New Organs

Randall Dyer & Associates, Inc.,

Jefferson, Tennessee

Cathedral of Christ the King,

Lexington, Kentucky 

Our new organ for the Cathedral of Christ the King closely follows the concept we have recently espoused for ideal three-manual design in an organ of moderate size, affordable for many situations. The concept includes: 

• Two expressive divisions 

• 16′ Open plenum on the Great with English Trumpet 

• 16′ Closed Flute/8′ Principal plenum on the Swell with Cornet, broadly scaled strings with extended-range Celeste, and French reeds 

• 8′ Open plenum on the Choir with bright, but relatively low-pitched mixture and broad, blending color reed

• 8′ Harmonic Flute as one of four 8′ flue stops on the Great 

• 8′ Solo Trumpet 

• 32′ pitch line in the Pedal. 

The sound is broad, full, rich, and enveloping—an exciting sound that totally belies the size of the instrument. With no attempt at clever manipulation of stoplists, we believe that an instrument of any given size requires that certain stops always be present in a prescribed order to effectively maximize that instrument’s ability to accompany congregational and choral song, play the incidental music of the service, and the literature at large. If a more generous budget is available, there are certain other stops that should be added, and again, in a prescribed order. We hold similar beliefs about effective design of smaller organs.

The agreement with the church called for the use of some pipes from the church’s previous organ, an undersized and lightly winded instrument installed when the building was new in 1967. As the construction of the new organ drew near, closer examination of those pipes revealed that while they were well made, the original open-toe voicing treatment would require extensive alteration to make them useful in the new organ. Concurrently, we were fortunate to be made aware that an organ we had built in 1980 for a small college in eastern Kentucky had become available due to a change in the school’s music program. 

That organ had utilized all-new pipes on the chassis of an existing instrument, and a thorough reading of the documentation in our files revealed that those pipes would be an excellent match for the Lexington organ. In the end, only four ranks from the cathedral’s former organ were retained. New pipework, voiced in our shop, occupies the important positions in the major choruses, as well as the reeds and color stops, but all existing pipes also received the same shop-voicing treatment as the new pipes.

After the previous organ was removed from the cathedral, a contractor stripped the chamber down to a bare shadow box, totally open across the front, and shallow in depth. Tightly fitting the new organ, with its free-standing expression boxes on each end, and the Great in the middle, the tone is blended and focused forward, much in the same manner as an encased instrument, to authoritatively fill the large room with a warm and supportive sound. Pipes of the Great and Pedal Principals, in 70% tin and polished aluminum, form the simple but elegant façade, which blends well with other visual elements in the room.

As in all of our instruments, the mechanical parts were completely built in our shop, and include our standard Blackinton-style electro-pneumatic slider-and-pallet chests, with electro-pneumatic unit chests for stops that appear at more than one location or pitch. The organ is controlled from a movable three-manual drawknob console, connected to the organ by a single fiber-optic strand. As is standard on virtually all the consoles we build, the manual keys are covered with genuine (and legal) elephant ivory for the naturals and rosewood for sharps.

The Great includes standard Principal ranks of 70% tin at 8′ through Mixture, undergirded with an open 16′ sound and augmented with 8′ and 4′ Flute stops. The Rohrflote is scaled and voiced in a manner that allows it to be a secondary voice under the Principal upperwork, when the full body of sound provided by the broadly scaled 8′ Principal is not desired.

We consider the Violone, Flute Harmonique, and (English) Trumpet stops, while shown as derivations from the Choir, to be part of the Great. The fact that they are enclosed gives them an added measure of usefulness, and allows the Violone to serve as the tertiary 8′ Principal when pulled on the Choir.

The Swell has a complete secondary principal ensemble, with closed 16′ flute basis. The Cornet is composed of broadly scaled flutes that are increasingly open as the pitch of the ranks ascend, resulting in a very tightly cohesive sound that changes character with each addition, and because of correct pipe shapes, locks into pitch. The strings, both warm and keen, are from the original instrument, and speak decisively better on our slider chest than they did on their former all-electric action. Swell reeds are French in character, and the 16′ Oboe is bold in its support under the Trompette, all the way to the bottom.

The Choir is a complete division, of lighter and brighter character than the other two. Quite capable of its standard position in the literature, it is also useful with the very active children’s choirs, which perform frequently in both daily school and weekend Masses. The ability to use the enclosed stops from the Great broadens the texture and usefulness of the Choir, which is completed with its own indigenous reed, a broadly scaled Cromorne. The Grand Trumpet stop, voiced on 9 inches of wind pressure, is also enclosed in this division. That all the reeds are expressive, including the real pipes of the 32′ Trombone, provides extra versatility in registration, particularly at dramatic climaxes.

Sales, design, and mechanical layout were handled by Randall Dyer. Bradley Jones supervised production and voiced all the pipework in the shop. He was assisted in the tonal finishing process at the church by David Beck. James Greene, Jane Lowe, Colin McGlothlin, and Jack Wolfe built, finished, assembled, wired, and installed the various parts of the organ. Matthew and Linzi Dyer assisted with unloading and setting of heavy parts at the church. David Bottom assisted with installation and built the large wind lines. Lou Anna Dyer provided administrative assistance. Pipework, custom-scaled and voiced in our shop, was provided by Jacques Stinkens BV, Matters, Inc., and Oyster Pipe Works, Ltd.

We are indebted to Brian Hunt, organist, and Robert Whitaker, director of music, not only for their choice of our firm to build the organ for their church, but for their support throughout the project. Their very fine music program at the cathedral will make good use of the new instrument.

—Randall Dyer

Randall Dyer & Associates, Inc., is a member firm of APOBA, the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America.

The genealogy of a restored instrument

Andrew Forrest began with Orgues Létourneau Limitée in February 1999 and in his current position as Artistic Director, oversees all of the company’s projects. He travels regularly to meet with clients, architects, and acousticians, as well as to supervise the company’s on-site tonal finishing. Mr. Forrest has a keen interest in the art of pipe scaling and has completed studies of the String division of Philadelphia’s Wanamaker Organ and the 1955 Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at Winthrop University among others. He served on the local organizing committee for the joint AIO-ISO 2010 convention held in Montréal, and in October 2011, Forrest was elected to the American Institute of Organbuilders’ Board of Directors for a three-year term. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. An organist himself, Andrew Forrest has two children and lives in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Québec.

The present pipe organ at St. James United Church is unique among Montréal’s many interesting organs because much of the organ’s pipework dates back to an 1889 instrument by E.D. Wadsworth & Brothers, Organ Builders. Edward Wadsworth opened his own organbuilding company in Manchester, England, in 1861 after apprenticing with Kirtland & Jardine; his family subsequently continued in the organbuilding trade under various forms of the Wadsworth name until 1946, when the company was absorbed by Jardine & Company of Manchester. Present-day British organbuilding colleagues have suggested that earlier Wadsworth organs with mechanical actions are superior to the later pneumatic examples, but it remains clear that the Wadsworth name never achieved the status of other British builders during the latter half of the 19th century, such as William Hill, “Father” Henry Willis, or T.C. Lewis.

Perhaps sensing new business opportunities, Edward Wadsworth moved to Montréal in 1887 to establish a branch office of the family company at 298 Craig Street (which today is called rue St-Antoine). The company built two instruments in Canada, the first being a small tracker organ of ten stops for Trivett Memorial Church in Exeter, Ontario, in 1888. The second project for St. James Methodist Church (as the church was originally known) was on a grander scale; the handwritten contract dated June of 1888 was for a grand pipe organ of 49 stops with “tractile” key action. The price for the new organ was established at $11,550, less $2,375 for the church’s old pipe organ. For reference, the signing of the Wadsworth contract took place at the same time as construction was ongoing in the workshops of Samuel and Claver Casavant of a 73-stop instrument for Montréal’s Basilique Notre-Dame; the price for the Casavant organ was some $24,800.

With a 32′ flue stop in the pedal division and two divisions on each of the three manuals, the Wadsworth organ was a novel and complex instrument. The two divisions per manual could be played separately, or coupled together by the touch of a thumb piston under each manual. In addition, each manual had its own drawknobs for appropriate pedal stops and a dedicated “pedalier” thumb piston to bring the selected registration into play as one moved from manual to manual. The middle manual controlled the Great and Back Great divisions, while the Solo—in its own swell box—was partnered on the lowest manual with the unenclosed Choir. The Swell and Echo divisions, playable from the third manual, were enclosed together.

A comparison of the 1888 contract to the instrument’s final specification shows that two optional stops—a 16′ Lieblich Gedackt for the Choir and a 16′ Contra Fagotto for the Solo—were added as the organ was being built. Stops were equally rearranged within the specification, presumably for a better musical result: The 16′ Contra Fagotto was moved to the Back Great division with the Great 8′ and 4′ reeds, permitting the reeds to be brought in or retired collectively in a ventil-like fashion via the thumb pistons under the Great manual. The 8′ Vox Humana likewise migrated from the Solo division to the Echo, while the 8′ Gamba and 8′ Voix Celeste stops came together in the Solo from their separated locations in the Swell and Echo divisions respectively.

Lynnwood Farnam served as organist for St. James Methodist Church from 1904 to 1905, and was well acquainted with the Wadsworth instrument. His notebook entry on the organ provides many details on the as-built stoplist and forms the basis for our understanding of the completed 1889–91 Wadsworth instrument. Though Farnham’s pages on the St. James organ are typically meticulous, it is unclear what kind of key action or key actions Wadsworth employed in his instrument; but it seems highly unlikely that the organ had purely mechanical key action. At the least, some form of pneumatic action would have been employed to manage the complexity of two divisions per manual. Farnam does list all couplers as operating pneumatically, with the console having the six usual unison couplers along with sub and octave couplers for the Swell manual, and a Swell to Great Sub coupler.

Unfortunately, the luster literally wore off the Wadsworth instrument at St. James Church within two years of its completion in 1889. The new organ was frequently crippled by problems arising from humidity and heating within the new church building. The church acknowledged this in an indenture document signed with Wadsworth in June  1891, wherein the complaint was also lodged that the organ’s “exterior has not preserved its absolutely fresh appearance.” The agreement offered Wadsworth an additional $1,000 to repair and otherwise complete his instrument, which, according to the document, had already been in place for two years.

The results of this remedial work were proclaimed satisfactory in a letter dated September 23, 1891, from the agreed-upon arbiter, Frederick Archer, to John Torrance, Secretary to the Trustees of St. James Methodist Church:

My dear Sir,

I have this day examined in detail the organ erected by Mr. E. Wadsworth in St. James Church, Montreal with the following results.

I find the wind supply is now ample for every possible purpose, its transmission to every junction of the instrument with uninterrupted “steadiness”. The wind trunks, sound boards, etc. are perfectly air tight and the whole of the mechanism is in thoroughly satisfactory condition.

The repairs have been carefully and substantially done in full accordance with the agreement entered into with him in June last, and with ordinary care and attention, the instrument will, to the best of my knowledge and belief, be now found entirely adequate to all legitimate demands made on it.

. . . I am pleased to be able to report so favourably, but as Mr. Wadsworth has evidently done his work of renovation in so conscientious and thorough a manner, it is but one to him that I could bear witness of the fact. 

Archer was a renowned English organist and choral conductor living in the United States, with a reputation as an expert on pipe organs that extended as far as Montréal; he played three dedicatory concerts on the Casavant organ at la Basilique Notre-Dame in May of 1891.

If the Wadsworth instrument was indeed playing as early as 1889, this raises questions about how such a large pipe organ was built within a year by an organ builder who had only arrived in Montréal a few years earlier. For example, from where did Wadsworth obtain his pipework for the new St. James organ? One distinct possibility is that he purchased pipes from another builder such as S.R. Warren & Sons or from a supply house. Similarly, Wadsworth may have ordered pipes from the family workshops in Manchester, England, and had them shipped to Canada. Having said that, Wadsworth was accused of using old pipework in the new organ for St. James Church, including the Pedal 16′ Trombone and the Echo 8′ Hautbois. Our survey of the organ’s present pipework suggests that some ranks pre-date 1889: the f#19 pipe of the Great 16′ Double Diapason, for example, is clearly scribed “1881”, some seven years before the organ’s contract was signed.

Considering the spatial volume of the sanctuary at St. James’ Church and the organ’s recessed location within the chancel, the scaling of the Wadsworth pipework is surprisingly modest in comparison with the large organs of, say, William Hill. The original Great 8′ Open Diapason approaches the Normalmensur (NM) standard around 4′ C and again in the 1′ octave but never exceeds it. The Great 4′ Principal is consistently two to three pipes smaller than the 8′, and it is only in their uppermost octaves that the Great 22⁄3′ Twelfth (a tapered rank) and 2′ Fifteenth ranks exceed NM. These statements are slightly complicated by Warren’s re-scaling and re-pitching of the original pipework in their later reconstruction, but it remains that the scalings of Wadsworth’s principals and choruses were unexpectedly reticent. The quality of the Wadsworth pipes is unremarkable when compared with the later Warren and Casavant pipes, and while most of Wadsworth’s metal pipes were made from spotted metal, the metal itself is quite thin. The Swell 8′ Viola Ætheria is an extreme example: the spotted metal in the bass octaves is so thin that lifting the pipe carelessly from the top can easily deform the pipe’s body. The effect produced by these moderately scaled pipes sounding on generous wind pressures and having been voiced to fill a large room is one of surprising brilliance and great clarity.

Wadsworth’s wooden stops throughout the organ were unvarying, with stopped bass and tenor octaves that transition to open pipes with inverted mouths at c25, similar to a Melodia. The Solo 8′ Concert Flute and the Choir 8′ Lieblich Flute are traditional in the sense that the open pipe bodies are deeper than they are wide, but the proportions for the Great 8′ and 4′ flutes are notably wide and shallow. The present Choir 8′ Flute Celeste originally served as Wadsworth’s 8′ Echo Flute and also features this type of wide mouth construction. Like the metal pipes, the quality of construction is adequate but unexceptional; the thickness of the wood is consistently thinner than the later Warren pipes, and the quality of the joinery is slightly coarse and uneven.

Though E.D. Wadsworth & Bros. was still advertising in the Montréal area as late as 1902, it is unclear what happened to Edward Wadsworth after the completion of the St. James organ in 1891. Wadsworth did not achieve fame or fortune with the St. James’ organ: within days of Frederick Archer’s note pronouncing the organ complete in September 1891, Wadsworth sent the church trustees a handwritten note requesting an advance of $30 as he found himself “rather short.”

The Wadsworth organ served the church for eighteen years, a period that included Lynnwood Farnam’s tenure as organist. It was replaced in 1909 with a pipe organ by the Warren Church Organ Company, reusing a majority of the Wadsworth pipes, at a cost of $6,000. The Warren Church Organ Company was established in Woodstock, Ontario, in 1907 by Frank, Mansfield, and Russell Warren, and can be considered the last vestige of the once-proud Warren name in Canadian organbuilding.

The Warren organ added a number of new stops and redistributed most of the Wadsworth ranks throughout the instrument. A massively scaled 8′ Open Diapason was added to the Great, displacing Wadsworth’s original to secondary status. The Choir division was enhanced by a new 8′ Cor anglais with free reeds; this stop was likely purchased from a supplier, as its construction details are unlike anything else in the organ. A new Solo division was also provided on some 10′′ of wind and included new Stentorphone, Doppelflöte, German Gamba, and Tuba stops.

It appears Warren provided all-new wind chests rather than reusing the Wadsworth chests; this conclusion is based on Farnam’s description of the operation of the sub octave (G) and octave (A) couplers for the Great division and the general increase in the number of stops per division. The rearranging of the Choir to reside within the same expressive enclosure as the Swell, and likewise the Echo with the Solo, is further confirmation that the 1909 instrument represented substantial change behind the original Wadsworth façade.

The new Warren console of four manuals provided a new level of flexibility for organists, with each piston being adjustable by drawing the desired stop combination and then pulling the piston head out by a fraction of an inch. There were a total of four pistons operating on the entire organ and between three and five pistons operating on each division. The console also featured a pédale à bascule (a balanced pedal) providing a general crescendo and diminuendo effect.

Our examination of the pipework suggests that the pitch of the Wadsworth pipes was sharp of modern concert pitch (A=440Hz). To lower the pitch, Warren moved all of the Wadsworth stops up by one note and provided a new low C pipe for each stop; this served to increase the scale of each stop by one pipe in the process. The Warren company also filled out the gaps in Wadsworth’s numerous short-compass stops, such as the Great 16′ Contra Fagotto, Choir 8′ Clarionet, Echo 8′ Echo Flute, Choir 8′ Dulciana, and the Choir 8′ Voix Celeste.

Warren went beyond re-pitching the organ in some cases and rescaled several ranks, likely to achieve a fuller sound. It is equally possible that Wadsworth himself may have engaged in some re-scaling to suit his purposes, if one allows he recycled older pipework in his 1889 instrument. For instance, the Choir 4′ Flûte Octaviante and Great 4′ Principal ranks both have many pipes marked with three successive pitches, suggesting that the original scale was too small. In the same way, the Swell 8′ Open Diapason and 4′ Octave stops have been rescaled no less than three times by their fourth octave. As with adjusting the scales of various stops, there is no reason to think Warren would have hesitated to increase wind pressures and/or revoice the Wadsworth pipework as needed.

The Warren company was equally revisionist with the organ’s reed stops. The scales for Wadsworth’s original Great reed chorus were surprisingly thin—notably smaller than the Swell chorus—so Warren replaced the Great 8′ Trumpet with a new stop of larger scale. The original 8′ Trumpet was reworked into a 16′ Bassoon for the Swell division, with Warren providing twelve new half-length pipes for the bottom octave. Warren also added eighteen new full-length pipes to complete the missing bass of the Great 16′ Contra Fagotto. In fact, the only Wadsworth reed stops to emerge from the Warren workshops relatively untouched—beyond being shifted up one pipe as part of re-pitching the organ—were the Swell 8′ Cornopean, the Great and Swell 4′ Clarions and possibly the Swell 8′ Vox Humana (which disappeared in 1956). Most of Wadsworth’s color stops were replaced outright, though the 8′ Clarionet was rebuilt with new shallots, blocks, and boots, as well as equipped with new adjustable bells for tonal regulation. The 1889 organ had two oboe stops—the Solo 8′ Orchestral Oboe and the Echo 8′ Hautbois—though Farnam’s notes state that the Orchestral Oboe’s pipes had been “taken out” by the time of his visit. Neither stop survived; the pipes for both the present Swell 8′ Oboe and the Solo 8′ Orchestral Oboe are consistent in terms of construction and materials with Warren’s other work.

Farnam returned to St. James Methodist Church on February 15, 1910, to play the new Warren organ, and his notes again provide useful details about the changes that were wrought. Farnam did not seem entirely pleased with all of the changes made to the instrument, noting that the “32-foot has been quite ruined…” and all of the 2′ stops seemed very “spiky,” especially the 2′ Fifteenth in the Great. He praised the new electric key action, though went on to mention the Swell action was very noisy from inside the instrument.

After nearly thirty years of service from the Warren organ, St. James United Church—note the change in name—signed a contract with Casavant Frères in July 1938 for an organ that reused almost all of the old pipework on new windchests. As stipulated in the purchase agreement, the organ would be installed by December 18, 1938—some five months later—at a cost of $16,000. Wadsworth’s 16′ façade was to be preserved, though Casavant successfully lobbied to have the façade moved two feet towards the nave to accommodate the enlarged instrument. The short amount of time between the contract signing and the project’s anticipated completion may reflect the lingering effects of the Great Depression; it is likewise indicative that Casavant agreed to finance nearly half of the contract amount over a three-year period after the organ had been completed!

Casavant’s Opus 1608 incorporated their state-of-the-art electro-pneumatic windchests with pitman-type stop actions built into the pouchboards for instantaneous registration changes. The compasses of the manual divisions were increased from 61 notes to 68 notes, and the number of pedals increased from 30 to 32 notes. The organ’s wind system was comprehensively redesigned, reusing old wind reservoirs and their cone-valve regulators where practical. A new four-manual console was also provided, incorporating Casavant’s pneumatic combination action and trademark furnishings. Like Warren, Casavant consolidated the instrument’s specification from five manual divisions to four—eliminating the Echo division—and transferred several stops between divisions in the process. The Swell, Choir, and Solo divisions were furnished with independent expressive enclosures, each operated by Casavant’s 8-stage pneumatic motors.

A new Nazard 22⁄3′ made up of stopped pipes was added to the Choir, while a 4′ Violina—made up largely from repurposed pipework—was added to the Solo division. The Pedal division was augmented through new extensions to the existing stops, though the Wadsworth 16′–8′ Violone rank appears to have been entirely replaced in 1938 with new pipes. The original Pedal 16′ Trombone with its wooden shallots was extended downward by twelve full-length pipes to create the 32′ Bombarde stop, with the entire rank sounding on 7′′ wind pressure. The Carillon (or Chimes) tubes were maintained from the 1909 instrument but provided with a new striker rail, and a new 61-note Harp was added. Finally, whatever was left of Wadsworth’s “ruined” 32′ Open Diapason was eliminated, and a new 32′ Acoustic Bass stop was provided with twelve independent pipes sounding at the fifth to create the 32′ effect.

The Wadsworth-Warren instrument would have been a comfortable fit with the tonal inclinations of Stephen Stoot, Casavant’s technical director in 1938. An Englishman, many of Stoot’s instruments drew from this heritage, and in this sense the Wadsworth and Warren materials would not have seemed particularly foreign—though there may have been some disappointment with their quality. As one example, the placement of reed choruses on separate windchests was a trend in English organbuilding during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, enabling higher wind pressures for the reed stops for a smoother tone. At St. James, the Great and Swell reed choruses were indeed separated in this manner, but the similar wind pressures between flues and reeds ultimately made this something of a hollow gesture.

After 1938, the organ saw a few changes prior to the restoration undertaken in 2011–12. The 8′ Vox Humana in the Swell division was replaced during the mid-1950s with a stopped 22⁄3′ Nazard rank. In the 1980s, the original Great mixtures were replaced with two new stops that were poorly suited to the instrument’s aesthetic. Likewise, the Great and Swell reed choruses were modified to give a brighter tone, with the resonators being cut to length after the original regulating slots had been soldered shut. One other significant change relates to the instrument’s appearance: church photos show a heavy drape hung above and to the sides of the Wadsworth façade, serving to hide the windchests and pipes from the Great and Pedal divisions. This drape was in place until possibly the early 1980s but it is unclear when exactly it disappeared; Philip Crozier, Director of Music at St. James, relates the drape had been removed by the time he was hired in 1986. The drape’s disappearance would have surely had some effect on the sound of the organ, tilting the organ’s tonal balance towards an even more present and brilliant sound—though to what degree can only be guessed.

The restoration work undertaken by Orgues Létourneau Limitée over a twelve-month period included re-leathering all of the electro-pneumatic windchest actions; restoring all of the wind reservoirs and other wind system components; and documenting in detail the instrument’s pipework. Forty ranks from the original Wadsworth instrument have survived, though many ranks have been subsequently rescaled or rearranged as described above.

As part of the restoration effort, two new mixtures were built for the Great division to replace the unsuitable examples added in the 1980s. In the absence of information regarding their original compositions, the new mixtures’ breaks follow English examples contemporary to the Wadsworth instrument, while the scalings follow progressions established by the Great 2′ Fifteenth and the original Swell mixture. The mild Swell mixture (containing a tierce rank) was restored to its original specification, with the two breaks returning to their original places at c25 and f#31. Finally, a new slotted 8′ Vox Humana in the style of Father Willis was developed and installed in the Swell division.

After nearly 75 years of service, the four-manual console was thoroughly rebuilt to discreetly incorporate modern playing conveniences, including multiple memory levels, additional thumb pistons, and a general piston sequencer. The organ’s switching system and wiring—much of it dating back to 1938—was entirely replaced with a new state-of-the-art system. Beyond the Wadsworth pipework from 1889, some of the instrument’s more intriguing tonal features include the full-length 32′ Bombarde, the Solo 8′ Stentorphone with its leathered upper lips, the free-reed 8′ Cor Anglais, and the 61-note Harp stop in the Choir division.

The organ was tonally regulated within the church by a team of Létourneau voicers over the course of several weeks in early 2012. Shortly thereafter, the church’s offices and meeting spaces were heavily damaged in a fire, though the sanctuary and the organ were spared. The restored organ was first heard in concert during the church’s annual noon-hour series throughout the following summer, and as autumn approached, the organ served as the “home” instrument for the annual Orgues et Couleurs festival, with two major solo concerts performed by Johann Vexo and Philip Crozier. Since Mr. Crozier’s appointment as Director of Music, the organ has been heard in a continuous series of summer recitals over the past 26 years, with the single exception being the summer of 2011, when the instrument was being restored in the Létourneau workshops.

An instrument in the English Town Hall tradition, the pipe organ at St. James United Church has played an important role in Montréal’s organ scene and has hosted concerts by renowned organists such as Lynnwood Farnam, Fernando Germani, Raymond Daveluy, André Marchal, Bernard Lagacé, E. Power Biggs, Francis Jackson, and Simon Preston. More recently, the instrument has been heard in performances by Joseph Nolan and Sietze de Vries. All of us at Létourneau Pipe Organs remain honored to have been entrusted with this significant restoration project and are pleased to see this pipe organ reclaiming its rightful place as one of Montréal’s most noteworthy instruments.

The author would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in preparing this article: John Mander, Mark Venning, David Wood, Karl Raudsepp, Bill Vineer (The Vineer Organ Library), Allen Fuller, Philip Crozier, Fernand Létourneau, and Dany Nault.

Quezon City, Philippines, is the largest and most populated city in metropolitan Manila, with a population of over 2.5 million; at one time it was the capital of the country. In this city is the Central Complex of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ), registered in the Philippines in 1914 by Felix Manalo, and at present administered by the Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo. The church has grown to millions of members with congregations in over 100 countries. 

The INC Central Complex includes the central office for the church administration, Tabernacle Hall, College of Evangelical Ministry for future ministers, New Era General Hospital, New Era University, and prominent and rising towards the sky is the largest Iglesia Ni Cristo Temple in the world. Designed by Filipino architect Carlos A. Santos-Viola based on the conception of the then Executive Minister of the church, Eraño G. Manalo, the Central Temple is famous for its Gothic-Moorish architecture, intricate interiors, and its 7,000-seat capacity.  

Under the leadership of Executive Minister Manalo, the church administration set forth in 2012 to study, build, and install a special pipe organ at the INC Central Temple to coincide with the church centennial. The purpose was to further raise the level of worship services, and to praise God with a higher form of hymn singing. This is the first custom pipe organ built for the Iglesia Ni Cristo. We recognized the importance of such a commission and the care and reverence it accorded.

A project of this magnitude required a tremendous amount of planning and coordination. We were pleased to have had the help and assistance of the United States offices of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, coupled with the church administration in Quezon City. Through the course of planning this installation, there were numerous trips, e-mails, faxes, and phone calls that involved the offices in California and Quezon City, Philippines. 

During my first visits, I was able to attend worship services at the Temple. With the members of the congregation and choir in full song, I was able to gauge the acoustics and begin designing a specification that would support their worship. The hymns and music of this church are exclusive to Iglesia Ni Cristo. This is a congregation that worships with full voice; experiencing their services is to be enveloped in worship and praise.

For many years, the organ used by the church was a Hammond electronic organ with its sole flute-biased generator. As opposed to how the organ is typically played in gospel churches, the typical organ registrations emphasized unison pitch and the organ played in a “classical” style with use of the Leslie speakers and mutation drawbars for variation rather than reliance. The organ was used to gently undergird the church music. 

The Central Temple is a massive worship space by any standard. Its architecture is, in a word, stunning. Rich carvings, tracery, and filigree abound in this edifice. Underneath richly brocaded chandeliers, the center core of the Temple seats several thousand; two side chapels alone seat over 1,000 each. Large doors can be drawn closed to divide the Central Temple into three separate spaces. During services, male members of the church are seated on the left, with the women on the right side. The choir loft in the center of the building seats 170. Each of the side chapels contains smaller choir lofts that are utilized for each service and seat 50 choristers each. The organ console sits in the middle of the choir loft with the organist facing outward, without a choir director, during the services. The choirs and musicians are disciplined and well trained to work from music cues honed from rehearsal.

The acoustics of the room are very good due to the hard surfaces, though these are not cathedral acoustics with a long reverb time, but those of a space that is favorable for music and the spoken word. The previous electronic organ was providing enough support for the choir and congregation with two Leslie speakers in this large space. 

When we started to lay out the tonal design of the very first pipe organ for the Central Temple of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, several key points would determine the success of the organ. We needed the traditional resources and chorus structure of a pipe organ for religious use; it would be important to support the flute-biased sounds and dynamics that the church had always known; and most of the organ resources should be under expression for full dynamic control of sound. The organ would also need to play common literature with a main support of resources used for choir and congregational singing. Our task was to supply them with enough variety using the different families of principals, strings, flutes, reeds, and solo voices, and then to fill this large worship space with leading sound.

When the Central Temple was built it did not include a location for a pipe organ. We knew that this required major construction alterations within its building and infrastructure. There was a physical limit to the space that was available for organ chambers without adversely impacting the building’s architectural design. During our visit to the Temple, we completed studies of the sightlines and probable chamber elevations as they related to the organ placement to develop a plan for the organ chambers and the façade that would cover the chamber openings. Working with the architect and other members of the church, we formed a plan for the placement of the organ in the building, so that it would look like it had always been there. This task would need to visually complement the grandeur of the current worship space. 

We knew that if we did not support the two choirs and over 1,000 members in each of the side chapels, the organ would be a failure. We also had a situation where the main choir and central console were around the corner from the chapels. The congregants and the choir in the chapels would need to hear the same dynamics that were heard around the corner at the main console. To solve this problem, we chose a unique solution to the organ division placement. We placed the left and right organ chambers between the main hall and the side chapels. We designed large sets of expression louvers that open to the chapels and the main hall. The organ has 56 swell shade frames that hold 290 individual expression shades operated by multiple motors. These motors were addressed through a programmable expression shade software interface, which allowed an acoustic linear progression with the movement of the expression shoes that was balanced between the main hall and the side chapels. This allows a seamless level of expression. In addition to providing dynamic control of the organ stops, we designed the expression shades to direct the sound to various angles of incidence in the building and through refraction uniformly cover the huge space with sound. (The expression shades were regulated so that the registrations for the organ divisions are acoustically balanced between the Main choir loft and the
side chapels.) 

The unique position of the organ chambers in the room opened the possibility of using the left and right stop resources to provide independent instruments for the side chapels. Through careful stop placement and our scaling choices, we were able to provide a duality of voice for the stop registers. The chapel specifications differ from the main console and are designed to support these spaces when the doors are drawn closed and the chapels become independent worship spaces. When the chapel organs are turned on, the division shades for the main core of the Temple close and only express to the chapel. Both chapel organs can be played at the same time. The left chapel is used for weddings. The specification for this instrument is drawn from the resources of the Swell and String organs. The right chapel is used for practice and rehearsal and draws its resources from the Great and Pedal divisions. 

To cover the large organ chamber openings, the choir loft is flanked with matching façade pipes from the 16′ Principal and 16′ Violone. The building is in a known earthquake area, and there was a concern to assure that the pipes would remain in the organ case. As a redundant safety measure, we designed decorative bands in the case design that retain the pipes in their vertical racks even if there were a failure of the retaining hardware. We built the façade pipes out of a polished metal. Their finish takes on the colors and hues of the lighting and architecture and has a softer look that would not have been possible with painted or poly-chromed pipes. The pipes were built with over-length bodies and toes to fill a 24′ height and sit on a 7′ ledge. The façade is fed with transmission tubes from action boxes located in the enclosed chambers. The construction crew completed all of the millwork and tracery. 

To scale an instrument, we generally bring pipe samples into the room to gauge the necessary scales, wind pressures, and pipe treatments that need to be employed. The planning for this instrument was no different. We took over several pipes that were voiced in the Temple, with several members of our staff gauging the carrying ability of these voices in the room. There was remarkably little acoustical fall-off of these voices, even into areas of the rear balcony. These pipes became the guide in our voicing room halfway around the world. This was an instance where your eyes did not want to believe what your ears would tell you about scaling due to the sheer size of the space. The sample pipes represented the reality of what we had to trust in our tonal design of the organ. Before our final week of voicing on site, 4,000 ministerial students and choir members were invited in so that we could get a crucial sound check. This enabled us to finalize voice strength and gauge the shade openings with a room full of people.

To accommodate the gender division in the Temple, the organ divisions are placed so that they provide the proper weight and color to support the men and women’s voices. The Great and Pedal are in the right chamber with the resources focused towards the men. The Swell and String organ in the left chamber focus their voices towards the women. The Choir/Solo chamber area is in the center behind the choir. The middle of this space contained a large LED screen, which is integral to worship here. The Choir/Solo division has three shade openings that open to the right, left, and above the screen. The expression shades in this division are horizontal, with the first points of reflection being the hard ceiling above the choir and organist. The ceiling acts as a diffuser so that sound envelops the choristers without subjecting them to the large dynamics of this division. This allows the organ and choir to uniformly blend their collective voices for support of worship.

We employed generous scales along with an 8′-weighted specification. Wind pressures range from 6′′ to 16′′, with the highest wind pressures in the Solo division, where the large scales and increased wind pressures allow robust voicing for the flue solo stops, such as the Stentorphone, to sing out over the full organ resources and yet be fully contained with closure of the expression shades. We determined that the woodwind-class reeds would be very important to texture the ensemble. The 8′ Clarinet and the 8′ Oboe add color without being aggressive or too tonally forward. All the organ’s reeds use English shallots, which, with their darker, rounder voices, are more appropriate in this acoustic. 

There was a desire for a large solo reed in our tonal design. The organ is tonally capped with the high-pressure 8′ Tromba Heroique. This stop is placed so that it speaks out into the Temple through the center Choir/Solo expression shades. This stop is extended full-length down to the pedal for the supreme 16′ cantus firmus voice.

To pay homage to the flute sounds that the church previously knew, we included a Wurlitzer-patterned Tibia in the Choir/Solo on 10′′ of wind pressure. The String organ has a Tibia Minor and the Great a Flauto Major. Ubiquitous to the sound of these large, stoppered flutes are the manners in which they are affected by tremolo. Unique to the instruments we have built previously, we provided the organ with dual speed tremolos that could independently be regulated for maximum effect with the flue and reed voices. Again, these stops’ style features their unification across multiple pitch registers, which we included in our specification design.

The String Organ was conceived as an extension of the Swell division that can separately be a floating division via couplers. Its multiple timbres range from the pungent Viole d’ Orchestra to the more neutral Violone with pitch registers from 16′ to 4′. Included in this division was an 8′ Flute Celeste II built in the form of a Ludwigtone. It provides the softest ethereal voice in the organ. The multiplicity of strings in this (the String Organ) division not only are of a singular beauty when massed together and colored with the 8′’ Vox Humana but importantly with their edge tones provide a harmonic bridge (without their celesting voices) between the flutes and principal stops. This allows a seamless buildup of the stop resources in this organ.

The organ windchests are a combination of pallet and slider windchests and unit electro-pneumatic windchests. There are a total of 45 windchests throughout the instrument, fed by 26 wind regulators. Dual-curtain ribbed and floating-lid reservoirs were used for the winding system. The wind is raised through four blowers that generate static wind pressure in excess of 22 water column inches.

The main four-manual organ console is mahogany with ebonized mahogany key cheeks and is in a fixed location in the choir loft. The two chapel consoles were built to be lower profile and are two-manual terrace drawknob consoles. These consoles include inbuilt casters and detachable plugs to allow the consoles to be moved and stored when their use is not required.

With an instrument that had three consoles, three separate specifications, differential expression shade control tables, two-speed tremolos, and a requirement for fiber optic data transmission, we turned to Dwight Jones and Integrated Organ Systems. They worked tirelessly to customize their Virtuoso control system to fulfill the specialized requirements of this instrument.

Preparing the organ for its safe transit required careful disassembly and packing. It was very important that the load centers of the packed shipping containers be carefully calculated. This required that every part of the organ be weighed and a packing plan developed for the shipping containers. There was a narrow window to pack each shipping container so that all of the organ materials would be in transit on the same ship. We built an outline of a shipping container in our factory and virtually “packed” each container within that footprint. This allowed us to rapidly pack each container as the four trucks showed up in order at our shipping dock. The “virtual” containers were purposely staged in the reverse order to facilitate quick loading of the four actual containers, which arrived in succession over a four-day period. The organ weighs 43,543 pounds and required almost 8,000 pounds of packing materials. In all there were 608 individual packages and crates ranging from 5 to 1,380 pounds. There are a total of 3,162 individual pipes in the instrument, which were packed into 87 trays and 39 crates. The organ was packed into four shipping containers to begin its route from the port of Savannah, Georgia, to Manila. Our staff, led by Art Schlueter, Jr., arrived just ahead of the shipment to receive it at the Temple. 

The first challenge to the installation was getting the organ parts into the Temple. The primary worship space is actually on the third story of the building. The stairwells and elevators were too constricted to allow the movement of large items such as the multiple consoles, the main chests, and the façade pipes. Early in our first visits it became clear that the only method for the movement of the mass of organ parts would be to open a large hole in the upper rampart of the building and bring in an overhead crane to hoist these materials. A large scaffold deck was built outside, to allow a landing area for the organ parts that were then manually placed in the building. 

As we arrived to install the organ, major portions of the building were still under renovation to be ready for the centennial celebration of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. Over 100 workers labored around the clock to complete all of the tasks at hand. The members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo administration worked with us to develop a plan where our work could be congruous with their work schedule and provided considerable assistance with the movement of materials from the containers to a marshaling area in the side chapels. Adding to the complexity of the work in the Temple, the scheduled services were ongoing, with only the side chapels taken out of service. We want to thank the Iglesia Ni Cristo for their considerable assistance to assure that we were able to complete our work with the ongoing construction and renovations in the edifice. Without coordination, communication, and support this project could not have been accomplished.

The work to install and voice the instrument was completed in multiple trips that spanned several months of time. The work was completed with two separate teams, with staff members in Georgia providing technical support. The members of the church construction crew assisted with the installation. This allowed us to teach how the organ was installed and how to adjust and regulate the organ parts and actions. Several members of this group showed a specific aptitude for the organ work and were further trained about the pipe organ and its systems. This team now serves in a support role for basic tuning and adjustments at the Temple. With each return tuning trip, our staff has worked to further their skills and abilities.

Members of our firm that traveled overseas to complete this project included Art Schlueter, Jr., Arthur Schlueter, III, Rob Black, John Tanner, Marc Conley, Pete Duys, Bud Taylor, Patrick Hodges, Jay Hodges, and Jeff Otwell. Considerable shop assistance to the completion of this project was provided by staff members Shan Dalton, Barbara Sedlacek, Bob Weaver, Ruth Lopez, Kelvin Cheatham, Mike DeSimone, Al Schroer, Dallas Wood, and Steve Bowen.

When we arrived onsite to begin the installation, members of the church told us that the administration had requested them to treat us like family. Nothing could have been truer. While we were away from family and friends, the Iglesia Ni Cristo worked tirelessly to support us as we worked to install the instrument in their Temple. 

Three weeks before the centennial of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo officiated on Saturday, July 5, 2014, at a special worship service at the INC Central Temple In his homily the Executive Minister said, “The installation of the new pipe organ at the Central Temple is in line with the church’s desire to fulfill the biblical teaching that God should be praised and glorified.”

The organ was played by Dr. Genesis Rivera, who said it was a great blessing for him to be the first one to play the pipe organ in that special worship service. The church very generously hosted Art Schlueter, Jr., and Pete Duys to be in attendance. We would like to publicly thank the Iglesia Ni Cristo and its leadership for their beneficence. 

We are humbled to have been chosen for such a grand commission, to build a one of a kind instrument to the worship and praise of God, for the Central Temple of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. 

—Arthur E. Schlueter, III

Cover photo: Courtesy of Iglesia Ni Cristo 

Andover Organ Company, 

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Opus R-345, Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville, Virginia

From the builder

In projects, journeys, and lives, there are milestone events that mark progress or achievements. The dedication of Andover Opus R-345 at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, was such an event. It was a milestone for three long journeys: the completion of a seven-year project for Andover; the culmination of a decade-long sanctuary renovation process for Christ Church; and the latest chapter in the 143-year odyssey of a resilient New England organ.

With their simplicity and durability, it is not unusual for well-made old tracker organs to outlast the buildings or congregations for which they were originally made. Happily, they can often be relocated and repurposed to fit the musical needs and budget of a new owner. At Andover, we tune and maintain a large number of 19th-century instruments which are now in their second, third, or fourth homes.

The saga of the Christ Church organ certainly illustrates this! The core of the instrument is a three-manual, 29-stop organ built in 1869 by E. & G. G. Hook of Boston as their Opus 472 and originally installed in Grace Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois. In 1902, it was moved to another Grace Episcopal Church, in Oak Park, Illinois. In 1922, it was sold to the Third Congregational Church of Oak Park, where it was rebuilt and electrified by Nicholas Doerr of Chicago. The organ was next moved to St. Ludmilla’s Catholic Church in Chicago, probably in 1937 when the Third Congregational Church merged with another congregation. When St. Ludmilla’s closed in 1991, the organ was put into storage. Andover’s Robert C. Newton, a nationally recognized authority on Hook organs, learned of the organ’s availability and purchased it. Opus 472 then made the long journey back to Massachusetts, where it sat in storage, awaiting its fifth home.

Meanwhile, Christ Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, had formed an organ committee to find a replacement for their failing 50-year-old electro-pneumatic organ. That organ had been cobbled together from a variety of used and new parts, and the builder had gone out of business before the organ was finished. Concurrently, plans were begun for a complete renovation of the sanctuary. After much study, the committee determined that the best location for the new instrument would be at the front of the church, to speak directly towards the congregation. This was confirmed by each builder that the committee interviewed during the selection process. 

Being responsible stewards of the church’s resources, the organ committee also researched the option of installing a rebuilt used organ. They determined that if the original organ was a well-made, quality instrument, the end result could be equal, or in some cases superior, to a new organ—yet at significantly less cost. John Whiteside, who became Christ Church’s music director in 2005, contacted us and learned of E. & G. G. Hook Opus 472. Built in 1869, the organ dated from the “golden period” (1850s–1870s) of the firm’s instruments. 

Because the organ had lost its original case, console, structure, action, and wind system during its travels, the surviving Hook pipes and windchests could easily be rearranged to fit the available space in Christ Church. The most essential parts of any organ are the pipes, which define its tonal signature, and the windchests, which influence how the pipes speak and blend.

The Hook firm was one of 19th-century America’s premier organ builders. Their instruments, highly regarded for their mechanical and tonal excellence, were designed and voiced to work well in the dry acoustics of American churches. Though we at Andover build modern instruments designed to serve the needs of today’s church musicians, we draw insight and inspiration from the surviving work of the brothers Elias (1805–1881) and George Greenleaf (1807–1880) Hook and their successor, Francis Hastings (1836–1916). We have been privileged to work on many of their important surviving instruments, including their monumental 101-rank 1875 masterpiece, Opus 801, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, and the famous 1876 “Centennial Exposition” organ, Opus 828, now in St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo.

After careful deliberation, the committee recommended that Christ Church purchase and install Hook Opus 472—which would be completely renovated, rebuilt, and enlarged by Andover—at the front of the church surrounding the rose window. This proposal was approved by the church’s vestry, and in April 2005 a contract was signed. 

The rebuilding work started in 2007, with Ben Mague as project team leader. The Hook pipes were restored and the windchests rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate additional stops. New and vintage ranks, scaled and voiced to be compatible with the original Hook stops, were added to augment the organ’s tonal palette. Ben Mague and Michael Eaton engineered a new console, structure, action, and wind system to fit the renovated chancel area. The new casework was designed by Donald Olson. Noted church architect Terry Eason prepared the plans for the sanctuary renovation.

The organ is laid out with the Swell on the left, the unenclosed Choir in the center, and the Great on the right. The Pedal stops are divided among these three locations. The bass of the Pedal reed is behind the Swell, its treble and all of the 16′ Subbass are behind the Choir, and the Double Open Diapasons are behind the Great. 

The organ’s white oak casework was built in our shop. We take great care to design the exterior of each instrument to complement the architecture of its surroundings. Thus, the blind Byzantine arches of the lower casework were patterned after the existing chancel side wall woodwork. The polished tin façade pipes comprise the lowest notes of the Great 8′ Open Diapason and the Pedal 8′ Violoncello. The detached oak console has walnut interior woodwork and a walnut swirl veneered music rack. The pau ferro drawknobs, with 19th-century-style oblique heads with inset engraved labels, are arranged in stepped terraces. The center-pivoted manual keys have bone-plated naturals and ebony sharps.

The manual key action is mechnical, as are all the couplers. To facilitate the positioning of the Pedal pipes in the most advantageous spaces, all of the Pedal stops are on electro-pneumatic unit chests that we designed and built. The stop action is electric. The Solid State Organ Systems combination action, with 100 memory levels and a piston sequencer, affords the player seamless control of the organ’s resources. 

While the rebuilding was underway, Christ Church’s rector departed for another parish. The church postponed the fund-raising for the sanctuary renovations and turned its attention to finding a new rector. Thankfully, during this period a parish donor continued to fund the organ’s rebuilding so the project would not lose momentum. 

The completed instrument was unveiled at an open house at our shop on November 6, 2010. Although the organ was ready, the church was not. Bids had not yet been received for the chancel renovations. It was discovered that part of a rock ledge beneath the chancel would have to be removed to permit excavation for a basement to house HVAC equipment and the organ blower. This increased the scope of the project.

The organ sat, playable, in our shop until May 2011 when, needing that space for other projects, we shipped it to Charlottesville and stored it in the church parish hall. The chancel renovations were finally begun in the fall of that year and nearly finished when we started the organ’s installation in January 2012. Parts of the organ were playable by Easter, when it was first used. The remaining flues and all the reeds were installed and regulated during the following months. On Friday evening, October 5, 2012, noted organ recitalist and recording artist Bruce Stevens played the dedicatory program to a large and excited congregation. It was a milestone event, the happy ending to a long road!

Just as a great organ is the sum of its parts, a great organ company is the sum of its people. We are blessed to have a team of seventeen dedicated craftspeople who, collectively, have over 400 years of organbuilding experience. Those who worked on Opus R-345 were Ryan Bartosiewicz, Matthew Bellocchio, Anne Doré, Michael Eaton, Don Glover, Al Hosman, Lisa Lucius, Benjamin Mague, David Michaud, Tony Miscio, Fay Morlock, John Morlock, Robert Newton, Donald Olson, Casey Robertson, Jonathan Ross, Craig Seaman, and David Zarges.

—Matthew M. Bellocchio

Andover Organ Company

Photos © William T. Van Pelt

Testimonials

It really is a wonderful organ! I’m playing everything from Franck to Rheinberger to Bach . . . and all of these different-style pieces sound really very fine. I find the key action quite graceful to play. Because so many of the sounds are the golden-period Hook sounds we love, we’re thrilled to have such an organ in Virginia—at long last. Thanks for all that you have done to provide this special, magnificent instrument to a location in our state. The only big disappointment is that it’s not here in Richmond!

—Bruce Stevens

University of Richmond

Thanks for the good work . . . and for giving Virginia an E. & G. G. Hook organ. I believe it is the only organ in the state to have most of its tonal components arising from the brothers Hook during their control of the company.

—William T. Van Pelt

Retired Executive Director 

Organ Historical Society

Situated on a hill overlooking the city of Lewiston, Maine, the Gothic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is visible from a great distance in any direction. Its grand architecture beckons visitors from all over. The interior of the basilica is as sumptuous as its exterior. And among the many treasures of the edifice are the organs.

Lewiston was founded in 1795 along the Androscoggin River. Its industry was supported by cotton mills for many years. By the 1850s the Bates Mill, named for Benjamin E. Bates, for whom Bates College is also named, became the largest employer in Lewiston, remaining so for a century. In the late 1850s, French Canadians began to migrate to Lewiston for job opportunities. A section of Lewiston became known as “Little Canada,” and the city has celebrated its French Canadian character to this day.

Various Protestant congregations were formed, but it would be 1857 before the first Catholic parish, Saint Joseph, was founded. The parish, which was English speaking and serving primarily Irish immigrants, laid the cornerstone for a church along Main Street on June 13, 1864, and finished construction in 1867. The architect was Patrick C. Keely.

The Catholic Bishop of Portland assigned the Reverend Louis Mutsaers to minister to the French-speaking Catholics of Saint Joseph Church. With more than 1,000 souls in the French-speaking Catholic community, Saint Peter Church was founded in 1870, the first French ethnic parish in the diocese. Father Edouard Létourneau of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, was named first pastor. The fledgling congregation moved to Saint John Chapel, the second floor of a house on Lincoln Street, coincidentally the first home of Saint Joseph Church. The first Mass, a wedding, was said on July 2, 1870. The Reverend Pierre Hévey became pastor the following year.

The first church

Father Hévey constructed a Gothic church building on Ayers Hill, on Bartlett Street between Ash and College Streets. The cornerstone was laid July 7, 1872, and the edifice was dedicated on May 4, 1873. The substantial building was 116 feet long, 32 feet wide, and crowned by a 160-foot bell tower. The total cost of the building, including land and furnishings, was approximately $100,000. The dedication Mass, attended by 2,000 and presided over by the Bishop of Portland, also witnessed the confirmation of 215 children. The parish school was opened in 1878, and a cemetery was developed. The Sisters of Charity of Saint-Hyacinthe would also establish a hospital, an orphan asylum, and a home for the aged, in addition to teaching in the school. A five-story brick school building accommodating 700 students was opened in 1883 at Lincoln and Chestnut Streets. A second school, for boys, was opened on Bates Street in 1887. By the close of the century, there were 1,721 students in the parish schools.

When Father Hévey left the parish in 1881, administration was turned over to the Dominican Fathers of Lille, France. About this time, Saint Peter became known as Saints Peter and Paul Church. By the late 1890s, church membership neared 10,000 persons, and galleries were added to the church nave, and the building’s basement was enlarged. A brick monastery was built for the Dominicans on Bartlett Street, a building that still stands behind the basilica today. The Dominicans would live here until they returned the parish to the diocese in 1987.

In 1902, Saint Louis Church was founded in Auburn, across the river, but this did little to lessen overcrowding at Saints Peter and Paul Church. In 1904, Father Alexandre Louis Mothon, OP, then pastor of the parish, retained Belgian-native Noël Coumont of Lewiston to design a neo-Gothic edifice to be built of Maine granite at an estimated cost of $250,000. Portland diocesan authorities were duly impressed with Coumont’s work and named him diocesan architect.

Building the present church

The final Mass in the old church was celebrated on February 5, 1905, after which the building was dismantled and demolished. A temporary wooden structure seating 1,200 persons was erected. Adjacent property was acquired, and construction of the lower church was commenced on February 22, 1906. Despite the collapse of a wall on November 9, the lower church was in use for Midnight Mass at Christmas, December 25, 1906. Father Mouthon had resigned and was replaced by the Reverend Antonin Dellaire, OP.

The parish would not complete the upper church for another three decades. In the interim, the diocese created three other parishes in Lewiston: Saint Mary, founded in 1907 in “Little Canada” with 820 families; Holy Family, founded in 1923; and Holy Cross, founded that same year with 575 families.

The diocese granted the Reverend Mannès Marchand, OP, pastor, permission to complete the upper church in 1933. A bid of $361,510 was accepted in April of the following year. Timothy G. O’Connell of Boston had become architect. Construction began in May, and the project would require some 516 boxcars of granite. Slate, copper, and limestone support the roofs.

The exterior was completed in 1935, crowned by twin steeples rising 168 feet with eight spires of granite and concrete. Two fairs would be held in the unfinished interior to raise funds for its completion. The interior was finished on July 18, 1936. The Most Reverend Joseph E. McCarthy, DD, dedicated Saints Peter and Paul Church on October 23, 1938. An all-male choir, recently formed, provided music for the occasion. The total construction price was estimated at $625,000. Five bells, cast for the previous church in 1884 by the McShane foundry of Baltimore, Maryland, were retained for the new towers. In 1948, the magnificent stained glass windows of the nave were installed to the designs of Boston’s Terence O’Duggan, at a cost of $40,000. The building measures 330 feet long, 135 feet wide, and the ceiling rises 64 feet. The pews seat 1,800 persons.

There was considerable posturing to making Saints Peter and Paul the cathedral of the diocese, supplanting Portland’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, founded in 1856 with its church built between 1866 and 1869 to the designs of Patrick C. Keely. Postcards of the Lewiston church were printed and sold, designating it a “cathedral.” However, the move of the seat of the bishop from Portland to Lewiston never occurred.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 14 (Bastille Day), 1983. The second-largest Catholic church in New England, Saints Peter and Paul is exceeded only by Saint Joseph Cathedral of Hartford, Connecticut. In the past two decades, the building has been restored, a heroic multi-million dollar project. The first part of the project, the exterior, took nine years to complete. The interior restoration of the upper church was completed in 2002.

The church’s music history is remarkable. In 1872, a reed organ was acquired, and a Mrs. Martel became organist. Mr. Alcibiad Beique succeeded her. Considered an accomplished organist as he had studied in Belgium, Beique would play the opening program/Mass on the church’s first pipe organ, described below. Beique would leave Lewiston to become organist for the church of Notre Dame in Montréal, Canada. Mr. F. Desanniers next served the parish, though he died about a year after beginning service, having consumed poison thinking it was medicine. Henry F. Roy then served Saints Peter and Paul, remaining until 1925. George C. Giboin then served from 1925 until his death in 1945. From 1945 until 1966, Bernard Piché was organist, while Roland Pineau directed the choirs. Piché was of considerable repute, and was managed as a recitalist by the Colbert-Laberge management group. Pineau continued as organist and choir director until 1973. Luciene Bédard also served as organist, beginning in 1942 and continuing for 54 years. Ida Rocheleau provided music from 1973 until 1982. Kathy Brooks was named music director in 1990. Scott Vaillancourt became music director in 2003 and continues today.

In addition to choral groups for children and adults, the parish sponsored a boys’ band (Fanfare Ste. Cécile) from 1898 until 1947. An extensive boys’ choir for grades 5 through 8 (Les Petits Chanteurs de Lewiston) was established in 1945 and performed operettas and other works in Lewiston and throughout New England until it was disbanded in 1964.

The pipe organs

The first pipe organ for the parish was 1880 Hook & Hastings Opus 1011, a two-manual, 24-rank instrument located in the 1873 church. The case of ash measured 25 feet high, 13 feet wide, nine feet deep. The organ cost $3,500 and was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 25.

The organ was removed from the building prior to demolition and reinstalled in the new lower church in 1906. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Casavant Frères of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, in 1916, as their Opus 665, retaining the Hook & Hastings case and much of the pipework.

In 2004, Casavant Opus 665 was sold to the Church of the Resurrection (Episcopal), New York City, where it was moved and rebuilt by the Organ Clearing House. A series of dedicatory recitals were held for this organ in its new home in 2011.

The upper church Casavant organs together make up the largest church organ in Maine. There are 4,695 pipes in five divisions in the rear gallery, 737 in three divisions in the sanctuary. A four-manual, drawknob console controls the entire organ from the rear gallery; a two-manual console in the sanctuary, which does not function at this time, controls the sanctuary divisions. The organ was designed by Charles-Marie Courboin of Saint Patrick Cathedral, New York City. The contract specification was dated April 4, 1937. Manual compass is 61 notes (C–C); pedal compass (concave, radiating pedalboard) is 32 notes (C–G). The instrument cost $28,000 for the gallery organ, $10,000 for the sanctuary organ. A fifteen-horsepower blower was provided for the gallery organ, and a one-horsepower blower for the sanctuary organ.

Courboin, who travelled to Saint-Hyacinthe to inspect the organ in the factory, played the opening recital on the completed organ, October 4, 1938. An estimated 2,000 persons filled the nave of the church, the first public event to occur in the upper church. The following was his program (a local choral group, Orpheon, also presented three works):

Part I

Concert Overture R. Maitland

Aria No. 3, Suite in D
Johann Sebastian Bach

Sketch No. 3 Schumann

Cantabile Cesar Franck 

Pastorale 2d Symphony
Charles-Marie Widor

Passacaglia and Fugue, C minor
J. S. Bach

Part II

Ave Maria Schubert-Courboin

Choral Prelude J. S. Bach

Choral No. 3 Cesar Franck 

The Lost Chord Sullivan-Courboin

March Heroique Saint-Saens

Casavant crafted the extensive woodworking lining the church nave, including an ornate screen in the sanctuary and the extensive wood supporting the organ and choir gallery, the transept galleries, and the narthex. The project utilizing Maine native red cedar and oak took a year and a half to complete.

Over the years, various renowned organists have concertized on the upper church organs. For instance, the Lewiston-Auburn Chapter of the American Guild of Organists sponsored Marcel Dupré in recital on Monday evening, October 4, 1948, along with three selections presented by the Saint Paul Choral Society. (Admission was $1.20, tax included, students $0.75.) The program for the organ’s tenth anniversary included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Eric DeLamarter, César Franck, Mr. Dupré, as well as an improvisation on submitted themes—Yankee Doodle and Turkeys in the Tree Top.

The fiftieth anniversary of the Casavant organs was celebrated with a concert on October 4, 1988, given by Brian Franck, organist, with l’Orpheon, conducted by Alexis Cote and accompanied by Luciene Bédard. Alan Laufman of the Organ Historical Society presented Historic Organ Citation #100 for the upper church organs. The upper church organs were heard in recitals during the national convention of the Organ Historical Society on August 19, 1992.

The gallery Casavant has experienced only three tonal alterations since installation. During Mr. Pinché’s tenure, the Grand Orgue 16′ Bombarde was replaced by an 8′ Bourdon. The Solo 16′ Tuba Magna was replaced by a 4′ Orchestral Flute. And the Récit 8′ Trompette was replaced by an 8′ open flute. The 8′ Trompette rank was used for many years in the Casavant in the lower church. It is now in storage, awaiting restoration and reinstallation, or perhaps replacement with a copy, if necessary.

Saints Peter and Paul experienced its largest membership in the 1950s, with more than 15,000 souls on the records. Twenty years later, membership was less than half that number. In 1986, the Dominicans turned administration of the parish back to the diocese. In June of 1996, Saints Peter and Paul was “twinned” with nearby Saint Patrick Catholic Church.

On October 4, 2004, the Vatican raised Saints Peter and Paul Church to the dignity of a minor basilica. The basilica was inaugurated on May 22, 2005, by the Most Reverend Richard Malone, Bishop of Portland. In 2008, the basilica became part of the newly-formed Prince of Peace Parish, which in due time has included all the Catholic parishes of Lewiston. The parish today includes the basilica, Holy Cross, Holy Family, as well as cluster parishes: Holy Trinity, Lisbon Falls, Our Lady of the Rosary, Sabattus, and Saint Francis Mission, Greene (in the summer only). Holy Cross Church has a Casavant organ of two manuals, 25 ranks, installed in 1967.

Saint Mary Church would close in 2000 and become the home of the Franco-American Heritage Center. The Gothic edifice of stone was completed in 1927 to the designs of the same architect as Saints Peter and Paul. It is now used as a performing arts and cultural center, preserving much of the feel of the old church, including its stained glass windows. A photograph at the center’s website reveals that at least the twin cases of the church’s Frazee organ are still present. The organ itself is in storage at the center, awaiting funding for reinstallation.

Saint Joseph Catholic Church was closed October 13, 2009, and sits empty. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now owned by Central Maine Healthcare, the redbrick Gothic building has been threatened with demolition, though these plans are on hold as of this writing. The building once housed a two-manual Henry Erben organ from 1870, long since replaced by an electronic substitute.

Saint Patrick Catholic Church, facing Kennedy Park along Bates Street at Walnut Street, was founded in 1886. The parish, under the leadership of Monsignor Thomas Wallace, built a grand Gothic church, completed in 1890. Monsignor Wallace was buried in the church crypt. On October 27, 2009, Saint Patrick closed its doors. Its 1893 two-manual Hook & Hastings organ, Opus 1580 (electrified about 1960 by Rostron Kershaw, with minor tonal changes), was removed for relocation to Holy Family Catholic Church of Lewiston, a project partially completed by the Faucher Organ Company of Biddeford, Maine. Completion awaits sufficient funding. This is the first pipe organ for Holy Family Church.

Despite losing its claim as an industrial center in the state, Lewiston today remains the second largest city in Maine, behind Portland. Auburn is located across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston, and the two communities are often considered a single entity. The Lewiston community has experienced a renaissance in recent years.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the Casavant organs in the upper church was celebrated throughout 2013. The parish sponsors a summer recital series, and that year’s performers included: Karel Paukert; Chris Ganza with Karen Pierce (vocalist); Albert Melton; Randall Mullin; Jacques Boucher with Anne Robert (violinist); Ray Cornils; Julie Huang; Harold Stover; Sean Fleming; and the author. The final program of this series occurred on September 27, featuring Kevin Birch, organist, the Androscoggin Chorale, John Corrie, conductor, and the Men’s Choir of the Basilica, Scott Vaillancourt, director. The program included: Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552i, Johann Sebastian Bach; Andante Sostenuto, Symphonie IV, Charles-Marie Widor; Cloches, Marcel Fournier; Carillon de Westminster, Louis Vierne; Sonata I, Alexandre Guilmant, and the Mass for Two Choirs and Two Organs, Widor. Some restorative repairs have been made to the Casavant organs by the Faucher Organ Company of Biddeford, Maine. Ongoing efforts are made to raise funds to complete the project and bring this world-class organ back to its original glory. 

Sources

A Rich Past—A Challenging Future: A Tribute to Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Lewiston, Maine, 1996.

Organ Handbook 1992, Alan M. Laufman, editor, The Organ Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, 1992, pp. 60–63.

“The Organs of the Church of Ss. Peter & Paul Lewiston, Maine,” Brian Franck and Alan Laufman, The Tracker, vol. 36, no. 2, 1992, pp. 8–13.

Newspaper clippings, Casavant contract information from the basilica archives.

Photography by Stephen Schnurr, except as noted.

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

Opus 50

The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Lexington, Kentucky

From the organbuilder

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—Jason Overall

Goulding & Wood, Inc.

Indianapolis, Indiana

Robert Duffy, casework, cabinetry, and wood carvings

John Goulding, reed racking

Mark Goulding, shop foreman, general shop construction

Chris Gray, general shop construction

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

Jerin Kelly, wind chests, general shop construction

Phil Lehman, office manager

Tyler MacDonald, wind chests

Jason Overall, office support and tonal design

Kurt Ryll, case design and engineering

David Sims, system wiring, tonal finishing

Michael Vores, structure, expression boxes, general shop construction

Brandon Woods, tonal design, voicing, and finishing.

From the organist & choirmaster

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

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

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

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

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

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

—John Linker

From the organ committee

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

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

—J. R. Jones

Organ Committee Chair

From the rector

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

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

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

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

—The Rev’d Brian Cole