The American Guild of Organists

Cover feature

December 1999

Building and instrument for a new room is as invigorating as it is extraordinary.  When discussions with St. Luke’s United Methodist Church first arose, we quickly understood the significance of having a large instrument in an acoustically friendly room in our hometown.  Throughout the construction of the building, we were able to consult with the architect and construction team, ultimately ensuring the best installation possible.  On each visit to the church in progress, our craftsmen left with wide eyes.  The room was indeed a large and imposing space but one that would welcome a bold instrument.  Our governing concept for this project was to provide St. Luke’s with an organ of exciting presence.

Because of the large space, we recognized the need for three complete manual divisions as well as an antiphonal division.  The architect provided a generous front chamber spanning half of the chancel front wall, which ensured the organ’s high, central-axis placement.  The organ layout corresponds to the asymmetry of the room in that the central axis aligns with the center of the right bay of the case.  To maximize this, the Great and Pedal chests are stacked behind this façade, with the Swell in the center bay and the Choir division in the left bay.  Each division uses Goulding & Wood’s unique design of electropneumatic slider and pallet windchests with the exceptions of the Antiphonal and the Swell reeds, which have pitman chests.  The slider chests are based on mechanical-action, matrix-style windchests but use pneumatic motors to allow for remote console control while still providing the tonal benefit of pipes being fed from air in a common channel.

Accentuating the room’s contemporary design, the case comprises asymmetric bays with pipe-mouth lines that draw the eye toward the large cross opposite the organ.  The Antiphonal case, hung from the side gallery wall, provides relief and balance by blending the angled bays with a symmetric layout.  Corresponding with the wealth of woodwork in the room, the case is entirely of rift-sawn red oak.  The pipes are tinted a light gold, which is warm-looking in the room yet not overpowering.

The tonal design reflects the breadth of the St. Luke’s music program.  In addition to Sunday morning hymnody, this active congregation supports choral concerts, organ recital and large community worship on holidays throughout the year.  To complement this variety, we furnished the organ with a firm foundation of principals choruses, supplemented with secondary color choruses of reeds, flutes and strings.

In designing the principal choruses, we relied on the Orgelbewegung concept of balanced plenums.  The Great, Swell and Pedal each have fully developed plenums (beginning at 8’, 4’ and 16’, respectively) through to lower- and higher-pitched mixtures.  Additionally, each division has a “sub” principal of smaller scale to provide a rich depth to the chorus.  Taking a cue from the large cubic space of the room, our voicer modified his normal procedure in approaching these ranks.  Whereas he normally begins with the Great principals and works out through the stoplist, he started the voicing of this organ with the Swell chorus, giving it our normal Great division prominence.  This fueled him to throw even more power to the Great and Pedal principals.  The result is a sound of sufficient volume, while retaining the supple richness of the principal timbre.  The Choir and Antiphonal plenums are specific to choral accompaniment needs; each begins at the 8’ unison pitch.

Having four manual divisions gave us space for a maximum in variety of flutes, with regards to construction, volume, color and voicing.  The Swell flute chorus extends from 16’ up to 1’; the Choir contains a complete flute cornet.  The string and celeste in the Swell are aggressive without being edgy, while the Choir flute celeste is warm and graceful.  The Great flutes include accompanimental 8’ and 4’ stops as well as a large solo 8’ Harmonic Flute.  The Pedal also contains a full chorus of independent flutes at 16’, 8’ and 4’.  The latter flute is full enough in tone to play alto melodies with manual accompaniment.

The reeds in the organ are fiery and rich, filling the entire room with sound.  The Trumpet and Fagotto on the Great are aimed specifically at filling out the Great principal chorus.  The Swell battery reeds are powerful and rich, with trumpets at 16’, 8’ and 4’ pitch.  Supplementing these are French-style Voix humaine and Hautbois.  The Choir Cromorne is again a French-style reed with caps to smooth out the tone.  The richness of this stop is intended to heighten its use as a mild solo reed in choral accompaniments.  Contrasting this, the hooded Tromba is powerful enough to carry a solo line against full organ.  Its darkness and full-bodied tone are modeled after English concepts of tubas, and correspondingly the Choir to Choir sub-coupler affects it (no other inter- or intra-manual coupler does) to allow it to play tenor melodies in hymns.  Finally, the Trompette en chamade is placed in the rear, above the balcony about 40 feet from the floor.  To provide maximum tonal variety, its power is fiery and brash, again able to stand up against full organ.

Whatever discussion about the organ we indulge in, however, is just so much chin music.  Our most profound satisfaction comes not from the independent stops or choruses but from the significant contribution the instrument has already made to the life of St. Luke’s.  It is our hope that this organ will continue to encourage congregational singing and community interest – not so much in our company – but in the excitement of the organ as a contemporary instrument.

Jason Overall

President, Goulding & Wood, Inc.

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