Cover
Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Lake City, Iowa, Opus 75, 2003
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California
From the builder
When the Cathedral of St.
Vibiana was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles resolved to build again in Downtown, the historic center of the
city. Designed by Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo, the finished cathedral
seats 3,500 people and encloses more than 3 million cubic feet. Built of
adobe-colored concrete, natural light pours into the space through thousands of
panes of translucent alabaster arranged in great windows. Sixty thousand
polished limestone pavers radiate in concentric circles from the altar, which
is made of a single, six-ton slab of Turkish Rosso Laguna marble.
Architectural realities and the
need for wind pressures that would fill so massive a space with sound dictated
the use of electric action for the new instrument. Slider chests with electric
pulldowns are employed for all manual divisions except the Solo and Pedal,
which have electro-pneumatic action. These two departments were conceived in
the spirit of Isnard's 1772 Résonance division at St. Maximin: the Solo
contains powerful voices, many of which are made playable in the Pedal, which
has few registers of its own. Some pipework was retained from the St. Vibiana
instrument, which was originally built in 1929 by the Wangerin Organ Co. of Milwaukee
and rebuilt by Austin Organs, Inc., in 1988. All were revoiced, and in many
cases rescaled, to fit seamlessly into the new plan. Blowers totalling 27
horsepower supply the instrument with wind ranging in pressure from 5" for
the Positive to 25" for the Solo Tuba.
The organ's 55' tall case is
made of American cherry and stands on a balcony 25' above the choir. The
façade pipes and horizontal Fanfare reeds were made of 83% tin by the
German firm Carl Giesecke & Sohn. Extending to 32' C, they are the largest
tin pipes in North America. The low profile console has oblique drawknobs
placed in angled terraced jambs. A multiplex system and movable platform allow
the console to be readily moved to a variety of locations.
The visual design of the organ
was jointly developed by Dobson and Moneo. The instrument's tonal design is a
collaboration between Dobson, Frank Brownstead, director of music, and Manuel
Rosales, the Archdiocese's organ consultant. Paoletti Associates, Inc. is
responsible for the acoustical design of the new cathedral. Sal Soria is the
cathedral organist.
The cathedral was dedicated on
September 2, 2002. The blessing of the organ occurred on May 3, 2003, and
included a recital given by Mr. Soria featuring works by Howells, Bach,
Roger-Ducasse, Vierne and Reubke. The cathedral has instituted a series of
weekly midday organ recitals; a schedule can be found on the Cathedral website
at <www.olacathedral.org/cathedral/music/events.html>. Upcoming events
include a recital by Cherry Rhodes on November 22 at 8 pm.
An extensive gallery of
installation photographs can be found on the Dobson website at
<www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instruments/op75_losangeles.html>.
GREAT
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
(ext 32')
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Violonbasse
(ext Violoncelle)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
(ext Doppel Floete)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Violoncelle
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flûte
harmonique
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Doppel
Floete
51/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gros Nasard
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Nachthorn
31/5'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Grosse Tierce
22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
13/5'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tierce
V–VII
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Corneta Magna 8' (f18–g56;
style='mso-tab-count:1'> mounted)
V–VIII
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture 2'
IV
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cymbale
1'
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Posaune
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarion
Tremulant
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Horizontal
Trumpet (interior)
Swell
to Great
Positive
to Great
Solo
to Great
Fanfare
on Great
SWELL (III, enclosed)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Diapason
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Viole
de gambe
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Voix
céleste CC
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Dulciane
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Voix
angélique TC
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flûte
octaviante
22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Nasard
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octavin
13/5'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tierce
IV–V
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Plein jeu 2'
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bombarde
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
harmonique
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Hautbois
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Voix
humaine
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clairon
harmonique
Tremulant
Chimes
Swell
16
Swell
4
Fanfare
on Swell
Positive
to Swell
Solo
to Swell
POSITIVE (I, enclosed)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gemshorn
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedackt
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Salicional
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Unda
maris CC
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Chimney
Flute
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
11/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Larigot
II
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Sesquialtera
22/3'
IV–VI
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture 11/3'
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bassoon
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarion
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cromorne
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Harp
Positive
16
Positive
4
Tremulant
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tuba
(Solo)
Fanfare
on Positive
Swell
to Positive
Solo
to Positive
Zimbelstern
SOLO (IV, enclosed)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Major
Flute
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gamba
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gamba
Celeste CC
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Viole
d'Orchestre
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Viole
Celeste TC
51/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Orchestral
Flute
IV
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
22/3'
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> English
Horn
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> French
Horn
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarinet
Tremulant
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Contre
Bombarde (ext 16')
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bombarde
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarion
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tuba
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Horizontal
Trumpet (Great)
Solo
16
Solo
4
Great
to Solo
Swell
to Solo
Positive
to Solo
Fanfare
on Solo
FANFARE (en chamade)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompeta
magna
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompeta
de los angeles
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompeta
fuerte (ext 4')
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarín
de campaña (ext 16')
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bajoncillo
PEDAL
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
(Great)
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Contra
Bourdon
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Open
Diapason
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
(Solo)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Violonbasse
(Great)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Subbass
(ext 32')
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
(Great)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gemshorn
(Positive)
102/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gross Quint (ext Open Diapason)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
(Solo)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flute
(ext Open Diapason)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Violoncelle
(Great)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
(ext 32')
51/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quint (Solo)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
(Solo)
IV
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
22/3' (Solo)
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Contra
Trombone
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Contre
Bombarde (Solo)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trombone
(ext 32')
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bombarde
(Solo)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Posaune
(Great)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
(Solo)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarion
(Solo)
Great
to Pedal
Swell
to Pedal
Positive
to Pedal
Solo
to Pedal
Fanfare
on Pedal
Great/Positive
Manual Transfer
All
Swells to Swell
Zimbelstern
Nightingale
Combination
action with 256 levels and programmable crescendo
Photo credit: Lynn Dobson
