by Bruce B. Stevens
Some 250 lovers of pipe organs and pipe organ music gathered in Michigan in early August for the 40th Annual National OHS Convention. They came from across the entire United States, Canada, and such faraway places as Finland and Australia. The elegantly comfortable Campus Inn in the heart of the University of Michigan served as headquarters for a busy week of recitals on 37 old and new organs, four lectures, a carillon recital, and the customary camaraderie and fun that always accompany OHS events.
Sunday
The events of the opening day took place only a short walk from our beautiful headquarters. It has become a tradition to include one vintage theater organ in the lineup of each OHS convention, if possible. Kicking things off this year was an enjoyable program by Scott Smith on the brash and sassy 1927 Grand Barton Theater Organ, located in the restored opulence of the Michigan Theater. To those expecting the sumptuous, booming warmth of a Wurlitzer of the same period, this keen, edgy instrument without booming bass was a surprise. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating and versatile organ, full of intriguing effects. Beginning with The Victors, "the most well-known song associated with the University of Michigan," according to the program notes, and ending ever so cleverly with the encore Another Opening, Another Show from Kiss Me, Kate, Mr. Smith's leisurely program and relaxed style nicely demonstrated the numerous resources of the restored instrument.
The fine carpenter Gothic-style interior and sympathetic acoustics of the First Congregational Church several blocks away provide an agreeable setting for a 1985 three-manual Karl Wilhelm organ, one of two Wilhelm organs featured during the week. Recitalist Larry Visser played a program of works by Bach, de Grigny, Pepping, and his own compositions with ample facility and energy. His own Four Chorale Preludes on "Lobe den Herren," imitating specific well-known organ chorales of Bach, was a hit with the audience and served to demonstrate this mild and pleasant eclectic tracker instrument. OHS conventions are noted for the exceptionally robust, bass-dominated congregational singing of a hymn with every organ. It was unexpected that the light tonal palette of this large, perfectly placed but polite instrument was all but obscured by the forceful rendering of "All Creatures of Our God and King." Having released this initial burst of pent-up energy, the group later evidenced some degree of sensitivity to just how each organ and player "invited" them to sing.
Following the short stroll back to the Campus Inn, the group enjoyed air conditioned relief from the heat and humidity while listening to a fascinating lecture by Professor James O. Wilkes. A colorful Renaissance man, Wilkes is a professor of chemical engineering at the University, an organist and Associate of the Trinity College of Music in London, and the author of the notable book Pipe Organs of Ann Arbor. In much too short a time, he regaled us by zipping through a wide variety of information on pipe construction and sound production, including along the way several imaginative visual demonstrations of the movement of the air in pipes. Utilizing pipe, cardboard, and candle, Professor Wilkes showed us that air does not come out of the top of an open pipe and that initial speech involves air being sucked into the mouth momentarily, before being blown out.
The First United Methodist Church directly across the street from the tall, glass-fronted lobby of the Campus Inn was the site of our next recital, where we found a large 1958 Reuter organ which incorporates ranks of pipes and other parts from the church's 1940 Kimball. Mary McCall Stubbins, organist of the church for 53 years (!), put this congenial instrument through its paces with a program of Couperin and Bach transcriptions and original organ pieces by Sowerby, Titcomb, Doane-Whitworth, and the comic Pantomime by Harry Benjamin Jepson. For the hymn Ms. McCall Stubbins selected words by T. Herbert O'Driscoll, set in 1971 to the great old marching tune Ebenezer (Ton-y-Botel). It was a curious occurrence indeed when this assembly of highly "traditional" church music enthusiasts and practitioners blithely belted out, "Let my people seek their freedom in the wilderness awhile, from the aging shrines and structures, from the cloister and the aisle." Would this not include seeking "freedom" from traditional churches and their pipe organs? Good heavens!
After dinner we purposely sought no freedom from the evening recital, gathering resolutely in the pews, not the aisle, of the First Baptist Church for what turned out to be an electrifying performance by the "aging shrine's" organist Janice Beck. At the outset we experienced a slight mishap with the hymn: Ms. Beck was only one of several performers during the week whose version of the hymn did not match the one printed in the conventioneers' "Hymnlets." (Future convention committees, please take note.) Nevertheless, this gifted and experienced artist continued unfazed and opened her recital program with a secure and compelling performance of the Bach E-flat major Fugue. For this reviewer the most riveting and memorable moments came in Night Song and Ostinato Dances by Pamela Decker, a long and involved work ending in a frenzied Stravinskyesque dance demanding the utmost in energy, precision, and virtuosity, qualities Ms. Beck possesses in abundance. Three of Rayner Brown's airy Papillons, depicting specific butterflies, contrasted nicely with the Decker, as well as with William Bolcom's sweet Just As I Am and the closing three works by Vierne. Ms. Beck is to be congratulated on programming one of the more interesting and appealing of the convention's 37 recitals. The organ for this recital is a large 1966 Robert Noehren instrument with precisely 26 ranks of mixtures and a bass "foundation" consisting of one light 16' Subbass. Yet it still makes sense and works well in many contexts.
Monday
At the annual business meeting of the Society, Executive Director Bill Van Pelt announced that the Allen Company had recently given all the historical records of the M. P. Moeller Organ Company to the OHS for its American Organ Archives. This enormous acquisition contains information about one-tenth of all the organs built in the Western Hemisphere! An appeal was made for special funds to help deal with storing these materials properly and safely. Convention Coordinator Alan Laufman called our attention to the 1996 Convention in Philadelphia and the 1997 Convention in Portland, Oregon, and then announced the 1998 Convention in Denver.
Following the meeting, organ historian Michael Friesen began turning our thoughts to the past with his admirably articulate lecture on Michigan organbuilders of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Utilizing a good variety of slides, he covered much ground in the short time allowed and displayed his diligent research on the subject.
Then we boarded our fleet of four comfortable, modern coaches for the hour-long trip into Detroit and the first of what OHS conventions are principally about: recitals on antique instruments. At our first stop, the Martyrs of Uganda Roman Catholic Church (formerly St. Agnes), Susan T. Goodson played a solid program of standard repertoire by Zipoli, Franck, Vierne, and Mendelssohn on the intelligible and civilized Casavant of 1924. The large, handsome, Gothic-style building, with its magnificent, jewel-toned windows and generous acoustics, proved to be only one of many such churches we would see in Detroit: what a delightful surprise for those of us from more "mundane church" areas of the country! And it was good to see the areas around this and other churches coming back to better health following the riots of 1968 and the subsequent decline. These grand and venerable architectural treasures are being preserved, in some instances are being gorgeously restored, and especially are being used. The lunch prepared by our hosts at the church, featuring "African-Detroit" cuisine, was a veritable banquet, resoundingly applauded.
Not far away we entered Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church with gasps of awe. This splendid building, with its rows of grandiose marble columns marching into the horizon while supporting an ever-blue "heaven" above, is breathtaking. The first order of business was the first of the week's presentations of Historic Organ Plaques. The OHS presents these plaques in recognition of an organ's exceptional historic merit. The plaque is intended to be held by the organ's owner in trust for the OHS as long as the owner preserves the organ in a manner compatible with the guidelines of the Society. Through the years this program has encouraged the proper preservation of hundreds of worthy historic organs. In Sweetest Heart of Mary Church the instrument is an 1894 Clough & Warren which has the distinction of being the second organ (indeed, the first extant organ) to employ Mr. John T. Austin's invention, the Austin Universal Wind Chest System. Recitalist Kathleen Scheide presented careful, sensitive readings of less familiar repertoire by Liszt, Sowerby, and Paine, and included her own Partita on "Old Hundredth." The forceful instrument, with its "big room of air" under the pipes, served these pieces well.
Following a brief ride over to St. John-St. Luke Evangelical Church, the group came upon yet another fantastic sight: an "illuminated light-bulb church." The fanciful carpenter Gothic-style interior of 1874, together with the front-and-center G. F. Votteler organ of the same date, was wired for electricity "in a state-of-the-art fashion" in 1916 under the direction of a parishioner who was an executive with Detroit Edison. Hundreds of light bulbs outline balconies, arches, pulpit, and even the pipe flats and pinnacles on the elaborate Gothic-style organ facade. This carnival atmosphere was heightened by the momentary dimming of the whole shebang every so often, as well as by one bulb on the organ facade that kept blinking in apparent response to vibrations within the case! The instrument has a surprising steely and thin sound for the period, but organist Stephen Schnurr, a last minute substitute for another recitalist, made us forget this fact with his amazing prowess: within two weeks' time he learned the previously scheduled organist's entire program, including Dudley Buck's formidable Concert Variations on "The Star-Spangled Banner." None of these pieces had he ever played before, yet he learned and performed them for us with aplomb. This feat did not go unrecognized by the appreciative crowd.
From this "enlightened," yet cold sounding instrument, we were taken to what was one of the more lovely, cohesive organs of the week: the 1867 Andreas Moeller (no relation to M. P. Moeller) in Most Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, another beautifully restored Gothic-style edifice with kindly acoustics. The organ has undergone much rearrangement and restoration throughout its history and is undeniably lovely in its present form. Recitalist Dudley Oakes began his engaging program with a charming duet (with organist and conductor Joanne Vollendorf) by the obscure 19th-century composer Josef Labor. Following the premiere of the gentle Reflections by our Australian/ Canadian/Floridian OHS colleague Gordon Atkinson, who shared the week with us and performed for us on our Saturday tour, Ms. Vollendorf conducted a quite competent string quartet for a performance of Handel's Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 4. Mr. Oakes found suitable and delightful sounds to balance the four strings for a festive, uplifting conclusion.
From here we bused to Ste. Anne's Roman Catholic Church for dinner and our evening recital. Just when we thought we could not possibly see another church larger and more breathtaking, we entered into this huge, "High Victorian Gothic" nave, dazzlingly decorated with much gold gilt, the enormous stained glass windows splashing their late afternoon rainbows over myriads of white and gold pinnacles and carvings. After dinner, organist Barry Turley presented the 25-stop 1887 Granville Wood & Son/1940 Casavant rebuild organ, an instrument of coolly aristocratic, even suave nature, in a varied program of Bach, Pinkham, the lovely Dubois Offertoire, Stanley Weiner, and Reger. Turley's secure, expressive, well-paced playing, together with the dignified instrument speaking optimally into such wonderfully reverberant acoustics from the rear gallery, combined to create a most moving performance of Reger's profound Fantasie on "Wachet auf." The traditional afterglow in the Campus Inn back in Ann Arbor gave the energetic a convivial time to chat about the wondrous sights and sounds of the day, as well as to browse through the astonishing selection of CDs for sale from the OHS shop.
Tuesday
Westward, ho! Our coach convoy through this green and pleasant land soon arrived in attractive Battle Creek, where the group headed for the Art Moderne W. K. Kellogg Auditorium with thoughts of breakfast cereal uppermost on many minds. However, after another Historic Organ Plaque presentation, organist Larry Schou very soon got our attention with his program on Ernest M. Skinner's 1933 "last showcase instrument built at Aeolian-Skinner." Unfortunately Mr. Schou chose to play a straight program very straight, using basic prescription registrations for various French and American 19th-century romantic pieces, rather than using the huge and wonderful organ in its intended, highly colorful orchestral manner to present appropriate repertoire. It was only in Edwin H. Lemare's transcriptions of two popular songs, albeit rather mundane works in Lemare's enormous output, that the true magic of the organ began to shine through. The unique performance practice associated with the fantastic orchestral organs of 60-75 years ago has been largely ignored and forgotten in most organ teaching departments. It takes the likes of such modern orchestral organ poets as Tom Murray, Fred Hohman, Lorenz Maycher, or Tom Hazelton to remind us of what we're missing. Generally, knowledge of and appreciation for such organs and the enchanting style of performance that they facilitate are now waxing, which is good news. But it is a style still very rarely taught and mastered. This style requires of the player an imagination at once soaring and tasteful. It also demands courage to deviate from historic registration prescriptions and well-known rules. These are not classic instruments, and they rebel at being treated as such, keeping their unique magic a secret to be unlocked only by those whose vision encompasses that uncommon territory.
Next we headed out to the town of Hastings for a visit with the 1867 J. H. & C. S. Odell in Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The instrument, once located in and voiced for another church where it stood nobly free in a rear gallery, is now severely impacted in a chancel chamber behind a heavy, three-foot-thick arch; consequently it sounds imprisoned and remote. This aural effect works strongly against the listener's involvement in all but the dreamiest of music. Here it served to detach many of us from William Lee Elliott's apparently stylish performance of Bach's Partita on "O Gott, du frommer Gott" and Dubois' Toccata. What to do with such an installation? Aside from soft nocturnes and meditations, chamber music collaborations with other instrumentalists or singers could have been a path to success.
Lovely Ionia was the site for the next three recitals. The spacious, resonant Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church is a perfect home for the mellow yet clear and balanced Lyon & Healy organ of 1900. This little organ makes a big sound, and it served Marijim Thoene's program based on medieval chant extremely well. It was enthralling to hear the chants sung by a good ensemble of women's voices before the Codex Faenza and Tournemire organ selections. After these and the beautiful Prélude au Kyrie from Hommage à Frescobaldi by Langlais, it came as a jolt that our hymn was Dan Schutte's ever so pop and ubiquitous "You Are Near" before Ms. Thoene continued the recital with eloquent works by Petr Eben and Persichetti--sort of a Tootsie Roll between the Duck à l'Orange and the Baked Alaska!
Moving to the First Christian Church, surely our most colorful venue thus far with its yellow and green windows, teal carpet, red choir loft curtain and upholstery, white-gold-back facade pipes, and a very blue ceiling over all, we heard the chipper playing of Dennis Janzer. Here the hearty 1893 J. W. Steere & Sons organ, generous in scale and full-bodied in tone, is most successful in the dead acoustic. Although this Steere seemed to buck the player a bit in some of the quicker movements, the premiere of Janzer's Suite No. 1: Celebrations and Reflections for Organ (Op. 9) was quite impressive. The last two movements: Exultant Dance--"Heaven be Praised!" and Soliloquy are standouts.
At the First Baptist Church we encountered one of the more elegant and patrician of the convention's organs--Hook & Hastings Op. 1538 of 1892. Hearing this little instrument reminded us of the preeminence of this great Boston organbuilding company. Matching the organ in style was young Justin Berg, a sophomore at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids where he studies with William Elliot. Mr. Berg played a varied program of eight short and appropriate pieces beautifully, including Thomas P. Ryder's amusing The Thunder Storm amongst works by Zeuner, Bach, Bristow, Brahms, Zundel, Ritter, and Thayer. Hearing such budding talent demonstrate so very well such a fine old organ was one of the more encouraging events of this, or any, convention.
For the evening recital we traveled to University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, where organbuilder and convention chairperson Dana Hull has installed a most successful version of an S. S. Hamill organ of 1866. Greatly rebuilt and enlarged, it still tonally evokes its heritage. And it looks spectacular! Here we were treated to the finished, international concert-quality playing of Deborah L. Friauff. Using largely standard repertoire, she wove appropriate musical magic in works by Pachelbel, Franck, Mendelssohn, Alain, and Bach, displaying her ample virtuosity and mature control of rhythm, phrasing, and musical style. Her performance of Jiri Ropek's Variations on "Victimae Paschali Laudes" was a highlight of the convention, as was her gripping Bach G minor Fantasy and Fugue. This last was only slightly marred by a dominant-note cipher during the last 10 or so measures--a most lucky note indeed, if it had to happen, for the final measures of a long and great work and performance!
Wednesday
This was our North/Northeast day. After riding through the idyllic countryside north of Ann Arbor, we came to Lapeer, where we were warmly welcomed to the Church of the Immaculate Conception and heard local public school and church Music Man Joseph Dobos demonstrate the 1905 Hinners organ. This little ten-stop instrument, with its truly liquid, lovely flutes, its crisp, bold principals, and its smooth string (no reeds) is a paradigm of successful organ design for a small village church at the turn of the century (and still today). Mr. Dobos' energetic playing was quite convincing in Ballet des Matelotz by Praetorius and later in collaboration with the very gifted student trumpeter Brock Blazo.
After more rural touring, we found in the Cass City Presbyterian Church a gentle, silvery, absolutely elegant little one manual and pedal organ assumed to have been made by Henry Erben in 1865. Fortunately for us the greatly talented organist and pianist Thomas Brown was selected to play this gem, and he provided us with a memorized recital containing some of the more masterful playing of the convention. His Haydn clock pieces and his Arne Introduction and Fugue from the First Concerto reflected the 18th-century lineage of this organ exactly, while delighting us with his profuse musical inventiveness and brilliant technical acrobatics.
Another gem of a later and different sort charmed us in St. John's Episcopal Church in Sandusky. For those familiar with the work of M. P. Moeller only during the last 40 years or so, this little 1898 M. P. Moeller tracker of 4 manual stops and one pedal stop was a surprise. The instrument is at once hefty and gentle: it fills the room with clear, warm, supportive, embracing sound that never tires the ear. Throughout the diverse, engaging program by organist Anita Hanawalt and flutist Karen Cahill, parishioner and "organ curator" Alex Paladi calmly and silently watched the wind indicator on the side of the case and gently raised the bellows as needed, providing ample, living wind. Thanks again go to Dana Hull for the loving and lovely restoration.
Following a long trip to Marine City and dinner at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, we gathered with great expectation in the church to hear the evening recital on the opulent and grandiose 1861 E. & G. G. Hook Op. 300, as devotedly and carefully renovated and enlarged by George Bozeman in 1976. Organist Timothy Huth, having not the best of nights, succeeded in showing off the exceptionally transparent yet cohesive plenum for counterpoint in Bach's B minor Prelude and Fugue. The gorgeous, unsurpassed Hook flutes, the august, classic rosiny diapasons, the exquisite, piquant Oboe, the full-bodied yet radiant chorus reeds, and the awesome Pedal Open Diapason 16' that imparts incomparable grandeur to the whole, did not fail to thrill those who have come to love the work of the Hook brothers. What we all suspected is unquestionably true: the Marine City Hook is a great organ.
Thursday
As a welcome relief from bus travel, James Hammann opened Thursday with an incisive and entertaining lecture on the "Development of the Orchestral Organ." Terming the orchestral organ "a homophonic cul-de-sac on a long polyphonic highway," Dr. Hammann set his listeners straight on the nature and importance of this much misunderstood and maligned type of organ. This heightened our anticipation for hearing another E. M. Skinner masterpiece on Friday at the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit, where Dr. Hammann was once the organist.
In the vicinity of Ann Arbor we soon arrived in the village of Dexter to hear Mary Ann Crugher Balduf perform on the truly exquisite little 1857 Henry Erben at St. James' Episcopal Church. This multi-talented lady matched the elegant nature of the organ with a well chosen and arranged program of miniatures impeccably suited to the instrument and lovingly and expertly dispatched. Then with a gentle word and the clever ploy of asking the treble voices to lead off, she also succeeded in getting these normally overly-energetic hymn singers to tone themselves down to match the dulcet tones of this five-stop instrument: consequently the tiny instrument and gifted player could guide and support us wonderfully throughout "Watchman, Tell Us of the Night" sung to Aberystwyth.
From this precious, delicate experience, we were whisked off to the University of Michigan School of Music for an expert performance by John Brock on the celebrated Fisk 1985 "copy" of the 1718-1721 Silbermann/Hildebrandt organ in St. George's Church, Rötha, Germany. As one prominent conventioneer put it, "At first I thought that it really wasn't too loud after all, but then he turned on the mixtures!" Overly aggressive mixtures and chiffing, clicking principals or not, Mr. Brock very ably and stylishly displayed a great variety of sounds in Baroque works by Muffat, Böhm, and Bach. Having played the original Silbermann (Can we possibly be certain that it sounds "original" today, especially following the 1833 repairs, the 1935 repairs, the war damage, and the 1947 restoration by Eule?) in the rather intimate, carpeted, pew-padded, non-reverberant Rötha church a few years ago, this reviewer distinctly remembers his surprise and delight at the absence of chiff in the principal and flute ranks: subtle tonguing attack, yes; chiffing and chonking, no. Thankfully today we're again seeing a trend amongst leading organbuilders towards more refined pipe speech than was the practice during the 1960's, 70's and 80's.
The afternoon was given over to hilarity as the inimitable Jane Edge and her Victorian Nonet Songsters donned costumes for a program of Victorian Gems. The Victorian interior of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ypsilanti, with its 1949 Holtkamp incorporating parts of an 1875 E. & G. G. Hook and Hastings, was ideal for this event. Shall we ever forget the above-mentioned Madame Crugher Balduf, in enormous antique hat and flounces, leading off in Harry Rowe Shelley's heart rending anthem Hark, Hark, My Soul? There was scarcely a dry eye as later the histrionic Madame, in deep throated contralto, over enunciated the telling, yet poignant words "o-f s-i-n" in Mrs. M. S. B. Dana's pathetic Flee as a Bird. As expected Mrs. Edge provided witty and perfect organ accompaniments.
From this we emerged to hear Vance Harper Jones on the bold Barckhoff organ of 1905 in the First Congregational Church several blocks away. Though housed in a chamber, the modest instrument sounds full and big, smooth and clear in the intimate, dry room. The bluesy Balm in Gilead by Joe Utterback was only one of six utterly unknown works played, the last involving a little routine with a comic Uncle Sam hat. Whether the frivolity of these programs was the result of careful calculation or happenstance, it was the perfect tonic for the traditional Thursday-afternoon-slump that invariably occurs in OHS convention weeks.
After the delicious evening banquet at the beautiful Michigan League on campus, we and everyone else on campus were treated to a carillon recital by Margo Halsted and Donald Traser on the great carillon in the university's Burton Tower. A quick trip up the elevator brought many of us into direct contact with this enormous instrument as it was being played. And we organists think our instruments are big and powerful!
Then followed what was for many the highlight of the convention: Professor Robert Glasgow's masterful performance on the famous Aeolian-Skinner behemoth in Hill Auditorium. Recently refurbished and provided with a new combination system, reliable key action, and a piston sequencer (liberally used throughout the recital), this organ can certainly astonish and satisfy those in love with the biggest. The program of four works, Marche Funèbre et Chant Séraphique by Guilmant, Arioso and Pageant of Autumn by Sowerby, and Fantasia and Fugue on The Chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam" by Liszt showed the best of everything: a superlative, mature, world-class performer on an enormous and superior instrument he thoroughly understands, performing fine, appropriate literature with consummate insight and virtuosity, poetry and passion. Although excessive heat and humidity in the un-airconditioned hall may have taken a minor toll on note accuracy in some of Liszt's more treacherous passages, the audience was effusive in its resounding praise. Thankfully personal preferences of taste and style, as well as petty comparisons and fault-finding, largely disappear at such a grand event; the eminent artist communicated the music in an extraordinary way, and the audience realized it was the fortunate recipient of something quite special.
Friday
By this time in the week the troops began to shake down to the intrepid and ardent, but the Friday and Saturday crowds were gratifyingly large this year. Agnes Armstrong, an authority on Félix-Alexandre Guilmant, gave an interesting lecture on this great concert artist, composer, and teacher, leading nicely into her mid-morning recital of Guilmant works at Cass Community United Methodist Church in Detroit. In this much-stressed structure exists the largest unaltered nineteenth-century organ in Michigan, a three-manual Johnson & Son instrument of 1892. Although barely playable, Ms. Armstrong succeeded in showing its present "dark brilliance" in a program including three works played by Guilmant himself on this very organ in 1898. OHS members in the Detroit area, including organbuilders Dana Hull and David Wigton, announced that they have "adopted" this great instrument for further care and love. It is a treasure, and it was exciting to see the OHS at work once more making a struggling congregation aware of the worth their neglected organ.
From here we were taken to the immense and imposing Old St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church to see builder Wigton's magnum opus. David Hufford's expressive and virtuosic playing was a more than able match for this massive and most impressive French-style instrument. The inclusion of a small chamber choir singing the entire Fauré Requiem with organ accompaniment as the major portion of the program resulted in a small disappointment in this particular venue, for it meant that Mr. Hufford had time for only two short organ works, the Hymne d'Action de grâce, "Te Deum" by Langlais, and the opening movement of Widor's Sixth Symphony, to show off what must be a myriad of riches in this organ. Regardless of the pleasant choir and the splendid playing of Mr. Hufford, one was left with a sense of frustration at not hearing much more of this impressive, unusual organ.
We then bused out to Grosse Pointe Farms, only a few miles distant but in reality a world away, to hear an elegant Klais organ of 1989 at The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (Presbyterian). David Wagner, one of seventeen of the week's recitalists who studied at the University of Michigan's organ department, managed to give us a good sampling of the colors in this large, first-rate German tracker, unfortunately set in a dry and unflattering acoustic. Immediately after this we moved down the road where Mr. Wagner gave us a too short demonstration on the 1986 Wilhelm organ at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, an organ more satisfying than the Klais to many, probably due to the fine, lively acoustics. Here great excitement ensued when one of our coaches got stuck halfway into the church driveway and half out into a busy, four-lane roadway. There being no immediate remedy for this predicament, despite some amusing antics involving a Jeep and a chain, we consolidated and went on our way with one-third of the group standing in the aisles of the remaining buses.
The imposing Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church welcomed us for a delightful dinner and a concert on the famed 1925 E. M. Skinner masterpiece in the soaring Gothic-style church. After a miscue to the audience as to when to begin singing the opening hymn, organist JanEl B. Gortmaker proceeded to play the entire Vierne Third Symphony without an audible wrong note. Such perfection is so unusual that it is satisfying in itself, but when it is coupled with an intelligent, rhythmically controlled, beautifully phrased, polished projection of the musical ideas behind the notes, it becomes really memorable. The only negative aspect here was the intense disappointment felt by some that the anxiously awaited organ demonstration did not fully materialize: that the magical orchestral effects inherent in this celebrated organ went largely unheard. By-the-book registration of standard European organ literature did not begin to explore this wonderful organ thoroughly. Even worse, it led to some abuse of the high pressure/high decibel reeds, with concomitant abuse of the audience's ears. Whether an organ comes off as beautiful, magical, poetic, mighty, and grand, or whether it is perceived as overbearing, opaque, crass, or vulgar is perhaps more dependent on the organist's refined sense of sound and registration with such an orchestral organ than with possibly any other kind of organ. One of the week's lessons, that orchestral organs demand a special and non-traditional approach, was now thrice taught.
An hour later we were back in Ann Arbor for James Kibbie's recital on the brand new 1995 Orgues Létourneau tracker at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church. This large, modern "worship center" has recently been redone to feature an admirable acoustic for worship and music which compliments this rather bright, pleasing, essentially neo-Baroque organ nicely. Even the chiffy flutes are convincing in such an environment. Dr. Kibbie, the organ consultant for this project, must have liked it, for he played to the large crowd, including many parishioners and other townspeople, in the stifling heat from memory with confidence, fine style, and, in the main, musical success. His program of great standards was spiced by the inclusion of the beautiful Nigerian Prayer: "Oba a ba ke" by Fela Sowande, an African musician who lived and worked in this country for many years before his death in 1987.
Saturday
Nearly a week after the start of the convention, three busloads of us were still going and going. This year's convention was atypical in its inclusion of so many modern organs, and this day we were treated to four more. Our first stop was St. John Neumann Roman Catholic Church in Canton, another modern "worship center" that unfortunately is not a pleasant home for the David Wigton 1993 "rebuild and enlargement" of an 1885 Carl Barckhoff organ. Enough of this instrument has been altered so as to make the original not readily recognizable. Nonetheless, it is an affable organ with a contemporary sound and visual appearance. Organist Brian DuSell's program of Bruhns, Bach, Gigout, Albright, and Vaughan Williams exercised the instrument completely, especially the pedals in Albright's ever popular Jig for the Feet.
Our next stop at Zion Lutheran Church in Detroit, home church of our convention chairman Dana Hull, served up a host of delights. Many of us were amazed at the rich English Gothic-style interior and the scent of incense of this "High Lutheran" parish. Sitting in a transept was a current Hull project: the ongoing restoration of a mid-nineteenth century Robjohn chamber-size organ in an absolutely exquisite rosewood case. Finally, from the rear gallery, it was a great treat to hear the crystalline and surprisingly refined 1932 Vottler-Holtkamp-Sparling organ, including its mysterious Ludwig Tone 8', a uniquely beautiful flute celeste. Gordon Atkinson played an unusual program, including Little Suite for Organ by English composer Martin Ball, which was commissioned for this recital.
At St. James' Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile we were graciously hosted by a large group of parishioners to a lovely picnic on the grounds, with the refreshing river views and park-like setting reviving our flagging spirits. Inside the old chapel building organist Edward M. Schramm played an unexpected program on the 1987 Charles Ruggles tracker, a little organ with a big, big sound. The successful realization of Reger's Introduction and Passacaglia on this 13-stop instrument caused no small degree of astonishment.
It was fitting that the two final scheduled events of the convention featured two venerable and "grand" instruments from the past. At Pilgrim Church back in Detroit Elgin Clingaman offered a well-played recital on an 1889 Granville Wood & Son organ, a very grand sound indeed in a very dead acoustical environment. Bless them, they didn't let dead acoustics deter the creation of true grandeur way back then in the olden days! Just start with a huge 16' Double Open Diapason of wood in the pedal, and the rest would follow naturally. Fascinating parts of this recital were the three works of the Belgian nineteenth- century composer Joseph Callaerts. The increasingly wearied, even jaded, group appreciated particularly his winsome Scherzo, Op. 31.
The opulent, mellow, smooth, rich tonal magnificence of the 1892 George Jardine and Son organ down the street in Trinity Episcopal Church then beckoned, and ignoring tired ears, off we trotted. This wonderful organ, installed far from optimally in a chancel chamber with a small facade and the key desk in the transept, gives the lie to the mandate that rather low-pressure trackers must be free-standing to be successful. Again, those good old guys really did know how to fill a room with sound, whatever the challenge! Here Joanne Vollendorf appeared for the second time and gave an engaging program of music by women composers, from Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn to Frances McCollin. Ms. Vollendorf's musical playing brought a fitting conclusion to a truly outstanding week for many of the participants.
But not to let the evening "go to waste," an extra post-convention tour had been organized only a week or two previously, and an amazing two bus loads of dauntless enthusiasts plowed forward. Were we ever hugely rewarded! Two glorious churches, two scintillating organs, and a superb recitalist awaited us.
At Fort Street Presbyterian Church, a superb Gothic-style building with a true wonder of a hammer-beam truss ceiling, the organ is plastered across the entire front of the building in an exuberant fantasy of black walnut pinnacles and white, gold, pink, and taupe painted pipes. Here we were met by recitalist Thomas M. Kuras, a formidable organ artist. His program, prepared rather last-minute, included virtuoso works by Bossi, Dubois, and his own Postlude on "Vigiles et Sanctae" on the impressive Odell
/Wangerin-Weickhardt/Möller/McMan-us/Price/Robertson/Helderop composite organ.
However, greater delights awaited. After dinner we rode over to what is certainly one of the most wondrous and awe-inspiring Gothic-style interiors in the country. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church is an absolutely glorious, highly colored, many statued, German-built edifice with equally fabulous acoustics. It is reminiscent of the marvelous Cathedral in Freiberg, Germany, where a great Gottfried Silbermann organ resides. It is the only Detroit church listed on the National Register of Historic Places, primarily for its extraordinary German stained glass windows. Here Mr. Kuras has played the organ and led performances of weekly choral Latin Masses and regular orchestral Masses for several decades. And this night, play he did. Masterfully! The program included his own extensive Partita for Organ on "Austria" and an utterly charming Berceuse on "O Sanctissima." A thrilling improvisation on not one but three submitted themes brought down the house. The organ here is a 1973 two-manual tracker, modest in size when compared to the building, but generous in tone. Built by local builder William Worden, it incorporates some once-butchered but now restored pipework from the original 1873 Odell organ, including the handsome stencilled facade, as well as some other old pipes. In essence, however, it is a versatile, eclectic instrument of impressive musical value whose stoplist and sounds closely resemble those of organs being built by leading American tracker builders right now rather than those being built 22 years ago. We went out into the night on a genuine high.
This convention was at once extremely well-organized and relaxed, with a beautifully-planned pace, easy flow, and relatively few snafus. Chairman Dana Hull and her committee, as well as Convention Coordinator Alan Laufman and the OHS staff in Richmond, deserve high praise and deep appreciation for an excellent week. The huge variety of beautiful instruments and churches, the discovery of some exciting, unfamiliar players, the opportunity to hear some old favorite players, the unusual yet appealing programs, the luxurious accommodations, the sumptuous meals and frequent refreshments throughout each day, the comfortable, clean transportation, the customarily reasonable OHS prices, and the genuinely friendly and open crowd all combined to make one terrific week.
The focus of these yearly gatherings has gradually (and gratefully) expanded from an interest solely in eighteenth and nineteenth century trackers to include serious interest in and appreciation for significant electric action organs from the past and a refreshing look at top-notch, artistic modern organs. Naturally, this has served to attract a larger and more diverse crowd with a wider view of things. The conventions have expanded to a very full six and a half days which increasing numbers of people enjoy without missing one single event. Based as these conclaves are on a sincere interest in experiencing as many fine organs, fine players, and fine recitals of organ literature as possible in a given week, they are unique in our country and, perhaps, in the world. (For a serious concert organist with awareness enough to notice and process what is going on, just the chance to hear 37 different recitals by 37 different players on 37 different organs in one week, played to the same audience, is an incredibly valuable lesson in what works and what doesn't in terms of planning and playing recitals. For a serious, artistic organbuilder, the chance to hear and compare the degree of success of that many organs in that many American churches in one week is unparalleled.) How fortunate we are to have the OHS producing such events for our edification and enjoyment as a part of its mission. The Society deserves accolades as it continues to support the cause of genuine pipe organs at this time in America of mounting threat to the use and even existence of such marvelous and noble instruments, whether they are old or new.
Next year the OHS conventioneers will gather in Philadelphia for what will certainly be an exhilarating week, Sunday, June 30 through Saturday, July 6. On the Fourth of July we'll be enjoying a dinner cruise on the river, watching the fireworks over the city where our nation was born. From 18th-century Tannenberg and Dieffenbach trackers to the world-famous monumental organs in the Wanamaker store and Longwood Gardens, we'll hear them all. Plan to join us for a week that is unlike anything happening elsewhere.
