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New Organs

November 4, 2003
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Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Lake City, Iowa, Opus 75, 2003

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California

From the builder

When the Cathedral of St.
Vibiana was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles resolved to build again in Downtown, the historic center of the
city. Designed by Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo, the finished cathedral
seats 3,500 people and encloses more than 3 million cubic feet. Built of
adobe-colored concrete, natural light pours into the space through thousands of
panes of translucent alabaster arranged in great windows. Sixty thousand
polished limestone pavers radiate in concentric circles from the altar, which
is made of a single, six-ton slab of Turkish Rosso Laguna marble.

Architectural realities and the
need for wind pressures that would fill so massive a space with sound dictated
the use of electric action for the new instrument. Slider chests with electric
pulldowns are employed for all manual divisions except the Solo and Pedal,
which have electro-pneumatic action. These two departments were conceived in
the spirit of Isnard's 1772 Résonance division at St. Maximin: the Solo
contains powerful voices, many of which are made playable in the Pedal, which
has few registers of its own. Some pipework was retained from the St. Vibiana
instrument, which was originally built in 1929 by the Wangerin Organ Co. of Milwaukee
and rebuilt by Austin Organs, Inc., in 1988. All were revoiced, and in many
cases rescaled, to fit seamlessly into the new plan. Blowers totalling 27
horsepower supply the instrument with wind ranging in pressure from 5" for
the Positive to 25" for the Solo Tuba.

The organ's 55' tall case is
made of American cherry and stands on a balcony 25' above the choir. The
façade pipes and horizontal Fanfare reeds were made of 83% tin by the
German firm Carl Giesecke & Sohn. Extending to 32' C, they are the largest
tin pipes in North America. The low profile console has oblique drawknobs
placed in angled terraced jambs. A multiplex system and movable platform allow
the console to be readily moved to a variety of locations.

The visual design of the organ
was jointly developed by Dobson and Moneo. The instrument's tonal design is a
collaboration between Dobson, Frank Brownstead, director of music, and Manuel
Rosales, the Archdiocese's organ consultant. Paoletti Associates, Inc. is
responsible for the acoustical design of the new cathedral. Sal Soria is the
cathedral organist.

The cathedral was dedicated on
September 2, 2002. The blessing of the organ occurred on May 3, 2003, and
included a recital given by Mr. Soria featuring works by Howells, Bach,
Roger-Ducasse, Vierne and Reubke. The cathedral has instituted a series of
weekly midday organ recitals; a schedule can be found on the Cathedral website
at <www.olacathedral.org/cathedral/music/events.html&gt;. Upcoming events
include a recital by Cherry Rhodes on November 22 at 8 pm.

An extensive gallery of
installation photographs can be found on the Dobson website at

<www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instruments/op75_losangeles.html&gt;.

GREAT

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Prestant

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Prestant
(ext 32')

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Violonbasse
(ext Violoncelle)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bourdon
(ext Doppel Floete)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principal

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Violoncelle

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flûte
harmonique

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Doppel
Floete

                  51/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Gros Nasard

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Nachthorn

                  31/5' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Grosse Tierce

                  22/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Quinte

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave

                  13/5' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Tierce

                  V–VII style='mso-tab-count:1'>  Corneta Magna 8' (f18–g56; style='mso-tab-count:1'>  mounted)

                  V–VIII style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture 2'

                  IV style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Cymbale
1'

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Posaune

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarion

                                    Tremulant

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Horizontal
Trumpet (interior)

                                    Swell
to Great

                                    Positive
to Great

                                    Solo
to Great

                                    Fanfare
on Great

SWELL (III, enclosed)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bourdon

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Diapason

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bourdon

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viole
de gambe

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Voix
céleste CC

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Dulciane

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Voix
angélique TC

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Prestant

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flûte
octaviante

                  22/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Nasard

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octavin

                  13/5' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Tierce

                  IV–V style='mso-tab-count:1'>    Plein jeu 2'

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bombarde

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompette
harmonique

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Hautbois

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Voix
humaine

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clairon
harmonique

                                    Tremulant

                                    Chimes

                                    Swell
16

                                    Swell
4

                                    Fanfare
on Swell

                                    Positive
to Swell

                                    Solo
to Swell

POSITIVE (I, enclosed)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Gemshorn

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principal

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Gedackt

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Salicional

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Unda
maris CC

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Chimney
Flute

                  2' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave

                  11/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Larigot

                  II style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Sesquialtera
22/3'

                  IV–VI style='mso-tab-count:1'>  Mixture 11/3'

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bassoon

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarion

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Cromorne

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Harp

                                    Positive
16

                                    Positive
4

                                    Tremulant

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Tuba
(Solo)

                                    Fanfare
on Positive

                                    Swell
to Positive

                                    Solo
to Positive

                                    Zimbelstern

SOLO (IV, enclosed)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Principal

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principal

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Major
Flute

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Gamba

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Gamba
Celeste CC

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viole
d'Orchestre

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Viole
Celeste TC

                  51/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Quinte

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Orchestral
Flute

                  IV style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Mixture
22/3'

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             English
Horn

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             French
Horn

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarinet

                                    Tremulant

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Contre
Bombarde (ext 16')

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bombarde

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarion

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Tuba

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Horizontal
Trumpet (Great)

                                    Solo
16

                                    Solo
4

                                    Great
to Solo

                                    Swell
to Solo

                                    Positive
to Solo

                                    Fanfare
on Solo

FANFARE (en chamade)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Trompeta
magna

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompeta
de los angeles

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trompeta
fuerte (ext 4')

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarín
de campaña (ext 16')

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bajoncillo

PEDAL

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Prestant
(Great)

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Contra
Bourdon

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Open
Diapason

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Principal
(Solo)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Violonbasse
(Great)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Subbass
(ext 32')

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bourdon
(Great)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Gemshorn
(Positive)

                  102/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>   Gross Quint (ext Open Diapason)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principal
(Solo)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flute
(ext Open Diapason)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Violoncelle
(Great)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bourdon
(ext 32')

                  51/3' style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Quint (Solo)

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave
(Solo)

                  IV style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Mixture
22/3' (Solo)

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Contra
Trombone

                  32' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Contre
Bombarde (Solo)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Trombone
(ext 32')

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bombarde
(Solo)

                  16' style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Posaune
(Great)

                  8' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet
(Solo)

                  4' style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Clarion
(Solo)

                                    Great
to Pedal

                                    Swell
to Pedal

                                    Positive
to Pedal

                                    Solo
to Pedal

                                    Fanfare
on Pedal

                                    Great/Positive
Manual Transfer

                                    All
Swells to Swell

                                    Zimbelstern

                                    Nightingale

                  Combination
action with 256 levels and programmable crescendo

Photo credit: Lynn Dobson

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