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Létourneau Opus 136

Tyler A. Canonico plays Fanfare for a New Century by Aaron David Miller.

Létourneau Opus 136 resides at Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The organ comprises 83 total stops, 83 ranks, 4,683 pipes over four manuals and pedal. This organ was featured on the cover of the June 2022 issue of The Diapason.

https://www.thediapason.com/news/orgues-letourneau-opus-136

https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-letourneau-opus-136

https://www.letourneauorgans.com/organs/opus-136

Tyler A. Canonico is the minister of music and organist at Market Square Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, also an adjunct instructor of music at Lebanon Valley College where he conducts the seventy-plus member College Choir. In addition, he is the organist for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and the founder and conductor of the Harrisburg Camerata. He is represented by Concert Artists Cooperative.

https://tylercanonico.com/

https://www.concertartistcooperative.com/

Létourneau Opus 137 is located at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota. The organ comprises 59 stops, 60 ranks, 3,591 pipes, and is featured on the cover of the June 2023 issue of The Diapason.
https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-letourneau-opus-137

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. 

For information: https://www.letourneauorgans.com/organs/opus-137

Related Content

Cover feature: Létourneau Opus 137

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

Létourneau Opus 137
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: Létourneau Opus 136

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

Létourneau Opus 136
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

Létourneau Opus 135

Jonathan Gregoire performs Hugh Bancroft’s “Pastorale” on the new Létourneau organ at First United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas.

Dr. Gregoire is organist at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, as well as executive director of the Arts Foundation of St. Andrew (www.jonathangregoire.com).

The pipe organ, Létourneau’s Opus 135, was completed in late 2020; its 75 ranks offer a vast array of color and dynamic range across seven manual divisions. The full resources of the instrument can be played from the two-manual console in the church’s rear gallery with touchscreen controls for stops and couplers or a traditional four-manual console with drawknobs in the chancel's choir loft.

Létourneau Opus 135 is featured on the cover of the June issue of The Diapason: 
https://www.thediapason.com/content/june-2021 
https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-orgues-letourneau-opus-135

For information: letourneauorgans.com

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