Organ Projects

Foley-Baker, Inc.,

Tolland, Connecticut

St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Foley-Baker, Inc.,

Tolland, Connecticut

St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

From the builder

The Welte name is mostly known for its roll-player mechanisms, the Mignon reproducing piano, and their Orchestrion. However, as builders of traditional pipe organs, Welte’s output was small; organs were but one in a family of Welte “products” typical of the era’s massive instrumental output. In 1912, Welte opened a factory in Poughkeepsie, New York, but their earliest organs were purchased from other builders and fitted with Welte players. Since Welte was of German ownership, the First World War threw things into disarray, and after the war, ownership changed hands. A larger reorganization in 1925 by former Kimball man Robert Pier Elliot had Welte building its own organs of fine quality and for any venue: residence, theater, or church. But the firm struggled to gain a strong financial footing. It suffered a setback in 1927, repurchase and relocation in 1929, and finally absorption by Kimball of Chicago in 1931. Today, there are few surviving examples of Welte organs, and, even after our 42 years in business, we had never worked on one. St. Mark’s Minneapolis would be a new experience. 

The cathedral’s consultant was David Engen of Maple Grove, Minnesota. His request for proposal offered a general description of the organ’s overall condition. Our assumption was that we would see huge diapasons, pencil-scale strings, and tibia-like flutes, all on a massive chassis. In fact, the St. Mark’s Welte had been tonally and mechanically modified on two different occasions by M.P. Möller. Much of the Welte material was long gone, although the organ remained capable of producing an impressive volume of sound.

But it was clear the various rebuilds had compromised the instrument. The chamber was packed with non-Welte chests, flexible wind lines, dangling wires, and a chamber entrance door that barely opened, due to added ranks and equipment. There were reservoirs everywhere, fully 17 in the main organ. Tuning access was bad enough, while actual service work required unnecessarily heroic effort. One reason the organ continued to generate an impressive sound was the chamber’s placement and hard walls. More than projecting sound, the chamber almost seemed to amplify it. The cathedral’s impressive acoustics certainly helped as well. 

The organ was on its third console and had a dated relay system spread throughout four different areas of the building. In the basement, the large Spencer blower’s motor needed all new bearings. Adding insult to injury, HVAC ducts installed in the 1950s had seen the removal of the organ’s important static reservoirs, further compromising the wind supply.

At Foley-Baker, we love to save old organs. However, it was clear that at St. Mark’s, there wasn’t an old organ to save, just parts of one. Trying to determine what was possible and affordable would take both positive and practical thinking. If the organ were to be rebuilt, the results had to be worth the investment. 

We spent days measuring pipe scales and gathering details. There were interesting finds, such as high in the tower, where the Möller crew had stored some of the 1928 Welte pipework. There was much damage; some ranks were incomplete, while others were beyond repair. Our tonal director Milovan Popovic laid out rank after twisted rank on the large tower room floor. Out of this survey we found three Welte stops to reclaim: the Swell 4′ Clarion, Great 8′ Second Open Diapason, and the large-scale Swell 8′ Vox Humana. All three became valuable additions. 

As our familiarity with the cathedral’s music program and organ grew, so did our concepts for the renewed instrument. Tonally, we had 1920s Welte mixed with 1980s Möller. In 2012 it is perhaps too easy to criticize Möller’s radical changes as heavy-handed; they were in the spirit of the time, and had introduced a variety of useful colors, including mutations, large-scale strings, and solo reeds. In time, we decided just where and what reused ranks would work and what new ones had to be added to create a bold, cohesive American sound to fill the cathedral’s large nave.

The chamber size and shape dictated the same stacked layout as had existed from the beginning. For us, multi-level organs raise red flags for service accessibility. Without careful design, the new and larger instrument had the potential for being another service nightmare. Our solution was to start from scratch, using a new chassis designed and built at Organ Supply Industries. The elegant simplicity of their slider chests promised minimal maintenance and assurance of accessibility. Their built-in schwimmer-regulators greatly simplified the winding, adding space for more stops and wider passage boards.

Given the scales and pressures, effective swell boxes would be essential. The original Welte shades were rebuilt and fitted to new boxes of 11⁄2-inch-thick medium density fiberboard. The combination of the two makes for a marvelous range of expression; massive ensembles can whisper or roar.

In addition to restoring the 1928 Spencer blower, we were able to find and install appropriate static reservoirs. Unlike 1928, however, this equipment now stands in separate rooms dedicated for the purpose. The result is that, despite wind pressures from five to 20 inches, an indicator light is necessary to know that the wind is on. As we have done elsewhere, we designed and installed an automatic, in-chassis humidity system that requires minimal service attention and combats Minnesota’s problematic humidity swings. 

The low-profile Schantz console dating from 1990 was reused, with modified stop jambs, new drawknobs, and burled mahogany jamb faces for a sharper appearance. (Schantz graciously provided and installed new, easy-to-read piston buttons.) We installed a new electronic relay that is easily accessed by simply raising the now-hinged console lid.

Years of change had seen many stops swapped between divisions. The Choir Diapason had been moved into the Solo as a 4′ Octave. We returned it to the Choir at 8′ with a new bass octave. The Welte Second Open found in the tower became our Great Diapason. Other stops were also returned to their original 1928 locations. The renewed instrument is a blend of remaining Welte pipework, selected Möller ranks, and important new registers. All retained ranks were cleaned, repaired, and revoiced, perhaps none more important than original large pedal basses and their Welte chests. These provided the weight and heft we envisioned as a foundation for the new instrument. 

The reed stops presented their own challenge, with ranks by five different builders and, in some cases, using scales and pressures dictated by available—or unavailable—space. Working with Chris Broome of Broome & Co. LLC, we examined the potential of each rank for our new scheme. In the end, we designed and had built an all-new Great reed chorus. Having found the original 1928 Welte 4′ Clarion, we were able to use it to recreate Welte’s original Swell reed chorus; industrial strength pipes with a just-right massive sound. A small-scale yet piercingly loud Möller Trumpet, which had been taking up valuable room in a corner of the Great, was revoiced into an ideally scaled Choir Trompette. Chorus reeds now serve to cap wonderful choruses, enriched by solo stops such as the Skinner Clarinet or Kimball Corno d’amour. 

The new organ’s sound ties together all the good qualities that go into creating it: the new specification, high pressures and large scales, the chamber’s ability to project sound and the swell shutters’ ability to contain it, and the new layout and chassis, which provided optimal placement for all stops. As the bottom photo on the front cover clearly displays, even 1928 pipes can look (and sound) like new. We were really thrilled to hear Canon Musician Ray Johnston play the “new” organ at the inaugural concert on May 18, an outstanding program that included brass and the cathedral’s choirs. To him and David Engen we owe thanks for supporting us in this challenging and rewarding project.

Upcoming concerts involving the rebuilt organ are posted on the cathedral’s website. All photos of the cathedral and reconditioned instrument are by Mark Manring (www.manring.net). All other photos are from Foley-Baker, Inc. files.

—Mike Foley

From the canon musician

St. Mark’s Cathedral has long been known for its various music programs and concerts. Built as a parish church in 1910 and designated a cathedral in 1941, it has during that time seen six directors of music as well as a number of rebuilds and additions to the original four-manual Welte installed in 1928. As musical tastes changed throughout the century, the tonal plan of the organ became distorted, becoming a combination of classical and romantic sounds, leading to a loss of identity for the instrument. 

The various additions also led to a chronic lack of space within the organ chamber, preventing access for tuning and repair to pipes bending over with metal fatigue. Equally worrying was the damage done to the winding as abundant leaks had resulted in pressure drops throughout the organ. 

In 2010 the cathedral launched a capital campaign, included in which was repair to the organ’s winding. However, on closer inspection it soon became apparent that problems ran very deep and fixing the leaks would in fact be a waste of money. Major action was required. The choice was stark—total reconditioning or a new instrument. This was an easy decision: much of the original Welte chorus was in good condition and had such quality and character that it could become the basis of a major overhaul. 

Next came the biggest challenge—persuading the vestry and the congregation that a lot of money needed to be spent to keep the organ in working order. To many, of course, the organ sounded just fine, as it always had. As is often the case, organists’ abilities to mask faults and ciphers go unnoticed by the majority. However, thanks to many organ tours and presentations by both committee and builder, and the fact that music and the pipe organ are such an integral part of worship at the cathedral, we were able to reach our target of $1.2 million.

In consultation with our selected firm, Foley-Baker Inc., a new specification was drawn up that necessitated replacing one-third of the pipework and relocating ranks from the gallery to the main organ. Of primary concern was an instrument to accompany the liturgy, from providing subtlety and color for the cathedral choir’s large repertoire to giving stimulating leadership to congregational hymnody. If the organ could do both those things well it would surely prove to be an admirable recital instrument also. 

While not a particularly large four-manual instrument, at least by American standards, it has exceeded all expectations as a concert instrument: almost endless color, a vast dynamic range, and a character that is totally suited to the building, all exquisitely voiced. It is unashamedly in the English romantic style, and, having played many of the great cathedral organs in the U.K., I am delighted that we now have such a fine instrument in that tradition, as well as an organ that is true to its original intention.

—Ray Johnston

From the committee chair

In May 2012, the refurbished St. Mark’s organ was inaugurated for concert audience and worshipers. Those were thrilling experiences, the result of meticulous planning and craftsmanship by Canon Musician Raymond Johnston and Foley-Baker, Inc.

I was privileged to chair the organ planning committee during the last phase of its pre-construction work. This was undertaken in the context of St. Mark’s “Opening Our Doors” capital campaign, which, by any standard, was a clear success, raising over $3 million. I was also privileged to co-chair the capital campaign with Inez Bergquist, Doug Eichten, and Courtney Ward-Reichard. The capital campaign had three highly visible purposes: restore the exterior of the 100-year-old building to stop leaks and deterioration; improve a long list of interior infrastructure items; and repair/restore the pipe organ. The first two of those purposes were easy for members and contributors to see and understand, especially when ice formed inside the church and fell on folks in procession during Sunday worship. The organ was a different matter.

Even though much of the organ was well beyond maintenance and some of it dead or ciphering, it still sounded pretty good much of the time. Most of this was attributable to Ray Johnston’s talents and the marvelous acoustic characteristics of the St. Mark’s Cathedral space. We conducted behind-the-walls tours of the chambers to show potential donors the points of failure and the grossly antiquated control mechanisms, leaking air handlers, and failing wiring. We were also careful to explain that much of the tuned pipework and blower could be restored and would be maintained.  At the end of the many days, the congregation did contribute and one very generous, anonymous donor provided most of the funds needed for the more than $1 million organ project.

While Foley-Baker did their work, the entire instrument was removed and a digital organ was rented and used with speakers around the cathedral. Many regular attendees commented that they could “hear the difference” and had come to understand why it was appropriate to rebuild a fine pipe organ. That was brought home once again to me on Sunday last, when Ray Johnston offered Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s Choral Song and Fugue as the service postlude. Most of the congregation stayed to hear it and to celebrate the glory of the rebuilt organ.  

—Fred Moore

Randall Dyer & Associates,

Jefferson City, Tennessee

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sanford, North Carolina

“Multum in parvo” seems, once again, to be the catchphrase in design of small organs. The instrument at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sanford, North Carolina, probably fits the category, since it has only eight carefully chosen ranks of pipes, half of which are at 8′ pitch. While we have always considered a solid ensemble the most important part of any organ, this instrument does not weave flutes, gemshorns, and mutations in and out at different pitches on different manuals for “added flexibility” as we might have done in unit organs of the past; it simply does not need it.

After seeing an instrument we had built for a sister congregation, John Southern, chairman of the organ committee at Trinity, approached us for ideas about replacing their small one-manual tracker organ, which, though it had served well for many years, was extremely limited.

As we contemplated their situation and budget over a period of months, we were made aware of a mechanically complete, but “pipeless” 1986 Schlicker organ in Pittsburgh. It was in excellent condition, and was attractive to us as organbuilders, because we could select, scale, and voice the pipes we wanted, to create the sound we wanted in the room. 

We used all the available notes on the existing chest and added more chest space. Case skirting, which already matched the woodwork in the church, was extended to enclose the additions, and a swell box was constructed. The wood pipes of the new 16′ Bourdon were stained to match. New pipes were provided by Stinkens, Matters, Oyster, and Mcusick, and the electro-mechanical switchgear of the console was gutted and replaced with a modern solid-state system.

Though actually on “unit” chests, the stoplist is conceived as that of a straight organ and is provided with regular couplers. With only minor alteration, it could have been built as a new slider-chest organ. The fact that no rank plays at multiple pitches on the manuals allows the organ to develop a clean, full ensemble sound, providing excellent registrations for congregational and choral accompaniment, and for playing the literature, the latter amply demonstrated during the inaugural concert by Dr. Florence Jowers of Lenoir-Rhyne University.

The congregation was open to our idea of moving the altar and communion rail forward to place the organ front and center, where it looks good and projects well into the room.

We regard this as a new organ, because the resulting instrument plays and sounds like one of our organs. The concept, whether using existing or all-new equipment, is viable for many small churches desiring a good service-playing instrument, capable of years of reliable service far exceeding that of non-pipe substitutes.

We cannot say enough about the pleasant dealings we had with this congregation, who allowed us the freedom to practice our craft. The result is an organ of which we are extremely proud, and we think it is important for churches and musicians everywhere to know that small, affordable organs are still being built.

Tamara Lewis is organist and director of music.

Leek Pipe Organ Company, Oberlin, Ohio: 

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, North Baltimore, Ohio

Leek Pipe Organ Company,

Oberlin, Ohio

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church,

North Baltimore, Ohio

The Leek Pipe Organ Company of Oberlin, Ohio has renovated the 1942 Schantz organ at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in North Baltimore, Ohio.

“All for the Glory of God” was Pastor Mineo’s passionate call to his flock for the organ rededication service and the 115th anniversary celebration at St. Luke’s Lutheran in North Baltimore, Ohio. The sounds of the organ and enthusiastic choir filled the church with celebration.  As a member of the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, St. Luke’s serves a small but important area of North Baltimore, Ohio and surrounding cities.  The city of North Baltimore is poised to grow into a key commercial center due to the recent addition of a CSX depot. 

At the time that we performed an inspection on St. Luke’s Schantz organ in early 2012, there were problems caused by deteriorated leather in the bellows and windchests, and an antiquated (the original) control system in the console. It was time to move forward with a thorough renovation of the instrument. 

Clearing the chambers

The organ is housed in a single chamber behind the choir loft in the church’s rear gallery. The church itself is an A-frame structure with a pitched timber ceiling, which provides ample acoustic for the small instrument, despite its buried location.

We began the project immediately in order to meet the time requirements of the church’s leaders and musicians. The first step involved removing all the pipes, bellows, windchests, and electrical systems from the chamber. The components were then shipped back to our shop in Oberlin, Ohio. After the chamber was entirely cleared, we went to work cleaning years of dust and debris—a job that is not much fun, but does help to guarantee that ciphers won’t occur once the chests are re-leathered. We also installed a new lighting system in the chamber, replacing an unhelpful single 60-watt bulb in the middle of a large room.

Finally, we removed the organ console from the floor of the rear gallery with a hydraulic lift. Our cabinetmaker, Jeff Green, had to produce a platform for the console while it was still in the gallery, so that it could be correctly positioned to move from the floor of the gallery to the fork of the lift. Once strapped down, we were able to turn a handle on the lift and slowly lower the console to the ground. The unit also doubled as a dolly, which allowed us to easily roll the console out the door and into the truck.

Once all the components were back at the shop, we got to work releathering bellows and rebuilding windchests. Meanwhile, Solid State Organ Systems was busy at work designing a new control system.  

Bellows

Little has changed in (reliable) re-leathering since the beginning of organ building itself. We still use hyde glue and a traditional time-tested method of re-leathering at our shop. After the bellows is completely disassembled, we go about removing all the old leatherback, canvas, and glue. In order to ensure a good bond for the new canvas and leather, it is critical that every last spot of material is removed from the ribs, body, and lid of the bellows. Over the years we have developed a system to do this efficiently.

Once prepped, new canvas and leather is cut and applied. This is a two-person project: one person keeps the rag hot so that the glue stays activated for the other person, who  ensures that the canvas and leather belts are properly placed. Once re-leathered, the bellows sit overnight to dry and be tested in the morning. 

Windchests

The organ is highly unified, but takes advantage of an electro-pneumatic pouchboard and lead tube system. One of the more challenging aspects of the renovation was replacing lead tubing. Such was a hallmark of earlier 20th-century Schantz windchests. Prior to this, Schantz built tubular-pneumatic organs, with long runs of lead tubing from console to windchests. The photos show before and after their replacement. 

The original chest magnets, made of Bakelite, were replaced with new Reisner magnets. New runs of copper common line and escutcheon pins were also installed to ensure reliable operation. Finally, pouchboards were removed, stripped, and releathered. Our resident wood shop expert, Jeff, has designed a jig that ensures extremely reliable tolerances for the new leather pouches. Because of this, we never once had a cipher due to expanding and contracting of the leather, neither in testing prior to installation nor anytime thereafter.

Pipework

While the windchests were being rebuilt, pipes were also being cleaned and repaired, and voicing was corrected when needed. The Stopped Diapason pipes were checked for overturned screws, cracks, and loose stoppers. Given the age of the instrument, the stoppers for this rank were complete releathered to ensure that tuning would remain stable following the installation. The pipes were, in general, in good shape so that not much repair was necessary. 

Console and solid-state system

The two-manual console has a horseshoe-styled nameboard layout, which is typical of this vintage and builder. A brand-new solid-state control system was installed with compatible engraved stop keys. The rebuilt console is controlled by its own solid-state processor and has its own independent power supply. All console inputs are relayed to the pipes via a data cable linked to the organ chamber processor. This data cable contains only eight wires and replaces the bundles of hundreds of electrical conductors that were needed when the organ was built. 

New chrome toe pistons were installed and a ten-level memory control included. The pedalboard was re-felted and all worn pedal keys were recapped with maple. New wiring was installed in the keyboards and the pedal contacts and the stop keys were wired out to a fused wiring harness. A new music light was integrated into the music rack to blend with the style of casework and new bench blocks were made for organists with long legs. After that, the console was tested in the shop prior to re-installation in the church rear gallery. 

The console was returned to the church, hoisted back into the rear gallery with our convenient lift, and networked to a second solid-state system in the chamber. After wiring all of the windchests to the chamber planes, we completed an extensive testing and commissioning process to be sure that “all systems were go.” After all the components were reinstalled in the church organ chambers, the organ was prepared for a test drive by the organist and official completion of the project. 

The organ was rededicated with guest organist James Clouser during Sunday worship services on August 5, 2012. The service was filled with inspiring music and powerful preaching on community and the power of music. At the end of the homily, Pastor Mineo prayed an enthusiastic litany, which moved the congregation to respond, “All to the glory of God!” The pipe organ too was poised to add its sounds for the glory of God for many years to come.

—Natalie Leek, vice president 

James Clouser, organist/consultant

Leek Pipe Organ Company

14477 State Route 58

Oberlin, Ohio 44074

440/775-4111

www.leekpipeorgans.com

Originally from Mumbai, India, Natalie Leek moved to the United States in 1991. She has a graduate degree in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University and over 20 years of experience in Human Resource Management and Marketing. Until 2008 she worked full-time as a senior assistant director of admissions at Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences. Since her marriage to James Leek in 2002, she has apprenticed with him for a year and also worked part-time in the company, in addition to her job at Oberlin College. She has worked hands-on with the pipe organs the firm services. As a 30-year yoga practitioner, she integrates the best of the east and the west in her work and life. 

James Clouser attended Hiram College and the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying organ performance with Sandra Tittle and Todd Wilson, respectively. He is a member of the Cleveland AGO chapter and is currently serving a term on the chapter’s executive committee. He holds the Guild’s Colleague (CAGO) and Choir Master (ChM) certificates and won first prize in the 2003 AGO/Quimby Region V Competition for Young Organists. He has worked with the Leek Pipe Organ Company since 2007 in several different roles.

The Organ Historical Society’s 60th Annual Convention took place in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, with the Marriott Hotel in central Springfield as the convention headquarters. I arrived on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited on Saturday, June 27, and found the hotel conveniently located a short walk from the railroad station. Pre-convention events offered on Sunday morning and afternoon included visits to the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Daniel Chester French Estate, and a walking tour of the Springfield Quadrangle, though I opted instead to attend the Sung Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) in Springfield, again conveniently located a short walking distance from the hotel.

Sunday, June 28

The convention proper began with Choral Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, with an augmented Cathedral Choir directed by David Pulliam, in which we were treated to the John Sanders Responses, Sumsion in G, and Stanford’s Te Deum in B-flat. Evensong was rounded off by a spirited performance of the Allegro from Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 5 on the fine 1953 Austin Opus 2195, rebuilt as a III/54 instrument by Theodore Gilbert Associates in 1985. 

Another short walk took us to St. Michael’s Catholic Cathedral, where we heard the first recital of the convention, given by Christopher Houlihan on the rebuilt 1929 4-manual Casavant organ, comprising a gallery organ in the fine Gothic case of the previous 1862 E. & G. G. Hook organ, and a chancel division in cases designed when the present organ was installed. This is the largest organ in Western Massachusetts. The program included the Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Minor by Henry Martin (b. 1950) of Rutgers University, commissioned by OHS member Michael Barone and previously given its première performance by Christopher Houlihan in New York City. Houlihan also treated us to one of Brahms’s earliest works, the Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, WoO 9, and one of his latest works, the chorale prelude O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, op. 122, no. 11, effectively sandwiching the chorale prelude between the prelude and the fugue. Houlihan’s performance of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548, was masterful, and indeed I think this was the best performance of the “Wedge” Fugue I have ever heard. The other major work in the recital was Vierne’s Symphony No. 4 in G Minor, op. 32, in which Houlihan effectively demonstrated the large mood swings that characterize this work. After this, it was a short walk back to the hotel for drinks and to explore the books, music, and recordings in the exhibit hall.

Monday, July 29

We boarded the buses early Monday morning for a day looking at organs in and around Westfield, Massachusetts. The day began with a recital given by Patricia Snyder on the 1977 C. B. Fisk organ, Opus 71, in First Congregational Church. This splendid little organ was ideally suited to the program of de Grigny and Bach that Ms. Snyder played. Next was a recital by Caroline Robinson on the 1897 Casavant tracker organ, Opus 78, relocated in 2008 from Pittsfield by the Czelusniak firm.to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Westfield. The organ is situated in a divided case in the gallery at the west end of the church, with the console on the north side, and is believed to be the second oldest Casavant organ in the United States. It has a warm, bold tone with rolling diapasons, but is brilliant enough to be effective in classical as well as romantic music. Ms. Robinson’s recital consisted of music by Brahms, Widor, Schumann, and Boëly.

Following these recitals, founding OHS member Barbara Owen gave a lecture on organ building in the Pioneer Valley. Three important organ builders had their workshops in Westfield—William A Johnson/Johnson & Son, Steer & Turner/J. W. Steer(e) & Son, and Emmons Howard. The Steere company was purchased by the Skinner Organ Company in 1921; the Westfield factory continued to run as a branch of the Skinner firm until 1929. The lecture was accompanied by slides illustrative of the history of all these companies.

After lunch we went to nearby Lenox, Massachusetts, for a recital on the famous Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1002 of 1940, at the Serge Koussevitzky Music Shed of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. The “shed” is a fine semi-outdoor concert hall designed by Joseph Franz. James David Christie, who is the resident organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, gave an interesting concert, assisted by two members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Robert Sheena, English horn and oboe, and Cynthia Meyers, flute. The program included music by Johann Sebastian and Johann Bernard Bach, Georg Böhm, Marguerite Roesgen-Champion, Charles Callahan, Jacques Berthier, and Jean Langlais. The J. S. Bach piece was the Sonata No. 1 in B flat, BWV 525, transposed to G major and transcribed for organ and flute, a very interesting change from the usual version.

We then moved to the Church on the Hill (United Church of Christ) in Lenox for a recital played by Peter Crisafulli on the I/9 William A. Johnson organ, Opus 281 of 1869. In 1988, Andover Organ Company releathered the bellows and in 1991 carried out a thorough historically informed restoration. Crisafulli’s eclectic program ranged from No. 5 of the Eight Little Preludes and Fugues, attributed to J. S. Bach but probably by Johann Tobias Krebs, to a modern piece, the Sonatina by Robert W. Jones. Altogether this was a pristine and delightful little organ. Next was a recital given by Adam Pajan on a later Johnson instrument, Johnson & Son Opus 805 of 1893, at the Unitarian-Universalist Meeting of North Berkshire in Housatonic, Great Barrington. The music included works of Arthur Foote, J. S. Bach, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.

The day culminated in the evening recital given by Bruce Stevens on the Hilborne L. Roosevelt organ, Opus 113 of 1882, at First Congregational Church, Great Barrington, an organ I have been longing to hear since I first heard of it around thirty years ago. I was not disappointed: it is a wonderful mellow, cohesive instrument. The chorus was perhaps a little lacking in brilliance for the Bach Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 541, though Stevens’s performance was nevertheless very effective, and the instrument later proved more than capable of softer baroque effects in the Pachelbel Partita on ‘Christus, der ist mein Leben.’ The organ was at its best, however, in the performance of Max Reger. We heard both Reger’s Scherzo, op. 65, no. 10, and his Introduction and Passacaglia in D Minor, op. 96, in which the organ sounded absolutely magnificent. We then heard the suite In Festo Corporis Christi by Bruce Stevens’s former teacher Anton Heiller, and finally Wilhelm Middelschulte’s transcription of Bach’s Chaconne for Violin Solo from the Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004. A feature of the Great Barrington Roosevelt is the striking façade of pipes stenciled in blue and brown on a background of gold. Small chunks of wood and plaster were glued to the pipes under the paintwork to create a rich three-dimensional effect that is most unusual and possibly unique.

Tuesday, June 30

We began the day with a recital by Michael Plagerman on the 1907 Emmons Howard organ in South Deerfield Congregational Church. If anyone thought that Johnson and Steere were the important organ builders in Westfield and that Emmons Howard was an “also ran,” this instrument and the other Emmons Howard organ we heard would definitely give the lie to such a thought. Emmons Howard may not have had quite such a large output as the other Westfield builders, but his instruments were certainly of equal quality. The conventioneers began by singing the chorale Vater Unser, after which Plagerman played Bach and Pachelbel chorale preludes on this hymn. We then heard a voluntary by the eighteenth-century English composer Maurice Greene, Franck’s Cantabile, and the Allegro from Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonata No. 2. The organ produced a grand effect—rich and powerful—and Plagerman brought forth some very pretty effects in the Greene.

We next heard an organ—perhaps the only surviving organ—built in 1868 by William Jackson of Albany in Holy Name of Jesus Polish National Catholic Church in South Deerfield. Jackson was the son of an organ builder in Liverpool, England. Jackson’s father was chiefly memorable for having built the first organ in England with a 1-1/7 foot stop. William Jackson trained with Gray & Davison in London before coming to the United States, which is evident from the Gray & Davison-style console of the South Deerfield organ. The recitalist, Larry Schipull, began with Niels Gade’s Three Tone Pieces, op. 22, and then—appropriately for an ethnically Polish church—played a transcription of a Chopin Fugue in A Minor. The Chorale Prelude on ‘Wie schön leucht die Morgenstern’ by Johann Christoff Oley featured the labial oboe on the Swell, perhaps the earliest stop of its kind in North America. We also heard the Andante with Variations in D of Mendelssohn and the Finale in D by T. Tertius Noble. The organ sounds grand yet bright and has a particularly beautiful Melodia.

Gregory Crowell then played the early William A. Johnson organ, Opus 54 of 1856, in First Congregational Church, Montague. Works of the eighteenth-century English composers Jonathan Battishull and Henry Heron were followed by Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 870, from Das wohltemperierte Klavier II, together with an Adagio by nineteenth-century German composer E. F. E. Richter and a Maestoso by an anonymous German composer of the same period. This is quite a charming little instrument with a very substantial Pedal Sub Base [sic]. We also took in a recital by Don VerKuilen at the First Congregational Church of Sunderland, home of an early Odell organ, Opus 109 of 1871, a relatively rare example of a New York-built organ in the Pioneer Valley. The program consisted of nineteenth-century American music and Seth Bingham’s Fughetta on ‘St. Kevin.’

Following lunch at the same church, we boarded the buses for a recital at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Springfield. This for me was one of the highlights of the convention. The church was built in 1962 during the pastorate of Father Basil J. Rafferty, who spared no expense to make sure that it was an outstanding example of modern architecture, with excellent acoustics and built from the finest materials. Much of the building is lined with marble in various hues, including a striking emerald green marble reredos. The stained glass is also extremely beautiful. The organ is a three-manual electro-pneumatic Lawrence Phelps Casavant, Opus 2750, built in 1963. The church was threatened with closure in 2005, but following the appointment of Father Quynh D. Tran as pastor in 2006 has taken on a new lease on life as a predominantly ethnically Vietnamese congregation. One would hope that this fine Casavant organ might inspire some parishioners to learn the instrument. The recital was given by Joey Fala. Fala, a native of Hawaii, has completed two degrees at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Albany, New York, and is now undertaking graduate work in organ performance at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Fala promises to be one of the outstanding organists of the upcoming generation. His varied program included Marcel Dupré’s transcription of the Sinfonia from Bach’s Cantata 29, the Prélude from Franck’s Prélude, Fugue, and Variation, and Hyfrydol from Vaughan Williams’s Three Welsh Hymn Preludes. Fala’a program continued with Miroir by Dutch composer Ad Wammes and ended with the Te Deum, op. 11, by Jeanne Demessieux. The Casavant is a wonderful organ in excellent acoustical and architectural surroundings.

The evening recital featured Peter Sykes, assisted by his wife Victoria Wagner, playing the four-manual E.M. Skinner organ, Opus 322 of 1921, in the United Congregational Church of Holyoke. This is a very forthright Skinner organ—I found it a little brutal in the bass at times—in a vast and very beautiful church. Following an American folk tune, White’s Air, arranged by William Churchill Hammond, we heard Peter Sykes’s fine and now well-known transcription of Holst’s The Planets, op. 12. I have now heard Sykes’s transcription of The Planets on several organs in several states, but I thought this was the best performance I have heard. Sykes was able to produce some almost magical effects on the Skinner organ in the quieter passages.

Wednesday, July 1

The first recitalist on Wednesday was Monica Czausz, a young woman who also promises to be one of the outstanding organists of the upcoming generation. A student of Ken Cowan, she has already received several awards in organ-playing competitions. The organ was Johnson Opus 424 of 1874 in Wesley United Methodist Church, Warehouse Point, Windsor, Connecticut, a lovely little organ in a very well-kept church. Ms. Czausz played selections from Widor, Schumann, and Saint-Saëns, as well as a haunting Adagio by Charles-Valentin Alkan and Will o’ the Wisp by Gordon Balch Nevin.

Next we travelled to Somers Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), Somers, Massachusetts, for a recital by Christa Rakich, organ, with cellist Jeffrey Krieger of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. The recital included Ms. Rakich’s own composition, Hommage à Pachelbel: Eleven Variations on ‘St. Anne,’ three pieces for cello and organ by Edward Elgar, and the Ricercar à Trois from Bach’s Musical Offering, BWV 1079. The organ is a fine new tracker instrument by Richards, Fowkes & Co., Opus 21 of 2014. 

We then went to St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, South Hadley, Massachusetts, for the OHS Annual Meeting followed by a hymn sing led by Patrick Scott and featuring the church’s 1964 Casavant tracker organ, Opus 2791. At the meeting, we heard the exciting news that through the generosity of the Wyncote Foundation, founded with monies from the late Otto and Phoebe Haas Charitable Trusts, the Organ Historical Society offices, library, and archives are all to be housed in Stoneleigh, a 35-room mansion built in 1901 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. A presentation showing the plans for the new climate-controlled OHS headquarters was given by OHS member Fred Haas, son of Otto and Phoebe Haas, and also the chair of next year’s OHS convention in Philadelphia. I was particularly interested in the organ at St. Theresa’s used for the hymn sing, a Lawrence Phelps Casavant tracker originally built for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. My late mother-in-law was for many years a member of St. Andrew’s, and so I knew the Casavant organ in its original location well. It was far from satisfactory, being architecturally out of keeping with the building, too loud, and excessively bright and screechy. The church put up with the instrument until 2005 when the then organist and choirmaster, OHS member Harry Kelton, persuaded them to buy a new Juget-Sinclair organ, which is as perfect an organ for the church as one might imagine. The Casavant organ was secured for St. Theresa’s in South Hadley through the Organ Clearing House and was installed in 2005 by Czelusniak et Dugal of Northampton, Massachusetts. Bill Czelusniak told me that no changes were made to the voicing apart from raising a few drooping languids and note-to-note regulation. The Casavant organ fits St. Theresa’s as though it had been built for it. The casework that was so out of place in Wellesley looks just right in the fine modern architecture of St. Theresa’s and the volume of the instrument is just right for the spacious acoustics of the church. Furthermore, the acoustics of the building boost the bass frequencies and absorb some of the upper frequencies, so the organ is perfectly balanced for the room. So now St. Andrew’s, Wellesley, and St. Theresa’s, South Hadley, both have ideal tracker instruments in their buildings. As I asserted above, it is as though the Casavant organ was built for the South Hadley church: the organ has at last found its true home.

The next venue was the South Congregational Church of Amherst, where Christopher Marks gave a recital on Casavant Opus 74 of 1896. This is believed to be the oldest unaltered Casavant organ in North America and was relocated to the Amherst church by Czelusniak et Dugal. The stoplist is interesting in being somewhat similar to many Cavaillé-Coll orgues de choeur, with a small Grand-orgue to 4 foot and a larger Récit to mixture and reed. The recital consisted of works by Pierné, Ropartz, and Widor. 

After this we made a short trip to the Jewish Community of Amherst for a recital by Vaughn Watson. The organ, a splendid little instrument, was built by Emmons Howard in 1900. The synagogue inherited the organ in 1976 when they purchased the building from the Second Congregational Church of Amherst, which had merged with First Congregational Church in 1970. Although the Jewish Community used the organ for a time, they had not used it recently and were excited to discover that it might still be played. Several members of the community were present and expressed interest and enthusiasm for the recital, so one hopes they may make more use of the instrument in future. The recital consisted of works by Bach, Schumann, and Mathias, after which the congregation sang “The God of Abraham Praise,” and Watson rounded off the program with Louis Lewandowski’s Prelude ‘Rosh Hashanah.’

For the evening concert we went to the First Church of Monson (United Church of Christ) for a concert on the organ, Johnson & Son Opus 781 of 1892, played by Rosalind Mohnsen. I suspect that the convention committee’s choice of Mohnsen to give a concert on the Johnson in Monson may have been a little tongue-in-cheek, but it proved to be an excellent pairing. The organ is a fairly comprehensive three-manual and includes—unusually for the period—a soft yet very effective 32-foot Pedal Quintaton. In addition to some well-known works such as Saint-Saëns Fantaisie, the recital included a number of interesting works that are not often played. These included Albert W. Ketelbey’s Sanctuary of the Heart, Karg-Elert’s concert arrangement of Handel’s The Harmonious Blacksmith, Alfred Hollins’s Concert Overture in C Minor, Toccata from Sonata No. 1, op. 40, by René L. Becker, and the Concert Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, op. 45, by Eugene Thayer. Of particular interest was Zsolt Gárdonyi’s playful Mozart Changes.

Thursday, July 2

We began the day with a visit to Heath Union Evangelical Church for a program given by Frances Conover Fitch on the very early William A. Johnson two-manual organ, Opus 16 of 1850. The instrument is interesting in that it appears to have been constructed as a G-compass organ but changed to C-compass during installation. Ms. Fitch demonstrated this very attractive little organ with a selection of works by Percy Buck, John Stanley, John Zundel, and Samuel Wesley. 

The next organ we visited at First Congregational Church in Shelburne was an eye-opener for me in a number of ways. The instrument was J. W. Steere & Son Opus 681 of 1915, an early example of a pitman electro-pneumatic action Steere. The first thing that impressed me was the quality of the work, both tonally and mechanically, every bit as good as the best work of Ernest M. Skinner during the same period. But what was also really impressive was that the organ is a hundred years old and still operating on its original leather, which as yet is showing no signs of giving out. This can be attributed to three factors—the use of very high quality vegetable-tanned (or perhaps even mercury-tanned) leather, the careful sealing of the leather against the atmosphere, and the absence of air pollution in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. The only changes ever made to the organ were the addition of an electric blower and the replacement of the original dry batteries for the action current with a rectifier. I was further impressed by how laid back the organist Carol Britt was about her recital. Unlike the other organists who spent the first few days of the convention frantically practicing for their recitals, Dr. Britt had practiced the previous week and came along on the bus with the rest of us and enjoyed listening to all the organs. She gave a faultless recital consisting of the Pastorale from Guilmant’s Organ Sonata No. 1, David Dahl’s Suite Italiana, and Lefébure-Wély’s Sortie in E-flat.

One of the little-known gems of the Pioneer Valley is the village of Florence, now part of Northampton, Massachusetts. The Victorian Annunciation Chapel was formerly a parish in its own right, but is now part of the consolidated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish and is only used for one Mass each week. The organ, Steere & Turner Opus 305 of 1890, is the oldest organ in Northampton. It is a surprisingly powerful organ for its size. The recitalist was Grant Moss, organist of nearby Smith College in Northampton. The last time Dr. Moss gave a recital at an OHS Convention, our bus driver got hopelessly lost and we missed the recital, so I was delighted that I finally got to hear him this time. The program consisted of works by Healey Willan, Nadia Boulanger, Joseph Jongen, and Alexandre Guilmant.

We then travelled into the center of Northampton for a recital at the First Churches of Northampton, affiliated with both the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Church. The church is a fine Victorian brownstone building with cast iron pillars and an outstanding Tiffany glass window. The celebrated preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) was once the pastor. The organ is E. M. Skinner & Son Opus 507 of 1936, which retains the case and 16 ranks from the previous Johnson & Son organ, Opus 718 of 1889. Lorenz Maycher was intending to give the recital but had to withdraw owing to indisposition, and Charles Callahan graciously agreed to come down from Orwell, Vermont, and step into the breach. He played the Bourée in D of Wallace A. Sabin, Adoration by Florence Price, Nevin’s Will o’ the Wisp, and two pieces of his own composition, Folk Tune (1994) and Hymn-Fantasia on ‘Melita’ (2013)—altogether a very interesting and varied program that showed off the lovely voicing of the Skinner organ to good advantage.

We then returned to the United Congregational Church of Holyoke, where we had heard The Planets on Tuesday evening, for a recital by Christoph Bull in the monumental Skinner Chapel, an amazing neo-Perpendicular building with a vaulted apse. As a chapel, it is much larger than most people’s churches! Unlike the main church, the chapel has air conditioning, so the congregation has the main worship service there during the summer. The organ was Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company Opus 179 built in 1910–12. It was rebuilt in 1972–74 by the Berkshire Organ Company, and reconstructed again, more in keeping with the original design, by Czelusniak et Dugal in 1990–92. Christoph Bull began his recital with one of his own compositions, a rather exciting piece named Vic 1, short for Victimae Paschali Laudes, the Gregorian chant upon which it is based. He followed this with Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, an Invention in C Minor by William Joel, and a transcription of Ravel’s Boléro. Bull’s program continued with another entertaining piece composed by the recitalist, When Felix met J. S.—Mash-up of Mendelssohn and Bach. The organ retains much of its E. M. Skinner sound, but as this recital demonstrated it can handle many varied styles of repertoire well.

The convention proper ended with the evening recital on Thursday, although there was an additional optional day on Friday. The Thursday evening recital was given by Nathan Laube and was streamed live on the Internet. The webcast will be available on the OHS website under “Conventions” at www.organsociety.org. The recital featured the two organs of the Abbey Chapel, Holyoke College, South Hadley. Laube played the first half of the program on the large two-manual C. B. Fisk organ, Opus 84 of 1986, in the west gallery of the chapel. The program reflected Laube’s recent research in early European styles of music and included works by Buxtehude, Cabanilles, Poglietti, Rossi, and van Noordt. These came off extremely well on the organ, which I think in some ways is the best Charles Fisk organ I have ever heard. 

The second half of the concert was performed on the Abbey Chapel’s magnificent four-manual chancel organ, built by George S. Hutchings, Opus 436 of 1896, rebuilt by the Skinner Organ Co., Opus 367 of 1922, and again rebuilt by E. M. Skinner & Son, Opus 511 of 1938. Restoration work was subsequently carried out by William Baker in 2001 and Czelusniak et Dugal in 2013. The second half of Laube’s program included a transcription for organ of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G, op. 23, no. 5, Lynnwood Farnam’s transcription of Dupré’s Cortège et litanie, op. 19, no. 2, the third of Herbert Howells’s Three Psalm Preludes, op. 32, Joseph Jongen’s Sonata Eroïca, op. 94, and the Andante Sostenuto from Widor’s Symphony No. 9 (Symphonie Gothique). The program provided a very fitting close to a great convention.

Friday, July 3 

More than half of us were still around to board the buses for the optional extra day of the convention on Friday. We began the day with recitals on two early E. & G.G. Hook organs. The first of these was Opus 93 of 1849 in First Congregational Church, Hinsdale, New Hampshire. The recitalists were David and Permelia Sears, organ, and their daughter, Rebecca Sears, violin. Permelia Sears played a suite by Jacques Boyvin, which came off very well since the surprisingly complete specification of the organ includes a Tierce, Cremona, and other stops suited to eighteenth-century French organ music. Next Permelia and Rebecca Sears played a transcription for organ and violin of Arthur Foote’s Cantilena in G, op. 71. Permelia Sears’s final offering was the Introduction and Passacaglia from Rheinberger’s Eighth Sonata. Then, in honor of it being the day before July 4, David Sears played his own transcription of Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, specially written to exploit the G-compass of the Hook organ. The organ was originally built for the much larger First Congregational Church in Springfield, where it may have been used to accompany Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” when she visited the church in 1851. It makes a very grand sound in the rather smaller church in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.

The second early Hook organ we visited was also located in a rather smaller building than the one for which it was originally constructed. This was Hook Opus 48 of 1842 in the First Parish (Unitarian) in Northfield, Massachusetts, originally built for Third (later Unity) Church in Springfield. Lubbert Gnodde gave a short recital of works by Franck, Dupré, and Sweelinck. The instrument, though smaller than the Hinsdale one, again produced a rather grander sound than one might
have expected.

We had lunch on the attractive grounds of the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts, with lovely views of the surrounding hills. After lunch it was only a few yards to the school’s Memorial Chapel, built in 1901. Here we heard Rhonda Sider Edgington give a recital on Andover Organ Company Opus 67 of 1970. The program was made up entirely of works by composers born in the last century—Adolphus Hailstork, James Woodman, Margaret Sandresky, Daniel Pinkham, and Libby Larsen. The organ is a fine instrument in fine acoustics and though now 45 years old has weathered well. There is something to be said for the view that a good organ will never really go out of fashion.

Next we proceeded to the First Church of Deerfield, affiliated with both the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Here there is a 2003 organ by Richards, Fowkes & Co., Opus 13, which was designed to be similar to the small village church organs in Thuringia that J.S. Bach would have been familiar with, by builders such as Trost and Hildebrand. The builders have done a remarkable job of fitting a II/22 organ into a case in the relatively shallow gallery that is a mere fourteen feet high. Margaret Irwin-Brandon gave a recital of works by J. G. Walther and J. S. Bach that was well suited to the instrument.

The final recital of the post-convention day was given by Daniel Romero on the organ of Our Lady of the Valley in Easthampton. The J. W. Steere & Son organ, Opus 504 of 1902, originally had a Weigle membrane tubular-pneumatic action that was never satisfactory, but this has now been replaced with an electro-pneumatic action by Czelusniak et Dugal, who also made additions, including a mixture, using Steere pipework. The organ has a rich, warm sound, not unlike a Skinner organ. The program unusually included a plainsong Credo sung by the congregation and accompanied on the organ. Also included were Duruflé’s Choral varié sur le thème de ‘Veni Creator,’ Philip G. Kreckel’s Silent Night, Harold Darke’s An Interlude and Charles Tournemire’s Improvisation sur le ‘Te Deum’ as reconstructed by Maurice Duruflé. And so back to the hotel for drinks and a dinner together before parting homewards by our several ways, God willing to meet again at the Philadelphia convention, June 26 to July 1, 2016.

Fratelli Ruffatti, Padua, Italy

St. Mel’s Cathedral, 

Longford, Ireland

From the organ consultant

The present organ is the fourth to be built for the cathedral. The first instrument was built by the highly respected Victorian firm of Bevington & Sons of London in 1857. This organ served the cathedral for 56 years, being replaced in 1913 by a new instrument made by the German firm of Stahlhuth of Aachen, on the advice of the Reverend Professor Heinrich Bewerunge of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland’s national seminary for the training of priests for the Roman Catholic Church since 1795. Some 14 years earlier Bewerunge had commisioned the same firm to build an instrument for the new College Chapel on the Maynooth campus. This was an innovative instrument for its time and one that clearly impressed and satisfied Bewerunge; hence his recommendation that the same firm from his native country should be commissioned to build the new organ for Longford’s St. Mel’s Cathedral. It was a substantial three-manual and pedal organ, but its positioning in the cathedral was problematic, having to be “shoe-horned” onto the small, high west gallery of the building, tight up against the barrel of the ceiling, leaving only cramped accommodation for what must have been a small choir. It was housed in grilled timber enclosures without visible pipes, and employed the latest pneumatic-action technology that had so impressed Bewerunge in the Maynooth instrument.

By the 1970s it had clearly served its time and had become unreliable in function, and its location, long a problem in terms of participative liturgy, had now become anachronistic in the context of the cathedral’s major reordering according to the liturgical norms of Vatican II. It was, therefore, decided to replace the Stahlhuth installation with a new organ, which, however, was to retain the best of the pipes of the original instrument. This was commissioned from Kenneth Jones & Associates of Bray, County Wicklow. It was to be a two-manual and pedal organ with mechanical action. While the pipes and soundboards of the new instrument remained in the original high gallery, they were sited more advantageously and with less obstruction to tonal egress. A new, generously proportioned gallery was built at a lower level to provide comfortable accommodation for both choir and organist. This organ served the cathedral well until the disastrous fire of Christmas 2009, which saw its complete destruction.

The contract was put out to international tender, with three eminent organ building firms making it to the short list. The contract was ultimately awarded to Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy, a firm with a long history of organ building in various styles on both sides of the Atlantic. In a sense, the commissioning of this instrument from the Italian firm saw history repeating itself, as Fratelli Ruffatti has also recently completed the major restoration and renovation of the Maynooth College Chapel organ, just as Stahlhuth had similarly worked in Maynooth before coming to Longford over a century ago. 

In seeking to provide a new organ for the restored cathedral, the primary aims were to secure an instrument that would at least be of the same high quality as the Jones organ, while providing a richer palette of tonal colors that would make the instrument more suited to a wider range of repertoire, and enhance its accompanimental capacity for choir and congregation. The new Fratelli Ruffatti organ is sited in a case of striking design—placed to the right of the altar, apparently suspended between columns as it follows and echoes the cathedral’s architectural elegance of line. It is thus a visual and musical enhancement of the “new” St. Mel’s, positioned in a manner that clearly gives witness to its key role in providing music for the liturgy, suited to its functions in accompanying choirs, cantors, and congregation, while its sonic design gives the range of color and dynamics necessary to perform with fidelity the centuries-old solo repertoire of the “king of instruments.”

The present organ is the largest in the cathedral’s 160-year history. The instrument now numbers 39 stops, and its enclosed Choir division enhances the accompanimental capacity of the organ, while also enabling it to cope with both romantic and contemporary repertoire with a degree of authenticity and color that the previous organs lacked.

The tonal ethos of the instrument is eclectic, with a bias towards the romantic and symphonic style of organ design. For example, 14 of the stops are at 8′ or 16′ pitch, thus providing solid tonal foundations of varying intensity and flexibility, while seven reed stops provide both variety of color and grandeur as required. The expressive Choir division with its American-style Celeste stop is a bold statement of the instrument’s expressive romantic intent.

Ruffatti opted to manufacture the divisional soundboards and other internal components using Sipo mahogany from Central Africa, as it was felt that this variety of wood would guarantee maximum stability in varying climatic conditions.

New pipes have been cast in the Ruffatti workshop in Padua, some using an alloy of 95% tin to ensure optimal tonal and structural properties, not only for the crafting of the display pipes, but also for all internal pipes of large dimensions. Other pipes have been manufactured utilizing selected alloys to achieve the best tonal properties for each individual stop.

The playing action of the instrument is electric, yet with an application of traditional procedures that look to the future. The three-manual playing console is on a moveable platform with hardwood parquet floor, providing flexibility for both varying liturgical demands and concert usage. In addition, the console accessories include a generous provision of both general and divisional combination pistons, a sequencer system, and record/playback connections to MIDI. Organists can also store a very large number of stop combinations within personalized password-protected memory folders, to facilitate ease of performances.

The organ was installed in the final months of 2014, with tonal completion taking place in April 2015. The dedication and inauguration took place on Sunday, May 24, 2015.

—Gerard Gillen

Titular Organist, Dublin Pro-Cathedral

Professor and Head of Music, Maynooth University, 1985–2007

The architecture
of the Longford organ

The organ in St. Mel’s Cathedral was originally located in the rear balcony. It was decided that a new position in the rebuilt cathedral, in the front of the building, would better suit the liturgical needs of the worship space. In its new location, the organ is elevated from floor level, under three arches in the right side transept. With this configuration the choir sits at the end of the right side nave, in front of the organ. Here, the organ’s presence is significant without being prominent.

It was required that the two columns in the right side transept be free of any load, and that they remain visible. A steel structure with two long beams was built behind the columns, spanning 34 feet and supported by the side pilasters. Since most of the organ’s weight hangs from these main beams, an additional steel structure was built about ten feet above the bottom structure to help support the load. This complicated steel structure further limited the available space and presented a problem for winding and access. Nevertheless, the most important goals to make an installation successful were achieved: ideal location of pipes and access for maintenance needs.

We were asked to design and build the organ case, including the cover of the steel frame. Although the cathedral had to be rebuilt exactly the way it had been before the fire, the general restoration philosophy called for any artwork, all furniture, and the organ to be contemporary in design. Although we have created many organs of traditional design, we at Ruffatti are particularly pleased when we can use creativity and innovation in a design, creating instruments with personality that can be remembered as unique.

We chose a symmetrical concept in the central bay and an asymmetrical concept in the side bays that put a visual emphasis on the central bay. The design is a combination of straight vertical lines and curved horizontal lines, which are traditionally seldom used. The curved lines work well with the arches over the organ, which are a prominent architectural feature recurring throughout the building.

The two enclosed divisions are located in the side bays. They are very effective, incorporating the unique Ruffatti hyperdynamic expression system. The Great and part of the Pedal are in the central bay. To save space inside the case, and to limit its depth, we decided to install the large wood pipes on the back of the organ case, effectively creating a front façade and a rear façade, which turned out to be very successful both aesthetically and tonally.

—Piero Ruffatti

The tonal design
of the Longford organ

Expression is the key to this approach. In using this word, we do not mean merely introducing enclosed organ divisions as a form of control over the volume of sound. Making the organ an expressive instrument means, primarily, creating the conditions by which every single voice, or stop, can be successfully combined with all others. If this condition is met, the number of possible tonal combinations becomes huge even in a relatively small instrument, thus creating the conditions to “express” music more freely and creatively. This is being achieved, in Ruffatti instruments, by the careful dimensioning and voicing of every single stop.

The creation of different volume levels also contributes, of course, to making the organ an “expressive” instrument. In the Longford Cathedral organ, two of the three manual divisions, the Choir and the Swell, are each located inside an expression box. While this feature does not represent anything new, there is something in this instrument that makes it unique. Research conducted by Ruffatti has produced an innovative system for dramatically increasing the dynamic range of the expression enclosures. Far beyond the simple possibility of providing a wider differentiation between “the softest” and “the loudest,” this feature is the key to a wider degree of freedom both for the tonal designer and the performer. A practical example of this concept can be found in the Choir division of this instrument, where a Gemshorn stands alone (possibly with a bit of help from a Holzgedeckt) as the foundation for the secondary Principal chorus of the organ. The possibility of reducing volume to a dramatic degree with the box closed allowed the tonal designer to “scale” and voice the Gemshorn almost to the tonal character and volume of a Principal, big enough to act as the natural foundation of a Positiv division, knowing that, with the box closed, such a stop could also be used, in conjunction with the Gems-horn Celeste, as an elegant, quiet Flute Celeste-like stop.

The same dynamics apply to all stops under expression, in particular the flutes, strings, and reeds, which have been voiced to function both as assertive solo stops and in contexts requiring moderate volume levels.

—Francesco Ruffatti

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

Editor’s note: Part 1 of this article was published in the August 2018 issue of The Diapason, pages 16–19. Part 2 was published in the September 2018 issue, pages 20–25.

We continue with the description of the Swell and Pedal stops of Johnson Opus 161 along with data on their scaling and voicing. In the final installment we will graphically analyze the scaling and voicing data of the Great and Pedal divisions, comparing them to the Great principal chorus of the 1863 E. & G. G. Hook organ formerly at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Boston.

Swell division

8′ Open Diapason

The Open Diapason is the first stop from the front of the chest. The pipes from C–F# are stopped wood, bass G to tenor E are open wood, and tenor F to the top are all planed common metal. The effective scale of the bass of this stop is larger than the Great 8′ Open Diapason in the façade. The photographs show how mouth height is used as a voicing variable; it is virtually a constant 22 mm in all of the open pipes from bass G to tenor E.

16′ Bourdon

There are no data on the pipes of this stop, which play from tenor C. Some of the tenor pipes are tubed off and are placed at the sides, outside of the swell box. Note the classical construction of the stoppers.

8′ Stopped Diapason

There are no data for this stop.

8′ Viole d’Amour

The fourth stop on the chest, the Viole d’Amour plays from tenor F with no grooves and no common bass with the 8′ Stopped Diapason. The pipes are all planed common metal. The ears are very large and serve as the only tuning device. Many pipes showed crimping in the neck (red arrow in Figure 11) where the top resonator bell meets the main tapered resonator, presumably a means of tuning, and probably done by the factory. This is the softest stop in the organ. The flueway depths are generous, and the toes are very constricted, the method by which the extremely low power was obtained.

4′ Principal

The fifth stop on the chest, the 4′ Principal consists of tapered zinc resonators with planed common metal feet from low C to tenor E, and planed common metal cylindrical resonators for the remainder of the stop. It is scaled and voiced very delicately and combines well with either the 8′ Stopped Diapason or the 8′ Viole d’Amour. The mouths of the bass pipes from low C to tenor E are very high and arched.

8′ Hautboy 

The sixth and last stop on the Swell chest, the Hautboy was found with extensive damage, which was repaired on mandrels. The photograph of the unrestored Hautboy pipes and the author was taken around 1976 in the workshop at Rancho San Julian, Lompoc, California. The original compass is likely tenor F, as all pipes from this point are made of planed common metal. Original flue pipes with Reuter slots were made from c#′′′ to g′′′. Pipes were found in the positions from C to tenor E, but these are later additions; they have spotted metal bells, zinc boots, shallot end cuts with positive angles (the Johnson shallots have negative 7 degree angle cuts, see Figure 13), Reuter tuning slots in the bells, and crude miters. All of the Johnson reed resonators are cut to dead length with no slots or scrolls (see Figure 12). Johnson shallots from tenor F are made of copper; the shallots of the spurious bass pipes are brass.

Pedal division

In the tradition of Samuel Green, Johnson greatly widened the scales of the Pedal 16′ Double Open Diapason. The diagonal measurement yields an effective scale diameter of 390 mm, or +9 half tones, an extremely wide scale for a modestly-sized organ. Johnson was probably well aware of the bass inefficiency of the vast majority of American churches, past and present—the bass simply passes through the thin wood and plaster walls of these churches. The mouth width scale is nearly +5 half tones. There are two indications that Johnson drove these pipes with copious wind: the flueway depth is an extremely generous 2.5 mm and the mouth height, or cutup, is an even more generous 85 mm. A cutup of this magnitude represents a normal scale value of +11 half tones, and this, more than any other variable, shows Johnson’s desire for a bass tone that was powerful and tactile.

The largest 18 pipes are laid out, front to back, at the sides of the Great, nine to each side; the remainder are laid out behind the reservoir in chromatic order, making three separate windchests. The stop action is a ventil to all three chests. This is a classically constructed and voiced stop. It has no nicks, no arching to the cutups, and no extra ear extensions, beards, or rollers. As a result, it has superb blend and speech characteristics. The photographs show details of its construction and layout.

Notes and Credits

All photos, drawings, tables, and illustrations are courtesy of the author’s collection if not otherwise noted. Most of the color photos were unfortunately taken by the author with an inferior camera in low resolution. David Sedlak used a high quality camera, lenses, and film to produce the high-resolution color photos of the church and its architectural details; these are all attributed to Sedlak.

To be continued.