Cover feature

Parkey OrganBuilders,
Duluth, Georgia
Opus 11, First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Georgia
Our first conversations with Michael Henry, director of music for First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Georgia, took place in early 2007. At that time, the church had a two-manual, 23-rank Möller organ installed in 1975. Our discussions revolved around the mechanical condition of the Möller and the limitations of the tonal design. The church knew that work was imminent for the Möller in order to maintain reliability. As usual, funding remained an issue.
In mid-2008, Joseph S. Hatfield, a local business owner and church member, made provisions for a large bequest shortly before he passed away. This meant that the budget actually became larger than originally projected, and the discussions expanded to replacement of the Möller organ. The planning process broadened to include a consultant, James Mellichamp, Vice-President of Academic Affairs and organ professor of Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia.
The original organ was a product of the neo-baroque influence and presented many challenges for use in church services. Our collaboration with Dr. Mellichamp produced a new three-manual and pedal specification of 40 ranks. The specification was designed to provide a more comprehensive instrument for choral accompaniment, congregational hymns, and an expansive list of organ literature.
The new organ incorporates two enclosed divisions—Swell and Choir. The Great and main Pedal stops remain unenclosed. Secondary Pedal stops are drawn from the Swell and Choir divisions, offering options for enclosed Pedal. The organ offers a tremendous level of independent stops, with very minimal unification. Three principal choruses are available. The primary principal chorus is located in the Great division, with a secondary principal chorus located in the Choir division. The Pedal division also features its own independent chorus from 16′ pitch to Mixture. The organ retains some of the flutes and strings from the previous Möller. These stops were rescaled and revoiced for new locations and pitches. We then completed the complement of flutes. Along with new strings in the Swell division, a secondary string and celeste stop were added to the Choir division.
The Great division is more eclectic than our previous designs. The principals are generously scaled, with the foundation pitch focused on the 8′ rather than the 4′ pitch as in the previous organ. The principals offer a warm body of sound, with a clear articulation and singing character to provide an excellent backbone for congregational singing. The 8′ and 4′ flutes offer a nice complement to the principals, while providing good color on their own. The 8′ and 4′ flutes also provide the foundation for a complete French flute Cornet décomposé. The Great Trompete is of German design, so while powerful it allows for a good blend with the principal chorus for ensemble use.
The Swell division is conceived as a French-based design, including the use of harmonic flutes at 4′ and 2′ pitches. The Trompette is fiery and is complemented by the 16′ Basson and 8′ Oboe. The commanding presence of the 8′ Trompette in the space did not require a 4′ reed. The foundations are drawn from the 8′ Viola and 8′ Chimney Flute, with the focus of the chorus from the 4′ Principal. Our use of violas helps to reinforce the 8′ foundation in a division that does not contain separate principal or diapason tone. Our violas provide a slightly more weighted sound, yet retain the sonority of string tone. The 4′ Harmonic Flute and 2′ Octavin (Harmonic Piccolo) provide a soaring intensity for the Swell division and tie in well to the Plein Jeu IV. The swell box construction features our own sound-insulated, double-wall design for excellent expression, providing a much greater effect than the previous Möller swell box.
The Choir division offers the versatility of an English Choir, while blending some of the options for sounds of a Positiv. The Choir features the same style of expression box construction as the Swell division. An 8′ Violin Diapason is our starting point for the Choir division. The 8′ Violin Diapason and 4′ Violin Principal were conceived to provide some of the missing sounds from the old organ. First Presbyterian has long enjoyed the presence of a strong choral ministry, with an expansive repertoire of anthems and oratorios from the Baroque period to the contemporary era. The shortcomings in choral support and expressiveness of the Möller organ were the main considerations and concerns of the organ committee. The principals and the inclusion of an 8′ Dulciana and 8′ Unda Maris add a new dimension of options and sound that the organist never had in the old organ. The 2′ Principal and 11⁄3′ Quint add the final clarity to the Choir division with sparkling elegance. The 8′ Schalmei provides a pleasant crossover between a small ensemble reed and a light solo reed.
The Pedal division provides more than ample undergirding for the entire organ. A new polished façade comprises the Pedal 16′ Principal and 8′ Octave as well as the bass of the Great 8′ Principal. The division hosts an independent 16′ Subbass, 4′ Choral Bass, 4′ Nachthorn, Mixture III, and 16′ Posaune. After our discussions with the consultant, we provided both a 32′ Resultant and a derived 32′ Cornet from the tonal resources. Both offer that extra level of depth in the pedal line between soft and full registrations.
During the construction of an organ at Parkey OrganBuilders, it is our goal to provide a cohesive musical instrument. While adopting influences and ideas from many of the schools of organ construction, the specification nomenclature and the tonal finishing reflect the solidity of American organbuilding. One of the best compliments we receive regularly is that “stops blend beautifully and do what they are supposed to do.” Much care is given to the scaling of each stop as it relates to its solo and ensemble needs. All of our instruments are carefully finished in their space at completion of the installation.
When tracker action is not an option, our firm elects to use electro-pneumatic action in slider, unit, and pitman variations. Winding systems are always regulated via wedge or box reservoirs for optimal control, yet allowing for a gentle wind flex to prevent a sterile sound. Our operation in Duluth, Georgia is one of the largest facilities in the southeastern United States dedicated solely to the construction of pipe organs. Our use of modern-day technology—including CAD (computer-aided design), Photoshop, and CNC (computer numerically controlled) machinery—allows us to create organs with artistic flair, established mechanical designs, and high levels of accuracy. Our staff is involved with the creation of the organ from paper to final installation. Custom consoles, casework, windchests, wooden pipework, and winding systems are all constructed in our Duluth location.
The console for Opus 11 is constructed in a solid walnut case with burled walnut veneers as well as maple, mahogany, and ebony. The console features turned wooden drawknobs in ebony with maple faces. Engravings provided throughout are laser-engraved in our shop. Custom English keyboards feature bleached bone naturals with ebony sharps. Our ergonomic designs for console construction are based on AGO standards to provide a comfortable familiarity for the organist. Solid State Organ Systems are used for capture, relay, and MIDI and are known the world over for their reliability and intuitive designs for the organist.
We appreciate the cooperation of Michael Henry and the staff and members of First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Georgia. The church has made a conscious effort already on three occasions to involve children and youth in the organ project through the removal of the original pipework, an excursion to our shop to view the new organ through assembly, and a hands-on “bringing in the pipes” event for celebratory installation of the first pipes on Epiphany. We also thank James Mellichamp for his direction and cooperative collaboration in this instrument. The end results have provided a substantial experience in both sight and sound. Instruments of this caliber continue to provide enthusiasm and excitement for our staff. The dedicatory recital is scheduled for April 18, 2010, and will be performed by Dr. Mellichamp. First Presbyterian Church appreciates the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Hatfield, who made this project a reality.
—Phillip K. Parkey
President and Tonal Director
Parkey OrganBuilders

Parkey OrganBuilders
Staff listing, Opus 11
Tonal design and finishing: Phillip Parkey
Mechanical engineering and visual design, installation: Michael Morris
CNC operations for console, structure, windchest construction winding systems and installation: Philip Read, Josh Okeson
Console and relay wiring, installation: Doug Rogers
Chest actions, wiring, winding, assembly, installation: Otilia Gamboa
Office manager and installation: Josh Duncan
Voicing and tonal finishing, installation: Kenny Lewis

Parkey OrganBuilders, Opus 11
First Presbyterian Church,
Gainesville, Georgia

GREAT (Unenclosed)
16′ Bourdon Swell
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Metal Gedackt 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Spitz Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes
2′ Tapered Flute 61 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes
8′ Trompete 61 pipes
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Prepared for
Tremolo
Zimbelstern

SWELL (Enclosed)
16′ Bourdon 12 pipes
8′ Chimney Flute 61 pipes
8′ Viola 61 pipes
8′ Viola Celeste GG 54 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
2′ Octavin 61 pipes
1′ Plein Jeu IV 244 pipes
16′ Bassoon 12 pipes
8′ Trompette 61 pipes
8′ Oboe 61 pipes
Tremolo
Swell 16
Swell Unison Off
Swell 4

CHOIR (Enclosed)
8′ Violin Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Dulciana 61 pipes
8′ Unda Maris TC 49 pipes
4′ Violin Principal 61 pipes
2′ Principal 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
8′ Schalmei 61 pipes
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Great
(Uncoupled)
Tremolo
Choir 16
Choir Unison Off
Choir 4

PEDAL
32′ Resultant 32 notes
16′ Principal 32 pipes
16′ Subbass 32 pipes
16′ Bourdon Swell
8′ Octave 12 pipes
8′ Bass Flute 12 pipes
4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes
4′ Nachthorn 32 pipes
2′ Mixture III 96 pipes
32′ Cornet V 32 notes
16′ Posaune 32 pipes
16′ Bassoon Swell
8′ Trompete 12 pipes
4′ Schalmei Choir
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Great

Couplers
Great to Pedal 8
Great to Pedal 4
Swell to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 4
Choir to Pedal 8
Choir to Pedal 4

Swell to Great 16
Swell to Great 8
Swell to Great 4
Choir to Great 16
Choir to Great 8
Choir to Great 4

Swell to Choir 16
Swell to Choir 8
Swell to Choir 4

MIDI on Swell
MIDI on Great
MIDI on Choir
MIDI on Pedal

Great/Choir transfer

Capture System
(100 levels of memory)
10 general pistons, thumb and toe
6 divisional pistons, thumb/manual
6 divisional toe studs for Pedal
Swell to Pedal reversible, thumb and toe
Great to Pedal reversible, thumb and toe
Choir to Pedal reversible, thumb and toe
Swell to Great reversible, thumb only
32′ Resultant reversible, toe only
32′ Cornet reversible, toe only
Zimbelstern reversible, thumb and toe
Full Organ reversible, thumb and toe
General Cancel, thumb only
Set piston, thumb only

“Any Piston Next” sequencer

Full MIDI interface and record/playback is included
Cover photo by Travis Massey, Magic Craft Studio

Christ the King Lutheran Church, Walnut, California
Knight Organ Company, builder, San Diego, California
Manuel Rosales Organ Builders, voicer, Los Angeles, California
The congregation received the gift of its first and only organ from First Lutheran Church in Monrovia, California at the end of 1968. This three-rank Möller Artiste was purchased by First in 1950 and used in their small chapel. When the large sanctuary was built in 1968, First Lutheran gave Christ the King their 28-year-old pipe organ for their new building. The Möller opus 4300-13 comprised three ranks of pipes—8′ Diapason (76 pipes), 8′ Viole (72 pipes), 8′ Gedeckt (97 pipes), 16′ Bourdon (12 pipes)—and Schulmerich electronic chimes.
When the small Möller arrived at Christ the King, the console, pipes, and pipe case were placed in an open room west of the chancel. In 1981 when Paul Schuricht became organist, it was decided to move both the choir and organ to the rear of the nave. The wood chamber that contained the pipes was modified and placed above the Mother’s Room. A 4′9″ by 4′3″ opening was cut in the wall over the Mother’s Room for the sound of the organ to egress, with 15 new Principal pipes installed in the façade.
Because the 8′ Viole and 8′ Diapason were not conducive to leading the choir and the congregation, Paul Schuricht purchased an 8′ Principal (73 pipes) and a 4′ Gemshorn (73 pipes) along with a new set of 24 Gedeckt treble pipes to replace damaged ones; the new pipework was built by A. R. Schopp’s and Sons, Inc., of Alliance, Ohio. The renovation of the organ—including galvanized pipe for the wind duct, organ cable, chime relay, and the metal enclosure for the blower that would sit outside on the east side of the church—was to cost $3,500. On Sunday morning, June 13, 1982, the dedication service of the rebuilt pipe organ installed by Paul Schuricht, the organist, took place.
By December 2007 when the present organist, Michael Doyle, arrived, the organ had many problems: the wooden Gedeckt pipes’ stoppers needed to be releathered as they wouldn’t stay in tune; because the blower sat outside the church drawing in either hot or cold air, it was difficult to keep the organ in tune; the leather on the reservoir and chests needed to be replaced because it was 57 years old; the stop tabs were breaking off; and the organ had so few stops that it lacked tonal color. In April 2008, the blower was moved into the Mother’s Room, encasing it in a new cabinet that helped to keep the organ in tune.
Bids were submitted at the end of 2008 to enlarge and rebuild the Möller organ for $36,000; Manuel Rosales’s bid to rebuild the organ and add nine ranks of pipe was accepted. Mr. Rosales suggested that Robert Knight of Knight Organ Company in San Diego do the work, and Rosales would do the final voicing and tonal regulation. The specification was designed by the church organist, Michael Doyle, in consultation with Robert Knight and Manuel Rosales.
The rebuilding of the console and chests, and the new chests, woodwork around the façade, new pipe tower, and the new electronics were done by Mr. Knight, with the tonal voicing and tonal finishing by Mr. Rosales. The preparations started on January 19, 2009, when Bob Knight and his crew came to dismantle the Möller organ. The pipes were packed in crates, the chests were removed, the wood chamber walls were dismantled, and the organ was taken to San Diego to be rebuilt and enlarged in the Knight Organ Company shop. On Saturday, January 31, a crew of men from the congregation began work building the new organ chamber walls. Over the next six weeks, men and women of the congregation worked during the week and on Saturdays to complete the chamber walls, install insulation, double wallboard the interior walls, paint the walls with high-gloss enamel, enlarge the front opening of the chamber, and install lighting and a door to the chamber. The organ console platform was rebuilt with hardwood flooring.
The organ has 12 ranks of pipes and 38 stops. The oldest pipework in the organ is the three-rank Mixture that was produced by W. D. B. Simmons in 1863 and voiced during Abraham Lincoln’s first presidential term. The 8′ Salicional and 8′ Voix Celeste came from the 1913 Estey organ at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in San Diego, along with the 8′ Principal, a set of gold façade pipes that never spoke. The 8′ Trumpet came from the 1960 rebuild of the organ at First Baptist Church in San Diego, and was built by Durst Organ Supply of Erie, Pennsylvania. The 13⁄5′ Terz was made by Estey–Aeoline. The large swell shutters were from a 1920 Kimball organ, and the swell motor is from First Baptist Church in San Diego. A newer 1-hp blower was used to replace the old, inadequate Möller blower. The 16′ Subbass was built for a large college organ in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by M. P. Möller in 1950. The 16′ Trumpet 12-pipe extension is new and was made by Organ Supply of Erie, Pennsylvania. The original 8′ Principal was rescaled to become the 4′ Octave, and the 4′ Gemshorn was rescaled to become the 4′ Spitzflöte. On the back wall of the nave are the 8′ Principal pipes in the original case, along with a three-pipe Principal tower that is new. There are a total of 787 pipes in the organ.
The rebuilt Möller organ console has been rewired with a new Opus-Two relay system, new keyboard and pedal contacts, and has a new tilting tablet assembly. There are now 41 tilting stop tablets, 5 pistons on Manual I, 5 pistons on Manual II, 10 general combination pistons, 10 general toe studs, setter piston, general cancel piston, and one toe stud for the 11-bell Zimbelstern. The organ also has a set of Maas-Rowe chimes that were given by Trinity Lutheran Church, Montclair, California. A family in the congregation gave funds for the Zimbelstern, Voix Celeste, and 16′ Trumpet extension. With the gift of the aforementioned items, the total cost of the organ was $45,050.
The organ was dedicated on Sunday, August 23, 2009, at the 9:00 a.m. service. Michael Doyle, the church organist, played music of Armsdorf, Bach, Buxtehude, Burkhardt, Cherwien, Manz, and Walther at the dedication hymn festival at 4:00 p.m.
—Michael Doyle

Christ the King Lutheran Church,
Walnut, California
GREAT—Manual I
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Principal
8′ Gedecktflöte
8′ Salicional
4′ Octave
4′ Gedecktflöte
2′ Octave
III Mixture
8′ Trumpet
4′ Trumpet
Chimes
Positive to Great

POSITIVE—Manual II
8′ Gedecktflöte
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
4′ Principal
4′ Spitzflöte
4 Salicet
22⁄3′ Nasat
2′ Spitzflöte
2′ Octave
13⁄5′ Terz
11⁄3′ Quint
1′ Sifflöte
8′ Trumpet
Tremulant

PEDAL
32′ Resultant
16′ Subbass
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Principal
8′ Flöte
8′ Salicional
51⁄3′ Quint
4′ Choralbass
4′ Flöte
2′ Spitzflöte
II Mixture
16′ Trumpet
8′ Trumpet
4′ Trumpet
Great to Pedal
Positive to Pedal

Summary of Pipes
16′ Subbass 44 pipes
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Gedecktflöte 73 pipes
8′ Salicional 61 pipes
8′ Voix Celeste 49 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Spitzflöte 73 pipes
13⁄5′ Terz 49 pipes
III Mixture 183 pipes
16′ Trumpet 12 pipes
8′ Trumpet 73 pipes

_______________________________________________

Lewis & Hitchcock, Beltsville, Maryland
Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Maryland
Christus Victor Lutheran Church has a Wicks organ. The pipe cabinet is on the left side of the chancel, and the console is on the right side. The console had no combination action, and the only accessory was the crescendo shoe. The desire was to add a combination action, and to reunify the five ranks to make a more flexible specification. Working with director of music Dr. Joseph Birdwell, we planned and installed a multiplex relay in the organ cabinet and a combination action with multiple layers of memory in the console, controlled by a full set of pistons and toe studs. The result is a much more flexible instrument, easily able to provide the right sound for the music.
—Gerald Piercy

GREAT
8′ Principal
8′ Rohr Gedeckt
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Gemshorn Celeste TC
4′ Principal
4′ Copula
2′ Octave
2′ Gemshorn
III Mixture
8′ Trumpet
Swell to Great

SWELL
8′ Rohr Flute
8′ Gemshorn
8′ Gemshorn Celeste TC
4′ Flute
4′ Gemshorn
22⁄3′ Quint
2′ Block Flute
13⁄5′ Tierce
11⁄3′ Larigot
1′ Gemshorn
8′ Trumpet
Tremolo

PEDAL
16′ Subbass
16′ Lieblich Bourdon
8′ Principal
8′ Rohr Gedeckt
4′ Choral Bass
2′ Flute
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
2 manuals, 5 registers, 5 ranks

Parkey OrganBuilders,
Duluth, Georgia
Church of the Good Shepherd,
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

From the builder
Our first contact with Church of the Good Shepherd was with John Wigal, choirmaster/organist, in early 2006. After receiving his call and having a pleasant conversation, a trip to Lookout Mountain was scheduled to review their current situation. Lookout Mountain is a wonderful mountain plateau area just outside of downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Today the mountain is host to a number of quiet neighborhoods and the famous tourist destinations of Rock City and Ruby Falls. Church of the Good Shepherd is an active Episcopal parish serving Lookout Mountain and serves as periodic host to the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee.
The organ committee and Mr. Wigal realized the shortfalls of the original pipe organ installed in 1961, and spent considerable time in reviewing the options for renovations or replacement. We were honored by their interest in our firm, but concerned with the task of providing a suitable organ. The church nave was renovated extensively in the mid-1990s, with great attention to acoustics. The end results provided a significant improvement over the acoustics of the original nave, but the room was still limited by the
A-frame design of the building.
As discussions progressed, the committee investigated various firms for the organ project, talking with both local firms and larger organ builders. Lookout Mountain is a short two-hour drive from the Atlanta, Georgia area, making us one of the “local” builders of consideration. Our firm established shop in Atlanta in 1995, and has produced a number of projects and instruments over the last 14 years, ranging from renovations to complete new instruments. In 2003, we moved to our present location in the Norcross/Duluth area of the Metro Atlanta area. Our 15,000 square foot facility houses our operations with a modern woodworking facility, pipe voicing facility, and clean, separate erecting space. Our shop utilizes both CAD and CNC technology for modern organbuilding.
The majority of organs that we build provide the core foundation of music for church services and congregational singing. As the tonal director, I have studied extensively the designs of organs from Europe and America to draw on sounds that accommodate the appropriate denominational worship style and background. Our organs feature an eclectic base for the final ensemble, but each division is constructed with careful regard to complement the other divisions of the instrument. Our philosophy is that the sum of the parts will be the whole organ, and our performance will be judged on the whole organ and not the parts. Thus our Great divisions are often based on American standards with a solid chorus for the backbone of the instrument. Swell divisions are often heavily influenced by the French school of organ design, but with a level of treble ascendancy to improve options for choral accompaniment. The Choir and Positive divisions draw from and meld the schools of English and German organbuilding for choral and literature work. Pedal divisions are to be independent when at all possible, and should be both felt and heard in the space.
After much consideration and listening, the committee at Church of the Good Shepherd felt confident that we could handle the task of providing an organ for their parish. Visiting our instruments and shop, they expressed their confidence by selecting us to build the new organs for them. Though the present organ had many shortfalls, some materials did prove to be of quality for consideration in the new organs. Thus, some limited material was retained in the new instruments. The limited pipework retained was cleaned, repaired, rescaled and revoiced in conjunction with the new specification. The discussions of the Gallery Organ included use of an Antiphonal division for additional support of congregation singing. In our discussions, the committee conveyed their interest and desire that an Antiphonal division might yield additional benefits with a separate console as a stand-alone instrument, thus giving options for the second organ for the space. Soon it was decided that the organ project would be become two separate organs dovetailed together to function either separately or as one.
The present chambers for the Gallery Organ are located in the optimal position of the room; however, they presented some challenges with tonal egress over the gallery rail in addition to being deep with a constrictive ceiling, thus requiring creative pipe scaling. The new Gallery Organ (our Opus 8) is installed in the same position as the organ it replaced. The organ speaks on the long axis of the nave, and the Great and Pedal divisions are elevated high in the space. The Choir and Swell divisions are located on floor level of the gallery in chambers behind and below the Great and Pedal divisions.
The second of the organs at Church of the Good Shepherd—deemed the Chancel Organ—probably commanded the greatest amount of consideration for scaling and voicing. The existing reredos set the parameters for space limitations for the Chancel Organ case in addition to influencing the case design. Because no chamber space existed, we designed the Chancel Organ to be contained in two separate cases. Space did not allow for the inclusion of a swell box, so in an effort to retain independent stops as much as possible, stop selection, scaling, and voicing were crucial in balancing volume and overall ensemble chorus. In the consideration of our production schedule, one of the benefits of the Chancel Organ was that it allowed a seamless transition of instruments for Church of the Good Shepherd. Since the Chancel Organ was to be entirely new, it (our Opus 9) was actually built first. Once completed, we then proceeded with the removal of the old Gallery Organ and preparations for the new Gallery Organ. The church used Opus 9 for the interim until the Gallery Organ was installed in early 2008. The Chancel Organ was first used in summer of 2007, and made its official debut to the community with the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee in October 2007.
The Gallery Organ (Opus 8) was completed in our shop in late 2007, and installation started in December 2007. Tonal finishing began in January 2008, and the final reed stops were installed and voiced in March. The entire organ was first heard on Easter Sunday of 2008.
The new organs feature three complete manual principal choruses between them. The Great division is the largest and richest of the foundations. The Chancel Organ features a more Germanic secondary chorus, with the third chorus located in the Choir division. The Choir principals are English in nature with more warmth and less articulation. Each division offers a colorful yet distinct 8′ flute. True to form with our tonal design, we look to our flutes to provide color and different timbre within each stop. There is no duplication of design within the 8′ or 4′ flute stops. The reed stops also provide their own color and add fire and commanding authority to the organ’s ensemble. The reeds range from a strong Germanic Trompete in the Great to a French Trompette chorus in the Swell at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The 16′ and 8′ pitches are completed with a Basson and Hautbois. A large 8′ Cromorne provides additional options for literature and solo work.
The final crown of the organ is the 8′ Fanfare Trumpet. Mr. Wigal and the committee were very clear on the design of this stop. The Fanfare Trumpet was to provide a strong solo line in both the treble and tenor range but was not to be offensive or overpowering. Therefore, the Fanfare Trumpet is voiced on seven inches of pressure, with resonators hooded to provide optimal projection from the case. Mixture work is carefully terraced across the divisions, starting with the Pedal division and proceeding through the Swell division, Great division, and Chancel division. Wind pressures range from 3″ to 33⁄4″, which allowed us to voice with prompt speech but to avoid a driven sound. All of our scaling and voicing work is handled completely in-house in our company to ensure the success of each organ. Since no two instruments or rooms are ever exactly alike, scaling and voicing strengths must always be tailored to each organ. Mr. Wigal served as the consultant for the project and provided excellent input and feedback for the development of the specification.
Mechanically, the organ utilizes electro-pneumatic slider chests with electric stop actions and electro-pneumatic unit chests. Winding is regulated through single-rise reservoirs. The casework and consoles are constructed of red oak with maple accents. The console interiors are provided in regular and burled walnut. Keyboards are done in bleached bone with ebony sharps. Drawknobs are turned ebony with laser-engraved maple insets. Tilting tablets are of solid maple. A multi-level capture and relay system was provided by Solid State Organ Systems. The rear case houses the bass of the 16′ and 8′ Pedal Principal and bass of the Great 8′ Principal. The Chancel Organ cases house the bass of the 16′ Quintaton and 8′ Principal.
The staff of our company is essential to the success of each instrument. It is through them that the organ committees and I can see fruition and success of every organ we build. We sincerely appreciate the confidence of the committee and staff of Church of the Good Shepherd for the opportunity to provide two new organs for worship and music. Additional information for these organs may be found at
<www.parkeyorgans.com&gt;.
—Phillip K. Parkey
President and tonal director

Staff:
Phillip K. Parkey – president, tonal director, and voicer, tonal finishing
Michael Morris – shop supervisor, case design and chest layout, installation, tonal finishing
Josh Duncan – office manager, wiring, installation
Otilia Gamboa – chest construction, pneumatic assemblies, wiring, installation
Wayne Mitcham – case and chest construction, installation
Josh Okeson – console, case, chest construction, installation, console wiring
Philip Read – console, case, and chest construction, installation
Tom Helms – tonal finishing

From the organist
The Church of the Good Shepherd is so very pleased with the outcome of our new organ and its contribution to our worship here atop Lookout Mountain. In 1961 when the current nave of Good Shepherd was built, the building committee made a firm commitment to a new organ at that time, and chose the firm of Hillgreen, Lane and Co. The installation of that organ was done by D. Byron Arneson of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Unfortunately, the organ was plagued with mechanical problems and tonal insufficiencies throughout its life. In the 1990s, renovations to the nave saw the removal of sound-absorbing carpet and curtains as well as the removal of a portion of sound-absorbing material of the rear wall. Although each decade had brought with it attempts to create a better instrument out of the Hillgreen, Lane organ, none of these attempts were able to do much beyond making the instrument more mechanically reliable. By my arrival in 2002, it was apparent that something must be done.
Early in 2005, a parishioner expressed the desire to present a gift to the parish specifically for the improvement of the organ. A committee was quickly formed with representatives from the choir, vestry and congregation (including one former organist/choirmaster), and work was begun. The committee set out with three important goals in mind: improve the organ’s ability to lead the singing of the congregation; improve/increase the available stops for accompanying the choir(s); increase the variety of available colors.
The committee felt it was important to create an antiphonal organ at the front of the nave that could function in a variety of ways. We desired an antiphonal organ that would allow for basic accompanying of the choirs or small services from the front of the nave, serve as a continuo instrument for choral or instrumental concerts, boost the tonal presence of the organ in the front of the nave for large services, as well as be a foil to the main instrument for literature.
The committee spoke with five builders during its discussions and listened to examples from three of these. In an effort to show good stewardship, the committee desired to retain something of the old organ in any new project. During our discussions and listening sessions with Phil Parkey, it became clear to us that Phil and his firm were willing and able to accomplish our listed goals. It also became clear that Phil was listening to our requests and filtering them with his own high standards, expertise and experience to create the best result for our parish. During the planning stages, the process became very much a guided collaboration between the committee, Phil Parkey, and me, with the end result being an organ that will meet the needs of this parish for many years to come.
The organ has been an enormous success and has generated excitement both in the parish and the community for the music program at Good Shepherd. In October 2007 the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee performed a concert with the new Chancel Organ featuring two organ concerti of Handel (op. 4, nos. 4 and 6), the Adagio by Albinoni, and the Bach Concerto for Two Violins, with the organ serving as the continuo instrument. In October 2008 the main organ was heard in a wide-ranging dedicatory recital by Professor Trudy Faber of Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio.
The Chancel Organ has led various smaller worship services and has served to support instrumental and choral concerts. The main organ has served admirably to accompany both soloists and combined choral ensembles and to provide the foundation for good congregational song. Each stop has its own timbre, distinct from the others of its family and the combinations are well balanced and complementary within and between divisions. We welcome visitors to the Lookout Mountain community to stop and hear this fine instrument.
—John E. Wigal
Director of music/organist

Church of the Good Shepherd
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Gallery Organ, Opus 8
3 manuals, 38 ranks
Drawknob console

GREAT (Unenclosed)
16′ Contra Viola Swell
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Rohrflote 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
2′ Super Octave 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixture III–IV 232 pipes
8′ Trompette 61 pipes
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Chancel
Chimes 21 notes
Tremulant
Great 16
Great Unison Off
Great 4
Stops: 9
Ranks: 10

SWELL (Enclosed)
16′ Bourdon 61 pipes 8′ Claribel Flute 61 pipes
8′ Viola 61 pipes
8′ Viola Celeste 56 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes
2′ Octavin 12 pipes
2′ Plein Jeu III 183 pipes
16′ Basson 12 pipes
8′ Trompette 61 pipes
8′ Hautbois 61 pipes
4′ Clairon 61 pipes
Tremulant
Swell 16
Swell Unison Off
Swell 4
Stops: 13, Ranks: 13

CHOIR (Enclosed)
8′ English Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
4′ Spitz Principal 61 pipes
4′ Koppel Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes
2′ Block Flute 61 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes
8′ Cromorne 61 pipes
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Chancel
Tremulant
Choir 16
Choir Unison Off
Choir 4
Stops: 9
Ranks: 8

PEDAL
32′ Contra Bass (ext 16 Princ, 1–12 digital)
32′ Contra Bourdon (ext Bdn, 1–9 digital, 10–12 are in pipes)
16′ Principal 32 pipes
16′ Contra Viola Swell
16′ Bourdon Swell
16′ Quintaton Chancel
8′ Octave 12 pipes
8′ Viola Swell
8′ Bourdon Swell
8′ Gedeckt Chancel
4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes
4′ Flute Swell
22⁄3′ Mixture III 96 pipes
16′ Posaune 32 pipes
16′ Basson Swell
8′ Trompete 12 pipes
4′ Hautbois Swell
4′ Clarion Swell
8′ Fanfare Trumpet Chancel
Chimes 21 notes
Stops: 18
Ranks: 6

CHANCEL (Unenclosed)
Playable as a single division from the Gallery console
8′ Principal
8′ Gamba
8′ Gedeckt
4′ Principal
4′ Rohrflote
2′ Blockflote
II Sesquialtera TC
1′ Mixture III
8′ Fanfare Trumpet 61 pipes
(Located in Chancel case)
Stops: 9
Ranks: 1

Couplers
Swell to Great 16
Swell to Great 8
Swell to Great 4
Choir to Great 16
Choir to Great 8
Choir to Great 4
Chancel to Great 8

Swell to Choir 16
Swell to Choir 8
Swell to Choir 4
Great to Choir 8
Chancel to Choir 8

Chancel to Swell 8

Great to Pedal 8
Great to Pedal 4
Swell to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 4
Choir to Pedal 8
Choir to Pedal 4
Chancel to Pedal 8

Great/Choir Transfer

Chancel Organ, Opus 9
2 manuals, 12 ranks
Tilting tablet console

MANUAL I
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8′ Gamba Manual II
8′ Gedeckt Manual II
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Flute 12 pipes
III Mixture 183 pipes
Manual II to I

MANUAL II
8′ Gamba 55 pipes
(1–6 common with Gedeckt)
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
4′ Rohrflote 61 pipes
2′ Blockflote 61 pipes
II Sesquialtera TC 98 pipes

PEDAL
16′ Quintaton 32 pipes
8′ Gamba Manual II
8′ Gedeckt Manual II
4′ Flute Manual II
Manual I to Pedal
Manual II to Pedal

Cover photo by Chris Crevasse

Zion’s Lutheran Church, East Germantown, Indiana

A native of Indiana, Michael Rathke received his early organbuilding training with Goulding & Wood, Inc. He subsequently served a formal five-year apprenticeship plus a further two journeyman years with C.B. Fisk, Inc. In 2002 he traveled to England to work with Mander Organs, assisting with the refurbishment of the 1871 Willis organ in London’s Royal Albert Hall and the restoration of the 1766 George England organ at the Danson Mansion in Kent. Upon his return to the United States in 2004, Rathke established his own workshop, where his focus continues to be the building, restoration, and conservation of fine mechanical-action instruments.

I first visited Zion’s Lutheran Church in 1986, near the beginning of my organbuilding apprenticeship. I recall surprise in discovering that the venerable M.P. Möller, with whose plentiful local electro-pneumatic installations I was familiar, had once built mechanical-action instruments. If Zion’s organ were representative, Möller’s tracker output had clearly been more than respectable. Apart from a stiff key action, the organ was a pleasure to play, and its 16 stops made a grand sound in this relatively small church.

My next visit came 25 years later, shortly after setting up my own workshop nearby. On this occasion I was less struck by the Möller’s quality than by its evident deterioration. The organ looked fine, having recently received cosmetic repairs; its basic sound also remained fairly convincing, if not precisely as I remembered. But mechanically, the organ was a mess. The key action was heavy, sticky, and unpredictable; both manual windchests were suffering from obvious and severe sponsil damage; and the two reservoirs (supply-house units that had replaced the original double-rise) were living on borrowed time. Ciphers that could not be rectified abounded; other notes would barely play because their channels had been excessively bled to alleviate sponsil ciphers. The parishioners of Zion’s remained proud of their historic organ, admired its sound, and affirmed that it had served well since arriving in 1933 from a neighboring church. But it had also been an ongoing maintenance challenge. This vigorous but small congregation was understandably weary of spending money at regular intervals and being assured time and again that the organ was now “good as new,” only to find that each assurance had been optimistic, at best. 

When we were asked to take over the organ’s routine tuning and maintenance, we were also charged with making appropriate long-term recommendations. Our first was simply a year of watchful waiting, during which we proposed to carry out touch-up tuning and minor repairs but to do no major work, striving to keep near-term maintenance spending to an absolute minimum. We were thus able to observe the Möller through a full cycle of heating and cooling seasons, especially important given its location partly within an uninsulated organ chamber. This evaluation period also allowed the church a welcome respite from excessive cash outlays and to consider, for the first time, comprehensively restoring its fine but long-suffering pipe organ.

Several things soon became apparent. First, the 1933 relocation from St. Paul’s Lutheran in nearby Richmond—carried out by “two farmers and a mechanic,” according to local tradition—had begun the instrument’s woes. The movers had clearly been competent general craftsmen, but they appear not to have been trained organbuilders. Second, the masonry chamber within which some two-thirds of the organ resided was not well sealed, leaking cold air in winter and hot air in summer, along with the odd bit of blown snow and rain. Third, although the chamber tone opening was more than ample and allowed good tonal egress, the chamber itself was almost too small for the organ it enclosed. The pedal chests had been wedged in at contrary angles, with key action run cross-lots and cobbled together from an assortment of wood tracker stock and soft copper wire. Fourth, the movers had provided absolutely no tuning or maintenance access. To carry out such basic operations as adjusting key action nuts required removal of most of the pedal pipes; to tune the Oboe necessitated either the removal of façade pipes or a precarious climb high above the pedal division.

During this year-long interim, Zion’s organ committee wrestled with a number of options and contending opinions from parishioners, some of whom felt strongly that it was time to “stop pouring money down a black hole, discard the old Möller, and replace it with an ‘up-to-date’ electronic.” While congregational sentiment ran generally against this course, especially among clergy and musicians, many felt rebuilding the Möller or selling it outright would make the most sense. Others in this 190-year-old church advocated a comprehensive restoration, emphasizing the organ’s history, accumulated stewardship, and importance to the fine music program for which Zion’s was known. The church solicited bids for all options, each of which was studied and debated in detail.

Following a vote by the entire church membership, M.P. Rathke, Inc. was awarded the contract for a full and strict mechanical restoration of the Möller. The organ committee chair later explained that we had tendered the winning bid in large part because it was also the low bid, the cost of comprehensively restoring the Möller being significantly less even than a modest electronic to replace it. (The previous sentence is worth re-reading for anyone fortunate enough to possess a historic instrument from any builder.)

During the course of restoration the organ was dismantled in its entirety. Pipework, which upon initial inspection had appeared clean and in relatively good condition, was stored in the church fellowship hall; everything else was taken to our workshop for cleaning, refurbishment, and repair. While in-shop work was proceeding, parishioners were busy tuckpointing, insulating, sealing, caulking, and painting the organ chamber. They also removed carpet from the choir area in front of the organ, sanded and refinished the yellow pine floor below, and invested in a simple humidification unit, built into the existing forced-air HVAC system.

Physical repairs, reinforcement, and reconstruction 

The mechanical restoration was labor-intensive but relatively straightforward. We discovered that sponsil failure had been caused not only by the common condition of overheated, dry winter air, but also by sagging at midpoint of both manual windchests owing to glueline creep. Grid sponsils had thus opened on their undersides like the folds of an accordion in response to 115 years of gravity. After patching and regluing the sponsils, we provided reinforcement to the grid rails of both manual chests to prevent future deflection and to ensure that sponsil repairs would remain permanent. Keyboards were cleaned, flattened, polished, and rebushed; key tails were refelted and releathered. The Swell to Great coupler was comprehensively refurbished. Drawknobs were cleaned and relacquered, stop jambs were rebushed, and a purpose-made rotary blower switch (replacing a massive and unsightly industrial knife switch) was manufactured and applied to the old Bellows Signal stopknob. Kristen Farmer of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was engaged to strip the many layers of flat black paint that had been applied to the nameboard and to carry out a painstaking restoration of the original silver-leaf stenciling (Photo 1). Five components required remanufacturing, either in full or in part:

1. Double-rise reservoir—It is clear that the organ’s original 5′ x 8′ double-rise reservoir survived the 1933 move to Zion’s along with the rest of the instrument. But in the early 1960s the old reservoir was cut into pieces and replaced by a pair of small and inadequate supply house units, likely because of the difficulty of carrying out proper releathering within the extremely tight confines of the chamber. Most of the old reservoir was discarded at that time, but a few pieces were reused as walkboards, bracing, and a jury-rigged post shoring up one corner of the organ’s framework (ironically, replacing a structural post that had been hacked away to gain demolition access to the old reservoir).

Replicating the reservoir turned out to be less difficult than envisioned, for enough fragments remained that we were able to determine all dimensions and relevant construction details. After developing a working design, we entrusted the actual fabrication to
J. Zamberlan & Co. of Wintersville, Ohio (Photo 2). I first met Joe Zamberlan in 1989 during our respective apprenticeships with Fisk and Noack; our similar training and philosophies have since led to collaborations on a number of projects, Zion’s being but the most recent.

2. Pedal key action—When the Möller was built for St. Paul’s Lutheran in 1897, its internal layout was fairly typical: the Swell stood directly behind the Great at impost level, with pedal chests located near floor level, one on the CC side and the other on the ## side (Sketch A, p. 28). At Zion’s, however, this configuration was impossible owing to the absence of space on the ## side. The 1933 movers thus placed all pedal resources on the CC side, where an L-shaped chamber configuration afforded almost enough room.

However, the Zion’s chamber also required the Pedal chests to be located farther toward the back wall (away from the player) than at St. Paul’s. The original action had employed a unique rollerboard, with cranked arms below the pedalboard and rollers running straight back from the keydesk; trackers had then continued at right angles to the Pedal chests. With the chests forced rearward, the 1933 movers chose not the preferable solution of extending the rollerboard and maintaining the original geometry, but rather the Rube Goldberg solution of chiseling away part of the chamber wall and running trackers at a 45-degree angle (Sketch B, p. 28). This somewhat counter-intuitive approach did get the job done, more or less, but it also reduced tracker motion by nearly 50% and imposed undesirable friction and lateral stresses on the Pedal action. We constructed a new rollerboard—essentially a “stretched” replica of the original (Photo 3) utilizing every scrap of old material we could salvage—and installed it in a manner consistent with Möller’s 1897 design (Sketch C, p. 28.)

3. Pedal winding and stop action— The asymmetrical chamber at Zion’s prompted the 1933 movers to choose yet another unusual solution. Because the Bourdon 16′ chest was slightly too long to fit the available space, it was jammed in askew; the slightly shorter Flute 8′ chest fit alongside with no difficulty. Both pedal chests were then served by the same key action run, but winding was less straightforward because each chest employed ventil rather than slider stop action. Thus two wind ducts were required, but only the 16′ Bourdon chest could be winded easily. Undaunted, the movers ran a second galvanized duct straight through the Bourdon chest rollerboard (!), cut a rough hole in the 8′ Flute chest bung board, inserted the duct, puttied it in place, and then located stop action ventils as best they could. Among other drawbacks, this clumsy arrangement made impossible the removal of the Flute chest bung board for maintenance. (Photo 4) The 2013 solution entailed attaching both stop-action ventils to the reservoir (their original location), constructing new poplar wind ducts to match remnants of the originals, and installing in a manner consistent with other Möllers of the period. (Photo 5)

4. Floor frame and building frame replication—During the 1960s, the Möller underwent a rough removal of portions of its floor and building frames to facilitate demolition of its original double-rise reservoir. Instead of reinstalling the load-bearing post, beam, and floor frame, workers simply nailed up scabs of material left over from the old reservoir, which at best provided crude and insufficient support. (Photo 6) We manufactured and installed replicas of the original floor frame and building frame, taking care to match wood species and copy joinery techniques from the rest of the instrument. 

5. Replica reservoir placement and Great wind duct re-routing—During its time at Zion’s, the Möller’s supreme drawback had been a lack of maintenance access. The general culprit was a narrow (8′2′′) chamber opening, compared with the width of the organ’s main internal structure (8′0′′), but specific obstacles included the location and orientation of both the original double-rise reservoir and the Great wind duct.

The 2013 solution was twofold. First, we turned the new reservoir 90 degrees from its original orientation, which allowed us to respect the essential layout of the original wind system while simultaneously opening a clear access path into the organ. (Sketch C) The end-on positioning of the new bellows will also make possible its easy removal for future releathering, as opposed to the crosswise orientation of the original, whose zero-clearance installation in 1933 surely contributed to its eventual demise.

The Great wind duct posed a more perplexing challenge. The original duct was intact in 2012; unfortunately, it completely blocked the only possible service access into the organ. The revised duct now exits the reservoir, crosses under the maintenance walkway, rises vertically, crosses back over the walkway, and finally makes a 90-degree turn forward to enter the Great pallet box. Although the new duct’s construction is somewhat complex, every effort was made to replicate winding characteristics of the original: routing was kept as direct as possible, and cross-sections were deliberately made slightly oversize to compensate both for increased duct length (an additional 19′′) and for necessary additional twists and turns.

Tonal restoration

Successful restorative voicing depends on a number of factors including sufficient intact material, the restorer’s familiarity with other instruments of the school and period, a cautious and deliberate approach, and especially an agenda-free willingness to allow pipes to tell the voicer what they want to do rather than vice versa. In the following paragraphs we will describe the Möller’s altered tonal state in 2012, outline its evaluation, and summarize how we undertook to reconstruct the 1897 sound.

In 1986, Möller Opus 188 still possessed many of the sonorities that inspired worshipers almost a century prior. By 2012, some beautiful sounds remained, although in greatly attenuated form. The exact cause and timing are difficult to pinpoint, in part because church records from the period are sketchy, but also because of the involvement of so many different technicians, some of whom attempted experimental voicing in a manner both curiously random and spectacularly unsuccessful. The physical evidence furnished by the pipes themselves in 2012 seems the most reliable record and will be related here.

All wood pipes were in essentially original condition, requiring little apart from minor regulation and physical repair. The organ’s sole reed stop—a sweet and assertive Oboe and Bassoon 8′—was likewise in decent physical shape apart from some badly torn tuning scrolls. It had undergone tonal work in 1970 by a local technician who, incredibly, chose to sign each C resonator in block capital letters incised with an awl. Fortunately, his voicing efforts were limited to lightly kinking and roughly cross-filing numerous tongues, both of which steps were reversed in 2013. The entire organ had unfortunately been repitched in 2000 to A-440, predictably choking off many reeds; restoring the original pitch of A-435 helped greatly in recovering the Oboe’s stability, promptness, and robustness of tone.

The metal fluework was a mixed bag. On the plus side, almost all interior pipework was physically intact, if not tonally unaltered. Pipes that were slotted in 1897 happily remained so; pipes originally cone-tuned had been fitted with sleeves but fortunately left close to their natural speaking lengths, so the net tonal effect was negligible. Numerous feet had collapsed from years of heavy-handed cone tuning and the use of thin foot material in the first place; we repaired this damage as a matter of course.

On the minus side, many inside pipes had been randomly altered by a variety of bizarre procedures. About a dozen lower lips had been pinched tight against the languids to where only the original coarse nicking allowed wind through the flue; these pipes murmured more than spoke. (This curious method was limited primarily to the Quintadena bass of the 8′ Aeoline.) A distressing number of windways had been aggressively filed open, removing significant material from both languid and lower lip. Upper lips of many mid-range principals had been torn and distorted; some appeared to have been gnawed by rats. Most front pipes, recipients in 2000 of a fresh coat of gold paint, barely spoke in 2012. While the paint job itself was competently executed from a cosmetic standpoint, obvious pre-existing damage had been simply painted over. Examples included out-of-round pipe bodies, dents, missing or broken tuning scrolls, collapsed lead toes, broken ears, and hooks held on by little more than a vestige of solder. Most front pipe windways had also received a generous infusion of paint (!), completely clogging the original nicking and materially reducing flueway cross-sections. Many dangled from their hooks, with wind leaking audibly at collapsed toes; this latter defect became evident only after the friction tape applied in 2000 as a band-aid repair dried out and began to unravel. Zinc conveyancing from the Great windchest was damaged or missing in many instances, causing weak or dead notes; a smooth dynamic transition between façade pipes and their interior continuations (Great Open Diapason, Dulciana, Octave) was nonexistent.

At this point we faced a critical dilemma. On one hand, we had been hired only to restore the Möller mechanically and to perform minor pipe repairs. Wholesale restorative voicing and major pipe repairs were neither contemplated nor included in the contract price. On the other hand, some pipe damage and tonal alterations became clear only after the restored action and wind system allowed pipes to be heard under full wind and precise control. We faced an uncomfortable choice between simply fulfilling the terms of our contract—delivering a perfectly functioning but poor sounding instrument—or moving ahead with necessary tonal work for which we could never be fully compensated. We ultimately chose the latter, not because it was a sound business decision—it was in fact a terrible business decision—but because of the virtual certainty that, if we didn’t, no one ever would. Then this fine and rare pipe organ, mechanically sound but tonally compromised, would likely be discarded eventually. (It is axiomatic that tonally ugly instruments are seldom preserved, no matter how well they function.) In the end, we simply couldn’t bear the thought. And so we prayed, put our noses to the grindstone, and forged ahead.

We tackled the façade first, essentially moving our pipe shop into the Zion’s sanctuary for a full month. Most of the 33 large speaking front pipes required rounding up on large mandrels, as well as removal of visible dents. Components such as ears whose proper reattachment would have involved soldering—impossible without scorching the gold lacquer —were repaired using clear epoxy. The most difficult operation was removing the enormous amount of paint that in 2000 had been sprayed down into the windways, filling in nicking and coating languids and lower lips with an unwelcome layer of crud. Our front pipe work was accompanied at all times by moderate sweat and considerable sotto voce profanity.

Inside pipes were in some ways easier because they were smaller, but there were also many more of them. A few had to be completely remade; a hundred or so more received careful corrective voicing to match their untouched neighbors; a few hundred more required little apart from cleaning, re-prepping, and normal regulation for tone, power, and speech. The final result is as much a testimony to Möller’s original pipemaking and voicing as to our care in resurrecting them.

Have the results repaid our efforts? On the one hand, it is not too much to say that Möller Opus 188 is once again mechanically reliable and tonally impressive, with a richness and versatility that compare favorably with the best of New England work from the period. As restorers, we are exceptionally proud of this magnificent pipe organ we have labored to bring back to life. On the other hand, ours is admittedly the pride of parents, or at least foster parents, and thus similarly subjective. The final assessment must rest with history, which will be informed by countless organists who have yet to experience this remarkable and historic instrument. We therefore encourage all interested readers to visit Zion’s Lutheran Church, to play and listen, and to decide for themselves. Especially we invite you to share with us your reactions and impressions. 

Restorers of the Organ

Joey Jarboe

Caleb Ringwald

Nicholas Ringwald

Paul Rathke

Michael Rathke

Special thanks to Fritz Noack, Christopher Sedlak, and Timothy McEwan.

Wesley Roberts is Professor of Music at Campbellsville University, where he teaches piano, organ, and musicology, and has been a member of the faculty since 1982. He has presented concerts as pianist and organist throughout the United States, in Europe and in Asia, including premieres of works by the Dutch composers Hans Osieck, Johan van Kempen, and Kees Weggelaar, and the American composers Tom Johnson and James W. Moore. He is the author of articles and reviews in British, Dutch, and American journals, and co-author with Maurice Hinson of The Piano in Chamber Ensemble, 2nd Edition, published in 2006. Dr. Roberts has served as a visiting professor at the French Piano Institute in Paris and at Shanghai Normal University, and is currently organist at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Louisville.

A century-old slice of music history arrived on the campus of Campbellsville University in central Kentucky in early 2007, when a Farrand & Votey organ was moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to the George W. and Marie T. Ransdell Chapel. The organ was built in 1894 for Christ Church in downtown Nashville, as a modest instrument of approximately fifteen ranks.1 Over the course of many years, it has been rebuilt and enlarged to its present size of 51 ranks and 3,014 pipes. That Campbellsville University could acquire such a treasure was in itself a miracle, considering few universities nowadays are in a financial position to afford an organ of this size. But the miracle of a pipe organ is that it can be rebuilt and enlarged for much less expense than the purchase of a new instrument. Such would be the story of Farrand & Votey’s pioneering instrument from the 1890s.

The organ’s origins
At the time Christ Church contracted with Farrand & Votey for an organ in June 1894, the church was moving into a new sanctuary and desirous of a fine instrument for its new facility. William R. Farrand (1854–1930) and Edwin Scott Votey (1856–1931) worked for Whitney Organ Company in Detroit, and when Whitney retired in 1887 the two joined to establish their own company. The company was soon expanded through the acquisitions of two small organ building firms, Granville Wood (1890) and Roosevelt (1892). Always seeking new innovations, Farrand & Votey employed the most modern construction techniques of the time, using several recent developments patented by Roosevelt and a few of their own. Their technique paid off handsomely, for they quickly reached national attention with important installations in key locations across the United States. At the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, they exhibited two organs, including a four-manual instrument in Festival Hall. Undoubtedly, these accomplishments attracted the attention of Christ Church, as it did others.2
Farrand & Votey’s new organ for Christ Church was a three-manual instrument of approximately fifteen ranks. It was played for the first time during the opening services for the new building on Sunday, December 16, 1894. The organist was accompanied by a quartette plus a “chorus choir” of three ladies and fourteen men. The organ used the newly developed electro-pneumatic action, a revolutionary technique for the time; called ventil, it had a separate wind supply for each stop, with individual valves for every pipe. Its keyboard was attached to the instrument, as in tracker actions, although the original plans had called for it to be set across the chancel in a detached console. The organ was considered the best that could be obtained for the time and was the only one of its kind in the southeastern United States. As might be imagined, the organ quickly became a source of pride for the church and city.
The new instrument drew its electrical power from a series of four large batteries for key action, and obtained wind pressure from a water pump. The batteries were expensive to maintain and proved to be unreliable. Little to no maintenance seems to have taken place during the first dozen years. During this period, there were no fewer than seven different organists. In 1906, Arthur Henkel was hired as organist/choirmaster, and entrusted to care for the instrument. A committee was formed and before the end of the year, Orla D. Allen, a builder who had been with Farrand & Votey, was contracted to restore the instrument. Allen installed a new electrical Holtzer Cabot rotary transformer, or motor-generator, for key action and a Ross hydraulic engine for wind pressure. He releathered the organ, rebuilt much of the internal workings of the console, and moved the latter across the chancel, as the original plans detailed. The work took six months and was said to be thorough and complete in church documents.
In the years to follow, the organ served as the principal musical vehicle for worship services and concerts. Henkel gave concerts on the new instrument to demonstrate its capabilities. One such concert program, dated December 5, 1909, included J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and Boëllmann’s Suite Gothique, as well as lesser-known works by G. M. Dethier, Edwin Lemare, and Edward d’Evry.

Additions and repairs
A set of chimes with twenty tubes was presented for the organ by Jane Washington Ewing in memory of her husband Felix Grundy Ewing in 1936. They were dedicated and heard for the first time on October 28, 1936.3 Later, a Schulmerich carillon was given by Louise Bransford McGavock in memory of her parents, William Settle and Noda McGavock Bransford, in late 1944. With no place to install the gift, a front tower for the church was constructed in 1947, and the carillon was installed therein.4
By 1940, Henkel had noted to the church that the relays between the console and the organ had deteriorated to the point that repairs were needed.5 Pilcher Organ Company from Louisville, Kentucky, was engaged the same year to install a new console (with relays built inside) and seven new ranks. Company records show that by the time work was complete, Pilcher had added nine new ranks. These consisted of a Gemshorn 8′ on the Great; Vox Celeste 8′, Aeoline 8′, and Trompette 8′ on the Swell; Flute Celeste 8′ and Unda Maris 8′ on the Choir; and a Flute 8′, Octave 8′, and Super Octave 4′ in the Pedal. In addition, three ranks were revoiced: the Trumpet 8′ (Great), Oboe 8′, and Vox Humana 8′ (Swell); and the Clarinet 8′ (Choir) was given new bass. By the time work was finished in September 1940, the organ was said to have been enlarged to 2,438 pipes.6 Pilcher’s fee for these additions and service was $7,298.7
Further expansion of the organ began to be discussed after World War II, and a new console was installed by Möller Organ Company in 1955. This console, the third for the organ, is still in use today. Tonal improvements were made a few years later in 1959.
Henkel continued service at Christ Church until his retirement in 1959. He had served a total of fifty-three years as organist-choirmaster, and in honor of his ministry, the church dedicated the organ to Henkel upon his retirement. He was succeeded by Peter Fyfe, who served in the same capacity for the next thirty-five years, until 1994.8 During Fyfe’s years of service, many fine musicians from around the country came to Nashville and played the organ in either church services or concerts, including Leo Sowerby, John Scott, and Fred Swann, among others. An unusual event was the first performance of a Mass for Moog synthesizer and organ given in Christ Church by Nashvillian Dr. Gregory Woolf in the early 1970s.9
In 1967, Fyfe and Christ Church turned to A. W. Brandt and Company of Columbus, Ohio, for extensive work, releathering much of the instrument and repairing pneumatics and pipe boards. An extensive contract detailing the operation was signed in September for the sum of $16,535. The Choir organ was expanded in a second agreement with Brandt two months later, which called for the installation of six new stops in the Choir and one in the Great. Additions in the Choir included a new Rohrflute 8′ (replacing the Concert Flute 8′), Spitz Principal 4′ (replacing the Rohrflute 4′), Nazard 22⁄3′ (replacing the Flute Celeste 8′), Blockflute 2′ (replacing the Harmonic Piccolo 2′), Cymbal III (replacing the Geigen Principal 8′), and Krummhorn 8′ (replacing the Clarinet 8′). A new Gedeckt 8′ (replacing the Doppel Flute 8′) was placed in the Great. The total cost for these additions was $6,730.
The maintenance and care of the organ was entrusted to Dennis Milnar in 1968 and has remained with him and the Milnar Organ Company to the present day.10 A newcomer to Nashville from upstate New York, Milnar soon established his own company and developed a business that has serviced organs throughout Tennessee and in surrounding states. Under Milnar’s guidance, a new Tierce 13⁄5′ was added to the Choir in 1974. Additional work was done on the organ throughout the 1980s, including releathering the console pneumatics in 1981, converting the Double Open Diapason to a 32′ Sub Bourdon in 1984, releathering the wind chests in 1987–88, and installing a Scharf III, Trombone 32′, and other stops in 1989. The expression machines were releathered in 1991.

Liturgical renewal—changes at Christ Church
While many of these changes were being made to the organ, discussion within Christ Church began to develop following World War II on the placement of important items within the chancel. Those concerned with liturgical renewal suggested the baptismal font, pulpit, and altar of the church be brought forward from the back wall to the front of the chancel for closer contact with the congregation. Similarly, efforts to study the possibility of placing the organ in the balcony began during the 1960s after Peter Fyfe had been organist for several years, but there was never a coordinated effort to any of these ideas until after 1980, when Rev. Tom Ward became rector. Ward enthusiastically supported changes in the liturgy laid out in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and it was through his encouragement that church leaders studied and retained a liturgical consultant to suggest changes. A new design was approved in 1990, which called for the altar table, with adjoining pulpit and baptismal font, to be moved close to the front of the chancel, and for an extension of the balcony to relocate the organ and choir therein. The initial changes to the front of the chancel were completed in 1992 with the installation of a new altar. Shortly thereafter, discussion turned more decidedly toward moving the organ and choir to the balcony, and plans began to be developed to reinforce the balcony and enlarge it for this purpose. As these plans developed, various organ consultants agreed that the Farrand & Votey could not satisfactorily be reworked and reinstalled in the balcony. Consequently, the decision was made to purchase a new organ rather than move the existing instrument to the balcony. Renovation of the balcony for this purpose was completed in 2003, and an impressive 60-rank Lively-Fulcher organ was installed. The new organ was played for the first time on June 1, 2003, by church organist Michael Velting.11 With these changes complete, the church no longer needed its Farrand & Votey organ and placed it up for sale.

An organ for Ransdell Chapel
About the same time, the initial stages of designing the new Ransdell Chapel for Campbellsville University were beginning. Upon learning of the availability of the Farrand & Votey organ in October 2003, University Organist Nevalyn Moore and Wesley Roberts approached University President Michael Carter and received permission to investigate the possibility of acquiring the instrument for the new chapel. As they visited the church and played the organ, they realized that the organ would serve well as both a service organ to support the university’s chapel services, and a concert organ to support the academic program. Upon Moore’s and Roberts’ recommendation, with the assistance of Dennis Milnar, the organ was purchased for $30,000. The university then engaged Milnar Organ Company to convert the console and relays to solid-state technology, rebuild, redesign, move, and install the instrument in Ransdell Chapel.
The purchase of the organ at the early stages of design for Ransdell Chapel enabled architects to provide adequate space and facilities to house the instrument. Groundbreaking for the chapel was on October 25, 2005. Two additional stops were offered as gifts to the university for the organ. James and Nevalyn Moore, Campbellsville University School of Music faculty, gave a Zimbelstern, and Maynard and Jewel Faye Roberts of Ocala, Florida, gave a Trumpet en Chamade.
Excitement grew over the next year and a half as Ransdell Chapel was being built. As construction neared completion, Milnar began delivery of the organ in February 2007, in a series of six weekly trips from their shop in Eagleville, Tennessee. The initial delivery on February 20 brought many of the largest parts of the organ, including the huge wooden Sub Bourdon pipes and wind chests. Students and faculty joined the Milnar crew in unloading its precious cargo from week to week as pipes and equipment arrived.12 The Central Kentucky News Journal featured a front-page story on the organ in its April 5, 2007 issue.
The installation was completed in time for the dedication of Ransdell Chapel on April 18, 2007. University Organist Nevalyn Moore was at the console for the momentous occasion. Later in the summer, the Trumpet en Chamade arrived and was installed in the rear of the chapel for antiphonal effect. The chapel was also equipped with a Bechstein concert grand piano built in 2002, and a new Yamaha upright piano in an adjoining class/rehearsal room. Both instruments were gifts from friends of the university.
The organ was formally dedicated in a recital by Nevalyn Moore on September 4, 2007. On the program were selections by Albert Travis, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gordon Young, James Moore, Jean Langlais, and Charles-Marie Widor. The organ has since come to be admired in its new setting for its visual and musical beauty, and treasured for its capabilities and rich heritage.

Christ Church Cathedral
Specifications of the original Farrand & Votey organ13

GREAT
16′ Double Open Diapason*
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Viola de Gamba
8′ Doppel Floete
4′ Octave
22⁄3′ Octave Quint
2′ Super Octave
Mixture III*
4′ Trumpet

SWELL
16′ Bourdon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Flute Harmonique
Cornet (?) ranks
8′ Oboe
8′ Vox Humana*
Tremolo
*To be added later

CHOIR
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Dolce
8′ Concert Floete
4′ Rohr Floete
2′ Piccolo Harmonique
8′ Clarinet

PEDAL
16′ Open Diapason
16′ Bourdon
8′ Violoncello

Couplers
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Choir to Pedal
Swell to Great Sub Octaves
Swell to Great Unison
Swell to Great Super Octaves
Great Octaves
Choir to Great Sub Octaves
Choir to Great Unison
Swell to Choir
Swell Octaves

Ransdell Chapel
Farrand & Votey organ
Redesigned and rebuilt by Milnar
Organ Company, 2007

GREAT
16′ Quintaton
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Gedeckt
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Octave
4′ Koppel Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
V Fourniture
8′ Trumpet
III Scharf
8′ Trumpet en Chamade
Unison Off
Great 16
Great 4
Chimes
MIDI to Great

SWELL
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Aeoline
8′ Vox Celeste
4′ Flute Harmonic
4′ Gemshorn
2′ Principal
III Plein Jeu
II Sesquialtera
16′ Contra Fagotto
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
4′ Clarion
8′ Trumpet en Chamade (Gt)
Tremolo
Unison Off
Swell 16
Swell 4
MIDI to Swell

CHOIR
8′ Rohrflute
8′ Dolce
8′ Unda Maris
4′ Spitz Principal
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Blockflute
13⁄5′ Tierce
III Cymbel
8′ Krummhorn
8′ Trumpet en Chamade (Gt)
Tremolo
Unison Off
Choir 16
Choir 4
MIDI to Choir
Moore Zimbelstern

PEDAL
32′ Sub Bourdon
16′ Principal
16′ Quintaton
16′ Bourdon
8′ Octave
8′ Flute
8′ Cello
4′ Super Octave
32′ Trombone
16′ Trombone
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion
MIDI to Pedal

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
Great/Choir Transfer

Pistons
Generals: Thumb 1–6 & Toe 1–9
Swell: Thumb 1–6
Great: Thumb 1–6
Choir: Thumb 1–6
Pedal: Thumb 1–6 & Toe 1–6
Swell to Pedal: Thumb & Toe
Great to Pedal: Thumb & Toe
Choir to Pedal: Thumb & Toe
SFZ: Thumb & Toe
Combination Adj.: Thumb
Cancel: Thumb

Expression
Swell
Choir

Compass
61-note manual
32-note pedal

Memory System
Peterson ICS-4000

From the builder
When Christ Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee, asked us to market their Farrand & Votey organ for them, we took the project to heart. The organ had been under our care for almost 40 years, and this project became personal.
I thought we had a possible new home for it in Nashville, but that did not materialize. Professor Wesley Roberts, of Campbellsville University in Kentucky, read an advertisement of ours and called us. After several discussions, Wesley, Nevalyn Moore, and I met at Christ Church. The organist of Christ Church, Dr. Michael Velting, gave a demonstration of the instrument, and they were impressed. I told them if we could redesign the organ to be on one level, instead of several, within a good room, in a good location, the organ sound would be enhanced.
We were so pleased when the university decided to purchase the organ and commission us to redesign, rebuild and install it in their forthcoming new chapel. That was the beginning of a long successful project. There were two major factors that made the project successful. First was the university’s willingness to make the necessary repairs and upgrades to the organ. The second was the architect, Jeff Bennett, who was enthusiastic about the organ and open to our recommendations.
The organ room at Christ Church was about 15 feet square with a height of about 25 feet. The tonal opening that faced the congregation was in front of the Choir box wall, and allowed limited egress of sound. The opening facing the Choir was larger, and allowed most of the sound egress. Both openings supported pipe façades with lovely hand-painted pipes. The limited floor space made it necessary to have the organ speak at several levels. Fortunately, it was an inside room, and the organ enjoyed good tuning stability.
The new home in Ransdell Chapel gave us an area that is 58 feet wide and 18 feet deep, with 26 feet of height. This area has complete temperature and humidity control. The outside walls of the organ area consist of eight-inch thick block, ridge insulation and a brick exterior. The ceiling has two layers of 5/8-inch drywall and the concrete slab floor is about 12 feet above and behind the stage. The sound projection is fantastic.
The architect provided us with new Swell and Choir chambers. These virtually soundproof enclosures have six-inch thick insulated walls, with two layers of 5/8-inch thick drywall on the inside with another layer outside. The doors are made of insulated steel, providing a most effective crescendo of sound.
Pipes that were once placed deep in the chamber were placed in an unobstructed position. The 32′ Bourdon spoke under the Choir and Great windchests and about 18 inches from a large bellows; it now has five feet of unobstructed space to develop its full sound and bounce off a solid wall. The listener can not only hear this powerful stop but also feel its reverberating tone. This is also true for the 32′ Trombone and the 16′ Principal, which were in the back of the old chamber behind the Swell box.
The organ now speaks with greater clarity and the volume has increased by at least 50 percent. To crown the organ, the parents of Professor Roberts donated funds to add a beautifully made
(A. R. Schopp’s Sons) Trumpet en Chamade. We mounted this on the rear wall at the height of the main organ. The large-scaled, flared copper reed has a warm strong sound that truly crowns the instrument without taking away from the grandeur of the main organ.
To hear and see this instrument today with its software-based organ control system (Peterson ICS-4000) and think back to its beginning with a water pump for air pressure and batteries to operate the magnets, speaks volumes about the reigning king of instruments.
—Dennis Milnar

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia
Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida
The early morning hours of December 23, 2007 were of significance and great loss for the Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Due to contract negotiations with the symphony, the then-locked-out musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performed at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church with a “Messiah Sing” on the evening of December 22. The proceeds of this performance were to benefit the Health and Welfare fund of the members of this institution. This was the last performance ever held in the sanctuary. Sometime in the morning hours of the 23rd a fire started and in a matter of hours consumed the church to the foundation. On the brink of Christmas, the stunned members and staff assembled on the church grounds in front of the still-smoldering pyre of their sanctuary, to console, pray, and plan. From this immeasurable loss they resolved to bolster their presence in the Jacksonville community with a new church and renewed dedication to their ministry.
Reverend Dr. Kyle Reese assembled a team to plan and oversee the rebuilding of the sanctuary. They vowed to have the church open no later than December 23, 2009, when they would again open the church to the public with a performance of Handel’s Messiah. In addition to Pastor Reese, key members who were to play a role in our building an instrument were O’Neal Douglas, chairman of the Sanctuary Renovation Task Force; Bill Mason, organ committee chairman; Reverend Tommy Shapard, Minister of Music and Worship; and Brenda Scott, organist. A constant presence on this construction project was O’Neal Douglas, who served as a living Gantt chart. He invested untold hours to assure the clear communications and coordination between all the different trades involved to build this church by the required completion date.
Lost in the fire was a three-manual, 48-rank Möller that had been installed in 1989. As one of the last instruments from Möller, it was a very good example of their building style and had been well loved by the congregation. Prior to working with our firm as a sales representative, Herbert Ridgeley Jr. represented the Möller firm. He had worked with then minister of music Reverend Kendall Smith on the installation of this Möller instrument. Marc Conley of our staff had worked on this instrument when he was employed by Möller. With these past affiliations, we began the initial discussions with the church as they considered a replacement pipe organ and evaluated firms that might build this instrument. In the words of Tommy Shapard, the charge of the organ committee was “to design an instrument with a variety of colors and levels of expression available in the new instrument to give our congregation and choir the opportunity to sing together more vitally and creatively as a worshipping body.”
I will always recall an exchange that took place early in our meeting with the organ committee. As we talked about a proposed stoplist, we were five minutes into the discussion when Chairman Mason raised a finger and jokingly said, “Arthur . . . from this point forward whenever we say Baptist, we want you to think Presbyterian.” He was referring to the landmark III/62 instrument our firm was building at that time for New York Avenue Presbyterian in Washington and its ties to President Lincoln and theologian Peter Marshall. (See cover feature, The Diapason, July 2010.) I came to find a much deeper meaning in his offhand quip. In public and private discussions, I have heard other builders refer to a “type” of organ they design by denomination. Personally, I do not believe one serves any church well by imprinting their view of any particular denomination—a generic “this is it” approach to stoplist and tonal design of an instrument. This is true regardless of whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal, or any other denomination. There are and always will be the subtle and not so subtle differences in a church’s worship style. Often in my professional career I have had a church explain their “traditional” worship only to find a worship style that I might personally find to be contemporary, or often a church that describes itself as “contemporary” to be traditional. The euphemism “blended” often used by many churches to describe their music in worship does not solve any identity issues either. As a builder, it is incumbent upon you to experience a church’s worship with your own eyes and ears and then really listen to how your client will use the organ in their worship. This is the only surefire way to refine a stoplist and scale sheets into a cogent amalgam that will allow you to design, voice, and tonally finish an instrument that truly serves the vision of the church you are working for.
A very real challenge in the design of this instrument was that the church moved very fast in the design of a building to assure their December 23, 2009 first service. By the time a contract was signed with our firm, the basic design of the building was locked in place and key building materials had been ordered. We had to work with the architect to design space for an instrument in a building that was already well defined. To allow for an instrument, space would have to be created. As a design team, we found that if we changed the width of the hallway access to the baptistery on the right and left and had a concrete lentil poured above the hallway and above the baptistery, room could be provided for a 43-foot-wide chamber of varying depth and elevations. Taking into account the sloping ceilings in the chambers, we planned a left-to-right division orientation of Swell, Great/Pedal, and Choir. The enclosed divisions of the organ have tone openings on their front and also on the side openings into the center Great and Pedal division. These side openings provide a coalescence and focus for the enclosed resources into the central axis of the instrument.
The chancel façade is designed to frame the baptistery. The façade is silver with polished mouths and features pipework from the 16′ Principal, 16′ Violone, 8′ Octave, and 8′ Diapason. The casework has a maple finish to match the church furnishings. To support the needs of audio-visual functions in their ministry, a projection screen was incorporated into the center section of the upper organ case.
The completed organ is 60 ranks, divided among three manual divisions in the chancel and a floating Antiphonal division in the rear of the church. My specification and scaling for this instrument has its roots in American Classicism, with an emphasis on the English elements found within this stylistic construct. All of the organ divisions are weighted around 8′ chorus structure. The Great is designed around a diapason chorus that has richness and warmth but that still maintains clarity in its phrasing. The Swell features an independent 8′ Principal, which allows the 8′ Swell string scales to be narrower, since these stops do not need to provide the core 8′ flue foundation. The Gemshorn in the Choir is generously scaled, with a wide mouth to support a function in this division analogous to a foundational Spitz Principal. The mixtures in the enclosed divisions are pitched at 2′ and provide a logical completion to the enclosed division principal choruses. This allows completion of the 8/4/2 chorus ladder without breaks in pitch or the need for independent 2′ principals as single stop draws. In addition to avoiding the stridency sometimes found in mixtures with pitches above 1′, this treatment of the mixtures also frees up the 2′ pitch registers for independent manual flutes.
While individually differing in color, the two enclosed divisions have parallel flue pitch registers for support of choral accompaniment. With a large, effective shade front, these divisions provide ample resources of weight and color against the human voice.
The organ reeds were designed with English shallots, which prove much more favorable in a dryer American acoustic. As is our common practice, the organ reeds are placed on separate reservoirs, separate tremolos, and individual unit electro-pneumatic windchests. This treatment allows the reeds to be freed from the strictures of the manual flue wind pressures. This allows complete freedom in scale, shallot design and treatments, and tongue thickness. With a separate tremolo, achieving the correct depth and speed on the reed stops does not become as elusive as it can sometimes be when flues and reeds share a common plenum.
For a large festive solo voice, the chancel organ features a high-pressure English Tuba. This stop is located in the Choir division, and under expressive control it can be used as a darker ensemble reed when it is dynamically caged. It is carried down to the 16′ register to effectively ground the Pedal division.
A very complete Pedal division was desired, with multiple pitches represented from 32′ through 4′. Just the 16′ registers alone represent nine of the 24 stops in the Pedal division. In addition to independent Pedal registers, full advantage was taken of manual-to-pedal duplexes. The result is a plethora of stops under the organist’s control, with a full range of colors and dynamics.
Early on in the design of this instrument, we prepared for a 10-rank Antiphonal. Due to the beneficence of several members, the church was able to contract for this “prepared for” item and have it installed with the chancel instrument. Visually, the rear organ takes its design from the chancel façade. Positioned between the two cases is an 8′ Trompette En Chamade with brass bells. Cognizant of its position in the church and the presence of the high-pressure English Tuba in the chancel organ, the stop was voiced on a moderate 7½ inches pressure. By its position, it has presence and lacks the offensiveness that is sometimes associated with this stop. The core of the Antiphonal organ includes a complete 8′ principal chorus, a lyrical 8′ Gedeckt, and an ethereal pair of 8′ Erzahler Celestes.
Foundational support for the Antiphonal division is provided by a Pedal 16′ Stille Gedeckt and 8′ Stille Principal in the Antiphonal Pedal division. In addition to providing foundation for the rear division, these stops are also very useful in larger organ registrations by adding definition and dimension to the chancel bass presence.
Never to be forgotten in an instrument of this size is the need for quiet contemplative moments. Early in our meetings we talked about the need for the organ to have the resources for what we began to refer to as “the whisper.” In the Choir division, we added a Ludwigtone stop. This is a wooden set of pipes with a dividing wall in the center of the pipe that has two separate mouths. Its unique construction allows each pipe to produce two notes, one of which can be tuned off-beating. In our stoplist as the Flute Celeste II, when it is drawn with a closed box, full couplers, and the Antiphonal Klein Erzahlers added to it, with a light 16′ Pedal stop, there is a moment of being surrounded by an ethereal magic that is at once all enveloping and yet without any weight.
Mechanically this organ uses our electro-pneumatic slider chests, with the organ reeds placed on electro-pneumatic unit chests. Conventional ribbed box regulators are used for the winding system.
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 maple, with an ebonized interior. The console features modern conveniences for the organist, such as multiple memory levels, programmable crescendo and sforzando, transposer, MIDI, and the ability to record and play back organ performances.
To allow full control in the tonal finishing of this instrument, we set sample pipes on the windchests in the organ chambers and then removed the pipes from the chambers to continue work with a portable voicing machine located in the chancel. This allowed us to work unimpeded and be more accurate with cutups and initial nicking, feathering, and flue regulation than could have possible within the confines of the organ chambers and the sea of pipework on each chest. After “roughing in” the pipework voicing, the stops were reinstalled in the organ chamber for final voicing and tonal finishing. In a process that lasted months, the tonal finishing was completed by a team including Daniel Angerstein, Peter Duys, John Tanner, Marc Conley, and Bud Taylor. In addition to our tonal finishers, our installation team included Marshall Foxworthy, Rob Black, Patrick Hodges, Jeremiah Hodges, Kelvin Cheatham, Joe Sedlacek, and Wilson Luna. I am thankful for their dedication and the long hours they put into this project to make sure that our tonal ideals for this instrument were not only achieved but exceeded.
The new sanctuary was finally at a point of completion by November 16 that we were able to begin the installation. The organ was brought up divisionally to allow autonomous work by our staff in multiple divisions. This allowed 40 ranks of the organ to be brought online when first heard in public on December 23, 2009. On this day, our staff was able to return home to be with their families during Christmas, and two family members, Art Schlueter Jr. and Arthur Schlueter III, were able to begin their Christmas together at the public opening of this church with Handel’s Messiah. Forever in my memory will be standing tall as father and son during the Hallelujah Chorus. As with all organ projects, there was still work to be done to complete and finish the organ, but it was a satisfying conclusion to a year that saw the installation of multiple new instruments by our firm and the fulfillment of a promise to this congregation and community.
A final chapter to this story must be told. To assist their search for an organbuilder and evaluate plans for a new instrument, the organ committee engaged local Jacksonville organbuilder, Jim Garvin, as part of their working group. As I developed my proposal for the church, he was a ready translator to discuss the minutiae of the organ proposal—from chest design, stop type, material construction, winding systems, etc. As a builder, I found it a great pleasure to work with Jim, who ably served as a liaison between the organbuilder and the church. Sadly, during the building of this instrument Jim began a battle with cancer. Even as he was weakened by his fight with the cancer, he never wavered in his role as consultant through the organ installation and dedication. I am happy to say that he lived to sing and worship with this instrument. One of our collective proudest moments was at the inaugural organ dedication with Dr. Al Travis. With a solid look in the eye and a firm stance, we exchanged handshakes as equals who had both worked to the best of our abilities on behalf of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Earlier this year Jim lost his fight with cancer. His funeral was held at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, where I again returned to hear organ and choir, but this time to say goodbye. I will forever be grateful for my consultant and colleague I worked with in the completion of this project. Reminiscent of the way the project started, I once again heard Handel, as Jim’s final request for his service had been the Hallelujah Chorus.
Additional information on our firm and projects can be viewed at www.pipe-organ.com or by writing A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, P.O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058.
—Arthur E. Schlueter III, tonal and artistic direction

All photos taken by Tim Rucci (www.timrucci.com)

Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church
Three manuals, 60 ranks

GREAT—Manual II
(unenclosed) (16 ranks)
16′ Violone 61 pipes
8′ Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Violone 12 pipes
8′ Flute Harmonique 49 pipes
(1–12 Pedal Bourdon)
8′ Bourdon 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Spire Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes
2′ Super Octave 61 pipes
IV Mixture 11⁄3′ 244 pipes
III Klein Mixture 2⁄3′ 183 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Trumpet 12 pipes
16′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
8′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
4′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
Chimes (Choir)
Zimbelstern 9 bells
Great to Great 4′
Tremulant

CHOIR—Manual I (enclosed)
(13 ranks)
16′ Gemshorn 12 pipes
8′ Hohl Flute 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn Celeste 49 pipes
8′ Flute Celeste II 80 pipes
(Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Spindle Flute 61 pipes
2′ Harmonic Piccolo 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
III Choral Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Clarinet 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ English Tuba 61 pipes
(non-coupling)
Tremulant
Choir to Choir 16′
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4′

SWELL—Manual III (enclosed) (14 ranks)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Geigen Principal 61 pipes
8′ Viole de Gamba 61 pipes
8′ Viole Celeste TC 49 pipes
8′ Rohr Flute 12 pipes
4′ Geigen Octave 61 pipes
4′ Nachthorn 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard TC 49 pipes
2′ Flageolet (from 16′) 24 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce TC 49 pipes
IV Mixture 2′ 244 pipes
16′ Bassoon 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Oboe 12 pipes
4′ Clarion 12 pipes
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16′
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4′

ANTIPHONAL—floating division (10 ranks)
8′ Weit Principal 61 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler Celeste 49 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
III Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Trompette En Chamade 61 pipes

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL
16′ Stille Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Stille Principal 32 pipes

PEDAL (7 ranks)
32′ Violone (digital)
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Principal 32 pipes
16′ Violone (Great)
16′ Gemshorn (Choir)
16′ Subbass 32 pipes
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8′ Octave 32 pipes
8′ Violone (Great)
8′ Gemshorn (Choir)
8′ Bourdon 12 pipes
8′ Gedeckt (Swell)
4′ Choral Bass 12 pipes
4′ Bourdon 12 pipes
IV Mixture 22⁄3′ 128 pipes
32′ Posaune (digital)
32′ Harmonics (wired Cornet series)
16′ Trombone (ext Tuba) 12 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet (Great)
16′ Bassoon (Swell)
8′ English Tuba (Choir)
8′ Trumpet (Great)
4′ Clarion (Great)
4′ Oboe Clarion (Swell)

Inter-manual couplers
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choir to Pedal 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Pedal

Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choir to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Great

Swell to Choir 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Choir

Antiphonal on Swell

MIDI controls (programmable as preset stops) (with record/playback) (audio included)
MIDI on Pedal
MIDI on Great
MIDI on Swell
MIDI on Choir

Combination system with a minimum of 128 levels of memory