,
and P&S keys with ivory resin naturals and ebony sharps. The drawknobs are
made of polished hardwood. Made of red oak, the interior is very light and the
exterior is stained to match the woodwork of the chancel furnishings. The console
features a tilt tab that allows the digital Tuba and Festival Trumpet to
emanate from the antiphonal division located in the rear of the church instead
of their native divisions. The console also has a Manual I/II transfer for
French literature.

Installation of Opus 6412 began in August of 2003, and an initial tonal
finishing and adjustment of digital voices took place in early September. After
the church’s dedication, Wicks tonal director Dr. William Hamner and reed
voicer Greg Caldwell completed an entire tonal finishing.

--Brent Johnson

Great (exposed)

16’ Violone*

8’ First Open Diapason

8’ Second Open Diapason

8’ Violoncello

8’ Harmonic Flute (Ch)

4’ Principal

4’ Flute Octaviante

2’ Fifteenth

IV Full Mixture

8’ Chorus Tuba (Ch)

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Chimes* (Ant)

Swell (expressive)

16’ Minor Bourdon*

8’ Open Diapason

8’ Stopped Diapason*

8’ Viola*

8’ Viola Celeste*

8’ Flauto Dolce*

8’ Flute Celeste*

4’ Octave Diapason

4’ Triangular Flute*

22/3’ Nazard*

2’ Recorder*

13/5’ Tierce*

IV Plein Jeu

16’ Waldhorn*

8’ Cornopean

8’ Oboe*

4’ Clarion

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Tremolo

Choir (expressive)

8’ Geigen (1-12*)

8’ Concert Flute

8’ Dolcan*

8’ Dolcan Celeste*

4’ Octave Geigen

4’ Transverse Flute

2’ Harmonic Piccolo

16’ Bass Clarinet

8’ Clarinet

8’ English Horn

8’ French Horn*

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

8’ Chorus Tuba

Tremolo

Harp*

Antiphonal (unenclosed - floating) (prepared)

8’ Festival Trumpet*

8’ Tuba Mirabilis*

Chimes*

Antiphonal Pedal (prepared)

Pedal

32’ Contre Bourdon*

16’ Open Wood

16’ Major Bourdon

16’ Violone* (Gt)

16’ Minor Bourdon* (Sw)

8’ Principal

8’ Flute

8’ Stopped Flute

4’ Octave

4’ Harmonic Flute (Gt)

32’ Ophicleide*

16’ Trombone (1–12*)

16’ Waldhorn (Sw)

8’ Tromba

8’ Trumpet (Sw)

4’ Oboe (Sw)

7-bell zimbelstern

*= Digital Voices

From the organbuilder

In their search for an organbuilder, Memorial Presbyterian Church identified an ability to lead hymn singing as a priority for their new instrument. The accompaniment of the church’s choir and the needs of the organ repertoire were important but less significant considerations; this pipe organ’s raison d’être was to support a large congregation in song. As a result, our Opus 122 was designed to offer the perceptive player a wide array of colors and textures for leading hymns and word painting.

Given in memory by her brother Charles, the Bertha E.R. Strosacker Memorial Presbyterian Church was thet work of New York City architect Aymar Embury II (1880–1966), who regarded the church as one of his finest designs. The building was opened in 1953 and displays Embury’s unique style that defies easy categorization as classical or Georgian. The exterior of the building is handsome in a way that belies its size; the 172-foot-tall tower can, however, be seen from nearly anywhere in Midland. Inside, the long church sanctuary is similarly understated, with natural light playing a striking role through large floor-to-ceiling windows and crisp white surfaces. 

Prior to beginning the organ project, the church was acoustically unremarkable; the apse-like chancel area, the chancel arch and the rectilinear surfaces of the nave presented challenges for the proper transmission of sound without confusing reflections and echoes. The church wisely engaged in the services of acoustician Scott Riedel, who recommended adding visually subtle diffusers to various surfaces throughout the sanctuary; these improvements were realized before the new organ’s installation.

The original organ chambers were on both sides of the chancel arch, with each chamber having tone openings to the chancel and nave. Their most commented-upon feature was the four grilles that fronted each opening and displayed favorite hymn tunes on treble and bass staves. As the new organ is considerably larger than its predecessor, the existing chambers were expanded laterally to sweep around the chancel’s semi-circular back wall. While the old chambers’ tone openings and grilles were maintained, the new chambers display speaking pipes from the Great diapasons, the Pedal 8′ Principal, and the second octave of the Pedal 16′ Open Diapason; the relatively unadorned arrangement of the pipes and their restrained finish were intended to quietly complement the chancel without drawing undue attention.

With openings to the nave and the chancel, the original chambers allowed us to design the organ such that organists have a choice with respect to the amount of sound projected to the nave. To restrict tone to the chancel for accompanying, the Swell and Choir nave shades can be closed via drawknobs. Used judiciously, these shades can also be kept closed for climactic moments as the instrument presents a markedly broader sound field in the nave when the nave shutters are open.

In preparing the specification for Opus 122, we evaluated the pipework from the church’s previous Austin organ with an eye to reusing the best ranks as a measure of stewardship. Several partial ranks made the cut: the first 32 pipes of the Great 16′ Violonbass and another 32 pipes from the present Great 8′ Harmonic Flute were restored and revoiced in addition to the Swell 16′-8′-4′ reed chorus. In the Choir division, the bass octave of the 16′ Dulciana and all 54 pipes from the Solo 8′ Flute Celeste rank were also reused. Finally, the bass octave of the Pedal 16′ Open Diapason—comprising usefully slender open wood pipes—and 32 pipes from the Pedal 16′ Trombone were successfully reworked into the new instrument.

The Létourneau organ at Memorial Presbyterian Church is an excellent example of our tonal goals, with a wide array of elegant colors and clear chorus structures. The tonal design also follows certain other recent Létourneau instruments in which the Swell and Great divisions are almost evenly matched dynamically. Despite five 8′ flues and fifteen ranks in total, the full Great maintains a clean, placid nature that brings to mind some of the better American Classic examples from the early 1950s. The Swell is luxurious in its size and scope, with the full Swell properly driven by reed tone to color the Great division. The versatile Choir has a number of softer combinations but can also take on a substantial role in the build up to full organ as with a French Positif division. Duplication of tone between the Swell and Choir has been avoided through careful scaling and other pipe construction details; the Choir’s two-rank Sesquialtera is composed of principal-toned pipes to contrast with the Swell’s fluty cornet décomposé. Likewise, the Choir’s two reed stops—an 8′ Trumpet and an 8′ Cromorne—have an unambiguous French timbre that takes over where the Swell’s smoother reed chorus leaves off. The expressive Solo division offers a harmonic 8′ Concert Flute in wood, an otherworldly two-rank 8′ Flute Celeste and two orchestral-style reeds, plus a high-pressure 8′ Tuba with Willis-style shallots. With 32′ flue and reed ranks—plus a 16′ extension of the Solo Tuba sounding on 15 inches of wind—the full resources of the Pedal division are impressive to behold, yet an abundance of lesser sonorities to balance the manuals is available as well.

The handsome four-manual console resides on a rolling platform for mobility within the chancel and has a number of conveniences to help manage the instrument’s resources. In addition to the Nave Shutters Closed drawknobs within the Swell and Choir divisions, there is an All Swells to Swell feature, with all of these controls programmable on the General pistons as required. Other refinements include discreet thumb pistons for page-turners to operate the General piston sequencer and a manual transfer function, exchanging the Great and Choir manuals to ease the playing of French Romantic repertoire.

The timeline for this project—from initial contact to the dedicatory concerts—spanned over five years, and we remain grateful to Memorial Presbyterian Church for entrusting us to build this grand and complex musical instrument. Over the years, it was a particular privilege to work with Memorial’s Director of Music and the Arts, Guy Lynch, who ably supervised the project on the church’s behalf. Others who contributed greatly to the success of the Opus 122 include William Clisham (Memorial’s organ consultant), Dr. Adrienne Wiley (organist at Memorial), Ivan Wood (facilities manager at Memorial), and David Morrison (the organ project’s unofficial photographer).

—Andrew Forrest, Artistic Director

Fernand Létourneau, President

W. Dudley Oakes, Project Consultant

 

From the director of music

Opus 122 from Orgues Létourneau Limitée has, since its completion, delighted organists and congregations each week. While Memorial Presbyterian Church wanted a new pipe organ that worked well for choral accompaniment and for solo recitals, it primarily sought a stoplist and design that would unfailingly support congregational singing, providing worshippers with a sense of support and propulsion without being overwhelming.

New chambers surrounding the chancel were constructed for the Great and Pedal divisions, and in keeping with the architectural symmetry of the sanctuary, the design of the façade pipes in four bays allowed for two different Great 8′ diapason ranks. Each has its own color and strength, and either can sit equally well under the chorus; when combined, the effect is a substantial foundation, but not an overwhelming one. They offer a valuable clarity of speech that makes articulated passagework sound clean, yet the legato never seems to suffer. The Great principal chorus possesses the distinctive, clear character one would expect and supports congregational singing with great transparency, a word often used in our conversations with Létourneau.

Throughout the organ’s expressive divisions, the extraordinary thickness and density of the swell shades yield a usefully wide range of dynamics; some of the softer string and flute stops almost disappear completely when the shades close. The Swell and Choir divisions have shades on two sides of their boxes, opening towards both the chancel and to the nave, and organists can choose to leave the nave shades closed if accompanying a choir singing in the chancel, for example.

The Solo division’s six ranks are perhaps the instrument’s most distinctive. The strong 8′ Tuba can sit atop a very full accompanying registration with ease and balance. The flute stops are exquisite: the wooden 8′ Concert Flute has a delightfully realistic orchestral timbre, while the combination of the 8′ Dolce Flute and the 8′ Flute Celeste was described as “too sinful to be used during worship.” Throughout the remaining manual divisions, the instrument’s ability to create a sense of ensemble seems unfailingly consistent and even unconventional registrations can yield delicious results. Mutation stops on all the manuals are colorful and well balanced, with several unison and octave combinations in support.

The extensive Pedal division supplies the organist with useful choices: While the Pedal stops undergird manual registrations in a very satisfying way, they also speak clearly and quickly—the capable organist can keep even the sleepiest churchgoer up to tempo. The Pedal 16′ Open Diapason’s speech is particularly clean and most distinct.

Organists have found Opus 122’s console to be comfortable and easy to use; its toe pistons are accessible to even the shortest pair of legs. The music desk can slide toward the organist over the Solo manual, a useful feature when reading glasses have gone missing!

The congregation’s support of the organ project was remarkable in this writer’s experience, and their input was sought and nurtured throughout the proposal phase. Members and friends were encouraged to visit the organ committee’s information display to view Létourneau’s drawings and communications; the displays were changed almost each week. Once the organ project was approved by the church’s leadership, Létourneau supplied photographs that kept the congregation informed and enticed during the typical lull between contract signature and completion. Parishioners even lent quilts and blankets to cover the sanctuary’s pews for the organ’s delivery; some seventy volunteers unloaded the truck and transformed the sanctuary into a dauntingly large warehouse of pipework, chests, and windways.

Opus 122 was, to a wonderful degree, funded by dollars that came from community sources, and because the campaign to pay for the organ was so oversubscribed, Memorial Presbyterian Church used those extra dollars to provide financial support to important local and distant mission causes. The church is intentional about making the instrument accessible for community purposes and important improvements to the sanctuary’s acoustics have made the church even more attractive to community music makers. British organist David Baskeyfield performed two inaugural recitals on Opus 122 to comfortably large crowds made up from congregation and community members in September of 2012. The dedication committee worked with Mr. Baskeyfield to offer a program that included mainstays of the organ repertoire during the first half and an improvised accompaniment of the silent film The Phantom of the Opera to conclude. The result was a meaningful and delightful evening that attracted many who otherwise would have not attended the inaugural concerts.

The people at Létourneau—to the person—possess an unfaltering zeal for their art. The friendliness, attention to detail, flexibility, and stellar professionalism consistently shown to Memorial Presbyterian Church have been and continue to be a blessing.

—Guy A. Lynch 

Director of Music and the Arts

All photos courtesy of David Morrison Photography

Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders,
Bellwood, Illinois

St. Benedict’s Catholic Church,
Chesapeake, Virginia

From the builder

As most organ projects go, Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders’ instrument for St. Benedict’s Catholic Church proceeded at a rapid pace. The organ was completed just two years and one week after organist, conductor, author, and consultant to the parish Peggy Kelley Reinburg made initial contact with us in June 2012. From our very first meeting in which creative ideas were freely shared, our firm was enthusiastic about collaborating with Ms. Reinburg. Her insight into pipe organs, and in particular her thoughts on tonal design, proved to be invaluable resources. After long conversations with her and consulting her book, Arp Schnitger, Organ Builder: Catalyst for the Centuries (1982, Indiana University Press), we were confident that we could present an instrument with a heart of simplicity and clarity, rooted in North German tradition, that also possessed a distinctive voice, as our company has provided to clients for many years. 

Following the signing of the contract in the fall of 2013, construction was executed over a six-month period, and the organ components were delivered to Chesapeake the day after Easter, 2014.Installation of the organ commenced over a five-week period, and tonal finishing took place over one month.

Our initial site visit revealed an existing south organ chamber that would eventually contain the Hauptwerk. For engineering and site preparation, the church contracted with Spiegel Zamecnik & Shah Inc. of Washington, D.C., to engineer the design and with Sussex Development Corp. of Virginia Beach, Virginia, to penetrate a tone opening for the existing chamber and create a second chamber on the other side of the rose window for the Schwellwerk and Pedal. Berghaus designer Michal Leutsch planned façade pipes and screens to complement the church architecture while hiding the dual enclosures. Initially, we intended to create a cloth screen barrier above the three pipe towers on each side. However, the logistics of creating such a screen prior to the arrival of the organ became impractical, and so its construction became part of the organ installation. Rather than use the ubiquitous grille cloth, we chose stamped metal screening, which would allow for better tonal egress.

Wind pressures are moderately low throughout, measuring 75 mm for the Hauptwerk, and 90 mm for the Schwellwerk and Pedal. This allows for a voicing style on classical lines, and yields pipes that work together with natural, unforced tone. Each chamber is equipped with a single horsepower Ventus blower, which provides ample and steady wind to all chests while keeping a simple yet effective winding plan for the entire instrument. Manual stops are primarily located on Berghaus slider and pallet windchests, which are controlled by Heuss electric pulldown magnets. Within each main chest is a large schwimmer, which provides stable wind. Pedal and unit ranks are located on electro-pneumatic windchests, also constructed by the Berghaus firm.Expression boxes are constructed from 1-3/4″ thick tongue and groove poplar, which allows for a wide range of dynamic possibility.

Both chambers are adorned by rift-cut red oak casework with accented trim, stained to match the church furnishings.The organ is played from a custom-built console of red oak and burled walnut. Keyboards are constructed of maple and walnut, and manuals utilize tracker touch. The combination action is controlled by the ICS-4000 system by Peterson Electro-Musical Products, and contains many features, including a piston sequencer and record/playback.

In the Hauptwerk, the principal chorus is moderately scaled and voiced without gimmicks to improve presence or warmth. Façade pipes are made of 75% tin and continue as such throughout the compass of the stop. The elevated position of the slider chest allowed us to treat pipes without fear that the choir would be offended by full registration, and at the same time, individual voices seem to bloom from within the chambers. The 8′ Hohlflöte is designed to act as a chameleon in registration, and is made from three distinct types of pipe construction: the bass octave is constructed as a stopped flute, the tenor octave is constructed as a Koppelflöte, and the upper octaves are constructed as a Hohlflöte. Deliberate voicing with attention to blending construction types was necessary to the successful finishing of this stop. The result is a flute that morphs well with many registrations. The Hauptwerk mutations are scaled to match the Mixtur IV–V and provide the light clarity of a Sesquialtera, thus providing a Germanic cornet décomposée for the division. In our shop, Berghaus constructed a Bourdon of poplar as our manual 16′ tone, and provided an 8′ Trumpet, which is voiced as a blending reed. Shallots are tapered German and provide warmth and fullness.

Schwellwerk flues are voiced full to support the generosity of the large scale mutations. Strings are made from 75% tin, and are generously scaled to provide adequate foundation tone, while also giving a satisfying sizzle that clarifies homophonic passages found in many pieces of Romantic and 20th-century repertoire. The 8′ Rohrflöte is scaled with large diameter chimneys, which are fully 1/3 of the diameter of the pipe.Together, these foundation stops provide remarkably solid grounding to the division. Once again, the substantial scaling of the mutations provides a powerful and nasal French-sounding Cornet. The Krummhorn is scaled generously to provide fullness to the mutations and is also available in the Pedal at 4′ pitch. The Oboe is designed with a French parallel shallot and is voiced moderately to blend well with the mutations. The Cromorne is scaled and voiced to provide fullness throughout the register.

As is often the case, available space made the luxury of a full and independent Pedal out of the question, and we therefore chose to unify the major principal and flute of the division. The pipes of the 16′-8′-4′ Principal wander back and forth between the Schwellwerk chamber and façade, which contains notes of the 8′ Octave. The bottom twelve notes are made from zinc and use interior Haskell tuners. The façade portion and above are made from 75% tin, as is the Pedal Mixtur. The 16′ Subbass is generously scaled, and was constructed of poplar by Berghaus craftsmen. The 16′ Fagott is made with pine resonators and used an historic Schnitger shallot with very wide reed tongues. The sound of this stop seems to have equal parts fundamental and harmonic development, and so it lends itself well to a broad spectrum of repertoire.

Overall, the organ’s resources create a myriad of tonal combinations, each at home announcing or complementing chant during High Mass, or in performing repertoire from Bach to Distler, from Couperin to Alain. Having both chambers enclosed further enhances the tonal palette and increases its flexibility as an accompanying instrument.

The organ was blessed on August 22 by Msgr. Walter Barrett, followed by Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with Rev. Neal A. Nichols, FSSP, presiding. Peggy Kelley Reinburg served as organist and Jeanne Dart, director of music, led the choir. A dedicatory recital will be performed on November 22 at 3:00 p.m. by Crista Miller, director of music and organist at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas.

The entire team at Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders is extremely grateful for the collaborative efforts of everyone involved in the organ project. In particular, we appreciate the support we received from Fr. Nichols, Jeanne Dart, members of the choir, and parishioners who assisted in the unloading and various stages of installation. Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders’ sincerest gratitude goes out to all who helped make this a truly exciting and rewarding project. Soli Deo Gloria!

—Jonathan Oblander, Tonal Designer & Kelly Monette, Head Tonal Finisher, on behalf of the entire Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders team

 

From the consultant

After accepting the challenges of serving as organ consultant for a project with the all-too-common and severe limitations of the potential funding base, of being engaged after a new church structure was beyond any major architectural changes, and of having the responsibility of educating the clergy, the musicians, and the congregation regarding the advantages of committing to a pipe organ, I began to become aware of the positive realities of the project at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. 

First, it was revealed that the pastor, the Rev. Neal A. Nichols, FSSP, and the director of music, Jeanne Dart are both from Richmond, Virginia, my own hometown; and then we discovered we all had been educated, though for different lengths of time, at St. Benedict’s Elementary School! As we began to converse and to follow the natural order of organ consulting, I began to learn of the freedom I was being offered to guide my ninth organ project through its total evolution with no artistic constraints. Financial constraints can cause you apoplexy, but creative hamstringing can damage your soul!

The goals of this project were: 

1) An organ built by a distinctive builder without financially drowning the parish

2) An organ that could support the numerous schools of organ and choral literature while underpinning the rich liturgical heritage of the Latin Mass

3) The creation of an instrument with its own identity, possessing the silvery sheen of a Baroque North German instrument yet supported by an enveloping warmth capable of bringing the worshippers and listeners to the depths of faith and to the heights of emotion

4) A Hauptwerk Prinzipal chorus that would make the congregation want
to sing

5) Provision of four primary reed stops: Krummhorn 8′, Hautbois 8′, Trompete 8′, and Fagott 16′, and of two Cornets décomposé, one scaled and voiced in the French manner and one in the German

6) Consistent nomenclature for the instrument

7) A beautiful encasement and console, which also would be visual works of art

8) Key and stop actions that would enable a marriage of the instrument and musician and also provide a comfortable playing and conducting situation. Mechanical action was desired, but eventually that preference had to be abandoned due to existing gallery design and spatial limitations.

After preliminary visits onsite with five major American mechanical-action builders and two builders known primarily for their other actions, the fact of a too-shallow gallery for an independent encasement and inadequate space for any future choir growth, coupled with cost comparisons, eventually were the deciding factors. The selection of a builder  was also made difficult because of my personal acquaintances and friendships with all but one of the builders represented! Ironically, Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders was the only firm with which I had not had a previous connection; and after performing a recital on their instrument for St. John’s Episcopal Church, Norwood Parish, in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for the Northern Virginia and Potomac AGO chapters, I was convinced that the firm should be considered. 

Every memo I wrote based on involvement with organs and organ building throughout my career and every wish included on my organ “bucket list” has been a consideration in consulting on this particular instrument. The lack of funding for three manual divisions resulted in enclosing both manual divisions and allowing console space for a third, a Rückpositiv, which it is hoped may be added someday. If it is not, the disposition of the organ as it stands has already created the illusion of the presence of a third manual division.

The opportunity of meeting at the workshop the majority of craftsmen who participated in this project and the pleasure of building a working relationship with them during the installation have been added delights. I have enormous respect for so many, especially those who have added to my deeper understanding and enjoyment of this facet of our beloved profession. I have only the utmost respect for the director of engineering and operations, Michal Leutsch, and for the tonal gurus, Kelly Monette, head tonal finisher, Jonathan Oblander, tonal designer, and Steven Hoover, tonal finisher and reed specialist. The gorgeous console with its burled walnut music desk and stop jambs is the exquisite work of console artist Jordan Smoots. Transformation of thousands of components into the organ as an entity was due also to the skilled work of Joe Poland, Ron Skibbe, Mitch Blum, Eric Hobbs, Kurt Linstead, and Casey Robertson. The administrative coordinator, Dawn Beuten, is embracing her new role in the company with enthusiasm; the firm’s office manager for six years and newly named vice president, Jean O’Brien, is the epitome of organization, efficiency and graciousness; and Brian Berghaus, president, leads the firm with admirable business acumen and a firm hand, peppered with a calming sense of humor, in his journey to maintain the integrity of the history of organ building while introducing the best of new technological developments to this art.

—Peggy Kelley Reinburg

Organ Consultant

 

All photos credit Deborah P. Spidle except as noted

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.