Cover
Noack Organ Co., Inc., Georgetown, Massachusetts
Middlesex School, Concord, Massachusetts
From the Organ Builder
Trying to find the "right" style in designing a
new organ seems harder today than ever. Rather than just following an
established, clearly defined model, we must choose from a wealth of information
that today, more than ever before, is accessible to us. One solution would be
to seek comfort in the relative safety of copying some beloved historical
instrument. While there is some debate as to how far that can be achieved, our
own attempts at this have not been failures in that they seem to be as close to
the model as any restored original. This route would result in an organ that is
pleasant to look at and renders the music of its own period authentically and
beautifully. The opposite extreme, I suppose, would be to attempt the creation
of a new style, throwing overboard much of what has spelled success in years
past. Whenever that has been done, however, the results have usually been the
more disappointing in their paucity as less tried and proven features are
incorporated.
At Middlesex School we wanted to create an organ that
renders music from a large range of musical styles in a pleasant and reasonably
authentic manner. We also wanted it to accompany the school congregation well.
The pleasant, quite traditional architecture of the chapel, obviously, provided
valuable clues. Last but not least we let the many historic organs we have come
to love inspire us. More blessed by this wealth of information than burdened by
it, we did what we normally do and designed an organ that is somewhat unique,
that belongs to its environment such as this school and its chapel. Informed
and mindful of its setting, yet independent and strong in its task of making
our lives richer through great music of a powerful tradition, it truly is the
Middlesex School organ.
The layout of the new organ follows the classical pattern of
the Great and Pedal divisions being placed in the upper, wider portion of the
case. The large wooden pipes of the Stopped Bass 16' are actually hung from the
organ's ceiling in the center of the upper case, above the central wallboard.
These two divisions share a symmetrical pair of windchests, which also
facilitates transmission of some of the larger pipes as well as the Trumpet
stop. We find that the savings in space--making the organ rather compact and
therefore projecting better--seem even more significant than the savings in
cost. Such transmissions require check valves, which could adversely affect
pipe speech in smaller pipes and reeds, which is why no small pipes are
transmitted. The Trumpet utilizes channel dividers that actually make check
valves unnecessary for this stop. The Swell division occupies the upper half of
the lower case. Even the full-length 8' stop belonging to this division found
room in the lower case, albeit with some difficulty. The key action is all
mechanical, while the stop action is electrical, allowing an extensive
combination action. The wind system employs a small "static"
reservoir, located near the blower in a storage room under the organ, and a
wedge bellows in the lower part of the organ as well as wooden ducts. We
attempt to give the organ a breathing quality, which we prefer to the rather
stern sound of an overly stable wind system. It is essential, of course, that
there be no audible blower noise.
The tonal palette contains a Plenum, vaguely reminiscent of
those by J. S. Bach's contemporary Gottfried Silbermann, a set of three reed
stops that echo classical French reeds, and a Dulciana that traces its ancestry
to Old New England. The gentle and colorful flute stops have common roots in
many fine historic organs. The casework is made from solid maple, painted in
two shades of white, and decorated with turned black walnut spindles serving as
Swell and pipe screens. The keydesk area is also from black walnut. The manual
compass is 58 notes C-a''', the keys have bone naturals and solid ebony
sharps. The 30-note pedalboard is concave-parallel.
The entire crew at The Noack Organ Company has enjoyed
designing and building this organ. Having hosted it for a year at our workshop
pending completion of the chapel renovation we were almost sad to part with it.
We are very grateful for the trust in our work and the valuable assistance by a
large number of people connected with this project. Besides the entire organ committee,
we must mention Mary-Sue Willie, former organ instructor; Deidra Ling,
headmistress; Jim Saltonstall, business manager; and Sarah Megan, head of the
Music Department of Middlesex School. We particularly enjoyed the cooperation
with Peter Sugar and the great staff of the firm of Ann Beha, Architects, of
Boston. The advice of Carl Rosenberg of Acentech, acoustical consultant, was
helpful, indeed, to provide a pleasant acoustical setting for the new organ.
--Fritz Noack
From the Dedication Recitalist
It was a pleasure and honor to perform the dedication
recital on this new organ. Rarely is a new instrument so perfectly integrated
into an existing building; much sensitivity was shown by architects and
acousticians in planning the placement and design of this organ balcony, and
the organ perfectly ornaments the room both visually and acoustically. It is
also an educational bonus in a school setting for the organist's activities
(especially pedalwork) to be seen clearly by the student congregants. It's important
not to hide the organist!
Music for the dedication recital of an organ must be
carefully chosen; simple and complex, fast and slow, soft and loud, Baroque,
Romantic and modern works must balance in order to show the full range of the
instrument's capabilities. This recital program attempted to show the
considerable possibilities afforded by the new organ, but the instrument's full
versatility will only be revealed in the coming years. The recital included
works of Buxtehude, James Woodman, Mendelssohn, Pierre du Mage, Messiaen, and
Bach, and all fit the instrument splendidly.
The Great chorus is strong, well-balanced, and focused
without aggressiveness. The Trumpet can seem to have both a dark German or
bright French sound depending on what is added to it; alone, it can hold its
own either in solo or contrapuntal textures. The Chimney Flute is strongly
colored but without excessive chiff, making it very useful as an
accompanimental stop. The mutations are strong and of principal tone, resulting
in good blend with either the Trumpet or the chorus.
The Swell division is quite a bit more than its stoplist
might indicate. The full-compass Dulciana sounds as a gentle, small Principal
much like early nineteenth-century examples and blends with the full-bodied
Gedackt to provide a strong foundation for the upperwork. The Principal 4'
anchors the division, while the Mixture is not high-pitched; it is even a bit
lower than the Great mixture, thus producing a tightly-knit chorus sound that
complements the Great and adds intensity without extra brilliance. The Cremona,
rich in fundamental, can function both as a chorus and solo reed, while the
flutes are piquant and colorful.
The Pedal provides a useful palette of colors and strengths
to support the manual sound; the Posaune in particular blends in with the other
stops and adds both considerable fundamental and quick speech to the lowest
pitches.
The key action is crisp and light, just as sensitive to
nuances of release as attack. There seems to be a felicitous balance between
the heft of the key action and the spring of the pedal action, resulting in an
almost-miraculous ease of coordination between them for passages where all
parts move simultaneously. The electric stop action makes the organ seem bigger
as quick registration changes become possible, increasing the flexibility
considerably.
It has never been as important as now to provide the best
possible examples of the organ for young people to experience in formative ways
in school settings. This new organ sets an example that I hope will be emulated
over and over as Middlesex students go out into the world.
--Peter Sykes
GREAT (Manual I)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Diapason
(70% tin, front)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Chimney
Flute (30%)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
(70%)
22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Twelfth
(30%)
2' Fifteenth
(70%)
13/5'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Seventeenth
(30%)
11/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
IV (70%)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
(20%)
SWELL (Manual II)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedackt
(C-B maple, rest 30%)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Dulciana
(70%)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
(70%)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Recorder
(30%)
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gemshorn
(30%)
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
III (70%)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cremona
(30%)
PEDAL
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Stopt
Bass (maple)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Diapason
(30%, C-B Gt)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedackt
(30%, C-fº Gt)
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
(30%)
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trombone
(30%, C-Fs 1/2 length)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
(Gt)
