MAY, 2006 Principia College, Elsah, Illinois Cover

THE
D I A PA S O N
MAY, 2006
Principia College, Elsah, Illinois
Cover feature on pages 30–32
October 2006
The Choir of St. George’s Chapel,
Windsor Castle
Timothy Byram-Wigfield, director
Honoring HM Queen Elizabeth II in the year of her 80th
birthday. St. George’s Chapel, within the precincts of Windsor
Castle, is the scene of many royal occasions during the course
of a year, including recently the Service of Blessing for the
wedding of HRH The Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of
Cornwall. The choir of men and boys has been in existence
since 1348 and maintains a school for the choristers.
March 2007
The Choir of Eton College
Ralph Allwood, director
Just across the Thames from Windsor Castle sits
England’s most famous “public school,” founded by
King Henry VI in 1440. This choir of men and boys has
captivated American audiences on four previous tours
since 1995.
“A staggeringly good choir, beautifully balanced, alert,
intelligent, well-tuned, passionate, and sensitive.”
(The Times, London)
“Excellent by all standards...sheer perfection.”
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
“A special choral concert...purely heavenly sounds.”
(Green Bay Press-Gazette, Wisconsin)
Chanson
six-voice male a cappella vocal ensemble
“Simply splendid...It was a moment to cherish.”
(The Courier-Journal, Louisville)
“In the upper echelon of today’s male ensembles.”
(Robert Sieving, president, American Choral Directors
Association of Minnesota)
“Gifted young men who sing with elegant ensemble,
sincere expression, and sensitive musicianship.”
(René Clausen, director, The Concordia Choir)
“One of the best groups I have ever heard.”
(Donald W. Crouch, Associated Male Choruses of America)
“Bravo! Chanson surpassed our expectations....
a terrific evening.”
(Karen Tindall, Fort Walton Beach FL, presenter)
concertartists.com
email@concertartists.com • towerhill-recordings.com
toll-free (888) 999-0644 US/Canada • phone (860) 560-7800 • fax (860) 560-7788
1 Gold Street #R, Hartford CT 06103-2914
THE DIAPASON
A Scranton Gillette Publication
Ninety-seventh Year: No. 5, Whole No. 1158
Established in 1909
MAY, 2006
ISSN 0012-2378
An International Monthly Devoted to the Organ,
the Harpsichord, the Carillon and Church Music
Editor & Publisher
CONTENTS
JEROME BUTERA
jbutera@sgcmail.com
847/391-1045
FEATURES
The 45th Conference on Organ Music
The University of Michigan,
October 9–12, 2005
by Marcia Van Oyen
The Williams Family of New Orleans:
Installing and Maintaining Aeolian-Skinner
Organs
An Interview with Nora Williams
by Lorenz Maycher
Associate Editor
JOYCE ROBINSON
jrobinson@sgcmail.com
847/391-1044
20
Contributing Editors
LARRY PALMER
Harpsichord
24
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
JAMES McCRAY
Choral Music
3
BRIAN SWAGER
Carillon
NEWS
Here & There
Appointments
Nunc Dimittis
In the wind . . .
by John Bishop
4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14
6
12
HERBERT L. HUESTIS
OrganNet Report
Osiris Organ Archive
www.mdi.ca/hhuestis/osiris
e-mail: hhuestis@mdi.ca
14
Prepress Operations
REVIEWS
Music for Voices and Organ
Book Reviews
New Recordings
New Organ Music
16
17
18
19
NEW ORGANS
32
CALENDAR
33
ORGAN RECITALS
36
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
37
Cover: Casavant Frères, Saint-Hyacinthe,
Quebec, Canada; Principia College,
Elsah, Illinois
30
www.TheDiapason.com
Send subscriptions, inquiries, and
address changes to THE DIAPASON, 380
E. Northwest Hwy., Suite 200, Des
Plaines, IL 60016-2282.
DAN SOLTIS
THE DIAPASON (ISSN 0012-2378) is published monthly by
Scranton Gillette Communications, Inc., 380 E. Northwest
Highway, Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282. Phone
847/391-1045. Fax (847) 390-0408. Telex: 206041 MSG RLY
Email: jbutera@sgcmail.com web: TheDiapason.com
Subscriptions: 1 yr. $35; 2 yr. $50; 3 yr. $65 (United
States and U.S. Possessions). Foreign subscriptions:
1 yr. $45; 2 yr. $60; 3 yr. $80. Single copies $6
(U.S.A.); $8 (foreign).
Back issues over one year old are available only from
The Organ Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261, which can supply information on availabilities and prices.
Periodical postage paid at Des Plaines, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to THE DIAPASON, 380 E. Northwest Highway,
Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282.
Routine items for publication must be received six
weeks in advance of the month of issue. For advertising
copy, the closing date is the 1st. Prospective contributors
of articles should request a style sheet. Unsolicited
reviews cannot be accepted.
This journal is indexed in the The Music Index, annotated in Music Article Guide, and abstracted in RILM
Abstracts.
Copyright ©2006. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
THE DIAPASON accepts no responsibility or liability for
the validity of information supplied by contributors, vendors, advertisers or advertising agencies.
No portion of the contents of this issue may be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission
of the Editor, except that libraries are authorized to make photocopies of the material contained herein for the purpose of course reserve reading at the rate of one copy for every fifteen students. Such copies may be reused for
other courses or for the same course offered subsequently.
Letters to the Editor
Pipe organ ban
The Institute of British Organbuilding (IBO) has been working for several
months to lobby the European Union
for an eventual exemption or exclusion
of pipe organs from the Restrictions on
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive
of the EU. Organbuilders are concerned about the directive affecting the
lead in organ pipes and in electronic circuits. This directive is scheduled to take
effect on 1 July 2006. Please go to the
new IBO website for information and to
sign a petition to assist them in their
efforts: <www.pipes4organs.org> and
click on the large box labeled “Send
your petition message here.” This petition is supported by APOBA, AIO,
OHS, and other organizations.
—Charles Hendrickson
Lead issues coordinator for APOBA
Albert Schweitzer Organ
Festival/USA
The Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival/USA wishes to recognize Patrick J.
Murphy and Associates, Inc., Organbuilders for providing the first-place
award of $3500 for the 2005 national
organ competition. This thank you was
regrettably omitted in the report that
appeared in the March issue of THE
MAY, 2006
DIAPASON. We do apologize for this
error on our part, and thank Patrick J.
Murphy and Associates, Inc. for their
most generous support of the 2004 and
2005 competitions. The 2005 award was
given to Jason Noel Roberts, currently
working on a doctorate at the Manhattan School of Music, where he is a student of McNeil Robinson.
David Spicer
Co-founder, Albert Schweitzer
Organ Festival/USA
Minister of Music and the Arts,
First Church of Christ, Wethersfield,
Connecticut
Dan Locklair publishers
I am most grateful for your continuing support of my music, and the news
item on page 6 of the March issue is a
case in point. In that news item, I would
like to note a clarification to the information that was sent from Subito.
Subito Music, which now serves as its
own distributor to dealers across the
country, has been the primary publisher
for all of my music for five years now.
Earlier works, including compositions
for organ Rubrics, Constellations (Concerto for Organ and Percussion), Windows of Comfort (Organbooks I & II),
Jubilo, Ayre for the Dance, Inventions,
A Spiritual Pair, Voyage, and Sonata da
chiesa [for flute and organ] and Phoenix
Processional (for solo organ) continue to
be published by my earlier primary publisher, E. C. Kerby, Ltd./Ricordi (Hal
Leonard, distr.). Though Ricordi publishes the organ version to Phoenix Processional, the full organ, brass, percussion Phoenix Fanfare and Processional is
published by Subito in a split-publishing
arrangement.
Dan Locklair
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
In the wind . . .
In his January 2006 column, “We’re
going in circles,” John Bishop raises
some interesting points about how far
we should go in altering old organs, but
he does not go far enough.
Pictures represent the thoughts of the
painter at a fixed point in time. We cannot say, 200 years later, that the artist
should have said something different.
He did, however, probably paint it by
candlelight, and it was initially viewed
by the same means. The artist did, nevertheless, paint it as if it could be seen in
its full glory. We are now able to use
electric light to allow viewers to see
what the artist intended and not what he
was constrained to showing when he
painted it. It would be wrong to view an
old master by candlelight simply
because that was the way it was viewed
when painted. If the painting is actually
deteriorating, then modern technology
is used to restore damaged paintings
when appropriate—it would be wrong
to repeat something that has already
been shown to be ineffective unless
there is no alternative. Again this simply
returns the image in the painting to its
intended state.
Organs are fundamentally different.
Yes, they are works of art in their own
right, but, above all, they are tools for
the interpretation of music by others. If,
for whatever reason, they are unable to
do this, then they fail to meet their current purpose, and consideration must
be given as to how or whether an instrument should be improved. Perhaps an
obvious example is the choice of action.
The old master organbuilders built
tracker actions because they had no
choice, not because they believed them
to be superior to anything else—there
was nothing else. While we can now
build lower inertia and lower pluck
tracker actions, they are still too “heavy”
on larger organs and constrain the playing of music. I suspect that the builders
of some of these old instruments desperately wished that they could provide
their larger organs with actions similar
to those in their smaller organs so that
they could be heard properly.
The thesis that I have just submitted
to the University of Edinburgh for my
PhD clearly shows that players have little or no control over the movement of
the pallet of a mechanical action because
of the flexibility in the action prior to
pluck. The variations that they make in
key movement occur in this phase
before the pallet starts to open and cannot affect the music. The replacement of
unmusical actions, whether by an
improved mechanical action or a properly designed electric one, may allow the
instrument to be heard in the way that
the builder intended. It may also allow
the organist to play music in the way that
it was written. Current technology can
improve on earlier technology, and we
have to be clear whether we are restoring a museum piece or a working musical instrument.
We can improve an old painting by
using current technology to see it properly; we can also use current technology
to improve an old organ by allowing it to
be heard properly.
Alan Woolley
North Berwick, East Lothian
United Kingdom
The author replies:
With thanks for Mr. Woolley’s
thoughtful response, I’m happy to take
my statements a step further. First, a
point of disagreement with his assertion
about the ability of the organist to control the movement of pallets. However
we go about scientifically or mechanically analyzing the influence of “pluck”
on the control of tracker action, I’ve had
many experiences with sensitive actions
where I could control the sound of the
attack of the pipes absolutely, reliably,
and predictably by my approach to the
keys. I’ve demonstrated this effectively
to lay people, especially those serving
on organ committees with the responsibility to make an educated decision for
their church: “Here it is with chiff, here
it is without.” Maybe this is a place
where the practical outweighs the
explanation. You can analyze and
describe Monet’s waterlilies or the
sparkles of light on Rembrandt’s helmet
until you’re blue in the face, but the
point is to see them and decide for
yourself. I have also played on tracker
organs on which this was not possible
because of wobbly actions, too much
pluck, poor voicing, and the like.
But more important, Mr. Woolley
draws me into controversial ground
with his analogy about viewing paintings under electric lights. In the August
2005 installment of “In the wind . . .” I
commented on the recent book Stradivari’s Genius by Toby Faber (Random
House, 2004), in which I read that virtually all of the instruments built by
Stradivari that are still in use have been
modified. Some of these changes are
considerable and fundamental, especially the introduction of longer fingerboards, which presumably means
longer strings. Those changes allow the
Strad to produce the gorgeous and powerful tone that we revere in our modern
2500-seat halls.
When I became executive director of
the Organ Clearing House I assumed
that I would be a champion of historic
preservation, guiding our clients to preserve the historicity of the organs they
purchased from us. But again, the practical outweighs the explanation. What I
find is a long list of inquiries from musicians who “love the Hook sound, but
really want to have electric action and
pistons.” So I face a dilemma—should I
hold out for a client who promises
authenticity or sell the instrument to an
institution that will love it only after
making a few changes? One fabulous
unaltered 19th-century tracker organ
has spent an extra four years sitting in
our warehouse and is still unsold
because I encouraged such a client to
buy something else. Am I an effective
protector of authenticity if the instruments in my care go into storage to die?
Another related dilemma that comes
up frequently is that of the instrument
built in America before, let’s say, 1855.
There are several available at the
moment (visit our website!), including a
magnificent three-manual instrument
built in 1854 by E. & G. G. Hook (Opus
173). It’s hard for an organbuilder with
an historic bent to pass up an organ like
this. But the organ has many short-compass stops, none of the stops on the
Swell have a bottom octave (1–12 of the
Swell are permanently coupled to the
Choir), and the pedalboard has twenty
notes. I believe you have to ask what
percentage of modern organists could
appreciate an instrument like this, and
would it be good stewardship for a modern church to undertake the very
expensive restoration that would be
necessary to put this organ back on its
feet? It’s easy to say that it should be in
a museum or a serious music school—
but how many of the hundreds of surviving organs like this can expect such a
future? And how dare we imply that
such an organ might not have a modern
future?
I am certainly not promoting the idea
that this organ or others like it should
be electrified or expanded so as to obliterate its original character. But those of
us in the debate know those judicial
(and reversible) changes that could be
suggested that might make the instrument turn the corner into the twentyfirst century. Or should Opus 173 spend
the rest of its days in storage never to be
viewed or heard under electric lights?
John Bishop, executive director
The Organ Clearing House
www.organclearinghouse.com
3
k
“
Lloyd Wright,
Frank
I have spent
Here & There
Longwood Gardens, Kennett
Square, Pennsylvania, presents carillon
concerts: May 7, Janet Tebbel; 5/14,
Doug Gefvert; June 10, Ann-Kirstine
Christiansen; 6/17, Vegar Sandholt. For
information:
<www.longwoodgardens.org>.
much money in my life
but I never got anything
so worthwhile for it
as this house.
Thank you.”
The Church of the Resurrection,
Eugene, Oregon, presents a Festival
Evensong on May 7. The program features Hymn to the Creator of Light and
Mass of the Children by John Rutter, sung
by three choirs with soloists, instruments
and organ. For information: 541/6868462; <resurrectioneugene.org>.
Edgar J. Kaufmann
owner, Fallingwater
First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Michigan, presents Mendelssohn’s
Elijah, sung by the choirs of First Presbyterian and Abiding Presence Lutheran
churches, with the Michigan Sinfonietta
Orchestra, under the direction of Chris
Lees, on May 12. For information:
<www.fpcbirmingham.org>.
3101 Twentieth Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) MIssion 7–5132
Dedicated to Expanding
the Tonal Color
and Dynamic Range
of the Pipe Organ
The Church of St. Joseph,
Bronxville, New York, concludes its
2005–06 music series: May 14, handbells, flute, and clarinet; 5/21, Brahms:
Requiem; 5/28, strawberry festival. For
information: 914/337-9205;
<www.stjosephsbronxville.org>.
“S choenstein has exceeded our
expectations, which were
considerable. What has surprised
and delighted us is how comprehensive an organ it really is. Not
only can we fulfill all the musical
requirements for worship services,
weddings and funerals, but also
play organ literature with great
success; and all this with only
twelve voices!”
Holt Andrews
Music Director
First Presbyterian Church
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church, Brevard, North Carolina, concludes its 2005–06 music season
on May 21 with the premiere of a commissioned anthem by Douglas E. Wagner. For information: 828/884-2645;
<www.bdrpc.org>.
k
Orpheus Chamber Singers close
their 2005–06 season on May 20 at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas. The program includes Serenade to Music by Vaughan Williams,
Trois Chansons Bretonnes by Henk
Badings, and A Salute to Louis Armstrong by Libby Larsen, along with
music by Gershwin, Porter, and Shearing. For information:
<www.orpheuschambersingers.org>.
premiere of Craig Phillips’ Pastorale
and Dance for bassoon and organ. For
information: <www.allsaintsbh.org>.
St. James United Church, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, presents its summer recital series on Tuesdays at 12:30
pm: June 6, Claude Girard; 6/13 Laurent Martin; 6/20, Jean-Willy Kunz;
6/27 Raymond Perrin; July 4, David
Carle; 7/11, Kurt-Ludwig Forg; 7/18,
Davidson United Methodist Church
Senior High Choir (North Carolina,
USA); 7/25, Gisèle Guibord; August 1,
Federico Andreoni; 8/8, Eugenio Maria
Fagiani; 8/15 Isabelle Demers; 8/22,
Vincent Boucher; 8/29, Sylvie Poirier &
Philip Crozier. For information:
514/288-9245, 514/739-8696.
The 11th annual Lunchtime
Organ Recital Series in Appleton,
Neenah, and Kaukauna, Wisconsin
takes place on Wednesdays at 12:15 pm
(churches are in Appleton unless indicated otherwise):
June 7, Daniel Steinert, Zion Lutheran Church; 6/14, Sarah Mahler Hughes,
First English Lutheran Church; 6/21
(12:45 pm), Joanne West Peterson, St.
Joseph Catholic Church; 6/28, Naomi
Rowley, First United Methodist Church;
July 5, Mary Kay Easty, First Congregational Church UCC; 7/12, Jared Stellmacher, Holy Cross Catholic Church
(Kaukauna); 7/19, Robert Unger, Faith
Lutheran Church; 7/26, Jeffrey
Verkuilen, First Presbyterian Church
(Neenah);
August 2, John Skidmore, Memorial
Presbyterian Church; 8/9, Mark Sikkila,
St. Bernard’s Catholic Church; 8/16,
Nancy Siebecker, First Presbyterian
Church (Neenah); 8/23, Daniel
Schwandt, First English Lutheran
Church; 8/30, Marillyn Freeman, St.
Paul’s Lutheran Church (Neenah).
Frank Rippl is coordinator of the series;
for information: 920/734-3762.
Casavant organ, Queen of the Rosary
Chapel, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin
The Sinsinawa Mound Outreach
Music Department hosts the Summer
Organ Concert Recital series every
Wednesday evening from June through
August. Guest musicians from around
the country perform on the 1965 Casavant pipe organ in Queen of the Rosary
Chapel at Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa,
Wisconsin. The concerts begin at 7 pm
and are free and open to the public:
June 7, Naomi Rowley; 6/14, Stephen
Steely; 6/21, Patrick Collins; 6/28,
Michael Elsbernd; July 5, Charles Barland; 7/12, Sister Patricia Gallagher;
7/19, Joanne Wright; 7/26, William Tinker; August 2, Gary Lewis; 8/9, Ray
Cornils; 8/16, Andrew Peters; 8/23,
Mark McClellan; 8/30, Joyce Robinson.
The organ was designed by Lawrence
Phelps: 26 stops, 34 ranks, and 1,651
pipes. For information call Sister Marie
Juan Maney at 608/748-4411, ext. 807;
<www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenter>.
Early Music America will host a
national conference June 8–10 at the
Berkeley City Club, Berkeley, California. The conference will also include a
vendor’s exhibition featuring book
Bridlington Priory (UK) presents a
concert series celebrating the restoration by Nicholson of its 4-manual
Anneessens organ: May 27, Alan Spedding; June 24, Martin Setchell; July 29,
Paul Hale; August 26, Simon Lindley;
September 30, Michael Smith. For
information: 011-44 1262 670153.
Canterbury Cathedral (UK) continues its organ recital series: June 3,
Jonathan White; July 1, D’Arcy
Trinkwon; September 2, Massimo
Nosetti. For information:
<www.canterbury-cathedral.org>.
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, California, presents a chamber music festival June 4, 11, 18, and 25.
The program on June 4 will feature the
Robert Bates
425.745.1316
4
Craig Cramer
penny@organists.net
Aaron David Miller
www.organists.net
Jacqueline Zander-Wall, Jay Hill, Marilyn Thomas Bernard, Maxine Thevenot, Iain
Quinn, Ethan Smith, and Szilvia Schranz
On February 12, the Cathedral
Church of St. John, Albuquerque,
New Mexico, presented a special concert in celebration of the life and ministry of the Rt. Rev. Richard M. Trelease
Jr., formerly Bishop of the Diocese of
the Rio Grande. The concert featured
the Bach Magnificat (conducted by Iain
Quinn, director of cathedral music) and
the Vivaldi Gloria (conducted by Maxine
Thevenot, associate organist-choir director). The cathedral choirs were joined by
members of the New Mexico Symphony
Orchestra and soloists Szilvia Schranz
and Marilyn Thomas Bernard (sopranos), Jacqueline Zander-Wall (mezzosoprano), Jay Hill (tenor) and Ethan
Smith (bass-baritone). The concert,
which attracted a capacity audience, was
attended by members of the Trelease
family and close friends.
The cathedral presented the U.S.
premiere of Malcolm Archer’s Missa
Omnes Sancti on Sunday, February 26.
The cathedral choirs were directed by
the composer and accompanied by
Maxine Thevenot, associate organist-
Malcolm Archer, Maxine Thevenot, Iain
Quinn
choir director. Malcolm Archer also
performed on the Great Organists series
later that day. For information:
<www.stjohnsabq.org>.
THE DIAPASON
stores and publishers, recording companies, instrument makers, national and
regional societies, and agents. Presenters include David Douglass (The
King’s Noyse) and Susan Hellauer
(Anonymous 4). For information:
206/720-6270; <www.earlymusic.org>.
ORGANpromotion presents tours
and masterclasses: June 10–11, tour in
the footsteps of Albert Schweitzer led
by Michael Kaufmann; July 15, tour of
Silbermann organs in VillingenSchwenningen, Marmoutier, and Wasselone; August 3–6, South German
organ academy featuring historical
organs by Gabler, Riepp, and Holzhey
in Weingarten, Ochsenhausen, Buxheim, Rot, and Ottobeuren. For further information:
<www.ORGANpromotion.org>.
All Souls, Langham Place (UK),
continues its organ series: June 12, Jennifer Chou; July 10, Pascal Reber;
August 14, Michael Eckerle. For information: <www.allsouls.org>.
The University of Michigan presents
Summer Harpsichord Workshops,
taught by Edward Parmentier. June
19–23, the 17th-century harpsichord
toccata,
Frescobaldi,
Sweelinck,
Froberger; June 26–30, Bach’s Partitas
and French Overture. For information:
<eparment@umich.edu>;
<www.music.umich.edu/special_pro
grams/adult/harpsichord.htm>.
The Organ Historical Society presents its 50th anniversary convention
June 25–30 in Saratoga Springs, New
York. The schedule features organs by
Steere, Davis & Ferris, Hook & Hastings, Farrand & Votey, Giles Beach,
Casavant, Skinner, Johnson, Jardine,
Odell, and others. For information:
<www.organsociety.org>.
Not only is New York’s Trinity
Church, Wall Street Choir going to
perform in the Roman Catholic Church
of St. Mary of the Angels on the
evenings of July 4 and 5 during the
AGO national convention in Chicago,
but so is the Trinity Church Marshall
& Ogletree organ—complete with its
massive console by Fratelli Ruffatti of
Padua, Italy. This virtual pipe organ is
an interim instrument, necessary
because of the damage from corrosive
dust and debris to the Trinity Church
1974 Aeolian-Skinner organ during the
September 11, 2001 attack on the
World Trade Center, which was 600
feet from historic Trinity Church. In
Chicago, it will be an 85-stop instrument with 40 channels of audio and
8,000 watts of power. (As installed in
Trinity Church, it is two separate but
identical 85-stop organs, one in the
chancel and the other in the gallery,
both playable from either console.)
The Trinity Choir under the direction
of Owen Burdick, who recently celebrated 15 years at Trinity, will feature
William Albright’s A Song to David, as
they did on September 11, 2003, when
the organ was first used publicly.
Robert Ridgell, Trinity’s assistant organist, will accompany the work. The organ
will also be used as a solo instrument,
played by Dr. Burdick and Mr. Ridgell,
before the choral work.
Prior to the July events in Chicago,
the touring Trinity Church organ will be
used for the 75th general convention of
the Episcopal Church in America,
which takes place in Columbus, Ohio.
The organ will be used in nine daily services for 3,000 participants June 13–21,
with the Saturday, June 17 service
attended by 8,000 participants.
The Fratelli Ruffatti console has been
made available by Trinity Church, Wall
Street. Marshall & Ogletree will provide
audio equipment and make the installations, and the tour will be sponsored by
Torrence & Yaeger, exclusive worldwide representatives for M&O Virtual
Pipe Organs. For information:
<www.VirtualPipe.Org>.
The 56th Sewanee Church Music
Conference takes place July 10–16 at
the University of the South, Sewanee,
and the DuBose Conference Center,
Monteagle, Tennessee. Robert Delcamp is conference director; presenters
ConcertArtistCooperative
David K. Lamb
Maija Lehtonen
Sabin Levi
David F. Oliver
Larry Palmer
Organist/Choral Conductor/
Oratorio Accompanist
Organist/Pianist/
Recording Artist
Organist/Harpsichordist/Carillonneur/
Lecturer/Recording Artist
Organist/Lecturer/
Recording Artist
Harpsichordist/Organist
Director of Music/Organist
First United Methodist Church
Columbus, Indiana
Senior Lecturer, Organ Faculty
Oulu Polytechnic
Organ and Violin
with Manfred Grasbeck
Helsinki, Finland
Organist and Composer in Residence
First Christian Church of Independence
Assistant Music Director
Shireinu Choir of Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
College Organist
Assistant Professor
Department of Music
Morehouse College
Atlanta, Georgia
Professor of Harpsichord and Organ
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
Gregory Peterson
Stephen Roberts
Clair Rozier
Lisa Scrivani-Tidd
Organist
Organist/Harpsichordist/Lecturer
Organist/Workshop Leader
Organist/Lecturer
Jeremy David Tarrant
Organist
College Organist and
Assistant Professor of Music
Luther College
Decorah, Iowa
Instructor of Organ
Western CT State University
Director of Music
St. Peter Church
Danbury, Connecticut
Director of Music
St. David’s Episcopal Church
Wayne, Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Music
SUNY at Jefferson
Watertown, New York
University Organist
St. Lawrence University
Canton, New York
Organist and Choirmaster
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul
Detroit, Michigan
Also:
Heinrich Walther
Jane Watts
Brador Brass Quintet
Duo Majoya
Organist/Clavichordist/Virginalist/
Recording Artist
Organist
International Touring Ensemble
Organ and Piano
Exclusive Recording Artist
Priory Records
First RCO Performer of the Year
Organist of the Bach Choir
London, England
Christopher Marsden
Artistic Director
Resident Ensemble
San Diego State University
San Diego, California
Recording Artists
Marnie Giesbrecht and Joachim Segger
Professors of Music
University of Alberta
The King’s University College
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Faculty, University of Music
Freiburg, Germany
Faculties, Church Music Schools
Heidelberg and Rottenburg
Germany
Colin Andrews
Cristina Garcia Banegas
Maurice Clerc
Joan DeVee Dixon
Olivier Eisenmann
Laura Ellis
Janette Fishell
Faythe Freese
Michael Gailit
Michael Kaminski
Angela Kraft Cross
William Kuhlman
Tong-Soon Kwak
Bach Babes
ConcertArtistCooperative
Beth Zucchino, Director
7710 Lynch Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472
PH: 707-824-5611 FX: 707-824-0956
BethZucchino@aol.com
www.ConcertArtistCooperative.com
MAY, 2006
5
include Jeffrey Smith, Peter Richard
Conte, Jane Gamble, Mark Schweizer,
John Spain, and others; daily rehearsals,
classes, workshops, lectures, reading
sessions, daily worship, concerts. For
information: 770/498-1678;
<www.sewaneeconf.com>.
The Romainmôtier Interpretation Course takes place July 16–30 in
Romainmôtier, Switzerland. Faculty
includes Marie-Claire Alain, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Joris Verdin, Rudolf
Lutz, Emmanuel Le Divellec, and Guy
Bovet. For information:
<bovet.aubert@bluewin.ch>.
Southern Methodist University
presents Harpsichord/Organ Workshop
XVI, July 23–29 in Denver, Colorado,
with the theme, “Narrative Music:
Telling a Story.” Faculty includes Larry
Palmer (harpsichord and director), Barbara Baird (organ), Glenn Spring (composer in residence), and Richard
Kingston (harpsichord maker). Repertoire includes works by Kuhnau, J. S.
Bach, Mozart, and Glenn Spring
(including a new harpsichord work provided to each registrant prior to the
workshop); faculty recitals, four hours of
master classes daily, visits to Santa Fe
Opera and Central City Opera; classes
held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600
Grant Street, Denver. To register or for
further information, contact Dr. Larry
Palmer, 214/768-3273;
<lpalmer@smu.edu>.
The Cathedral of St. Patrick, New
York City, presented two recitals in
memory of Pope John Paul II on April 2.
At 4:30 pm, Boguslav Grabowski, organ-
ist of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gdansk,
Poland, performed works by Polish composers; at 7 pm, Stephen Tharp played
Dupré’s Stations of the Cross.
Organ students from Interlochen
Center for the Arts, Interlochen,
Michigan, performed on the recital
series at St. Thomas Church Fifth
Avenue, New York City, on March 5.
They were the only high school organists invited to perform on the series.
Thomas Bara is instructor of organ at
Interlochen. The Aeolian-Skinner organ
at Interlochen, built in 1948, is being
rebuilt by the Reuter Organ Company.
For information:
<www.interlochen.org/news/organ>.
Oberlin Conservatory celebrated
Bach’s birthday on March 21 with a concert of organ and chamber music hosted
by Michael Barone of Pipedreams. The
program took place in Warner Concert
Hall and featured the 1974 Flentrop
organ (III/44). Performers included
Daniel Tappe, Songsun Lee, Bálint
Karosi, Jakub Bukowczan, James Feddeck, Jonathan Wessler, and Yoon-Jin
Hwang, along with three instrumental
ensembles.
First Congregational Church of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin announces the
release of the Wolfgang Rubsam CD.
This March 21, 2004 live recording is a
re-enactment of the March 15, 1924
Marcel Dupré recital; Rubsam performs on the 1911 Casavant Op. 469, on
which Dupré played. The CD celebrates the opening of the balcony
restoration with the original acoustics of
the 1911 sanctuary, and includes music
by Bach, Clérambault, Franck, Schumann, the Dupré Variations on an
Ancient French Noël, and Rubsam’s
improvisation, Oshkosh Fantasia.
The cost of the CD is $20.00 (includes
shipping). Send orders to First Congregational Church, 137 Algoma Blvd.,
Oshkosh, WI 54901. For information:
Joanne Peterson, First Congregational
Church organist, 920/231-7520;
<office@fccoshkosh.org>.
Janette Fishell, Martin Jean, David
Schrader, and Mickey Thomas Terry;
the Agape Ringers and the Valparaiso
University Bach Choir ensembles; and
conductors Christopher M. Cock and
Julian Wachner. For information:
<www.agohq.org>.
Appointments
The Estey Organ Museum, Brattleboro, Vermont, has purchased the
Estey Organ Company Building 19, the
Engine House, as part of the museum’s
strategic plan and its first step in having
a facility that can be open year round.
Brattleboro received a $32,500 grant
from the “Preserve America” program
that will be used to help organizers create a master plan for rehabilitation and
adaptive reuse of the Estey Organ complex as a heritage tourism destination.
For information:
<www.esteyorganmuseum.org>.
The American Guild of Organists
will receive a grant in the amount of
$20,000 from the NEA’s “Access to
Artistic Excellence” program to support performances of new music at the
AGO national convention in Chicago,
July 2–6. The grant, which carries with
it a mandate that it be matched dollar
for dollar from other funding sources,
will support six premiere performances
of new music commissioned for the
convention, including works from
Frank Ferko, Naji Hakim, Adolphus
Hailstork, Aaron David Miller, Emily
Maxson Porter, Richard Proulx, Shulamit Ran, Augusta Reed Thomas,
Richard Webster, Sharon J. Willis, and
Carl Wiltse/Donald Allured. In addition to being present for the premieres
of their new works, the composers will
join in a composers’ forum workshop at
the convention.
Premiere performances of the 2006
commissioned works will be given by
Stefan Engels, James O’Donnell,
Stewart Wayne Foster
Stewart Wayne Foster has been
appointed organist in residence at First
Congregational Church, Los Angeles,
California, where he will play the 345rank, 23,000-pipe organ for services and
concerts throughout the year. Foster has
won several prizes in important organ
competitions, most notably the First
Prize in the 1997 Dallas International
Organ Competition. He leaves two positions in Charleston, South Carolina, at
First Scots Presbyterian Church and
Temple Beth Elohim. His duties at First
Congregational Church will include performing the weekly midday concerts
every Thursday, and accompanying the
Cathedral Choir and the Cathedral
Adult Choir of St. Anne Church, Rochester, New York
On January 29, the Adult Choir of
St. Anne Church (Roman Catholic),
Rochester, New York premiered two
new works commissioned by the parish
in celebration of its 75th anniversary in
2005: Gaudeamus by Colin Mawby, and
Missa Brevis in G by local composer
Zachary Wadsworth. The premiere was
conducted by Jonathan Ryan, choirmaster, with Rudy de Vos, organist, and Stacie Henshaw, soprano soloist, at a gala
choral concert of sacred music spanning
eleven centuries featuring all of the
choirs and ensembles-in-residence of
St. Anne Church.
6
www.SusanJaneMatthews.com
Organ Recitals
Workshops & Masterclasses
Photo: Lorraine Dotson
ensemble amarcord
Ensemble amarcord, the men’s a
cappella vocal quintet from Germany,
performed its 100th U.S. concert during
the group’s recently completed 13th
American performance trip. The 100th
performance took place at Wright State
University in Dayton, Ohio, during a
tour that included eleven concerts in
California, Idaho, North Carolina,
Texas, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and
Alabama.
Among highlights of the ensemble’s
U.S. trips have been performances last
summer at the national convention of
the Association of Lutheran Church
Musicians in New York City and in 2004
at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Los Angeles,
as well as performances at regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association.
The five former choristers of the St.
Thomas Boys Choir in Leipzig have
emerged in the past few years as
Europe’s most celebrated men’s a cappella quintet. Ensemble amarcord has
won a number of top international
prizes in the field, including the Grand
Prix Choir Competition in Spain (1995),
the International Mendelssohn Competition (1999), the German Music Competition (2000), the International Choir
Competition in Finland (1999), and the
first Choir Olympiad in Austria (2000).
In 2002 the ensemble took top honors
in the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb.
They have performed throughout
Europe and Asia as well as in North
America. At home in Leipzig, they
recently performed their tenth anniversary concert in the Gewandhaus, and
two months later performed there twice
with the Gewandhaus Orchestra.
The ensemble is represented in this
country by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists (www.concertartists.com) in
Hartford, Connecticut, and regularly
tours here twice per concert season.
THE DIAPASON
Cherry Rhodes in Concert
Stay in Chicago for One Extra Day!
2006 AGO POST-CONVENTION CONCERT
THE BERGHAUS ORGAN
QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS BASILICA, Chicago, IL
Friday, July 7th
at 7:30 pm
This concert is open to the public at no charge. Round trip transportation from the
Chicago Marriott Downtown available for a fee of $15. Motor coach reservations required*
his is a rare personality who enriches the universe of the organ and serves both the music of the past and the present
by bringing to it very vivid colors and an intense life.
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York …imaginatively projects brilliant expressiveness
- New York Times
Royal Festival Hall, London …a most memorable recital from a player of dazzling technique, a complete command of the instrument, an uncommon care for
registration - and yet with a sensitivity to touch our hearts.
- Musical Opinion, England
St. Lambertus, Erkelenz, Germany - Thunderous applause was due to the breathtaking virtuosity of the organist who cast the listeners into a spell.
- Rheinische Post
Review of the CD, Everyone Dance - That Cherry Rhodes proves a sympathetic, graceful and virtuoso interpreter comes as no surprise at all, as she indeed
merits the accolades and praise traditionally awarded her.
- The American Organist
CHERRY RHODES ORGAN RECITAL
Prelude und Fugue in e minor, BWV 548
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
4 piezas para la Misa
Cantabile para organo al alzar en la Misa
Ofertorio
Elevación
Allegro
José Lidón
(1748-1827)
Méditation
Gabriel Dupont
(1878-1914)
Afternoon of a Toad
Clarence Mader
(1904-1971)
INTERMISSION
Adagio and Fugue in c minor, K.V. 546
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
(transcription by Jean Guillou)
Variations sur un Noël bourguignon
Metopes
I. Arachne’s Web
Interlude
II. The Gift of Nessus
André Fleury
(1903-1995)
James F. Hopkins
(b. 1939)
The Art of Organbuilding
Quality Pipe Organ Building & Maintenance Since 1967
2151 Madison Street, Bellwood, IL USA 60104-1932 | berghausorgan.com
For further information, please contact: Dave McCleary | phone: 708-544-4052 | email: dmccleary@berghausorgan.com
*Reserve motor coach seats by emailing Berghaus Organ: dmccleary@berghausorgan.com. Indicate the name and address of each person reserving a seat.
Fee will be collected at boarding. Reservations must be received no later than May 29.
Singers of the church, directed by
Alexander Ruggieri, in weekly services
and during the church’s annual Los
Angeles Bach Festival. He will play a
half-hour organ prelude every Sunday
preceding the 11 am service, and give
demonstrations of the organs to visitors.
Foster holds degrees from Stetson University, The Ecole Normale Supérieure
de Musique in Paris, and the University
of North Texas. He is represented by
Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, and
serves as a representative of Bedient
Pipe Organs for Southern California.
Lafayette Square; and Boston’s Trinity
Church, Copley Square, and Old South
Church. Abroad, he has presented
recitals in London, Ely Cathedral, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, and Manchester.
Scholtz is taking the position vacated
by former tonal director William Hamner, who left Highland to return to his
family’s business but continues to serve
the Wicks Organ Company in a consultant position.
Here & There
by friends and colleagues, as well as
hymn parodies sung by choir members.
A native of Lake Village, Arkansas,
Craig Chotard holds degrees from Henderson State University, where he studied with Robert Ellis, and the University of Colorado, where he studied with
Don Vollstedt. He has participated in
the Royal School of Church Music Summer Overseas Program in England, and
is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda
honorary music fraternity.
His career as a church musician
began at Grace Episcopal Church in
Monroe, Louisiana; he served as organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral in Little Rock (1965–70)
before attending the University of Colorado, returning to Little Rock in 1971
and becoming organist and choirmaster
at St. Mark’s.
Currently Dean of the Central
Arkansas AGO Chapter, a position he
has held three times, Chotard has been
chairman of regional AGO conventions
and served on the AGO Professional
Concerns committee. He is a member
of the Professional Concerns Committee of the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Commission on Liturgy and
Music in the Episcopal Diocese of
Arkansas, and a faculty member for the
Leadership Program for Musicians
Serving Small Congregations.
Eastman School of Music and was
organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
in Rochester, New York. He has played
recitals at seven AGO national conventions, and at the International Congresses of Organists held in London,
Philadelphia, and Cambridge, England.
Recognized as one of America’s great
organ artists, David Craighead was
voted the 1983 International Performer
of the Year by the New York City AGO
Chapter. In June 1968, Craighead
received an honorary Doctor of Music
degree from Lebanon Valley College,
Annville, Pennsylvania, and in 1975 was
the first recipient of the Eisenhart
Award for teaching excellence at Eastman. His most recent award has been
an honorary Fellowship in the Royal
College of Organists, London, England.
James Russell Brown
Mark R. Scholtz
The Wicks Organ Company has
announced the appointment of Mark R.
Scholtz to the position of tonal director.
He comes to Highland, Illinois, from
Washington, Connecticut, where he was
Choirmaster of St. John’s Church (Episcopal) from 1990 until the summer of
2004. He coordinated a concert series
presented under the auspices of the
church and was the founder and music
director of The Saint John’s Chorale, an
ensemble of 20 singers, “ . . . one of the
best small choruses around” (The Danbury News-Times).
Scholtz earned his degree in organ
performance from the Oberlin College
Conservatory of Music, working with
Haskell Thomson (organ), William
Porter (harpsichord), and Lisa Goode
Crawford (continuo). Prior to Oberlin,
he attended Lebanon Valley College in
Pennsylvania, studying organ and improvisation with Timothy Albrecht. Subsequently, in 1990, Scholtz studied the
organ works of Arthur Wills with the
composer at Ely Cathedral, England. He
has since presented premieres of several
of Dr. Wills’ compositions including the
American premiere of Fenland Suite for
Organ, English Brass Band, and Percussion with conductor Bruce J. Barber II,
and the Cleveland premiere of Concerto
for Organ, Strings, and Timpani. As a
recitalist, Scholtz has played such
notable instruments as New York City’s
Grace Church, St. Peter’s Church, and
the Cathedral Church of St. John the
Divine; Washington, D.C.’s St. John’s,
James Russell Brown is enjoying a
four-month sabbatical (after 20 years of
service) from St. Giles Episcopal
Church, Northbrook, Illinois. During
the period he is visiting other Episcopal
churches in the Chicago area, as well as
parishes in Seattle, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and New York. He continues
in his full-time position as vice president
for Evanston operations and head of the
keyboard division for the Music Institute of Chicago.
Jane Hagmann
Jane Hagmann was honored on
February 26 for her 50 years of service
as organist of First Baptist Church, New
Albany, Indiana. Following dinner, a
program, featuring a celebration choir
and soloists with Mrs. Hagmann at the
organ and piano, presented favorite
anthems and hymns. A student of the
late Ruth Ewing and Gilbert McFarlane, Mrs. Hagmann has presided at the
Pilcher pipe organ of the church since
1956, when she assumed the post as a
teenager. Feted with cards and gifts,
Mrs. Hagmann announced to her adoring congregation that she has no plans
to retire.
David Craighead
R. Craig Chotard
On February 17, R. Craig Chotard
celebrated 35 years as organist and
choirmaster of St. Mark’s Episcopal
Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, at a
dinner with over 225 people attending,
and a program featuring tributes read
The American Guild of Organists
will sponsor a recital and gala benefit
reception honoring David Craighead
on May 22 at the Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Performers include Diane
Meredith Belcher, Ann Labounsky,
and Mark Laubach, all of whom are
former Craighead students. AGO president Frederick Swann will serve as
master of ceremonies. The cost is $100
per person; all proceeds will be placed
into the AGO Endowment Fund in
David Craighead’s honor. For information: 212/870-2311, ext. 4308;
<gala@agohq.org>; <www.agohq.org>.
From 1955 until his retirement in the
summer of 1992, Craighead was professor of organ and chair of the organ division of the keyboard department at the
Bess Hieronymus
Bess Hieronymus, professor of
organ at the University of Texas at San
Antonio for thirty years, has announced
MANDER ORGANS
New Mechanical
Action Organs
Exquisite
Continuo Organs
St. Peter’s Square
London E 2 7AF • England
[t] 011 44 20 7739 4747
[f] 011 44 20 7729 4718
ManderUK@mander-organs.com
North American Representative
Malcolm Wechsler
1 Flak Lane
New Fairfield • CT 06812-2406
[t] 203 746 7709
[f] 203 746 2180
ManderUSA@mander-organs.com
www.mander-organs.com
Imaginative Reconstructions
8
THE DIAPASON
her retirement. She came to UTSA in
1975 as a lecturer in organ, was named
associate professor in 1976, and promoted to full professor with tenure in 1979,
becoming the first woman appointed
full professor at UTSA. Dr. Hieronymus
supervised the installation of the 1982
Casavant organ in the UTSA Recital
Hall. She earned acclaim through
numerous performances throughout
Europe. In 1992 she performed in the
Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory
Hall, and she became the third nonRussian, first American, and first woman
to be awarded membership in the
National Russian Musical Society,
established in 1861. In the 1990s, Dr.
Hieronymus took several UTSA organ
students to France and the Czech
Republic to perform on historic organs
and study with eminent organists.
Bess Hieronymus received a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and completed a Master of Arts from Smith College
where she wrote her thesis under
Mozart authority Alfred Einstein. She
was the first person to receive a DMA in
organ and musicology from The University of Texas at Austin. In 1995, she was
awarded an honorary Doctor of
Humanities from The University of
Mary Hardin-Baylor.
In 1989, friends in the community
established the Bess Hieronymus Scholarship Endowment in Organ at UTSA.
In 2004, President Ricardo Romo
approved that the UTSA Recital Hall
organ be named the Bess Hieronymus
Pipe Organ at UTSA. Also in 2004,
another community and university initiative was launched to establish the Bess
Hieronymus Faculty Endowment at
UTSA, which will support the teaching
of organ, harpsichord, organ literature,
organ pedagogy, and related courses. An
anonymous donor is offering a $10,000
gift to the faculty endowment to be
matched by December 15, 2006. Interested persons may send contributions to
the UTSA Department of Music, Dr.
Gene Dowdy, Chair, 6900 N. Loop 1604
W., San Antonio, TX 78249. For information: <http://music.utsa.edu/>.
plant pioneer and faculty colleague
Thomas E. Starzl, distinguished service
professor of surgery in Pitt’s School of
Medicine, whose favorite composer is
Mozart. For “Mozart Transplantation
for Organ,” Lord recorded an improvisation on “La ci darem la mano” (translated literally, “We will give to one another
our hands”) from Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Pitt’s Heinz Memorial Chapel
organ (Reuter 1994–95). The recording
was played as a surprise for Starzl at a
birthday celebration March 10. Limitededition CD copies of the recording were
distributed the next day to Starzl’s professional colleagues, both from Pitt and
around the world, who were attending a
Pitt scientific symposium in his honor.
Known to many as the “Father of Transplantation,” Thomas E. Starzl performed the world’s first successful liver
transplant in 1967. The work can be
heard on Pitt’s Web site at
<http://www.pitt.edu/news/060313star
zl.html>.
Alison Luedecke, Millennia Too! (photo
by Dorothy Young Riess)
Craig Phillips’s Nightsong for organ
and oboe was given its world premiere
by Millennia Too!, Alison Luedecke,
organ, during the AGO Region IX MidWinter Conclave at All Saints Episcopal
Church, Las Vegas, Nevada. The West
Coast premiere was on March 12 at St.
James Episcopal Church, La Jolla, California. The work is not published yet,
but is available from the composer.
te Velde is organist at First Presbyterian Church and adjunct instructor at
Oklahoma State University, both in
Stillwater, Oklahoma. She studied organ
and composition at Seattle Pacific University with her father, Lester H.
Groom, and received the M.Mus. from
the University of Western Ontario,
where she studied organ with Hugh J.
McLean and composition with Jack
Behrens. She has done post-graduate
work with Michael Schneider in
Cologne, Germany, with Flor Peeters in
Mechelen, Belgium, and with Gerald
Frank at Oklahoma State University.
Her Jubilate Deo (SA with piano or
organ) will be released this summer by
Santa Barbara Music Publishing. She
also has four new organ compositions in
Darcey Press’s new release, 120 More
Musical Gifts—Variations on Hymn
Tunes ANTIOCH to WERE YOU THERE.
Dorothy Young Riess
with Marcel Dupré at l’École de
Musique de Fontainebleau. She was
guest organist at the American Church
in Paris, organist at the Church of the
Holy Spirit, Nice, and at the American
Church in Rome, Italy. She received a
full scholarship to Yale University and
performed her master’s recital in
Woolsey Hall in 1959. A series of life
changes led her into the healing arts and
she completed pre-med studies at
Columbia University, New York City.
She received her Doctor of Medicine
degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1969, and after four more years
of post-grad training, practiced Internal
Medicine in Pasadena, California, until
her retirement in 2000. Since relocating
to Las Vegas, she has returned to organ
playing and celebrated her 75th year by
playing this recital. Dr. Riess is married
to Dr. Louis Riess, B/G USAF Ret., has
two stepsons and two grandchildren.
She is a member of the Southern Nevada AGO Chapter. The program included works of Du Mage, Bach, Schumann,
Mendelssohn, Franck, Howells, Janca,
and Sokola.
James Welch
On May 19, organist James Welch
will perform a recital to mark the 10th
anniversary of the passing of Herbert
Nanney on May 20, 1996. James Welch
studied with Professor Nanney at Stanford. Coincidentally, Nanney also
played the dedicatory recital on the
Casavant organ at St. Mark’s in Palo
Alto in 1958.
Herbert Nanney, a native of Whittier,
California, studied with Alexander
Schreiner at UCLA, Alexander McCurdy at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and with Marcel Dupré in Paris
during WWII. He first came to Stanford
in 1940 and was appointed university
organist in 1947, a post he held until his
retirement in 1985.
His tastes in music were very diverse,
teaching and performing organ music
from all periods and styles. For this program, James Welch will perform a number of Nanney’s signature recital pieces,
including works of Bach, Buxtehude,
Mendelssohn, Franck, Widor, and
Vierne. Nanney also wrote a Sonata for
Organ in 1939, from which Welch will
perform the Adagio movement.
Since 1993 James Welch has been
organist of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
and a member of the music faculty at
Santa Clara University. He has performed worldwide, with recitals
throughout Europe, Latin America,
Asia, and the United States. For information: <www.welchorganist.com>.
Larry Palmer was elected to a second term as president of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society during
its meeting in Rome, Georgia (March
8–10). Joyce Lindorff will assume the
vice-presidency when new terms of
office begin on July 1. Martha
Clinkscale, treasurer, and Douglas
Maple, secretary, continue in their
offices. New to the executive board is
David Pickett.
Robert Sutherland Lord
University of Pittsburgh professor
emeritus of music Robert Sutherland
Lord has “transplanted” a theme from a
Mozart opera to the pipe organ to celebrate the 80th birthday of organ trans-
Dorothy Young Riess, M.D., played
her 75th birthday celebration recital
April 2 at the University of Nevada Las
Vegas. “Dr. Dorothy” started piano
lessons with her mother at age four, and
after switching to the organ at 16,
became a protégé of Mildred Andrews
at the University of Oklahoma. She won
the AGO national competition in 1952
at age 20 and went on to study in France
Rebecca Groom te Velde
Rebecca Groom te Velde, AAGO,
won the 2005 AGO Region VII Composition Competition with Variations on a
Theme of Samuel Scheidt: “Puer natus
in Bethlehem.” The piece was premiered by the composer at the convention; it will be released by Oxford University Press this summer.
A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company
Fine Pipe Organ Builders and
Consultants
•
•
•
•
•
•
New instruments
Rebuilding
Additions
Slider chests
Electro-pneumatic chests
New consoles
P.O. Box 838 • Lithonia, GA 30058
800-836-2726 • 770-482-4845
Fax 770-484-1906
www.pipe-organ.com
New 3-manual, 48-rank pipe organ installed at
First Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Ga.
Dedicated October 9, 2005.
10
THE DIAPASON
Nunc Dimittis
Tom Hazleton
Tom Hazleton (1942–2006), global
ambassador of the classical and theatre
organ world, passed peacefully in his
sleep after a day of recording on the Midmer-Losh organ at the home of Adrian
Phillips on March 13. Internationally
acclaimed, Tom was indeed “The Dean
of American Theatre Organists.”
A gifted musical genius, known for his
artistry, leadership, understanding, dignity and respect, Tom was an extraordinary virtuoso. With passion, rhythm, and
subtlety, his keyboard facility was fiercely dramatic. He was able to play whatever came into his mind—a musical visionary who would produce an emotional fire
with subtle rhythms of jazz, introduce a
new, intense rhythm in the pedals that
would suddenly blossom, unfolding a
familiar dance tune from Broadway, a
theme from a Bach chorale, or possibly a
drumbeat of Babatunde Olatunji.
A virtual cornerstone of the theatre
organ world, he would approach playing
from any angle, an incredible improviser with a musical alphabet and sonic fingerprints that moved beyond the bickering over non-essentials, interweaving
dimensions of creativity, vision, and
intuition that reflected the core of his
psyche, a music supreme and audience
friendly. His haunting presence combined tradition, beauty of forms,
dynamic tonal tensions, and innovation
in a fluid, contemporary medium, hallmarks of a leading, dazzling and
renowned keyboard genius.
As he unveiled the driving force of a
song, his rhythmical phrasing cut a physical impression, a sense of momentum
and élan—a lilt, a bounce, a musical
pulse full of nuances, inflections, counterpoint, elasticity and flexibility of the
beat, with confidence and consummate
skill. Polyrhythms bubbled unexpectedly
as wild sounding textures expanded our
horizons—an endless kingdom of organ
boogie, bop, jazz, ragtime and swing,
blazing landscapes—alternating, now
behind the beat, now ahead of the beat
with unique precision and abandon.
Tom Hazleton, a master of the King
of Instruments and considered to be
one of the few concert organists to be
equally at home at the largest classical
and theatre organ consoles in the world,
was named Organist of the Year in 1986
by the American Theatre Organ Soci-
ety. Educated at San Francisco State
University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Tom was a student
and assistant to organist-composer
Richard Purvis at Grace Cathedral in
San Francisco, as well as staff organist at
the Paramount Theatre in the same city.
His concerts were international in scope
and included the Mormon Tabernacle,
Sydney Opera House, Radio City Music
Hall, Wanamaker Store in Philadelphia,
and the Crystal Cathedral.
As one of the most inventive and
entertaining theatre organists in the
world, Tom was unwilling to “dumb
down” his music in order to cater to the
insular-minded organist brotherhood
with their stodgy reputation, some of
whom found him to be politically unacceptable. His world reflected the Big
Band era of Duke Ellington, Woody
Herman, William “Count” Basie, when
swing music was in vogue; i.e., great
playing backed by smooth, steady, fluid
rhythms so typical of the 1930s, a
unique representative of Americana and
retro culture at its finest hour.
Tom was organist and associate minister of music for fourteen years at the
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in
California, as well as professor of organ
at University of the Pacific in Stockton,
California, and design consultant to
major organ manufacturers, including a
staff position as tonal director with the
Allen Organ Company in Macungie,
Pennsylvania.
Although we mourn the masterful
Knight of the Organ who has taken leave
of his family, movie palaces and legions
of friends worldwide, the unforgettable
brilliance of Tom Hazleton’s musical
legacy lives on in a colossal CD tapestry
of highly acclaimed performances.
—Peter J. Basch
Hoboken, New Jersey
Lucius R. Weathersby
Organist and composer Lucius R.
Weathersby, 37, a visiting artist at
Amherst College and assistant professor
of music and African world studies at
Dillard University in New Orleans, died
suddenly March 17. Born April 8, 1968,
in Houston, he grew up in Many,
Louisiana and was educated at Dillard
University, where he received a B.A.
degree in German and music in 1989,
the University of Northern Iowa
(M.Mus., 1999), the New Orleans Bap-
tist Theological Seminary, and the Union
Institute in Cincinnati (Ph.D., 2002).
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Weathersby was
offered a faculty position at Amherst College. In January 2006 he was appointed
music director at South Congregational
Church, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Plans were underway for a series of local
recitals and lectures, growth of the music
ministry at South Church, and international travel. He was on the roster of
Kingsdale Artist Management.
Weathersby performed in Europe,
Central America, and throughout the
United States. In addition to teaching
and performing, he previously served as
music director at churches in Louisiana,
Iowa, and Arizona. As conductor,
Weathersby led numerous orchestral
and vocal ensembles. In 1993, he was a
guest conductor at the International
Dvorák Festival. He also led the West
Union Madrigal Singers in Dvorák’s
Mass in D. In 1997, he was appointed
assistant to Maestro Herriman and the
San Marcos Symphony.
Weathersby lectured on such topics as
African-American music, keyboard techniques, and the music of the Baroque at
Cambridge University, Yale University,
the University of London, and AGO chapters. Albany Recordings released Spiritual Fantasy—Organ Works by African and
African-American Composers in 2000 and
a CD of African and African-American
composers for piano and flute with flutist
Wendy Hymes in 2001.
In early 2006, he traveled to Germany
and recorded a CD of organ music, the
proceeds of which are to benefit musicians in the Gulf Coast region of the
United States impacted by Katrina. This
project was sponsored by the HeyOrgelbau company and recorded on
their instruments in the cities of Leutershausen, Mellrichstadt, and Kreuzberg.
This collaboration led to Weathersby
being invited to exclusively represent
Hey-Orgelbau in the United States.
Weathersby’s compositions include
Fanfare for choir (1993), Seven Last
Words for chamber orchestra (1994),
Suite in d for piano (premiered by
members of the Phoenix Symphony,
1996), Tranquility Suite for organ
(1997), Spiritual Fantasy (premiered by
the composer on the Fisk organ at the
Myerson Center of the Performing Arts,
1997) and other works.
Besides his parents, of Dallas, he is
survived by a 6-year-old son, Lucius
Weathersby of New Orleans; one brother and two aunts. A memorial service
was held on March 20 at the South Congregational Church in Springfield,
Massachusetts, featuring compositions
by Dr. Weathersby performed by the
Chancel Choir. In his mother’s note
read to those assembled, she wrote that
the memory of Lucius will be well
served if we all “take care of ourselves,
our body and our spirit,” for his death
was caused by stroke following years of
elevated blood pressure that went
untreated until recently.
—Dr. E Lary Grossman, Dean
American Guild of Organists
Springfield, Massachusetts Chapter
Here & There
Breitkopf & Härtel has announced
new practical editions of Mendelssohn’s
organ works. Volume I (EB 8641, 21
euros) follows the layout of the first volume of the complete edition and features the Three Preludes and Fugues, op.
37, and the Six Sonatas, op. 65. In Volume 2 (EB 8642, 20 euros), Christian
Martin Schmidt has compiled important
and some unknown organ works from
the other two volumes of the complete
edition. For information:
<www.breitkopf.com>.
CanticaNOVA Publications
has
released their spring 2006 catalog. New
offerings include CDs of Gregorian
chant, Thomas Day’s book Why
Catholics Can’t Sing, and new choral
compositions by Jeremy de Satgé, John
Sittard, James Morrison, Gary Penkala,
Don Roy, Christopher Garton-Zavesky,
Tim Knight, Colin Brumby, Carrie
Nixon, Stephen DeCesare, and Donna
Robertson. For information:
<www.canticanova.com>.
Organlive.com, the Internet audio
station dedicated to the music of the
classical organ, has just completed raising its annual budget for 2006 and 2007
ahead of schedule; the station has the
funds to continue broadcasting and
expanding through April of 2007.
Organlive broadcasts classical organ
music 24 hours a day from a growing
library of more than 3100 tracks. Available to listeners with a broadband Internet connection, the library contains
albums recorded all over the world by
concert organists of the past and organists who have sent in their own recordings. Listeners may browse the entire
library online and request specific tracks
to be played, and rate the tracks as they
are played. Over 250 listeners tune in
everyday from more than 60 countries.
To tune into Organlive, or for more
information on submitting recordings
for broadcast, visit <Organlive.com>, or
e-mail <comments@organlive.com>.
Hupalo & Repasky Pipe Organs
are offering a free CD, Music of 19th
and 20th Century France, played by
Jack Miller on the Hupalo & Repasky
47-rank French Romantic organ at St.
Mark’s United Methodist Church,
Sacramento, California. For information: <www.hupalorepasky.com>.
Wicks Organ Company has
released their latest e-mail newsletter.
The issue includes information on a new
Wicks organ in St. Cecelia’s Convent in
Nashville, Tennessee, tips on keeping
pipe organs in tune throughout the seasons, a Glossary of Organ Terms, a seminar on the new Royal Classic digital and
combination organs, and keeping your
pipe organ clean. For information:
<organ.wicks.com/email/feb06>.
Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, has installed a pipe
The b e s t o f the E ur ope an tra d i ti on
Pro u dl y m a de i n A m eri c a
1003 Barnwood Lane
Camillus, New York 13031
(315) 751-0505
www.lewtakorgan.com
A
H
I G H E R
L
E V E L
o f
E
X C E L L E N C E
Great musicians need extraordinary instruments
to deliver magnificent performances.
P.O. Box 156 • Orrville, Ohio 44667 • P 800.416.7426 • F 330.683.2274 • www.schantzorgan.com
12
THE DIAPASON
SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY
SHIPPENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
PEDAL
32 Contre Violone
16 Subbass
16 Lieblichgedackt (Sw)
16 Violone (Gt)
16 Erzähler (Ch)
8 Oktav
8 Gedackt (Sw)
8 Offenflöte
4 Choralbass
4 Offenflöte
Mixture IV
32 Contre Fagott
16 Posaune
8 Trompette
4 Rohrschalmei
MIDI On Pedal
SWELL
16 Lieblichgedackt
8 Gamba
8 Gambe Celeste
8 Hohlflöte
4 Principal
4 Nachthorn
2 Fifteenth
Plein Jeu IV
16 Fagott
8 Trompette en chamade (Gt)
8 Trompette
8 Hautbois
4 Clairon
Tremulant
Unison Off
16 Swell
4 Swell
MIDI On Swell
GREAT
16 Violone
8 Prinzipal
8 Violone
8 Rohrflöte
4 Oktav
4 Waldflöte
2 Doublette
Fourniture IV
Sesquialtera II
8 Trompette en chamade
8 Trumpet
Tremulant
Chimes
MIDI
CHOIR
8 Prinzipal
8 Erzähler
8 Erzähler Celeste
8 Holzgedackt
4 Prestant
4 Koppelflöte
2 2/3 Nazard
2 Blockflöte
1 3/5 Tierce
1 1/3 Larigot
Zimbel III
8 Krummhorn
Tremulant
Unison Off
16 Choir
4 Choir
MIDI On Choir
The combination three-manual pipe and digital instrument recently installed in
Shippensburg University’s Cora I. Grove Spiritual Center and Interfaith Chapel controls
58 digital stops and 6 new pipe ranks, including a brass Trompette en chamade.
The console features rosewood drawknob stems, manual sharps, and pedal sharps.
The organ’s entire complement of pipes and speakers is integrated seamlessly in one
central location. Three different console plug-in locations provide additional versatility.
150 Locust Street, P. O. Box 36, Macungie, PA 18062-0036 USA
Phone: 610-966-2202 Fax: 610-965-3098
E-mail: aosales@allenorgan.com
www.allenorgan.com
COUPLERS
8 Great To Pedal
4 Great To Pedal
8 Swell To Pedal
4 Swell To Pedal
8 Choir To Pedal
4 Choir To Pedal
16 Swell To Great
8 Swell To Great
4 Swell To Great
16 Choir To Great
8 Choir To Great
4 Choir To Great
16 Swell To Choir
8 Swell To Choir
4 Swell To Choir
Gt-Ch Manual Transfer
A moment lost, the next half seen,
His head above the scanty screen,
Still measuring out his deep salaams
Through quavering hymns and panting
psalms.
No priest that prays in gilded stole,
To save a rich man’s mortgaged soul;
No sister, fresh from holy vows,
So humbly stoops, so meekly bows;
His large obeisance puts to shame
The proudest genuflecting dame,
Whose Easter bonnet low descends
With all the grace devotion lends.
O brother with the supple spine,
How much we owe those bows of thine!
Without thine arm to lend the breeze,
How vain the finger on the keys!
Though all unmatched the player’s skill,
Those thousand throats were dumb and
still:
Another’s art may shape the tone,
The breath that fills it is thine own.
Allen console and six pipe ranks, Shippensburg University
and digital organ controlled by an Allen
console. The combination three-manual pipe and digital instrument recently
installed in the Cora I. Grove Spiritual
Center and Interfaith Chapel was
designed, scaled, and voiced by Burton
Tidwell, in collaboration with Randall
Williams, consultant for the project.
The two-toned walnut and oak console
controls 58 digital stops and six new
pipe ranks, including a brass Trompette
en Chamade. Rosewood was used for
the drawknob stems, manual sharps,
and pedal sharps, and Ivora naturals for
the keyboards. The organ’s pipes and
speakers are situated on one wall of the
multi-purpose chapel. Three different
console plug-in locations are accessible
to the dolly-mounted console. The
instrument was installed by Menchey
Music Service, York, Pennsylvania. Matt
Baldwin of Menchey coordinated its
sale and installation. For information:
<www.allenorgan.com/>.
The Boston Piano Religious Trust
will distribute $500 grants to each of ten
congregations in five Alabama counties
to help repair damage from what authorities have labeled “a wave of arsons” in
February. Fires were started in nine
Baptist churches in Alabama; one structure was considered a total loss. Boston
Piano Co. is a division of Steinway Musical Instruments; Boston pianos are
designed by Steinway & Sons. For information, call E.E. Forbes and Sons Piano
Co., 205/879-4154, or trust administrator
John Heagney, 727/942-2718.
In the wind . . .
by John Bishop
Thar she blows—some more
While writing my column last month
I ran out of space and had plenty of air
left, so today I continue my stream-ofconsciousness about organ wind. (You
might want to reread the April typhoon
first.) I ended last month with a literary
reference—let’s start this month with
another, this time from American poet
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894):
The Organ Blower
Devoutest of my Sunday friends,
The patient Organ-blower bends;
I see his figure sink and rise,
(Forgive me, Heaven, my wandering eyes!)
Six days the silent Memnon waits
Behind his temple’s folded gates;
But when the seventh day’s sunshine falls
Through rainbowed windows on the walls,
He breathes, he sings, he shouts, he fills
The quivering air with rapturous thrills;
The roof resounds, the pillars shake,
And all the slumbering echoes wake!
The Preacher from the Bible-text
With weary words my soul has vexed
(Some stranger, fumbling far astray
To find the lesson for the day);
He tells us truths too plainly true,
And reads the service all askew,—
Why, why the—mischief—can’t he look
Beforehand in the service-book?
But thou, with decent mien and face,
Art always ready in thy place;
Thy strenuous blast, whate’er the tune,
As steady as the strong monsoon;
Thy only dread a leathery creak,
Or small residual extra squeak,
To send along the shadowy aisles
A sunlit wave of dimpled smiles.
Not all the preaching, O my friend,
Comes from the church’s pulpit end!
Not all that bend the knee and bow
Yield service half so true as thou!
One simple task performed aright,
With slender skill, but all thy might,
Where honest labor does its best,
And leaves the player all the rest.
This many-diapasoned maze,
Through which the breath of being strays,
Whose music makes our earth divine,
Has work for mortal hands like mine.
My duty lies before me. Lo,
The lever there! Take hold and blow!
And He whose hand is on the keys
Will play the tune as He shall please.
Such an eloquent daydream! Holmes
was a doctor of medicine and held a
chair of anatomy and physiology at Harvard for most of his working life.1 He has
us in a church with “shadowy aisles,” but
I picture him sitting in a white New
England church with lots of clear glass, a
little woozy from the bright sunlight.
There’s a black-walnut organ case up
front behind the pulpit, and the pumphandle sticks out the right-hand side of
the case. Perhaps our dreamer missed a
brilliant sermon that morning, but he
seemed not to hold the preacher in high
esteem: He tells us truths too plainly
true, and reads the service all askew . . .
Instead we get a rare glimpse at 19thcentury worship in which we see the
organ-pumper as a participant in the service, “scanty screen” notwithstanding.
I’ve never designed or built a new organ
with a manual pumping system. I would
have imagined that I would try to place
the pump handle out of sight so the
motion wouldn’t detract from the worship, but perhaps that would deprive the
congregation from deeper insight into
the Word of God. The pump handles of
many of the antique organs I know stick
out of the side of the instrument where
the motion of the pumping would have
been quite a spectacle. I wonder how
many worshipers made the connection
between the volume of the music and
the speed of the pumping?
The largest single part of most 19thcentury American pipe organs is the
reservoir. Recently I was inspecting a
large Hook organ in New York City as
the Organ Clearing House prepares to
dismantle it, and I measured the reservoir at 12v x 6v, double rise, with two
feeder bellows underneath, each of
which is half the size of the main reservoir. (In this organ, the pump handle
was inside the case.) I was looking at it
from a logistical point of view—the
OCH crew will soon have to lift it out
of the organ loft—but as I like to imagine the organ as a living, breathing
entity, this enormous and heavy mechanism is one of the organ’s vital organs.
If the reservoir is 12v x 6v and opens
18w when full of air, it has a capacity of
about 108 cubic feet. The feeders
open about a foot and are wedgeshaped—as they each take up half the
area of the reservoir, each has a capacity of about 18 cubic feet. The pumphandle pivots between the two feeders—when the handle goes up, one
feeder opens and the other closes so
one cycle of the pump-handle (up and
down) feeds 36 cubic feet into the
reservoir—assuming no leaks, it takes
three strokes to fill the reservoir.
Right? Read on.
Fill the reservoir and then stop
pumping. Play a hymn on one stop.
You’ll get through a whole verse, maybe
more, before the bellows is empty.
Pump it up again and play the same
hymn on full organ. This time you’ll run
out of air before you finish the first line.
You might have to pump twice a measure to keep air moving at full organ.
How’s that for scientific?
With few exceptions, the case (especially the footprint) of a 19th-century
organ is much larger than that of a modern organ with the same number of
ranks. Why? I’ll give you one reason.
Walk around the modern organ case
and you’ll find the reservoir mounted on
a frame behind the organ. The footprint
of the 19th-century organ is established
by the size of the reservoir located
inside the case.
Most 19th-century instruments have
a service access door at ground level
which means that the first thing a visitor
sees inside the organ is the reservoir.
Actually, what they see is an ocean of
bricks stretching into the darkness and
they always ask why an organ needs
bricks. The weight of the bricks creates
the pressure. Forcing air into an elastic
reservoir (an organ bellows with hinged
ribs) will not create pressure until we
add weight to the top of the reservoir.
The amount of weight determines the
level of pressure—add weight and the
pressure increases.
One colleague of mine made it a
practice to use indigenous materials to
weigh the bellows in the instruments he
built. One organ was near a granite
quarry, another, marble. One was near
old shoe-making factories so they used
the cast-iron heel molds.
I said that three strokes of a 36-
cubic-foot pumping cycle would fill a
reservoir that holds 108 cubic feet.
Wrong! To put air under pressure you
compress it. So it takes many more
than three strokes of atmospheric pressure to fill that reservoir. (That math is
beyond me!)
Bricks used as reservoir weights are
often wrapped in paper. Why go to all
that trouble? Bricks are porous and can
absorb moisture from the air, which
increases their weight, and the paper
inhibits absorption. The organ is tuned
and voiced at a specific pressure. If the
pressure goes up too much, the sound
of the organ will be compromised.
Imagine the reaction of the organ
tuner when he arrives at the church
and finds a stack of folding chairs
stored on top of the reservoir!
The floating top frame of the reservoir with all its bricks is very heavy—
you can’t budge it. But the organ’s
wind lifts it effortlessly. And when it’s
full, a touch at one end makes the
whole thing rock gently—a wonderful
illustration of both the power and the
delicacy of this musical air. Our friend
the organ-pumper can move mountains with his pump handle. There are
few natural forces more powerful than
air. An airliner overshoots the end of
the runway, the landing gear collapses,
and emergency workers lift the plane
with huge inflatable bags placed under
the wings. Air moving fast across the
countryside (wind) blows the roof off a
barn. You stand on the platform of a
railway station and an express train
roars through—the blast of air pushed
aside by the locomotive almost knocks
you over.
Or sit in a sailboat at noon on a calm
sunny day. As you glide gently along the
glassy water you notice a line of rough
water a thousand yards away moving
toward you. The heat of the sun has
warmed the land. The air above the
land is rising, and the air above the
cooler water is rushing ashore to fill the
void. The wind is caused by air being
drawn, not blown. (A barometer measures atmospheric pressure—a falling
barometer is an indication of coming
wind—a fast falling barometer indicates an impending storm.) The wind is
above the surface so your sail is filled
before the rough water gets to you. The
boat heels and the water bubbles out
from under your stern as you race
across the water. Does the blowing
wind push the boat along? If that’s all it
could do, then the boat could only
move in the same direction as the wind.
The curve of the sail is the exact equivalent of the curve of the top of an airplane wing, turned ninety degrees from
horizontal to vertical. The plane is
pushed forward by its engines. Since
the curved top of the wing is a longer
distance to cover than the flat bottom,
the air on top of the wing moves faster.
The faster moving air creates a lower
pressure above the wing than below,
and the plane lifts toward the lower
pressure. The curve of the boat’s sail
makes the wind move faster across the
front of the sail than the back, and the
boat is drawn forward. The racing
sailor’s jargon includes the word lift
which refers to a gust of wind. I got lifted to the first racing mark.
As I visit organbuilders’ workshops,
I’ve noticed with both pleasure and
amusement how common it is to find
half-finished sailboat parts (rudders,
tillers, etc.) stored under the work-
Robert I. Coulter
Organbuilder
Atlanta, GA 404.931.3103
Coulterorgans.com
1184 Woodland St. SW, Hartville, Ohio 44632
330-966-2499 www.keggorgan.com
14
THE DIAPASON
Life is full of little surprises.
Get
ready for
a BIG
one.
Inspired by the Rodgers Trillium
Masterpiece Series, the newest
member of the Allegiant organ
family offers an attractive
American-built alternative to
lower-cost imports. Offering a
new level of magnificent sound,
flexibility, unmatched control, and
industry-leading MIDI functions,
it will make an astonishing impact
in a church, educational institution, or home.
Visit us in the Lincolnshire I/II
room at the 2006 ChicAGO
convention July 2-6 to hear it
played by Dan Miller. For a really
pleasant surprise, let us tell you
about the price.
R
F
IN
W SE O 7 FO R
U A 53 TE
E
I
N
TH IGN ! E ST
E
R
S
IN YEA ONT GO!
AN NE R C CA
O OU HI
C
IN
1300 NE 25th Avenue, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124
503.648.4181 Fax: 503.681.0444
Email: marketing@rodgers.rain.com
www.rodgersinstruments.com
CHANGE
IS INEVITABLE.
GROWTH
IS
OPTIONAL.
{
ARTISTRY
IS
CRITICAL.
{
INTEGRITY AND AN INFORMED
POINT OF VIEW, SINCE 1917
{
Reuter Organ Co.
1220 Timberedge Road
Lawrence, KS 66049
785/843-2622
www.reuterorgan.com
Façades
Consoles
Control
Systems
Digital
Extension
Voices
benches; the employees’ weekend projects mix woodworking with wind.
There is a strong correlation between
sailboats and pipe organs. In my interpretation, it’s no accident that the logo
of C. B. Fisk, Inc. (organbuilders in
Gloucester, Massachusetts) is the masts,
yards, and rigging of a square-rigged
sailing ship.
When you play four verses of a hymn
on a large organ you send 10,000 cubic
feet of pressurized air (2500 ft3/minute x
4 minutes) out of the blower, through
the reservoirs, through the pipes, and
into the sanctuary converted into sound
energy. I don’t believe speakers can
duplicate that.
Today, we slide onto the organ
bench and flip a switch. An electric
motor comes on turning a fan that
blows air through ducts into the reservoirs. When the fast-moving air is contained by the reservoir with weights (or
springs) pushing down on its top, pressure is created, regulated, and stored
until you are ready to use it by playing.
In a large organ, the blower is a huge
machine hidden in a remote location.
It might be the size of a small car and
have a 10, 20, or even 30 horsepower
motor. Many people never throw the
switch that turns on a machine that
large. Among other industrial innovations, the development of the jet
engine has resulted from research
about the nature of moving air so modern blowers can be much smaller and
quieter than the older monsters that
lurk in church basements. It’s common
for a newer blower to be installed right
inside the organ. This means less work
and expense building windlines, and it
means that the organ pipes are sitting
in the same atmosphere that’s being
used to blow them. When an organ
blower sits in a cold basement room,
the cool air blowing through the warm
pipes upsets the tuning. And remember our 10,000-cubic-feet-per-hymn;
think of the waste of heating fuel when
you blow that much basement air into a
heated sanctuary.
The organ blower is a great convenience. Imagine if scheduling organpumpers were added to the more familiar chores of the modern church organist. But don’t take that blower switch
for granted. Think of all that grand air
rushing through your instrument, converting to sound energy as it goes
through the pipes, blending with the
body of air-driven sound coming from
the lungs of the congregation. It’s a
winning combination.
One Saturday morning I received a
frantic call from the organist of a
church whose organ I maintain. A wedding was about to start and the organ
wouldn’t work. She could hear that the
blower turned on and the console lit up
the way it always does, but no sound
anywhere. I rushed to the church to
find limousines lined up out front, and
photographers running around. The
church was full, and the bagpipe was
vamping (egads!) to fill the time. Sure
enough, the blower was running and
the console was lit (so I knew that the
power supply was on), but the bellows
hadn’t risen—there was no air pressure
in the organ. I ran to the basement
where I found a card table resting
against the organ blower’s air intake.
That’s all it took. No air, no music. Can
a card table stop bagpipes?
Notes
Sounds like art
R.A. Colby, Inc.
Post Office Box 4058
Johnson City, TN 37602
423.282.4473
Fax 423.928.5212
www.racolby.com
1. www.2020site.org/poetry/owh.html
Music for Voices
and Organ
by James McCray
Transitions: Post-Easter
The Resurrection is not a miracle like any
other. It is a unique manifestation within
this world of the transition God makes for
us out of this way of being into another.
—Austin Farrer, Saving Belief
The transition from the dark days of
Holy Week to the bright, radiant light of
Easter is immediate and continues
throughout Eastertide as the warm
spring days return. Spring usually
unfolds slowly, often with a series of
starts and stops as nature reluctantly
releases her hold on winter. As T. S.
Eliot observes in The Waste Land,
“April is the cruelest month.” From Ash
Wednesday throughout Lent, there usually are moments when the anticipation
is overwhelming. There is a downward
curve that reaches its depth on Good
Friday, then is instantly thrust in the
opposite direction on Easter Sunday in
a catapult of emotional reversal.
For the church choir director there
may be problems in that post-Easter
period. The climax of the diverse musical moods of Holy Week is on Easter
Sunday with its multiple services, additional instruments, spirited music, and
the delightful joy of a full choir loft of
vocalists singing to a full church of
expectant listeners. For most directors,
that may take lots of time, but it is relatively easy to accomplish. Those Sundays following Easter are the ones needing careful planning and an enthusiastic
approach from the director.
A typical choir member has given
additional hours of rehearsal, increased
midweek service participation, and the
increased time commitment on Easter
Sunday that often lasts from the early
morning hours until noon. In their
minds, it is time to “kick back a little.”
The Sundays following Easter usually
see a dramatic shift of attendance, yet
the need for musical leadership from
the choir may be even greater than
before. They need to be reminded that
it is not just the special music they
bring, but the focus of their voices in
leading the hymns, their contribution
to the pageantry of the morning worship service with their festive robes,
and the overall security they bring by
merely being there. A choir loft of
empty chairs brings negativity to a service, especially after the rousing intensity generated on Easter.
Directors do not need to use difficult
music during this post-Easter period,
although it is recommended that the
spirit lean toward fast, loud, and celebrative. Musicians often hate to program unison or two-part music, but that
certainly has merit at this time. As the
old axiom suggests, “Less is more.”
Choose easy music requiring very limited preparation. Perhaps eliminate the
mid-week choir rehearsal for a couple of
weeks and put everything together in
the usual 30-minute pre-service warmup time. Sing only for the main service,
and, if possible, find some way to reward
the choir. For example, distributing a
“Meritorious Service Award” certificate
made on a computer for the choristers
who showed up to sing on the Sunday
after Easter is an inexpensive way of
recognizing their support. Silly? Per-
haps. But it shows you care and are
appreciative of their continued commitment to the choir and the church. The
post-Easter period will require careful
planning to sustain the momentum
gained during the week prior to Easter.
As Robert Louis Stevenson noted so
long ago, “It is the mark of a good action
that it appears inevitable in retrospect.”
Alleluia, Alleluia, Hearts and Voices
Heavenward Raise, Robert Edward
Smith. Two-part mixed voices and
organ, GIA Publications, G-5585,
$1.30 (E).
The choral parts are SA/TB with the
four stanzas of the setting using the
same melody in various vocal combinations. The last verse uses only the text
“Alleluia.” The organ part, on two
staves, has the pedals indicated by stem
direction, and is supportive throughout.
With limited ranges, repetitive ideas,
and organ doubling, this simple anthem
makes a good Eastertide transition setting for the weeks after Easter.
Jesus Lives! Sing an Alleluia!, Deborah Govenor. Unison/two-part, keyboard, and two-octave handbells,
Beckenhorst Press, Inc., BP1714,
$1.50 (E).
Although probably designed for children’s choir, this setting would work
well on the Sunday following Easter as
an easy anthem that could be sung by a
small choir. Most of the piece is in unison with some limited harmony. The
handbell part, also harmonic in intent, is
printed on the back cover. There is a
modulation, a keyboard part on two
staves, and a loud Alleluia ending.
Take Up Your Cross, Austin C.
Lovelace. SATB and organ, Paraclete Press, PPM00610, $1.60 (E).
By urging the congregation to “Take
up your cross,” this easy setting is perfect for a Sunday following Easter. The
first verse is for women, then an unaccompanied four-part setting. This is followed by a modulation that is
antiphonal between SA/TB voices. The
predominantly two-part writing continues into the fourth verse, which declares
that “only those who bear the cross may
hope to wear the glorious crown,” an
ideal post-Easter message. The music is
very easy but well-crafted.
Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!, Mark
Shepperd. SATB and brass quartet
or organ, MorningStar Music Publishers, MSM-50-4050, $1.50 (M).
This setting could be used on Easter
with brass one year, then organ in the
post-Easter period the following year. It
is fast and joyful. After an instrumental
introduction, the brass are primarily
used in brief, energetic spurts of sound
between choral phrases, many of which
are unaccompanied. With wide dynamic contrasts and a big Alleluia ending,
this setting will appeal to singers and
congregation. Highly recommended.
Shout the Victory, Stan Pethel.
SATB and keyboard, Theodore
Presser Co., 392-42412, $1.50 (M).
Although this is probably best suited
to a youth choir, it could bring a smile to
the adult singers and the more formal
traditional service participants. It is
indicated as a “shuffle swing,” and is a
jazzy, syncopated setting with a soloistic
keyboard accompaniment that drives
the music. The text is about Christ coming back “to take his children home on
got pipes?
We do.
Bedient Pipe Organ Company
800.382.4225
bedientorg@aol.com
1060 Saltillo Rd, Roca, NE 68430
www.bedientorgan.com
16
THE DIAPASON
the gospel train.” With bluesy chords,
repeated static phrases, and a jazz piano
background, this setting will be lots of
fun for everyone.
Sing for Joy!, Bradley Ellingboe.
SSATBB and organ, Neil Kjos Music
Co., 9014, $1.60 (M+).
Based on Psalm 148, this anthem
has a recurring syncopated rhythm
that appears in various versions. The
middle section of the setting changes
dramatically as it moves into an alternating 6/8 and 3/4 meter that has a
folk-tune feeling. The final section
returns to the opening material and
builds to a gigantic “Amen” ending.
The organ part is on three staves. This
is best for a large choir.
Music for the Easter Season (Volume
III),
Hildegard
von
Bingen
(1098–1179). Unison unaccompanied, Hildegard Publishing Co. (distributed by Theodore Presser Co.),
4992-00201, $5.95 (M-).
There are five unison chants; three
are for Eastertide and two for Pentecost. All are in Latin with only stemless
note heads (neumes). Editor Sylvia
Glickman provides an extensive introduction with background and performance practices. All texts are translated at the end, but not for performance
consideration. The austere medieval
music has a haunting reverence. Very
sophisticated.
To God Be the Glory, arr. Vicki
Hancock Wright. SAT(B) and piano
with optional cabasa, Choristers
Guild, CGA 1028, $1.75 (M).
Even though the score indicates SAT,
the bottom part is in bass clef and has
divisi so that there is an occasional fourpart texture. The rhythmic flow keeps
shifting, often alternating between a
rhythmic flow of 3+3+2 and 2+2+2+2.
The text is the familiar Fanny Crosby
hymn, but it is wrapped in a newer and
more interesting arrangement. The
score indicates that it is possible to add
drums and electric bass (chord symbols
are included above the piano line).
There are a few tricky spots, but much
of the work is in unison.
The Lamb Will Be a Shepherd Now,
Donald Sebesta. SATB, keyboard,
with flute or oboe, Augsburg
Fortress, 0-8006-7706-4, $1.75 (M).
This hymn setting opens in unison
with the second verse changing to twopart women. The third verse is SATB
unaccompanied, which develops into an
instrumental pastoral area. The last
verse has a soprano descant above a unison choir. The instrumental pastoral
returns to close the setting. The keyboard part is on two staves, with the
flute part included separately at the end.
His Battle Ended There (African
Hymn), arranged by John Eggert.
SATB, assembly, organ, and percussion, GIA Publications, G-5529,
$1.40 (M).
The percussion instruments needed
are xylophone, drum, and axatse (a large
hollow gourd with beads), and their part
is available separately from the publisher (G-5329-INST, $3.00). There are four
verses with the assembly joining on two
and four; their part is on the back cover
for duplication in the bulletin. This is
based on an African Chewa hymn; the
music is not difficult, but will bring a
very fresh Easter interpretation to the
service. Interesting and recommended.
Book Reviews
Litterae Organi: Essays in Honor of
Barbara Owen, edited by John
Ogasapian, Scot L. Huntington, Len
Levasseur, and N. Lee Orr. Richmond, VA: Organ Historical Society
Press, 2005, xxi + 388 pages. $45.00
(OHS members), $55.00 (non-members), plus $10.00 shipping. Organ
Historical Society, P.O. Box 26811,
Richmond, VA 23261; tel: 804/353MAY, 2006
9226; fax: 804/353-9266;
<www.ohscatalog.com>.
Barbara Owen’s brief biography heads
this collection of articles. Her life and
achievements can be summarized as follows: born in Utica, New York (January
25, 1923); Bachelor of Music from Westminster Choir College (1955); one of the
founding members and president of the
Organ Historical Society (1956); Master
of Music in musicology from Boston
University (1962); advanced study in
Europe at the North German Organ
Academy and the Academy of Italian
Organ Music; pipe voicer with the
American organbuilding firm, C. B. Fisk
(1961–1979); director of music at the
First Religious Society of Newburyport,
Massachusetts (beginning in 1963);
curator and founder of the Organ
Library of the Boston AGO, at Boston
University; recipient of many honorary
recognitions; prolific publisher of essays,
reviews, and books; editor of several volumes of organ music and choral literature. She received the OHS Distinguished Service Award in 1988, and was
designated Honorary Member in 1998
in recognition of her contributions both
to the Society and to scholarship. These
achievements prompted friends and colleagues to offer her this collection of
original articles in her honor.
The contributors of the fifteen articles represent a diversity of occupations: writer, journalist, magazine pub-
lisher, organist, organbuilder, tonal finisher, museum curator, and music professor. A brief summary of the contents
of these essays follows; in most cases
their titles provide a brief anticipation
of their content.
“Aspects of the Old English Transposing Organ,” by John Speller, discusses the transposing feature of English
organs from the earliest times; in the
broadest sense, the article is a history of
the mechanical features of the instrument through the centuries, from its
zenith in early sixteenth century to its
partial decline in the immediately following centuries.
“Organs and Arminians in Seventeenth-Century
Cambridge,”
by
Nicholas Thistlethwaite, is an intricate
discussion of the integration of theological movements of the time with the
renaissance of chapel music, along with
details on organ construction, installation, and reconstruction.
“Some Observations on Three Keyboard-Composers,” by Peter Williams,
focuses on works by Frescobaldi, J. S.
Bach, and Domenico Scarlatti. There
are references to interconnections
among the three composers and practical implications of similarities.
“Johann Gabrahn’s Organized Piano
in Context,” by Laurence Libin, discusses this hybrid instrument (fortepiano
organisé), its keyboard features (both
mechanical and decorative) and general
construction. This particular instrument
reveals a high level of taste, ingenuity,
and craftsmanship, although the matter
of its intended pitch and temperament
remains unknown.
“Oaxaca’s Amazing Organ Culture,”
by Susan Tattershall, is an account of
on-site exploration and restoration of
richly decorated instruments in this
Mexican city.
“Manual Designations as Registration
Indicators in the Chorales of J. S. Bach,”
by Lynn Edwards Butler, clarifies
Bach’s intentions within the context of a
discussion of two categories of registrations and Bach’s registrational designations. According to Forkel, Bach adopted the habit of giving “to each and every
stop a melody suited to its qualities.”
“Restoration of Tubular-Pneumatic
Organs in Northern Germany: Three
Examples of Dealing with ‘Out-of Date’
Instruments,” by Uwe Pape, is illustrated by detailed discussions of the organs
of the Berlin Cathedral, St. Nicolai in
Lüneburg, and Bad Harzburg.
“The Bad Tempered Organ,” by
Stephen Bicknell, laments the replacement of old-fashioned organs, in
mean-tone temperament, by modern
equal-tempered instruments, “with all
the jangling abominations that represent power.”
“The Question of Eugene Thayer,” by
John Ogasapian, explores some reasons
why this musician’s career as a compos-
The Johannus Revolution
12 Organs in ONE
N
O
I
T
C
E
L
L
NEW CVOAIL ABLE NOW
A
Romantic, Symphonic and Baroque
Classical, Solo, Hymn and Trio
Chiff Dynamics
Easy Menu
pipeLIFETM Tuning
Real Time Sampling
3D Acoustics
WWW. JOHANNUS .COM
17
er and performer—he flourished in the
1870s and early 1880s—did not achieve
the prominence and professional recognition of other significant musical figures and trendsetters of his time. Unfortunately, no biography of Thayer is provided, and he is not listed in The Oxford
Companion to Music or The Harvard
Biographical Dictionary of Music, so
unenlightened readers must remain
ignorant concerning his life and times.
“Dudley Buck and the Coming of
Age of the American Organ,” by N.
Lee Orr, considers Buck’s organ compositions for the concert hall, the
church, and his pedagogical works; his
two solo sonatas are described as “milestones of their genre in American
organ music” (226).
“Early American Organ Recordings,”
by Rollin Smith, is a brief history of
prominent players who were responsible for actual pipe organ recording in
America that began in 1910 on the Salt
Lake City Mormon Tabernacle’s 1901
Kimball organ.
“Giles Beach and the American
Church Organ Works,” by Stephen L.
Pinel, is the longest (74 pages, 154 footnotes, 5 tables, 14 photographs) article
in the collection; it documents the
establishment and activities of this New
York State organ manufacturer, his reputation, and business expansion until his
factory was destroyed by fire in 1876.
“Organ Restoration Odyssey,” by
Dana J. Hull, proceeds from the question of the interpretation of clues in
restoring an old pipe organ.
“Winds of Change,” by Jonathan
Ambrosino, discusses the problems of
transformation versus veneration in
dealing with old organs; several early
and recent organs are considered.
“Manuel Rosales and the Los Angeles Organ Renaissance,” by Orpha
Ochse, looks at the career of Manuel
Rosales (b. 1947), first with the Schlicker Organ Company factory, then at his
own firm. The article explores his early
connections with Barbara Owen and
the organbuilder Charles Fisk, along
with his study of historic organ styles
18
and temperaments; one result was the
tonal design, voicing, and finishing of
the organ for Walt Disney Concert
Hall, the new home of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1995. His
legacy of craftsmanship and artistic
achievements is said to challenge and
inspire future generations of builders
in the area.
The book concludes with a Select List
of Publications, 1956–2005, prepared
by Barbara Owen: Academic Papers
(Barbara Owen’s M.M. thesis on organ
building in New England, 1962), Books
and Monographs (9 of 11 by Barbara
Owen), Dictionary Articles, Articles in
Journals and Festschriften (all 49 by
Barbara Owen), Musical Editions by
Dudley Buck (1) and Barbara Owen (4),
ending with Owen’s Timeline of the
Organ: 2600 Years of History (Easthampton, MA: Westfield Center, c.
1995). The concluding page is Barbara
Owen’s drawing of a cat playing with
organ voicing tools, facetiously
described by Charles Fisk as “[probably] the most sensitive portrait of Barbara Owen in existence” (388).
A meaningful critical evaluation of
this collection of articles is impossible
for the obvious reason of the difficulty
of consolidating the essentials of the
diverse essays; that task is better suited
for other knowledgeable experts in the
respective fields of the particular articles. A summarizing section, perhaps
on the current state of organ building,
would have provided an appropriate
closure to the collection. Taken as
whole, however, these thoroughly
researched essays are all well-written,
authoritative, instructive, and insightful contributions to the extensive published lore of the organ. For these reasons, this soundly conceived and
expertly edited book should find wide
acceptance among friends of the organ.
It is a worthy tribute to an active and
dedicated member of the organ world:
Barbara Owen.
—James B. Hartman
The University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
New Recordings
Robert Sharpe Plays Organ Music
from Truro. The English Cathedral
Series, Vol. X. Robert Sharpe,
organist. Willis organ of Truro
Cathedral.
Regent
Records
REGCD 193,
<www.regentrecords.com>.
Prélude et Fugue en Si majeur, op. 7,
no. 1, Dupré; Andante sostenuto from
Symphony gothique, op. 70, Widor;
Incantation pour un jour saint, Chant
de Paix, Fête, Langlais; Fantasia and
Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, Bach; The
Martyrdom of St. Oswald, Spicer; Elegy
(In Memoriam H.W.S.), Spicer; Fanfares for Chad, Spicer; Psalm Prelude,
Set 1, No. 3, Saraband, Howells; Pomp
and Circumstance March No. 1 in D,
Elgar, arr. Lemare.
The organ built in 1887 for James
Loughborough Pearson’s then newly
constructed Truro Cathedral was one of
Henry Willis I’s last great instruments.
With fewer than fifty ranks, the Truro
Cathedral instrument is comparatively
small for an English cathedral organ.
Nevertheless, it has always sounded
remarkably fine for its size and benefits
from the excellent acoustics of the
building. Originally built with tubularpneumatic action, tracker for the Choir
Organ, the action was made electropneumatic and the console re-sited by
Henry Willis III in 1963. More recently,
in 1991, John Mander restored the
instrument and relocated the Tuba to a
more advantageous position. So far as
the stoplist is concerned the Truro
Cathedral organ is one of a very few
important “Father” Willis instruments
to
have
remained
completely
unchanged ever since it was built. I
would list it among the dozen or so outstanding organs in the whole of Britain.
The performer, Robert Sharpe, has
been director of music and organist of
Truro Cathedral since 2002.
The recording begins in buoyant
mood with a spirited performance of
Marcel Dupré’s Prélude et Fugue en Si
majeur, displaying the brilliance both of
the organ and of the performer. In the
middle of the Prélude in particular the
resonant pedal reed contrasts well with
the brilliant chorus work on the manuals. There is then a change to the quietly agitated mood of the Andante
sostenuto from Widor’s Symphonie
gothique where we hear some of the
beautiful Willis strings and solo flutes.
Three pieces by Jean Langlais follow,
their medieval-sounding harmonies displaying the reeds of the Truro organ to
good advantage. The first of these,
Incantation pour un jour saint, is based
on the plainsong chant, Lumen Christi
(“The Light of Christ”), which is repeated at ascending pitches after the Kindling of the New Fire at the beginning
of the Easter Vigil. The theme is given
out in unison on full organ, followed by
massive chords, and then developed
into an improvised fantasia. The second
Langlais piece is a more meditative
Easter piece, the Chant de Paix from
Neuf Pièces¸ which like the Widor
makes use of the strings and solo flutes.
Then comes Langlais’ Fête, a toccatalike work that the leaflet appositely
describes as like “an infectious uncorking [of] champagne.”
Robert Sharpe’s performance of the
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor is very
different from the recordings of Bach
performed on neo-baroque organs we
are accustomed to hear nowadays. It
recalls some of the recordings of Bach
made by Dupré, Widor and Vierne in
the 1920s. As the leaflet puts it, the piece
is “registered in keeping with the spirit
of the Father Willis organ.” This is very
definitely not how Bach himself would
have played it, but in its way it is a
refreshing change. The 16v manual reeds
are used to particularly good effect.
Paul Spicer (b. 1952), studied composition with Herbert Howells and is a
well-known British composer of organ
and choral music. Perhaps his most
famous work is the March for the
Retreat of the Governor of Hong Kong,
written for the ceremony ending British
rule of the colony in 1997. Spicer is represented on this compact disc by three
of his works for the organ. The first two
are meditative pieces whose rhythms
and harmonies are strongly reminiscent
of Spicer’s teacher Herbert Howells and
also to some extent of Jehan Alain. They
both begin softly, build up to a climax,
and drop down again to a whisper at the
end. The Martyrdom of St. Oswald
recalls the death of St. Oswald, King of
Northumbria, at the Battle of Oswestry
in 642. The Elegy (In Memoriam
H.W.S.) was written as a memorial to
the composer’s grandfather, Harold W.
Spicer, who for 52 years was organist of
Manchester College, Oxford. The third
piece by Spicer is Fanfares for Chad,
written for the inauguration of the
newly restored organ at St. Chad’s
Cathedral, Lichfield. It would be an
excellent piece to show off and contrast
the reeds on any large instrument.
Two pieces by Herbert Howells follow the three Spicer compositions. The
first of these is the Psalm Prelude, Set 1
No. 3, based on Psalm 23. The rich
Corno di Bassetto is used in a solo evoking the “the valley of the shadow of
death,” after which the Harmonic Flute
enters and the piece builds to full organ,
suggesting the comfort of God’s “rod
and staff.” It ends quietly as it began on
the Corno di Bassetto. After this comes
the Saraband (In Modo Elegiaco), No. 5
of Six Pieces. This is a brooding, mysterious piece that builds to a climax on full
organ. The final piece on the compact
disc is Edwin H. Lemare’s transcription
of Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D, with its familiar quaternary structure. Robert Sharpe
gives a very fine performance in which
the excitement of the first and third sections contrasts well with the nobility of
the second and fourth.
There is much of interest on this
recording, and Robert Sharpe’s fine
playing comes over well on the magnificent “Father” Willis organ. I thoroughly
recommend it.
—John L. Speller
St. Louis, Missouri
Virgil Fox, Organ, Volume IV
(1963–1965). Command Performances, The Legacy Series: OrganArts B0004135-02. TT: disc one
76:07; disc two 77:21. Available from
OrganArts <www.OrganArts.com>.
These performances, originally on
Command Classics LP discs, were
recorded on the Aeolian-Skinner organs
at The Riverside Church (RC) in New
York City in 1963, Philharmonic Hall in
Lincoln Center (LC) in 1963, and
Boston Symphony Hall (BSH) in 1965.
Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in c
(LC); Messiaen: “Dieu Parmi Nous”
from La Nativité du Seigneur (LC);
Franck: Grande Pièce Symphonique
(LC); Gigout: Toccata (BSH); Bach:
Prelude and Fugue in D (RC); Bach:
Fantasy and Fugue in c (RC); Bach: All
Men Are Mortal (RC); Bach: Toccata in
F (RC); Bach: Trio Sonata VI in G
(RC); Mozart: Fantasy in f, K. 608
THE DIAPASON
(BSH); Franck: Final in B-flat (BSH);
Mendelssohn: Sonata No. 1 in f (BSH);
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in e [Wedge]
(BSH); Bach: Rejoice Beloved Christians (BSH); Reger: Fantasie on the
Chorale How Brightly Shines the Morning Star (BSH).
What does one say about performances by Virgil Fox (1912–1980) that
has not already been stated and restated,
argued and reargued? By this time, 25
years after his death, Fox’s playing needs
no apologies—one usually either likes
his playing or one doesn’t.
Fox was an organist of his time,
trained before the advent of the historical organ movement, and his playing
displays attributes of post-Romantic
organ playing when the ideal was an
orchestral sound, often achieved by
over-orchestration. In general his playing is exciting, if not always musical, and
is characterized by sound combinations
that today would not be considered to
be historically appropriate; sound colors
and contrasts rather than sound color
blends; and sound contrasts (that today
might be considered harsh contrasts) to
distinguish melodic or contrapuntal
lines. His playing also displays dynamic
and majestic readings with a good sense
of line and form; an energetic, forward
driving momentum; and the use of dramatic dynamic contrasts and accelerations to generate excitement and build
to climaxes.
These are well-recorded performances by Fox at the peak of his performing powers and before the theatrical flamboyant mass appeal of his “heavy
organ” era. He made sense of the music
by filtering it through his prodigious
technical abilities and larger than life
personality. This is the final volume in
the fine documentary series consisting of
Volume I (his Girard College recordings
of 1941); Volume II (his Hammond Castle records of 1946 and 1953); and his
Great Protestant Hymns recordings (on
the Aeolian-Skinner organ at The Riverside Church of 1956). If these performances are not for the scholar expecting
historical performance accuracy, they
are at least for people who like exciting
performances of organ music, and that
has value, too. Virgil Fox was a performer who had fun!
—Jeffrey K. Chase, M.Mus., J.D.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
New Organ Music
John Ferguson, Shall We Gather at
the River. Augsburg Fortress 1110824, $12.00.
“For Organ and Congregational
Singing,” suggests the composer on the
cover, and inside he urges the same,
whether the use is worship or recital.
Each succeeding stanza is a half step
higher than the preceding one. One
treatment emphasizes the flowing
water; the others are animated by the
dotted rhythm of the tune. Play it in a
“gospel” style, Ferguson recommends,
explaining that this means relaxing the
dotted eighth plus sixteenth into a
triplet, with the optional addition of a
tambourine. Surely this must be the
Lutheran version of gospel style!
John Ferguson, A Wedding Triptych
Based on Three Hymns. MorningStar MSM-10-650, $8.00.
In the Prelude on When Love Is
Found (O Waly Waly) the composer,
not surprisingly, finds a canon. The Processional on Now Thank We All Our
God features a carillon figure in parallel
fourths over the theme in double pedal.
The warmth of parallel sixths in the
Rhapsody on Go, My Children, with My
Blessing (Ar hyd y nos) contrasts with
RONALD CAMERON BISHOP
Consultant
Pipe Organs
Digital Enhancements
All-digital Instruments
8608 RTE 20, Westfield, NY 14787-9728
Tel 716/326-6500
Fax 716/326-6595
MAY, 2006
the hardness of the parallel fourths in
the Carillon. In addition, some rich harmonic dalliances balance the strict diatonicity of the previous movements.
Jeffrey Blersch, Fanfare and Procession. Concordia 97-6722, $4.00.
This is a stately trumpet voluntary in
D laid out in a traditional format known
to us from the arrangements of Jeremiah
Clarke’s Voluntary. Trumpet solo and
organ plenum alternate with comforting
predictability, with the fanfare interjected at the proper dramatic moments.
Like its model, it has the ability to be
trimmed or augmented to suit the needs
of a particular procession.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Arietta,
Elegy and Melody, edited by Dr.
William Tortolano. Paraclete Press
PPM00534, $10.00.
Although the Anglo-African composer
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor received his
musical training and lived in England, he
was well informed about the leaders,
both literary and political, of the black
community in America. He was best
known in this country for his cantata
Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, with text by
Longfellow. The present collection of
three modest pieces comprises his complete output for organ. Despite the
tempo directions andante con moto and
allegro, the impression remains of
serene, unhurried melody. Elsewhere he
championed the music of the American
and African Negro, but these pieces do
not illustrate that interest.
Donald Busarow, Five Chorale Preludes for Organ. Augsburg Fortress,
0-8006-7677-7, $12.50.
A veteran Lutheran composer treats
some familiar Lutheran chorale tunes
and makes a skirmish into Methodist territory with Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me set
in imitative counterpoint. One detects
echoes of Mouret’s Symphonies de Fanfares in the accompaniment of Nun freut
euch, and of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
in the ritornello of Herr Jesu Christ, dich
zu uns wend. O du liebe, meine liebe
receives a cantus firmus treatment illustrating the text “Jesus, Refuge of the
Weary.” The accompaniment in Seelenbraütigam is derived from the rhythm of
the first measure, and the setting is
expanded by a free fantasy on the second
stanza of the tune.
Robin Dinda, Organ Duets No. 3:
Max Cat Rag, for Two Performers on
One Organ. Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. WL700029, $10.00.
A photo of Max and the composer
precedes the brief Max Cat Rag, third in
Dinda’s series called Organ Duets. The
style is traditional piano ragtime as
brought to the organ by William
Albright. Each performer has his/her
own pedal part, and there is a section for
pedals alone (double pedal for each performer), which could be entertaining for
an audience to view.
tive, introspective treatment. The most
substantial of these three is Variations
on Oh, for a Thousand Tongues. Stanzas
of Wesley’s celebrated hymn are used as
mottoes for the five variations. There is a
dramatic fanfare for the opening apostrophe to the thousand tongues, followed by a pastoral setting for the gracious Master. Quiet charms characterize
the music in the sinner’s ears, and jagged
rhythms illustrate the power of canceled
sin. A stirring doxological toccata in 10/8
meter brings the variations to a close.
Robert A. Hobby, 3 Hymns of Praise,
Set 7. MorningStar MSM-10-578,
$11.00.
Hyfrydol gets a 9/8 meter setting in a
gentle, flowing manner. The setting for
Forest Green is two-voice counterpoint
in the manuals with cantus in the pedal.
Sing Praise to the Lord (Parry’s Laudate
Dominum) receives an eight-page treatment, about four times through the
tune, concluding with a broad triumphal
epilogue and a bravura coda.
Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Cathedral Windows for Organ, op. 106, edited by
Klaus Uwe Ludwig. Edition Breitkopf 8756, 14 euros.
If you only play Karg-Elert’s Nun
danket alle Gott you will be surprised
by the editor’s assertion that this prolific composer of the early twentieth century was considered at the time to be
the most important composer for organ
since J. S. Bach. He wrote numerous
chorale-based works as well as freestyle compositions, and he employed a
variety of styles and approaches to
tonality. Cathedral Windows (the original title is in English, since it was first
published in England) is subtitled Six
Pieces on Gregorian Tunes. Three of
the tunes, Resonet in laudibus, Adeste
fideles and an Ave Maria, are not to be
found in the present Roman liturgy, but
in fact Karg-Elert treats them just like
the Kyrie, Lauda Sion and a second Ave
Maria, which are found in the Liber
usualis. In each case selected melodic
fragments are freely elaborated as
melodies, cantus firmi, ostinati, or just
used as short motives. A rich harmonic
language is used throughout. To Anglophones the impressionistic treatment of
Adeste fideles does not accord with our
emotional expectations for the hymn.
Not virtuoso dramatic treatments, nor
short or light Sunday morning toss-offs,
these fine examples of Karg-Elert’s
work should find their place in an
informed repertoire.
—Gale Kramer
Metropolitan Methodist Church
Detroit, Michigan
David Conte, Prelude and Fugue for
Organ Solo. E. C. Schirmer No.
6216, $10.00.
Contemporary American composer
David Conte has previously produced
two major works for organ, Pastorale
and Toccata and Christmas Intrada,
along with two shorter works, Soliloquy
1 and Soliloquy 2, and it is most fortunate that he has provided another substantial composition of about eight minutes duration. Dedicated to Nadia
Boulanger, his former teacher of three
years, the entire prelude of this composition is anchored by a B-flat pedalpoint
and has three statements of a principal
theme separated by episodic material.
The fugue is in three sections, initially
in compound meter with mostly eighthnote motion, a second section on the
swell mixture stops where a sixteenthnote countersubject is introduced, and
a final section with sixteenth-note
triplet accompaniment of the initial
fugue subject. The rhythmic crescendo
is accompanied by a gradual registration increase that brings the work to a
grandiose conclusion. Although the
technical difficulties are not insurmountable, the work is by no means
easy, especially in the final third of the
fugue where one must be comfortable
playing sextuplets of parallel thirds at a
relatively quick tempo.
—Warren Apple
Venice Presbyterian Church
Venice, Florida
Eloquence and Artistry
in Organ Building
Robin Dinda, Nibs and Nobs: Rag for
Organ. Wayne Leupold Editions,
Inc. WL700027, $9.00.
Above and beyond the expectations of
the style, Dinda includes some original
syncopation and rolls the tune down into
the pedals from time to time. Accompanying is a photo of Nibber and Nobber,
the ribbon snakes for whom the piece is
named.
Robert A. Hobby, 3 Hymns of Praise,
Set 6. MorningStar MSM-10-542,
$11.00.
Double pedal, although it is not too
strenuous, is required in the setting of
Cwm Rhondda. The interludes between
sections, besides enabling modulations
to new keys, give breathing space to the
music. Nettleton receives a contempla-
Hupalo & Repasky
Pipe Organs
1785 Timothy Dr. Unit 4
San Leandro, Calif. 94577-2313
510 483 6905
St. Bede Catholic Church, Williamsburg, VA
Neil Kraft, Music Director
John-Paul
Buzard
Pipe Organ Builders
Member, Associated Pipe Organ
Builders of America
112 West Hill Street
Champaign, Illinois 61820
800.397.3103 • www.Buzardorgans.com
www.hupalorepasky.com
19
The 45th Conference on Organ Music
The University of Michigan, October 9–12, 2005
Organ conferences centered on
repertoire, performance practice, and
history rather than purely practical matters are few and far between. Outside of
the American Guild of Organists conventions and pedagogy conferences, or
single-topic workshops given by other
entities, the annual University of Michigan Organ Conference stands out for its
breadth and depth. The conference’s
three days, packed with presentations
by local, national and international
experts, offer a terrific opportunity to
delve into academic topics and reengage with the details of the organ and
its history. In addition, the conference is
a bonus for Michigan students, exposing
them to topics, lecturers and performances beyond the tutelage of the
excellent Michigan faculty.
The annual organ conference is the
brainchild of Dr. Marilyn Mason. When
asked how long she has been involved
with the conference, she replied:
Yes, I have been responsible for all of
them!! I began the first conference in 1961
because my manager, Lillian Murtagh,
had written that Anton Heiller would be
coming to the USA. Right then I said we
wanted him in October, and we signed
him for the first Conference on Organ
Music. Through the years I have had assistance from both James Kibbie and
Michele Johns, but I have been responsible (with a conference committee) for the
program and presenters.
All of the conference events this year,
except for one lecture and one concert,
were held at Hill Auditorium, home of
the Frieze Memorial Organ. Having
survived several tonal re-workings,
water damage two decades ago, and gloriously emerging following an extensive
renovation of the auditorium completed
in late 2004, the organ is in fine shape.
In expert hands and played with clarity,
this instrument is quite versatile. The
deepened color scheme of the auditorium and the organ’s newly gold front
pipes lend an aura of warmth and
ambiance previously lacking, and in this
environment the organ’s smoky-sounding strings, full-bodied principals, and
high-pressure reeds shine.
Conference lectures took place in a
pleasant, light-filled meeting room on
the mezzanine level of the facility, allowing easy access to the auditorium downstairs and the array of colorful restaurants in Ann Arbor’s downtown area.
Anticipation was in the air as the first
lecturer, Christoph Wolff, the world’s
foremost Bach scholar, took the podium.
Christoph Wolff, born and educated
in Germany, is Adams University Professor at Harvard University. He has published widely on the history of music
from the 15th to the 20th centuries;
recent books include Bach: Essays on
His Life and Music, The New Bach
Christoph Wolff, Marilyn Mason, Samuel Swansen, Toni Vogel Carey (MVO)
Reader, and Johann Sebastian Bach: The
Learned Musician. Wolff is simultaneously erudite and engaging, bringing the
listener into his research process, sharing how he has arrived at connections
and conclusions. He is an articulate
speaker, and conference attendees were
privileged to hear him present four lectures on J. S. Bach and his music.
Bach lectures by Christoph Wolff
Wolff’s first lecture, “J. S. Bach and
His Circle,” offered insight into the
societal and musical influences surrounding the great master. The circle,
as defined by Wolff, consisted of musicians of the Bach family, influential
musicians outside the family, students
of Bach, and patrons of Bach. The historical depth of his musical family is
unique to Bach. The combination of
profundity and expressivity in the music
his relatives composed is fundamental
to understanding Bach’s work. The
young Bach was immersed in this music,
full of innovative practices.
One of the prominent musicians influencing the young J. S. Bach was family
friend Johann Pachelbel, who trained
keyboardists with a mixed repertoire of
Italian, French and German music. Central Germany was a colorful cultural
scene, with many small political entities,
and this was reflected in its music. German composers took the best of what
existed from eclectic sources and combined it in a new way, creating a cosmopolitan style. Pachelbel was an important transmitter of this mixed style.
As a teacher, Bach allowed his students to develop along their own path,
according to their own tastes and pace,
and nurtured their best individual qualities. His students worked with him all
day every day, and those with profes-
Built in the 21st Century
Installations in the United States
United Congregational Church - Little Compton, Rhode Island 2001
Church of the Epiphany - Miami, Florida 2002
United Lutheran Church, Mt. Lebanon - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2002
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - Kansas City, Missouri 2003
Brigham Young University - Rexburg, Idaho - fourth division addition 2004
Phillips Church, Phillips Exeter Academy - Exeter, New Hampshire 2004
First Presbyterian Church - Naples, Florida 2004
Immanuel Baptist Church - Little Rock, Arkansas 2005
~ Coming Soon ~
Friendship Missionary Baptist Church - Charlotte, North Carolina 2006
Johns Creek Baptist Church - Alpharetta, Georgia 2006
Visit www.ruffatti.com for specifications
Distinguished pipe organ builders of
Padua, Italy
Via Facciolati, 166 • 35126 Padua, Italy
Telephone 39-049-750-666 • Fax 39-049-850-483 • In the United States: 330-867-4370
20
sional ambitions became his assistants.
The query “Did Bach write concertos
for organ and orchestra?” provided the
motivation for Wolff’s second lecture.
His conclusion is that the bulk of Bach’s
harpsichord concertos originated as
organ concertos that were later
reworked into cantata movements. He
guided listeners along the trail that led
to this thesis. Some of the signposts
along the trail included these facts: The
bulk of the orchestral repertoire is from
the Leipzig period. The Brandenburg
Concerti, though dedicated in 1721, are
actually pre-Cöthen and have a relationship to the Weimar cantatas; these
works could not have been written in
Cöthen for political reasons. Idiomatic
writing in the E-major harpsichord concerto and its keys, range, and style point
to organ performance. Wolff plans to
present an edition of concertos using
the right hand parts Bach typically
wrote out (he improvised the left hand)
and the full harpsichord part.
Wolff’s third lecture was “Bach and
the Silbermann Connection.” Johann
Sebastian Bach and organbuilder Gottfried Silbermann met in 1724 when
Bach played a concert in Dresden on
the new organ at the church of St. Sofia.
Bach was a technical expert, able to converse at Silbermann’s level, and frequently examined the structure,
mechanics, and acoustics of new organs.
Another important meeting occurred in
1736 when Bach played the dedication
of a new Silbermann organ at the
Frauenkirche. When Silbermann was
experimenting with building a fortepiano, he called on Bach to examine the
prototype. The two were also known to
have examined a new organ in Naumburg in 1746, the largest instrument
built by Hildebrandt.
Wolff’s final lecture was on the
Clavierübung Part III. Both Kuhnau
and Lübeck had published volumes
titled “Clavierübung” to train performers and composers, and Bach selected
this title in order to accommodate several volumes of his work. At the St.
Thomas School and Leipzig University,
Bach was surrounded by colleagues who
were publishing. Bach was at a disadvantage because he had no academic
degree, but needed to establish that he
had the credentials to teach. He wanted
to publish a series that would show he
was a very experienced, innovative,
scholarly musician, highly qualified to
serve as music director and cantor at St.
Thomas. In 1723, Bach added a title
page to the Orgelbüchlein (composed in
Weimar), doing the same for the Inventions and Sinfonias and the Well-Tempered Clavier in order to document his
teaching method.
While Part IV of the Clavierübung,
the Goldberg Variations, portrayed
Bach as a keyboard master, it was Part
Marcia Van Oyen
III that identified him as an organist,
confirming his public reputation. Such a
collection of organ music was unprecedented, including works at the upper
limits of organ technique, testing Bach’s
ability as a composer as well. At the time,
there were probably only twelve organists with the ability to play the large
chorales in the collection, so as a marketing strategy, Bach added the smaller
chorales and duets, which could be
played on the harpsichord or clavichord.
In addition, the pieces are a musical catechism to be studied daily, using teachings of the Lutheran faith and hymns of
the Mass. The title page of the Part III
includes the phrase “for the recreation
and education of the soul,” and is the
only volume of the four that refers to
education. In addition, it is the most
comprehensively thought out and profound of all Bach’s collections, standing
at the threshold of Bach’s late works.
The Clavierübung was a systematically developed project, composed in the
second half of the 1730s, and published
in 1739. Part III is an ideal organ concert as Bach would have conceived it,
beginning with a prelude, ending with a
fugue, with chorales in between; he may
have played the large pieces for the dedication of the Silbermann organ in the
Frauenkirche in Dresden in 1736. On
the heels of Wolff’s lecture on Part III,
doctoral students of Marilyn Mason
(David Saunders, Andrew Meagher,
Marcia Heirman, Kirsten Hellman,
Monica Sparzak, and Kim Manz) played
the complete work on the Fisk organ in
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall at the
School of Music. Wolff gave a brief
description and guide for listening to
each piece.
Typically, the chorales or the prelude
and fugue are excerpted for concert
use, but hearing the collection as a
whole brings to light Bach’s carefully
planned compositional architecture and
enhances the beauty of the works. By
the time the final fugue is played, no
introduction or explanatory note is necessary—the work is heard as a natural
conclusion to what has come before.
Hearing the pieces in one sitting is
demanding for the listener, weighty
stuff even for the organ crowd, but it is
a very satisfying experience.
Dr. Mason’s students played the
demanding pieces very ably, handling
the sensitive action of the Fisk organ
well. This organ is an important historical
teaching tool, and its tonal palette and
unequal temperament provided the requisite colors to elucidate Bach’s works.
The Global Bach Community
Following the Bach concert, conference attendees were invited to join a
lunch-time discussion with leaders of
the Global Bach Community: president
Samuel Swansen, vice president Marilyn Mason, secretary Toni Vogel Carey,
and advisory board member Christoph
Wolff. The community was founded in
2000 with the following mission: to recognize and foster the common spirit
that exists universally among lovers of
Bach’s music, to facilitate Bach-centered projects worldwide—artistic,
educational, social and spiritual, to help
the Bach community flourish, in part
through the ability to raise funds not
normally available to individual Bach
organizations. In cooperation with The
Bach Festival of Philadelphia’s website,
the Global Bach Community has
emerged as the central resource for
Bach organizations worldwide
(www.bach-net.org).
Lectures—Innig, Hamilton, and
Barone
Rudolf Innig has concertized
throughout the world and made numerous recordings for radio broadcast as
well as commercial sale, including the
THE DIAPASON
ent in the pipe organ world: “There is
never any one way any more than there
is any one player.” He closed with one
more recording: the Toccata from
Boëllmann’s Suite Gothique played by
an accordion band. “It’s the ultimate in
flexible wind,” Barone quipped.
Michael Barone and Jerome Butera (MVO)
At the reception honoring Robert Glasgow on the stage of Hill Auditorium (KC)
BEDIENT
BERGHAUS
BOND
TAYLOR & BOODY
APOBA
SCHOENSTEIN
Get the Best
From the Best.
R. DYER
SCHANTZ
Then
Rest Assured.
FISK
Whether your new organ is to
be small or large, electric
or mechanical action,
APOBA members are
proven, ethical firms.
GARLAND
And we’ll be here tomorrow
and for generations of
tomorrows to meet your needs.
NOACK
MURPHY
To receive information about pipe organs
and recognized pipe organ builders
write or call toll free 1-800-473-5270
or on the web @ www.apoba.com
Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America
P.O. Box 155 • Chicago Ridge, Illinois 60415
KEGG
JAECKEL
HOLTKAMP
GOULDING & WOOD
AP
BO
A
DOBSON
REDMAN
BIGELOW
CASAVANT FRERES
MAY, 2006
ANDOVER
Choral played on the piano by Vladimir
Viardo of the University of North Texas.
(If you play or are fond of this piece, this
is a must-have recording, available from
<www.propiano.com>.)
Every so often, Barone would punctuate the music with a subtly humorous facial expression and a cryptic
comment—vintage Barone. At the end
of the session, he offered this thought,
demonstrating his own openness to
and fascination with the variety pres-
BUZARD
complete works of Messiaen. His organ
teachers include Gaston Litaize and
Michael Schneider. He won the competition of the Conservatories of the Federal Republic of Germany in the organ
category in 1975. His current project is
recording the complete organ works of
Rheinberger on 12 CDs, and he lectured on this music.
The soft-spoken Innig confessed his
initial skepticism about recording
Rheinberger, but having become fond
of Rheinberger’s music, then told the
audience, “I want not only to inform,
but to convince.” Compared to his contemporaries Mendelssohn, Brahms, and
Liszt, Rheinberger’s life and education
at the Munich conservatory were unremarkable. He wrote music simply to
express joy, his style was provincial
rather than cosmopolitan, and his music
is not innovative. Innig asserted that
Rheinberger’s music has receded into
history due to these factors. By the time
he began to write organ sonatas late in
life, Rheinberger had already composed
numerous symphonies, operas and
songs. It is in the organ sonatas that he
truly developed his personal style, composing at least one large organ work per
year 1875–1894. Innig hopes to garner
attention for these works with his
recording series.
Stephen Hamilton is minister of
music at the historic Church of the Holy
Trinity (Episcopal) in New York City
and has recorded Marcel Dupré’s La
Chemin de la Croix to great acclaim. He
studied with Marie-Claire Alain, had
the opportunity to play L’Ascension for
Messiaen, and has an extensive collection of correspondence between Marcel
Dupré and both Arthur Poister and
Robert Shepfer. During his lecture,
“The French Connection,” he shared
anecdotes, recounting his experiences
with various teachers, including Russell
Saunders (who taught the fourth-grade
Hamilton), as well as personal reflections. The bulk of his presentation dealt
with the life of Marcel Dupré and his
value as a pedagogue. He distributed a
complete listing of Dupré’s organ
works, encouraging the performance of
the extensive oeuvre beyond the six or
seven typically played works.
Michael Barone, host of the radio program “Pipedreams,” and self-proclaimed
master of playing CDs rather than playing the organ, is clearly more comfortable when fiddling with the knobs and
controls of hi-fi equipment rather than
giving a formal lecture. He has the selfconfidence and sense to let the music
speak for itself, rather than interrupting
or pre-empting it with unnecessary chatter. He reminded the audience that the
art of recording the pipe organ is relatively new, coming into its own after the
invention of electricity in the 1920s. His
presentation was an enjoyable musical
survey of playing styles entitled, “They
Did It That Way?!”
Drawing from his vast library of
recordings, Barone made his point by
juxtaposing Widor’s performance of his
Toccata at age 80 with a lightning-fast
rendition played by G. D. Cunningham,
Dupré’s whirlwind take on his own Gminor Prelude and Fugue in his youth
and a much older Dupré playing one of
the Preludes and Fugues from Opus 36.
He offered a “kaleidoscope of interpretive possibilities” by playing several contrasting renditions of Bach’s first Trio
Sonata and injected some levity with an
outlandish performance of Bach’s Dminor Toccata. Most interesting was a
performance of Franck’s B-minor
QUIMBY
Stephen
PARSONS
and
OTT
Delbert Disselhorst
Hamilton (MVO)
Organ concerts—Hamilton,
Disselhorst and Innig
Three artists presented evening concerts in Hill Auditorium: Stephen
Hamilton, Delbert Disselhorst, and
Rudolph Innig. Hamilton’s selection of
repertoire, labeled “Alain and His Circle,” included L’Ascension by Messiaen,
the Te Deum by Langlais, Trois Mouvements pour orgue et flute by Jehan
Alain, and Prelude and Fugue in B
major by Dupré. Hamilton’s playing is
fluid and virtuosic, and he knows how to
coax the loveliest sounds from the Hill
organ. He is expressive with his physical
movement at the console, even “conducting” with a free arm at times. His
performance of the sustained prayer in
L’Ascension didn’t seem static, but felt
alive, moving forward. He attributes this
feeling of forward motion to a year
spent accompanying for Robert Shaw:
subdivide always. Flautist Donald Fischel joined Hamilton for Alain’s Trois
Mouvements for organ and flute, a work
that deserves to be heard far more
often. Particularly in the second and
third movements, the organ and flute
HENDRICKSON
21
blend seamlessly with beautiful effect.
The Dupré B-major began brilliantly,
but spun out of control due to a glitch
with the piston sequencer. Despite an
accelerated tempo, Hamilton held the
piece together to finish with success.
Hamilton returned for an encore—
Alain’s Litanies—played with a frantic,
exciting, if blurry, rush of virtuosity.
Delbert Disselhorst, professor of
organ at the University of Iowa and
graduate of Michigan, is an organ conference regular, performing every few
years. His memorized program was
ambitious, opening with the Prelude
and Fugue in G minor by Brahms,
negotiated with seamless manual
changes, perfectly under control. Following the chorale prelude and fugue
on Meine Seele by Bach, he launched
into another tour de force, a Passacaglia
by Swiss composer Otto Barblan. This
Brahmsian work includes rhythms reminiscent of the Bach C-minor Passacaglia dressed in weighty, dense harmonic clothing.
After intermission, Disselhorst offered
a solid rendition of Mendelssohn’s
Sonata III, followed by Bach’s Sonata
III, played with an unfussy neutral
touch. The Theme with Variations by
Johann Friedrich Ludwig Thiele, a virtuosic torrent of notes, closed the program
with moto perpetuo pedal and a cadenza
for the manuals. Disselhorst delivered an
heroic performance with a pleasing variety of texture and drama in the repertoire selected.
Rudolph Innig has clearly developed
a passion for Rheinberger’s organ
music. He approached the console and
took command immediately with
expressive, dramatic playing. His program consisted of three sonatas, including the F major, op. 20, the last sonata
Rheinberger composed (1899). This
sonata is subtitled “Zur Friedensfeier”—for the ceremony of peace, and
celebrates the confidence in Germany at
the time that a world war in the near
future would be avoided. Rheinberger’s
sonata forms are irregular, but the
movements are often related to one
another with common themes and intervals. Sequential writing, as in the Dminor Sonata, op. 148, often lends
shape to the movements. The works are
rhythmically energetic, akin to
Mendelssohn but with denser writing,
although they are not dissonant or highly chromatic. Innig’s registration consisted of foundation stops with reeds at
various volume levels for the most part.
Following Innig’s concert, university
carilloneur Stephen Ball and his students hosted a candlelit reception in
Burton Tower, home of the Baird
memorial carillon. Guests had the
opportunity to view the massive bells
and try out the carillon’s keyboards.
Andrew Meagher at the Fisk (MVO)
Students of Marilyn Mason (MVO)
Recently, Michigan has recently become
home to a second carillon, located in a
modernistic tower on the north campus.
Student recitals
Three doctoral recitals by students of
Marilyn Mason afforded the performers
a larger audience than they otherwise
would have had and a nice opportunity
to play for professional colleagues. Seth
Nelson played the complete Widor First
Symphony, whose fifth movement is the
famous “Marche Pontificale.” Performing gargantuan works such as this from
memory happens only in the rarefied
atmosphere of intense study and focus,
a feat always eliciting admiration from
an audience.
Doctoral candidates Shin-Ae Chun
and Alan Knight also performed dissertation recitals, Ms. Chun particularly
shining in her rendition of the Liszt Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H. Joseph
Balistreri, Michael Stefanek, Elizabeth
Claar, Matthew Bogart, students of
James Kibbie, played a concert at Hill
Auditorium on Tuesday afternoon, each
giving a commendable performance.
Church music at the conference
For a number of years, the conference has opened with a worship service
or hymn festival, and has included a lecture or two on a worship-related topic.
The inclusion of church music elements
in an otherwise scholarly conference
acknowledges the importance of service-playing skills for organists, gives a
good opportunity for the local AGO
chapter to participate, and provides
another event to which the public can
University of Michigan Forum
The University of Michigan
27 Institute of Organ & Church Music
June 25–27, 2006
th
Faculty:
Degree Recitals:
Gordon Atkinson, Christine Clewell, Ralph
Kneeream, Michele Johns, Tapani Yrjola
Scott Hyslop, David Saunders, Paul Haebig
U. M. Historic Tour 53 in 2006
July 10–24, 2006 — France
For information:
Conlin Travel, 3270 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Contact: Sharon at (888) 426-6546 (sderrig@conlintravel.com)
U. M. 46th Conference on Organ Music
October 1–4, 2006
Hill Auditorium
Music of France
Guests: Marie-Claire Alain, Maurice Clerc, UM Faculty, and others.
Marilyn Mason Prague Recording
Three Concertos:
First recordings of Emma Lou Diemer’s Alaska Suite; Petr Eben’s Second Concerto;
Sowerby’s Classic Concerto; and
William Bolcom’s Gospel Preludes, Volume IV.
For recording please send $15 with address for mailing to:
Marilyn Mason, University of Michigan School of Music, 1100 Baits Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
22
be invited. This year, the Ann Arbor
AGO chapter organized a choral festival, dedicated to the late Donald
Williams, and Herman Taylor gave a
lecture entitled “The Joys and Sorrows
of Contemporary Church Music.”
At the choral festival, Ann Arbor AGO
Dean Edward Maki-Schramm gave
opening remarks, pointing out that this
effort relies upon the copious hours of
dedication and practice of many volunteers. He illustrated his point by
attempting to tabulate the cumulative
number of practice hours for all involved
in the service, which featured a choir
comprising volunteer singers from the
AGO board members’ churches. The
choir sang two anthems by Vaughan
Williams and Mendelssohn tentatively,
but seemed to relax and enjoy singing
Moses Hogan’s Music Down in My Soul.
Dr. Schramm confidently accompanied
the choir, and David Hufford played the
prelude, a solo within the service, and a
solid performance of the Toccata from
Duruflé’s Suite for the postlude.
The festival service included the
singing of several hymns as well, capably
led by Dr. Schramm at the console,
among them Sing a New Song to God,
with its athletic but very singable tune
composed by Kevin Bylsma. Unfortunately, for all its charms, Hill Auditorium is not conducive to worship, and is
deadly for congregational singing, especially when the “congregation” is spread
out among the padded seats. Future
planners of the conference’s worship
event would do well to choose one of the
nearby churches as the venue rather
than the 4000-seat auditorium.
One highlight of the choral festival
was the homily given by the Reverend
JoAnn Kennedy Slater, J.D., Ann Arbor
AGO chaplain. “Music,” she said, “is one
of the more visceral, organic thresholds
to God. Because of God’s incredible
trust and vulnerability we each then
have a share in that divinity and that joy
and wonder; and music is one way to
create and sustain such a sacred space in
our bodies, mind, and souls, in the
sacred spaces of our places of worship as
well as in the secular world of music as
entertainment.” Her remarks were
heartfelt and sincere, descriptive rather
than didactic, displaying an understanding of the ephemeral art of music.
On a more practical note, Herman
Taylor presented a lecture/demonstration he dubbed “The Joys and Sorrows of
Contemporary Church Music.” Having
retired from teaching at Eastern Illinois
University, he now serves as organist at
Immaculate
Conception
Catholic
Church in Charleston, Illinois. He
earned his master’s and doctoral degrees
at Michigan, and is a presenter or performer at the conference every few years.
For Taylor, the sorrow is that contemporary (read: pop style) church music in
its raw state is overly simplistic, devoid
of through-composition, modified
strophic forms, or creative harmonization. Recognizing quality in many of the
“contemporary” melodies and texts,
Scott Raab, Christopher Lees, and
Andrew Nardone (KC)
Jerome Butera and Marilyn Mason (SB)
however, Taylor finds joy in enhancing
the songs with more sophisticated harmony. He realizes that many composers
of contemporary songs simply lack the
musical training to harmonize their
melodies with any complexity. He has
contacted them about modifying and
elaborating on the harmony of their
songs, receiving positive responses. Taylor’s harmonic alterations are subtle but
do add richness to the songs, which he
invited the audience to sing while he
demonstrated his techniques. His wife,
Vivian Hicks Taylor, served as cantor.
Dr. Taylor also addressed “gospelizing”
hymns, a practice that includes adding
rhythm and passing tones to create a
Gospel feel.
A tribute to Robert Glasgow
Professor Robert Glasgow has formally retired from teaching, and as a tribute,
nine of his former students played a concert at Hill Auditorium. Thomas Bara,
Monte Thomas, Charles Kennedy,
Christopher Lees, Ronald Krebs, Joel
Hastings, Deborah Friauff, Douglas
Reed, and Jeremy David Tarrant
demonstrated the Glasgow legacy with
excellent performances of a wide variety
of repertoire. Tom Bara’s taut, compelling rendition of Mendelssohn’s Allegro, Chorale and Fugue was particularly
noteworthy, and Charles Kennedy
played the Brahms Chorale and Fugue
on “O Traurigkeit” with understated elegance. Joel Hastings played Vierne’s
Naïades to perfection, the fountain of
notes bubbling effortlessly and unaffectedly, and Jeremy David Tarrant negotiated the mammoth Prelude, Andante
and Toccata by Fleury with ease. Douglas Reed lent a touch of humor to the
program by choosing to play two movements from De Spiritum by William
Albright, a work requiring two assistants.
Following the program, guests mingled at a reception on the stage, offering
their greetings and congratulations to
Dr. Glasgow. One was struck by the
legacy Glasgow leaves in the form of his
many fine students. He taught as much
by the example of his own playing as he
THE DIAPASON
Robert Glasgow and Jeremy Tarrant (KC)
Albert Stanley (courtesy Bentley Historical
Library)
Robert Glasgow and Robert Griffith (KC)
Robert Glasgow and Jerome Butera (SB)
ever did with words. Observing his quiet
and elegant technique, coupled with
masterful and expressive interpretations,
was a year’s worth of lessons in itself.
Marilyn Mason’s considerable energy,
enthusiasm, and extensive connections
in the organ world make the Michigan
organ conference a high quality event,
serving both current Michigan students
and dozens of attendees from out of
town. She has done yeoman service by
offering a conference brimming with
serious academic content over a wide a
range of topics, sustaining her efforts for
nearly half a century to present a valuable, educational opportunity each
autumn. Kudos to you, Dr. Mason. I
Marcia Van Oyen earned master’s and doctoral degrees in organ and church music at
the University of Michigan, where she studied
organ with Robert Glasgow. She is associate
director of music/organist at Plymouth First
United Methodist Church in Plymouth,
Michigan. She is on the steering committee for
the 2006 national AGO convention and serves
on two national AGO committees. More information is available online at
<www.mvanoyen.com>.
Photos by Keary Campbell (KC), Marcia
Van Oyen (MVO) and Sharon Butera (SB).
125 years of music at Michigan
1880–2005
Organists loom large in the establishment of the School of Music, perhaps
none more prominently than classics
scholar Henry Simmons Frieze. Music,
though his avocation, was his passion.
Known for his deep religious faith and
keyboard skill, Frieze had supported
himself as a church organist and music
director prior to launching his academic career. It was Frieze, then professor
and acting university president, who
instigated the formation of a Messiah
Club involving four Ann Arbor churches in 1879, formalizing a collaboration
that had been active since 1860. The
Club was soon reorganized as the
Choral Union.
The following year, the University
Musical Society was founded, bringing
together the Choral Union and the student orchestra, with Leipzig-trained
Calvin B. Cady as director. At Frieze’s
suggestion, Cady was also hired as
instructor of music in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Cady started the Ann Arbor School of Music, precursor of the Michigan School of Music,
MAY, 2006
University Hall (courtesy Bentley Historical Library)
in 1880 with four teachers. Cady taught
piano, organ, harmony and composition.
Following half a century of European
artists holding sway in the realm of serious music-making in the United States,
after about 1850 Americans began to
establish their own institutions for
musical training. In 1862, Harvard University appointed an instructor of
music, and within the next two decades
a number of colleges and universities
had followed suit, including Michigan.
Conservatories also began to be established in the East, Peabody in Baltimore the first of these.
Cady’s successor, Albert A. Stanley, a
composer and organist from Providence, Rhode Island, also had studied at
the Leipzig Conservatory and gave frequent organ recitals to establish his
authority as a performer. In 1888, he
was hired as professor in the university
as well as director of the Ann Arbor
School of Music, with 248 students
enrolled. By 1889 the Ann Arbor School
of Music was floundering, and Stanley
resigned as director.
In 1892, the Ann Arbor School of
Music was reorganized as the University
School of Music, with Albert Stanley as
director. Lacking a decent instrument,
the University Musical Society acquired
the Columbian Exposition organ in
1893, an instrument built by Farrand &
Votey of Detroit for the occasion. This
organ had been heard by thousands in
Chicago during 1893, and its installation
in University Hall in Ann Arbor sparked
interest in organ playing. Stanley played
the dedication concert before a packed
house, including the governor of Michigan. The organ was designated the
Frieze Memorial Organ in tribute to
Henry Simmons Frieze, who had died in
1889. In 1913, the organ was moved to
the newly constructed Hill Auditorium,
which has been its home ever since.
When the time came to appoint a new
director for the School of Music,
Archibald T. Davison of Harvard and
Gustav Holst were considered, but it was
organist Earl V. Moore who was appointed professor of music in the University,
director of the Choral Union, and musical director of the School of Music in
1923. Moore had come to the university
in 1908, completing his B.A. in 1912. He
was appointed head of the organ department in 1913, and became university
organist in 1914. Moore was made Dean
of the School of Music in 1946, a post he
held for thirty-seven years. The present
School of Music building, designed by
Eero Saarinen and built in 1964, was
named the Earl V. Moore building in
1975. Palmer Christian had succeeded
Moore as university organist in 1924,
holding the position until 1947, and he
in turn has been succeeded by only two
others: Robert Noehren (1949–1976)
and Marilyn Mason (1976–).
Several noteworthy facts offer insight
into the development of the Michigan
School of Music. In 1929, the School of
Music was accepted into the University
of Michigan, giving faculty members
academic rank in the university. The
master’s degree was also created at this
time. In 1940, the School of Music was
made an autonomous unit of the University of Michigan, with professors on
salary rather than relying on student
fees, and in 1941 the School of Music
began to provide summer programs at
Interlochen. In 1945, the school offered
a Ph.D. in musicology and music education, and less than a decade later in 1953
the D.M.A. in composition and performance was created to certify teachers for
new college positions.
The Michigan School of Music, one of
the oldest and largest such schools in the
country, celebrates its 125th anniversary
this academic year. Musicology professor Mark Clague cites the following hallmarks of the music school’s history:
excellence in performance and scholarship, entrepreneurial spirit, service to
the university and community, balance
of openness and tradition, and sensitivity
to race and gender. A fine example of
these hallmarks is William Bolcom’s epic
Songs of Innocence and Experience,
which has received three Grammy
awards, including Best Classical Album.
In the vein of entrepreneurial spirit, the
School of Music has recently launched
Block M Records, giving Michigan students and faculty the opportunity to
record, produce and distribute original
material without having to go through an
outside company. This venture affords
students hands-on experience with
recording and production, and allows
University-based musicians to receive
greater benefit from recording sales. All
recordings are distributed via the Internet at <blockmrecords.org>, which is a
particular boon for avant-garde artists
seeking an audience.
Primary Sources
Mark Clague, “Tales of the School of Music,”
lecture, October 2005.
Richard Crawford, 100 Years of Music at
Michigan (Ann Arbor: School of Music,
1980).
James Wilkes, Pipe Organs of Ann Arbor
(Ann Arbor: James O. Wilkes, 1995).
First Congregational Church
P A L O
A L T O ,
C A L I F O R N I A
Image courtesy of John Miller Architects © 2005
W
E ARE pleased to announce the design and construction of a new pipe
organ for First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, California. The
instrument’s two cases were penned in consultation with John Miller Architects of
Mountain View and will be a significant element in the church’s redesigned
chancel. With 49 stops on electric slider windchests, the organ’s stoplist was
developed in close collaboration with the church’s Assistant Music Director and
Organist, Joe Guthrie. The instrument is currently being constructed in our
workshops and will be completed during the summer of 2006.
Orgues Létourneau Ltée
In the USA: 1220 L Street N.W.
Suite 100 – No. 200
Washington, DC 20005-4018
Toll Free: (800) 625-PIPE
Fax: (202) 737-1818
e-mail: LetoUSA@aol.com
In Canada: 16355, avenue Savoie
St-Hyacinthe, Québec J2T 3N1
Telephone: (450) 774-2698
Fax: (450) 774-3008
e-mail: orgueletourneau@qc.aira.com
www.letourneauorgans.com
23
The Williams Family of New Orleans:
Installing and Maintaining Aeolian-Skinner Organs
An Interview with Nora Williams
Those interested in organ playing and
organ building have since 1909 turned
to THE DIAPASON as a font of information. There have been wonderful articles
over the years about gentlemen and
ladies who have distinguished themselves as organists; Clarence Watters,
writing on his mentor, Marcel Dupré,
and the recent tributes to Marilyn
Mason come to mind immediately.
There has been a dearth of information about female organbuilders. Certainly there have been women involved
in organ building over the decades, past
and present. Recent developments in
society in general towards more equality in the workforce can only have a beneficial effect in this direction. We are
fortunate indeed to have this historical
vignette by the first lady of American
organbuilding, Nora Williams.
—Charles Callahan
Orwell, Vermont
Lorenz Maycher
Nora Williams installing Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1174, First Baptist Church,
Longview, Texas, 1950
Nora Williams, circa 1949
An Interview with Nora Williams
March 10, July 1, 2, and 3, 2005
New Orleans
LM: Your family installed and
maintained some of the great Aeolian-Skinner organs in this country.
How did you get started in the business, and how did your family’s
affiliation with Aeolian-Skinner
come about?
NW: My father-in-law, Thomas Jackson Williams (Jack, or T.J., as he was
known) was from Ripley, Tennessee.
He came to New Orleans to install a little Möller pipe organ in Algiers
Methodist Church, met Jimmy’s mother, and they married. Jimmy was their
first son, and then they had Jack—
Thomas Jackson, Jr.
I met Jimmy on March 15, 1947, and
we got married on March 28, 1947. (We
waited a week because his daddy was
out of town.) We knew it was a take
from the beginning. I had been singing
with a band on a riverboat, had signed to
go on tour in a road show, and was supposed to leave town for rehearsals in
Mobile on March 23. When I met
Jimmy, and we fell in love, I told him I
had to leave town on the 23rd. He said,
“You’re not leaving, even if I have to
marry you to keep you here.” I said,
“That’s the only way you’ll keep me
here.” Sure enough, we got married in
ORGAN HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
BOX 26811 RICHMOND, VA 23261
Order 24 Hours Daily
www.ohscatalog.org
804-353-9226 (REAL PEOPLE 9:30 TO 5 EST MON - FRI)
FAX 804-353-9266 e-mail catalog@organsociety.org
24
the same little Methodist church where
his mother and daddy were married.
I knew nothing about pipe organs. I
was just the average person who sat in
church on Sunday. As a kid, I would
look at the front pipes, wondering how
they got all those different sounds out of
just 27 pipes. I was always curious about
that. The first time I ever ventured into
an organ chamber, Jimmy’s daddy was
at the console. He waited until I was in
the middle of it, and then really let go
with a big chord. I went running out of
it, thinking, “This thing is a beast!”
Jimmy had been in another line of
business. For convenience’s sake, he
started working with his daddy, and I
went along with them. On one job, in
Gilmer, Texas, I was watching Jimmy
splicing some cables. He would take
his knife and strip a wire, twist it on,
then go to the next one. I said, “That
looks like fun. Can I do one?” He had
four or five lined up in a row. He said,
“Sure, go to it,” and handed me a knife
and a pair of cutters. I just went phfft,
phfft, phfft, phfft, phfft, and had it
done in no time, asking him for another one. He said, “Did you already finish
that one?” When I said yes, he said,
“Look, I’ll go do something else!” He
handed the whole job over to me. That
is how I got started. We went from job
to job after that.
LM: Were you working for Möller
exclusively at that time?
NW: Daddy was his own independent service man, but did a lot of work
for Möller, and had always taken care of
the organ in Kilgore [*First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas], which was
a Möller at that time. In 1948, Roy
Perry [*organist-choirmaster at First
Presbyterian Church for 40 years] wanted to make some changes in the organ,
and asked Möller to do the work. Möller
told him they were too busy to fool with
it, so Roy went to Boston and talked to
G. Donald Harrison about the changes
he had in mind. Mr. Harrison said Aeolian-Skinner would be happy to make
the changes. Roy told him he wanted his
own organ men to do the installation,
and Mr. Harrison agreed, since AeolianSkinner always sent out an outside crew
to do its installations.
We got on the job, and in no time,
had it finished. Mr. Harrison was astonished that it had gone so smoothly, without our ever calling in griping about not
having this or that. He was so impressed
that he asked us to go to San Antonio to
put up an organ at Laurel Heights
Methodist. We went down and installed
it, and, again, Mr. Harrison was pleased
with our work. Meanwhile, AeolianSkinner was about to ship the organ out
to First Baptist, Longview, Texas, and
Jimmy Williams
Mr. Harrison asked us to install that
one. He came down on the train during
its installation—he loved taking trains.
One of the biggest compliments we ever
received in our career took place when
we were up in the organ chamber. Mr.
Harrison said, “Would someone go
down and turn on the wind, please?”
Jimmy said, “Mr. Harrison, the wind is
on.” He looked at the reservoir and said,
“Oh, my word, it is.”
And, so, we had a marvelous relationship with the company from the very
beginning. Mr. Harrison started
requesting us for other installations.
Meanwhile, Roy was so carried away
with “The Boss,” as he always referred
to Mr. Harrison, and with the sound and
the product, that if anyone came to him
for advice about an organ, he would say,
“Aeolian-Skinner.” All Roy had to do
was get an organ committee to Kilgore.
Once he played the organ for them,
they would just cry, it was so beautiful.
There was no question who they were
signing with, especially when they
found out Aeolian-Skinner cost more
than anybody else did! They wanted the
top of the line.
LM: That Kilgore organ is a special
organ among Aeolian-Skinners. Is
this because of Roy Perry?
NW: He had a lot to do with the scaling, but it was a collaboration between
Harrison and Roy. Roy knew what he
wanted to eliminate from the old organ.
I know he insisted on keeping the Vox
Humana and French Horn, because
they were outstanding, among a few
other things. People were outgrowing
Vox Humanas at that time, but Roy
could see beyond this trend, and thought
the Kilgore Vox was very effective.
We always called Kilgore “Mecca.”
When we heard that Trompette-enChamade for the first time, we didn’t
know what to think. [*A-S Opus 1173,
Kilgore, Texas, contains the first
Trompette-en-Chamade installed in the
United States.] We thought, “Did we do
this right?” Roy was just scared to death.
We had never heard such a thing, but
knew it had to be spectacular. We
THE DIAPASON
Nora Williams installing Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1174, First Baptist Church,
Longview, Texas, 1950
Nora Williams installing Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1476, First Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1968
Roy Perry, First Presbyterian Church,
Kilgore, Texas, circa 1949
thought about putting flags on it, and
someone even suggested shooting me
out of a cannon over the audience the
first time it was played. But, as it turned
out, it was more than a success. When
Willie Watkins [*William Watkins,
organist at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., and
later organist-choirmaster at Georgetown Presbyterian Church, Washington,
D.C., for 40 years] played the Healey
Willan Introduction, Passacaglia and
Fugue on it in 1950, it just knocked
everybody over. We knew we had gotten it right.
It wasn’t long before we became representatives for Aeolian-Skinner—
Jimmy, his dad, and Roy. As time went
by, the bookkeeping became difficult.
With the down payment on the contract
price, then splitting the commission
three ways every time a check came in,
they finally gave Roy all the work in
Texas, and we took all the work in
Louisiana and Mississippi. But, we all
worked together on each installation
and on all the tonal finishing. That is the
way it was for years.
Roy always came into a job before the
pipework was committed, so he could
set strengths and work out the scaling.
Everywhere we worked, he would bring
sample Cs and set them on site in the
church, so that by installation time, the
pipes were ready to go. This was our
way of life for years and years. Occasionally Mr. Harrison would ask us to go
out of our own territory for an installation, like St. Luke’s Methodist in Oklahoma City, or First Methodist in Marlow, Oklahoma.
LM: What was Mr. Harrison like?
NW: Mr. Harrison was a work of art.
His hair was snow white, his eyes so
blue, and his complexion so red that he
looked like the American flag. He was
striking and very beautiful—and laid
back. We would haul him off to little
towns like Georgetown, Texas, and he
would love it. There was a restaurant in
Georgetown that had wonderful scotch.
He was devoted to scotch. He and his
wife, Helen, had a little dog that Roy
called a “Maggie and Jiggs” dog. It
looked like it was made out of sticks.
When they got onto the train, she
would put this little dog into her knitting bag, and carry it on with them.
Don’t ask me the dog’s name. Anyhow,
after Mr. Harrison would take a sip of
MAY, 2006
scotch, he would say, “My word, but
scotch is good.”
But, Roy was the biggest character of
anyone in my life I’ve ever met. He was
a man of many moods. The first time I
ever met him I was sitting in his office,
which also doubled as the choir room.
He came walking in, and I said “Good
morning, Mr. Perry.” He just growled
at me and did not say a word. I thought,
“Well, pardon me!” I was petrified. But,
after that, it wasn’t long before we
became such good friends that he’d call
me every night in New Orleans and say,
“What are you cooking for dinner?” All
of us loved to cook. He always called
me a “Dolless,” saying I was a “doll
turned inside out.” You work that one
out for yourself.
Roy loved to giggle and have fun
when he felt relaxed with people, but
he could also be very mischievous.
Margie and Marvin Hall had the drug
store across the street from Roy’s
church in Kilgore. Marvin was the
druggist, and his wife expanded the
store with gift items, traveling all over
the country to stock it. Roy never went
to the church without stopping by the
drugstore to say good morning. One
year, Roy’s birthday came along and
Margie wanted to take him out to dinner to celebrate. Roy agreed to it, but
made it clear to her he did not like anyone drawing attention to his birthday in
public. He asked her not to have a cake
or have anyone sing to him. Sure
enough, after dinner, here came the
waitress with a birthday cake and candle, singing “Happy Birthday.” Roy did
not say a word. He just sat there and
gritted his teeth. When he got home, he
called a local chicken farmer and had
him deliver a truckload of chicken fertilizer to Margie’s house and dump it in
her front yard. Not only did it burn the
grass, they had to hire someone to
come haul it off, and the city fined them
a $500 nuisance fee. They never bought
Roy another birthday cake!
LM: When you installed an organ,
did the church pay you, or did Aeolian-Skinner?
NW: The company paid us per job.
We didn’t have a salary. We received
ten percent of the contract price. If we
needed incidentals, we would keep a list
of our expenditures and Aeolian-Skinner would reimburse us. But, they
always sent so much to the job, like friction tape and spools of wire, that we
were pretty well set. We used our own
tools, like a table saw and drill press,
and just set up shop on site.
LM: After that first job in Gilmer,
you were relegated to wiring?
NW: Oh yes, from then on. Jimmy
hated wiring. The first kind of cable we
had was cotton covered, with paraffin on
it. I had to get it all straightened out,
then “buzz it out” on the other end,
meaning each end had to be identified.
All the wires were white, so we would
set up earphones on one end, using a little doorbell on the other to identify the
different groups. The cable was done in
groups of ten wires, so you could identify the groups as 1–10, 11–20, and then
lay it in neatly going up the spreader
strip. If I had a 61-note switch, I would
hook that up first, then “ring it out” with
the doorbell at the other end, to make
sure everything was in order. It was
messy. When I would untwist the wires
at one end, I would end up with wax all
over the floor. But, it was a system that
worked. When the company told us they
were switching to a new type of colorcoded cables, I was sure I would never
learn it, having figured out my own system. But, once I saw it, it was a dream.
I could hook up one end, keep my own
notes on it, and then hook up the other
end and solder it without ever having to
ring it out. Nothing made me happier in
life than to have a switchboard full of
wires to work on. I loved it!
When we were installing the organ at
First Baptist in Longview, there was a
copper shortage, and cable was hard to
come by. Roy finagled around and got a
roll of cable from somebody at the telephone company, which was disastrous.
The wires were wrapped in paper, and I
had the time of my life cutting that
paper so the wires wouldn’t touch each
other. If I’d had to do that on all the
jobs, I would’ve headed for the hills.
Mabel Birdsong was organist there at
the time. After she retired, they had a
husband and wife team. He directed
the choir, and she played the organ. We
still serviced the organ then. The last
time we tuned there, the wife came in
and played a few notes, and said, “This
note isn’t in tune.” I told her to just turn
her head slightly, and it would be in
tune. She didn’t understand that a note
doesn’t sound the same in one area as it
does in another. I learned that ages ago!
Her husband, the choir director, was so
jealous of that big Aeolian-Skinner console that he asked Jimmy to cut off the
top of it. He said it “shouldn’t be the
focal point of the church.” Later on I
found out he had built a set of steps
behind the console so he could stand
above it and be the focal point himself!
The pastor’s wife, Mrs. Ford, told me
this, and I asked her if he ever got a
nosebleed. Of course, we had worked
with the church’s architect in the first
place to design that console to match
his designs for the building. It suited it
perfectly. When that choir director
asked Jimmy to cut off the top of the
console, Jimmy told him yes, but they’d
have to do without the combination
action, couplers, and top few rows of
drawknobs. That is the last time we
ever entered that church. Those people
were out of their element.
LM: What was Mrs. Birdsong like?
NW: She was the sweetest thing in
the world. Her husband was wonderful. Their son, “Sonny,” is also a wonderful person. When they put parking
MORAVIAN MUSIC FOUNDATION
50 Years of Preserving, Sharing, and Celebrating the Musical Culture
Culture of Moravians and Early America
Moravian Sketches for Organ by Brian Henkelmann
$20.00 (plus s&h) each
Volume I: Advent, Christmas and Epiphany
includes Morning Star, O Cheering Sight; Once He Came in
Blessing; Christ the Lord, the Lord Most Glorious
11 tunes in all.
Volume II: Lent
includes Go to Dark Gethsemane; Hail O Once Despised
Jesus; Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!
9 tunes in all
Southern Office
457 South Church Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 725-0651
To order, visit our catalog at
www.moravianmusic.org
Northern Office
41 West Locust Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
(610) 866-3340
25
meters in downtown Longview, Mr.
Birdsong, senior, would go to the bank
and get a bag full of nickels. He would
walk around town, and if he saw an
empty parking meter, he’d feed it, staying one step ahead of the law. That was
his fun, going all over town feeding
parking meters.
Mrs. Birdsong was a sweet, docile
Southern lady. Dr. Ford, the minister at
First Baptist, would say during the service, if her playing got too ambitious,
“Mabel, you’re playing too loud. Tone it
down a little.” Honey, this was East
Texas! We didn’t like roll tops, and this
organ did not have one in its design. So,
Mabel brought a tea towel from home
and put it over the keyboards, “to protect the little darlings.”
One time we were working at St.
Mark’s in Shreveport, and Mabel came
by with Sonny. She asked Jimmy to
come over to First Baptist in Longview
to fix a problem she had with the console. He asked her what it was, and she
said, “I’ve got it right here in my
hanky.” She pulled her hanky out,
unrolled it, and there was the cancel
button. Bless her heart. Can’t you just
see her walking around with a cancel
button in her purse?
They were such sweet people. Mr.
Birdsong would catch squirrels in cages
and then take them out into the woods to
set them loose.
LM: William Watkins told me Roy
Perry would borrow the Longview
32v reed and use it in the Kilgore
organ for long periods at a time.
NW: I remember they were making a
recording at Kilgore once and there was
one note on a reed that sounded just fine
in the church, but sounded terrible on
the playback tapes. We borrowed the
undertaker’s car and borrowed the same
pipe from the Longview organ for the
recording. For some reason, it worked
just fine!
Roy loved going to Boston, and he
would run up there at the drop of a hat.
He had a name for everyone: Tommy
Anderson was “The Leprechaun,” and
Nora Williams tuning Aeolian-Skinner
Opus 1286, First Methodist Church,
Marlow, Oklahoma, circa 1955
The Williams Family: Nora, J.C., Sallie, T.J. at Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1173, First
Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas, during the 1966 Aeolian-Skinner rebuild
John Hendricksen was “The Dike Plugger.” One of the fellows in the shop, Bill
McKenzie, once asked Roy if they had
armadillos in Texas, and Roy said,
“You’d better believe it. We’ve got them
all over the place. When I get back to
Texas, I’m going to send you one.”
When he got back to Kilgore he got a
bottle of booze, wrapped it up in a box,
wrote on the address label, “Caution:
One live armadillo,” and shipped it off
to Boston. When Bill received it, he was
too scared to open the box.
Mary McGaffigan was the secretary
who handled all the company’s correspondence and sent out our checks. Roy
would call her up and say, “Mary, go rattle your tambourine and see if you can
come up with some money for us.”
Whenever he wanted money, Roy would
say, “Go rattle your tambourine.”
But, Aeolian-Skinner always paid us
on time. We had the perfect setup. The
company was ideal to work for, and
never gave us any problems. However,
it was sometimes interesting to arrive on
a job to see how the church people
would receive us. Some of them saw us
as common laborers, and others treated
us like master craftsmen. Once, I was
walking down the hall in a church in San
Antonio in my work clothes. These
ladies were having a tea, and insisted I
come in and join them. Here I was in
my work clothes, sitting in this brocade
chair in an elegant parlor, sipping tea,
and eating cake. They were very gracious and lovely. Other places were not
like that. If they saw me coming down
the hall in my work clothes, they would
turn their heads to avoid having to
acknowledge me. Of course, I can’t be
bothered by that. Just the snooty
churches acted that way.
LM: In Dallas?
NW: Houston! One minister there
would turn his head rather than say hello
to me. For recitals, of course, I would
get dressed up. That was a different ballgame. He would then say, “Hello! It is so
good to see you.” I wanted to say, “I’m
the one you turned away from this morning!” So much two-faced phoniness goes
on behind the scenes in churches that
the average person never sees or realizes. Churches are often very shallow,
for what they are supposed to represent.
Jimmy and his daddy were working in
a church in Shreveport, pre-AeolianSkinner, re-covering some valves. This
was before they had discovered my abilities, so I was absolved from doing any
work. I was just sitting around. The
preacher asked me if I liked poetry, and
I said yes. He invited me up to his office,
where he had lots of books. We went
26
J.C. (Jimmy) Williams installing Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1174, First Baptist
Church, Longview, Texas
Roy Perry, First Presbyterian Church,
Kilgore, Texas, circa 1949
down the hall and around the baptistry
full of flowers—it must have been a Baptist church. As we walked by, just to
make conversation, I said, “Oh, these
flowers are so beautiful.” He said,
“They’re not as lovely as you are.” Red
flag! We got to his office and I grabbed a
book out of desperation. He had a new
wire recorder he wanted to show me,
saying they were able to record the services to take to the hospitals for people
to hear. As he was demonstrating it, he
kept getting closer, and closer, so I
backed away behind his desk. I tried the
opposite direction, and he followed me.
After about three times around his desk,
I flew out that office door. If I had told
Jimmy’s daddy about it, he would have
clobbered that man. I had already
learned that.
Old St. Anna’s Church here in New
Orleans was condemned, and had to be
torn down. It had a pipe organ, so we
disassembled it for storage. It had a very
nice wainscoting in the choir chamber,
and Jimmy’s daddy wanted to save it. We
had a big chute going from the organ to
send parts down to the main floor. Jimmy’s grandpa was still alive, and he,
Daddy, and I were on the floor, with
Jimmy and some other men up in the
organ. We had some sawhorses set up,
THE DIAPASON
Rayne Memorial Church, here in New
Orleans. The sheepherder asked if he
could come work on it for us, and Jimmy
said yes. About two weeks into the job,
Jimmy sent him to the hardware store
for supplies. On the way back, he
wrecked our car. That is why we preferred doing our own work—to avoid
such headaches. We did however, have
Tom Cotner work full-time for us for
several years in the early ’60s. He joined
us when we were putting in the organ at
First Presbyterian Church in Wichita
Falls, Texas. He stayed with us until
1965, when he went on his own. He is
on my “A” list—very talented, and I
would trust him with anything.
LM: Was there a noticeable change
at Aeolian-Skinner after Mr. Harrison’s death?
NW: Yes—slowly at first. I think
organbuilding was just a hobby for Joe
Whiteford. He was a nice man but was a
rich playboy. His family had money, and
his job at Aeolian-Skinner was prestigious, but he did not sweat to put out
organs as Mr. Harrison had. His main
interest was opera, and he enjoyed
going to all the opening night performances. He had a certain amount of
input of value, but not like Harrison’s.
After Mr. Harrison died, Joe realized
the job was more than he could handle.
He eased out of it, and that was the
decline of the company. It went slowly
downhill from there.
Claire Coci at First Presbyterian
Church, Laurel, Mississippi
Nora and Jimmy Williams, circa 1949
J.C. (Jimmy) Williams installing Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1174, First Baptist
Church, Longview, Texas
Console of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1174,
First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas
and I was knocking out nails, while
Grandpa put them into little bundles.
This man walked into the church and
watched, and watched, and watched me
while we worked. I didn’t realize it, but
Jimmy’s daddy was seething. Finally, he
had had enough. He looked at that man
and shook his hammer, saying, “What’s
the matter with you? Haven’t you ever
seen a woman work before?” That man’s
eyes got big as saucers, and he went tearing out of that church!
LM: When did Mr. Williams, senior,
retire from the business?
NW: In the early 1960s. He had a bad
fall in an organ chamber in Hattiesburg,
and wasn’t able to do heavy work after
that. He could still do small jobs, though.
He was a good tuner, and used a tuning
fork to set the temperament in the middle octave. That is how we tuned in the
beginning, too. We didn’t have Peterson
tuners then. I was always pulled to be
the key holder, and would hold keys with
one hand and work crossword puzzles
with the other. When they came out
with the Peterson tuners, I had to work
the tuner with my spare hand. That’s
when I started reading magazines and
pocket books. I would tear all the pages
out and put them onto the music rack. I
had to do something or I would fall
asleep. Two octaves of tuning will put
you out faster than anything! We did
have some wonderful adventures along
the way, though, and reliving those are
the rewards of organbuilding.
For instance, at St. Luke’s Methodist
in Oklahoma City, Catharine Crozier
and her husband were doing a sympoMAY, 2006
sium once, and we were there. It must
have been right after we installed the
organ. During her recital, someone from
the church presented her with an Indian
headdress to welcome her to Oklahoma,
making her an honorary Indian and giving her the Indian name “Princess
Crow’s Ear.” The church did this out of
complete sincerity, and it was an honor.
Poor Catharine just looked deadpan at
her husband, Harold, like “What do I do
now?” It was beyond her comprehension. If that had been Marilyn Mason,
she would have given them their money’s worth!
Another memorable adventure we
had was serving dinner to the Duruflés
in Houston. They were playing a program at First Methodist, and we invited
them over to Charles Moseley’s apartment following their recital. Mrs. Duruflé had to do all the translating because
he could not speak English. Mr. Duruflé
became very tired, and she explained it
was such a strain on him not knowing
the language. We were running late
with dinner and could see he was getting edgy sitting out on the sofa, so
Jimmy went out and gave Mr. Duruflé
the menu. When he heard we were
serving a chateaubriand with Madeira
sauce, he perked up. It was something
he had been missing on their tours, having been subjected to American cooking. Jimmy prepared a wonderful
French dinner from beginning to end,
and had carefully chosen the wines, too.
The Duruflés were very friendly. She
played the Liszt “Ad nos” on that recital,
and it was just wonderful.
LM: Did you know Claire Coci?
NW: Oh, yes. She was from New
Orleans, and was delightful and unpretentious. She felt at home in any setting.
She was an exciting player, a fancy dresser, and wore a lot of makeup. She used
to play in Laurel a lot, and I have a wonderful photo of her seated at the old
Austin console there at First Presbyterian Church.
LM: How about Nita Akin?
NW: Yes. We installed the big Aeolian-Skinner in her church, First
Methodist Church, Wichita Falls. That
was a fine installation, except that Nita
insisted on retaining a lot of their old
Reuter, saying she needed certain stops
“to bury babies.” She also insisted on
keeping the old organ’s floating string
division, available on every manual, so
she could use it in the background to
accompany prayers.
LM: Did you also know Dora Poteet
Barclay?
NW: Yes. Perkins Chapel and Highland Park Methodist, in Dallas, came
along right after we started with the
company. Did you know that Dora could
not reach a full octave? She was so tiny,
and her hands so small, that it is a miracle she could play at all. But, she sure
could get the job done. She was very
nice and easygoing with us, but cracked
the knuckles of her students from time
to time. She wanted everything just right
out of them. We also put in the organs at
Caruth Auditorium, Lover’s Lane
Methodist, Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, Temple Emanuel, and Church of
The Incarnation, all in Dallas.
LM: How many employees did you
take along for big lifting jobs at
installations?
NW: We didn’t have employees, per
se, but hired casual labor onsite for our
installations. We had our own hoisting
ropes and block and tackle. Jimmy
wanted to keep everything on our own
level, without having to worry about
part-time or full-time employees. We
did not want that kind of responsibility.
When we put in the Aeolian-Skinner at
St. Mark’s Church, Beaumont, Texas,
we hired a local sheepherder to help.
Right after that installation, we had to
immediately start putting in the organ at
LM: How did you react to the news
of Mr. Harrison’s death?
NW: I cried and cried and cried. And,
I could do it very easily right now, too.
LM: I’ve heard that you would
sometimes rescale some organs as
they arrived from the factory after
Mr. Harrison died.
NW: Honey! At St. Mark’s in Shreveport I had to cut every mixture pipe in
that organ! They locked me in a room!
Roy and Jimmy would take a sample
pipe and figure out how high they wanted it cut, then would give me the pro-
NINTH ANNUAL
A LBERT S CHWEITZER O RGAN F ESTIVAL / USA
NORTH AMERICAN COMPETITION
High School Division
PANEL OF JUDGES
FIRST PRIZE: $2,000
Provided in part by Ahlborn-Galanti Organs
Other prizes also awarded
College/Young Professional *
Frederick Hohman
FIRST PRIZE: $3,500
Provided in part by
J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ Builders
This includes an appearance on our
2006-2007 Concert Series
* Through age 26
Other prizes also awarded
Thomas Heywood
AUDITION TAPES/CDs:
Due: June 1, 2006
COMPETITION:
Sept. 8–10, 2006
Marilyn Mason
PAST JUDGES: Colin Andrews
Diane Meredith Belcher, Benjamin Dobey
Paul Fejko, Janette Fishell, Frederick Hohman
Katharine Pardee, Cherry Rhodes
Catherine Rodland, John Rose
John Walker and John Weaver
First Church of Christ
250 Main Street
Wethersfield, Connecticut 06109
INFORMATION AND APPLICATION: 860 / 529-1575, ext. 209
www.firstchurch.org/ASOF
27
portional dividers. I would scribe it, go
through and get them all marked, then
cut them up. This went on for over a
week—maybe even two. We would do
this and not let the bosses know. It was
always, “Don’t tell Whiteford,” or,
“Don’t tell Gillett.”
LM: So you did it with other organs,
too?
NW: Oh, yes—First Baptist in Chattanooga was one we messed with a lot.
Don Gillett sent down what he thought
were the perfect mixture compositions.
We had boxes of our own pipes and used
them to rescale his mixtures. Nobody
ever knew the difference. In fact, Roy
had taken Gillett to task when he was
setting up the composition for those
mixtures in the first place. Gillett would
not back down, though, so Roy agreed to
it. However, when the organ arrived,
Roy had us change the mixture compositions to his own liking. When Gillett
came down to try the organ, Roy asked
him what he thought of the mixtures.
Don played a few notes and said, “See, I
told you it would work!” Roy said, “You
were right.” We would go behind his
back and change all sorts of things, and
he never knew the difference.
This was just at the time of the death
throes of the company. Aeolian-Skinner
had hired a man from Canada to oversee
all the installations. When we got on the
job at First Baptist in Chattanooga, he
had us working long hours. He really
pushed us, and we would work some
nights until midnight. He brought a man
and his son from Canada to assist in construction and erection, while we worked
on metal and wiring. At the end of each
day, we would go back and soak in a hot
tub—it was wintertime. Finally, this man
from Canada came in and said, “Look,
they’re running behind at the factory.
Slow down!”
The Chattanooga organ is a nice one,
but it was a difficult installation for all of
us. Everything was coming down to an
intermediate switchboard, so I had double the amount of cables to hook up.
One wall of the room where I was working was covered with fiberglass. I didn’t
realize it, but I was being covered with
fiberglass particles. My arms felt like
needles were going through them. And,
at some point, Jimmy fell through a
floor. Plus, it was cold, cold, cold.
Don Gillett came down to Chattanooga and was out at the motel with
us. He always drank something called
“Heaven Hills Whiskey.” Roy called it
“Heaving Hill.” While we were sitting
there, having drinks, Don told us about
all the changes going on in the company.
I looked at him and said, “This is the
end, isn’t it? This is the swan song.” He
Nora Williams and Piper at AeolianSkinner Opus 1286, First Methodist
Church, Marlow, Oklahoma, circa 1955
John Hendricksen and Jimmy Williams during the rebuilding of Aeolian-Skinner
Opus 1430, Columbus, Georgia
wouldn’t say yes, and wouldn’t say no. I
could tell by his silence, though, that the
end was near.
LM: Was that your last installation
for Aeolian-Skinner?
NW: No. Laurel, Mississippi was our
last job with the company, although we
rebuilt the Aeolian-Skinner in Columbus, Georgia shortly thereafter. We did
the Columbus job independently. Don
Gillett had overseen its installation, and
it was a disaster. The preacher there, Jim
Johnson, who had been in Laurel, Mississippi, was trying to get his former
organist, A.G. Bowen, to come from
Laurel to take the organ job. A.G. told
the preacher he would only take the job
if the organ were completely redone.
The preacher said fine (he was one of
the few preachers on the side of music),
so, Jimmy and I went up to see it. I was
very apprehensive. It was such a mishmash that every piece of wood had a different job number on it. Aeolian-Skinner
had made the organ out of scraps, and
had used anything they had on hand, so
that there was no continuity to it. Behind
the façade was an enormous drape made
out of what must have been the most
absorbent material possible. The organ
sounded like someone talking with his
hand over his mouth. Everything was
undercooked, and I had no confidence
we could do anything with it. Jimmy was
convinced we could, though, and we set
up shop. Jimmy set up a voicing room,
and we had John Hendricksen come
down and revoice everything. We tore
down acres and acres of cloth, rescaled
things, and added an exposed division
and a big reed. It turned out to be one of
our best installations—First Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Georgia.
Jimmy incorporated the exposed
Great into the existing façade, which had
gold pipes. On the back of the new chest
was a metal flute. This rich lady from the
church came in one day and told us she
did not like the way that flute looked
there, and that her “architect” said its
pipes should also be gold. Roy had
already programmed one of his famous
silver flutes into the design of the rebuilt
swell organ, so he said, “Well, we’ll just
have to have a ‘gold flute,’ too.” So, First
Presbyterian, Columbus, Georgia is the
only organ I know of that has a “Flute
D’Argent” and a “Flute D’Or.”
Our last official job for Aeolian-Skinner was First Presbyterian in Laurel,
Mississippi. The church’s original organ
was an Austin, and we had maintained it
for many years, which gave us reason to
learn an entirely new vocabulary of
curse words. Two attorneys in the
church’s choir were the main ramrods
for getting things accomplished in the
church. They decided the organ needed
to be refurbished in the late 1960s, and
we did the job for Aeolian-Skinner.
Because money was tight, we saved on
costs by using some of the old chests,
pipework, and console, and by carrying
out the project in two phases. Roy came
down and decided which stops to keep
and which ones to discard, and
designed the rebuilt organ, which is a
real knockout. Roy was fond of “Glockenspiel,” or “Carillon” mixtures, and
wanted one in the Laurel organ. He said
he needed it for playing what he called
“hotchatooty” music. We had installed
several of them in other organs. When
Log On and take the tour!
ANNUAL
AND ONE-TIME COPYRIGHT
PERMISSIONS WITH THE
CLICK OF A MOUSE
•
•
•
•
EASY—online permission and reporting
ECONOMICAL—based on average weekend attendance
THOROUGH—your favorite songs
CONVENIENT—includes a growing list of publishers
LOG ON TODAY! WWW.ONELICENSE.NET
28
J.C. and Nora Williams installing the
William Teague residence organ, 1989
we received the Carillon pipes from
Aeolian-Skinner for the Laurel organ,
the breaks were not to Roy and Jimmy’s
specifications, so Jimmy called Gillett
on it. Jimmy received a letter from
Gillett, which said,
Looking back through the files, I find that
I personally set out the Glockenspiel, as I
felt what we did with the breaks was more
practical and logical than as suggested by
you. As you can well understand, there can
only be one tonal director in this company
at one time. And, since we are not a supply
house, I hardly consider my composition of
the Glockenspiel to be a ‘goof’ on our part,
as you mentioned over the phone several
times. Please do let us know how this
rebuild turns out on the tonal end.
You never saw somebody run to the
telephone as fast as J.C. Williams did!
He called the company and said, “As of
this minute, I resign. I am no longer
associated with Aeolian-Skinner.” That
statement about there only being one
tonal director did it. He immediately
called two job prospects that were ready
to sign contracts with Aeolian-Skinner to
let them know he had resigned, and
explained the situation—that he would
not be involved with the installation.
This was 1969. Aeolian-Skinner lost
those two contracts as a result.
The Laurel organ did turn out to be a
brilliant success, and we eventually
replaced all the old Austin chests. Madison Lindsey and Troy Scott carried out
the final phase under our supervision,
and “The Boys” now maintain it and do
an excellent job. Madison and Troy were
very good to Jimmy and me, and are
good organ men. They were very receptive to learning from Jimmy, and they
went along with us on many jobs. They
do very high quality work, and they back
it up. Towards the end of our career,
Jimmy and I had four jobs we were very
concerned about—the “stars in our
crown,” as it were. “The Boys” were able
to take over all four, and that was a great
relief to us—knowing the organs were in
good hands.
LM: You had your own independent
Williams Organ Company, too. Did
you build your own Williams organs
at the same time you were installing
for Aeolian-Skinner?
NW: Yes, we built many organs on our
THE DIAPASON
sole broken, and half the organ
unplayable. We put a plan in place, and
told the priest we could only work there
in January, which is what we did. We
ordered new contacts and other parts,
and had them shipped down ahead of
us, and soon enlisted Tommy Anderson
and John Hendricksen to do pipework
repair. The first thing you know, we
were spending up to two months there
at a time. We eventually replaced the
console and added a 16v Principal to the
pedal, and now Tom Cotner has done a
lot of work replacing the old chests.
There is only so much work one can do
in installments, and there is no one
down there who knows a thing about
maintenance. But, the townspeople
love the organ, and they really respond
to it any time we have a recital on it.
They treat us like royalty.
Lorenz Maycher and Nora Williams in
Laurel, Mississippi, November 2004
own, separate from the company. That
was our arrangement with the company
from the very beginning. Jimmy wanted
to remain independent, and did not want
to limit us with an exclusive association.
Aeolian-Skinner furnished most of our
pipework in the beginning. Later on,
when the company went downhill, we
used Organ Supply and others. We built
the organs and put our name on them
but never gave them opus numbers, so
there isn’t an opus list.
LM: Wasn’t Aeolian-Skinner jealous
of your Williams organs?
NW: They couldn’t afford to be. We
were helping keep their doors open, so
they were perfectly happy to help us.
Mr. Harrison always said, “Whatever
Williams wants, Williams gets. We want
to keep this guy on our side.” Everything
worked out smoothly for all of us.
LM: What were some of your
Williams organ installations?
NW: We built one for Joseph Bramlett’s house in Malibu, California.
Joseph was a close friend of Roy Perry’s,
and was from Longview. We built his
house organ in our shop in New
Orleans, and figured it would take about
three weeks to set it up in his home in
Malibu. It took three MONTHS! We
ended up having to cook and prepare
for all of Joseph’s big parties, which
were elaborate and full of famous stars,
and want-to-be stars. Jerome Lawrence,
the playwright, was Joseph’s next-door
neighbor. He wrote “Inherit the Wind”
and “Auntie Mame.” Anytime Joseph
had someone famous coming over for
dinner, he would invite Jerry for cocktails and dinner, and Jimmy and I would
do all the shopping and cooking for
them. Many times Jerry would bring
over his star of the evening, too. Jean
Arthur came to one of the parties, and
so did Hermione Gingold. She enjoyed
dinner so much she asked for a doggy
bag “to take home for tomorrow.” We
later found out that this was her specialty, asking for take-home so she would
not have to cook the next day. There
were many parties at Joseph’s, and that
is why it took us three months to set up
the organ. We would be working on the
organ, and Joseph would come in and
say, “Oh, I’ve done something terrible. I
have invited eighteen people over for
dinner. What am I going to do?” So, we
would have to stop work, go do all the
shopping and then cook dinner for eighteen people.
We also built a nice little organ in an
Episcopal church in Opelousas,
Louisiana. The rector of the church had
been an assistant at St. Mark’s in Shreveport. When he took the job in Opelousas,
the first thing he did was call Jimmy to
say he had this new little church that had
to have a pipe organ. J.C. and I stopped
by, then went home and worked out a
stoplist and layout, then built it—a little
organ in its own freestanding case in the
back of the church.
We got Bill Teague to come down and
dedicate it for us. And, HONEY, we
MAY, 2006
Lorenz Maycher, Nora Williams, and Madison Lindsey in Laurel, Mississippi,
November 2004
were buttoning up the bottom of the
exposed Great chest while people started arriving at the church for the recital!
We zipped out of there to get back to the
motel, clean up, and change clothes.
But, the first thing we had to do was
have a drink of scotch to insulate ourselves. We didn’t get back to the church
until after the intermission. Afterwards,
we said to Bill, “Oh, that was a beautiful
recital.” We never told him we had
missed the entire first half.
We built a nice little residence organ
for Bill Teague, and a practice organ for
Austin College, in Sherman, Texas.
There is also a nice one at Christ Church,
Tyler, Texas. Tommy Anderson made the
pipes for that one. First Baptist Church
in Shreveport is one of our largest organs.
Jimmy was so carried away there that he
started playing “give away.” He kept saying it would be so much nicer if the organ
had this or that stop, so we would go
ahead and add the stops to its design,
hoping the church might pay for them.
Jimmy said, “If my name is going to be on
it, I want it to sound the best it can. If we
get the money, that is great. If not, at
least we can leave the job with a clear
conscience.”
One of our biggest jobs was the
rebuilding of the Walcker organ at the
Cathedral in Merida, Mexico. Someone
had donated an electronic organ to the
seminary there, and a local Allen representative and a friend went down to
install it. While they were there, this
darling little priest named Padre Avila,
from the cathedral, showed up at the
seminary and told them the organ at the
cathedral needed a lot of work, and
asked if they could come repair it. They
explained to Padre Avila that they were
strictly electronic people and knew
nothing about pipe organs, but they
knew one of the best pipe organbuilders in the United States in New
Orleans. They gave Jimmy’s address to
Padre Avila, who wrote us to come evaluate the cathedral’s organ. So, off we
went to Merida. We arrived to find all
the blocks and key contacts in the con-
LM: What do you think of the current state of organbuilding in this
country?
NW: I heard a new organ at an AGO
regional convention just last week, built
by a builder who is all the rage. The
façade was beautiful, with several different bays—very impressive visually. But,
the organist made the mistake of turning
it on. My ears are still ringing.
I know that styles and tastes change
through the years, but I am so grateful
that my work was in what I consider the
“Golden Age of Organbuilding” in this
country. What I learned was the best. I
do not appreciate these young twerps
coming in and undoing our organs,
either. Aeolian-Skinners are being pillaged all over the country, so much so
that it is becoming difficult to find one
that has not been tinkered with. I have
recently learned that one of our installations in Abilene, Texas is being completely rebuilt and altered as we speak.
Some of these organbuilders are so jealous of Aeolian-Skinner, or do not understand them in the first place, that they
are just waiting in the sidelines for the
first opportunity to pounce upon them.
They change the organs to fit their own
tastes, and this just does not work. They
cannot see beyond their own egos. However, although many of our organs have
now been rebuilt, I can still look back
and appreciate the wonderful years and
the work we did. I wouldn’t trade it for
anything in the world.
I
Lorenz Maycher is organist-choirmaster at
Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem,
Pennnsylvania, teaches organ and piano at
Lafayette College, piano at Moravian College,
and is interim director of music at DeSales
University. He has recently founded The Vermont Organ Academy, a website dedicated to
promoting the organ and its music, located at
<www.vermontorganacademy.com>.
29
Cover feature
Casavant Frères, Saint-Hyacinthe,
Quebec, Canada
Principia College, Cox Auditorium,
Elsah, Illinois, Opus 3838
The history of Principia dates from
1897 when Mary Kimball Morgan
began home schooling her two sons in
order to give them a “fuller” education
than what she found in the public
schools in St. Louis. Mrs. Morgan, a
Christian Scientist, based her educational philosophy on the writings of
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of
Christian Science. Soon, when other
parents began to observe the difference
between her sons and their children,
she was asked to take them as students.
In 1898 the name Principia was chosen,
and by 1906 the first high school graduation was held. A junior college—one
of the first in the United States—was
added in 1912, and in 1934 the first
graduates of the senior college
emerged to begin their careers. Today,
although it is not an official institution
of the Christian Science Church, Principia is staffed by Christian Scientists to
serve Christian Science students from
infants through adults. Principia maintains two campuses. The college itself is
magnificently located on limestone
bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River
in Elsah, Illinois.
The architect for the college campus,
Bernard Ralph Maybeck (1862–1957) of
San Francisco, California, was retained
in 1923 to prepare a master plan. He
decided to use an English village as the
inspiration for his creation, to which he
referred as his “favorite child.” Construction began in 1931 during the Great
Depression, and by 1935 the college
moved to the new location in Elsah. In
1993 the Principia College campus was
granted National Historic Landmark status by the United States Department of
the Interior for its unique plan and distinctive original buildings.
A large auditorium was constructed in
1964, primarily for the annual Principia
Public Affairs Conferences. It was soon
realized that a much wider variety of
activities were using the building and
that a pipe organ would be a valued
asset. Detlef Kleuker Orgelbau of Brackwede/Westfallen, Germany, installed a
two-manual, 32-rank instrument with
electric-slider action in 1967. The organ
was mounted on a platform hung from a
sidewall, the console being positioned in
front of stage center. Virgil Fox performed the inaugural concert. Various
mechanical problems developed within a
short period, and the tonal quality of the
instrument proved to be inadequate for
the size of the auditorium. Principia
decided in 1983 to have the organ rebuilt
and enlarged. The result was unfortunately even less successful, both tonally
and mechanically, than the original
Kleuker. With two failures, the school
administration was understandably hesitant to consider another organ project
for Cox Auditorium. Yet, a reliable and
highly versatile instrument continued to
be a demonstrated need for the building.
The Music Department, led by college
organist Dr. John Near, initiated discussions with the administration in 2000 to
have several organ builders visit the campus and provide proposals for a mechanical action organ that would reflect many
of the tenets found in the organs of
Cavaillé-Coll. Casavant Frères was
awarded the contract in August 2002
after several individual donors and the
college classes of 1952 and 1953 generously provided funding as their 50th
reunion gift to Principia.
When the Casavant team of Jacquelin
Rochette (tonal director), Didier
Grassin (tracker workshop director), and
Carroll Hanson (Casavant representative) visited the site for the first time, we
clearly realized the challenges that Cox
Auditorium would bring. The 1100-seat
auditorium is a shoebox-shaped room
180v long and 72v wide with a rising seating floor and a large stage. Despite the
concrete floor and brick sidewalls, the
30
16v
8v
8v
8v
8v
4v
4v
4v
22⁄3v
11⁄3v
16v
8v
4v
Casavant Opus 3838
acoustics are fairly unforgiving. This is
mostly due to the thin suspended ceiling, heavy stage curtains and padded
seats. The proposed placement of the
organ at the back of the stage was
enough to depress any weathered organbuilder. The instrument would have to
share the space with an active ballet and
theater program; it would be allowed a
strictly limited footprint that could not
interfere with the stage lighting; and it
would be subject to potential damage
due to the maneuvering of backdrops
and decors required by various performances. In addition, a thick proscenium
dropped about 8v from the ceiling at the
front of the stage. Seen from the back of
the auditorium, the top portion of the
organ would have been hidden. Budget
and other administrative practicalities
did not allow us much leeway.
We walked away scratching our heads,
wondering what layout would minimize
the effect of this unfortunate placement.
We investigated the possibility of moving the organ forward for musical events,
studied the floor strength, and
researched the feasibility of air cushions.
We were ready to try anything in order
to get the sound out of the stage.
That is when the ballet program came
to the rescue. After a particularly successful ballet evening, the dance group
effectively argued that the loss of precious stage floor would drastically
restrict the breadth of their shows. The
organ had to go elsewhere.
The move off the stage was certainly
good news, visually and tonally. We gave
a sigh of relief, although the placement
question was still not solved. The previous defunct organ was set against the left
wall on a small platform, but such a position would not have been adequate for
the large three-manual scheme that was
envisioned. The college was ready to
explore all options. The possibility of
adding a side extension to the building
opened the door to a viable solution. It
was felt that the organ should not speak
entirely sideways to the audience, and
sketches were prepared to study the feasibility of an angled case whose platform
would link with the main stage. It quickly transpired that steel columns supporting the building could be neither suppressed nor moved. This added another
layer of technical difficulties, as we
would have to build the organ either
beside or around the immovable pillars.
Any viable solution encompassing a steel
column would have to give good access
to the windchests and pipework for
maintenance and tuning. After many
careful studies, we were able to propose
a solution in which the organ would be
angled by 20 degrees, with the Récit key
action trackers brushing past a steel column. The success of the placement
would have to rely on the precision of the
new building extension and our own
manufacturing, as both organ and building would have to fit like hand and glove.
It turned out that the construction of the
new chamber was superbly crafted under
the college’s supervision, and 30v tall
walls were impeccably vertical and
placed within a quarter of an inch of the
required dimensions.
The internal parts of the instrument
are organized in two layers: the Grand
Orgue, the Positif, and the Pédale
upperwork occupy the front section in
the protruding casework, while the Récit
Expressif and the large pedal pipework
stand behind in the new chamber. The
organ is set on symmetrical windchests
laid out in major thirds from tenor C for
the manual divisions. Since the case follows a strict Werkprinzip, one can read
the placement of the main divisions on
the façade: the Positif, just above the
console, is crowned by the Grand Orgue
and its Montre 8v; the Pédale is on either
side behind the 16v Montre. The Récit
division has been split in two sections:
the flues, Hautbois, and Voix humaine
are at the front, and the battery of 16v, 8v
and 4v reeds are at the back. The key
action has been realized with traditional
wooden trackers, wooden squares, and
steel rollers. The electric drawstop
action is complemented with a generous
capture system. The winding is done
through large single rise reservoirs and
wooden trunks.
Casavant Opus 3838
3 manuals, 42 stops
Grand Orgue
Montre
Montre
Violoncelle
Bourdon
Flûte harmonique
Prestant
Flûte ouverte
Doublette
Cornet III
Fourniture IV–V
Bombarde
Trompette
Clairon
8v
8v
8v
8v
4v
4v
2v
2v
16v
8v
8v
8v
4v
Récit Expressif
Diapason
Bourdon
Viole de gambe
Voix céleste (TC)
Octave
Flûte octaviante
Octavin
Plein jeu V
Basson
Trompette harmonique
Hautbois
Voix humaine
Clairon harmonique
Tremblant
16v
8v
8v
4v
4v
22⁄3v
2v
13⁄5v
11⁄3v
1v
8v
8v
Positif
Bourdon doux
Principal
Cor de nuit
Prestant
Flûte à fuseau
Nazard
Quarte de nazard
Tierce
Larigot
Mixture IV
Trompette
Cromorne
Tremblant
32v
16v
16v
16v
16v
8v
8v
8v
4v
4v
32v
16v
8v
4v
Pédale
Soubasse
Montre (G.O.)
Contrebasse (prepared)
Soubasse
Bourdon doux (Pos.)
Octavebasse
Contrebasse (prepared)
Bourdon
Octave
Flute (prepared)
Contre Trombone
Trombone
Trompette
Clairon
Pos/G.O.
Réc./G.O.
Réc./Pos.
Tirasse G.O.
Tirasse Pos.
Tirasse Réc.
The case design itself is a reflection of
the very successful Maybeck architecture
that graces the college buildings. We
tried to emulate the elegant Arts & Crafts
feel by mixing strict main lines with gently curved pipeshades. Great care has
been given to enhance the verticality of
the overall composition by breaking any
potential horizontal lines. The case is
made of stained solid American walnut
throughout, with highlights of natural
maple in the pipeshades. The polished tin
façade provides a strong contrast with the
soft grain of the walnut. The ensemble
warmly glows in the auditorium.
Despite its curved drawstop terraces
and porcelain stop nameplates, the console is not trying to copy any CavailléColl examples. The various elements
and their arrangement have been chosen for their elegance and feel. It is a
play of simplicity and richness with the
walnut highlighted by thin strips of
ebony. All the electronic controls, with
the exception of a small readout, are discreetly hidden behind small doors.
The tonal architecture of the instrument is thoroughly grounded in the
19th-century French tradition. Dr.
Near’s passion for French organ literature, especially that of Charles-Marie
Widor, had to find a good vehicle
through a full and noble sound.
Jacquelin Rochette shaped a tonal
structure that continues the musical
THE DIAPASON
Wind pressure Pipe diameters (mm)
Grand Orgue
90mm
C2
C3
C4
C5
1 Montre
16'
250
148
84
50
30
2 Montre
8'
150
85
52
31
20,5
3 Violoncelle
8'
120
71,5
43,7
26,8 16,4
4 Bourdon
8'
125
86,7
52,9
31,3 23,7
5 Flute harmonique
8'
135
85
56
44
6 Prestant
4'
88
49
31
20
13
7 Flûte ouverte
4'
97
60
38,7
25
16,1
49
28
17
11
8
50
34
22
16
8 Doublette
2'
9 Cornet III
2 2/3'
TC
10 Fourniture IV-V
Console
C1
2'
MC
1 3/5'
TC
1 1/3'
1 1/3'
31,9
C1: 19 22 26 29
1'
25,3
C2: 15 19 22 26
2/3'
18,9
C3: 12 15 19 22
1/2'
15,5
Full length
32
28
18
13
36
24
16
11
F3: 8 12 15 19 22
C4: 1 8 12 15 19
D5: 1 5 8 12 15
11 Bombarde
16'
194
131
96
75
62
12 Trompette
8'
131
96
75
62
54
13 Clairon
4'
96
75
62
54
54
C3
C4
C5
Wind pressure Pipe diameters (mm)
Récit
100mm
C1
C2
142
85
51,4 31,5 19,3
1-12 wood
150,8 X 128,6
89,3
55,5 32,7 24,2
100,8
60,5
37,1 22,7
55,8
34,2
14 Diapason
8'
15 Bourdon
8'
16 Viole de gambe
8'
17 Voix céleste (TC)
8'
18 Octave
4'
81,5
49,3
30,2 18,5 11,4
19 Flûte octaviante
4'
82,7
56,9
43,9 29,2 17,8
20 Octavin
2'
55,3
42,6
28
16,8
9,3
21 Plein jeu V
2'
2'
43,1
C1: 15 19 22 26 29
11/3'
33,4
F2: 12 15 19 22 26
1'
27,8
F3: 8 12 15 19 22
2/3'
21,5
F4: 1 8 12 15 19
1/2'
13,9
Full Length
21
14
12,85
D5: 1 5 8 12 15
22 Basson
16'
131
96
75
62
54
23 Trompette harmonique
8'
111
84
67
57
51
24 Hautbois
8'
92
56
52
41
32
25 Voix humaine
8'
37
33
29
27
25
26 Clairon harmonique
4'
75
62
54
48
Wind pressure Pipe diameters (mm)
80mm
C1
Positif
Organ section
27 Bourdon doux
28 Principal
29 Cor de nuit
30 Prestant
31 Flûte à fuseau
32 Nazard
33 Quarte de nazard
34 Tierce
35 Larigot
36 Mixture IV
C1: 22 29 33 36
C2: 22 26 29 33
F2: 15 22 26 29
C3:15 19 22 26
F3: 12 15 19 22
C4: 8 12 15 19
D5: 1 8 12 15
37 Trompette
38 Cromorne
Auditorium plan
MAY, 2006
16'
8'
8'
4'
4'
2 2/3'
2'
1 3/5'
1 1/3'
1
1-24 wood
1-12 wood
1'
2/3'
1/2'
1/3'
1/4'
8'
8'
principles set in the highly successful
organ of Brick Church in New York City
and which serves effectively the
immense corpus of the French repertoire. The organ is articulated around a
traditional 16v Grand Orgue. The Récit
Expressif is typical of the large Récit
found in late grand Cavaillé-Coll
organs, with the exception of the 16v
Bourdon that Dr. Near preferred to
have in the Positif. The Positif is treated
more classically with its series of mutations and a large-scale Cromorne. The
Pédale is richly endowed from 32v
upwards, although it is the division with
the most compromises, as the large
C2
C3
231 X 200
142
117 X 143
86
86
72
62
54
42
25,31
19,33
15,9
12,17
10,04
139,7 X
84
50,5
48
57
46
38
34
28
50,5
50
29,8
29
33,5
30
24
20
18
111
42
84
36
67
33
C4
C5
29,8 23,2
30
20
23,2 14,5
18
12
20
13
18
12
15
10
12
8,5
12
8
57
30
51
26
reeds and stopped flutes have been
obtained through extensions.
Thanks to the wealth of foundation
stops, many built with “entaille de timbre,” the organ is solidly grounded,
and the generous basses contribute a
wonderful gravitas to the instrument.
Given the musical goals of retaining
clarity throughout the entire compass
and achieving nice initiation of speech,
the mixtures have been purposely kept
under control to avoid any aggressiveness. At the same time, though, the
large number of reed stops—twenty
percent of the ensemble, built with
full-length resonators and designed
31
Wind pressure
Pédale
90mm
Pipe diameters (mm)
C1
C2
420 X 465
264 X 300
C3
New Organs
Reeds 150mm
39 Soubasse
32'
40 Contrebasse
16'
Prepared
244 X 293
152 X 182
92 X 110
42 Soubasse
16'
1-24 wood
264 X 300
165 X 193
91,9
45 Octavebasse
8'
155
92,8
55,8
46 Contrebasse
8'
152 X 182
92 X 110
58,5 X 70
47 Bourdon
8'
165 X 193
91,9
58,6
48 Octave
4'
85,2
51,4
31,5
Prepared
49 Flute
4'
Prepared
92 X 110
58,5 X 70
50 Contre-trombone
32'
Extension
330
208
51 Trombone
16'
Full length
208
152
114
53 Trompette
8'
152
114
87
54 Clairon
4'
114
87
67
Organ plan
Drawknob detail
with Cavaillé-Coll shallots—provides a
thrilling tutti of great richness without
ever being shrill.
This instrument was not without
technical difficulties, and we have
been fortunate to work alongside a
college whose search for excellence
has encouraged us to challenge ourselves. This exhilarating experience
was greatly facilitated by their continuing support and assistance. A special
thanks goes to Dr. John Near for his
valuable guidance and his deep
involvement during the entire project.
Dr. Near will inaugurate the organ on
May 11.
Didier Grassin
Jacquelin Rochette
Casavant Frères
32
A note from the college organist
Principia is thrilled to have this
magnificent new organ in Cox Auditorium. It brings a much-needed new
dimension to the performance opportunities at the college, and it is a wonderful addition to the musical landscape of the greater St. Louis community. I want to express my gratitude to
the many generous donors who made
the project possible, and to all the
Casavant personnel who worked so
tirelessly to make the instrument such
a fine success.
John R. Near
Professor of Music
Photo credit: Ellen Sprague, Principia College. Drawings courtesy Casavant Frères.
Gober Organs, Inc., Elora,
Ontario, Canada
The Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd (ELCA), Brooklyn, Ohio
The classic form of the tracker organ,
with a slender lower case and wider
upper case, the transition made elegant
by curved consoles or brackets, has
become iconic. But if we take in the
whole range of historic organs, the number that deviate from that scheme is
great. Organs with the keydesk
detached, off-center, on the side of the
case or the rear of the case, make up a
very significant portion of historic
organs. Then, as now, the physical situation often suggested a layout other
than the one we now tend to regard as
the norm.
The Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd in the Cleveland, Ohio, suburb of Brooklyn has no loft. The choir
and other musicians are located behind
the congregation and at the same level.
First efforts to design an asymmetrical
organ on one side of the aisle were fruitless. Such a design would have cramped
the pipes and not got them far enough
up over the heads of the people to take
advantage of the acoustic volume of the
high-ceilinged sanctuary.
Once our proposed organ straddling
the aisle was accepted, the engineering
was a matter of reconciling all our normal principles: simplifying the action,
eliminating mass and friction, devising a
layout that produces a dramatic façade
with good proportions and strong geometric patterns and that relates to the
windchest pipe order. The resulting
action is not only pleasant to play, but
also stable through the extreme humidity changes between winter and summer
in the un-air conditioned sanctuary.
The Hauptwerk and Pedal are at
impost level, with the Hauptwerk on the
left just above the keyboards, and the
Pedal on the right. The Oberwerk is
above and centered in the case. Façade
pipes are taken from the Hauptwerk
and Pedal Prinzipal 8v and 16v stops as
well as the Pedal Choralbass and the
Oberwerk Traversflöte 8v, a harmonic
flute. Seated at the organ, the player is
on a podium two steps up from floor
level, facilitating her view of the choristers or other musicians.
The organ is North German in style.
Most of its pipes are of lead, made in
our shop, including the hand-burnished
façade pipes, plus several stops,
revoiced, from the church’s previous
organ. The sanctuary’s overall acoustical
dryness is compounded at floor level by
a number of windows. But the 28-foot
tall organ benefits, as we had hoped,
from the much more supportive environment overhead.
The organ was selected by a committee headed by Linda Kempke, cantor
and parish assistant at Good Shepherd.
They were assisted in their work by consultant David Boe of the Oberlin Conservatory, who also played the dedication recital. The organ can be heard on
a forthcoming CD recorded by Craig
Cramer of the University of Notre
Dame.
—Halbert Gober
Hauptwerk C–g3
Bourdon
Praestant
Viola da Gamba
Gedackt
Oktav
Quinte
Oktav
Mixtur IV
8v Trompete
16v
8v
8v
8v
4v
3v
2v
Oberwerk C–g3
Rohrflöte
Traversflöte
Koppelflöte
Spitzflöte
Sesquialtera II
8v Dulzian
8v
8v
4v
2v
16v
16v
8v
6v
4v
2v
16v
8v
Pedal C–f1
Prinzipal
Subbass
Oktav
Nasat
Choralbass
Nachthorn
Posaune
Trompete
Normal couplers
Tremulant to entire organ
Zimbelstern, wind-driven
THE DIAPASON
Bert Adams, FAGO
Calendar
This calendar runs from the 15th of the month
of issue through the following month. The deadline
is the first of the preceding month (Jan. 1 for
Feb. issue). All events are assumed to be organ
recitals unless otherwise indicated and are grouped
within each date north-south and east-west. •=AGO
chapter event, • •=RCCO centre event, +=new
organ dedication, ++= OHS event.
Information cannot be accepted unless it specifies artist name, date, location, and hour in writing. Multiple listings should be in chronological
order; please do not send duplicate listings. THE
DIAPASON regrets that it cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of calendar entries.
UNITED STATES
East of the Mississippi
15 MAY
Ken Cowan; Calvary Episcopal, Cincinnati,
OH 8 pm
16 MAY
Ray Cornils, youth concert; Portland City
Hall, Portland, ME 10:30 am
Unionville High School Choir; Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA 2 pm
Frances Nobert; Church of St. Louis, King of
France, St. Paul, MN 12:35 pm
17 MAY
McNeil Robinson; Church of the Holy Apostles, New York, NY 7:30 pm
Paul Skevington; St. Luke Catholic Church,
McLean, VA 1 pm
19 MAY
Ken Cowan; West Parish Church, West
Barnstable, MA 7:30 pm
Jeffrey Wood; Center Church, Hartford, CT
12:10 pm
Matthew Walsh; Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago, IL 12:10 pm
William Ferris Chorale; Mt. Carmel Church,
Chicago, IL 8 pm
20 MAY
Ken Cowan, masterclass; West Parish
Church, West Barnstable, MA 10 am
+Peter Richard Conte; The Kimmel Center,
Philadelphia, PA 11 am
John Gouwens, carillon; The Culver Academies, Culver, IN 4 pm
21 MAY
Colonial Singers; First Church of Christ,
Wethersfield, CT 7 pm
Choral concert; Center Church, Hartford, CT
4 pm
Peter DuBois; Memorial Art Gallery,
Rochester, NY 5:30 pm
Brahms, Requiem; Church of St. Joseph,
Bronxville, NY 3 pm
Hymn Festival; St. Peter’s Episcopal, Bay
Shore, NY 5 pm
Jonathan Hall; Cathedral of St. Patrick, New
York, NY 4:30 pm
Mark Bani; St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 5:15 pm
Gwendolyn Toth; Christ Church, New
Brunswick, NJ 6:30 pm, Vespers at 6 pm
Felix Hell; Lutheran Theological Seminary,
Gettysburg, PA 3 pm
Anne Wilson, Song of Hope; Doylestown
Presbyterian, Doylestown, PA 7 pm
Choral concert; Cathedral of Mary Our
Queen, Baltimore, MD 5:30 pm
Mary Preston; Grace Covenant Presbyterian, Richmond, VA 5 pm
Cantate; First Presbyterian, Lynchburg, VA 3
pm
Paul Jacobs; Forrest Burdett United
Methodist, Hurricane, WV 3 pm
Gerre Hancock; First Baptist, Henderson,
NC 11 am worship service, 4 pm recital
Atlanta Baroque Orchestra; Peachtree Road
United Methodist, Atlanta, GA 3 pm
Bruce Neswick; St. Philip’s Cathedral,
Atlanta, GA 3:30 pm, Evensong at 4 pm
Choral concert; Cathedral Church of St. Paul,
Detroit, MI 4 pm
Orff, Carmina Burana; St. Mary’s College,
Notre Dame, IN 7:30 pm
Duruflé, Requiem; Cathedral Church of the
Advent, Birmingham, AL 4 pm
Thomas Wikman; St. Chrysostom’s, Chicago, IL 2:30 pm
Bradley Althoff; Church of St. Louis, King of
France, St. Paul, MN 12:35 pm
24 MAY
Paul Leddington Wright; Methuen Memorial
Music Hall, Methuen, MA 8 pm
Matthew
Dirst,
harpsichord;
St.
Bartholomew’s, New York, NY 7:30 pm
25 MAY
Bach Vespers; St. Lorenz Lutheran, Frankenmuth, MI 7 pm
26 MAY
+Peter Richard Conte; The Kimmel Center,
Philadelphia, PA 11 am
Joe Marchio; Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago,
IL 12:10 pm
27 MAY
Vento Chiaro; All
Wolfeboro, NH 8 pm
Saints’
Episcopal,
28 MAY
Kyle Babin; Central Synagogue, New York,
NY 12:30 pm
Andrew Peters; Christ Church, New
Brunswick, NJ 6:30 pm, Vespers at 6 pm
Anthony Williams; Washington National
Cathedral, Washington, DC 5 pm
Herndon Spillman; St. Patrick Catholic
Church, Meridian, MS 4 pm
31 MAY
Margaret Angelini; Methuen Memorial Music
Hall, Methuen, MA 8 pm
Ken Cowan; Emmanuel Episcopal, Chestertown, MD 8 pm
1 JUNE
Paul Jacobs; Wesley Methodist, Bethlehem,
PA 8 pm
2 JUNE
Alan Morrison; St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
Philadelphia, PA 8 pm
3 JUNE
John Gouwens, carillon; The Culver Academies, Culver, IN 7:30 pm
Northwest Choral Society; Edison Park
Lutheran, Chicago, IL 7:30 pm
4 JUNE
Renée Louprette; St. Ignatius Loyola, New
York, NY 4 pm
Choral Evensong; Grace Church, New York,
NY 4 pm
Jeremy Bruns; St. Mary the Virgin, New
York, NY 4:40 pm
Choral concert, with orchestra; Christ Church,
New Brunswick, NJ 7:30 pm
James Guthrie; St. Luke’s, Smithfield, VA 3
pm
Felix Hell; Episcopal Church of the
Redeemer, Midlothian, VA 4 pm
J. Michael Grant & Christopher Brayne;
Christ Episcopal, Charlotte, NC 7:30 pm
Jeremy David Tarrant; Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, MI 6 pm
Duruflé, Requiem; Cathedral Church of the
Advent, Birmingham, AL 4 pm
Northwest Choral Society; Trinity Lutheran,
Des Plaines, IL 4 pm
Choral Evensong; St. James Episcopal
Cathedral, Chicago, IL 4 pm
Chicago Bronze English Handbell Ensemble;
Grace United Methodist, Naperville, IL 4 pm
Ken Cowan; First Presbyterian, Neenah, WI
7 pm
5 JUNE
Yoon-Mi Lim; Cathedral of St. Thomas More,
Arlington, VA 8 pm
7 JUNE
Wilma Jensen; Methuen Memorial Music
Hall, Methuen, MA 8 pm
Daniel Steinert; Zion Lutheran, Appleton, WI
12:15 pm
Naomi Rowley; Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, WI 7 pm
9 JUNE
Choral concert; Church of the Advent,
Boston, MA 8 pm
22 MAY
Cathryn Wilkinson; Elliott Chapel, The Presbyterian Homes, Evanston, IL 1:30 pm
•Tracy Figard; St. Ita’s, Chicago, IL 7 pm
10 JUNE
Neil Jensen; John Dickinson High School,
Wilmington, DE 8 pm
Toronto Children’s Chorus; First Presbyterian, Lockport, NY 7:30 pm
Alan Morrison; Lord & Taylor Department
Store, Philadelphia, PA 10 am
Ann-Kirstine Christiansen, carillon; Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA 7 pm
23 MAY
Jason Roberts; Central Synagogue, New
York, NY 12:30 pm
Peter Richard Conte; St. Mary’s Cathedral,
Peoria, IL 7:15 pm
11 JUNE
Scott Lamlein, hymn festival; Wesley United
Methodist, Worcester, MA 2 pm
Louis Perazza; Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC 5 pm
MAY, 2006
Park Ridge Presbyterian Church
Park Ridge, IL
Pickle Piano & Church Organs
Bloomingdale, IL
Antone Godding
Nichols Hills
United Methodist Church
Oklahoma City
LORRAINE BRUGH, Ph.D.
LORRAINE
Associate Professor
University Organist
Valparaiso University
Valparaiso, IN
www.valpo.edu
219-464-5084
Lorraine.Brugh@valpo.edu
33
Philip T.D. Cooper; Gray Auditorium, Old
Salem, Winston-Salem, NC 3 pm
Lee Northcutt, with baritone; Myers Park
United Methodist, Charlotte, NC 7:30 pm
13 JUNE
Ray Cornils, with brass; Portland City Hall,
Portland, ME 7:30 pm
Brian Jones
Director of Music Emeritus
TRINITY CHURCH
BOSTON
14 JUNE
Sylvie Poirier & Philip Crozier; Methuen
Memorial Music Hall, Methuen, MA 8 pm
Choral concert; Independent Presbyterian,
Birmingham, AL 7 pm
Sarah Mahler Hughes; First English Lutheran, Appleton, WI 12:15 pm
Stephen Steely; Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, WI 7 pm
16 JUNE
John Scott; St. Bede Catholic Church,
Williamsburg, VA 7:30 pm
17 JUNE
Vegar Sandholt, carillon; Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA 6 pm
18 JUNE
Andrew Henderson; Cathedral of St. Patrick,
New York, NY 4:30 pm
Christopher Jennings; Christ Church, New
Brunswick, NJ 6:30 pm, Vespers at 6 pm
Karel Paukert; Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC 5 pm
Mary Mozelle, with trumpet; Old Presbyterian
Meeting House, Alexandria, VA 5 pm
Herndon Spillman; St. James Episcopal,
Alexandria, LA 4 pm
DAVID K. LAMB, D.MUS.
Director of Music/Organist
First United Methodist Church
Columbus, Indiana
812/372-2851
20 JUNE
Felix Hell; Portland City Hall, Portland, ME
7:30 pm
JAMES R. METZLER
TRINITY CATHEDRAL
LITTLE ROCK
21 JUNE
Elaine Chard; Methuen Memorial Music Hall,
Methuen, MA 8 pm
Orchestra of St. Luke’s; St. Bartholomew’s,
New York, NY 8 pm
Nigel Potts; Trinity Episcopal Cathedral,
Columbia, SC 7:30 pm
Joanne Peterson; St. Joseph Catholic
Church, Appleton, WI 12:45 pm
Patrick Collins; Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, WI 7 pm
23 JUNE
Choral Evensong; St. John’s Episcopal, Sturgis, MI 7 pm
24 JUNE
John Gouwens, carillon; The Culver Academies, Culver, IN 4 pm
25 JUNE
Murray Foreman; Grace Lutheran, Lancaster, PA 4 pm
Diane Heath; Old Presbyterian Meeting
House, Alexandria, VA 5 pm
John Scott; Washington National Cathedral,
Washington, DC 5 pm
Karen Jacob, with Carolina Pro Musica; St.
John’s Episcopal, Charlotte, NC 7:30 pm
26 JUNE
Joan Lippincott; Cathedral of All Saints,
Albany, NY 8 pm
Marilyn Keiser, Eucharist Service; Christ
Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, IN 10 am
Karen Beaumont; Elliott Chapel, The Presbyterian Homes, Evanston, IL 1:30 pm
27 JUNE
Amy Johansen; Portland City Hall, Portland,
ME 7:30 pm
Thomas Murray; Westminster Presbyterian,
Albany, NY 9:30 and 11:00 am
28 JUNE
Ann Labounsky; Methuen Memorial Music
Hall, Methuen, MA 8 pm
Gerre Hancock, hymn festival; Second Presbyterian, Indianapolis, IN 10:30 am
Naomi Rowley; First United Methodist,
Appleton, WI 12:15 pm
Michael Elsbernd; Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, WI 7 pm
29 JUNE
Diane Meredith Belcher; St. James’ Roman
Catholic Church, Albany, NY 8 pm
21 MAY
Robert Bates; Fredericksburg United
Methodist, Fredericksburg, TX 3 pm
Michael Britt; St. Stephen Presbyterian, Fort
Worth, TX 7:30 pm
Bach Choir and Orchestra; Christ the King
Lutheran, Houston, TX 5 pm
Britten, Noyes Fludde; Cathedral of the
Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT 8 pm
Roberta Gary; St. John's Presbyterian,
Berkeley, CA 4 pm
24 MAY
Gail Archer; St. John’s Episcopal, Jackson
Hole, WY 8 pm
26 MAY
Gail Archer; Trinity Episcopal, Reno, NV 12
noon
28 MAY
Memorial Day Evensong; Christ Church
Cathedral, St. Louis, MO 5 pm
Gail Archer; Cathedral of St. Mary of the
Assumption, San Francisco, CA 3:30 pm
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2 pm
2 JUNE
Joseph Adam, with Seattle Symphony;
Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA 7:30 pm
4 JUNE
Jason Roberts; Christ Church Cathedral,
Houston, TX 4:15 pm; Evensong at 5 pm
Maxine Thevenot, Proulx, Concerto for
Organ; Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque, NM 4 pm
Mozart, Coronation Mass; Cathedral of St.
Mary of the Assumption, San Francisco, CA
3:30 pm
Marilyn Keiser; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA 4 pm
Vincent Dubois, Poulenc, Organ Concerto;
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
2 pm
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2 pm
8 JUNE
Todd Wilson; Bates Recital Hall, University
of Texas, Austin, TX 8 pm
9 JUNE
Paul Jacobs; St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Honolulu, HI 7:30 pm
11 JUNE
David Cherwien, hymn festival; Faith Lutheran, Redmond, WA 7 pm
James Tevenan; Cathedral of St. Mary of the
Assumption, San Francisco, CA 3:30 pm
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2 pm
14 JUNE
James David Christie; Graham Chapel, St.
Louis, MO 7:30 pm
15 JUNE
James David Christie, workshop; Graham
Chapel, St. Louis, MO 9 am
18 JUNE
Jonas Nordwall; Zion Lutheran, Portland,
OR 4 pm
Emma Lou Diemer, Mahlon Balderston, &
David Gell; Trinity Episcopal, Santa Barbara,
CA 3:30 pm
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2 pm
19 JUNE
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
7:30 pm
25 JUNE
Rodney Gehrke; Grace Lutheran, Tacoma,
WA 3 pm
David Brock; Cathedral of St. Mary of the
Assumption, San Francisco, CA 3:30 pm
Carol Williams; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2 pm
26 JUNE
Karen Beaumont; Elliott Chapel, The Presbyterian Homes, Evanston, IL 1:30 pm
INTERNATIONAL
Cathedral Church of St. John
Albuquerque, New Mexico
www.stjohnsabq.org
505-247-1581
A two-inch
Professional Card
in THE DIAPASON
For information on rates and
specifications, contact:
Iain Quinn
Director of
Cathedral Music
34
Maxine Thevenot
Associate OrganistChoir Director
Jerome Butera
jbutera@sgcmail.com
847/391-1045
UNITED STATES
West of the Mississippi
16 MAY
Sae Wan Yang; Westwood United Methodist,
Los Angeles, CA 7:30 pm
19 MAY
Britten, Noyes Fludde; Cathedral of the
Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT 8 pm
James Welch; St. Mark’s Episcopal, Palo
Alto, CA 8 pm
Alison Luedecke, with Millennia Too!; First
Church of Christ, Scientist, La Mesa, CA 7 pm
20 MAY
Britten, Noyes Fludde; Cathedral of the
Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT 2 pm
16 MAY
Sarah Baldock; Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, UK 7:45 pm
Carol Williams; Oxford Town Hall, Oxford,
UK 1 pm
17 MAY
Andrew Weleschuk, with violin and cello; St.
Basil’s, Toronto, ON, Canada 6 pm
18 MAY
Gordon Stewart; Haileybury Chapel, Hertford Heath, Broxbourne, Herts, UK 7:30 pm
Andrew Lumsden; St. John’s Smith Square,
London, UK 1 pm
Zygmunt Strzep; St. Margaret Lothbury, London, UK 1:10 pm
THE DIAPASON
20 MAY
Peter Gould; Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-onTrent, UK 12 noon
Matthew Owens; St. Albans Cathedral, St.
Albans, UK 5:30 pm
Carol Williams; Cartmel Priory, Cumbria, UK
7:30 pm
D’Arcy Trinkwon; St. John the Evangelist,
Upper Norwood, UK 1 pm
Ben Saul; St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, UK 1:05 pm
21 MAY
Jose Manuel Azcue; Eglise St-Sulpice,
Paris, France 4 pm
Stephen Moore; Mountsorrel Methodist,
Loughborough, UK 8 pm
22 MAY
+Zsuzsa Elekes, István Baróti, Xavér Varnus, László Fassang; Palace of Arts,
Budapest, Hungary 7:30 pm
Alice Parker, workshop; First Metropolitan
United, Victoria, BC, Canada 2 pm
23 MAY
Andrew Lumsden; Winchester Cathedral,
Winchester, UK 7:45 pm
Jane Watts; St. Lawrence, Alton, Hampshire,
UK 8 pm
24 MAY
Carol Williams; Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK 7:30 pm
25 MAY
Greg Morris, Messiaen, L’Ascension; Blackburn Cathedral, Blackburn, UK 9:15 pm
26 MAY
David Palmer, with choir; St. Basil’s, Toronto,
ON, Canada 7:30 pm
Patrick Wedd; Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, Canada 7:30 pm
27 MAY
Craig Cramer; Evangelische Kirche, Nassau,
Germany 7 pm
David Collins; St. James the Great, Dursley,
UK 11 am
Paul Burgoyne; St. Mary’s, Rock Gardens,
Brighton, Sussex, UK 2:30 pm
Alan Spedding; Bridlington Priory, Bridlington, UK 6 pm
Thomas Trotter; St. Peter’s, St. Albans, UK
7:30 pm
28 MAY
D’Arcy Trinkwon; Westminster Cathedral,
London, UK 4:45 pm
Andrew Reid; Westminster Abbey, London,
UK 5:45 pm
Sylvie Poirier, with narrator, Eben: The
Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the
Heart; Église St-Anges, Lachine, Montreal, QC,
Canada 3 pm
29 MAY
Christopher Newton; St. Bartholomew, Armley, Leeds, UK 11 am
Andreas Meisner; Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool, UK 11:15 am
Andrew Canning; Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln,
UK 7 pm
30 MAY
Carsten Møller & Jen Christiansen; St.
Andreas, Copenhagen, Denmark 8 pm
M
A
Y
2
0
0
6
2 JUNE
Craig Cramer; Katholische Kirche, Arenberg/Eifel, Germany 7 pm
Roger Judd; Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, BC, Canada 7:30 pm
3 JUNE
Ashley Tidy; St. Mary’s, Rock Gardens,
Brighton, Sussex, UK 2:30 pm
Jonathan White; Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, UK 7:30 pm
James O’Donnell; Arundel Cathedral, West
Sussex, UK 8 pm
Thomas Heywood; St. George’s Chapel,
Windsor Castle, Windsor, UK 6:30 pm
RICHARD M. PEEK
IN MEMORIAM
May 17, 1927–November 28, 2005
4 JUNE
Xavér Varnus; Palace of Arts, Budapest,
Hungary 7:30 pm
Richard Pilliner; Westminster Cathedral,
London, UK 4:45 pm
Robert Quinney; Westminster Abbey, London, UK 5:45 pm
Jonathan White; Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, UK 7:30 pm
5 JUNE
Craig Cramer; Basilika, Steinfeld/Eifel, Germany 4 pm
6 JUNE
Claude Girard; St. James United Church,
Montreal, QC, Canada 12:30 pm
7 JUNE
Marie-Claire Alain; Eglise St-Sulpice, Paris,
France 8:30 pm
Paul Hale; St. Mary Magdalene, Newark, UK
7:15 pm
Philip Crozier; Eglise Saint Anges, Lachine,
Montreal, QC, Canada 12:30 pm
8 JUNE
David Sanger; Guildford Cathedral, Guildford, UK 7:30 pm
DONALD W. WILLIAMS
10 JUNE
Thomas Trotter; St. Anne’s Church, Limehouse, London, UK 2:30 pm
Roger Muttitt; Beverley Minster, Beverley,
UK 6 pm
Andrew Lumsden; St. Albans Cathedral, St.
Albans, UK 5:30 pm
+Gillian Weir; St. Peter’s, St. Albans, UK
7:30 pm
Bach, Mass in b; St. Margaret’s, Ilkley, UK
7:30 pm
Martyn Rawles; Gloucester Cathedral,
Gloucester, UK 7:30 pm
August 5, 1939–September 22, 2005
11 JUNE
Phillip Gearing; Mayne Hall, University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 3 pm
Marco Lo Muscio; Riga Cathedral, Riga,
Latvia 7 pm
Alison Luedecke; Notre-Dame, Paris,
France 4:30 pm
Roger Firth; Westminster Cathedral, London,
UK 4:45 pm
Ian Keatley; St. John’s Smith Square, London, UK 5:45 pm
IN MEMORIAM
Davis Wortman
St. James’ Church
New York
RONALD WYATT
Marcia
M
arcia vann Oyen
Trinity Church
Galveston
mvanoyen.com
Plymouthh First United Methodist Church, Plymouth,, Michigan
12 JUNE
Jennifer Chou; All Souls, Langham Place,
London, UK 7:30 pm
13 JUNE
Olivier Latry; St-Etienne-du-Mont, Paris,
France 8:30 pm
From the House of Hope - #0618. . . recital performances on the
historic 1878 Merklin and famous 1979 Fisk organs at House of
Hope Presbyterian Church on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, MN.
The Reger Ring - #0619. . . encompassing both tumultuous and
tender compositions to mark the 50th anniversary of Max Reger's
death, May 11, 1916.
A Gentle Giant - #0620. . . glimpses into the life and art of respected
American teacher and recitalist David Craighead.
The American Muse - #0621. . . further glimpses at the remarkably
diverse organ repertoire by American composers, recorded in and
around Boston.
Notes on Distaff - #0622. . . or Woman Composers for the Organ, a
survey of some interesting works by some interesting people.
MAY, 2006
35
Laurent Martin; St. James United Church,
Montreal, QC, Canada 12:30 pm
+Gillian Weir; St. John the Evangelist, Islington, London, UK 7:30 pm
15 JUNE
Peter Dyke; Hereford Cathedral, Hereford,
UK 7:30 pm
David Bednall, Messiaen, Livre du Saint
Sacrement; Blackburn Cathedral, Blackburn,
UK 7:30 pm
Peter Ouwerkerk; St. John’s Smith Square,
London, UK 1 pm
Emanuele Cardi; St. Margaret Lothbury, London, UK 1:10 pm
Quentin Thomas; Haileybury Chapel, Hertford Heath, Broxbourne, Herts, UK 7:30 pm
25 JUNE
Peter Planyavsky; Palace of Arts, Budapest,
Hungary 7:30 pm
John Keys; Rochdale Town Hall, Rochdale,
UK 2:45 pm
Stephen DIsley; Westminster Cathedral,
London, UK 4:45 pm
Ashley Grote; Westminster Abbey, London,
UK 5:45 pm
David Hamilton; St. Bride’s Church, Hyndland, Glasgow, Scotland 3 pm
16 JUNE
Wayne Marshall & David Briggs; Symphony
Hall, Birmingham, UK 7:30 pm
17 JUNE
Gail Archer; Chiesa di S. Giorgio, Collalto,
Italy 8:45 pm
18 JUNE
Gianluca Libertucci; Westminster Cathedral, London, UK 4:45 pm
Matthew Martin; Westminster Abbey, London, UK 5:45 pm
20 JUNE
Paul Jacobs; Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore 7:30 pm
Duruflé, Requiem; St-Etienne-du-Mont, Paris,
France 8:30 pm
Jean-Willy Kunz; St. James United Church,
Montreal, QC, Canada 12:30 pm
22 JUNE
Derek Longman; Haileybury Chapel, Hertford Heath, Broxbourne, Herts, UK 7:30 pm
23 JUNE
Wim van Beek; Grote Kerk, Harlingen,
Netherlands 8 pm
24 JUNE
Marco Lo Muscio; Moscow Catholic Cathedral, Moscow, Russia 7:30 pm
Philip Scriven; Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stokeon-Trent, UK 12 noon
Alan Spedding; Beverley Minster, Beverley,
UK 3 pm
Martin Setchell; Bridlington Priory, Bridlington, UK 6 pm
26 JUNE
Csaba Király, János Pálúr, Bálint Karosi;
Palace of Arts, Budapest, Hungary 7:30 pm
27 JUNE
László Fassang & Philippe Lefebvre, with
instruments; Palace of Arts, Budapest, Hungary
7:30 pm
Raymond Perrin; St. James United Church,
Montreal, QC, Canada 12:30 pm
28 JUNE
Marco Lo Muscio; St. Gorans Kyrka,
Mariehamn, Finland 1 pm
Olivier Latry; Palace of Arts, Budapest, Hungary 7:30 pm
Matteo Imbruno; Stadtkirche, Preetz, Germany 8 pm
29 JUNE
Etienne Walhain; Eglise St. Eustache, Paris,
France 8 pm
30 JUNE
Philippe Lefebvre & Olivier Latry; Palace of
Arts, Budapest, Hungary 7:30 pm
Darryl Nixon; Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, Canada 7:30 pm
Organ Recitals
MAHLON E. BALDERSTON, Trinity
Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara, CA,
November 27: Carillon Fanfare, Young;
Overture (Christmas Cantata), Gottes Sohn
ist kommen, Pastorale, Now Thank We All
Our God, Bach; Noël and Variation in G,
Noël for the Flutes, Noël Suisse, Daquin;
Carol prelude on Greensleeves, Purvis; Come
Ye Shepherds, From Heaven Above to Earth
I Come, Young; Noël Symphonique, Balderston.
MARILYN & JAMES BIERY, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Tucson, AZ, January 22: Fantasia in f, K. 608, Mozart; Largo
ma non tanto (Concerto in d, BWV 1043),
Bach; Le Tombeau de Couperin, Ravel; Adagio and Fugue in c, K. 246-546, Mozart;
Elegy, Biery; Psalm Variations, Hopkins.
ELIZABETH & RAYMOND
CHENAULT, St. Bede Catholic Church,
Williamsburg, VA, January 20: Rhapsody,
Hakim; Eclogue, Shephard; Allegro for
Organ Duet, Moore; Nativity Scenes,
Roberts; Toccata on Sine Nomine, The Emerald Isle, Callahan; Shenandoah, White; The
Stars and Stripes Forever, Sousa, arr.
Chenault.
JOHN COLLINS, St. George’s Parish
Church, Worthing, UK, November 19:
Marchia: Tempesta di Mare, Anonymous;
Sonata in D, Baguer; Sonata No. 4 in B-flat,
Baptista; Sonata No. 5 in C, Valerj; Prelude
in e (op. 3, no. 6), Fugue in G (op. 7, no. 4),
Albrechtsberger; Preludio, Andante & Intento on Ave Maris Stella, Sesé y Balaguer; Voluntary No. 3 in C, Beckwith; Prelude and
Fugue in A, Burney; Voluntary No. 9 in C,
Thorley; Piece No. 18 in E, Keeble; Voluntary No. 2 in G, op. 5, Blewitt; Voluntary no.
12 in C, Russell.
PETER RICHARD CONTE, First Plymouth Congregational Church, Lincoln, NE,
January 15: Empire March, Elgar, transcr.
Conte; Variations on a Theme of Arcangelo
Corelli, Kreisler, transcr. Conte; Concert
Variations on The Last Rose of Summer,
Buck; Nocturne (Shylock), Fauré, transcr.
Hebble; Scherzo (Sonata VIII), Guilmant;
Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn,
Brahms, transcr. Conte; Fountain Reverie,
Fletcher; Final, Franck.
KENDALL CRILLY, Battell Chapel,
Yale University, New Haven, CT, January 15:
Baroques, Bingham; Si la cintura es un junco,
Zubieta; Processional for the President, Krigbaum; It Was, Farrin; Wondrous Love, Barber; Incantation, Sharlat; Six Preludes for the
Time of Easter, Boursy; Divinum Mysterium
Tropes, Manthey.
LYNNE DAVIS, The Brick Presbyterian
Church, New York, NY, November 28:
Hymne sur le Veni Creator, de Grigny; Pastorale, Roger-Ducasse; Choral-Improvisation sur le Victimae Paschali, Tournemire
(reconstructed by Maurice Duruflé); Pièce
Héroïque, Franck; Rosace (10 Esquisses
Byzantines), Mulet; Prélude, Adagio et
Choral varié sur le Veni Creator, Duruflé.
FABRY
I
N
C
PIPE ORGANS
ROBERT DELCAMP, The University of
the South, Sewanee, TN, November 17: Fantasia and Fugue in g, BWV 542, Bach; Pastorale, op. 19, Franck; Prelude and Fugue on
BACH, Liszt; Variations on a theme of
Paganini for pedals, Thalben-Ball; Adagio
(Symphony No. 3), Saint-Saëns, transcr.
Bernard; Roulade, op. 9, no. 3, Bingham;
Prelude and Fugue in B, op. 7, no. 1, Dupré.
NEW INSTRUMENTS
MAINTENANCE
RESTORATIONS
EMMA LOU DIEMER, Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara, CA, December
11: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly
Light, Bach; Intonation on Sleepers, Awake!
974 AUTUMN DRIVE
ANTIOCH, ILLINOIS 60002
847-395-1919
FAX 847-395-1991
www.fabryinc.com
A Voice Astounds Us, Gell; Fantasy on Sleepers, Awake! A Voice Astounds Us, Come
Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Diemer, Manz,
Good; Savior of the Nations, Come!, Ore,
Cooman, Manz; Fantasy on O Lord, How
Shall I Meet You, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Diemer; Prepare the Way, O Zion,
Wood; From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,
Bach; Partita on From Heaven Above to
Earth I Come, Schack; Good Christian
Friends, Rejoice, Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,
Dixon; Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,
Wood, Diemer.
DAVID A. GELL, with narrator, soprano
and clarinet, Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa
Barbara, CA, December 18: Vom Himmel
hoch, da komm ich her, Pachelbel; Noël X,
Daquin; Variations on a Gregorian Theme
(Conditor alme siderum), Bate; Mary’s Story,
Ferguson; Magnificat, Gell; Noël Polonaise,
Guilmant; Gesu Bambino, Yon; Noël Ancien,
Doyen; Sweet little Jesus Boy, spiritual; God
Rest You Merry, Williams; Cantique de Noël,
Adam; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Rawsthorne; Love Came Down at Christmas,
Utterback; Rhapsody on Noëls, Gigout.
RICHARD BARRICK HOSKINS,
Fourth Presbyterian Church, November 18:
Moderato (Symphonie VII), Widor; Benedictus, Reger; Desseins Eternels, Le Verbe, Les
Enfants de Dieu (La Nativité du Seigneur),
Messiaen; Variations on Veni Creator spiritus, Ferko.
MAREK KUDLICKI, First Presbyterian
Church, Ann Arbor, MI, November 6: Magnificat Primi Toni, Buxtehude; Preambulum
in D, Colenda, Cantio Polonica, Anonymous;
Salve Regina, Sowa; Hayducki, Alia Poznanie, Preambulum in F, Nicolaus of Cracow; Prelude and Fugue in e, S. 548, Bach;
Choral No. 1 in E, Franck; O Gott, du frommer Gott, Brahms; Fantasy, Bloch; Improvisations on the Polish Church Hymn Holy
God, op. 38, Surzynski.
First United Church of Christ, Reading,
PA, November 11: Salve Regina, Sowa; Preambulum in D, Colenda, Cantio Polonica,
Anonymous; Hayducki, Alia Poznanie, Preambulum in F, Nicolaus of Cracow; Prelude
and Fugue in e, S. 548, Bach; Third Rhapsody, op. 7, Saint-Saëns; Prelude in c, op. 28,
no. 20, Prelude in e, op. 28, no. 4, Prelude in
b, op. 28, no. 6, Prelude in D-flat, op. 28, no.
15, Chopin, arr. Kudlicki; Fantasy, Gorski;
Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, O Gott, du frommer Gott, Brahms; Improvisations on the
Polish Church Hymn Holy God, op. 38,
Surzynski.
NANCY LANCASTER, House of Hope
Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, MN, December 24: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,
BWV 645, Bach; Wake, Awake, for Night Is
Flying, Manz; Vom Himmel hoch, da komm
ich her, Pachelbel; Nun komm, der Heiden
Heiland, BWV 659, 661, Bach; Si c’est pour
ôter la vie, Dandrieu; Au jô deu de pubelle,
Grand déi, ribon ribeine, Balbastre; Noël
Suisse, Daquin; Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen,
Brahms; Lo, How a Rose e’er Blooming,
Rogg; O Come, Emmanuel, Variations on an
Advent Hymn, Pinkham; Marche Réligieuse
on ‘Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates’,
Guilmant.
HUW LEWIS, First Presbyterian
Church, Three Rivers, MI, November 20:
Sonata for Worship, Fedak; Theme and Variations for Christmas Night, Monnikendam;
Passacaglia in c, BWV 582, Bach; Concerto
David Petty & Associates
Organbuilders
27 Marlboro Lane • Eugene, OR 97405
(541) 521-7348
d.r.petty@att.net
White Blower Mfg., Inc.
2540 Webster Road
Lansing, Michigan 48917
1-800-433-4614
www.whiteblowermanufacturing.com
36
THE DIAPASON
in D, Druckmüller; Psalm Prelude, op. 32,
no. 1, Howells; Offertorium, Gounod; Introduction and Fugue on the Chorale ‘Ad nos,
ad salutarem undam’, Liszt.
ARDYTH LOHUIS, with Robert Murray,
violin, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV,
January 10: Sonata per violino e organo, Cordans; Adagio, K. 261, Mozart; 5 Pièces pour
Flûte ou Violino, Op. 180, Langlais; Aria,
Wilkomirski; Violin-Orgelkonzert, Op. 40,
Springer; Variations on Slane, Op. 87, Bender; Variations on Amazing Grace, Held; Jig
and Allegro Spiritoso (A Sonata for Virginia,
op. 94), Healey.
BRETT PATTERSON & MYRON PATTERSON, Bountiful Community Church,
Bountiful, UT, December 18: Nun komm,
der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659; Lob sei dem
allmächtigen Gott, BWV 602, Bach; Conditor
Alme Siderum (Canticum), Hakim; Joseph
est bien marié, Balbastre; What Child Is This
(Greensleeves), Purvis; La Nativité, Langlais;
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BuxWV
211, Buxtehude; Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier,
BWV 634, Bach; Carillon de Longpont,
Vierne; I Wonder As I Wander, Lau; Fugue
sur le Carillon des Heures de la Cathédrale
de Soissons, op. 12, Duruflé.
WEIL SAWYER, First United Methodist
Church, Elizabeth City, NC, January 8: Prelude and Fugue in D, BWV 532, Trio Sonata
in c, BWV 526, Bach; Echo Noël, Daquin;
Sonata I in f, op. 65, Mendelssohn; Dieu
parmi nous (La Nativité du Seigneur), Messiaen; Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, Brahms; In
Dulci Jubilo, Near; Variations on O Come,
All Ye Faithful, Dethier; Adagio (Symphony
V), Widor.
RUDY SHACKELFORD, Bethany United Methodist Church, Gloucester Point, VA,
December 4: Capriccio Pastorale, Frescobaldi; Pastorella, BWV 590, Bach; Pastorale, op.
19, no. 4, Franck; Pastorale, Roger-Ducasse;
MAY, 2006
Christmas, op. 80, Foote; Sonata No. 15 in
D, op. 28, Beethoven; Pastorale, Fricker;
Sonata No. 3 in G, op. 88, Rheinberger.
ROGER STANLEY, St. Chrysostom’s
Church, Chicago, IL, November 20: Trumpet Tune in C, Johnson; Non troppo vivace,
Con molto espressione (Six Etudes), Schumann; Sixth Sonata for Organ, Mendelssohn;
Miniature, Langlais; Adagio (Second Symphony), Widor; Scherzo, Gigout; Nun danket
alle Gott, Bach, Honoré, Held, Karg-Elert.
JAMES WELCH, St. Mark’s, Palo Alto,
CA, December 31: Fanfare on Mendelssohn,
Wyton; Prelude and Fugue in E, BWV 566,
In dir ist Freude, BWV 615, Bach; AfroCuban, Michel; Vom Himmel hoch, BWV
769, Bach; Josefs Tanz zum Neuen Jahr,
Meyer; Toccata (Sonata in g, op. 40), Becker;
Vinterpastoral, Koch; Allegro (Concerto in a,
BWV 593), Vivaldi, arr. Bach; Prelude in C,
BWV 547, Allegro (Sonata in G, BWV 530),
Toccata in F, BWV 540, Bach.
ALAN WINGARD, Congregational
Church, Solon, ME, December 2: Fanfare,
Mathias; Sinfonia in E, Minuet in G, Minuet
in g, Musette (Anna Magdalena Bach Book),
Fugue in F (Well-Tempered Clavier II),
Bach; Flute Dance, Utterback; Noël Huron,
Bedard; Borriquillos a Belen, Rodrigo; Antienne (Mariales), Hakim; Saetas 1 and 2, Torres; Unappetising Chorale, The Swing, Fishing, Tango (Sports & Diversions), Satie; Persons with Long Ears, Cuckoo in Deep Forest, Fossils, Finale (Carnival of the Animals),
Saint-Saëns, arr. Melnikova.
RONALD WYATT, Trinity Episcopal
Church, Galveston, TX, December 3: Fanfare, Cook; Ein Andante, Mozart; Adagio,
Finale (Symphonie III), Vierne; Marche
Religieuse, Guilmant; Prélude, Boulanger;
Ave Maria, Bossi; Variations sur un Nöel,
Dupré.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
POSITIONS
AVAILABLE
MISCELLANEOUS
Experienced organist wanted—Monthly
salary range $900–$980. Call 925/757-2135 for
auditions at the Christian Science Church, Walnut Creek, California.
The Organist Entertained! Organists visiting
England may stay at Sarum College, situated
inside the walled Cathedral Close, Salisbury,
and use two new organs with mechanical
actions for private study. Options for lessons,
time on the Cathedral Father Willis organ, visits
to local sights. Excellent food, welcoming staff.
Website:
www.sarum.ac.uk
e-mail:
rcf@sarum.ac.uk Tel: +44 1722 424805.
Looking for experienced pipe organ tuners,
service technicians and builders to start work
immediately in the New York area. Immediate
benefits including paid holidays, paid vacation
and a health care package. 631/254-2744,
joellen@elsenerorganworks.com
Director of Music Ministry—St. Bernard’s
Catholic Church, 114 S. Church Street, Watertown, WI 53094. Duties include planning and
coordination of music program and includes
direction of four choirs and a handbell group
plus volunteer cantors and vocal and instrumental soloists. Three weekend Masses; must have
a thorough knowledge of Catholic liturgy as well
as good people skills. Music degree preferred.
Instruments include a 23-rank pipe organ and
two grand pianos. Position is open immediately.
Salary is competitive and includes health benefits. Please résumé and letter of interest/introduction to the above address c/o Fr. Marr and
Search Committee.
PUBLICATIONS/
RECORDINGS
If your company was not listed in
The Diapason 2006 Resource
Directory, be sure to be part of the
2007 issue! Visit our website
<www.TheDiapason.com> and from
the upper left column, select
Supplier Login.
For further information or assistance
with your supplier entry, contact
Joyce Robinson, 847/391-1044,
<jrobinson@sgcmail.com>.
MISCELLANEOUS
Visiting London? Bed and Breakfast accommodation available in large parish house minutes away from Westminster Abbey, the
Thames, St. James’s Park and the Underground. Modern kitchen and laundry available.
For information write: St. Matthew’s House, 20
Great Peter Street, Westminster, London, SWIP
2BU. Tel. 0171 222 3704, FAX 0171 233 0255,
e-mail smw@london.com.
The Diapason 2006 Resource Directory was mailed to all subscribers
earlier this year. Additional copies
are available at a cost of $5.00
postpaid. Contact editor Jerome
Butera,
847/391-1045;
e-mail
<jbutera@sgcmail.com>.
37
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Classified Advertising Rates
will be found on page 37.
PUBLICATIONS/
RECORDINGS
PUBLICATIONS/
RECORDINGS
HARPSICHORDS/
CLAVICHORDS
PIPE ORGANS
FOR SALE
Are you feeling tempestuous? “On the
Coast,” a stormy Romantic organ piece by
Dudley Buck, is now available for the first time in
decades as originally published in 1891.
Includes
biography
and
performance
notes.
www.michaelsmusicservice.com;
704/567-1066.
Aging of Organ Leather by Harley Piltingsrud
tells how to test and select leathers for
longevity of 60 years or more in organs. Also,
other aspects of leather production and the history of testing for longevity. New 48-page edition
in 1994, $9.95 + $2.50 per entire order for
shipping in U.S. Published by Organ Historical
Society, Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261.
804/353-9226 by telephone with Visa or
MasterCard. FAX 804/353-9266.
Harpsichords from the workshop of Knight
Vernon. Authentic replicas of historic instruments carefully made and elegantly decorated.
8201 Keystone, Skokie, IL 60076. Telephone
847/679-2809. Web site:
www.vernonharpsichords.mykeyboard.com.
10-stop Estey organ, perfect for home or
chapel use, ca. 1940. This organ is available “as
is” for $7,500, or may be professionally restored
by our firm. Asking $75,000 restored, plus shipping. The windchests must be direct electrified,
and a new relay system installed. Excellent
condition. Contact Anthony Meloni at
914/843-4766. Please visit our website at
www.meloniandfarrier.com for other “for sale”
listings.
OHS Catalog 2006 of organ and theatre organ
CDs, books, sheet music, DVDs, and VHS
videos. Free. Thousands of items. Mailed gratis
upon request to Organ Historical Society, P.O.
Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261, or request
the printed catalog at www.ohscatalog.org.
Reflections: 1947-1997, The Organ Department, School of Music, The University of Michigan, edited by Marilyn Mason & Margarete
Thomsen; dedicated to the memory of Albert
Stanley, Earl V. Moore, and Palmer Christian.
Includes an informal history-memoir of the
organ department with papers by 12 current and
former faculty and students; 11 scholarly
articles; reminiscences and testimonials by
graduates of the department; 12 appendices,
and a CD recording, “Marilyn Mason in Recital,”
recorded at the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. $50
from The University of Michigan, Prof. Marilyn
Mason, School of Music, Ann Arbor, MI
48109-2085.
CD Recording, “In memoriam Mark Buxton
(1961-1996).” Recorded at Église Notre-Dame
de France in Leicester Square, London,
between 1987 and 1996. Works of Callahan,
Widor, Grunewald, Salome, Ropartz, and Boëllmann, along with Buxton’s improvisations. $15
postpaid: Sandy Buxton, 10 Beachview
Crescent, Toronto ON M4E 2L3 Canada.
416/699-5387, FAX 416/964-2492; e-mail
hannibal@idirect.com
Historic Organ Surveys on CD: recorded during national conventions of the Organ Historical
Society. Each set includes photographs, stoplists, and histories. As many organists as organs
and repertoire from the usual to the unknown,
Arne to Zundel, often in exceptional performances on beautiful organs. Each set includes
many hymns sung by 200-400 musicians. Historic
Organs
of
Louisville
(western
Kentucky/eastern Indiana) 32 organs on 4 CDs,
$29.95. Historic Organs of Maine 39 organs on
4 CDs, $29.95. Historic Organs of Baltimore 30
organs on 4 CDs, $29.95. Historic Organs of
Milwaukee 25 organs in Wisconsin on 2 CDs,
$19.98. Historic Organs of New Orleans 17
organs in the Bayous to Natchez on 2 CDs,
$19.98. Historic Organs of San Francisco 20
organs on 2 CDs, $19.98. Add $2.50 shipping in
U S. per entire order from OHS, Box 26811,
Richmond, VA 23261, by telephone with Visa or
MasterCard 804/353-9226; FAX 804/353-9266.
Request a free sample issue of The Diapason
for a student, friend, or colleague. Write to the
Editor, The Diapason, 380 E. Northwest Hwy.,
Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282; or
e-mail: jbutera@sgcmail.com
Classified Advertising must be prepaid
and may be ordered for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
months.
PIANOFORTE FOR SALE
Brown and Allen/Boston square grand
pianoforte. 73 keys. Very good condition. Best
offer. Nelson, 847/367-5102 or 312/304-5287.
PIPE ORGANS
FOR SALE
Moeller “Custom” unit organ, 1953. 2 manuals, 4 ranks (Diapason, Bourdon, Viole,
Trompete). New blower, and releathered 1980.
$5,000. 708/672-8555.
1860 Wm. A. Johnson 1/8, including 12-note
16v Subbass. Meticulously restored, $39,500;
Pedal extension optional. Details: Andrew Smith
Pipe Organs, 522 East Rd., Cornish, NH 03745.
603/542-8316; aesmith1@earthlink.net.
2-manual, 6-rank, electro-pneumatic action
Schaefer organ, unified to 8 stops, with full
couplers. Disassembled and in storage. Available immediately. Make offer. St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church, Frank Birr, Music Director, 3210 Tannery Road, Two Rivers, WI 542411699, 920/793-4531.
Attention organbuilders: for information on
sponsoring a color cover in THE DIAPASON,
contact Jerome Butera, Editor, THE DIAPASON,
380 E. Northwest Hwy. Suite 200, Des Plaines,
IL 60016-2282; phone 847/391-1045; FAX
847/390-0408; e-mail: jbutera@sgcmail.com.
1952 Wicks Organ, 3-manual, 18 ranks, 36
stops. Playing in Cleveland area. Complete
minus blower; $12,000 or best offer. Call Greg
Sparks at 216/252-8264.
Our 5-stop chapel/house/practice organ
(independent Subbass optional), for immediate
delivery. www.goberorgans.com (click on
Columbus, Ohio) or call Hal Gober,
519/846-9888.
Wahl 1-stop continuo organs for sale. Fully
portable, transposable to 4 pitches. Spring 2006
delivery. Prices start at $17,000. Visit
www.wahlorganbuilders.com
or
call
920/749-9633.
Fabry Inc. has the following instruments for
sale on consignment: Wicks 1964, 2 manuals, 6
ranks, in storage; Moller 1925, 2 manuals, 10
ranks, in church; Moller 1949, 3 manuals, 30
ranks, in church; Reuter 1950s, 2 manuals, 9
ranks, in church; Moller/Kimball/Kilgen 2 manuals, 16 ranks, in church; Kimball 1940s, 2 manuals, 4 ranks, in storage; Berghaus 1976, 2
manuals, 11 ranks, in church. Purchase instruments in “as is” condition or Fabry Inc. offers
removal, rebuilding, new DC electric systems,
and installation at new location. For specifications please e-mail, fax, or write our office.
Large used pipe inventory available. Call for
info. Fabry Inc., 974 Autumn Drive, Antioch, IL
60002,
fax
847/587-1994,
e-mail
fabryinc@aol.com.
g l ü c k n e w yor k
orgaNbuilders
170 Park Row, Suite 20A
New York, NY 10038
212.608.5651
www.glucknewyork.com
Send a copy of THE DIAPASON to a friend:
Editor, The Diapason, 847/391-1045;
e-mail: <jbutera@sgcmail.com>.
Visit THE DIAPASON
website at
TheDiapason.com
38
THE DIAPASON
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Classified Advertising Rates
will be found on page 37.
REED ORGANS
FOR SALE
MISCELLANEOUS
FOR SALE
SERVICES/
SUPPLIES
SERVICES/
SUPPLIES
Mason and Hamlin reed organ, 10 stops plus
forte stop and octave coupler, with bench.
Excellent condition. Best offer. Nelson,
847/367-5102 or 312/304-5287.
Welte 4-manual console—1928. New ivories
and ebony, quarter-sawn oak, 101 stop knobs,
gorgeous! Mike Jalving, 303/671-6708.
Columbia Organ Leathers sells the finest
leathers available for organ use. We sell prepunched pouches and pre-assembled pouches,
and we specialize in custom releathering services. Call today for a catalogue. 800/423-7003
or e-mail: darlene@columbiaorgan.com.
Top Quality Releathering. Pouch rails, primaries, reservoirs and any other pneumatic
action. Removal and installation service available. Full warranty. Skinner, Casavant and
Kimball specialty. Spencer Organ Company,
Inc. Call, Fax or visit our website for quotation
and information. 781/893-7624 Voice/Fax,
www.spencerorgan.com.
MISCELLANEOUS
FOR SALE
Tune historical temperaments—software and
laptops for sale. Tutorial info on tuning and temperaments—send for pix of laptops. $150
special: Toshiba P120 standard 1.3 GB drive,
CD-ROM, with shipping—full size keyboard
(most like desktop) word processing, tuning.
Programmable tuning software for harpsichords, organs and pianos. These Pentiums run
TuneLab97 very well. Register for $34 at
www.tunelab-world.com. Send for pix. Programmable temperaments. Complete with Excel
spreadsheets of historical tunings. Batteries
work, but time not guaranteed. Ready to go with
Win98+Word+Excel. Nylon case, mouse, floppy
drive, CD-ROM, network card, and modem all
included.
E-mail:
HHuestis@mdi.ca;
www.mdi.ca/hhuestis.
ATTENTION LITURGY JUNKIES! The Diapason Gift Shop’s latest offering will thrill
your olfactories! INCENSE-O-MATIC
offers an effortless way to incense your
congregation (as if you didn’t do that
already with your agonized improvisations on Good Friday!). Ultra-high-tech
black-box technology connects a censer
with your façade pipes, the pistons, and
the crescendo pedal; quickly press a piston and a puff of incense will emit from the
pipes. Use the crescendo pedal to
increase the amount of smoke emitted.
Great for Stations of the Cross,
Evensong, and pontifical visits. Comes
with starter supply of incense, and free
smoke alarm. Endorsed by leading sacristy rats. Order yours today! Box
Incense-Con,
THE
DIAPASON;
jrobinson@sgcmail.com.
Atlantic City Pipe Organ—Tellers 5-rank unit
chest, regulator, $900 or best offer; C.S.
Haskell—4-rank slider chest with 16v Bourdon,
16v Lieblich, 10-2/3v Quint, 5-1/3v Quint (prepared), $1,200 or best offer. Class A Deagan
25-note chimes with Estey action, $1,300; nice
16v Estey open wood with chests, clarinets,
harp, capped oboes. For more info visit
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/acorgan.
E-mail:
acorgan@comcast.net.
Phone
609/641-9422.
1985 Austin pedal contact assembly with 25
switches, $150. Klann complete three-division
console system wired, $200. Relays, combo
actions, pipes and other parts available.
Inquiries: e-mail orgnbldr@comcat.com, phone
215/353-0286 or 215/788-3423.
Sets of organ pipes for sale by Herb Huestis,
#1502—1574 Gulf Road, Point Roberts, WA
98281,
phone
604/946-3952,
e-mail:
hhuestis@mdi.ca. Shipping extra to U.S. or
Canada—no overseas. $550—8v Regal made
by Detlef Kleuker, 1964 from a 2-rank continuo
organ. Very good condition throughout. Bottom
two octaves open shallots, Bertouneche shallots from cv upwards. Very nice tone at 60mm or
greater. $450—Bottom 12 notes of Oboe/Bassoon, made by Casavant Frères c. 1970. Originally from a Fagott 16v (half length). Very suitable for extending 4v Oboe to 8v pitch where bottom octave is needed. Good tone at 70–80mm.
$200—Meidinger blower. 2w static pressure, for
continuo-type organ, 1 or 2 stops. Housed in
silencing box, outside dimensions: 14-3/4w x 163/8w x 11-1/2w. Very compact!
THE DIAPASON 2006 Resource Directory
was mailed to all subscribers with the January
2006 issue. Additional copies are available at a
cost of $5.00 postpaid. Contact the
editor, Jerome Butera, at 847/391-1045,
jbutera@sgcmail.com.
Tuning with your laptop—Send $5 for a CDROM that features articles on temperaments,
tuning,
and
reed
pipe
construction.
Contact: www.mdi.ca/hhuestis
or
e-mail:
hhuestis@mdi.ca. Herbert L. Huestis, 1574 Gulf
Rd., #1502, Pt. Roberts, WA 98281. Phone
604/946-3952.
Highest quality organ control systems since
1989. Whether just a pipe relay, combination
action or complete control system, all parts are
compatible. Intelligent design, competitive pricing, custom software to meet all of your requirements. For more information call Westacott
Organ Systems, 215/353-0286, or e-mail
orgnbldr@comcat.com.
Need help with your re-leathering
project? All pneumatics including
Austin. Over 45 years experience
(on the job assistance available).
615/274-6400.
ALL REPLIES
TO BOX NUMBERS
that appear
without an address
should be sent to:
THE DIAPASON
380 E. Northwest Hwy., Suite 200
Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282
RELEATHERING: also Pipe Organ Rebuilding, Repair and Maintenance Service in New
England area. Years of experience, fine workmanship. Reading Organ Works, A. Richard
Hunter, P.O. Box 267, 1324 Vermont Route
106, Reading, VT 05062. 802/484-1275.
E-mail hunters@sover.net.
Austin actions recovered. Over 30 years
experience. Units thoroughly tested and fully
guaranteed. Please call or e-mail for quotes.
Technical assistance available. Foley-Baker,
Inc., 42 N. River Road, Tolland, CT 06084.
Phone 1-800/621-2624. FAX 860/870-7571.
foleybaker@sbcglobal.net.
Flue pipes in metal and wood–Mixtures
and upperwork are available from stock or
specify custom orders to meet your exact
requirements. Tuning Sleeves with
flare–Order complete sets ready to install
or bulk quantities in each diameter. These
sleeves are guaranteed to fit and will not
tarnish or corrode. For excellent quality,
great pricing and timely delivery contact:
International Organ Supply, P.O. Box 401,
Riverside, IL 60546. 800/660-6360. FAX
708/447-0702.
Postal regulations require that mail
to THE DIAPASON include a suite number to assure delivery. Please send
all correspondence to: THE DIAPASON, 380 E. Northwest Hwy., Suite
200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282.
J. H. & C. S. Odell
East Hampton, Connecticut • web: www.odellorgans.com
voice: 860 -365- 0552 email: info@odellorgans.com
PIPE ORGAN ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS SINCE 1859
MEMBERS, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ORGANBUILDERS
CHARLES W. MCMANIS
In Memoriam
March 17, 1913–December 3, 2004
MAY, 2006
39
Kar
aren
en McF
McFarlane
arlane Artis
Artists
ts
2385 Fenwood Road, Cleveland, OH 44118
Toll Free: 1-866-721-9095 Phone: 216-397-3345 Fax: 216-397-7716
E-mail: john@concertorganists.com karen@concertorganists.com
Web Site: www.concertorganists.com
George Baker Diane Meredith Belcher
Stefan Engels
Thierry Escaich*
Guy Bovet*
David Goode*
Stephen Cleobury* Douglas Cleveland
Gerre Hancock
Judith Hancock
Ken Cowan
Yoon-mi Lim
AGO National
Competition Winner
Available 2004-2006
Martin Haselböck*
Vincent Dubois
Calgary 2002 Recital
Gold Medal Winner
David Higgs
Thomas Murray
Marilyn Keiser
Susan Landale*
Olivier Latry*
James O’Donnell* Jane Parker-Smith* Peter Planyavsky*
Joan Lippincott
Simon Preston
Alan Morrison
George Ritchie
László Fassang
Calgary 2002
Improvisation
Gold Medal Winner
Grand Prix de Chartres,
2004
CHOIRS AV
AVAILABLE
Daniel Roth*
Ann Elise Smoot*
Erik Wm. Suter
Donald Sutherland Thomas Trotter*
John Weaver
The Choir of Westminster
Cathedral, UK
Martin Baker, Director
October 13-24, 2006
The Choir of Saint Thomas
Church, NYC
John Scott, Director
March 1-8, 2007
WEB SITE:
www.concertorganists.com
www
.concertorganists.com
Gillian Weir*
Todd Wilson
Christopher Young
The Choir of Winchester
Cathedral, UK
Andrew Lumsden, Director
October 17-29, 2007
*=European artists available
2006-2007