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New Organs

January 18, 2003
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Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri,
has completed two new organs for Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, Oregon. The
firm's Opus 79 and Opus 80 replace the abbey's 1930s Kilgen organ
which had pipes of various vintages and builders. The Choir organ and the Grand
organ are mechanical-action instruments designed and constructed according to
classic German organ building principles, with tracker action and slider
chests. They exemplify the tonal ideas and voicing style developed during the
past 27 years since the company was founded, imparting clear, transparent
texture to the sound.

The organs are placed within free-standing cases, allowing
them to speak with a light, unforced singing tone. Their main task is to
accompany the monastic choral singing along with the full church's
congregational song in the tradition of the Benedictine order.

The stoplist was developed by the Ott firm, in collaboration
with the organ committee of the abbey. Case design was by Ott with consultation
from the architectural firm of Humayun Somjee and Associates, St. Louis,
Missouri. The cases are built of white oak and stained in a light brown color.
All wood was kiln-dried and milled at the Ott shop. The framework utilizes
mortise-and-tenon construction. The raised panels in the case are made of
quarter-sawn oak.

Facade pipes, made of 75% tin, come from the Prinzipal
stops. Manual keyboards have 61 notes; naturals are of grenadil, and sharps are
of grenadil covered with cow bone. The pedalboard compass is 32 notes; keys are
of oak, sharps are capped with ebony. Trackers are made of western cedar and
the squares are of white beech. Rollers are of metal. The wind chests are
constructed of Baltic birch plywood, ash, and maple.

The Choir organ, Opus 79, comprises 15 stops and 15 ranks,
totalling 856 pipes. All pipes with the exception of the Prinzipal 8' and
12 pipes of the Subbass 16' are under one common expression control. The
organ has a common tremulant (prepared). It was built in 1995 and installed in
the spring of 1996.

The Grand organ, Opus 80, consists of 37 stops and 44 ranks
for a total of 2,478 pipes on three manuals and pedal. The traditional layout
of the organ is in the strict order of the Werkprinzip. The pipes of the
Hauptwerk division are in the center of the case. Below the Hauptwerk is the
Schwellwerk. The divided Pedal pipes are cantilevered to the left and right of
the Hauptwerk. The Kronenwerk is above the Hauptwerk. Stop action is electric
with a computerized multi-level combination action. The Grand organ was built
from May 1997 through February 1998. It was disassembled and transported to
Mount Angel for assembly and completed in June 1998.

The following craftsmen participated in the construction of
the organs: Albert J. Brass, Alexander E. Bronitsky, James F. Cullen, Alexander
D. Leshchenko, Richard J. Murphy, Earl C. Naylor, Martin Ott, Sascha Ott, and
Karen A. Perrone. Electrical engineering and execution was by Richard Houghton
of Milan, Michigan. Wood inlay of music racks was by Herbert Bilgram of St.
Louis.

--Martin Ott

 

The Choir Organ, Opus 79

MANUAL I

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Prinzipal
(1-4 from Rohrflöte)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Rohrflöte

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktave

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flöte

                                    Mixtur
II

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oboe

MANUAL II

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viola
(1-6 from Gedackt)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viola
Celeste (TC)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Gedackt

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flöte

                                    Sesquialter
II (TC)

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktave

PEDAL

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Subbass

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktavbass
(1-19 from Man I)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Rohrflöte
(1-19 from Man I)

 

The Grand Organ, Opus 80

HAUPTWERK

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bordun

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Prinzipal

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Rohrflöte

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktave

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Nachthorn

                  22/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>     Quinte

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktave

                  13/5' style='mso-tab-count:1'>     Terz

                                    Grossmixtur
V-VI

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompete

SCHWELLWERK

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viola

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viola
Celeste (TC)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bordun

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Prinzipal

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viola

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Zauberflöte

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Nachthorn

                                    Mixtur
IV

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bombarde

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompete

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Englisch
Horn

                                    Tremulant

KRONENWERK

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flöte

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flöte
Celeste (TC)

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Prinzipal

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Blockflöte

                                    Sesquialter
II

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktave

                  11/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>     Quinte

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Krummhorn

                                    Tremulant

                                    Zimberlstern

PEDAL

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Prinzipal

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Subbass

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oktavbass

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Pommer
(12 pipes)

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Choralbass

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Posaune
(prep, 12 pipes)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Posaune

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompete

 

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