J. F. Nordlie Company, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Ida Roberts Memorial Chapel Organ,
Kernersville Moravian Church, Kernersville, North Carolina
Dedicated on May 6, 2007, Moravian Music Sunday
From the builder
My first encounter with Kernersville Moravian Church was a short visit in 1991. At the request of the newly appointed organist and choir director, Wayne Leupold, I made a visit to look at the new sanctuary under construction and talk about a new organ and placement in that room. It was a bit early to evaluate acoustics, with only a slab of concrete, half-completed masonry walls, and steel structure reaching to the open sky; however, the space, volume, and materials indicated by the architect’s prints showed much promise of an exciting room. Several more visits of introduction, planning, sales, and contract negotiations ensued, and in June 2003 we dedicated a new mechanical-action organ of three manuals with 40 ranks of pipes comprising its tonal resources. The promise of a new pipe organ that Wayne Leupold had envisioned when accepting the job at Kernersville Moravian Church, some 12 years earlier, was a reality.
It was first during the design of the new sanctuary organ that Wayne started to talk with me about what might be done with the organ in the now “Historic Chapel,” the original sanctuary of the Kernersville Moravian Church, built in 1867. Wayne had originally shown me the organ that he played in the chapel in 1991. It was an undistinguished four-rank unit organ tucked away in a makeshift organ chamber. The instrument was built in 1950 of supply-house parts, without builder identification. It was already suffering with reliability issues, but had a dedicated service technician to keep it functioning and a skillful organist to hide the problems. As I remember, we spent little time looking at it.
The “Historic Chapel” had seen many changes since its construction, originally built as a simple, yet elegant, rectangular room; the chancel and nave occupied the space with little architectural definition. Any music being made within these walls would have had a wonderful presence. The high plastered ceiling, wooden floor, and hard walls would have given the spoken word and music space in which to bloom. Throughout the years changes had been made to provide space for an ever-growing congregation and “modernize” the church. At one point a balcony was added to provide more seating, and at another, carpet and padded pews were deemed necessary. In 1950 a major building project was completed, adding a parish hall, kitchen, and yet further changes to the chapel. At this point, a room that had been a kitchen was opened in back of the chancel. This new space became the choir loft and home for the then new organ’s console, with the pipes speaking through a small tonal opening high and to the right. Unfortunately, the barrel-vaulted ceiling and low stage-like proscenium of this choir room did nothing to project the sound of the choir or enhance the acoustics of the room.
Our discussions regarding a new organ for the “Historic Chapel” started during our installation of the new sanctuary organ. Considered by many a “pipe dream,” the talk focused on design of the casework and—given the Moravian connection with David Tannenberg—the appropriateness of that style of cabinetry in the room. The “Historic Chapel” was now used for one weekly Sunday morning service and smaller weddings and funerals. Music was accompanied by piano, as the 1950 four-rank unit organ was unreliable and deemed no longer economically serviceable by the local technician.
In June 2004 Ida Roberts, whose initial gift started the organ fund for the sanctuary organ, died at the age of 104. One of Ida’s greatest worries was that she might not live long enough to see the new sanctuary organ complete. She lived long enough to hear the sanctuary organ in recital several times, and evidently she must have enjoyed her investment, for when her bequest was made public in September 2004, the church found that she had left a large amount of money to the organ fund. Since the debt on the sanctuary organ had been retired, it was decided that a portion of the money Ida had left would go to purchase an organ for the “Historic Chapel.”
It was at this point that I, my tonal designer and voicer Eric Grane, and Wayne started to have serious talks regarding budgetary restraints and what we needed to accomplish in the tonal design of the chapel organ. Of course, the visual and tonal design would have to reflect something of the Moravian heritage. This was even more emphasized by the recent awareness of the restoration of the 1800 Tannenberg organ in Old Salem. The instrument would have to serve the needs of the church in leading hymns and playing appropriate literature. The church had recently started identifying those interested in studying organ performance and providing lessons. It was realized that the new organ would be used as a practice instrument and must be similar in key compass and console configuration and contain similarities in tonal warmth and color with the sanctuary organ. Eric and I determined that with rescaling and careful voicing we might be able to use three of the four ranks of pipes in the existing chapel organ without detriment to the tonal quality of the new organ. This of course helped stretch our funds and pleased those that wanted a connection to the past and/or a more “green” instrument. A contract for the chapel organ was signed in July 2005.
There were those who wanted the organ to be placed in the choir loft area to preserve seating. The organ committee and I successfully argued that this placement would damage the sound and beauty of a new organ and continue to hamper the choir’s efforts. We compromised somewhat on the position of the new free-standing organ in order to preserve as much space as possible on the chancel floor. The Great and Pedal pipes stand within the casework projecting into the chapel, with the swell box at the very front of the “choir room” speaking through the façade of the Great. If anything, the position of the free-standing swell box helps the desired effect. The carpet and several rows of pews were removed from the chancel area, and hardwood floor installed. This helps project the organ’s sound and creates a marvelous space for musicians and the choir to perform.
The tireless beauty of but a few well-voiced stops in a small pipe organ never ceases to amaze me. Their limitations are only subject to the creativity of the artist playing the keys. I learned this from my wise teachers including Fritz Noack and Gene Doutt over 30 years ago, and strive to incorporate this tonal beauty into every instrument I build.
The greatest compliment I can receive is to be asked to build a second instrument for a church just having purchased one from me. I thank Kernersville Moravian Church for their trust and appreciation of my work.
—John F. Nordlie
Those having contributed to the construction of this instrument include John F. Nordlie, design; Eric J. Grane, voicing; Paul E. Nordlie, construction; Dale Krause, construction; Arnie Bortnem, pipe shades; Betsy Oerter, installation; Neil Oerter, installation.
Suppliers include Gebruder Kaes, Bonn, Germany, flue pipes; Matters Inc., Haskell inserts; Aug. Laukhuff, blower; Klaus Knoeckel, console lighting; Eastern Organ Pipes, oboe.
From the consultant
This is an organ for a vibrant congregation of the Moravian Church in America. Moravians have a strong practice of not only preserving the best of their rich traditions and musical heritage but also being open to quality innovations from the present. The primary impetus in the design of this instrument is for this organ to assist the worship of God by being able to accompany with variety the many hymns that Moravians sing in every worship service. It is the result of a bequest by Ida Herman Roberts, a longtime active member of the church, who taught third grade for many years and died at age 104 without any children. Her will stipulated that half of her bequest be spent for a new pipe organ. It was decided to put the organ in the church’s chapel, an 1867 Victorian-style sanctuary that seats about 250 people. The organ is named in her honor.
The organ features mechanical action. This basic design has been essentially unchanged for many centuries, due to its simplicity, subtle musical expressiveness, and unrivaled durability. If well maintained, this organ should last for hundreds of years. The keydesk is attached to the case.
The tonal design, voicing, and façade is inspired by the 1800 David Tannenberg, two-manual, restored organ in the new auditorium of the Old Salem Moravian museum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Thus, the majority of the ranks are scaled and voiced in an early 19th-century American style and possess great refinement and gentleness. Of particular interest is the Gambe 8′ on the Great whose initial speech characteristics are subtly similar to the sound of a bow striking a string on a viola da gamba. To this basic framework a judicious addition of a string Céleste 8′ was made to incorporate a modicum of historical development from the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
Thanks to the artistic skill of builder John Nordlie and his voicer Eric Grane, a beautiful, integrated artistic ensemble has been created. Thus, variety, individuality, and flexibility are artistically combined to achieve great expressiveness and a wonderful unity of ensemble.
—Wayne Leupold
Organist emeritus and organ consultant, Kernersville Moravian Church
Kernersville Moravian Church
J. F. Nordlie Company – Pipe Organ Builders
GREAT
8′ Diapason (70% tin façade)
8′ Flûte Traversière (50% spotted metal)
8′ Gambe (70% tin, 1–8 common bass)
4′ Principal (50% spotted metal)
4′ Flûte d’Amour (50% spotted metal)
2′ Fifteenth (50% spotted metal)
SWELL (enclosed, balanced mechanical swell pedal)
8′ Stopped Diapason (white oak & 50%
spotted metal)
8′ Salicional (revoiced)
8′ Céleste EE (revoiced)
4′ Flûte Harmonique (50% spotted metal)
8′ Oboe (50% spotted metal)
Tremulant
Zimbelstern (hook-down toe lever; 5 bells under expression)
PEDAL
16′ Bourdon (wood, rescaled & revoiced)
8′ Flute (extension of Bourdon 16′)
Couplers (hook-down toe levers)
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Great
12 ranks, 13 stops, 703 pipes
Mechanical key and stop action with pneumatic pedal offset chests
32-note AGO concave-radiating pedalboard
Reverse color 61-note keyboards (ebony naturals with bone capped sharps)
Cone-tuned and soldered-fast metal pipework
Modified Bach WTC 1722/Bradley Lehman temperament
Single-rise sprung static reservoir
Double-rise weighted main reservoir
High-speed blower with VFD (variable frequency drive) speed control
Adjustable bench with backrest
Pencil storage drawer
Music desk and pedalboard light