Cover
Pasi Organbuilders, Roy,
Washington, Op. 14
St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha,
Nebraska
The firm of Pasi Organbuilders of Roy, Washington, has
installed a new organ in St. Cecilia Cathedral, the Mother Church of the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha. The organ comprises 55 stops over three manuals
and pedal, 29 of which are playable in two temperaments: 1/4-comma meantone and
a new well-tempered tuning devised for this instrument by organbuilder Kristian
Wegscheider of Dresden, Germany. The organ replaces a 37-rank electro-pneumatic
instrument from 1918 by the one-time firm of Casavant Bros. of South Haven,
Michigan.
The idea of a dual-temperament organ for St. Cecilia
Cathedral developed in early conversations between organbuilder Martin Pasi and
cathedral organist and music director Kevin Vogt, and was inspired by the
dual-temperament organs at Stanford University (C.B. Fisk, Op. 85) and the
Wegscheider organs at the Allstedt Schloßkapelle (Op. 1) and
Dresden-Wilschdorf (Op. 21). While the two temperaments of the Stanford Fisk
are made possible by five extra pipes per octave, and the smaller Wegscheider
organs boast six extra pipes per octave, 29 stops of Pasi Organbuilders Op. 14
contain eight extra notes per octave, tipping the scale of the concept from a
single organ with extra pipes to the equivalent of two organs which share a
third of their pipes. The abundance of extra pipes allows the circulating
temperament to accommodate much of the Romantic and modern repertoires, while
retaining enough key color to bring Baroque music alive and to lock into tune
the mixtures and reeds in the best keys.
All stops in the Oberwerk and selected stops in the
Hauptwerk and Pedal divisions are available in both temperaments. The
well-tempered and meantone organs share the following notes in every octave: C,
D, G and A. The desired temperament may be chosen independently in each
division by the choice of stops. Each dual-tempered voice has two sliders and
separate stop controls: traditional drawknobs for the well-tempered stops and
Italian-style levers for the meantone stops. This is thus a simpler and more flexible system than a
shifting roller board (e.g., Fisk, Op. 85) or a shifting stop action mechanism
(e.g., Wegscheider, Op. 1 and Op. 21).
While an argument could be made that it would have been
easier to build two separate organs, the economy of the Pasi dual-temperament
design yields much larger and more complete organs in both temperaments than
would be possible if separate cases, chests, actions and wind-systems were to
be built for the same price.
The mechanical key action is suspended to provide the most
direct link between keys and pallets. Solenoid slider motors and an electric
combination system by Taylor of England enhance the mechanical stop action of
the well-tempered side of the organ. The meantone stops may be drawn only by
hand, but the well-ordered Italian levers allow for the drawing of an entire
chorus with one sweep of the hand.
All of the pipes were made by hand in the Pasi shop, with
the exception of 10 wooden basses recycled from the previous organ. Metal pipes
are made of an alloy of 97% lead, with a remainder of tin and trace metals,
cast to variable thickness and hammered to increase density. Flue pipes are cut
to exact length and cone- or scroll-tuned for maximum stability of tuning.
Wooden pipes are of poplar and Douglas fir. The freestanding case is of white
oak and incorporates pillars, arches and ornaments from the original 1918 organ
façade designed by cathedral architect Thomas Rogers Kimball.
Tapered wind lines deliver wind to the organ from a
separate, adjacent bellows room, which will be a dedicated public space for
education about the organ. The organ is winded by four 4' x 8' wedge-shaped
bellows, either fed by a 2-horsepower silent blower or raised with calcant
pedals by human assistants. The option of hand-pumped (or in this case,
treaded) wind and the resulting possibility of a messa di voce bloom in the
organ's sound are reflected in an excerpt from John Dryden's Song for St.
Cecilia's Day painted around the perimeter of the bellows room ceiling:
But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher
as to her organ vocal breath was given . . .
Both the instrument and its builder seem to consciously
evade characterization as either eclectic or stylistically specific. While the
stoplist may look like a complete "eclectic" organ, preference is
clearly given to a colorful, well-blended Schnitgerian tonal ideal. For
instance, the smooth 16' Posaune easily balances only a couple of other stops,
but seems to grow in gravitas as brilliant choruses are built upon it. A
colorful variety of flutes, principals and mutations seem to blend and balance
in every conceivable combination and permutation. Conversely, while materials
and Blockwerk-like choruses may recall Niehoff, and reed scales and shallots
Schnitger and Clicquot, liberal incorporation of harmonic flutes and slotted
strings equally sympathetic to Bach and Widor contributes to the artistic
fusion and synthesis characteristic of "universal" and
"cosmopolitan" organs of every age.
The fifteen reed stops of the organ are particularly
noteworthy, made with resonators as long as the stop's character and the reed's
"flip point" will allow, achieving as much fundamental in the tone as
possible. Both Hauptwerk and Pedal divisions boast both Schnitger- and
Clicquot-style Trumpets. The smooth Hauptwerk 16' Trumpet and its counterpart in
the Unterwerk (Swell), the 16' Bassoon, are equally at home in chorus and
consort registrations. A Dutch-style Vox Humana, a Schnitgerian Trichterregal
and Dulzian, and a French Oboe compete the palette.
A large case, open between Hauptwerk and Oberwerk divisions,
and a remarkably effective swell enclosure for the Unterwerk, provide primary
resonating cavities for the instrument. The large, resonant nave of the
cathedral, however, brings the organ into its full glory.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Recently fitted with a new plaster ceiling
and splendidly decorated in a bright Iberian style by Evergreene Studios of New
York City, the pristine Spanish Renaissance Revival cathedral begun in 1905
literally sings with seven seconds reverberation when empty and four seconds
when full. The ceiling restoration and interior decoration crowned a complete
cleaning and restoration of the cathedral in 1999, led by liturgical design
consultant Br. William Woeger, FSC, who is also the director of liturgy at the
cathedral, and the architectural firm of Bahr, Vermeer & Haecker. Robert
Mahoney of Boulder, Colorado, was the acoustical consultant.
The organ will be inaugurated with a yearlong celebration
entitled "The Saint Cecilia Organ Festival," commencing on October 3,
2003. The festival will include a performance on March 23, 2004 by Olivier
Latry, events throughout the year featuring John Ferguson, George Ritchie,
Marie Rubis Bauer, Kevin Vogt, Craig Cramer, Kimberly Marshall, James Higdon,
and others, and will conclude in the fall of 2004 with a conference on the
liturgical organ.
The following artisans participated in the building of this
instrument: George Brown, Emanuel Denzler, Martin Elsaesser, Markus Hahn,
Dominik Maetzler, Brett Martinez, Christian Metzler, Markus Morscher, Markus
Nagel, Markus Pasi, Martin Pasi, Chris Schinke, Robert Wech.
--Kevin Vogt
Director of Music
St. Cecilia Cathedral
Omaha, Nebraska
Cover photo by Tom Kessler
For information: <www.pasiorgans.com>
Hauptwerk (Well-tempered) Manual I, 58 notes (C-a3)
(* Denotes stops sharing pipes with the meantone organ)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflöte*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Salicional
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Spitzflöte
22⁄3' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte*
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Superoctave*
11⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
V*
1'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
IV
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cornet
V (discant)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet*
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Vox
Humana*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
Oberwerk (Well-tempered)
Manual II, 58 notes (C-a3)
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Suavial*
(discant)
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedeckt*
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflöte*
22⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Sesquialtera
II*
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Waldflöte*
11⁄3' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte*
1'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
IV*
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Dulzian*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trichterregal*
Unterwerk (Well-tempered)
Manual III, 58 notes (C-a3)
(in a Swell enclosure)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bourdon
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Harmonic
Flute
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gamba
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Celeste
(tenor c)
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Principal
4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Harmonic
Flute
22⁄3' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Nazard
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octavin
13⁄5' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Tierce
2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
V
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Bassoon
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Oboe
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clairon
Pedal (Well-Tempered)
30 notes (C-f1), flat/parallel
32' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Subbass
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant*
16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Subbass
(transmission)
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
(transmission)
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedeckt
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave*
22⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
V*
32'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trombone
(transmission)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Posaune*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet*
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trompette
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Clairon
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cornet*
Hauptwerk (Meantone)
Manual I, 48 notes
(C, D, E-c3, d3)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflöte
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
22⁄3' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Superoctave
11⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
V
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Vox
Humana
Oberwerk (Meantone)
Manual II, 48 notes
(C, D, E-c3, d3)
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Suavial
(discant)
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Gedeckt
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Rohrflöte
22⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Sesquialtera
II
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Waldflöte
11⁄3' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Quinte
1'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
IV
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Dulzian
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trechterregal
Pedal (Meantone)
28 notes (C, D, E-f1)
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Praestant
8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
(transmission)
4' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Octave
22⁄3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'> Mixture
V
16' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Posaune
8' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Trumpet
2' style='mso-tab-count:1'> Cornet
Accessories
Tremulant
Zimbelstern
Rossignol
