TAO Articles

Christ the King Chapel
St. John Vianney Theological Seminary
Denver, Colorado
Kegg Pipe Organ Builders • Hartville, Ohio
By Charles Kegg

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Every new pipe organ project, large or small, has a unique sense of importance. Rarely are we afforded the opportunity to build an instrument that will inspire generations of clergy to high ideals. Our new organ at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary is a rare honor for an organbuilder. The goal we shared with associate professor of sacred music Mark Lawlor was to build an instrument suited primarily to the multiple daily Masses of the seminarians.

The failing electronic organ from 20 years ago had “replaced” the original 1931 Kilgen pipe organ. Heavily damaged first by modifications to the stoplist with foreign pipes installed by lesser hands, then with loud speakers among and largely on the pipes, the original pipe organ was assumed destroyed. When Kegg representative Dwayne Short first crawled into the crowded, dark, and dirty space, he made his way into the furthest reaches where few had ventured in years, to discover that many of the Kilgen Swell stops had survived in reasonable condition. These along with one Pedal stop and an orphan Great Clarinet gave us some original pipes to consider retaining in the new organ.

Christ the King Chapel is a handsome room built in 1931. Beautiful to look at with masonry walls and terrazzo floors, it is a child of its time, apparent when one looks up. The coffered ceiling panels are elaborately painted acoustic tile, rendering only about one second of reverberation when the room is empty. The organ is at the rear of the room, in a shallow chamber over the main door. The robust all-male congregation is mostly at the front of the nave and in the crossing. All these elements dictate a rich, strong, and dark organ to meet the voices at their pitch and location. There is an Antiphonal that is prepared in the console. Until it is installed, the main organ will have to fill the room from the rear with the singers up front.

Dr. Lawlor specifically requested that all manual divisions be enclosed to afford him and future musicians maximum musical flexibility with regard to accompaniment. Vocal accompaniment is always a priority in Kegg instruments, but here this element is paramount. It seems most organists prefer a three-manual organ to two, which we frequently offer in organs of this size. The new organ is 19 stops and 25 ranks dispersed over three manuals and pedal. The only unenclosed stops are the Pedal Principal 16′, from which the facade pipes are drawn, and the horizontal Pontifical Trumpet, in polished brass with flared bells. This last stop was also a specific request. Because the room is not excessively tall, these pipes are placed as high as possible. The large scale, tapered shallots and 7˝ wind pressure give these pipes a round, Tuba-like quality which is commanding and attractive. It has a limited compass, beginning at C13 for 39 notes to D51.

The Great/Choir and Swell are enclosed in separate expression boxes. The stoplist is not unusual, but the execution of the Principal choruses is. Both choruses have mixtures based at 2′. This allows them to couple to the Pedal without a noticeable pitch gap in the bottom octave sometimes heard with 1⅓’ mixtures. The breaks of these two mixtures are different (as seen in Fig. 1). The Swell Mixture breaks before the Great, bringing in the 2⅔’ pitch early. This gives the Swell Mixture a rich texture, particularly helpful in choral work. Emphasis in finishing is on unison and octave pitches when present. The first break in the Great Mixture is at C♯26 and from C♯14 is one pitch higher than the Swell, making it relatively normal. For the Great Mixture, the upper pitches are given more prominence during finishing. The two choruses complement and contrast well in this intimate space, without excessive brightness.

Many of the flutes and strings were retained from the original Kilgen organ. With some attention in the voicing room, these work well within the Kegg tonal family. Having heard other examples of our work, there was a keen desire by Dr. Lawlor for a new Kegg Harmonic Flute. To make this happen within the budget and space available, we used an existing wood Kilgen 8′ Concert Flute for notes 1–32. At note 33, this stop changes to new Kegg metal harmonic pipes. The stop increases in volume dramatically as you ascend the scale. Available at 8′ and 4′ on both the Great and Choir manuals, the 8′ stop is nicely textured and mezzo forte. The treble of the 4′ morphs into a soaring forte voice, made even more alluring by the tremulant.

With the exception of the Clarinet, all the reeds are new Kegg stops and typical of our work. The Trumpet has a bright treble and a darker, larger bass extending into the Pedal at 16′. The Oboe is capped and modeled after an E.M. Skinner Flügelhorn. The lovely Kilgen Clarinet fits nicely into the Kegg design.

The Pedal has the foundation needed for the organ. The 16′ Principal unit of 56 pipes provides stops at 16′, 8′, and 4′. This is the only flue stop that is not under expression. It grows in volume as you ascend the scale and does so more than its manual counterparts. Because of this, it is easy to have the Pedal be independent and prominent when needed for polyphonic music. This stop joins the Great Principal and Octave, all playing at 8′ pitch, to make the 8′ Solo Diapason III, a Kegg exclusive. With three 8′ diapasons at one time, it is similar in effect to a First Open for both solo and chorus work where a firm 8′ line is required.

The console provides all the features expected in a first- class instrument today including unlimited combination memory, multiple Next/Previous pistons, bone and rosewood keys, and, of course, the Kegg signature pencil drawer and cup holder.
The original 1931 organ was covered by a gray painted wood and cloth grille. The new organ facade design was inspired by the building’s age and funds, but mostly by the significant stone door that dominates the rear wall. This is not a formal case, but it is more than a simple fence row. The stone door is massive and will always be visually dominating, so it was natural to acknowledge it and build from it. The center facade section pipe toes sit atop the lintel with the tops dipping down to mirror the brick arch above, making space for the Pontifical Trumpet to seemingly float. The center section sits 5˝ behind the side bass sections, giving more depth to the visual effect. Viewing the facade from any angle other than head-on, it becomes sculptural.

This was an exceptionally exciting and enjoyable project for us. The enthusiasm, interest, and complete cooperation from the seminarians and staff were a daily spiritual boost for the entire Kegg team. This organ was installed in nine days, ready to be voiced, due largely to the excellent working conditions. Many thanks to Cardinal James Francis Stafford, the Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, archbishop of Denver, Mark Lawlor, and all our new friends at St. John Vianney.

Charles Kegg is president and artistic director of Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, which he established in 1985. The Kegg Company is a member of the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America and Charles is a past president of the American Institute of Organbuilders.

The Kegg team:
Philip Brown
Michael Carden
Cameron Couch
Joyce Harper
Charles Kegg
Philip Laakso
Bruce Schutrum
Ben Schreckengost
Dwayne Short

Kegg Organ Company

SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral
Phoenix, Arizona
Peragallo Organ Company
Paterson, New Jersey

by John Peragallo IV

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“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”
–Daniel Burnham

As organbuilders, we are uniquely privileged to experience many rewarding moments in the process of seeing a new pipe organ come to life. Those moments are all the more amplified when this process includes a vibrant ministry that will realize the full potential of the new instrument. From our first interactions with the staff and organ committee at the Cathedral of SS. Simon and Jude, we sensed that the pipe organ was going to serve as the cornerstone of sacred music within the Diocese of Phoenix. The pipe organ would need to musically support and visually complement a refreshingly unapologetic traditional ministry of sacred music. The organ’s timbres would need to function in both humble and glorifying ways to illuminate to the congregant the power through which chant, hymnody, and improvisation can reveal the sacred mystery.

We were immediately in awe of the unwavering faith of this congregation. People of all ages line around the church waiting to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation; parishioners crawl on hands and knees down the middle aisle to beg forgiveness; there is a perpetual procession of groups gathering to recite the rosary—all attest to the tremendous faith of the people of this special place. The large cross that adorned the altar of Sun Devil Stadium during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1987 is now a familiar beacon as you approach the cathedral. With this steadfast faith and this prominent cross as a starting point, we set out to design an organ to enrich this parish.

The organ’s tonal design is the collaborative effort of John Peragallo III, Mark Husey, consultant for the project, and Matthew Meloche, the director of sacred music at SS. Simon and Jude. The specification is in keeping with the tonal concepts and philosophies you can expect of a Peragallo instrument. Each division is tonally complete and features a wealth of foundation stops. The gallery casework showcases an unenclosed Grand-Orgue, expressive Positif and Récit divisions, and a substantial Pédale. An Antiphonal division provides pitch and accompaniment for the song leader and serves as a counterpoint to the Grand-Orgue. The Solo provides easy keyboard access to the chamades and a plethora of solo color.

Each division possesses not only the requisite tools one would expect to see but also several noteworthy perks.

At the urging of the consultant, we have included a manual Flûte Conique 32′ digital voice. The overall effect of adding this subtle flue to the chorus is most favorable in executing French music from both the Classical and Romantic schools. The Grand-Orgue is also equipped with softer accompanimental stops from the expressive divisions to offer a seamless crescendo and versatility in registration.

The Positif expressif houses the powerful Tromba Magna. This high-pressure reed, fitted with German tapered shallots that are modified with a straight bore, benefits from the extremely effective expression of the Positif chamber. When adding the Tromba to the chorus with the box closed, it can serve as bigger chorus reed. At full open, the Tromba broadens the Grand Jeu while not overpowering the balance of the ensemble.

Another notable inclusion is the large-scale 8′ Corno di Bassetto in the Récit division. Sitting alongside the traditional Hautbois and Trompette, this throaty color is available at 16 pitch on the Solo. The Récit also includes a Sept/Neuf (1 1 ∕ 7′ and 8 ⁄ 9′) that imparts a reedy shimmer to the full chorus and also serves as part of the collective Cornet à la neuvième VIII.

The versatile nature of the organ’s mechanism afforded the ability to create composite stops for the Solo division, such as the Grande Montre III, which is drawn from the three largest-scale Montre stops. Likewise, the Flûte majeure II, Flauto veneziano Celeste II, and Cor de Violes VII go one step in depth and volume beyond their divisional counterparts. The Solo provides access to two collective Cornets, as well as the Tromba Magna, at a variety of pitches.

Finally, the Solo offers access to several colorful reeds at pitches other than those found in their respective divisions. For example, the Chalumeau à cheminée sits well in the Positif chorus at 4′ pitch along with the Cromorne 8′ and the Cor anglais 16′. The Chalumeau and the Cor anglais are both available at 8′ pitch on the Solo.

The Pédale division holds four independent 32′ pitches of varying color and power, and the facade pipework includes both the Violone 16′ and Montre 16′. The Bombarde 16′ reeds are fitted with special bored German shallots.

The Trompette en chamade features English shallots with flared resonators in polished zinc splayed in a spectacular arrangement high in the casework.

The digital makeup of the floating Antiphonal insures that it will always be in tune with the gallery organ when called upon.

The design and fabrication of the organ’s casework was under the direction of Frank Peragallo. The design follows cues from the cathedral’s unique arches reflected in the doubly curving towers. The sightlines and hierarchies seek to elevate the eye upward.

The organ also features chamber wall designs borrowing from concepts developed for structurally insulated panels that are used in green building systems. These walls perform a double function of keeping the chamber temperatures even in the Arizona heat and creating a stark pianissimo effect when the expressions shades are closed. New techniques for racking were developed for the double curves within the towers and the Trompette en chamade.

The organ’s console design features curving detail gleaned from the organ casework and cathedral ecclesiastical appointments. The music desk incorporates a Southwest motif with inlay of three wood species—maple, oak, and cherry.

At the pinnacle of the casework, a hand-carved cherry Étoile Sonora (spinning star cymbelstern) adorns the case and rotates when activated. The star’s design represents the five charisms of Mary Ward, the five Loreto Sisters who founded the school, and the founding pastor, Father Paul Smith. The Loreto Sisters have faithfully served the Diocese of Phoenix since 1954.

After four months of engineering and planning and six months of fabrication, the organ was fully assembled at the factory in Paterson, New Jersey. An open house was held for the community before it was disassembled and loaded onto the truck for the four-day journey to Arizona.

Ten Peragallo employees flew to Phoenix for six weeks for the installation of the new organ. Each morning the crew drove from their outpost in Northern Phoenix to the cathedral, passing dozens of hot air balloons and witnessing the priceless morning sunrises of the greater Phoenix valley. It took only one week to rebuild the massive organ casework and chambers in the balcony. The console was placed on display on the main floor of the cathedral so parishioners could have a chance to view it before it was raised up to the balcony.

One week later, the initial sounds were heard and the four-week voicing process began. This culminated with the Blessing of the Organ by the Most Reverend Thomas James Olmsted, Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, on November 21, 2016. Four dedicatory recitals have been played since, featuring Paul Weber, organist, Trinity Episcopal Church, New Orleans; Mark Husey, organist, Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, California; Jonathan Ryan, organist, Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut; and Skye Hart, director of music at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Phoenix.

This installation in Phoenix is our family’s first instrument west of the Mississippi since John Peragallo Sr. took the American Master Organ Company Opus 3 by rail to the Rialto Theatre in Butte, Montana, in 1917. One hundred years and 746 organs later, four members of the Peragallo family and ten craftsmen on our dedicated staff headed out across the country once more. We are proud to extend our tradition and look forward to building more instruments and reaching more parishes across the country in the years to come.

We are grateful for the support of Bishop Olmsted; the Very Reverend Father John Lankeit, cathedral rector; Matthew J. Meloche, director of sacred music; Mark Husey, consultant; Pam Lambros, parish stewardship and communications coordinator; the cathedral organ committee; and all those that supported the cathedral music initiatives and this project.

John Peragallo IV is architectural designer for Peragallo Organ Company.

First Parish Unitarian
Universalist Church
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Andover Organ Company • Lawrence, Massachusetts

By Matthew M. Bellocchio

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Duxbury, on the Atlantic coast 35 miles southeast of Boston, was settled by some of the original Mayflower Pilgrims. By 1632, a group including John Alden and Myles Standish left their small Plymouth farms and went north to work larger lots along Massachusetts Bay. In 1637, their settlement, having met the legal requirements to be set off as a separate community with its own church, was incorporated as Duxborough (original spelling), the second town in the Plymouth Colony. Elder William Brewster was the church’s first leader. The church embraced the Unitarian doctrine in 1828. The present 1840 Greek Revival meetinghouse, the fourth in the church’s history, retains most of its original furnishings. In 1851, the ladies of the church held their first fair to raise money for an organ and a fence around the cemetery. A Simmons organ was installed in 1853.

The builder, William Benjamin Dearborn Simmons (1823–1876), apprenticed with E. & G.G. Hook and then worked for Thomas Appleton. In 1846, he started his own company and soon won contracts for large and important instruments. By 1852, he had shipped an organ to San Francisco. By 1859, he had sent one to Honolulu and built a three-manual instrument for Harvard University. In 1862, he provided most of the interior parts for the first organ in the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. Simmons was mid-19th-century Boston’s most innovative builder. He was the first to adopt steam-powered factory machinery, C-compass manuals, 27-note pedalboards, independent higher-pitched mutation stops, Pedal reeds, and equal temperament tuning. He also experimented with double-pressure wind systems, ventil windchests, and pneumatic combination actions.

In contrast, Simmons’s small, early organs were quite conservative. His 1853 Duxbury instrument, with two manuals and 15 stops, had a short-compass Swell, an even shorter-compass Pedal (1 stop, 13 pipes, 17 pedal keys), and refined voicing. Except for the 1930 addition of an electric blower, the organ served for 114 years without major repairs until it was rebuilt in 1967 by Andover.

In the 1960s, the Organ Reform Movement was in full swing in the United States. Originating in Germany in the 1930s, it arose in reaction to the excesses of symphonic-style organs. New and existing instruments were judged by their ability to authentically render Baroque music, especially that of Bach. Nineteenth-century American organs, with their sweet flutes and strings, were considered decadent and inadequate. Early on, few American companies were repairing old tracker organs; most just electrified or replaced them. Andover, founded in 1948, was the first to deliberately retain and renovate 19th-century trackers. But, adhering to the Organ Reform philosophy, it occasionally “improved” those organs tonally.

Andover’s 1967 rebuild of the Duxbury organ left the Great essentially intact, with bass pipes added to the tenor F Trumpet and only one stop change: a three-rank Mixture replaced the 8′ Clarabella. The short-compass Swell chest gave way to a used full-compass one. All the Swell flue stops, except the 8′ Stopped Diapason, were replaced with new ranks voiced in the neo-Baroque style of the day, and a late 19th-century Oboe supplanted the short-compass Swell Hautboy. The 17-note pedalboard was replaced with a 30-note concave-radiating one, along with new couplers. Simmons’s 13-note Sub Bass was extended, and an 8′ Pommer and 4′ Choral Bass were added to the Pedal.

Tonally, the 1967 Duxbury rebuild created a mixed marriage of Simmons and neo-Baroque. Today, in Andover’s 70th anniversary year, we would never repeat what our predecessors did there. We are more respectful of old organs and have since done many historically sympathetic restorations and rebuilds. Recent examples include our 2016 mechanical restoration of the 1892 Woodberry & Harris (Opus 100, III/41) at St. Mary Church in Charlestown, Mass., and our 2015 rebuilding and expansion of the 1902 Hook & Hastings (Opus 1883) at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass. (featured in the October 2015 TAO).

Though the Duxbury organ was still in good working order, First Parish’s music director Edwin Swanborn and Andover’s Robert C. Newton, who maintained the organ until his 2016 retirement, had been planning a tonal restoration for some years. In 2017, 50 years after the 1967 rebuild, their plans have come to fruition.

Our recent work has returned the organ to Simmons’s original style and voicing, while slightly increasing its resources. The Simmons 8′ Clarabella pipes, stored for 50 years, were returned to the Great. To make room for them, we moved the 8′ Dulciana to the Swell. We kept the 1967 Mixture III, but revoiced it to blend with the Simmons chorus. We replaced the 1967 Swell windchest with a larger, full-compass 1852 Simmons chest, salvaged from the Center Methodist Church in Provincetown, Mass. Aside from the 8′ Dulciana and 8′ Stopped Diapason, which are original to the organ, all the Swell 16′, 8′, and 4′ flues are from an 1852 Simmons organ removed from the former Unitarian Church in Gloucester, Mass. We revoiced the 1967 Swell 2 ⅔’, 2′, and 1 3∕5′ stops, as well as the Oboe, and added a new three-rank Mixture in Simmons’s style.

We enlarged the Pedal from three stops to five, planting all the pipes on new C and C# slider chests. The 8′ Pommer was converted to a 5 ⅓’ Quint, a surprisingly useful fundamental-reinforcing stop found in Simmons’s larger Pedal divisions. The six low notes of the new principal-toned 8′ Violoncello provide the facade pipes of the outer towers. A new metal 16′ Posaune underpins, but does not overpower, the Great chorus. Tonally, the Duxbury organ now bears a striking resemblance to the two-manual 1857 Simmons at Most Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston, heard in Thomas Murray’s 1973 Sheffield LP recording of Mendelssohn Organ Sonatas 2, 5, and 6 (available on CD from Raven Recordings, OAR-390).

A first-time visitor, unaware of the Duxbury organ’s history, might assume that it has always looked and sounded this way. This was intentional! At Andover, we take great care to design each new organ to complement its architectural surroundings and to look as if it has always been there. We did the same in this rebuild. To accommodate the added Pedal stops we judiciously expanded Simmons’s modest Greek Revival case from three sections to five. The only new case pieces are the fronts of the outer towers. The sides are original, with sections added to increase their height. Justin Gordon of Groveland, Mass., carved the new pipe shades and top ornaments for the outer towers. Our longtime friend and collaborator, painted decoration conservator Marylou Davis, and her associate Bridget Byrne repainted the pine case using “faux grain” techniques to make it look like rosewood. The painted-over facade pipes were stripped and gilded, restoring their original finish.

The organ’s interior is a blend of old and new. The windchest, key, and stop actions of the Great are original, as are the manual keyboards. To withstand winter heating, the Simmons Great and Swell windchests received new marine-grade plywood tables, crosshatched and graphited like the originals, and their sliders were re-shimmed for proper movement. We replaced the 1967 aluminum Swell trackers, squares, and couplers with traditional wooden components. The new Pedal windchests have wooden key and stop actions. Simmons’s large reservoir, whose second set of ribs had been removed, was restored to its original double-fold configuration. Flexible wind ducts were replaced with rectangular sectioned wooden wind trunks. A new high-speed blower, in a silencing box outside the organ, replaces the old blower in the cellar.

Andover’s Don Glover and Michael Eaton oversaw the project’s tonal and mechanical aspects, respectively. Others who worked on this project were: Ryan Bartosiewicz, Matthew Bellocchio, Anne Doré, Andrew Hagberg, Lisa Lucius, Benjamin Mague, Kevin Mathieu, John Morlock, Fay Morlock, Carl Morlock, Jon Ross, Craig Seaman, and David Zarges. The rebuilt organ was premiered at an open house at our shop on August 19, 2017, and resumed its church duties in early November 2017. Edwin Swanborn will play the rededicatory concert on November 4, at 7:00 p.m., joined by instrumentalists, the Zamir Chorale of Boston, and Brian Jones, emeritus director of music and organist at Trinity Church, Boston, who grew up in the church and played the 1967 rededicatory recital.

Matthew M. Bellocchio, a project manager and designer at Andover Organ, is a fellow and past president of the American Institute of Organbuilders. He co-chaired the Organ Historical Society’s 2005 Southeastern Massachusetts Convention.

St. Paul’s Chapel
of Trinity Church Wall Street
New York City
Noack Organ Company • Georgetown, Massachusetts

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From the Director of Music and Arts

From my first day at Trinity Church Wall Street, I have urgently desired to see world-class pipe organs reinstalled in Trinity’s three liturgical spaces—not merely our iconic 1846 Richard Upjohn building at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street and its attached All Saints Chapel, but also in St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity’s second functioning church home dating from 1766, five blocks up from Trinity Church at Broadway and Fulton Street. To my core, I believe that living, breathing instruments are the best way to support living and breathing human beings in worship and song. The arrival of the Noack at St. Paul’s is the first and very happy step in this process.

To make music at Trinity Church Wall Street is to work in an atmosphere of rare privilege. Having grown up under the tutelage of Anthony Furnivall at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo and then with Gerre and Judith Hancock while a boy chorister at the St. Thomas Choir School, I had excellence in liturgy and sacred concert modeled and instilled in me from a young age. It’s difficult to express adequate gratitude for those wonderful mentors who helped prepare me at such a young age for this auspicious position in lower Manhattan.

For centuries now, Trinity Church Wall Street (and the chapels formerly and currently under Trinity’s leadership) has always endeavored to provide excellence in music, both in liturgical form and in a secular concert setting. Indeed, these buildings and the art created within them have provided the example to countless others, from the apocryphal American premiere of Handel’s Messiah to the wildly outside-the-box 1846 Erben organ, some of its keyboards six and a half octaves in compass (!). In the 20th century, the parish always supported abundant fine music, with such luminaries as Larry King, Channing Lefebvre, and George Mead always striving to provide the highest quality, both of musicianship and innovative programming. As a young student, I fondly remember enjoying Trinity’s recordings of Leo Sowerby’s complete choral works (the albums having been recently acquired by my then-roommate, Peter Krasinski).

In 2010, when I was called to Trinity in the newly created position of Director of Music and the Arts, my mandate was clear: build on the recent initiatives of organist/director of music Owen Burdick and “Concerts at One” artistic director Earl Tucker to reinvigorate and recast Trinity’s centuries-old professional music offerings into an internationally recognized performing arts center in New York City. This goal could be achieved by coupling secular and sacred offerings into a single coherent direction with a common mission. As part of this vision, new ensembles and programs were created, namely “Bach at One” (a weekly presentation of the choral works of J.S. Bach), “Compline by Candlelight” (a weekly Sunday evening service of improvised polyphony), NOVUS NY (Trinity’s contemporary music orchestra), Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and “Pipes at One” (featuring St. Paul’s Chapel’s previous Schlicker), and the Time’s Arrow Festival, an annual offering that juxtaposes music of our time with the ancient past. Most events take place at St. Paul’s Chapel, the perfect venue for intimate, spiritually rich concerts and liturgies. As we began to present these offerings at St. Paul’s, however, it soon became clear that the Schlicker, with its heavy mechanical action, was neither large nor varied enough to fulfill the needs of this growing liturgical and concert venue.

Most recently, and particularly under the leadership of our rector, the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, Trinity has committed to an even deeper outreach in many directions: liturgical, community, social justice, music, and arts. In each of these areas, Trinity has redoubled its efforts to serve lower Manhattan. The response is timely, for this part of New York has seen tremendous change. What was once almost exclusively a business region has become, perhaps unexpectedly, a thriving neighborhood of younger people and families. As a result, both at Trinity (four services on Sunday, four services each weekday) and St. Paul’s (three Sunday services) we have more families and young people attending worship than ever before.

Early in my tenure, we did some preliminary work related to commissioning new pipe organs. Despite excellent efforts made by many, however, these initiatives did not take root. In 2015, we began afresh, convening a new committee—this time with active clergy and vestry participation. In June 2015, we brought Jonathan Ambrosino on board as project adviser. At his advice we created a traveling subcommittee, comprised primarily of myself, Jonathan, congregation members Scott Townell and Art Sikula, and the insightful participation of my colleague organist, Avi Stein. Working seamlessly between this traveling research committee, and the various vestry committees charged with investigating the viability of acquiring new instruments across the campus, was the unflappable William H.A. Wright II, a vestry member at both Trinity and at St. Thomas Church, where, as warden, he had been instrumental in guiding that parish through its process of commissioning the new Dobson.

In the usual course of researching organs and builders, we found ourselves in Boston looking at both new and older instruments. All along we had considered existing as well as new organs, and it turned out that for one particularly appealing historic instrument, we weren’t the only interested party. The other contender was Church of the Redeemer in suburban Chestnut Hill, which had decided their 1989 Noack wasn’t adequately supporting their music program. I knew this Noack well. I had practiced there while living in Brookline (during my ten-year tenure as university organist and choirmaster at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel). Later, after I got to Trinity, we used the Church of the Redeemer (it has terrific acoustics) as a recording venue for the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Thus, after a few text messages and a quick detour, their director of music, Michael Murray, warmly welcomed us to see the organ again. In a flash, I thought it could work particularly well at St. Paul’s Chapel. Yes, the organ had some limitations, but at its core was an energy and conviction as appealing to me now as it was in the 1990s.

We knew the Noack would sound great at St. Paul’s, with its few shortcomings addressed and a few useful features added. We trusted that Didier Grassin’s reputation for visual mastery would bear fruit in handling the altered 1802 organ case. But none of us was quite prepared for just how very good and right it would actually be. The tone, the action, and the sheer physical beauty of the case have us all entirely captivated. Our gratitude goes to Didier Grassin, the dedicated Noack staff, and their extended collaborators, all of whom helped bring about this great gift to liturgy and music at St. Paul’s. The chapel now has an instrument that can support the level of performance we strive to achieve. Expect to see another happy feature in a few years, as the vestry voted unanimously in December 2017 to bring back pipes at Trinity Church!

Julian J. Wachner, FAGO

From the Consultant

In June 2015, when Julian Wachner and the Rev. Phillip Jackson, the vicar of Trinity, asked me to a dinner to discuss new pipe organs at Trinity, I felt a rare sense of elation. Who wouldn’t want to help this storied place in such a process?

In short order, I had to confront my embarrassing ignorance about the Trinity of today. We all know about the famed Choir of Trinity Wall Street, but I knew nothing about Bach at One or the improvised Compline. I understood that children were active at Trinity (more than 100, I would learn), but had no knowledge of the church’s extensive education and outreach program to youth throughout New York City. Given what the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer stressed while dean of Trinity Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, it wasn’t surprising that his becoming rector at Trinity would see an increased engagement on social justice issues. But the range and extent of Trinity’s involvement in this regard is truly staggering. It became clear on my many visits to the church that the number of visitors to each place was undeniable, with tourists and pilgrims often attending a comprehensive array of free musical programming by top performers. At no other church of my acquaintance is there music of such scope, from the wide range of liturgies or a Bach cantata at the lunch hour, to the world premiere of an opera or a newly commissioned Mass setting.

Fast forward six months to a December morning when Julian, Avi Stein, and I made what seemed like a lark visit to Chestnut Hill. When Julian suggested the Noack as a candidate for St. Paul’s Chapel, I had some information at hand. Two years earlier, Church of the Redeemer had hired me to survey the Noack and suggest options for moving forward. Thus began a process that led Redeemer to sell the Noack to Trinity and commission its own new organ (from Schoenstein, to be unveiled this month).

The entire prospect had echoes of another project for which I had served as consultant, at Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. There, in 1993, Fritz Noack fashioned his first modern essay in electric action, and a fascinating study in contrasts. The good things were particularly so, convicted and convincing, but other elements held the organ back from its full potential. In 2015, under Didier Grassin, Noack rebuilt the Dallas organ, honoring all that was good while recasting the rest. The result surprised everyone; we’d expected a good result, but this was distinctive.

While a much smaller organ, the Chestnut Hill Noack could answer to the same description. An unabashed, articulate Great chorus, topped by an equally unambiguous Trumpet, splashed its way into the room with a pure frisson. The remote Swell was less engaging, and, while interesting in concept, the small Choir seemed unrelated to the other departments in practice. The Pedal had something to say, but collapsing pipes compromised the effect.

By this time, I had worked long enough with Julian not to discount his hunches. Besides, relocating a used instrument seemed an intriguing way to start Trinity’s overall organ project. Certainly, both churches have had their share of instruments. At St. Paul’s, the first organ was imported from George Pike England in 1802 and fitted to a case by Johann Geib. In 1870, the Odells brought this organ into the modern age, widening the case, adding a swell box on top, and fitting a Pedal. In 1928, Skinner provided a new organ, which Aeolian-Skinner rebuilt in 1950; both versions retained Odell’s awkward penthouse Swell. In the tenure of George Mead and his assistant, Robert Arnold, a new mechanical-action Schlicker arrived in 1964. While Odell’s Swell never looked right, without it the case looked wrongly wide. The Schlicker was an important installation for New York in its day, but had proven unreliable and limited. The Andover Organ Company did some work on the organ in 1981, but fundamental engineering and action issues remained.

A few weeks after our visit to Boston, Trinity commissioned Noack to study how the Chestnut Hill organ might be resolved with the St. Paul’s case. As with the project in Dallas, Didier Grassin provided a sensible solution. He would accept St. Paul’s 1870 case’s width but correct its proportions by raising the center sections. Certain parts of the Chestnut Hill Noack would need making anew, but anything that didn’t could be checked over and re-implemented for installation in New York. In place of the original detached console (for which there was no room at St. Paul’s), a new attached keydesk would be fashioned. Those stops that had either failed mechanically or disappointed tonally would be replaced.

In the end, every decision, small and large, has contributed to the organ’s success: a new and far better swell box; the decision to reintroduce gilding; the remarkable new Swell and Pedal reeds; the addition of a disarmingly lifelike nightingale device, here cheekily called “Byrds.” Where before the Geib case seemed dusty and unimportant, now it rises like royalty, a fitting and majestic response to the gilded altar. I add my thanks to the Noack team and the many people at Trinity who supported this project.

Jonathan Ambrosino

From the Builder

Relocating an existing organ is notoriously difficult. The spaces usually do not match; they exhibit different acoustics, configurations, layouts, or even musical needs. Surely if a project should fail, it would be the relocation of a colorful 1989 Noack organ from a quiet and leafy Boston suburb to the hyperventilated Financial District of Manhattan, right on Broadway.

Indeed, there is little in common between the neo-Gothic architecture and live acoustics of Church of the Redeemer and the intimate atmosphere of historic St. Paul’s Chapel. Neither is there much in common between the original setting of the instrument, tucked deep in a chamber in Chestnut Hill, and its new home, a 1802/1870 mahogany case in New York.

One must admire Julian Wachner’s determination to see beyond appearances and his wish to bring to St. Paul’s Chapel the joy he had experienced playing that organ while living in Boston. It is not entirely surprising that Julian would find a kindred spirit in the colorful and energetic sounds Fritz Noack created in the original instrument. The challenge at hand was to transplant not only a set of pipes, or some kind of machinery, but the exhilarating experience and memories of a musician.

Still, an organ is made of windchests, reservoirs, windlines, mechanisms, and pipes. All of these would have to find a new place. There is no doubt that the biggest challenge Fritz Noack faced in 1989 was the conditions he found at Chestnut Hill: an unfortunate deep organ chamber. There was only so much a skilled and experienced organbuilder like Fritz could do to compensate. After all, no conductor or choir director would expect their singers or instrumentalists to give their best sound while shoved in a closet. However, this is what is expected from the organbuilder! The move to St. Paul’s Chapel allowed the three manual divisions to be reorganized more sensibly. The Great kept its prime position, up front and center, while the Choir, which used to speak behind the reversed console, is now perched at impost level, where it chirps happily. The Swell, which greatly suffered from lack of height and egress, now rises all the way behind the two manual divisions. Finally, the Pedal has been split into the traditional C and C#sides at the extremities of the case.

Surprisingly, little tonal rebalancing was necessary. It felt as if the pipework had just been waiting to be given a proper spot. With an enlarged and redesigned swell box, we were able to revisit the Swell reeds. The result is an organ that has gained a far wider dynamic range while retaining its original colors. I believe the multiple facets of this instrument will surprise many, and I anticipate seeing how far the expansive music program at Trinity Church Wall Street will push the organ’s tonal envelope.

A new chapter in this instrument’s life is starting. New memories and new experiences are being created. There is nothing more an organbuilder could hope for.

Didier Grassin, President
Noack Organ Company

Eric Kenney, Dean Smith, Mary Beth DiGenova, Evan Fairbanks, Brett Greene, Aaron Tellers, Ian Esmonde (Noack staff)
Amory Atkins, Terence Atkin (on-site assistance)
Terry Shires (facade pipes and new reeds)
Joshua Sidlowski (case gilding)
Laurent Robert (new carvings)
Jean-Sébastien Dufour, David Rooney, Didier Grassin (voicing and tonal finishing)

Shandon Presbyterian Church
Columbia, South Carolina
Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders

by Tomasz Lewtak

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Building a three-manual tracker instrument is exciting and challenging. In the case of Shandon Presbyterian Church, the greatest predicament stemmed from the limited space in which the sizable organ is placed. All 3,075 pipes, including the full-length 16’´reed and open 16′ Contre Viole, had to be fitted within a 135- square-foot area. It nearly put us beyond our comfort zone, as we realize the importance of accessibility to all pipes and internal components. The solution came with many hours of creative design. The end result is tight, but comfortable.

Rather than provide obvious information about our quality materials, excellent construction, and painstaking attention to the smallest details, we focus our thoughts on one aspect often underappreciated and treated as secondary— tuning and temperament.

What determines the temperament for a new organ, or any instrument for that matter? Perhaps the simple answer is personal taste, but surely there are other factors, such as style and character of the instrument, its future role and functionality. We have no intention of arguing the superiority of one tuning over another. After all, what is beautiful to some may be unattractive to others! In our quest for the best temperament we settled on universality as the most important factor. Equal temperament lacks color and variation of different keys. It can be compared to a gray paint with which all music will be treated, well . . . equally! What a loss for repertoire composed in different keys! The Shandon organ is tuned according to a formula from 1724, developed by the German theorist and composer Johann Georg Neidhardt. We stumbled upon this temperament when the consultant for our organ in Denmark requested it. We experienced a total aural surprise in the most positive way—it worked in an incredibly subtle way, giving various keys their unique individuality without being perceived as harsh or, as it is in cases of many other unequal temperaments, unusable. In fact, it made the organ sound sweet and playful. To the average listener there are no unpleasant surprises associated with tonality. Organists find it perfectly usable for virtually all of the literature.

Many people contributed to this enormous project. The person who deserves the highest recognition is consultant  Timothy Belk. His energy, enthusiasm, kindness, and perseverance made this undertaking a reality. We will remain forever grateful.

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Tomasz Lewtak is president of Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders.

For further information regarding the work of Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders, visit lewtak.com.
Photography: Mateusz Littwin

Located in the heart of Columbia, South Carolina, Shandon Presbyterian Church has been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA since 1916. A worshiping community of nearly 900 parishioners celebrated their centennial with the preservation of the neo-Gothic-style sanctuary interior and new pipe organ.

As specified by acoustic design consultant Dana Kirkegaard, the 39-foot ceiling was reinforced with thick wooden decking to better enhance the spoken and sung Word. Its adobe color is accented with gold-colored molding. With once-fashionable carpeting removed, the original tupelo wood flooring was restored to a rich luster. Hardwood pews were stripped of thick cushions and refinished to their original color. Stained-glass windows, from the studio of George Hardy Payne of Paterson, New Jersey, were meticulously cleaned revealing the artistry and splendor of artist Per Bergethon. Crenshaw Lighting of Floyd, Virginia, dramatically improved overall lighting with custom fabricated bronze LED fixtures.

The south transept houses original chancel furnishings faithfully restored and dating from the 1920s. Named for its central window, The Sower’s Chapel is an intimate setting for smaller memorial, Taizé, and wedding services.

An inviting narthex welcomes visitors and worshipers alike. A blue ceiling reminds us of the promise of a new day.

The original M.P. Möller organ (Opus 6626, 1938), and its 1958 and 1975 modest additions by the original builder were removed and the chancel expanded to maximize flexibility within the contexts of worship and concert alike. New chancel furnishings, designed by liturgical consultant Terry Byrd Eason of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and crafted of exotic sapele wood by Lewtak Pipe Organ Builders, are seamlessly wed to the organ case design. Its speaking facade is comprised of tin principal pipes with gilded mouths of 24-carat gold leaf.

Tuned in a slightly modified temperament, the organ, leaning toward the romantic, is well suited to all periods. Manual divisions offer a rich singing fond d’orgue, punctuated with orchestral color and pungent chorus reeds, mutations, and complementing mixtures. Comprised of 47 stops and 59 ranks, the new organ pays homage to the old with the subbass, violone, and clarinet retained from the original instrument. Walker Technical provided judicious use of the usual 32′ digital stops, which serve well in the small space. The use of carbon fiber trackers offers the organist tremendous touch control while electric stop action with Heuss Orgelteile’s virtually unlimited memory and solid-state expression provide ease of playing. A French terrace console design ensures visibility of the choir.

Shandon enjoys a traditional worship and music ministry comprised of usual singing and ringing choirs for all ages, and an admirable concert series. The organ remains a central voice in this intentional focus. The organ selection committee struggled with a desire to commission a mechanical- action organ of three manuals despite constraints defined by a central window. A church musician and organist, North Carolina-based organbuilder Tomasz Lewtak brought a wealth of practical and professional knowledge. His contagious passion, realized in the aural and visual beauty of the organ, is the crown jewel of the centennial effort.

Timothy J. Belk
Church Administrator

Our firm was invited to work with Shandon Presbyterian Church several years before the organbuilder was finally selected. The church, before renovation, suffered from the typical constricted choir area behind a narrow stage-like rostrum pulpit, the communion table down on the nave floor level with very poor visibility, and very dry acoustics that did not well support hymn singing and traditional music. By way of an extensive design process with a church committee, a very flexible single-level chancel platform plan, which strategically fills much of the “crossing” area defined by the transept seating, is large enough to maximize the possibilities for many kinds of liturgical and musical uses. New flexible principal furnishings (communion table, pulpit, and font) were designed to relate to the simple and restrained Gothic characteristics of the church building. New ministers’ chairs were developed to permit masking of the new organ console when desired, or re-spaced or removed to allow variable or full visibility to the fixed console location. These chairs together with movable choir modesty screens permit the choir area to expand onto the spacious main platform when a larger choir or orchestra is needed. Likewise, the choir area can be reduced to maximize the open space available on the chancel platform.

The new choir and organ area remains on the central axis, but with an expanded width and depth permitted by the removal of the large proscenium arch that defined the old constrained choir loft and side-opening organ chambers. This reconstruction of the chancel end of the church was coordinated with replacement of the old lightweight wooden dropped ceiling with a much heavier wooden ceiling that maintains the previous ceiling form and retains the ornamental wooden arches that conceal the main steel structure. The new ceiling was extended solidly back over the reconfigured organ and choir area so that these key elements for musical leadership were now in the same acoustic space as the gathered congregation.

The organ selection committee very much wanted a mechanical-action organ. Removal of the large central window was considered by some organbuilder proposals, but that was met with much resistance from the congregation as might be expected. The large organ cases that now flank the retained window in the widened choir area were developed by Douglas Abbott of Abbott Designs and, wisely, are broken into three parts with the smaller part of each case placed closest to the window so that the window remains the focal point of the chancel. The Eason firm also developed the design for the pipe shades that work with the rounded forms of the top of the organ cases but introduce a subtle Tudor Gothic shape to the largest pipe towers to relate to the room architecture, the central window, and the new chancel furnishings.

Terry Byrd Eason
Terry Byrd Eason Design
Liturgical Design Consultant