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Messages - KB7DQH

#41
Is now in a building about to be destroyed. :( >:( :'(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP-C6jAujyQ

I became aware of this via a "like" on Facebook from one of our members...

QuoteDon VerKuilen liked this.
John Panning
6 hrs · Lake City, IA ·

If you or your church have ever wanted to own an unaltered example of the work of one of America's finest German immigrant organ builders, now is the time to act. Historic St. Mary's Church in Muscatine, Iowa, will be demolished this summer and a new home is being sought for its 1877 J.G. Pfeffer & Son organ. Here is the stoplist, taken from the OHS Database entry http://database.organsociety.org/SingleOrganDetails.php?OrganID=1203

GREAT - unenclosed, 54 notes (knobs each labeled 1M)
8' Principal
8' Melodia
8' Gamba
4' Octave
4' Flote
2-2/3' Quinte
2' Octave
Mixtur 3 fach
Manual Coppel

SWELL - enclosed and expressive, 54 notes (knobs each labeled 2M)
16' Bourdon Bass
16' Bourdon Discant
8' Principal
8' Gedackt
8' Salicional
4' Flote
2' Flautino

PEDAL - unenclosed, 25 notes
16' Sub-Bass
8' Octave Bass
1M Pedal Coppel
2M Pedal Coppel

http://muscatinejournal.com/news/local/for-everything-there-is-a-season--year-old-st/article_6a6d1ecf-8583-5abf-98f5-e3f2e84d4c1e.html

Eric
KB7DQH
#42
Since he plays his entire repertoire entirely from memory one could simply place a mirror on the music stand :o  :-[???

All that being said, reading throughhttp://larouchepac.com/node/30892 one finds this...

QuoteSTEGER: Another key factor, and you've raised this before, Lyn, is, at the same time as Russell, you had the death of Brahms. But the problem that people think of with music, is they think: "Oh, that's unfortunate, Brahms died, we didn't have a continued legacy." But this fight around music has also been of the highest political nature. I mean, if you take the example of what Bach introduced, following Leibniz's death, they had this Newton operation, they tried to mathematize the calculus, right after Leibniz died, a kind of Bertrand Russell operation. But what Bach introduced, for the next few decades, were some of the greatest creative breakthroughs in mankind, really began to transform as a political process, as a social process, exactly what you're saying, an ability to collaborate around ideas, to the advancement of mankind. And that kind of process is of a political nature, it's not just of "do we create good music, or do we have the trash we have today?" This was by intent, along with Russell, a destruction of a higher sense of music, of a higher sense of ideas.

And that's got to be part of what we unleash today, is this real Renaissance in human thought.

So few people understand there is more to be saved than the Pipe organ by saving it... :( :'(

Eric
KB7DQH

#43
QuoteSTEGER: Another key factor, and you've raised this before, Lyn, is, at the same time as(Bertrand) Russell, you had the death of Brahms. But the problem that people think of with music, is they think: "Oh, that's unfortunate, Brahms died, we didn't have a continued legacy." But this fight around music has also been of the highest political nature. I mean, if you take the example of what Bach introduced, following Leibniz's death, they had this Newton operation, they tried to mathematize the calculus, right after Leibniz died, a kind of Bertrand Russell operation. But what Bach introduced, for the next few decades, were some of the greatest creative breakthroughs in mankind, really began to transform as a political process, as a social process, exactly what you're saying, an ability to collaborate around ideas, to the advancement of mankind. And that kind of process is of a political nature, it's not just of "do we create good music, or do we have the trash we have today?" This was by intent, along with Russell, a destruction of a higher sense of music, of a higher sense of ideas.

And that's got to be part of what we unleash today, is this real Renaissance in human thought.

"Surgically removed from"http://larouchepac.com/node/30892... As it is a large document I only copied over the point where their discussion turned to music  ;)  Reading through the whole of it one can see commonalities and this quote above is where these threads cross paths :D ;D ;)

Eric
KB7DQH

#44
Apart from operating the diode at close to its failure point causing a shift in its forward-bias condition (extremely rare) the other (50%) failure mode is "open" ;) ;D  I hope your wiring diagram also includes a parts list as that will significantly aid your selection of a suitable replacement, assuming the original type is not still available.......
#45
Have you had the opportunity to see the review I wrote here on this forum of a concert he gave (on a real tracker organ no less :o here locally, (a month ago to this day) which I attended? I (hope) I make the case he may be damaging far more than "the organ scene" or "himself" but the whole of civilized society :o :o :o ;)

http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1791.msg8395.html#msg8395

If nothing else, the few most recent comments I read at the Youtube link above mean my assessment based on his live performance isn't too far off the mark ??? :o ;)

Eric
KB7DQH

#46
(20,000 word limit not enough >:(

Quote
Strange Bedfellows -- Politics News
News about Seattle and King County government as well as national politics.
Peter Hallock remembered: Seattle's world-renowned choral musician
Posted on April 28, 2014 | By Joel Connelly   

Peter Hallock, a world-renowned church musician who made beautiful music in Seattle for 63 years, died Sunday afternoon at his home in Fall City. He was 89.
c

The Compline Choir in rehearsal at St. Mark's Cathedral.  The ancient monastic service draws hundreds of young people on Sunday nights.  Its founder, Dr. Peter Hallock, died on Sunday.

As choir director at St. Mark's Cathedral for 40 years, from 1951 to 1991, Hallock is best known as the musician who revived the ancient monastic rite of Compline, which became a Sunday night magnet for generations of Seattle-area young people.

"What an amazing thing he created," said Austin Rickel, a senior at Center School who did a video on Compline last year.  "Here was a service that you could experience, a spiritual experience that you could appreciate even if you did not fully understand.

"The experience is going to live on: One of the greatest things a person can do, what you should live for, is to create something that goes beyond yourself.  As long as St. Mark's is in existence, Compline will be in existence with a wealth of participation in something deeply spiritual."

James Savage, music director at St. James Cathedral, described Hallock as "a giant" and added:  "For me, he was the one who made it possible for me to do what I do here.  He saw a cathedral as a citizen of the community.  He invited people to come for more than worship (services), for annual performances of the Messiah, for organ concerts, for times of grief and celebration."

Savage was a master's degree student at the University of Oregon when, in 1974, he was invited to sing at St. Mark's.  "I had a job waiting for me somewhere else, but I fell in love with Seattle."

Hallock conducted the Compline Choir until 2003 when he was succeeded by Jason Anderson, who wrote his dissertation on Hallock's music.  Hallock believed, said Anderson, that "God could be experienced in beauty, in song, in the communal experience as well as the contemplative."

The Compline service at St. Mark's, begun in the 1950′s, led to a rediscovery of the late-night monastic prayer tradition in the Episcopal and Anglican churches.  Anderson estimates that, at one time or another, there have been 50 groups across North America modeled on the St. Mark's Compline Choir.  Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver has a Compline service.
c

The Compline Service at St. Mark's has been widely copied across North America.

"He was instrumental in enabling St. Mark's and the Pacific Northwest to make a critical contribution to sacred music generally, and to music in the Episcopal-Anglican tradition," said the Rev. Steve Thomason, dean of the cathedral.

Hallock thought big.  He was the person who caused the Flentrop Organ — usually called "the mighty Flentrop" — to St. Mark's in 1965.  He authored a three-year cycle of psalm settings for choir, with antiphons for congregational singing, that is widely used in the Episcopal and Lutheran churches.

Hallock was still composing at the time of his death.  One of his last works, a setting of the Victimae Paschali, had its premier during Easter services at St. Mark's in 2013.

"On Easter, I am not not always thankful of having to listen to everything twice, but with this piece I was most thankful," said the  Rev. Greg Rickel (father of Austin), Episcopal bishop of Olympia.

Bishop Rickel noted that Hallock stayed at the "Holy Box" on Capitol Hill for 40 years, conducted the Compline Choir for a half century . . . even as he won national and even international recognition.

Hallock was  honored across the pond by the Royal College of Music and was awarded  an honorary degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  He was the first lay musician in the Episcopal Church to be given the title of canon precentor.

"There is nothing normal about that anyplace in the church," said the bishop.  "He gave his life to St. Mark's.  He brought so many, many people who had never crossed the doors of a church into a church."

It's likely that not one of the hundreds of young people who fill St. Mark's at 9:30 on Sunday nights knows what a "canon precentor" is.  Yet, generations of college and high school students have come to witness one of Christianity's most ancient rituals.

Hours after his death, the Compline Choir processed to Hallock's setting of the Easter canticle Pascha Nostrum (Christ our Passover) and remembered him simply at the beginning of the service.  Arrangements for Hallock's funeral service are pending.

Peter Hallock made Compline happen, in Seattle and elsewhere. It is his living legacy.

Eric
KB7DQH
#47
http://www.choralnet.org/view/441962
http://insanity.blogs.lchwelcome.org/2014/05/04/tributes-pour-in/
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2014/04/28/dr-peter-hallock-remembered-seattles-world-renowned-choral-musician/
http://www.jonathandimmock.com/peter-hallock/

Today at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral the memorial services were held, and a special tribute Compline Service, followed by a special tribute to his life's work program on "The Organ Loft" are being broadcast on KING 98.1 FM www.king.org as I prepare this post.

Quote
April 28, 2014 by Jonathan Dimmock

Peter Hallock, composer, performer, mystic, philosopher, and church musician, died yesterday afternoon at the age of 89. He died peacefully within moments of returning to his beloved home in Fall City, Washington. He was my closest friend and mentor of 25 years. What follows is a letter to him as he rests beyond the grave.

Hallock, baby!

Well, you did it! You've merged with the Light and are now a part of that great numinousness that you've always tried to communicate through your music. What's it like? Your astounding ability to communicate, through your music and through our countless conversations has awakened me to the profundity of that cosmic mystery; how glorious to think that you are now part of it. When I opened my eyes this morning, and the sun was pouring into my room, my very first thought was that you had enjoyed helping the sun up, out of its cradle, this morning – You, whose face always epitomized the radiance of the sun. When you left us, did you take one last cosmic journey over Mount Ranier – that place that you dearly loved? You always told me that you were a mountain man, and today I seem to understand that even more than before. And what about those sublime and fertile hills of the English countryside, and Canterbury Cathedral which formed you both musically and spiritually, did you take a farewell trip over those places to get one final blessing from that beauty? Or do I have it backwards? Perhaps it was you, yourself, blessing those places, that makes them so soul-enriching for the rest of us.

Now that you're on the other side, I find that I want to pummel you with questions: What are the secrets to gardening that perfect Japanese garden? Have you met Bach yet? You're probably still in the "Welcome to heaven" stage, but I'll bet you made a bee-line for John Donne. And you, who were the logical extension of French impressionistic music, must have been eagerly welcomed and thanked by Debussy, Ravel, and Duruflé. Am I right? But, knowing you as the introvert, I daresay you've opted to take your time with all of these things, and absorb the enormity of just where you are – right to the depths of your being.

And just what is your "being" now? On the one hand, I clearly sense your presence, and on the other hand, I deeply lament your passing from my sight. I look out my window at redwood trees, the sunrise kissing the mountains in the distance, the lichen-covered, ancient oak-tree out the back window, and they all seem to speak your name. How did you do that?

You know the old adage: You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. Happily the two of us did, indeed, know "what we've got." Our friendship is, as we often commented, one of those rare gifts of grace. It's one of those friendships that only come once in a lifetime, and that, only if you're lucky. We were lucky! Thank heavens neither of us had hang-ups about being able to say how deeply we loved each other. Our mutual support of each other's charisms has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. And although we were a generation apart, you were my Tom Sawyer, and I your Huck Finn.

We are no longer a generation apart, you and me, for where you are, there is no time; and where you still meet me, in the splendor of nature, in numinous music, in my meditations, I can join you in timelessness. Yet, at this very moment, my heart is broken open in grief. I yearn to listen to the music of Tallis right now, to your psalm settings, to men singing plainsong.

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that no two people can truly understand each other; the mystery of existence only moves in the direction of greater depth. Can we even understand ourselves? No, not on this plane. But how much gratitude I'm feeling that you helped me understand life, divinity, and beauty more than I possibly could have had I never met you. Blessed is the day we met!

Quote

Since Peter Hallock's death last Sunday, the tributes have been pouring in for this extraordinary church musician and mystic. Especially poignant and touching was the Office of Compline for April 27, 2014, which was sung at St. Mark's Cathedral on the very night that Peter died. You can hear the podcast by clicking here. Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Peter.  Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming.  Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.  Amen.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Peter Hallock remembered: Seattle's world renowned choral musician.

From Dana Marsh, newly-appointed visiting faculty for Early Music at Indiana University: Peter was the great mentor of my teen years, during my last two years of high school. I owe him so very much. Heaven has been hugely augmented. A true visionary, mystic, musician, friend. He was a fantastic organ teacher; he understood French Classical music like few others. I remember going on hikes and having the most fantastic theological conversations. A prince of the very first order. I'm sorry only that I didn't get to see him at the end. Rest in peace, my friend.

From concert organist Jonathan Dimmock: He was my closest friend and mentor of 25 years. What follows is a letter to him as he rests beyond the grave.  Hallock, baby!

From Richard Sparks, who recorded many of Peter's works: Peter Hallock dies.

The official obituary has now been written by Jason Allen Anderson, Peter's successor as Director of the Compline Choir since 2009. I am quoting it in its entirety here:

scan0001-e1399217106699-102x150Peter R. Hallock—mystic, solitary, composer, organist, liturgist, and countertenor forever linked to Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle—died of congestive heart failure on Sunday afternoon, April 27, 2014. He had just returned to his beloved home in Fall City, Wash., after a lengthy hospitalization. He was 89.

The youngest of five children, Peter was born on November 19, 1924 to George Oakley Hallock and Estella Rasmussen Hallock. Peter's brother George and sister Peggy preceded him in death. He is survived by his sisters Matilda Ann Milbank of Los Altos, Calif., and Barbara Hallock of Kent, Wash., and several nieces and nephews and a growing number of grandnieces and grandnephews.

PRH_Youth5At age five, Peter's parents enrolled him in piano lessons, and sent him, along with his siblings, to Sunday School and worship at Saint James Episcopal Church in Kent, Wash. At the age of 9, Peter had his first encounter with the numinous at Saint James; five years later, Hallock was playing the organ there. His organ teacher at the time was Clayton Johnson of Tacoma, Wash. Peter's sisters Tillie and Barbara would often trek to Saint James to hear Peter play miniature organ recitals on Sunday afternoons; whatever Hallock was doing, his sisters were always there. He was active and creative from an early age, not just in music, but also arts and crafts, weaving, letter writing, puppet theater, and soap box derby car racing.

scan0003After high school, Peter enrolled at the University of Washington (UW), but was drafted into the U.S. Army after only one year of study. From June 1943–February 1946, he served as a chaplain's assistant and sharpshooter in the Pacific theater during World War II. After the war, he re-enrolled at the UW and resumed organ performance studies with Walter Eichinger, composition with George McKay, and took music courses with Miriam Terry and Eva Heinitz, all of whom maintained a lifelong collegial relationship with Peter. Though Hallock had completed all required coursework by 1949, eighteen months of government-paid education remained, so Peter enrolled at the College of Saint Nicolas of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), then based in Canterbury, England. He became the first American Choral Scholar at Canterbury Cathedral, singing under the direction of Gerald Knight. In June 1951, he completed both the RSCM program and was graduated from the UW with a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree. Later, in 1958, he took the Master of Arts in Music degree from the UW.

Among his many contributions to local and national church music traditions are the introduction of countless audiences in the United States, and the Pacific Northwest in particular, to the countertenor voice, and founding the chant study group that eventually became known as the Compline Choir—an ensemble that has led to a resurgence of interest in the Office of Compline. He also fought successfully for installation of the Flentrop tracker-action organ at the cathedral, making Saint Mark's the first Episcopal cathedral to have such an instrument. He developed the Advent and Good Friday Processions and introduced liturgical dramas at the cathedral. Perhaps his greatest contribution to church music was composition and publication of The Ionian Psalter.

HallockatKimballPeter began work as organist/choirmaster at Saint Mark's Cathedral on October 28, 1951, a position he held until his involuntary retirement in 1991. He was named Canon Precentor, the first layperson in the Episcopal Church to hold such a title; he received two Bishop's Crosses from two Bishops of Olympia, was named an Associate of the Royal School of Church Music, and was granted a Doctor of Church Music degree honoris causa by Church Divinity School of the Pacific. In 1992, at the invitation of the Rev. Ralph Carskadden, Peter became organist at Saint Clement of Rome Episcopal Church, Seattle, a position he held until March 2013.

Hallock composed over 250 works, from occasional church music to extended anthems, to dramatic works (sacred and secular), to music specifically written for the Compline Choir. To discover Hallock the mystic and composer, one need only experience his music in the "Holy Box" that is Saint Mark's Cathedral. It is that "Holy Box" that provides both a physical space and musical landscape in which to hear, process, and intuit Hallock's music. The texts Peter set provide vignettes of the metaphysical and mystical, from the poetry of Alcuin, to the words of the psalmist, to the poetry of Thomas Merton. Hallock married text and music in ways that allow listeners to experience something wholly unique, something beyond themselves, something numinous. Peter said it best: "Music is a conduit to the inner, spiritual person; and I think the road to God is internal." No piece of music was immune to revision, even those already published. His most recent compositions include Advent Calendar (2012), commissioned by the Compass Rose Society to honor Archbishop Williams on the occasion of his retirement, and Victimae Paschali (2014), a work that was undergoing final revisions at the time of his death.

PRH_Russia5The Ionian Psalter, Peter's largest creative work, was born out of a desire for greater congregational participation in Psalm singing. Hallock began composing the Psalm settings on October 4, 1981 and continued through the entire three-year cycle of lectionary readings. Later, he expanded the Psalter and created a customized version for use by Lutheran congregations and those following the Revised Common Lectionary. The Psalter's name is derived from Ionian Arts, Inc., the music publishing company founded in 1986 by Peter and his lifelong friend and business partner Carl Crosier.

10-1-06 5657At Peter's invitation, twelve men from the university and community began study of chant in 1955. This study group solidified into a choir that sang the Office of Compline on Sundays at 9:30 p.m. beginning in late 1956. Classical 98.1 KING-FM began broadcasting the service in 1962. Hallock once wrote of Compline: "The Compline service may find its best definition not in terms of what it is, but what it does, for the needs it fulfills for those who attend in person, the large radio audience, and members of the choir. For all of these it is part of a journey towards God. Such a journey must allow for definitions as varied as its sojourners with the promise of a goal as 'wide as sky and sea.'" Peter directed the Compline Choir until his retirement in June 2009.

As a soloist, Peter began to concertize as a countertenor in 1951, exposing audiences to that unique sound for the first time. The countertenor voice was so unusual in the U.S. that colleges and universities across the country soon requested performances—from the University of California, Berkeley, to the University of South Alabama. As a conductor, Peter's most memorable conducting might be his first performance of Handel's Messiah using period or replicas of period instruments in 1985. This period style performance was a first for Seattle; concerts sold out and critics raved.

IMG_1187As an organist, Peter's lasting legacy at the cathedral is the mechanical-action organ built by the Dutch firm D. A. Flentrop. Installation of the organ began in late 1964 and tonal finishing took place in July 1965. For the dedication, Peter composed Hail Universal Lord. Hallock believed installation of the Flentrop to be one of his greatest accomplishments: "I suppose the Flentrop might be my greatest accomplishment, provided we don't blow ourselves off the earth, it'll probably be there for a century or two."

PRH_SM1As a liturgist, Peter contributed something new to the Advent and Good Friday Processions held at the cathedral. He composed music for two choirs in dialogue (Cathedral and Compline Choirs), liturgical handbells from the firm Petit and Fritsen based in Aarle-Rixtel, Holland, and organ. Hallock's ultimate metamorphosis of the Advent Procession was in crafting the liturgy around the seven 'Great O Antiphons' and the setting each of the antiphons to music, using all the pomp and drama he could muster. As a dramatist, Peter produced liturgical dramas at the Summer School of Church Music held at Saint Mark's in 1965. Hallock was assisted by Ronald Arnatt (music director), Aurora Valentinetti (dramatic director), and Glenn White (sound engineer). This production team, minus Arnatt, collaborated on future productions in 1968, 1969, and 1975 for Hallock's Everyman and 1970, 1971, and 1974 for his Days of Herod.

PRH_patio_2013Hallock worked extensively within The Episcopal Church, having been appointed to the Joint Commission on Church Music in 1965; he also directed the choir for the 1967 General Convention of the Episcopal Church. His work with the Joint Commission on Church Music centered primarily on production of the 1973 Songs for Liturgy and More Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Embedded within Songs for Liturgy was the introduction of new, intriguing sounds, like handbells, percussion, and clapping and antiphonal congregational texts, into the worship space.

Though Hallock's music, creativity, innovations, and contributions to church music are notable, his greatest legacy is the community and family of musicians, mystics, solitaries, composers, weavers, theologians, humanists, agnostics, acousticians, "sound nuts", chefs, gardeners, nature lovers, and lovers of beautiful things with whom Peter cultivated lifelong friendships. Whether meeting him in the office, organ loft, or his home, following his direction in a rehearsal or performance, sharing a martini over lunch or dinner, exchanging letters or emails, weaving with him at the loom, hiking or walking with him along a nature trail, digging in the dirt with him in his Japanese garden, or collaborating with him on a recording or video project, it was the friendship that mattered most.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 5 p.m. at Saint Mark's Cathedral, 1245 Tenth Ave E, Seattle. Contributions in Peter's memory can be made to one of two 501(c)(3) designated charities; please note "Hallock Legacy" on your gift:

    The Compline Choir
    1245 Tenth Ave E • Seattle, WA 98102
    The Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia
    1551 Tenth Ave E • Seattle, WA 98102

By Jason Allen Anderson, Peter Hallock's Biographer, Friend, and Caregiver
and second director of the Compline Choir (4 May 2014)


Eric
KB7DQH
#48
New Pipe Organs / Re: Canterbury Cathedral
May 06, 2014, 07:55:16 PM
Changing the subject (we will return your computer to the thread momentarily ;)  What relationship is there between the Royal College of Church Music and Canterbury Cathedral?  Oddly enough events eight time zones West have prompted me to ask :o  Background can be found herehttp://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1848.msg8372.html#msg8372 :o :o :o andhttp://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1853.msg8435/topicseen.html#msg8435

Eric
KB7DQH
#49
This "show" didn't qualify as a "recital" until the end of the program :(  Oddly enough I spotted Mel Butler, the Canon Musician and principal organist of Saint Mark's Cathedral in the lobby before the event... An organist I (now) have far more respect for musically.  It would be intriguing to "read his mind" during and after this event... Would he have felt "intimidated"???  Behind me sat an organist who actually had practice time on this instrument, rehearsing music which will accompany a new choir organization recently established... but I hadn't had the chance to query him afterwards... Few people lingered afterward, it seemed like a 'slow stampede' for the exits afterward... It was getting late, I was using "foot transport" within Seattle proper and although I did wander the lobby afterward to see if I could spot anyone I might have met beforehand but like I said there seemed to be an effort upon many to set out for the journey home... As it turned out had I left the concert hall earlier I would have caught a much earlier ferry back across the Puget Sound home and had to settle for the "last boat", leaving some two hours later. ....

Eric
KB7DQH
#50
Short answer: NO ::) ??? :o   See http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1791.msg8395.html#msg8395

for the gory details ;)

Eric
KB7DQH
#51
This amounts to a "concert review" of sorts I composed elsewhere and re-posted here as it addresses issues under discussion there as well as what is being discussed above. Thus it is written in a style more appropriate to a "general audience" and not specific to "organ enthusiasts" ??? ;)


Please refer to the following http://www.budgetcamerareview.com/forum/discussion/comment/19684#Comment_19684 for background...


Well I finally "dunnit"... I think... I traveled to the "big city" to appear within the confines of a concert hall to "see what all the fuss was about"... I then proceeded to collect my thoughts in a post on the forum mentioned above only to make a keystroke entry mistake and see all my hard work vanish before my eyes. As this forum provides a unique facility which prevents that I thought I would have a go and see what I could knock together... As I was writing this my internet connection failed (something the ISP I am utilizing currently is NOT known for, unlike my previous service for which connection terminations were all-too-common.) and the "auto save draft" facility saved the bulk of what I have written. Yay!

Given that previous work ended the way it did I must conclude I was approaching my creative efforts from completely the wrong angle and thus this may prove in the end to be a blessing... I had begun and nearly completed what amounted to a "bog-standard concert review" typical of those which at some point no doubt will be written by so many others that it probably was no great loss in the end. Frustrating? Of course. But I couldn't sleep until I made that attempt at least. And this is after I had already been semi-conscious for at least 24 hours prior.

After "sleeping on it" I awoke and took a bit of time to think again about the "post-concert report" and what it really should contain, and rather than taking the experience, freezing it, then slicing it into microscopic sheets and studying every molecule under a microscope I decided that a larger perspective would prove far more useful than trying to appear in "print" as some sort of "self-proclaimed music critic"... as much fun as that would have been, it would not convey the serious importance that placing this performance into a much larger perspective would serve.


More specifically the performance given by Cameron Carpenter in Benaroya Hall upon the pipe organ installed there. This event is significant as this is Cameron's first appearance in Seattle, playing at any venue.

For those asking "Cameron, Who???" a bit of research on the WWW and watching some of his Youtube videos will give you some idea about who (and/or what) I am talking about.

Unlike the majority of presentations of music performed on pipe organs which I have attended (and this would INCLUDE church services and a visit to Pizza and Pipes when I was a kid) this one was very well attended, despite the fact that hours before the event there were still a bit over a hundred tickets yet to be sold. My guess is many made the decision "at the last minute" to actually make the journey and plunk down their hard-earned FRNs ;)

With that out of the way one must understand that analyzing the nature of the controversy surrounding this performer is not unlike that surrounding our current president. There are parallels to how the MSM and its controlled opposition view both subjects. Metaphorically, many of the same arguments exist in both cases under consideration here.

Consider for a second Nobel prizes and Grammy nominations... "Savior and Antichrist" come to mind also...

(Warning--At this time if you haven't already, don your tinfoil hat;)

If ever there was an experience which demonstrated that Music in our current culture is being weaponized, the concert I attended would serve as an excellent example.

To make any sense out of that last statement one must consider the role of the creative arts in general and music in particular within civilized society, and this activity throughout the arc of history, the present, and into the future.

Another thought to consider in this vein is the statement "whoever controls the past controls the future"... If one recognizes that everything in the present is built on the foundations of the past and that the present is the foundation of the future then it becomes apparent that literally the future is being created today...

Then one needs to consider the role of the composer and the relationship that a musician has with the composer, and the relationship that a musician has with the audience. Ultimately the composer has a relationship with the audience but through the work of the musician. (http://larouchepac.com/node/17204)

Put it all together and one realizes the true power music has to shape civilized society.

I recognize these are general observations, and one could add to these the use of 440hz as the frequency standard for "middle A" and "equal temperament". A whole book could be written on how that statement has altered the "fabric of society"... It certainly has altered the construction of pipe organs throughout history. And the history of the pipe organ is a long one, beginning shortly after the time of Christ, the first examples fashioned by ancient Greeks...

But is that history about to end? There have been disturbing trends observed by myself and others as well and thus a search for an explanation as to "why"... (www.organmatters.com) Does the answer lie somewhere in the location of "cultural decline"... or is it "economic decline?" (www.larouchepac.com) or that they are related (www.jimstonefreelance.com)(www.budgetcamerareview.com/forum/) and that the "state of the pipe organ" has become a symbol of both?

Enter Cameron Carpenter-- a musician who some feel has the "power" to "save" the pipe organ by making it "popular" in "todays culture", but after attending the concert keeping all I have presented so far in mind, I tried to keep an "open mind" but his presentation of the material for which I had some familiarity was presented in a manner inconsistent from what I felt the original composer had in mind... I am probably being extremely generous with the word "inconsistent"... To the point I had to consider his motivation for taking such "dramatic license" with the composed works he presented. I am certainly not alone in this assessment, there are a fair few critics who have made similar observations. Applying "shock and awe" to music which you compose or improvise yourself is one thing, but what Cameron engaged in was just slightly short of "murder for sport" in this regard. So one has to carefully consider what his motivations are... It is claimed he is the highest-paid organist on the planet right now... moreover he professes unabashedly his atheism, and slightly less loudly his homosexuality. Given what some of us know about the "music industry" right now this is no surprise. Does this affect his ability to render music which for the most part was written by "church musicians" for a "church instrument" in many cases, and do so "in a manner consistent with its labeling? In a statement to the audience during the concert he actually directly addressed this issue after a deviation from the program to play something by Olivier Messaien... For those unfamiliar, Olivier Messaien is what most people consider an "avant-garde" composer to begin with, so in that case with the exception of a few in the audience who may be familiar with Messaien's work Cameron could "slice, dice, and serve" and the rest of us would simply be guessing at the composer's intention given the nature of the rest of the program. Needless to say this was NOT well received by most of the audience! Otherwise the "Shock and Awe" was for the most part "shocking and awesome" so was great as "mere entertainment".

What "saved his butt" in terms of artistry consistent with his virtuosity for the evening was his improvisations... His first was as he described it a "musical expression of his first visit to Seattle"... followed by three more if you include the encore... and these made the whole "show" worth the price of admission...

All that being said Cameron has never claimed to be the "savior" of the pipe organ, his preference for a custom-built electronic substitute (his "dream organ", which he announced at the beginning of the concert had just landed in Frankfurt) is a case-in-point.

My conclusion in this stage of my thought process is that Cameron Carpenter no doubt has some usefulness in raising public awareness by serving as a "bad example"... What I would like to see is for one (or thousands) of Cameron's contemporaries (or someone even younger) with similar "skill" but who is willing to take similar "risks" and at the same time able to properly convey the musical intention of works composed by others become well enough known to actually serve the purpose of furthering the cause of Mankind in that manner and thus ensure the survival of both "the ultimate musical machine"... and Mankind...

(You may now safely remove, if present, your tinfoil hat) ;)

Eric
KB7DQH
#52
Well, in a few hours I am about to find out... Tonight in about 8 hours Cameron Carpenter will be playing the Watjen Concert Organ in the Taper auditorium of Benaroya Hall in Seattle... (but this Fisk is equipped with something called a "Kowalashin lever" IIRC ???)

http://www.teentix.org
Quote
Organ series: Cameron Carpenter
Music

Partner Organization

Seattle Symphony
Location

Benaroya Hall
Benaroya Hall
200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101

Cameron Carpenter, organ

Bernstein /trans. Cameron Carpenter: Candide Overture

Mozart: Sonata in D major, K. 284

Dupré: Variations on a Noel, Op. 20 Bach /arr.

Cameron Carpenter: Etude on the Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007

J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata for Organ in G major, BWV 530

Demessieux: Six Etudes for Organ Liszt /trans. Cameron Carpenter: Funérailles In addition to the above pieces, Cameron Carpenter will perform several improvisations of his choosing. "Carpenter is already the most gifted organist in many a generation. And he's only just begun." — The Los Angeles Times. Performance does not include the Seattle Symphony.

Stay tuned...

Eric
KB7DQH
#53
........Wayback machine to the rescue ;)

http://web.archive.org/web/20121026004754/http://acusticumorgan.com/specification

I may have to investigate this further but it looks like the domain was abandoned around 5 months ago.
It could be a "facebook thing" but the "Fanclub of the Studio Acusticum Organ Project" page hasn't fed me any news since the instrument's inauguration either...
#54
A provocative title, yes? This refers to an event which occurred during a rehearsal for The Compline Service, remembered as one of the "craziest events" which had taken place over the many years, since 1956 when this service was first offered at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, Washington. The longest-serving member of the Compline Choir has recently published a book about his experiences, now available through www.gothic-catalog.com  entitled "Prayer as Night Falls--Experiencing Compline" authored by Ken Peterson, who began his experience in 1964.

He was interviewed by Roger Sherman and the interview broadcast as part of the 619th edition of "The Organ Loft"... 

For years the service was sung in an empty, dark cathedral, with perhaps a spouse of one of the choir members present, then about the time the new Flentrop pipe organ was installed (1965) the service was discovered oddly enough by the population of "hippies and flower children" many of which would listen to the service while lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling... And immediately following Compline one of the choir members would demonstrate the organ "to the delight of many young people"... Most of the remaining "crazy events" surrounding Compline usually were the result of the after-compline organ demonstrations as at the time "anyone who wanted to play the organ could play it" ;)

Personally, my "experiences with Compline" began as a child as my Mom and Dad would tune in on Sunday evenings to hear the broadcast, which has been carried on KING FM www.king.orgsince the early 1960's.

Eric
KB7DQH
#55
I guess I am now going to search up what is specifically meant by a "tetrahedral" enclosure... I am assuming one which all four of the panels are equilateral triangles sized to produce the equivalent volume of a comparable rectangular enclosure, with the speaker under test mounted in the center of one of the triangles?

I have mucked about with enclosures which have the speaker (or speakers) are mounted in one face of a rectangular panel, then two more similar rectangles joined to the speaker panel on the shorter of the rectangular panel sides with the opposite end of the panels joined to form a point, and triangular panels cut to form the remaining two sides and have found this arrangement to be favorable to a conventional rectangular enclosure  ;)

Eric
KB7DQH
#56
New Pipe Organs / Re: Pasi Opus XIX !!!
March 05, 2014, 04:15:45 PM
A stunning photo of the organ can be found herehttp://www.sacredhearthouston.org/index.cfm?load=event&event=291

Eric
KB7DQH
#57
I submit the following for your consideration...

http://www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=16693

Quote
A passion for pipes
71-year-old J. Gordon Christensen touts the sacred power of music
J. Gordon Christensen said that only a pipe organ has the power to "proclaim the great victory of the risen Christ."
J. Gordon Christensen said that only a pipe organ has the power to "proclaim the great victory of the risen Christ."
On his tour of Russia, J. Gordon Christensen (right) discovered that the demand for organ music in the country far exceeded the supply. He joined forces with Russian attorney Dasha Ofsky (left) to found the Bach Research Library to provide sheet music for use at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, shown in the background. Some of the pieces of music used in the Carroll organ workshop will be donated to this library.
On his tour of Russia, J. Gordon Christensen (right) discovered that the demand for organ music in the country far exceeded the supply. He joined forces with Russian attorney Dasha Ofsky (left) to found the Bach Research Library to provide sheet music for use at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, shown in the background. Some of the pieces of music used in the Carroll organ workshop will be donated to this library.
By AUDREY INGRAM
Times Herald Staff Writer

November 5, 2013



CARROLL

Musical notes echo off the walls of the empty sanctuary, crescendoing to fill the cavernous room as late-afternoon sunlight filters softly through the stained glass windows of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll.

A quick trip to the church balcony reveals the organist, 71-year-old J. Gordon Christensen of Council Bluffs. He is practicing his repertoire for a workshop he will lead in Carroll the following day.

Short in stature, his posture is stiff and formal as his hands move across the two rows of keys. A red-and-blue bow tie perches atop a crisp white shirt, his light gray suit jacket tossed aside and forgotten. Behind circular gold-rimmed spectacles, his eyes focus on the sheet music, expression stern in concentration.

Finishing the piece with a flourish, his silver-white mustache quirks up as a wide grin splits his face, transforming his rigid features. He raises twinkling eyes to glance across the top of the instrument in greeting.



ELEMENTARY MUSIC

A native of Nebraska, Christensen grew up in the heart of "cattle country" in the late 1940s. He pursued a love of music, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from Hastings College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, respectively. In the course of his studies, he was required to take organ classes.

He found himself impressed with the instrument's potential to elicit emotion, particularly in worship. He fell in love with its range of expression, exuded through a multitude of volumes and tones. It was a love his professors shared.

"We were told, rather emphatically, that if we ever came across a pipe organ that was at risk of being discarded or not used anymore, to demonstrate the value of the organ," Christensen said.

In the mid-1960s, he arrived in Imperial, Neb., to become an elementary music teacher, a position through which he shared his fervor for 41 years.

In the small town, population roughly 1,500, he also discovered a small Lutheran church on the verge of throwing out its pipe organ. He asked members of the congregation if he could be their organist for four consecutive Sundays, after which they could do what they wished with the instrument.

His first Sunday as organist at the Zion Lutheran Church was Sept. 29, 1968.

His last day as organist was May 27, 2009.

"It's something that I'm just passionate about, is pipe organ music," Christensen said, adding that he eventually completed his doctorate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an organ emphasis.

In 1979-80, the church built a new facility and included a 27-rank, three-manual pipe organ, the largest between Lincoln, Neb., and the front range of the Rocky Mountains. In addition to playing Lutheran liturgies, or services, Christensen played for more than 400 weddings, sometimes for three generations of southwestern Nebraska families.

When school was out in the summer, the world became his stage. He conducted seminars and performed organ recitals across the Midwestern United States and Eastern Europe.

He moved to Council Bluffs in 2009, becoming the organist at St. Paul Lutheran Church there. Shortly after he began, his pastor, Nathan Sherrill, informed him that he would accompany Sherrill to Audubon each week for the Iowa District West Lutheran Confessions Study, where Christensen met about 30 Lutheran pastors, including Brian Licht of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll. Licht asked Christensen to play for the Iowa District West Pastors Conference, held in Carroll in June.



THE CARROLL WORKSHOP

As awareness of the needs and potential of organists rose, the idea to hold a workshop was born. It was supported by Iowa District West President Paul Sieveking, who helped promote the event, as well as Thrivent Financial, a Lutheran insurance and investment company. The goal to have 14 attendees was surpassed when 21 organists registered, traveling from as far as the Minnesota border to attend the day-long seminar in mid-October.

"The importance of education is a strong conviction of mine, particularly for organists in smaller parishes, smaller churches, smaller communities," Christensen said.

Such musicians often lack the resources to shop for music and have minimal practice time. Also, volunteer organists are frequently not recognized or appreciated, he added.

To address these needs, Christensen brought a representative from Dietze Music of Nebraska, giving attendees the chance to browse its entire organ repertoire. The registration also included a 90-minute organ lesson for each registrant on the organ in his or her home church.

An underlying goal of Christensen's work is to "beat the bushes" to find young people willing to take organ lessons and carry on the tradition.

One such individual attending the workshop was 14-year-old Tim Schreiber of Plattsmouth, Neb. Dressed as impeccably as his teacher, Schreiber even sported his own bow tie, pink with blue dots.

Schreiber had grown up in a church with an organ and didn't realize the full value of it until it was gone. His family moved to Nebraska from Ohio, and his new church employed an electric keyboard instead.

"After a while it kind of hit me in the face that it wasn't the same," he said.

He began researching organ music via YouTube videos. Familiar with reading music from his work with the French horn in school band, Schreiber started to teach himself how to play the piano on his sister's keyboard. A few months ago, he began taking organ lessons from Christensen.

"There's such a diverse range of things you can play," he said of his interest in the instrument. "You can play something soft and smooth, or something hard and glorious and bold."



A POWERFUL INSTRUMENT

Nicknamed the "king of instruments," the organ, with its wide range of pitch and dynamics, is capable of "pulling and drawing out of the human spirit" a variety of responses, said Christensen.

"Only a pipe organ has the power as a single instrument to proclaim the great victory of the risen Christ," he said. "It has the potential for bringing the spirit of Christ into the human emotion and spiritual well-being in a very humbling way."

An organ almost always has two or three manuals, or keyboards, Christensen explained. Each note is played by an individual pipe. An organ is described by its number of ranks, or sets of pipes. If an organ has five ranks, then each key can play five sounds, or five pipes, depending on which stops are engaged. The stops are controlled by a row of oblong levers that run parallel to the keyboards. When a stop is registered, the wind chest beneath the set of pipes is opened, enabling the air to blow through it to make a sound.

Pipes can range in length from 6 inches to 64 feet; the longer the pipe, the lower the pitch. Christensen estimates that the organ at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll has roughly 1,200 total pipes. The pipes are located behind a levered screen, which opens when the swell pedal is pushed down, increasing the volume. Most organs have 32 pedals.

Pipes are one of two types: flue or reed. Flue pipes operate like a police whistle, while reed pipes operate like a clarinet mouthpiece. In a flue pipe, the air flows through the space to create sound; in a reed pipe, the air strikes a piece of metal that vibrates to create sound.

These pipes encompass four families of sound. Reed pipes are denoted as the brass or woodwind orchestral instruments, such as trumpets or oboes. Flue pipes include the principal stop, the sound found only in a pipe organ; the flutes, with strong fundamental overtones that lend a "plaintive or pleading" sound; and the strings, generally soft and carrying best at low pitch levels. The organ also contains a set of celeste pipes, deliberately sharpened out of tune.

It is this range of musical opportunity that makes the pipe organ unique, Christensen explained.

Stops can build to become louder and more powerful, challenging and encouraging the congregation to sing louder as well. Or it can be quiet and meditative, the celeste keys creating a "heavenly" sound that "can bring the most haughty of worshippers right to their knees," he said.



ROOTS IN RELIGION

According to Christensen, the organ has a "historical identity" as a piece of Christendom.

The instrument first emerged in Christian music in the eighth century and has been a "key factor" in "virtually every Christian denomination" including Catholicism, Lutheranism and the Episcopal or Anglican churches, he said.

The instruments first appeared in the United States in early colonial days, arriving on the East Coast via ships from England. Companies quickly emerged, particularly in Massachusetts, and built organs well into the early 20th century.

As settlers pushed west, they carried organs with them, pieces housed in covered wagons.

Christensen, who is writing a book on the history of pipe organs in Nebraska, has discovered church records in Omaha detailing how an organ was transported across the Missouri River, the pipes and console rolled up the riverbank atop logs that served as wheels. In York, Neb., there stands an organ built in Massachusetts in 1888 that is still played regularly today.

In the course of his research, he has visited 16 churches, one in a town of only 240 people, all of which had some sort of pipe organ.



CLASH WITH COMMUNISM

These close ties with religious practice left many organs standing silent and neglected as churches were closed under communism in Eastern Europe in the latter part of the 20th century. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Christensen was one of the first people in, traveling to Slovakia to help restore a school building that had been operated by a Lutheran church.

When it reopened, he returned, traveling with four other teachers and 15 American teenagers who studied with the Lithuanian students in a four-week long English-immersion program. During one of these trips, Christensen played an organ recital in the small Slovakian village.

The community of 4,000 people had only two churches, one Catholic and one Lutheran. When he started practicing on the Lutheran organ, the first time the instrument had been used in decades, the leathers of the bellows ripped. A physical-education teacher fixed the splits in the bellows with medical tape so they could once again supply air to the pipe work.

Crisis avoided, Christensen continued practicing. About an hour from the start of the recital, the on-off switch failed. The church was already filled with nearly 500 people, he recalled. The pastor, who spoke no English, tapped Christensen, who spoke no Slovakian, and produced the equivalent of a penny, which he wedged into the switch to connect the wiring.

"The dear man had to sit there holding this all the time because if you let go, the organ would turn off," Christensen explained. "This pastor stood beside the console holding that penny in place for about two hours so that recital would happen."

On another trip, Christensen traveled on a three-week tour conducting workshops and performing concerts in three Russian cities, including a recital at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Russian equivalent of the Juilliard School in the U.S. It was organized by one of his former grade-school students who had become the head of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod missions in Europe and Asia. The recitals were conducted not in churches but in concert halls.

"(My translator and I) were warned that we were both at risk of being arrested because we were the first Christians in about 70 years to appear on a public stage taking quotes from the Holy Scriptures and playing sacred music," he said.

In Europe, it is customary for audience members to give male performers flowers. Christensen was unaware of the tradition, but at the end of the first section, a very poor Russian woman walked onstage and approached him.

"Her hair was absolutely ratty, she had no teeth and was wearing a heavy kind of wool coat that was dirty, ragged and tatty, and she handed me a sway of evergreens that were obviously from a very poorly maintained bush, tied with an overly used strip of ribbon, but it was the best she had to offer," he said. "I still have that ribbon."



SWING IN POPULARITY

Despite its power, Christensen has seen the use of the pipe organ decrease dramatically throughout the United States. He attributes much of this decline to cultural influence he deems "theologically misleading."

"With it has come flimsy texts that are exceedingly repetitive and even secular, but not scripturally based," he said.

While mainstream music has its place in pop culture, Christensen said, he "seriously questions" its use in worship, particularly in relation to communion.

"It's not spiritually challenging, nor edifying," he said.

However, Christensen believes the pendulum is swinging "back to traditional worship patterns."

He cites the $90,000 restoration of a pipe organ in the small rural community of Adair, as well as the installation of the first North American-built organ in a chapel at the University of Oxford in England by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, as one piece of evidence of this swing. A second piece of evidence came from a contact at Paraclete Press who told him that composers are offering a greater volume and quality of sacred organ and sacred choir music, so much so that the Massachusetts publishing house can no longer print them all.

Finally, he referenced an increasing amount of activity in the American Guild of Organists, which has chapters in Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., and Des Moines, as well as a waning chapter in Storm Lake that Christensen hopes to revitalize.

The repertoire he prepared for the Carroll workshop focused on prelude and offering pieces. Based on hymns, the works add accompaniment to distinguish the music from the simple melody that is played to accompany congregational singing. He also included a series of concert works, written not for church but for the instrument, because they were "just plain fun."

"God created humor and laughter, and I sometimes think that worship becomes very pondersome and introspective," he said. "We miss the opportunity to express the joy and delight of the gift of salvation, and what better way than music to expedite?"



TOWARD HEAVEN

The shadows in the sanctuary sharpen as Christensen shares his stories, the reds, yellows and blues of the stained-glass windows glowing steadily in the light of the sinking sun.

Pausing periodically to demonstrate the organ's potential, the movement of his hands reveals black-and-white keyboard cuff links at his wrists as he plays through page after page of sheet music. The last note fades slowly, lingering a moment in the still silence of the church.

Christensen shares that not all pastors appreciate his suggestion that music is more powerful and pleasing to God than sermons. His joy in his work evident, he leans forward conspiratorially.

"If there is anything an organist can remind a pastor of," he says, a soft smile playing at his lips, "it's that the only thing the Scriptures say begins on earth, and continues into heaven, is singing."


Eric
KB7DQH
#58
I have been hearing a goodly number of promotions of this event on the local classical music station so I figured I would do a web search for a bit more information, rather than simply looking it up on the Seattle Symphony webpage, and.........

http://www.teentix.org/calendar/event/organ-series-joseph-adam


QuoteOrgan series: Joseph Adam
Music

Partner Organization

Seattle Symphony
Location


Benaroya Hall
200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101

Joseph Adam, organ


Dupré: Prelude and Fugue in B major, Op. 7, No. 1
Vierne: Symphony No. 4 in G minor, Op. 32
Liszt: Prelude and Fugue on B.A.C.H.
Saint-Saëns: Prelude and Fugue in B major, Op. 99, No. 2
J.S Bach : Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582


Seattle Symphony Resident Organist Joseph Adam performs works by Saint–Saëns, Bach and more. World-class organists meet the magnificent Watjen Concert Organ — a marvel of old world craftsmanship and modern technology.
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Eric
KB7DQH
#59
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4305876-pipe-by-pipe-james-street-church-organ-being-disassembled/

QuotePipe by pipe, James Street church organ being disassembled

By Mark McNeil

They couldn't have picked a worse time to be working in an abandoned building with no heat.

But John Kotlan and Michael Sergi are making good headway in their shivery mission to save the magnificent pipe organ inside the cavernous and crumbling James Street Baptist Church.

The building is slated for demolition and the developer, after weeks of searching, struck a deal with Kotlan and Sergi's company, Northern Organs, to remove the enormous instrument that has been part of the church since 1939.

The pair completed their fifth day of work Wednesday — most of it in sub-zero temperatures — and figure they need about seven more days to finish the job.

The giant Casavant organ, which would cost nearly $1 million to buy and install new, has more than 2,000 pipes ranging in length from 1.5 centimetres to six metres. The pair must remove several large bellows that weigh hundreds of kilograms each, an electric blower that sends air through the system, and the console.

The plan is to put the organ pieces into storage until a permanent home can be found. They have been in discussions with a church in the Niagara region and hope to retrofit and install the instrument there. Failing that, they have a few other leads.

Developer Louie Santaguida, of Toronto-based Stanton Renaissance, gave the organ to Kotlan and Sergi with the understanding they will pass it on to a good home in a church somewhere — charging only for their labour to take apart, repair and reassemble the instrument.

"It doesn't need much repair. All it really needs is to conform to the new church," said Kotlan, adding that he has done about 30 similar jobs in his career. "This organ is custom-built for this building and it will never go in another building exactly the way it stands here. It will have to be all reworked. But this is done all the time."

Their goal is to be finished by Jan. 17, which will set the stage for demolishing the main part of the building sometime in February. Engineering reports say the church is unsafe and could collapse.

Santaguida plans to leave the front façade intact so the Gothic Revival church built between 1878 and 1882 will look the same from the street. On Wednesday, he met with designers in Hamilton to discuss plans for the multi-residential and commercial building. He says he will make detailed final plans public over the coming months.

mmcneil@thespec.com

905-526-4687 | @Markatthespec

Eric
KB7DQH
#60
There may be a confusion  about the use of the word "idea" and its intended "meaning" perhaps???

This may stem from the "physical human entity" relying too heavily upon "sense perception" to determine the "certainty" of things...

So often we read in the Bible statements similar to "for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear..."

All one has to do is observe an "illusionist" at work to understand our "physical" perception of the "physical" environment is suspect...   In the case of "spiritual" matters, even more so?

QuoteOur silly three dimensional material world is a stumbling block, upon which it's so easy to stumble even upon our whole lives.

Yet at the same time "our silly three-dimensional material world" has revealed clues which authenticate "the word"... The golden chariot wheel found on the floor of the Red sea, and the DNA testing of the blood staining the Shroud of Turin are but a couple examples.

QuoteThe whole point of Christianity is the reality of Christ (and God & the Holy Spirit) as a reality.  If Christ & the Christian religion are no more than an idea, we're in BIG trouble!

This is where I suspect Tony and David actually agree but don't know it yet :o ??? ;) ;D 8)

Even in the "time of Christ" there were many "eyes who saw and ears who heard" but STILL didn't "believe"...  So within the "word" resides the "idea" which essentially is all we are left with today...

That anyone has "faith" is in itself a miracle! 

Eric
KB7DQH