Parsons Pipe Organ Builders completes the "Auerglass," a tracker action, foot pumped pipe organ

Anabel Taylor Chapel
Cornell University Baroque Organ
Ithaca, New York
GOArt / Parsons / Lowe

Selection
In 2003 Cornell University began planning for a new Baroque organ that would complement the existing Aeolian-Skinner organ in Sage Chapel (Opus 1009 III/68, 1940), as well as other smaller instruments located on campus. The decision was made to place the new instrument in an enlarged rear gallery, constructed with heavy timbers, in the intimate acoustic of Anabel Taylor Chapel. The new Baroque organ would be built by the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt), part of Gothenburg University in Gothenburg, Sweden, under the primary leadership of researcher and organbuilder Munetaka Yokota. This would not merely be an organ in “Baroque style,” but as much as possible, a reconstruction of an organ that could have been built in the late 17th or early 18th centuries by the German builder Arp Schnitger. The organ that Schnitger built in 1706 for the Charlottenburg Schlosskapelle (Palace Chapel) in Berlin was used as the primary model. This instrument is unique in that it blends the usual characteristics of Schnitger’s instruments built for the area around Hamburg (northwest Germany and the Netherlands), and characteristics of instruments in eastern and central Germany similar to what Johann Sebastian Bach would have known. It was also a sizable instrument for the Palace Chapel in which it stood.
The Charlottenburg organ was unfortunately destroyed during World War II, but there are recordings of the organ in addition to several photographs and documentation data, which allowed GOArt to use the original organ as a model. Because the Charlottenburg organ was confined in an unusual space, it was decided to follow a different model for the case design. The organ built by Schnitger in 1702 for the church of St. Salvator in Clausthal-Zellerfeld was chosen as a model for the case. Although its mechanism has been replaced several times since, the original Schnitger case is still in existence.
During the planning for this project, it was also decided to research how Schnitger built instruments in a city that was some distance from his home in Hamburg. This prompted GOArt and Cornell to enlist cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe of Freeville, New York, and Parsons Pipe Organ Builders of Canandaigua, New York, as local collaborators on the project. GOArt would design the organ, make the pipes, and build the keyboards, pedalboard, music rack, and bench, and provide all of the blacksmith work. Chris Lowe would construct the case, moldings, and balcony structure, and Parsons would build all of the internal mechanism: bellows, foot pumping mechanism, wind trunks, sperrventile, tremulant, key action, stop action, and windchests. The Parsons firm, Chris Lowe, and Munetaka Yokota would all work together to install the completed organ once the organ was set up and tested at Parsons’ Canandaigua workshop.

Parsons’ participation
Each new project brings its own set of challenges, and when a project involves three primary collaborators working for a university that demands perfection, those challenges could become overwhelming. However, working carefully through each new challenge, the final result speaks for itself as to the dedication to quality brought by each party.
One of the first challenges that we were presented with was the process of communicating design drawings. The design team in Gothenburg created a 3D CAD model of the organ. This model could be imported to our own 3D software, enabling us to measure components and create our own supplemental technical drawings. Three-dimensional computer modeling provides us with a greater sense of how all of the components relate to each other, allowing us to look at any combination of components and to rotate the computer model, and examine it from many angles. This was especially useful during this project, as this construction style was new to our staff and different from that to which we were accustomed.
Although the communication of CAD files across platforms provided challenges, other modern forms of communication were invaluable to this project, and are something that we guess Schnitger might have appreciated if it had been available to him. The use of Internet video conferencing allowed us to demonstrate and ask questions about specific shop techniques while allowing us to watch as Munetaka addressed these questions through demonstration, sketches, and gestures. These calls became daily occurrences during the latter part of the project and were crucial to its success.
This project was to be a “Process Reconstruction”—a term coined by the GOArt research team to describe the method used to discover unknown construction techniques, through the process of actually building the organ, rather than just through scholarly discussion. In other words, sometimes we cannot know the specific process or the correct way of building a component until we have experimented. In the end, this required us to learn many new skills and gave us an appreciation for the process that we may not have otherwise known.
The use of woodworking techniques consistent with the period was essential for the project’s success. We were permitted to use power equipment to mill lumber and cut it to size, but the final surface needed to show the traces of hand planing and scraping. As modern woodworkers, we are more likely to reach for our router or palm sander than for our hand plane. The necessity of using hand planes and scrapers in this project has re-trained us to reach for those tools and complete the task at hand before we could have gotten the router set up. The organ is made entirely of quarter-sawn white oak. This construction style relies heavily on joinery, some nails, and some glue. Long nails, ranging in length from 4 to 5 inches, were hand-forged by a blacksmith in Sweden, along with all the other ironwork required for the key and stop action, the bellows pumping mechanism, and the casework hinges and locks. Leather was provided by a German supplier, using period tanning techniques.
The key and stop actions are made in a manner consistent with Arp Schnitger’s practice. The key action rollers are made of white oak. Key action squares are made of iron and were supplied by GOArt. Most trackers and stickers are made of white oak, and the ends are hand wrapped with twine for strength. All metal trackers are of brass wire, and all trackers and stickers have hand-bent brass wire ends inserted. The key action is suspended, which means that the keys pivot at the tail and hang from the trackers or rest on the stickers from the chest. The Manual key action travels up from the key to the rollerboard, which is nailed to the back frame of the organ. The Rucwerk keyboard pushes stickers that carry the action to a rollerboard, which is located under the organist. The Pedal key action also relies on stickers that transfer motion to a rollerbox, which carries the motion, via trackers rather than rollers, to the Pedal chests on either side of the organ.
The stop knobs are made of pear that has been dyed black, with a bone button in the center. The stop action traces and trundles are made of white oak, with iron arms and levers. The iron arms are heated red-hot and then pounded into the oak trundles and are secured by quickly peening the iron.
The organ is winded from four large wedge bellows located in an isolated room in the tower of Anabel Taylor Chapel, approximately 30 feet above and behind the organ. The bellows can be foot pumped, or an electric blower can be used for practice without an assistant. Solid oak windlines connect these bellows to the organ. Windlines are joined with splines or inserted with tenons, and all joints are sealed with leather. A single Schnitger-style tremulant affects the entire organ.
Five windchests are located throughout the organ. The Manual and Pedal each have two chests, and the Rucwerk has one. All of the chests are built of solid quarter-sawn white oak. Given the wide humidity swings common to New York State, leather slider seals are used to eliminate runs and provide consistent wind to the pipes through changing climatic conditions. This required that each individual toeboard be carefully shimmed to allow the sliders to move with the correct freedom.

Casework
The casework was made by Christopher Lowe and Peter DeBoer in Chris’s workshop outside of Ithaca, New York. As the parts were made over an eleven-month period, they were assembled in a nearby barn. The case is made almost entirely of quarter-sawn white oak, mostly domestic. The oak in the long pedal tower frames and the thick posts at the console sides was imported from Germany. The rear panels are made of unfinished pine. Traditional joints hold the frame together: dovetails, splines, and pegged mortise and tenon. The panels are held together with clenched wrought-iron nails and have hand-forged iron hinges where access is needed for tuning. The molding profiles taken from the Schnitger organ in Clausthal-Zellerfeld were smoothed with an array of old wooden molding planes and custom-made planes and scrapers.
When Chris asked for guidance on what the finished surface of the moldings should be like, Munetaka responded, “We want to see the tool marks . . .
but they have to be nice tool marks.” The insides of the panels are finished with an extra deeply scooped texture for its acoustic property. All the oak has been fumed with ammonia to darken it, and the exterior surfaces were rubbed with linseed oil with iron-oxide pigment. The pipe shades are of basswood scroll-sawn to leafy shapes, and were painted by Joel Speerstra and his mother, Karen, with shadows and details to appear three-dimensional.
The casework was dismantled from the barn and moved to our Canandaigua workshop in November 2008. The interior components were installed over the next year, and the entire organ was enclosed in a tent and fumed with ammonia. Following this process, three wooden stops were installed for testing, and the organ was featured in an open house event at our facility on January 10, 2010.

Installation
Installation of the organ began in February 2010. This process required more on-site construction than to what we are accustomed. Because the pipes were shipped directly to Cornell University, the racking process had to be completed on-site. This required burning the rack holes to the correct size, for each pipe, in a tent outside the chapel in the frigid February air. The various tapered irons were carefully heated in a hand-crank coal forge; monitoring the exact temperature of the irons was critical to the process. Once ready, the irons were used to enlarge the holes by burning the wood until the pipes fit correctly. All of the upper racking was performed on-site, with the façade pipes being carefully carried up the scaffold to be marked for the precise location of the hook. Once soldered, a pin was located and driven into the oak rack.
All of the pipes that are offset from the main chests are conducted with lead tubes that were individually mitered, soldered, and fit on-site, and forced into leathered holes in the toeboards.

Pipework
The majority of the pipes in the organ are combinations of lead and tin. The wooden stops are made of pine. The pipe metal was cast on sand, as it would have been in Schnitger’s time. This technique was “rediscovered” by GOArt as part of their original research project in Gothenburg. In contrast, the modern method of casting thick metal sheets and then planing metal to the desired thickness by machine, produces a weaker material because it removes the hardest metal from the outer surface.
As Munetaka Yokota notes,

If the handcraft worker has to do everything by hand, then she or he will have the incentive of casting it as close as possible to the desired thickness and with the desired taper, and scraping it minimally, but very carefully, in the areas where it must be scraped well for acoustical reasons. This much more complex process works with the metal to create a sheet that gives a structural and acoustic result that, almost as a byproduct of the process, is as close as possible to the original Schnitger pipes. . . . Process reconstruction was developed with the goal of reproducing the acoustical quality of the 17th-century organ pipes, and this . . . philosophy is applied to the rest of the organ production as much as possible.

Final product
The organ was publicly presented during the Organ Inauguration and Dedication Festival and Conference, March 10–13, 2011 on the Cornell University campus. Many lectures were presented detailing the world that existed when the original organ at Berlin’s Schlosskapelle was introduced in 1706. There were demonstrations of the organ’s individual stops and a discussion about the construction process, and numerous concerts to demonstrate the organ as a solo instrument as well as how it worked together with other instruments. The inaugural concert by Harald Vogel was presented twice to allow more people to experience the new instrument in the intimate space of Anabel Taylor Chapel. The first inaugural concert also featured the new composition Anacrusis by Kevin Ernste. This piece featured the organ with electronic sounds as well as live organbuilding sounds made by numerous students and organbuilders who had worked on the instrument.
We would like to thank Professor Annette Richards, University Organist, who was the impetus behind this project and the glue that held it all together. Professor David Yearsley also provided welcome support and encouragement throughout the project. The support of Jacques van Oortmerssen, who served as inspector for Cornell during the project, was crucial to its success, and his performance during the festival was a tribute to his contributions.
The artistic endeavor of building the organ now gives way to the artistic endeavor of using it to teach and to enrich the lives of people for generations to come. For Parsons Pipe Organ Builders, there is a single underlying purpose to creating these beautiful instruments: that this organ will be used by Cornell students to glorify God through weekly services of worship.
—Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
4820 Bristol Valley Road
Canandaigua, NY 14424-8125
888/229-4820
www.parsonsorgans.com

To view a descriptive video produced by Cornell University, visit <http://www.cornell.edu/video/index.cfm?VideoID=1017&gt;.

Parsons’ staff:
Richard Parsons
Calvin Parsons
Duane Prill
Peter Geise
Aaron Feidner
David Bellows
Glenn Feidner
Graham Sleeman
Jay Slover
Matthew Parsons
Steven Martindale
Tony Martino

Photo credit: Timothy Parsons, unless otherwise indicated

Anabel Taylor Chapel
Cornell University Baroque Organ
Ithaca, New York
GOArt / Parsons / Lowe

MANVAL (II)
1 PRINCIPAL 8 fus
2 QVINTADENA 16 fus
3 FLOITE DVES 8 fus
4 GEDACT 8 fus
5 OCTAV 4 fus
6 VIOL DE GAMB 4 fus
7 SPITZFLÖIT 4 fus
8 NASSAT 3 fus
9 SVPER OCTAV 2 fus
10 MIXTVR 4 fach
11 TROMMET 8 fus
12 VOX HVMANA 8 fus

RVCWERK (I)
1 PRINCIPAL 8 fus
2 GEDACT LIEBLICH 8 fus
3 OCTAV 4 fus
4 FLÖITE DVES 4 fus
5 OCTAV 2 fus
6 WALTFLÖIT 2 fus
7 SEPQVIALT 2 fach
8 SCHARF 3 fach
9 HOBOY 8 fus

PEDAL
1 PRINCIPAL 16 fus
2 OCTAV 8 fus
3 OCTAV 4 fus
4 NACHT HORN 2 fus
5 RAVSCHPFEIFE 2 fach
6 MIPTVR 4 fach
7 POSAVNEN 16 fus
8 TROMMET 8 fus
9 TROMMET 4 fus
10 CORNET 2 fus
(preparation)

TREMVLANT
VENTIEL MANVAL
VENTIEL RVCWERK
VENTIEL PEDAL
CALCANT

Four wedge bellows

Pitch: a1 = 415 Hz
Compass: Manuals C, D–d3
Pedal C, D–d1
Temperament: Werckmeister III

The stop names are presented as on the stop labels. Note that the “x” has been replaced by a “p” in both the Rucwerk Sepquialt and Pedal Miptur, possibly as a nod to the division names Rückpositiv and Pedal.

30 stops, 40 ranks, with one preparation.

David E. Wallace & Co., LLC, Gorham, Maine

Opus 73

Wallace & Co.’s Opus 73 is a portable instrument designed for both demonstrations and concerts. It was first showcased in the exhibition hall during the 2014 American Guild of Organists’ national convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Opus 73 made its concert debut in March of 2015 when it was used for two concerts by the Maine Music Society (www.mainemusicsociety.org). The organ was well received in these performances and was successful in accompanying a large chorus and orchestra.

Opus 73 is moved easily in two large sections. The top section holds only the pipes, which have been carefully racked for optimal stability. Pipe racking was accomplished in the traditional manner using red-hot burning irons to cauterize and taper the rack holes for a more supportive fit. Each pipe also has a hook soldered onto the foot just above the rackboard that fits over a pin that prevents the pipe from turning while being transported. All of the largest metal pipes have reinforced feet for durability. The bottom section of the organ contains the windchest, key action, and wind system. For safe transport the keyboard slides in, the pedalboard pulls out, and the decorative cornice lifts off. Assembly takes less than ten minutes and involves setting the upper half gently on top of the lower half and pulling out the keyboard. Opus 73’s careful design allows the organ to be rugged and transportable with minimal effort while providing an instrument with a full and rich voice.

When fully set up, the organ measures 7 feet 10 inches tall, 46 inches wide, and 21 inches deep (excluding pedalboard). The higher placement of the pipes allows the organ to speak freely when used with large ensembles and in large rooms. This is a distinct difference from the smaller portable box organs. Generous scaling of the pipework has allowed Opus 73 to perform well with large ensembles without being overpowered or sounding forced. By closing the panels and front doors, the sound of the organ can be diminished appropriately for quieter settings while still remaining present and warm.

While the instrument was not designed to be a replica of any ancient instrument, inspiration for all aspects of the organ came from the study of older organs. The design of the organ case is simple, yet elegant with delicate moldings that catch the eye but do not distract. The casework, bench, and pedalboard are made of reclaimed quartersawn white oak. All joinery was executed in the traditional manner with hand-cut dovetails and either pinned or wedged mortise and tenon joints. All interior parts, to include the wind system, slider windchest, and key action are of reclaimed white pine. The key desk is of black walnut with horizontal stop bars of solid brass. Natural key coverings are ebony with flamed maple sharps.

Opus 73’s key action is balanced and self regulating with a floating backfall. The front end of the backfall rests passively on the key tails while the back end is directly connected to the pulldown wires from the pallets. This mechanical design permits the keyboard to slide in, as there is no hard connection between the backfall and the keys. All parts of the key action are made to ensure that there is little unwanted friction. The result is key action that is light and responsive and promotes careful articulation. The pedal is attached to the key action by a coupler, and having the pedalboard in place is optional. 

The organ is winded by a .18hp Ventola blower, which feeds into a double fold, parallel rise reservoir. The organ has an ample supply of wind at 3″ pressure set primarily by the weight of the blower itself. All panels on the organ are removable for maintenance and for demonstrations. During educational events, spectators can easily view the inner workings of the organ as all the components are in full view. The pallet box has a polycarbonate bungboard so that the pallets are visible while the organ is being demonstrated. 

All parts of Opus 73 were designed and built in the Wallace shop, with the exception of the pipes. The 8′ Stopped Diapason is from E. & G.G. Hook Opus 266 and was restored by the Wallace crew. The metal pipework was commissioned from Organ Supply Industries, Erie, Pennsylvania. To better accommodate a mobile lifestyle, the 2′ Principal and 11⁄3′ Quinte are cone tuned (scroll tuned in the bass) and the 4′ Chimney Flute is tuned on the ears. The tonal finishing was completed by David Wallace and Nick Wallace.

Photo credits:  Nick Wallace

David E. Wallace & Co., LLC

Pipe Organ Builders

147 County Road

Gorham, Maine 04038

207-839-7621

[email protected]

www.wallacepipeorgans.com

Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders, Inc.,
Camillus, New York, Opus 2
West Baptist Church, Oswego, New York

From the music minister
The original organ in the West Baptist Church was built by John G. Marklove in 1867, and was placed in the front right corner of the sanctuary with the console attached. The instrument had two manuals with mechanical key and stop action. Anything beyond this is not known, although the former organist has said that there was a second console in the back of the organ, which allowed the instrument to be played from the adjoining room. Unfortunately, we don’t even know the original stoplist.
In 1951 Paul C. Buhl of Utica was contracted to do a full rebuild of the church’s organ. Sadly, the work was not up to today’s standards. The organ was completely taken apart and the original Marklove slider-and-pallet windchests were chopped into pieces (we found parts of old chests used as catwalks, ladders, etc.). The pipework was mixed and matched with pipes from other instruments of unknown origin. In some cases, we found pipes from the same rank used in four different stops; this was especially apparent in the Pedal division. The configuration of ranks hardly made sense in terms of scale matching or materials used, not to mention any tonal coherence. Two manual keyboards that were built into the façade were disposed of and replaced with a three-manual console with electric action, detached from the organ chamber. Inside the organ chamber the Buhl Company placed new, direct-electric chests and distributed the existing pipework into three divisions. They ended up adding a few “modern strings,” changing the configuration of mixtures, duplexing many ranks, borrowing stops from one manual to another—all of it in a way that the person playing the organ couldn’t possibly tell whether the sound was coming from this or that division. In addition, the electrical system suffered from poor wiring and faults caused by climatic conditions. For years the church’s building has been extremely humid during summer months, which contributed to severe mold growth and this, in turn, caused a complete deterioration of old insulation made of fabric. Shorting wires caused an array of ciphers and dead notes and created a situation of serious unreliability.
In addition, the Pedal had only two independent stops and was unable to sufficiently support the sound of the full organ. The organ committee quickly became aware that another renovation was not a feasible option and decided to employ Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders to build a new instrument that would retain the original façade (at least in the general sense) and restore as much of the old pipework as possible, leaving the judgment of selecting the useful pipes to the organbuilder. All other components of the organ are brand new and were built specifically for this instrument.
—Abel Searor

From the organbuilder
When in 2006 our firm was contracted for the maintenance of the Buhl organ at the West Baptist Church in Oswego, New York, from the first visit to the church we knew that something had to be done with the existing instrument and that the situation was quite serious. As time progressed, we were first asked to do a complete renovation; however, upon further examination of the instrument, we advised the organ committee that funds spent for the renovation would simply become money wasted—the organ was beyond any sensible repair. It was then that a small miracle happened. The members of the West Baptist Church, quite few in numbers and certainly not spoiled with overflow of extra capital, decided to accept our proposal for a new organ that would incorporate the existing pipework (with great modifications, however) and would retain the existing outside appearance (although slightly changed as well).
When the decision was made to build a new organ, there was no question that going the “old way” would most certainly be the best way. We are passionate supporters of tracker organs. It has been proven through centuries of experience that the most reliable and artistically gratifying key action is a mechanical one. We also put our complete trust in the time-proven manner of building windchests with sliders and pallets. We strongly believe that the characteristics and performance of a tracker organ are unquestionably superior to any other kind of action. Coming from this viewpoint, the new organ was designed with fully mechanical key and stop action. We opted to go back to the two-manual setup and designed a stoplist that was not influenced by any particular style or builder. We simply wanted to create an instrument that would be quite universal, full of tonal variety, and suitable for many musical genres. We intended, however, to sustain a bit of an “old fashioned” flavor, which is clearly manifested in the voicing of pipes.
The new organ was built on a tight budget; therefore, some of the work has been done by the members of the congregation. The Buhl organ from 1951 had been completely removed and disposed of. The organ chamber was emptied out and renovated. New plasterboard was installed, and everything got a fresh coat of paint. The floor was refinished, and sufficient room was made in front of the organ for a new console—built into the organ case with two manuals and a pedal keyboard. All of this work was done by the members of the church.
The largest pipes, from the wooden Principal 16? in the Pedal, were placed on “benches” along the walls and connected via flexible conduits to a separate chest designated exclusively for this rank. The reason for this was twofold. First, these pipes were too big to fit on a “regular” pedal chest and, second, they required a considerable amount of wind, which would almost certainly cause a shortage of wind for the rest of the ranks, if placed on the same chest. The remaining pedal ranks were placed on two identical windchests butting against each other side to side.
All pipework in all divisions is distributed in a major-third configuration, of course split in the middle into two traditional sides, C and C-sharp. The Swell and Great divisions are mounted above the three single-rise wedge bellows. All windchests were provided with small shocker bellows, allowing for steady wind supply even during times of high wind demand. All major wind conduits are made out of wood; small offsets were carried out with flexible conduits.
We kept roughly 70% of the pipework from the Marklove/Buhl organ. It was nearly impossible to determine which pipes were “true originals” from 1867 and which came from some other sources. We opted for keeping only the pipes that offered us a chance to do a decent revoicing. The remaining 30% we acquired from various sources; however, all the pipework was voiced together as one instrument—the process took nearly five months.
The new instrument boasts 27 stops, 33 ranks, for a total of 1,803 pipes. Since it is nearly impossible to describe the sound, we can only say that the goal was to have an organ with a confident, but not bold, tonal character. Therefore, all of our voicing efforts went in the direction of having the pipes speaking in a manner that is naturally free and unobstructed. There is never a problem with using fewer stops, if needed, but one cannot produce a fortissimo effect if there is no substance to support it. In no way, however, is the organ “shrieky” or unpleasant, even with all the stops pulled out. Working with the relatively low wind pressure of 69 mm for the manuals turned out to be quite rewarding. The pipes develop a sound that is not forced and is very “singing” in nature, yet not lacking in natural strength.
The façade was left in its original general concept. The façade pipes were completely stripped to bare metal and repainted with the addition of some subtle stenciling. In the top portion of the middle arch, we added a painted rosette with elaborate decorative floral elements. The lower portion of the frontal cabinet had to be modified in order to accommodate our new keyboards and the drawknob desks. We used American walnut for all new frontal elements—the same wood species as the old cabinet. Neither time nor money was spared when it came to the console area. The keys are made of tightly grained spruce, naturals with granadilla overlays, sharps with maple and natural bone. Natural keys have their fronts embellished with a half-circle arch. The key cheeks as well as the music stand are made of solid walnut with hard maple inlays. Drawknobs are made from Norwegian maple. In the center of the ball there is a round inlay made of sterling silver and Baltic amber in honey color. The knobs were custom turned for us by Johannes Rieber in Oslo, Norway; the amber pieces were also made especially for this purpose—they came from Poland from one of the most renowned figures in amber art circles, Mariusz Drapikowski (his original creations are on permanent display at the Vatican Museum).
The tracker action is carried out in the simplest of ways, which is a bulletproof formula ensuring reliability for many years to come. Keys are a double-armed lever, with 10 mm movement in the front and 7.5 mm in the back. Trackers are made from red cedar, squares from hornbeam, and rollers from aluminum with wooden arms. Because of extreme humidity problems, we chose to make all pallets out of aluminum. The windchests were made of solid oak and maple, toe boards and pipe racking out of poplar. The stop action is made from white ash, sliders from the laminated phenolic fabric. The air is supplied by a 1-HP, three-phase Ventus blower.
We wish to extend our thanks to all members of the West Baptist Church in Oswego, New York for entrusting us with this project. We hope that this project will indeed help to rejuvenate the church family and that it will serve the community “For the glory of God.”
—Tomasz Lewtak
Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders, Inc.
1003 Barnwood Lane
Camillus, NY 13031
<www.lewtak.com&gt;

Craftsmen who worked on this project:
Vanessa McCrea—woodworking, bookkeeping, purchasing and general help (doing all the things that nobody else wanted to do . . . )
Iwona Henschke—pipe restoration, stenciling
Jeff King—electrical work, organ chamber and floor finishing
Gerry DeMoors—carillon restoration and electronics
Johannes Rieber—drawknob turning
Mariusz Drapikowski—Baltic amber and sterling silver setting
Pawel Lewtak—façade design, woodworking, pipe restoration
Tomasz Lewtak—mechanical design, woodworking, voicing and tuning

Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders, Camillus, New York, 2005

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church “On the Hill,” Camillus, New York


The Church

The history of St. Joseph’s Church in Camillus, New York, goes back to 1852, when the first resident pastor came to the parish and began to care for the religious needs of local Catholics. The original St. Joseph’s Church in the village of Camillus was built in 1867. The congregation eventually outgrew the small space of the old church, and in 1965 construction started on a new building—the cross-shaped church, with parabolic arches rising 90 feet and dramatic windows at the ends of each wing. As is often the case when substantial funds are required for construction, the purchase of a new pipe organ had to wait its turn. The delay turned out to be a long one—almost 40 years!
For years the rich and varied music program of St. Joseph’s Parish was supported by an electronic organ substitute and a Kawai grand piano. During the fall of 2001, an opportunity came along, and finally the decision was made to begin the construction of a new pipe organ that would fulfill the musical needs of the congregation and would aesthetically complete the sanctuary of St. Joseph’s. That year, another church in the Diocese of Syracuse—St. Louis in Oswego, New York—was closed and the pipe organ from this church was purchased with the thought that it would become a jump-board for a much larger instrument at St. Joseph’s.

The Old Organ

The old organ, a tracker consisting of two manuals with 21 stops, was built by Casavant Frères in 1896 as their Opus 69. It was the first organ from this builder imported in the United States.
At the time of acquisition, the Casavant organ was in a state of complete disrepair. It was obvious that a true historical renovation was not feasible for two primary reasons: the cost and the size of the instrument. Even if the parish were to allocate the funds, St. Joseph’s has a cubic volume approximately four times that of St. Louis Church. The volume of sound required to fill this large space could not possibly be achieved from a rather small and softly voiced instrument. With heavy hearts and facing no other options, the old organ from Oswego was dismantled and moved to St. Joseph’s in Camillus. Only the salvageable parts would be used in a new instrument. Virtually all of the old pipework was saved. A total of 1,202 pipes were moved to Camillus, most of which were in shoddy physical condition; some were badly damaged due to poor maintenance and careless handling. For example, an existing Mixture III on the second manual had twelve original pipes missing in the center, the sign of an obvious “tuning accident” occurring many years ago. These were replaced with “stock” pipes that did not make any sense in terms of either scaling or in the proper Mixture repetition sequence. Many wooden pipes also had visible water damage. The same was true for both manual windchests, which were also transported to St. Joseph’s. From four pedal chests only two were salvageable, with the remaining two damaged beyond any reasonable repair.

The New Tonal Design

Even though the old organ had to be dismantled, it became the backbone for—first and foremost—the tonal design of the new instrument. Professor Ulrik Spang-Hanssen from the Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Aarhus, Denmark was consulted, and a plan was devised for the preservation of the original stop configuration, augmenting it with a new third keyboard that would serve as the foundation for the “big sound.” Very few old ranks have been shifted. What was acquired from Oswego became the second and third manuals (Positif and Récit) with some changes necessary to move the timbre out of the dark and 8'-heavy character. The original configuration did not have any fifths or thirds among its stops. In addition, the first manual (the Great) had four 8' stops and one 4' stop; the second manual (the Swell) had a 16' Bourdon and a sub-octave coupler to the Great. New ranks were added with the purpose of not just strengthening the volume, but more importantly brightening the sound of the organo pleno in these two divisions. The old Great (current Positif) received the 2' Piccolo from the old Swell, and the original Dulciana 8' was moved to the new Grand Orgue division. The old Swell (current Récit) received a new Nasard 22?3', Principal 2' and Tierce 13?5'. From the same division, the Trumpet 8¢ and Bourdon 16' were moved to the new Grand Orgue.

The addition of a new first manual (the Grand Orgue) allowed not only for keeping the stop configuration as close to the original as possible, but also opened completely new sound prospects to build on and to draw from. This is the division that is by far the strongest. It is rather basic in terms of utilized ranks, not too far from the tonal character of the old instrument and yet created with the sole purpose of giving a complete Principal chorus to the entire instrument. The Cornet Harmonique III deserves special mention. It is a three-rank cornet (22?3¢, 2¢ and 13?5¢) consisting of widely scaled, overblown flute pipes with two small holes midway through the body length. The aural effect is quite unusual: the cornet combination has a far greater penetration and clarity of timbre thanks to the characteristic “hollow” sound of the harmonic pipes.

Obviously the Pedal division required more power. This was simply achieved by adding to the original three stops (Double Open 16', Bourdon 16' and Violoncello 8') a new Octave 8', Cor de Nuit 4' and a round-sounding 16' Buzène, a reed stop with leathered shallots. It would have been an asset to have a mixture in the Pedal; however, the financial constraints made it impossible. The total number of new pipes added is 1,100.

The New Façade

The difficult task of designing the façade for this organ fell on our shoulders after we approached various outside architects and artists. The problems we encountered with the architects were their lack of understanding the principles of how the organ works, not knowing what is and what is not attainable. There was also the lack of positive and healthy aesthetics. The objectives were quite simple: first, to fit the organ into the arch shape of the ceiling, and second, to show that this instrument blends the old with the new. An additional requirement came from the fact that it had been explicitly requested that the console must stay on the main floor of the church while the rest of the organ rests on a 10-foot high loft. The reasoning for this came from the liturgical documents of the Second Vatican Council, which dictates that the music ministry is not to be separated from the congregation. In the case of a tracker organ, it immediately makes things a lot more complicated simply because the linkage becomes dangerously long.

The design of this church building cannot be classified as “contemporary” but it may be described as “modern.” However, all throughout the building there are many elements of traditional architectural design: harmonious lines, time-honored proportions, and a lot of symmetry. The answer to all of these challenges came from my brother, architect Pawel Lewtak. He is the creator of the design that became a real head-turner among parishioners and visitors alike. In his words, his worst fear was to create another organ that would be sitting “up there” with the console that is placed “down there,” and one has little to do with the other. Instead, he created a homogenous shape that ties the top with the base in a seamless manner. The tower-like structure of segments gives it slenderness and allows for traditional pipe grouping. To reflect what is inside the organ case, the original façade pipes were kept in their distinctive clusters, and new groups of double flamed copper pipes were added. Copper was definitely the material of choice for its perfect blend with the surrounding color scheme.

There is one special feature of this façade that separates it from all others: mirrors, more specifically, forty of them! Hardly noticeable at first glance, they add light, depth, spark, and elegance. The mirrors are only four inches wide, and are of various lengths. They are placed in wooden frames in the spaces between the pipe clusters. They enhance the design by offering a true three-dimensional effect. As people walk through the church they are always viewing a distinctive picture with variegated light reflections, innumerable shadows and highlights, an array of geometrical shapes, yet all elements are well organized with pleasing aesthetic integrity.

The façade is made of white ash with mahogany ornaments, and the case behind it is made from birch and carefully selected white poplar.

The Mechanics and Materials

The key action is purely mechanical. It is referred to as a suspended action and was the only logical choice given our circumstances. Long distance between the keyboards and the windchests dictated absolute precision in the making of the tracker action. The longest linkage run is 33 feet and yet the average weight of the key—when the chests are under pressure—is only 120 grams. The action is not the least sluggish thanks to the employment of a pressure rail on the back of each keyboard with springs that remove some of the key weight. Each division has its own floating rail allowing for climatic changes of the wood of the trackers, which are made of red cedar. The squares are fashioned out of aluminum as are the rollers and roller arms. On the longest rollers, needle bearings were utilized to support the weight of each roller.

The keys are made of tight-grained pine covered with black African wood (grenadilla) for the naturals, and bone-on-maple for the sharps. The cheeks of the keyboards are white oak with ebony inlays.
All windchests are of slider and tone-channel construction. Two old windchests (Positif and Récit) have been completely taken apart and restored to mint condition. In both, the pallets used are of a so-called “relief” type: in essence, each pallet consists of two pieces, one of which is being pulled down first thus releasing the pressure and breaking the initial resistance. After cleaning, releathering and complete re-regulating of all the parts, they work flawlessly. New windchests are made out of select yellow pine and have single pallets in all but the lowest octaves. In the bass, we installed two pallets per tone channel, but with sequential opening, which causes the touch to be the same as the rest of the keys.
Pedal pipes are split diatonically and stand on either side of the case. The open 16¢ flute stands on its own two chests (C side and C# side). The remaining pedal pipes received two new windchests with space for both the old and the new ranks.

The stop action is state-of-the-art electric. The stop plates, made of grenadilla, hide behind them contactless switches. The system offers full convenience of 1,280 memory levels for even the most demanding performer. Half of the levels are lock-protected. The layout of thumb and toe pistons is very simple and offers some necessary redundancy. Couplers can be operated either by thumb pistons or toe studs. Also, the navigation through the system’s memory levels can be done either by hand, by foot or on the side by an assistant. There is one expression pedal for the Récit and a Crescendo pedal. The Crescendo, in order to work, first must be activated by a toe stud. It is fully programmable and has a digital level display from 0 through 30. A similar kind of digital level display is in place for the expression pedal of the Récit. The shutters are operated by a 30-stage, digitally controlled electric motor.

The organ utilizes a three-phase 1.5 hp electric blower with slow RPM. There are two reservoir bellows—one old one and one new— providing ample air supply to the whole instrument. There are three tremolos, one for each manual. Two of them have electronically adjustable speed of undulation right at the console.

The Voicing

Any organ is only as good as it sounds. Therefore, even though we spared neither time nor money on mechanical details, the most important element remained the voicing. All of the old ranks received some sort of voicing re-vamp. They had all previously been voiced down for a much smaller building. We made them more free speaking, definitely less obstructed at the toe. All of the old ranks were heavily nicked, which made things difficult at times. The new ranks were voiced with a little bit of chiff, just enough to make their speech more pronounced in the large acoustics of St. Joseph’s Church. The old reeds needed to be re-tongued in order to gain a larger sound. The Trumpet 8¢, especially, required more brilliance and volume in order to balance well with the rest of the Grand Orgue. The organ is tuned to a Tartini-Vallotti temperament, which gives it a pleasant color and tonal personality. The instrument has much to offer in terms of variety of sound colors as well as the dynamics and individual stop character.



From an organbuilder’s perspective, taking a vintage 1896 organ and bringing it up to present day expectations, and having an organ that could be used for church services as well as concert performances has been a personally demanding and ingratiating experience. In organ building, the idea is always to be creative while retaining the original elements and merging them with new technologies. It is rewarding beyond words when an artist sits down at the console and you begin to see the smiles of pleasure. It means you have accomplished your goal of creating the finest organ from available sources.
Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders wishes to extend our sincere thanks to all volunteers who gave their time and energy to this most worthy project. We also thank the parishioners of St. Joseph’s Church of Camillus, New York, for their continuing understanding, patience and support.

—Tomasz Lewtak

Organbuilder




The following craftsmen took part in the construction of the organ for St. Joseph’s Church in Camillus, New York:

Tomasz Lewtak – mechanical design, pipe scaling, voicing, woodworking

Pawel Lewtak – façade design, woodworking, traction

Gerry DeMoors – electronics, carillon, general construction

Kevin Reedy – general construction

John Fergusson – woodworking.




Lewtak Opus 1

St. Joseph’s Church “On the Hill”

Camillus, New York


GRAND ORGUE

16' Bourdon*

8' Grand Principal

8' Dulciane*

8' Flûte à Cheminée

4' Octave

4' Flûte à Fuseau

3' Quinte

2' Doublette

2' Flûte

III Cornet Harmonique

IV Mixture

8' Trompette*

Tremblant Fort

POSITIF

8' Montre*

8' Mélodie*

8' Gambe*

4' Prestant*

2' Piccolo*

Carillon a22–f42

Tremblant Doux

RÉCIT

8' Viole de Gambe*

8' Principal*

8' Flûte Harmonique*

8' Bourdon*

8' Voix Cèleste*

4' Flûte Harmonique*

4' Fugara*

22?3' Nasard

2' Principal

13?5' Tierce

III Mixture*

8' Basson-Hautbois*

8' Cor Anglais*

Tremblant Doux

PÉDALE

16' Flûte Basse*

16' Bourdon*

8' Octave

8' Violoncello*

4' Cor de Nuit

16' Buzène




* Original Casavant stop

Mechanical key action

Electric stop action

Electronic register presets, 1280 memory levels

Wind pressure: 90 mm Positif, Récit & Pédale; 82 mm Grand Orgue

Couplers: III-I, II-I, III-II, III-P, II-P, I-P

Tuning A34=438 Hz at 18ºC

Temperament: Tartini-Vallotti

Milnar Organ Company,
Eagleville, Tennessee
Cal Turner, Jr. Residence,
Franklin, Tennessee
I recall the winter morning in January 2006 when I received a call that would begin one of the most noteworthy experiences in my career. At the time, we were giving some assistance to the Schoenstein Organ Company with their installation of a new organ in the Laura Turner Concert Hall in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. The caller that January day three years ago was Cal Turner, Jr., whose support of the fine arts was well known, including his contributions to the Schermerhorn concert hall named in his mother’s honor.
Mr. Turner asked if we could build a pipe organ for his new home that was well under construction. The home site is on the tallest hill in Franklin, Tennessee, about one half hour from our shop. Soon after that call, my eldest son Derek and I met with Mr. Turner and the architect, Brad Norris, to explore the possibility of building a new organ for the multi-leveled great room.
Our most limiting factor was space. The super-structure of this room was made up of very large wooden beams. Two of these beams supported the staircase landing on the second floor. They were about eight feet apart, and projected about four feet into the room, a perfect spot for the main Great division. We wanted to keep the profile of the Great windchest and case as low as possible. Using a schwimmer helped, but there was no room for a blower of adequate size. The .75hp Ventus blower located in the Swell was more than adequate for the entire organ. We had the contractor cut a trough in one of the support beams for our air line and cables. The wood and cast iron railing behind the main Great organ, in the walkway, was made removable for tuning and servicing.
To the left of where the main Great division would be was a room that was planned as a large closet. With some redesigning and a little give and take, it became our tight Swell chamber. Between the two main chests we built our walkboard in three removable sections. This gave us access to all the windchests for service. Special low-heat lighting in the ceiling keeps the temperature down while tuning. Temperature and humidity control is exceptional in the home, and it keeps the organ in very good tune.
The inside walls were well insulated, which kept the Swell sound egress confined to the shades. We constructed the Swell shades of oak and stained them to match the beams in the room. To keep the shades from being so noticeable, we placed the Great 8′ Erzähler and 4′ Koppel Flute in front. Because of the space restriction, it was necessary to place the low pipes of the 16′ Bourdon on the outside of the Swell chamber in an open hallway over the sitting room. There were no wall obstructions, so with a little higher wind pressure, the bass pipes fill their need. Above the great room is a small observation room that looks over the county; it is accessible by a staircase or elevator. During the installation of the organ, some of our men witnessed a large crane lifting the roof off the observation tower, place one of the home’s three Bösendorfer grand pianos in the room, and replace the roof.
Below the great room is a large, ornately decorated oriental-styled theater modeled after a traditional Chinese Siheyuan or courtyard. The lowest level has parking for many cars and an interior full-sized car wash. The walls are painted with characters from Mrs. Margaret Turner’s book I the Fly, by Denas Davis, the original illustrator of her children’s book. The area is so well appointed, it serves as a banquet room as well.
From the console on the main floor, while you are surrounded by the majestic hand-hewn timber structure of the living room, you can look through one of the numerous kitchens and see the indoor water park equipped with waterfalls and several water slides. Working in this unique 23,600 sq. ft. home was almost surreal.
For a modest-sized organ, as one can see by the stoplist, it can successfully play a variety of organ literature. The organ was built primarily for entertainment, but quite a bit of classical music has been recorded on the instrument. With the use of the chimes and a MIDI module, a lot of interesting and amusing music is heard, especially when Cal Turner is performing for his grandchildren. We all enjoyed building this instrument for this very fine, generous, good man.
Cal Turner, Jr. received his B.A., cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 1962. Following his graduation from Vanderbilt, Mr. Turner served for more than three years as an officer in the United States Navy. In December 1965, he began his career at Dollar General, the company founded by his father and grandfather in 1939. He succeeded his father as president in 1977 and as chairman in 1988. At the time of his retirement in 2003, Dollar General had grown into a New York Stock Exchange retailer with more than 6,000 stores in 27 states and annual sales in excess of $6 billion.
Cal Turner, Jr. has served on the board of numerous civic and charitable organizations throughout Tennessee and Kentucky. He personally received the Presidential Award for Private Sector Initiatives from Ronald Reagan at a White House ceremony. I believe one of his greatest achievements was to learn to play the pipe organ from his mother, Laura Turner. Cal served many years as organist at the Methodist Church in Scottsville, Kentucky. Mr. Turner has joined the Nashville AGO and is planning a Christmas program for the chapter this year.
It’s not often an organ builder has the opportunity to build an organ for a modern mansion. Cal Turner, Jr. gave us a free hand in the visual and tonal design. His enthusiasm for the project was infectious to everyone in our shop. We will always be grateful to Mr. Turner for his faith in our firm and the great working relationship we shared.
The following people were involved in the building of this organ: Dennis Milnar, Derek Milnar, Jeffrey Milnar, Todd Milnar, Greg Milnar, Tim Murphy, Kevin McGrath, Chris Brent, Ryan Milnar, Chris Sias, and Melanie Duncan.
When the organ was completed I sent Mr. Turner the following letter and received his response, which follows my letter:
Dear Cal,
I was very pleased with the final results of the tonal finishing. By raising wind pressures and raising the volume of several sets of pipes we probably increased the volume of the organ by about 20 percent. The versatility was enhanced even more. The wind pressure in the Swell was increased from 3.5 to 4 inches w.c. The pipes reacted very well to the increase. The only stop that needed a little calming was the Harmonic Flute from middle C up. That’s where the stop goes harmonic and the attack was a little pronounced. Restricting the air at the toe slightly brought it back into good speech.
We further increased the volume of the 8′ Gedeckt by opening the toe hole, allowing more wind to enter the pipe. This gave a good foundation to the Swell, a better balance to the flute chorus, and added to the volume of the Pedal.
We also increased the volume of the 8′ Viola so it was dominant to the Great Erzähler with the shades open. We use this stop at 8′ and 4′pitches to tune the Swell division, and it works very well.
The last significant increase in volume in the Swell was to the 8′ Oboe. By raising the caps at the top of the resonator and raising the tuning wire on the reed tongue, it gave the Oboe much more tonal presence and volume. The increased fundamental sound gave the whole Swell division much more presence.
We raised the windchest in front of the swell shades to 3.6 inches w.c. This brought the Koppel Flute in good balance within the flute chorus, and an increased fullness to the Erzähler. We kept the main Great windchest at 3.0 inches w.c. because of its prominent location in the room; its volume is more than adequate. We actually brought about an octave of the 8′ Principal down a bit because it was overpowering. This balanced the principal chorus.
This is probably more information than you wanted to hear, but I am so pleased with the overall results of the instrument I wanted to share it with you.
Sincerely,
Dennis P. Milnar

GREAT
8′ Principal 61 pipes
8’ Rohr Flute 61 pipes
8′ Harmonic Flute (Sw)
1–12 from 8′ Gedeckt
8′ Erzähler 61 pipes
8′ Erzähler Celeste TC 49 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Koppel Flute 61 pipes
2′ Principal (ext 8′ Princ) 24 pipes
11⁄3′ Mixture III 183 pipes
Chimes 21 bars
Swell to Great 16′
Swell to Great 8′
Swell to Great 4′
MIDI to Great

SWELL
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Viola 61 pipes
8′ Viola Celeste TC 49 pipes
4′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
4′ Violetta (ext) 12 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes
2′ Piccolo (ext) 12 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce TC 37 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint (ext)
8′ Oboe 61 pipes
Tremolo
Swell to Swell 4′
MIDI to Swell

PEDAL
16′ Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Principal (Gt)
8′ Rohr Flute (Gt)
8′ Gedeckt (Sw)
51⁄3′ Quint (Sw 8′ Gedeckt)
4′ Principal (Gt 8′ Principal)
4′ Chimney Flute (Gt 8′ Rohr Flute)
8′ Oboe (Sw)
4′ Oboe (Sw)
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
MIDI to Pedal

The mahogany two-manual console includes:
mahogany pedalboard with rosewood sharps
keyboards with pearwood naturals and rosewood sharps
burlwood nameboard and drawknob jambs
mahogany adjustable bench
six rosewood coupler rockers
27 custom rosewood turned drawknob heads with engraved inserts
20 thumb pistons
six toe studs
adjustable fluorescent music rack and pedal light
General MIDI Module SD-20 with JBL Eon G2-15 self-powered speaker
ICS-4000 control system

Other features:
Peterson 16-stage shade machine
motor-driven tremolo
Great 8′ Principal and 4′ Octave of 75% polished tin
The center façade pipe is diamond faceted and signed by the pipe maker and dedicated to Mr. Turner.

Cover photo: Roger Wade Studio, Inc., Bigfork, Montana