New Organs

 

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′, 22⁄3′, 2′, and 13⁄5′ 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 22⁄3, 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

22⁄3′ Twelfth

2′ Fifteenth

13⁄5′ 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

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

 

M. P. Rathke, Inc., 

Indianapolis, Indiana

The Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona  

M. P. Rathke, Inc., 

Indianapolis, Indiana

The Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona  

During autumn 2008 we were contacted by Kimberly Marshall, director of the Arizona State University School of Music, who spoke of a museum that would be unlike any other: the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), then being built on the northern edge of Phoenix, would showcase instruments of virtually every nation, culture, and musical style. Dr. Marshall had been retained as consultant to the museum in the planning of its pipe organ exhibit, for which she suggested a working chamber organ, with its interior parts completely visible to interested eyes, yet protected from curious hands.

This see-through instrument, dubbed “The Visible Organ” at the time of its commissioning by donors Floyd and Marie Ganassi, is the product of our intriguing and rewarding collaboration with Kimberly Marshall and William DeWalt, MIM’s president. It features mechanical key and stop action and is housed in a case of quarter-sawn white oak with walnut accents and panels of ¼-inch tempered glass. The winding is via a weighted wedge bellows, which may be fed either by a rotary fan blower or by hand pumping in the traditional manner.

The organ was designed with a total of five stops, all divided treble and bass, of which the Twelfth and Seventeenth are currently prepared. The manual naturals are grenadil with arcaded key fronts; reverse-skunktail sharps are made from ebony flanked by holly. The pedal keys are maple with walnut sharps. The iron drawknobs and bellows handle were fashioned by Louise Pezzi of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; walnut pipe shades were designed and carved by Morgan Faulds Pike of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The dedicatory recital was played by consultant Kimberly Marshall on August 8, 2010. (More information on the museum is found in the “Here & There” column of this issue; see page 4.)

—Michael P. Rathke

MANUAL

8′ Stopped Diapason

4′ Principal

22⁄3′ Twelfth  (prepared)

2′ Fifteenth

13⁄5′ Seventeenth (prepared) 

PEDAL

Permanently coupled to manual

 

Photo credit: Emil Dria

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.

On February 3, 2011, Jehan Alain would have been 100 years old

Aurélie Decourt

Aurélie Decourt, Jehan Alain’s niece and biographer, studied history and art history and holds a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She has published articles in journals such as L’Orgue, La Tribune de l’Orgue, Diapason, and in the New Grove Dictionary, a book on Albert Alain in 2001, and in 2005, Jehan Alain, Biographie, Correspondance, Dessins. In March 2011, she organized the French centennial of Jehan Alain’s birthday in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and published a book on the Alain family (Une famille de musiciens au XXe siècle, Paris, Hermann, 2011), including a new chapter on Marie-Claire Alain’s life. First translation of this article by Carolyn Shuster-Fournnier; new English translation by Laetitia Decourt.

Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 3 février 1911—Saumur, 20 juin 1940

On February 3, 2011, Jehan would have been 100 years old. But he met his death at the beginning of the Second World War, leaving a wife, three little children, and a great musical heritage. Last year, in many places in France, but also in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and of course in the U.S.A., his memory was celebrated and numerous commemorations took place, one of the most important in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, his birthplace, with great musicians coming from all over the world, among them such famous Americans as Lynne Davis, James David Christie, and Norma Stevlingson, among others. The Alain centennial in Wichita last September was a very important opportunity because it took place in the U.S.A., where there are many fans of Jehan Alain’s music. I also gave two lectures at Oberlin College in October. The man, himself, gathers ever more fans.

I will try to present Jehan Alain’s rich personality and his original works in two articles: the present one will deal with his biography and personality; the second will describe the sources of his musical inspiration, focusing on orientalism, and will analyze his creative process.

In fact, Jehan Alain’s personality is extremely rich. In addition to his musical gifts, he also knew how to draw, and he wrote letters full of poetry, tenderness, and humor. These qualities make him an attractive man. Thanks to accounts of his family, his friends, and various musicians, but also through his own reflections on religion, love, and life in general, we can better understand his human and exceptional artistic qualities.

 

A prolific and original 

musician: 

Albert Alain, organist, composer, and organbuilder (1880—1971)

Albert Alain’s influence on his son Jehan was essential. He gave him an appreciation and love of music, that is to say serious music, well constructed and well performed. Albert was a prolific composer, with 469 opus numbers, primarily short religious vocal works. Thus, church music held a fundamental place in Jehan’s training; he retained an appreciation of Gregorian chant and its modes. Ever since he was old enough to turn the pages of a score, his father brought him along to church services; little Jehan thus learned at a young age the order of the liturgy. 

His father acquainted Jehan with well-written music. Albert Alain excelled in harmony (obtaining the First Prize in harmony at the Paris Conservatory in 1904). He also gave Jehan the opportunity to discover sixteenth- and seventeenth-century music. Finally, he directly conveyed to him his personal passion for music. In one of his letters, Jehan wrote, “Half of my head always thinks about music.”

Albert Alain was a remarkable teacher. He gave lessons to his four children—Jehan, Marie-Odile, Olivier, and Marie-Claire—who all became professional musicians; two of them were exceptional artists. His children are extremely indebted to him for his strong impact on their musical education.

 

The organ 

Albert Alain was a very original man. He developed such a passion for the organ that he undertook what seemed to be a crazy project: to build a home organ by himself. This home organ would keep him busy for his entire lifetime (1880–1971). Planned initially in 1910 for 19 stops, the organ amounted, in 1950, to 42 stops. 

One could say that this organ was Albert Alain’s fifth child. It influenced the musical life of the 20th century. As a matter of fact, Albert Alain was connected with all the famous organists of the 1920s and 1930s, from Marcel Dupré to André Marchal, and also Joseph Bonnet and Alexandre Cellier. 

This organ is very interesting for several reasons. It shows the technical prowess of a single man, who built everything in it (except metal pipes). The aesthetics of the specification show great originality, especially in the beginning, 1910—Albert Alain conceived a neo-classic organ, revealing himself as a precursor. What is more, the organ inspired many registrations in Jehan Alain’s works; it fostered Marie-Claire Alain’s vocation. It gave a testimony, at a time when electric action came into fashion, to mechanical action. 

Albert Alain carefully studied many instruments in the Parisian area, as well as an organbuilding method, entitled Roret et Guédon, a sort of abstract of Dom Bedos’ work, L’art du facteur d’orgues. Finally, he talked with his teacher at the Paris Conservatory, Alexandre Guilmant, who knew much about organbuilding and advised him to return to the typical stops of the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Here is the specification of the first organ in 1914, with the Cornet décomposé on the Positif. Later, in the 1920s, the organ would have three manuals, with a Récit (Solo).

Grand orgue

16′ Bourdon 

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte harm. 

4′ Prestant

Positif

8′ Cor de nuit

4′ Flûte douce

22⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Doublette

13⁄5′ Tierce

8′ Basson-hautbois

PЋdale

16′ Soubasse 

8′ Basse

4′ Flûte 

 

Albert and Jehan Alain were most influenced by the organ of the abbey of Valloires, built in 1845, but with several ancient stops. The sonorities of this instrument, very original for the time, enchanted Jehan and Albert. Here is an extract of a letter Jehan wrote to his friend Denise Billard in 1930:

 

There is a three-manual organ here which is splendid, and (which is) located in the most “acoustigenic” place I have ever met. It contains some old pipes two or three hundred years old that are “fully-flavored”. Unfortunately, it has a huge defect: it is not tuned according to our pitch. In order to play from memory, you have to think one measure ahead of time to transpose by ear. Finger memory is the only true memory. . . . But this instrument is marvelous to play around eleven at night, when silence is perfect in the countryside and you play pianissimo the low notes of the pedal which make the atmosphere quiver. It’s really moving.

Albert Alain wanted for his organ new sonorities and new registrations in order to play Couperin, Daquin, Clérambault, and above all J. S. Bach, Buxtehude, and Pachelbel. So the specification of his organ mixed together the post-romantic influence with a return to the 17th- and 18th-century French tradition. 

In the 1930s, Albert Alain planned a fourth manual, Récit-Bombarde, including a Plein-jeu and the typical batterie d’anches: Bombarde 16′, Trompette 8′, Clairon 4′. But Jehan Alain never saw this fourth manual completed. On the contrary, the organ was in perpetual transformation in the 1930s, with certain stops remaining mute. This is the reason for several registrations on Jehan Alain’s works. Albert Alain completed the fourth manual and the organ in 1950. 

Grand orgue

16′ Bourdon 

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte harm.

8′ Bourdon*

4′ Prestant

Plein-jeu III*

Positif

8′ Salicional

8′ Cor de nuit

51⁄3′ Gros nazard

4′ Flûte

22⁄3′ Nasard

2′ Doublette

13⁄5′ Tierce

11⁄3′ Larigot

Récit-Bombarde

8′ Principal (diapason)

8′ Flûte trav.

4′ Prestant

22⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Doublette

Plein-jeu III

16′ Bombarde

8′ Trompette

4′ Clairon

Récit-Solo

16′ Quintaton (sans 1^e octave)

8′ Gambe

8′ Voix cél.

8′ Flûte conique

4′ Flûte octav.

4′ Salicet

22⁄3′ Quinte 

Cymbale II 

8′ Cromorne

8′ Hautbois

Pédale

16′ Soubasse

8′ Basse 

4′ Flûte

4′ Bourdon

Mixture II

4⁄5′ Tierce

 * stops not yet connected

 

The four children—Jehan, Marie-Odile, Olivier, and Marie-Claire—were deeply affected by their father’s organ. How could they be offered a more beautiful toy? Since their early childhood, they had been nursed by the sounds of the instrument and their little fingers discovered the sense of touch, thanks to its accurate mechanical action. 

 

A precocious musician

Jehan put his hands on a keyboard as soon as he was able to stand up; his musical talents were evident at a very early age. He worked with his father, then with other professors. Finally, at the age of eighteen, in 1929, he entered the Paris Conservatory of Music, where he remained for ten years.

He studied harmony with André Bloch, fugue with Georges Caussade (who had taught his father), and composition with Paul Dukas. Jehan really appreciated Dukas but only studied with him for one year because Dukas died in 1935. Roger-Ducasse succeeded Dukas.

In 1936, Jehan entered the organ class of Marcel Dupré, one of his father’s old friends. In memory of their friendship, Dupré was very affectionate to Jehan. He appreciated Jehan’s gift for improvisation. According to a fellow student, one day Jehan was improvising during the class. He had not concluded according to the strict established rules. When he realized it, he cried out, “Ah! I am mistaken!” and Marcel Dupré responded with a smile: “Don’t hesitate to make such mistakes often!”

Jehan amused himself by decorating his harmonic exercises with hearts pierced by an arrow. During the 1933 exam, this resulted in his receiving a simple promotion instead of a first prize!

His humor, his pleasure at telling jokes and making people laugh, led him to write letters to several young women who became his favorite correspondents: Denise Billard, a pianist, with whom he discussed his pianistic technique, Aline Pelliot, and Lola Bluhm. He described his impressions, his feelings, his dreams, and all of a sudden, in the middle of a letter, he began to draw. You can see the first illustrated example in this letter addressed to his friend Denise Billard with a drawing, dated August 26, 1931 (see illustration above).

Jehan immensely benefited from his ten years of study at the conservatory. While still retaining his originality, he started writing in a more sophisticated and rigorous way and further developed his musical ideas. Far from being held back in his inspiration by the rules, he was, from then on, able to transcend them in composing a new and very personal music.

 

Various influences

Early music was an important source of inspiration; in his father’s vast library, Jehan discovered works by early French, Italian, and German masters. This inspired him to compose his Variations on a Theme by Clement Jannequin. He dedicated this piece to his friend Pierre Segond, saying: 

 

It ought to be possible for a musician of the twentieth century to retain the soul of this early music. The language does not matter, only the spirit speaks.

Jehan discovered François Campion’s lute tablatures, which he transcribed into modern keyboard notation. He said that he preferred the simplicity of this music to the complexity of works from the end of the nineteenth century, such as those by Vincent d’Indy, for example. Jehan said in a letter to Denise Billard, at the end of 1934: “Pure and simple music is often more beautiful than delirious richly dense music.”

Another source of inspiration, Gregorian chant, was of paramount importance. From his earliest childhood on, he was used to accompanying and paraphrasing it. He incorporated it into certain works such as the Postlude for the Office of Compline. It was composed in Valloires, inspired by the mystical atmosphere of the chapel at nightfall.

In the same spirit, monody was very precious to him and he composed several monodic pieces such as his Suite for piano, 1935.

The musicians he most frequently mentioned were J. S. Bach, César Franck, and Frédéric Chopin. Concerning Franck, he said that he was “extra terrestrial,” but for him Bach was the “greatest of all.”

Chopin was his favorite as a pianist. Jehan very often played his music. One anecdote: oftentimes his friend Aline Pelliot knew that Jehan had arrived at the conservatory because she heard somebody playing Chopin’s First Ballade—Jehan Alain, of course! 

Exotic music was in fashion at the time, but it was hybrid, a very confusing type of exoticism: Asian or Arabian, with combined sources. Jehan visited the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris and the music that he heard there inspired him, but he transformed it, retaining only its spirit.

Oriental influence is very important, especially in the two fantasies for organ. I will write about the Second Fantasy at length in my next article; it is essential in Jehan Alain’s creation paths. (See illustration above: the manuscript of the First Fantasy.)

Jehan was not a theorist, contrary to Olivier Messiaen. He was interested in the impact of these sonorities upon his own sensitivity. In any case, he wrote several works under this rather oriental influence: Togo and Tarass Boulba, both for piano.

 

A committed man and a poet:

His friendships and 

his correspondence

Friendship was of utmost importance to him. His letters and his writings prove that he was faithful to his friends: “Affection is a totally inexhaustible rich type of poverty. I do give to you and, above all, I do not want any gratification.”

His friends’ opinions were very significant to him, as is shown by this anecdote he shared with Aline Pelliot concerning his piece Le Jardin suspendu, which he also called a chaconne: 

 

The chaconne which I played for you yesterday, do you really like it? Are you sure? Would you prefer a G-sharp? If it pleases you, I will use a G-natural.

In the same way, he wrote in the Preface of his piano works:

 

Here is a series of impressions. Don’t try to find there a lesson or an argument; just consider them as a passing vision . . . My goal would be achieved and I would experience great joy if each reader would suddenly find himself within one of these lines. Deeply moved, he might stop momentarily before continuing, touched by a bit of the pleasure one feels upon receiving a friendly glance.

 

The correspondence is essential in order to understand his development, his artistic state of mind and his sensitivity. In a letter to Denise Billard, dated August 15–20, 1933, Jehan wrote:

 

Downstairs, in the living room, an excellent violoncellist is playing with Papa. But his playing makes me nervous. Oh, it’s frightening what a string can render. This man expresses that which one should never express . . . this type of latent pain which each person carries deeply inside himself, which moans even in the midst of the greatest joys. . . . Now I would like to hear a diabolic music; something like jazz which contains only trumpets . . . something which flaps like a strong wind. I cannot stand music which sounds like drizzling rain that drizzles on for entire days, without respite. . . . 

No news from my friends . . . what have they been up to? Is it my fault? It’s true that people who pretend to know how to live are strong. I believe I will never know that. I feel like writing a letter to Destiny in order to receive some information. . . . Should we take our suitcases for the long trip? When I die, will someone remember me? Will I have known how to do some good around me? . . . It is beneficial to imagine eternal mercy!

 

His family and his Christian faith

In 1935, at the age of 24, Jehan decided to marry a childhood friend named Madeleine. Their marriage was very happy and very shortly afterwards they had three children: first Lise, followed by Agnès and Denis. (See illustration: Jehan and his daughter Lise.) 

Jehan adored little children. He was very sensitive to the childhood world. He drew many designs for them, of fairy tales and animals. He said: “Musician’s ears which have not heard the laughter of a child have only heard the sound of scrap iron.”

Jehan had a very solid Christian faith. During his service in the army, he tried to convert his fellow soldiers; otherwise, he spoke to them about Christian morals. In 1938, he wrote in his diary: “There are only two possible ways to live: either as a priest or an apostle, or, on the other hand, to have small children, to live as an artist and to have a firm religious faith.”

On the level of personal commitment, his Christian faith partially explains his ultimate gesture of sacrifice: he gave his life for his family, for his country. This can only be understood in the context of the Catholic faith in the 1930s. This was the way that he was brought up. These were his family values. His last words were: “May Providence especially protect small children in France!”

 

A poet: his passion, his humor and his dreams

Jehan had a wide-range personality, which varied from the deepest melancholy to a bursting joyfulness. His music expresses his inner anguish.

Jehan was an eminently changeable person, capable of being deliriously happy one minute and equally sad the following minute. Completely free from convention, he mocked routines, made fun of the “bourgeois,” being at the same time a good father to his family and a conscientious church organist. All who knew him remember the incomparable humor of his jokes, bordering on the ridiculous, whereas the dominant thought coming from his music is that of a profound sadness.

 He wrote: “The world creaks painfully like a giant windmill which indifferently crushes all good and bad acts, all the desires, all the passions, all the faults . . . ”

But he soon corrected: “And yet what a fire, what a thirst for living eats me up! I long to live an ardent life with all its suffering and irrepressible joy.”

Jehan never surrendered to melancholy. He wrote: “Everywhere the comic is mixed with drama. When we have suffered a great deal, we need to laugh a great deal.”

Physically very agile, he loved working with engines and acquired a motorcycle in 1932. (See illustration with motorcycle, above.)

He played saxophone when he was a soldier in 1933–34 (obligatory military service). At that time, on March 2, 1934, he confessed to his mother: “I am neither a pianist nor an organist, but a semi-acrobat, a sort of sincere charlatan.” 

He had a highly developed sense of humor, sometimes a bit too easy-going. He loved associating words with strange or harmonious sonorities:

A cataract-like cascade: une cascade cataractique

Flowing funny trickling water: l’eau dégouline rigoline dégoulinde

Jehan has drawn lots of fantastic cows. He saw these cows when he was in the family house in the Alps, near Chamonix. Every summer, the entire Alain family spent their holidays there. They were hiking in the mountains and, one day, they had to take refuge in a hut because of a violent storm. They sang by memory lots of things, and then Jehan wrote on a wrapping paper a short song, amidst thunder and lightning. He wrote letters to his little sister that were bristling with designs and humor, for example this one (see illustration above: a design of the console pedalboard):

 

I was mistaken, I put the console in place of the pedalboard and the pedalboard in place of the keyboard. You can see on the drawing how I manage to play now. In the end, it’s only a matter of habit: all I have to do is to play with my heels a little more, and there you go. The only disadvantage is that I’m always pulling Pedal couplers instead of manual couplers, but within a fortnight, everything will be all right.

 

Of course, little Marie-Claire was able to understand this. She already knew everything about the organ. 

 

Dreams and poetry

Many a dream can be found in his writings, tales, stories and imagination (see illustration: the Dwarf).

 

The later works: griefs 

and struggles

The masterpieces

The Suite for Organ, composed as early as 1934–35, was awarded a prize in 1936 by Les Amis de l’Orgue. This was a satisfaction for Jehan, who had not obtained a prize in composition at the Paris Conservatory. His Second Fantasy for organ also dates back to 1936. In August 1937, Jehan simultaneously finished Litanies and the second of his Three Dances.

There is a lot to say about Litanies, his most well-known piece. Litanies is a cry of anguish and distress. After the ethereal dream of Le Jardin suspendu and the classicism developed in the Variations, Jehan Alain confides in us his tortured soul, without mask and reserve. Doubtless, it is this absolute sincerity, this direct character that makes the work a success for all audiences, even on the first hearing. As Gavoty reports, Jehan added, 

 

This prayer is not a lament, but an irresistible storm which overthrows everything in its way. It is also an obsession: it must fill the ears of men and of the good Lord! If, in the end, you do not feel exhausted, it’s because you will neither have understood nor played as I wish.

 

Three weeks after the completion of Litanies, Jehan and Marie-Claire Alain’s sister, Marie-Odile, died in an accident in the mountains. Jehan wrote the dedication that appears in the 1939 edition: 

 

When the Christian soul no longer finds new words in its distress to implore God’s mercy, it ceaselessly repeats the same invocation with a vehement faith. Reason has reached its limit. Faith alone pursues its ascension.

In the same way, he added the subtitle to his Second Dance: “Funeral Dance to Honor a Heroic Memory.” And he wrote about this piece: “There is no contradiction between dance and distress. Dance, like music, expresses itself without a concept and it can translate in such a sublime manner that which words cannot say without brutality.”

This period of mourning made Jehan gloomier. His music also conveyed the tense pessimistic atmosphere in Europe at the end of the 1930s, as threats of war became ever clearer. He then wrote these premonitory words: “Always kiss your wife and your little daughter, as if it were the last time you would see them.”

In 1938, Jehan composed in just a few days the Modal Mass, then the Aria for organ. He completed the Three Dances, but the score for orchestra was lost with him in 1940, when he was in the process of completing it. Fortunately for us, not having had the time to copy it all, he decided to make a transcription for the concert organ and sent it by mail to Noëlie Pierront, only nine days before the German attack. And the mail miraculously arrived: this is the only remaining autograph version of this masterpiece.

The War

September 1, 1939—June 22, 1940

On the first of September, the German army invaded Poland; France and Great Britain, according to their commitments, declared war on Germany. But it was called “the phony war” because during nine months, there was no attack from neither French nor British armies against Germany. (See illustration: design of the 8th armored cavalry.)

One of the first to be mobilized, Jehan left as early as the first of September 1939 for northern France. A simple soldier, Jehan found himself in the middle of the men of his troop. Their equipment was very poor: the men slept on straw until December and did not have enough covers. The hygiene was deplorable and Jehan suffered from remaining wet for endless hours, with the cold weather that numbed his hands, and filth everywhere.

The “phony war” lasted for ages: France, although officially at war with Germany since September 3, 1939, did not launch any attack. On the contrary, the French troops stationed behind the Maginot line adopted a defensive strategy.

In these conditions, Jehan’s superiors appreciated his talents: in fact, he immediately proposed to animate recreation periods, religious services, and evening activities. He even founded a choir known as the “Small Singers with Loud Voices,” teaching them how to sing, making arrangements for them, and copying scores. He held several rehearsals and the Christmas Mass was a huge success. Meanwhile, he played the piano in the evenings for the officers.

He wrote to his wife every other day. He assured her of his love, spoke about his suffering from their separation, and made drawings for the children. His third child, Denis, was born on November 3, 1939; Jehan obtained three days of leave to come and see him. 

The German troops began their offensive on the Western front on May 10, 1940, by invading Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Blitzkrieg strategy was successful: in the north, the French and the English were trapped, surrounded by the German army. Under dreadful bombing, 350,000 French and English soldiers were evacuated through Dunkirk (from May 29 to June 4).

It was under these conditions that Jehan won his military medal: in May 1940, during the Dunkirk battle, he carried out (this is the text of the quotation) “a very perilous contact mission, completely defying the danger involved” and collapsed asleep upon returning. We have a photograph of this (see illustrations: a photo of the dunes, and a citation).

Defy all danger: this was the predominant driving force that fully appealed to Jehan Alain in the spring of 1940, following months of boredom. His physical agility, his skillful driving of the motorcycle, and his absolute courage compelled him to attempt anything. This context is essential to understand his final gesture: upon returning from England, he voluntarily enrolled in an irregular force, to continue fighting. The group advanced towards the Loire River, a major obstacle in the German progression towards the south. Jehan Alain, who had left on a reconnaissance mission, was confronted by an enemy troop. Trapped in a garden, alone, he made his decision: instead of fleeing, an unthinkable choice, or surrendering, Jehan emptied all of his cartridges, jammed his gun and encountered the Germans who shot him down. The German officer rendered him homage for his bravery. According to the inhabitants, for several days, sheets of music scores, which had slipped out of his sidecar, were carried away by the wind and found in the countryside.

Jehan’s gesture was a part of his entire life and can be better understood if one knows his personality and his social background. Today, mentalities have changed and the idea of sacrificing one’s own life for the sake of honor might seem unrealistic and unreasonable. But, beyond these opinion differences, Jehan’s death unquestionably remains a symbol of courage and total commitment.

 

Conclusion

A short yet full life: Jehan Alain died at the age of 29, but he has left us with an immense legacy. In my book, I have tried to give a faithful account, essentially including Jehan’s own works: his selected letters, his drawings, adding a biography and some critical notes. I hope that this book expresses Jehan Alain’s following sentiment: “If you love my music, if it speaks to you, that you think likewise, then my dream is fulfilled.” In the same way, I would like to say: “If you love Jehan Alain, if he speaks to you, that you think likewise, then my dream is fulfilled.”

 

 

Dennis E. Northway

Dr. Dennis Northway is Parish Musician at Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, Illinois, a former Dean of the Chicago AGO chapter, Artistic Director of the Handel Week Festival in Oak Park, Illinois, an employee of John-Paul Buzard Organbuilders, recently Councilor for Research and Publications of the Organ Historical Society, and Chair of the 2012 OHS National Convention. He is the co-author, with Stephen Schnurr, of Pipe Organs of Chicago and Pipe Organs of Chicago—Volume Two, author of To Touch the Garment’s Hem: meditations before a choir rehearsal, and editor of The ChicAGO Centenary Anthology.

As part of the Organ Historical   Society’s 57th national convention in metropolitan Chicago (to take place July 8–13, 2012), we will visit the corner of Milwaukee and Addison streets in Chicago. Located there is Carl Schurz High School, a Prairie-style building from 1909 given Chicago Landmark status. It boasts a 1,800-seat auditorium with a three-second reverberation time and a spectacular four-manual pipe organ. We hope you will join us in Chicago to hear this instrument! This is the story of that remarkable pipe organ as told in correspondence.

The story of Carl Schurz High School, and its four-manual 1935 Whitelegg-designed M. P. Möller pipe organ, Opus 6373, is well documented in the more than 250-page factory file now housed in the American Organ Archives of the Organ Historical Society. This is a landmark instrument—it is intact, and in need of restoration. The saga of the instrument, and the final negotiations and installation presented in correspondence, is an important and interesting case study of a ground-breaking pipe organ. The instrument was once appreciated and has recently been largely neglected. It has not been heard in concert in nearly 30 years. Fortunately, neglect and disuse have preserved a large instrument that represents a revolution in pipe-organ building in America.  

We begin with a Western Union telegram dated September 1, 1935 from organ consultant Calvin Brown to Richard O. Whitelegg (1871–1944), Tonal Director of Möller, which states:

 

SUGGEST YOU COME HERE EARLY NEXT WEEK STOP FOUR MANUAL DEAL WHICH BELIEVE CAN TURN YOUR WAY ANSWER BY WESTERN UNION¹

Whitelegg came to America and worked with the Welte firm that later became the Welte-Tripp organ company. Calvin Brown’s interest in Whitelegg’s work may stem from the latter’s work as the tonal supervisor for a four-manual instrument on the near South Side of the city in St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church.² This large instrument in a generous acoustic would have made a profound impression on the listener. 

The Schurz instrument, with its vanguard specification for the time, is also highly noteworthy with regard to the speed of its implementation and completion. The specification is dated October 29, 1935 and was accepted in contract form dated November 4, 1935 in Hagerstown, Maryland. The Swell and Great divisions, played from the four-manual console, were heard in public recital on December 19, 1935—six weeks and three days later!  

The remarkable specification below includes an identical version of the three Great mixtures: the III Mixture, the III–V Cornet, and the amazing IV Harmonics, detailed by John Gladden Barr (b. 1938) in his 1977 dissertation, “A Tonal History of Pipe Organs Built by M. P. Möller, Incorporated.” This “experimental” chorus had been built by Whitelegg and placed in the west wall of the Möller erecting room in 1934.³

The compositions, listed in the dissertation, are given below:

 

Mixture III

15th 15th 15th 

19th 12th 12th 

22nd 19th 8th 

#1–23 24–40 41–61

C–A# B–D# E–C

Unison: 44 scale at 8′ CC, 1/4 mouth

Quint: 2 notes smaller, 1/5 mouth

 

Cornet III–V

1st

8th 8th

12th 12th 12th

15th 15th 15th

17th 17th 17th

#1–12 13–24 25–61

C–B C–B C–C

Unison: 42 scale at 8′ CC, 2/7 mouth

Quint: 2 notes smaller, 1/4 mouth

Tierce: 4 notes smaller, 1/4 mouth

 

Harmonics IV 

17th 17th 10th 

flat 21st flat 14th 8th 

19th 19th 12th 

22nd 15th 15th 

1–39 40–51 52–61

C–D D#–D D#–C

Unison: 48 scale at 8′ CC, 2/9 mouth

Quint: 2 notes smaller, 1/5 mouth

Tierce: 4 notes smaller, 1/5 mouth

21st flatted [Septième]: 8 notes smaller, 1/5 mouth

 

Carl Schurz High School, Chicago, Illinois; 1935 M. P. Mљller, Opus 6373

GREAT (Manual II, 5″ wind)

16′ Double Diapason (metal, sc 35, 73)

8′ First Diapason (metal, sc 43, 61)

8′ Second Diapason (ext 16′ Dble Diap)

8′ Harmonic Flute (metal, sc 50, 61)

4′ Octave (metal, sc 56, 61)

22⁄3′ Twelfth (metal, sc 65, 61)

2′ Fifteenth (metal, sc 70, 61)

III–V Cornet (metal, 269 pipes)

III Mixture (metal, 183)

IV Harmonics (metal, 244)

Chimes (from Choir)

Great 16′

Great Unison Off

Great 4′

SWELL (Manual III, enclosed,
7″ wind pressure)

16′ Salicional (metal, sc 46, 97 pipes)

8′ Geigen Principal (metal, sc 46, 73)

8′ Rohr Floete (wood and metal, 73)

8′ Salicional (ext, 16′ Salicional)

8′ Voix Celeste (TC, metal, sc 59, 61)

4′ Geigen (ext, 8′ Geigen Principal)

4′ Chimney Flute (ext, 8′ Rohr Floete)

4′ Salicet (ext, 16′ Salicional)

2′ Flautino (metal, sc 73, 61)

V Plein Jeu (metal, 305 pipes)

16′ Contra Fagotto (metal, 97)

8′ Trumpet (metal, 73 pipes)

8′ Fagotto (ext, 16′ Contra Fagotto)

8′ Vox Humana (in second enclosure,

metal, 61)

4′ Clarion (ext, 16′ Contra Fagotto)

Tremolo

Swell 16′

Swell Unison Off

Swell 4′

CHOIR (Manual I, enclosed,
5″ wind pressure)

16′ Spitz Floete (metal, sc 40, 85 pipes)

8′ Diapason (metal, sc 47, 73)

8′ Spitz Floete (ext, 16′ Spitz Floete)

8′ Spitz Floete Celeste (TC, sc 52, 61)

4′ Principal (metal, sc 62, 73)

22⁄3′ Twelfth (capped metal, sc 72, 61)

2′ Fifteenth (metal, sc 76, 61)

8′ Clarinet (metal, 73 pipes)

8′ Vox Humana (from Swell)

Tremolo

Chimes (25 tubes)

Choir 16′

Choir Unison Off

Choir 4′

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed,
8″ wind pressure)

8′ Stentor Diapason (metal, 73 pipes)

8′ Major Flute (wood and metal, 73)

8′ Gross Gamba (metal, sc 56, 73)

8′ Gross Gamba Celeste (metal, sc 56, 73)

8′ Tuba Mirabilis (metal, 73)

Tremolo

Solo 16′

Solo Unison Off

Solo 4′

PEDAL

32′ Resultant (from Diap and Spitz Fl)

16′ Diapason (5″ w.p., wood, 44 pipes)

16′ Second Diapason (Gt 16′ Dble Diap)

16′ Contra Bass (5″ w.p., stopped wood, 44)

16′ Spitz Floete (from Choir)

16′ Salicional (from Swell)

8′ Octave (ext, 16′ Diapason)

8′ Flute (ext, 16′ Contra Bass)

8′ Spitz Floete (from Choir)

16′ Trombone (8″ w.p., in Solo enclo- sure, metal, 56 pipes)

16′ Fagotto (from Swell)

8′ Trombone (ext, 16′ Trombone)

4′ Trombone (ext, 16′ Trombone)

Chimes (from Choir)

INTER-DIVISIONAL COUPLERS

Great to Pedal 8, 4

Swell to Pedal 8, 4

Choir to Pedal 8

Solo to Pedal 8, 4

Swell to Great 16, 8, 4

Choir to Great 16, 8, 4

Solo to Great 8, 4

Swell to Choir 16, 8, 4

Solo to Choir 8, 4

Choir to Swell 16, 8, 4

Solo to Swell 8, 4

Great to Solo 16, 8, 4

Choir to Solo

Swell to Solo

 

ACCESSORIES

12 General pistons (1–12 thumb, 1–6 toe)

8 Great and Pedal pistons and Cancel (thumb)

8 Swell and Pedal pistons and Cancel (thumb)

6 Choir and Pedal pistons and Cancel (thumb)

6 Solo and Pedal pistons and Cancel (thumb)

6 Pedal pistons and Cancel (affecting couplers, thumb and toe)

General Cancel (thumb)

Combination setter (thumb, with indicator light)

Pedal to Great pistons on/off (thumb)

Pedal to Swell pistons on/off (thumb)

Pedal to Choir pistons on/off (thumb)

Pedal to Solo pistons on/off (thumb)

Great to Pedal reversible (toe)

Test button and light (for current)

Chimes damper (toe reversible)

Harp damper [sic] (toe reversible)

All Swells to Swell reversible (toe, with indicator light)

Swell expression shoe (with indicator dial)

Choir expression shoe (with indicator dial)

Solo expression shoe (with indicator dial)

Crescendo shoe (with indicator dial)

Sforzando reversible (thumb and toe, with indicator light)

What follows is a virtual flurry of correspondence addressing various façade decisions, descriptions of changes in specification, commentary on blower placement, wiring, etc. We shall see that many letters crossed in the mail on the same day! Because of the close time frame and the extant fairly complete correspondence on this groundbreaking instrument, let us explore the documentation for insights into Opus 6373 and its manufacture.

On stationery from the Board of Education, City of Chicago, Carl Schurz High School, 3601 Milwaukee Avenue dated November 22 to the Möller Organ Company, we read:

Gentlemen–

Enclosed please find the print of organ console which is o.k. Please note notation on reverse side of the blue print—console is to be movable and we are planning to place it on the stage, with three junction boards—one in center, and one on each side. Please tell Mr. Whitelegg I have changed my mind about “Horn” for “Solo Organ”—and wish Stentorphone in its place as originally specified.

Sincerely,

LeRoy Wetzel

The dummy façade pipes in the display were intended from the outset, as noted in a letter from M. P. Möller, Jr. to LeRoy Wetzel (Schurz High School’s choir director) on November 25:

Mr. Whitelegg has passed into the factory instructions that the display pipes are to be of natural zinc finish. Your comments on this will be brought to his attention.

November 26 finds Whitelegg writing to LeRoy Wetzel at the high school:

 

In reply to your letter of the 22nd, referring to the movable console, we note you suggest having three junction boards, and while this can be done, it is really very impractical. This method would lead to all sorts of trouble—short circuits, etc., besides considerable additional expense. You should arrange to have the cables come up either at the left or right hand side of the stage, preferably right in the corner, with long enough cable to reach to the center of the stage.  

In regards to the console being movable, this being an all electric action, there will only be cable attachments and it will be possible to move the console wherever you desire; but really as regards having those union boards, that just isn’t done, as in all cases tried previously it ended up in having to make a permanent job of just the one set of cables.

We are planning to ship the first part of the organ by freight Saturday, comprising the platform, pedal pipes, pedal chests, etc., and we are having men from the factory reach there to take care of the installation. I expect to be in Chicago in about ten days time. The organ in the Church of St. John of God Roman Catholic will be ready for ok, and possibly you will be able to give the time to run over and try the instrument as soon as it is tuned up.

Regarding the location of the blower, I am still of the opinion that it is more advisable to place it in the fresh air inlet; there is always a 12 degree rise of temperature from the air entering the blower until the time it gets into the organ and considering that underneath the stage that temperature is running as high as seventy and eighty, would bring the temperature of the wind up to ninety degrees, which is somewhat high and could be harmful in the way of drying out woodwork, etc. However, this matter can be left for decision until the men arrive for the installation.

 This was to be a special organ in many ways. In a factory order from Whitelegg dated November 27, 1935, we read:

 

The type of organ bench required is the pattern made after the one sent to Hugh McAmis Studios, New York, only made of oak in finish to match the console. As this console will be out on the stage for many public occasions it is necessary to have this special organ bench in preference to the standard style.

 

November 27, Whitelegg writes to Calvin Brown, 4539 North Richmond Street:

 

Dear Cal: I have just received your letter referring to the location of the blower for the Carl Schurz High School. Mr. Wetzel has written mentioning that there was some opposition regarding the location of the blower. Frankly, there is everything in its favor as regards the location of the blower in the fresh air inlet. There is always at least a twelve degree rise in temperature from the air intake to the outlet, which just for a few exceptional occasions, the temperature will normally delivered from the blower be around about 70 degrees. On the other hand, if the blower is located immediately under the stage, the temperature there is any where from 70 to 80, and figuring the rise of temperature as it passes through the blower, will be considerably warmer or a higher degree of temperature than would be good for the woodwork. However, you can settle this matter when the installation commences, but my preference would be where I suggested.  

Regarding the location of console, we have heard from Mr. Wetzel and they are thinking of having the console on the stage with three union boards for attaching console, either on each side or the center. This, while it can be done, is right out of the question in every case where this
[s]ort of console attachment has been tried, and the result has been failure. Here are almost certain difficulties as regards short circuits or bad contacts and always ends up in a permanent connection being made. My suggestion is that if the console is to be on the stage, considering the orchestra pit as first requested, it would be better to decide on which side the console would be permanently located and then have cables long enough to extend to the center of the stage.

I expect to be in Chicago again within the next ten days or so, no doubt will be seeing something of you then.

 

Calvin Brown was the recipient of a letter from Whitelegg dated December 3 discussing the console, blower placement, belted generators, commission, and concludes:

 

We are making every effort to have this organ playing for the 19th, that would be the Swell and Great divisions, hence the reason for going ahead with all parts and the necessity to eventually send a large staff to Chicago to get the work done. Well, I expect to be in Chicago next week, probably this week-end and will give you a ring in case there should be anything required in regard to the Carl Schurz School for discussion.

The same day, from Möller sales manager E. O. Shulenberger⁴ (who was “on the road” in Chicago) to M. P. “Ted” Möller, Jr., we read: 

 

I spent all forenoon with Mr. Brown and the Schurz High School. First, because Brown asked me to go out, and secondly, because Buterbaugh⁵ who arrived here yesterday with Kenneth ’phoned and said he thought they would have Union trouble. I am quite sure that we will have some trouble before we are through. Every employee around the School, including half dozen or more engineers, electricians, janitors, and some others, amounting to about a total of fifty-five in all, are Union men, and the Chief Engineer, while courteous regarding certain things, says that the electrical union even interfered when he fixed one of the electric clocks. It was a sad mistake, I think, that we built the platform there. Maybe the steel workers won’t find it out, but there is every reason to believe they will. That and the electrical work is the most serious. I talked to the Chief Engineer, the Principal of the School, Mr. Wetzel, and some others, and they said they will do what they can, and I told Buterbaugh and Kenneth to work and not talk.

In a letter written while he was in the Möller Chicago office in the McCormick Building, 332 South Michigan,
E. O. Shulenberger writes to M. P. (Ted) Möller, Jr., on December 4, 1935: 

 

Dear Ted:

I have your letter of December 2d. The boys worked last night until ten o’clock, and got part of the steel-work of the platform up, and so far without any interference. I understood that Brown’s commission was to be figured on the basis of contract price, less motor wiring, starter and platform, which as I remember was $13,650.00, or whichever was my original estimate, plus a Clarinet. That is what Mr. Whitelegg told me at the time. I will try to find out, if possible, about the grille, but I am not sure that I can make the contact today, and if I don’t leave the city later today, I will the first thing in the morning. I understood, however, that the sawed out grille as approved by the architect was what was wanted, and the architect, Iam [sic] informed, is final regarding all of those matters.  

I wrote you about the junction yesterday, and have suggested that the wiring be done to a junction board, placed on an apron of the stage, and the wiring from there permanent, since there will be no air. I think Mr. Brown will work that out, and he has the confidence of Mr. Wetzel, and would be the best medium to take it up.

I advise strongly against Kenneth attempting the motor wiring, and have told Buterbaugh toget [sic] an estimate from an electrical contractor out there, and send the estimate to Hagerstown. All the employees there are union men, and are watching what is going on. So far they have not interfered with the steel-work, but the Chief Engineer, who is in charge of the entire building and equipment, is a union man, and told me if the Delegate came in and found our men doing electrical wiring, he would start real trouble. The Chief Engineer said he don’t care, but that they are checked up very frequently, and what we might save by Kenneth doing it, might be more than lost by trouble that would be caused, and furthermore, difficulty with the inspectors could be expected.

Whether the generator is direct-connected or belt-driven probably won’t be an issue, but as we have all decided that the place for that blower is in the engine-room, there is plenty of room for a direct-connected generator. It would be impossible to put the blower and air duct where Mr. Whitelegg suggested and keep the organ in tune, as the temperature in there yesterday was below thirty, with a terrific draft, and no-one here wants to put it there. The engine-room is not hot, never above seventy, generally considerably below, and has all kinds of space. 

 

On December 10, 1935 Richard Whitelegg writes to LeRoy Wetzel:

 

The last of the Carl Schurz High School organ will be leaving the factory next Saturday, and this is almost certain unless some unforeseen difficulty arises, that the organ—at least the Swell and Great divisions—will be available for the 19th. I had expected to be in Chicago by this time, but there have been several matters which have detained me and again I must go up to New York, but I am still hoping to be in Chicago within the next three or four days.

It is indeed a considerable effort to get that organ completed in the short time: I gave it preference and hence the reason why the organ will be available as promised. I do not think that there is any other part of the world that an organ of that size could be handled on such short notice: however, nothing has been spared to make it one of the finest organs that ever left the factory.

On the tonal side of the instrument, you are going to find a very much more aggressive organ tonally than the one in your church: we have all the Great work unenclosed and the Mixtures—flu [sic] work a very sweet agressive⁶ tone, likewise with the reeds. However, I am sure after you have used the instrument a little while it will appeal to you much better than the late, Heavy Phonon Diapason type of organ.

Mr. John Buterbaugh will, I expect, have arrived in Chicago by this time. He has installed many of the larger Möller organs and in my opinion is one of the most capable organ builders we have at the present time. Mr. Buterbaugh will be in complete charge of the installation, and you will find him very tactful, diplomatic, and ready to co-operate in every way. In any case, I expect to be around myself for two or three days prior to the 19th, so will be seeing you.

 

M. P. Möller, Jr. writes December 14, 1935 to R. O. Whitelegg, in care of the Chicago office⁷:

 

In reference to your telephone call from New York this morning, I was very surprised that you were still in New York as I thought the New York work was to simply be the conference with DeTar on Wednesday and that you would be in Chicago on Thursday. I haven’t had a report as to what progress they are making, but as the organ must be playing by the 19th, or just what the schedule is. I really had not been worrying about it, as I presumed you were there and were taking care of all details.  

The third load is going today, containing the Choir and Solo organs and I presume practically everything except some parts of the case.

 

Whitelegg responds, in a report to
M. P. Möller dated December 16, 1935:

 

The plans there are to have the Great and Swell divisions playing on the 19th, which is all I promised at the time of signing the contract. 

I plan to give three or four days to the St. John of God organ, and also set up the tonal values of whatever is playing at the High School, and then return to the factory, possibly the end of this week.  

Yours truly, 

R. O. Whitelegg

 

P.S. Since the above was dictated, I’ve been over to Carl Schurz School. The work is progressing satisfactorily, Mr. Wetzel stated that he is ordering the balance of the contract tomorrow, and he is also asking for the list of suggestions on the other prepared for pipes, which I am sending to him from this office.⁸

 

Whitelegg writes then to M. P. Möller on December 20, 1935:

 

Dear Sir: Regarding Carl Schurz High School, the organ was available for use last night as planned, and is truly remarkable. In Mr. Wetzel’s own words, he expected a fine organ, but it has exceeded anything that he hoped to have.

E. O. Shulenberger writes to Calvin Brown, 4539 North Richmond Street on December 23, 1935:

 

I understand that the boys got the organ playing at the time wanted and can not do any more now until after the Holiday Season. I hope everything has come through satisfactory [sic] to every one.

We find a memo from the Hagerstown Möller factory to the offices in Chicago dated December 31, 1935:

 

The last load of the Carl Schurz High School organ will arrive at the High School on Monday morning, January 6.

Richard O. Whitelegg writes to J. B. Buterbaugh on January 17, 1936: 

 

Please let me have a report as to the progress of the Carl Schurz High School, in order that I can plan my future movements. I will be busy in the factory until the 25th, and plan to spend a few days at the completion of the organ you are installing.

Because it was a strict union house, and because of the heavy use of the auditorium during the day, we find sent to the attention of Mr. Whitelegg from Buterbaugh the following: “I am starting to do regulation this evening as we must work nights from now on.”

The prepared-for stops, the Vox Humana, Chimes, and Trombone 16′ & 8′ were called for by Calvin Brown on January 22, 1936 for the sum of $1,330.00.

The Vox Humana stopknob was ordered from H. W. Cramer by M. P. Möller, Jr., January 31, 1936.

The weekly installation report to the factory dated February 1, 1936 and signed by John Buterbaugh states: “Chimes installed. Organ tone regulated except Solo,” with a listed probable completion date of organ as February 12.

The following week’s installation report, dated February 8, 1936 states:

 

Solo and Choir finished, some regulation and final tuning of Great and Swell.  Probable completion date of organ is February 13th and dedication planned in about a month. Signed John Buterbaugh.

C. W. Nowell⁹ provides a report of All Electric Consoles (no pneumatics in consoles) built by Möller; a copy of this is in the file and is reproduced here. It may be surprising to some that Möller produced these in this period. Note the exceptional number of magnets in the Schurz console and the unique report configuration of that entry. (See chart.)

John Buterbaugh, who oversaw the installation of the instrument, writes from the Hotel Milshire on February 18, 1936:

 

The organ in the High School is entirely finished and is an exceptionally fine job according to all who have heard it. I have gone over it with M. Wetzel and he says it is beyond his expectations.

Calvin Brown writes to E. O. Shulenberger on February 28, 1936 and states: 

 

I am very much pleased with the job and your boys did an excellent job and I hope to have some more for your firm shortly.

 

G. N. Snyder, writing from the Chicago office of M. P. Möller to Richard O. Whitelegg March 13, 1936 reports: 

 

Mr. Buterbaugh and I drove out to the Schurz High School yesterday, and had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. LeRoy Wetzel. This is a case where the folks are most over-joyed with the organ and all those who had anything to do with its installation, etc. I have heard no man speak more highly of anything than he. He incidentally mentioned that Dr. Barnes had visited him a day previous, and that Dr. Barnes was most enthusiastic about the organ, making the statement that it sounded like a fifty thousand ($50,000.00) dollar organ.

 

Warfield Webb¹⁰ writes to Möller on April 20, 1936 and says: 

 

Understand you recently installed a large and expensive organ in the Carl Schurz High School, Chicago. As a writer for many, many kinds of publications, wonder if anything in the nature of a story about this organ has appeared in a music or school publication. . . Understand this organ is one out of the ordinary found in a school. Perhaps you may be able to give me some interesting data.

 

E. O. Shulenberger, Secretary and Sales Manager, responds on May 1, 1936:

 

The organ there is very much out of the ordinary as found in schools and has attracted an unusual amount of attention, so it should make a very good story. I am sure that Mr. Leroy Wetzel, head of the music department of that school, would be glad to assist you in getting any or all information, and Dr. William H. Barnes, the organ architect, South Wabash Avenue, has also made a lot of study on it. He has written an article to be published in the American Organist on the particular organ, but as this publication has not yet come out, I have not seen the copy.

 

Whitelegg writes to “Mike” Buterbaugh August 13, 1936:

 

I hope to be able to see and hear this organ after visiting Kalamazoo when that organ is completed.

 

L. B. (“Mike”) Buterbaugh, writing from the Chicago office, Suite 1742 McCormick Building, 322 South Michigan on October 12, 1936, reports, “The organ itself is in very fine shape.”

There is a great deal more in the file; however, this array of documents gives us a glimpse of what it took to get a large instrument in quickly. This also hints to the truth that all large instruments take a great deal of negotiation, in all aspects of construction and design, to fabricate and install. Opus 6373 is a monumental organ and completely intact. You are cordially invited to hear it live at the Chicago national convention of the Organ Historical Society this summer!

 

Listen to Dennis Northway play the Schurz Victory March on Möller Opus 6373 at: www.TheDiapason.com.