Sacred Music on a Pipe Organ

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http://www.sjcpinole.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=503&Itemid=327

Written by Fr. Paul Schmidt

Pope Benedict XVI recently made some comments about the pipe organ.  Speaking to pilgrims from Regensburg, Germany, who visited him at Castel Gandolfo, he recalled blessing a pipe organ in the Old Chapel there during his visit in September 2006.  "I have an indelible memory of how...we experienced the joy that comes from God, ... truly the flame of the Holy Spirit that brought us to feel in our innermost being what we also know from the Gospel of St. John: that he himself is joy.  And this joy was communicated to us."  As reported by ZENIT news service, the Pope added how pleased he was that this organ "continues to play and to help people perceive something of the splendor of our faith – a splendor kindled by the Holy Spirit himself.  With it the organ carries out an evangelizing function, proclaims the Gospel in its own way."

Other Popes have also commented on the pipe organ.  St. Pius X in 1903 was reacting to the excesses of the times when he wrote: "Since the singing must always have the chief place, the organ and other instruments should merely sustain it and never smother it."  He forbade the use of piano, drums, cymbals, bells and other "noisy instruments."  "As a general principle, " he wrote, " it is a very grave abuse and one to be  altogether condemned, if in the sacred ceremonies the liturgy is made to appear in a secondary role, as if it were the servant of the music.  The contrary is true, namely, that the music is really only a part of the liturgy and its humble handmaid."

Pius XI, in 1928, insisted that the human voice (priest, choir, congregation) was the most important instrument for worship.  "There is one instrument, however, which comes to us from the ancients and which properly belongs to the Church.  It is called the organ.  Its most wonderful amplitude and majesty have rendered it worthy of being associated with the liturgical rites, both to support the chant and also to elicit, during the periods when the choir is silent, sweet music that harmonizes with the prescribed rules."

In 1955, Pius XII wrote: "Among the musical instruments that have a place in church the organ rightly holds the principal position, since it is especially fitted for the sacred chants and sacred rites.  It adds a wonderful splendor and a special magnificence to the ceremonies of the Church.  It moves the souls of the faithful by the grandeur and sweetness of its tones.  It gives minds an almost heavenly joy and it lifts them up powerfully to God and to higher things."

Finally, the Second Vatican Council had this to say, in its document on the sacred liturgy: "In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things."
A pipe organ is an expensive work of art.  Nonetheless, the tradition of the Church considers it important for us to have and use one in worship.

Eric
KB7DQH

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A new kind of music at St. Michael's

There is a beautiful piano at the front of the worship space of St. Michael's Catholic church. Gleaming black, it has been there to accompany countless services. But for Eric Larson, it never felt quite right.

Larson, who took over as the church's music director a year and a half ago, grew up in churches with pipe organs. In his mind, the sound of an organ goes with worship like wafers go with wine. He started advocating for the addition almost immediately. There was support, but no clear direction.

Then, earlier this year, Larson made a search on the online classified site craigslist. The results that came up both surprised and delighted him.

Larson had found an organ he played as a student at the University of Minnesota. The building that had once housed it had been torn down, and the organ was sitting in a basement in St. Paul. The price was good, and Larson knew from experience the organ sounded great. So, he approached the church's leadership. And he got approval to make the purchase. The church had enough money on hand to buy the organ. They'd find a way later to replenish the funds.

Ultimately, an anonymous donor came forward to cover the entire cost.

That's how Larson found himself hauling organ parts on the hottest day in June. And it's how St. Michael's finds itself in possession of a beautiful new instrument to go alongside that shiny piano.

Much of the organ was installed earlier this year, but an installer was working last week to install 200 additional pipes donated to the church. All told, the organ has more than 500 pipes, all controlled from a keyboard with piano-like keys and switches for imitating instruments from clarinets to trumpets.

The organ's keyboard doesn't look like much next to that shiny black piano, but once Larson sits down at the keyboard its value becomes clear. For Larson and for many of the church's members, it's what a church service should sound like.

Church members Conrad Adelmann and Charlie Weber donated their time to build a new base for the organ. The additional pipes have been installed in a walkway along the back wall, pipes of wood and metal sticking up in neatly ordered rows.

"It looks like it's always been there," Larson said.

The organ isn't fully functional yet, but Larson has already used the part that came from the U of M. He's thrilled with the result. The organ fills the worship space in a way that piano never could.

Other people have noticed, too.

"People have said it's been worth the wait," Larson said. "The singing improved instantly."

Larson hopes to have a concert in October to feature the new organ.

http://www.farmingtonindependent.com/event/article/id/18137/

Eric
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St. John's Celebrates With Music


Sunday's Concert A Thank You To The Community
BY RANDY DOCKENDORF
randy.dockendorf@yankton.net
Published: Thursday, November 10, 2011 1:11 AM CST
Sunday afternoon's concert at St. John's Lutheran Church may produce some of the sweetest sounds ever heard from the congregation's pipe organ.

The organ was destroyed in the April 2009 fire causing $2 million in damages to the Yankton church. After 2 1/2 years, the organ has been rebuilt and restored to its grandeur. The organ was officially dedicated at last weekend's worship services.

However, Sunday's concert is offered as a gift for the support shown during the fire and its aftermath, according to St. John's music director Dianne Diekmann.

"We had churches and individuals who have offered so much support," she said. "We want to say 'thank you' to them, and we want them to come celebrate with us."

The 2:30 p.m. concert and hymn festival will be held in the sanctuary at 1009 Jackson Street. The event features Dr. Jeffrey Blersch, organist, composer and professor of music at Concordia University of Seward, Neb.

The general public is encouraged to share in the celebration, Diekmann said. Special invitations were sent to all Yankton churches as well as Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) congregations in South Dakota and neighboring states.

"On Sunday afternoon, we're inviting the entire community and beyond," she said.

Blersch is playing some of the same pieces that renowned Lutheran organist and composer Paul Manz played during the 1969 dedication program. Blersch plans to arrive Saturday to work with St. John's organ prior to the concert.

Blersch has played organ since age 8 and brings an outstanding talent and reputation to Sunday's concert, Diekmann said.

"We searched for a professional who was able to come for this concert, and he accepted our invitation," Diekmann said.

Blersch told the Press & Dakotan that he looks forward to playing for the celebration.

"Dianne (Diekmann) and I have been talking about this event for a while," he said. "The reinstallation of the church's organ is certainly a huge milestone in recovering from the devastation of the church's fire, and I'm excited for the opportunity to be a part of this piece of the church's history."

Sunday's audience will participate in the concert, Blersch said.

"The concert will feature a variety of organ repertoire as well as some hymn singing by the assembly," he said. "Since the organ's primary role in worship is to lead the assembly in song, it seems only appropriate to showcase the newly-installed organ in this role as well as its capabilities as a solo          instrument."

Starting Young

The 44-year-old Blersch has been an active church musician since being appointed organist of Peace Lutheran Church in Cincinnati at age 8.

"My parents had a small electronic organ in their house as my dad wanted to learn to play. My mom tells me that, as a young child, I would sit at the bench for hours a day working my way up and down the keyboards, being fascinated with the instrument," he said.

"When I was 6, our church organist helped my parents find someone who would teach me. That was a little unusual for a 6-year-old to study organ — especially considering I couldn't even reach the pedals yet and had to sit on large books to be able to see the music rack on the church's organ."

However, Blersch remained undeterred in his love of the organ.

"By the time I was 8, with my church organist's encouragement, I began to play a hymn while she took communion. It wasn't long before I was her substitute while she was on vacation and then agreed to fill in for her while she took a maternity leave," he said.

"As it turns out, she decided not to return to the organ bench after her leave, and the church offered me the position — while I was still 8. I stayed in that position until I left for college, and my parents are still members at that church (Peace Lutheran in Cincinnati)."

Blersch is a graduate of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music where he received degrees in organ performance and music education, and of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance.

Best known for his creative hymn interpretations, Blersch regularly performs recitals and hymn festivals across the United States. His performances have also been featured on American Public Media's "Pipedreams" and "The Lutheran Hour."

More than 80 of his compositions and collections are published exclusively with Concordia Publishing House. Four of his original hymn tunes are included in Lutheran Service Book (2006).

His commissioned compositions include hymn settings for LCMS youth gatherings and conventions. He has also composed a setting of U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's poem "So This Is Nebraska" for a performance at a convention of the American Choral Directors            Association.

Blersch has released two compact disc recordings of his own compositions and arrangements, entitled "Resounding Alleluias" and "On Christmas Night."

A Bittersweet Moment

For Diekmann, Sunday's concert will bring back a flood of  memories.

She vividly remembers watching fire and smoke consume St. John's in the early hours of the 2009 blaze.

"I was standing outside (the church on) the morning of the fire. The tears were just flowing, seeing everything go up," she said. "I had just played the organ on the day before. I was the last one to play it before the fire."

The organ was lost, but firefighters retrieved the music, Diekmann said.

"The sheet music was just black. You couldn't see what was on the pages," she said. "I still  have it in a bag at home."

For the next year, St. John's parishioners worshipped at Marian Auditorium on the Mount Marty College campus. The congregation moved back into its sanctuary 1 1/2 years ago, but the organists — Diekmann, Phyllis Nielsen, Donna Knodel and Sheila Peterson — used an electronic piano while the organ continued receiving repairs.

"The large metal pipes were able to be cleaned and reused," Diekmann said. "But all of the wooden pipes and the rest of the organ had to be replaced with new materials because there was too much      damage."

St. John's original organ came when the church was built in 1969. The organ, consisting of 11 ranks and 743 pipes, was designed and built by Charles Hendrickson Organ Company of St. Peter, Minn., at a cost of less than $15,000.

A dedication service was held Nov. 9, 1969. Manz was the guest organist. Charles Hendrickson, his wife Birgitta and 2-year-old son Eric attended.

A $25,000 update to the organ was done in 2006.

After the 2009 fire, the organ has been rebuilt by the Hendrickson company. The organ has been enlarged to 12 ranks with 804 pipes and is valued at nearly $200,000. This time, the major installation work was done by Eric                    Hendrickson.

Charles, Birgitta and Eric        Hendrickson plan to attend Sunday's concert.

Last Sunday's dedication service featured the four St. John's organists, who began playing as early teenagers in their home congregations and offer a combined 193 years of experience. The service consisted of favorite hymns and organ compositions selected by the organists.

"Our organists love playing the pipe organ, and having it back is a joy," Diekmann said. "There's nothing like the sound of a pipe organ."

After spending 1 1/2 years playing an electronic piano, the St. John's organists needed to reacquaint themselves with organ music, Diekmann said.

"With the electric piano, there's no pedal keyboard," she said. "The music for the organ has feet that you don't find with piano music. It's a different music and inspiring."

However, the additional work of refamiliarizing themselves with the organ is well worth it, Diekmann said. She considers sacred music a special part of worship.

"Martin Luther said, next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise," she said.

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2011/11/10/community/doc4ebb5a2823202871483973.txt

Eric
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