Noack Organ Company Opus 145 First Congregational Church, Swampscott, Massachusetts
It began around 1999 with that nagging and increasingly hard to ignore problem--”We’ve got to do something about that organ!” But the congregation of the First Congregational Church in Swampscott, Massachusetts--like most congregations--took a little while in getting around to seriously pursuing solutions to the problem. Swampscott is a coastal town on the commuter rail line north of Boston; it split off from an older town in the early 19th century. In 1846 the church was founded, and by 1852 it had its first organ, built by Simmons of Boston. That sturdy instrument served the church until 1926, when the church’s old building was replaced by a larger one.
That’s when the trouble began. A larger and more modern organ was desired, but funds were probably tight, and so the church settled for an organ made up largely of old parts from a second-hand Hook & Hastings organ, but with a new console. By 1965 the church was again in need of a larger building, and this was designed in the then very prevalent “chancel” style, with the organ relegated by the architect to two cramped chambers at the front. Probably again due to a shortage of funds, the church opted to have a local organ technician recycle parts of the organ from the former building, add a few more recycled parts from sources unknown, and install the whole thing as best as he could into the inadequate chambers.
Even before 1999 this organ, never really adequate or musically satisfactory, was plagued with maintenance problems. The old 1926 console was deteriorating, the wind regulation was unsteady, and the jerry-built internal works were causing regular problems with ciphers and dead or slow notes. The pipework was in poor tune and regulation, and due to the inadequate openings of the chamber--facing each other rather than the congregation--the sound of the organ projected poorly. A substantial amount of carpeting did not help matters either. A committee was finally formed to research the problem. Could the old organ be rebuilt? Should they consider an electronic instrument? What about just starting over with a new organ? Hard questions to answer.
Several years ago the Boston AGO chapter established an Organ Advisory Committee made up of a mix of chapter members with various areas of expertise--organ building, architecture, acoustics, consulting, even members of the clergy. Over time this committee has assisted a number of area churches with advice resulting in restoration of historic organs, repair or rebuilding, acoustical improvement, and, occasionally, new organs. In 2000 the O.A.C. was contacted by Patricia Clark, a chapter member who was organist of the Swampscott church. The church’s organ committee was getting bogged down and needed guidance.
Eight members of the O.A.C. came to the church, surveyed the old organ, and discussed the options with the organ committee, pointing out the problems of the present organ and, just as important, its acoustical and placement handicaps. While members of the O.A.C. are not always unanimous in their recommendations or suggestions of solutions, in this instance they were. None saw any advantage in attempting to rebuild the old organ, and all were concerned with the poor placement. The organ committee was strongly urged to investigate what some other churches had done--something they had not at that point considered. All eight O.A.C. members submitted individual reports, and all recommended essentially the same thing--a new pipe organ, well-designed by a reputable builder, and located in the optimum acoustical position in the middle of the chancel, facing the congregation. Suggestions were also made of churches in the greater Boston area where similar projects had successfully been carried out, and the committee was strongly urged to investigate them.
The organ committee--their worst suspicions about the old organ confirmed, but now with some direction about how to proceed--began learning more about organs and, most importantly, visiting other churches. Along the way they absorbed some standards of what really constituted a good pipe organ, and began comparing newer organs by various builders. Their epiphany came at the Church of the Redeemer in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, where the organist, Australian-born Michael S. Murray, demonstrated the recently built Noack organ for them. They liked the sound and the responsive mechanical action. They decided that their search for a builder had come to an end. Fritz Noack visited their church and concurred with the O.A.C. members that the only viable location for a new organ was the center of the chancel. The organ committee had done its job well, the congregation supported their recommendation, and soon a contract was signed for an organ of two manuals and 27 stops. Frank Olney, a Boston architect who also happens to be an organist--and thus understands the spatial and acoustical requirements of organs far better than many other architects--was hired to redesign the chancel and work with Fritz Noack on the visual aspect of the organ.
Design of the organ began in 2003, and by June 2004, the organ was completed and set up in the spacious erecting room of Noack’s workshop, located in a converted brick schoolhouse in Georgetown, not very far from Swampscott. The Noack Organ Co. is one of three organ-building firms in a relatively small area of Essex County north of Boston. All three like to host open houses to showcase new organs, many of which are destined for distant points. Noack has sent organs as far afield as Japan and Iceland. Indeed, it had been several years since his firm had built an organ in the greater Boston area, and Fritz Noack, who had enjoyed collaborating with the well-informed committee and organist from Swampscott, planned a more festive than usual open house for their new organ on June 26, 2004.
The organ committee and its chair Dan Wistran, the Rev. Dean Pedersen, and organist Patricia Clark were there, along with many parishioners. In attendance, too, were many of the local organists and aficionados, along with a delegation from the Congregational Church in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a sneak preview of what to expect when Noack’s next organ was delivered to their church.
Every organ builder has their own modus operandi when it comes to open houses. Fritz Noack always waits until an organ is entirely finished “on the floor” to schedule one, and while other builders generally opt for an “open console” approach to a demonstration, Noack usually asks a friendly organist or two to play an impromptu mini-recital before giving everyone else a chance to try it out. This assures that those in attendance will be reasonably quiet, and that they will hear a comprehensive overview of what the organ can do with minimal distraction.
The demonstration of the Swampscott organ was begun by two well-known Boston area organists, Peter Sykes and Michael S. Murray, who between them provided a good sampling of the organ’s versatility in music of various periods. Patricia Clark followed, along with Paul Schnell from the Kennebunkport Congregational Church. The younger generation of budding organists was represented by Dylan Sauerwald, a recipient of the Young Organist Initiative scholarship, given annually by the Boston AGO chapter. Afterwards, other organists took turns on the bench while organists, organbuilders, and neighbors partook of refreshments and socialized--and there was even a little impromptu hymn singing.
During the following month the organ was dismantled and packed, and by late August it was being set up in the church, which had been prepared for its arrival by some refurbishing of the chancel area--and the removal of carpeting. Its understated white casework soon emerged as the new focal point of the room. A formal dedication service was held on the morning of September 26, 2004, with plenty of organ and choral music. Rev. Pedersen, in a sermon entitled “Breathing Exercises,” took the symbolism of wind-blown organ pipes and wove it through various ramifications of the spiritual life found in the scriptures, suggesting that organs may serve to remind the congregation of its own “breathing exercises,” which he defined as “prayer and praise, worship and service.”
The final event of the dedication celebration was a recital on November 7, 2004, by Michael S. Murray, whose demonstration of the Noack organ in the Church of the Redeemer had initially helped to set this organ project on its course. Two hymns were included--good rousing ones (“For all the Saints” and “Sleepers, Wake”). The robust singing of a packed house proved beyond doubt that the new instrument was up to the major task of a good church organ, leading and supporting congregational singing without overpowering it.
The trend of organ tonal design and voicing in this first decade of the 21st century leans toward a historically-informed eclecticism that takes into account the resources needed for valid performance of music from many periods. The result, in some cases, has faint echoes of the best organs built in the United States during the second half of the 19th century. This Noack organ exemplifies this trend, and proved a satisfying vehicle for baroque works by Buxtehude (Praeludium in C Major) and Bach (Wachet auf and Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor) in the first half of Murray’s program. In the second half, the organ proved itself equally comfortable with Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 3, Herbert Howells’ Master Tallis’s Testament, and Joseph Bonnet’s rambunctious Variations de Concert, all in the romantic style.
While it is hoped that other recitals will be planned for this organ in the future, that will not be its main task. This is a church organ, and much is demanded of a church organ these days. Besides playing the literature (in all its variety), it must also lead hymns well and properly accompany a wide range of choral, solo, and instrumental music. Murray’s program proved this organ’s ability to easily interpret music of different styles and nationalities (as well as to lead hymns). It is certain that it will also be up to all other demands made of it in a church with an active music program, for many years to come. From the beginning of this church’s quest for a better organ to its culmination was close to five years, seemingly a long time to anyone hooked on instant gratification and quick fixes, but a very short time in the overall life of a well-made organ and its long-term benefits.
GREAT
16’ Bourdon
8’ Diapason
8’ Second Diapason
8’ Chimney Flute
4’ Octave
4’ Harmonic Flute
22/3’ Twelfth
2’ Fifteenth
13/5’ Seventeenth
Mixture IV-VI
8’ Trumpet
SWELL
8’ Diapason
8’ Bell Gamba
8’ Celeste
8’ Gedackt
4’ Octave
4’ Recorder
2’ Gemshorn
Cornet III
Mixture IV
8’ Oboe
PEDAL
16’ Stopt Bass
8’ Diapason
8’ Gedackt
4’ Octave
16’ Trombone
8’ Trumpet
