Cover Feature

Cover

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

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 38
St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, is a vibrant Christian community of 5,000 families, located about twenty minutes north of the San Antonio International Airport in a new residential neighborhood on Thousand Oaks Drive. They have a well-deserved reputation for superior community outreach, building several Habitat for Humanity houses per year and operating a traveling meal program for the needy. Former organist and director of music and liturgy Lena Gokelman contacted me nearly twelve years ago to share ideas for a new pipe organ for the large church building then being planned. She and their consultant, Fr. James Brobst, traveled to Illinois to hear and play our instrument at Holy Family Catholic Church in Rockford, and were immediately convinced of the need to have the Buzard Sound at St. Mark’s.

St. Mark’s had no pipe organ in its original temporary sanctuary, and the majority of parishioners had never heard one. It was a daunting endeavor to educate the parish about the difference that a pipe organ could make in their liturgical and musical lives, and then convince them that they needed one! A long-standing parishioner was convinced, and through his anonymous generosity, made it happen.
This new organ is our 38th, and was designed to visually complement the sculpture of the Christus Rex, incised into and built out from the brick wall at the front of the assembly. The building seats about 1,000 people and is surprisingly lively in its acoustical environment. The organ itself is raised 18 feet above the floor and sounds nicely down the building’s axis. Sonically it fills the entire room whether playing soft or loud. The woodwork in the façade is solid white oak, stained and finished to relate to the church’s other woodworking. Pipes in the façade are made of polished tin and flamed copper.

Two sets of horizontal trumpets emphasize the aural excitement that a pipe organ can bring to a liturgical occasion. A high-pressure Tuba made of polished tin is in the organ’s façade; a polished copper set of Pontifical Trumpets on lower pressure is mounted over the entry doors. Lest one think that resources were squandered on an unnecessary luxury of two chamades, they were included only after the organ’s chamber space had been completely filled with the stops necessary for a full and proper classically conceived and romantically executed specification.

The choral singers are located in a “bump-out” area to the right of the building’s axis. Because the choir is effectively in another room, and cannot hear the organ clearly, we built a four-stop Choral Organ to accompany their singing, housed in a small free-standing case that stands behind them. These four stops are of sufficient tonal variety and volume gradations to support the choral singing in perfect balance. Stops from the main portion of the organ may also be used to supplement the Choral Organ’s sound.

The instrument contains 35 independent stops and 43 ranks of pipes across three manuals and the pedal keyboard. As in all Buzard organs, there is a wealth of tonal variety, even if the instrument is modest in size. At the hand of our tonal director Brian Davis, no two diapasons sound exactly alike; the flutes are liquid in tone and often take their cues from their orchestral counterparts; strings impart a warmth and keenness to the palette. The chorus reeds are spectacular, each stop having its own depth and degree of éclat; the plaintive German Romantic Oboe is a tremendously effective solo player, but also colors the Swell flues subtly. All metal pipes are made of rich, high tin-content metal of generous thickness. On-site tonal finishing took a month to accomplish.

The organ’s engineering was accomplished by our executive vice-president and chief engineer, Charles Eames. This instrument has the distinction of affording him one of his greatest challenges: designing a pipe organ with a 14-inch steel beam running through its center! Although chamber space was provided for a “future organ” when the church was built, neither architects nor contractors thought anything wrong about running a steel beam through its middle! Although the organ occupies a “chamber,” the instrument is still housed in a free-standing case. This allows the sound to effortlessly project into the church, and for us to minimize any variables while installing on-site. This also afforded us the opportunity to build a ventilation system that brings conditioned air from the church up to the top of the organ, spilling down naturally, thereby keeping the instrument in tune.

The parish is “between organists.” So, in order for the parishioners to hear what an organ could do for worship, I played for the three Sundays that I was in San Antonio voicing the organ. The first Sunday, people heard only those few stops that were finished. But by the second and third Sundays, I played the hymns, prelude, and postlude using the versatility of the entire instrument. The organ has been extremely well received by the parishioners, clergy, and the wider community. Organist David Heller will be dedicating it in a Solemn Pontifical Mass followed by a concert on Saturday, November 21.

My deepest thanks go to St. Mark’s for commissioning us to build this organ, especially to Pastor Kevin Ryan, administrator “Dot” Hamlin, our contact person Lena Gokelman, music director Dolores Martinez and her assistant Courtney Guernsey, facility manager George Wetherill, and Irene Marin, who makes the best tortillas I’ve ever tasted!

A pipe organ is far more than the sum of its parts, or the sum of the labor-hours of the tremendously dedicated individuals with whom I am blessed to work. They all deserve special recognition:

David Brown, foreman, service department and installation
Brian K. Davis, tonal director
Stephen Downes, metalworking, tonal assistant, installation
Charles Eames, executive vice-president and chief engineer
John Jordan, service technician
C. Robert Leach, cabinetmaker façade, general woodworking, installation
Stuart Martin, cabinetmaker façade and console cabinetry
Shane Rhoades, cabinetmaker, winding system, installation
Jay Salmon, office manager
Lyoshia Svinarski, cabinetmaker and wood finishing
Stuart Weber, service technician
John Wiegand, service technician and installation
Ray Wiggs, console, electrical and windchest specialist, installation
Keith Williams, director, service department
—John-Paul Buzard

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas
Buzard Opus 38, completed August 1, 2009: 35 stops, 43 ranks

GREAT – Manual II
Unenclosed, 4″ wind pressure
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Open Diapason (polished tin
in façade)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Harmonic Flute
8′ Bourdon
4′ Principal
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
2′ Mixture V (breaks at octaves)
Tremulant
8′ Tromba (ext Ped 16′ Tbn)
4′ Clarion (ext 8′)
8′ Major Tuba (polished tin, horizontal)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (polished copper,
horizontal)
Great to Great 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choral to Great 16′, 8′, 4′

SWELL – Manual III
Enclosed, 4″ wind pressure
8′ English Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste (tc)
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Recorder
13⁄5′ Tierce
22⁄3′ Full Mixture V
16′ Bassoon (full length)
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
Tremulant
Cymbalstern
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Swell to Swell 16′, UO, 4′

CHORAL – Manual I
Encased, 3½″ wind pressure
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Octave
4′ Flute
Tremulant
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Choral to Choral 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Choral 16′, 8′, 4′

PEDAL – Unenclosed
32′ Subbass (1–12 digital, ext)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital, ext)
16′ Open Diapason (flamed copper and
polished tin in façade)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Gt)
16′ Metal Gedeckt (flamed copper in
façade of Choral Organ case)
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Spire Flute
8′ Bourdon (ext 16′)
8′ Gedeckt Flute (Gt)
4′ Choral Bass (ext 8′)
4’ Open Flute (ext 16′)
16′ Trombone (wood)
16′ Bassoon (Sw)
8′ Trumpet (ext 16′)
4′ Clarion (ext 16′)
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choral to Pedal 8′, 4′

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, LLC, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 33, 2006

St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, Zionsville, Indiana

Zionsville, Indiana is a quaint community about 30 minutes north of Indianapolis. It has retained its rural character, but added modern coffee shops, restaurants, and shopping along the historic Main Street. Farms dot the outlying area, inhabited primarily by today’s generations of their founding families. Horses are kept for sport. Until only last year, Main Street featured an equine and tack shop, where one could purchase saddles, bits, and bridles, and be measured for a custom-made pair of English riding boots.

St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church sits on a lane in the newer part of town. The church was originally built in 1968. An early 20th-century Sanborn tracker-action organ was renovated and installed by Goulding & Wood in 1988, and the church was expanded to its present and complete form in 1997. Indianapolis architect Tim Fleck, of Woolens, Molzen, and Partners, designed and finished the space.

These days it is a luxury for a small rural church to have a pipe organ of any description, and St. Francis used their old tracker organ to its greatest and fullest extent. However, as the parish and its music program grew, the old instrument was found wanting. In 1992, their rector, The Rev. Sandra Michels, invited me to visit, having heard of the success of our then new organ at the Episcopal Campus Chapel at the University of Illinois. We met, and I offered several recommendations for instruments of differing size.

The church wrestled with a “catch-22.” The building is not so big as to require a large organ to fill it with sound for vigorous hymn-singing. However, the ambitious choral program of traditional Anglican offerings really cried out for tonal variety—which only a somewhat larger instrument could offer. And, of course, since no one at the church really knew what pipe organs cost, the price came as a real shock. The organ project was shelved, and, as the parish continued to grow, the then new organist/choirmaster Lee Barlow took up the cause afresh for a new instrument.

Lee was acquainted with the many tonal and mechanical benefits of slider chests, and the discipline that they bring to good organ design. But he also wanted to take advantage of the flexibility that unit work can bring to a well-designed pipe organ, as long as it did not in any way compromise the instrument’s integrity.

Having some stops appear on unit chests also became advantageous as we learned that the organ’s initial purchase price had to be limited to a fixed dollar amount, based upon a donation received from a very generous parishioner. Although the donation was certainly significant, the amount was less than a tonally complete organ would cost. We had to design an organ that could at least initially be built for the amount of the single donation—and be efficiently expandable to the proper size as succeeding contributions were received. Partially because unit stops are more expensive than stops planted on slider chests, they make good candidates for preparations, and easier reductions to an organ’s initial purchase price.

Initially, more stops were prepared for the future than the printed specification shows. Although it was against my nature to do so, I had a positive feeling that the church would reinstate the important stops in time for them to be included as the organ was constructed in the shop, and indeed they did!
The limited balcony space was also an issue. Therefore we opted to place the Great in a case projecting over the balcony rail, and place the Swell and Pedal divisions in a case centered on the balcony floor, at the rear wall, behind the choral singers. We kept the Swell and Pedal case simple, echoing the classical architectural design of the chancel and its furnishings. The slightly more fanciful Great case relates to the building’s round window frames in its use of rounded towers with rounded pipe shades. Roman mouths in the façade pipes tie both cases together nicely. The cases are made of 11⁄2" thick solid white oak, with walnut and basswood accents. The front case’s pipe shades are carved—albeit by machine—in a 19th-century pattern. The console is also made of 11⁄2" thick white oak, with polished walnut interior accents, keyboards, slips, nameboard, and drawknob wings.

The action is primarily electrically operated slider and pallet windchests. The unit stops have expansion chambers built into every note’s toe and valve holes, to replicate the speech and repetition characteristics of the slider chest magnets. Our treatment of the actions and chests encourages beautiful speech, and reconciles the slight difference in repetition characteristics between the slider stops and the unit stops.

In small organs, every note of every stop is crucial to the entire organ’s tonal structure. And, dividing the organ with the Great over the rail poses some listening challenges for the organist. We like for the Swell to balance the Great. Absent a Swell 8¢ Diapason, the Swell Salicional and Stopped Diapason blend together to create a composite foundation tone, and balance the Great Diapason. Once the foundations are set, their choruses are built up from these references. Since the Swell is further away from the listeners in the nave, the Swell Salicional sounds very bold indeed at the console. But, for accompanying, it is at a perfect point for softer contexts when the expression box is partially or fully closed.

The Open Diapasons in our organs are very personal musical statements, and I pray that organists and organ purchasers will give me artistic license to grow and evolve as time passes. Those of you who have followed my work during the last 15 years will note that our earlier Diapasons were larger in scale than those we’re building now. Especially in smaller organs, a slightly smaller scale, blown on a moderate pressure, can be cut-up and voiced to produce a beautifully warm, solemn sound, and still have plenty of “urgency” to the tone. Here we have Diapasons that are warm indeed, with a compelling palette of upper partials. The result is warmth without fatness, and an uncanny ability to blend with upper pitches to keep the entire chorus interesting, without becoming “spiky.”

Just as Diapasons are the meat of the sound, the reeds, strings, and flutes are the spice in the cooking! The flutes are all different, and colorful. The Great uses our cheeky 8' Flûte à Bibéron, or “baby-bottle” flute; the Swell, a smoky wooden 8' Stopped Diapason. The 4' flutes’ construction is opposite that of the 8' stops, so that their sounds blend better, and provide contrast between divisions. The Swell strings are lush and beautiful, and lend themselves nicely to being super-coupled with the expression box closed at just the right moment in an anthem or improvisations. The Swell and Pedal Bassoon/Oboe is fundamental and mildly powerful in the bass, but becomes more hollow and plaintive as it enters the manual compass. As is typical of our Oboes, it is primarily meant to color the flues for accompanying, but is also a lovely, lyrical soft solo voice. The Swell Trumpet is slightly on the dark side, in deference to the nature of the small room, but remains interesting by virtue of the open, tapered shallot openings, and slightly thinner tongues, weighted at the ends. When installed, the Pedal Trombone, an independent Pedal reed, will be on slightly higher pressure so that it can have a measured profundity. The future Tuba (note I have not used the adjective “Major” in its nomenclature) will be on moderately high wind pressure; its top three octaves will be horizontally mounted at the top of the Swell case’s pediment.

Thanks to the rector, The Rev. Sandra Michels; organist/choirmaster Lee Barlow; and Dr. Marilyn Keiser, who assured the church that this organ would not be too big for the space! Thanks also to the dedicated people on my staff who continue to build some of the most inspired instruments in America!

—John-Paul Buzard



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

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

C. Robert Leech, cabinet maker

Stuart Martin, cabinet maker

Jenaiah Michael, receptionist

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

Jay K. Salmon, office manager

Lyoshia Svinarski, cabinet maker

Shayne Tippett, winding systems

Ray Wiggs, console, electrical systems, wind chest construction

From the organist/choirmaster

The reality of a new instrument was launched by a financial gift from one of St. Francis’s founding members. The new organ needed to support the congregation for service music and hymnody; accompany the choral music, which spans 500 years’ worth of literature; play a majority of the organ literature; and accompany diverse instruments for our concert series.

After hearing and seeing many organs, talking at length with organbuilders, and reviewing various proposals, it was clear that John-Paul Buzard’s thoughtful proposal of a two-manual, 27-rank specification and double case layout would provide an instrument that would meet the requirements of our space and music program. Much gratitude goes to our organ consultant, Dr. Marilyn Keiser, who both affirmed the project’s vision and confirmed John Buzard’s proposal as its realization.

Working with John Buzard and company was pure pleasure. John’s enthusiasm knew no bounds when it came to discussing any aspect of the new organ. He was always open to questions and willing to answer in detail. We are very grateful to him and Chuck Eames for wrestling around the prepared stops; we look forward to installing the Pedal 16' Trombone, the solo 8' Tuba, and the Great and Pedal 16' & 8' Gedeckts.

John’s knowledge and skill are self-evident in both the visual and sonic beauties of the instrument. The organ design was impressive on paper, but in three dimensions it is absolutely magnificent. Visually, it has given a henceforth unknown height to the rear gallery. Musically, its softest sounds fill the room, yet at its fullest it flattens not the ear. It is a joy to play, and it beckons practice. Many and most gracious thanks to you, John-Paul Buzard, for bestowing upon us a masterpiece of your artistry.

—A. Lee Barlow

St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, Zionsville, Indiana, Buzard Opus 33

20 stops, 27 ranks

GREAT (Manual I, 4" wind pressure)

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (stoppered wood, preparation)

8' Open Diapason (polished tin, façade)

8' Flûte à Bibéron

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext)

4' Principal

4' Spire Flute

22⁄3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

13⁄5' Seventeenth

11⁄3' Fourniture IV

8' Oboe (Sw)

Tremulant

8' Tuba (high pressure, horizontal, atop case, prepared)

Great to Great 16-UO-4

Swell to Great 16, 8, 4


SWELL (Manual II, expressive, 4" wind pressure)

8' Stopped Diapason (wood)

8' Salicional

8' Voix Celeste (tc)

4' Principal

4' Harmonic Flute

2' Recorder

2' Full Mixture IV

16' Bassoon

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (7 bells)

8' Tuba (Gt prep)

Swell to Swell 16-UO-4


PEDAL (various pressures, partially enclosed & expressive)

32' Subbass (1–12 digital ext, prep)

32' Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital ext, prep)

16' Bourdon (stoppered wood)

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Gt prep)

8' Principal (polished tin, façade)

8' Bass Flute (ext Bourdon)

8' Gedeckt Flute (Gt)

4' Choral Bass (ext Principal)

4' Open Flute (ext Bourdon)

16' Trombone (preparation)

16' Bassoon (Sw)

8' Trumpet (ext Trombone)

4' Shalmei (Sw Oboe)

8' Tuba (Gt)

Great to Pedal 8, 4

Swell to Pedal 8, 4

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)

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, Buzard 2009–2010 renovation

Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina, Buzard Opus 39, June 2010

I am proud to showcase a recently completed new organ, and a renovation project successfully accomplished by our service and tonal departments, to give a glimpse into the depth of our firm, and the differing types of projects that we regularly and successfully undertake.
Some years back The Diapason featured a renovation project of ours at First Presbyterian Church, also in Lexington, Kentucky. Word of the success of this project quickly sped through the community, and we were contacted by Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church’s music director, Clif Cason, about the possibility of giving their 1963 Rieger tracker action organ a mechanical and tonal “going over.” He and the parishioners at Maxwell Street Church liked the transparency and vigor of the organ’s neo-Baroque style, but weren’t convinced of the inharmonic noise in the flue voicing, nor the unstable and thin-toned reeds. The organ exhibited mechanical symptoms which signaled that work was necessary, and we discovered that the organ was impossible to tune, or keep in tune.
All of us had a turn to inspect this organ: general manager Charles Eames, tonal director Brian Davis, service department director Keith Williams, service department foreman, David Brown, and I. We discovered that the pallets had been covered in a foam-rubber substance, which was becoming sticky and gooey. Additionally, the felt bushings in the keyboards and pedalboard had worn to a point at which the action was clattery. The organ leaked wind inordinately, especially where the pull-down wires exited the slider chests’ pallet boxes.
We re-covered the pallets with felt and leather. All the deteriorated leather purses at the pull-down wires were replaced with felt punchings held down by small lead weights. Keyboards and pedalboard were restored, tracker “combs” that had been removed were replaced, small “bleed” holes were drilled into the slider chests’ tables, and the action was re-hung and balanced properly. Since re-regulating the action and eliminating the flaws we found in our initial inspection, we have discovered that many of the steel needle-axles that act as a bearing for the actions’ squares have worn and will on occasion jump out of their bearing clevises. Replacement of these axles will be a future maintenance operation.
Tonally, the organ was not a happy instrument. Years of heavy cone tuning had done its damage, especially to the small mixture pipes in the organ. Tuning scrolls on façade pipes and the larger flue pipes on the chests had been rolled down too far, and could not tune flat enough. Throughout, the sound was noisy, with a disproportionate amount of speech articulation, scratchiness in the tone, and in many of the small mixture pipes, quick speech to the point of over-blowing an octave. The reeds’ resonators were too short to couple to the pitches that the reeds’ tongues were producing, contributing to a thin and unstable tone. We all concluded that the existing flue pipes could be physically restored and the voicing amended for a significantly improved musical result. However, the reed pipes needed to be replaced.
Our tonal director, Brian Davis, came to us from Visser-Rowland & Associates and was not only intimate with the techniques of flue-regulation voicing, but also significant achievements in neo-Baroque reed making that had been made by German reed pipe maker Roland Killinger in the late 1960s. These developments produced neo-Baroque reeds of excellent tone and tuning stability, even though voiced on very low wind pressures. Ironically, just as Mr. Killinger’s experiments began to produce results, the neo-Baroque trend ended, and few of these new reeds were ever made—until this project.
All of the organ’s pipes (except the largest wood pipes screwed onto the case sides) came back to our workshop for cleaning, repair, and re-voicing. The damage to the small pipes by heavy cone tuning was too significant to warrant restoration of the cone-tuning system, so we installed stainless steel tuning slides on the smaller pipes, and restored (in many instances replaced) the scrolls on the larger pipes. While we had the pipes out we also removed the toeboards to vacuum clean the chest tables and sliders, and to manufacture toeboard overlays and new racking for the new reeds. We observed that the organ used modern-style spring-loaded slider seals, except that from about middle “C” on up these sleeves were sealed with diaphragms of pneumatic leather—all of which were ripped and leaking. No wonder this organ could not be tuned, and no wonder former technicians simply bashed and bashed those poor little pipes sharper and sharper with their tuning cones—because they weren’t receiving enough wind, because of the leaking leather! New slider seals sans leather replaced the originals. Not surprisingly, now the organ can be tuned, and stays in tune.
In order to get as much sound from the relatively small-scaled 16′ Subbass pipes (stamped “Lieblich” by the way), the corrugated tubing connecting the toe holes on the chest to the toes of the pipes screwed onto the case was replaced with larger diameter tubing, and we installed “lifters” onto the pallets, so that the pedal action would be able to open the pallets farther.
There was a half-length 16′ Posaune in the Pedal, but it was of such small scale, producing no fundamental pitch, that we opted to place a nicely scaled 8′ Trompete in its place. Music director Clif Cason envisions a second phase of the project to install a new full-length 16′ Posaune in the back of the organ, and a Pedal 16′ Offenbass in additional cases alongside the existing instrument. This may be tied into a long-hoped-for chancel renovation and re-configuration project.
The re-installation of the organ took approximately two weeks, and tonal finishing occupied three weeks. The result is a phenomenally clean, clear, transparent, buoyant, musical sound. The reeds are full and round, the direct result of Roland Killinger’s research from the 1960s. This organ, and our rebuilt organ at First Presbyterian Church, will be featured in the AGO regional convention to be held next summer in Lexington.
It is possible to work faithfully in a style that may not be one’s own when renovating an existing instrument. But this takes complete subrogation of one’s self from the tonal and mechanical equation. Our firm has the depth and experience to successfully undertake such a project, while at the same time developing our own personal style of modern organbuilding. Many know that I’m a romantic at heart. One of my colleagues said to my son at the recent AGO convention (to paraphrase) “It’s because of your father, that we can build modern romantic organs.”
The new organ at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina came about because the wonderful people on the organ committee had a romantic and emotional reaction to our organs at All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and Williamsburg Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. They asked their consultant, Keith Shafer, why they needed to listen to any other builders’ instruments after hearing ours, because they knew in their hearts that they had fallen in love. But they followed the consultant’s discipline, and hearing others confirmed their impression of heart. They had to have a Buzard organ in their church!
Their organ project was coupled with a tremendously successful sanctuary renovation project, in which the visual and acoustical environments were transformed into a dignified, lively and holy place of worship. Organist David Witt spent endless hours coordinating architects, contractors, and consultants. The interior designer was Terry Byrd Eason and the acoustician was Dana Kirkegaard.
Engineering this instrument of 43 stops and 52 ranks was one of the greatest physical challenges for executive vice-president Charles Eames (also a Visser-Rowland alumnus). Every inch of roof gable, every nook and cranny of former organ chambers, and a space above a newly developed sacristy became home for the instrument, all of which can easily be reached for maintenance and tuning.
The warmth and breadth of the tonal palette encompasses a dynamic and lively Principal chorus as the backbone of the instrument, as well as flute, string, and reed choruses. No two stops of the same class are identical, which translates into tremendous tonal variety. The organ can accompany a single small child, through a choir of 100. And, the improved acoustics coupled with our voicing allows one to feel the sound all around oneself, and that one is always supported in singing.
During our last week of tonal finishing in early June, son Stephen came down to Raleigh from his last summer at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and played an impromptu concert for the members of the church’s building and organ committees. Playing for about half an hour, the clarity of the Principal choruses was highlighted, then the softer, suave voices in the Swell and Choir as well as the lyrical reeds; then the organ’s orchestral nature shone in the Willan Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue. All agreed that they never thought pipe organs could sound this way.
Yes, I am a romantic at heart, a professional of mind, perhaps a pragmatist and dreamer all rolled into one. But so is everyone else on my staff, and we would love nothing more than to be a part of your worshipping community, whether it involves building you a new pipe organ, or renovating an instrument you have, with which you want to fall in love again.
—John-Paul Buzard

Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky
1963 Rieger Orgelbau, Austria, mechanical action, 21 stops, 30 ranks
2010 renovations John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois. Completed October 15, 2010

HAUPTWERK Manual I 55mm wind pressure
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Röhrflöte 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
II Sesquialter 122 pipes
2′ Blockflöte 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixtur V 305 pipes
16′ Röhrschalmei 61 pipes*
8′ Trompete 61 pipes*
II–I 8′

POSITIV Manual II
55mm wind pressure
8′ Holzgedeckt 61 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Koppelflöte 61 pipes
2′ Octave 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
2⁄3′ Scharff IV 244 pipes
8′ Krummhorn 61 pipes*
Tremulant

PEDAL 55mm wind pressure
16′ Offenbass (* prepared for)
16′ Subbass 44 pipes
8′ Octavbass 32 pipes
8′ Subbass 32 notes
4′ Gemshorn 32 pipes
2′ Rauschpfeiffe III 96 pipes
16′ Posaune (* prepared for)
8′ Trompete 32 pipes*
4′ Schalmei 32 pipes*
Tremulant
I–P 8′
II–P 8′
(* denotes new pipes)

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois
Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina
Three manuals, 43 stops, 52 ranks, electric-slider action
Completed June 2010

GREAT (4-inch wind pressure)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Open Diapason 61 pipes
polished tin in façade
8′ Viola da Gamba 61 pipes
8′ Flûte Harmonique 61 pipes
polished tin in façade
8′ Bourdon 61 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Spire Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes
2’ Fifteenth 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes
8′ Trompete 68 pipes
(doubled flue trebles)
8′ Tromba (Pedal)
4′ Tromba Clarion (Pedal)
8′ Major Tuba (Choir)
Tuba Solo (melody coupler)
Tremulant
Cymbalstern 14 bells
Chimes (digital)
Great-Great 16-UO-4
Swell-Great 16-8-4
Choir-Great 16-8-4

SWELL (4-inch wind pressure)
16′ Gedeckt Pommer 43 pipes
(1–18 from Great)
8′ Violin Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Stopped Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Salicional 61 pipes
8′ Voix Celeste 61 pipes
8′ Flûte Cœlestis 86 pipes
(Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes
2′ Recorder 61 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes
2′ Full Mixture IV 244 pipes
16′ Bassoon 85 pipes
8′ Trompette 68 pipes
(doubled flue trebles)
8′ Oboe 61 pipes
4′ Clarion (ext Bassoon)
8′ Major Tuba (Choir)
Tremulant
Chimes (digital)
Swell-Swell 16-UO-4

CHOIR (4-inch wind pressure, except as noted)
8′ English Open Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Flûte à Bibéron 61 pipes
8′ Dulciana 61 pipes
8′ Unda Maris 49 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Block Flute 61 pipes
2′ Doublette 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Larigot 61 pipes
1′ Fourniture IV 244 pipes
8′ Clarinet 61 pipes
8′ Tromba (Pedal)
4′ Tromba Clarion (Pedal)
8′ Major Tuba 61 pipes
25 inch wind pressure
Tremulant
Chimes (digital)
Harp (digital)
Celesta (digital)
Choir-Choir 16-UO-4
Swell-Choir 16-8-4

PEDAL (4-inch wind pressure, except as noted)
32′ Double Open Diapason (digital)
32′ Subbass (digital)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (digital)
16′ Open Diapason 32 pipes
wood and metal in facade;
1–6 12-inch wind
16′ Bourdon 44 pipes
8′ Open Bass 44 pipes
polished tin in façade
8′ Principal 44 pipes
polished tin in façade
8′ Bourdon (ext)
8′ Violoncello 32 pipes
polished tin in façade
4′ Choral Bass (ext)
4′ Open Flute (ext)
16′ Trombone 85 pipes
7-inch wind pressure
16′ Bassoon (Swell)
8′ Trumpet (ext)
4′ Clarion (ext)
8′ Major Tuba (Choir)
Chimes (digital)
Great-Pedal 8-4
Swell-Pedal 8-4
Choir-Pedal 8-4

Photo credit: John-Paul Buzard

800/397-3103
www.Buzardorgans.com

Cover

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 25

Holy Family Catholic Church, Rockford, Illinois

It has been a high honor to build this new pipe organ for Holy Family Catholic Church. The worship space was built in the 1970s and seats approximately 1,000 people. A small pipe organ served the parish faithfully until last year, when it had to be removed so that the space could be prepared for the new instrument. That organ has been refurbished and is reliably serving another parish.

Holy Family's organ committee was especially thrilled with the large organ we recently completed at Glenview Community Church, in Glenview, Illinois. Hearing it, and the seamless crescendo of which all of our instruments are capable, captivated them.

Let's be honest about a modern organ's uses. They all need to lead congregational singing, accompany choirs or ensembles, and play a respectable variety of organ literature. But what is it about an individual organbuilder's sound that makes one more successful at certain things than another?

Someone once told me that our organs sound "familiar," and that our instruments conjured up images of his childhood church experiences. Our sound represents a personal evolution, inspired by the great organs of Hook, Johnson, Willis, and Harrison, tempered by the organ reform movement's lessons of classic design and scalings. Our instruments respond to their liturgical requirements by virtue of their warmth, nobility of tone, and inherent musicality. By means of their classic design and scalings, every period of organ literature can be responsibly and musically rendered.

Perhaps this familiarity is a result of building in the mainstream of musical taste and style. But mainstream does not have to be synonymous with "vanilla." First, in our organs there are no exact duplicates of tone color, even within the Diapason choruses. The flues and reeds each have their own color and character at every pitch level, carefully orchestrated so that all the pitches blend well into a full ensemble. Second, our musical sensibilities compel us to reinforce fundamental pitch. Mixtures are pitched, scaled, and voiced so that they offer clarity in the bass and reinforce the fundamental in the mid-range and treble. And we don't shy away from 16' manual pitches. Third, the construction of the organ must facilitate the tonal results. The metal in our pipes is very thick; we use soldered mouths not only on large pipes, but those into the 4-foot range; reed resonators are either of wood, thick spotted metal, or thick copper for an en Chamade; all flue pipes up into the 4-foot octave, and reeds through the 2-foot octave, are supported by heavy felted scallop-traces. Slider chests are an essential component.

The case and console of the Holy Family organ are made of white oak with walnut accents. The pipes in the façade are the low octaves of the Great 16' Double Open Diapason, the Great 8' First Open Diapason, the Great 8' Second Open Diapason and the Pedal 8' Principal. The wood pipes to the right of the case are the Pedal 16' First Open Diapason.

Special thanks to Mr. Bill Stein, director of music at Holy Family Church, to the organ committee, and Monsignor Daniel Hermes for their vision of the new organ, and their commitment to how important a pipe organ really is in contemporary Catholic worship. Thanks also to the staff of John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, whose dedication, craft and artistry make these creations possible: John-Paul Buzard, Brian Davis, Stephen P. Downes, Charles Eames, R. Charles Leach, Stuart Martin, Kenneth McCabe, Evan Rench, Jay K. Salmon, Ray Wiggs, Keith Williams.

--John-Paul Buzard

 

Buzard Opus 25

42 stops, 56 ranks

GREAT (4" wind)

                  16'          Double Open Diapason (façade)

                  8'             First Open Diapason (façade)

                  8'             Second Open Diapason (ext)

                  8'             Flûte à Bibéron

                  8'             Viola da Gamba

                  4'             Principal

                  4'             Spire Flute

                  2'             Fifteenth

                  2'             Mixture V

                  16'          Ophicleide (71⁄2" wind)

                  8'             Tromba (ext)

                  4'             Clarion (ext)

                                    Tremulant

                                    Cymbalstern (14 bells)

                  8'             Major Tuba (15" wind)

                  8'             Tuba Melody Coupler (c25-c61)

                  8'             Pontifical Trumpets (Flamed copper, en chamade, over entry doors, 6" wind)

SWELL (4" wind)

                  8'             Violin Diapason

                  8'             Stopped Diapason (wood)

                  8'             Salicional

                  8'             Voix Celeste

                  4'             Principal

                  4'             Harmonic Flute

                  2'             Flageolet

                  22⁄3'      Full Mixture V

                  16'          Bassoon (full length)

                  8'             Trompette (double blocks)

                  8'             Oboe

                  4'             Clarion (double blocks)

                                    Tremulant

                  8'             Major Tuba (Gt)

                  8'             Tuba Melody Coupler

                  8'             Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)

CHOIR (4" wind)

                  16'          Lieblich Gedeckt (wood)

                  8'             English Open Diapason (Willis style)

                  8'             Claribel Flute (open wood)

                  8'             Wood Gedeckt (ext)

                  8'             Flute Celeste (open wood)

                  4'             Principal

                  4'             Koppel Flute

                  22⁄3'      Nazard (tapered)

                  2'             Recorder (tapered)

                  13⁄5'      Tierce

                  11⁄3'      Mixture IV

                  16'          English Horn

                  8'             Trumpet

                  8'             Corno di Bassetto

                                    Tremulant

                  8'             Major Tuba (Gt)

                  8'             Tuba Melody Coupler

                  8'             Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)

PEDAL

                  32'          Double Open Diapason (1-12 digital ext of 1st Open)

                  32'          Subbass (1-12 digital ext of Bourdon 16')

                  32'          Lieblich Gedeckt (1-12 digital ext of Gedeckt 16')

                  16'          First Open Diapason (open wood)

                  16'          Second Open Diapason (Gt Double)

                  16'          Bourdon (large stoppered wood)

                  16'          Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

                  8'             Principal (façade)

                  8'             Bass Flute (ext 1st Open)

                  8'             Spire Flute (tapered metal)

                  8'             Bourdon (ext)

                  8'             Gedeckt Flute (Ch)

                  4'             Choral Bass

                  4'             Open Flute (ext 1st Open)

                  22⁄3'      Mixture IV (prep)

                  32'          Contra Trombone (ext)

                  16'          Trombone (wood ext 8' Tromba)

                  16'          Bassoon (Sw)

                  8'             Tromba (Gt)

                  4'             Clarion (Gt)

                  8'             Major Tuba (Gt)

                  8'             Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)

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Full 16', 8', and 4' couplers

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T. R. Rench and Co., Racine, Wisconsin, has installed a 3-manual organ at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Whitewater, Wisconsin. Although the modern-gothic church was built in the 1960s, an organ was not installed until now, and a grand piano had served as the liturgical instrument. The original architecture of the building provided for two balcony organ chambers located on each side of an impressive stained glass window featuring Patrick, missionary bishop to Ireland. These chambers were enlarged for the present installation. The organ is totally enclosed with each chamber having separate expression.

While the console and organworks were built in the Rench shop, most of the pipework is from the Casavant/Schaeffer organ formerly in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Milwaukee. New pipework includes the Great Mixture IV, Choir Lieblich Flute and mutations, the Clarinet, and the Pedal 16' Trombone.

The tonal result is majestic given the generous scaling of the early 20th-century pipework. Room acoustics are ideal with a reverberation period of over two seconds; the room helps the basses without suppressing the upperwork. With plenty of 8' manual stops, this is an accompanimental organ especially in-tended to meet the needs of congregational singing and the Catholic Mass. There is substantial weight in the Pedal. The wood 16' Double Open Diapason and the 16' Sub Bass are independent stops not extended from the manual divisions.

Organ project leadership was provided by the former pastor, The Rev. Ronald Crewe. Major financial support was from Mr. Bob Romy, a retired farmer. Consultants were Lowell Youngs, Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and The Rev. Thomas Lijewski, priest and organist. The present pastor is The Rev. James Godin and the director of music is Lisa Kysely.

--Thomas R. Rench

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GREAT

                  16'          Contrabass (ext Oct 4', borrowed bass)

                  8'             Open Diapason

                  8'             Melodia

                  4'             Octave

                  4'             Flute d'Amour

                  2'             Fifteenth

                  IV            Mixture (15 19 22 26)

                  16'          Trombone (ext)

                  8'             Tromba

SWELL

                  16'          Lieblich Gedeckt (ext)

                  8'             Diapason

                  8'             Stopped Flute

                  8'             Salicional

                  8'             Vox Celeste

                  4'             Principal

                  4'             Harmonic Flute

                  22⁄3'      Nazard (ext)

                  2'             Principal (ext)

                  2'             Piccolo (ext)

                  8'             Oboe

                  8'             Vox Humana

                                    Tremolo

CHOIR

                  8'             Viola

                  8'             Melodia (Gt)

                  8'             Lieblich Flute

                  8'             Flute Celeste

                  8'             Dulciana

                  8'             Unda Maris

                  4'             Wald Flute

                  22⁄3'      Nazard

                  2'             Flautino

                  13⁄5'      Tierce

                  8'             Clarinet

                                    Tremolo, Gt & Ch

                  8'             Tromba (Gt)

PEDAL

                  32'          Acoustic Sub Bass

                  16'          Double Open Diapason

                  16'          Sub Bass

                  16'          Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw)

                  8'             Octave Bass

                  8'             Bourdon (ext)

                  8'             Gedeckt (Sw)

                  4'             Choral Bass (ext)

                  16'          Trombone (ext)

                  8'             Tromba (Gt)

                  4'             Oboe (Sw)

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Full complement of couplers; MIDI on Great, Swell, Choir, and Pedal