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New Organs

January 8, 2009
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Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders, Benicia, California
Grace Episcopal Church,
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Founded in 1847, Grace Episcopal Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish, has had a distinguished musical history for over 130 years. The first organ, a Roosevelt, served until 1929. Over the years, the second organ began failing mechanically and was not up to the task of accompanying all of the music required in the Anglican choral tradition. The search for a new organ was initiated with generous financial support from the Charlotte and Walter Kohler Trust and the Hayssen Foundation.
In the intimate acoustical setting of a church that seats only 250, with a gallery where space was extremely limited, Schoenstein & Co. built a 20-voice, 23-rank symphonic organ. Powerful pedal bass, keen string tone, a big solo flute, and an heroic chorus reed can elevate an instrument into the symphonic category provided it is under extremely effective expression control and has a precise, responsive action. This is the concept that guided the design for Grace Church, which includes five 16′ stops, two contrasting keen-tone string celestes, two color reeds, a high pressure tuba, an ensemble of principal scale mutations, and three contrasting flutes—a French-style Harmonic Flute of metal, an English-style Claribel Flute of wood, and a Lieblich Gedeckt stop based on the famous one by Willis at St. Dominic’s Priory in London. The ’Cello/Double Bass extension of the Harmonic Flute follows the scaling pattern of the Schoenstein Symphonic Flute, imitating the effect of the orchestral traverse flute.
Of these elements, perhaps the expression boxes are the most important. Only the two Pedal stops and the two main solo voices of the Great are unenclosed. The Great chorus and accompaniment stops are in one box. All of the Swell stops are in another box next to the Great. The loudest voices of the Swell, the powerful Gambas, and the Tuba Minor (all on 10″ of pressure) are in a secondary expression box, which speaks into the Swell. This double expression control greatly increases the dynamic range of the Swell division. Thus, a crescendo from pp to fff is easily accomplished, an effect especially important to Benjamin Dobey, current organist and choirmaster. The organ is on three levels. The double-enclosed Swell is at floor level speaking up through a tone chute into the Swell division, which is on the second level along with the Great division. Pedal stops, many mounted horizontally, are on the third level.
The organ façade complements the subtle Victorian Gothic interior of the church. David Boysel, a prominent San Francisco decorative artist, and Chuck Primich, Schoenstein’s design engineer, created the façade with the objective of appearing as though it had been placed there by the original architect. The organ was dedicated to the memory of Charlotte Kohler on Friday, January 11, 2002, featuring Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey and a Schola Cantorum under the direction of Wayne Wildman. This is the most recorded of all Schoenstein organs, with three CDs by Dr. Dobey on the Pro Organo Label: The Intimate Reger; In Sweetest Joy; and Magnificat.
William Vaughan

GREAT
16′ Double Bass+ 12 pipes
8′ First Open Diapason+ 61 pipes
8′ Harmonic Flute+ 61 pipes
8′ Second Open Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Aeoline 61 pipes
8′ Vox Angelica 37 pipes
8′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
4′ Principal 61 pipes
2′ Mixture IV 218 pipes
8′ Clarinet (TC) 42 pipes
+ Unenclosed

SWELL
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Gamba* 61 pipes
8′ Gamba Celeste* 49 pipes
8′ Claribel Flute 49 pipes
8′ Lieblich Gedeckt 61 pipes
4′ Gemshorn 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Twelfth 12 pipes
2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes
13⁄5′ Seventeenth (TC) 42 pipes
11⁄3′ Nineteenth 54 pipes
16′ Bass Tuba* 12 pipes
8′ Tuba Minor* 61 pipes
8′ Flügel Horn 61 pipes
* Double enclosed

PEDAL
32′ Resultant
16′ Open Wood 12 pipes
16′ Bourdon 32 pipes
16′ Double Bass (Great)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8′ Principal 32 pipes
8′ Octave (Great)
8′ ’Cello (Great)
8′ Claribel Flute (Swell)
4′ Fifteenth 12 pipes
4′ Flute (Great)
16′ Bass Tuba (Swell)
8′ Tuba (Swell)
4′ Flügel Horn (Swell)

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