Berghaus Organ Company, Inc., Bellwood, Illinois
St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Port Washington,
Wisconsin
Set upon a hill, significantly above the shores of Lake
Michigan, is St. Mary’s Church of Port Washington, Wisconsin. Its
American gothic structure, built in 1884, can be seen for many miles from any
direction and in the 1800s served as a navigation aid for ships coming into
port.
In July of 2002, a contract was negotiated for a new
two-manual and pedal organ. The key action was to be tracker and the stop
action to be electric, in order that a combination system could be available
for the convenience of the organists. The organ case is made of red oak, with
plywood, oak-veneered panels set into massive solid oak frames. The keydesk is
built into the lower portion of the case with drawknobs set into terraced,
horizontal side jambs also made of solid oak.
The main case of the organ embraces the Great and Swell
organs. The upper façade displays the pipes of the Great 8’
Principal. The lower façade displays the pipes of the Swell 8’
Principal. The entire Swell 8’ Principal is outside of the swell box.
Between the upper and lower façades are the pipes of the Great 4’
Octave. Behind the main case is the Pedal organ. Casework covers the lower
portion of this division; from windchest level on up, all the pipework is
un-encased. Because of the good acoustic of the church, the Pedal has no
difficulty in speaking into the nave. The Pedal Kontrabass 16’ plays from
its own ventil action, pallet chest on a wind pressure of 125 mm. These pipes
are original to the first instrument. It was decided not to rebuild these
pipes, just to accommodate a lower wind pressure. The remaining stops in the
Pedal are voiced on a wind pressure of 75 mm. Wind pressures of the Great and
Swell organs are 70 mm. Much of
this organ remains as “preparations” since funds were not available
to build this organ as a totally completed instrument.
The organ’s case design is by Allyn Hoverland and
Abraham Batten. Tonal specifications were by Leonard Berghaus in collaboration
with the parish organist, Drew Rutz. Brian Berghaus oversaw the case
construction and installation. Tonal finishing in the church was performed by
John Streufert, head voicer, and by Leonard Berghaus. Organbuilders and installers
included the following: Todd Berghaus, Jeff Hubbard, Jordan Smoots, Paul Sturm,
Paul Serresseque, Mitch Blum, Gordon Bruns, Randy Watkins, Mike Pelton, and
Kurt Linstead.
The blessing and dedication of the organ took place on
August 10, 2003. The organist for this service was Alan Hommerding. The pastor
of St. Mary’s Parish is Fr. Allan Sommer. Parish and school music director is Drew Rutz.
--Leonard Berghaus
GREAT (Unenclosed)
16’ Bourdon*
8’ Prestant
(façade)
8’ Gamba*
8’ Rohrflöte
4’ Octave
4’ Spitzflöte
(prep)
22/3’ Quinte
(prep)
2’ Octave
13/5’ Terz
(prep)
Mixture
V (draws 2’)
8’ Trompete
(prep)
Tremulant
SWELL (Enclosed)
8’ Principal
(façade)
8’ Spitzviol
8’ Spitzviol
Celeste (tenor c)
8’ Holzgedackt*
4’ Geigend
Octave
4’ Koppelflöte
2’ Hohlflöte
11/3’ Klein
Nasat (prep)
Scharf-Mixtur
IV (prep)
16’ Groß
Dulzian (prep)
8’ Schalmei
(prep)
Tremulant
PEDAL
16’ Kontrabass*
16’ Subbass*
8’ Principal
8’ Gemshorn
(prep)
4’ Choralbass
(prep)
Mixtur
III (prep)
16’ Holzposaune
(prep)
4’ Kornett
(prep)
Zimbelstern
Mechanical key action with electric stop action; 32-level
memory system combination action
*Revoiced from the 1924 Schaeffer organ
