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Cover Feature: Orgues Létourneau Opus 135

Orgues Létourneau, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; First United Methodist Church, Lubbock, Texas

Orgues Létourneau Opus 135

Even when measured by expansive Texan standards, First United Methodist Church in Lubbock is extraordinary in scale. The church’s Gothic bell tower is visible from just about anywhere in downtown Lubbock. The church campus sprawls over two city blocks and includes spacious wings for music, Christian education, youth, and even physical fitness. Completed in 1955, the sanctuary seats over 1,800 people, and its spectacular rose window is reportedly among the eight largest in the world. Confronted with such a voluminous space, organ enthusiasts and builders alike would be forgiven if their thoughts gravitated towards grand schemes. Nonetheless, First Methodist’s sanctuary opened its doors in March of 1955 with M. P. Möller’s Opus 8530, a positively ascetic instrument of 38 ranks spread over seven divisions and located in all four corners of the sanctuary. The organ was played by a three-manual console. Having studied the original pipework and seen the original wind pressure markings as part of this project, the Forrest Memorial Organ was surely understated in its effect.

Möller added a new Great division to the instrument in 1980, introducing visible pipework set on cantilevered chests bracketing the rose window. The original Great was repurposed as a Positiv division, and the other divisions were revised in the fashion of the day, largely replacing foundation tone with new mixtures, cornets, and mutations. Towards the end of the same decade, Möller replaced the 1954 console with a new four-manual console, which allowed the addition of several digital voices by Walker Technical Company.

Möller’s Opus 8530 arrived at its final form a few years later when two new stops built by A. R. Schopp’s & Sons were added to the Swell division, a 4′ Blockflöte and an 8′ Tuba. Now at 54 ranks and supplemented by nearly a dozen digital voices, the instrument could fill the church with sound. The Möller pipework was nonetheless uniformly under-scaled for the space and sounded forced as it was inevitably “pushed” for maximum output. For such a large room, the Pedal division was also curiously limited to two dedicated ranks, a skinny wooden Contrabass and a generous Bourdon.

By the mid 2010s, parts of the instrument were failing. Some of the organ’s larger reed pipes were collapsing, wind reservoirs were audibly leaking, expression mechanisms were unreliable, and the instrument’s electro-pneumatic windchests were ciphering with regularity. The church’s organ committee, ably led by Mr. Danny Johnston, explored options to replace the obsolete Möller mechanisms while retaining as much of the pipework as was practical. The committee travelled to listen to various instruments in Texas, and four companies were invited to submit proposals. Two instruments convinced the committee that Létourneau was the right choice: our Opus 88 at Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano (four manuals, 77 ranks) and our Opus 127 at Saint Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas (three manuals, 61 ranks).

After listening to the church’s aspirations for the project, studying the situation carefully, and surveying the Möller organ’s pipework, we developed a proposal for First United Methodist in several phases that retained nearly thirty ranks from the previous instrument. The project kicked off in the spring of 2019 with the replacement of the Antiphonal Great and Antiphonal Swell organs on either side of the gallery with new Antiphonal and Echo divisions totalling eleven ranks; the voicing was completed later that summer. Independently expressive, these two divisions served as a small but capable instrument for over a year, proving their ability to accompany the church’s adult choir of over seventy voices. With the completion of the chancel organ, these divisions draw sound from the chancel through the long nave, surrounding the congregation with sound without drawing attention to themselves.

As soon as the gallery organ and its two-manual console were ready for service, the dismantling of the chancel organ began. In all parts of the organ, pipes slated for reuse were repaired, cleaned, and in the case of the Möller pipework, liberally rescaled for the new instrument. For example, the scales of the Swell and Antiphonal 8′ Open Diapason stops were enlarged by three and four pipes, respectively. Two of the Möller’s narrow stopped basses were replaced with new wooden pipes for a fuller sound in the 8′ octave. After the addition of seven new pipes at various points in the tenor through soprano octaves, the Möller 8′ Harmonic Flute was completely transformed into the present Antiphonal 4′ Traverse Flute.

The first portion of the chancel organ arrived in Lubbock towards the end of 2019, and a second shipment arrived in early 2020. As the full extent of Covid-19 made itself known, how to continue the organ’s installation became a preoccupation as lockdowns and international travel restrictions sidelined our company’s Québec-based organ builders. After some logistical reshuffling, we engaged a crack team led by Samantha Koch and Daniel Hancock to continue the installation in Lubbock that included the talents of Ryan Boyle, Brian Seever, and Jon Lester. (Daniel and Samantha subsequently joined our team in Québec at the end of 2020.) This last phase of the installation included the Great division and the four 16′ tin façades with their oak casework around the church’s chancel area.

Our Opus 135 is playable from two new consoles. There is a large and traditional four-manual stopknob console in the chancel, and a two-manual console in the gallery with touchscreen controls. The gallery console offers the same stop controls as its larger brother at the other end of the sanctuary, giving organists complete control of the instrument in real time. Both consoles also share the same capture system, allowing the organist to move from one end of the building to the other without concern for registrations. The system boasts 999 levels of memory, as well as an independent sixteen levels of memory for the divisional pistons. Using Solid State Organ System’s powerful MultiSystem II platform, the switching system in all four organ chambers is linked by fiber optic cable for effortlessly rapid communication. Further, the organ has SSOS’s Organist Palette, an iPad interface allowing wireless record-playback throughout the sanctuary, a transposer, and a clock with stopwatch. The Organist Palette offers controls to adjust the General piston sequencer, the various Sostenuto functions, and the point of division for the Pedal Divide feature. Both consoles also use a programmable expression matrix, a concept we borrowed from Richard Houghten, which allows all five of the organ’s expressive divisions to be interchanged between any of the consoles’ three expression pedals.

The new organ’s tonal design took shape in a comfortably English mold, based on a large and noble Great division. Split between the two chancel façades, the Great offers colorful foundation stops, an elegant 16′ principal chorus topped with a six-rank mixture, and large-scale trumpets at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The 16′ Double Diapason is extended to play as the 8′ Open Diapason No. 2; the rank’s slotted pipes are voiced for a harmonically richer timbre to contrast with the larger, more foundational Open Diapason No. 1.

The Swell offers all the dynamic and tonal range one would expect for choral works or organ repertoire. Its specification is disciplined, containing the organ’s secondary principal chorus, a richly colored string and celeste, and a lighthearted chorus of flutes. The Swell foundations smooth the buildup between the Choir and Great divisions but equally reinforce the Great in orchestrally minded registrations. The Swell’s battery of trumpets with English shallots dominates the division without stretching above their station; they enrich the Great ensemble with nuance and color.

The Choir is the tertiary division, with a range of mezzo foundations, from its slotted principals to the open Concert Flute to the delicate Lieblich Gedackt rank. The organ’s softest stops, the Erzähler and Erzähler Celeste, possess more character than a typical Flute Celeste. When used in tandem with the Echo division, the effect is an ethereal shroud over the sanctuary, ideally proportioned to introduce solo colors from the Great, Swell, or Solo. With all the harmonic vibrancy and carrying power of a solo stop, the Choir’s cornet décomposé is still controlled in power such that its mutations can reinforce the principals for smaller contrapuntal works or in alternatim passages with other divisions. Möller’s 8′ English Horn from 1954 was thoroughly revoiced, and its hollow, peaky timbre contrasts beautifully with the Swell’s warm 8′ Oboe. The new Clarinet was fitted with teardrop shallots for a slightly bolder timbre than a prototypical English example without limiting its utility. Both reeds are balanced for use in dialogue with each other against the Swell, but they too can also be strengthened with elements from the cornet.

The Solo division stands out with a strong Doppelflöte and a pair of warm reverse-tapered gambas. The 8′ Tuba pipes by A. R. Schopp’s & Sons merit special mention for their resonators’ enormous scale, as well as their early jump to harmonic length at 4′ C. The Tuba rank was revoiced on nearly seventeen inches pressure with a round, fundamental tone that works beautifully as a solo voice—especially when employed in octaves—but can also buttress the whole ensemble. It will contrast magnificently as the darker foil to the future Trompette en chamade to be installed above the rear gallery. We also added a new 16′ octave to the Tuba using shallots and heavy zinc sheets supplied by Schopp’s for seamless cohesion. Intended to give the pedals the last word in extraordinary circumstances, the 16′ Ophicleide’s effect is especially astonishing from the chancel console!

The organ’s twelve-rank Pedal division features independent metal principals at 16′, 8′, and 4′. A five-rank mixture completes the Pedal chorus, with the mixture incorporating a soft tierce rank for a subtly distinctive timbre. The pedals are reinforced by a large 16′–8′ Open Wood rank and the restored Möller 16′–8′ Subbass, as well as a 16′ Trombone and 8′ Trumpet on nearly six inches pressure. The Pedal is also augmented by four digital 32′ stops provided by Walker, including a penetrating Contra Bass, a subtle Bourdon, a vibrant Contra Trombone, and a milder Contra Fagotto, with this last voice usefully enclosed within the Swell division.

As with any Létourneau instrument, a great deal of reflection went into how Opus 135 could best serve a host of musical needs, whether it is supporting a modern worship service, accompanying a grand choral anthem, or serving as the vehicle to present the organ’s repertoire. We believe the specification bears this out. With 75 ranks and five expressive divisions, there are endless possibilities for creative registration without having to turn the instrument on its head.  Each of the main divisions is based on foundations appropriate to the space, with incisive 16′ ranks that enhance their respective choruses without opacity. At the other end of the spectrum, great attention was paid to the role of upperwork with the happy result that the mixtures and higher pitches add presence and texture without overwhelming the balance of the chorus. The overall effect is one of grandeur, cohesion, and warmth.

We have thoroughly enjoyed working with so many fine people at First United Methodist Church during the course of this thrilling project, despite some unexpected twists and turns. Our work has been greatly helped at various points along the way by Danny Johnston, Dr. Seung-Won Cho, David Warren, Keith Bell, and the Reverend Todd Salzwedel. We are also grateful to Mrs. Mary Frances Baucum and the church’s Board of Trustees who were so supportive of the organ committee’s work and recommendations.

In the broader context of the Létourneau company, our Opus 135 for First United Methodist Church is the first instrument completed under the proprietorship of Dudley Oakes (Read about this here). This pipe organ is simultaneously the logical continuation of the artistic evolution that the company was already on and a first expression of our renewed pursuit of tonal excellence. Within the company, there is a growing sense of being in a strong position. The second generation of leadership has many lessons from the past to guide us into the future while still having the freedom to advance in new and exciting directions. With several exciting projects in the years ahead, we invite you to watch this space!

—Orgues Létourneau

Builder’s website

Church’s website

GREAT – Manual II – 95mm pressure

16′ Double Diapason, 12 pipes new, extension of Open Diapason No. 2

16′ Lieblich Gedackt — from Choir

8′ Open Diapason No. 1, 61 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Open Diapason No. 2, 61 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Harmonic Flute, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Salicional, 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Chimney Flute, 61 pipes new, wood and 40% tin

4′ Principal, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

4′ Open Flute, 61 pipes Schopp’s pipes

2-2⁄3′ Twelfth, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

2′ Fifteenth, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

1-1⁄3′ Mixture IV–VI, 306 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Double Trumpet — from Swell

8′ Trompette, 66 pipes, new, 56% tin

4′ Clairon, 78 pipes, new, 56% tin

8′ Tuba — from Solo

Great Sub Octave

Great Unison Off

Great Octave

Chimes (from Solo)

Zimbelstern

ANTIPHONAL (enclosed) – Manual II – 115mm pressure

16′ Contra Geigen, 12 pipes new, extension of 8′ Geigen

8′ Open Diapason, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

8′ Chimney Flute, 61 pipes Möller pipes with new wood bass

8′ Geigen, 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

4′ Principal, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

4′ Traverse Flute, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

2′ Fifteenth, 61 pipes Möller pipes

Tremulant

Antiphonal Sub Octave

Antiphonal Unison Off

Antiphonal Octave

8′ Trompette en chamade — prepared for future addition

SWELL (enclosed) – Manual III –– 115mm pressure

16′ Contra Gamba, 12 pipes new, extension of 8′ Gamba

8′ Open Diapason, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

8′ Gamba, 61 pipes Möller pipes

8′ Voix Celeste, 54 pipes from g8, Möller pipes with new zinc bass

8′ Bourdon, 61 pipes Möller pipes

4′ Principal, 61 pipes Möller pipes

4′ Harmonic Flute, 61 pipes new, 40% tin

2′ Piccolo, 61 pipes new, 40% tin

2′ Mixture III–V, 247 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Double Trumpet, 61 pipes new, 56% tin, harmonic at c49

8′ Trumpet, 66 pipes new, 56% tin, harmonic at c37

8′ Oboe, 61 pipes new, 56% tin, capped resonators

8′ Vox Humana, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Clarion, 78 pipes new, 56% tin, harmonic at c25

Tremulant

Swell Sub Octave

Swell Unison Off

Swell Octave

ECHO (enclosed) – Manual III – 115mm pressure

16′ Bourdon, 12 pipes Möller pipes, extension of 8′ Bourdon

8′ Viole de gambe, 61 pipes Möller pipes

8′ Voix Celeste, 54 pipes from g8, Möller pipes with new zinc bass

8′ Bourdon, 61 pipes Möller pipes

4′ Violon, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Cor d’amour, 61 pipes Möller pipes, capped resonators

Tremulant

Echo Sub Octave

Echo Unison Off

Echo Octave

CHOIR (enclosed) – Manual I – 110mm pressure

16′ Lieblich Gedackt, 12 pipes new, extension of 8′ Lieblich Gedackt

8′ Geigen Diapason, 61 pipes Möller pipes

8′ Concert Flute, 61 pipes Casavant pipes with new treble

8′ Erzähler, 61 pipes Möller pipes

8′ Erzähler Celeste, 54 pipes from g8, new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Lieblich Gedackt, 61 pipes Möller pipes with new wood bass

4′ Geigen Principal, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Koppelflöte, 61 pipes Möller pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nazard, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

2′ Flageolet, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

1-3⁄5′ Tierce, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

1′ Fife, 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipes

8′ English Horn, 61 pipes Möller pipes

8′ Clarinet, 61 pipes new, 56% tin

Tremulant

Choir Sub Octave

Choir Unison Off

Choir Octave

8′ French Horn — from Solo

16′ Ophicleide — from Solo and Pedal

8′ Tuba — from Solo

4′ Tuba — from Solo

8′ Trompette en chamade — from Antiphonal

Harp — from Solo

SOLO (enclosed) – Manual IV – 255mm pressure

8′ Doppelflöte, 61 pipes new, wood and 40% tin

8′ Viola, 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Viola Celeste, 54 pipes from g8, new, zinc and 56% tin

Tremulant

8′ French Horn, 49 pipes from c13, new, 56% tin, 425mm pressure

8′ Tuba, 85 pipes Schopp’s pipes, 425mm pressure

Solo Sub Octave

Solo Unison Off

Solo Octave

8′ Trompette en chamade — from Antiphonal

Chimes digital Walker Technical Co.

Harp digital Walker Technical Co.

Glockenspiel digital Walker Technical Co.

PEDAL – 105mm pressure

32′ Contra Bass, digital Walker Technical Co.

32′ Contra Bourdon, digital Walker Technical Co.

16′ Open Wood, 32 pipes new, wood

16′ Open Diapason No. 1, 32 pipes new, 70% tin

16′ Open Diapason No. 2 — from Great

16′ Subbass, 32 pipes Möller pipes

16′ Gamba — from Swell

16′ Lieblich Gedackt — from Choir

8′ Open Wood, 12 pipes new, extension of 16′ Open Wood

8′ Principal, 32 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Subbass, 12 pipes Möller pipes, extension of 16′ Subbass

8′ Gamba — from Swell

8′ Lieblich Gedackt — from Choir

4′ Choral Bass, 32 pipes new, 56% tin

3-1⁄5′ Mixture V, 160 pipes new, 56% tin

32′ Contra Bombarde digital Walker Technical Co.

32′ Contra Fagotto digital enclosed with Swell, Walker Technical Co.

16′ Ophicleide 12 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin, ext. of Solo 8′ Tuba

16′ Trombone 32 pipes new, 145mm pressure

16′ Trumpet — from Swell

8′ Tuba — from Solo

8′ Trumpet 32 pipes new, 145mm pressure

4′ Tuba — from Solo

8′ Trompette en chamade — from Antiphonal

Chimes (from Solo)

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL

16′ Geigen — from Antiphonal

16′ Bourdon — from Echo

8′ Geigen — from Antiphonal

8′ Bourdon — from Echo

97 total stops; 75 ranks; 4,233 pipes

Great Mixture IV–VI

c1 to b12 19 22 26 29

c13 to b24 15 19 22 26

c25 to f#31 12 15 19 22 26

g32 to b36 8 12 15 19 22

c37 to f#43 1 8 12 15 19 22

g44 to e53 1 5 8 12 15 19

f54 to c61 1 5 8 8 12 15

Swell Mixture III–V

c1 to e17 15  19 22

f18 to b36 12 15 19 22

c37 to e41 8 12 15 19

f42 to b48 1 8 12 15 19

c49 to c61 1 8 8 12 15

Pedal Mixture V

c1 to g32 17 19 22 26 29

 

Read about Létourneau Opus 132 here.

Related Content

Cover Feature: Létourneau Opus 136

Orgues Létourneau, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Létourneau Opus 136

From the builder

Market Square Presbyterian Church has long been a landmark in Pennsylvania’s capital city. The congregation was founded in 1794 and has occupied its current sanctuary since 1860. The church today is simultaneously traditional and modern, with worship services that balance thought-provoking sermons and inspiring music. Market Square Church also puts an emphasis on service, with ministries to support homeless and transient persons in downtown Harrisburg, as well as refugees and immigrants. The congregation is actively involved in a variety of social justice endeavors, supports environmental initiatives, provides hospitality to local groups, and offers a broad embrace to the LGBTQ+ community. It has been our experience that all are admirably welcome at Market Square Church.

Our first of many visits to Market Square Church was at the invitation of the church’s new minister of music, the tireless Tyler Canonico. Our broad mandate was to survey the church’s pipe organ and to present options on what could be done.

M. P. Möller’s Opus 11805 of three manuals and 83 ranks was completed in 1991, incorporating much of the church’s previous Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ from 1947 (Opus 1048). The Aeolian-Skinner had been hidden within chambers, but the Möller displayed zinc and spotted metal façade pipes in a case housing its Grand Orgue division across the back of the loft. A new Positif division was divided between two cases on the gallery rail. The organ additionally had two sizable and independently expressive Récit divisions in opposing chambers; both Récits played awkwardly from the upper manual at the console.

During that first visit, we concluded a top-to-bottom reconstruction of the organ was needed. In addition to desirable tonal improvements, the three-manual console was worn beyond redemption, and the instrument’s switching system was obsolete. The crude casework needed to be replaced with something more appropriate, but more pressing, the two organ chambers’ flimsy hardboard walls and ceilings required substantial improvement.

Our subsequent proposal recommended reusing the Möller and Aeolian-Skinner materials where possible as a measure of good stewardship. This included most of the pipework, the electro-pneumatic windchests, and some wind reservoirs. From a tonal perspective, we wanted to consolidate the instrument within the limits of what the windchests could accommodate. While a new Great and part of the Pedal would reside in a central organ case, the Möller’s Récit divisions could be brought together into a proper Swell in the east chamber. A tertiary Choir division would offer complementary colors in the west chamber, and through refashioning one of the Aeolian-Skinner windchests, a new ten-rank String division could reside under the Choir division. A small Positive division would reuse one of the chests previously on the gallery rail but would sit in front of the Choir behind the loft’s west ceiling grille.

The project we proposed was significant but at no time did we get the sense that our far-reaching ideas were unsettling to the organ study committee. The committee seemed ready for a challenge, as did the broader church in later meetings. Indeed, our discussions about renewing the pipe organ grew into a broader review of the church’s sanctuary and its acoustic, as well as the organ loft and the limitations it presented for the choir. Acoustician Dan Clayton soon joined the team, ensuring the acoustic would be improved for music without harming the spoken word. This global project at Market Square Church was spearheaded by David and Gwen Lehman over a two-year period. Their assiduous work resulted in new hardwood flooring for the sanctuary, comfortable new pews, a reconfigured choir loft, and refurbished organ chambers. Throughout the project, the organ study committee’s and the Lehmans’ efforts were supported time and time again by the church’s director of music emerita, Ellen Hunt, and the church’s senior pastor, the Reverend Tom Sweet.

The Möller pipe organ was removed and packed for shipment to our workshops in January 2020 by a team from Létourneau, along with John Carmichael of Patrick J. Murphy & Associates. Once in our workshop, our pipe makers took a complete inventory of the Möller and Aeolian-Skinner pipework, making repairs as necessary. Fellow organbuilder Randall Dyer had also helpfully provided valuable scaling information and related documentation on Opus 11805 from his M. P. Möller archive.

Several stops were rescaled as part of the project, including the Great 8′ Harmonic Flute, the Great five-rank Cornet, the Swell 8′ Viole de gambe, and the Swell 8′ Voix Celeste to better obtain these stops’ characteristic colors. Other ranks were repurposed: a Möller 8′ Flûte céleste rank now serves as the Pedal 51⁄3′ Quint while the 13⁄5′ Tierce from the Möller Positif is now the Pedal 2′ Open Flute with the addition of new bass pipes. Of the new organ’s 83 ranks, some 21 ranks came from Aeolian-Skinner’s Boston workshops and another 46 ranks were made in Hagerstown, with the final 16 ranks having been built in St-Hyacinthe.

The Aeolian-Skinner and Möller electro-pneumatic windchests were restored to like-new condition in our workshops, with new unit chests built as needed. Designed by Claude Demers, the new organ case was built by our cabinetmakers from solid maple with walnut accents. The façade displays tin pipework from the Great 8′ Open Diapason, the Pedal 8′ Principal, and most prominently, the 8′ Trompette en chamade. The pipe shades were designed in a greatly simplified Gothic style and were machined on our CNC machine.

One of the project’s surprises occurred while examining the bass of the Pedal 16′ Contrabass in our woodshop. These twelve pipes were built in pine by Aeolian-Skinner to a lean scale and voiced with large beards. Without an organ built around them, their full length was revealed to show the pipe bodies were not quite true. The pipes had been deliberately built with “bellies,” meaning the middle of the pipe body is fractionally larger than the ends. Seen more frequently in metal string pipes, the theory is the bellied construction encourages prompt speech. This discovery presented an opportunity to document these pipes and how they were constructed.

The new organ—Létourneau’s Opus 136—made its way to Harrisburg in the spring of 2021, with the installation by our team continuing into the summer. The onsite flue voicing was fully underway by September, and the work was painstakingly executed by Samantha Koch and Christopher Bono, with help at various points from Megan Farrell (of Patrick J. Murphy & Associates) and John Johnson. The final phase of the voicing, Opus 136’s twelve ranks of reeds were voiced by Michel Godbout. The voicing process was assisted by a remote keyboard placed in the center of the sanctuary’s third pew. Connected wirelessly to the Solid State Organ Systems’ switching network, the keyboard allowed us to carefully evaluate sounds from another reference point beyond the console, usefully confirming or correcting voicing decisions made from the loft.

Though completed in late October 2021, Opus 136’s first solo concert took place on February 25, 2022, with virtuoso Ken Cowan at the console. In response to works by Widor, Litaize, and Bach—as well as transcriptions of works by Saint-Saëns and Wagner—the capacity crowd’s responses were nothing short of ecstatic. Mr. Cowan also brilliantly introduced a work commissioned for the evening, the Michelangelo Fantasy by Dr. Scott H. Eggert.

— Orgues Létourneau

From the minister of music

Blessed by but not captive to a rich history, Market Square Presbyterian Church continues to serve its congregants and its community through worship and music. The major renovations of our pipe organ and sanctuary reaffirm our congregation’s commitment to the present and future of this church as a beacon of hope on the square.

When I interviewed for the post of minister of music, the Rev. Thomas Sweet told me of the church’s need to launch an organ project. After my arrival in July 2017, I soon found myself presenting to various committees the many failings of the church’s M. P. Möller organ. Co-chaired by Ellen Hunt (minister of music emerita) and me, our organ study committee interviewed several organbuilders, and we concluded that Létourneau was the best company for our project. After working with Létourneau to refine their proposal, the contract for the instrument was unanimously approved by the church’s board of trustees and session in January of 2018.

Létourneau Opus 136 reuses the best of the Aeolian-Skinner and Möller pipework to reorient the organ towards accompanying duties, leading hymn singing, and the performance of solo repertoire. Each stop was reworked and revoiced by Létourneau for remarkably cohesive choruses while assuring each stop’s musicality. On Létourneau’s recommendation, Market Square Church rebuilt the organ chambers with harder, denser surfaces to better reflect sound. Now, the full spectrum from the organ’s expressive divisions is projected into the sanctuary, especially in the bass and middle registers. With the old Positif cases removed from the loft rail, the rail itself was reconstructed to resemble the original from 1860, with minor differences to accommodate acoustical considerations and building codes.

The sanctuary renovation was occasioned by a desire to improve its acoustic for choral singing, hymnody, and the pipe organ while preserving the fine acoustic for the spoken word. This was achieved by installing a hardwood floor, with minimal carpeting in the aisles. The church took advantage of this opportunity to refresh the sanctuary with a new color scheme for the walls and ceiling, new pews with acoustically neutral cushions, and a new sound system.

Market Square Church has, from its earliest days, been located in the heart of Harrisburg, and it serves its members’ needs as well as those of the surrounding community. The church’s music ministry has been integral in this effort as a means of making God, beauty, and our shared humanity accessible to everyone, member or not. Generously underwritten by the Nedra J. Schilling Foundation, the organ project was conceived and approved under this principle as a gift to members and the community at large, now and for the future.

The members of Market Square Church as well as Harrisburg’s broader musical community have been delighted as we continue to explore the capabilities of our Létourneau pipe organ. I remain thankful to all who gave generously—especially during the pandemic—and I am grateful to the amazing team at Létourneau who delivered such an astonishing musical instrument!

—Tyler A. Canonico, Minister of Music

GREAT – Manual II – 95 mm pressure

16′ Violoncello 12 pipes extension of 8′ Violoncello

8′ Open Diapason 61 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Harmonic Flute 61 pipes Möller and new pipework

8′ Violoncello 61 pipes Möller pipework

8′ Chimney Flute 61 pipes 1–12 Möller, 13–61 Aeolian-Skinner pipework

4′ Principal 61 pipes Möller pipework

4′ Open Flute 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Mixture V 305 pipes Möller and new pipework

1′ Sharp Mixture IV 244 pipes Möller and new pipework

8′ Grand Cornet V 220 pipes c13 through g56, rescaled Möller pipework

16′ Double Trumpet 61 pipes 1–12 Möller, 13–61 Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Trumpet 61 pipes Möller pipework

4′ Clarion 61 pipes Möller pipework

Great 16′

Great Unison Off

Great 4′

8′ Trompette en chamade 66 pipes new, 70% tin (140 mm pressure)

Zimbelstern I 6 bells

Zimbelstern II 8 bells

Nachtigal

Chimes from Choir

SWELL (enclosed) – Manual III – 125 mm pressure

8′ Open Diapason 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Flûte traversière 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Viole de gambe 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipework

8′ Voix Celeste 61 pipes rescaled Möller pipework with new bass

8′ Lieblich Gedackt 61 pipes Möller pipework

4′ Principal 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

4′ Flûte octaviante 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Octavin 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Mixture III–V 259 pipes Möller pipework with new

16′ Fagotto 61 pipes 1–24 Aeolian-Skinner, 25–61 Möller pipework

8′ Trumpet 66 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Oboe 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Vox Humana 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

4′ Clarion 78 pipes new, 56% tin

Tremulant

Swell 16′

Swell Unison Off

Swell 4′

16′ Trompette en chamade (TC) from Great

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

STRING (enclosed) – floating – 285 mm pressure

16′ Contre Viole 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Viole d’orchestre 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Viole Celeste 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

8′ Dulciana 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Unda maris 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

4′ Viole octaviante 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

4′ Dulcet 61 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

31⁄5′ Chœur des violes III 183 pipes new, 56% tin

Tremulant

Echo Chimes from Positive

Harp from Choir

CHOIR (enclosed) – Manual I – 110 mm pressure

16′ Bourdon 12 pipes extension of 8′ Bourdon (Möller pipework)

8′ Geigen Diapason 61 pipes Möller pipework

8′ Bourdon 61 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

4′ Gemshorn 61 pipes Möller pipework

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Flageolet 61 pipes Möller pipework

1-3⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes Möller pipework

8′ Clarinet 61 pipes Möller pipework

Tremulant

8′ Tuba 61 pipes Möller pipework (350 mm pressure)

Choir 16′

Choir Unison Off

Choir 4′

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

Chimes digital Walker Technical Co.

Harp digital Walker Technical Co.

Glockenspiel digital Walker Technical Co.

POSITIVE – Manual IV – 85 mm pressure

8′ Stopped Diapason 61 pipes Möller pipework

4′ Koppelflöte 61 pipes Möller pipework

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes Möller pipework

1-1⁄3′ Larigot 61 pipes Möller pipework

1-1⁄3′ Tierce Mixture V 305 pipes Möller and new pipework

8′ Cremona 61 pipes new, 56% tin

Tremulant

Positive 16′

Positive Unison Off

Positive 4′

16′ Tuba (TC) from Choir

8′ Tuba from Choir

16′ Trompette en chamade (TC) from Great

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

Echo Chimes digital Walker Technical Co.

Glockenspiel from Choir

PEDAL – 142 mm and 120 mm pressure

32′ Contra Geigen digital Walker Technical Co.

32′ Contra Bourdon digital Walker Technical Co.

16′ Contrabass 32 pipes 1–12 Aeolian-Skinner, 13–32 Möller pipework

16′ Violoncello from Great

16′ Subbass 32 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

16′ Viole d’orchestre from String

16′ Bourdon from Choir

8′ Principal 32 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Spitzflöte 32 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework

8′ Violoncello from Great

8′ Bourdon from Choir

5-1⁄3′ Quint 32 pipes Möller pipework

4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes rescaled Möller pipework

4′ Spitzflöte 12 pipes extension of 8′ Spitzflöte

2′ Open Flute 32 pipes rescaled Möller pipework

2-2⁄3′ Mixture IV 128 pipes Möller pipework

32′ Contra Bombarde digital Walker Technical Co.

32′ Contra Fagotto 12 pipes extension of Swell 16′ Fagotto

16′ Bombarde 32 pipes Aeolian-Skinner pipework (150 mm w.p.)

16′ Fagotto from Swell

8′ Bombarde 12 pipes extension of 16′ Bombarde

4′ Bombarde 12 pipes extension of 8′ Bombarde

8′ Tuba from Choir

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

Chimes from Choir

Echo Chimes from Positive

Orage Walker Technical Co.

Intermanual Couplers

Great to Pedal Great 4′ to Pedal

Swell to Pedal Swell 4′ to Pedal

Choir to Pedal Choir 4′ to Pedal

Positive to Pedal Positive 4′ to Pedal

String to Pedal String 4′ to Pedal

Swell 16′ to Great Swell to Great Swell 4′ to Great

Choir 16′ to Great Choir to Great Choir 4′ to Great

Positive 16′ to Great Positive to Great Positive 4′ to Great

String 16′ to Great String to Great String 4′ to Great

Swell 16′ to Choir Swell to Choir Swell 4′ to Choir

Positive 16′ to Choir Positive to Choir Positive 4′ to Choir

String 16′ to Choir String to Choir String 4′ to Choir

String 16′ to Swell String to Swell String 4′ to Swell

Positive 16′ to Swell Positive to Swell Positive 4′ to Swell

Choir to Swell

Great to Positive

Swell to Positive

Choir to Positive

String to Positive

Mixture Compositions

Great Mixture V

c1 to b12 15 19 22 26 29

c13 to b24 12 15 19 22 26

c25 to b36 8 12 15 19 22

c37 to g44 1 8 12 15 19

g#44 to c61 1 5 8 12 15

Great Sharp Mixture IV

c1 to b12 22 26 29 33

c13 to a22 19 22 26 29

a#23 to g#33 15 19 22 26

a34 to f42 12 15 19 22

f#43 to d#52 8 12 15 19

e53 to c61 1 8 12 15

Swell Mixture III–IV

c1 to e17 15 19 22

f18 to e29 12 15 19 22

f30 to e41 8 12 15 19 22

f42 to c49 1 8 12 15 19

c#50 to c61 1 5 8 12 15

Positive Tierce Mixture V

c1 to c#14 19 22 24 26 29

d15 to e29 15 19 22 24 26

f30 to g44 12 15 17 19 22

g#44 to d51 8 12 15 17 19

d#52 to c61 1 8 10 12 15

String Choeur des violes III

c1 to c49 10 12 15

c#50 to f54 8 10 12

f#55 to g#57 5 8 10

a58 to c61 3 5 8

Pedal Mixture IV

c1 to g32 19 22 26 29

 

83 total stops, 83 ranks, 4,683 pipes

 

Builder’s website: www.letourneauorgans.com

 

Church’s website: www.marketsquarechurch.org

 

Photo credits:

Cover and page 22: Ollie Silver

Trompette-en-chamade and console: Don Giles

Remaining photos: Orgues Létourneau

Cover feature: Létourneau Opus 137

Létourneau Pipe Organs, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota

Létourneau Opus 137

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church is a large, welcoming ELCA congregation founded in 1908. Serving the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, the church opened its present sanctuary in 1952 with subsequent additions to the church complex to accommodate the congregation’s growth and needs. An unusually active congregation, Gloria Dei undertakes its outreach and social justice ministries enthusiastically through various environmental, housing, hunger, and advocacy initiatives.

The pipe organ from Gloria Dei’s previous church building served the new sanctuary until it was replaced in 1962 by M. P. Möller’s Opus 9864. A three-manual instrument, the Möller employed significant unification throughout its modest specification, making the very most of its 36 ranks. The small and oddly shaped organ chamber dictated that the Möller had to be shoehorned in to a rarely seen degree. With chamber openings along one side of the chancel, most organ tone passed laterally across the chancel where it was then reflected off the opposite wall and dispersed out to the nave—but not before first passing through the deep chancel arch. As a result, the Möller was barely adequate for its many roles and was augmented in 1975 with the addition of an eight-rank Antiphonal division high on the back wall of the sanctuary, again by M. P. Möller.

After more than five decades of service, the Möller’s electro-pneumatic windchests were exhibiting typical signs of wear and leather failure, but the cramped organ chamber made chest repairs unreasonably difficult and costly. Cleverly, a unit chest was set up as an interim solution at the back of the Swell division to serve as a catchall for dead note actions as they came up. Pipes whose actions had failed were plucked from their original chests, reset on the unit chest at the back of the chamber, and the unit chest wired accordingly to the switching system.

The accelerating frequency of problems with the Möller was a serious issue, but the organ’s compromised location meant that a complete restoration—or even an all-new instrument in the same chamber—would not provide the improvement Gloria Dei was seeking. As part of their deliberations, the Gloria Dei organ committee looked carefully at all options as far as the organ’s placement and soon determined that the organ should go across the front wall of the chancel. Exceptionally, the organ committee’s discernment process blossomed into a larger sanctuary renewal campaign entitled “Rise, O Church.” In the words of Pastor Bradley Schmeling, “Rise, O Church is more than just buying a new organ or doing some remodeling. It’s about our dedication to be a growing, vibrant congregation ready to meet the needs of future generations and our neighboring community.”

In the meantime, Létourneau had been advertising a 1959 Casavant Frères pipe organ that the company had rescued from a closed church in Toronto, Ontario. The advertisement proposed completing the Casavant’s specification with several new stops, and this caught the attention of Gloria Dei’s organ consultant, Gregory Peterson, then of Luther College, and Tim Strand, Gloria Dei’s director of music.

The Casavant was an early instrument in Lawrence Phelps’s tenure as tonal director and displayed some of the first steps in the profound and rapid change of style Phelps oversaw in Casavant Frères organs. Vestiges from the era predating Phelps include the 16′ Flûte conique and the 8′ Aeoline stops in the Swell plus an augmented Pedal division. On the other hand, the Choir 4′ Koppelflöte, the organ’s narrow-scaled reed stops with parallel shallots, the generally thin-walled pipework, and the boldly scaled upperwork were examples of Phelps’s emerging aesthetic. As the Casavant featured no casework or façade pipes, our advertisement also offered new casework with façade pipes for the expanded instrument.

With the Casavant’s 34-rank specification as a starting point, we expanded the instrument with eighteen additional ranks to complete each of the instrument’s four divisions. To the Great division, we added a 16′ Contra Geigen stop and a soaring 8′ Flûte harmonique, as well as trumpet stops at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The Swell division was already largely complete; the only changes were the replacement of the 8′ Aeoline with a proper 4′ Principal stop and the addition of a new 16′ Bombarde stop with full-length resonators scaled to match the 8′ Trompette and 4′ Clairon.

Devised in an era when Positiv divisions were coming into fashion, the original Choir division was judged to be short on 8′ foundation tone. The addition of new 8′ Geigen Principal and 4′ Geigen Octave stops addressed this point, as well as the new undulating rank to go with the 8′ Spitzflöte. A new three-rank Sharp mixture completes the Choir’s principal chorus, offering more brilliance than its counterparts in the Swell. To augment the existing Swell 8′ Oboe and Choir 8′ Clarinet stops, we added a delicate 8′ Cor anglais as a third solo reed option.

The Pedal division was built on a rich-toned 16′ Contrabass stop in zinc, though it was originally extended to play at 8′ and 4′ pitches. The original 8′ extension of the 16′ Subbass rank was maintained, but new 8′ Principal and 4′ Choral Bass ranks plus a three-rank mixture were added to provide a true pedal chorus. Bold reed stops at 16′ and 8′ were also added to give the Pedal the necessary grandeur and color.

The Casavant electro-pneumatic windchests in solid mahogany were restored in our workshops, with new electro-pneumatic chests provided as needed. The original chests’ 68-note compass was retained and carried over into the new windchests as well. The organ’s painted casework was designed by Claude Demers and was constructed from maple; it features polished pipework in 70% tin from the Great 16′ Contra Geigen, the Great 8′ Principal, and the Pedal 8′ Principal ranks.

The eight-rank Antiphonal division and its 8′ Trompette en chamade with polished brass resonators were retained as part of the project for added support from the rear of the nave. The Möller electro-pneumatic windchests were restored, while the Antiphonal’s wind system was rebuilt to incorporate a new blower.

The instrument is played from a new three-manual console with the shell made from rift sawn red oak and the interior panels in walnut. Built to be as compact as possible for good sightlines, the console offers organists 999 levels of memory, twelve General pistons with sequencer, a sostenuto effect for each manual, a Great-Choir Manual Transfer feature, and a Pedal Divide coupler. Numeric displays showing the positions of the Swell and Choir’s expression shades are included, as is Solid State Organ System’s Organist Palette. An iPad-controlled suite of features, the palette includes a wireless record-playback interface, visual management of the General piston sequencer, a transposer, and control of the various sostenutos and the Pedal Divide coupler.

The organ was delivered to the church in late October of 2022 and was installed in collaboration with the Organ Clearing House. The voicing of the instrument commenced after Thanksgiving with the welcome participation of Jonathan Ortloff for several weeks, and the project was wrapped up in the New Year.

Létourneau’s Opus 137 was played by Tim Strand in its first solo concert on April 23, 2023. Seminal works by Cook, Bach, Duruflé, and Vierne were heard by a large and especially enthusiastic crowd, as were the world premieres of two new pieces. The first, Partita on “Rise O Church, like Christ Arisen” by David Cherwien, is based on the hymn of the same name, tune Surge Ecclesia (written by Mr. Strand), and featuring words written by Dr. Chewien’s late wife Susan. The second work was a rich new setting of the Swedish tune “The Earth Adorned in Verdant Robe” for saxophone and organ by Robert Buckley Farlee, with Kurt Claussen playing the soprano saxophone.

Many people played important roles—some visible, some less so—in helping us and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church realize this organ project. We would like to thank Tim Strand, Gregory Peterson, Pastor Bradley Schmeling, Mike Kruger (chair of Gloria Dei’s Sanctuary Renewal Task Force), Teresa Sterns (project manager for Gloria Dei), Todd Kraft and Sara Du of HGA Architects, the team at Langer Construction, the Organ Clearing House, and the Ortloff Organ Company.

—Létourneau Pipe Organs

Photo credit: Andrew Forrest

 

GREAT – Manual II

16′ Contra Geigen 68 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Principal 68 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Harmonic Flute 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Gemshorn 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Bourdon 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Octave 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Rohrflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2-2⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1-1⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Trumpet 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Clarion 68 pipes new, 56% tin

Great 16′ - Great Unison Off - Great 4′

8′ Trompette en chamade 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework (with Antiphonal)

Zimbelstern

SWELL (enclosed) – Manual III

16′ Flûte conique 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Viole de gambe 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Voix Celeste 61 pipes from g8, Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Rohrflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

4′ Principal 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Nachthorn 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Piccolo 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Mixture III 183 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Bombarde 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Trompette 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Oboe 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework, new shallots

4′ Clairon 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

Tremulant

Swell 16′ - Swell Unison Off - Swell 4′

CHOIR (enclosed) – Manual I

8′ Geigen Diapason 68 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Gedackt 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Spitzflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Flute Celeste 61 pipes from g8, new, zinc and 56% tin

4′ Geigen Principal 68 pipes new, 56% tin

4′ Koppelflöte 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

2′ Flageolet 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1-3⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

1′ Sharp Mixture III 183 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Clarinet 68 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

8′ Cor anglais 68 pipes new, zinc and 56% tin

Tremulant

Choir 16′ - Choir Unison Off - Choir 4′

16′ Trompette en chamade (TC) from Great

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

ANTIPHONAL – floating

8′ Spitz Principal 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

4′ Octave 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

4′ Gedackt 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

2′ Super Octave 61 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

1′ Mixture III 183 pipes M. P. Möller pipework

PEDAL

32′ Resultant derived

16′ Contrabass 32 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Geigen from Great

16′ Spitz Principal 12 pipes extension of Antiphonal 8′ Spitz Principal

16′ Subbass 32 pipes Casavant Frères pipework

16′ Flûte conique from Swell

8′ Principal 32 pipes new, 70% tin

8′ Bass Flute 12 pipes extension of 16′ Subbass

8′ Flûte conique from Swell

4′ Choral Bass 32 pipes new, 56% tin

2-2⁄3′ Mixture III 96 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Trombone 32 pipes new, 56% tin

16′ Bombarde from Swell

8′ Trumpet 32 pipes new, 56% tin

8′ Trompette en chamade from Great

4′ Trompette en chamade from Great

Intermanual Couplers

Great to Pedal

Great 4′ to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Swell 4′ to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

Choir 4′ to Pedal

Antiphonal to Pedal

Swell 16′ to Great

Swell to Great

Swell 4′ to Great

Choir 16′ to Great

Choir to Great

Choir 4′ to Great

Antiphonal to Great 

Swell 16′ to Choir

Swell to Choir

Swell 4′ to Choir

Great to Choir

Antiphonal to Choir

Choir to Swell

Antiphonal to Swell 

 

59 stops, 60 ranks, 3,591 pipes

 

Mixture Compositions

Great Mixture IV

c1 to b12 19 22 26 29

c13 to b24 15 19 22 26

c25 to f42 12 15 19 22

f#43 to b48 8 12 15 19

c49 to c61 1 8 12 15

Swell Mixture III

c1 to f18 15 19 22

f#19 to f30 12 15 19

f#31 to f54 8 12 15

f#55 to c61 1 8 12

Choir Sharp Mixture III

c1 to d#16 22 26 29

e17 to d27 19 22 26

d#28 to c#38 15 19 22

d39 to c49 12 15 19

c#50 to c61 8 12 15

Antiphonal Mixture III

c1 to f18 22 26 29

f#19 to c37 19 22 26

c#38 to c49 15 19 22

c#50 to e53 12 15 19

f54 to c61 8 12 15

Pedal Mixture III

c1 to g32 19 22 26

 

Builder website: www.letourneauorgans.com

Church website: www.gloriadeistpaul.org

Cover Feature

Orgues Létourneau, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec; Christ Episcopal Church, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

From the Builder

It is unusual for an organbuilder to finish two instruments for churches a few blocks apart within two calendar years. Nonetheless, this is what happened in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and we consider ourselves fortunate to say so. The first of these was our Opus 129 for First Presbyterian Church, which we completed in January 2016 (see the May 2017 issue of The Diapason for more details). This 75-rank instrument’s warmth and array of color piqued the interest of the organ committee at the nearby Christ Episcopal Church. Led by Mr. Wilson Green, this committee was already studying what to do with the church’s ailing pipe organ. Having been serially rebuilt without success, its indifferent placement in Christ Church’s organ chamber was its biggest challenge. The instrument’s monochromatic tonal scheme and obsolete windchests were contributing factors in the decision to start from scratch and commission an all-new pipe organ.

An organ chamber like that at Christ Church does require a change in mindset from, say, a freestanding instrument like Opus 129. Here, there is a wide floor-to-ceiling opening across the chancel’s south sidewall into the chamber. A smaller arch-shaped opening on the chamber’s west wall leads to the nave. The chamber’s wooden roof slopes downward moving west (away from the chancel), which dictated some aspects of the organ’s layout, but the side and back walls in brick do reflect sound out of the chamber nicely.

Christ Church’s organ committee was unambiguous; they wanted an instrument that would excel in accompanying the Episcopal liturgy. This fit, in many ways, with the organ’s placement in a chamber. The emphasis here would be a profusion of smooth foundation color, elegant solo voices, and choruses in all families of organ tone, all backed by exceptional dynamic control. The organ’s repertoire was kept in mind of course, but this instrument’s raison d’être was always going to be the choral anthems of Howells, Parry, and Stanford.

Carefully studying the chamber, we determined there was enough space for a three-manual instrument; two of the three manual divisions would be under expression at the back of the chamber, with space to spare in front for lean Great and Pedal divisions. Working with the church’s then-organist and assistant director of music, Tyler Canonico, Opus 132’s stoplist soon took shape.

The Swell forms the core of the instrument with foundations including a pungent 8′ Viole de gambe, a matching 8′ Voix Celeste, a gentle 16′ Lieblich, and a velvety 8′ Dolce Flute and Celeste combination. Building on this is a solitary 4′ stop, the Gemshorn; its scale transitions from a principal-like bass for definition towards a fluty treble to blend with the mutations. A refined 8′ Hautboy with capped resonators can add a reedy tang to this ensemble or sing as a mezzo solo voice. One dynamic higher is the Swell’s 8′ cornet décomposé, whose wide-scaled tapered ranks fuse together richly. With choral accompaniment in mind, the Swell’s III–V Full Mixture is harmonic in composition, meaning its uppermost pitch is constant through most of the compass while the fourth and fifth ranks add lower pitches to fill in the chorus. The Swell is crowned by a grand reed chorus that begins, crucially, with a full-length 16′ Double Trumpet through an 8′ Cornopean to a 4′ Clarion. On five inches of wind pressure, these stops feature thick spotted metal resonators, harmonic trebles, and Willis-style shallots. This powerful, golden-toned chorus can also be transferred as a group from the Swell to the other divisions via stopknobs to facilitate dynamic effects.

The second expressive division, the Choir-Solo, is something of a partner to the Great with additional foundation stops and distinctive solo voices. The 8′ Flûte harmonique isn’t a thoroughgoing solo stop so much as it is a building block in a traditional fonds ensemble when coupled to the Great. Building on this 8′, the vibrant 4′ and 2′ harmonic flutes provide a lighter chorus to their equivalent Great combination. The 8′ Geigen brings a keen edge to the fonds, while its 16′ extension provides depth and richness without getting muddy. The 16′ Geigen’s clean pitch and responsiveness in the bass octaves is especially welcome when deployed as a pedal stop. Meanwhile, the 8′ Unda maris pairs with the 8′ Geigen to provide the organ’s third and boldest celeste effect. The Choir-Solo has two high-pressure reed stops. The 8′ French Horn was a request from Christ Church’s rector, the Rev. David Meginniss, and given its rare appearances in choral accompaniments or the organ repertoire—as well as the limited tessitura called for—we built it as a short-compass stop from c13 to f42. On high-pressure wind at the back of the Choir-Solo enclosure, the French Horn projects its fist-in-the-bell sound easily, evoking its orchestral ancestor. Its thick, smooth tone can be used to bulk up ensemble registrations, but it pairs especially well with the 8′ Flûte harmonique with the treble-ascendant flute picking up smoothly where the French Horn’s compass runs out.

The Choir-Solo’s 16′-8′ Tuba rank’s harmonic-length resonators begin at 4′ g, and the pipes are equipped with tapered Willis shallots for proper tuba tone. The overall dynamic, however, is kept in check. On 12¾ inches wind like the French Horn, the Tuba rank serves as solo stop or the ultimate chorus reed: it will peal out a melody against Full Swell—especially when played in octaves as asked for in much of the literature—but can be thrown in to otherwise Full Organ without a colossal dynamic jump. The 16′ Contra Tuba extension in the Pedal has a big, round bass tone that ensures the instrument never sounds untethered.

In contrast to these two colorful expressive divisions, the Great has been stripped down to the essentials. There is a warm principal chorus built around a 42-scale 8′ Open Diapason, with the Great windchest situated to face the nave’s tone opening. The 8′ Chimney Flute is a cheery, chameleon-like voice that does light solo duty or plumps up the ensemble. For flexibility, a number of stops from the Choir-Solo have also been made available on the Great manual.

The Pedal division is like the Great: minimalist but effective. The 16′ Contrabass pipes are made from spotted metal and, voiced with slots and beards, give the pedal line a well-defined point.  The 16′ Subbass, with its pipes in yellow poplar, is dynamically a notch lower with a correspondingly unobtrusive tone. Larger in scale than the Great 8′ Open, the 8′ Principal was also voiced with slots and on higher wind pressure; it has a bold, driven sound that fits with the Contrabass to give the pedal line a great deal of weight. Comparatively, the 4′ Choral Bass is less powerful with a sweeter, more transparent sound in cantus firmus roles.

When the contract was signed for the new instrument, the organ project at Christ Church had a fixed budget that precluded any façades. Likewise, some of the stops in the specification were initially console preparations, meaning they were part of the instrument’s technical designs but would not be provided with the instrument. The contract between the church and Létourneau was written such that if we were given the green light by a certain date, the façades and/or the prepared-for stops could be built and installed at the same time as the organ itself. The organ committee went to work raising the organ project’s profile and explaining the opportunity at hand to the parish. They were tremendously successful; the gifts they raised came from many sources and enabled the complete instrument to be installed. Once our visual designs had been enthusiastically approved, our cabinetmakers began construction on the instrument’s two façades made from solid mahogany. The display pipes are made from a 70% polished tin alloy from the Great 8′ Open Diapason and the Pedal 8′ Principal ranks.

The three-manual console shell was built from solid red oak while the interior puts swathes of dark walnut to good use. From the outset, the layout of the various console controls was a particular point of interest for Tyler Canonico and Wilson Green; many enjoyable discussions were had about the best practices from around the globe, and several different layouts were evaluated. The result is compact, logical, and comfortable. In a nod to the British tradition, the stop knobs for each division are arrayed in two columns and set within individual walnut jambs. The console’s expression shoes also mark the debut of a new style for Létourneau, featuring a pedal made from maple for durability and deeply stained to match the surrounding walnut. A chromed stainless-steel surface discreetly displaying the Létourneau logo is then overlaid on this base with rubber cleats for grip above and below. Opus 132’s switching system and combination action were provided by Solid State Organ Systems, with the console having 300 levels of memory, an adjustable crescendo pedal, and a generous number of divisional and general pistons (with a sequencer) to facilitate colorful accompanying.

The instrument was installed in January of 2018, and the voicing process carried through to the end of the following month. The instrument was dedicated at a choral evensong service on April 15, 2018, featuring the choir of Christ Church under music director Doff Procter, skillfully accompanied by Scott Roberts, organist and assistant music director. Before and after the service, several voluntaries were played by Tyler Canonico, who had returned to Tuscaloosa for the event; his selections included music by Bédard, Locklair, Howells, Bednall, Dupré, and Langlais.

Our Opus 132 is a sophisticated response to the host of physical, acoustic, and musical parameters this project presented. Importantly, the instrument contrasts significantly with the nearby Opus 129 at First Presbyterian Church, from placement to windchest design to tonal effect. For those who might be curious to see what Létourneau is doing these days, Tuscaloosa is a destination well worth visiting.

To conclude, we are grateful to Christ Church for having given us the opportunity to build Opus 132; we expect their new Létourneau will serve their church and the Tuscaloosa community faithfully for several future generations. Our work has given us the opportunity to come to know several fine people as well. We have a deep appreciation for the tireless leadership of Wilson Green throughout the entire project. It has also been a pleasure to work closely with the church’s two organists through the instrument’s gestation, Tyler Canonico and Scott Roberts, as well as the church’s director of music, Doff Procter. We are appreciative of the consistently generous support for the pipe organ project from Rev. David Meginniss. Christ Church’s communications director, Barbara Steimle, was also a tremendous supporter in countless ways. Finally, a sincere thank you to Hubert Guthrie, both the church’s contractor and a parishioner. His tenacious efforts to improve the organ chamber were crucial to the project’s success, resulting in the best possible acoustic conditions for the new instrument.

—Andrew Forrest, Artistic Director

Fernand Létourneau, President

Dudley Oakes, Project Consultant

From the Chair of the Organ Committee

We asked Létourneau to deliver an instrument that emphasized the organ’s central liturgical role in Episcopal worship, and they delivered beautifully. The organ is exceptional in enhancing and supplementing liturgical action, as well as in service and congregational accompaniment. Having two celeste effects in the Swell, for example, was motivated by a desire to communicate the transcendent, and they accomplish this exceptionally. Putting most of the organ under expression, with a relatively small Great, was a decision largely driven by the church’s acoustics, which we altered before the organ’s installation began with changes to the nave floor and the chamber itself. The result is an instrument refined in tonal breadth and uniquely appropriate to the room.

The organ’s solo stops are not to be missed. The Choir-Solo 8′ Flûte harmonique has a body and smoothness that fill the room. The 8′ French Horn is one of my favorites, with a robust nobility and depth of tone with the box open, but which is quite mellow when enclosed. And the 8′ Tuba is powerful as a solo reed but it’s also capable of singing with the rest of the instrument—a rare combination, and one that was needed given the instrument’s size.

Létourneau was a wonderful partner for our church. Andrew Forrest and Dudley Oakes were particularly effective in listening to our concerns and making tonal recommendations tailored to those concerns. They explained their design choices and how they were intended both to enhance the listening experience in the room and to mitigate the lack of direct linearity with the listener. Communication was always clear and timely, and their sense of proportion and design afforded us an instrument that is musically and visually in tune with our historic space. The best compliment I receive is, “It looks like it was always there!” But honestly, it sounds even better. And perhaps most of all, the Létourneau installation and tonal finishing teams were magnificent. The church staff was sad to see them leave us when they finished!

—Wilson Green

GREAT – Manual II, 80 mm wind pressure

16′ Contra Geigen (Ch)

8′ Open Diapason (façade) 61 pipes

8′ Geigen (Ch)

8′ Chimney Flute 61 pipes

4′ Principal 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes

11⁄3′ Mixture IV 244 pipes

Tremulant

8′ French Horn (Ch)

8′ Tuba (Ch)

Swell Reeds on Great

Great 16–Unison Off–Great 4

Chimes (Ch)

Cymbelstern (8 tuned bells)

SWELL (expressive), Manual III – 85 mm w.p.

16′ Lieblich Gedackt 73 pipes

8′ Viole de Gambe 61 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste (G8) 54 pipes

8′ Lieblich Gedackt (ext)

8′ Dolce Flute 61 pipes

8′ Flute Celeste (C13) 49 pipes

4′ Gemshorn 61 pipes

22⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes

2′ Flageolet 61 pipes

13⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes

2′ Full Mixture III–V 259 pipes

8′ Hautboy 61 pipes

Tremulant

16′ Double Trumpet* 61 pipes

8′ Cornopean* 66 pipes

4′ Clarion* 78 pipes

Swell 16–Unison Off–Swell 4

* 125 mm wind pressure

CHOIR-SOLO (expressive) Manual I – 125 mm w.p.

16′ Contra Geigen 73 pipes

8′ Flûte harmonique 61 pipes

8′ Geigen (ext)

8′ Unda maris (G8) 54 pipes

4′ Flûte octaviante 61 pipes

2′ Octavin 61 pipes

8′ Clarinet 61 pipes

Tremulant

8′ French Horn (c13–f42)§ 30 pipes

8′ Tuba§ 66 pipes

Swell Reeds on Choir

Choir 16–Unison Off–Choir 4

Chimes (37 notes)†

Harp (61 notes)†

Glockenspiel (37 notes)†

§ 325 mm wind pressure

† Walker Technical Company

PEDAL – 110 mm w.p.

32′ Resultant (derived)

16′ Contrabass 32 pipes

16′ Bourdon 32 pipes

16′ Geigen (Ch)

16′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)

8′ Principal (façade) 32 pipes

8′ Lieblich Gedackt (Sw)

4′ Choral Bass (85mm) 32 pipes

16′ Contra Tuba (ext, Ch) 12 pipes

8′ Tuba (Ch)

Swell Reeds on Pedal

All usual sub, unison, and octave inter-manual couplers plus Great to Choir, Choir to Swell, and a GR-CH Manual Transfer.

6 divisional pistons for each division and 12 General pistons with a General piston sequencer.

Console prepared for the future installation of a 5-stop Antiphonal division.

Three manuals, 43 stops, 38 ranks, 2,162 pipes

Great Mixture IV

c1 to b12 19 22 26 29

c13 to b24 15 19 22 26

c25 to b36 12 15 19 22

c37 to b48 8 12 15 19

c49 to c61 5 8 12 15

Swell Full Mixture III–V

c1 to e17 15 19 22

f18 to e29 12 15 19 22

f30 to e41 8 12 15 19 22

f42 to e53 1 8 12 15 19

f54 to c61 1 5 8 12 15

Photo credits: Barbara Steimle

Cover Feature

Quimby Pipe Organs, Warrensburg, Missouri

Dunwoody United Methodist Church, Dunwoody, Georgia

Quimby Pipe Organs Opus 76, recently installed at Dunwoody United Methodist Church, comprises 100 ranks distributed over five manual divisions, playable from a four-manual and pedal console. The completion of this instrument represents the culmination of an idea and process that began in 2007. After many attempts to make an organ project “go,” either as a stand-alone project, or paired with other proposed major capital work on campus, it wasn’t until the need for a major renovation of the sanctuary occurred that a new organ, installed in a different location, became a necessity and, eventually, a reality.

This was a particularly challenging and yet ultimately rewarding sanctuary and chancel renovation project, the genesis of which was to adapt the space so that the church’s contemporary worship service could relocate from a social hall to meet in the sanctuary, where a traditional service and music program were making good use of the traditionally styled space and generous acoustics. The emergent projects goals were many, among which: 1) to relocate the choir and organ from the rear gallery to the chancel; 2) to somehow create organ chambers in a space where they didn’t exist and where there didn’t appear to be room for them; 3) to acoustically deaden and otherwise transform the room for the successful accommodation of the contemporary worship service; 4) but to do this without permanently changing the acoustics of the space for traditional worship.

The spacious sanctuary, which had been constructed new in the year 2000, had excellent acoustics, and even though the former organ, which had been relocated from a much smaller sanctuary, was undersized for the room, the acoustics of the space enabled the organ to remain in use for nearly twenty years following its temporary location. It was well constructed and a good example of its type; it simply didn’t go far enough in its scope to support the music program.  As director of music Sonny Walden and organist Mary Ruth Solem will immediately tell you, it not only wasn’t loud enough, it also wasn’t soft enough, and there were too few opportunities for smoothly graded dynamic levels in between the two.

The renovation solution was costly, but effective. Space for organ chambers was created, encroaching on unused above-ceiling space outside the existing chancel, the footprint of the original chancel, and a mechanical mezzanine behind the chancel. A choir loft with built-in risers was constructed in front of the new organ chambers. For contemporary worship, retractable acoustical banners lower down from the attic, covering the choir loft, Chancel organ, Antiphonal organ, and all windows at the push of the button. The result is a space acoustically and visually suitable for amplified music, electronic projection, and colored LED lighting effects; it has had a net-zero impact on the intrinsic acoustical quality of the space.

From an early point in the dialogue, the church voiced an interest in exploring the possible use of high-quality vintage American pipework for incorporation into a new instrument. Given our experience in working with vintage pipework for new organ projects that are not restoration-focused, we enthusiastically agreed, and began the search for an instrument that would fit the bill—something that would allow artistic latitude and freedom in the creation of a new, unified identity, but which would also contribute a unique tonal provenance and material advantage to the project.

What we eventually found, in fact, were two organs, which the church ultimately bought and placed into storage until the project could be realized. The first, Ernest M. Skinner Co. Opus 195 (four manuals, 66 ranks), dating from 1913, was originally installed in Grace Chapin Hall at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, where it was used until it was vandalized in 1959. As the story goes, which is now almost as apocryphal as it is difficult to document, an organ student, following his end of semester juries, entered the organ chamber, and destroyed nearly everything he could access. From that time until the organ was removed in 2011, the organ was mothballed at Williams College and never played again. A careful cataloguing of the surviving pipes following the organ’s removal from the college revealed a surprising picture: perhaps a third of the organ’s ranks either missing or damaged beyond any cost effective repair; another third showing some damage but imminently repairable under skilled hands; and a final third, perhaps, completely untouched and as good as the day the organ was installed.   

Surviving examples of pipes from the Great Diapason chorus, which was nearly entirely destroyed, exist from all pitch levels of that ensemble—from a 16′ Double Open Diapason through a three-rank chorus mixture—and provide an interesting insight into Skinner’s tonal work for a large organ in the early 1910s. These are scaled and voiced to be heroic while also harmonically developed and bright—not at all dull. The ensemble has much more in common with highly developed diapason chorus work at the culmination of the nineteenth-century American building tradition—before organ ensembles devolved into a tonal center around the unison pitch, with little-to-no upperwork—than it does the Skinner sound we have come to know and appreciate from the 1920s. It stands in complete contrast to his work from later periods, and it is a shame that this chorus work was destroyed.

In addition to the usual very fine diapasons, flutes, strings, and reeds, Opus 195 is the first Skinner organ to have one of the now-famous Skinner French Horns, and also is where the Skinner Corno di Bassetto first made its appearance. A review of the tonal specification for the new organ demonstrates that this defunct organ, constructed by one of the foremost early twentieth-century American organbuilders, has made a significant contribution to the new organ at Dunwoody, including the very fine Pedal 32′ Contra Bourdon, which produces some of the deepest tones in the instrument, and the Solo 8′ Tuba, which is the loudest stop in the organ.

The second organ procured for use in the new instrument was constructed in 1939 by Casavant Frères, Ltd. (three manuals, 42 ranks) for the now defunct Chapel of the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, New Jersey. Like most Casavant organs dating from the 1930s, this organ was constructed and voiced according to English Romantic ideals, brought to Casavant by tonal director Stephen Stoot, and included diapason chorus work of remarkably heavy construction, superbly constructed wood flutes, and English-style reeds. Our own assessment is that the flues were never voiced up to scale, and, as we found them, were rather lackluster and dull as individual voices. The reeds seem to have suffered an unfortunate fate following a haphazard revoicing prior to the closing of the seminary. After the seminary was closed in the early 1980s, the organ was repeatedly flooded due to serious roof leaks over the organ cases. Nevertheless, in terms of substantial, beautifully constructed pipework, suitable for revoicing, Casavant Opus 1600 presented a wealth of material. Most of the water damage was sustained by the 32′ Contra Posaune, which because of its miters, held the water in the miter knuckles, where, completely undetectable from the outside, the zinc corroded from the inside out. These pipes have been substantially reconstructed and revoiced and form the bass of the Pedal 32′ Contra Trombone at Dunwoody.

It may seem strange to conceptualize the combination of pipework from two very different instruments, constructed nearly thirty years apart, and with widely divergent tonal ideals in mind, in an attempt to create any kind of instrument that has a cohesive tonal identity. And it’s true that this is probably not a good idea, at least if it is approached with a restoration-conservation mindset, where the ranks from each respective organ are to retain their original voices, balance, and relationship to one another. That approach is on its own extremely valid, and certainly equally satisfying, and should certainly have been undertaken if, say, this were a project where the Skinner pipework (were it all intact) and mechanics were to be restored as an entity and installed in an environment that demanded a 1913 organ sound. However, because of the vandalism the 1913 Skinner all but disappeared in the 1950s, and the 1939 Casavant, with beautifully and substantially constructed pipes, was, as we found it, unevenly and under voiced, possessing a disappointing ensemble. Neither organ, as we encountered them, was playable or usable, and neither organ stood much prospect of restoration and reuse elsewhere. More importantly, we were not tasked with a restoration project by the church, but rather, to create something new using to advantage the accumulated material at hand.

Looking beyond this, however, it’s helpful to place the 1913 Skinner and 1939 Casavant organs, while different, both as a part of an organbuilding continuum that continued uninterrupted in development and refinement from its fifteenth-century origins right up until the middle twentieth century. Organs from later in this continuum are markedly different from earlier instruments, but each builder in this centuries-long procession built upon what had been given by the previous generation, at least until this succession was interrupted by the Organ Reform Movement. For the first time in organbuilding history, the work of the immediate past was swept away, intentionally and deliberately, in an effort to recapture ideals—sometimes real, and sometimes supposed—that marked organbuilding in an earlier age.

While it’s certainly true that the Organ Reform Movement has left a mostly-positive legacy (and some noteworthy landmarks of twentieth-century organbuilding) on the contemporary American organbuilding landscape—even though most contemporary organbuilders have moved beyond the strictures of its dictums—at QPO, we like to regard our own work as very much a return to the continuum and succession that existed prior to World War II. What would it be like, we ask ourselves, if organbuilding had continued uninterrupted, and the work of each new generation an expansion of what had gone before, rather than a violent reaction against it? We like to think that Opus 76 at Dunwoody United Methodist, along with a number of other recent projects, has given us a chance to explore this in detail.

As to the ensemble, Opus 76 has the hallmark of any QPO ensemble from the past twenty-five years or so: highly characteristic, individually beautiful colors or voices that are simultaneously extremely effective and flexible ensemble players. These individualist voices are each strong, characteristic examples of their class and type, and are the sort of voice you want to hear played alone—full of intrinsic beauty and interest. However, beautiful, characteristic voices alone are not enough, for we’ve all heard and played organs where the colors individually are beautiful, but combine intractably into loose ensembles, mixing like oil and water, where the ear can pick apart all the constituent parts. On the other hand, we’ve all heard and played organs where decent or even very good ensembles are given, but a review, one by one, of the individual voices reveals bland, uninteresting color and voicing. One of the measures of any great organ—whatever the period, style, or timbre—is that the individual voices pass this litmus test: to be highly characteristic, colorful, and intrinsically beautiful, and yet nevertheless combine with others to form a wide array of flexible and dynamic ensembles of all types.

In Opus 76, there are, in fact, individual voices that may be recognizable as early “Skinner,” pre-WWII “Casavant,” or even modern “Quimby,” but in each and every case, the emphasis in terms of voicing has not been to maintain the original voice, but to expand upon it, changing it as required so that a new identity is revealed: an organ that speaks with one voice, a cohesive ensemble, and a truly musical instrument.

A review of the accompanying tonal specification will reveal where Skinner or Casavant ranks were used in the new disposition, but the basic concept is as follows. The choruswork for Great, Swell, and Choir-Positive is all Casavant, which has been revoiced and in some cases rescaled to achieve the bold, colorful, heroic-yet-transparent, and clear organ ensemble we strive for. Skinner diapasons from the Swell of 195 were repurposed in the Antiphonal organ chorus. Throughout the organ, colorful flutes and strings were used from both organs. The Casavant Swell reed chorus has been revoiced and resides in the Great. The Skinner reed chorus, at least in part, after substantial reconstruction and revoicing, is in the Swell. The Casavant 32′ Contra Posaune, 16′ Trombone, and 8′ Tromba have been combined to provide a reed that plays at 32′, 16′, 8′, and 4′ in the Pedal and at 8′ in the Solo. One rank of the pipes from the church’s former instrument, along with the Zimbelstern and Chimes, was reused in the new organ: a very fine 8′ Trompette-en-Chamade, now installed vertically, in the Antiphonal organ, and called “8′ Harmonic Trumpet.”

Because of its favorable placement and lack of enclosure, the Antiphonal diapason chorus functions more like a Grand Choeur, rather than a secondary, lesser Great. It is a spectacular effect, at once foundational, colorful, and heroic that must be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Most all of the mechanics and internal structure of the organ, including the windchests, façade pipes, console, and winding system, are completely new. Manual windchests for all straight manual ranks are electro-pneumatic slider windchests, constructed according to the Quimby-Blackinton design, with square drop pallets that allow for copious winding of heroically voiced pipes on a common channel. Also importantly, the chests are constructed without slider seals, which means that the organ won’t have to be de-piped and disassembled to replace the slider seals in a few decades, when they are bound to fail.

Our standard electro-pneumatic unit-action windchests have been used for most pedal ranks and manual unit ranks; the exception here exists in a few instances, where 1913 Skinner unit action windchests were restored for reuse with original ranks, such as the Solo 8′ Tuba and the Pedal 32′ Contra Bourdon and 4′ Solo Flute.

The winding system includes a 10-H.P. vintage Spencer blower, which provides 6-inch wind pressure for most manual and pedal flues, and 10-inch wind pressure for all reeds and Solo flues. The Solo 8′ Tuba is on 20-inch wind pressure, with its own step-up blower. New cone-valve reservoirs, according to our custom design, which is an adaptation of the Skinner reservoir, have been constructed for regulation of wind in the Chancel organ. The Antiphonal organ makes use of a blower and static wind system that was retained from the previous organ.

All manual divisions, except the Antiphonal, are individually enclosed by 2-inch-thick expression shutters and solid wood walls, which enable the heroically voiced ensembles to be brought down to a surprising diminuendo, and the soft voices to fade to nearly a whisper. A new four-manual and pedal console was constructed to a custom design and finished to match the renovated interior of the church, with solid oak exterior cabinetry and solid walnut interior.

During the first choral rehearsal with the new organ, director of music Sonny Walden told Mary Ruth Solem, “I know I’ve never said this before in this room, but the organ is too soft. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to say that?!” And he burst out into joyful laughter. Later, as she has continued to rehearse and perform with Opus 76, Mary Ruth said, “I am starting a long friendship with this instrument!  It’s beautiful, and I am immensely grateful . . . . This is a rare gem.”

We hope that the assessment will over time continue to be as equally enthusiastic and kind, as Opus 76 finds its place in the heart of traditional worship at Dunwoody United Methodist Church, and also in the greater organ world beyond. For our own part, at QPO we have found that working with the vintage fabric, as represented by the many ranks of pipes, originally constructed and voiced by some of the most reputable of our organbuilding forebears, has taught us many lessons, and will continue to yield an impact on the development of our organs into the future.

Because the organ is substantially new mechanically, and because the sound of the new organ is completely unlike a 1910s Skinner or a 1930s Casavant, we have given this instrument an opus number in our body of work. To be sure, the completed instrument does, in certain instances, reveal its parentage, but the overall ensemble has as much in common with all-new organs constructed by Quimby Pipe Organs as it does either Casavant or Skinner. This is no mere restoration of an artifact or the assemblage of collected parts; rather, this organ has been conceptualized to be musically communicative, inspiring, and above all, to support the music ministry and worship cycles of Dunwoody United Methodist Church in the broadest, most flexible way possible; an instrument that offers options, rather than limitations. In this regard, Opus 76 is an original creation—a testimony of our own time; one that we hope will remain timelessly relevant for generations to come.

—T. Daniel Hancock, A.I.A., President

Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc.

GREAT (Manual II, enclosed, 17 ranks, flues 6″ w. p., reeds 10″ w. p.)

16′ Violone (a & b) 73 pipes

16′ Bourdon (Ped)

8′ Open Diapason (b) 61 pipes

8′ Harmonic Flute (a) 49 pipes, 1–12 fr 8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Stopped Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Violoncello (ext 16′)

51⁄3′ Quint (MC) (b) 37 pipes

4′ Octave (b) 61 pipes

4′ Wald Flute (a) 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Twelfth (b) 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth (b) 61 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Seventeenth (b) 61 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Mixture IV (b) 244 pipes

16′ Double Trumpet (b) 61 pipes

8′ Trumpet (b) 61 pipes

4′ Clarion (b) 61 pipes

8′ Tuba (Solo)

8′ Harmonic Trumpet (Ant)

Chimes (d) 25 tubes

Tremolo

Great to Great 16

Great Unison Off

Great to Great 4

SWELL (Manual III, enclosed, 24 ranks, flues 6″ w. p., reeds 10″ w. p.)

16′ Spitz Flute (b) 73 pipes

8′ Open Diapason (b) 61 pipes

8′ Chimney Flute 61 pipes

8′ Spitz Flute (ext 16′)

8′ Gamba (b) 61 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste (b) 61 pipes

8′ Flauto Dolce (b) 61 pipes

8′ Flute Celeste (TC) (b) 49 pipes

4′ Octave (b) 61 pipes

4′ Night Horn 61 pipes

4′ Salicet 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes

2′ Flautina 61 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Tierce 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Mixture IV–V 281 pipes

16′ Contra Trumpet 61 pipes

16′ Contra Oboe (a & b) 73 pipes

8′ Trumpet (a) 61 pipes

8′ Oboe (ext 16′)

8′ Vox Humana (a) 61 pipes

4′ Clarion (a) 61 pipes

Tremolo

Swell to Swell 16

Swell Unison Off

Swell to Swell 4

CHOIR-POSITIVE (Manual I, enclosed, 20 ranks, 6″ w. p.)

16′ Contra Dulciana (a & c) 73 pipes

8′ Geigen Diapason 61 pipes

8′ Claribel Flute (b) 61 pipes

8′ Gedeckt (c)  61 pipes

8′ Erzähler (b)  61 pipes

8′ Erzähler Celeste (GG) (b) 54 pipes

8′ Dulciana (ext 16′)

8′ Unda Maris (TC) (c) 49 pipes

4′ Geigen Octave (b) 61 pipes

4′ Traverse Flute (b) 61 pipes

2-2⁄3′ Nazard (b) 61 pipes

2′ Harmonic Piccolo (a) 61 pipes

1-3⁄5′ Tierce (a) 61 pipes

1-1⁄7′ Septieme (a) 61 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Larigot 61 pipes

1′ Sifflute 61 pipes

1-1⁄3′ Mixture III–IV 190 pipes

8′ Clarinet (b) 61 pipes Tremolo

8′ Tuba (Solo)

8′ Harmonic Trumpet (Ant)       

8′ French Horn (Solo)    

8′ English Horn (Solo)    

Chimes (Great)      

Choir to Choir 16

Choir Unison Off

Choir to Choir 4

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed, 12 ranks, 6″ w. p., Tuba 20″ w. p.)

8′ Stentorphone 49 pipes, 1–12 fr Pedal 16′ Diapason

8′ Doppel Flute 49 pipes, 1–12 fr Pedal 32′ Bourdon

8′ Gross Gamba (a) 61 pipes

8′ Gross Gamba Celeste (a) 61 pipes

8′ Dulcet II (a) 122 pipes

4′ Orchestral Flute 61 pipes

4′ Violin 61 pipes

8′ French Horn (b) 61 pipes

8′ English Horn (c) 61 pipes

8′ Orchestral Oboe (c) 61 pipes

Tremolo

16′ Ophicleide (ext 8′, 1–12 Ped Tbone)

8′ Tuba (a)   73 pipes

8′ Harmonic Trumpet (Ant)    

8′ Tromba (Ped)

4′ Tuba Clarion (ext 8′)

Solo to Solo 16

Solo Unison Off

Solo to Solo 4

PEDAL (unenclosed, 10 ranks, flues 6″ w. p., reeds 10″ w. p.)

32′ Contra Bourdon (a) 73 pipes

16′ Open Metal Diapason 56 pipes

16′ Bourdon (ext 32′)

16′ Violone (Great)

16′ Spitz Flute (Swell)

16′ Contra Dulciana (Ch-Pos)

10-2⁄3′ Gross Quint (ext 16′ Open Diap)

8′ Octave (ext 16′)    

8′ Bourdon (ext 32′)

8′ Violoncello (Great)

8′ Spitz Flute (Swell)

6-2⁄5′ Gross Tierce (a) 44 pipes

5-1⁄3′ Quint (ext 16′ Open Diap)

4-4⁄7′ Septieme (b) 32 pipes

4′ Super Octave (ext 16′)

4′ Solo Flute (a) 32 pipes

3-1⁄5′ Tierce (ext 62⁄5′ Gross Tierce)

2-2⁄3′ Mixture IV 124 pipes

32′ Contra Trombone (b) 85 pipes (enclosed with Great)

16′ Trombone (ext 32′)

16′ Double Trumpet (Great)

16′ Contra Trumpet (Swell)

16′ Contra Oboe (Swell)

8′ Tromba (ext 32′)

8′ Trumpet (Swell)  

8′ Oboe (Swell)

4′ Tromba Clarion (ext 32′)

4′ Oboe (Swell)

8′ Tuba (Solo)

ANTIPHONAL (Manual IV, unenclosed in rear gallery, 15 ranks, 6″ w. p., Harmonic Trumpet 10″ w. p.)

8′ Open Diapason (a) 49 pipes, 1–12 fr Ant. Pedal 8′ Octave

8′ Concert Flute (a) 49 pipes, 1–12 fr 8′ Bourdon

8′ Bourdon (c) 61 pipes

8′ Gamba 61 pipes

8′ Voix Celeste (TC) 49 pipes

4′ Octave (a)   61 pipes

4′ Harmonic Flute (c)   61 pipes

2′ Fifteenth (a) 61 pipes

2′ Mixture III–V 244 pipes

8′ Trumpet     73 pipes

8′ Harmonic Trumpet (d) 61 pipes

Zimbelstern (d)

Antiphonal to Antiphonal 16

Antiphonal Unison Off

Antiphonal to Antiphonal 4

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL (unenclosed in gallery, 2 ranks, 6″ w. p.)

16′ Bourdon 44 pipes

8′ Octave (c) 44 pipes

8′ Bourdon (ext 16′)

4′ Super Octave (ext 8′)

16′ Posaune (ext Ant 8′ Trumpet)

8′ Trumpet (Ant)

8′ Harmonic Trumpet (Ant)    

ORIGIN KEY

(a) ranks from 1913 Ernest M. Skinner Company Opus 195, formerly in Grace Chapin Hall, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

(b) ranks from 1939 Casavant Frères Opus 1600, formerly in Immaculate Conception Seminary Chapel, Darlington, New Jersey.

(c) vintage Skinner ranks from QPO inventory.

(d) ranks and tuned percussions from 1972 Schantz Opus 1125, formerly in Dunwoody United Methodist Church, Dunwoody, Georgia.

All other ranks are either new by Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc., or from QPO inventory.

CONSOLE ACCESSORIES

INTER-MANUAL COUPLERS

Great to Pedal 8′, 4′

Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′

Choir-Positive to Pedal 8′, 4′

Solo to Pedal 8′, 4′

Antiphonal on Pedal 8′, 4′

Swell to Great16′, 8′, 4′

Choir-Positive to Great 16′, 8′, 4′

Solo on Great

Antiphonal on Great

Swell to Choir-Positive 16′, 8′, 4′

Solo on Choir-Positive

Great to Choir-Positive 8′

Pedal to Choir-Positive 8′

Manual Transfer

COMBINATION ACTION

General pistons 1–20 (thumb) and 1–10 (toe)

Great divisional pistons 1–8

Swell divisional pistons 1–8

Choir-Positive divisional pistons 1–8

Solo divisional pistons 1–8

Antiphonal divisional pistons 1–5

Pedal divisional pistons 1–5 (thumb), 1–8 (toe)

General Cancel Piston

Set Piston

Memory Level Up and Down pistons

Previous and Next pistons (5 each, thumb) and toe studs (1 each)

Transposer Up and Down pistons

General Crescendo pedal 60 positions, three adjustable and one standard

REVERSIBLES

Great to Pedal piston & toe paddle

Swell to Pedal piston & toe paddle

Choir-Positive to Pedal piston & toe paddle

Solo to Pedal piston & toe paddle

Swell to Great piston

Choir-Positive to Great piston

Swell to Choir piston

Antiphonal on Great piston

Antiphonal on Swell piston

Antiphonal on Choir piston

Antiphonal on Solo piston

Antiphonal on Pedal toe paddle

Pedal on Divisionals piston

32′ Contra Bourdon piston & toe paddle

32′ Contra Trombone piston & toe paddle

Sforzando I and II pistons & toe studs

Manual Transfer—piston & indicator light

Crescendo on Solo Expression piston & indicator light

EXPRESSION & CRESCENDO

Great Expression Pedal

Swell Expression Pedal

Choir-Positive & Solo Expression Pedal

Solo Expression & Crescendo Pedal

SUMMARY

Great 17

Swell 24

Choir-Positive 20

Solo 12

Antiphonal 15

Antiphonal Pedal   2

Pedal 10

Total 100 ranks

Photo credits, including cover (except where noted): Sandra Jausch, Vitamamans-Pictures

A history of the Temple Church organs

Roger Sayer

Roger Sayer, a former organ student at St Paul’s Cathedral, was prizewinner at the 1989 St Albans International Organ Competition and won all the organ prizes at the Royal College of Music. His recent and upcoming highlights include recitals in Italy, Germany, Holland, and Denmark, a tour of Australia, a live recital at Temple Church broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and opening the 2018 Summer Organ Festival at Westminster Abbey. Sayer’s work as organist extends into the film world, with his most recent performance as organ soloist for Hans Zimmer’s Oscar nominated score for the motion picture Interstellar.

His latest recording, The Grand Organ of Temple Church (Orchid Classics), showcases the Harrison & Harrison Organ at Temple Church in London, UK.

The Temple Church, London, built by the Knights Templar in the late twelfth century, is set in the heart of the Inner and Middle Temple Inns of Court between Fleet Street and Embankment. The building itself comprises two distinct sections: the Round Church—a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which, according to tradition, was built over two of Christianity’s holiest places: Calvary and the empty tomb—and a rectangular church, built half a century later, which now acts as the chancel and sanctuary.

Throughout its history, the church has been home to outstanding music and musicians including organists John Stanley, Henry Walford Davies, and George Thalben-Ball. Indeed, Thalben-Ball was the first English pianist to perform Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, and famously recorded Mendelssohn’s beautiful Hear My Prayer with treble Ernest Lough in 1927, launching the church and its choir to worldwide fame. More recently, the church and its organ have been used to record the score for the 2014 science fiction film, Interstellar. The current organ is a four-manual Harrison & Harrison instrument, originally built in 1924 as a ballroom organ for Glen Tanar Castle in Scotland and installed in the church in 1954. Records show, however, that there has been an organ at the church since at least 1307. The Glen Tanar Harrison is just one of a number of fine instruments to have graced the north wall of the chancel.

Unusually for the time, the 1307 record of the Temple Church organ is quite detailed. It appears in an inventory made by the Sheriffs of London and states that “In the Great Church [are] two pairs of organs and in the quire a book for the organs and two cushions for the chanters chairs.” Ordinarily, twelfth- to fourteenth-century church accounts only record the presence of an organ, with the result that little is known about its construction beyond what can be gathered from contemporary art in manuscript illuminations and stained glass. The instruments at Temple were most likely positive organs: small, one-manual instruments with two to three stops (usually flutes at 8′, 4′, and 2′), with bellows operated either by the organist himself or by a bellows boy.

The next reference to a major organ at Temple occurs in 1683 when the treasurers of both Inner and Middle Temple commissioned a new organ from Bernhard Smith and Renatus Harris, at the time the two leading English organbuilders. On discovering that he was in fact competing for the commission and had not already obtained the contract, Smith wrote to the two Inns of Court to request that he be allowed to build his instrument in the church, rather than in Middle and Inner Halls, as planned. His request was granted but, shortly after, Harris obtained the same permission, and each organ was built on the north and south sides of the church.1 Both builders went to enormous expense to showcase their instruments, pushing the organ further than any other instrument before (Smith’s organ was the first three-manual instrument in the country) and employing highly accomplished organists to demonstrate their capabilities.

The competition drew to a close in 1688, and rumor has it that Smith and Harris both sabotaged each other’s instruments the night before the Inns’ final decision, including tampering with the reed stops and cutting the supply from the bellows to the organ. Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys made the final decision in favor of Bernhard Smith, and the organ was installed in the summer of 1688 for the sum of £1,000, an extraordinary figure for a relatively small organ. It was tuned to meantone temperament and featured a 6′ “Sadt of mettle,” thought to be a type of gemshorn and the only example of the stop in the world. A number of pipes from this organ survive in displays in the choir vestry and at the bottom of the organ loft staircase.

1685 “Father” Smith (61 notes on manuals)2

CHAIR

Gedackt wainescott 12

Hohlflute of mettle 6

A Sadt of mettle 6

Spitts flute of mettle 3

Violl and Violin 12

Voice humaine of mettle 12

GREAT

Prestand 12

Hohlflute wood & mettle 12

Principall of mettle 6

Quinta of mettle 4

Super Octavo 3

Cornett of mettle 2

Sesquialtera of mettle 3

Gedackt of wainescott 6

Mixture of mettle 3

Trumpette of mettle 12

ECCHOS [sic]

Gedackt of wood 6

Sup. Octavo of mettle 3

Gedackt of wood 12 (from c1)

Flute of mettle 6 (from c1)

Cornett of mettle III ranks (from c1)

Sesquialtera III ranks

Trumpett 12 (from c1)

Under the direction of E. J. Hopkins, organist at Temple Church from 1843 to 1897, the organ underwent a number of changes, including the addition of thirteen stops by Edmund Schulze between 1857 and 1862, and the introduction of a hydraulic engine to power the bellows. Hopkins’s successor, Walford Davies, oversaw the organ’s renovation by Frederic Rothwell in 1910, where a substantial amount of new pipework was added to the original Bernhard Smith instrument, and the console received a complete rebuild to accommodate Rothwell’s stop-key control system.3 This organ survived just thirty-one years. On May 10, 1941, an incendiary bomb fell on the Round Church during an air raid. The fire spread from the Round to the chancel, completely destroying the organ and gutting the church, with the result that it would be thirteen years before another instrument took its place.

1896 Schulze, and Norman and Beard organ4

GREAT (56 notes)

16′ Double Open Diapason

8′ Large Open Diapason

8′ Small Open Diapason

8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Hohl Flute

8′ Viol di Gamba

4′ Principal

4′ Octave

4′ Nason Flute

22⁄3′ Twelfth

2′ Fifteenth

III Full Mixture

V Sharp Mixture

8′ Large Trumpet

8′ Small Trumpet

4′ Clarion

SWELL (56 notes, enclosed)

16′ Bourdon

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Rohr Gedact

8′ Violin

8′ Salicional

8′ Voix Celestes

4′ Principal

4′ Rohr Flute

4′ Gambette

II Twelfth and Fifteenth

IV Mixture

16′ Double Bassoon

8′ Horn

8′ Oboe

8′ Vox Humana

4′ Clarion

Tremulant

CHOIR (56 notes)

16′ Lieblich Bourdon

8′ Violin Diapason

8′ Lieblich Gedact

8′ Spitz Flute

8′ Dulciana

4′ Gemshorn

4′ Lieblich Flote

4′ Flauto Traverso

4′ Violine

III Mixture

8′ Corno di Bassetto

SOLO (56 notes)

8′ Flute Harmonique

4′ Flute Octaviante

2′ Piccolo Harmonique

8′ Tuba Mirabilis (heavy wind)

8′ Clarinette

4′ Orchestral Oboe

PEDAL (30 notes)

32′ Sub Bass

16′ Major Bass (wood)

16′ Open Bass (metal)

16′ Violone (wood)

16′ Stopped Bass (wood)

102⁄3′ Quint (wood)

8′ Principal (metal)

8′ Violoncello (wood)

4′ Tenor Solo (metal)

2′ Treble Solo (metal)

16′ Trombone (metal)

COUPLERS

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

Solo to Pedal

Pedal Octave

Swell to Great

Solo to Great

Choir Sub Octave to Great

Swell to Choir

The Glen Tanar Harrison & Harrison organ arrived by rail from Scotland in 1953. It had been built for the ballroom in 1927—its inaugural recital was given by Marcel Dupré—but after years of neglect, was gifted by Lord Glentanar to George Thalben-Ball, organist at Temple from 1923–1982. Thalben-Ball had frequently travelled to Scotland to give recitals and had admired the instrument for its power and wonderful blend of sounds, and intended the organ to retain these qualities in its new home on the north wall of the church. Due to the vast difference in acoustic—the ballroom at Glen Tanar is a magnificent but rather squat space with a wooden ceiling decorated with hundreds of antlers—a number of pipes needed revoicing to better suit the church.

The installation was completed in 1954, and services began again after the chancel’s rededication shortly afterwards. (The Round Church was rededicated in 1958.) Since then, the organ has received expert attention from Harrison & Harrison, from removing the shutters on the Pedal reeds and Solo tuba, to modernizing the action in 1976, to installing a modern piston system in 2000. The organ underwent a complete overhaul between 2012 and 2013. Most of the instrument was dismantled and taken to the Harrison & Harrison workshop in Durham, and it now accompanies services and concerts throughout the year. Despite many alterations, the organ has retained its Romantic power and color, and perfectly complements the vibrant and expressive sound of the Temple Church Choir.

2013 Harrison & Harrison organ5

GREAT (61 notes)

16′ Double Geigen

16′ Bourdon (Gt 2nd Division)

8′ Large Open Diapason

8′ Small Open Diapason

8′ Geigen (Gt 2nd Division)

8′ Hohl Flute

8′ Stopped Diapason (Gt 2nd Division)

4′ Octave

4′ Principal (Gt 2nd Division)

4′ Wald Flute (Gt 2nd Division)

22⁄3′ Octave Quint (Gt 2nd Division)

2′ Super Octave

2′ Fifteenth (Gt 2nd Division)

13⁄5′ Seventeenth (Gt 2nd Division)

IV Mixture (19–22–26–29)

III Mixture (12–19–22, Gt 2nd Division)

8′ Tromba

4′ Octave Tromba

SWELL (61 notes, enclosed)

16′ Quintatön

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Echo Salicional

8′ Vox Angelica (from FF)

4′ Principal

2′ Fifteenth

V Mixture (12–19–22–26–29)

8′ Oboe

Tremulant

16′ Double Trumpet

8′ Trumpet

4′ Clarion

CHOIR (61 notes, enclosed)

16′ Contra Dulciana

8′ Claribel Flute

8′ Lieblich Gedeckt

8′ Dulciana

4′ Salicet

4′ Flauto Traverso

2′ Harmonic Piccolo

III Dulciana Mixture (15–19–22)

16′ Cor Anglais (extra octave of pipes at top)

8′ Clarinet

8′ Tuba

SOLO (61 notes, enclosed)

16′ Contra Viola

8′ Viole d’Orchestre

8′ Viole Céleste (tuned sharp)

8′ Harmonic Flute

4′ Concert Flute

8′ Orchestral Hautboy

Tremulant

16′ Orchestral Trumpet (extra octave of pipes at top)

8′ Horn

8′ Tuba (not affected by octave couplers)

PEDAL (32 notes)

32′ Double Open Wood

32′ Sub Bourdon

16′ Open Wood

16′ Open Diapason

16′ Geigen

16′ Bourdon

16′ Violone

16′ Dulciana

8′ Octave Wood

8′ Flute

4′ Octave Flute

32′ Double Ophicleide

16′ Ophicleide

16′ Orchestral Trumpet

16′ Bassoon

8′ Posaune

COUPLERS

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

Solo to Pedal

Swell to Great

Choir to Great

Solo to Great

Choir Suboctave

Choir Unison Off

Choir Octave

Swell to Choir

Solo to Choir

Great 2nd Division on Choir

Great Reeds on Choir

Swell Sub Octave

Swell Unison Off

Swell Octave

Choir on Swell

Solo to Swell

Solo Sub Octave

Solo Unison Off

Solo Octave

Great Reeds on Solo

ACCESSORIES

8 General pistons

8 Great pistons

8 Swell pistons (thumb and toe)

8 Choir pistons

8 Solo pistons

8 Pedal pistons

General Cancel

2 Coupler pistons

Sequencer, operating general pistons

Great to Pedal reversible (thumb and toe)

Swell to Pedal reversible

Choir to Pedal reversible

Solo to Pedal reversible

Swell to Great reversible (thumb and toe)

Choir to Great reversible

Solo to Great reversible

Swell to Choir reversible

Solo to Choir reversible

Swell to Solo reversible

32′ Ophicleide reversible

Combination couplers

Great to Pedal pistons

Pedal to Great pistons

Pedal to Swell pistons

Generals on Swell foot pistons

256 general and 16 divisional memories

Balanced Choir expression shoe

Balanced Swell expression shoe

Balanced Solo expression shoe

Notes

1. www.templechurch.com/music/the-organ/the-battle-of-the-organs/.

2. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=C00923.

3. www.templechurch.com/music/the-organ/the-rothwell-harrison-organs/.

4. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N17808.

5. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=E02047.

Organists of the Temple Church:

Francis Pigott 1688–1704

John Pigott 1704–1737 (from 1729 for Middle Temple only)

From 1729 to 1814, the Inner Temple:

Obadiah Shuttleworth 1729–1734

John Stanley 1734–1786

Robert John Samuel Stevens 1786–1810

George Price 1810–1814

From 1729 to 1814, the Middle Temple:

John Pigott 1729–1737

James Vincent 1737–1749

John Jones 1749–1796

Emily Dowding 1796–1814

From 1814, both Inner and Middle Temple:

George Price 1814–1826

George Warne 1826–1843

Dr. Edward John Hopkins 1843–1897

Sir Henry Walford Davies 1897–1923

Sir George Thalben-Ball 1923–1982

Dr. John Birch 1982–1997

Stephen Layton 1997–2006

James Vivian 2006–2013

Roger Sayer 2014–present

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Church

Photo: Roger Sayer at the Temple Church organ (photo credit: Chris Christodoulou)

Cover Feature: Community of Jesus, Orleans, MA

The Saint Cecilia Organ, Church of the Transfiguration; Community of Jesus, Orleans, Massachusetts

Community of Jesus, Orleans, MA

If we all embrace a new vision, special guidance and support will surely come.

—Nelson Barden

On Monday, May 15, 1995, at 10:56 p.m., a fax from Nelson Barden (president, Nelson Barden & Associates, restorer-in-residence, Boston University) arrived in the music office. This was not just another fax. This document was in response to Nelson’s first visit to the Community of Jesus to meet with the superior, Mother Betty Pugsley, during which they discussed the vision, need, scope, and reason for an organ of incredible depth, proportion, beauty, and scale that would support the worship at the Community of Jesus and its world-renowned music outreach. Nelson realized instantly and exactly what she was saying, and both agreed that, “Above all other considerations, this organ must uncompromisingly spring from its spiritual and artistic vision until that vision becomes reality.”

To that end, the organ’s specification, geographic layout, and overall design were inspired and motivated by the ministry and mission of Gloriæ Dei Cantores (the resident professional choir at the Community of Jesus) as well as the community’s enthusiastic hymn singing. Gloriæ Dei Cantores performs repertoire of more than thirty nationalities, from Gregorian chant to music of the present day—a challenge for any organ to support, given the number of genres this includes!

Before meeting Nelson, we had committed to the restoration of an E. M. Skinner organ for the Church of the Transfiguration, knowing the innate beauty and flexibility of these instruments. In fact, we had already purchased, and had in storage, Skinner Organ Company Opus 762 from the Munn Avenue Presbyterian Church in East Orange, New Jersey. We soon realized, however, that this instrument would not be enough on its own and instead would need to become the basis for something far larger and with greater impact. In order to fulfill his vision and charge to unite the organ with the basilica form of the church, Nelson said, “Surround Sound:”

For this installation, I suggest rotating the traditional east-west organ placement 90 degrees to north-south and stretching the instrument completely down the nave in balconies over both side aisles. The divisions would start near the chancel (above the choir seating) with the Swell and Choir on opposite sides. These would be followed by an exposed Great and an Enclosed Great (including some Pedal) to broaden the tone and bring it down the nave . . . . Next would be matching north and south Solo divisions, followed by North and South Orchestral. These paired divisions would contain similar but distinct voices. These four matched divisions would form the “moving melody” section. . . . Near the west end would be the Bombarde/Antiphonal opposite the Echo. The shades of these divisions would not open directly toward the congregation but project the sound toward the back wall. This would modulate the heavy hitters in the Bombarde and allow the Echo to do a tonal “disappearing act.” The directional and surround effects achieved by computer control of stops and shades would lift the instrument beyond state-of-the-art into a unique realm. Moving melody could range freely over the building from left to right and front to back . . . . A single pianissimo chord from the chancel could grow into a mighty wave of sound, roll down the entire length of the nave, cascade into the Echo, and disappear.

Over the course of many years, there ensued hundreds of discussions about the numerous specifics needed to arrive at such a conclusion. (The specification alone has been through more than 150 revisions!) Only two weeks after the first fax came the next “prophetic” fax that would soon reveal the platform upon which we would collaborate for more than two and a half decades.

In addition to the primary precept of always maintaining the spiritual and artistic vision, two other significant points were developed from this second exchange:

1. Encourage apprentice-interested Community of Jesus members into the organ building field to act as good stewards in both the construction and future care of this instrument; and

2. Let the project take the time required for the organ to “teach and tell us” how it should grow and be transformed through varied experiences.

Upon mutually enthusiastic agreement, we reviewed the concepts set forth in the May 15 document in which Nelson said the organ should be:

1. World-class and unique

2. Ideally suited to your purposes

3. A tangible expression of Community of Jesus spiritual principles

4. Beautiful and musical, with instantly recognizable tone

5. Designed for posterity; built to last forever

6. Able to perform both nineteenth-century music authentically and eighteenth-century Bach convincingly

7. Capable of eliciting profound emotions

8. Designed for HDCD recordings

9. Focused on future developments, not current technology

10. A “trend setter.”

These discussion points quickly converted into:

1. Adopting the vision

2. Making the commitment to move forward

3. Incorporating the organ space into the church design

4. Refining the vision, shaping it to our precise needs

5. Defining the mechanical system of the organ

6. Developing a plan of action and a realistic budget

7. Locating a shop and storage space

8. Beginning to implement the plan of action

9. Training part-time workers and develop their expertise

10. Acquiring more component parts to restore

11. Organizing and commencing restoration work

12. Setting up a division and playing it for inspiration!

Thus, the organ restoration project began in earnest.

Fast forward to the summer of 2021, and we look back to see that Nelson’s original division layout, with some changes in nomenclature, has come true. The disposition of the divisions is as follows:

APSE

Choir Swell

North Gt (& Ped) South Gt (& Ped)

Solo (& Pedal) String (& Pedal)

Antiphonal/Processional Echo

WEST END

We were extremely fortunate to find instruments available for purchase that, together, created a “joyful musical genesis.” Below is a partial list of the Skinner organs whose components constitute this “new” instrument:

Opus 140, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio

Opus 195, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Opus 310, Plymouth Church, Shaker Heights, Ohio

Opus 473, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

Opus 540, Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Opus 541, First Congregational Church, St. Petersburg, Florida

Opus 655, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Rochester, New York

Opus 656, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

Opus 762, Munn Avenue Presbyterian Church, East Orange, New Jersey

Opus 855, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Opus 858, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida

Opus 934, Saint Joseph’s College, Adrian, Michigan

Opus 991, Broadway Tabernacle, New York, New York

Opus 1242, First Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas

Nelson and the Community of Jesus have maintained an organ building apprenticeship program over these many years, having trained one of our members to journeyman status (over the course of twenty years), and four others in multi-year, work-training situations. During this time, the construction and installation truly did follow Nelson’s initial concept—division by division. This is what allowed the organ to “teach” us. Below are some other significant dates in the history of this organ:

June 2000: Dedication of the Church of the Transfiguration: North Great, Swell, and Tuba Mirabilis

June 2003: Great Artist series begins with American Guild of Organists Regions I and II convention, featuring Thomas Murray: Choir division

June 2005: Fifth anniversary of the Church of the Transfiguration: Antiphonal/Processional divisions

June 2010: Tenth anniversary of the Church of the Transfiguration: Echo division and arrival of the West End console for the concerts by Gerre and Judith Hancock and Thomas Murray

Summer 2018: 32′ Bombarde installed on South side

Summer 2019: removal of 1929 console and return of the rewired west end console serving as temporary main console

February 2020: Arrival of the final console

Our new console was designed, constructed, and installed by Richard Houghten and Joseph Zamberlan. From 2000 until 2020, we had used the original Skinner Organ Company console from Opus 762, which by 2020 the organ had long outgrown. The new console was designed to be as comfortable as a Skinner one, with everything clearly identified and within reach. Special features include shade expression thumb slides underneath the bottom three keyboards, an expression matrix so that any of the divisions can be assigned to a specific swell shoe (the entire organ is under expression), ivory keyboards that came from the Opus 762 console and are E. M. Skinner’s “tracker touch.” Some unusual couplers such as pedal to manual are included.

Perhaps the most moving realizations are the visionary outlooks of how this organ would affect people as they listened and experienced it in the setting of the Church of the Transfiguration. In concluding his initial thoughts to us in May 1995, Nelson wrote this to encourage us to take this on:

The Ultimate Goal

Every church is an expression of the builders, and so is every organ. When this instrument is finished, Community members will feel they are a part of the organ, and the organ is part of them. It will give voice to their aspirations and resonate with deep-seated meaning.

Building a magnificent instrument is hard work, sometimes tedious and always prolonged. Non-professionals may become discouraged, just as organ builders are when the job drags on. The difference is that organ builders hold a vision that gives them boundless energy and faith. They know the end result and imagine how it sounds.

Community members will understand everything when their labor comes to life and the organ starts to play. Lumber and leather, wire, and wind—if a pipe organ can sing with the angels, isn’t there hope for us all?

The list of people to thank is simply endless at this point, but here are names of those without whom this organ would not exist:

Mother Betty Pugsley

Nelson Barden

Sean O’Donnell

Joseph Sloan

Joseph Rotella

John Ananda

Jonathon Ambrosino

Duane Prill

William Czelusniak

Richard Houghten

Joseph Zamberlan

Christopher Broome

David Broome*

James Hudson Crissman

Peter Rudewicz

Thomas Murray

David Craighead*

Gerre Hancock*

*deceased

To learn more, please visit our website, www.communityofjesus.org.

—Nelson Barden and Jim Jordan

Since 1956, Nelson Barden has been recognized as one of America’s leading experts in the museum quality restoration of orchestral pipe organs—particularly the work of E. M. Skinner—and is President of Nelson Barden & Associates.

Jim Jordan is one of the organists in residence at the Church of the Transfiguration at the Community of Jesus since 1988, during which has performed as an organ accompanist for Gloriæ Dei Cantores, and a soloist throughout the United States and Eastern and Western Europe.

RELATED: View a video about the project here

Nelson Barden & Associates

Church of the Transfiguration, Orleans, Massachusetts

NORTH GREAT

1. 16′ Violone 73

2. 8′ First Diapason 61

3. 8′ Second Diapason 61

    8′ Violone --

4. 8′ Harmonic Flute 61

5. 8′ Gemshorn 61

6. 8′ Gemshorn Celeste (TC) 49

7. 4′ Octave 61

8. 4′ Harmonic Flute 61

9. 2′ Fifteenth 61

10. Willis Mixture IV 244

15 19 22 26 12

12 15 19 22 24

8 12 15 19 12

1 8 12 15 13

11. 16′ Posaune 61

12. 8′ Cornopean 61

13. 4′ Clarion 61

Tremolo

North Great Sub

North Great Unison Off

North Great Super

8′ Tuba Mirabilis Choir

8′ Tuba Major Processional

8′ Trompette Militaire Processional

SOUTH GREAT

14. 16′ Gedecktpommer 68

15. 8′ Stentorphone 73

16. 8′ Principal 61

17. 8′ Bourdon 61

18. 4′ Octave 61

19. 4′ Nachthorn 61

20. 2-2⁄3′ Twelfth 61

21. 2′ Fifteenth 61

22. Fourniture III–V 245

15 19 22 12

12 15 19 22 12

8 12 15 19 12

1 8 12 15 12

1 5 8 12 15 13

23. Scharff III–IV 220

15 19 22 18

12 15 19 6

12 15 17 19 18

8 12 15 17 6

8 10 12 15 13

24. 16′ Willis Trombone 56

25. 8′ Willis Trumpet 61

26. 8′ Hautbois 68

27. 4′ Clairon 68

Tremolo

South Great Unison Off

East Chimes

SWELL

28. 16′ Bourdon 73

29. 8′ Diapason 73

30. 8′ Salicional 73

31. 8′ Voix Celeste 73

      8′ Bourdon (ext 16′ Bourdon) --

32. 8′ Rohrflöte 61

33. 8′ Flauto Dolce 73

34. 8′ Flute Celeste (TC) 61

35. 4′ Octave 73

36. 4′ Triangle Flute 73

37. 2′ Flautino 61

38. Willis Mixture IV 244

15 19 22 26 12

8 12 15 19 36

1 8 12 15 13

39. 16′ Waldhorn 73

40. 8′ Trumpet 73

41. 8′ Oboe d’Amour 73

42. 8′ Vox Humana 73

43. 4′ Clarion 61

Tremolo

Swell Sub

Swell Unison Off

Swell Super

8′ Tuba Mirabilis Choir

8′ Tuba Major Processional

8′ Trompette Militaire Processional

Orchestral Bells

Orchestral Harp

ANTIPHONAL

44. 16′ Lieblich Bourdon 61

45. 8′ Diapason 73

46. 8′ Gross Flute 73

47. 8′ Clarabella 73

48. 8′ Erzähler Celeste II (celeste TC) 134

49. 4′ Principal 61

50. 4′ Harmonic Flute 61

51. Mixture IV 244

12 15 19 22 18

8 12 15 19 12

1 8 12 15 31

Tremolo

Antiphonal Sub

Antiphonal Unison Off

Antiphonal Super

CHOIR

52. 16′ Erzähler 85

53. 8′ Diapason 73

54. 8′ Cello 73

55. 8′ Cello Celeste 73

56. 8′ Viola 73

57. 8′ Viola Celeste 73

58. 8′ Concert Flute 73

59. 8′ Lieblich Gedeckt 73

      8′ Erzähler --

60. 8′ Erzähler Celeste 73

61. 8′ Aeoline Celeste II (celeste TC) 110

62. 4′ Principal 73

63. 4′ Flute 61

64. 2-2⁄3′ Nazard 61

65. 2′ Piccolo 61

66. 1-3⁄5′ Tierce 61

67. 1′ Sifflöte (to f54) 54

68. Low Mixture III–IV 207

15 19 22 12

12 15 19 12

8 12 15 13

1 8 12 15 24

69. High Mixture III 183

22 26 29 18

19 22 26 12

15 19 22 12

12 15 19 6

8 12 15 13

70. 16′ Heckelphone 73

      8′ Heckelphone --

71. 8′ Flügel Horn 73

72. 8′ English Horn 73

73. 8′ Clarinet 73

Tremolo

74. 8′ Tuba Mirabilis 67

Choir Sub

Choir Unison Off

Choir Super

PROCESSIONAL

75. 8′ Principal Diapason 73

76. 8′ Gamba Celeste II 146

77. 8′ Orchestral Flute 73

78. 8′ Chorus Trumpet 73

Tremolo

79. 8′ Tuba Major 73

80. 8′ Trompette Militaire 73

Processional Sub

Processional Unison Off

Processional Super

STRING

      16′ Double Violin (Kimball, ext) --

      16′ Contra Viol (Haskell, ext. Ætheria)

81. 16′ Bourdon 73

82. 8′ Diapason 61

83. 8′ Violin 85

84. 8′ Violin Celeste 73

85. 8′ Cello 73

86. 8′ Cello Celeste 73

87. 8′ Flared Gamba 73

88. 8′ Flared Gamba Celeste 73

89. 8′ Gross Gamba 73

90. 8′ Gross Gamba Celeste 73

91. 8′ Cellos II (flat-front) 134

92. 8′ Salicional 73

93. 8′ Voix Celeste 73

94. 8′ Viole Ætheria 97

95. 8′ Viole Ætheria Celeste (TC) 61

96. 8′ Voix Celeste II (celeste TC) 110

97. 8′ Chimney Flute 73

98. 8′ Dulciana 73

99. 8′ Unda Maris (TC) 61

100. 8′ Quintadena 73

101. 8′ Quintadena Celeste (TC) 61

102. 8′ Flute Celeste II (celeste TC) 110

      4′ Violin Celeste II --

      4′ Violina Ætheria --

      4′ Voix Celeste II --

103. 4′ Triangle Flute 61

104. 2-2⁄3′ String Nazard 61

      2′ Violette

105. 1-3⁄5′ String Tierce (to c49) 49

106. 8′ Cornopean 61

107. 8′ French Horn 61

108. 8′ English Horn (free reed) 61

109. 8′ Oboe (labial) 61

110. 8′ Vox Humana (TC) 49

Tremolo

String Sub

String Super

String Unison Off

SOLO

111. 8′ Horn Diapason 73

112. 8′ Flauto Mirabilis 73

113. 8′ Saxophone (wood) 73

114. 8′ Viola 73

115. 8′ Viola Celeste 73

116. 8′ Dulcet II 146

117. 8′ Silver Flute 73

118. 4′ Concert Flute 61

119. 4′ Viole Celeste II 122

      4′ Silver Flute --

120. 8′ English Horn 73

121. 8′ Labial Clarinet 61

122. 8′ Orchestral Oboe 73

Tremolo

8′ Tuba Mirabilis Choir

8′ Tuba Major Processional

8′ Trompette Militaire Processional

Tremolo

Solo Sub

Solo Unison Off

Solo Super

Orchestral Harp

Harp

Orchestral Bells

East Chimes—West Chimes

ECHO

123. 8′ Echo Principal 61

124. 8′ Gamba 66

125. 8′ Dulcet Celeste II 146

126. 8′ Philomela 73

127. 8′ Fern Flute 73

128. 8′ Wood Celeste (TC) 49

129. 8′ Muted Viole 73

130. 8′ Muted Viole Celeste 73

131. 8′ Spitzflute Celeste II (celeste TC) 134

132. 8′ Double-Enclosed Aeoline 61

133. 4′ Fugara 61

134. 4′ Harmonic Flute 61

135. 2′ Piccolo 61

16′ Clarinet (Bassoon bass) 12

136. 8′ Clarinet (free-reed) 73

Tremolo

137. 16′ Bass Vox 73

138. 8′ Baritone Vox 73

139. 8′ Tenor Vox 73

140. 8′ Alto Vox 73

141. 8-4′ Soprano Vox I-II 112

142. 8′ Vox Humana (doubly-enclosed) 61

143. Aeolian Mixture IV–V 275

8 12 15 17 18

1 8 12 15 17 31

1 8 12 15 12

Vox Chorus Tremolo

PEDAL

      64′ Gravissima --

      32′ Open Wood (ext Major Bass) 12

      32′ Erzähler (ext Choir) 12

144. 16′ Open Wood 56

145. 16′ Major Bass (wood, Haskell bass) 44

146. 16′ Open Diapason (metal) 32

      16′ Double Violin String

      16′ Violone North Great

      16′ Contra Viol String

     16′ Erzähler Choir

      16′ Bourdon Swell

      16′ Echo Bourdon String

      16′ Lieblich Bourdon Processional

 .    16′ Gedecktpommer South Great

147. 16′ Quintadena (in Echo) 32

      8′ Open Wood --

148. 8′ Principal 44

      8′ Major Bass --

      8′ Violone North Great

      8′ Viol Ætheria String

      8′ Concert Flute Choir

      8′ Erzähler Choir

      8′ Gedeckt Swell

      8′ Still Gedeckt String

      8′ Lieblich Gedeckt Processional

      4′ Octave --

      4′ Concert Flute Choir

      4′ Erzähler Choir

      4′ Gedeckt Swell

      32′ Bombarde --

      32′ Waldhorn (TC) Swell

149. 16′ Bombarde 56

      16′ Posaune North Great

      16′ Willis Trombone South Great

      16′ Waldhorn Swell

      16′ Heckelphone Choir

      16′ Clarinet Echo

      8′ Bombarde --

      8′ Heckelphone Choir

      8′ English Horn Choir

      4′ Heckelphone Choir

      8′ Tuba Mirabilis Choir

      8′ Tuba Major Processional

      8′ Trompette Militaire Processional

COUPLERS

N. Great to Pedal

N. Great to Pedal 4

S. Great to Pedal

S. Great to Pedal 4

Swell to Pedal

Swell to Pedal 4

Choir to Pedal

Choir to Pedal 4

Solo to Pedal

Solo to Pedal 4

Swell to Great 16

Swell to Great

Swell to Great 4

Choir to Great 16

Choir to Great

Choir to Great 4

Solo to Great 16

Solo to Great

Solo to Great 4

Solo to Swell

Choir to Swell

Great to Solo

Swell to Solo

Swell to Choir 16

Swell to Choir

Swell to Choir 4

Solo to Choir 16

Solo to Choir

Solo to Choir 4

String on Great

Echo on Great

Antiph. on Great

Proc. on Great

String on Swell

Echo on Swell

Antiph. on Swell

Proc. on Swell

String on Choir

Echo on Choir

Antiph. on Choir

Proc. on Choir

String on Solo

Echo on Solo

Antiph. on Solo

Proc. on Solo

BALANCED PEDALS

I—II—III—IV—V/Crescendo

EXPRESSION THUMB SLIDES

Swell—Great—Choir

EXPRESSION MATRIX

Assigns any of the following onto any or all of the balanced pedals and thumb slides. When an enclosure or control is assigned to more than one pedal or slide, the pedal or slide open furthest takes precedent.

North Great

South Great

Swell

Choir

Solo

Echo (west end only)

Interior Echo (speaking into String enclosure)

String

Pedal

Antiphonal

Processional

Tremolo Speed

Tremolo Depth

All Swells

The Matrix has its own divisionals

Standard–1–2–3–4–5–6–7

COMBINATIONS

Generals 1–25 / 1–10 Thumb/Toe

Great 1–10 Thumb

Swell 1–10 Thumb

Choir 1–10 Thumb

Solo 1–8 Thumb

Pedal 1–10 Toe

Great to Pedal Thumb/Toe

Swell to Pedal Thumb/Toe

Choir to Pedal Thumb

Solo to Pedal Thumb

All Divisionals Next – All Generals Next

Next and Previous (multiple)

Library – Scope – Set – Cancel

Solid State Organ Systems Organist Palette

149 independent stops

185 ranks

11,964 pipes

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