New Organs

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Lake City, Iowa St. Andrews Lutheran Church, Park Ridge, Illinois

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders,
Lake City, Iowa

St. Andrews Lutheran Church, Park Ridge, Illinois

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa, has completed its Op. 88 for St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. St. Andrews’ church building was designed by Park Ridge architect Charles E. Stade, who would gain fame for his design of the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University a few years later. Originally designed for a location on the main floor at the rear of St. Andrews’ sanctuary, the organ, together with the choir and other musicians, moved to the front when costs to remove the existing cramped balcony proved prohibitive. In addition to the organ, Dobson designed and constructed complementary chancel furniture as part of the reconfiguration of the church.

The new organ is housed in a freestanding case of American white oak that is enriched by painted color accents. Employing mechanical key action for the manuals and electric key action for the Pedal, the organ has a low-profile detached console to permit a variety of arrangements for a choir and other musicians. The Great is located on the left side of the case and the Swell on the right, with the Pedal behind. The tin façade pipes are drawn from the Great Prestant 8′ and the Pedal Principal 8′. The organ is voiced on a wind pressure of 80 millimeters, and is tuned in equal temperament.

Stephen Tharp, a native of Park Ridge, whose first public appearance as a church organist was at St. Andrews at age nine, presented the dedication recital on May 22, 2011.

—John Panning

GREAT

16′ Bourdon (prepared)

8′ Prestant

8′ Chimney Flute

4′ Octave 

4′ Spire Flute

22⁄3′ Twelfth

2′ Fifteenth

13⁄5′ Seventeenth

11⁄3′ Mixture IV

8′ Trumpet

Swell to Great

SWELL

8′ Bourdon

8′ Viole de Gambe

8′ Viole Celeste (FF)

4′ Principal

4′ Harmonic Flute

2′ Gemshorn

11⁄3′ Larigot (prepared)

16′ Dulzian (prepared)

8′ Oboe

Tremulant

PEDAL

16′ Subbass 

16′ Bourdon (Great)

8′ Principal

8′ Gedackt (ext. Subbass)

4′ Super Octave (ext. Principal)

16′ Trombone

8′ Trumpet (ext. Trombone)

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

 

Zimbelstern

19 registers, 22 ranks, three preparations

Photo credit: John Panning

Hochhalter, Inc., Salem, Oregon: First United Methodist Church, Eugene, Oregon

Hochhalter, Inc., Salem, Oregon

First United Methodist Church, Eugene, Oregon

Hochhalter, Inc. of Salem, Oregon has designed and built a low-profile console for First United Methodist Church, Eugene, Oregon. It is constructed of solid walnut, with walnut burl and wenge veneer accents. The keyboards are covered in bone and cocobolo. Drawknobs are constructed of maple, cocobolo, and ebony.

The organ is hardly all new, still containing numerous sets of pipes from the church’s original 1913 pipe organ, moved in the 1960s into a new, much larger sanctuary. Many unfortunate mechanical changes to the wind system and action were made, eventually rendering the instrument unreliable. In 1995 Hochhalter, Inc. was hired to rebuild, refurbish, replace mechanisms and pipes as necessary, and provide additions to create a tonally cohesive and mechanically reliable instrument. Finances dictated that work be done in phases over many years. Although the new console was the “final” phase, it has additional stop controls for future additions, including an Echo Organ on the west wall, additional foundational and color stops for the Swell and Choir, and two 32′ ranks of pipes, including a 32′ Contra Diapason in a new façade.

Other details regarding the organ and console, including additional photographs and audio files, are available at <A HREF="http://www.hochhalter.com">www.hochhalter.com</A&gt;. Dr. Julia Brown is music director and organist; The Rev. Debbie Pitney is pastor.

 

GREAT (unenclosed) 

16′ Double Diapason

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Geigen Diapason

8′ Harmonic Flute

8′ Hohl Flute

4′ Octave

4′ Flute

22⁄3′ Quint

2′ Fifteenth

IV Mixture

V Cornet (prepared)

16′ Contra Trumpet (prepared)

8′ Trumpet

Chimes

SWELL (expressive)    

16′ Bourdon

8′ Diapason (prepared)

8′ Chimney Flute

8′ Viola

8′ Voix Celeste (tc)

4′ Octave

4′ Harmonic Flute

22⁄3′ Nasard (harmonic)

2′ Flautino (harmonic)

13⁄5′ Tierce (tc) (harmonic)

IV Full Mixture

16′ Bassoon

8′ French Trumpet

8′ Oboe

8′ Vox Humana (prepared)

4′ Clarion

Tremulant

    

CHOIR (expressive)    

8′ Small Diapason (prepared)

8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Traverse Flute (harmonic)

8′ Gemshorn

8′ Unda Maris (tc)

4′ Tapered Principal (prepared)

4′ Pan Flute

2′ Principal

11⁄3′ Quint

II Sesquialter  (tc)

8′ Clarinet

8′ English Horn (prepared)

Tremulant

8′ Gloria Trumpet (10″ pressure)

    

ECHO (prepared)    

8′ Principal

4′ Octave

8′ Viole *

8′ Flute *

8′ Flute Celeste *

Tremulant

8′ Gloria Trumpet

(* expressive)

    

PEDAL (unenclosed)    

32′ Contra Diapason (prepared)

16′ Open Diapason

16′ Geigen Diapason

16′ Bourdon

16′ Gedeckt

102⁄3′ Quint

8′ Octave  

8′ Geigen Octave

8′ Flute

4′ Fifteenth  

4′ Solo Flute

32′ Ophicleide (prepared)

16′ Trombone (83⁄4″ pressure)

16′ Contra Trumpet (prepared)

16′ Bassoon

8′ Trumpet

4′ Oboe

Pasi Organ Builders, Inc., Roy, Washington, Opus 19 Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston, Texas

 

Pasi Organ Builders, Inc., Roy, Washington, Opus 19

Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, 

Houston, Texas

 

From the organbuilder

The instrument is placed in the rear gallery on either side of the 40-foot-high Resurrection Window. This massive window necessitated a divided layout for the organ’s five divisions of pipes, and several unique design solutions were used to compensate for the lack of a traditional central organ case. During the organ’s design, construction, and voicing, this instrument developed a unique character of its own—thanks in large part to the building’s wonderfully reverberant acoustics.

The visual design of the instrument combines architectural features found in this building with elements from historic European organs. The organ is entirely encased in white oak woodwork, with decorative carvings above the façade pipes. Both the carvings and the façade pipe mouths are gilded with 23-carat gold leaf. The wooden case serves a vital tonal function by blending and focusing the sound of the 5,499 organ pipes, while also protecting them from dust.

The console’s four manual keyboards are covered with cow bone and ebony, and the pedal keyboard is made of maple and rosewood. The 111 stop knobs, controlling the organ’s five divisions of pipes, are on either side of the keyboards. The stop knobs and toe pistons are made of pau ferro. Other species of wood found in the organ include tulip poplar, redwood, sugar pine, basswood, walnut, hornbeam, and Douglas fir.

The organ is laid out vertically in order to take advantage of the given space. The pipes of the Great division are placed on windchests above the impost on the east side of the window. The Swell division is placed above the Great, hidden behind the façade pipes and gilded carvings. The Positive division is located above the Swell, almost hugging the building’s 72-foot-high ceiling. The Grand Choir and Pedal divisions are located on the west side of the window, with the Spanish Trumpets (Trompeta) speaking from the very top above the Pedal division. They are placed horizontally, just behind the façade, in order to sound in the most assertive manner possible.

Two electric blowers supply wind to the organ via six bellows measuring approximately 4 feet by 8 feet. The bellows and blowers are located behind and inside the organ’s two cases. This wind system imparts a gentle flexibility to the organ’s sound, allowing the pipes to sound more like a choir of human voices rather than an inexpressive machine.

The organ’s tonal scheme draws most of its inspiration from the great North German and French organs of the 17th and 18th centuries. Its resources are further leavened with many stops inspired by 19th- and 20th-century models. This enhances its flexibility in playing choral accompaniments and interpreting the monumental solo organ literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. The organ is tuned in “Mark Brombaugh Mild,” an unequal temperament that favors the keys nearest to C major while still remaining harmonious in the most distant keys.

With the exception of the free-reed Clarinette 8′ stop, all of the metal pipes were made in the Pasi shop—from the casting and rolling of the metal through to the completed pipes. They are made of various alloys of tin and lead, with trace impurities of copper, bismuth, and antimony to help stiffen the metal. To enhance the intensity of the lead pipes’ sound, the metal is hammered following casting in order to tighten its molecular structure. The three 32′ stops, as well as the large pipes of several other stops, are made of tulip poplar wood.

The three traditional manual divisions—Great, Positive, and Swell—are placed above the console on the east side of the window, and have normal suspended mechanical key action and mechanical couplers. The Grand Choir and Pedal divisions on the west side of the window are modeled after the
Résonance division in the famous 1775 Jean-Esprit Isnard organ at St. Maximin, Provence. Most of the Grand Choir pipes are shared between the two divisions, but have independent stop knobs and actions for each division. 

This divided layout of the organ, combined with the comprehensive tonal scheme necessitated by the cathedral’s vast interior space, posed a special challenge in the design of the key action. Running a horizontal mechanical key action from the console to the west case 30 feet away would have been impractical. Our solution was to use the electric proportional key action developed by NovelOrg of Longueuil (Montreal), Quebec. 

The NovelOrg proportional key action is an all-electric action with sophisticated electronic control that allows the valves in the windchests to follow exactly the motion of the key. Applying this action to the remote Grand Choir and Pedal divisions makes it possible to retain the sensitive control of pipe speech found in a traditional mechanical key action. In addition to the regular mechanical couplers, the Great, Positive, and Swell keyboards are coupled to the Grand Choir through the NovelOrg proportional action. The stop action is electric, and the solid-state combination action allows up to 20 organists to each have 55 levels of memory, providing for the storage and recall of thousands of stop combinations.

The staff of Pasi Organ Builders, Inc., constructed, installed, and voiced the organ over a period of three years. The Pasi staff and other artisans who contributed to this project are as follows:

Markus Morscher: design, casework, windchests, wood pipes, bellows, pipe racking, and installation

Michael Spieler: casework, windchests, wood pipes, bellows, console key action, pipe racking, and installation

Rochus van Rumpt: metal flue pipes (including fabrication of the largest façade pipes on-site), reed pipes, installation, and voicing

Mark Brombaugh: design, installation, and voicing

Arpad Magyar: metal flue and reed pipes

Maurine Pasi: pipe shade carving and gilding

Jennifer Von Holstein: carving design and administration

Robert Wech: design

Raphi Giangiulio: metal flue and reed pipes, design

Gyöngyi Czimbor: assistant in the Pasi wood and pipe shops

Douglas Brewer: installation

Bruce Shull: voicing

Dominik Maetzler: combination action wiring

Martin Pasi: design, flue and reed pipes, installation, voicing, and administration.

—Martin Pasi

 

From the consultant

What a joy it has been to work with the clergy and musicians of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, with the architects and building contractor, and especially with Martin Pasi and his entire team. I remember very well the first meeting of the organ selection committee in 2006, when Cardinal DiNardo spelled out his vision for the project. The task of the committee, under the leadership of Crista Miller, was to find the right company to build an organ that would accompany, complement, and even augment the most perfect musical instrument—the human voice. In addition, the committee needed to be certain that the organ would function first and foremost for the Catholic liturgy. I remember how enthusiastic the cardinal was about the idea of installing a tracker-action organ that would draw from the great traditions of the past while also offering something special for our time. 

The overall concept of the organ is unique, but also firmly rooted in tradition. The left side (when looking at the large Resurrection Window) is played from the upper three manuals with traditional mechanical key action. This side has an especially large and expressive Swell division, useful for choral accompanying and organ music of the 19th and 20th centuries. The principal choruses of the Great and Positive are Germanic, while the many individual stops and small combinations make possible the performance of a wide range of organ music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, including French classical repertoire. The right side of the instrument, played from the bottom manual and pedals, uses the electric proportional key action. The right side of the instrument contains the largest pipes, including three 32′ stops. This side also includes a massive principal chorus (with a large progressive mixture), impressive reed choruses, and full foundations appropriate for the French symphonic organ repertoire and festive congregational accompaniments.

I shall mention here only a few of the individual stops. The undulating Suavial (Voce umana) on the Positive is of great historical significance, although it is infrequently heard on this continent today. The two brilliant battle Trompetas on the Grand Choir are drawn from the Spanish and Latin American traditions. And the free-reed Clarinette, also on the Grand Choir, produces a very rare and exotic sound. From the quietest stops to the massive principal and reed choruses, the instrument produces a marvelous effect in the clear but reverberant acoustics of the co-cathedral. The residents of Houston owe Martin and all his associates at Pasi Organ Builders a debt of gratitude for this wonderful addition to the growing list of impressive new organs in our city.

—Robert Bates

Professor of Organ

Moores School of Music

University of Houston

 

From the director of music

When I came to the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in October 2004, one of my first duties was to provide music for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new 1800-seat church, to be completed in April 2008. There was discussion of moving the church’s small Pilcher organ into the new church, but I knew from my graduate assistantship under Hans Davidsson’s Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative that there are many bright stars in contemporary American organbuilding. Martin Pasi gave an intriguing presentatation on a new dual-temperament organ in the Omaha Cathedral at the first annual EROI Festival in Rochester. I had arranged for a demonstration on pipe making to the Eastman organ studio and vividly remember Martin as being incapable of allowing even a throwaway demo pipe to sound anything less than beautiful.

In January 2006, I was happy to lead an archdiocesan organ committee charged with procuring a new world-class instrument for the Co-Cathedral. We began by reviewing the fine organs in sister cathedrals in larger cities—New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago—and U.S. cathedrals where great pipe organs have emerged, and with them, a tradition of fine sacred music.

Our situation was somewhat challenging, in that the Resurrection Window, planned long before the instrument, is placed in the middle of the organ. This could have eliminated the possibility of a mechanical-action instrument. Enter the extraordinary Martin Pasi and his firm, Pasi Organ Builders, Inc. To accommodate the window, they implemented a dual-action system, mechanical and electro-mechanical. This success speaks for itself, in a thrill for both the player and numerous audience members. 

The firm’s nineteenth instrument is their largest to date and their first four-manual organ. It contains such luxuries as a free-reed Clarinette and a set of horizontal trumpets in a tribute to the Hispanic heritage of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. This organ accompanies the liturgy in a modern way, inspired by historic traditions of 17th-century north and south Germany, Italy, Spain, and 17th- to 19th-century France. Moreover, this versatile instrument, eclectic without compromise, has proven to blend beautifully with orchestral instruments and to render well choral accompaniments of the English tradition.   

Many people deserve thanks. Hearty congratulations to Martin Pasi and his  associates at Pasi Organ Builders. His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, and Auxiliary Bishop Vincent M. Rizzotto were all key, as well as Fayez Sarofim and the Brown Foundation and their gift to Houston. Zeigler Cooper Architects and Linbeck Construction were invaluable. As consultant, Robert Bates contributed at all phases, continuing with the ongoing lunchtime recital series, and national conferences. Pastor and rector, The Very Reverend Lawrence W. Jozwiak has been immensely helpful, as was the organ dedication committee chaired by John Burchfield, and the many who contributed program funds.  

—Crista Miller 

Chair, Organ Selection Committee

Director of Music and Organist

 

Letter from Daniel Cardinal DiNardo in the dedication program booklet

From my days as a child, hearing the great von Beckerath organ at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh, to hearing today the opus XIX organ hand-crafted by Martin Pasi and Associates for the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, I have recognized and appreciated the importance of a good pipe organ to serve the liturgical music needs of the Church. But, this is not merely a personal observation. The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy attests: 

 

In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument that adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up the spirit to God and higher things. (Sacrosanctum concilium, 120) 

 

In 2006 our organ committee was reviewing and approving plans for the new pipe organ in Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral. At that time, I specifically requested that the organ be capable of serving three essential purposes: 1) Accompany the people’s singing at the Mass and rites of the church; 2) Provide choral accompaniment; and 3) Play traditional and classical organ repertoire. These purposes are recapitulated by the Bishops of the United States in their recent instruction on sacred music highlighting the use of the organ: 

 

Among all other instruments which are suitable for divine worship, the organ is “accorded pride of place” because of its capacity to sustain the singing of a large gathered assembly, due to both its size and its ability to give “resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation . . .” In addition to its ability to lead and sustain congregational singing, the sound of the pipe organ is most suited for solo playing of sacred music in the Liturgy at appropriate moments. Pipe organs also play an important evangelical role in the Church’s outreach to the wider community in sacred concerts, music series, and other musical and cultural programs. For all of these reasons, the place of the organ should be taken into account from the outset in the planning process for the building or renovation of churches. (Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, 87–88).

For all of these reasons, the opus XIX pipe organ was commissioned. And, now, we celebrate its completion and inaugurate it on its profound mission. It is my sincere hope and prayer that this pipe organ will, indeed, lift all of our minds to God and higher things: through sustained congregational singing; through the accompaniment of our choirs; and through the concerts, which invite members of our wider community into the Church to experience the immensity and magnificence of God through the mysterious and powerful musical sentiments expressed by this organ. 

I want to sincerely thank Rev. Lawrence W. Jozwiak, the rector of the co-cathedral, the organ committee, and all who have made this magnificent instrument a reality. And I thank all of you for your continued prayers and blessings upon the Church in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

—Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

Archbishop of Galveston-Houston

 

Pasi Organ Builders, Opus 19

Four manuals, 76 stops

GREAT II

16′ Principal

8′ Praestant

8′ Spitzfloete

8′ Harmonic Flute

8′ Gamba

6′ Quinte

4′ Octave

4′ Nachthorn

3′ Quinte

2′ Octave

13⁄5′ Terz

8′ Cornet V (c1)

2′ Mixture V

22⁄3′ Rauschpfeife IV

16′ Trumpet

8′ Trumpet

8′ Trompette

4′ Clairon

POSITIVE III

16′ Quintadena

8′ Praestant

8′ Gedeckt

8′ Salicional

8′ Suavial (g)

4′ Octave

4′ Rohrfloete

3′ Nazard

3′ Sesquialtera II

2′ Octave

2′ Gemshorn

13⁄5′ Tierce

11⁄3′ Larigot

1′ Scharff IV

16′ Dulzian

8′ Cromorne

8′ Trumpet

8′ Trechterregal

SWELL IV

16′ Bourdon

8′ Praestant

8′ Viola

8′ Celeste

8′ Rohrfloete

4′ Octave

4′ Harm. Flute

4′ Violetta

31⁄5′ Gross Tierce

22⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Octave

2′ Octavin

13⁄5′ Tierce

1′ Flageolet

2′ Mixture V 

16′ Bassoon

8′ Trompette

8′ Oboe

4′ Clairon

8′ Voix Humaine

GRAND CHOIR I

32′ Principal

16′ Praestant

16′ Violone

16′ Bourdon

8′ Octave

8′ Flute

4′ Octave

3′ Plein Jeu Harmonique III–V+

16′ Posaune 

16′ Bombarde 

8′ Trompette 

8′ Trumpet 

8′ Clarinette 

4′ Schalmay 

8′ Trompeta

4–16′ Trompeta

+Grand Choir only

PEDAL

32′ Principal 

16′ Praestant

16′ Violone

16′ Bourdon

8′ Octave

8′ Flute

4′ Octave

4′ Mixtur VI*

32′ Bombarde* 

32′ Trombone* 

16′ Posaune 

16′ Bombarde 

8′ Trompette 

8′ Trumpet 

8′ Clarinette 

4′ Schalmay 

2′ Cornet*

8′ Trompeta

* Pedal only

Zimbelstern (seven rotating bells)

Separate tremulants for the Great and Positive divisions, one normal and one Voix Humaine tremulant for the Swell division.

Normal mechanical-action unison couplers.

Optional electric-assist couplers to the Great, Positive, and Pedal.

Electric-assist couplers to the Grand Choir, and for all Octave Graves.

Electric stop action; 18 general and 38 divisional pistons on 2,750 levels of memory.

Wind system: twin blowers producing pressures ranging between 80 and 120 mm.

Three double-rise bellows for the Swell, Grand Choir and Pedal divisions. Two Baroque wedge bellows for the Great and Positive divisions.

Bill Halsey

Bill Halsey was born in Seattle, where he studied piano and composition from an early age, and began organ lessons in his teens. While a student at the Sorbonne, he had access to the two-manual unmodified tracker-action Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint Bernard de la Chapelle, in a northern arrondissement of Paris. This fueled his interest in historic organs, and after spending fifteen years serving in organist positions at St. John Cantius, St. Peter Claver, Church of the Assumption, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, all in Brooklyn, New York, he took a permanent leave of absence to explore historic organs, first in France, and later in Italy.

 

Lviv, in westernmost Ukraine near the
 Polish border, is a city poised to become a major tourist destination. It has graceful cobblestone boulevards, with elegant 19th-century five- or six-story buildings dating from the period when it was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian empire after the last partition of Poland. The Habs-burgs allowed Ukrainian culture to flourish, thus Lviv feels much more Ukrainian than Kiev or Odessa, which were ruled by Russia for almost 200 years until the modern republic of Ukraine was formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union.  

The religious plurality of Lviv is surprising: the skyline is dominated by Orthodox onion domes, representing Christ’s crown; St. George Greek Catholic Cathedral, where W. A. Mozart’s younger son was Kapellmeister and conducted his father’s Requiem; and Roman Catholic churches like the Latin Cathedral, near the Rynek, or Market Square. A fifteenth-century synagogue, the Golden Rose, also used to stand near the Rynek, but was demolished by the Nazis. The opera house, a fine neo-classic structure built around the turn of the last century by building a concrete foundation over the city’s small river, is the focal point of the city’s grandest boulevard.

Lviv hosts many conferences and themed musical events, among which is a summer organ festival called, interestingly, Diapason. I was initially surprised to find out Lviv has organs, since Ukraine is a former Soviet republic. The working organs aren’t numerous, only four, but Lviv has an active Catholic population with a natural interest in organs and organ music. One of the animating figures of the organ festival, a 40-something dynamo named Sergei Kaliberda, speaks of a Lviv organ renaissance, and he has made the stoplists of both working and non-working organs available on his website: <http://organy.lviv.ua/>.  

I spent a day trying to keep up with Sergei as we visited the working organs, the biggest of which is a Rieger-Kloss at the organ hall, officially known as the Hall of Organ and Chamber Music, with the others being at St. Antoni Church and the Latin Cathedral, and a small organ in the musical instrument collection of the Museum of the History of Religion. The organ hall is a typical Soviet phenomenon. They were interested in organs, but not in churches, and so promoted the development of secular concert halls with organs. One of the biggest is in Kiev, where they appropriated the Roman Catholic Cathedral for this purpose. Soviet-era ballets often featured organ in the scores, and there is a Rieger-Kloss in the Ukrainian National Opera in Kiev, built especially for that purpose.

 

Hall of Organ and Chamber Music

The Rieger-Kloss in Lviv was originally a Rieger, one of the biggest organs in Ukraine, built in 1936 for the church of St. Mary Magdalene with four manuals and 67 stops. After being rebuilt in 1968 for the organ hall by Rieger-Kloss, it had three manuals and 60 stops. It features electro-pneumatic action and a combination system that I had never seen before, using what looks like colored push pins. 

The titular organist, Nadiya Velichka, kindly met us and we put the organ through its paces. It has a big German romantic sound; she egged me on to play the Widor Toccata, which didn’t really work on the organ—the reeds were not cutting enough—and she played some Bach, which worked but was not totally authentic. The Rieger-Kloss, while undeniably a good organ, suffers from the weakness of many 20th-century organs—designed to play everything, and with an enormous stoplist to allow that, it is somehow less than the sum of its parts. It would seem logical that with a big-enough stoplist one could build an organ that was a collection of different organs: a French baroque organ, a German baroque organ, a Romantic organ, all in one distributed over several manuals. 

But that somehow never works—an organ needs a certain harmony of conception to sound its best, and even sheer numbers of pipes can be self-cancelling. Some years ago I visited St. Maximin, near Marseille, and I still remember Pierre Bardon, the organist, telling me, “There’s space for more pipes in here, but then the organ wouldn’t sound as strong.”

 

Museum of the History of Religion

Our next stop was at the Latin Cathedral, near the Rynek, and then on to St. Antoni, built, like many Franciscan churches, on the road out of town, to collect alms from travelers to and from the town. On this occasion, it was not possible to hear either of these instruments. We then returned to town through the remnants of the city wall; passing through the Museum of the History of Religion, we came to a back room, where a musical instrument exhibit was being prepared. There was the largest collection of ocarinas I have ever seen, various types of violins including an 8-string violin tuned GG DD AA EE with the duplicate strings used for fauxbourdon, and in the back a large wooden case containing an anonymous organ from the 18th century, taken from the church of St. Martin. Its 70-year-old rebuilder, Vitaly Pivnov, was using a reciprocating saw and sanders to put some finishing cosmetic touches on his masterwork, originally completed in 1984. He was reticent at first, but we finally persuaded him to show off the organ, which has a pretty big sound and good variety of tone colors for an essentially small instrument, with only 11 stops.  

My visit with Sergei concluded with a hike up the High Hill to admire the incredible panorama of Lviv, with its multiple domes, and then after descending we had a wine tasting at the Massandra store, featuring the wonderful wines produced by Massandra, a winery near Yalta in the Crimea. 

 

St. Antoni

On Sunday I came back to the Latin Cathedral and St. Antoni to hear those organs. St. Antoni was not being used that day because of a wind problem; the organist had an electronic keyboard set up in the choir loft, but when he saw me and found out why I was there he turned the organ on and demonstrated a few softer stops during a spoken part of the service. Of course, from this I could form no true idea of the organ.

 

Latin Cathedral

My visit to the Latin Cathedral was more productive. The organ is an 1888 24-stop, two-manual mechanical action organ built by Slivinsky, a pupil of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, and is upon short acquaintance my favorite Lviv organ. It is an authentic example of the French tradition, built before unwise innovations cheapened the sound of these instruments. Its layout is quite unusual for a tracker-action organ, two totally separate cases side by side and the detached console placed in front of the right case, turned at 90 degrees. The Latin Cathedral itself is a marvelous building, its Gothic interior decorated with wonderful trompe l’oeil that adds illusory structures to the tree-like Gothic columns of the interior.

Of the non-working organs, perhaps the most interesting is in the Bernardine Church. The façade is certainly monumental, and I hope funding will be found to restore this and other organs. At present, the organ hall’s Rieger-Kloss is the workhorse of the festival. The older, more authentic instruments can give a sense of place and history that is not available from newer instruments, even if they are bigger and can offer on paper all the stops needed. The most interesting organs I saw in Lviv were the Latin Cathedral instrument and the one in the Museum of the History of Religion.

 

 

Hall of Organ and Chamber Music, Lviv 

Rieger-Kloss, Op. 3375, 1968

Manual I (Hauptwerk)

16′ Diapason

16′ Bourdon

8′ Principal

8′ Hohlflöte

8′ Gemshorn

8′ Trichtergambe

4′ Oktave

4′ Rohrflöte

2′ Superoctave

22⁄3′ Kornett III–V

11⁄3′ Mixtur VI

16′ Fagott

8′ Trompete

Manual II (Positiv)

16′ Lieblichgedact

8′ Principal

8′ Quintadena

8′ Gedact

8′ Salizional

8′ Unda maris

4′ Trichterprinzipal

4′ Blockflöte

4′ Fugara

22⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Flagolet

Sesquialter II

8′ Dulzian

8′ Rohrschalmei

8′ Vox humana

Manual III (Oberwerk)

16′ Grossgedact

8′ Hornprinzipal

8′ Flute harmonique

8′ Gamba

8′ Vox coelestis

4′ Oktave

4′ Nachthorn

4′ Fugara

22⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Waldflöte

13⁄5′ Terz

11⁄3′ Spitzquinte

1′ Sifflote

11⁄3′ Mixtur V

Terzzimbel III

8′ Trompete harmonique

8′ Oboe

4′ Clairon

Pedal

16′ Principal bass

16′ Kontrabass

16′ Subbass

102⁄3′ Gross Quinte

8′ Octavbass

8′ Pommergedackt

4′ Choralbass

2′ Russischhorn

22⁄3′ Pedalmixtur VI

16′ Posaune

8′ Dulzian

8′ Trompete

4′ Klarine

 

 

Latin Cathedral, Slivinsky organ,1888

Manual I

8′ Principal

8′ Salicional

8′ Unda Maris

8′ Amabilis

4′ Flute travers

4′ Octave

4′ Flute minor

2′ Piccolo

Mixture IV

Manual II

8′ Gamba

8′ Flute major

8′ Julla

8′ Celeste

4′ Dulce

4′ Octave

4′ Flute

Pedal

16′ Subbas

16′ Violin Bas

16′ Contrabas

8′ Principal

8′ Cello

8′ Flute

 

 

Anonymous organ from St. Martin in the Museum of the History of Religion

Manual (C2Рf3)

8′ Montre

4′ Prestant

4′ Flute

2′ Doublette

8′ Cromhorne

22⁄3′ Nazard

Fourniture

Mixture III

Pedal (CРd1)

16′ Bourdon

16′ Soubasse

8′ Bombarde

 

 

St. Antoni, Stanislav Krukovski and Son (Potrkuv-Tribunalski), 1929, 17 registers

Manual I

16′ Bourdon

8′ Principal

8′ Salicional

8′ Flet harmon.

4′ Flet minor

4′ Octave

Mixture II–III

Manual II

8′ Dulcian

8′ Vox humana

8′ Gamba

8′ Flute cr. 

8′ Oboe 

4′ Amabilis

4′ Principal Violin

Pedal

16′ Subbas

8′ Principalbas

8′ Violinbas

 

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd., Lake City, Iowa, Op. 89 Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, The University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd., Lake City, Iowa, Op. 89

Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, the University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida 

Set in distinctly urban surroundings, the University of Tampa has grown tremendously since its founding in 1933. Tampa’s first institution of higher learning, the UT was founded in the former Tampa Bay Hotel, an exotic landmark with flamboyant Moorish domes and minarets set on the Hillsborough River. The rooms that once hosted Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, Sarah Bernhardt, Babe Ruth (who hit his longest home run ever—587 feet—at nearby Plant Field), Clara Barton, Stephen Crane, Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, the Queen of England, and many other celebrities, are today’s classrooms, laboratories, public rooms, and academic and administrative offices— the heart of a 6,500-student university that now fans out in 50 buildings on 100 acres around Plant Hall.

Located a shorter distance from Plant Hall than Ruth’s record homer is Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, the latest addition to the campus. A gift of local entrepreneur John H. Sykes, the facility includes the 250-seat Main Hall and meditation and meeting rooms, as well as outdoor plazas and gardens. The Main Hall is furnished with flexible seating and serves for worship and assembly of various student religious groups at UT, as well as concerts, lectures, and ceremonial events. The space has an airiness that comes from its 65-foot arched ceiling and the flood of light entering through a skylight that runs the entire length of the building. Large side windows and a rear wall made entirely of glass add even more light. The floors are honed granite, with walls paneled in American black cherry. Fabric curtains hidden in ceiling pockets may be deployed according to the acoustical needs of a given event. The building’s HVAC system is as quiet as possible and the building is well insulated from exterior noise.

Our involvement came in 2007 through organ consultant Scott Riedel of Milwaukee. Our first meeting with university representatives took place at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania, where our Op. 84 (III/47, 2007) is installed. After hearing and seeing the organ, the Tampa delegation made it clear that they intended to select us as the builder of their new instrument. A contract for the organ was signed in summer 2008; installation commenced two years later.

The visual design for Op. 89 was created especially for the unique architectural setting of the new space. It responds to the sheltering shape of the ceiling with great arcs that give the organ case a dynamic appearance. By having the tops of the organ case reflect the shape of the building’s arches, there is an immediate recognition of the dominant feature of the room, but in reverse. The space gives the sense of enclosing or enveloping, while the organ gives the sense of rising up and pushing the room open. The strong curving lines of the case tops are softened by the plane of the façade’s graceful transition from concave at either side to convex in the center. As a result, the strong curving shapes that define the tops of the case become like ribbons in the third dimension, first receding, then flowing forward around the pipes.

The organ case is made of American black cherry and stands nearly 50 feet tall; it is 21 feet wide at its greatest and just over eight feet deep. The console is placed about six feet in front of the organ case to permit two rows of singers to stand in between. The Great is located at the level of the impost, with the Swell above it. The Choir is below the Great, in the base of the case. The largest pipes of the Pedal stand behind the main case, while the Pedal upperwork shares windchest space with the Great. The façade pipes are made of burnished 90% tin and include pipes of the Great 8′ Principal (notes 1–27, at the top of the case), Great/Pedal 16′ Principal (notes 1–45, at impost level), and the Pedal 8′ Octave (9–32, mounted upside down in front of the Choir division). The 8′ Horizontal Trumpet, also made of tin, takes its commanding position in the center of the façade.

Op. 89 employs mechanical key action for the manuals and pedal upperwork; the Horizontal Trumpet and the largest pipes of the Pedal have electric action. All coupling is mechanical. The electric stop and combination action includes the usual complement of pistons and 256 memory levels. The manual divisions and Pedal upperwork are voiced on 3 inches wind pressure while the Pedal basses and solo reed are voiced on 5 inches. The organ is tuned in equal temperament.

The new building was dedicated on December 10, 2010, at which time the organ was first heard by the public. Dedication recitals in early 2011 included January 30, David Isele; February 12 and 13, Haig Mardirosian; March 12 and 13, Carole Terry; April 9 and 10, Kurt Knecht. Pictures of the construction and installation may be found at 

www.dobsonorgan.com.

 

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders

William Ayers

Abraham Batten

Kent Brown

Lynn A. Dobson

Lyndon Evans

Randy Hausman

Dean Heim

Scott Hicks

Donny Hobbs

Pat Lowry

Arthur Middleton

John Ourensma

John A. Panning

Kirk P. Russell

Robert Savage

Jim Streufert

John A. Streufert

Jon H. Thieszen

Pat Thieszen

Sally J. Winter

Dean C. Zenor

 

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders 

Op. 89, 2011 

56 ranks, 58 stops

GREAT (II)

16′ Principal 90% tin

8′ Principal 90% tin

8′ Gamba 75% tin

8′ Harmonic Flute 30% tin

8′ Chimney Flute 30% tin 

  1–12 stopped wood

4′ Octave 52% tin

4′ Spire Flute 30% tin

22⁄3′ Twelfth 52% tin

2′ Fifteenth 52% tin

13⁄5′ Seventeenth 52% tin

2′ Mixture IV 52% tin

16′ Posaune 52% tin

8′ Trumpet 52% tin

4′ Clarion 52% tin

8′ Horizontal Trumpet 90% tin 

  en chamade

Swell to Great

Choir to Great

SWELL (III, enclosed)

8′ Diapason 75% tin

8′ Bourdon wood & 30% tin

8′ Viola 75%

8′ Voix Celeste CC 75% tin

4′ Octave 75% tin

4′ Harmonic Flute 30% tin

22⁄3′ Nasard 30% tin

2′ Piccolo 30% tin

13⁄5′ Tierce 30% tin

2′ Mixture III 75% tin

16′ Bassoon 75% tin

8′ Trumpet 75% tin

8′ Oboe 75% tin

4′ Clarion 75% tin

Tremulant 

CHOIR (I, enclosed)

16′ Bourdon wood

8′ Salicional 75% tin

8′ Gemshorn 52% tin

8′ Unda Maris GG 52% tin

8′ Lieblich Gedeckt wood & 52% tin

4′ Fugara 75%

4′ Recorder        open wood & 30% tin

2′ Flageolet 30% tin

1′ Mixture II 75% tin

8′ Trumpet 52% tin

8′ Clarinet 30% tin

8′ Vox Humana 30% tin

Tremulant

8’ Horizontal Trumpet (Great)

Swell to Choir

 

PEDAL

32′ Contra Bourdon wood

16′ Open Diapason wood

16′ Principal (Great)

16′ Subbass  (ext)

16′ Bourdon (Choir)

8′ Octave 90% tin

8′ Flute (ext Open Diapason)

8′ Gedeckt (ext)

4′ Super Octave 52% tin

22⁄3 Mixture IV 52% tin

32′ Contra Trombone 

                  aluminum & 52% tin

16′ Trombone (ext)

16′ Posaune (Great)

8′ Trumpet (Great)

4′ Clarion (Great)

8′ Horizontal Trumpet (Great)

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

P.J. Swartz Organ Company, Eatonton, Georgia: Christ Church, United Church of Christ, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

P.J. Swartz Organ Company, 

Eatonton, Georgia

Christ Church, United Church of Christ, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The P.J. Swartz Organ Company of Eatonton, Georgia has recently completed the rebuilding of the 1969 Verlinden organ at Christ Church UCC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Technical, mechanical, and tonal revisions and updates were carried out. These include the replacement of the aging electro-pneumatic switches with a new Syndyne solid-state control system that offers an expanded combination action as well as MIDI capability. Trumpet pipes were replaced with a new rank for improved scaling and tonal blend, along with a 16′ extension into the Pedal. The original Vox Humana was also replaced with an historic Wangerin Oboe to expand the organ’s tonal palette and functional use. Finally, a 4′ Swell Principal rank was added, particularly so that the unification of the Great Diapason stop could be reduced. 

When originally installed, the main windchests of this instrument were mounted within the chamber, higher than the top level of the tone opening. From this position, no tone from pipes could project directly through the grille opening to the nave of the church. It is speculated that this “too high” mounting of windchests by the original builder above the tone opening was caused by the tall pneumatic switch stacks that were located beneath the windchests. With the introduction of the solid-state switching system, the tall pneumatic switch stacks were removed, and the windchests lowered to bring pipes even to the tone opening level. The result is a renewed tonal vitality, presence, and projection. The repositioning of the organ pipes for good tonal egress, along with the replacement of carpeted worship space flooring with polished granite, has resulted in an excellent musical and liturgical functional space. Scott R. Riedel & Associates Ltd., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, provided consultation service to the project. The dedication recital was performed by Donald VerKuilen on November 13, 2011 to a capacity crowd. 

 

14 ranks

GREAT

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Melodia

8′ Dulciana

4′ Octave 

4′ Wald Flute (ext 8′ Melodia)

2′ Fifteenth (ext 4′ Octave)

Mixture III

8′ Trumpet

4′ Clarion (ext 8′ Trumpet)

Chimes

MIDI

SWELL

16′ Bourdon

8′ Stopped Flute (ext 16′ Bourdon)

8′ Salicional

8′ Voix Celeste

4′ Principal

4′ Flute D’amour (ext 16′ Bourdon)

4′ Salicet (ext 8′ Salicional)

22⁄3′ Nazard (ext 16′ Bourdon)

2′ Principal (ext 4′ Principal)

2′ Piccolo (ext 16′ Bourdon)

11⁄3′ Larigot (ext 16′ Bourdon)

8′ Trumpet (Great)

8′ Oboe

Tremulant

MIDI

PEDAL

32′ Resultant

16′ Subbass

16′ Bourdon (Swell)

8′ Octave (Great Diapason)

8′ Bass Flute (ext Subbass)

8′ Bourdon (Swell)

4′ Choral Bass (Great Diapason)

16′ Trumpet (ext)

8′ Trumpet (Great)

4′ Clarion (Great)

MIDI