Cover Feature: Hillsdale College

Paul Fritts & Company Organ Builders, Tacoma, Washington; Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, Terrace Park, Ohio

From the builder

More than a decade ago the people of Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio, began planning for a renovation of their sanctuary. This led to the formation of an organ committee, which then secured the well-organized guidance of consultant Paul Thornock. Their previous organ’s shortcomings, large in number, had become obvious, and there was a desire to explore the numerous possibilities commissioning a new organ encompasses. We were first contacted about an organ project in 2014, and the project came full circle some nine years later with the arrival of the organ and installation at the church on September 10, 2023.

Budgets rarely enable an organ builder to do what they would really like to do in a given situation. This has a positive impact on our work because, among other things, it imposes the discipline of working efficiently without compromising high standards. Proficiency goes hand in hand with finding ways to maximize a budget’s “bang for the buck.” One theme of this project was to have the resources that meet the needs of the program thus pushing the budget higher than possible. We proposed repeating a previously built organ that would fit the church with little compromise, thus saving a great deal of design work. The organs we build are unique to their homes and are precisely engineered throughout with all aspects ideally coordinated for the best outcome. Utilizing an existing concept with minor modifications could save more than a thousand hours of design time. Labor is the leading cost building organs in a workshop where virtually every part of an organ is crafted from raw materials, so this time savings is significant, plus familiarity with the concept by the organbuilding team saves additional time.

Providing space on the windchests for pipes to be added at some future time also reduces the initial budget, but the expense of preparing for these pipes in an organ generally means building all the infrastructure except for the pipes. The downside of this is the uncertainty of when and if these stops will ever be funded. Despite this, the initial contract, signed in 2015, describes a twenty-five-stop instrument with Great, Swell, and Pedal divisions and seven preparations. All the preparations involved expensive reed stops except for one, which was a Mixture of six ranks bringing the organ to a total of thirty-two stops. Reed stops are a good choice for preparations due to their high cost and the fact that they can later be easily accessed at the rear of the windchests.

Throughout this project’s long delay, five other projects were moved ahead in the production schedule and the Saint Thomas people had additional time to fundraise. Over this period of time I made the decision to design an entirely new and unique concept for the organ. We have but one opportunity to push the boundaries of creativity with each project, and a new concept expanded what could be done despite the added cost to us. We always adhere to our contract obligations, and with this decision our ongoing policy of delivering more than promised continues. The decision was met with great enthusiasm by the church, and we moved forward with all of the stop preparations fully funded for a thirty-five-stop, two-manual and pedal organ. The organ contract was signed in 2015, but renovation planning and related fundraising progressed over many years until the actual organ building by our team of eight began early in 2022.

The new design is inspired by the so-called “Wide Hamburg Case,” which provides a good solution for this single-cased organ. Versions of this concept are relatively common throughout the Northern parts of Germany and the Netherlands, and we have experience building these relatively complicated cases. It features three protruding, segmented towers and two pointed towers with large pipes and a series of major-third-arranged treble pipe flats between. This theme is duplicated with a few modifications for the upper center section of the case, behind which stands the swell box.

The appearance appropriately gives a face to the tonal qualities of specific sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European instruments considered to showcase a high point of organ sound. In significant ways, these gorgeous and lasting sound qualities provide inspiration for our work. Despite these lofty goals, what the cooks end up creating is what counts, and this organ meets our goals. All who study the organ must be mindful that it is a workshop’s culture that determines the outcome of any organ, and more specifically, it is the workshop culture during the time of construction that determines the outcome of a specific organ.

At the risk of describing sound quality with words, I will say that the sound of the individual pipes is full, warm, sweet, unforced, and colorful. This combined with quick and subtle speech characteristics provide qualities that are remarkably useful, foremost in terms of individual beauty, but they also enable superior blending with other stops and adapt easily to a wide variety of acoustical environments and musical styles. If we are to achieve these goals, other aspects of the organ must be in place throughout the concept. These include a free-standing case within the space with tightly grouped façade pipes and three-dimensional carvings, compact, customized chest layouts, relatively low wind pressure, pallets (valves) opened by means of a direct mechanical key action, a robust wind system, and more. A three-sided swell box, string stops, an authentic French Symphonic Hautbois, and a modern combination system (combined with the mechanical stop action) broaden the overall concept.

The pipes and their voicing are the most important contributors to the success of an organ. All the metal pipes are made in our workshop from tin-lead sheets of various alloys, exclusively cast on a tightly packed and flat sand bed. The very rapid cooling of the pipe metal on this sand surface (compared to a relatively long cooling period on a cloth-covered stone table) produces metal sheets with a smaller crystalline structure. This has a discernable benefit to the sound and speech of the pipes. Beyond this advantage, the details of the pipe construction and voicing contribute substantially to the final tonal result.

The Saint Thomas case is made of ammonia fumed and oiled, solid white oak. Fuming accelerates the natural darkening of white oak for a rich, stain-free look. We were fortunate to find a supplier who imports from Germany sawn logs that have been kept together after drying. Generally, the wood from one log is similar in color and texture throughout. In this case, one log yielded enough material to build the entire case front, guaranteeing a remarkable consistency of appearance throughout. The carvings are also of white oak and were carved by Christiane Sandler.

I am grateful to work with a great team of craftsmen and contributors here at the Fritts workshop: Greg Bahnsen, Zane Boothby, Rain Daley, Raphi Giangiulio, Erik McLeod, Andreas Schonger, Bruce Shull, Ben Wooley, and our bookkeeper, Marlon Ventura. All of us share a deep appreciation for the continued support and enthusiasm of the Saint Thomas Episcopal Church community.

—Paul Fritts

From the associate director of music and organist

The decade-long journey that led to the completion of the new Paul Fritts & Company organ at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio, likely echoes most of the stories we read in these journals about acquiring new instruments. Though I could rightfully boast about the excellence of our committee, our superb consultant, and the absolute joy it was to traverse the path together that led to this marvelous accomplishment, the immediate impact of this organ in the life of Saint Thomas and its role in realizing the vision of the role of music and beauty at this church is much more impactful.

The mission of music at Saint Thomas is to change lives by bringing people closer to our Heavenly Father through the divine gift of music both in and beyond our church. We seek to do this through inspiring traditional worship, enriching the artistic life of our community through the supporting of the offering of sacred music at the highest and most profound levels, and sharing the profundity and beauty of our worship tradition to new generations. We seek to fulfill this mission and vision with all the diligence we can muster. Our fully capable Parish Choir (comprising mostly volunteers, with just a few singers invited to lead our sections) and our monthly series of Bach Vespers, in which we seek to present the cantatas of Bach in their original context as a part of worship, earnestly and capably endeavor to fulfill our mission.

To fulfill the mission of music at Saint Thomas, church leadership and the organ committee sought that the result of our renovated chancel and new organ would be of utmost beauty, for “beauty is an ultimate value—something that we pursue for its own sake, and for the pursuit of which no further reason need be given. Beauty should therefore be compared to truth and goodness, one member of a trio of ultimate values.”¹ We sought that this beauty would, both aurally and visually, serve the mission of our music program.

We feel that we have succeeded beyond our wildest imaginations. Paul Fritts & Company Opus 43 is the realization of utmost aural and visual beauty. I cannot walk into the church without my eyes drawn heavenward as they fall on this magnificent instrument. All too quickly, as I go to practice and utilize this organ in its intended role of enriching life and drawing people closer to our Heavenly Father through the power of the highest quality of sacred music, it is evident that this instrument some would argue is built rigidly in one style of organbuilding is absolutely worthy of magnificently presenting all of the literature in the realization of the mission of music at Saint Thomas.

In a time where we forsake timeless traditions and philosophies that have guided us to where we are today, it is our hope and desire that the time-honored tradition of presenting music of the highest quality will edify, inspire, and uplift all who come to partake of the music and worship offerings at Saint Thomas, that the excellence we strive for will find a home in the hearts of those who enter our doors and provide guidance, comfort, and cheer, leading to a greater relationship with our Heavenly Father.

This magnificent organ is the perfect vehicle for us as we seek to perpetuate this goal. We warmly invite and welcome all who wish to come and see!

—Jason M. Gunnell

 

www.stthomasepiscopal.org

www.bachensemble.org

 

The Rev. Darren R. S. Elin, rector

Dr. Carlton Monroe, director of music

Dr. Jason M. Gunnell, associate director of music and organist

 

The Saint Thomas Organ Committee

Vern Thomas, chairman

The Rev. Daniel Grossoehme

Jason M. Gunnell

Mary Malotke

Gerry Michaud

Carlton Monroe

Brian Rau

The Rev. Robert E. Reynolds

Paul Thornock, consultant

1. Roger Scruton, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 2.

 

GREAT (Manual I)

16′ Bourdon

8′ Principal

8′ Rohrflöte

4′ Octave

4′ Spitzflöte

3′ Quint

2′ Octave

1-3⁄5′ Tierce

Mixture IV–VI

8′ Trompet

8′ Dulcian

 

SWELL (Manual II)

8′ Praestant (façade)

8′ Principal

8′ Gedeckt

8′ Violdigamba

8′ Voix celeste

4′ Octave

4′ Rohrflöte

3′ Nasat

2′ Octave

2′ Blockflöte

1-3⁄5′ Terz

1-1⁄3′ Larigot

Mixture IV–V

16′ Fagott

8′ Trompet

8′ Hautbois

 

PEDAL

16′ Subbaß

8′ Principal

8′ Bourdon (ext Subbaß)

4′ Octave

2′ Nachthorn

16′ Posaune

8′ Trompet

4′ Trompet

 

Couplers

Swell to Great

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

 

Compass

Manual: 58 notes

Pedal: 30 notes

 

Other

Polished tin front pipes

Solid wood casework with carved pipe shades

Suspended, direct mechanical key action

Mechanical stop action

Multi-level combination system with divisionals, generals, and sequencer

Tremulant

Wind Stabilizer

Zimbelstern

 

35 stops, 43 ranks, 2,223 pipes

Michał Szostak

Michał Szostak, Polish organist, researcher, and author, completed a doctorate degree in organ performance in February 2019. He studied organ performance at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw with Andrzej Chorosiński, as well as organ improvisation at the Pontificio Istituto Ambrosiano di Musica Sacra in Milan with Davide Paleari. He regularly performs organ recitals in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, and has recorded three CDs. His organological research is regularly published by Polish and international organ magazines. From 2011–2018 he was the music director and principal organist of the Basilica in Licheń Stary. For further information: www.michalszostak.org.

Between 2002 and 2007, in Licheń Stary, near the geographical center of Poland, the Polish organbuilder Zakłady Organowe Zych built a monumental instrument of 157 stops. Designed by Andrzej Chorosiński, the instrument is now the largest organ in Poland and is controlled by a six-manual console.

Licheń Stary has a population of approximately 1,500 people. After World War II, priests of the order of the Marian Fathers promoted the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary here, centered around a small seventeenth-century oil painting of the Blessed Virgin. The ever-increasing number of pilgrims visiting the village could not be accommodated in the small local church housing the painting.

The Marian Fathers decided to build a new and larger church for the painting and pilgrims, an edifice that would become a minor basilica and consequently the largest church edifice in Poland. Construction began in 1992, and Pope Saint John Paul II blessed the building in 1999, though construction continued into 2002. The size of the basilica is 3,237,000 cubic feet, and the usable area is 247,600 square feet. The length of the nave is approximately 456 feet, while the width of the transept with uneven shoulder lengths is approximately 472 feet.¹ With the completion of construction there was a need to equip the interior with liturgical elements, including a pipe organ.

The motivator of the pipe organ project was Reverend Eugeniusz Makulski, MIC, a great lover of organ music and the person most responsible for the construction of the shrine. In mid-2002, when construction of the basilica was nearly complete, Father Makulski finalized the plans that would lead to the construction of a pipe organ to adorn the monumental interior. He decided the organ must be exceptional and worthy of the largest church in Poland; it would have at least 100 stops with a beautiful and noble sound and visual appearance. The other stipulation was that at least some of the instrument had to be playable by June 14, 2003.²

After analyzing various organbuilders’ bids, the Marian Fathers entrusted the project to the firm of Zakłady Organowe Zych. The signing of the contract for the construction of the first part of the organ, the instrument for the west gallery, took place on August 21, 2002.

The organ firm, headed by Dariusz Zych, had to rely on acoustical plans for the instrument concept to avoid disappointments and surprises at the final stage of this work. The starting point for the development of the whole specification by Andrzej Chorosiński was the unrealized project by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll for Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.³ Based on the measured analysis of the acoustic parameters of the basilica, Chorosiński began to develop the specification of the organ and the composition of stops. The fact that the Licheń Basilica has five galleries (one in the main nave, two in the west and east aisles, and two galleries in the sanctuary), gave rise to the concept of creating a spatial sound unit composed of five elements. The great organ of the basilica has been placed in the southern, western, and eastern parts of the church. The project was completed with two Chancel Positives on two small balconies at both presbytery gables, where the apse connects to the main nave. The scales of the stops, as well as the compositions of composite stops (mixtures, etc.), were individually developed by Chorosiński.

Zakłady Organowe Zych accomplished all design work, construction of organ cases, windchests, key and stop actions, wooden ranks and wooden resonators of reeds, as well as assembly of all elements, voicing, and tuning. Subcontractor companies that were commissioned to carry out specific assignments included: KOART Krzysztof Cieplak (structures made of stainless steel), Otto Heuss GmbH from Lich, Germany (consoles, electronics, Zimbelstern, tubular bells), Aug. Laukhuff GmbH & Co. KG from Weikersheim, Germany (West Organ façade pipes), Jacques Stinkens
Orgelpijpenmakers BV from Zeist, the Netherlands (façade pipes for the South Organ), Süddeutsche Orgelpfeifenfabrik Roland Killinger GmbH from Freiberg on the River Neckar, Germany (reeds for West Organ, East and West Positives), Orguian Lda. from Avidos, Portugal (reeds for the South Organ), and Ryszard Chacinski from Kobylka near Warsaw (metal labial stops). Decorative elements adorning the organ cases were carved in wood by Janusz Regulski and Tomasz Kusnierz from Sochaczew near Warsaw, and then gilded in the goldsmith’s workshop of Henryk Kwiatkowski from Poznań.

All assembly, voicing, and tuning were completed before July 2, 2006, so that during the solemn Mass that day, when the famous painting of Our Lady of Licheń was introduced to the basilica, a fully prepared instrument could be heard. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world took part in the ceremony of transferring the image to its new home.

One month later, on August 1, 2006, there was a technical and artistic reception of the completed organ made by a commission consisting of representatives of the Marian Fathers, organbuilders, organists, and musicologists, who were all very pleased with the work. The acceptance protocol was signed by members of the commission composed of Rev. Wiktor Gumienny, MIC, Father Superior of the Licheń Shrine; Professor Urlich Grosser, German conductor and organist; Professor Roberto Padoin, organist and professor at the Conservatory B. Marcello in Venice; Reverend Dr. Jacek Paczkowski, chairman of the church music committee of the Diocese of Kalisz; Reverend Dr. Mariusz Klimek, director of the Church Music Study of the Diocese of Torun; Siegfried Sauer, organbuilder from Germany; Adam Klarecki, organist of the Wloclawek cathedral; Jacek Łukasik and Robert Grudzien, organists; and Jaroslaw Adamiak, then organist of the Licheń Shrine. Artistic decoration of the cases took nearly another year, and the dedication of the organ took place on the first anniversary of the transfer to the basilica of the famous painting of Our Lady of Licheń on July 2, 2007, during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Wieslaw Alojzy Mering.

Description of the organ

The organ of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń comprises 157 stops, 12,323 pipes, and five “organs” (in the chronology of construction): the West Organ, the South Organ (located in three organ cases on the same gallery above the main entrance), the East Organ, the East Chancel Positive, and the West Chancel Positive. The South Organ and the West Organ are fully independent instruments and have their own consoles. The East Organ and both Chancel Positives do not have their own consoles and can be played only from the main console. An organist playing from the main console has eleven independent divisions from which to choose. The key action is mechanical-electric, while the stop action is electric; windchests are slider and pallet, and the alloys of pipe metals contain tin up to 85–90%. All divisions of the instrument have a manual compass of C–c4 and pedal compass of C–g1. The layout of all parts of the organ throughout the basilica is presented in Figure 1.

The South Organ

The core of the whole organ of the Licheń Basilica is the South Organ, which contains the principal divisions of the instrument. The South Organ is the second in chronological order of construction, built between mid-2003 and 2005. This eighty-one-stop instrument with four manuals has a typical sound arrangement for the nineteenth-century French Romantic period: Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale. In addition there is a high-pressure Solo division placed on Manual IV. In each division one finds a full set of basic stops (Jeux de Fonds) in the form of principals, flutes, and strings, as well as stops—according to Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s nomenclature—available (Jeux de Combinaisons) in the form of mutations, mixtures, cornets, and reeds.

The console is placed centrally in the organ case and on a multi-stage elevation. Registers are placed on either side of the keydesk: on the left side for the Pédale and Grand-Orgue, on the right side for the Positif, Récit-expressif, and the Solo division. The stop action is electric, while the key action is mechanical (for the majority of the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale windchests) and electric (for the entire Solo division, as well as selected portions of the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, Pédale windchests, and double pallets for bass notes). The Récit-expressif section is enclosed in a swell box controlled by a balanced shoe with electric action; next to the expression shoe is a crescendo roller, which allows seamless dynamic changes. The player sits with his back to the main altar, and the console has a solid-state combination action system with an extensive storage capacity.

The South Organ consists of three separate organ cases placed on the same gallery on the axes of the main and side naves and is anchored on a twenty-ton steel structure. Architecturally, the cases are inspired by the organ case built between 1999 and 2003 by Schoenstein & Co. for the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. A great majority of the façade pipes are speaking pipes. The main case contains the Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, Solo, and most of the Pédale division. In the side cases there are windchests for several Pédale stops (divided on C and C-sharp sides).

Each side case has its own small blower and a separate wind system. The wind system of the main South Organ’s section is fed by three electric blowers: the first blower feeds the Grand-Orgue, Positif, and Pédale, the second feeds the Récit-expressif, and the third feeds the high-pressure Solo division.

The South Organ contains the tallest open wood pipes of the whole organ, which belong to the Pédale 32′ Subcontrabasse, a principal stop. In this section there is also a second 32′ stop, the Contrabombard, the tallest reed resonators in the organ. The instrument also contains the largest tin pipes of the Licheń organ, located in the central organ case. The largest has a length of 25-1⁄2 feet, a diameter of one foot, and weighs 330 pounds.

The West Organ

The West Organ, placed on the gallery above the left transept of the basilica above the Pieta Porch, was built between August 2002 and June 2003. This two-manual instrument includes 51 stops enhanced with Zimbelstern and Tympan imitating the sound of a storm (Pédale d’Orage). Registers are placed at either side of the keydesk: on the left for the Pedal and the Hauptwerk sections, on the right side for the Schwellwerk division and additional devices. The instrument contains both mechanical and electric-action chests, double pallets for low keys, and electric stop action. All couplers are electric. As in the South Organ, the Schwellwerk is enclosed in a box managed by a balanced expression shoe with electric action, in addition to a crescendo roller. The console, slightly elevated, is centrally integrated into the organ case. The player sits with his back to the main altar, and the console features an extensive solid-state combination action.

The specification of the West Organ is slightly non-standard, divided between two manuals and pedal. Initially, it was planned that this instrument would have three manuals, however, due to the constraints imposed by basilica architect, Barbara Bielecka, on the dimensions of the organ case, it was decided to limit the number of manual divisions while maintaining a wealth of stops. In each section there is a full range of principals (in the Hauptwerk based at 16′, in the Schwellwerk at 8′, in the Pedal at 16′), enriched with flute stops of all types, strings, and reeds. In the Pedal section there is one 32′ stop, a stopped wood Bourdon. All divisions have mutation stops (2-2⁄3′, 1-3⁄5′, 1-1⁄3′, 8⁄9′) and at least one mixture (in the Hauptwerk there are two mixtures and a cornet). This instrument was conceived for performing Baroque pieces; however, thanks to a large number of foundation stops (as many as eleven manual stops, i.e., 30%, are at 8′), Romantic and symphonic pieces also work well. In the West Organ are also placed tubular bells with a compass from g to g2.

The placement of pipe flats in the organ case reflects the arrangement of the divisions inside the instrument. In the central part of the case (three double flats, each crowned with a group of small pipes) we see the Hauptwerk, the Schwellwerk above it (another three double flats, each crowned with a group of small pipes, the wooden shutters of the swell box located just behind the façade), and two symmetrical pedal towers—left side C, right side C-sharp. The façade pipes belong to the 16′ Principal from the Hauptwerk and the independent 16′ Principal from the Pedal. The organ weighs a total of thirty tons.

The blessing and dedication of the West Organ took place on June 14, 2003, by Bishop Roman Andrzejewski, while the inaugural concert was performed by Andrzej Chorosiński. The event, which was very popular with the media, attracted many outstanding guests from around the world.

The East Organ

The East Organ, built between September 2005 and 2006, is housed in twin towers with trapezoidal bases placed between high windows on the east gallery, which crowns the right transept of the basilica over the Four Evangelists’ Porch. The instrument has eight stops; the key and stop action are electric, and the windchests are slider and pallet. Looking from the center of the basilica, the left tower contains two windchests, placed one above the other, with C side pipes, while the right tower is similar with C-sharp side pipes.

The external structure of the organ cases reflects the internal arrangement of windchests for flue pipes. Each case has two main pipe flats separated by horizontal resonators of the Trumpets (16′, 8′, and 4′) and one small set of pipes at the very top, which are dummy pipes. Both towers are supplied by one blower that is placed in the left tower; the channel supplying air to the right tower runs along the gallery floor. The whole instrument is supplied with air under high pressure. As a result of this treatment, the volume of the eight stops of the East Organ is equivalent to the sound of fifty-one stops along with the super-octave couplers of the West Organ. This instrument can only be played from the main console and may be assigned to any of the six keyboards and pedalboard.

The West Chancel Positive

Built in 2006, the West Chancel Positive, with seven stops (plus Nachtigall), has electric key and stop action. Everything, including the blower, is enclosed in a single case, a mirror image of the East Chancel Positive. This instrument does not have a separate console, but rather is played from the main console only, as a floating division. This section, richly equipped with string stops, perfectly matches the ethereal voices of the Récit-expressif section of the South Organ. With proper registration, it surrounds the listener with the impression of “heavenly voices” (Vox Coelestis).

The East Chancel Positive

The East Chancel Positive was completed in 2006 and features eight stops constructed with early Baroque scaling and electric key and stop action. The whole instrument is enclosed in a single case like the West Chancel Positive. This division also does not have a separate console, but is a floating division of the main console. The disposition of this instrument was inspired by early Baroque Flemish organs and pairs well with the West Organ. With proper registration and manual changes, the East Chancel Positive and the West Organ can produce dialogue effects, concertino and tutti, in a manner characteristic of instrumental concertos of the Baroque era.

Where are the largest pipe organs in Europe?

On the basis of the criterion of organ classification in terms of size (i.e., number of ranks and auxiliary devices managed from one console) published by the author in 2017 in Polish⁴ and English⁵ literature on the subject, the organ of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń is the largest instrument in Poland, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest in the world. Among ecclesiastical organs, it is the tenth largest instrument and has one of the largest consoles in the world. The console of the Licheń organ is also the largest console among Polish organs and is one of the largest consoles in Europe.

The organist playing from the main console has a total of eleven fully independent divisions: nine manual divisions and two pedal divisions. Most divisions can be assigned at will on the six manuals and pedalboard, allowing ultimate flexibility.

The monumental main console is located in the sanctuary of the basilica. The lowest manual keyboard has the deepest key movement, while the top keyboard, the shallowest. The manual keyboards, moving from the lowest to the highest, are inclined at increasing angles. The main console is connected to all sections by a wired computer network and MIDI system. For each of the main console’s keyboards and pedalboard, it is possible to assign each section of the West Organ, the East Organ, the West Chancel Positive, the East Chancel Positive, and Manual IV of the South Organ. The Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit-expressif, and Pédale from the South Organ can be assigned only to manuals I, II, III, and pedalboard on the main console (plus standard section couplers within the South Organ).

The console is equipped with two balanced expression pedals to control two swell boxes (right, Schwellwerk of the West Organ; left, Récit-expressif of the South Organ). On the left side of the expressive pedals, there is a crescendo roller with two pre-programmed crescendos (smooth or stepwise). The console is equipped with a separate solid-state memory system; it has a cut-out switch for all reeds, as well as Tutti and General Tutti switches and General Cancel. The console was made in the workshop of Otto Heuss GmbH and is a work of art.

Conclusion

The course of history is surprising when considering a proposal for a project in 1875 by one of the greatest organbuilders of all times intended for the largest Catholic church in the world inspires the creation of a new organ 130 years later in the largest basilica of Poland, a country that did not even exist on the maps of Europe when Aristide Cavaillé-Coll lived. Though Cavaillé-Coll invited many great personalities from the world of politics, the Vatican authorities did not manage to materialize the project at Saint Peter’s Basilica; yet a priest in a relatively poor country with the support of countless pilgrims offering their small donations for this purpose did. Really, history can be amazing!

Several compact discs of organ music have been recorded so far on the organ of the Licheń Basilica. In 2003, Andrzej Chorosiński recorded organ literature, which was the first recording of the West Organ. In 2007, a Belgian organist of Polish descent, Karol Golebiowski, recorded a second album with the entire organ. In September 2017 the author recorded the third album, Ave Regina Caelorum, including improvisations on Gregorian and Polish Marian themes in two Romantic cyclic forms: organ symphony and symphonic poem on the South Organ. In June 2018 he recorded the fourth album, French Inspirations: the Second Half of the 19th Century, including literature of Franck, Lefébure-Wély, Lemmens, Guilmant, and an improvised five-movement organ symphony. (These last two discs can be found on eBay.)

I cordially invite you to Licheń Stary, where one can hear and see the largest organ in the largest ecclesiastical interior of Poland.

Notes

1. Krzysztof Jedrzejewski, Przewodnik po Sanktuarium Lichenskimm (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2014), p. 181.

2. Organy Licheński (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2007), p. 22.

3. For more information on this organ proposal, see Ronald Ebrecht’s book, Cavaillé-Coll’s Monumental Organ Project for Saint Peter’s, Rome: Bigger than Them All (Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books, 2011).

4. Michal Szostak, “Wielkie organy Bazyliki w Licheniu w zestawieniu z najwiekszymi organami swiata,” Wokol nowych organow w kosciele NSPJ w Tarnowie, ed. Pawl Pasternak (Tarnów, Poland, Biblos, 2017, ISBN 978-83-7793-504-0), and Michal Szostak, Lichenskie organy na tle najwiekszych instrumentow Polski, Europy i swiata (Licheń Stary, Zaklad Gospodarczy “Dom Pielgrzyma,” 2017, ISBN 978-83-64126-14-7).

5. Michal Szostak, “The World’s Largest Organs,” The Organ, No. 382, November 2017–January 2018, ISSN 0030-4883, pp. 12–28.

Specification of the organ:

South Organ

GRAND-ORGUE (Manual I)

16′ Montre

16′ Bourdon

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte Harmonique

8′ Gamba

8′ Kopula

8′ Dolce

5-1⁄3′ Quinte

4′ Prestant

4′ Flute

4′ Salicet

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Doublette

1-3⁄5′ Tierce

IV Gr. Fourniture

IV Mixtur

V Gr. Cymbel

IV Cymbel

16′ Bombarde

16′ Fagot

8′ Trompet

8′ Hautbois

4′ Clairon

IV–I

III–I

II–I

POSITIF (Manual II)

16′ Violon

8′ Diapason

8′ Flûte Harmonique

8′ Salicional

4′ Prestant

4′ Flûte

4′ Viole

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Piccolo

III Sesquialtera

V Plein Jeu

III Scharf

16′ Dulcjan

8′ Cromorne

8′ Clarinette

8′ Jannhorn

Tremolo

IV–II

III–II

Recit-expressif (Manual III, enclosed)

16′ Bourdon

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte Traversiere

8′ Rurflet

8′ Gamba

8′ Voix Celeste

4′ Prestant

4′ Flûte Traversiere

4′ Viola

2-2⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Doublette

V Cornet

IV–V Fourniture

16′ Basson

8′ Trompet

8′ Hautbois

8′ Vox Humana

4′ Clairon Harm.

Tremolo

IV–III

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed)

8′ Flauto Major

8′ Gamba

8′ Keraulophon

V Cornet

8′ Tuba Mirabilis

Pedale

32′ Subcontrabasse

16′ Contrabasse

16′ Violonbasse

16′ Subbass

10-2⁄3′ Quintbass

8′ Octavbass

8′ Flûte

8′ Flûtebass

8′ Cello

4′ Choral

2′ Ocarina

III Sesquialtera

V Hintersatz

IV Mixtur

32′ Contrabombard

16′ Bombard

10-2⁄3′ Quinttrompet

8′ Trompet

4′ Clairon

IV–P

III–P

II–P

I–P

West Organ

HAUPTWERK (Manual I)

16′ Prinzipal

8′ Octave

8′ Holzflöte

8′ Bourdon

8′ Gamba

8′ Gemshorn

4′ Oktave

4′ Szpicflet

4′ Viola

2-2⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Superoctave

1′ Flageolet

V Cornet

V Mixtur

IV Mixtur

16′ Trompet

8′ Trompet

4′ Trompet

II–I

Super I

SCHWELLWERK (Manual II, enclosed)

16′ Quintadena

8′ Prinzipal

8′ Rohrflöte

8′ Salicet

4′ Prestant

4′ Traversflöte

4′ Gemshorn

2-2⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Oktave

2′ Piccolo

1-3⁄5′ Terz

1-1⁄3′ Larigot

8⁄9′ None

V Scharf

16′ Dulcian

8′ Krummhorn

8′ Clarinette

Tremolo

Tubular Bells

PEDAL

32′ Bourdon

16′ Prinzipal

16′ Subbass

16′ Violonbass

8′ Oktavbass

8′ Fletbass

8′ Cello

4′ Choral

4′ Bourdon

II Sesquialtera

IV Mixtur

16′ Bombard

16′ Fagott

8′ Trompet

4′ Clairon

II–P

Super I–P

I–P

Zimbelstern

Tympan

East Organ

8′ Diapason

8′ Gedeckt

4′ Prestant

2′ Oktave

III–IV Cymbel

16′ Tuba Magna

8′ Tuba Mirabilis

4′ Clairon

West Chancel Positive

8′ Vox Humana (labial, 2 ranks)

8′ Gamba

8′ Aeolina

8′ Vox coelestis

4′ Prinzipal

4′ Fugara

III Harmonia Aeth.

Nachtigall (nightingale)

Tremolo

East Chancel Positive

8′ Gedeckt

4′ Prinzipal

4′ Hohlfloete

4′ Quintade

2′ Dezchen

III Zimbel

8′ Regal

4′ Zink

Tremolo

Pasi Pipe Organ Builders, Inc., Roy, Washington; Saint George’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia

From the organ builder

When all the stars line up as they have for this project, a happy outcome is almost a sure thing. Right from the beginning, several years ago, when I was invited to submit a proposal for a new organ at Saint George’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, all the different components of a good chance were there.

Dr. Benjamin Keseley sent me a packet of complete information about the building and the music program at Saint George’s and their desire for a new instrument. Following a site visit and meeting with the organ committee, we submitted the proposal with specifications and drawings. The window needed to be preserved in its full glory and there needed to be ample space for the choir. The goal was to end up with a rather complete two-manual and pedal instrument without borrowing between stops.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the good people at Saint George’s led by the Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams, rector, who has lent a great amount of support to the music ministry. A special thank you to Dr. Benjamin Keseley, minister of music, always ready to listen and act on the many components that made this project a success. Thank you to the choir, the backbone of a church music program, and all the friendly people at Saint George’s.

None of all this could have happened without the team effort at Pasi Organ Builders, starting with Markus Morscher, long-time right-hand wood guy who ensures smooth operations at the shop and installations; Maurine Pasi, reed pipe maker, carver and general organ builder; Luke Sumerfield, pipe maker; Anthony Balducci, on site installation; David Cason, finish voicing assisting on site; Mark Matters, stop action combination system including wiring.

Thank you to everyone contributing in any way to the successful completion of Opus 28.

—Martin Pasi

From the voicing assistant

I assisted with the voicing of Pasi Opus 28 during the month of November 2021. Part of that experience, unique for an organist, was to hear the instrument come into being in an integral way, a kind of slow-motion evolution. It has been fascinating to hear so many individual voices and colors emerge into a cohesive and artistic whole!

At 33 stops over two manuals and pedal, this instrument includes complete principal and flute choruses in all divisions, colorful variety in foundation and reed voices, and several uniquely colorful stops. Principal choruses have the required brilliance for clarity while the individual tone of the pipes is remarkably warm and vocal in quality; these are plenums with both liveliness and gravitas. The Swell plenum is not secondary to the Great but stands on its own with brilliance and character. Capped and open flutes are available at 8′ and 4′ pitches, and the 4′ flutes are particularly “telling” in the room, giving the cornet combinations remarkable weight. The mutations and 2′ stops simply dance. The Great Trumpet has plenty of brilliance, and like the principals, it is warm throughout its range. The Swell 16′ Dulcian adds transparent warmth and color to the ensemble and is of course a beautiful solo stop. The Swell strings are quite bright, with gentle speech, and carry throughout the room beautifully. Pedal reeds also lend harmonic color while adding to the fundamental presence of that division. The two 16′ Pedal flues—one open, one stopped—complement each other well; the bass tones in the Pedal are present, and never out of balance. (At the conclusion of my time with the organ, the Swell Trumpet and Oboe were not yet in place.)

A few unique features lend even more interest to this already expressive instrument. Most Pasi instruments include an 8′ Suavial, which is tuned as a celeste to the 8′ Principal; the effect is bold and swimming foundation tone. The Quintadena is transparently bright and colorful in contrast to the warm flutes. A rare luxury is the Swell Principal, which is in the façade! Its construction is nearly the same as that of the Great Principal, and its tone is only slightly different. Having both principals in the façade is part of what gives Opus 28 its sense of gravitas, and along with the Pedal Principal, the option to play a Bach trio on balanced and singing principals is more than welcome! These layers of effect, placement, and color from the principals, Quintadena, and Suavial lend the kind of color and variety that we normally only expect from choruses and upperwork. These quieter effects coupled with a responsive action make this instrument imminently expressive; there are layers and layers of color to explore.

Organists who play this instrument for the first time will notice the sensitive action and buoyant acoustic. The overall playing experience is a delight and quite intimate thanks to the proximity of the console to the case; the console is detached, but not distant. At the bench one can hear the room and still sense the immediacy of the action. The console layout is neat and comfortable, with all stops and controls easily visible. The control system is by Pipe Organ Control, which integrates perfectly with the console, with minimal pistons for memory and sequencer control.

I must not omit an obvious first impression for any who see this instrument: the case. The visual impact of this instrument is stunning. Like the tone of the instrument itself, the visual element of the case and façade complements the church without overwhelming the space, a clear testament to the artistry of Martin Pasi and his immensely talented shop of artisans.

Congratulations to Martin Pasi and Saint George’s congregation on this collaboration.

—David Cason

David Cason is organist of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lawrence, Kansas. He continues organ study with James Higdon at the University of Kansas where he earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in organ performance.

From the minister of music

Saint George’s Episcopal Church is a vibrant, social-justice-minded parish located in the heart of Arlington, Virginia, a few miles from downtown Washington, D.C. The music ministry spans from cradle to grave, offering a graded choir program for children as well as choral and bell opportunities for adults. Music is a cornerstone of the Saint George’s community, from Sunday morning to monthly Evensong, concerts, and informal gatherings.

When I arrived in the summer of 2009, I found a delightful congregation strongly committed to their ministries, including music. The organ was a 1911 Wicks that was reengineered by Newcomer Organ Company and installed into an annexed chamber off the front of a newly built nave in 1952. At two manuals, 25 stops, and 27 ranks, the organ received minor reconfigurations throughout the years. In the past twenty years it had fallen into disrepair, not because of neglect, but simply because it was not designed to last for that long. The console and switching system were in a very fragile state. There were also fundamental design flaws: its scaling was too small for the room, and a floor level placement meant the pipes spoke directly into the choir’s ears. Despite these things, the organ sounded remarkably better than it deserved because the room’s acoustic was quite good.

With the arrival of a new rector in December 2010, the parish soon began to address the need for an updated and accessible worship space. The church recognized that the organ and room were linked: changes to one affected the other. An organ committee was formed to work alongside the renovation committee to evaluate the organ and determine how to best support the needs of a growing and dynamic music ministry. After receiving a thorough education in organ building, the committee commissioned an independent review of the instrument from John Santoianni, curator of organs at Duke University, to supplement their own review and study. The vestry unanimously agreed with John and the committee’s conclusion that building a new instrument would yield the most successful result, and in the long run be the most cost-effective path forward.

The committee continued their work visiting many organs from electronic to hybrid to electric-action and mechanical-action instruments. Through this extensive survey and research, they determined that a mechanical-action instrument would be the best choice for the church. After soliciting proposals and interviewing several organ builders, the committee and vestry chose Martin Pasi. His proposal was for a two-manual, mechanical-action instrument of 33 stops, 39 ranks, with a detached console. The committee was impressed by Pasi’s approach to organ building and the fine attention to detail in all aspects of his instruments.

As an organist who knew Pasi’s work, I was thrilled with the choice. I have played several of Pasi’s instruments and have been impressed with the responsive action, the quality of stops rich in fundamental tone, and the lyrical voicing—and his organ cases are beautiful.

While the organ committee did its work, the renovation side of our project focused on the redesign of the nave to provide an accessible altar and space. Plans for the choir area were designed in conjunction with Martin’s design. This allowed us to prepare a proper seating area for the choir with clear sight lines to the organ console, construct steel floor supports for the organ, design in-floor heating so that it was not under the organ or other instruments, and provide proper humidification and future electrical connections for the organ.

From the very beginning of these projects, I insisted that Saint George’s retain the services of an acoustician. Having experienced the exceptional results of Bob Mahoney’s work at Bales Organ Recital Hall at the University of Kansas, I knew this was essential to a successful space renovation. We hired Bob to guide our process and committed to having acoustical considerations be one of our core principles for the renovation. I was pleased that the parish quickly understood addressing these considerations at each step of the journey, while not inexpensive, would yield invaluable results. We were thankful for Bob’s approach to acoustical design that sought to tune the building acoustic for music and treat the spoken word with technology. To this end, the church installed a Meyer line-array column speaker that successfully allows for the spoken word to be understood clearly in a reverberant space.

Acoustical modifications to the room included the installation of a new silent HVAC system, complete with tunneling large, insulated ducts under the floor to move large quantities of air slowly. Care was taken to ensure air returns were at a significant distance from air supply to reduce noise. All HVAC systems were designed to noise criterion 25.

Further acoustical upgrades to the building included the addition of an inch of solid wood to the nave ceiling to increase bass response and filling voids in the plaster walls of the chancel with high density foam insulation to create a solid mass. The old chamber that would be used for the Pedal division was strengthened with double layers of sheetrock placed on studs eight inches on center. Cavities were filled with high-density foam.

A new ceiling was constructed above the choir area with a sawtooth design to help move sound out past the proscenium arch. This ceiling design proved extremely effective. Final acoustical tests reaffirmed our acoustical work was highly successful with a new reverb time of over four seconds (before organ installation) and a significant increase in bass response. This was all one could hope for in a simple room from the 1950s that seats 300 people. The tremendous results of the room’s acoustical modifications have enabled our new organ to speak in a very relaxed and free manner.

The installation of the organ was a joyous occasion for the people of Saint George’s with nearly fifty people, aged 4 to 92, carrying in many parts of the organ on a Sunday afternoon in early October 2021. The parish support for and excitement about this organ is broad and infectious. This beautiful instrument will support our needs for leading congregational singing, accompanying the choir, and playing of a wide range of organ repertoire for generations to come.

Opus 28 is a sheer joy to play. From the quality of its sounds to the vocality of its voicing, soulful winding, and exquisite action, this instrument sings. I am continually impressed with each stop’s ability to function well both in solo and ensemble roles. It is efficient and plays like a larger instrument. The layout of this organ makes it an exceptional tool for teaching about all aspects of the organ, including construction, design, and winding (with its optional foot-pumped bellows). It is an instrument that teaches you how to play.

I commend Martin and his team for their exceptional work. We are thrilled to be a part of the Pasi family and blessed to count Martin and his associates a part of our community. They brought forth a beautiful instrument of praise for the worship of God. This project is a fine example of the perfect marriage of room and instrument, and we couldn’t be happier. We look forward to sharing it for years to come. Soli Deo Gloria!

—Ben Keseley

Minister of Music, Saint George’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia

 

Builder’s website: pasiorgans.com

Church’s website: saintgeorgeschurch.org

Photo credit: Dr. Benjamin Keseley

GREAT

16′ Bourdon 58 pipes

8′ Principal 58 pipes

8′ Suavial (MC) 34 pipes

8′ Spitzflöte 58 pipes

8′ Quintadena 58 pipes

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Nachthorn 58 pipes

3′ Quinte 58 pipes

2′ Octave 58 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Terz 52 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Mixture IV 221 pipes

8′ Trumpet 58 pipes

Zimbelstern

SWELL

8′ Principal 58 pipes

8′ Gedackt 58 pipes

8′ Viol 58 pipes

8′ Viol Celeste (TC) 46 pipes

4′ Principal 58 pipes

4′ Rohrflöte 58 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 58 pipes

2′ Octave 58 pipes

2′ Waldflöte 58 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Tierce 52 pipes

1′ Mixture IV 221 pipes

16′ Dulcian 58 pipes

8′ Trumpet 58 pipes

8′ Oboe 58 pipes

PEDAL

16′ Open Bass 30 pipes

16′ Subbass 30 pipes

8′ Principal 30 pipes

8′ Spitzflöte 30 pipes

4′ Octave 30 pipes

16′ Posaune 30 pipes

8′ Trumpet 30 pipes

 

Tremulant

Swell to Great

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

 

Freestanding case in solid hardwood, detached console

Hand-carved pipe shades

Mechanical suspended key action

Electric stop action with combination system by Pipe Organ Control/Matters

Foot-pumped winding system with three bellows in addition to the blower-fed bellows (75mm of wind on water column)

Well tempered tuning

Balanced Swell pedal

Slightly concave pedalboard

33 stops, 39 ranks, 1,996 pipes

Richards, Fowkes & Co., Ooltewah, Tennessee; Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, Ohio

Background

While some organ projects come together quickly, most usually take longer. And some, such as our recently completed Opus 24 for Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, seem to require almost a micro-generation to fulfill. For those who are patient, this duration can pay dividends. After all, relationships take time to build, not merely between people or groups, but also between the creative act itself and the space in which it has been asked to flourish. Christ Church is a complicated space with an involved history; our becoming part of it was never likely to be straightforward.

Christ Church was founded in 1817 and soon settled into an 1835 building that would last through World War II. The Gothic revival Centennial Chapel, added in 1917, has its own organ history, which has culminated in C. B. Fisk’s Opus 148 in an Italian style, completed in 2018 (see The Diapason August 2018 cover feature). Although by the 1930s the main church was thought to be in need of replacement, World War II paused any rebuilding effort. After a proposed design by Eliel and Eero Saarinen was rejected, Ohio architect David Briggs Maxfield’s modern design was chosen, and the new building was dedicated in 1957. In 1993, Christ Church was consecrated as Cathedral of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Walter Holtkamp, Sr.’s three-manual, 54-stop organ was a logical fit for this new mid-century modern building. His daring unencased sculptural design fit perfectly with the building’s architectural aesthetic. Holtkamp’s clean, “classic” voicing style won many admirers, and this organ helped launch Gerre Hancock’s early career as well as being a central part of Christ Church’s annual Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival.

While the Holtkamp was well regarded, musicians struggled with certain aspects of the organ’s personality. Over the years, consultants attempted to diagnose the situation and offer suggestions. The consensus was that the organ’s location was a key detriment. Located in a shallow open gallery on the left, the Holtkamp spoke across the chancel and engaged the acoustic in such a way as to generate a confusing flutter echo.

In the early 1980s, the church was renovated and largely stripped of decoration. The stone east-facing altar was replaced by a wooden table, and other surfaces altered to help absorb troubling reflections. Unfortunately, these alterations exacerbated rather than alleviated the acoustical issues. In less than a decade, another renovation was in the works, this time to warm up the room visually and suggest more of a traditional aesthetic. Wooden galleries were added to the organ loft, together with pilasters and wooden coffer beams to break up and articulate the walls and ceiling. The climax of this effort was a wood-and-glass chancel screen directly behind the choir. Although successful from a liturgical standpoint, the new wall tended to swallow up the organ’s modest bass (as well as that of the choir), further altering the balance of the Holtkamp.

The effect on choral singing was detrimental. While the choir was now front and center, ostensibly a good thing, the location put the singers farther than ever from the Holtkamp’s enclosed divisions. Without any nearby surfaces for early reflections, singers struggled to hear not only each other but the organ. A common accompanimental conundrum ensued: if the organist could hear the instrument, it almost always meant the organ was too loud to balance the choir. After much discussion about the merits of moving divisions, and possibly revoicing, it was concluded that any such radical changes would spoil the Holtkamp. For an organ to succeed, it needed a central placement, engaging the room not side to side, but fully down the length of the nave.

Process

The cathedral first contacted us in July 2008. James Diamond, the cathedral’s former and now late dean, had called a committee (himself, Robert Clark, Roberta Gary, Thom Miles) to assess the Holtkamp and make recommendations either for its rebuilding or replacement. In retrospect, this was merely the first of what would turn out to be this project’s three phases.

When this first committee finished its work, the assumption was that the dean would accept the committee’s recommendation, seek funding, and sign a contract. But July 2008 became September 2008. The ensuing financial crisis and Great Recession caused the project to be shelved.

When Stephan Casurella was appointed director of music in 2009, he was asked to begin the process anew with the current music committee chaired by cathedral member and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra violinist Harold Byers. Dean Diamond did suggest, however, that Stephan visit our organs at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas, Texas. In time, we were again selected again to build a new organ. In 2010, the new interim dean and the music committee took the project to the vestry, led by senior warden Mary Hagner, a chorister since childhood; but the timing was still not right.

In 2013, with the arrival of a new dean, Gail Greenwell, all of the factors were finally in place for a successful outcome. After five years of planning and education they were ready to sign a contract.

The case for Deco

Designing a beautiful and sensible case proved formidable. The twice-rebuilt church now had an identity issue: well thought out and tasteful, yes, but not necessarily in any strong style. Focus on both altar and cross seemed diffuse. We believed that the right organ design could tie everything together, but how?

Our first two designs were in a classic style. We soon came to see that this incongruity—which has worked for us elsewhere—would not be the answer here. Eventually, Ralph Richards and Trent Buhr started working with the arch curve at the front of the nave. Using this motif, they outlined the overall organ and its undulating cross section. The arch was then scaled, flipped, and stacked to subdivide the compartments. As the instrument began to emerge, Trent observed that the design was taking on Art Deco elements. After many hours of study, trial and error, and, to everyone’s surprise, exploring Art Deco as a style allowed us to fuse the room and the case into a single concept. In a nod to fractal theory even the decoration contains the same hockey stick motif applied to the six Hebrew letters of the word Hallelujah. An unintended consequence is an addition to the prominent legacy of Art Deco in Cincinnati.

The tonal landscape

Ralph and I started building organs in the 1970s, when the early music movement and historic tradition were just coming into bloom in the United States. Over the last thirty-three years, our team of eleven artisans has built organs using all of the knowledge that has come from the last century of organ methodology. Thus begins a litany that may seem familiar from builders of our general type but is far from a list of “features” to us. Wherever our tonal style may take us, certain fundamentals remain resolute. Our instruments are built in cases made from solid wood using traditional joinery methods and finishes. Suspended mechanical key actions provide the most intimate connection we can offer between the keys and the pipes. Wooden wind systems with large wedge bellows (in this instrument, five 4′ x 8′ bellows) and generous wind trunks allow a system that breathes as should a real wind instrument.

Pipe making is our point of pride. Our metal pipes are handmade from sheets cast using historically informed metal alloys. The sheets are then hand-planed to taper the thickness of every pipe. This allows the foot and mouth area to be made thickest, for strength, with the bodies lessening in thickness towards the top of the pipe, to ensure that the weight of pipes will not lead to collapse at mouth or toe. We make every pipe in our shop.

Most of our instruments are based in the classic North German and Dutch traditions, noted for exceptionally colorful instruments that excel at leading congregations. But, over those thirty-three years, it has become clearer to us that we live neither in Germany nor Holland, nor in some other century. We are building American organs for American churches of the twenty-first century. The people of today, even when they share our love of the old instruments and music, have ideas about singing and accompaniment that lie well away from any Germanic centrality, and which our organs cannot consider mere inconveniences if they are to succeed. Episcopalians ourselves, we are more and more wanting our organs to reflect this blended landscape.

When we were selected at St. George’s Hanover Square in London, the musician Simon Williams asked for an organ that could accompany an English choir yet still play Buxtehude authentically. Frankly, we felt we had begun to do just that in our Scottsdale instrument, not by tempering the ensemble, but rather by filling out the organ’s quiet end with open flutes and strings. At the same time, we wanted those quieter voices to have plenty of color and personality. Better expression played its part. Double paneling in the swell boxes, combined with thick shutters, provides a wider dynamic range. As time has gone on, we have made other decisions about how much articulation is appropriate, or even musically helpful. Voicing our pipes a little slower relaxes the speech and helps them blend better. London was also our first organ with two enclosed divisions. Since then we have built one other large organ with a second enclosed manual, further exploring this quiet, but hopefully alluring, sound world.

When J. S. Bach was advising Zacharias Hildebrandt for the organ at Saint Wenzel in Naumburg, he recommended that all flutes of a particular construction exist on the same keyboard, so that one could immediately tell the difference between different manuals. At Christ Church, we have done likewise. The Positive flutes are all built from open, tapered pipes, as are the quieter flutes and strings. The Great flutes are open, while the Swell flutes are stopped. (True, the Swell’s 4′ Flöht traverse lives here and is voiced to blend and act in a generally nineteenth-century manner.)

Throughout, the strings are of Germanic inspiration. Voiced with less garlic than French strings, the German type have a light, bright tone that allows them to work effectively in many styles of literature. (When voicing these strings, we are not doctrinaire and happily use modern roller beards to stabilize speech.) The Great Salicional is the largest in scale and finds its double in the Pedal Violonbaß. The Swell strings are a medium scale, voiced in the brightest manner, thinking again of how nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature expects that kind of effect in that location. The Positive’s are the smallest, tapered and of 90% tin, voiced chastely. As a result, they have an ethereal edge and lack of body that, with the 4′ Viol, make psalm accompaniment an organist’s dream.

An unusual feature is that at eighteen stops, the Positive division is the largest of the three. The 8′ Principal and Trompette-en-Chamade are unenclosed, the latter located horizontally above the Positive box for easy dialogue with Swell or Great. With this division low in the case, the Positive has proven to be the accompaniment workhorse, especially during Covid when only eight singers were allowed.

Like the strings, the reeds are mostly of German origin. The Pedal and Great reeds are patterned after Schnitger, while the Swell Trompet and Oboe are influenced by central German stops, which, like French reeds, employ cylindrical shallots. We use our own bass shallot pattern here, with tin-plated tapered forms, which helps to keep the basses from outshouting the trebles. The Chamade has French-type parallel shallots, which are wonderfully flexible and permit voicing on the round side. (After all, we wouldn’t want the French stop to feel as if it were being occupied by the Germans.) Also Germanic, in a way, is the completely independent Pedal, from 32′ to mixture. Six independent 16′ stops (four flue and two reed stops) provide variety and foundation for infinite gradations of color and volume.

Organ builders usually wince when we read in the magazines, “We were given the task to build an organ that would play all of the organ literature authentically and accompany 400 years of choral anthems seamlessly.” The unity of this organ, we hope, comes from the fact that we are, yes, historically informed about the different schools and eras of organ building. But our evolving confidence about those schools has made us freer to meld those ideas into a voice of our thoughts, our tastes, and our sensibilities—and, hopefully, of our time.

Richards, Fowkes & Co.

Jakob Barger

Trent Buhr

Patrick Fischer

Bruce Fowkes

Karla Fowkes

Nathan Govig

Alex Haas

Joshua Knight

Richard Mcusic

Brian Miscio

Jesse Mozzini

Ralph Richards

Richard Schulze

Patrick Spiesser

Dean Wilson

Andy Wishart

 

Stephan Casurella, Canon Precentor & Director of Music

Shiloh Roby, Associate Director of Music

 

Organ Committee Chair: Julie Kline

Music Committee Chair: Harold Byers/Drew Abbott

 

Builder’s website:

https://www.richardsfowkes.com/

Church’s website:

https://cincinnaticathedral.com/

 

GREAT (manual II)

16′ Principal (in façade) 58 pipes

8′ Octave 58 pipes

8′ Spielflöht 58 pipes

8′ Salicional 58 pipes

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Flöht 58 pipes

3′ Quint 58 pipes

2′ Octave 58 pipes

Cornet IV (Tenor A, 4′, 3′, 2′, 1-3⁄5′) 141 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Mixture 264/324 pipes

16′ Trompet 58 pipes

8′ Trompet 58 pipes

POSITIVE (manual I, enclosed)

8′ Principal (façade) 58 pipes

8′ Hohlflöht 58 pipes

8′ Quintadena 58 pipes

8′ Flöht dolce 58 pipes

8′ Flöht celeste (TC) 46 pipes

8′ Dulcet 58 pipes

8′ Dulcet celeste (TC) 46 pipes

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Viol 58 pipes

4′ Spitzflöht 58 pipes

3′ Nasat 58 pipes

2′ Octave 58 pipes

Sesquialtera II 109 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Scharff 204/300 pipes

8′ Krummhorn 58 pipes

8′ Vox humana 58 pipes

4′ Schalmey 58 pipes

8′ Chamade (52–58, 8′ + 3′) 65 pipes

SWELL (manual III, enclosed)

16′ Bourdon 58 pipes

8′ Principal 58 pipes

8′ Gamba 58 pipes

8′ Celeste (TC) 46 pipes

8′ Rohrflöht 58 pipes

4′ Octave 58 pipes

4′ Traverse flöht 58 pipes

3′ Nasat 58 pipes

2′ Waldflöht 58 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Tertia (1–51) 51 pipes

Mixture 232 pipes

16′ Basson 58 pipes

8′ Trompet 58 pipes

8′ Oboe 58 pipes

PEDAL

32′ Subbaß (ext 16′) 12 pipes

16′ Principalbaß 30 pipes

16′ Subbaß 30 pipes

16′ Bourdon (Sw)

16′ Violonbaß 30 pipes

8′ Octave 30 pipes

8′ Spitzflöht 30 pipes

8′ Gedackt (Sw)

4′ Octave 30 pipes

2′ Mixture 120/150 pipes

32′ Posaune (ext 16′) 12 pipes

16′ Posaune 30 pipes

16′ Fagott 30 pipes

8′ Trompet 30 pipes

8′ Trompette (Pos Chamade)

4′ Trompet 30 pipes

Normal couplers

Tremulant to the entire organ

Stable/Flexible Wind switch

Mixture + to add additional high-pitched ranks

Cimbelstern

Vogelgesang

Temperament: Neidhardt for a small city 1732

 

59 stops

78 ranks (depends on count of compound stops)

3,806 total pipes

When each mixture stop is pulled it turns on the “normal” ranks indicated in black. When the Mixture + knob is pulled it turns on the additional ranks indicated in red in all mixtures. This allows the mixtures to function as “normal” mixtures or as North German mixtures.

 

Létourneau Pipe Organs, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church is a large, welcoming ELCA congregation founded in 1908. Serving the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, the church opened its present sanctuary in 1952 with subsequent additions to the church complex to accommodate the congregation’s growth and needs. An unusually active congregation, Gloria Dei undertakes its outreach and social justice ministries enthusiastically through various environmental, housing, hunger, and advocacy initiatives.

The pipe organ from Gloria Dei’s previous church building served the new sanctuary until it was replaced in 1962 by M. P. Möller’s Opus 9864. A three-manual instrument, the Möller employed significant unification throughout its modest specification, making the very most of its 36 ranks. The small and oddly shaped organ chamber dictated that the Möller had to be shoehorned in to a rarely seen degree. With chamber openings along one side of the chancel, most organ tone passed laterally across the chancel where it was then reflected off the opposite wall and dispersed out to the nave—but not before first passing through the deep chancel arch. As a result, the Möller was barely adequate for its many roles and was augmented in 1975 with the addition of an eight-rank Antiphonal division high on the back wall of the sanctuary, again by M. P. Möller.

After more than five decades of service, the Möller’s electro-pneumatic windchests were exhibiting typical signs of wear and leather failure, but the cramped organ chamber made chest repairs unreasonably difficult and costly. Cleverly, a unit chest was set up as an interim solution at the back of the Swell division to serve as a catchall for dead note actions as they came up. Pipes whose actions had failed were plucked from their original chests, reset on the unit chest at the back of the chamber, and the unit chest wired accordingly to the switching system.

The accelerating frequency of problems with the Möller was a serious issue, but the organ’s compromised location meant that a complete restoration—or even an all-new instrument in the same chamber—would not provide the improvement Gloria Dei was seeking. As part of their deliberations, the Gloria Dei organ committee looked carefully at all options as far as the organ’s placement and soon determined that the organ should go across the front wall of the chancel. Exceptionally, the organ committee’s discernment process blossomed into a larger sanctuary renewal campaign entitled “Rise, O Church.” In the words of Pastor Bradley Schmeling, “Rise, O Church is more than just buying a new organ or doing some remodeling. It’s about our dedication to be a growing, vibrant congregation ready to meet the needs of future generations and our neighboring community.”

In the meantime, Létourneau had been advertising a 1959 Casavant Frères pipe organ that the company had rescued from a closed church in Toronto, Ontario. The advertisement proposed completing the Casavant’s specification with several new stops, and this caught the attention of Gloria Dei’s organ consultant, Gregory Peterson, then of Luther College, and Tim Strand, Gloria Dei’s director of music.

The Casavant was an early instrument in Lawrence Phelps’s tenure as tonal director and displayed some of the first steps in the profound and rapid change of style Phelps oversaw in Casavant Frères organs. Vestiges from the era predating Phelps include the 16′ Flûte conique and the 8′ Aeoline stops in the Swell plus an augmented Pedal division. On the other hand, the Choir 4′ Koppelflöte, the organ’s narrow-scaled reed stops with parallel shallots, the generally thin-walled pipework, and the boldly scaled upperwork were examples of Phelps’s emerging aesthetic. As the Casavant featured no casework or façade pipes, our advertisement also offered new casework with façade pipes for the expanded instrument.

With the Casavant’s 34-rank specification as a starting point, we expanded the instrument with eighteen additional ranks to complete each of the instrument’s four divisions. To the Great division, we added a 16′ Contra Geigen stop and a soaring 8′ Flûte harmonique, as well as trumpet stops at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The Swell division was already largely complete; the only changes were the replacement of the 8′ Aeoline with a proper 4′ Principal stop and the addition of a new 16′ Bombarde stop with full-length resonators scaled to match the 8′ Trompette and 4′ Clairon.

Devised in an era when Positiv divisions were coming into fashion, the original Choir division was judged to be short on 8′ foundation tone. The addition of new 8′ Geigen Principal and 4′ Geigen Octave stops addressed this point, as well as the new undulating rank to go with the 8′ Spitzflöte. A new three-rank Sharp mixture completes the Choir’s principal chorus, offering more brilliance than its counterparts in the Swell. To augment the existing Swell 8′ Oboe and Choir 8′ Clarinet stops, we added a delicate 8′ Cor anglais as a third solo reed option.

The Pedal division was built on a rich-toned 16′ Contrabass stop in zinc, though it was originally extended to play at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The original 8′ extension of the 16′ Subbass rank was maintained, but new 8′ Principal and 4′ Choral Bass ranks plus a three-rank mixture were added to provide a true pedal chorus. Bold reed stops at 16′ and 8′ were also added to give the Pedal the necessary grandeur and color.

The Casavant electro-pneumatic windchests in solid mahogany were restored in our workshops, with new electro-pneumatic chests provided as needed. The original chests’ 68-note compass was retained and carried over into the new windchests as well. The organ’s painted casework was designed by Claude Demers and was constructed from maple; it features polished pipework in 70% tin from the Great 16′ Contra Geigen, the Great 8′ Principal, and the Pedal 8′ Principal ranks.

The eight-rank Antiphonal division and its 8′ Trompette en chamade with polished brass resonators were retained as part of the project for added support from the rear of the nave. The Möller electro-pneumatic windchests were restored, while the Antiphonal’s wind system was rebuilt to incorporate a new blower.

The instrument is played from a new three-manual console with the shell made from rift sawn red oak and the interior panels in walnut. Built to be as compact as possible for good sightlines, the console offers organists 999 levels of memory, twelve General pistons with sequencer, a sostenuto effect for each manual, a Great-Choir Manual Transfer feature, and a Pedal Divide coupler. Numeric displays showing the positions of the Swell and Choir’s expression shades are included, as is Solid State Organ System’s Organist Palette. An iPad-controlled suite of features, the palette includes a wireless record-playback interface, visual management of the General piston sequencer, a transposer, and control of the various sostenutos and the Pedal Divide coupler.

The organ was delivered to the church in late October of 2022 and was installed in collaboration with the Organ Clearing House. The voicing of the instrument commenced after Thanksgiving with the welcome participation of Jonathan Ortloff for several weeks, and the project was wrapped up in the New Year.

Létourneau’s Opus 137 was played by Tim Strand in its first solo concert on April 23, 2023. Seminal works by Cook, Bach, Duruflé, and Vierne were heard by a large and especially enthusiastic crowd, as were the world premieres of two new pieces. The first, Partita on “Rise O Church, like Christ Arisen” by David Cherwien, is based on the hymn of the same name, tune Surge Ecclesia (written by Mr. Strand), and featuring words written by Dr. Chewien’s late wife Susan. The second work was a rich new setting of the Swedish tune “The Earth Adorned in Verdant Robe” for saxophone and organ by Robert Buckley Farlee, with Kurt Claussen playing the soprano saxophone.

Many people played important roles—some visible, some less so—in helping us and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church realize this organ project. We would like to thank Tim Strand, Gregory Peterson, Pastor Bradley Schmeling, Mike Kruger (chair of Gloria Dei’s Sanctuary Renewal Task Force), Teresa Sterns (project manager for Gloria Dei), Todd Kraft and Sara Du of HGA Architects, the team at Langer Construction, the Organ Clearing House, and the Ortloff Organ Company.

—Létourneau Pipe Organs

Photo credit: Andrew Forrest

 

GREAT – Manual II

16′ Contra Geigen 68 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Principal 68 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Harmonic Flute 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Gemshorn 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Bourdon 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Octave 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Rohrflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2-2⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1-1⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Trumpet 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Clarion 68 pipes new, 56% tin

Great 16′ - Great Unison Off - Great 4′

8′ Trompette en chamade 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework (with Antiphonal)

Zimbelstern

SWELL (enclosed) – Manual III

16′ Flûte conique 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Viole de gambe 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Voix Celeste 61 pipes from g8, Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Rohrflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Principal 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Nachthorn 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Piccolo 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Mixture III 183 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Bombarde 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Trompette 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Oboe 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework, new shallots

4′ Clairon 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

Tremulant

Swell 16′ - Swell Unison Off - Swell 4′

CHOIR (enclosed) – Manual I

8′ Geigen Diapason 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Gedackt 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Spitzflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Flute Celeste 61 pipes from g8, new, zinc and 56% tin

4′ Geigen Principal 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Koppelflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Flageolet 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1-3⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1′ Sharp Mixture III 183 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Clarinet 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Cor anglais 68 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

Tremulant

Choir 16′ - Choir Unison Off - Choir 4′

16′ Trompette en chamade (TC) from Great

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

ANTIPHONAL – floating

8′ Spitz Principal 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

4′ Octave 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

4′ Gedackt 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

2′ Super Octave 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

1′ Mixture III 183 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

PEDAL

32′ Resultant derived

16′ Contrabass 32 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Geigen from Great

16′ Spitz Principal 12 pipes extension of Antiphonal 8′ Spitz Principal

16′ Subbass 32 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Flûte conique from Swell

8′ Principal 32 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Bass Flute 12 pipes extension of 16′ Subbass

8′ Flûte conique from Swell

4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes new, 56% tin

2-2⁄3′ Mixture III 96 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Trombone 32 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Bombarde from Swell

8′ Trumpet 32 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

4′ Trompette en chamade from Great

Intermanual Couplers

Great to Pedal

Great 4′ to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Swell 4′ to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

Choir 4′ to Pedal

Antiphonal to Pedal

Swell 16′ to Great

Swell to Great

Swell 4′ to Great

Choir 16′ to Great

Choir to Great

Choir 4′ to Great

Antiphonal to Great 

Swell 16′ to Choir

Swell to Choir

Swell 4′ to Choir

Great to Choir

Antiphonal to Choir

Choir to Swell

Antiphonal to Swell 

 

59 stops, 60 ranks, 3,591 pipes

 

Mixture Compositions

Great Mixture IV

c1 to b12 19 22 26 29

c13 to b24 15 19 22 26

c25 to f42 12 15 19 22

f#43 to b48 8 12 15 19

c49 to c61 1 8 12 15

Swell Mixture III

c1 to f18 15 19 22

f#19 to f30 12 15 19

f#31 to f54 8 12 15

f#55 to c61 1 8 12

Choir Sharp Mixture III

c1 to d#16 22 26 29

e17 to d27 19 22 26

d#28 to c#38 15 19 22

d39 to c49 12 15 19

c#50 to c61 8 12 15

Antiphonal Mixture III

c1 to f18 22 26 29

f#19 to c37 19 22 26

c#38 to c49 15 19 22

c#50 to e53 12 15 19

f54 to c61 8 12 15

Pedal Mixture III

c1 to g32 19 22 26

 

Builder website: www.letourneauorgans.com

Church website: www.gloriadeistpaul.org