Cover
J. F. Nordlie Company, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Kernersville Moravian Church, Kernersville, North
Carolina
From the builder:
My first conversations with Wayne Leupold took place in 1991
during the Region VI AGO Convention in Sioux Falls. Wayne had just taught a
masterclass and played my instrument at First United Methodist Church. We
discussed his new position as director of music and organist at Kernersville
Moravian Church. Wayne told me of the slated construction of a new sanctuary,
the newly formed organ committee, and his desire to have an instrument with the
capabilities he had witnessed at First Methodist.
By the time I had a chance to visit with the architect, the
room had been designed and approved. My first visit to Kernersville early in
1992 found the new sanctuary well under construction. The design left only one
location for the organ and, as luck would have it, it was the best possible
position in the room. My input for construction of the room was limited to
reinforcement of the floor in the general location of the instrument and
insistence on hardened walls and absence of soft surfaces. The first organ
committee didn?t contract for the organ but succeeded in preparing a room
for inspired musical worship and placement of a pipe organ.
For almost 10 years, occasional discussions, ideas, and
stoplists were sent between KMC and my shop. In 2001, what I believe was the
third organ committee brought our proposal to the congregation and approval was
given to enter into agreement.
My first designs were for a smaller instrument on the
sanctuary floor, and initial talks called for placing some of the larger
components (i.e., pedal pipes and chests) in chambers outside the main room. As
work progressed it was obvious that some of our original ideas were not going
to work. The location planned for the blower and static reservoir, directly
below the organ in the lower level of the church, had become the nursery. The
space where chambers were to be located was not structurally suitable and cost
prohibitive. The entire organ had to be placed within the sanctuary. The case
of the organ sits in the front right corner of the sanctuary. It is
approximately 17 feet wide by 9 feet deep. The peak of the case is 23 feet
above the floor. The console is located on the central axis, detached from the
case by 9 feet. This detached console gives the organist the opportunity to
direct the choir from the bench.
The visual design of the organ is quite eclectic with
elements ranging from the designs of Moravian organ builder David Tannenburg to
the Italian classic. Overall it is designed to fit comfortably within the
Neo-classical meeting house design of the sanctuary with its painted colonial
panel and molding detail and natural wood accents. The carved pipe shades were
designed and created by master wood carver Arnold Bortnem of South Dakota,
taking into consideration the desire of the church members to include symbols
of the Moravian Church. The three-manual console has a French tiered stopknob
arrangement. Particular care was made to situate stops in a logical, convenient
position and provide every modern registration aid for the organist. Case
builder Paul Nordlie mirrored and book-matched fancy black walnut veneers in
the console to make a strikingly beautiful presentation. The keyboards and
console chassis were made by P&S Supply of England. The keyboards are made
with natural keys of cow bone and sharps of ebony. Harris Precision Products
(California) built the electric knob solenoids, and Jan Rowland (Texas) turned
the custom designed stopknobs.
The organ is winded from five weighted wedge reservoirs (one
for each manual and two for the pedal pipes) located in the base of the
instrument. Although I know of no perfect wind system, my preference has always
been for the character of life and solidity given by the wedge reservoir. The
wind is created by a one-horsepower Laukhuff Ventus blower located in a newly
created room made from an abandoned hallway. The system is remarkably quiet
owing to traditional sound-deadening techniques and use of modern technology in
the form of an electronic inverter. An inverter controls the rotational speed
of the blower. Only when the organ calls for full wind is the blower operating
at a full capacity, its loudest state.
The three manual divisions of the organ are situated on
mechanical action slider chests with some bass pipes offset on electric action
chests. This allows the use of these pipes in the pedal division. The pedal
division, other than mechanical couplers, is electric action. All of the
electric action switching and console accessories are controlled through a
solid-state pipe organ system manufactured by Justin and Mark Matters (South
Dakota). The use of "state of the art" computer technology and fiber
optics makes this system compact, simple in design, easy to control, and
remarkably reliable.
The tonal resources of this instrument are all traditional
pipework, however provision has been made for MIDI stops as future use may
desire. All new wood pipes, including the 16' Posaune, were made in my shop of
quarter-sawn white oak. The 16' Open Bass was recycled pipework built of clear
sugarpine by the Hall Organ Company in the 1920s. The reeds were made by
Stinkens in Holland. The flue pipes were made to our exacting specifications by
Andreas Grunemann in Germany and Andrea Pinchi in Italy. All of the
façade pipes are made of 80% polished tin with interior pipes
exclusively of lead/tin alloys. Voicing and tonal finishing of the pipework was
accomplished onsite by my longtime designer and voicer, Eric Grane.
The photos accompanying this article show the organ in its
final phase of construction. The largest 10 pipes of the 16' Prestant were
shipped by ocean freight directly to the church. We expect delivery any day and
held up photography as long as we could. The plan was good, but unfortunately
strikes and the conflict in Iraq have created a bit of a problem for us.
Throughout my involvement with this project, members of the church
have constantly reminded me that the Moravians proclaim their faith through
their music. I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity to build this
instrument for a people that not only look back at the exciting history that
they have had with the pipe organ but also toward an exciting future with the
pipe organ as their instrument of choice.
Craftspeople employed by my shop that have had a hand in the
construction of this instrument include: Joseph Brown, Eric Grane, Liz Soladay,
Hank Hight, Grant Lacey, Mike Lacey, Jeremy Larsen, Marty Larsen, Beth
MacDonald, Larry Niebuhr, Paul Nordlie, Trintje Nordlie, Quinn Rozeboom, Andy
Schmahl.
--John Nordlie
From the director of music:
This is an organ for a vibrant congregation of the Moravian
Church in America. Moravians have a strong practice of preserving the best of
their rich traditions and musical heritage, but also being open to quality
innovations from the present. The primary impetus in the design of this
instrument is to accompany the many hymns that Moravians sing in a multiplicity
of uses, as well as rendering the full range of organ literature. The
mechanical-action design features simplicity, subtle musical expressiveness,
and unrivaled durability.
The tonal design has its foundation in the 18th-century
central German organ (the same period in which the Moravian Church was revived
in Germany) with classic principal choruses on the Great (16' through Mixture),
the Swell (8' through Mixture), and the Pedal (16' through Mixture). To this
basic framework, judicious additions have been made from a variety of different
national schools and historical periods, such as the Great Trumpet,
Sesquialtera and Zimbelstern from the German Baroque period; the Trompette en
Chamade from the Spanish Baroque; the Glockenspiel from the central German
late-Baroque and early Classic; the Cromorne and the Mounted Cornet from the
French Classic; the Flûte Harmonique, Swell reeds, and String
Céleste from the French Romantic; the rollschweller from the German
Romantic; the chimes from the American 20th century; and MIDI and the 256
memory-level combination action and computer from the 21st century. A German
Positive ensemble can be found on the Swell by playing an octave higher than
normal, and a French Positif ensemble can be found on the Solo. Because of the
artistic skill of the builder and his voicers, a beautiful, integrated artistic
ensemble has been created. Thus variety, individuality, and flexibility are
artistically combined to achieve great expressiveness and a wonderful unity of
ensemble.
When completed, the organ will have 43 ranks of pipes,
controlled by 37 speaking stops. The façade includes four hand-carved
symbols of the Moravian Church. The console is made of dark burl walnut and is
detached from the organ case by nine feet to allow the organist to both direct
and accompany the choir simultaneously.
--Wayne Leupold
Director of Music/Organist
Kernersville Moravian Church
GREAT
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Viola
da Gamba
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Koppelflöte
(prep)
22⁄3? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Twelfth
2? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Fifteenth
13⁄5? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Seventeenth
11⁄3? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture IV-V
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompete
Tremulant
to Great
Sw/Gt
So/Gt
SWELL
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Violin
Diapason
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Spire
Flute
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Salicional
(prep)
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Céleste
(FF)
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flûte
Harmonique
2? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octavin
2?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Plein
Jeu IV
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Basson
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Hautbois
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clairon
Tremulant
to Swell
SOLO
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flûte
Harmonique
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
(from Cornet)
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
(prep)
Grand
Cornet V (Tenor E-d???)
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
en Chamade
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cromorne
(prep)
Tremulant
to Solo
PEDAL
32? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Resultant
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Open
Bass
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Sub
Bass (prep)
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Prestant
(Gt)
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
(Sw)
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Flute
Bass (ext)
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Choral
Bass
22⁄3? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture IV (prep)
32?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Contra
Basson (ext, prep)
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Posaune
(ext)
16?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Basson
(Sw)
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompete
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Shawm
(prep)
Gt/Ped
Sw/Ped
So/Ped
BELLS
Chimes
on Great (prep)
Glockenspiel
on Great (prep)
Glockenspiel
on Solo (Gt)
Chimes
on Pedal (Gt)
Zimbelstern
Fabry, Inc., Fox
Lake, Illinois, has completed the rebuilding and enlargement of the organ at
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Palos Heights, Illinois:
two manuals and pedal, 33 ranks. When the congregation decided to build a new
sanctuary, Fabry, Inc. was engaged to remove, rebuild, revoice, and enlarge the
church?s Holtkamp organ, of which 16 ranks were retained in the project.
David G. Fabry constructed the visual design on AutoCad; the project includes
all new chestwork, casework, swell enclosure, and a new two-manual drawknob
console. Joseph Poland of Fabry, Inc. completed the installation. The console
has the ICS-4000 integrated control system by Peterson and full MIDI with
sequencer. The project was completed in March 2002. The dedication was played
by the church?s organist Mrs. Cindy Gansel and led by Pastor Wayne Basch.
GREAT
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Copula
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Dulciana
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Unda
Maris*
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Koppel
Flute*
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
22⁄3? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Nazard*
13⁄5? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tierce*
IV style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture*
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette*
Zimbelstern*
Chimes
(prep)
Tremolo
Gt
16-UO-4
Sw/Gt
16-8-4
MIDI
to Gt
SWELL
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon*
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quintadena
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflote
(new borrow)
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gemshorn*
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gemshorn
Celeste*
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflote
2? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
11⁄3? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte
III
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Plein
Jeu
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Oboe
Tremolo
Sw
16-UO-4
MIDI
to Sw
PEDAL
32?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Untersatz
(new, digital)
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal*
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quintadena
8?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
(new, ext)
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedeckt
4?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Choral
Bass
III style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture*
32?
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bombarde
(new, digital)
16? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
8? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
4? style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clarion
Chimes
Gt/Ped
8-4
Sw/Ped
8-4
MIDI
to Ped
*
new pipework
