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Buzard Pipe
Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 29,
completed November, 2003

All Saints
Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--John-Paul Buzard

GREAT (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual II - unenclosed pipework

16' Double Open Diapason

8' First Open Diapason

8' Second Open Diapason (ext 16')

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Harmonic Flute

8' Bourdon

4' Principal

4' Spire Flute

22/3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

2' Fourniture V

13/5' Harmonic Mixture IV

16' Double Trumpet

8' Trombas (ext Ped)

4' Clarion (ext Ped)

Tremulant

Chimes

8' Major Tuba (20" wind)

8' Tuba Solo (melody coupler)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

SWELL (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual III - enclosed and expressive

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Salicional

8' Voix Celeste

4' Principal

4' Harmonic Flute

22/3' Nazard

2' Flageolet

13/5' Tierce

22/3' Full Mixture V

16' Bassoon

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana

4' Clarion (ext 16')

Tremulant

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHOIR (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual I - enclosed and expressive

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (wood)

8' English Open Diapason

8' Flûte à Bibéron

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16')

8' Dulciana

8' Unda Maris

4' Principal

4' Koppel Flute

2' Recorder

2' Mixture III–IV (Dulcianas)

11/3' Fourniture IV

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

16' English Horn

8' Cornopean

8' Clarinet

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (14 bells)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

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

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

8' Open Diapason

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Gamba Celeste (CC)

8' Melodia

8' Flute Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)

4' Principal

4' Flûte d'Amour

2' Doublette

11/3' Mixture IV

8' Flügel Horn

8' Corno di Bassetto

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (8 bells)

Chimes (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

PEDAL (various wind pressures)

32' Double Open Diapason (digital)

32' Subbass (digital)

32' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch, digital)

16' First Open Diapason

16' Second Open Diapason (Gt)

16' Bourdon

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

8' Principal

8' Bass Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16' Lieblich)

4' Choral Bass

4' Open Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

22/3' Mixture IV

32' Contra Trombone (wood)

16' Trombone (wood, ext 32')

16' Double Trumpet (Gt)

16' Bassoon (Sw)

8' Trumpet (ext 16')

4' Clarion (Sw)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHAPEL (4-inch wind, floating)

8' Open Diapason

8' Aeoline

8' Vox Angelica (tc)

4' Principal

Chapel on Great

Chapel on Swell

Chapel on Choir

Chapel on Solo

Chapel on Pedal

Intraddivisional couplers

Gt/Gt 16-UO-4

Sw/Sw 16-UO-4

Ch/Ch 16-UO-4

Solo/Solo 16-UO-4

Interdivisional couplers

Gt/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Ped 8, 4

Ch/Ped 8, 4

Solo/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Gt 16, 8, 4

Ch/Gt 16, 8, 4

Solo/Gt 16, 8, 4

Sw/Ch 16, 8, 4

Solo/Ch 16, 8, 4

Pedal Stops to Divisional Pistons

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

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

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

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

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

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

--Brent Johnson

Great (exposed)

16’ Violone*

8’ First Open Diapason

8’ Second Open Diapason

8’ Violoncello

8’ Harmonic Flute (Ch)

4’ Principal

4’ Flute Octaviante

2’ Fifteenth

IV Full Mixture

8’ Chorus Tuba (Ch)

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Chimes* (Ant)

Swell (expressive)

16’ Minor Bourdon*

8’ Open Diapason

8’ Stopped Diapason*

8’ Viola*

8’ Viola Celeste*

8’ Flauto Dolce*

8’ Flute Celeste*

4’ Octave Diapason

4’ Triangular Flute*

22/3’ Nazard*

2’ Recorder*

13/5’ Tierce*

IV Plein Jeu

16’ Waldhorn*

8’ Cornopean

8’ Oboe*

4’ Clarion

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Tremolo

Choir (expressive)

8’ Geigen (1-12*)

8’ Concert Flute

8’ Dolcan*

8’ Dolcan Celeste*

4’ Octave Geigen

4’ Transverse Flute

2’ Harmonic Piccolo

16’ Bass Clarinet

8’ Clarinet

8’ English Horn

8’ French Horn*

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

8’ Chorus Tuba

Tremolo

Harp*

Antiphonal (unenclosed - floating) (prepared)

8’ Festival Trumpet*

8’ Tuba Mirabilis*

Chimes*

Antiphonal Pedal (prepared)

Pedal

32’ Contre Bourdon*

16’ Open Wood

16’ Major Bourdon

16’ Violone* (Gt)

16’ Minor Bourdon* (Sw)

8’ Principal

8’ Flute

8’ Stopped Flute

4’ Octave

4’ Harmonic Flute (Gt)

32’ Ophicleide*

16’ Trombone (1–12*)

16’ Waldhorn (Sw)

8’ Tromba

8’ Trumpet (Sw)

4’ Oboe (Sw)

7-bell zimbelstern

*= Digital Voices

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ
Company, Lithonia, Georgia
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.
The rich history of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church is intertwined with the history of the United States, as it has played an important role during many crucial junctures of our history. The church traces its heritage to Scottish artisans who worshiped on the grounds of the White House as it was being constructed in the 1790s. As a regular worshipper during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln rented his own pew. From the early twentieth century it became customary for presidents to attend services on Lincoln Day and sit in Lincoln’s pew. Eighteen sitting presidents have worshipped at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and the cornerstone of the present church was set by President Truman.
Reverend Dr. Peter Marshall preached many famous sermons to a large national audience during World War II. During the annual Lincoln Day service in 1954, the Reverend George Docherty preached a sermon entitled “One Nation Under God,” calling for the addition of the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. The congregation that day included President Eisenhower, who, with his friends in Congress were prompted to add the phrase to the Pledge of Allegiance. Dr. Martin Luther King preached from their pulpit during the 1960s civil rights struggle. This church has long had social justice and responsibility at its very core, which cannot be adequately summarized in just a few lines.
I want to thank the church leadership, musicians, and members of the organ committee for their unwavering support of the Schlueter firm and me. So often when I had an idea, or desired to consider a change, the response invariably was “You are the organbuilder—we trust you. Do what you think is right.” Their measured dialogue, input, and trust were vital in the creation of this instrument and allowed our best work to flourish. I would also like to thank Texas organbuilder Mac Range, who served as a consulting resource between the church and organ company.
During my first visit with the church, I met with Pastor Roger Gench, director of music Dr. Stan Engebretson, and organ committee chairman Douglas Porter. I have to confess that at this meeting (being unfamiliar with the church and its instrument) my first inclination was to see if it would be possible to preserve the extant Skinner. However, after study of the organ, it became clear that the instrument was Aeolian-Skinner largely in name only, with the additional work of at least five other organbuilders. The church was considering the correct course in pursuing a new instrument.
The original organ built by John Brown in 1874 was rebuilt into a new instrument by the E. M. Skinner firm in the 1920s. Then in the 1950s the organ was enlarged and moved to the present church by Aeolian-Skinner. In the ensuing years there were various other additions to the organ and a replacement console. The organ chassis was a collection of E. M. Skinner, Aeolian-Skinner, and supply house actions—parts and pipes that were very much showing their age and were at the point of requiring rebuilding or replacement.
The placement of the former organ was in a rear gallery location. Often this location can be a benefit; however, in this church architecture it was a significant detriment. The organ was laid out with the Choir division in a pit below the rear choir gallery. The Swell division was stacked above the Choir division, with a Great division in front of this and a contemporary Positiv division flown over the Great chests and directly in front of the Swell chamber. The result was tone trap upon tone trap. The significant overhang of the balconies relative to the main sanctuary floor created even more sound traps. Add to that pew cushions on the main floor and the gallery. The result was that the organ started out bottled-up and fighting to speak from its location, and the sound that did get out was eaten up in the room and did not provide adequate support for congregational accompaniment.
Prior to our involvement, the church sought out the opinions of a variety of organists. The venerable organist, composer, and former Washingtonian, Dr. Douglas Major, served as an adviser and consultant to the project. He recommended that the organ and choir should be relocated to the front of the church. This simple act of forthrightly suggesting an alternate location for the organ and choir cannot be understated. His vision and recommendation are to be applauded, and as a builder, I consider the placement suggestion the single most important contribution to the success of this instrument.
In designing a major new element for the church chancel, we committed to the careful inclusion of elements from the church architecture. It was especially important to balance the visual beauty of the organ case with the Celtic Cross, retaining it as the central visual element in the room. We paired brushed zinc façade pipes with Lyptus® wood for the organ case. The choice of this wood species was influenced by the history of the church and its continuing social consciousness, including responsibility to the environment. As a sustainable, plantation-grown lumber, Lyptus® provides a beautifully grained wood that finishes well and complements the older walnut that is in the church furnishings, without adding to the deforestation of a native species.
It was interesting to see the expression of many of the church members the first time they saw the organ case. Incorporated into the organ casement is Isaiah 6:3, “Holy Holy Holy Is The Lord of Hosts The Whole Earth Is Full of God’s Glory,” and 1 John 4:7, “Beloved Let Us Love One Another For Everyone Who Loves Is Born of God And Knows God.” These scriptures, carved in mahogany panels that were gilded and polychromed, became visual reminders of our responsibilities in faith as organbuilders and servants of the church.
In designing a new specification that would incorporate some of the existing organ resources, a detailed study of the organ stops was conducted. It became evident that there had been a large degree of re-use and re-tasking of pipework during many different eras. There were opus numbers on pipework that were not attributable to either Skinner company or John Brown, but that did have marks from the E. M. and Aeolian-Skinner voicers and had been relabeled with inked opus numbers. Some of the pipework had been re-tasked multiple times. A good example was a 13⁄5′ Tierce in the Swell that had been a Great 4′ stop, prior to being a Swell 2′ stop, before becoming a 13⁄5′ Tierce. With rebuilding upon rebuilding, and stop reassignment and repitching, the organ had collected eight harmonic flutes of various pitches and significant scaling problems as they related to other organ stops. Scaling and voicing issues were scattered throughout the instrument among all stop families. Other peculiarities could be found in the Gemshorn, Erzahler, and Flauto Dolce. All of these stops, while differing in nomenclature, shared the exact same scaling, halving ratio, and mouth width. The Salicional and Voix Celeste in the Swell had been deslotted in a former life and various replacement pipes added to these ranks. The majority of reeds in the organ used French shallots, and these reeds provided a very brittle timbre in the church acoustic.
The organ did have many individual beautiful sounds, but they did not coalesce into a unified ensemble. Additional “diamonds in the rough” included the 8′ Clarinet and the 8′ Vox Humana, which dated from the John Brown organ and had been originally retained by
E. M. Skinner and later Aeolian-Skinner. There was clearly an aural reason these stops made the passage of over one hundred years and through the hands of several organ companies. When we studied the construction of these and other stops, and worked with voicing samples in the church, there was no question that these select stops had to be retained, albeit in different roles and/or registers.
Certainly it was clear that less could be more. The organ had grown to over 72 ranks over the years, attempting to overcome issues with the organ placement, room acoustic, and pipe scaling. During the organ removal, we discovered that the organ actually started to sound significantly better after over one-third of the resources had been removed, leaving fewer pipes and chests to occlude the pipe speech. We also moved pipe samples from the rear chamber location to the proposed chancel location. This proved invaluable as we considered the specification design, pipework scaling, and wind pressures.
During the church’s study of our firm, there were several visits to the Schlueter organ (III/47) at First Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia. This instrument, featured in the April 2006 issue of The Diapason, was patterned loosely around the formative specification designs of early American Classicism. We allowed the English influence of American Classicism to flourish in this specification, with a nod toward the romanticism of early American twentieth-century tonal design. While not desiring a direct copy, there was an overall approach to specification and voicing style in the Savannah instrument that was the type of sound that embodied the core of what the church wanted for choral and congregational accompaniment.
The initial specification tendered had 58 ranks over three manual divisions and pedal. Later this grew to 62 ranks with donations made by the Schlueter family. We provided these additions outside of the contract budget because, as artisans, there were several stops that we personally wanted to include in this organ, including a second set of strings in the Swell division, the Great mutation stops, and other changes and stop substitutions.
Each division was designed around an independent 8′ weighted principal chorus. The divisional choruses, while differing in color, are designed to compound one another as a unified whole. The enclosed divisions were designed to be foils to the Great division, to provide weightless accompaniment for choral work, support repertoire, or massed in support of Romantic or transcription repertoire. The strings, when taken as a whole compounded entity, allow the organ to feature a divided string organ division located between the Swell and Choir divisions to be companioned by means of couplers. Considering the stoplist design and room acoustic, we chose to employ reeds with English shallots and voicing practices. Built with Willis tuba shallots, the 16′/8′ Tromba on 16 inches of wind pressure serves as the solo reed. Being enclosed in the Choir expression box allows full dynamic control of this heroic reed.
The organ is built with a steel and wood structure encased by the organ façade and millwork. The lower level of the organ contains the Swell and Choir, while the Great and Pedal divisions of the organ are located in the upper level.
Our firm built electro-pneumatic slider chest actions of the Blackinton variety, with our electro-pneumatic primary design. This type of chest action has the ability to operate over a wide pressure range without repetition problems or pressure limitations. Electro-pneumatic unit chests were provided for all large bass pipes, offset chests, and reeds.
In addition to the frontal expression shades, we designed louvers for the sides of the organ case that open rearward into the corners of the balcony. This was to purposely focus some of the organ energy into the gallery. With the removal of the soft pew pads, this area is used to coalesce the organ sound and maintains the sonic energy in the upper portion of the room, giving an impression of a longer reverberation time than the room actually has. Additional enhancement to the room acoustic came from removal of carpet, which was replaced with natural cork.
The resources of the organ are controlled by a three-manual drawknob console. Built in the English style, the console sits on a rolling platform to allow mobility. The console exterior is built of Lyptus® with an interior of ebonized walnut and ebony. The console features modern conveniences for the performer, such as multiple memory levels, programmable crescendo and sforzando, transposer, MIDI, and the ability to record and play back performances.
With new pipework, existing pipework, and changes to room acoustics, it was decided early on that all of the pipework would be voiced at the church. New pipework was only prevoiced to allow full latitude with cut-ups and any required nicking. All of the samples were set in the chambers on their windchests. A portable voicing machine was installed to the side of the chancel and all of the pipes were voiced prior to their installation in the chambers for final voicing and tonal finishing. Voicing an organ in this manner is quite literally a process of months, involving the movement of thousands of pipes, but was the only way to achieve the results we wanted. An organ of this scale and scope, with this amount of raw voicing work to be done onsite, required a large team. This effort was accomplished by Daniel Angerstein, Peter Duys, Lee Hendricks, Gerald Schultz, and Bud Taylor. It becomes a rote line from the articles of our work, but again I want to single out Dan for his contributions. Over the weeks and months of tonal work, he faithfully led our team’s tonal finishing efforts. He worked to patiently bring forth the voices as they had been planned and envisioned. Indeed, his fingerprints adjoin our own on this instrument.
The building and installation of a pipe organ is a monumental undertaking. The title “organbuilder” presumes long hours, travel, and the temporary suspension of personal lives. This year, in addition to rebuilding projects, A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company built six new instruments. Our firm is so blessed to have the dedicated staff whom I proudly call my colleagues. I would particularly like to mention our management and road crew, including Arthur Schlueter Jr., Marc Conley, John Tanner, Shan Dalton, Marshall Foxworthy, Patrick Hodges, Jay Hodges, Wilson Luna, Rob Black, Pete Duys, and Bud Taylor for the untold hours of travel and work that they put into these projects. These are but part of the Schlueter Organ Company; a full roster of our staff and additional information on our firm and projects can be viewed at <www.pipe-organ.com&gt; or by writing A. E. Schlueter, P.O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058.
I have heard the collective work of organbuilders described as “stained glass for the ears.” As I thought about this, I considered New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which is known for its sacred and secular stained glass windows, chronicled in the book Stories in Stained Glass (1998, Foster, Boswell, Hunter). To paraphrase the foreword by George W. Bergquist: “Generations from now, when the stained glass windows will have acquired the patina of time, they will continue to demonstrate that visual beauty of their sort powerfully reinforcing preaching, testimony and prayer.” How beautifully phrased. It is our sincere wish that our work will be an aural complement to the visual one as our instrument acquires the “patina of time.”

—Arthur E. Schlueter III

Artistic and Tonal Director

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company

3 manuals, 62 pipe ranks

GREAT
16′ Violone (extension)
8′ Principal
8′ Violone
8′ Gemshorn (CH)
8′ Gemshorn Celeste (CH)
8′ Bourdon
8′ Harmonic Flute
4′ Octave
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Super Octave
13⁄5′ Seventeenth
11⁄3′ Fourniture IV
2⁄3′ Scharf III
8′ Trumpet
8′ Tromba Heroique (CH)
Chimes (digital)
Tremulant

SWELL
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (extension)
8′ Principal
8′ Rohr Flute
8′ Viola
8′ Viola Celeste
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
4′ Principal
4′ Wald Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Octavin
13⁄5′ Tierce
2′ Plein Jeu Mixture IV
16′ Contra Oboe (extension)
8′ Trumpet
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Clarion
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4

CHOIR
16′ Gemshorn (extension)
8′ Weit Principal
8′ Holzgedeckt
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Gemshorn Celeste
8′ Flauto Dolce
8′ Flauto Dolce Celeste
4′ Principal
4′ Koppelflote
22⁄3′ Nasat
2′ Schweigel
13⁄5′ Terz
11⁄3′ Quint
2′ Choral Mixture III
8′ Clarinet
16′ Tromba Heroique (extension)
8′ Tromba Heroique
4′ Tromba Heroique (extension)
Zimbelstern
Harp (digital)
Tremulant
Choir to Choir 16
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4

PEDAL
32′ Violone (digital)
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Principal
16′ Violone (GT)
16′ Gemshorn (CH)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (SW)
102⁄3′ Quint
8′ Octave (extension)
8′ Violone (GT)
8′ Gemshorn (CH)
8′ Bourdon (extension)
8′ Gedeckt (SW)
4´ Choral Bass
4´ Cantus Flute (GT)
22⁄3′ Mixture V
32′ Contra Trombone (digital)
32′ Harmonics (wired cornet series)
16′ Trombone (CH)
16′ Contra Trumpet (GT)
16′ Contra Oboe (SW)
8′ Tromba (CH)
8′ Trumpet (GT)
4′ Clarion (GT)
4′ Cremona

Inter-manual couplers
Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Choir to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Great 16, 8, 4
Choir to Great 16, 8, 4
Swell to Choir 16, 8, 4
Cover photo: Dr. Stan Engebretson

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The levee system failed, and over 80% of New Orleans was flooded. For weeks, portions of the city remained under water, with heat and moisture completing the destructive cycle that Katrina began. While waiting for the water to dissipate, we knew that the damage to persons and property would be immense.
Our firm was called by the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to evaluate and salvage the damaged instruments on the campus. Founded in 1917, the seminary sits on a 75-acre campus in the hardest-hit 9th Ward area of New Orleans. The Division of Church Music Ministries aims “to equip leaders for excellence in music ministry among Southern Baptists through performance, education, and technology.” Our charge was to assure that the musical resources were available for their mission.
What we found upon our arrival is perhaps best described by Seminary President Dr. Charles S. Kelly, Jr.:

Hurricane Katrina well and truly earned its designation as the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. Our campus, like most of the city, was devastated. Our homes, many of our buildings, most of our grounds, and virtually all of our musical instruments were hit very, very, hard. The recovery process was long, difficult, and messy beyond anyone’s ability to describe. . . . What made our plight even more difficult was the massive damage to the rest of the campus and the severe losses sustained by our faculty, staff, and student families. The larger picture of what had to be done to reopen the campus and care for our families made allocation of the necessary dollars for the recovery of our lost and severely damaged instruments a very difficult thing to do.

Our work on the campus involved the protection and removal of many of the significant music instruments including multiple grand pianos, a harpsichord, and the 1954 Möller (III/27) and 1966 Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1468 (IV/38) pipe organs. Of prime concern was protecting the instruments to prevent further damage. In addition to water, the storm brought massive amounts of airborne contaminants into the instruments, and, with heat, mold.
The Möller organ, located in the Sellers Music Building Recital Hall, was damaged when the roof gave way, flooding the organ with thousands of gallons of water that passed through the two chambers and filled the pitman chests and winding system. When we arrived several weeks later and opened the chests, there was still a significant amount of water in the organ.
The Aeolian-Skinner was damaged when the 150-mile-per-hour winds blew out the window behind the organ. For hours on end, the outside became the inside as the storm vented its fury on the Skinner. As with the recital hall organ, we found water in the organ many weeks after the storm.
It was inevitable that there would be long and intense negotiations with insurance companies about the losses and rebuilding. The enormity of Katrina simply overwhelmed insurers. One could go on at length about the negotiations and the efforts and education that were required with the insurance companies. Suffice it to say that at one point the insurers appraised the older, smaller Möller at a greater amount than the larger, newer Aeolian-Skinner.
The Möller organ’s status was very clear cut because of the extreme damage to the chassis and its utilitarian design. The Aeolian-Skinner and its disposition was a thornier issue. The damage to the organ was severe, but with heroic measures it could have been restored. The problem was that a true restoration would involve tremendous expense that could exceed the organ’s replacement cost. The insurance company did not understand that if you replace the chests, swell box, some pipework, the winding system, and the console with new materials, the organ would cease to be Opus 1468. While we fought for funds for restoration, the client and our firm resolved that either the Skinner would be unaltered and restored without change, or if changes were required, that the resources would be folded into a new instrument. As negotiations concluded, funds available for the Skinner were not sufficient for a true restoration.
In addition to wide-ranging discussions about how the instruments would be used, we also traveled with Dr. Becky Lombard, professor of music theory and keyboard studies, to hear many of our recent instruments. We evaluated how these differing specifications might relate to the needs of the seminary and the church music program. From these visits it became apparent that we would build two distinctly different instruments.

Sellers Recital Hall (III/34)
The recital hall organ is used primarily for teaching and for literature performance. Space was limited, but we felt that the organ could be enlarged to provide additional resources not present in the 1954 instrument. With the performance of literature being the goal, choices had to be made about meeting the requirements of specific periods—yet the stoplist couldn’t be too era-specific.
The decision was made to design an instrument that could create the colors of all periods of music history. We also had to consider accompaniment of voice, both solo and choral. In this diminutive hall with seating for around 100, we had to create a rich, full palette without overwhelming the performer or listener. Tonally, the voicing is in a very clean, unforced style. There is crispness to registrations that will promote clean, articulate playing.
This organ had to be able to transform itself into any number of service instruments that the student might encounter in music ministry. The organ we designed is three manuals with 34 ranks of pipe resources. It is equally tempered to accommodate contemporary worship and use with piano accompaniment, and also offers full MIDI capability. This was the first instrument delivered to the campus.

Leavell Chapel (IV/83)
The chapel organ was designed with a different focus. While literature will be performed regularly, the organ’s role in service playing determined the overriding design. Each week chapel services are held and the organ is called on to support congregational singing and to accompany soloists. Collaborative performances with the organ and piano are quite common. The organ is also used to play for services with small numbers in the congregation and, at the end of each semester, for a “packed house” during graduation ceremonies, so a wide dynamic range was needed. The chapel is a cavernous space with seating for over 2000.
When the Aeolian-Skinner was installed, it had 38 ranks with “prepared for” Choir and Positiv divisions and additional Pedal and Great registers that were never added. The room had been acoustically altered from its 1966 incarnation, and the gently voiced Great and Swell on the Skinner did not have the presence required for this hall. Because of other uses of the chapel, the room had been softened with acoustically absorbent material, and this was to remain in place.
The new organ was conceived as a four-manual with Great, Swell, Choir, and Solo divisions. It is located on the central axis of the room on a shelf. The dimensions of this space are 36 feet wide and 18 feet deep.
It was important to the school that the room remain visually unaltered; so, the old façade and casework were restored. The Skinner 16′ Sub Principal was revoiced into a 16′ Violone for the Great division. The college wanted to leave the window at the rear of the organ, which was a concern thermally and acoustically. To overcome this problem, the new windows were designed as insulated units rated to resist a storm stronger than Katrina. We placed the enclosed expression boxes across the rear span of the space with inward partitions to provide our own back chamber wall. With a height of over 16 feet, the expression boxes provide a forward focus for the organ in addition to the needed thermal barrier, while still allowing light through the windows above the organ.
In designing the specification and scaling, I wanted to provide the resources that would allow the performer a vast array of color and weight, suitable for any repertoire. The organ was built with the classical underpinnings of principal, flute, and reed chorus structure to support classical and sacred repertoire; in a bow to Romanticism, I included elements of the American romantic or symphonic organ. This blending provides an instrument that would be evocative of early American Classicism, albeit with cleaner and more articulate flue choruses.
In concert with this eclectic tonal design, an expressive, floating Solo division was included. Included in this division are some of the rarer high-pressure stops, including French Horn, English Tuba, Solo Gamba and companion Celeste, and the hauntingly beautiful 8′ Philomela and 4′ Flauto Major.
We were able to retain about half of the Skinner resources, which were revoiced and rescaled for the new instrument. Some stops were either too damaged, or the material suspect, to consider their reuse. The original Skinner reeds were French in design and small-scaled. We felt that the size and acoustic of the chapel, in conjunction with the stoplist design, would be better served with English shallots, thicker tongues, and higher wind pressures. In addition to chorus reeds, the organ has a full battery of high wind pressure solo reeds that were duplexed in a floating Trompeteria division at multiple pitches with separate couplers.
In keeping with the accompanimental nature of the organ, each division is designed around an independent 8′-weighted principal chorus. The divisional choruses, while differing in color, are designed to be compounded as a unified whole. The mixtures in this instrument are pitched lower than what might be found in many contemporary instruments. Where additional treble ascendency is required, secondary higher-pitched mixtures were also included in each division, scaled and voiced to serve as a functional foil to the divisional chorus without stridency.
The strings and flutes in the expressive divisions are designed to build weightless accompaniment for choral work, or massed in support of romantic or transcription repertoire. The organ features a divided string division located among the Swell, Choir, and Solo divisions, to be compounded by means of couplers. Ever present, to be blended with this string chorus, is the 8′ Vox Humana, which has its own enclosure and tremulant.
With the exception of some 32′ Pedal registers and percussions, the organ does not include digital augmentation. We wanted the organ to stand on wind-blown resources. In support of this decision, we added an additional register to the Pedal—the independent 16′ Wood Open. Installed to the right and left of the center organ core and on 7½ inches of wind pressure, it provides a solid fundamental that is truly felt in the room.
Our experience in servicing instruments in this region has made us aware of the need for stability in the materials and action choices, due to the temperature extremes and constant humidity. The organ chest action is electro-pneumatic slider, with all reeds on electro-pneumatic unit action. The flue pipes and the reed pipes are thus on actions that maximize the speech characteristics of each type of pipe. This also allows the flues and reeds to be placed on differing wind pressures and tremulants. The wind is regulated with dual-curtain valve, spring and weighted reservoirs.
The wind pressures on this instrument vary from 4 to 18 inches. To control these resources, the expression boxes are built 1½ inches thick, with interlocking shades. Multiple motors are used on the shade fronts to allow a full dynamic gradation. The four-manual, drawknob console, built of mahogany and ebony, includes features such as multiple-level memory, transposer, Great/Choir manual transfer, piston sequencer, programmable crescendo and sforzando, record/playback capability, and MIDI.

Installation and voicing
The removal, building, and installation of these instruments were herculean tasks. It is an understatement to say that the staff of the Schlueter firm took up residence in New Orleans. I simply cannot give enough credit to the leadership of our senior organ builders Marc Conley, John Tanner, Rob Black, and Bud Taylor for the untold hours of travel and work that they put into these projects. Organ building cannot be achieved as the result of any one individual, but requires a skilled team. These individuals continue to exceed expectations in the creation of art.
From the outset, we decided that these two instruments would be voiced in the rooms, with the pipes arriving to the installation only prevoiced to allow full latitude with cut-ups and any required nicking. All of the samples were set in the chambers on their windchests and then the pipes were removed from the chambers. We brought a portable voicing machine and layout tables into spaces adjacent to the organ chambers to voice the pipes prior to their reinstallation in the chambers for final voicing and tonal finishing. Because of the size of these two projects, it was necessary to work as a team in tonal finishing, led by Daniel Angerstein, with the able assistance of John Tanner, Marc Conley, Bud Taylor, Kevin Cartwright, Lee Hendricks, and Gerald Schultz. As with so much of our previous work, I want to single out Dan and his contributions. In the many weeks of tonal finishing, he patiently brought forth the organs as they had been envisioned by the client and the builder.

Final thoughts
As we designed the two organs, it became clear that the organs that were desired could not be afforded by the school with the balance of their settlements. Over the years, we have been privileged to gift resources to churches. As owners, my father and I looked inward and decided that the importance of a continuing role of the organ in worship was a worthy cause. This required us to consider a donation, and without revealing the dollar value of our gifts, suffice it to say that there is a four-manual, 83-rank instrument where there had been a 38-rank instrument, and a 34-rank instrument where there had been a 27-rank instrument.
We would like to thank Dr. Charles Kelly, Dr. Becky Lombard, and Dr. Kenneth Gabrielse for their contributions and support during this project. Thanks also to our dedicated staff, listed on our website (www.pipe-organ.com).
Our tonal philosophy is to “build instruments that have warmth not at the expense of clarity, and clarity not at the expense of warmth, and to serve God in our efforts.” We pray that in future years our gifts endorse the importance of the organ in worship, and we hope that our instruments will plant the seeds of worship through music, for future students who pass through this institution.
—Arthur Schlueter III

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Leavell Chapel, four manuals, 83 ranks
GREAT – Manual II (unenclosed)
16′ Violone (73 pipes) (1–24 façade)
8′ First Open Diapason (Pedal)
8′ Second Open Diapason
8′ Principal (1–12 façade)
8′ Stille Principal (from Cornet)
8′ Violone (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Harmonic Flute (49 pipes)
(1–12 common bass)
8′ Bourdon
4′ Octave
4′ Diapason (Pedal ext, 12 pipes)
4′ Nachthorn
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Super Octave
V Cornet TC
2′ Mixture VI
1′ Scharf IV
16′ Contre Trumpet (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Trumpet
8′ Tromba Heroique (Choir)
8′ English Tuba (Solo)
Tremolo
Gt/Gt 16′–Unison Off–4′
SWELL – Manual III (enclosed)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Rohr Gedeckt
8′ Viola de Gamba
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Dolce
8′ Dolce Celeste (54 pipes)
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Flageolet
13⁄5′ Tierce
22⁄3′ Plein Jeu V
1′ Klein Fourniture IV
16′ Contra Bassoon (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Trumpet
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana
4′ Clairon
Tremolo
Sw/Sw 16′–Unison Off–4′
CHOIR – Manual I (enclosed)
16′ Gemshorn (ext, 12 notes)
8′ Principal
8′ Hohl Flute
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Gemshorn Celeste (49 pipes)
4′ Principal
4′ Koppel Flute
22⁄3′ Nasat
2′ Principal
13⁄5′ Terz
11⁄3′ Larigot
11⁄3′ Choral Mixture IV
8′ Clarinet
8′ Tromba Heroique (high pressure)
8′ English Tuba (Solo)
8′ Trompette En Chamade (Trompeteria)
Tremolo
Chimes (digital)
Harp (digital)
Zimbelstern (9 bells)
Ch/Ch 16′–Unison Off–4′
SOLO – Manual IV (enclosed)
8′ Philomela
8′ Gamba
8′ Gamba Celeste
4′ Flauto Major
8′ French Horn
8′ Tromba Heroique (Choir)
8′ English Tuba (high pressure)
Tremulant
Solo/Solo 16′–Unison Off–4′
TROMPETERIA – Manual IV
16′ Tromba Heroique (Choir)
8′ Tromba Heroique (Choir)
4′ Tromba Heroique (Choir)
16′ English Tuba (Solo)
8′ English Tuba (Solo)
4′ English Tuba (Solo)
8′ Trompette En Chamade (high pressure)
Trompeteria Unison Off
Trompeteria on Great
Trompeteria on Swell
Trompeteria on Choir
PEDAL
32′ Violone (digital)
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Open Wood
16′ Principal (ext, 12 pipes)
16′ Violone (Great)
16′ Gemshorn (Choir)
16′ Subbass
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8′ Octave Bass
8′ Violone (Great)
8′ Bass Flute (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Spitz Flute
4′ Choral Bass
4′ Nachthorn
22⁄3′ Mixture V
32′ Harmonics (wired cornet series)
32′ Contra Trombone (digital)
16′ Trombone (ext, 12 pipes, enclosed in Ch)
16′ Contre Trumpet (Great)
16′ Contra Bassoon (Swell)
8′ Tuba (Solo)
8′ Tromba (Choir)
8′ Trumpet (Great)
4′ Tromba Clarion (Choir)

Standard couplers and MIDI

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Sellers Recital Hall, three manuals, 34 ranks

GREAT
16′ Pommer (Choir)
8′ Gedeckt Pommer (Choir)
8′ Principal
8′ Bourdon
4′ Octave
4′ Nachthorn
4′ Gedeckt (Choir)
2′ Super Octave
11⁄3′ Fourniture IV
16′ Contre Trompette (Swell)
8′ Trompette (Swell)
8′ Clarinet (Choir)
8′ Festival Trumpet (Pedal)
Tremolo
Chimes
Great 4′

SWELL (expressive)
16′ Contra Viola (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Gedeckt
8′ Viola de Gambe
8′ Viola Celeste (49 pipes)
4′ Principal
4′ Spitzflute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Blockflute
13⁄5′ Tierce
2′ Plein Jeu III–IV
16′ Basson-Hautbois (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Trompette
8′ Festival Trumpet (Pedal)
8′ Hautbois
4′ Hautbois (ext, 12 pipes)
Tremolo
Swell 16′–Unison Off–4′

CHOIR (expressive)
16′ Pommer
8′ Koppel Flute
8′ Viola
8′ Viole Dolce
8′ Viole Dolce Celeste TC
4′ Principal
4′ Gedeckt (ext, 24 pipes, from 16′)
2′ Gemshorn
11⁄3′ Larigot
8′ Clarinet
8′ Festival Trumpet (Pedal)
Celesta (digital)
Harp (digital)
Tremolo
Choir 16′–Unison Off–4′

PEDAL
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Principal (digital)
16′ Contra Viola (Swell)
16′ Sub Bass
16′ Pommer (Choir)
8′ Principal
8′ Viola (Swell)
8′ Bourdon (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Gedeckt (Choir)
4′ Choral Bass (ext, 12 pipes)
4′ Bourdon (ext, 12 pipes)
4′ Viola (ext, 12 pipes)
32′ Posaune (digital)
16′ Contre Trompette (ext, 12 pipes)
16′ Hautbois (ext, 12 pipes)
8′ Trompette (Swell)
8′ Hautbois (Swell)
4′ Hautbois (Swell)
4′ Clarinet (Choir)

Standard couplers and MIDI

On a personal note
“New Orleans Spared”—Such was the erroneous headline of the newspaper in Savannah, Georgia, on the morning after Hurricane Katrina. At the time, the Schlueter firm was completing the organ at First Presbyterian Church in Savannah (featured in The Diapason, April 2006). My father, members of the installation crew, and I had stared anxiously at the news the previous evening and wondered about our friends in New Orleans and outlying areas. Our firm has worked in the aftermath of a number of major hurricanes and storms in recovery and restoration efforts. Unlike these other disasters, every day the situation in New Orleans grew steadily worse.
Almost exactly one year prior to Katrina, we had completed the rebuilding, relocation, and enlargement of the IV/74 instrument for the First Baptist Church in New Orleans. We made many acquaintances during this period, and through the Internet we were able to find many of our friends who had fled to other cities and states. We prepared for what would face us when the water receded and we could make our way into the city.
It was surreal as the shop vehicles were packed with our own stores of food, water, fuel and medicine for the trip. As we neared the Gulf Coast, the sheer enormity of the disaster began to unfold. We crossed Lake Pontchartrain’s 24-mile causeway on a road that had been reduced to a single lane, following the collapse of entire spans of the eastbound lanes. As we arrived in the evening, the scene before us was a macabre black hole that enveloped the city. From the elevated roadway, the marginally lit downtown of New Orleans was surrounded by a dark, lightless void for miles and miles, indicating the extent of the flooding. We arrived in the city under martial law, and had to learn the intricacies of identification and going through armed checkpoints.
With the daylight, the enormity of the flood was overwhelming. Driving into the 9th Ward, you could see watermarks that were many feet over one’s head. Homes, businesses, and structures sported the hieroglyphics of spray paint, with X’s, O’s and slashes to indicate that the structures had been searched and what had been found. Traveling around places once familiar, we found abandoned cars, collapsed buildings, and most distressingly, an absence of life. When we talked with people we knew and asked what we could do, the answer was always the same, “Pray for us.”
In the ensuing months that stretched out over two years for the three instruments we worked on, we became emotionally involved with the city and its people. We came to New Orleans to work on behalf of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and to restore part of their community. When we visit today, there are still signs of Katrina that only the passage of time will erase, but undeniable is the resilience of the people as they seek to rebuild their community. It is our hope that our response to Katrina on behalf of this community exemplifies “laborare est orare.”
—Arthur Schlueter III

 

 

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 31: St. Bede Catholic Church, Williamsburg, Virginia

This new instrument was just installed this spring, the tonal finishing completed during April and June. This is the 31st new pipe organ built by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders of Champaign, Illinois, and
the first of two new Buzard organs to be installed in Williamsburg churches. Williamsburg Presbyterian Church will receive Opus 32 next spring for their new Georgian style building at the entrance to Colonial Williamsburg.

The organ at St. Bede Catholic Church is the result of eight
years of planning and dreaming, hoping and praying. St. Bede’s
communicant strength is about 3,000 families, formerly located in a small
landlocked building close to Colonial Williamsburg. The former site simply could not accommodate the parish’s phenomenal growth, nor could the entire parish worship together. When planning the new building, St. Bede’s pastor, the Rev. Monsignor William Carr, insisted that the new
church include a pipe organ, and that the organbuilder be commissioned to work with the architect from the beginning. The new building, designed by architect Tom Kerns, seats 1,500 and is expandable to seat 2,000.

The then music director, and later consultant for the project, Steve Blackstock, formed a musical instruments committee to select the
organbuilder, as well as other musical instruments for purchase. The musical instruments committee directly communicated with the parish’s building committee (called the core committee) as the new building was planned, to make sure that the organ’s requirements were supported throughout the process.

Even though this church is not located in the Colonial District, there was great concern on the part of the core committee that the building relate to the area’s Georgian architecture--no small feat for a big round room--and that, since the organ case would be the significant visual element in the church, it must reflect appropriate features of Georgian design. A great emphasis was placed on the importance of art and
music as direct participants in liturgical expression, and the organ had to
appeal to all the senses in this surprisingly intimate--although rather
large--space. 

As the building’s design process unfolded, and the cost estimates exceeded projections, significant “value engineering” of the building was undertaken to allow the church to be built. The organ project was shelved and its estimated cost applied toward the building. It became apparent that an organ, whenever it would be installed, would need a small antiphonal division at the opposite end of the church to assist in congregational singing, due to a change in building materials.
Certain stops in the organ were prepared for future addition, to lower the
initial price. The music personnel changed, and the parish concentrated upon building the church. 

Once the building was up, Monsignor Carr’s passion for building the new pipe organ was rekindled. His love of fine art and artistic liturgical expression is infectious. It was through his inner fire that he established the notion in the minds of the parishioners that the church was simply not finished until the pipe organ was installed. Although at the time the church did not have an organist, our contract was signed the week following
the new building’s dedication. 

As the organ’s installation date approached, the parish hired organist Neil Kraft of Ohio to be their new director of music. He has already established himself in the Tidewater area as a musician of high
caliber, and the perfect person to develop an inclusive parochial music
program, with the organ as the principal musical instrument. A concert series to celebrate the dedication of this new instrument is being organized. The opening recital was played by Erik Wm. Suter on Sunday, September 30, and John Scott will play in June of 2006. The church is working on sponsorship of a concert featuring the Virginia Symphony, but this is currently in the planning stage. The new pastor, the Rev. John Abe, is committed to making St. Bede known for beautiful music, both in liturgical and concert contexts, for Williamsburg and the greater Tidewater area.

The organ case stands three stories tall and is made of 11/2-inch thick solid white oak and white oak veneers. Walnut is used for the pipe shades and accenting trim details. This is truly heroic cabinet making! The façades incorporate pipes of the Great 16’ Double Open
Diapason (the low 20 notes of which are shared in the pedal), the Great First and Second 8’ Open Diapasons, and the Pedal 8’ Principal. The
16’ Pedal First Open Diapason of wood stands behind the organ case and is stained and finished in a dark walnut color. Resonators of the low octaves of the Pedal 32’ and 16’ Trombones are made of beautiful, clear pine, continuing upscale in thick 52% tin pipe metal as this stop becomes the manual Tromba, voiced on 7” wind. The big Tuba stands vertically in the Choir box just behind the shutters, and is certainly the Tromba’s big brother, being voiced on nearly 30” pressure!

The Procession Organ’s case is also of white oak, to match the Main Organ case. Its pipe shades are carved basswood. Celtic crosses
have been cut into the tower tops and are enameled in rich, dark purple (the manufacturer’s color name “Monsignor” led to the whimsical
decision to incorporate it into the case in honor of Monsignor Carr), and
outlined in gold leaf. When played with the Main Organ, the Processional
Organ’s two Principal stops have the effect of “pulling” the sound out of the Main Organ’s case and surrounding the listeners with an
incredibly inescapable, voluptuous tone.

The console of 11/2-inch thick white oak is attached to an easily moved platform. And it’s a good thing, because the organ is heard in its best balance starting about 15 feet away from the case. We utilize
AGO radiating, concave pedalboards for their superior ergonomics. In a modern, eclectic pipe organ, the pedalboard’s shape should not limit an
organist’s ability to play in styles other than that which a flat pedalboard
dictates.

Those who have followed our work know that our instruments
are liturgical organs that play literature remarkably well. Our style is in
direct response to the need for an organ to function liturgically and
musically, but not at the expense of a particular historical, national, or
idiosyncratic musical style. Only a classic concept of organbuilding can truly accomplish this, and I think only an organist-trained organbuilder has the ability to empathize with modern American musical requirements, reconcile these to classic organbuilding practices, and know how to achieve the intended results. 

Slider windchests keep the tonal design physically honest,
and offer speech, voicing, and tuning advantages (as well as virtually no
long-term maintenance). Our proprietary Slider Pedal Chest allows us to play a single rank of pedal pipes at several pitches--without giving up slider chest speech, tuning stability, and repetition characteristics. Because they’re pedal stops, and usually only one note is played at a time, we can scale these individual ranks to be appropriate for two or three tonal contexts and save the client some money. 

Although we were one of the first American organbuilders to
reintroduce the Tuba into modern practice, in 1991 at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Champaign, our tonal innovations are often of a subtler (and quieter) nature.  For example, in this organ we have specially developed Dolcan-shaped pipes for the metal top octaves of open wood ranks; they sound like wood pipes, but stay in tune. We have perfected Walter Holtkamp’s Ludwigtone as our Flute Cœlestis, its plaintive and gentle celesting tone evocative of something heavenly, which
explains the pun in the nomenclature. We have refined the 18th-century French Flûte à Bibéron (“Baby-Bottle Flute”) to be a colorful chimney flute tone suitable for solos, the foundation of a flute chorus, or secondary foundation for a principal chorus.

The sound of the organ is warm and rich, filling the space
nicely with a generous foundation. Each chorus has its own distinctive color, so there is no redundancy within each family of sound. The organist is able to lead congregational singing with a wide variety of color, at many different volume levels. And, recitalists won’t be disappointed in the tonal
resources and the informed manner of their disposition and execution. 

Everyone seems to have found “favorite” stops in this instrument. Of course the Pontifical Trumpets titillate the eye and ear, and most visitors want to hear them right off the bat. However, my 16-year-old son Stephen, already an organist of greater accomplishment than his father, fell in love with the Choir 8’ English Open Diapason while preparing a recital for the Tidewater POE held last June. “It has something to tell you,” he says. What higher compliment can an organbuilder receive? After all, shouldn’t pipe organs have a strong emotional appeal, so that when played they grab you and don’t let go? yes"> 

Henry Willis once said that truly great organs are only created when 90% of the project’s effort is expended upon the last 2% of perfection. After the organ is built, installed, and voiced, it’s that last step of careful, time-consuming, painstaking tonal finishing that imparts a living soul into the instrument. That you feel “connected” while listening or playing is no happy accident, but the result of careful listening and exacting craftsmanship on the part of the voicer working on the pipes. It is only when one is working at this level that organbuilding is truly an art.
And, it is only when clients have the sensitivity and sensibility to know the
difference that truly world-class pipe organs are commissioned.
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It has been a tremendous honor to build this instrument, and
to work with Father Abe, Monsignor Carr, Steve Blackstock, Neil Kraft, and the wonderful people at St. Bede’s Church. We look forward to many years of wonderful music-making and musically inspired liturgies at St. Bede’s.

Deepest thanks to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders who have made this instrument so much more than the sum of its parts:

Charles Eames, executive vice-president, chief engineer,
general manager

Brian K. Davis, associate tonal director, head voicer, director, tonal department

Phillip S. Campbell, business manager

Keith Williams, director, service department

Shayne Tippett, shop manager

Stuart Martin, cabinet maker

C. Robert Leech, cabinet maker

Bob Ference, cabinet maker and service technician

Lyoshia Svinarski, wind system construction

Kenneth McCabe, wind system construction

Ray Wiggs, console, electrical systems, wind chest
construction

Evan Rench, pipe maker, voicer, racking, tonal associate

Stephen P. Downes, pipe preparation, racking, tonal
associate

Todd Wilson, service technician, installation

Stuart Weber, service technician

Jay K. Salmon, office manager

JoAnne Rench, receptionist

--John-Paul Buzard

43 straight speaking stops, 54 ranks, across three manuals
& pedal

GREAT ORGAN (4” wind)

16’ Double Open Diapason (tin in façade)

8’ First Open Diapason (tin in façade)

8’ Second Open Diapason (1–8 from 16’)

8’ Viola da Gamba (tin)

8’ Claribel Flute (open wood)

4’ Principal

4’ Spire Flute

22/3’ Twelfth

2’ Fifteenth

13/5’ Seventeenth

2’ Fourniture V

V Cornet (tenor C, preparation)

8’ Trumpet (preparation)

8’ Tromba (Ped)

4’ Clarion (from Tromba)

8’ Major Tuba (in case)

8’ Tuba Solo (melody coupler function)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets (polished copper, horizontal,
over entry door)

SWELL (4” wind)

8’ Violin Diapason

8’ Stopped Diapason (wood)

8’ Salicional

8’ Voix Celeste

4’ Principal

4’ Harmonic Flute

2’ Octavin

22/3’ Full Mixture V

16’ Bassoon (full length)

8’ Trompette

8’ Oboe

4’ Clarion

Tremulant

8’ Major Tuba (Ch)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets

CHOIR ORGAN (4” wind)

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt

8’ English Diapason

8’ Flûte à Bibéron

8’ Flute Cœlestis (doubled open wood)

4’ Principal

4’ Suabe Flute (open wood)

22/3’ Nazard

2’ Recorder

13/5’ Tierce

11/3’ Mixture IV

16’ English Horn (preparation)

8’ Clarinet

Tremulant

Cymbalstern

8’ Major Tuba (30” wind)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets (51/2” wind)

PROCESSIONAL ORGAN

(4” wind, housed in a case over the entry doors)

8’ Open Diapason (tin in façade)

4’ Principal

PEDAL (various pressures)

32’ Double Open Diapason (1–12 digital)

32’ Subbass (1–12 digital)

32’ Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital)

16’ First Open Diapason (open wood)

16’ Second Open Diapason (Gt, tin-façade)

16’ Bourdon

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

8’ Principal (tin-façade)

8’ Bass Flute (ext 1st Open)

8’ Bourdon (ext 16’)

8’ Gedeckt Flute (Ch)

8’ Spire Flute (preparation)

4’ Choral Bass (ext 8’)

4’ Open Flute (ext yes">  8’ Bourdon)

32’ Contra Trombone (from 16’, wood)

16’ Trombone (wood)

16’ Bassoon (Sw)

8’ Trumpet (from 16’)

4’ Clarion (from 8’)

8’ Major Tuba (Gt)

8’ Pontifical Trumpets

The organ has a full set of inter- and intra-manual couplers. These have been omitted from this specification for brevity and ease of reading.

Russell & Co. Organ Builders,
Chester, Vermont
First Presbyterian Church, Ithaca, New York

From the builder
The term magnum opus is often used in the organbuilding trade to denote the apotheosis of an organbuilder’s career. It is an impressive expression, and the organs that receive such an accolade are usually equally impressive. It is interesting to note, however, that the distinction of magnum opus can be an ephemeral one. What a builder thinks of as his ‘biggest and best’ may be eclipsed just a few years later with an opus magnum novum. In any event, at the outset of a project an organbuilder has termed his magnum opus, he inevitably approaches the creation of the instrument with great reverence and dedication. When we received the contract to build our opus 47 for First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, New York, we knew this would be our magnum opus and, regardless of whether a grander organ would leave our shop in years to come, took on the project in this way, making no little plans to design and build a pipe organ worthy of this special moniker.
First Presbyterian is a grand Romanesque stone structure built in 1894 and located in the heart of downtown Ithaca. The sanctuary seats 500 under a high barrel vault, coffered and richly ornamented with plaster florets. The church enjoys a large, vibrant congregation and an equally active music program, including a sizable adult choir, children’s choir, and handbell choir. In conjunction with the organ project, the sanctuary was renovated to remedy the less-than-desirable acoustics. Previously, the entire floor of the room was carpeted, and the pews were cushioned in heavy velvet. A completely new ceramic tile floor, new and less-absorbent seat cushions, hardened wall surfaces, and a new rear wall designed to reflect sound randomly all contribute to a lively and supportive acoustic, approaching three seconds of reverberation.
The preceding instrument began its life in 1901 as Austin’s opus 39—a three-manual instrument of 47 ranks, including a five-rank Echo organ added in 1930. The organ was installed in the front of the church behind a handsome white oak case crowned with a magnificent central tower rising nearly the full height of the sanctuary. Designed in traditional early 20th-century style, the organ contained the typical myriad of foundation stops, with sparse trimmings of upperwork, undergirded by an ample and satisfying pedal department. Sixty-five years later, Austin was called to rebuild the organ in keeping with the tonal thinking of the day. The result was completely new pipework typical of late 1960s construction and voicing; the Echo organ, thanks to the organist, Dorothy Arnold, was retained and unchanged. With many manual stops sharing common basses, and the pedal division largely borrowed from the manuals, there was little foundation tone. The scaling of the new pipework exacerbated this condition, with halving ratios that resulted in a thin bass and a treble ascendancy unwelcome in so dry a room. The impressive 16¢ and 8¢ 1901 façade was completely replaced by much narrower-scaled pipes with English bay mouths, leaving large, odd-looking gaps between the pipes.
By the 1990s, the organ proved to be inadequate for the many demands the church’s music program placed upon it. Mounting mechanical problems toward the end of the decade that rendered the instrument increasingly unreliable led the church’s organist, George Damp, and the director of music, Larry Doebler, to realize that a completely new instrument was needed to correct the tonal inadequacies of the existing instrument and to fill the needs of the extensive music program. The church named John Schwandt as consultant on the project. Dr. Schwandt recommended requesting proposals from lesser-known builders of high quality. After a national search, Russell & Co. of Chester, Vermont was selected in late 2002 to build the new organ.
A profusion of new romantic organs in recent years, as well as a renewed reverence and interest in the work of early 20th-century American builders, specifically Skinner, was the milieu for the design and construction of this instrument. While Russell & Co. have built several large instruments along French romantic lines, an American romantic/ symphonic organ presented a new challenge: how to take all the lessons learned from our previous instruments, combine them with a century of progress in American organbuilding, and produce an organ capable of accompanying congregational song, playing choral and orchestral literature, and still be able to play the solo organ repertoire, all the while staying true to a ‘symphonic’ ideal.
This challenge was met valiantly with an effective partnership between our firm and George Damp. Having spent all his professional life as an organist, teacher, and church musician, George brought years of experience and a clear idea of what he wanted to the drawing board—a grand, large-scale organ that would make Ernest Skinner proud, but would also not disappoint the likes of G. Donald Harrison. While orchestral voices and ensembles were of great importance, so too was the presence of well-developed and blended choruses in each division.
Our initial proposal was for a three-manual organ with a separately enclosed Solo and Choir sharing one manual. However, during our early discussions with the church music staff, it became clear that to fill all the demands placed upon it, a significantly larger, four-manual instrument would be better suited and would eliminate several reluctant compromises in the original design. Having completed the rebuild of a four-manual Æolian-Skinner, opus 1433, for First Unitarian Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the building of a new, large three-manual French romantic organ for the Cathedral of St. Paul, also in Worcester, we felt ready to tackle our first new four-manual organ. During the selection process, George visited Worcester’s First Baptist Church, home to a rebuilt Reuter for which we constructed a new, large four-manual Skinner-style console. Skinner consoles have long been renowned for their visual elegance, impeccable craftsmanship, and intuitive and comfortable ergonomics. It was agreed First Presbyterian should possess such a console to complement the new organ.
First Presbyterian has long been host to performances of choral and chamber music by numerous local ensembles, and the acoustical renovation that preceded the organ installation only made the space more attractive for outside groups’ use. Knowing this, we included in the initial proposal a small division designed for use as a continuo organ at chancel level. George was hesitant at first—it seemed like a water and oil situation to have such a division included in a grand romantic organ. However, with a large, higher-pressure instrument as the main organ, George and Larry Doebler agreed that it would be futile to attempt to use it in continuo playing, and not only agreed to the division’s inclusion, but encouraged its enlargement. What started out as a small five-stop division grew into a full-fledged low-pressure Positiv, complete with a Sesquialtera and a very gently voiced four-rank Scharff. Its elegant case makes use of the crown and columns of the large throne chair that used to sit in the middle of the chancel, blending the case with the rest of the chancel decoration.
While spacious, the two front organ chambers had previously housed 47 ranks of pipes, including a very small pedal division. One of the project’s greatest challenges was to make 79 ranks of pipes fit in these same chambers—including a large-scale independent pedal division with three 32' stops—while maintaining easy access to each pipe and mechanism. After much experimenting in the forgiving world of computer-aided design, a layout that achieved both of these goals was reached. Aside from the Antiphonal and Positiv, the entire instrument is installed behind the organ case, with the Great, Solo and Choir divisions to the congregation’s left, and the Swell and Pedal on the right. There is no ceiling over these chambers, allowing for a great deal of sound to ascend into the barrel vault over the chancel, creating a wonderful blending chamber of sorts, which then projects the sound well into the room. Even from the center of the chancel, it is difficult to tell from which side sounds are coming.
The Antiphonal organ is located high up in the right rear corner of the sanctuary. The Antiphonal Swell division, consisting of the original Echo organ with two additions, is housed in the former Echo organ chamber. The two stops of the Antiphonal Great sit on a newly constructed ledge in front of the chamber, with the pipes from the 8' Prestant forming a simple and elegant façade.
The console constructed for opus 47 models the console at First Baptist in Worcester. Built of quarter-sawn red oak and walnut with a hand-rubbed oil and stain finish, it complements the elegance of the renovated sanctuary and restored organ case. With manual keys of 10th-cut ivory and ebony, and pedals of maple and ebony, the console immediately has a luxurious tactile feel. Through many consultations with George as well as with the organists working in our own shop, the selection and layout of controls were designed to be as intuitive to the player as possible. The stopjamb layout takes its cue from the tall consoles of English cathedrals; this provides the vertical space to lay out the complete choruses of each division in one line, making drawing every plenum quick and straightforward. Though a complete list of playing aids and mechanicals accompanies the specification, several are worth noting here. With the choral accompanist in mind, the Swell is provided with ten divisional pistons, and pedal-to-manual combination couplers with discrete memories are available on each division. A 99-level combination action is included with 16 general pistons and a sequencer; additionally, each piston can be easily modified as to which stops it affects, releasing the player from the distinction and restraints of divisional and general pistons. Divisional cancels are also provided by pushing the division nameplate on the stopjamb.
The key and stop action throughout the instrument is electro-pneumatic, a departure from our usual practice of employing slider and pallet chests. The chests are modeled on late 1960s Aeolian-Skinner pitman chests, with several of our own modifications. Even the Positiv, speaking on 23⁄4" pressure, plays on a pitman chest and works beautifully, resulting in quick and desirable pipe speech, ideal for its anticipated continuo use.
A design goal from the outset of the project was to make the organ large enough to have four complete manual divisions (seven, including the Positiv and Antiphonal Great and Swell), but to keep costs manageable, all the while not sacrificing quality. To this end, we looked to the existing Austin pipework, all having been new (with the exception of the Echo) in 1969, to see what might be reused in the new organ. While hard to believe this neo-baroque pipework could blend its way into an American romantic organ, we found much of the pipework was well constructed and cut up low enough to permit its successful rescaling and revoicing in a very different style.
Of the 40 completely new ranks of pipes added to the organ, all new choruses and flutes are constructed of 94% lead alloy, a practice we have long employed, allowing our voicers to achieve a degree of tonal superiority unattainable with the use of lighter, higher tin content alloys. In general, this allows the 8¢ line to be weighty and warm, progressing through a velvety chorus to light and silvery upperwork—all mixtures in the organ are also of the same high-lead content. The epitome of this construction and voicing style is the 8¢ Montre on the Great, a 42-scale Diapason more English than French, despite its name. Being placed outside the Great expression box, the Montre’s tone is commanding, warm and strong, and is paired with the enclosed 44-scale 8' Principal for lighter choruses. True to the design objective, choruses through at least 4¢ were provided in the three main manual divisions (Great, Swell, Choir), resulting in three very independent divisions that terrace and blend successfully for the performance of French literature. With the old Great 8' Principal revoiced as the Swell Diapason, and the 45-scale English Diapason in the Choir of special variable scale, the five combined 8' Diapasons create a rich, singing tone that serves as a lush solo color, as well as the basis for the aforementioned well-blended choruses.
One of the hallmarks of an American symphonic organ is the abundance of orchestral reeds, so carefully developed by the likes of Skinner a century ago. Fittingly, opus 47 has a delicious array of imitative stops spread out amid the manual divisions. The demand for these stops allowed us to use several ranks we had been storing in our stockroom for many years while the popular organ style called for very different reed stops. In the Choir division, the Clarinet finds its traditional home, and comes to Ithaca as a restored Johnson Bell Clarinet. In our study of early 20th-century American organs, a common finding was that the Choir division, while potentially having enough foundation tone, nearly always lacked the trumpet-class reed timbre to assert itself against the Swell organ. In this light, the second Choir reed deserves special note as an unusual stop, even in this age of rediscovered orchestral sounds. The 8' Waldhorn uses restored Aeolian pipes from the Higgins estate in Worcester, Massachusetts. This medium-scaled, capped trumpet is not quite a French Horn, and not quite a Trumpet, but something in between. It has a chameleon-like quality in that it is a beautiful and haunting solo voice, but when drawn with the full Choir, it acts as a chorus reed, giving the Choir a definite presence amidst full organ.
Two new reeds, the English Horn in the Solo, and the Orchestral Oboe in the Antiphonal Swell, were beautifully voiced by Chris Broome, turning out exactly as we had wanted them, and possessing striking imitative qualities.
For climactic moments in both repertoire and accompaniments, two solo chorus reeds are provided in the Solo division. The enclosed Tuba Mirabilis has harmonic resonators from tenor F# and is voiced on 15" pressure, providing the traditional dark, smooth and powerful tone suggested by its name. The 8' Silver Trumpet, played on 10" pressure, serves to contrast with the Tuba for a different effect. Envisioned in the same manner as the Solo Trumpet Harmonique at Yale’s Woolsey Hall, the pipes are constructed with French shallots and placed outside the Solo enclosure, yielding a brighter and brassier tone. While neither stop is oppressively loud, when combined they yield a tone of refined power that can top full organ with single notes.
Another criterion from early on in the project was to have a profusion of string stops of varying power and brightness to enable a truly orchestral string crescendo from pp to ff. While there are the usual strings sprinkled throughout the Choir and Swell, the Solo strings truly cap the string chorus, possessing incredible intensity and brilliance. Although the Solo was originally designed with one pair, the discovery of two ranks of Skinner orchestral strings in our stockroom led to the addition of a second set to be the pinnacle of the string chorus. Voicer Ted Gilbert worked wonders with these two pairs—the Gamba is the quieter of the two, possessing an almost woody quality, whereas the Cello represents the extreme limit of bright, powerful, shimmering string voicing. Twelve ranks of string or undulating tone in the organ, from the Swell Flauto Dolce through the Solo Cello, provide a seamless powerful crescendo, made even more effective with the use of double expression in the Solo.
No symphonic organ is complete without an expression system that can fully restrain the power of the instrument and instantly change the dynamic of the stops drawn. To this end, no fewer than six Skinner-replica whiffletree expression motors are used in this organ. While the Swell, Choir, and Antiphonal Swell are enclosed and expressive as expected, the Solo and Great warrant description of their expressive capabilities. From the outset, we had designed the Great to be partially enclosed, mainly the reeds and upperwork. Additionally, the Solo was to speak through its own shades into the Great box, providing the division with the aforementioned double expression.
The Great organ’s expressive capabilities were expanded early on with the decision to enclose the entire division with the exception of the 8' Montre and 16' Principal. Through careful scaling and voicing, the division doesn’t suffer its enclosure with the shades open, and contains the tonal resources necessary to lead enthusiastic congregational singing with all 500 seats filled, as well as serving its traditional role in the performance of organ literature. However, with the added benefit of 16-stage expression, these same tonal resources can be manipulated to match any congregation size, as well as provide another enclosed division of power for choral accompaniment.
At the same time, to give the Solo and Great more independence from each other, we added a second set of shades to the Solo, allowing the division to speak directly into the chancel. This provides the Solo division with a third expressive option. As installed, the Solo swell box is behind the Great box and four feet higher. The primary Solo shades open into the Great, with the Solo chancel shades being at the very top of the Solo box, four feet high, and opening directly into the room. While giving an acceptable dynamic range, these smaller shades provide an enormous timbral range, noticed especially with the strings. With the full Solo string chorus playing and the main Solo shades open, the full weight of the 8' stops comes through—one can almost hear bows drawn across the strings. However, when the upper shades open, the full range of upper harmonics from these stops erupts from the box, filling out the sound just when you thought it couldn’t be any brighter and more sonorous.
The control of all these expression options is met with four swell shoes, including the crescendo shoe. The Solo shoe normally controls the chancel shades. However, when the “Solo Double Expression” drawknob is drawn, the Solo shoe operates both sets of Solo shades, as well as the Great shades, in a set sequence to give the maximum crescendo possible. Additionally, a second drawknob closes the Solo chancel shades should that be desired, and sets the Solo shoe to control only the main Solo shades. The Great and Antiphonal Swell expression functions are independently assignable to any shoe, including crescendo. When not assigned, the shades default to a position settable by the organist. Harris Precision Products retrofitted two of their standard drawknob units with potentiometers to set these defaults, and thus these controls are seamlessly integrated into the console via rotating drawknobs. All Swells to Swell is provided to afford simple control over the entire dynamic range of the organ, and indicators are provided below the coupler rail to show the position of each set of shades.
The use of such sophisticated expression functions allows the organist to present the full dynamic range of the orchestra, and the use of the smaller Solo chancel shades allows for the ultimate in dynamic and timbral expression, a feature unique to this organ, and one we hope to further develop and use in subsequent installations.
To complement the varied and colorful manual divisions, a large, independent Pedal division affords the appropriate bass sonority for whatever registration is drawn on the manuals. Consisting of eleven independent ranks and 29 stops, the Pedal organ is augmented by judicious borrowing from the manuals. Four 32' stops are provided to underpin the instrument and provide a true feeling of gravitas. From the initial planning phases of the project, it was made clear that no digital voices were to be used in the organ; thus, all 32' stops play real pipes, or are derived. The Bourdon, of generous scale, is voiced gently for use with the softest registrations, but with enough quint in its tone to be made stronger as more pedal stops are added. The 32' Principal, an extension of the 16¢, uses Haskell pipes to GGGG#, the rest of the 32' octave being a resultant. The full-length 32' Contra Posaune, also masterfully voiced by Chris Broome, gives plenty of weight and power to full organ, but without being brash or rattling. For a ‘second’ 32' reed, the Harmonics is a 102⁄3' cornet, derived from the Great 16' Double Trumpet and 16' Gemshorn, giving the semblance of 32' reed tone underneath smaller tutti registrations.
With the added features of sophisticated expression, as well as the inclusion of more fully developed choruses, First Presbyterian’s instrument represents a logical and successful extension and merging of the two dominant styles of 20th-century American organbuilding: the symphonic and American classic schools. The instrument serves as a platform for the successful performance of a wide body of organ literature, as well as fulfilling its accompanimental roles. In its design, construction, voicing and tonal finishing, we feel truly proud to call this instrument our magnum opus, regardless of what instruments leave our shop in years to come, and thank First Presbyterian for the opportunity to set our sights high and build an organ we have so long dreamed of creating. We therefore commend this instrument to the glory of God and the people of First Presbyterian Church as a product of our finest craftsmanship. May it long bring joy and inspiration to those who hear and play it, just as it has inspired us as organbuilders in its creation.
Those working on the project included: Stephen Russell, David Gordon, Gail Grandmont, Carole Russell, Theodore Gilbert, Jonathan Ortloff, Larry Chace, Frank Thompson, Matthew Russell, Peter Walker, Allan Taylor, Eric Johansson, and Andrew Lawrence.
—Jonathan Ortloff

From the organist
Now in my fifth decade of deep affection for the pipe organ, its music, and its role in worship, I am brought to this point of extraordinary magnificence in the creation of the opus 47 Russell & Co. organ. During these five decades, I have witnessed many trends and fads in organbuilding. The commitment of this church to the pipe organ as its primary medium for the leading of congregational song is all the more inspiring to me.
This instrument transcends the fads of recent decades. The organ/sanctuary committee, formed by this church in the fall of 2000 and guided by our organ consultant, John Schwandt, selected several organbuilders to consider for the project. This committee authorized my colleague Larry Doebler and me to travel far and wide to experience the work of the builders we had selected as finalists, each of whom subsequently visited the church to inspect the sanctuary space and existing organ. In the end, we all had no doubt that Russell & Co. was the appropriate choice for us.
While we were confident that our new organ would be very fine indeed, we could not have anticipated the level of magnificence that has been achieved here by Stephen Russell and his colleagues. In my 50 years of playing pipe organs, I have never been privileged to play an organ so elegant, expressive and versatile as this one. The word synergy is one that I have never before been comfortable using. This powerful word, meaning “combined or cooperative action or force,” is the perfect term to describe the wondrous emergence and continuing presence of this organ. Beginning with the collective sharing of the original committee, the guidance of Anita Cummings, pastor of this church at the outset of the project, the beneficence of Mrs. Dorothy Park, church member and donor of funds for this organ, the courage and vision of church members to undertake and fund the acoustical transformation of the sanctuary from sonically “dead” to vibrant and moderately reverberant, and the mutual respect and creative sharing of organbuilder, consultant and resident organist, have resulted in the ultimate synergy: the harmonious blending of thought, craft, sound and space that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
I offer gratitude and the highest of commendations to master organbuilder/voicer, Stephen Russell, his dedicated staff, and the many others who have had a hand in the three-year process of the emergence of opus 47!
—George Edward Damp

From the church
The history of our new Russell organ begins with the construction of our current sanctuary in 1894. In 1901, the Austin Company installed our first permanent organ (the oak façade that currently supports the visible organ pipes behind the choir is part of that original installation). In 1930, the Echo organ (above the southwest entrance to the sanctuary) was added. In 1969, Austin built a completely new organ in the chancel, one typical of that period—an instrument that, with its sheer power and rough voicing, overwhelmed our beautiful, but acoustically rather dead, sanctuary.
Problems with the Austin organ started to appear in the early 1990s. Minor problems continued to occur, and it was clear that something needed to be done. An organ/sanctuary committee was formed that, early in its existence, possessed the keen insight that the sanctuary itself was a part of the organ (the box that the organ’s voice is dispersed into), and that any renovations to the organ must be accomplished within the acoustical framework of the sanctuary.
As a result, the committee hired an organ consultant, John Schwandt, and an acoustical consultant, Scott Riedel, to guide them through the decision-making process of repairing our organ. Each made an initial, individual presentation to the committee, but most memorable was their joint participation in a lengthy “town meeting” with the committee and members of the congregation. The meeting ended with a focus for the project—to improve our worship experience by enhancing both music and the spoken word through renovations to both the organ and the sanctuary.
Early on in this process, then-pastor Anita Cummings and organist George Damp approached Mrs. Dorothy Park with the invitation to become a supporter of this exciting adventure for the church. After several subsequent discussions, Mrs. Park indicated that the church deserved the finest organ created by the finest builder, and that she would cover the cost of the organ if the congregation would pay for the acoustical renovations.
A clear consensus decided that Stephen Russell was the right person to build the new organ. At the same time, Schickel Architecture of Ithaca was selected to design the renovations to the sanctuary. Several significant changes to the sanctuary were implemented to improve the acoustical environment. Certainly the most outstanding component of the sanctuary renovations is the reconstruction of the rear wall of the sanctuary. Its subtle sunburst pattern surrounding a high circular window is both extremely pleasing to the eye as well as functional in randomly scattering sound.
Suffice it to say, every aspect of the organ, from its general layout to the voicing of each individual pipe (all 5,000 of them) was accomplished with the unique features of our sanctuary in mind. The outcome is truly a gift for the ages, something that First Presbyterian Church can share with Ithaca and the surrounding area for decades to come. One can only hope that the generosity of Mrs. Park and the efforts of those involved in this project will be more than repaid by the joy and exhilaration shared by all those who experience our wonderful new organ.
—Tom Owens,
Elder and member of session,
First Presbyterian Church

From the consultant
It is a privilege to offer a few words regarding Russell & Co. opus 47. In a world that so desperately hungers for and needs beauty, it is satisfying to have been a part of a long process that has ultimately yielded a thing of great beauty that will inspire the generations yet to come.
My primary involvement in this project occurred before contract-signing. It is my fervent belief that consultants should provide general education and thereby enable church committees to make an informed decision about what is best for their congregation’s worship and community life. However, before we could start to talk about organs, it was very important to have the bigger picture in perspective, namely the inferior acoustical properties of the room. The committee wisely considered the importance of good acoustics that benefit congregational prayer, singing, oratory, as well as but not limited to instrumental music. Scott Riedel provided acoustical consultation; the action taken on most of his recommendations yielded a vastly improved sacred space.
The pipe organ, while not the only possible instrument for worship, remains the best single instrument to lead corporate worship because of its ability to sustain tones from soft to loud and from every pitch level. A well-designed and constructed pipe organ should enable an organist to creatively and expressively accomplish this musical leadership, often interpreting music of many different styles. It was my recommendation that an organ of rich, warm tone and with ample variety of color from all pipe families (principal, flute, string, and reed) be considered. The great organbuilders of the past were not striving to build instruments after someone else’s style, but to create organs suited to the rooms in which they were installed and reflecting the cultural identity of their time and place. That Russell opus 47 resembles in some aspects organs of the early half of the 20th century is entirely irrelevant. The fact remains that it is not an E. M. Skinner organ, an Æolian-Skinner organ, a Kimball organ, or any other organ. Rather, I believe that this instrument transcends labeling of any kind. Opus 47 has richness of color, overall warmth, and clarity. In previous periods of organ building, rich fundamental tone and clarity were thought to be mutually exclusive attributes; one could not have both. The refined voicing and the mechanical perfection of the pitman windchest exemplify an organ that will allow for music of any style. Congratulations are due to the committee and congregation for investing in their future so well!
—John D. Schwandt

Russell & Co. Organ Builders, Opus 47
First Presbyterian Church, Ithaca, New York, May 2006

GREAT – II (Expressive)
16' Principal* 49 pipes, 1–12=Pedal
16' Gemshorn* 12
8' Montre* 61
8' Principal 61
8' Bourdon 61
8' Flûte Harmonique 49
8' Gemshorn 61
4' Octave 61
4' Rohrflöte 61
22⁄3' Nasard 61
2' Fifteenth 61
11⁄3' Fourniture IV–V 297
16' Double Trumpet 61
8' Trumpet 61
Chancel Great Off
MIDI on Great
*Unenclosed

SWELL – III (Expressive)
16' Lieblich Gedeckt 61
8' Diapason 61
8' Bourdon 61
8' Viola 61
8' Viola Celeste 61
8' Flauto Dolce 61
8' Flute Celeste 49
4' Octave 61
4' Nachthorn 61
2' Octave 61
2' Plein Jeu IV–V 296
16' Fagotto 61
8' French Trumpet 61
8' Oboe d’Amour 61
8' Vox Humana 61
4' Clarion 61
Tremulant
MIDI on Swell
Swell Sub
Chancel Swell Off
Swell Super

CHOIR – I (Expressive)
8' English Diapason 61
8' Hohlflöte 61
8' Quintadena 61
8' Erzahler 61
8' Erzahler Celeste 49
4' Octave 61
4' Koppelflöte 61
22⁄3' Nazard 61
2' Flute 61
13⁄5' Tierce 61
16' Corno di Bassetto 12
8' Waldhorn 61
8' Clarinet 61
Chimes Ant. Swell
Tremulant
Choir Sub
Choir Off
Choir Super
MIDI on Choir

POSITIV – I
8' Gedeckt 61
8' Spillflöete 61
4' Prestant 61
2' Principal 61
11⁄3' Quint 61
22⁄3' Sesquialtera II 122
1' Scharff III–IV 232
Tremulant
Zimbelstern
Positiv Off

SOLO – IV (Expressive)
16' Cello 12
8' Concert Flute 61
8' Cello 61
8' Cello Celeste 61
8' Gamba 61
8' Gamba Celeste 61
8' English Horn 61
8' Tuba Mirabilis 61
8' Silver Trumpet* 70, double trebles
Chimes Ant. Swell
Tremulant
Solo Sub
Solo Off
Solo Super
MIDI on Solo
*Unenclosed

ANTIPHONAL GREAT – II
8' Prestant 61
8' Stopped Flute 61
Antiphonal Great Off
Antiphonal Great Super

ANTIPHONAL SWELL – III
8' Gedeckt 61
8' Viole Aetheria 61
8' Vox Angelica 49
4' Flute d’Amour 61
8' Orchestral Oboe 61
8' Vox Humana 61
Chimes
Tremulant
Antiphonal Swell Sub
Antiphonal Swell Off
Antiphonal Swell Super

PEDAL
32' Principal (GGGG#) 4
32' Contra Bourdon 12
16' Open

Russell & Co. Organ Builders,
Chester, Vermont
First Presbyterian Church, Ithaca, New York

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois
Second Presbyterian Church,
Bloomington, Illinois, Opus 37
This instrument of 43 stops and 56 ranks is the 37th new organ built by Buzard Pipe Organ Builders of Champaign, Illinois. The Buzard firm had originally been selected as the church’s builder of choice in 1991, when plans were first developed to build a new sanctuary. In more recent years, when the original Victorian-era building was found to be structurally unsound, the desire to design and construct a new church building acquired a new sense of urgency. The decision to include a pipe organ in a very modern building in the context of a very modern ministry was not made lightly, nor easily. The wisdom of the church leadership held that worship styles both timeless and modern needed to be embraced wholeheartedly. The organbuilder and architect enjoyed an unusually collaborative and collegial relationship in the design of the entire building as well as the new instrument. The new sanctuary was completed in 2005, and the new organ arrived in June 2008, giving the construction dust plenty of time to settle. Although the room’s acoustics are more absorptive than we would have preferred, sound is heard evenly and in balance throughout the room.
The organ’s dramatic visual design is intended to be a stylized rendering in organ pipes of a Celtic cross. The background fields of Great and Pedal Diapason and Principal pipes are made of polished tin. The pipework elements of the cross itself are polished copper Pedal Principals and the horizontally mounted Festival Trumpets. The giant blocks of white oak that hold the Festival Trumpet pipes are clad in polished copper to emphasize the cross’s horizontal arms. The circle that binds the four arms of the cross together is a 16-foot diameter ring of Baltic birch, leafed in 24-karat red gold.
The instrument is housed in a solid white oak case standing three stories tall, 24 feet wide, 12 feet deep, flanked by walls that act as projection screens. The pipe shades are of basswood. Some of the small panels are enameled in indigo, which accent is also found in the stained glass windows. It is located on the axis of the church, above and behind the choral singers, to provide optimal projection of sound to the congregation and choir, and to be a living and integral participant in the worship service and the church’s interior design. A closed-circuit remotely operated television camera is mounted between and just behind two pedal façade pipes so that worshipers can see themselves projected on the screens(!).
The traditional portion of the church’s music program includes everything from children’s choirs through a large adult choir, small instrumental ensembles through full symphony orchestra performances. And of course the organ must support congregational singing and excel in its solo role. Therefore, this instrument had to exhibit an unusually wide dynamic range to accommodate musical needs of every size and type, but also the classic disposition that allows an organ to play the literature. The organ possesses a singularly noble and majestic tone quality. Each division is based upon sub-octave pitches, and the voicing is full and warm. The Great and Pedal feature First and Second Diapasons, and all the divisions include a wealth of warmly voiced 8′ stops to provide a rich variety of accompanimental colors at several volume levels. The design includes full couplers at 16′, 8′, Unison Off, and 4′ pitches for increased flexibility. Although the instrument sounds very big when everything is coupled, or when the high pressure Tubas or Festival Trumpets are used (excelling in its occasional role with a full symphony orchestra), the organ itself is not inherently loud—it can be as delicate as a child’s voice. Its sound fills the worship space gracefully, without having to yell to make its point.
Buzard organs have become known as exceptional accompanying organs, which is the primary use to which pipe organs are put in modern worship services. But, by virtue of an historically and nationalistically informed point of view, Buzard organs also musically render the entire solo repertory from early contrapuntal styles through the most modern symphonic transcriptions. Our principals have something to tell you. Their choruses are clear, but meaty. Flutes are singing and liquid, strings are warm and harmonically interesting. Chorus reeds add varying degrees of “clang” to their divisions: for example, the Swell 16′, 8′, and 4′ reed battery is of authentic French construction, the typically bright and bold sound tailored to this division’s classic musical character, whereas the Trompete on the Great is darker. Trombas appear on most of our Great organs as extensions of the Pedal Trombones (a Willis trick), which offers the organist two degrees of reed color and volume, depending upon the musical context. Our solo and pedal reeds take more of an orchestral approach: smooth, round, warm, and always interesting, whether soft or loud.
Our metal pipes are all made of high-tin-content pipe metal, planed and polished. The reeds use either this rich pipe metal or wood for their resonators. In this organ, the 32′ Contra Trombone resonators are white pine and full length down to low FFFF#. The wood flue pipes are made from poplar or mahogany with cherry mouths.
All Buzard organs employ slider and pallet windchests to eliminate long-term maintenance, and provide superior tonal blend and tuning stability. All Buzard organs employ wooden winding systems to reduce turbulence and noise, and schwimmer regulators at each slider chest to provide a steady wind supply.
The instrument was dedicated in public recitals by organist emerita Doris Hill, concert organist Ken Cowan, and Mr. Cowan’s student and the builder’s son, Stephen Buzard. A new CD featuring Stephen Buzard playing this organ will be released later this year on the Delos label.
—John-Paul Buzard

Buzard Opus 37
Second Presbyterian Church,
Bloomington, Illinois
43 straight speaking stops, 56 ranks,
3 stops prepared for future addition

GREAT (4-inch wind)
16′ Double Open Diapason (tin in façade)
8′ First Open Diapason (tin in façade)
8′ Second Open Diapason (1–8 from 16′)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Claribel Flute (Melodia)
8′ Principal
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
13⁄5′ Seventeenth (prepared)
2′ Fourniture V
2⁄3′ Sharp Mixture III
8′ Trompete
Cornet V (prepared)
Tremulant
8′ Trombas (Ped Trombone)
4′ Tromba Clarion (ext Trombas)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Tuba Solo melody coupler
8′ Festival Trumpets (horizontal
polished copper)

SWELL (4-inch wind)
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Octavin (harmonic)
22⁄3′ Full Mixture V
16′ Bassoon (full length)
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
4′ Clarion
Tremulant
Chimes (21 notes)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)

CHOIR (4-inch wind)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ English Diapason
8′ Flûte à Bibéron
8′ Flûte Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal
4′ Suabe Flute (open wood)
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Recorder
13⁄5′ Tierce
11⁄3′ Mixture IV
16′ English Horn
8′ Clarinet
Tremulant
Cymbalstern
8′ Major Tuba (25 inches wind)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)

PEDAL (various pressures)
32′ Double Open Diapason (digital)
32′ Subbass (digital)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (digital) (Ch)
16′ First Open Diapason (wood & metal)
16′ Second Open Diapason (Gt)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)
8′ Principal (tin in façade)
8′ Open Bass (ext 16′ First Open)
8′ Bourdon (ext 16′ Bourdon)
8′ Violoncello (tapered)
4′ Choral Bass (ext 8′ Open Bass)
4′ Open Flute (ext 16′ Bourdon)
22⁄3′ Mixture IV (prepared)
32′ Contra Trombone (wood)
16′ Trombone (ext 32′, wood)
16′ Bassoon (Sw)
8′ Trumpet (ext Trombone)
4′ Clarion (ext Trombone)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)