Buzard Opus 42

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 42, St. Bridget Catholic Church, Richmond, Virginia

From the builder

The new organ at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia, is the 42nd new organ to come from the workshop of John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois. It was completed on October 1, 2013, and inaugurated by Ken Cowan in concert on November 15.

The organ’s visual design was guided by the parish’s desire to reclaim a large stained glass window, which the former organ completely blocked. Pastor Monsignor William Carr, who began his clerical career at St. Bridget as the assistant pastor in the 1970s, remembered the beauty of the occluded window and began discussions with John-Paul Buzard in 2005 about the possibilities. The deteriorating mechanical condition and musical limitations of the previous instrument hastened the desire to proceed. The Great Recession delayed the start of the project until the parish raised all the funds to purchase the organ, as their bishop required. 

The gallery’s floor space is quite limited and the window is large. But, the church’s acoustical volume and musical needs required an instrument of a larger tonal size than that which would have been possible with a traditional design. This required some outside-the-box creative thinking, and resulted in our recommendation that the Great division be suspended over the gallery rail, and that the enclosed divisions be thought of as more a divided Swell than independent Swell and Choir divisions. Area organist Grant Hellmers was invited to consult, and enthusiastically agreed that the design met both musical and architectural requirements. The Great’s profile is kept low in order to keep this portion of the organ below the field of glass. The former heavy wood railing was replaced with a more transparent wrought-iron rail. The two enclosed divisions are located in matching cases on either side of the window. The cases’ designs utilize shapes and details found elsewhere in the Tudor-revival building. The result is that the organ cherishes the window, and the gallery and organ are architecturally integrated into the entire worship space rather than being set apart.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Engineer Charles Eames created an instrument whose physical essence truly flows from the building, therein creating room for a larger instrument than the space would have otherwise held. With the new organ in place, the gallery has an additional 100 square feet of usable floor space for the choir and other musicians, which it did not have previously.

This is indeed a three-manual organ. The three-division design evolved from the original two-manual divided Swell concept. The introduction of the 8′ Claribel Flute into what became a somewhat untraditional Choir division allowed the instrument to take on its three-manual identity. The organ exhibits a far greater variety of tone colors and pitch ranges than is typical of many instruments of its size. And it has the uncanny ability to take on the appropriate tonal characteristics of various historical and national styles to fit the character of the musical composition. All of history informs and directs us in the evolution of our singular “Classically Symphonic” tonal style.

The engineering, mechanical systems, and pipe-making all support the artistic end result. The main manual windchests are all electrically operated slider and pallet chests. The chests for the unit stops have expansion chambers built into the very thick toe-boards, to replicate the winding characteristics of the slider chests. All of the pipes are made of high tin content pipe metal, even in the bass, rather than zinc. The large pipes play promptly without having to use beards. The result is fullness and warmth without any hardness or inelegance of tone quality, all the way to the bottom of the compass.

The church’s acoustics change drastically when the room is filled with people, and the church is nearly full every time the organ is used. Tonal Director Brian Davis ably met the challenges that this condition presents by scaling and voicing the instrument for optimal performance when the room is full. The result is that the organ is never too loud, but it fills the room with sound even when played softly. An entire congregation can be supported in its singing with a single 8′ Diapason; the strings are voluptuous and shimmering; the haunting Flute Cœlestis provides an air of mystery; the Choir reeds provide some of the most beautiful cantabile colors imaginable; the smooth and stately Tuba soars above full organ. Nearly every stop can be used with any other to create a new musical color.

Superior tonal design, sensitive voicing, and painstaking tonal finishing result in the exquisite blend and balance of the individual stops and their choruses, relating to both themselves and to the room. And, as Ken Cowan demonstrated to the delight of his audience, there are many ways that this instrument can render seamless dynamic changes. As is the case with all Buzard organs, symphonic color and romantic warmth never sacrifice sprightly clarity and transparency of tone for rendering polyphonic music. 

The church’s growing music program is under the direction of Allen Bean. The children’s program, which Bean instituted and includes both boy and girl choirs, has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

Thanks to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders whose professionalism shines forth in all the work we undertake!

John-Paul Buzard, Artistic Director

Brian K. Davis, Tonal Director

Charles Eames, Vice President and Chief Engineer

Keith Williams, Director, Service Department

Shane Rhoades, Foreman, Production Department and Cabinetmaker

David Brown, Foreman, Service Department

Christopher Goodnight, Master Cabinetmaker

John Jordan, Service Technician

Michael Meyer, Cabinetmaker

Dennis Northway, Chicago area representative and Service Technician

Jay Salmon, Office Manager

Stuart Weber, Senior Service Technician

John Wiegand, Service Technician

Ray Wiggs, Console and Windchest specialist

Jonathan Young, Tonal Department Associate

—John-Paul Buzard

As a first-time voicer on any project, let alone one of this size, the installation of the St. Bridget’s organ was an eye-opening experience for me. The tonal design of the instrument was set before I was brought onto the Buzard team, but I had the opportunity to voice several stops under the tutelage of Tonal Director Brian Davis. Because of the acoustical characteristics of the room, the organ had to have plenty of treble ascendancy while still maintaining warm foundations and good blend. Thus, the higher pitches “sang out” a bit in the voicing room, but the effect in the church is a lively sound, not at all top-heavy but not dark or muffled.

The organ proved an overwhelming success—clear choruses and the proximity of the Great case to the seating area mean contrapuntal music can be rendered quite effectively; the variety of reed colors available lend themselves to solo work as well as forming a striking Swell reed chorus; two contrasting strings in separate boxes add variety to the foundations; and the presence of two cornets, one in the Great, enables the organ to reproduce French Classical music particularly well. However, it is equally adept at handling more modern literature and orchestral transcriptions, as was demonstrated by Ken Cowan at the inaugural recital. 

Throughout the process of voicing and tonal finishing, I was struck by how each installed stop expanded the ability of the organ as a vehicle for improvisation and interpretation of literature. The body of music this instrument will render is indeed large, and with that in mind I went back to Richmond at the beginning of November to record enough music to demonstrate some of its capabilities, including pieces by Guilmant, Langlais, de Grigny, and several major Bach works. All came off admirably, a testament to the versatility of the instrument and the integration of colors not usually found on American organs, such as the large Pedal 4′ open flute.

The St. Bridget’s organ represents a tremendous outlay of time, energy, and planning in pursuit of an instrument that will handle repertoire of any period with a clear but rich sound, and one which I hope the congregation will treasure for years to come.

—Jonathan Young, Tonal Associate

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders

From the director of music

St. Bridget Parish, a Roman Catholic parish of about 7,000 registered members, is among the largest in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Established in 1949, with the building completed and consecrated in 1950, the parish has thrived since its inception. 

The church building is Tudor style with Gothic elements. Seating only 500, the church provides five regular Masses every weekend to accommodate parishioners. Four Masses are led by organ and cantor, with assistance from choral ensembles. The Sunday evening Mass is led by piano, guitars, and a contemporary choir.

I became Music Minister at St. Bridget in October 2005. The primary accompanying instruments at that time were a transplanted E. M. Skinner organ, which was ¼-step flat and in need of restoration, and a mid-1920s Steinway M, also in poor condition. The Parish Adult Choir of about 20 singers sang for one Mass on Sunday morning, and the other Masses were led by volunteer cantors.

Since then, the music ministry has grown. The Parish Adult Choir has grown to 35 voices, and choirs for children (absent from the music ministry for more than 30 years) include a Boy Choir of 11 singers, and a Girl Choir of nearly 30 choristers. The Boy and Girl Choirs, using the RSCM Voice for Life Program, have established themselves as important and valued ensembles, and distinguished themselves in performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

As the parish’s music ministry has grown, so has the need for an organ that could accompany an ever increasingly diverse music ministry, in a church whose acoustics change dramatically depending on the number of worshippers in the church.

The installation of our new instrument evolved out of conversation between Monsignor Carr and me in August 2005. The 1920s E. M. Skinner organ that so nobly served this parish since the 1970s, brought here from the now deconsecrated Monumental Church in downtown Richmond, was in need of restoration. Conversation quickly turned to action. Within a few months we had explored restoring and enlarging the Skinner organ, with additions that would give it the flexibility required for our growing program. We also received from John-Paul Buzard a proposal for a new instrument, one that would be tonally designed for our acoustical space, give us the flexibility we need to support choirs, cantors, and congregation, and uncover a great west window that is an architectural feature of the church.

The original design proposed by Mr. Buzard underwent several modifications over the following months. The stoplist was refined, as the organ became slightly smaller in scope than we originally envisioned, yet considerably more flexible. Mechanical components were also addressed in this process (another nod to flexibility), including independent swell shades on two sides of each enclosed division. The design process of this instrument was a delight for me as parish musician. The parish is forever grateful for the work of our Organ Project Consultant, Grant Hellmers, whose wisdom and experience helped define the parish’s needs in an instrument, and brought clarity to the process as St. Bridget personnel and I worked with the Buzard shop in the design phase.

Once the design was finalized, the Buzard shop began to plan the physical design of the instrument, and, under the direction of Tonal Director Brian Davis, began to envision the tonal color of each and every stop in the instrument. Mr. Davis’s ability to take the numbers that represented the (ever-changing) acoustical properties of the church, and to determine scale and timbre of each of more than 2,000 pipes in 38 ranks, producing more than 48 stops, proved to be remarkable. Charles Eames also worked magic, engineering the organ that John-Paul and Brian envisioned to fit into a relatively small space.

Several weeks of voicing accomplished by John-Paul Buzard, Brian Davis, and Jonathan Young brought St. Bridget Parish’s organ to completion. The instrument’s design, its pipes, its mechanicals, the construction of the instrument’s beautiful casework, its installation, its voicing, the work of St. Bridget Church’s own organ project committee, building committee, and staff, altogether required more than 20,000 hours of labor. I believe that even when it was labor bought and paid for, it was a labor of love, and that the Buzard shop always acted with a sense of vocation.

St. Bridget parishioners gave freely of their time to make sure the church was ready to receive the instrument. John McCulla coordinated our efforts with the Buzard shop. Richard Lewis designed the mechanical and electrical components the church provided. Terrence Kerner arranged for the addition of HVAC for the organ gallery. Patrick Ross and the St. Bridget maintenance staff were always on hand to help subcontractors and the Buzard crew with whatever they needed. These parishioners have remained involved even after the organ’s completion to assure the project is truly complete and in keeping with the church’s beautiful architecture.

Several enabling gifts allowed this project to move forward. In all, some 265 parishioners, a relatively small number of our many parishioners, made this instrument a gift to the parish. Additionally, still more parishioners have contributed to the Friends of Music Fund at St. Bridget, to enable an inaugural concert series, so that we can make it a gift to the Richmond community.

Because this platform is here for me to do so, I want to express my special gratitude to our Pastor, Monsignor Carr, who began this conversation more than eight years ago. He envisioned a pipe organ for St. Bridget Parish. He let the donors to the project know of our need. He guided Parish Council, Parish Finance Council, and all who made decisions about the organ throughout the process. And, if there is anyone who delights more in this instrument than I do, it is Monsignor Carr.

—Allen Bean

Minister of Music, St. Bridget Parish

Gordon and Barbara Betenbaugh are organist/choirmasters at First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, VA. They have recently returned from a 13-week sabbatical in the UK. They also direct Cantate, the Children's Choir of Central Virginia, and Mrs. Betenbaugh is chapel organist and assistant choral director at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg.

Tim Byram-Wigfield has been the music director at Jesus College in Cambridge since 1999. A former chorister at King's College, he was organ scholar at Christ Church Oxford before he moved to Winchester Cathedral to be sub-organist in 1985. For eight years he was Master of the Music at St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh before taking up his present appointment. He combines his work at Jesus College with a busy schedule as an organ recitalist, and has played in France, Australia, Belgium, the USA and Canada. He conducts the Northampton Bach Choir, is organist for the Millennium Youth Choir, and regularly gives workshops for amateur choirs. He is also active as a pianist, arranger and composer. He broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 3, and has recorded on the EMI, Hyperion, Argo, Priory and Herald labels.

The chapel at Jesus College is the most ancient college building in Cambridge, begun in 1140. We had occasion to speak with Tim over tea prior to his afternoon rehearsal on Friday, May 23. We had previously attended a week's rehearsals and Evensongs at Jesus. The program is distinctive in maintaining two choirs. During university term there are five choral services each week. The Chapel Choir sings three and the Mixed Choir sings two. The alto, tenor and bass voices are common to both groups and are sung by the choral scholars, who each receive £100 per term plus a nominal payment for all the services they sing.

Tim Byram-Wigfield has recently been appointed director of music at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The chapel runs a conventional cathedral-style set-up of boy choristers and twelve professional men, singing daily services. The building is one of the finest examples of English 15th-century architecture, with fan vaulting, fine stained-glass windows, and a marvelous Harrison and Harrison pipe organ.

BB: Your boy choir doesn't have a choir school like King's College or St. John's, do they?

TB-W: That's right.

BB: Do they pay tuition?

TB-W: No, the college provides it. In fact, the college also pays them a small stipend of £35 per term which is put into a savings account for them. It can accumulate until the time that their voice changes. We also provide some instrumental bursaries for them.

BB: How does that work?

TB-W: An instrumental bursary is a small donation that the college would make to the parents directed toward the cost of their instruments.

GB: Suzuki is not taught much over here, is it?

TB-W: It is in some places and certainly at very young ages. It used to be very popular for children who wanted to learn the violin in large classes. I daresay in London it still happens. I don't know of a class in Cambridge, but there might be one.

GB: Actually, from a choral standpoint it only helps the ear. It doesn't help the reading skills which is paramount.

TB-W: Yes, that's true. When I first came here four years ago there were only 13 full-time choristers, and only about half of them were reading on their instruments. Maybe it's just been through luck or because we've been tapping a different vein, the caliber of chorister we've been getting in terms of their musical ability and literacy has appreciated a bit. Going back to what you were saying, ours is a very different set-up from King's and St. John's. We operate on a part-time basis and can only be on that part-time basis, because the activity is essentially taking place after school at the end of the choristers' day.

BB: In the auditioned children's choir we have at home, the parents pay tuition. We've found that when parents pay tuition to the choir just like they do for soccer or other sports and activities, they feel more inclined to insure that their child attends rehearsal.

TB-W: Yes, that's like having lessons. That's less of a problem with us, because in a sense we're asking them to do us a favor by having the boys come and sing the services for us. In return, of course, we're providing them with a certain element of musical education and other aspects of education as well. Commitment being what it is these days, the amount of things the parents want their children to do affects the choir. We had a full house on Wednesday evening, and then we had less than 2/3 yesterday. This morning I got several e-mails that children would be absent for this, that, and the other reason. You get the idea.

GB: Yes, we have the same thing with church volunteer children's choirs at our church.

BB: Do you teach the boys in a separate theory class?

TB-W: No, it has to be done in the context of the music that we teach them. The only time I get the chance to teach them anything in that vein is when they're probationers and come to their probationers' class, which is on Tuesday afternoons. We only have an hour.

GB: Did you start the mixed choir of boys and girls in Edinburgh at St. Mary's Cathedral?

TB-W: No, my predecessor Dennis Townhill did. That works for them very successfully because they operate like a choir school. We had rehearsal in the morning and a service in the evening. Also, because it's in Scotland, where the tradition is not so firmly embedded in the society, it wasn't seen quite so much as a heresy to introduce boys and girls together, although for a while it was not without its difficulties. One of the strongest arguments there was that it was the only choir school in Scotland, and also because the choir school operated like a specialist music school like Wells Cathedral or Manchester. The argument was that this was a golden opportunity for a child to sing in the choir, so boys and girls should have the same opportunity. That's a pretty strong argument, really! It was for those reasons that they introduced the boys and girls. They kept an eye on the balance, which never really got beyond a third, boys to girls. Here it is a different situation, because this is a volunteer boys choir, just a club really. It could be swimming or it could be football.

BB: Do you have auditions?

TB-W: Oh yes, they are auditioned, and they have to pass that audition. They also have to pass an informal audition having done their probationary training before they become full choristers.

BB: Explain that, please. The earliest we take choristers in our auditioned children's choir is third grade, which is age 8. What age do you start the boys?

TB-W: I take them earlier at age 6, because I want them to get the bug early and get them used to using their voices and get them to understand something of the single line of music in front of them. They come and sing with the older boys once or twice a term.

BB: How often do you meet with these boys?

TB-W: Just once a week for a half an hour on Tuesday for singing with a bit of theory thrown in. It's really learning how to use the voice, and they learn some chorus songs and some easy hymns. They have a little test every term, so they have to learn something from memory, and they have to count rhythms. It's predominantly based on the singing rather than on instruments. That gives them the bug. They get their own cassock in the vestry and have something to aspire to. By the time they're 8 or 9 they are old enough to join the big guys.

GB: I understand that the college has done this for about 150 years.

TB-W: Yes, in 1849 when the stalls were put in and that lovely ancient organ case with the angels painted on it. [Author's note: In 1849 the "Sutton Organ" was built by J. C. Bishop and restored by Mander in 1967.] There was a rededication of the chapel, and we still have the manuscript for an anthem which was written by Thomas Walmisley for four boy choristers to sing. The names of the four boys are on the front of the manuscript. It's really very touching. They clearly were one of the porter's sons or one of the cook's sons or that kind of thing. Ever since 1849 there's been this tradition of getting volunteer boys to come sing in the chapel. That is, I daresay, one of the reasons why Jesus College is distinctive among other college chapels, because they've had the boy trebles, and a number of very distinguished church musicians have cut their teeth by being organ scholars here. There's James O'Donnell, Peter Hurford, Richard Lloyd, Malcolm Archer and a whole host of others who've gone on to work in schools as well as cathedrals. I think we've got four, maybe five, ex-Jesus organ scholars who are now assistants in cathedrals, which is very encouraging. It's a pretty worthy record. So, we don't have as long a tradition as King's or St. John's. One of the reasons that it wasn't as developed was because they never had a director of music to develop the program. The organ scholars were responsible for running it. In days gone by when academic pursuits weren't so pressurized, it was probably possible. In these days what with children's protection, the experience of teaching them, never mind the time it takes to go around to the schools and recruit them, the energy and time you need to devote to the program, you can't expect an 18-year old organ scholar to do that and do his degree also. That's why they created this post.

BB: How do you recruit?

TB-W: I go around to the schools where we already have choristers, and ones which I know are sympathetic. I do know some colleagues in other cathedrals where they have a similar situation where the headmasters won't allow them across the threshold because they think that it's peddling Christianity. This is becoming a real issue of political correctness in this country. You get parents who will refuse to allow their children to sing Christmas carols. I hate to say it, but this has emanated from the other side of the Atlantic. It's very sad in a way, because it undermines and makes us question everything about the oral tradition that we have in this country. In that context, it's actually in some places very difficult to sustain any kind of Christian choir at all. In Cambridge we're lucky because a lot of the people we're appealing to are educated enough to understand about the tradition; secondly there is a huge reservoir of parents who are employed by the university and therefore can understand what's being offered and thirdly, although they might send their child to a state school, they still want their child to be a chorister. Those three things give us an extra edge, but I think in other places it's rather different.

GB: We're going to the Southern Choirs Festival in Salisbury on the Saturday that you'll be there accompanying the Millennium Youth Choir. What kind of commitment do you have with them?

TB-W: Two courses, one at Easter and one in the summer.

GB: You don't accompany them each week then?

TB-W: No, because they come from all over the country. It's drawn from parish church choirs. The whole rationale behind the Millennium Youth Choir is that the RSCM designed this for young people between the ages of 16 and 23. It's for "A" level and university singers who wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity if they sing in their parish church choir to sing to that level of excellence.

GB: We have a chorister, a rising senior, who just e-mailed us that she'd been invited to sing at a new RSCM course at Washington National Cathedral this summer. She was delighted.

BB: She had been to two or three RSCM camps.

TB-W: Right. The RSCM has a number of summer courses as you've probably seen. The Millennium Youth Choir is relatively new as its name might indicate. It's only been going for three years. It was first conducted by Martin Neary. He did it for about 18 months to two years. Now Gordon Stewart conducts it.

GB: Where's he from?

TB-W: He hails from Dundee, but he's operating in the North. He was organist at Blackburn Cathedral and taught in Manchester for a long time. He's now the borough organist of Huddersfield Town Hall. There's a very fine Willis organ there. He does a lot of work with the BBC. He conducts both Daily Service and Songs of Praise as well as The Millennium Youth Choir.

BB: The Millennium Choir basically sings only twice a year?

TB-W: Yes, but there are one or two other opportunities that come along. For instance, they sang on the BBC Songs of Praise which is a television program on Sundays. Generally it's just twice a year, but I'm happy to go and play. It's nice to be able to do that.

GB: The 1971 Mander organ in the chapel is certainly eccentric!

TB-W: Oh, yes. It's really on its last legs now.

GB: Are you going to renovate it?

TB-W: Thirty years ago English organ builders were only just discovering or re-discovering about the principles of German Werkprinzip and tracker action. This was their brave first attempt to build something with tracker action and bold German choruses. That's what it is! It's very much a product of its time. It has the eccentric things like the reed en chamade (laughter, and a nasal YYENT). It's a very strident sound. Everything is starting to wear. It's always been very heavy to play. As I say, it's one of these curiosities that is, in many ways, a pioneering experiment. People recognize that now. There are those that say we should keep it because it was pioneering. That's fine if you don't have to play it every day.

GB: I understand.

TB-W: The college recognizes that something's got to be done. In fact, our strategy has been not to replace it with a new organ, but to replace it with a worthy Victorian instrument that needs a home. We found a 3-manual Hill up in a Baptist church in Portsmouth. It didn't start out there. It came from another church in South London. The Baptist church is closing, so we've purchased the organ, and it's being taken down and put in storage. The next stage now is to finalize how it will fit in the Mander space and whether we want to enhance the specifications at all. We'll then put forward proposals to the college. That's been our strategy rather than to build a new tracker action organ. Also we need some liturgical sounds to do the accompaniments. We need an oboe, a harmonic flute, a swell to choir, just those kinds of basic things.

GB: It will be a 3-manual?

TB-W: Yes, at least a 3-manual.

GB: With pistons and memory?

TB-W: It will have pistons, but it won't have a stepper. I'm not into those sequencers. It will have some memory. A lot of the accompaniment skills relied on in this country is being able to use the manual and the pedal pistons together. There's a coupler that I don't think you have very often in the states called the great to pedal pistons coupler. For many years organists would learn to accompany using great pedal pistons. When you press the great thumb piston, it operates the pedals as well. The idea is that you would use the great and the swell. People like Howells, Whitlock and Ireland learned their craft of organ management by using this skill. That's something which is fast disappearing, because everybody uses sequencers these days to change one of the stops.

GB: I have on my instrument Great 1 and 2 pistons which affect the pedal also. I wired it in mainly for the cadential 32's and accompanying. It's easier than a toe stud, of course.

TB-W: Yes, it is. Our organ will be quite a modest specification, probably about 49 stops. We deliberately decided to go down this route, because a lot of the new organs being built at the moment in Cambridge are of a particular type. Selwyn's having a Létourneau built now.

BB: We'll be there week after next. Létourneau does excellent work.

TB-W: Gerton College has a new Swiss organ by St-Martin. It is a very clever 4-manual with about five stops in each manual. It's a particular style of instrument which does lend itself very easily to turn of the century style music. There are very few romantic symphonic organs in Cambridge--King's is a modest example. St. John's is not really one, but it pretends to be. You should go and see the one in Our Lady and the English Martyrs.

GB: We went down there and saw it, but we haven't heard it yet. I understand it is used in Sarah MacDonald's CD of Howells' Evening Canticles with the Selwyn College Choir.

TB-W: Yes, it's a very fine romantic organ, and they restored it very well.

GB: I love the sound of the crescendo "build up" while accompanying at King's.

TB-W: It's fine up to about mezzo-forte I think. 

GB: I was surprised to see that bass flute inside the organ screen in the staircase to the console.

TB-W: Yes.

BB: Do you ever get to play other instruments in town?

TB-W: I played that Harrison on Monday. The King's Voices (mixed voices) sing the services on Mondays.

BB: Did you play last Sunday for Evensong or was it an organ scholar?

TB-W: Yes, I played.

BB: We were there and have been attending rehearsals of the Men and Boys choir and Evensongs for several weeks.

TB-W: What did we do? The Mathias--the Jesus service, and the Hadley My Beloved Spake. Well, it's quite a nice thing to do and no pressure for me. It's nice not to be in charge and to be at the steering end.

GB: It's quite a room.

TB-W: Yes! What kind of church do you work in?

GB: Presbyterian. It's about 1200 members. We have an adult choir of 40 people, a Youth Choir of about 40+, children's choirs of about 50 and three handbell choirs. We have an auditioned choir called Cantate, the Children's Choir of Central Virginia consisting of two choirs from 3rd-7th grade and 8th grade through high school. I direct the younger choristers, and a colleague does the high school singers. Barbara accompanies one choir and directs a third group called the Cantabile Singers, which is an all-girl choir in grades 8 through 12.

TB-W: Both boys and girls together?

BB: Yes. The original concept was just to be children. The girls could stay until age 15 or 16, and the boys were supposed to leave when their voices changed. They wouldn't go away, so we just changed the concept. The older group sings SATB, and the younger ones all treble.

TB-W: In some cathedrals where there are volunteer choristers, like Carlisle and St. Alban's, they occasionally arrange for the ex-choristers whose voices have recently changed to come and sing with the existing choristers, so that they don't feel that they've been thrown out on the scrap heap. Of course, we are desperate for altos, tenors and basses.

GB: Well, are you playing Monday at King's?

TB-W: Yes, I think so. It's extraordinary, isn't it, that there's so much activity in a radius of about three miles. Most churches in this country are gasping for decent resources. The real sadness of this training is that most choral scholars, especially at Trinity where they have girls, unless they want to make a career as a professional singer, they don't tend to carry on singing in church choirs. It's a real shame. Then, of course, we have a dearth of organists.

GB: I was going to ask you if you have problems like we do in the states.

TB-W: It's getting bad now. Early this month we had the open day for prospective organ scholars, those who would like to apply to Cambridge to be organ scholars. We had 24, which if you consider that we have 22 colleges in the scheme isn't very much.

GB: So the university will have to take everyone?

TB-W: That wasn't the actual competition. That happens in September, but it's indicative of how things are. Last year I asked the question of how many of them were expecting to go on to be a professional organist. I think only two were.

GB: Are the organ scholars at King's going to continue in the profession?

TB-W: I think Daniel Hyde is staying on another year as a postgraduate student, because there are hardly any openings at the moment.

BB: What about Ashley Grote?

TB-W: Ashley still has another year, so he's set there. The really high fliers like the idea of going to London perhaps and maybe being an organ scholar or one of the assistants at St. Paul's or Westminster ABBey. They don't like the idea of going somewhere in middle England and subsequently doing scout mastering or something.

GB: Since you have two choirs, do you have a lot of administration work?

TB-W: I spend a lot of my time dealing with administrative things to do with the choristers and the interaction with child protection monitoring procedures. A lot of administrative work is generated just by having the choristers. If we want the choristers to take part in a concert, either we or the person promoting the concert has to be responsible for getting licenses for those children to take part in that concert. Technically, that means filling in 12-page forms, getting passport photographs and doctor's certificates for the kids to take part.

BB: That's just for them to leave the country?

TB-W: Yes.

BB: Do you take your choir on tour every year?

TB-W: Yes, we do, but we don't undertake concerts for which people are charged, so that problem doesn't arise. There was a story I heard about Wells Cathedral. Wells took their choir to the States about three years ago. They had not only to work out a schedule which corresponded to legislation concerning rehearsal time, sufficient bathroom stops and this sort of thing. They then had to keep a diary about how the actual tour went, so they could compare the two. They had to have something written down in case somebody made any allegations, or wanted to pursue litigation or complained about being tired, became ill, etc. They would have a record. Things are going berserk. Of course, most places take the easy way out and don't want to deal with that. It's hard enough to get choristers in the first place and yet, there is still this much trouble.

BB: What about your mixed college choir? Do you tour with them every year?

TB-W: Yes, we do. We try to have each choir have a project of going away once a year. It's sometimes nice to take the mixed choir away to the Continent whereas the boys choir might go to a cathedral. They've done a lot of touring in the last eighteen months or so. We've taken them to Paris and Copenhagen. In the new year we'll be going to Edinburgh to sing services for Epiphany. One thing I'd like to ask you actually is what's your view of church music in this country coming from the States.

GB: Well, we always said that God lives at King's College! (laughter) The first time I heard a recording of the King's choir was in the early 1960s, and it was the most in tune singing I'd ever heard. I didn't know it was possible to sing like that. I got the bug as an undergraduate and through the years we learned to love the wonderful music making at St. John's and other colleges and cathedrals as well.

BB: We think church music here is wonderful with performances to uncompromising standards in many places.

TB-W: The world even in this country has moved on a great deal since 1960 to 2003.

BB: Oh, sure.

TB-W: Have you seen a copy of the magazine Cathedral Music?

GB: Yes, we take it. It is excellent.

TB-W: In there is an article by the organist at Guilford Cathedral trying to defend a very difficult situation. Guilford, as you probably know, is a post-war cathedral. Barry Rose was the first organist, and he recruited the kids. They started from nothing. He managed to get scholarships at the local schools. 40 years ago it was possible to do that. In a changing society and the way that parents run children's lives these days, it isn't possible to do that nowadays. One couldn't start a cathedral choir from nothing in the way that Barry was able to do in the 1960s. In Guilford, his successors have had to cope with and deal with that legacy. It's been very difficult. In that situation they've decided to scrap the Saturday services, so the boys will have one day of the weekend free. I can see that in some cathedrals that will happen more and more. I do think that things are different. In places like King's and Westminster Abbey where the resources are rich you will always have the tradition continued. When you get to places where they operate on a part-time basis you have trouble even getting an alto at all. When I first went to the cathedral organist conference, it was very obvious some people are having difficulty securing lay clerks. However, they wanted to pretend that they were doing as well as their colleagues were. I think now that organists are beginning to be much more vocal and frank about their experiences in recruiting boy choristers and adults. In trying to persuade parents of the commitment involved, I think we are seeing the start of fragmentation. Maybe in King's and Westminster Abbey it will continue for years and years, but I don't think it's going to continue everywhere. Even if you try and take those kinds of things into account. you then throw in the changing liturgical demands and the more informal stances that the clergy likes to take who perhaps question the need for having such regular formal services. Even initiatives like Common Worship dilute what the Book of Common Prayer offers in terms of musical opportunities. They would say otherwise. They point to all the resources that they produce. Actually it's a dilution of a music that used to be so rich. They are encouraging to ditch 400 years of music and use theirs instead. Their music simply isn't in the same division. Then you're caught in a problem because clearly there are questions of whether Evensong is just a time warp and are you just presenting music that was written 400 years ago. But what else is being offered?

GB: Dumbed down rubbish.

TB-W: It is dumbed down. Some people are just taking the position that you just have to go with the flow.

BB: Any difficulties or problems you may face over here are more than doubled in the States.

TB-W: I think you are further down the track than we are. The only thing we've got that saves us really is the tradition and the history of the buildings that we happen to be in.

GB: I was commenting to Barbara as we walked here today that I think that educated people here in the UK are more cognizant of the arts because of the long tradition. Our parish is an unusual congregation in that almost all are professionals and world travelers, well educated and at the top of their profession. We are very fortunate to have much support for all our endeavors and concerts. However, educated people in the states in general are not usually musically cultured or supportive of the arts. I think that the vast majority of professionals in the states still listen to pop music on the radio for entertainment, and a small percentage support the symphony and community concerts, etc.

TB-W: Certainly. One can't talk of a more superior tradition--you can't talk about the western tradition of classical music as being superior to ethnic musicology or even studies in popular music and jazz music which has over 100 years now. It isn't really possible to talk of Beethoven, Brahms and Bach in the same reverential tones we used to and get away with it. So, the times they are a-changing!

BB: It's not as scary for us in our position.

TB-W: Again, you're further down the track. I've been very lucky to have the opportunity both in Edinburgh and before when I was at Winchester to be able to deal in music which I love and was brought up on. I count my lucky stars that I'm still in a job which allows me to do it.  I'm not quite sure that in another ten years time it will still be there. It's only a trust fund that keeps things going and pays for my salary. That's a big part of my fortune, really. For as long as the college wants it to happen, that's fine. I can see a time, even here, where the dean might retire and the college might say, "Oh, do we really want a dean? Do we really want to have Evensong?"

GB: A turnover of ministers in any church could greatly change musical things. The stories are legion.

TB-W: Of course, the decline in churchgoing is becoming very alarmingly rapid in this country. It's slightly higher in Scotland. Perhaps we should leave for rehearsal now.

Author's note: As we left for that day's rehearsal of men and women and walked through the beautiful grounds of Jesus College, the mood of our philosophical discussion greatly changed. Tim is a high energy, easy-going person who smiles a lot and encourages his choristers in the joy of music. He is also an excellent, natural pianist who plays with much ease and joy. His choristers obviously enjoy making music with him. We look forward to visiting Jesus College again and attending Evensong after the Hill organ is installed. We also look forward to meeting up with Tim at Windsor Castle.

Gordon and Barbara Betenbaugh are organists/choirmasters at First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. They also direct Cantate, the Children's Choir of Central Virginia, and Mrs. Betenbaugh is chapel organist and assistant choral director at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg. Mr. Betenbaugh is Dean of the Lynchburg AGO chapter. In summer 2003 they completed a 13-week sabbatical in the UK, visiting Cambridge, Oxford, London, and Salisbury. See previous articles from their sabbatical: "London Chats #1: Michael McCarthy," October 2003, p. 18; "John Tavener's The Veil of the Temple," November 2003, p. 17; "Cambridge Chats #1: Timothy Byram-Wigfield," December 2003, pp. 16-19; "London Chats #2: Patrick Russill," February 2004, pp. 20-22; and "Cambridge Chats #2: Sarah MacDonald," August 2004, pp. 18-21.

Our raison d'être normal'> for this sabbatical to England was to study the choir training
techniques and organs in cathedrals, parish churches and universities, and to
hear the music in the architectural and acoustical environment as envisioned by
many of the English composers. We spent four weeks in Cambridge, 10 days in
Oxford, and the balance of our time in London with a side trip to Salisbury. We
had contacted directors via e-mail a year before our departure, and everyone we
met was cordial and welcoming from our initial meeting in cyberspace through
our actual visit. One of the nicest amenities was having greater access than
the normal tourist to these wonderful venues.

During our time away, we kept a tally of the various
activities we attended and were surprised to discover how numerous and myriad
they were: 52 rehearsals, 36 Evensongs, 15 Eucharists, 5 Matins, 5 Evening
Prayer services, 4 Benedictions, 16 sermons, 2 memorial services and one
wedding, 16 organ recitals, 26 museums, 15 concerts, 3 theater performances, 4
interviews, 1 musical, 4 palace tours, 1 foundry tour, 1 opera, 1 mosque tour,
one botanical gardens visit, 5 movies, and last but not least, 3 choral music
premieres. Our time away was busy and intense! We returned home rejuvenated and
with a greater understanding of the English choral system in collegiate and
ecclesiastical foundations and also with memories of many new friends and
colleagues.

Thursday, May 8

We arrived in Cambridge right on time. Our B&B is
beautiful with cheerful yellow and greens. We have our own entrance and our own
patio with a lovely, lush garden. We walked into town to the visitor center to
get maps and an events calendar. Now we are set! Then we went to the public
library where Barbara gets her library card, a necessity! Over our three months
in England, Barbara makes friends with mystery writers of the British
persuasion. Then it was on to King's College Chapel for Evensong. Every
Thursday is sung Eucharist. We hear the Kodály Missa Brevis and
Messiaen's O Sacrum Convivium--what
a joy to be in this great space. It's where our hearts and souls belong.
We then head down the street to St. John's College for Evensong (Blow Mag
& Nunc in F, Gibbons We Praise Thee, O Father
style='font-style:normal'>). There's great music making in this space.
After our long flight, what a way to end the day and start off our three months
away.

Friday, May 9

8:10-9:10 rehearsal at St. John's choir school
where the boys wear red blazers, red ties and gray pants. Christopher Robinson
rehearses the Weelkes Gloria in excelsis Deo, a psalm and the Hunt short
service. Christopher says the boys see a piece only once before performing it,
maybe twice. "Some of the quicker boys are better than the weaker
men." Peter Barley from St. Pat's Cathedral Dublin was also
visiting. Christopher asks for volunteers to sing the chant. Choristers are
very helpful to each other. In the traditional English manner, any chorister that
makes a mistake raises his hand (adults and boys). It's a very orderly
rehearsal. Choristers mark music and often mark a partner's music if he
makes a mistake. There was little warm up, most of the time was spent on music.
As the piano is played, the soprano line is never played, so the boys must be
independent. This technique is used by everyone in England.

After rehearsal we take a long stroll through the campus
from "the backs." We find the Internet Café and Great St.
Mary's, a church shared by the parish and the university. There are
organs front and back. The front chancel organ dates from 1869 with numerous
rebuilds, the last in 1974 by Johnson & Sons. This organ is owned by the
church. The rear balcony organ is a 3-manual Hill, Norman & Beard and is
owned by the university. Cromwell burned the Prayer Book here outside the
church, which is now advertising for an organist/choirmaster. We hear that 17
men have applied, but no women. At 1:15 there is a free recital at Clare
College, a Mozart Clarinet Quintet which
is superb! We have lunch at the Hogshead Pub. Steak and ale pie with chips and
mushy peas is a typical meal. On to St. Benet's for change ringing. Then
to St. Botolph's (patron saint of travelers), in use since 1320. On to
Pembroke College. The chapel at Pembroke is Wren's first work. It looks
better inside than out. The organ is a 1980 2-manual Mander. Anne Page teaches
organ here. Onward to see Little St. Mary's and Peterhouse College before
hurrying back for a 5:05 rehearsal at St. John's. We enter through the
back choir door thanks to Christopher so we don't have to queue like
regular visitors. Rehearsal and Evensong were great, wonderful music making.
The previously heard Weelkes took on a life of its own. Chats after Evensong
and then to the pub. Life doesn't get any better than this for two
Anglophiles. Finally we head to our B&B in time for Barb to read a bit and
Gordon to read the piles of materials gleaned through the day.

Saturday, May 10

Walked through the old cemetery looking at dates. St. Giles
is closed, so we visit The Round Church with its great history. We explore the
town today and return early to St. John's to listen to the organ scholar
practice for Evensong. The 6:30 Evensong is sung jointly by the college choir
and members of the City of Birmingham Choir. We hear the Finzi Mag, Holst Nunc,
Vaughan Williams Rise Heart, Thy Lord Is Risen normal'> and Antiphon. Christopher has directed the Birmingham Choir for 38
years (70-80 singers present). He is a stickler about the rhythm of
dotted notes. We had a choice of six concerts today. We heard the superb
Rodolfus Choir in an all-German program at Clare College. Singers are chosen
from past and present Eton Choral Choruses. There were 23 singers (7-5-5-6).

Sunday, May 11

It's Mother's Day! We go to St. John's
10:30 Eucharist and hear Palestrina's Ego sum
style='font-style:normal'> and Victoria's O Quam gloriosum
style='font-style:normal'>. We have lunch at The Eagle, an authentic old pub
where many RAF and USAF soldiers spent their time during WWII. Their names are
signed on the ceiling in the bar. We then have a quick stroll through Jesus
College. We go back to Great St. Mary's and listen to a student practice
on the Johnson front organ as we rest our tired feet. At the 3:30 Evensong at
King's we hear the Stanford in G, Hadley My Beloved Spake
style='font-style:normal'>, Vierne Finale normal'>. At the end of the service the great West door is opened to the
"backs" for our exit. WOW! What a vista! We hear the tolling peals
at Great St. Mary's across the street, and Barb calls our children to
speak to them on Mother's Day. They can hear the bells across the
Atlantic through the red phone booth! On to St. John's for a 6:00 organ
recital by James O'Donnell of Westminster Abbey. He played the Bach
partita Sei gegrüsset with
an unfortunate cypher which disappeared quickly. At the 6:30 Evensong we hear
the Parry in D (The Great Service)
and Elgar's Light of the World.
The choir is very musical and has the best tenors in Cambridge. They sing with
a full, robust sound.

Monday, May 12

We shop and buy some CDs. We walk through
"Christ's Pieces", a big green with an arbor in the middle
with a rose garden dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana. On to the chapel
of Emmanuel College, from which John Harvard (founder of Harvard University in
the U.S.) was a graduate. We find the University Arms Hotel where we stayed in
1993. On to Christ College with a lovely modern window that shows Christ on a
cloud over the college. There was a queue for King's Evensong even in the
rain. The King's Voices (mixed choir) sing the Fauré Cantique
de Jean Racine, Noble B-minor Mag
& Nunc and RVW O Taste and
See. The mixed choir is just a good college
choir compared to the choir of boys and men. The sun just came out through the
west end windows and the birds are singing.

Tuesday, May 13

We step in Fitzwilliam College, built in the 1960s and very
modern. The chapel (1990) is in the round, and the inside is shaped to suggest
Noah's Ark. The beautiful grounds were full of blooming flowers in
yellow, purple, lavender, blue, white and pink, not to mention the roses, red
tips and rhododendrons. After a long walk to Churchill College the porter gave
us the key to the chapel that was at the far end of all the buildings on
campus. It was an unimpressive room but still had a small pipe organ. We saw
good music all around the console. A sign in the porter's lodge says: In
Cambridge "porter" means keeper of the gate, not carrier of the
baggage. On to Robinson College Chapel, which is rectangular and with very
straight lines. It had a two-manual 1981 Frobenius tracker with four general
pistons. A lot of organ lessons are taught here. On to the Cambridge University
Music School, the nice concert hall and the King's College School.

We had a late lunch in a pub and then on to Brian Jones
Music Shop where we dropped a few £s. It was still raining as we went off
to Clare College which has a 1971 two-manual Von Beckerath and an 18th-century
Snetzler used to accompany the choir in early repertoire. This superb mixed
choir sings three Choral Evensongs each week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays.
The choir tours are free to members of the choirs, and per diems and fees are
frequently paid to them. The psalms are sung without a conductor. A chorister
in the back row assists with coordination of the chant.

Sir David Willcocks was the guest conductor on this day. The
Clare conductor, Tim Brown, introduced Sir David to the choir. Later in a chat
he said that his young choristers probably had no idea what a great man was
conducting and what all Sir David had done for English music. As ever,
Willcocks was alert to tuning in this fine choir. It was good to chat with Sir
David after Evensong. Only 14 people were at Evensong, but no one is bothered
by the small attendance.

Wednesday, May 14

Got caught in rain and hail on the way to Magdalen College
(pronounced "maudlin"). The organ was built in 2000 by Goetze and
Gwynn and has 24 stops. The inspiration behind its design comes from Father
Smith's later instruments. The tuning is Kellner's reconstruction
of Bach's tuning from his Well-Tempered Clavier
style='font-style:normal'>. The chapel is smaller and more intimate than most
Cambridge chapels. Much of the Victorian stained glass still remains. Most of
the glass focuses on Mary Magdalen (usually with her emblem, a jar of precious
ointment) and the life of Christ. There is a slate tablet in the antechapel to
mark the centenary of the birth of C.S. Lewis (1898-1963).

We got caught in more hail on the way to the Fitzwilliam
Museum to see the Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Cyprus galleries. Some things were
four thousand years old. In the upper galleries we saw THE Fitzwilliam
Virginal Book. The display was covered to
protect it from light. It contains 297 compositions by practically every
composer of the virginalist school. The manuscript is the best and most precise
we have ever seen. The museum building is amazing, polished marble with
figurines all around, a dome gilded roof and mosaic floor. We drop some more
£s at the gift shop.

Out in the rain again to Our Lady and the English Martyrs.
This is the biggest Roman Catholic church in town. The Abbott & Smith
romantic organ in the south transept has been renovated by Nicholson. We hope
to get to hear the instrument. Sarah MacDonald of Selwyn College recorded the
Howells Evening Canticles here, and the organ sounds wonderful on the CD. At
the end of a cold and wet day we find a Pizza Hut for some comfort food before
going back to Clare College for rehearsal and Evensong, and then to Trinity
College for a delightful chamber music concert with recorder, baroque
violoncello and 1972 David Rubio harpsichord. We get back to our B&B late
and tired but with a great feeling for what all we packed into one day.

Thursday May 15

Regular tourist stuff! Lunch at the Baron of Beef Pub
(Publick House) where George Guest used to slip over from St. John's for
a pint between rehearsals and Evensong. Got a haircut at a
"Gentleman's Barber," which turned out to a hair scalping. On
to Clare College for rehearsal. The superb choir is rehearsing an extremely
difficult piece in Hebrew by a Jewish student. They rehearsed the first
American piece that we have heard (Randall Stroope's How Can I Keep
from Singing?) to be performed on Sunday
with the McMurry University Choir from Abilene. The last hymn was Lord
of the Dance, in a rather staid English
manner. Only 11 people were at Evensong. There were 15 last night. We exit by
the Fellows Garden on the backs--so beautiful! Back at our B&B we
finish our last cookies from a care package one of our favorite sopranos packed
for us for our trip. We update photos in our albums. We're doing this as
we go along, because putting together three months of photos upon our return
would be a daunting task.

Friday, May 16

It rains again all day and is chilly and breezy. The rain
doesn't bother the locals--they are always out and about. We see more
tourist sights in the morning, then drop some more £s for books and CDs
of Charles Wood's choral music. On to Sidney-Sussex College Chapel.
It's lovely with lots of carved wood. A 2-manual 1963 Harrison &
Harrison with 5 thumb pistons each to Gt and Sw, 5 toe pistons to Ped, 1 thumb
piston labeled Oboe 8'--no obligatory harmonic flute 8'.
Perhaps the Gt open flute will do the trick. The college doesn't have a
faculty organist but two organ scholars run the program. We saw yellow
"stickies" on the side jamb with circles drawn in them to resemble
draw knobs. One said "Preacher Trap Door." The two available
"buttons" read "open" and "closed." The
"closed" showed flames underneath. Another "button"
read "electrical shock for SATB." The organist here must have a fun
sense of humor.

Back to King's for Evensong rehearsal and a chat with
Stephen Cleobury. Rehearsal began
with Psalm 121 of Davies on the syllable YA, led by back row choristers on each
side. They point it differently from the way we do it. Stephen stands in the
middle with a special podium that has a mike built in so the organ scholars up
on the screen can hear his instructions. He speaks softly. All the choristers
are very focused. They sang the Wood Oculi omnium normal'>, Byrd First Service,
Rachmaninoff Blagoslovén griadiy normal'>. We didn't know the Rachmaninoff, which is a benediction text,
lovely and lush. The boy choristers keep a finger on their line of music as
they sing. For Evensong, Stephen tells the vergers we are his guests and to let
us sit on the top row which is reserved for the fellows and members of the
college only. We have a chat with the two organ scholars in the loft after
Evensong. What a treat to see the big Harrison & Harrison
"accompanying machine" up close. A Bass Flute is in the stairwell,
and the 32' goes the length of the screen. It really purrs!

We finish our day at the Internet Café where we check
e-mail and write a recommendation for one of our choristers to attend the RSCM
School at Washington Cathedral.

Saturday May 17

At 8:00 a.m. we are sitting in the rehearsal room of the
King's College School. Photos of past choirmasters and LP covers from
past years (mostly Willcocks recordings) cover one whole wall. Since it's
Saturday the boys are dressed casually. They have a short warmup. Little piano
is used, and the melody is never played. An organ scholar goes behind the boys
to remind them to sit up straight. Stephen is a stickler for final
"D" consonant even in the midst of a phrase, also a stickler for
having the choristers watch him. These 18 choristers are very disciplined.

Off to Trinity College for a LONG re-creation (performance
reconstruction) of a Morning Prayer Service and sermon from the Chapel Royal of
Charles I from April 1629. Men were seated on one side, and women on the other
to make this event more authentic. There was 1 hour and 10 minutes of choral
matins before the sermon. The Trinity College Chapel was completed in 1566, and
the music for the service was chosen with the aim of reflecting the type of
music that may have been performed at court in 1629. As the premier musical
institution in Tudor-Stuart England, the Chapel Royal had brilliant organists
like William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, and Thomas Tomkins. The music was performed
by the Junior and Senior organ scholars with a pick-up choir from Trinity,
King's, Gonville & Caius, Pembroke and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. The 1
hour 7 minute sermon, written by John Donne (Dean of St. Paul's, London)
was read by a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Numerous people left during the
reading of the sermon, and afterwards one can imagine the range of comments
regarding its length. This made us appreciate our 15-20 minute sermons at
home! Most people headed for the pub after the service, but it remained the
topic of conversation around town for several days.

The day ended with rehearsal and Evensong at King's.
The Introit was This Joyful Eastertide
(Charles Wood), Howells' Mag & Nunc Gloucester Service and the Wesley
Blessed Be the God and Father.
Junior Organ Scholar Ashley Grote played an organ recital at 6:30 consisting of
Wild Bells (Michael Berkeley), Psalm
Prelude Set 1 No. 1 (Howells), Sonata
No. 1 in E-flat (Bach), Chanson
de Matin (Elgar) and Pomp and
Circumstance March No. 1 (Elgar). This was
the perfect end to a long day of great music making.

Sunday, May 18 (Easter IV)

The 10:30 Sung Eucharist at King's was the
Kodály Missa Brevis. The soprano
high C's were wonderful and just floated! This was our second time to
hear the Kodály at King's. We have not yet figured out their rotation
schedule. After lunch we visited Downing College which is much newer than most.
There were two nice harpsichords in the narthex and a small 1966 J.W. Walker
tracker. The music program is run by organ scholars. Katie Collinson is the
Senior. Our B&B hostess had insisted we frequent Fitzbillie's Bakery,
but unfortunately it was closed today--some other time!

On to Peterhouse College where the case and much of the
pipework date from Snetzler's organ of 1765, rebuilt by Mander in 1963.
Five pistons to Gt, Sw, Ch and Ped, no generals. Next to Queen's College
Chapel where the 3-manual organ has a red case by Bodley from 1892. In 1966
E.J. Johnson & Son overhauled the instrument. It has 4 thumb pistons to Gt
and Sw and 4 toe pistons each to Gt and Sw.

Next stop was St. Catherine's College Chapel where the
instrument, built by E.J. Johnson & Son in 1978, retained the double case
of Thomas Garner from 1894. The scheme of the present organ was drawn up by Dr.
Peter LeHuray, Fellow of the College. We were fortunate to hear Alexander
Finch, Director of Chapel Music, practicing for his 5:15 recital. The 3-manual
instrument was very impressive in the empty room. Messiaen came off very well.

After a stop at the Internet Café, on to King's
Evensong; we hear the Mag & Nunc Fifth Service by Tomkins and the Byrd Christ
Rising again. We had a snack in the market,
and then on to St. John's for an organ recital before Evensong by Oliver
Lallemant, organ scholar at Trinity--all Bach: Fantasy and Fugue
in G minor, Trio super Allein Gott and Fantasy normal'>and Fugue in C minor. At
our second Evensong we heard the Daniel Purcell in E minor and the Byrd Victimae
Paschali. There is usually a sermon on
Sundays at Evensong, but mercifully it is short.

We found the Castle Mound on the way home; we will visit
another day. Our feet can't take any extra steps tonight. We arrived home
at last with lots of glorious music heard and architecture seen today.
We've lots to read and organize tonight.

Monday May 19

Went to the American Cemetery. It was very moving sitting in
the chapel, and we had not realized how many American soldiers are buried in
Cambridge. The visitor's center displayed two very moving poems, which we
were glad to have for our scrapbook. We took the bus tour around Cambridge and
saw three more colleges: St. Edmunds, Lucy Cavendish (for mature women) and
Darwin. Cambridge has 31 colleges and four theological colleges.

After a busy day of sightseeing we end the day at
King's Evensong sung by the King's Voices, a mixed choir. We heard
the RVW O Taste and See, the Mathias Mag
& Nunc Jesus College Service and the Hadley My Beloved Spake
style='font-style:normal'>. We later learn that Tim Byram-Wigfield of Jesus
College was the organist for this service.

Tuesday, May 20

We visit the Cambridge Folk Museum and shop before going to
Jesus College Chapel to rehearsal. The chapel is very dark, has a small nave
and a big crossing that had two grand pianos, two harpsichords and two
portative organs as well as a set of tympani. There are two organs in the nave
on the north side. The ceiling was very colorful with coats of arms and
cherubs. Tim Byram-Wigfield is the organist. They begin each rehearsal with a
hymn and then the psalm on YA-YA. Tim pushes final consonants. The choristers
are very attentive. There were 10 girls and 11 men plus one of the two organ
scholars singing. The English tradition of raising a hand if you make a mistake
is continued here. Word stress is excellent. There were only eleven people at
Evensong, but we could also hear the birds singing outside along with the
choir.

Wednesday, May 21

We went to the Classical Archeology Museum this morning.
Everything here was a plaster cast copy of pieces in London, Rome, Athens,
Paris. On to Pembroke to try to contact Anne Page who teaches organ there. On
to Corpus Christi Chapel which was locked, but we could see through the glass
doors.

We FINALLY get sweets at the famous Fitzbillie's
Bakery and then went to the library to exchange books before going to Jesus
College for the boys' rehearsal.

Thursday, May 22

We do laundry and get organized in the morning, update all
our photos in the scrapbook, etc. We then pick up some music from Tim Brown at
Clare College. We spent the afternoon at the Arts Theater where we saw Mrs.
Warren's Profession by George Bernard
Shaw. It starred Twiggy, the super-thin model from the'60s. Twiggy is no
longer a twig!

During Evensong at Jesus College we heard the Tallis O
Nata lux, Gibbons short service and
Rutter's Gaelic Blessing.
This is the first time we have heard Rutter's music in Cambridge.

Friday, May 23

Finally get to the top of Castle Mound for a photo op, the
mound being all that is left of the medieval fortification. Then we go to
Kettle's Yard Art Museum and Concert Venue which is next door to St.
Peter's 11th-century delightful tiny church. Part of the museum at
Kettle's Yard is the home of Jim Ede. He donated his house and art
collection to Cambridge. It was fascinating seeing art, china, rocks, all
together and abiding peacefully just as it was when Mr. Ede lived there. We then
went to the modern gallery where there were pen and ink drawings and some
modern paintings of graffitied walls and trash in the streets.

Lunch was back at the Baron of Beef pub and then we sat in
the yard of the Round Church and watched the world go by before our delightful
interview with Tim Byram-Wigfield at Jesus College (see The Diapason
style='font-style:normal'>, December 2003 issue). Following the interview we
went to the mixed choir rehearsal and heard Set Me as a Seal
style='font-style:normal'> (Walton), Ascendit Deus,
style='font-style:normal'>and O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
style='font-style:normal'> (Howells). The choristers are very focused. Tim
asked them to "lay the consonants on top of the vowels."

Saturday, May 24

We attended a light-hearted concert at Clare Chapel given by
The Duke's Men of Yale, 10 singers in close harmony, most of the pieces fast
and fun. Clare's men's ensemble of five also sang, and they were
even better. Back to Jesus College for rehearsal. Tim vocalized for a while.
The Psalm was rehearsed on NAH by the 13 boys. King's, St. John's
and Jesus College are the only three boys choirs in Cambridge. The Jesus boys
are volunteer choristers and are not in the same league with the other two, but
they are very good and sing a lot of rep for not having a rehearsal every day.

Sunday, May 25 (Rogation Sunday)

Went to sung Eucharist at King's (Lassus Missa
"Bell" amfitrit' altera) with sermon. At King's 3:30
Evensong we hear the Stanford Mag & Nunc in B-flat and Lord, Thou Hast
Been Our Refuge (Ives). King's always
has a large congregation at Evensong.

On to Evensong rehearsal at Trinity: Bach Nun komm, der
heiden Heiland and Fantasy and
Fugue in C minor, our first time to hear
the Mag & Nunc sung to Anglican chant. We also hear Arvo Pärt's I
Am the True Vine.

The 1975
Metzler is, of course, on the screen within the restored 1708 Bernard Smith
main case and the Chair case is even earlier. The Hauptwerk Principal 16',
8', 4', 22?3', Rückpositive 8' Principal,
and Pedal 16' Principal are from the Smith organ. The old 1913 Harrison
was used in the King's College recording of Anglican Chant Volume I with
David Willcocks playing and conducting (one of our favorite recordings). The
keyboards of the old Harrison are at the top of the stairs up to the organ. We
noticed two choir pistons engraved Clarinet and Harmonic Flute, a must for any
English organist to interpret the choral literature. The Metzler is an
outstanding instrument with a large Sw and no pistons. Director Richard Marlow
isn't here tonight, and the two organ scholars do a fine job of
rehearsing. Trinity is the silver slipper of the Cambridge colleges, the
college of RVW and Stanford with lovely windows showing George Herbert, Bacon,
Elizabeth I, Wycliffe, Tyndale. There are also many statues in the antechapel.
The mixed choir of 25 rehearsed the Stanford Coelos ascensit hodie
style='font-style:normal'> for Ascension Day next Thursday (this is our
choir's favorite Ascension Day anthem--and it was nice to hear it in
the room for which it was written). The center aisle is wider than at most
colleges, thus more separation in the two choirs. The psalms were rehearsed on "la"
or "li-la."

We left Trinity after rehearsal to attend Evensong at
Gonville & Caius (pronounced "keys") to hear the Britten
Rejoice in the Lamb, which was excellent. There was only a four-minute sermon,
hurrah! The 37-stop organ is a 1981 Klais of Bonn, Germany with a large Sw and
8 general pistons. Gonville & Caius is where Charles Wood presided. Dr.
Geoffrey Webber has recorded two volumes of Wood's anthems and organ
music.

Monday, May 26

It is a gorgeous day--sunny and not too cool or hot. We
had been waiting for this kind of weather for our next out of town trip, so we
took the bus to Anglesy Abbey. It never was an abbey, but it was a priory until
Henry VIII closed them all. The house is fabulous! The guidebook was very
helpful, and we read it thoroughly in every room. What a collection of
furniture, art, animals, birds, images of Windsor Castle, books, walking
sticks, silver and a large Steinway. There were huge beautiful gardens with
flowers and a water wheel. It was a wonderful day to relax in leisure in a
beautiful spot.

Tuesday, May 27

Another beautiful day. We visit the library to return and
check out books. We then met Richard Marlow at Trinity College for choir
rehearsal. Four of his choristers have perfect pitch. About one third of the 60
music majors have perfect pitch. We hear the Reger Benedictus and Introduction
and Passacaglia in D. The choir sings Ergebung normal'> (Wolf), O Tod, wie bitten bist du normal'> (Reger) and the Stanford Mag & Nunc in G (another of our
choir's favorites). Also hear the Davies God Be in My Head
style='font-style:normal'>. This is another excellent choir! Richard Marlow
wrote the Psalm Chant, which was a bit dissonant with close harmony. Trinity is
the only place that sings Anglican chant a cappella. Richard's wife,
Annette, brought music for us and sat with us at Evensong. Afterwards we were
invited for "a sherry" and to see Richard's rooms and then
into a private gated garden off the oldest part of the college. It extends back
to the River Cam very near St. John's College from which one can see the
Bridge of Sighs. We had a delightful evening talking shop. Trinity is the
school of T. A. Walmisley, Charles Stanford (organist 1874-93) and Ralph
Vaughan Williams. The list of "Trinity Men" is staggering with the
royal family, poets, prime ministers and other noted people, men of science and
mathematics, classical scholars, philosophers, historians, judges and lawyers,
Ecclesiastics, Divines and other writers.

Wednesday, May 28

We visit the zoology museum. We learned about Voluta musica,
one of the family of vo

Situated on a hill overlooking the city of Lewiston, Maine, the Gothic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is visible from a great distance in any direction. Its grand architecture beckons visitors from all over. The interior of the basilica is as sumptuous as its exterior. And among the many treasures of the edifice are the organs.

Lewiston was founded in 1795 along the Androscoggin River. Its industry was supported by cotton mills for many years. By the 1850s the Bates Mill, named for Benjamin E. Bates, for whom Bates College is also named, became the largest employer in Lewiston, remaining so for a century. In the late 1850s, French Canadians began to migrate to Lewiston for job opportunities. A section of Lewiston became known as “Little Canada,” and the city has celebrated its French Canadian character to this day.

Various Protestant congregations were formed, but it would be 1857 before the first Catholic parish, Saint Joseph, was founded. The parish, which was English speaking and serving primarily Irish immigrants, laid the cornerstone for a church along Main Street on June 13, 1864, and finished construction in 1867. The architect was Patrick C. Keely.

The Catholic Bishop of Portland assigned the Reverend Louis Mutsaers to minister to the French-speaking Catholics of Saint Joseph Church. With more than 1,000 souls in the French-speaking Catholic community, Saint Peter Church was founded in 1870, the first French ethnic parish in the diocese. Father Edouard Létourneau of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, was named first pastor. The fledgling congregation moved to Saint John Chapel, the second floor of a house on Lincoln Street, coincidentally the first home of Saint Joseph Church. The first Mass, a wedding, was said on July 2, 1870. The Reverend Pierre Hévey became pastor the following year.

The first church

Father Hévey constructed a Gothic church building on Ayers Hill, on Bartlett Street between Ash and College Streets. The cornerstone was laid July 7, 1872, and the edifice was dedicated on May 4, 1873. The substantial building was 116 feet long, 32 feet wide, and crowned by a 160-foot bell tower. The total cost of the building, including land and furnishings, was approximately $100,000. The dedication Mass, attended by 2,000 and presided over by the Bishop of Portland, also witnessed the confirmation of 215 children. The parish school was opened in 1878, and a cemetery was developed. The Sisters of Charity of Saint-Hyacinthe would also establish a hospital, an orphan asylum, and a home for the aged, in addition to teaching in the school. A five-story brick school building accommodating 700 students was opened in 1883 at Lincoln and Chestnut Streets. A second school, for boys, was opened on Bates Street in 1887. By the close of the century, there were 1,721 students in the parish schools.

When Father Hévey left the parish in 1881, administration was turned over to the Dominican Fathers of Lille, France. About this time, Saint Peter became known as Saints Peter and Paul Church. By the late 1890s, church membership neared 10,000 persons, and galleries were added to the church nave, and the building’s basement was enlarged. A brick monastery was built for the Dominicans on Bartlett Street, a building that still stands behind the basilica today. The Dominicans would live here until they returned the parish to the diocese in 1987.

In 1902, Saint Louis Church was founded in Auburn, across the river, but this did little to lessen overcrowding at Saints Peter and Paul Church. In 1904, Father Alexandre Louis Mothon, OP, then pastor of the parish, retained Belgian-native Noël Coumont of Lewiston to design a neo-Gothic edifice to be built of Maine granite at an estimated cost of $250,000. Portland diocesan authorities were duly impressed with Coumont’s work and named him diocesan architect.

Building the present church

The final Mass in the old church was celebrated on February 5, 1905, after which the building was dismantled and demolished. A temporary wooden structure seating 1,200 persons was erected. Adjacent property was acquired, and construction of the lower church was commenced on February 22, 1906. Despite the collapse of a wall on November 9, the lower church was in use for Midnight Mass at Christmas, December 25, 1906. Father Mouthon had resigned and was replaced by the Reverend Antonin Dellaire, OP.

The parish would not complete the upper church for another three decades. In the interim, the diocese created three other parishes in Lewiston: Saint Mary, founded in 1907 in “Little Canada” with 820 families; Holy Family, founded in 1923; and Holy Cross, founded that same year with 575 families.

The diocese granted the Reverend Mannès Marchand, OP, pastor, permission to complete the upper church in 1933. A bid of $361,510 was accepted in April of the following year. Timothy G. O’Connell of Boston had become architect. Construction began in May, and the project would require some 516 boxcars of granite. Slate, copper, and limestone support the roofs.

The exterior was completed in 1935, crowned by twin steeples rising 168 feet with eight spires of granite and concrete. Two fairs would be held in the unfinished interior to raise funds for its completion. The interior was finished on July 18, 1936. The Most Reverend Joseph E. McCarthy, DD, dedicated Saints Peter and Paul Church on October 23, 1938. An all-male choir, recently formed, provided music for the occasion. The total construction price was estimated at $625,000. Five bells, cast for the previous church in 1884 by the McShane foundry of Baltimore, Maryland, were retained for the new towers. In 1948, the magnificent stained glass windows of the nave were installed to the designs of Boston’s Terence O’Duggan, at a cost of $40,000. The building measures 330 feet long, 135 feet wide, and the ceiling rises 64 feet. The pews seat 1,800 persons.

There was considerable posturing to making Saints Peter and Paul the cathedral of the diocese, supplanting Portland’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, founded in 1856 with its church built between 1866 and 1869 to the designs of Patrick C. Keely. Postcards of the Lewiston church were printed and sold, designating it a “cathedral.” However, the move of the seat of the bishop from Portland to Lewiston never occurred.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 14 (Bastille Day), 1983. The second-largest Catholic church in New England, Saints Peter and Paul is exceeded only by Saint Joseph Cathedral of Hartford, Connecticut. In the past two decades, the building has been restored, a heroic multi-million dollar project. The first part of the project, the exterior, took nine years to complete. The interior restoration of the upper church was completed in 2002.

The church’s music history is remarkable. In 1872, a reed organ was acquired, and a Mrs. Martel became organist. Mr. Alcibiad Beique succeeded her. Considered an accomplished organist as he had studied in Belgium, Beique would play the opening program/Mass on the church’s first pipe organ, described below. Beique would leave Lewiston to become organist for the church of Notre Dame in Montréal, Canada. Mr. F. Desanniers next served the parish, though he died about a year after beginning service, having consumed poison thinking it was medicine. Henry F. Roy then served Saints Peter and Paul, remaining until 1925. George C. Giboin then served from 1925 until his death in 1945. From 1945 until 1966, Bernard Piché was organist, while Roland Pineau directed the choirs. Piché was of considerable repute, and was managed as a recitalist by the Colbert-Laberge management group. Pineau continued as organist and choir director until 1973. Luciene Bédard also served as organist, beginning in 1942 and continuing for 54 years. Ida Rocheleau provided music from 1973 until 1982. Kathy Brooks was named music director in 1990. Scott Vaillancourt became music director in 2003 and continues today.

In addition to choral groups for children and adults, the parish sponsored a boys’ band (Fanfare Ste. Cécile) from 1898 until 1947. An extensive boys’ choir for grades 5 through 8 (Les Petits Chanteurs de Lewiston) was established in 1945 and performed operettas and other works in Lewiston and throughout New England until it was disbanded in 1964.

The pipe organs

The first pipe organ for the parish was 1880 Hook & Hastings Opus 1011, a two-manual, 24-rank instrument located in the 1873 church. The case of ash measured 25 feet high, 13 feet wide, nine feet deep. The organ cost $3,500 and was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 25.

The organ was removed from the building prior to demolition and reinstalled in the new lower church in 1906. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Casavant Frères of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, in 1916, as their Opus 665, retaining the Hook & Hastings case and much of the pipework.

In 2004, Casavant Opus 665 was sold to the Church of the Resurrection (Episcopal), New York City, where it was moved and rebuilt by the Organ Clearing House. A series of dedicatory recitals were held for this organ in its new home in 2011.

The upper church Casavant organs together make up the largest church organ in Maine. There are 4,695 pipes in five divisions in the rear gallery, 737 in three divisions in the sanctuary. A four-manual, drawknob console controls the entire organ from the rear gallery; a two-manual console in the sanctuary, which does not function at this time, controls the sanctuary divisions. The organ was designed by Charles-Marie Courboin of Saint Patrick Cathedral, New York City. The contract specification was dated April 4, 1937. Manual compass is 61 notes (C–C); pedal compass (concave, radiating pedalboard) is 32 notes (C–G). The instrument cost $28,000 for the gallery organ, $10,000 for the sanctuary organ. A fifteen-horsepower blower was provided for the gallery organ, and a one-horsepower blower for the sanctuary organ.

Courboin, who travelled to Saint-Hyacinthe to inspect the organ in the factory, played the opening recital on the completed organ, October 4, 1938. An estimated 2,000 persons filled the nave of the church, the first public event to occur in the upper church. The following was his program (a local choral group, Orpheon, also presented three works):

Part I

Concert Overture R. Maitland

Aria No. 3, Suite in D
Johann Sebastian Bach

Sketch No. 3 Schumann

Cantabile Cesar Franck 

Pastorale 2d Symphony
Charles-Marie Widor

Passacaglia and Fugue, C minor
J. S. Bach

Part II

Ave Maria Schubert-Courboin

Choral Prelude J. S. Bach

Choral No. 3 Cesar Franck 

The Lost Chord Sullivan-Courboin

March Heroique Saint-Saens

Casavant crafted the extensive woodworking lining the church nave, including an ornate screen in the sanctuary and the extensive wood supporting the organ and choir gallery, the transept galleries, and the narthex. The project utilizing Maine native red cedar and oak took a year and a half to complete.

Over the years, various renowned organists have concertized on the upper church organs. For instance, the Lewiston-Auburn Chapter of the American Guild of Organists sponsored Marcel Dupré in recital on Monday evening, October 4, 1948, along with three selections presented by the Saint Paul Choral Society. (Admission was $1.20, tax included, students $0.75.) The program for the organ’s tenth anniversary included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Eric DeLamarter, César Franck, Mr. Dupré, as well as an improvisation on submitted themes—Yankee Doodle and Turkeys in the Tree Top.

The fiftieth anniversary of the Casavant organs was celebrated with a concert on October 4, 1988, given by Brian Franck, organist, with l’Orpheon, conducted by Alexis Cote and accompanied by Luciene Bédard. Alan Laufman of the Organ Historical Society presented Historic Organ Citation #100 for the upper church organs. The upper church organs were heard in recitals during the national convention of the Organ Historical Society on August 19, 1992.

The gallery Casavant has experienced only three tonal alterations since installation. During Mr. Pinché’s tenure, the Grand Orgue 16′ Bombarde was replaced by an 8′ Bourdon. The Solo 16′ Tuba Magna was replaced by a 4′ Orchestral Flute. And the Récit 8′ Trompette was replaced by an 8′ open flute. The 8′ Trompette rank was used for many years in the Casavant in the lower church. It is now in storage, awaiting restoration and reinstallation, or perhaps replacement with a copy, if necessary.

Saints Peter and Paul experienced its largest membership in the 1950s, with more than 15,000 souls on the records. Twenty years later, membership was less than half that number. In 1986, the Dominicans turned administration of the parish back to the diocese. In June of 1996, Saints Peter and Paul was “twinned” with nearby Saint Patrick Catholic Church.

On October 4, 2004, the Vatican raised Saints Peter and Paul Church to the dignity of a minor basilica. The basilica was inaugurated on May 22, 2005, by the Most Reverend Richard Malone, Bishop of Portland. In 2008, the basilica became part of the newly-formed Prince of Peace Parish, which in due time has included all the Catholic parishes of Lewiston. The parish today includes the basilica, Holy Cross, Holy Family, as well as cluster parishes: Holy Trinity, Lisbon Falls, Our Lady of the Rosary, Sabattus, and Saint Francis Mission, Greene (in the summer only). Holy Cross Church has a Casavant organ of two manuals, 25 ranks, installed in 1967.

Saint Mary Church would close in 2000 and become the home of the Franco-American Heritage Center. The Gothic edifice of stone was completed in 1927 to the designs of the same architect as Saints Peter and Paul. It is now used as a performing arts and cultural center, preserving much of the feel of the old church, including its stained glass windows. A photograph at the center’s website reveals that at least the twin cases of the church’s Frazee organ are still present. The organ itself is in storage at the center, awaiting funding for reinstallation.

Saint Joseph Catholic Church was closed October 13, 2009, and sits empty. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now owned by Central Maine Healthcare, the redbrick Gothic building has been threatened with demolition, though these plans are on hold as of this writing. The building once housed a two-manual Henry Erben organ from 1870, long since replaced by an electronic substitute.

Saint Patrick Catholic Church, facing Kennedy Park along Bates Street at Walnut Street, was founded in 1886. The parish, under the leadership of Monsignor Thomas Wallace, built a grand Gothic church, completed in 1890. Monsignor Wallace was buried in the church crypt. On October 27, 2009, Saint Patrick closed its doors. Its 1893 two-manual Hook & Hastings organ, Opus 1580 (electrified about 1960 by Rostron Kershaw, with minor tonal changes), was removed for relocation to Holy Family Catholic Church of Lewiston, a project partially completed by the Faucher Organ Company of Biddeford, Maine. Completion awaits sufficient funding. This is the first pipe organ for Holy Family Church.

Despite losing its claim as an industrial center in the state, Lewiston today remains the second largest city in Maine, behind Portland. Auburn is located across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston, and the two communities are often considered a single entity. The Lewiston community has experienced a renaissance in recent years.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the Casavant organs in the upper church was celebrated throughout 2013. The parish sponsors a summer recital series, and that year’s performers included: Karel Paukert; Chris Ganza with Karen Pierce (vocalist); Albert Melton; Randall Mullin; Jacques Boucher with Anne Robert (violinist); Ray Cornils; Julie Huang; Harold Stover; Sean Fleming; and the author. The final program of this series occurred on September 27, featuring Kevin Birch, organist, the Androscoggin Chorale, John Corrie, conductor, and the Men’s Choir of the Basilica, Scott Vaillancourt, director. The program included: Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552i, Johann Sebastian Bach; Andante Sostenuto, Symphonie IV, Charles-Marie Widor; Cloches, Marcel Fournier; Carillon de Westminster, Louis Vierne; Sonata I, Alexandre Guilmant, and the Mass for Two Choirs and Two Organs, Widor. Some restorative repairs have been made to the Casavant organs by the Faucher Organ Company of Biddeford, Maine. Ongoing efforts are made to raise funds to complete the project and bring this world-class organ back to its original glory. 

Sources

A Rich Past—A Challenging Future: A Tribute to Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Lewiston, Maine, 1996.

Organ Handbook 1992, Alan M. Laufman, editor, The Organ Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, 1992, pp. 60–63.

“The Organs of the Church of Ss. Peter & Paul Lewiston, Maine,” Brian Franck and Alan Laufman, The Tracker, vol. 36, no. 2, 1992, pp. 8–13.

Newspaper clippings, Casavant contract information from the basilica archives.

Photography by Stephen Schnurr, except as noted.