ORGAN RENOVATION CAMPAIGN
Organ playing is the manifestation of a will filled with the vision of eternity.
– French organist and composer Charles-Marie Widor
The pipe organ was more than just a musical instrument to Charles-Marie Widor; it was to him – as it is to us! – a means of reaching out to the infinite and the eternal. Worship at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church is at its best this kind of reaching out: a soaring, aspiring and inspiring address to the Divine, and an attentiveness to God amidst all the other sounds of life. Music is central to our worship, and the organ is central to our music. No other instrument can provide such grand support to congregational singing as the pipe organ. No other instrument has inspired as many composers to write music for the church. The organ is said to convey the range of human emotions better than any other instrument: the swell of gratitude, the moan of despair, the exclamation of joy. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that the organ “roars louder than the lion of the desert and it can draw out a thread of sound as fine as the locust spins at hot noon on his still tree-top.” Let all that breathes praise the Lord.
It is hard to imagine worship at GPPC without our beautiful organ. Yet a pipe organ only prospers if there is constant attention to it, and our organ needs more attention than we ourselves can supply. It is 47 years old now and in great need of repair and renovation. The electrical systems that govern the instrument are wearing out, resulting in dangerous short circuits and unpredictable sounds when buttons are pushed. While the music of an organ can be fiery and brilliant, we want to avoid actual flames! And the erratic response of the organ (startling honks and ill-timed silences) is embarrassing for the organist and distracting to the congregation. In recent months, the limitations of our organ have affected the choice of music for our worship. The glitches in the electrical system are one thing we must repair. Beside that, the organ’s wind system is leaking and cannot generate the air pressure necessary for stable pitch and to fill our Sanctuary with sound for pieces like Widor’s Toccata. The organ’s pipes need “touch up” voicing to speak their finest.
While attending to these necessary repairs, it makes sense to address some other shortcomings of our instrument. A few ranks or groups of pipes were not completed when the organ was built. This results in awkward cessations of sound as an organist plays up or down the keyboard. Completing these ranks and adding a few new ranks will significantly expand the variety of music our organ can play.
Doug Brown, Ginter Park’s Director of Music, and Ardyth Lohuis, organ professor emerita at VCU, have worked together for three years to make careful renovation plans and solicit bids. Three companies visited our instrument and submitted bids. Session approved the best proposal – from Parsons Pipe Organ Builders, Canandaigua, New York in October, 2010. For $298,200 Parsons will perform a thorough repair and renovation of our organ. Much of the work is inextricably tied up with other work, but here is a rough breakdown of the costs:
How can we fund such a major project?
At the end of 2010 we had $27,673 in our organ enhancement fund – money we had budgeted for organ upkeep, plus donations made over the years. We had also received some $25,000 in advance gifts to the Campaign, bringing our total for the organ to $53,000. In January of 2011 we received a special memorial gift of $10,000 for the organ.
At the end of last year, the GPPC Session and Endowment Foundation agreed to put $50,000 of Endowment funds toward this project. Additionally, the Endowment will support our organ’s renovation by matching gifts from congregation members up to $50,000.
As of June 1, 2011 we have raised $229, 042 toward our goal of $298,000.
We are aware and grateful that many members of GPPC are already giving generously to support the budget of the church. Your gifts make our day-to-day ministry possible. A gift to the Organ Renovation Fund will support our weekly worship and contribute to the worship life of GPPC for many years to come. Gifts of any size will help us to meet our goal.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What do we have now? Why repair this organ? Should we consider replacing it?
Designed and built by Robert Noehren, our pipe organ was dedicated in 1964. Noehren (1910–2002) had a distinguished career as an international recitalist, recording artist, scholar, author, and teacher at the University of Michigan. His numerous recital tours of France, Germany, and Holland led to an interest in historical organ design. Ultimately, he established his own organ building company and designed and built about 20 pipe organs between 1954 and 1974. He endeavored to create instruments that would serve the Baroque period repertoire well, yet still have some tonal resources needed for music of later periods.
The GPPC organ has 49 ranks (sets) of pipes, distributed in 5 divisions (called Great, Swell, Positiv, Choir and Pedal) that are playable from three manual keyboards and a pedalboard. Since its installation the organ has received regular tuning and service. In 1992 and in 2004 some important maintenance and modest extension of the organ were undertaken.
Pipe organs typically require major maintenance every 30 or 40 years. Rebuilding and updating pipe organs is economically and musically effective and is desirable when the tonal and structural fundamentals of the instrument are basically sound, as ours are. Organ pipes rarely lose their value; unless badly damaged, they can be restored and revoiced for a fraction of the cost of new pipes. Similarly, wind chests, console, casework, and structural elements of a pipe organ retain value. Inner mechanisms that are subject to constant friction need regular rebuilding. The principal work required is renewal of electric and electronic controls and replacing deteriorated leather.
The current replacement cost of an instrument of this size and design is approximately $900,000. Renovation will cost approximately one third of this amount.
What do we know about Parsons Pipe Organ Builders? How were they selected?
The genesis of the Parsons organ firm was in the 19th century; it continues today under the direction of Ric Parsons, a fourth-generation organ builder. He is a “colleague” of the American Institute of Organbuilders and Vice President of both AIO and the Association of Pipe Organ Builders of America. The Parsons firm is highly regarded for their new organs and historically based restorations. When Doug contacted churches that had contracted with Parsons for their organ projects, the firm was praised for its attention both to musical details and to the details of conducting reliable and honest business with churches. The firm’s reputation is such that they were engaged by Cornell University to make a replica of an 18th century organ by the renowned builder, Arp Schnitger. Mr. Parsons and the firm’s tonal director, Duane Prill, conducted a very thorough examination of the GPPC organ, noting its strengths and weaknesses. Respectful of Robert Noehren’s work, they have designed a renovation proposal that will preserve the character of our organ and retain as much of the original “fabric” as possible.
What work is planned?
Parsons will replace the electric/electronic control system, which is unreliable, has functional gaps, and is developing shorts. Both the console and wind chests require extensive work. They will straighten and revoice pipes. When installed, some pipes were not well supported. Over time, the physical act of tuning and the effects of gravity have distorted some pipes so that they are “off speech.”
They will complete the “short” ranks. Compromises were made in the initial design in order to provide as many different ranks as possible at modest cost. The most limiting compromise was to eliminate the lowest 12 pipes (the largest and most expensive) from many stops. Much repertoire cannot be appropriately performed because the pipes are non-existent. They will add several ranks of pipes to provide tonal resources necessary for the performance of music from the 19th century to the present.
What will the repairs and renovations accomplish?
The enhanced reliability of a renovated pipe organ is the most important benefit, but it is certainly not the only one. The new Great Trumpet will make hymn melodies clearer, empowering the congregation to sing with greater confidence. The new winding system and the new Swell Bassoon and Clarion stops will allow Toccatas of the Romantic period (like Widor’s) to build to an inspiringly full sound. Other new stops in the Swell division will provide noticeable support for choir anthems. The new Pedal Posaune (“trombone”) and Subbass stops will add richness to the bass register. The new Flute Harmonique will be particularly lovely and useful during the improvisations that accompany communion.
Renovating our pipe organ is an investment in the continuation of fine music at GPPC. A well-functioning and versatile instrument will support the worship of this church for years to come.
When will all of this work begin? How long will it take?
The work will begin when our fundraising is complete and when Parsons can accommodate the work, given other instruments they are building or renovating. The work may take as much as a year to complete.
What will we do for worship while the organ is being renovated?
For the most part, we’ll continue to worship in the Sanctuary with piano accompaniment. On special occasions – when a more intimate setting is desired – we may worship in the Fellowship Hall.
Can’t this wait?
If we do nothing soon, more of our organ’s pipes will stop speaking. We’ll have more Sunday morning “surprises.” We’ll have to make more emergency repairs. And we’ll be subject to the risk of fire. Eventually our organ will stop working entirely.
What is expected of me?
We ask you to pray for this campaign and in consideration of your contribution to it. Attend to God’s Spirit guiding you to give what you can. Let your gift reflect your stewardship of God’s good gifts to you, as well as your commitment to supporting the worship of GPPC.
How can I give? When should gifts be made?
Pledge cards are available in the Narthex and Sanctuary pews. Please return a pledge card by May 8, the last day of the campaign. If you are able to pay your entire pledge by May 8, we will be happy to receive it then! The church is also able – and grateful – to receive your contribution in installments over the next three years. Make your checks to GPPC, memo: Organ Campaign. (If you'd like for us to mail you a pledge card, please let us know . . . or you can simply mail us a contribution!)
What if we don’t raise all the money?
For now, to raise the remaining $135,200 is our goal. If we cannot raise the entire amount, we will work with Parsons to eliminate some aspects of the renovation plan, still seeking to accomplish as much necessary work as possible.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGAN
It was none other than Mozart who first declared the organ the “king of instruments.” He was most likely swayed, as so many others have been, by the immensity and nobility of the organ’s sound and by the tremendous variety of sounds the instrument can produce. Mozart was also certainly aware of the organ’s long history and of its leading role in the development of such important musical forms as the fantasy, the prelude, the toccata, and the fugue.
The organ is a hybrid — a combination wind instrument and keyboard instrument. It’s a wind instrument because it produces sound by means of air vibrating in pipes. And it produces different notes (that is, notes of different pitch) by setting the air vibrating in pipes of different lengths: the longer the pipe, the longer the vibrating air column and the lower the pitch. The shorter the pipe, the higher the pitch. The pipes of an organ sit on a wind chest. There are various types of pipe organs, but they all have some mechanism to force air at steady pressure into the wind chest and from the chest into the bottoms of the pipes. To play the instrument, the organist uses keyboards for both hands and feet. They keys are one end of a system of valves that open and close the pipes at the bottom, allowing forced air in or shutting it out.
But what about the tremendous variety of sounds an organ can produce? On a piano, the way the player depresses the keys (the “touch”) determines the quality of the sound. But on an organ, this is not the case: the function of the keys is strictly to control which pipes will be activated. How a note will sound is determined by the pipe that produces it. Variations in the materials, shape, and functional design of organ pipes produce effects ranging from subtle gradations of tone color to drastic differences in volume and character of sound. The reason the organ offers such a remarkable panoply of sounds is that many different types of pipes can be used — separately or simultaneously — to play the same notes.
Most organ pipes are metal. Some are wood. They range from the size of a pencil to monsters that are thirty-two feet (or even sixty-four feet) long and a foot and a half to two feet in diameter. The pipes are organized in sets of similar type and sound quality called “ranks,” with most ranks encompassing the entire range of notes on the keyboard, one pipe per note.
Here are a few important organ terms:
CONSOLE: This is the organist’s workplace -- the cabinet of keyboards, stopknobs, and other devices that allow the player to control the pipes.
STOP/RANK: A stop is a set of pipes. It often consists of one rank of pipes, but it may include multiple ranks. If an organist selects a stop that combines five ranks of pipes, for example, then depressing any key on the keyboard will open five pipes simultaneously. Because the ranks all have different sounds, the stops an organist chooses will determine the organ’s sound at any given moment. Stops have names that reflect either what kinds of pipes they're composed of or how they sound. Some of these names are simple, like Flute or Trumpet, but others reveal the organ’s international history: like Nazard, Plein Jeu V, Geigen, Tierce, or Lieblich Gedeckt.
REGISTRATION: The registration is the specific set of stops and stop combinations used to play a piece, or passage, of music. Registration is also the art of choosing stops, of knowing which kinds of sounds will work most effectively with a particular piece or passage and which combinations of pipes will produce those sounds.
COMBINATION ACTION: A system allowing the organist to activate any number of stops at once. Our combination action is programmed, allowing it to suit the demands of music being played.
MANUAL: Manual is another word for keyboard, but specifically one played with the hands. (The array of pedals is called the pedalboard, and usually covers thirty-two notes.) GPPC’s organ has three manuals and a pedalboard. Each manual controls a different division of the organ, meaning a different group of stops. Manuals can also be coupled, however, so that one manual's control is extended over other divisions.
GREAT: The term used for the largest or main manual (or division) or the organ; on GPPC’s organ, the Great is played from the middle manual of the console.
SWELL: A division of the organ where all pipes are enclosed in a chamber, one side of which has shutters that may be opened or closed with a pedal, permitting dynamic gradations; on GPPC’s organ, the Swell is played from the top manual.
BELLOWS: The part of the organ that supplies the air needed for the pipes to speak. The wind is supplied by a blower, or turbine, driven by electricity.
ELECTRIC ACTION: In some organs, including ours, the keyboard/valve system is strictly electric. The key closes a circuit, which activates a magnet, which pulls a valve directly to open a pipe.
FAÇADE: The front or visible pipes of an organ. Our organ’s façade contains 37 pipes. There are another 2,204 pipes behind the façade!
VOICING: The means whereby organ pipes are given their desired timbre, loudness, and quality of sound. This process is time-consuming, as the voicer adjusts various components of a pipe to achieve the end result. The final voicing, or tonal finishing, is done after the organ is installed.
This explanation is adapted from The NPR Classical Music Companion by Miles Hoffman, 1997.
Pipe Organ Specifications
Robert Noehren, 1965
3 manuals, 49 ranks
Great Swell Positiv
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Choir (in Swell Box) Pedal |