Berghaus rebuilds Möller Opus 8261

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois
First Presbyterian Church,
Lexington, Kentucky

From the organ builder
Organ projects take a long time. In the case of this undertaking, it can perhaps be said that this project has taken 110 years! It was in 1897 that the W. W. Kimball Co. of Chicago installed a two-manual and pedal tubular pneumatic action pipe organ in First Presbyterian Church. In 1936, Kimball revisited their then 40-year old instrument, converting the action to electropneumatic action and making some minor tonal changes. Subsequent alterations and repairs, not up to the quality of the original work, led to the decision to pursue a comprehensive rebuilding.
It was in May 2004 that Buzard Pipe Organ Builders first inspected the organ and met with the church’s organ committee. Our enthusiasm for the project and approach to the particular requirements of the project were a good fit with the church’s desires, and after jointly refining our vision a contract was signed on June 6, 2005 for a complete rebuilding of the church’s pipe organ. The organ was removed to the Buzard factory in February 2006, with re-installation beginning just about a year later and taking about two months on site.
This project is not a restoration. Many changes had already been made to the instrument over its first 100 years, and although the organ made some nice sounds, it could not provide the full tonal palette that is desired for what this instrument is called upon to do. In addition, the mechanical systems of the organ were neither in good condition nor adaptable to the tonal changes being made.
The new wind system retains and supplements the original Kimball reservoirs and tremolos, with new wooden wind trunks throughout the organ. A completely new console and switching system have been crafted, incorporating preparations for future installation of an Antiphonal division in the gallery (the location of the church’s first pipe organ).
New electric pull-down slider and pallet windchests have been constructed for the straight manual stops, and new electropneumatic action windchests have been constructed for the unit stops. A new building frame and structure has been constructed behind the original casework, with new enclosures incorporating the Kimball shutter frames.
Twenty-five stops of Kimball pipework have been retained, supplemented with 11 ranks of new pipework. All of the existing pipes have been carefully repaired and revoiced, and all the new pipes were custom scaled and built for this project under the watchful eyes (and ears) of the Buzard Company’s tonal director, Brian K. Davis, with all tonal finishing completed on site by Mr. Davis and Mr. Buzard. The visible façade pipes, containing basses of the 16′ and 8′ Diapasons, have been brilliantly decorated using the original patterning.
The organ is now in as-new condition, ready to sound forth in its second century with both bold new voices and sounds that echo from its past. Everything old is new again!
—Keith Williams and David Brown
Buzard Pipe Organ Builders
Service Department

From the organ consultant
In March 2004, I was invited by the director of music and arts, Marlon Hurst, to advise the organ committee of the First Presbyterian Church with regard to their organ. On visiting the church, I found a rather decrepit instrument, originally built in 1897 by the noted Kimball firm, which had subsequently been repaired, patched, altered and added to on several occasions by various people. Kimball had electrified the action (originally tubular) and replaced the console in 1936, but both action and console were now rapidly deteriorating, resulting in dead notes, loose pedal keys, and an erratic combination action. Examination of the interior revealed obsolete windchests, a patchwork electrical system with components ranging from the 1936 electrification to recent solid-state, a replacement (and slow) swell shade motor, inoperative top-note pedal extensions, leaky windlines patched with duct tape, recently recovered reservoirs and winkers, and evidence of some re-leathering of primaries.
Even visually, the organ had been changed, the casework darkened, and the display pipes (along with much of the rest of the church interior) painted a dull off-white to match the sanctuary’s then rather drab interior. Tonally, there had been a few substitutions, along with various additions and extensions on offset chests, most of them done at different times and by different people. The original Kimball pipework was, however, reasonably intact and in good condition, although generally in poor tonal regulation and tune, some stops showing evidence of less than successful revoicing attempts. Yet despite the gradual disintegration of the organ’s original integrity, this pipework, with all its defects, still gave a strong and admirable impression of the original rich Kimball sound.
The committee had been wrestling with various approaches, from possible restoration to more patchwork repairs and additions to total replacement. After discussion with this very motivated committee, a more attractive option emerged. Because of all the changes and additions, restoration as an authentic Kimball was really out of the question. More patchwork could be dismissed on the basis of the dubious results it had achieved in the past. An entirely new organ was an option, but the most costly one. And then there was the matter of all of that excellent Kimball pipework with its distinctive character, which all of us agreed that we liked. Since the faults of the organ as it stood were primarily mechanical, we eventually agreed to focus on a new option, that of retaining and respectfully treating the Kimball pipework, possibly with a few carefully integrated new stops, but replacing all of the mechanical components with new, excepting perhaps the console shell and a few reservoirs. The hoped-for result would be a reliable and essentially new organ with a “vintage” sound.
The committee’s eventual choice of the Buzard firm was based not only on their favorable impressions of the quality of the firm’s work, but also on the builder’s willingness to make the most of the Kimball pipework in a tonal design that also included some additions to expand the overall usefulness of the organ in the church’s very active and vital music program.
Because the organ project was to be integrated into a larger plan of renovating and redecorating the church interior under the direction of Terry Byrd Eason, making more space for the choir was strongly recommended by all involved and was included in this plan. Once a builder had been chosen, he and the architect worked together on renovating the organ chamber and certain other details. Eventually it was discovered that Kimball’s display pipes had originally been colorfully stenciled, and, with the enthusiastic agreement of all involved, restoration of this element was added to the project and executed by Kristin Farmer, one of the most highly respected practitioners of this rather arcane art-form. Along with the restoration of the pulpit furniture to its original finish and a warmer and more historically authentic color scheme, the stenciled pipes have added considerably to the visual interest of the room.
Throughout the three years of the organ project, the committee and I were in regular communication as questions arose and some minor changes were considered. Indeed, I will have to say that Marlon Hurst and his committee comprised one of the most conscientiously dedicated groups that I have ever worked with. That their dedication paid off abundantly was demonstrated on Sunday, April 29, 2007, when the organ and the beautifully refurbished sanctuary—complete with improved acoustics—were dedicated in a unique festival of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that included hymn-singing, choral music and organ music (both solo and with brass) impressively performed by John D. Schwandt. In one nicely orchestrated and well-attended event, the organ was put through its paces in all of its varied functions, and came through with flying colors. Its Kimball antecedents were clearly present in the warm foundations, lush strings and colorful solo stops, now all well-regulated again. Buzard’s new mixtures dovetailed seamlessly into the well-balanced choruses and the powerful new Tromba rank proved a successful “climax” stop. Musicians, clergy, architect, consultants and builders alike came away happy with what had been accomplished. But of greatest importance will be the far-reaching effects of a more welcoming sanctuary and a well-crafted and versatile organ for the church’s future worship and outreach.
—Barbara Owen
organ consultant

From the director of music and arts
The consideration of a major renovation—or replacement—of the pipe organ proved to be the impetus for examining other areas of concern in the 1874 sanctuary—issues of acoustics, chancel design, lighting, structural integrity and aging HVAC systems. Much like the maintenance history of the organ, each of these areas had received varying degrees of attention and improvement during the past century, but none of the improvements had been made in the context of a comprehensive plan.
With the identification of such a potentially comprehensive restoration project to the organ and sanctuary, a long range planning team (LRPT) was formed with the charge to thoroughly investigate the needs of the sanctuary and organ in the context of the overall ministry of the congregation. The LRPT enlisted the services of two consultants who would prove to be crucial to the direction of the project: Terry Byrd Eason, liturgical design consultant; and Barbara Owen, organ consultant.
Ms. Owen visited the church in March, 2004 and spent a day examining all aspects of the organ. The LRPT was reluctant to completely replace the instrument since it was installed during the same general period of construction as the church’s sanctuary. Furthermore, the warm Kimball sounds were valued by both the church’s members and music staff. Given Ms. Owen’s high estimation of the integrity of the existing Kimball pipes, it was decided that the church would seek a builder who would agree to build a new mechanical instrument, and who would combine the best of the existing Kimball pipe work with certain ranks of new pipes in a tonal scheme that would broaden the tonal palette and provide more timbral cohesiveness in the instrument.
At Ms. Owen’s recommendation, proposals and bids for the rebuilding project were solicited and received from five regional organ builders. In turn, trips were made to Atlanta, Cincinnati and Indianapolis to listen to representative work of each builder who submitted a proposal. Under the continued (and always impartial) guidance of Barbara Owen, we narrowed the field to two builders. A larger organ committee was formed to visit representative rebuilding work of our two final candidates. After hearing the tonal work of John-Paul Buzard, the committee unanimously agreed that it was Mr. Buzard’s work and proposal that best matched the goals stated by the LRPT.
In February 2006, the organ was sent to the Buzard shop. In the year following, the church underwent a restoration that included a complete redesign of the chancel and choir areas, the replacement of the church’s HVAC systems—including the re-routing of the HVAC ductwork for both efficiency and acoustic purposes—a complete scaffolding of the sanctuary to repair and replace sagging plaster in the drop-vaulted ceiling, the addition of new lighting and sound/recording systems and, most important to the organ project, the replacement of wall-to-wall carpeting in the chancel and nave with an oak hardwood surface. The combination of plaster repair and the installation of a hardwood floor in the choir, chancel and nave created an acoustic space that is now resonant and warm—an ideal environment for congregational song and prayer, choral singing and “the playing of the merry organ.”
At some point in the mid-20th century, the organ façade pipes (a functioning 16′ Open Diapason) had been painted over to match the color of the sanctuary walls. There was some photographic evidence from the early 20th century that the façade had originally been stenciled, though the details of the pattern were not discernible from the quality of the extant photographs. As the paint was being stripped from the pipes, the “shadow” of the original ornate stenciling pattern was discovered—and it was found intact to such a degree that its restoration was made possible.
Careful consideration was given to the color choices so that they would be consonant with the overall color scheme in the sanctuary. It was further decided that a large wooden cross, designed by Terry Byrd Eason, would be commissioned to hang in front of the façade pipes.
After all of the planning and careful consideration that led to the selection of a builder had been completed, we could only rest in the faith that we had been thorough in our process and that we had made the right choice in John-Paul Buzard. When John-Paul completed his work on the organ in April 2007, it was confirmed that we had chosen well. His respect for the pre-existing voicing found in the Kimball pipes guided his approach to the voicing of the entire instrument. Now, the old pipework blends with the new in a seamless way that is at once identifiably Kimball, while being skillfully broadened beyond the constraints of late 19th-century American tonal philosophies.
The end result of the project is that we have preserved the best of what we had inherited from our predecessors and have provided for those who worship in this place now and in the years to come an instrument that is capable of accompanying a wide variety of choral and congregational song, and on which can be faithfully played the broad spectrum of historic and modern organ repertoire. Soli Deo Gloria.
—Marlon Hurst, director of music and arts
Tina Wagoner, organist
Dr. Ben Arnold, Sara Holroyd, Jack Lansill, Renée Smith, organ committee

Regarding the restoration of the stenciled façade
The exciting call from Terry Byrd Eason (liturgical design consultant for the First Presbyterian Church, Lexington project) came in early January 2007. He explained that he was working with a church that had an 1897 Kimball façade, which needed to be re-stenciled with its original patterns. The façade had been painted over several times, but was now thoroughly stripped down to the bare zinc. He assured me that the Kimball designs were all on the pipes, etched into the zinc. Not being one who is afraid of a challenge, I took on the job.
The pipes arrived via an 18-wheel tractor-trailer—all 41 of them! My mind could only think, “where am I going to put all these pipes?” And they were huge. Eventually we got them all stored away.
The process began with just looking at the pipes. I wanted to recreate the façade accurately, but having no idea of the original, I was hesitant to just dig in immediately. So I “looked” at the pipes for two weeks. I laid the pipes from each flat side by side, and walked past them several times a day. Finally, I began to comprehend the original layouts and relationships of designs—from one pipe to another and from one flat to another.
I traced the designs, drew them on paper, and then cut stencils. Some stencils were 51″ long and 15″ wide! When the stencils were ready to use, the pipes, one by one, were primed and sanded to a smooth finish. A scale stick was made for each of the pipes so the designs would be placed back in the exact original position.
Colors for the pipes were selected by Terry Byrd Eason to match the walls and interior colors of the sanctuary, leaving the exact disposition of the colors to my discretion. Luckily, in working with the pipes I did find indications of the original colors hidden in nooks and crannies of the pipes. Bright red and green were found, telling me that we were in keeping with the original spirit of the façade design.
First the body of each pipe was painted with five different colors and banded with 24-carat gold. Second, the stencils were applied, some applied by pouncing with a stencil brush while others were gold leafed. These leafed designs had to be traced on the pipes with a pencil, and the gold size was applied with an artist’s brush. The mouths of all the pipes were gold leafed. The bodies of the pipes were nearly completely covered by stenciled designs, and hand painting was required in some areas.
After nine weeks of painting (I saw the sunrise many days), the pipes were finished and ready to go home to Lexington. They now stand proudly in their home and will once again play for at least one hundred years.
My thanks to Terry Byrd Eason for his expert help and to David Brown of Buzard Organ Builders who did the tracings of the original designs.
—Kristin Farmer

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders
First Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky
28 straight stops, 35 ranks
(with preparation for 7-stop, 9-rank Antiphonal division)

GREAT (Manual II)
Underlined stops enclosed
4″ wind pressure
12 stops, 15 ranks
16′ Double Open Diapason* (façade 7–30; 1–6 from Bourdon)
8′ First Open Diapason* (façade 1–15)
8′ Second Open Diapason* (from 16′)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Doppel Flute*
8′ Dulciana*
8′ Unda Maris*
4′ Principal*
4′ Flute d’Amour*
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth*
Mixture IV
8′ Trumpet*
8′ Trombas (from Pedal)
Tremulant
Chimes (25 notes, old tubes, new action)
Great to Great 4-UO
Enclosed Great to Great 16-UO-4
Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal to Great 8′

ANTIPHONAL (Manual I)
(in balcony, preparation in console & switching)
7 stops, 9 ranks
8′ English Open Diapason
8′ Melodia
8′ Flûte à Bibéron
4′ Principal
4′ Suabe Flute
Mixture III
8′ Corno di Bassetto
8′ Trombas (from Pedal)
Antiphonal Unison Off
Great to Antiphonal 8′, 4′
Enclosed Great to Antiph. 16′, 8′, 4′
Swell to Antiphonal 16′, 8′, 4′
Cymbalstern (toe piston)
SWELL (Manual III)
Enclosed, 4″ wind pressure
12 stops, 16 ranks
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt*
8′ Violin Diapason*
8′ Stopped Diapason*
8′ Salicional*
8′ Voix Celeste* (GG)
4′ Principal*
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Flautina*
Sesquialtera II*
Mixture IV
8′ Cornopean
8′ Oboe*
Swell to Swell 16-UO-4
Antiphonal to Swell 8′

PEDAL
Trombone enclosed
4″ wind pressure
4 stops, 4 ranks
32′ Bourdon (ext, 1–12 digital)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (ext, 1–12 digital)
16′ First Open Diapason*
16′ Second Open Diapason* (Gt)
16′ Bourdon*
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw)
8′ Principal*
8′ Bass Flute* (ext, 12 new pipes)
8′ Bourdon (ext)
8′ Gedeckt Flute (Sw)
8′ Violoncello*
4′ Choral Bass*
4′ Open Flute (ext Bdn, 24 new pipes)
16′ Trombone
8′ Trombas (ext)
4′ Clarion (ext)
16′ Antiphonal Gedeckt (ext)
16′ Antiphonal Bassoon (ext)
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Enclosed Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Antiphonal to Pedal 8′

An asterisk (*) denotes pipework retained from the existing organ and restored for the new tonal context.

Photo credit: John-Paul Buzard

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia
Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida
The early morning hours of December 23, 2007 were of significance and great loss for the Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Due to contract negotiations with the symphony, the then-locked-out musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performed at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church with a “Messiah Sing” on the evening of December 22. The proceeds of this performance were to benefit the Health and Welfare fund of the members of this institution. This was the last performance ever held in the sanctuary. Sometime in the morning hours of the 23rd a fire started and in a matter of hours consumed the church to the foundation. On the brink of Christmas, the stunned members and staff assembled on the church grounds in front of the still-smoldering pyre of their sanctuary, to console, pray, and plan. From this immeasurable loss they resolved to bolster their presence in the Jacksonville community with a new church and renewed dedication to their ministry.
Reverend Dr. Kyle Reese assembled a team to plan and oversee the rebuilding of the sanctuary. They vowed to have the church open no later than December 23, 2009, when they would again open the church to the public with a performance of Handel’s Messiah. In addition to Pastor Reese, key members who were to play a role in our building an instrument were O’Neal Douglas, chairman of the Sanctuary Renovation Task Force; Bill Mason, organ committee chairman; Reverend Tommy Shapard, Minister of Music and Worship; and Brenda Scott, organist. A constant presence on this construction project was O’Neal Douglas, who served as a living Gantt chart. He invested untold hours to assure the clear communications and coordination between all the different trades involved to build this church by the required completion date.
Lost in the fire was a three-manual, 48-rank Möller that had been installed in 1989. As one of the last instruments from Möller, it was a very good example of their building style and had been well loved by the congregation. Prior to working with our firm as a sales representative, Herbert Ridgeley Jr. represented the Möller firm. He had worked with then minister of music Reverend Kendall Smith on the installation of this Möller instrument. Marc Conley of our staff had worked on this instrument when he was employed by Möller. With these past affiliations, we began the initial discussions with the church as they considered a replacement pipe organ and evaluated firms that might build this instrument. In the words of Tommy Shapard, the charge of the organ committee was “to design an instrument with a variety of colors and levels of expression available in the new instrument to give our congregation and choir the opportunity to sing together more vitally and creatively as a worshipping body.”
I will always recall an exchange that took place early in our meeting with the organ committee. As we talked about a proposed stoplist, we were five minutes into the discussion when Chairman Mason raised a finger and jokingly said, “Arthur . . . from this point forward whenever we say Baptist, we want you to think Presbyterian.” He was referring to the landmark III/62 instrument our firm was building at that time for New York Avenue Presbyterian in Washington and its ties to President Lincoln and theologian Peter Marshall. (See cover feature, The Diapason, July 2010.) I came to find a much deeper meaning in his offhand quip. In public and private discussions, I have heard other builders refer to a “type” of organ they design by denomination. Personally, I do not believe one serves any church well by imprinting their view of any particular denomination—a generic “this is it” approach to stoplist and tonal design of an instrument. This is true regardless of whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal, or any other denomination. There are and always will be the subtle and not so subtle differences in a church’s worship style. Often in my professional career I have had a church explain their “traditional” worship only to find a worship style that I might personally find to be contemporary, or often a church that describes itself as “contemporary” to be traditional. The euphemism “blended” often used by many churches to describe their music in worship does not solve any identity issues either. As a builder, it is incumbent upon you to experience a church’s worship with your own eyes and ears and then really listen to how your client will use the organ in their worship. This is the only surefire way to refine a stoplist and scale sheets into a cogent amalgam that will allow you to design, voice, and tonally finish an instrument that truly serves the vision of the church you are working for.
A very real challenge in the design of this instrument was that the church moved very fast in the design of a building to assure their December 23, 2009 first service. By the time a contract was signed with our firm, the basic design of the building was locked in place and key building materials had been ordered. We had to work with the architect to design space for an instrument in a building that was already well defined. To allow for an instrument, space would have to be created. As a design team, we found that if we changed the width of the hallway access to the baptistery on the right and left and had a concrete lentil poured above the hallway and above the baptistery, room could be provided for a 43-foot-wide chamber of varying depth and elevations. Taking into account the sloping ceilings in the chambers, we planned a left-to-right division orientation of Swell, Great/Pedal, and Choir. The enclosed divisions of the organ have tone openings on their front and also on the side openings into the center Great and Pedal division. These side openings provide a coalescence and focus for the enclosed resources into the central axis of the instrument.
The chancel façade is designed to frame the baptistery. The façade is silver with polished mouths and features pipework from the 16′ Principal, 16′ Violone, 8′ Octave, and 8′ Diapason. The casework has a maple finish to match the church furnishings. To support the needs of audio-visual functions in their ministry, a projection screen was incorporated into the center section of the upper organ case.
The completed organ is 60 ranks, divided among three manual divisions in the chancel and a floating Antiphonal division in the rear of the church. My specification and scaling for this instrument has its roots in American Classicism, with an emphasis on the English elements found within this stylistic construct. All of the organ divisions are weighted around 8′ chorus structure. The Great is designed around a diapason chorus that has richness and warmth but that still maintains clarity in its phrasing. The Swell features an independent 8′ Principal, which allows the 8′ Swell string scales to be narrower, since these stops do not need to provide the core 8′ flue foundation. The Gemshorn in the Choir is generously scaled, with a wide mouth to support a function in this division analogous to a foundational Spitz Principal. The mixtures in the enclosed divisions are pitched at 2′ and provide a logical completion to the enclosed division principal choruses. This allows completion of the 8/4/2 chorus ladder without breaks in pitch or the need for independent 2′ principals as single stop draws. In addition to avoiding the stridency sometimes found in mixtures with pitches above 1′, this treatment of the mixtures also frees up the 2′ pitch registers for independent manual flutes.
While individually differing in color, the two enclosed divisions have parallel flue pitch registers for support of choral accompaniment. With a large, effective shade front, these divisions provide ample resources of weight and color against the human voice.
The organ reeds were designed with English shallots, which prove much more favorable in a dryer American acoustic. As is our common practice, the organ reeds are placed on separate reservoirs, separate tremolos, and individual unit electro-pneumatic windchests. This treatment allows the reeds to be freed from the strictures of the manual flue wind pressures. This allows complete freedom in scale, shallot design and treatments, and tongue thickness. With a separate tremolo, achieving the correct depth and speed on the reed stops does not become as elusive as it can sometimes be when flues and reeds share a common plenum.
For a large festive solo voice, the chancel organ features a high-pressure English Tuba. This stop is located in the Choir division, and under expressive control it can be used as a darker ensemble reed when it is dynamically caged. It is carried down to the 16′ register to effectively ground the Pedal division.
A very complete Pedal division was desired, with multiple pitches represented from 32′ through 4′. Just the 16′ registers alone represent nine of the 24 stops in the Pedal division. In addition to independent Pedal registers, full advantage was taken of manual-to-pedal duplexes. The result is a plethora of stops under the organist’s control, with a full range of colors and dynamics.
Early on in the design of this instrument, we prepared for a 10-rank Antiphonal. Due to the beneficence of several members, the church was able to contract for this “prepared for” item and have it installed with the chancel instrument. Visually, the rear organ takes its design from the chancel façade. Positioned between the two cases is an 8′ Trompette En Chamade with brass bells. Cognizant of its position in the church and the presence of the high-pressure English Tuba in the chancel organ, the stop was voiced on a moderate 7½ inches pressure. By its position, it has presence and lacks the offensiveness that is sometimes associated with this stop. The core of the Antiphonal organ includes a complete 8′ principal chorus, a lyrical 8′ Gedeckt, and an ethereal pair of 8′ Erzahler Celestes.
Foundational support for the Antiphonal division is provided by a Pedal 16′ Stille Gedeckt and 8′ Stille Principal in the Antiphonal Pedal division. In addition to providing foundation for the rear division, these stops are also very useful in larger organ registrations by adding definition and dimension to the chancel bass presence.
Never to be forgotten in an instrument of this size is the need for quiet contemplative moments. Early in our meetings we talked about the need for the organ to have the resources for what we began to refer to as “the whisper.” In the Choir division, we added a Ludwigtone stop. This is a wooden set of pipes with a dividing wall in the center of the pipe that has two separate mouths. Its unique construction allows each pipe to produce two notes, one of which can be tuned off-beating. In our stoplist as the Flute Celeste II, when it is drawn with a closed box, full couplers, and the Antiphonal Klein Erzahlers added to it, with a light 16′ Pedal stop, there is a moment of being surrounded by an ethereal magic that is at once all enveloping and yet without any weight.
Mechanically this organ uses our electro-pneumatic slider chests, with the organ reeds placed on electro-pneumatic unit chests. Conventional ribbed box regulators are used for the winding system.
The resources of the organ are controlled by a three-manual drawknob console. Built in the English style, the console sits on a rolling platform to allow mobility. The console exterior is built of maple, with an ebonized interior. The console features modern conveniences for the organist, such as multiple memory levels, programmable crescendo and sforzando, transposer, MIDI, and the ability to record and play back organ performances.
To allow full control in the tonal finishing of this instrument, we set sample pipes on the windchests in the organ chambers and then removed the pipes from the chambers to continue work with a portable voicing machine located in the chancel. This allowed us to work unimpeded and be more accurate with cutups and initial nicking, feathering, and flue regulation than could have possible within the confines of the organ chambers and the sea of pipework on each chest. After “roughing in” the pipework voicing, the stops were reinstalled in the organ chamber for final voicing and tonal finishing. In a process that lasted months, the tonal finishing was completed by a team including Daniel Angerstein, Peter Duys, John Tanner, Marc Conley, and Bud Taylor. In addition to our tonal finishers, our installation team included Marshall Foxworthy, Rob Black, Patrick Hodges, Jeremiah Hodges, Kelvin Cheatham, Joe Sedlacek, and Wilson Luna. I am thankful for their dedication and the long hours they put into this project to make sure that our tonal ideals for this instrument were not only achieved but exceeded.
The new sanctuary was finally at a point of completion by November 16 that we were able to begin the installation. The organ was brought up divisionally to allow autonomous work by our staff in multiple divisions. This allowed 40 ranks of the organ to be brought online when first heard in public on December 23, 2009. On this day, our staff was able to return home to be with their families during Christmas, and two family members, Art Schlueter Jr. and Arthur Schlueter III, were able to begin their Christmas together at the public opening of this church with Handel’s Messiah. Forever in my memory will be standing tall as father and son during the Hallelujah Chorus. As with all organ projects, there was still work to be done to complete and finish the organ, but it was a satisfying conclusion to a year that saw the installation of multiple new instruments by our firm and the fulfillment of a promise to this congregation and community.
A final chapter to this story must be told. To assist their search for an organbuilder and evaluate plans for a new instrument, the organ committee engaged local Jacksonville organbuilder, Jim Garvin, as part of their working group. As I developed my proposal for the church, he was a ready translator to discuss the minutiae of the organ proposal—from chest design, stop type, material construction, winding systems, etc. As a builder, I found it a great pleasure to work with Jim, who ably served as a liaison between the organbuilder and the church. Sadly, during the building of this instrument Jim began a battle with cancer. Even as he was weakened by his fight with the cancer, he never wavered in his role as consultant through the organ installation and dedication. I am happy to say that he lived to sing and worship with this instrument. One of our collective proudest moments was at the inaugural organ dedication with Dr. Al Travis. With a solid look in the eye and a firm stance, we exchanged handshakes as equals who had both worked to the best of our abilities on behalf of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Earlier this year Jim lost his fight with cancer. His funeral was held at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, where I again returned to hear organ and choir, but this time to say goodbye. I will forever be grateful for my consultant and colleague I worked with in the completion of this project. Reminiscent of the way the project started, I once again heard Handel, as Jim’s final request for his service had been the Hallelujah Chorus.
Additional information on our firm and projects can be viewed at www.pipe-organ.com or by writing A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, P.O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058.
—Arthur E. Schlueter III, tonal and artistic direction

All photos taken by Tim Rucci (www.timrucci.com)

Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church
Three manuals, 60 ranks

GREAT—Manual II
(unenclosed) (16 ranks)
16′ Violone 61 pipes
8′ Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Violone 12 pipes
8′ Flute Harmonique 49 pipes
(1–12 Pedal Bourdon)
8′ Bourdon 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Spire Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes
2′ Super Octave 61 pipes
IV Mixture 11⁄3′ 244 pipes
III Klein Mixture 2⁄3′ 183 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Trumpet 12 pipes
16′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
8′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
4′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
Chimes (Choir)
Zimbelstern 9 bells
Great to Great 4′
Tremulant

CHOIR—Manual I (enclosed)
(13 ranks)
16′ Gemshorn 12 pipes
8′ Hohl Flute 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn Celeste 49 pipes
8′ Flute Celeste II 80 pipes
(Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Spindle Flute 61 pipes
2′ Harmonic Piccolo 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
III Choral Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Clarinet 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ English Tuba 61 pipes
(non-coupling)
Tremulant
Choir to Choir 16′
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4′

SWELL—Manual III (enclosed) (14 ranks)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Geigen Principal 61 pipes
8′ Viole de Gamba 61 pipes
8′ Viole Celeste TC 49 pipes
8′ Rohr Flute 12 pipes
4′ Geigen Octave 61 pipes
4′ Nachthorn 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard TC 49 pipes
2′ Flageolet (from 16′) 24 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce TC 49 pipes
IV Mixture 2′ 244 pipes
16′ Bassoon 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Oboe 12 pipes
4′ Clarion 12 pipes
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16′
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4′

ANTIPHONAL—floating division (10 ranks)
8′ Weit Principal 61 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler Celeste 49 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
III Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Trompette En Chamade 61 pipes

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL
16′ Stille Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Stille Principal 32 pipes

PEDAL (7 ranks)
32′ Violone (digital)
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Principal 32 pipes
16′ Violone (Great)
16′ Gemshorn (Choir)
16′ Subbass 32 pipes
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8′ Octave 32 pipes
8′ Violone (Great)
8′ Gemshorn (Choir)
8′ Bourdon 12 pipes
8′ Gedeckt (Swell)
4′ Choral Bass 12 pipes
4′ Bourdon 12 pipes
IV Mixture 22⁄3′ 128 pipes
32′ Posaune (digital)
32′ Harmonics (wired Cornet series)
16′ Trombone (ext Tuba) 12 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet (Great)
16′ Bassoon (Swell)
8′ English Tuba (Choir)
8′ Trumpet (Great)
4′ Clarion (Great)
4′ Oboe Clarion (Swell)

Inter-manual couplers
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choir to Pedal 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Pedal

Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choir to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Great

Swell to Choir 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Choir

Antiphonal on Swell

MIDI controls (programmable as preset stops) (with record/playback) (audio included)
MIDI on Pedal
MIDI on Great
MIDI on Swell
MIDI on Choir

Combination system with a minimum of 128 levels of memory

Andover Organ Company, 

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Opus R-345, Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville, Virginia

From the builder

In projects, journeys, and lives, there are milestone events that mark progress or achievements. The dedication of Andover Opus R-345 at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, was such an event. It was a milestone for three long journeys: the completion of a seven-year project for Andover; the culmination of a decade-long sanctuary renovation process for Christ Church; and the latest chapter in the 143-year odyssey of a resilient New England organ.

With their simplicity and durability, it is not unusual for well-made old tracker organs to outlast the buildings or congregations for which they were originally made. Happily, they can often be relocated and repurposed to fit the musical needs and budget of a new owner. At Andover, we tune and maintain a large number of 19th-century instruments which are now in their second, third, or fourth homes.

The saga of the Christ Church organ certainly illustrates this! The core of the instrument is a three-manual, 29-stop organ built in 1869 by E. & G. G. Hook of Boston as their Opus 472 and originally installed in Grace Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois. In 1902, it was moved to another Grace Episcopal Church, in Oak Park, Illinois. In 1922, it was sold to the Third Congregational Church of Oak Park, where it was rebuilt and electrified by Nicholas Doerr of Chicago. The organ was next moved to St. Ludmilla’s Catholic Church in Chicago, probably in 1937 when the Third Congregational Church merged with another congregation. When St. Ludmilla’s closed in 1991, the organ was put into storage. Andover’s Robert C. Newton, a nationally recognized authority on Hook organs, learned of the organ’s availability and purchased it. Opus 472 then made the long journey back to Massachusetts, where it sat in storage, awaiting its fifth home.

Meanwhile, Christ Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, had formed an organ committee to find a replacement for their failing 50-year-old electro-pneumatic organ. That organ had been cobbled together from a variety of used and new parts, and the builder had gone out of business before the organ was finished. Concurrently, plans were begun for a complete renovation of the sanctuary. After much study, the committee determined that the best location for the new instrument would be at the front of the church, to speak directly towards the congregation. This was confirmed by each builder that the committee interviewed during the selection process. 

Being responsible stewards of the church’s resources, the organ committee also researched the option of installing a rebuilt used organ. They determined that if the original organ was a well-made, quality instrument, the end result could be equal, or in some cases superior, to a new organ—yet at significantly less cost. John Whiteside, who became Christ Church’s music director in 2005, contacted us and learned of E. & G. G. Hook Opus 472. Built in 1869, the organ dated from the “golden period” (1850s–1870s) of the firm’s instruments. 

Because the organ had lost its original case, console, structure, action, and wind system during its travels, the surviving Hook pipes and windchests could easily be rearranged to fit the available space in Christ Church. The most essential parts of any organ are the pipes, which define its tonal signature, and the windchests, which influence how the pipes speak and blend.

The Hook firm was one of 19th-century America’s premier organ builders. Their instruments, highly regarded for their mechanical and tonal excellence, were designed and voiced to work well in the dry acoustics of American churches. Though we at Andover build modern instruments designed to serve the needs of today’s church musicians, we draw insight and inspiration from the surviving work of the brothers Elias (1805–1881) and George Greenleaf (1807–1880) Hook and their successor, Francis Hastings (1836–1916). We have been privileged to work on many of their important surviving instruments, including their monumental 101-rank 1875 masterpiece, Opus 801, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, and the famous 1876 “Centennial Exposition” organ, Opus 828, now in St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo.

After careful deliberation, the committee recommended that Christ Church purchase and install Hook Opus 472—which would be completely renovated, rebuilt, and enlarged by Andover—at the front of the church surrounding the rose window. This proposal was approved by the church’s vestry, and in April 2005 a contract was signed. 

The rebuilding work started in 2007, with Ben Mague as project team leader. The Hook pipes were restored and the windchests rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate additional stops. New and vintage ranks, scaled and voiced to be compatible with the original Hook stops, were added to augment the organ’s tonal palette. Ben Mague and Michael Eaton engineered a new console, structure, action, and wind system to fit the renovated chancel area. The new casework was designed by Donald Olson. Noted church architect Terry Eason prepared the plans for the sanctuary renovation.

The organ is laid out with the Swell on the left, the unenclosed Choir in the center, and the Great on the right. The Pedal stops are divided among these three locations. The bass of the Pedal reed is behind the Swell, its treble and all of the 16′ Subbass are behind the Choir, and the Double Open Diapasons are behind the Great. 

The organ’s white oak casework was built in our shop. We take great care to design the exterior of each instrument to complement the architecture of its surroundings. Thus, the blind Byzantine arches of the lower casework were patterned after the existing chancel side wall woodwork. The polished tin façade pipes comprise the lowest notes of the Great 8′ Open Diapason and the Pedal 8′ Violoncello. The detached oak console has walnut interior woodwork and a walnut swirl veneered music rack. The pau ferro drawknobs, with 19th-century-style oblique heads with inset engraved labels, are arranged in stepped terraces. The center-pivoted manual keys have bone-plated naturals and ebony sharps.

The manual key action is mechnical, as are all the couplers. To facilitate the positioning of the Pedal pipes in the most advantageous spaces, all of the Pedal stops are on electro-pneumatic unit chests that we designed and built. The stop action is electric. The Solid State Organ Systems combination action, with 100 memory levels and a piston sequencer, affords the player seamless control of the organ’s resources. 

While the rebuilding was underway, Christ Church’s rector departed for another parish. The church postponed the fund-raising for the sanctuary renovations and turned its attention to finding a new rector. Thankfully, during this period a parish donor continued to fund the organ’s rebuilding so the project would not lose momentum. 

The completed instrument was unveiled at an open house at our shop on November 6, 2010. Although the organ was ready, the church was not. Bids had not yet been received for the chancel renovations. It was discovered that part of a rock ledge beneath the chancel would have to be removed to permit excavation for a basement to house HVAC equipment and the organ blower. This increased the scope of the project.

The organ sat, playable, in our shop until May 2011 when, needing that space for other projects, we shipped it to Charlottesville and stored it in the church parish hall. The chancel renovations were finally begun in the fall of that year and nearly finished when we started the organ’s installation in January 2012. Parts of the organ were playable by Easter, when it was first used. The remaining flues and all the reeds were installed and regulated during the following months. On Friday evening, October 5, 2012, noted organ recitalist and recording artist Bruce Stevens played the dedicatory program to a large and excited congregation. It was a milestone event, the happy ending to a long road!

Just as a great organ is the sum of its parts, a great organ company is the sum of its people. We are blessed to have a team of seventeen dedicated craftspeople who, collectively, have over 400 years of organbuilding experience. Those who worked on Opus R-345 were Ryan Bartosiewicz, Matthew Bellocchio, Anne Doré, Michael Eaton, Don Glover, Al Hosman, Lisa Lucius, Benjamin Mague, David Michaud, Tony Miscio, Fay Morlock, John Morlock, Robert Newton, Donald Olson, Casey Robertson, Jonathan Ross, Craig Seaman, and David Zarges.

—Matthew M. Bellocchio

Andover Organ Company

Photos © William T. Van Pelt

Testimonials

It really is a wonderful organ! I’m playing everything from Franck to Rheinberger to Bach . . . and all of these different-style pieces sound really very fine. I find the key action quite graceful to play. Because so many of the sounds are the golden-period Hook sounds we love, we’re thrilled to have such an organ in Virginia—at long last. Thanks for all that you have done to provide this special, magnificent instrument to a location in our state. The only big disappointment is that it’s not here in Richmond!

—Bruce Stevens

University of Richmond

Thanks for the good work . . . and for giving Virginia an E. & G. G. Hook organ. I believe it is the only organ in the state to have most of its tonal components arising from the brothers Hook during their control of the company.

—William T. Van Pelt

Retired Executive Director 

Organ Historical Society

From the organbuilder

While our firm has been very prolific as a builder of new instruments since our founding in 1973, our company also has been very significant as a rebuilder and maintenance firm. So in 2011, when our firm was invited to Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, we approached a situation that required all of our skill sets.

A four-manual, 84-rank instrument by another firm had been contracted years earlier and was installed in their new sanctuary between 2008 and 2011. The church was having numerous concerns about the organ after it had been installed. There were mechanical and performance issues, but even more than this, the organ simply did not support their worship. 

Under the direction of the Reverend Carlos Ichter, minister of music, a number of pipe organ builders and consultants were invited to provide an assessment of the organ. The “solutions” given by others ranged from accepting it as it was and trying to increase wind pressure to completely starting over. With the considerable cost, this was not a consideration the church could contemplate, and accepting it as it was would not be an option.

We were asked if we could look at the organ to determine if we could find a way to make the organ a success and what it would require. As we studied the organ and researched the church records, we found numerous contracts, changes, and alterations that had occurred in the design of the instrument from its inception up to when it was installed. Without belaboring the point, this told an interesting story and explained the footing the church took with negotiations going forward, where they had to question everything that they were told.

We started our formal study of the instrument by bringing a team of eight of our staff to the church for one week. We studied the stoplist and scaling of the organ, the chest actions, the winding system, the expression shades, the organ console, the electrical system and relays, and the organ chassis as a whole. We dissected the internal workings of the organ and to better know the pipework, took the time to tune the organ. Next, we voiced some samples of the existing pipework to explore the latitude available for change.

The placement of the organ was in organ chambers in the front of the chancel behind a façade of 32′ pipes, and in a rear antiphonal. The chancel organ chambers sit high in the sanctuary with relatively small tone openings. Portions of these chambers have significant tone traps. The layout and placement of the pipework and chassis acted as physical barriers to the tonal egress of other stops in the organ. There were multiple instances of bass pipes being placed directly in the front of the chambers and covering the tone openings to a very large degree. 

We started our tonal design with a needs study and development of a clearly written, cogent plan for the musical support role of the organ in the church. Our work was to be a change agent to the development of an eclectic instrument that could take part in all forms of music including choral and congregational accompaniment, its role with orchestra, and service playing.

Much of the flue pipework in the organ was of decent quality and well built. However, the organ had a number of individual symphonic, orchestral-oriented stops—which, while beautiful, had been allowed more influence on the overall specification at the expense of a solid foundational accompaniment core. We felt that through reallocation of the flue resources we could accomplish the artistic considerations of a revised specification, while preserving many of the resources in a fiscally conservative manner. 

To begin our work, the pipework and console were removed to our workshop to be refurbished for the new specification. We remanufactured the drawknob jambs to include an entirely new string organ, replaced all of the drawknobs and engraving, replaced the tablet rail, and relocated the combination control panel to a central location so it could easily be seen by the organist. We also made changes to the console expression shoes and pedalboard to conform to AGO specifications, rewired the piston sequencer to function in a conventional manner, and added several pistons to the organ for performance features.

The specification contained a large number of slotted stops, including strings, harmonic pipes, and mixture compositions. The slotting exacerbated the fifth at the expense of the unison pitch and became unstable at a pressure that the pipe mouth cutups couldn’t handle. This third harmonic of the series was pervasive in all of the larger massed flue choruses. Through additions, stop exchange, reallocation of pipework, re-pitching and revoicing, we were able to reinforce the unison registers and improve treble ascendency.

The organ as it had been conceived included a partially enclosed Great. This had placed the flutes and reed of the Great division in the rearmost location of the entire organ where the dynamics were diminutive at best. We decided to abandon this location for a chamber next to the Swell and Great divisions that could speak directly into the sanctuary. This new unenclosed Great location allowed the diapason, flutes, and reed to speak unimpeded into the 2,200-seat room. This projected their full color and harmonics without a loss of dynamics. In the rightmost chamber location, we added to the independent resources of the Pedal division and extended the compass of two Pedal registers, so they could be drawn into the Great as secondary manual registers, balancing out the 8′ fundamental tone from both sides of the chancel.

Many of the strings throughout the organ were orchestral in nature, and small scaled. These thin string stops did not support choral and congregational accompaniment or blend well with the principal and flute chorus fonds. In our design, we decided to gather these romantic resources into an enclosed string division with the inclusion of an 8′ Tibia and 8′ Vox Humana. The movement of these stops from the Great, Swell, and Choir allowed room to add larger divisional strings and additional foundational flue resources. 

The Antiphonal division was enlarged with an independent 8′ Rohrflute. Included with this division are 16′, 8′, 8′ registers to the pedal. The result proved very useful for providing reinforcement and sculpture to the chancel Pedal in the room acoustics.

The organ reeds were generally of a darker color. Some of the organ reeds had been designed for another instrument and had been repurposed and modified for this organ. In addition to the sound of the organ reeds, which was not conducive to our tonal vision, there were a number of loose shallots, and tongue and wedge issues, and tongues that created voicing and tuning problems. Due to differing wind pressures, it was not possible to consider moving reed stops from division to division in support of the revised specification. At the completion of our work, all of the reeds had been rebuilt or replaced. 

The largest solo reed in this organ is the 8′ Tuba Mirabilis. Built of copper and installed as an “en Chamade,” it had been on 24′′ wind pressure, which was too commanding for the sanctuary. It was re-tongued and revoiced on 19′′ wind pressure. Even revoiced, the horizontal focus leaves it as a commanding reed but with greater blending use. We added an 8′ Tromba Heroique stop to the Solo division as a scalable dynamic registration option. With the Solo expression box open it can be a commanding solo stop, but closed can be used as a large ensemble chorus reed.

The Pedal did not have the gravitas that was required of it. The 32′, 16′ Violone unit and 16′ Principal in the façade were revoiced to better fit the room. The 16′ Major Bourdon was rescaled with higher arched cut-ups added to allow more foundational weight. In the Pedal, we added several additional 16′ registers, additional 8′ stops, and a large mixture. In the case of the 32′ reed registers, they had subdued speech and colors that were not cohesive with the final specification as we envisioned it. This became a moot point, as there was no room to relocate these stops. We replaced these extensions with digital voices, which, in this instance, was a better tonal choice. 

The internal layout of the pipework, windchests, winding system, expression shades, and chassis blocked sound. Additionally, there were portions of the organ where access for tuning and maintenance was very difficult. We found places in the organ where some individual pipes had been offset and other places where notes had been silenced rather than attempt repairs on individual chest actions. In conjunction with the redesigned specification we addressed serviceability, winding, and tonal egress.

The windchests were built with a proprietary form of electro-mechanical action in conjunction with an internally developed individual electro-pneumatic action. The reason for the blended actions seems to have been the very high wind pressures employed. The measured wind pressures on the organ ranged from 6¼′′ up to a high of 28′′. This is a realm where electro-mechanical action has rarely been used, with typical wind pressures between 3′′–5′′ being the historic norm for most instruments with this type of chest action. Unfortunately, the individual electro-pneumatic actions had very little travel and constricted the flow of wind into the pipe toes. The result was that a large number of bass pipes were starved of wind. As part of a test we stripped off the rubber cloth pouch on one of the actions and rebuilt it to allow greater depth of travel. The result of this test was immediate and noticeable. These valves were removed from the organ and rebuilt for a large number of the bass registers in the organ, including the 32′ Violone and the core 16′ and 8′ foundational registers. 

In our negotiations with the church the façade pipes and its structure were a specific exclusion. The pipes of the façade are from the 32′ Violone, 16′ Principal, and the 8′ Second Open Diapason, as well as a large number of dummy pipes. Our intent was to voice the pipes of the façade, not taking liability for their construction or racking. As the church had reasoned and we had concurred, it was brand new and should not have been an issue. This supposition changed when several pipes of the (horizontal) 8′ Tuba Mirabilis had hooks that had separated and the racking for these pipes had deflected downward. This set of pipes was in the façade hanging directly over the choir members’ heads and became a looming concern. The church asked us to scaffold up the front of the church and survey the condition of the entire façade and its racking. We found a number of problems that had the potential to be safety issues. Over a period of two weeks we scaffolded the front of the church, secured the toeboards, added vertical structure, installed custom steel supports, added secondary hooks on a number of pipes, and properly secured the pipe racks to the structure. 

The original horizontal expression shades were made with edges over half the thickness of the non-beveled part of the expression shades and opened toward the ceiling. This directed sound into tone traps and away from the choir and congregation. These shades had 4′′ of felt on the front and rear beveled surfaces for a total of 8′ of absorptive felt. The tonal result was a shade opening that acted nearly half-closed even when the shades were wide open. In addition to occlusion, the open shades presented a felted wall to the enclosed division and provided absorption for the non-enclosed stops in front of the shades. We replaced all of the expression shades in the chancel divisions. This allowed one-third more opening to the enclosed divisions and reduced the sound absorption of the open shades to a negligible factor.

To generate the high wind pressures called for in the original organ design, there were a large number of blowers feeding into each other to raise the wind pressures. This created internal turbulence, noise, and heat, as well as noticeable flutter in some of the reservoir tops. The leather on the reservoirs was not well adhered and was beginning to separate from the reservoir wood shells. We knew that for the organ to be successful, we would need to redesign the winding system. This was not a small consideration. In the end all of the reservoirs were rebuilt or replaced with new. We were able to reduce the total number of reservoirs from 49 to 31, and reduce the number of blowers from nine to five, total. We also replaced twelve tremolos.

Our full team of pipe voicers were brought to Tallowood where we located a voicing machine and several workbenches outside of the organ chambers in a stairwell. The voicing of this organ was a marathon of setting pipe samples in the chambers and then removing the pipes so that the large degree of work could be performed outside of the chamber. These pipes were then handed back into the organ chambers and tonally finished. In an instrument on multiple levels with eight separate chamber locations and 94 ranks that included 5,598 speaking pipes, this was no small undertaking. We were able to process the pipework in a seamless fashion, trading off table work with in-chamber finishing. Even with these efficiencies, this process still took months of work. We brought up the organ by division and encouraged the church to begin using it in worship services after approximately half of the instrument was completed. Attending services and rehearsals became a way to gauge and focus our efforts. It was exciting for our firm and for the church, as each week there were additional resources made available to be heard for the first time. In a final review of the project, there were numerous changes that we made to the instrument. My notes show 168 separate items, all of which had subsets. I was asked at one point about one of the smaller changes we were making. The question was, “how important will that one change be?” I answered that one change may in and of itself be small in stature; however, the multiplicity of small changes would couple to become a great change. In the end, the choices we made allowed for a successful outcome, where others had not seen this route to success—at least not at a reasonable cost given the degree of change required. A measure of this success, at the end of this project, was that the church’s faith had been restored in pipe organ builders. We would like to thank the congregation and leadership of the church for the faith that they personally placed in us. I also would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank our staff for their dedicated efforts.

—Arthur E. Schlueter III

Artistic and Tonal Direction

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company

From the minister of music

The journey to the completion of our pipe organ was not an easy one. When we came to the full realization that our original instrument was riddled with problems, we sought the council of numerous organists and organ builders in order to find a viable solution. The A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company offered us the most attractive option for completion of our instrument. We spent nearly three years addressing numerous concerns, including listening to disenchanted church members and allowing for difficult conversations in committee meetings. Ultimately, the church approved the proposal from Schlueter, and we now have a beautiful, completed instrument. We are grateful for the Schlueter team and the Tallowood members for the completion of this magnificent instrument for the glory of God.

—Carlos Ichter

Cover photo credit: Mark Johanson