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Parkey OrganBuilders, Duluth, Georgia

Cathedral of St. John Berchmans, Shreveport, Louisiana

October 2011 marked the completion of the new pipe organ by Parkey OrganBuilders for the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans, Shreveport, Louisiana. St. John Berchmans had embarked on a major building restoration in 1992, just a few years after becoming the cathedral for the newly created Diocese of Shreveport. The 1992 restoration included plans to build a new organ for the church, but for various reasons, though the pipe organ was signed for and partially built, the instrument was never completed. 

More than 15 years later, after the renovation was completed, the cathedral, under the direction of the rector, Father Peter Mangum, and the newly appointed director of sacred music and organist, Justin Ward, set itself a goal of expanding the cathedral music program, to include evaluating and completing the organ project. The cathedral secured the services of James Dorroh of Birmingham, Alabama, as an organ consultant to help achieve the goal of creating an organ that would visually complement the architecture of the building and tonally support both choral and congregational singing. The organ committee recognized the need for such an organ to provide sacred music in a way that would augment the worship experience for parishioners in addition to providing a cornerstone instrument for the community.

The organ committee quickly narrowed the list to three very capable firms, and in the summer of 2010, the committee chose our firm to complete the organ project. We worked directly with Mr. Ward and Dr. Dorroh to refine the initial specification drawn up by Dr. Dorroh to create a sound that would fit the needs of the cathedral. Because the choral program remains the center of music for the cathedral, we had to tailor our design for the most efficient utilization of space possible in the gallery. The new organ stands in two matching cases within the same footprint allocated for the organ in 1992. 

To accommodate any number of singers and additional musicians, the organ was designed with a movable console, which of course dictated the need for some sort of electric action. Our firm is comfortable in working with both electric and mechanical actions. When tracker action is not possible, we recommend the use of electro-pneumatic slider chests. Our windchests and winding systems are designed and built completely in-house. Using computer-aided design (CAD) software systems and computer numerically controlled (CNC) router machinery, we have developed an efficient and effective slider chest design for a clean and responsive action. The winding system is engineered based on single-rise reservoirs for a steady, fluid wind supply but with a gentle flex to provide life to the singing line of the organ.

In addition to the mechanical design of the organ, our CAD systems have been instrumental in providing extensively scaled rendering work, so that the client can see and experience the visual design of an organ before anything is ever committed to materials.

As the organ is a musical instrument capable of a strong visual and aural statement, we work to combine the art of sight and sound together. Michael Morris of our staff provided the visual design, which included retaining materials from the previous organ and expanding the case to house the new organ. In his design, one notes the core of the previous case combined with the essence of visual design seen in organbuilding of the early 1900s. Case details were shifted from the contemporary look to a much more traditional gothic format consistent with the architecture of the cathedral. A majority of material was retained from the previous case, though some parts are easily recognizable and some vastly changed. The side façades provide a magnitude of scale for the space: where the previous organ case was based on the use of 8 pipes, the new cases are based on the 16 Principal and Violone. The use of polychrome details combines with the colors of the nave for a more complete marriage of organ case and room architecture. Careful attention to detail was provided throughout the project. Details range from the turned wooden drawknobs to the 18k gold leaf accents in the case.

Since part of an earlier organ existed, the organ committee challenged us to retain parts of the existing instrument. In reviewing the uncompleted organ, we found that there were mechanical supply parts that could be retained without sacrificing the integrity of the instrument. Unfortunately, the pipework did not offer such an extensive array of options. While we did retain some pipework, it was limited to four ranks that were
rescaled and revoiced to be compatible with the new tonal design of the organ. The remaining organ is completely new, with custom scaling for the space.

In addition to the challenge of working with an existing organ, the cathedral realized the needs of working within an existing space. Though the organ enjoys an excellent position for tonal egress in the room, the nave presented some obstacles in terms of sonic reflections. After consultation with Dennis Fleisher of MuSonics, the cathedral underwent an extensive renovation of the ceiling in the main portion of the nave, in order to install hard surfaces over the previous acoustically absorbent ceiling. The acoustical response in the room was greatly improved. The room now readily supports the organ’s warmth and clarity equally throughout the nave.  

Our conversations with Justin Ward and James Dorroh focused on the need for the organ to lead choirs and congregations in music for the worship service. In recent years the Catholic Church has further recognized the contribution of the pipe organ as the main instrument for the Catholic Mass. Dr. Dorroh and I discussed the role and influence of the Baroque revival in America, and the influence of leading clarity common to the German Baroque organ. Those traits were combined with aspects of the weight and presence of the French Grand Orgue of the late 1800s. The result is an organ that can skillfully handle the full range of organ literature, from soft and subtle to large and fiery. However, the use of moderate pressures and large scales keeps a refined and unforced sound.

Mixtures are carefully terraced and balanced to define the chorus with a silvery clarity without becoming abrasive. Power and brilliance are also supported by the use of French reeds in the Swell division. The Cavaillé-Coll-scaled 8 Voix Humaine was featured in the Franck Choral in proper context during the dedication recital. The Pontifical Trumpet is of ample scale to carry in the room over full organ, yet it manages chords easily with a majestic elegance. The 8 flutes possess individual color and personality and are also enhanced with carefully balanced 4 flutes in each division. Two independent manual Principal choruses are provided in addition to full mutations in the Choir. The 8 Viola Pomposa and 8 Flute a
Cheminee provide the foundation support for the Swell division. The dynamic terracing allows for a smooth buildup of sound from the 8 Spitzflöte in the Choir to full organ.

In the end, the organ makes a strong but elegant statement consistent with the quality of worship services at the cathedral. Justin Ward and James Dorroh were a tremendous pleasure to work with during the project, providing clear and concise direction while yet allowing us room for artful design and finishing. We appreciate the confidence placed in us by the parishioners, clergy, and staff of the cathedral. I also extend my personal thanks to our own staff and suppliers who have made this an overwhelming success.

Please feel free to contact us at www.parkeyorgans.com, or contact the cathedral for further information. Visits can be arranged with Justin Ward at the cathedral.

—Phillip K. Parkey

President and Tonal Director

Parkey OrganBuilders 

 

Staff

Phillip K. Parkey—President and tonal director, voicing and tonal finishing

Michael Morris—Visual and structural design and installation

Josh Okeson—Shop foreman, cabinet maker, wiring and installation

Otilia Gamboa—Chestwork, wiring and small parts

Philip Read—CNC operator, cabinet maker and installation

Jim Allen—Cabinet maker and installation

Kenny Lewis—Voicing, wiring, installation and tonal finishing.

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A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ 

Company, Lithonia, Georgia

Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Atlanta, Georgia

 

The O’Neil-Foster Memorial Pipe Organ

Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church is located in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, just a short drive from my office. Our involvement in the project began with an invitation to consult with this church from director of liturgy and music William Jefferson (Jeff) Bush. The church was planning a new sanctuary and wanted to study the possibility of building a pipe organ for this space.

During my first visit I had the opportunity to meet many of the church leadership, including Rev. James A. Schillinger, S.T.L., pastor; Michael D. Mullink, associate director of music; and Paul Tooher, director of business. The organ committee at this church included Jeff Bush as committee chair, Michael Mullink, Phil Jardina, Leann Logsdon, and Mark Galvin. Dr. John Romeri was invited by Jeff to serve as an informal consultant to him personally on this project.

As this distinguished group talked about plans for the new sanctuary, there was an excitement and zeal for their mission, which personally enveloped me. Beyond a simple cerebral response, I found a lasting emotional attachment to this church and its membership. I left this church posed with the question, “How could the members of the Schlueter family and our staff not be a part of this grand commission?” 

To design the new sanctuary, the church engaged the services of the architectural firm CDH Partners with project architect Michael Boland. This firm’s work was interlaced with that of the liturgical consultant Brother Martin Erspamer, OSB. His contribution to this project was invaluable. Over a period that spanned years, he provided a distinct vision for the finished church building and its furnishings. He also worked as an able arbiter to diligently channel and focus the ideas, concerns, and aspirations of all the design parties and committees. 

The organ, later to be named the O’Neil-Foster Memorial Pipe Organ, was made possible through the generous donations of Walter & Mary Alice Foster and Jim & Pat Sedlack. 

When I was brought into the project, the basic layout of the sanctuary had already been formed and we lacked a space that allowed consideration for an organ chamber location. The only possibility was to incorporate a free-standing organ case design. The challenge was to find sufficient space that would work physically and tonally for the organ. As we studied the building plans to find a location, the sole workable area was on the central axis of the church, just behind the altar. The members of the church were willing to consider this space, but we all knew that the path to a final design would be an arduous choice, given the prominent chancel location. We considered over a dozen different organ case iterations, before settling on a final rendering.

To minimize the visual impact of the organ case, we held the center of the organ case to 10 feet of width on its forward exposure. The largest pipes of the 16 Principal are positioned to the sides of the case and arrayed in an inverted ellipse that arcs away from the case center, which de-emphasizes the overall case width and accentuates its verticality. This greatly reduced the visual weight of the organ case.

What has pleased us most with the completed design is that it “feels right.” The casement is built of red oak with ebonized walnut accents. Taking the form of a reredos, it provides a visual backdrop that anchors the cross and the corpus. When viewed from an off-center location, the largest pipes vertically ascend toward the center to provide a central focus on Christ. 

Taking advantage of the organ’s position in the church, we used the mass of the instrument casework to separate the main sanctuary from the chapel behind it. The rear of the organ case was built as a paneled oak wall with ebony dividers. The center panels form an arch to mirror and highlight the baldacchino. The stained glass in the cupola that forms the rear chapel wall provides a coalesced mixture of light and shadow, which plays off the organ’s oak panels to make this area a quiet, contemplative space for prayer. Here one senses the cloistered feeling of a space that is at once part of, and separate from, the main sanctuary. The emotional response experienced in the chapel leaves no doubt that this is Holy Space.

As the outer shell of the casework was brought to a point of design conclusion, we began to develop a stoplist that would be capable of the varied uses required of this instrument. From the beginning, the charge we were given was to design an instrument that would support worship, with a specificity of a literature bias to be a secondary concern. From shared listening experiences with the church, we developed an eclectic specification with roots in American Classicism. To support the choir and congregation, all divisions of the organ were planned to be weighted around an 8 chorus structure with multiple weights of this tonic pitch register.

As we labored on the final stoplist, there were budgetary considerations that could not be ignored. With the free-standing case, console, and three-manual specification, this would not be an inexpensive organ to build. We faced a crossroad where the design for an instrument included most but not all of the elements we wanted in a stoplist, but a budget that had already been reached. To free ourselves from this stricture we looked inward. Those who have followed our work know it has not been uncommon for our firm to gift some additional items to our clients. We have always looked at this as our tithe to the communities of faith where we build organs. In the end, the 8 Viole Dolce, 8 Viole Dolce Celeste, 45Terz, and the 16/8 Trombone unit became gifts from the Schlueter family. As artists, it can be liberating to add stops into the organ on the basis of “it should be there” without sole regard to budget. Hearing the organ in the church we know that we made the right decision by our gifts.

The Great division of this instrument was built with a Principal chorus of 8, 4, 2, and IV-rank Mixture that is grounded with a 16 Bourdon. Due to a room acoustic that promotes the propagation of bass frequencies, the pipe scales of the 16 and 8 registers were pulled in, and made slightly smaller to support clarity of speech and phrasing. We chose to use a large-scale metal open 8 Hohl Flute because of its ability to be used as a blending and thickening agent to the Great chorus. When used as an independent solo voice it has a clarity and focus that are often lost in large-scale open flutes of different construction. It is paired with a lyrical 4 Rohr Flute that is a playful muse in this acoustic. The 8 Trumpet on the Great has English shallots and is thinner in scale and texture than its compatriot in the Swell division. As a chorus reed with a subtle edge-tone, it provides a blaze of color under the Great chorus. The Swell Basson-Hautbois and Positiv Krummhorn are duplexed to this division to allow differing weight and color possibilities to the ensemble or allow their use as solo voices.

While everyone recognizes the utilitarian function of the Swell division as a foil to the Great for congregational accompaniment, we realized early on the importance of careful stop choice for the single enclosed division on this instrument. It would need to have a wide dynamic range and timbre to be effective in undergirding the choir and soloist. The Swell division was designed with a rich palette, replete with various weights of color and texture.

With the choir on the side apse, there was a concern about the organ being heard evenly. The expression box opens on three sides to provide an evenly diffused cone of sound in the church and also to provide tonal focus for support of the choir. 

The third manual on this instrument is an unenclosed Positiv division. With its rearward position in the upper portion of the chapel cupola, we were able to take advantage of the tangential incidence of the wall surfaces. This reflects and refracts the Positiv division to a position of forward presence in the organ.

The Erzahlers proved to be the perfect string stops in this unenclosed division. With their position at the capstone in this space, the sound filters throughout the church in an even, gentle manner. These stops, when drawn and coupled with the Viole de Gambe, Viole Dolce, and their companion Celestes, mass in a bloom of sound that buoys the spirit and lifts the soul.

An unusual stop in this Positiv is the 45 Terz. Constructed as small principal pipes, it breaks back one octave at G3. It can be effective as a coloring agent to 8 and 4 stops in the organ, added to the 113 to build a bell-like Glockenspiel mixture, or used with the 16 and unison couplers to build a secondary Cornet. With its middle compass octave shift, the 45 has enough tonal weight to combine with the mixture to supply a French accent to larger registrations. 

To provide sufficient undergirding for this instrument, we started with a case design that allowed an exposed 16 Principal in the Pedal. With its forward position in the case, this stop is voiced in an unforced manner that provided the fundamental we desired allied with harmonic definition. The 16 Bourdon and balance of the Pedal resources are positioned at the upper rear of the organ case to take advantage of the acoustical reflection of the cupola in the same manner as the resources of the Positiv division. With this spatial treatment, these stops project forward to tonally sit beside the 16 Principal. Softer underlayment of the Pedal foundation is provided by the 16/8
Lieblich Gedeckt in the Swell division. 

The 16 Trombone and 16 Basson-Hautbois provide the reed foundation for this instrument. The 16 Trombone in the Pedal division is available as a manual extension to provide a dynamic solo reed. This stop is eight inches in scale at CCC and is on a moderately high wind pressure. It provides a rich, vibrant voice in the favorable acoustics of the room and can work equally well as a solo voice or logical conclusion to the ensemble in large registrations.

Mechanically, this organ follows our normal practice with its use of electro-pneumatic slider windchests of the Blackinton style, electro-pneumatic unit action for reeds and large flue stops, and a winding system with dual curtain valve reservoirs. The resources of the organ are controlled by a three-manual drawknob console that is built of red oak and includes ebonized accents commensurate with the organ case. The console features such modern conveniences as multiple memory levels, programmable crescendo and sforzando, transposer, piston sequencer, MIDI, and the ability to record and play back organ performances.

With any organ project it is possible to be so close to your own work that you cannot judge it on its own merits. It becomes important to step back from your work before you can say it is time to “put down the brush.” This is particularly true of tonal finishing. The surety of vision and purpose that guides one’s work can also result in blinders preventing your best work from coming forward. To mitigate this, our firm completes tonal finishing over a period of time. Not only does it allow the ears to relax, but it also allows you to come back to a project more objective and able to assess your work dispassionately. The tonal finishing occurred throughout the first year, with multiple visits to the church as we traveled through the liturgical year and made different demands of the organ’s resources. 

I want to extend a sincere “thank you” to our team of tonal finishers on this project, which included Dan Angerstein, Anthony Nichols, John Tanner, Bud Taylor, Dave Koscis, and Fred Oyster. I also want to thank the dedicated members of my staff, led by Marc Conley, who selflessly provided their hands and hearts to the building and installation of this instrument. The construction of an instrument of this scale is a monumental task with thousands of man hours that are visible and many thousands more that are unseen. The aforementioned are the people who helped sculpt the wood, zinc, lead, copper, and brass into poetry.

In the end, as a principal of the firm whose name is on the organ, what do I think about the organ we built? Early on I knew how special this project could be. As a builder I have been privileged to attend many concerts at this church and to attend Mass on multiple occasions. I must confess that as much as I have enjoyed the organ in recital, I have taken far great pleasure hearing the organ in a worship setting. This is not said to diminish the music brought forth by those who have played the organ in concert; rather, hearing the organ taking its part in worship is a validation of the years of planning and work that go into such an instrument. Having been part of building an instrument that serves in worship every day is the greatest gift an organ builder can have. It is a culmination of pride, passion, and a legacy that we are leaving to future generations.

We are very pleased to offer selections from recordings made on this organ by Herbert Buffington, available at pipe-organ.com/listen.shtm

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company can be reached at P. O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058; 770/482-4845 or via our website: www.pipe-organ.com

—Arthur E. Schlueter III

 

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A. David Moore, Inc., 

North Pomfret, Vermont

All Hallows’ Parish, Davidsonville, Maryland

 

From the builder

Designing an organ for All Hallows’ Church involved some unique challenges for its builder. The small brick building dates to 1734, and was gutted by fire in 1940. Rebuilt much as it was (without the Victorian alterations), the original walls and brick floor were retained. It seems that until 2010, the parish never owned a pipe organ.

The decision to place the organ on the left side of the chancel included the requests that the casework be no taller than the altar window, that the instrument be no larger than the sacristy in the opposite corner, and that the case was to “fit” the furnishings of the room. Thus, the back and left sides of the organ are against the walls, and maintenance can be done only through the front and right side of the main case. The detached console and Positiv division are one unit, adjacent to the case front, and facing the choir on the other side of the nave. Three flats of Open Diapason and Principal basses face the congregation, and the side contains two flats of Open Diapason basses, one of which is in a door that can be opened for Great and Pedal tuning. Those offset basses are operated by a remote assisting mechanism in which a small amount of air travels down a 5/16 diameter tube that feeds a small wedge bellows and valve below each pipe.

The Great is on a C and C# chest, with the smallest pipes in the middle. The Positiv is played from the upper keyboard; the chromatic chest is at floor level; and the pipes are tuned by removing a grille on the top of the case. The manual keys are suspended, with a backfall system that pulls up the Positiv pallets; angled trackers and a rollerboard operate the Great pallets. The Positiv stop knobs are in the console and the Great knobs project from the main case on the organist’s left. The basswood tables of the chests will not split; the sliders are of quarter-sawn maple; the slider seals are of Neoprene; there is no plywood in the organ; the wind pressure is almost two inches; and the temperament is Kirnberger III.

Though the acoustics are quite good and the sound of the organ is focused by a curved ceiling, there is a slight “flutter echo” heard by a listener in the center of the room. The maple case is of wood harvested on the Moore farm in North Pomfret, Vermont, and sawn on location by a Wood-mizer band sawmill. There are no carvings on the case, but some subtle ornamentation appears at the tops of the pipe flats. The cornice of the case was copied from the 18th-century American case in Old North Church, Boston, and the All Hallows’ sacristy cornice was changed to match it.  

In the Great, the metal pipes are 28% tin and 72% lead, with small amounts of copper, antimony, and bismuth; the metal was cast from old organ pipes. The 8, 4, 223, 2, and 135 ranks are close to Hook pipe scales, and have fairly low cutups and moderate nicking. The Holpipe is a metal chimney flute, and has 12 stopped wood basses; a new Haskell bass serves the Viol; and the Hautboy is an exact copy of a Hook stop. The Positiv Stop’d Diapason is of wood, small in scale but with a good fundamental tone, and is copied from a Geo. S. Hutchings stop; the Flute is of stopped and open wood and has metal trebles; the Fifteenth has 24 Claribel-style open wood basses and metal trebles. The German scales for the Dulcian are a composite, and there are half-length resonators in the lowest octave. The basses have wood blocks and shallots made in one piece, and the dimensions for the shallot openings, bores, tapers, and inside resonator diameters are close to 18th-century North European practice. The use of wood for a shallot avoids the need for lead or leather facings. In terms of hardness, the wood is somewhere between lead or brass and a leathered surface, and the brass tongues are fairly wide and thick. Long tuning wires are labeled on the tops and are easily reached.

The installation of A. D. Moore’s Opus 34 was enjoyable, and there were many trips to Davidsonville for installation, final voicing, and tuning. The crew of builders—A. David Moore, Tom Bowen, John Atwood, and Lubbert Gnodde—stayed with Jan and Mike Power. Mike Menne is the organist at All Hallows’, and collaborated on the organ’s specification. Mr. Gnodde played the dedicatory recital on November 7, 2010, which included works by Alain, Bach, Sweelinck, Scheidemann, Buxtehude, Mendelssohn, Couperin, Langlais, and the “Flower Duet” from Lakmé by Léo Delibes, featuring Sharon Potts and Laurie Hays, sopranos.

—E. A. Boadway and A. David Moore

 

From the organist

All Hallows’ Parish, also known as South River Parish, is one of the original parishes established by Act of the General Assembly of the Province of Maryland in 1692. As a worshiping community, it existed as early as 1650, with its first written record that of the birth of Thomas Chaney on 1 March 1669. The original church building, now lost, was probably of timber construction, and either burned or deteriorated to the extent that a new building, at a new site, was constructed, with the aid of a levy of 20,000 pounds of tobacco, around 1727–1730. The church bell, in a separate wooden tower, bears the inscription “Belonging to St. All Hallows’ Church 1727” and was probably provided by Queen Anne’s Bounty. 

The 1727 building, still in use, is a modest brick, hipped-roof building, just under 30 by 60 feet. There are no records extant that show the original seating plan of the building, but in the 19th century a small balcony was taken down (probably originally for the use of some of the 200 slaves who had been baptized by the second rector), and at least twice remodeled in the Victorian taste of the times, with heavy dark wood furnishings, stained glass, and slip pews.

The church was nearly lost on 11 February 1940 when a disastrous fire broke out about an hour after a service, destroying everything but the brick walls. For the rebuilding, it was decided to return the building to the look and feel of the early 18th century with white walls, white box pews, and clear glass windows. 

There is no record of any pipe organ during the building’s first 280 years, so any description of musical accompaniment before the fire is purely conjectural. After the restoration, a series of electronic instruments was installed in the front of the room. When a new rector arrived in 2000, he hired his friend James Weaver, Curator of the Division of Musical Instruments at the Smithsonian and co-founder of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, to come to the parish and revive a flagging music program and small choir of willing and enthusiastic singers. During his tenure, Weaver established a high level of musical expectation but hesitated to begin a project to replace the dreary electronic. When he left to pursue other projects and I arrived, enthusiasm to begin an organ project was high and the process began.

Early on, it was determined that (1) the organ would have mechanical action, (2) it would be tonally appropriate to the age of the building, (3) it would be visually designed so as not to overwhelm the scale and balance of the architecture, and (4) the primary visual focus at the front of the room would continue to be the triple window behind the altar. The restoration of the early 1940s had created two large closets in the front corners of the building. One was used as a tiny sacristy, the other as storage and placement for the bass speaker cabinets of the organ. It was determined that the organ would be placed where the sacristy had been, and the sacristy moved to the other side. The Altar Guild was quite pleased, as they had improved facilities and more extensive storage. 

A number of organbuilders were consulted, both from the U.S. and abroad, in our search for a builder. Almost every builder proposed an instrument that would be the dominant visual focus in the room. Some of them were tonally based on no more than an 8 flute. David Moore, recommended by St. Margaret’s Convent in Boston and United Church on the Green, New Haven, was the only one who demonstrated an enthusiasm to work within our constraints.

As the organ and case design progressed, David proposed a novel solution: place the console at right angles to the main case and put the second manual pipes in the console in the manner of a continuo. In that manner, the main case could be lowered to match the sacristy on the other side, maintaining the Georgian balance of the church interior, while providing the tonal resources we needed. It also made it possible for the organist to face the choir directly across the chancel, with excellent sight lines.

The tonal design had three major objectives: (1) to provide leadership for congregational singing, (2) to accompany a wide variety of choral music, and (3) within its modest resources, to play as wide a spectrum of organ music as possible. 

Early in the planning stages, it was determined that the foundation would be an 8 Principal, with both an 8 flute and string to provide solid unison tone. A full diapason chorus, including 223, would be included, but the modest size of the building made the inclusion of a mixture unnecessary. The suggestion of a Hook-style Oboe as the Great reed was inspired! We insisted on a Tierce as well, for both solo color and ensemble brilliance. Having used a continuo for a year and a half before the instrument was installed, a similar tonal scheme of 8, 4, and 2 for the second manual seemed natural. David suggested a Dulcian to round out the resources of that manual, adding significantly to the color possibilities of the instrument.

The organ has proved a tremendous success. Visually, it slips effortlessly into its corner of the building. The three pipe flats of the case front echo the semi-circular arches of the tripartite east window, repeated in pipe flats on the case side. The most oft-repeated comment from parishioners was “It looks like it’s always been there!” It was decided to use the natural darker grey of lead/tin pipe metal in the display pipes rather than shiny tin to minimize visual distraction from the altar. The wood façade pipes of the 8 flute of the second manual are painted white to match the case. Many people don’t realize they are pipes at all until they see the mouths near the floor! The use of removable slatted grilles at the top of the second manual case allows for both good tonal egress and tuning ease. 

Musically the organ has been a huge success. The modest stoplist of 13 registers, with two reeds, two mutations, and four unison flue ranks lends itself to performing a wide spectrum of music. Though much of the instrument is inspired by 19th-century American organbuilding, early music sounds extremely convincing. Bach sounds very convincing, Sweelinck variations show off varieties of tonal color, the Dulcian can sound like a Renaissance consort when used by itself but becomes a chameleon when combined with one or both of the Positiv flutes. The Hautboy functions as a ‘petit trompette’, smooth in the treble and bolder in the bass. It serves as a very attractive solo stop, but when combined with the principals, becomes bold and assertive. Add the Twelfth and Tierce and it becomes a fiery French Grand Jeu. The solid foundation tone makes the instrument an excellent vehicle for Mendelssohn, and the Viol, both alone and with the Holpipe, provides softer sounds. There is sufficient tonal variety for stirring hymn singing as well as accompaniment of Anglican choral music. 

In addition to a performance by the young Dutchman from David Moore’s shop, Lubbert Gnodde, further recitals in the inaugural series were presented by Mark Brombaugh, Bryan Mock, and myself, with repertoire ranging from late Medieval to William Albright. 

The instrument continues to serve as proof that a real pipe organ is within the realm of possibility for a small parish, and that it can provide more musical satisfaction than an electronic with a plethora of digital gadgets and twice as many stops.

—Michael Menne

 

Cover photo: Sabine Joyce

 

GREAT (I) 56 keys, CCРg3

8 Open Diapason

8 Holpipe

8 Viol

4 Principal

223 Twelfth

2 Fifteenth

135 Tierce

8 Hautboy

POSITIV (II) 56 keys, CCРg3

8 Stop’d Diapason

4 Flute

2 Fifteenth

8 Dulcian

PEDAL 30 keys, CCРg3

16 Bourdon

 

Couplers

I–P

II–P

II–I

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Johannes Klais Orgelbau, Bonn, Germany, Opus 1881

First Church Congregational, Fairfield, Connecticut

 

From the Director of Music

Serving at First Church as interim director of music and organist, I soon discovered some of the shortcomings of the almost forty-year-old electronic organ. Played for weekly worship services, weddings, funerals, and a variety of other events, it became apparent that this instrument was nearing its final days. The organ committee, having been expertly guided by Justin Bischof as organ consultant, in addition to the considerations for the instrument, also addressed their concern for the acoustics and the importance of the spoken word, and the musical sound of the choirs and the organ.  

The organ will fill several roles. Most importantly, it will provide musical leadership for worship through congregational singing and will be used to accompany choirs and soloists. It can also produce a glorious sound that has the power to move the souls of the faithful. Additionally, it will serve as a concert instrument capable of hosting a wide variety of organ literature from all periods.

Visually, the organ case is a beautiful architectural element in the worship space. Klais Orgelbau, the pipe organ committee, and their consultant have designed, built, and installed a magnificent instrument that will not only fill these roles but far surpass them.  

—Dr. Paul Knox

 

From the Architect 

A renovation project such as this one, involving an historic building with a strongly defined character, is always challenging. People tend to resist any change to a space with which they are so familiar. Therefore, I was extremely aware of the need to be sensitive in my approach, and my goal was to accomplish the necessary changes in such a way that they respected the original design without being constricted by it.  

The major thrust of the project involved a reconfiguration of the chancel and nave spaces to allow for the installation of the Klais pipe organ. The new instrument was placed in the area formerly occupied by the pulpit, the choir, and the old electronic instrument. As a result, the pulpit and choir were pushed forward into the nave space. Our mandate was to accomplish this while removing as few pews as possible in the process.  

The design concept incorporates a gently curving raised platform for the pulpit, the choir, a piano, and the new organ console. This platform was designed to be used as a stage for weekly worship services, as well as for non-religious events such as concerts and plays. To accomplish the design, it was necessary to remove an existing proscenium arch at the front of the nave, which presented major acoustical and visual impediments for the new instrument. In addition, it was necessary to remove and relocate three stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. These windows would otherwise have been buried within the confines of the pipe chamber. They will be moved to the rear of the nave, where they will replace three of the original “catalog” glass windows. 

The project was accomplished in two phases. Phase one, completed in the summer of 2009, involved modifying the physical layout of the sanctuary to accommodate the new organ, as well as some necessary rehabilitation of the venerable nave space. Phase two, completed in the summer of 2010, involved the installation of the instrument itself—and it was indeed a marvelous thing to watch.

—Neil Hauck

 

From the Organ Consultant

Every pipe organ installation is a unique journey. Countless considerations contribute to a very complex process that includes aesthetic, liturgical, financial, and technical components.  The First Church Fairfield ten-year journey has been exciting, at times daunting, and ultimately, fulfilling beyond what any of us could have imagined. The Burr gift enabled the church to explore the dream of having a world-class pipe organ in their historic church, thereby forever changing the worship fabric in so many wonderful and meaningful ways.

The new Klais organ has been a source of joy and inspiration since the first notes were sounded last October, and will be for literally hundreds of years to come. The instrument is a joy to play and experience, as it feels as if it has “always been there” in the room. It is an ideal instrument for hymn playing and accompanying, with its warm and rich principal choruses. As a concert instrument, it is versatile and very exciting in the room, in playing repertoire of all periods.  

So many fine people had the vision, passion, and love that saw this project through to its glorious conclusion: David Spollett, pastor, who was tireless in his support and guidance; Charlotte Dyslin and Margaret Gettig, committee chairs, who ensured with their exceptional leadership that the project came to fruition; Neil Hauck, architect, who was a sympathetic and inspired aesthetic leader;  Heather Hamilton, the former director of music, who helped get the project off the ground and brought me into the process; and finally, Philipp Klais, whose world-class expertise in the ancient art of organbuilding and generosity of spirit was an inspiration to all of us throughout our journey.

It has been an honor to be a part of this historic and joyous process, as it has allowed me to become a part of the First Church family. I will always be eternally grateful for our time together and look forward to watching their music program grow over the years as a result of this fine instrument.

—Justin Bischof, D.M.A.

 

From the Organ Builder

Our intention for the new pipe organ in First Church Congregational, Fairfield, was to design and build a pipe organ that would become an integral part of the church as well as a singing church member. Positioned in the front of the church, right behind the altar, it was very important for us to create an instrument that would be an independent sculpture but at the same time an integral part of the church—an instrument designed in a way that the church would look incomplete without the pipe organ. 

The instrument consists of 36 stops on three manuals and pedal (two stops have been prepared), slider windchests, mechanical key action, and electric stop action. It has a very clear layout following historic traditions. From the free-standing console, trackers run straight into the lower part of the instrument. On the level of the front pipes, one finds the Great in the center, surrounded on both sides by the Pedal divided into C and C-sharp sides. On the level above, the two enclosed divisions, Swell and Choir, are placed side by side to each other. The blower with the big main reservoir is placed in the basement of the church, below the organ.

The organ does have a generous staircase in order to guarantee optimal tuning and maintenance access to every part of the instrument. Our intention was to build a pipe organ based on the traditions of the past with a vision for the future, a singing servant to the liturgy.

—Philipp C. A. Klais

 

From the Pipe Organ Committee

The installation of our new Klais pipe organ represents the culmination of ten years of study, discussion, decision-making, and prayer. The pipe organ committee, formed in the fall of 2000, with a generous gift from Lewis and Alice Burr, was charged with the task of finding a pipe organ to replace our failing electronic organ. Surrounded by the beauty of our church, we were reminded during our deliberation of everything we owed to those who have gone before us. Decisions were made by previous generations to expand, improve, and maintain what has been given us, and our decisions, in turn, needed to serve the generations that will follow us.  

With this in mind, along with the wishes of the Burr family, our first major determination was to recommend to the congregation that the existing electronic organ be replaced with a tracker pipe organ, an instrument that produces superior sound and one that will be more cost effective in the long run, as its life expectancy is over 200 years. The mechanical action of the tracker organ provides the most sensitive touch for the organist and requires less expenditure in maintenance. We also concluded that we needed a versatile organ with a warm sound that would provide enough flexibility for congregational singing, anthem accompaniments, and a broad range of solo organ repertoire.

By the end of the summer of 2001, after considerable discussion, we had narrowed the field of potential organ builders to two companies, both with the recommendation for placement of the organ along the center axis of the church. Because one person serves as both organist and choir director, it was necessary that the choir and organ be placed together, centrally located at the front of the sanctuary.  

During the following years, a number of essential repairs and improvements to the church buildings were identified, along with the necessary sanctuary renovations to prepare for a pipe organ, which necessitated a three-year capital campaign. Finally, in February 2008, near the end of the campaign, the congregation voted to enter into an agreement with Johannes Klais Orgelbau, Bonn, Germany. The enthusiasm of the Klais team for the project, the creativity of the design team, and Philipp’s true understanding of the part that a pipe organ plays in worship and his genuine interest in our church led us to this decision. 

All of our subsequent dealings with Klais have reinforced our initial decision. They have designed, constructed, installed, and voiced a magnificent instrument that has exceeded our expectations. We are grateful to the entire Klais team of organbuilders, whose superb workmanship has produced an instrument that will inspire singing and enable our church to continue an exemplary ministry of music in our community for many years to come.

—Charlotte Dyslin and Margaret Gettig

 

From the Pastor

First Church Congregational of Fairfield, Connecticut, an Open and Affirming member of the United Church of Christ, was called together by God in 1639 to live in covenant, repair a broken world, and build a society founded on justice and peace.  

Everything in that life begins with the worship of God, which fills us with joy, lifts our spirits, informs our minds, and empowers us to go forth as Christ’s servants in the service of others. Music plays a key role in our worship, inspiring our souls, warming our hearts, and moving us to action.  

The Klais pipe organ has greatly enriched our worship of God and strengthened our service to the community. Its beautiful sound, created by the rushing wind moving in our midst like the Holy Spirit, motivates and encourages us in our ministries. Its power, beauty, and versatility have greatly deepened the spiritual experience of all who join us in worship, inspiring us to deeper faith as followers of Christ. The Klais pipe organ has also enriched the community of metropolitan Bridgeport and Fairfield County and will be an asset for the congregation and community for generations to come.  

We note with the deepest gratitude the gifts and bequest of Lewis W. Burr and his wife Alice Bulkley Burr. Lewis and Alice were dedicated to our church and community, and their generosity has borne great fruit in so many areas, not least this pipe organ. Their commitment has inspired hundreds of others to join them in supporting this project, and we honor their memory and give thanks to God for their faithful and loving generosity.

We also express our deepest thanks to the pipe organ committee, co-chaired by Margaret Gettig and Charlotte Dyslin. The committee members diligently labored for almost eleven years to bring the dream of a pipe organ to reality. Their dedication, creativity, indefatigable spirits, and complete faith in God inspired me throughout this process. We owe them our heartfelt thanks. We are also profoundly grateful to our consultant Justin Bischof and to Philipp Klais and his entire team from Klais Orgelbau. It was a joy to work with Philipp throughout the process. 

We are delighted and thrilled to be the recipients of this remarkable instrument and honored to be entrusted with its care, a gift for the ages. Our prayer is that the rushing winds of the organ will fill our hearts and spirits as a holy inspiration for greater living.

The Reverend David W. Spollett

 

Photo credit: H. Durston Saylor (unless indicated otherwise)

 

Johannes Klais Orgelbau, Bonn

Opus 1881, 2010 

I. CHOIR   C-c4

8 Burrdon (sic!)*

8 Dulciana

4 Flötenprincipal

223 Quinte

2 Waldflöte

135 Terz

8 Coreinette (sic!)*

Tremolo

* original names Bourdon and Clarinette have been modified

II. GREAT   C-c4

16 Violon

8 Principal

8 Flute harmonique

8 Gamba

4 Octave

2 Superoctave

2 Mixtur IV

8 Trompete

8 Tuba (prepared for)

III. SWELL   C-c4

16 Burrdon

8 Geigenprincipal

8 Rohrflöte

8 Aeoline

8 Vox coelestis

4 Traversflöte

4 Violine

223 Harmonia aetheria IV

16 Basson

8 Trompette

8 Basson Hautbois

Tremolo

PEDAL   C-g1

32 Flute (prepared for)

16 Open Wood

16 Subbass

16 Burrdon (from Swell)

8 Principal

8 Burrdon

4 Octave

16 Posaune

16 Basson (from Swell)

 

Couplers

Choir to Great

Swell to Great

Swell to Choir

Swell Suboctave

Swell Superoctave

Choir Suboctave

Choir Superoctave

Choir to Pedal

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Swell Superoctave to Pedal

 

36 stops on three manuals and pedal

Slider windchests

Mechanical key action (electric coupling action)

Electric stop action

Setter combination system with 1,000,000 combinations, divided into 1,000 levels with 100 groups each featuring 10 Generals and 6 Divisionals for each division

Apprenticing with Herman Schlicker

Joseph E. Robinson

Joseph E. Robinson received his B.A. from California State University at Long Beach and his M.A. from Occidental College in Los Angeles. He studied piano with Charles Shepherd, and organ with Clarence Mader, Paul Stroud, and Robert Prichard. He studied choral conducting with Frank Pooler and Howard Swan. During 1970–71 he was an organbuilding apprentice with the Schlicker Organ Co. under the direction of Herman Schlicker. He was organist at the University United Methodist Church in Buffalo, New York, and later St. James’ United Methodist Church in Pasadena, California. Now a retired business systems analyst, he is currently organist for the Mission Lake Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His interest in pipe organs and their music was sparked years ago when, as a sixth grade student, his class was taken on a field trip to a recital on the Mormon Tabernacle Organ. He has been married 35 years to his wife Pat, who has given her support for the large pipe organ in their home. One day during construction Pat said, “You need help, and I have found just the help you need—G. Donald Harrison.” She had found a golden retriever named Harrison on a rescue site. Harrison is now a happy member of the family.

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I meet Herman Schlicker  

After completing a master’s degree, I talked over options with my teacher, Robert Prichard. Since I was very interested in all things related to pipe organs, a career in organbuilding looked promising. Mr. Prichard was well acquainted with Herman Schlicker, and broached the subject of my joining his firm as an apprentice. Schlicker was not interested. He said that the best apprentices come right out of high school and he had bad luck with those who had master’s degrees.   

Herr Schlicker flew to Southern California on business, and so it was arranged that while he was here I would be his chauffeur. One stop that I remember was at what is now the Crystal Cathedral. Their first building contained a small Wicks organ, which was to be replaced with a substantial instrument. Schlicker was among the contenders. At another stop, I was disgusted with the way they treated Mr. Schlicker—didn’t they realize they were talking with a great man?

After our final stop, Schlicker said to come on to Buffalo, and I would be their newest apprentice. I drove my red Corvair across the country and rented a room from Mrs. Herbst, who had rented to many a Schlicker apprentice. She asked us to keep our stereo playing of organ music down—it reminded her of her husband’s funeral. 

 

The factory

The factory is described in sales literature from the late 1960s:

 

From a modest beginning, the company has expanded to include 65 persons at the Buffalo factory-office, as well as sales and service representatives throughout the United States. The construction of the present modern factory was begun in 1947, and since that time six additions have been made to the building, giving a total working area of over 36,000 square feet, and including a spacious erecting room. 

 

That there was no master plan for this expansion from the beginning was obvious. For example, there was a large room devoted to lumber, that in most respects functioned well. However, there was no loading dock, or even a door to the outside. When a lumber truck came, Herr Friedrich (foreman) would announce “LUMBER!” and we would all drop what we were doing and rush to the truck to unload the lumber piece by piece and feed them through a window in the lumber room. On a cold winter day, that was a very unpleasant task.

 

Factory tours

Occasionally music committees or groups of organists would tour the factory. I was among those selected to conduct the tours. At first I would meet visitors at the door and then physically take them through the building, saying this is where we do this, and this is where we do that. Then I witnessed a tour led by Manuel Rosales, who was then at Schlicker Organ Co. He started at the melting pot in the pipe shop, went step by step in the construction of an organ, ending in the erecting room. Even though there was some crisscrossing in that method, it explained the organbuilding process better, and I changed my approach accordingly.  

 

Organization chart

When Schlicker described the apprentice position to me, he said that I would work in all aspects of organbuilding and eventually be able to do any task. In fact, his factory was full of workers that could do any task. He was proud of that. So, organization was simple: Herman Schlicker, President; Ken List, Vice President; Herr Friedrich, Foreman; organ builders, and apprentice, with a few exceptions such as the accountant. In practice, however, people would tend to gravitate to that which they did best. Take Don Bohall, for example. In many organizations, he would be referred to as Service Manager. He could quickly diagnose and fix problems, clearly the best man to call if an organ under the ten-year warranty experienced an unexpected malfunction. I asked Don how he managed to be exempt from the lumber calls. He told me that after I had been there a few years and made myself valuable in a particular operation I could announce that I was no longer going to do lumber. But I would have to be sure I was valuable enough. Some who tried that too soon were no longer doing lumber or anything else at the firm.  

 

Apprentice duties

The apprentice program at Schlicker’s was more typical of the German apprentice system than what we are used to in the USA. The view at the Schlicker Organ Company was: we pay you for this time and so you do whatever we ask of you, be it sweeping, cleaning messes, painting walls, or shoveling snow! So this, I thought, is why people who have worked so hard for a master’s degree don’t like it here. I was told a story of one such, who after driving from California worked one day, got in his car and drove back home. One unhappy apprentice had given the place a nickname “Stalag 15-30” [the address was 1530 Military Road]. Stories of this nature were a kind of unofficial initiation exam. 

 

Information on a need-to-know basis

At graduate school, you are filled with information and encouraged to ask questions and find answers. There were many things I wanted to know. For example, on most three-manual Schlicker organs, the pedal contains a unit 16–8 principal rank, but the 16 and 8-foot stopped flutes are always separate ranks. How come? I learned that awhile before my arrival, some former employees had stolen plans, records, scalings, and materials—everything they needed to make copies of Schlicker organs. So Mr. Schlicker was now cautious in sharing information, and an apprentice is at the bottom of the totem pole in need-to-know. 

I got my lecture in Schlicker organ design in a most unexpected way. One holiday season, there was in the factory a 32 Bombarde, which was to be placed in an organ previously finished with that stop prepared for. Schlicker had placed a small two-rank unit organ in a Buffalo bank for publicity purposes. Since I could play, I was assigned to play Christmas music on the little organ while the bank was open. One day after the bank closed, I returned to the factory, where I was greeted by Ken List. Ken said, “So how is Merry Christmas on the Gedeckt?” I responded, “Well, it’s OK, but that little organ really lacks a proper foundation. Too bad we could not have hooked up that 32 Bombarde with it.”  

Schlicker overheard the conversation, and while I thought anyone would recognize that I was being outlandishly facetious, Schlicker thought I was serious that the third rank in an organ should be a 32 Bombarde. “You are there representing the Schlicker Organ Company,” he said. “You know nothing. A lot has to happen in an organ before you include a 32 Bombarde.” So I heard all about small to medium to large organs in a very informative lecture, though I could have done without the frequent “You know nothing” comments.  

 

A wiring error

An electro-pneumatic organ was being set up for testing. There was a testing wiring harness used for such purposes. I said, “I have never done this before; there are surely a lot of wires here.” I was told, “There is nothing to it, just start here at the end, and take each wire in sequence.” So I did, but it was the wrong end. Final result was that low C sounded from the highest note on the keyboard and vice versa. I started to play a hymn. “What on earth are you doing?” “I thought I might never again have the opportunity to hear music inverted and wanted to see what it sounds like.” “You idiot, why don’t you just broadcast to the world what a fool you are!” So I stopped abruptly. Fortunately this was the testing wiring harness and not the organ’s permanent wiring.

 

A bright and dim bulb

Sometimes my education was of use. When something unusual came along, such as “What the heck is an 8/9 None?,” I would know the answer. There was a fine older gentleman, whose name I unfortunately no longer remember, who was in charge of Schlicker consoles. He would review with me console layouts, controls, order of stops, etc. He said, “You know much more than those guys. You should be recognized for your knowledge and taken off the lumber run.” Obviously I liked him. On the other hand, as the wiring example shows, in construction matters I was a rookie. One day I was assigned to a task and heard rumblings, “I don’t know why they assigned HIM this task. HE doesn’t even know how to use a HAM-MER.” The speaker usually got this task. Since in this case it was an overtime task, I was robbing him of time-and-a-half pay. Welcome to the world of office politics. I did not like it, and was a rookie there as well. Fortunately for future employment I learned 1) never be cruel to someone and 2) never be the company scapegoat. 

 

Organ pipes

Most flue pipes were manufactured in the pipe shop. Reed pipes built to Schlicker specifications were imported from Europe. For flue pipes it was considered that for the vast majority of cases, such things as tuning scrolls, pipe slotting, and tuning collars were detrimental. Take tuning collars, for example. A tuning collar means that at the top of the pipe there is a sudden increase in scale. On bass pipes that were nearly cut to length, the effect is minimal. But on treble pipes, the distortion of pipe shape is considerable. Thus Schlicker organs had pipes cut to length and were cone tuned. This practice was one reason why Schlicker mixtures had outstanding cohesion with the principal chorus.  

 

The Schlicker sound

Open-toe voicing, low wind pressure, low cutups, etc. are only part of the story. It is well known that some Aeolian-Skinner contracts, such as the Mormon Tabernacle and Grace Cathedral, specified that G. Donald Harrison do the final voicing. It is the artist who does the finishing that gives an organ its distinctive sound; thus organs of the same manufacturer may sound different depending upon who does the finishing. At the Schlicker Company, we had two superb voicers who finished at least the more important instruments. Wally Guzowski voiced with a bold, fresh, exciting sound. I decided that someday I would like him to voice my residence organ when I could afford such. Louis Rothenberger Jr. had a more elegant, refined sound. [We always specified the Jr. because LR senior had also been a voicer.] 

They were aware that their styles were different, and Wally told me that they worked together to try and make a uniform result. There should be a specific sound quality associated with the brand. These men produced some instruments of distinction. As voicers, they would physically adjust pipes. As finishers in the final location, they would sit at the console, playing through a rank of pipes, pick a note and shout a command to someone like me in the pipes: “Lower the languid,” “Pull the upper lip forward,” “Narrow the windway,” “Increase the cutup,” and so forth.

 

Deterioration of the Schlicker sound 

As years have passed, I have noticed that some of my favorite instruments no longer have the magic they possessed when they were new. More is involved than just my ears getting older; recordings of the original instruments captured the magic. Here is what I think may have happened. Schlicker instruments were cone tuned and were very stable in tuning within themselves, but the whole instrument goes flat in winter and sharp in summer.

Take a fictitious organ service man Sam Cifodelance, for example. Sam gets a customer who has a Schlicker organ. He orders some tuning cones from a supply house. In winter, when the organ goes flat, he pounds the pipes with the pointed end of the tuning cones to bring the pitch up to A440. In summer, he pounds the pipes with the other end to bring the pipes down to A440. Over time this attention alters pipe mouth dimensions slightly, and what was an outstanding sound becomes an ordinary sound. 

This theory is an educated guess, but I do know that who does the servicing makes a huge difference, is a concern of organbuilders, and improper servicing deteriorates an organ’s sound. It saddens me that some of my favorite instruments have deteriorated. 

 

Schlicker’s bias

Bad for Aeolian-Skinner, but providential for Herman Schlicker was the rise in popularity of the Orgelbewegung. With his strong German accent and experience in German organbuilding, he was in an ideal place to be the foremost American builder in that style. I discussed with Schlicker a trip to Europe I was going to take. We went through the German instruments I was going to see. “Yah, you must see that,” he would say. For Holland, “There are some good things there.” For France, “A waste of time.”  

 

The good consultants

One of the first things you do as an apprentice is to rack pipes on a windchest. Here were some pipes that looked like a double row of little milk cans with their lids soldered on top. This experimental rank had been specified by Paul Manz. Louie Rothenberger Jr. was having a very difficult time getting the pipes to speak at all. I made the comment, “I don’t see why we need organ consultants at all. A church should just choose a builder and let their expertise do the job.” Louie responded, “You are new here. You will eventually have the opportunity to visit many organs. When you do, compare those that were built under consultants such as Paul Manz, your teacher Clarence Mader, Paul Bunjes, E. Power Biggs and so forth, with those that had no consultant. I think you will find that our best organs had consultants such as these.” He was right!

When I was at Occidental College, I played among other things French Romantic organ music that I liked. I commented to my teacher Clarence Mader how well the Schlicker played that music. He replied, “Yes, you need French reeds to play that music and I requested that Schlicker include them in the Swell One division.” I bring this up because on his own, Herman Schlicker would not have given the Swell One division a French flavor. Somehow they managed to do that and yet have it integrate beautifully with the rest of the instrument, resulting in far greater versatility. The very best instruments somehow achieved a result of being more than the sum of their parts, a joy to play and to hear. 

 

The not-so-good consultants

These are the ones who think they know more about organbuilding than the organbuilder, specifying scales, wind pressures, mouth widths, voicing techniques and so forth. One such organ had so many conditions that the final result did not have the distinctive Schlicker sound. Herman Schlicker summed it up thus: “It might as well have been built by ———.” [I don’t know if ——— would want to claim it either.]

In finishing an organ, Wally Guzowski explained to me, “You have to be very diplomatic with the organists. When they tell you what they want, smile and nod your head like you agree with them.  When they are gone, disregard everything they said. Organists know nothing about organ finishing.” A quite common occurrence in finishing an organ would be the arrival of the organist with some last requests for what was going to be his instrument. At that time, it is too late. A successful finishing process brings out the maximum beauty a pipe was designed to give. An organist’s request to now make a German Principal more like a French Montre, for example, robs the instrument of its potential. That decision should have been made long before.1

 

Insubordination

I was given two rules, which probably came about due to prior difficulties with employees who were also organists: 1) When you are on an assignment do not play the organ, even during a break or after you are done. Customers are charged by the hour and we don’t want them to think they are paying for you to play the organ. 2) Because you may be called at any time to travel, do not accept a church organist position. It is not fair to the company, the church, or yourself. Rule 1 was difficult to manage; we worked on some beautiful instruments. But I did manage this rule in spite of working on some instruments I longed to play. 

 After arriving in Buffalo, each Sunday I visited various churches to see and hear organs and get a feeling of that particular church. One Sunday, I visited the University United Methodist Church. While certainly not the finest organ in town, the people were very friendly and when they discovered that I was from California and knew no one in town, they invited me to meals and made me feel at home and said, “You have friends here.” Shortly thereafter their organist moved away. “Do you play, Joe? Would you mind substituting for a while till we find a permanent organist?” A few Sundays later, “We want you to be our organist.” “Impossible—I can be called out of town at any time without notice.” “We can have someone fill in on the piano when that happens. Please be our organist.” It seemed like this would work; they knew I would leave without notice when Schlicker called. I would fulfill my obligation to him, and what he did not know would not hurt anyone. This happy arrangement continued for many months. 

I have a couple theories of how Ken List found out about this arrangement. “Joe, you have to tell Schlicker.” I dreaded that conversation, but I was caught, so I set up a time to meet with him. Schlicker told me he understood after all the time I had put into learning to play the organ that I would not want to just let the talent die. So he instructed me to resign and he would arrange for me to have practice time at his church, which had a very nice organ. As a naive young person, I thought as long as I can do my job, he has no business telling me what I can and can’t do on my own time. And there were many around me who encouraged that thinking. Perhaps more than the mundane tasks, this kind of thing is the reason Schlicker had trouble with master’s degree organists. In subsequent employment ‘my own time’ would be redefined by being on call 24/7 with aids such as beepers and later, cell phones. One boss would even follow me into a restroom stall. So now I see that Schlicker was at least trying to meet me half way. 

 

Money

Perhaps because organs are very expensive instruments, money is a problem in organbuilding. Herman Schlicker was a master of finance. We did not look forward to his daily rounds at the factory. “Robinson, why don’t you gold-plate it while you are at it?” That comment translates to the work is very good, but your progress is too slow and we can’t afford it. So I would speed up. Then, “Robinson, what is this? It will never do! The Schlicker organ is a quality instrument.” While making us employees stressed out during his rounds, he did achieve the right balance, getting us to do good work with enough production speed to be cost effective and keep the firm in business. After he died, that balance was lost and the firm eventually went bankrupt, as have far too many organbuilding firms.2

As an apprentice I made very little. One day I got an unexpected raise. Congress had just passed an increase in the minimum wage, and the salary I was making was below the new minimum. Schlicker added an extra five cents an hour because he did not want to be seen as paying minimum wage. As an apprentice, I rented a room. Most full-fledged organbuilders lived in apartments. I wanted to live in a house in the suburbs and I did not see that happening at any time in the future if I stayed on my current path. Many things I loved about organbuilding—your part in making a thing of beauty. But there were other important things to me that were either denied or out of reach. So my house in the suburbs was financed by leaving organbuilding and becoming a business systems analyst. And I am quite happy with my self-built 22-rank residence organ. Unfortunately, lack of space in my residence made it impossible for the third rank to be a 32 Bombarde.

 

The author wishes to thank Justin Matters for permission to use the photographs of Schlicker organs.

 

 

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Glück Pipe Organs,

New York, New York

Faith Lutheran Church,

New Providence, New Jersey

The new pipe organ for Faith Lutheran Church was created for use in traditional worship and for the performance of solo organ literature with a reasonable degree of historical accuracy. Although conservative in its core concept and tonal structure, some unusual pipe forms and design elements take it beyond the realm of the tonal cookie-cutter.

The instrument replaces a very heavily unified organ from the 1960s that subsequently had been altered by a local tuner. Inspection revealed that it contained several ranks of flue pipes that could be rescaled and incorporated into the new organ. While the mouths of these salvageable ranks were “cut to speech,” the pipes had never been truly voiced or tonally finished. They were essentially raw pipes of good alloy, straight from the pipemaker. Retaining these heritage pipes accomplished three goals: it enabled us to broaden the scope of the instrument from two manuals to three, it made the congregation understand that pipe organs could be investments, not merely expenses, and it gave church members a deeply satisfying feeling of historical continuity.

 

The façade design

When this project began years ago, the bidding organbuilders were asked to design an organ for the front of the church as part of a comprehensive renovation. Despite my strong indication that I preferred a rear gallery location, I conceived two chancel designs, one unilateral, the other divided. As the years passed, larger considerations arose for this thriving church. Should they once again enlarge their present church and school complex, or build a new church on new land? The church retained respected organ, architectural, and acoustical consultant Scott Riedel of Milwaukee, whose calm advice and clear education resulted in the organ in place today, as well as enlarged facilities for the music department and an improved acoustic. 

In the end, I got my wish. The organ sings from an elevated, central position in the new rear gallery. The A-frame structure, characteristic of so many American Lutheran churches of the era, naturally calls for North European case morphology. The mahogany case, proportioned for a relaxed “fit” in the room, is accented with understated pipe shades and foliate carvings in maple.

Within this visual context, I engaged in a bit of iconography and mannerism. The central “Trinity” of pipes is non-speaking, allowing me the opportunity to increase their length and have them break through the cornice and soar heavenward. The remainder of the façade is composed of pipes from the Great 8 Præstant. The twelve polished zinc pipes of the lowest octave, with their undulating mouth lines, represent the Apostles. They are, in turn, flanked by the spotted metal 4 range, playing upon the number seven, which recurs often in scripture. In each “flat” of pipes, the outer two pipes are reversed to acknowledge the visual strength of the roofline, and pipe lengths are balanced by building every other pipe one semitone over-length. 

 

The console

When minister of music Dr. John Girvin asked that I address the needs of an easily navigable, mobile console with unobstructed sight lines, I took as a point of departure the Aeolian organ consoles designed for the homes of the aristocracy during the first quarter of the last century. In this restrained and modern version, the tablets operate vertically, rather than horizontally, so that there is no confusion as to whether a stop is on or off. Each divisional field is in the same location as it would be in a drawknob console. The console is equipped with a comprehensive combination action and record and playback system.

The organist can see and conduct over the console effortlessly, and musicians can even stand around it and read their music from atop its cabinetry. It glides anywhere in the new organ and choir loft on an undetectable, integrated dolly, since choral and instrumental ensembles of various configurations are a normal part of musical life at Faith Lutheran. I designed the new gallery rail to be somewhat visually opaque but tonally transparent, with rhythmic elements paying homage to the likes of Wright, Mackintosh, and Stickley.

 

Tonal structure

While assiduously avoiding the lure of the unthinking American Lutheran stoplist, the structure of the Great principal chorus nonetheless had to be the starting point. It is supplemented by an 8 Harmonic Flute, a requirement of the French Romantic repertoire. Carried down in open metal to A10, the bottom nine notes are borrowed from the open 8 Spitzflöte so as to have no break in the tone. Taking advantage of unit actions in the Swell, the unison flute and string are duplexed to the Great, making available the dense velour of the fonds d’huit. The 16 Dexter Geigen, which begins at middle C, is a broad and rosiny string of both solo and ensemble capability, adding gravity to the right hand without weight. It was made from the 8 Viola that was in the church’s original organ, a rank that had only extended to 4 C, with a borrowed capped metal bass. 

The 8 Trumpet is broad, warm, and round, with English shallots and bells of higher lead content than the division’s fluework. It nobly melds into the ensemble without making a brash entrance. It is actually an upward extension of the Pedal reed unit, playing on the Great but being of the Pedal.

The notably potent Swell department is home to the second, slightly brighter plenum. I did not want to overdevelop the unenclosed Positiv and leave the church with a vestigial, anemic Swell. While the Great Chorus Mixture IV assumes a predictable American formula, the Swell Mixture II–IV was composed for sparkle and clarity without losing its integrative powers. This is accomplished by having the quints and unisons either in balance or favoring the unisons at all times (which has great benefits in hymn accompaniment and contrapuntal music), and keeping a unison pitch at the top of the harmonic stack except for a very brief, essentially unnoticeable two-note break near the top of the keyboard. 

The Swell strings are firm and deliberately incisive. Two powerful wooden flutes of double-mouth construction come from the 1919 Hall organ formerly in the Swedenborgian church in New York City, a 38-rank instrument that I acquired when that building was remodeled. The 8 Doppelgedeckt  seems exceptionally present at the console, yet is buoyant in the nave. The orchestral “spit” in the harmonic range of the 4 Holzdoppelquerpfeife is extraordinary, and the stop is worthy of copying in the future. 

Faith Lutheran’s original organ had a handful of “wired” mutations, taken from the unified ranks of the small Swell division. Such practice can never meet with true success, because these harmonics must be independently scaled, voiced, and finished, and the laws of physics make it impossible for them ever to be in tune. The new organ’s independent Nazard and Tierce ranks are joined on one slider in deference to the budget. Although flute-scaled, the chameleon-like Cornetto II serves as a pointed Sesquialtera when drawn with the 8 flute, yet forms a round Cornet of French flavor when drawn with the entire flute choir. The tierce remains unbroken throughout the compass, and was actually made from a fine 2 rank that was in our stock, appropriately rescaled and revoiced.

The Swell 8 Trompette, with Bertounèche shallots and harmonic resonators, is significantly more brilliant than its Great counterpart. The full-length resonators of the 16 Basson assure grandeur and richness in anthem accompaniments. Half-length resonators always fall short of the mark, a imprudent expedient, especially in situations like this, where the worthier compromise is to extend the 16 stop down from the 8 Hautbois.

When Albert Jensen-Moulton, general manager of Glück Pipe Organs, devised the layout of the new organ, he placed the Positiv in “Brust” position, immediately behind the façade on the right side, in juxtaposition to the Great to its left and the Swell behind. It is in close proximity to the singers and instrumentalists, and enjoys the distinct physical separation sought in a Baroque tonal æsthetic. The metal flute choir (8 capped, 4 chimneyed, and 2 open) forms the perfect continuo organ, its varied pipe forms avoiding the risk of duplicating or triplicating other manual stops. 

The instrument stands on slider soundboards, but the occasional extrapolation of ranks on electro-pneumatic unit actions expands the registrational possibilities, particularly in the Positiv. The center of gravity can be shifted by the warm and singing 8 Spitzflöte, the other rank that was extended upward from the Pedal division. Once again, it is scaled and voiced as a Pedal stop, but balances perfectly here, with freedom of tonal finishing in the treble range. The 8 Clarinet, poised for dialogue with the Swell tierce combination, has a more “antique” sound than its name implies, enhanced by the release characteristics of the pallets. Its color can be shifted quite effectively with other stops in the division, expanding its solo capabilities. The Positiv and Great manuals can be exchanged in order to accommodate music of the later French schools.

The Pedal is based upon the 16 Holzviolon, an open wood string stop also selected from the Swedenborgian organ. It was in rough shape, with its mitered basses broken and only two octaves of wood pipes, but it was needed to lend pitch definition to the Pedal line. While we could have completed the treble with metal pipes, the very capable pipemakers at OSI crafted matching wooden trebles as well as Haskell re-entrant tubes for the bottom four notes. This stop enables the Pedal to steer in contrasting directions: a gentle, clarified, open chorus, by adding the 8 and 4 Spitzflötes, or a bolder sound, using the 8 Octave and 4 Fifteenth. The stopped wood 16 Infrabass, retained from the previous organ, provides a solid foundation, and other mezzo-forte borrows from the manual divisions make up the rest of this flexible arrangement. The full-length 16
Posaune has spotted metal bells in the bottom octave to inject brightness into the round, firm, rolling tone. It is extended to 8 pitch, and is available on both the Great and Positiv manuals.

The salient factors in place that contributed to the success of this project include a supportive pastorate, an enthusiastic and generous congregation, a Minister of Music who tirelessly educated himself through research and inquiry, and a truly knowledgeable, interdisciplinary consultant who guided the project without ever interfering with the artistic process. These elements paved the way for Glück Pipe Organs, our suppliers, our subcontractors, and all those involved in the enlarging of the church complex to achieve this long-anticipated goal.

—Sebastian M. Glück

Artistic and Tonal Director

Cover photo by Albert Jensen-Moulton

 

For information: 

212/608-5651

www.gluckpipeorgans.com

 

Glџck Pipe Organs Opus 13 (2011)

Faith Lutheran Church, New Providence, New Jersey

GREAT (Manual II)

16 Dexter Geigen 34 pipes 50% tin, slotted, from C25

8 Præstant 58 pipes polished zinc and 50% tin

8 Harmonic Flute 49 pipes 50% tin, C1–G#9 from Spitzflöte

8 Doppelgedeckt from Swell

8 Viole de Gambe from Swell

4 Octave 58 pipes 50% tin

2 Fifteenth 58 pipes 50% tin

Chorus Mixture IV 232 pipes 50% tin

8 Trumpet 28 pipes 30% tin, harmonic (Pedal extension)

Chimes 25 tubes G20–G44

Great Silent

16 Swell to Great

8 Swell to Great

4 Swell to Great

8 Positiv to Great

SWELL (Manual III)

8 Viole de Gambe 58 pipes 50% tin, slotted

8 Voix Céleste 46 pipes 50% tin, slotted, from C13

8 Doppelgedeckt 58 pipes wood, double mouths, stopped

4 Principal 58 pipes 50% tin

4 Holzdoppelquerpfeife 58 pipes wood, double mouths, harmonic

2 Gemshorn 58 pipes 50% tin

Cornetto II 116 pipes 50% tin

Mixture II–IV 176 pipes 50% tin

16 Basson 12 pipes 50% tin

8 Trompette 58 pipes 50% tin, harmonic

8 Hautbois 58 pipes 50% tin

Tremulant

16 Swell to Swell

4 Swell to Swell

Chimes

POSITIV (Manual I)

8 Spitzflöte 16 pipes 50% tin (Pedal extension)

8 Viole de Gambe from Swell

8 Bourdon 58 pipes 50% tin

4 Rohrflöte 58 pipes 50% tin

2 Recorder 58 pipes 50% tin

8 Clarinet 58 pipes 30% tin

Tremulant

8 Trumpet from Great

8 Hautbois from Swell

8 Swell to Positiv

Great/Positiv Transfer

PEDAL

16 Holzviolon 30 pipes wood, C1–D#4 with re-entrant tubes

16 Infrabass 30 pipes wood

8 Octave 30 pipes zinc and 50% tin

8 Spitzflöte 30 pipes zinc and 50% tin

8 Gedeckt from Swell

4 Fifteenth 12 pipes 50% tin

4 Spitzflöte 12 pipes 50% tin

16 Posaune 12 pipes zinc and 50% tin

16 Basson from Swell

8 Trumpet 30 pipes zinc and 30% tin

8 Basson from Swell

4 Hautbois from Swell

8 Great to Pedal

8 Swell to Pedal

8 Positiv to Pedal

Great Chorus Mixture IV

C1 19.22.26.29

C13 15.19.22.26

C25 12.15.19.22

C37 08.12.15.19

C49 01.08.12.15

 

40 stops

32 ranks

Swell Cornetto II

C1 12.17 unbroken

 

Swell Mixture II–IV

C1 19.22

D15 15.19.22

F#43 12.15.19.22

C#50 08.12.15.19

D#52 01.08.12.15

Cover feature

Létourneau Pipe Organs worked closely with the cathedral’s architect, Craig Hartman of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, to develop the organ’s visual design, through a process of discussion, collaboration, and at times, mutual compromise

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Létourneau Pipe Organs, 

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada

Opus 118 (2010)

The Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, California

 

From the director of music and 

organist

In July 2009 I was appointed director of music and organist for the Cathedral of Christ the Light, well after the cathedral was built and the organbuilder had been selected. Unlike similar organ projects, I could not take credit for the new instrument. However, even in the early stages of the design of the cathedral, the pipe organ formed an integral part of the building’s design. The cathedral’s architect, Craig Hartman, was extensively involved in the design of the pipe façades and the organ console, so that they complement the overall design of the cathedral.

At the time when it became clear that Oakland would be home to a great cathedral, Daniel Whalen and his wife, Katharine Conroy Whalen, thought of her mother, Gerry Conroy. The Whalens soon made the decision to give a custom-made pipe organ in her memory and, as such, all funding for the Conroy Memorial Organ came from the gift of Daniel and Katherine Conroy Whalen.

The organ committee did extensive research and visited several instruments by several different builders before the decision was made to commission an instrument from Létourneau. Because of the layout of the cathedral, it was apparent from the project’s inception that a tracker instrument was impossible and that electric action would be necessary. The organ needed to serve both as a liturgical instrument and as a concert instrument. It needed to be capable of accompanying choral repertoire and congregational singing, providing processional fanfares, and playing a variety of organ literature in both liturgical and concert settings.

The instrument has been a great success, serving the Diocese of Oakland and the cathedral parish well in liturgical settings, as well as making the cathedral a sought-after venue for organ and choir concerts.

—Dr. Rudy de Vos

 

From the builder

Létourneau pipe organs are custom-built for their surroundings, and we strive for a good fit, both architecturally and tonally. From time to time, we are privileged to work in some exceptional surroundings. We knew this to be the case from our first contact with the Cathedral of Christ the Light in the spring of 2006. Though the cathedral existed only as a design on paper at that time, the clarity of the worship space’s towering architecture was as striking as the use of sunlight filtering through the ceiling’s central oculus, and the hundreds of wooden louvers making up the sides of the worship space.

Also striking were the locations set aside for a pipe organ in the architectural plans. Large canopies on either side of the cathedral’s central omega window were designed to display a significant instrument, while a discreet organ chamber was provided behind the seating area for the cathedral choir. The lateral and vertical distances between these three locations presented a number of intriguing possibilities but also a number of challenges.

Having agreed to work closely with the cathedral’s architect, Craig Hartman of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, we developed the organ’s visual design through a process of discussion, collaboration, and at times, mutual compromise. From the outset, Mr. Hartman wanted the organ’s visual aspect to leave an organic impression (no pun intended), with organ pipes arrayed unpredictably, as one might find with trees in a forest or tufts of wild grass. The great majority of the organ’s façade pipes were accordingly constructed from clear Douglas fir to match the surrounding ribs and louvers. Special narrow scales were developed to provide the wooden basses for the Great and Bombarde 16 principal ranks, while the Pedal 32-16-8 Contra Bourdon and 16 Open Wood are more typical, with generous cross-sections. All wooden façade pipes were constructed with wooden skirts to conceal the pipe foot, providing a uniform appearance from top to bottom.

Likewise, the 32-16 Trombone and 16 Bombarde stops were provided with full-length wooden resonators in the bass octaves and appear to sprout up through the organ façades. The number of tin pipes in the façades was carefully limited, while a unique finish was developed to ensure the metal did not appear overly brilliant relative to the surrounding surfaces.

Oakland’s previous cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, was heavily damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was eventually condemned. The new cathedral’s structure was consequently designed to absorb large seismic shocks; the entire building sits on isolator pads to resist oscillations in the event of an earthquake. The organ, too, was built to a rigorous standard for seismic reasons. The visible portions of the instrument are built around substantial steel frames, which are anchored to the platform of each canopy. The irregular arrangement of the façade pipes ruled out the usual linear pipe racking, and instead, most pipes are supported independently from behind by steel rods.

The main level of the cathedral has a substantial climate control system inconspicuously built into the nave floor. The system can heat or cool the ambient air to a height of approximately 15 feet above the floor. Being built into the reliquary wall, the organ chamber is likewise controlled for temperature. However, the immense volume of air above this 15-foot height has no climate control at all, and air temperatures can vary greatly depending on internal and external conditions. This is to say that temperatures on the two organ canopies would vary unpredictably from the organ chamber below but could also diverge between the two sides of the building.

Given the disastrous implications this would have on tuning, it was nonetheless with some reservations that we agreed that some form of climate control had to be provided for the organ canopies themselves. After many meetings and discussions, a system was put into place; it is comprehensive and self-regulating. Each organ canopy has its own microclimate control system capable of providing heat or cool air as required. A total of eight sensors per canopy monitor temperatures from strategic locations, and treated air is then directed as needed to twelve diffusers per side. From the outset, it was understood that the system could not provide absolute temperature stability, but would minimize temperature variations among the organ’s divisions as much as possible, ensuring the instrument is broadly useable.

The stoplist for the instrument evolved over the life of the project, based both on our own design and with input from the cathedral’s organ committee. We felt from the outset that the lower organ chamber needed to house an instrument that could function independently from the main organ when desired. The result was a 25-rank orgue de choeur (essentially the two Choir divisions) that was installed as the first phase of the project and was first heard at the cathedral’s rite of dedication on September 25, 2008.

The Choir, Echo Choir, and one 16 pedal rank speak through a screened opening in the reliquary wall to the west of the central altar. The Choir division has the resources of a minor Great division, with complete principal and reed choruses, while the Echo Choir contrasts with more delicate colors. Essential for accompanying, both divisions are independently expressive, feature light 16 manual stops, and offer distinct celeste effects. While not surprising, we have noted that the cathedral’s acoustic reacts in a decidedly muted manner to sound from the chambered divisions when compared to sound from the canopies above.

Befitting its visual dominance and the cathedral’s great interior volume, the main organ is grand in its scope. The Great division is particularly large and flexible, offering a 16 principal chorus, a variety of foundation stops, and three mixture options, with the Cornet stop being made up of principal-scale pipes. The Swell is likewise colorful and is enhanced by its efficient enclosure; the 16 Gamba pipes—open down to 16 C—are mounted horizontally against the back wall of the division. The Solo division offers a number of specialized, even orchestral, stops that one reviewer praised as “retro Aeolian-Skinner voices.” The 8 Doppel Flute makes for a powerful and harmonically rich solo voice, while the Viole d’orchestre and Viole céleste are razor-sharp in their tone. The Bombarde and Pedal divisions are inextricably intertwined, as the Bombarde stops are upward extensions of select pedal ranks to produce climactic choruses. The Bombarde division’s principal chorus is pleasingly dense, with the mixture adding weight and brilliance in equal measure. Other pedal ranks were deliberately not shared with the Bombarde division, to ensure the Pedal division could always have the last word; these include the 32-16-8 Bourdon, the 16 Open Wood, and the 32-16 Trombone ranks.

Reed choruses throughout the organ are intentionally varied; the Swell trumpets employ tapered English shallots to contrast against the French-inspired reeds in the Choir division. The Bombarde trumpets at 16, 8′, and 4 pitches are particularly grand in their effect, resulting from higher wind pressure, generous resonator scales, and Bertounèche-style shallots. The Solo 8 Tuba, speaking on 18 inches of wind, uses closed Willis-style shallots and harmonic resonators from G20 up to achieve its particular pealing tone. In contrast, the 8 Trompeta de luz is mounted horizontally in the organ’s façade and speaks on just over six inches wind pressure. The Trompeta de luz is not so powerful as to be harmful when brought in for the occasional final chord. The Pedal division’s 32-16 Trombone rank features our own Schnitger-type shallots for a firm, grounding bass tone.

The design of the unique four-manual console was also a rewarding collaborative effort with Craig Hartman. It was at his suggestion, for example, that the shapely upper portion was constructed using laminated strips of quarter-sawn oak. Our intention was to provide a uniquely uncluttered and timeless design; the final product has a total of 157 long-stem ebony drawknobs sweeping around the organist against a backdrop of rich walnut. Alert readers will note the console has three expression pedals, while there is a total of four expressive divisions. The default mode of operation has the Echo Choir following the Choir expression pedal, but it can be reassigned to any of the other pedals via drawknobs as well as programmed to change pedals on the General pistons. There is also an All Swells to Swell function for good measure. Other refinements include remote thumb pistons operating the General piston sequencer, to allow page-turners to assist with registration changes, and an All Pistons Next feature.

The opening concert was performed on February 11, 2010 by Parisian organist Olivier Latry. The program featured well-known works by Boëllmann, Bach, Barié, Vierne, Duruflé, Cochereau, Messiaen, and Widor. Marking the first time the instrument’s full resources were deployed, we noted that the capacity audience had a calming effect on the cathedral’s tremendous acoustic. This equally made our instrument sound with improved clarity and precision.

The morning after M. Latry’s concert, it was gratifying to receive a letter from Mr. Hartman with his reaction to the completed instrument: “The organ is just magnificent . . . I’ve been told the architecture sings, but, at last, it truly has a voice . . . The quality and precision that Létourneau’s craftsmen brought to this amazing instrument is everything I could have wished for and more . . . The entire ensemble—not only the pipe arrays but also the console—is truly an extension of the cathedral’s architecture.”

In closing, we would like to offer our thanks to the following individuals without whose help our Opus 118 would not be the success it is: Dr. Rudy de Vos, John L. McDonnell Jr., Mario Balestrieri, Father Paul Schmidt, Father Denis DesRosiers, Brother Martin Yribarren, Craig Hartman, Peter McDonnell, Eileen Ash, Eric Long, Gwelen Paliaga, Mike Brown, Maryliz Smith, Jack Bethards, and Phil Browning.

Andrew Forrest, Artistic Director

Fernand Létourneau, President

Dudley Oakes, Vice President for Sales and Marketing

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