Cover Feature

John A. Panning

Vice President & Tonal Director, Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Lake City, Iowa

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Lake City, Iowa

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Carmel Valley, California

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa, has built its Opus 94 for St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Carmel Valley, California. The church’s spare yet handsome building, designed by parishioner Mel Blevens of Holewinski Blevens Fedelem & Lukes Architects in 1963, accurately reflects a parish of modest means but artistic vision. Never intended to house a pipe organ, St. Dunstan’s had been served by an increasingly cranky electronic organ. Fitted with carpet, inadequate lighting, and pews stained the color of asphalt, the church was no longer the most visually or aurally welcoming space. Dobson’s design of an organ standing front and center encouraged the parish to beautify its worship space and enliven its acoustic by removing the carpeting and staining the concrete floor, refinishing the pews, and installing new LED lighting. The revised altar platform, now deeper and constructed of concrete rather than noisy plywood, is sheathed in stone quarried near Jerusalem. A new communion rail and ambo complete the chancel.

Standing behind all this, the organ makes a sensitive statement, drawing attention to the front of the space rather than overwhelming it. To accommodate the choir, seated to one side of the chancel, the organ console is placed on that end of the instrument. From this location, the organist can easily give direction to the choir and remain abreast of activity in the nave. The angled geometry of the building called for a similarly non-traditional visual design. The speaking front pipes of burnished tin make a bold, sweeping gesture, echoed by slotted openings in the organ case that permit additional sound egress. The arc of the front pipes is anchored by wooden ones that stand along the left side of the instrument. The instrument’s white oak case is crowned by a sheltering roof whose slope parallels the ceiling above. A simple Latin cross stands at the front of the instrument, honoring an earlier cross of similar design that was displaced by the chancel renovation.

Steven Denmark, director of music, had long dreamed of the new organ’s tonal design, and together we explored many stoplists. His thinking was dramatically affected by a 2014 visit to the organ in St. Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, England. Installed in 1905 and attributed to Charles Mutin, the organ appears to contain older elements built by Mutin’s master, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Set within a small but acoustically stunning Gothic revival chapel, this organ of only fourteen voices makes an unforgettable impression.

Encouraged by the possibilities on display in the Farnborough organ, essentially a one-manual instrument divided over two keyboards, the design of Opus 94 took a new turn. Though improved and now proportional to the space, the acoustic of St. Dunstan’s church building is but a pale shadow of that at Farnborough. However, a foundation-rich design as exemplified by the Farnborough organ is not only an appropriate response to a less-reverberant room but also a musically responsible choice for a parish with a traditional choral program. In Opus 94, nine of the manuals’ fifteen stops are of 8′ pitch. For dynamic flexibility in both accompaniment and literature, the Plein Jeu and manual reeds stand within the Récit enclosure. Denmark felt strongly that some sort of Jeu de tierce registration should be present. There is no precedent in the work of Cavaillé-Coll for an independent Tierce, and when a stop of 22⁄3′ pitch was included, it was always a Quinte. We elected to make both mutations as flutes with strongly ascendant trebles so that they function well with the principal-toned unisons. A 16′ Bourdon shared between Grand-Orgue and Pédale is a feature of most Cavaillé-Coll choir organs that I didn’t feel we could replicate here; the poor bass response of the church dictates a scale and treatment for the Pédale that would have muddied any manual texture.

Despite its modern appearance, the instrument is laid out in a traditional way, with the Grand-Orgue standing immediately in front of the Récit. The Pédale Bourdon pipes are painted our customary “Dobson red.” Most of the pipes in the organ were built in our shop; the pipes of high tin alloy—the façade pipes, the strings, and the reeds—are the work of Killinger in Freiberg am Neckar, Germany. All are voiced on a wind pressure of 70 mm, regulated by a large, weighted, single-rise reservoir. The mechanical key action is balanced, running from the console to transverse rollers just above the floor that are fitted with crank arms for the pulldowns. While not an historic feature, the coupling manual offers useful registrational possibilities beyond the common II/I coupler. An electric stop action and 100-level combination action are provided. Mechanism is present for the eventual installation of a Pédale 16′ reed.

The organ was dedicated on November 15, 2015, with Steven Denmark at the organ. Inaugural year programs have been presented by Angela Kraft Cross, James Welch, Thomas Joyce, Tiffany Truett, and Kimo Smith.

The Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture presented this organ with an award in the category of Religious Art: Liturgical Furnishings. The award was announced in the Winter 2016 issue of Faith & Form magazine.

 

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders

William Ayers

Abraham Batten

Kent Brown

Lynn Dobson

Randy Hausman

Dean Heim

Donny Hobbs

Ben Hoskins

Arthur Middleton

John Ourensma

John Panning

Kirk Russell

Bob Savage

Jim Streufert

John Streufert

Jon Thieszen

Pat Thieszen

Sally Winter

Randall Wolff

Dean Zenor

 

COUPLING MANUAL (I)

GRAND-ORGUE (II)

8′ Montre

8′ Salicional

8′ Flûte Harmonique (bass from Bourdon)

8′ Bourdon

4′ Prestant

22⁄3′ Nasard

2′ Doublette

13⁄5′ Tierce

RÉCIT EXPRESSIF (III, enclosed)

8′ Viole de Gambe

8′ Voix Céleste (FF)

8′ Cor de Nuit

4′ Flûte Octaviante

III Plein Jeu 2′

8′ Trompette

8′ Basson-Hautbois

Tremblant (affects entire instrument)

PÉDALE 

16′ Soubasse

8′ Bourdon (ext 16′)

16′ Bombarde (preparation)

8′ Trompette (ext 16′)

G.-O./Pédale

Récit/Pédale

 

Manual/Pedal compass: 58/32

18 ranks

Ortloff Organ Company, LLC, Brookline, Massachusetts

Opus 1 – 2016

In collaboration with Russell & Company Organ Builders

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,

Penfield, New York

 

From the builder

Organbuilders will likely say how their first contract was the hardest, or certainly one of the hardest, to procure. And why not? Spending a great deal of money on a product built by somebody with no previous track record is, in a word, insanity. But churches are necessarily in the faith business, and it was certainly an act of faith by St. Joseph’s Church to entrust my company to build this instrument, our Opus 1.

The road to Opus 1 began long before St. Joseph’s contacted me, long before I could even reach the pedals the first time I played a pipe organ at age four—a single chord on the 1933 Kimball at Trinity Episcopal Church in Plattsburgh, New York, after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. That one chord began a fascination with the pipe organ that led to the decision in my teenage years, while working for Stephen Russell, to devote my life to this craft. Nine years of training at Russell & Company, further work for C. B. Fisk, Inc., and Spencer Organ Company, and six years at the Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester provided a broad range of experience that has informed how I play and how I wish to build. By 2014, I saw an opportunity to fulfill a dream of running my own shop and founded Ortloff Organ Company, LLC. Within just a few weeks, I was surveying St. Joseph’s Church in Penfield, preparing to draft my first proposal for a new pipe organ.

In 2013, St. Joseph’s received a generous bequest specifically to enrich the musical life of the parish. This happy event led to a decision to commission a new pipe organ, which would replace a failing 30-year-old electronic. Nathan Davy, the director of music and a fellow Eastman alum, approached me about the project, and from there he championed my firm, expressing faith in my ability to produce a high-quality instrument of distinction.

This abundance of faith was, however, fully sighted, and St. Joseph’s requested that the contract be co-signed by an established organbuilder to provide a level of security in the project’s success. It was only logical that I should collaborate with my mentor Steve Russell, to which Steve enthusiastically agreed, and we began discussing the instrument’s mechanical and tonal design shortly after my initial visit. This particular show of faith was perhaps the most important. Knowing my training and ability better than anyone, Steve’s tacit “You can do this. You’re ready. It’s time,” propelled me forward with confidence and excitement.

Distilling many musical requirements into 18 stops, particularly within a fixed budget and limited space, is naturally a challenge. Moreover, working in the shadow of our alma mater, Nathan and I were all too aware of the scrutiny the organ would receive, adding pressure to how the stoplist, scaling, and tonal approach were developed. But a suburban Catholic parish is not the academy, and my vision for the instrument was that it need make no apology for serving its liturgical requirements first and last. In the broad picture, the organ should subscribe to certain guiding principles. As much as possible, slider chests are used, for simplicity of mechanism, the benefits of tone-channel chests, and the honesty they enforce in design. Chorus work should be silvery and bright but not shrill, made of a high-lead alloy, and supported by amply scaled, warm 8′ tone. Reeds are ideally placed on higher pressure for improved speech, better tuning stability, and noble power. Applying these principles to St. Joseph’s, seating about 600, we strove to create an ensemble that would have plenty of energy and clarity without being unduly powerful. It should lead without overwhelming, not only a largely volunteer choir, but also occasionally reluctant congregational singing. The color palette should tend unapologetically toward the romantic, but be based firmly in sparkling classical choruses.

While organs of this size are often treated essentially as giant one-manuals spread over two keyboards, the architecture of St. Joseph’s necessitated the two manual divisions being too physically divided for that kind of approach. Furthermore, the ultimate design felt more honest; a few Swell stops are duplexed to the Great for accompanimental variety, but otherwise each division is independent, with its own chorus. While the organ’s original design included an independent Swell 8′ Diapason, a funding shortfall necessitated its elimination, as well as independent Pedal registers, a Clarinet on the Great, and mutation bass octaves. In turn, we modified the design of the Chimney Flute and Viola, and repitched the Swell mixture lower, introducing 8′ tone by treble C.

In these and many other details throughout the design process, Nathan, Steve, and I found ourselves largely on the same page. Thus it was a jolt when, shortly after signing the contract in November 2014, Nathan accepted the position of assistant organist at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. Happily, Nathan’s successor, Jacob Fuhrman, picked right up where Nathan left off and has proven to be just as collaborative as his predecessor.

Built in 1967, St. Joseph’s wasn’t designed with a pipe organ in mind. Its low ceilings, quirky acoustics, and lack of obvious location for an instrument all contributed to the challenge of layout and visual design. Fortunately, the church was amenable to placing the organ front and center, giving it the best possible advantage. My older brother, Buffalo architect Chris Ortloff, Jr. developed a striking multi-tiered design of flamed and polished copper, with gentle curves and multiple layers. The façade also creates a useful arcade between sacristy and church, integrating into the room in an organic way. Great care was taken to maintain focus on the altar and to complement, not compete with, the gold mosaic surrounding the crucifix.

Behind the façade, the organ proper is arranged on a new, single-level, 37′-wide platform. The wind system lives in the center, with Great and Pedal to the congregation’s left and Swell on the right. Two fields of shutters direct tone both down the nave and into the south transept, where the choir sits. Electric-slider chests form the basis of the chassis, with electric and electro-pneumatic chests serving bass pipes and unit registers.

Of the organ’s 18 voices, six are vintage ranks, including reeds, wood flutes, and strings. All have been restored and revoiced. New flue pipes, built in the Russell & Co. shop, are made from a 94% lead alloy to promote warm, singing tone. Reed renovation and voicing was carried out by the Trivo Company, who also built a new 16′ Trombone of generous scale. A somewhat higher pressure is employed for the reeds, allowing a warm, rich voicing style.

Construction began in August 2015, with a deadline to have at least part of the new organ playing by Easter 2016. To ensure an installation process as free as possible from complication, everything was pre-erected and tested in our shop. On a twenty-below-zero Valentine’s Day, 2016, a truck left Waltham, Massachusetts, bound for Penfield with the Great and Pedal. Amory Atkins, Terence Atkin, and Dean Conry brought their signature steam-shovel efficiency to the installation, accomplishing in 10 days what I thought would take three weeks. By Holy Week, five stops of the Great and the Pedal divisions were playing, and much of the Swell mechanism was in place. Over the next few months, the remainder came together in the shop, with final installation in May and tonal finishing completed by early August. Much beloved by his former parish, Nathan Davy returned to dedicate the organ on September 9. His careful thinking about repertoire demands during the design phase paid off in a colorful, varied program that made the instrument seem far larger than its actual size.

This project brought together both the seasoned and the newcomer. Bart Dahlstrom, Ortloff Organ Company’s first employee, flunked retirement at age 62 when he decided to join his woodworking skills to his organ-playing talents and become an organbuilder. His steady hand, impeccable work, and unfailing cheer have been a blessing throughout the project. Andrew Gray, a precocious 16-year-old son of an organist and a singer, had expressed interest in organbuilding for a few years; he came on as a summer employee in 2015. His meticulous wiring and pipe racking speak to his quiet diligence. Kade Phillips, an MIT student, lent help when not busy studying computer science 80 hours a week. Robert Poovey, organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester, and someone with not a little of the organbuilding bug himself, provided generous local assistance for installation and some of the tonal finishing. And Jonathan Ambrosino helped in scratch-tuning the organ on Labor Day, four days before its dedication.

Finally, the support from Steve Russell’s shop has been vital, principally in the construction of the console and 971 of the organ’s 1,390 pipes—each meticulously handcrafted. An organ’s soul lies in its pipes, and these are gorgeous indeed. Steve himself provided the sober foundation of over 40 years’ experience in all aspects of design and construction and was invaluable in helping me to shape the instrument’s final sound, both in shop and site voicing.

On behalf of the 14 people who had a hand in crafting this instrument, my thanks go to St. Joseph’s Church, and especially to its pastor, Fr. Jim Schwartz, for the vision not only to commission a pipe organ, but for putting faith in untried quarters. He and members of St. Joseph’s offered generous support and hospitality at every turn. It is my hope that the faith this parish demonstrated in all of us will be repaid by generations of faithful service from this instrument, our proud Opus 1.

—Jonathan Ortloff

 

Personnel

Ortloff Organ Company:

Bart Dahlstrom

Andrew Gray

Jonathan Ortloff

Kade Phillips

 

Russell & Company:

Mayu Hashigaya Allen

Paul Elliott

Erik Johansson

Carole Russell

Stephen Russell

 

From the former director of music

I remember the beginning of the organ project at St. Joseph’s very clearly. I was in the church office kitchen, making tea, when Father Jim Schwartz walked in and said, “We need a new pipe organ. You should go talk to some organ builders.” How often does it happen that the pastor approaches the organist about a new instrument?! Though not entirely without context—the church’s electronic instrument was old and ailing (a few months later it caught fire during a funeral)—I was still dreaming wistfully of a pipe organ and considering how to broach the issue persuasively.

Among those from whom we sought a proposal was Jonathan Ortloff. Jon and I had been at Eastman together, and I had been his assistant when he was one of the organ department’s staff technicians. I knew his work ethic, and I knew his preferences and values in organ sound. Upon receiving his proposal, we were taken with both the tonal and physical design. Each voice would be able both to stand on its own and to contribute uniquely to the united chorus. The façade would adorn the front of the church, catching the eye, but directing attention to the altar.

Now, Jon would be among the first to grant that to sign a contract with an unproven organ builder is not without a certain amount of risk. The parish was mindful of that risk, but two factors allayed our concern. The first was my above-mentioned firsthand knowledge of Jon and his work. The second was that Stephen Russell, with whom Jon had apprenticed, and whom I knew by reputation, had agreed to work alongside of Jon throughout the project. It was Jon and Steve’s combined presentation to the Parish Pastoral Council on a memorable night in the summer of 2014 that won over the hearts of the parish and persuaded us that we would be in good hands.

I could not have been more pleased with the completed instrument when I first played it in September. Never have I seen flamed copper so well integrated into a church’s interior architecture. The broad richness of the foundations fills the room, the mixtures add clarity and brilliance without stridency, and the reeds balance smoothness of tone with a prevailing warm effulgence. This is an instrument perfectly suited to congregational and choral accompaniment, but also fully capable of realizing a wide variety of organ repertoire in a thoroughly satisfying way. It is my sincere hope that it is the first of many.

—Nathan Davy

 

From the current director of music

Our organ’s arrival over the past six months has fulfilled my hopes and expectations of almost two years. When I began my work at St. Joseph’s in March 2015, the contract had already been signed, the stoplist was finalized, and design had begun. I am as fortunate as an organist can be, enjoying a world-class new organ without having had to do any of the groundwork—convincing committees, raising funds, and the like. 

It was exciting for me, as a relatively early-career musician, to work with an organbuilder who is at a similar point in his own career. The entire church staff enjoyed Jonathan’s sincere, energetic love for the organ. His combination of youth, expertise, and passion helped give St. Joseph’s parishioners confidence that our art has a future.

Those of our parishioners who were at the dedicatory recital had an epiphany singing a hymn with a large audience of organists and choristers—this organ really sings, and it supports full, vibrant congregational singing. The choruses are bright without ever losing gravity. The reeds are penetrating, yet admirably vocal. The console is extremely comfortable and manageable, and it is light enough that one person can move it easily in just a few minutes: I can play from the middle of the church whenever I want to, which helps tremendously for preparing performances. The physical design of the organ, with its outward-radiating flamed copper façade, draws the eye to the altar, complementing both the shape of the building and the color profile of its stained-glass windows. I couldn’t be more pleased with this instrument.

—Jacob Fuhrman

 

GREAT

16′ Bourdon (Pedal/Swell)

8′ Diapason (1–12 façade) 61 pipes 

8′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes

8′ Viola (Swell)

8′ Chimney Flute (Swell)

4′ Octave 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth  61 pipes

11⁄3′ Mixture III–IV 204 pipes

8′ Trumpet* 61 pipes

Great 16

Great Off

Great 4

Swell to Great 16

Swell to Great

Swell to Great 4

SWELL

16′ Bourdon (tc) (from 8′)

8′ Chimney Flute* 61 pipes

8′ Viola* 61 pipes

8′ Viola Celeste (tc) 49 pipes

4′ Principal 61 pipes

4′ Flute* 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Nazard (tc) 49 pipes

2′ Flute* (ext 4′) 12 pipes 

13⁄5′ Tierce (tc) 49 pipes

2′ Mixture IV 244 pipes

8′ Trumpet* 61 pipes

8′ Oboe* 61 pipes

Tremulant

Swell 16

Swell Off

Swell 4 

PEDAL

32′ Resultant (Bourdon)

16′ Principal (1–34 façade) 56 pipes

16′ Bourdon* 44 pipes

8′ Octave (ext 16′)

8′ Bourdon* (ext 16′)

8′ Chimney Flute (Swell)

4′ Choral Bass (ext 16′)

32′ Harmonics (Trombone/derived)

16′ Trombone* (ext Great) 12 pipes

8′ Trumpet (Great)

Great to Pedal

Great to Pedal 4

Swell to Pedal

Swell to Pedal 4

 

 

18 stops, 24 ranks, 1,390 pipes

 

3½″ wind pressure throughout

*5″ wind pressure

8 general pistons

8 divisional pistons per division

300 memory levels

Orgues Létourneau,
St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada

The Sabbatino Family Memorial Pipe Organ, St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, New York, New York

 

From the organist and director of music

For more than 187 years, the congregation of St. Joseph’s Church has worshipped and praised God in the sacred liturgy through prayer and song. Founded in 1829, St. Joseph’s Parish was the sixth to be established among those still in existence in the Archdiocese of New York. The cornerstone of the present structure was laid on June 10, 1833, “at the corner of Barrow Street and Sixth Avenue” and allows St. Joseph’s Church the distinction of being the oldest Catholic church edifice in Manhattan and perhaps the entire archdiocese.

Dedicated on Sunday, March 16, 1834, St. Joseph’s Church is today an integral part of the vibrant neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Chelsea, and Tribeca. In 2003, the Archdiocese of New York invited the Order of Preachers (the “Dominicans”) to care for the combined ministries of both the neighborhood residents and the students and faculty of New York University. Today, four friars serve these constituents of St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village.

The organ at St. Joseph’s has always been an important element of the music program. Earlier instruments by Henry Erben (1836) and Aeolian-Skinner (1952) had been in use prior to the installation of Létourneau’s Opus 128. This new organ, built in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, has mechanical key action as well as electric stop action and contains 31 stops and 39 ranks over the three manuals and pedal.

Known as the Sabbatino Family Memorial Organ, the instrument and its installation were made possible through a bequest from Clare C. Sabbatino, a lifelong resident of Greenwich Village and faithful parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church. Clare had a deep appreciation for music—her father and uncle were both musicians with the New York Philharmonic—and her gift in honor and memory of her entire family is a permanent reminder of her extraordinary generosity to her beloved parish. The Sabbatino Family Memorial Organ was blessed by the Reverend John P. McGuire, O.P., nineteenth pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, and dedicated by Kyler Brown, organist, on April 10, 2015. As director of music ministries and organist, I am thrilled to have such an instrument for worship and concerts in Greenwich Village.

The organ has enriched the musical life of this area greatly with its perfectly voiced stops whose individual colors combine so flawlessly. Each flute stop is different in color and weight, making possible endless solo possibilities as well as exquisite combinations, while the reeds have both power and an ability to sing as solo stops. The mechanical key action weds with the vocal nature of the stops, and this combination opens the path for great expressivity. In sum, the organ is grand and delicate at once, a perfect instrument for the environment at St. Joseph’s Church.

—Kyler Brown

 

From the builder

We remember fondly our first visit with Father John McGuire at St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village to talk about a new Létourneau pipe organ for the parish. The church is a handsome space, tucked away in a busy block on the Avenue of the Americas and boasts gracious acoustics. This historic building appears skewed, an impression that is confirmed visually where the barrel vault ceiling’s coffers intersect awkwardly with the back wall. The nave seats approximately 700 people but perhaps this risks overstating its size; the deep side galleries account for perhaps a third of this number.

Replacing an 11-rank Aeolian-Skinner, our Opus 128 resides in the rear gallery and projects sound easily throughout the church. Given the size of the nave and its kind acoustic, we set out to create an instrument that charms with the elegance of its colors and the fluidity with which its stops can be combined. Indeed, the organ impresses with its warmth and calm demeanor rather than trying to dazzling with muscle. With this patrician bearing, the organ truly excels in all its roles as the music ministry’s primary instrument.

The instrument is arrayed within a wide wooden case made from painted solid maple with walnut highlights. Taken from the Great 8′ Principal, Pedal 16′ Principal, and Pedal 8′ Octave stops, the façade pipes are made from 70% hand-polished tin and sport Roman mouths gilded with 23k gold leaf. A large Swell division sits immediately behind the console, while the Great is divided into C and C# wind chests on either side. The Pedal is located at the extremities of the organ case, again on divided wind chests. The horizontal trumpet projecting from the casework—the 8′ Festival Trumpet—was a relatively late addition to the project and has its own dedicated manual; the chest pallets are actuated electrically due to the spread-out arrangement of pipes across the top of the organ case.

The organ is played from a three-manual terraced console attached to the organ case. The combination action offers 256 levels of memory with 12 general pistons and a general piston sequencer. The interior of the console is finished in a dark walnut, while the three manuals have bone overlays and solid ebony accidentals. The drawknobs are likewise made from turned ebony. A short tracker action and pallet box were provided for the console’s third manual (controlling the 8′ Festival Trumpet) despite its electric action so as to preserve a consistent mechanical pluck when moving from manual to manual.

We were given a largely free hand to develop the organ’s stop list, and it reflects the space available, the acoustic, and the musical roles the organ fills. The Great and Swell offer generous foundations; scalings in the principal ranks tend towards the modest for good harmonic development within the individual stops. The Great Cornet, a compound stop of three wide-scale tapered flutes, pairs handsomely with the 8′ Chimney Flute and 4′ Open Flute for this characteristically French sonority. The organ’s chorus reeds feature tapered English shallots with long triangular openings to achieve a balance between snap and body while the 8′ Festival Trumpet features domed shallots in the style of Bertounèche.

The organ has proved itself at ease in concert with music from all periods and nationalities, beginning with the inaugural recital played by Kyler Brown. Maurice Clerc, organiste titulare at Dijon Cathedral in France, wrote the following after his concert at St. Joseph’s during the summer of 2015:

 

I was greatly impressed by the quality of your pipe organ. As an instrument, the stops are properly balanced and their voicing permits them to sound beautifully in the church. I specifically enjoyed the 8′ Festival Trumpet which, in partnership with the superb Cornet of the Great, permits an excellent French grand jeu. Also noteworthy are the Swell stops, which offer numerous possibilities for honoring the romantic and modern repertoire. The console and the piston sequencer further multiply the possibilities in terms of interpretation, making this overall a very comfortable organ to play . . . This is a pipe organ of rich potential on which one can present a great deal of repertoire with exceptional ease and authenticity . . . I already knew firsthand the quality of Létourneau’s instruments but in New York, my impressions were confirmed. Bravo!

—Andrew Forrest, Artistic Director

—Fernand Létourneau, President

 

GREAT (3″ wind)

16′ Bourdon (c¹–g²⁰ wood) 58 pipes

8′ Principal 58 pipes

8′ Flûte harmonique 58 pipes

8′ Salicional 58 pipes

8′ Stopped Diapason 58 pipes

  (c¹–b¹² wood)

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Open Flute 58 pipes

2′ Super Octave 58 pipes

11⁄3′ Mixture IV 232 pipes

22⁄3′ Cornet III 174 pipes

8′ Trumpet 58 pipes

  (harmonic resonators from f#⁴³)

Tremulant

8′ Festival Trumpet Solo

 

SWELL (expressive, 3¼″ wind)

8′ Geigen Diapason 58 pipes

8′ Gamba 58 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste (from g⁸) 51 pipes

8′ Bourdon (c¹–to b¹² wood) 58 pipes

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Spire Flute 58 pipes

2′ Flageolet 58 pipes

11⁄3′ Larigot 58 pipes

2′ Mixture III–IV 215 pipes

16′ Fagotto (full length) 58 pipes

8′ Trumpet 58 pipes

  (harmonic resonators from f#⁴³)

8′ Oboe (capped resonators) 58 pipes

Tremulant

SOLO (3¼″ wind)

8′ Festival Trumpet 58 pipes

PEDAL (3¼″ wind)

32′ Resultant (derived from Subbass and Bourdon)

16′ Principal 32 pipes

16′ Subbass (wood) 32 pipes

16′ Bourdon Great

8′ Octave 32 pipes

8′ Bass Flute 32 pipes

4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes

16′ Trombone (full length) 32 pipes

16′ Fagotto Swell

8′ Trumpet 32 pipes

8′ Festival Trumpet Solo

 

Usual unison intermanual couplers.

Pallet and slider wind chests with mechanical key actions.

31 independent stops; 39 ranks; 2,056 pipes

Emery Brothers, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Christ Church in Short Hills, Short Hills, New Jersey

 

From the builder

It is no secret that tonal styles and the desires and expectations of organists have undergone significant changes in the last hundred years. Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1347, built in 1960, evidences most of the characteristics one would expect from an organ of that decade—lower wind pressures (Positiv speaks on 2 inches wind pressure), ample mixtures and upperwork, and as I heard a colleague once say, “plenty of Zs and umlauts.” Make no mistake—this instrument, as originally designed, made a strong, cohesive statement as a whole, and with the clever division of Swell and Bombarde on the third manual, provided a surprising amount of room for creativity in registration.

Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1347 was well designed and well built, thus its physical restoration formed the core of the project. In the course of this work, we stripped and releathered pouch boards, stripped and releathered reservoirs, including the installation of double gussets, fashioned and installed new primary valves on primaries and unit actions, releathered tremolos and shade engines, totally rewired the organ, and reconditioned the blower and motor. Everything wooden received a thorough cleaning and, where appropriate, a new coat of shellac. Pipes were all individually cleaned and polished by hand, stoppers stripped and repacked, and open flue pipes fitted with new stainless-steel tuning slides. All pipework was checked for voicing and regulation before leaving the shop, with final tonal finishing completed onsite.

However, in this project we were tasked not only with addressing the physical breakdown of the organ’s various mechanisms after five decades of continuous service, but also with maximizing the instrument’s strengths through some sensible and judicious tonal additions and revisions. In addition, the original console was built around the structure of the chancel—one corner was cut out to make room for a beam—and so with the desire for the console to be made movable, provision of a new console was necessary. With the church’s very active music program, including the frequent presence of visiting organists, a multi-level combination action (provided by Solid State Organ Systems) was absolutely necessary.

In its original design, the Bombarde division featured independent reeds at 16′, 8′, and 4′ pitch. This was altered later, when Aeolian-Skinner removed the 8′ Trompette from the Bombarde and moved it to the Great. The 16′ Contra Trompette was then placed on unit action and trebles provided for it to speak at 16′ and 8′ pitch. This compromised the strength of the Bombarde reed chorus, and in the end the most sensible step was to put the Trompette back in the Bombarde, which also made room for a new 8′ Major Trumpet on the Great. This new stop leans towards solo strength, while remaining usable in full chorus.

Mutations in the Positiv were originally pitched an octave higher than usual (11⁄3′ Nasat, 4⁄5′ Terz), and the 4′ Rohr Schalmei was not particularly successful. Re-pitching the mutations presented no difficulty, and the solution for the Rohr Schalmei presented itself when the desire to replace the Swell Krummhorn with an Oboe came up. The Krummhorn was revoiced onto the lower Positiv wind pressure, and a new Hautbois built for the Swell.

The new Antiphonal organ comprises six ranks, all playing on electro-pneumatic action, designed to complement and provide a foil to Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1347 and to bolster congregational singing. Within a compact footprint (both cases measure 41″ x 72″) are housed five of the six ranks (the Trompette en Chamade is mounted on the wall between the two cases), the blower, static reservoir, step-up blower and high-pressure reservoir, double-pressure divided wooden wind trunk, solid-state relay, four wind chests, and two additional reservoirs. Pipes 1–23 of the 4′ Principal make up the right-hand façade. When played with the main organ, the Antiphonal organ has the effect of “pulling” the sound into back third of the room. The full-length, flamed-copper Trompette en Chamade was carefully designed to provide a rich and commanding solo voice that would stand up well to the full organ.

I am most grateful for Bynum Petty’s help in scaling and designing the tonal additions included in this project. I also extend hearty thanks to Brian DeWald (briandewaldwoodworking.com), who built and finished the new Antiphonal organ casework and assisted with installation; Dan Cole (pipeshader.com), who assisted in the casework design and provided promotional materials showing renderings of the Antiphonal organ; and Samuel Hughes, who restored all the reed pipes in the organ. New pipes and chests were built by A. R. Schopp’s Sons, Inc.

—Adam F. Dieffenbach

Emery Brothers

 

Emery Brothers staff involved with this project included: Adam Dieffenbach, Steve Emery, Rosemary Hood, Parfyon Kirshnit, Jon Kracht, Clem Mirto, John Nester, Ardie Peeters, Rich Spotts, and Ryan Stout.

 

From the organist and choirmaster

The Aeolian-Skinner organ at Christ Church was dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960. The instrument was typical of the era with a neo-baroque design that included bright principal choruses and ample upperwork. Joseph Whiteford voiced the organ on the aggressive side to cope with a dry acoustic and a low ceiling height in the nave. The organ was altered slightly in 1967 by the builder (Opus 1347-A) to adjust for the addition of heavy carpet across the center aisle. 

When I came to Christ Church, the organ had served the parish for over 50 years, with minimal maintenance and annual tunings. The only change made to the organ was the addition of a remote solid-state capture action to operate the console. Because of failing leather, outdated wiring, and a worn console, the church formed an organ committee to address the needs of the music program as well as the acoustic issues in the church. While the committee did look at several possible replacements for the instrument, in the end the organ was restored because of the overall fine quality of the original installation.

With the guidance of the rector, wardens, and vestry, the decision was made to first renovate the church in several stages. Each stage was completed during the summer months to avoid conflicts during the program year. The first year included the removal of all the carpeting in the church and the installation of new hardwood floors in the entire nave. The second year included new plaster ceilings in the nave to cover the wood lathe ceiling panels and restoration of the stained glass windows. The last year included the removal of the organ, renovation of the ceilings and floors of the choir, and new lighting throughout the church. At that time the woodwork in the church was refinished, removing the white pickled oak stain so popular in the 1950s. 

The organ work performed by Emery Brothers for over a year and a half included new leather, new wiring, a new console, and a new Antiphonal division. The console is built in the style of the original, but is movable and contains additional drawknobs for the Antiphonal and Pedal divisions. The keyboards, music desk, and walnut key cheeks were retained. Only minor changes were made to the chancel organ specification. While the renovated church now has a warm acoustic that requires little amplification for speech, the length of the nave and low ceiling height called for the addition of an Antiphonal organ to support congregational singing. For festivals and weddings, a horizontal reed was added under the center of the Transfiguration window. The scaling and design were by Bynum Petty, installation by Adam Dieffenbach, and tonal finishing by Steve Emery and Charles Callahan. The console replica and the Aeolian-Skinner digital samples were supplied by Walker Technical of Zionsville, Pennsylvania. The organ was rededicated by Alan Morrison with an American Guild of Organists workshop and recital in November.

I believe that in the end we stayed true to the original design of the organ. With very minor changes we have made the organ more flexible and better equipped to serve the parish for the next 50 years.

It is truly a blessing for a parish to have such an instrument. May it lead and inspire worship each and every week for generations to come!

—Andrew Paul Moore, DMA

Organist and Choirmaster

 

From the rector

When I arrived at Christ Church in Short Hills in 2010, I discovered, to my delight, that it had a really fine Aeolian-Skinner organ. It had a sound that seemed to be saying, “Yes, I’m a cousin to some of those wonderful organs you’ve heard in other churches that have great music in worship.”

Now, I’ve lived in France and love the sound of a great French organ playing. And I’m Dutch, so those marvelous trackers sound to me like the DNA of my youthful upbringing in the Dutch Reformed Church. But the sound of the organ in Short Hills was American. I don’t say that in a prideful way, not even in a “better than others” way. But there was something about this organ that could sound the repertoire ranging from an English cathedral choir chanting a psalm, to full-blown-out Reger. It sounded it all well and with its own twist on things.

I’ve served churches with electronic organs and wheezing electro-pneumatics. I was just so grateful this instrument was neither. Unfortunately, this organ was a bit like that date that is really great the first time but doesn’t grow better as the time goes on; in fact, just the opposite.

After having been at the church a little more than a year, I began to wonder why people hardly sang the hymns in the back half of the nave? I began to wonder if it were just me, or if the sound really did fall off a cliff when we reached a certain pew in the retiring procession each week? We began to notice greater hissing noise, more frequent repairs, and costly service.

Then in 2011, Andrew Moore joined us, and he could make the instrument sing as I’d never heard it before. But he could also diagnose its illness, and he told us the prognosis was dim. The good news was that little work had been done to the instrument since it had been installed in the 1960s, so little harm had been done. He also confirmed that the congregation’s lack of singing in the back half of the church probably had to do with such little organ support. The acoustics didn’t work in our favor, and the sound just wasn’t getting back there.

We hosted an organ education night at which Stephen Emery from Emery Brothers in Allentown, Pennsylvania, came to show us worn leathers, ill-fitting pouches, tarnished pipes, cotton wrapped wires, and more. We led tours through the chambers, and people who had always taken the sounds of the organ for granted now were in awe of how it actually works—and why it didn’t. They saw piles of pipes that had been removed from their windchests and were unable to function.

Adam Dieffenbach from Emery Brothers proposed a complete renovation of the existing instrument and suggested a new Antiphonal for the rear wall, both to provide sound back there, as well as to pull the sound from the pipes in the front. Because of space issues, they proposed adding a limited number of digital stops to round out the instrument’s full sound and complete Whiteford’s original concept for the instrument.

“How to pay for it?” is every parish’s question and every rector’s challenge. But in this case we had two wardens, John Cooper and Cynthia McChesney, who recognized not only the need to do the restoration work, but also its stewardship. We had competitive bids for both rebuilding and replacement. Replacement never caught any of our imaginations. That would be more expensive, but also, we realized this was a very fine instrument with a fairly unique American sound, the likes of which simply are not being made today in the same way.

Through John and Cynthia’s leadership in fundraising and both Andrew Moore’s and my direct involvement in asking individuals for support, the entire amount needed was raised in about four months. That included a substantial cushion, of which we used every last dime as we made changes to both the organ project and the worship space.

Our people realized that this was the right time to act, not only because of the present need of the instrument, but also out of respect for the amazing talent of Andrew Moore. Every age has its gifts, and the wise church appreciates and supports those gifts when they happen.

Our choir went from five section leaders and three volunteer members to four section leaders and more than twenty volunteers over the last five years. Singing has vastly improved. This summer, the entire choir is going to England to be the choir-in-residence for singing the daily office at Bristol Cathedral. More than fourteen new music groups used our space last year, both religious and secular, bringing so many people through the doors of the church.

Oh, every once in a while someone will complain that the trumpets in the back are too loud, but then the person standing next to her will say, “I think it’s just great!” There you have it; life in the Church! And in our case, we feel our worship. Our welcome and invitation to others has vastly improved, all because we acted rather than argued about whether to be responsible for something our ancestors here had left us as a gift in the first place. And we feel we’ve left the next generation something better than we could have ever imagined.

—The Reverend Dr. Timothy Mulder

Rector, Christ Church in Short Hills

 

Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1347, Joseph Whiteford, 1960. 

Renovation/additions and Antiphonal division, Emery Brothers, 2015: 63 ranks, 3,625 pipes.

GREAT

16′ Quintaton 61

16′ Rohrbourdon (Sw)

8′ Principal 61

8′ Bourdon 61

8′ Quintaton (ext) 12

4′ Octav 61

4′ Rohrflote 61

22⁄3′ Quint 61

2′ Super Octav 61

IV Mixtur 244

III Scharf 183

8′ Major Trumpet (6″ wp) 61

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Ant)

Chimes

Zimbelstern

SWELL

16′ Rohrbourdon 61

8′ Rohrbourdon (ext) 12

8′ Klein Erzahler 61

8′ Erzahler Celeste (TC) 49

4′ Geigen 61

22⁄3′ Nasat 61

2′ Octav 61

III Cornet 183

8′ Hautbois 61

8′ Menschenstimme 61

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Ant)

Tremolo

BOMBARDE

8′ Geigen Principal (digital)

8′ Viol Pomposa 61

8′ Viol Celeste 61

4′ Flute Harmonique 61

V Plein Jeu 305

16′ Contre Trompette 61

8′ Trompette 61

4′ Clarion 61

Tremolo

POSITIV

8′ Nasonflote 61

4′ Koppelflote 61

22⁄3′ Nasat 61

2′ Blockflote 61

13⁄5′ Terz 61

11⁄3′ Quint 61

III Zimbel 183

8′ Krummhorn 61

Tremolo

8′ Major Trumpet (Gt)

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Ant)

ANTIPHONAL (Emery Brothers)

8′ Rohrflute 61

4′ Principal 61

2′ Octave 61

II Rauschquint 11⁄3′ 122

8′ Trompette en Chamade 61

PEDAL

32′ Contrebass (digital)

32′ Subbass (digital)

16′ Contrebass 32

16′ Subbass 32

16′ Quintaton (Gt)

16′ Rohrbourdon (Sw)

16′ Rohrflute (Ant) 12

8′ Principal 32

8′ Gedectpommer 32

8′ Rohrbourdon (Sw)

4′ Octave (ext) 12

4′ Gedectpommer (ext) 12

V Mixtur 160

32′ Contrebombarde (digital)

32′ Contre Trompette (digital)

16′ Bombarde 32

16′ Contre Trompette (Bombarde)

8′ Bombarde (ext) 12

8′ Krummhorn (Pos)

4′ Bombarde (ext) 12

4′ Krummhorn (Pos)

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Ant)

Chimes (Gt)

 

Couplers

Gt/Ped 8

Sw/Ped 8-4

Bomb/Ped 8-4

Pos/Ped 8

Ant/Ped 8

 

Sw/Gt 16-8-4

Bomb/Gt 16-8-4

Pos/Gt 16-8

Ant/Gt 8

 

Sw/Pos 16-8-4

Bomb/Pos 16-8-4

Ant/Pos 8

 

Gt/Sw 8

Ant/Sw 8

Gt/Pos Trans

Gt/U

Bomb 16-U-4

Pos 16-U-4

Sw 16-U-4

All Sws to Sw

Pre/Next/Full

Austin Organs, Inc.,
Hartford, Connecticut

The Royal Poinciana Chapel, Palm Beach, Florida

 

Another Austin in Paradise

Nestled on the island of Palm Beach, alongside the last remaining cocoanut grove, one will discover the rather charming Royal Poinciana Chapel, named after the magnificent Delonix Regia, the Royal Poinciana tree that was once abundant on the island.

The Royal Poinciana Chapel is a vital, post-denominational Christian community with a strong congregation of 800 members and seasonal guests during winter, including some 250 year-round families and children. The chapel sits at the center of Palm Beach Island on three acres of lush landscaped property bordering Henry Flagler’s famous home Whitehall, now open as a museum. The chapel overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway and the West Palm Beach waterfront to the west and The Breakers resort and ocean golf course directly to the east. It features the landmark giant kapok tree giving frame to an exquisite view. It is the most photographed spot in Palm Beach and a favorite location for destination weddings.

Senior Pastor Dr. Robert Norris is known for his impassioned preaching, pastoral ministry, and active community involvement. He also serves as adjunct member of the teaching faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary. The chapel is widely known for its phenomenal music program led by Stewart Foster, minister of music. Foster plays the chapel’s new Austin organ with rare talent and passion and also conducts the professionally trained Royal Poinciana Chapel Chorale at weekly services.

The history of Royal Poinciana Chapel owes its life to Henry Morrison Flagler (1830–1913). Flagler, alongside his friend and business partner, John D. Rockefeller, built the Standard Oil Company into the most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of the era. As the company flourished and Flagler’s fortunes grew, he left his offices in New York City, and ventured south to a wild frontier known as Florida.

In 1894, Flagler built the Hotel Royal Poinciana on the shores of Lake Worth on the island to be known as Palm Beach and extended his railroad to its service town, creating the city of West Palm Beach. This remarkable edifice, the largest wooden structure in the world at the time, had 1,150 guest rooms with over seven miles of hallways, served by a staff of 1,700, many of whom lived across the pond in housing provided by Flagler and would arrive daily by rowboats to work their shifts. The island boasted an infamous casino, the hotel, and a humble chapel on this parcel. The disposition had the hotel in the center, casino to the south, and chapel to the north. It was said that one could engage in debauchery, rest, and reconciliation without ever leaving the property! The chapel was known for having engaging preachers and excellent music from the beginning. The hotel was demolished in 1934, in favor of the newer, lavish Breakers Hotel, which remains to this day, the former enterprise having become redundant. Years later, the chapel was relocated on the property, and now sits close to Whitehall. Henry Flagler’s original cottage was also moved to this property in recent times, and serves the chapel’s needs for meeting space and special events.

While Whitehall boasts a modest J. H. & C. S. Odell organ in its music room, we do not know the original instrument in the chapel. In 1963, the M. P. Möller Organ Company installed its Opus 9720. At the time of this installation, the organ was a modest three-manual instrument of 30 stops; some 26 stops in the chancel, with three ranks of flutes and a Vox Humana in the antiphonal. In 1981, Austin Organs, Inc., built a new four-manual console. It was designed with the intention of expanding the instrument, and this expansion was initiated before the new console was installed! The revised tonal plan was developed with the assistance of Thomas R. Thomas, director of music at the time. Also, a possibly apocryphal addition to the legacy includes Virgil Fox, a close neighbor. It was said that he wanted a significant instrument on which to practice, and therefore lent his voice and expertise to the early console and tonal design thoughts before his death in 1980. As a result, the new tonal work included a new Austin Great of 10 stops, a new 7-stop Positiv, and a 7-stop Solo. The existing Möller 6-stop Great pipework was revoiced and placed on a new Austin tracker chest in the gallery, alongside a new 14-stop Gallery Swell, and 5-stop Pedal using some vintage pipework from various sources along with new Austin pipework. Back in the chancel, the existing Möller Swell and Choir remained as they were installed in 1963, but a new Pedal division was created utilizing some new Austin chests and pipework alongside a few selected Möller stops. New casework and façades were drawn by Austin’s chief designer Frederick Mitchell.

The new, mostly Austin organ was tonally finished by Fred Heffner and David Johnston. Tripled in size from the original Möller, parts of this instrument spoke from deep chambers and seemed to fill the room with ethereal presence.

Time and tide ravaged the organ. Trouble began with delivery of the façade pipes in 1983. For unknown reasons, pipes of tin and tin-plated zinc were ordered from an Eastern European supplier. Upon arrival directly in Florida, many of these pipes were damaged, some beyond repair. Over time, the soft metal deformed, and random notes began to lose their former eloquent speech. There were hurricanes, water, and various other pests that created issues within the organ chambers. The Möller company proposed a significant renovation/reconstruction of the organ, and removed much of the instrument to their factory in Hagerstown in 1990. With the collapse of the Möller company, the chapel was able to perform a rescue of the organ components from the Möller factory, and the Reuter Organ Company was subsequently contracted to perform a major overhaul of the organ in 1992. This work included some chestwork, additions, and replacement of some reed stops. A number of reed pipes were compromised, because adding to the atmospheric issues that affected the chapel, many instruments in the 1980s suffered decomposition of lead in the blocks of reed pipes. As the lead crumbles into lead sulfate, replacement or reconstruction is necessary. The other factor in the work completed in 1992 was the reconstruction and expansion of the chapel space. The former Swell, Solo, and Choir chests and pipes were relocated to front chambers left and right of the façade. The effect proved problematic since the pipework was apparently not revoiced to compensate for the new location closer to the ears of the Chorale and congregation. As a result, the Swell and Solo aggressively dominated the entire instrument, making proper registration balances difficult to achieve.

In 2014, working with the chapel’s director of music, Stewart Foster, our tonal staff at Austin Organs set out to design an essentially new organ, using the building blocks of the existing instrument as a starting place. The final instrument would contain 104 ranks of pipes. Our guiding principle was that the tonal result would be one of elegant beauty and gentle nuance. In other words, with a temperate approach, tonal blend had to be achieved without allowing any domination of individual departments or voices. The success of this project is certainly in part due to the active participation at every stage from design to installation by Stewart Foster. A consummate musician, he knows not only how to make the organ sing, but what it takes to make an organ truly successful tonally. Austin staff members, including Raymond Albright, Bruce Coderre, Dan Kingman, Curt Hawkes, Anne Wysocki, Colin Coderre, Victor Hoyt, Scotty Giffen, the late Stew Skates, Tony Valdez, Dick Taylor, Mike Fazio, Tong Satayopas, Phil Swartz, and Nick Schroeder, who worked directly on the installation, imparted their own special gifts that contributed to its success. 

 

Mechanical considerations

Our approach in designing the new instrument was to update or replace every questionable mechanical system. A new, four-manual Austin console replaced the earlier mechanical console. The new console, built of painted birch and oiled cherry, is equipped with 300 levels of combination action memory, record-playback, and a transposer; a WiFi interface is integrated in the console control system for iPad/iPhone operation of advanced functions. Austin-made walnut drawknobs control all stops and couplers, the latter being spread on either side of the keydesk. Among some of the unique design elements, the console has a mechanism that physically closes the crescendo pedal when General Cancel is pressed. A second set of divisional pistons called “English Divisionals” appear when selected and have pre-set combinations that create a typical English Crescendo in the desired division. There is also a drawknob matrix that selects Swell and Choir/Solo expression shade operation, controlling three independent expression shade assemblies in each chamber. This allows sound from these divisions to be modeled to suit a variety of dynamic options. By using “Swell Shades Pianissimo,” for example, the organist can successfully accompany a vocal quartet with robust, Full Swell combinations. 

Austin specified a hydraulic lift that raises the console from the main floor to the chancel platform for concert use. Every Möller (and Reuter) chest was removed and replaced with new Austin tracker and unit chests; the entirety of the Swell was placed upon a walk-in air chest with integrated regulator. Wind pressures were raised in some divisions, and a new control system was made by Solid State Organ Systems. Chancel to Gallery data transmission is accomplished via fiber-optic cable. 

 

Tonal design

We started with the Great division to establish the revised tonal personality of the organ. Our guidance from Stewart Foster was found in one particular stop, designated as a model for the character of the entire instrument: the Positiv Italian Principal. It was indeed very smooth, beautifully voiced by Fred Heffner in 1983; only slightly ascendant and while of somewhat light weight, this stop had great tonal presence due to its nicely developed harmonic structure. One fear we had was that, as part of the new tonal design, we were raising the pressure of the Positiv by one inch (water column), so we wanted to be sure not to alter that which was treasured! During the scope of this project, some stops required rebuilding, others re-scaling. The result was enthusiastically received and has proven perfectly satisfactory. 

The Great was carefully voiced to perfect balance, from foundation to sharp mixture. The Reuter Trumpet was removed and replaced with a vintage Austin Cornopean (voiced as a chorus reed), available at 16′ and 8′ pitches; the 16′ octave was built from the former Möller 16′ reed (resonator length was added to match Austin patterns for our 6-inch scale, full-length Double Trumpet). Also added to the Great was a five-rank Mounted Cornet. This stop was scaled along French Classic lines and sits on a plinth fed by single actions speaking through 42-inch tubing. The Positiv was re-imagined, retaining the Italian Principal and 4′ Octave. The 1⁄3′ Zimbel was changed to 1′ pitch and revoiced. The 8′ Gedeckt was revoiced and is now available at 8′ and 4′ pitches. We added a new Sesquialtera and Cromorne and re-pitched and voiced the former 8′ Rohr Schalmei as a 4′ stop to support the new 8′ Cromorne. The additions of the Cornet, Sesquialtera, and Cromorne/Schalmei have opened new forays into historical organ repertoire. Another new addition, a charming Rossignol, adds a bit of whimsy to this division.

The Pedal was improved by the replacement of the previous ½-length 32′ Bombarde with a new full-length 32′ Trombone. The existing 16′ reed was revoiced to a darker timbre, blending perfectly with the new pipes. The existing 32′ Bourdon extended only to EEEE, the bottom four notes sounding a resultant of the 16′ Bourdon. For better effect, four new pipes were installed speaking 102⁄3′ pitch, at the correct dynamic and tuning to deliver more satisfying 32′ tone for CCCC–DDDD#. New façade pipes were made with some subtle design changes suggested by Stewart Foster, replacing the dented, collapsed old tin pipes. The old pipes were given to members of the congregation as keepsakes; in a week, all 72 pipes ranging from 4′ to 16′ GGG were removed by members!

In the Swell, a new Principal Chorus was envisioned, utilizing some of the existing pipework. A new 8′ Principal was manufactured and the 4′ Octave was re-scaled; an existing 2′ Fifteenth happily fit into the scheme very well. The existing Möller Mixture had been recomposed in 1992, but was found to be shrill and ineffective some years ago, with many pipes stuffed with cotton to silence them. We used much of the original pipework, re-pitching the primary IV-rank mixture at 22⁄3′ pitch (which also draws separately) and installed a new III-rank Cymbale, based at 1′ pitch. The strings and flutes in this department were voiced to new pressure, dynamic, and blend. The reeds were completely rebuilt or replaced to create a chorus of independent voices at 16′/8′/8′/4′. The result is generally perceived as being a French tone color, light in weight but fiery without excessive volume. The Vox Humana is placed in an Austin “VoxBox” with independent tremulant and lid that can be raised and lowered from the console to control dynamic. Note that between Gallery and Chancel there are two Vox Humanas and five celestes with all the requisite inter- and intra-manual couplers!

The Möller Choir organ was enhanced with a new 4′ Principal and a new Clarinet. The 1963 pipework was mostly original, so the process of revoicing was easier than the work required in the Swell. The overall effect was a gentle broadening of tone color with the ever-present goal of achieving perfect blend. The new Clarinet was voiced on 10 inches wind pressure, and the new chest was built with unique high-pressure section, which allowed this stop to speak on the higher pressure, while remaining on the same action. Directly behind the Choir chest we find the Solo organ, which had minimal voicing performed at this time. The Reuter English Horn remained, but the Austin Bombarde was rebuilt and revoiced, and the Reuter Clarion was replaced with Austin pipework. The existing Deagan Harp was rebuilt with electric actions and located high on a side wall to avoid being a hindrance to tuning access.

Minimal work was performed in the Gallery, being mostly intact and otherwise satisfactory. A new extension was added to the 16′ Diapason, allowing it to speak as a second 8′ manual Diapason, contrasting and complementing the existing 8′ Principal. A new 8′ Trumpet en Chamade was made in brass and installed as replacement for the existing stop of the same name. The new pipework was scaled and voiced along the lines of an Austin Waldhorn—darker in color and generally warmer in tone, similar to an English Tromba. In this somewhat intimate setting, this results in a more desirable solo voice than a very bright, fiery Trompette. Stewart Foster reports that the previous Chamade would regularly receive complaints from wary congregants. Now, the complete opposite is true, as folks often ask why the trumpets didn’t play on a particular morning: “We love hearing them!”

This instrument is the second Austin organ in Palm Beach. The other installation is our exciting organ at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, located just across the golf course on the opposite shore of the island. Both instruments have unique personalities—surely identifiable as “Austin”—but each organ has its individual character and splendor that serves the very different roles these congregations demand. It is an enlightening pilgrimage to visit each church, perhaps at a worship service, or even during the week, and mark the similarities and differences.

The three-year project was made possible by funding from several prominent and generous chapel families and foundations. The organ was inaugurated by Christopher Houlihan, who played a truly unforgettable and stunning recital on April 3, 2016. Future concerts and recordings are planned along with a YouTube video series. Thanks to Stewart Foster for his assistance with this article, photos, and constant encouragement. Ad multos annos!

—Michael B. Fazio

President & Tonal Director 

Austin Organs, Inc.

 

Austin Organs: www.austinorgans.com 

Royal Poinciana: http://austinorgans.com/Op2685.html 

http://royalpoincianachapel.org/ 

More on BBTS: www.austinorgans.com/2777.html 

http://www.bbts.org/music/organ/ 

 

Royal Poinciana Chapel

60 Cocoanut Row

Palm Beach, FL 33480

Phone: 561/655-4212

 

CHANCEL GREAT 4″ wind

16′ Violone 61 pipes

8′ Principal 61 pipes

8′ Spitzflote 61 pipes

8′ Violone (ext) 12 pipes

4′ Octave 61 pipes

4′ Rohrflote 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes

11⁄3′ Fourniture IV 244 pipes

1⁄3′ Scharff III 183 pipes

8′ Mounted Cornet V (TG) 185 pipes

16′ Contra Trompete (ext) 12 pipes

8′ Trompete 61 pipes

Tremulant

Carillon (Tower, digital)

 

POSITIV 31⁄2″ wind 

8′ Italian Principal 61 pipes

8′ Singendgedeckt 61 pipes

4′ Principal 61 pipes

4′ Gedeckt (ext) 12 pipes

2′ Blockflote 61 pipes

11⁄3′ Larigot 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Sesquialtera II 122 pipes

1⁄3′ Zimbel III 183 pipes

8′ Cromorne 61 pipes

4′ Rohr Schalmei 61 pipes

Tremulant

Rossignol

CHOIR 4″ wind

8′ Concert Flute 68 pipes 

8′ Gemshorn 68 pipes

8′ Gemshorn Celeste (TC) 56 pipes

4′ Principal 68 pipes

4′ Koppelflote 68 pipes

22⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes 

8′ Clarinet 68 pipes

Tremulant

Harp 61 bars

Celesta (ext Harp)

Carillon (Tower, digital)

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Solo)

CHANCEL SWELL 4″ wind

16′ Bass Gedeckt (ext) 12 pipes

8′ Geigen Diapason 68 pipes

8′ Gedeckt 68 pipes

8′ Salicional 68 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste 68 pipes

4′ Principal 68 pipes

4′ Flute Harmonique 68 pipes

4′ Voix Celestes II (extension)

22⁄3′ Twelfth (Mixture extract)

2′ Doublette 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes

1′ Cymbale III 183 pipes

16′ Basson 68 pipes

8′ Trompette 68 pipes

8′ Oboe 68 pipes

8′ Vox Humana 61 pipes

4′ Clarion 68 pipes

Tremulant

SOLO 10″ wind

8′ Flute Harmonique 68 pipes 

8′ Violoncello 68 pipes 

8′ Cello Celeste 68 pipes 

4′ Orchestral Flute 68 pipes

8′ English Horn 68 pipes

8′ Bombarde 68 pipes

4′ Bombarde Clarion 68 pipes

Tremulant

8′ Trompette en Chamade (TC) 42 pipes 

GALLERY GREAT 31⁄2″ wind

16′ Montre 61 pipes

16′ Bourdon Doux (Swell)

8′ Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Montre (ext) 12 pipes

8′ Bourdon 61 pipes

4′ Prestant 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Quinte 61 pipes

2′ Doublette 61 pipes

11⁄3′ Fourniture III 183 pipes

Tremulant

8′ Trompette en Chamade (Solo)

GALLERY SWELL 4″ wind

16′ Bourdon Doux (ext) 12 pipes

8′ Flute à Cheminee 68 pipes

8′ Viole de Gambe 68 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste 68 pipes

8′ Flauto Dolce 68 pipes

8′ Flauto Dolce Celeste (TC) 56 pipes

4′ Fugara 68 pipes

4′ Flute à Fuseau 68 pipes

2′ Principal 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Cornet II 122 pipes

1′ Plein Jeu IV 244 pipes

16′ Bombarde 68 pipes

8′ Trompette 68 pipes

8′ Voix Humaine 61 pipes

4′ Clairon 68 pipes

Tremulant

Chimes 25 tubes

PEDAL

32′ Contre Bourdon 8 pipes

      102⁄3′ 4 pipes

16′ Contrebasse 32 pipes

16′ Bourdon 32 pipes

16′ Violone (Great)

16′ Bass Gedeckt (Swell)

102⁄3′ Quint (from Bourdon)

8′ Principal 12 pipes

8′ Geigen (Swell)

8′ Bourdon 12 pipes

8′ Cello (Great) 

8′ Gedeckt (Swell)

51⁄3′ Twelfth (from Bourdon) 7 pipes 

4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes

4′ Flute 32 pipes

22⁄3′ Mixture IV 128 pipes

Cornet V (derived)

32′ Contra Trombone (ext) 12 pipes

(Full length) CCCC 12″ scale

16′ Trombone 32 pipes

16′ Contra Trompete (Great)

16′ Basson (Swell)

8′ Trumpet (ext Trombone) 12 pipes

4′ Clarion (ext Trombone) 12 pipes

4′ Cromorne (Choir)

GALLERY PEDAL

16′ Montre (Great)

16′ Bourdon Doux (Swell)

8′ Octave (Great)

8′ Flute à Cheminee (Swell)

16′ Bombarde (Swell) 

8′ Trompette-en-Chamade (Solo)

Michael McNeil

Michael McNeil has designed, constructed, and researched pipe organs since 1973. He was also a research engineer in the disk drive industry with 27 patents. He has authored four hardbound books, among them The Sound of Pipe Organs, several e-publications, and many journal articles.

Preface

The 1863 E. & G. G. Hook organ, Opus 322, is not only one of the best preserved of the earlier instruments of that firm, it had the good fortune to be placed in the superlative acoustics of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Boston, Massachusetts. Rooms with long acoustical reverberation are rare in the United States. Rarer still is a room where all frequencies of sound die away cleanly at a similar rate. At Immaculate Conception the clean diffusion of sound without slap echoes was enabled by a profusion of complex cornices and a coffered ceiling with intricate ornamentation; it is a wonderful example of a fusion of form and musical function.

Designed by noted architect Patrick Charles Keely, the classical façade of the church is executed in granite. The organ resided directly behind the windows above the main doors. The Church of the Immaculate Conception is situated in a historic district of Boston. Nearby elegant row houses reflect an age when architectural design valued a balance of form and the texture that cornices, corbels, and moldings bring to a structure. These classical elements live and reverberate into the new millennium.

Detailed documentation of such a universally acclaimed organ is important for several reasons. We can learn how the Hooks designed their organ to suit the acoustics. We can make useful comparisons with other organs and learn how this Hook differs from other styles of organ design. And perhaps most importantly, we can document this organ for posterity. Organs are consumed in wars and fires; they are replaced or modified with the changing tastes of time; and they never survive a restoration without changes. In a quirk of fate that makes this documention all the more valuable, the organ was dismantled in 2008 and placed in storage for Boston College. Plans by developers now exist to convert the Church of the Immaculate Conception into condominiums.

In June of 2000 the Jesuit Urban Center and its director, Fr. Thomas Carroll, SJ, invited the author to reside with them for a week at the Church of the Immaculate Conception with the goal of acquiring detailed data on the Hook organ. The author immersed himself in this work to such a degree that he often lost track of the passage of time. The resident Jesuits would ascend to the organ loft to remind the author that it was time to end a long day of work, promising good conversation and good libations as a reward, to which the author always happily acquiesced. The following study is an analysis of the data taken while a guest of the author’s most generous hosts.

The data showed that the Hook organ is in remarkably original condition, primarily the result of its careful maintenance by many generations of the Lahaise family. The data also revealed some crude interventions originating from the repitching of the organ and the 1902 installation of the Solo division, all of which are reversible.

 

Current stoplist

Great

16′ Open Diapason

8′ Open Diapason Forte

8′ Open Diapason Mezzo

8′ Viola da Gamba

8′ Clarabella

4′ Octave

4′ Flute Harmonique

3′ Twelfth

2′ Fifteenth

III Mixture

V Mixture

VII Cymbal

16′ Trumpet

8′ Trumpet

4′ Clarion

Swell

16′ Bourdon

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Viol di Amour

8′ Voix Celeste

8′ Quintadena

4′ Octave

4′ Violina

4′ Flauto Traverso

2′ Flautino

V Mixture

16′ Contra Fagot

8′ Cornopean

8′ Oboe

8′ Vox Humana

4′ Clarion

Choir

16′ Contra Dolce

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Melodia

8′ Gedeckt

8′ Viola

8′ Dulciana

4′ Octave

4′ Fugara

4′ Hohlpfeife

4′ Flauto Traverso

2′ Piccolo

8′ Clarinet

Pedal

32′ Contra Bourdon

16′ Open Diapason

16′ Violone

16′ Bourdon

12′ Quint Floete

8′ Violoncello

8′ Flute

16′ Trombone

8′ Trumpet

Solo

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Concert Flute

4′ Flute Harmonique

8′ Tuba Mirabilis

8′ Orchestral Oboe

8′ Orchestral Clarinet

4′ Tuba Octave

 

Casework and façade

Built in 1863, the Hook organ casework is constructed of pine, not a hardwood. Perhaps the Civil War took its toll on the availability of materials. The case façade was designed by the church architect, Patrick C. Keely.¹ Although it employs extreme over-lengths in the façade pipes, the case and nave are a successful fusion of the architectural style.

 

There are seven flats of pipes in the façade. The flats at the extreme sides contain three dummy pipes each. The Hooks utilized bass pipes from both the 16′ Open Diapason and the 8′ Open Diapason Forte in the façade. A few bass pipes that would normally be a continuous part of the façade were placed just behind the façade on offset boards in an effort to keep a normal progression of widths when using the pipes of two different stops. This resulted in some very large overlengths with many cutouts at the back of some pipes. Here is the order of speaking case pipes, facing the case, from left to right: 

9 pipes: 8′ F#, 8′ E, 8′ D, 8′ C, 16′ G#, 16′ c, 16′ d, 16′ e, 16′ f#;

3 pipes: 16′ c′, 16′ a#, 8′ A#;

9 pipes: 16′ A#, 16′ F#, 16′ E, 16′ D, 16′ C, 16′ C#, 16′ D#, 16′ F, 16′ A;

3 pipes: 8′ B, 16′ a, 16′ b;

9 pipes: 8′ G, 16′ d#, 16′ c#, 16′ B, 16′ G, 8′ C#, 8′ D#, 8′ F, 16′ f.

 

The form and presentation of the data 

Pipe measurements, which include enough data to reconstruct the voicing, were taken on selected pipes of the principal chorus of the Great division. Measurements taken by the author were entered into a laptop computer with the gracious help of Paul Murray, a volunteer at the church. The computer was set up within the expansive casework to make efficient use of time.

A total of 25 measurements and notes were taken on each of the selected pipes of the principal chorus; 34 measurements and notes were taken on a Clarion reed pipe. While this may seem excessive by normal practice, the standard for this type of documentation was pioneered by Pierre Chéron in his classic work on the Isnard organ at St. Maximin, L’Orgue de Jean-Esprit et Joseph Isnard dans la Basilique de la Madeleine à Saint-Maximin, France.

 

The scaling sheets devised by Mr. Chéron were adapted by the author to a spreadsheet.² Analysis of that data enabled a detailed understanding of the changes made to the 1863 organ. The missing gaps in the data reflect the inability to gain easy access without risk of damage to some pipes, along with the limitations of time. 

The author has shown how this data can be portrayed to advantage in his book, The Sound of Pipe Organs, published in 2012.³ This book describes models which can be used to intuitively compare the scaling and voicing of different organs, allowing us to visualize and understand the differences. The reader is referred to this book for a deeper understanding of the models which are presented in this study of the Hook. 

The basic data set to describe scaling and voicing must include, at a minimum, pipe diameters, widths of mouths, heights of mouths (“cutups”), diameters of foot toe holes, depths of mouth flueways, and treatment of the languids. The data in this study of the Hook principal chorus is graphically presented side-by-side with a graphical reduction of the data compiled by Chéron from the famous Isnard organ at St. Maximin, France. This is an instructive comparison. The two organs are of similar size and were designed for similar acoustics, but they represent very different tonal ideals ranging from the late 18th-century French Classical traditions of the Isnards to the fully Romantic middle 19th-century traditions of the American Hooks.

Normalized data is presented for inside pipe diameters, mouth widths, and mouth heights (cutups). The tables in Figure 1 show how the raw data was converted into normalized data.

 

Scaling and voicing

 

Pipe diameters

The Normal Scale of pipe diameters is a way to visualize relative power, where a flat line from bass to treble will produce relatively constant power. Pipes with data extending higher in the graph will produce more power. Each half tone on the vertical scale represents 0.5 dB of power. Interested readers can refer to The Sound of Pipe Organs, pp. 8–32 for a discussion of the underlying theory.

With the exception of the narrower Mixture V and Cymbal VII, the chorus of the Hook organ in Figure 2 is compressed, i.e., the foundation and upperwork stops have a similar, or “constant,” scale, and the trebles are relatively flat in scaling. In stark contrast in Figure 3, the Isnard scales become narrower as the pitch of the stops ascend, while the 4′ and Mixture scales widen dramatically in the treble.

Wind pressure has a very large effect on power, but fortunately the wind pressure of the Hook organ at 76 mm water column is close to that of the Isnard organ at 83 mm. Power balance differences in these two organs result from differences in the pipe construction (pipe diameters and mouth widths) and differences in the voicing parameters (toe hole diameters and flueway depths).

 

Mouth widths 

The Normal Scale of mouth widths operates just like the pipe diameters, where a flat line from bass to treble will produce relatively constant power. Pipes extending higher in the graph will produce more power. Each half tone on the vertical scale again represents 0.5 dB of power. 

Mouth widths are often a better indicator of power balances than pipe diameters, simply because mouth widths can be designed to vary within the same diameter of a pipe. Narrower mouths will produce less power, even if the pipe diameters are wide. 

The chorus of the Hook organ in Figure 4 is again compressed, much like the pipe diameters in Figure 2. The Mixture III is scaled as wide as the foundation stops. Note how the Cymbal VII and the Mixture V are the only narrow upperwork stops. Furthermore, the mouth scales of those two mixtures actually descend from bass to treble. The Cymbal VII was made and installed in 1870 by William A. Johnson,⁴ and it is representative of his typical chorus scaling with wide foundations and much narrower upperwork.

In Figure 5 the scales of the 4′ and Mixtures on the Isnard organ ascend dramatically from 1′ pitch to 1/8′ pitch. Isnard’s intent here is two-fold: the upperwork not only ascends in scale for an ascending treble, it is also scaled to compensate for the losses of power due to the atmospheric absorption of sound over long distances at higher frequencies. Interested readers can refer to The Sound of Pipe Organs, pp. 13–14, for a discussion of the foundations of this very important scaling principle.

These two graphs show the basic differences in the tonal balances of these organs, where the Isnard exhibits a well-balanced full spectrum of frequencies, while the Hook is tailored for warm and powerful foundations with a restrained full frequency spectrum.

 

Notes and Credits

All photographs, tables, graphs, and data are by the author except as noted.

1. Owen, Barbara. “A Landmark within a Landmark: The 1863 Hook Organ,” undated typescript.

2. Excel files with all raw data taken on the Hook and the spreadsheets that produced the graphs and tables may be obtained at no charge by e-mailing the author at: [email protected].

3. McNeil, Michael. The Sound of Pipe Organs (Mead, Colorado: CC&A), 2012, 191 pp., Amazon.com.

4. Huntington, Scot L., Barbara Owen, Stephen L. Pinel, Martin R. Walsh, Johnson Organs 1844–1898 (Richmond, Virginia: OHS Press), pp. 17–18.

 

To be continued.