Organ matters - Organs matter!

The construction and installation of a pipe organ in an opera house within the Muslim Persian Gulf region has some intriguing implications culturally... see http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1819.0.html

QuotePerformances of overall global significance linking the music of different civilisations and cultural values over many years have an intrinsic value of their own and play an important role in world cultural develpment.

Eric
KB7DQH

This instrument in fact is over a year old :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-2485.aspx#

GCC's first pipe organ makes its musical debut at ROHM

Quote
Muscat: The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will take audiences on a compelling and breathtaking journey when the harmonious sound of the new majestic pipe organ fills the air at the Royal Opera House Muscat Pipe Organ Recital on Monday, next week.

The magnificent musical wonder of the pipe organ will be unveiled at the concert to bring to light the surprising musical versatility of the majestic pipe organ.

Unrivalled in its potential for musical majesty, the pipe organ has earned its moniker as the 'King of Instruments'.

The ROHM organ, the first to be installed in an opera house in the gulf region, comprises more than 4,500 pipes, some of which are nearly 10m long.

The concert will feature the Budapest Symphony Orchestra (MAV) and five pipe organ soloists, including Jean Guillou, Isabelle Demers, Ian Hockley and Zuzana Ferjencikova.

Oman will be represented by soloist Rashid Salim bin Salim al Rashidy, a keyboard student at the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra who has achieved Grade 8 Passes with distinction in organ and piano. The program includes Bach's iconic Toccata & Fugue in D minor, as well as works by Puccini, Prokofiev, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Tschaikovsky and Händel.

In addition to the concert, a symposium will be held with local cultural and academic partners, to let invitees to share thoughts on the fascinating history of the instrument.

Four international experts will explain and demonstrate the history and function of the pipe organ. Prof Dr. Schmitt and Prof Schnorr will focus on the heritage and demonstrate music pieces. Philipp Klais, the creator of the ROHM pipe organ, will give insights into this specific instrument and how it was built especially for Oman.

This will be followed by Kaets demonstrating one of the most popular uses for the organ, showing a part of the Charlie Chaplin silent movie 'Goldrush'. The day will also feature a special appearance by ROHM acoustic designer Nicholas Edwards, who will give a short introduction to the organ's acoustic design.

Christina Scheppelmann, CEO of the Royal Opera House Muscat, commented: "The pipe organ was at the heart of the Opera House design and we wanted the introduction to this very unique instrument to be suitably grand. ROHM's pipe organ was built by the famous Pipe Organ builder Orgelbau Klais based in Bonn, Germany. As we have the musical debut of the instrument at the concert, we hope the Omani audience will enjoy and appreciate what this extraordinary and versatile instrument offers when the concert celebrates the majesty of the pipe organ. We are, in fact, proud to have this remarkable instrument in our opera house."

QuoteBy Maurice Gent, Opera Critic — This has been a very special weekend for the Royal Opera House Muscat. Firstly leading experts on the history, theory and practice of pipe organs, which can trace back a verifiable history for literally thousands of years came to Muscat for an intense and highly valued seminar on the development of an instrument, which can trace back its history and development from ancient times. Then on the second day came a concert with world class practitioners showing their skills to a packed audience deeply appreciative of their artistry and skills. The pipe organ occupies what will continue to be a very special role  in the history of ROHM. It is an instrument, which has a role in the history of music which has attracted music lovers for thousands of years for the purity and quiet penetrating intensity of its sound.

Those fortunate enough to attend the concert could sit back and enjoy the purity of sound produced by Barbara Dennerlein, who fell in love with the instrument and its sounds at the age of 11 when she bought a small box version of the pipe organ. Within the space of a year the instrument had become her passion. At the age of 13 she was making succesful public appearances,  and was on her way to stardom. Now a highly skilled musician she attracted intense attention from her audience, which marvelled at  her consummately graceful skills. The power of this  mighy instrument linked to the graceful yet intense skills of this musician, will live I am sure for a lifetime in the memory of many people, who attended this concert. Performances of overall global significance linking the music of different civilisations and cultural values over many years have an intrinsic value of their own and play an important role in world cultural develpment. Well done ROHM.
—  Photos by Khalid al Busaidi

Eric
KB7DQH

Quote
Muscat: The centrepiece of the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) is the grand pipe organ, which acts as the backdrop for most symphonic concerts there. But recently, the German-made instrument was the highlight of both a symposium and concert.

For the second year in a row, the ROHM organised two events to feature the pipe organ, which has over 4,500 pipes. Last week there was a symposium which featured pipe organ specialists, the builder, and a performance to accompany the 1926 silent film The General.

"The objective is to provide you with further information. We are trying to build a bridge between us as administrators and help you understand what we are selecting and presenting at the opera house," explained Dr Issam El Mallah, adviser to the Board for Programming and Events.

On the second day of the programme a pipe organ concert was held featuring an array of local and international musicians who played a variety of music, including jazz and classical compositions.

Eric
KB7DQH

Quote
The pipe organ has been called the King of musical instruments. After the concert at the ROHM last week, there are many who would say that the pipe organ is not the King – it's the Emperor.

The origins of this mighty instrument lie in the simple reed pipes that were played in ancient Greece and associated with the Greek god, Pan, whose realm was the wilds, nature's fields and forests, shepherds and their flocks.

In the third century BC in Greece, a water organ known as the hydraulis was invented. Water power from a natural source was used to push air through the pipes and the music was played on a keyboard. Eventually, in Roman amphitheatres, the hydraulis was played to add excitement to competitions and performances.

By the second century AD, bellows were used to pump the air through the pipes; and, in the thirteenth century, portable organs were popular for both sacred and secular music. In the fourteenth century, large organs were known in Germany, some of which had bellows that were operated by as many as ten men.

During the Renaissance when construction became more sophisticated and tonal colour more varied, pipe organs spread throughout Europe where they were used in cathedrals and for the grand balls of aristocrats. The popularity of this by-now magnificent instrument reached a zenith in Europe in the glory of the Baroque period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a golden age for the pipe organ.

The era of silent film in the early twentieth century brought a resurgence of organ music which proved effective in creating atmosphere, propelling action and emphasizing dramatic moments. Today, the pipe organ is still the preferred liturgical instrument and it would be hard to find a cathedral in any part of the world without one.

A Royal Pipe Organ

A focal point in the splendour of the concert hall at the Royal Opera House Muscat is the utterly magnificent pipe organ that reigns over the stage from the back of the concert shell. The pipes, numbering 4,542 and ranging in size from an astounding 9.75 metres to a miniscule 1.18 centimetres, are made of gilded metal decorated with beautiful zouag painting in regal colours and geometric patterns. The pipes are encased in an intricately carved wooden cabinet featuring classic Islamic decorative motifs.

Although the pipe organ blends seamlessly into the wood of the concert shell  and weighs some fifty tones, it is moveable on rail tracks, as the shell separates from the proscenium when the stage changes from theatre to concert mode.  It is one of the few large pipe organs in the world designed with this capability.

This very special organ contains four keyboards and seventy stops or mechanisms that control the flow of air to a row of similar pipes, and thus produce a particular kind and quality of sound. Stops are usually named after the orchestral instruments with a sound similar to the one that they produce – such as the flute, trumpet, violin or horn.

A set of three especially wonderful stops have been named 'Solo Royal' and they produce: 1) the sound of tubular bells; 2) an unusually bright, crisp timbre; and, 3) an exceptionally fine flute voice.  Overall, the organ has a beautiful warm sound which reverberates and fills the entire hall with a tangible richness.

The ROHM organ was purpose-built by one of the world's finest pipe organ manufacturers, the Johannes Klais Company established in 1882 in Bonn, Germany. The process started with the careful selection and cutting of trees and included customised metal casting and in-house manufacture of parts. The details of the creation of the ROHM pipe organ were explained in a fascinating talk by Philipp, great-grandson of the founder of the Klais Company, at a symposium held in conjunction with the concert.

Voice of the Great Hall

In the moments before the concert began, the vast organ stood in silent splendour, the gold of its pipes glittering under lights, as everyone waited for the sound to break out and give the great hall its rightful voice.

As French soloist Marie Bernadette Dufourcet struck the keyboards in the Allegro Vivace movement of a symphonic piece by Charle-Marie Widor (1844-1937), it was as if musical peals of thunder began to roll through the hall like the streaming heavens - all-powerful and full of glory.

Then there was a sudden change as the music flowed gently like a running brook sliding on clouds into slow rivers. The mighty lion became a lamb. These were the first of the many moods of the organ that we would experience in the concert.

Next the audience was surprised by a jazz performance, which, at first thought, would seem antithetical to the organ, associated as it predominantly is with liturgy and grand ceremony. German soloist, Barbara Dennerlein, accompanied by percussionist Pius Baschnagel on drums, proved otherwise with an energetic, toe-tapping rendition of The Unforgettable. Barbara was demonstrably right when she emphasized the incredible versatility of the instrument. Half way through the first piece, it was easy to forget that Barbara was playing an organ, such was her skill in turning it into a sax, a trumpet, a trombone, a clarinet.

The Organ & a Very Fine Small Orchestra

ROHM's richly endowed program included the Ukrainian National Ensemble of Soloists 'Kyivska Kamerata', a very fine small orchestra that specialises in chamber music from all periods. Under the baton of Hisham Gabre, they began with Tomaso Albinoni's (1671-1751) Adagio for Organ and Strings in G Minor, featuring Omani soloist Rashid Salim Al Rashidy on the organ. With the orchestra ascendant and the pipes seeming to roll in from a great distance like waves on the shore, this piece had celestial overtones and gave me the sensation of riding a ship in the sky.

This was followed by Franz Liszt's (1811-1866) Fantasy and Fugue in the Name of Bach with the orchestra accompanying Giampaolo di Rosa on the organ.  Lebanese soloist and composer, Naji Hakim completed the program with his two of his own compositions, a concerto for organ and string orchestra and an improvisation on Omani themes.
From start to finish, the experience was both beautiful and sensational. The program seemed perfect at this point in the opera season and it gave us an even greater sense of pride in the Royal Opera House Muscat.
           

http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-27483.aspx

Eric
KB7DQH

Looks like an "11th-hour reprieve"...   :)  8)

QuoteJames Street Baptist organ removal plan in works

John Rennison,The Hamilton Spectator
James Street Baptist Church organ.
By Mark McNeil

The owner of James Street Baptist Church is working out details with a local company to save the giant pipe organ inside the crumbling building that is slated for demolition.

Louie Santaguida, of Stanton Renaissance, a Toronto-based development company, said in October the company was willing to give away the instrument to anyone who would remove and give the huge instrument a good home.

But taking apart the massive organ with its vast array of pipes and other parts is a formidable challenge, as is transporting, repairing and retrofitting it in another location.

Numerous churches and pipe organ repair firms from around the world have expressed interest, but stopped short of signing onto the task, said Maggie Steele, a sales representative with Heritage Realty Inc.

That was until the weekend when Northern Organ Co. of Hamilton signed a letter of intent to do the work.

"We're willing to invest the time, the storage and the shipping and find a good home for that organ," said John Kotlan, co-owner of company, which does service, maintenance and installation of pipe organs in the city.

He said the organ is in reasonably good shape. If it was new it would be worth nearly $1 million, he said. There are ads for used ones on the Internet for $30,000 to $150,000, he said, but they are hard to sell, because of the work involved in taking them down and retrofitting them somewhere else.

His company is in discussion with a church in the Niagara region that is interested in purchasing the organ once it is removed and repaired, he said. If that deal falls through, Kotlan said, he will put the organ in storage and find someone else to sell it to. Kotlan would not identify the church in Niagara region.

Pending final approval of the deal with Stanton, Kotlan's company plans to dismantle the organ from Jan. 2 to Jan. 17, just in time for the planned demolition of the building.

"This is a massive undertaking. We're looking at approximately 12 working days. ... The one big thing this has going for it, is that it is a Casavant organ. And Casavant is the best there is as far as we are concerned."

In late October, the city's heritage permit review subcommittee approved a demolition permit application of the church, which had numerous conditions including retaining the façade on James Street South.

Santaguida told the committee that engineers had told him the building was unsafe and in danger of collapse, possibly damaging nearby buildings or injuring passersby. The congregation had moved out of the 135-year-old building and sold it to Santaguida due to safety concerns.

Eric
KB7DQH

 ;)   This reads like many of the articles I have run across on the 'web' on this subject... One comment on a Youtube video stuck in my mind, which essentially took the Winston Churchill quote about socialism and replaced the word socialism with equal temperament ;D ;D ;D

Quote

07 December 2013| last updated at 09:25PM
'Old Lady' sings again



GEORGE TOWN: The almost century-old pipe organ at the Church of the Assumption is back from a six-month sojourn in England, where it received the restoration it sorely needed.

Fondly known as the "Old Lady", the pipe organ was built in 1914 by Morton & Moody of Oakham, England, and brought to the church in 1916.

Made of oak, pine and mahogany, the instrument boasts 640 pipes made of lead and zinc. For scores of years, it lent its rich notes to the parish choir from the loft of the church, which is located within the Unesco World Heritage Zone in George Town.

Over the years, however, the Old Lady , which is the oldest pipe organ found in a Catholic church in Malaysia, began to show its age.

The wood was infested with termites and rats and had to be replaced. The pipes had to be cleaned and the tuners atop each pipe had to be replaced.

In a labour of love, the church's former choir master and organ curator Ian Campbell and a band of dedicated and enthusiastic helpers saw to the Old Lady's care as it began ail and decline.

"It breaks our hearts to see the Old Lady slowly dying," Gurunathan was quoted as saying when its keys began to get stuck, its trackers jam and its wind chest leak.

The turning point for its proper restoration occurred last year, when Gurunathan appealed to then Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen for assistance. Her efforts helped to boost the fund set up to restore the organ.

Khanazah Nasional Bhd subsidiary Think City Sdn Bhd was among those stepping up with a generous donation towards the restoration effort.

The recent consecration of the restored organ by Penang Bishop Sebastian Francis at the church was an emotional moment for Campbell, Gurunatan and the current choir master Claude Richars.

"We are moved by all the support received. The Old Lady has been infused with new life and is ready to ring in more songs of praise and thanksgiving to God this Christmas and beyond," said Gurunathan.

"Our heartfelt gratitude to the corporate sponsors, fellow parishioners and all who have helped to save the pipe organ -- we will always remember this," he added. By Marina Emmanuel

Read more: 'Old Lady' sings again - Northern - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/northern/old-lady-sings-again-1.424065#ixzz2mw5G4ndw

Eric
KB7DQH

Within this document http://larouchepac.com/node/29048 the economist Lyndon Larouche responds to the first writing of the new pope...

QuoteLAROUCHE: Well, I think the appropriate thing to say, in response to those remarks from the pope, is to address the Pope on his own level of authority, as a religious figure. And I'm not joking. This is quite serious.

The greatest problem that we experience in the category of morality, as human beings, is the belief that the human life ends with the death of the mortal person. That is a great mistake. It's more a mistake, probably, of negligence than any other purpose.

Because what does death mean, for a human being? Look at what the role of the human being is, in life, when we talk in these terms? Human life is immortal, but in what sense? In what expression is it immortal? The mortality of the flesh? No, that is not decisive for people who are creative thinkers. They don't think in terms of the flesh. They don't think flesh. They think concepts, which flesh cannot produce, but can only inhabit.

Therefore, the issue is, is the idea you want to get by, with faking it in life? Are you going to be proud of your death from that? Are you going to say, well, we're only human, we don't know the future? Therefore, we're innocent because we're ignorant of the future.

That's not true. It certainly is not true by the ancient Christian theology. In the ancient Christian theology, the life is immortal. Its function is immortal. It has no limit of ignorance. Ignorance is forbidden. You require people who have the ability to rise above mortality, and see what the future requires of mankind, and to prepare mankind for that future, by informing mankind of the principles which mankind needs, for the purpose of mankind.

What's the purpose of mankind? Mankind is the only creature, living creature, of which we know, which has the ability to create the future. Not a continuation of a breed, but a continuation of mankind to a higher level of achievement. And the purpose of Christianity, for example, is this higher level of achievement.

Not to be ashamed of what you've done, if you don't have a reason to be ashamed, but be ashamed if you don't do something which adds to the meaning of the future of mankind. The sacred thing is the sacred goodness of the human mind.

And you look and you take the writings and work of great people, great figures, take religious figures: what's their commitment, if they're good? Their commitment is to foresee what the future must be, or to encourage other people to begin to be able to foresee what the future requires.

The idea that you cannot know the other side of death, is nonsense. That's exactly what you should know. You should know what must be done, after you're dead. You must be devoted to that as a purpose. That must be your being. So the interruption of life by death, for you, means that.

The death, the passing of life, is merely a moment, but the meaning of human life is immortal.

It comes as no surprise Lyn advocates the development of matter-antimatter reactions and their utilization within the physical economy...

This also bears directly on the construction or restoration of pipe organs...

Eric
KB7DQH

http://larouchepac.com/node/29022

Pope Francis Calls for Ending Tyranny of An Economy Which "Kills"
November 26, 2013 • 9:26PM

In his first major writing as Pope, released today, Pope Francis is unequivocal:



"Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills."

"How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?....

In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis calls upon financial experts and political leaders from around the world to bring about a financial reform which defends the common good, and replaces the tyranny of a "survival of the fittest [economy], where the powerful feed upon the powerless," where the ancient golden calf is worshipped, and where human beings are "considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded." He admonishes that "it is the responsibility of the State to safeguard and promote the common good of society."

Wall Street and the City of London will not be pleased, as Pope Francis's spirited message of "No to the new idolatry of money, "No to a financial system which rules rather than serves," available in six languages on the Vatican website, cracks through their media control worldwide.

Pope Francis writes:

"The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-25) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose....

"This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules....

"A financial reform open to such ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of approach on the part of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and an eye to the future... Money must serve, not rule!"

Pope Francis specifies that welfare measures, while needed, are not sufficient to end exclusion and inequality which breed violence which no surveillance systems can ultimately control; changes must be structural. "Just as goodness tends to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its baneful influence... an evil embedded in the structures of a society has a constant potential for disintegration and death. It is evil crystallized in unjust social structures, which cannot be the basis of hope for a better future....

"As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems, or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills.

"The dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns which ought to shape all economic policies....

The Pope's discussion of economics is a central concept in a writing which is 224 pages long (in English), dedicated to exhorting Catholics at all levels to adopt a missionary outlook premised on mercy as the greatest of virtues. The Pope called on Catholics to break out of complacency with habits, rules, and structures which lead to a "tomb psychology [which] transforms Christians into mummies in a museum," and instead get their hands dirty in changing a system which sees God "as even dangerous, since he calls human beings to their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement."

I thought this might be relevant to the discussion  ;)

Eric
KB7DQH

Quote

Scott Cantrell

Classical Music Critic

scantrell@dallasnews.com

Published: 15 November 2013 03:01 PM

Updated: 15 November 2013 03:04 PM
Related

    Review: Mixed results in Brahms-and-Britten concert

    Review: A moving Orpheus Chamber Singers JFK tribute

    Review: Lifeless acoustics, lively concert at new UTD building

    Review: Dallas Opera's 'Carmen' introduces a new tenor

SHREVEPORT, La. — In no church in Dallas-Fort Worth can you experience as glorious a marriage of a pipe organ and an acoustic as at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral here. After two recitals Tuesday, organists from the Dallas area were wishing to take the building, with acoustics warmly reverberant but still clear, and its rich-toned Aeolian-Skinner organ home with us.

From the mid-1930s through the 1960s, Aeolian-Skinner was the Cadillac of American pipe organs. The Boston-based firm built or rebuilt organs in some of the country's most prestigious venues, including Washington National Cathedral and New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Boston's Symphony Hall and numerous colleges and universities.

Oil-enriched Texas had its own quasi-franchise, thanks to Aeolian-Skinner's longtime Kilgore-based representative, Roy Perry (1906-78). Organized by Lorenz Maycher, the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival has become an annual celebration of instruments Perry sold and finished. This week's, between Sunday and Thursday, included recitals in churches in Tyler, Kilgore, Longview, Nacogdoches and Shreveport.

In Dallas, during the 1950s and '60s, Perry was responsible for negotiating the sales and determining the final tonal personalities of organs at, among others, Temple Emanu-El, Highland Park United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation and Southern Methodist University's Perkins Chapel and Caruth Auditorium. Given changing tastes in organ design, most of these instruments have been replaced or modified beyond recognition; the Caruth organ was moved to St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

The Shreveport organ, and the instrument in Kilgore's First Presbyterian Church, where Perry was organist and choirmaster from 1939 to 1972, remain intact monuments to Perry's work as a pipe voicer. He was a master at figuring out dimensions and adjustments of pipes to produce desired sounds. The best of the organs he voiced have a fine balance of warmth, clarity and color, with great finesse.

Perry was a champion of the American classic organ, a label invented by G. Donald Harrison, an Englishman who ran Aeolian-Skinner from 1935 until his death in 1956. Organ-builders in more recent decades have painstakingly copied pipes and voicing techniques from organs from the 17th through 19th centuries, but Harrison homogenized sounds from a variety of historic precedents.

Organs during the 1920s and '30s had become increasingly thick toned, spiced with stops imitative of orchestral instruments. Harrison, while retaining some orchestral sounds, favored more transparent choruses better suited to Bach. The best of the Aeolian-Skinner organs — Shreveport has one of the masterpieces — could be highly effective, if not strictly authentic, in music from baroque, through French romantic to modern.

The 1949 instrument at First Presbyterian, Kilgore, demonstrated by recitalists Isabelle Demers and Nathan Laube, has a meatier, more English sound than some that came later. The priority was obviously accompanying choirs and congregations. Higher-pitched stops Perry added in 1966 supply additional tang and shimmer, but the warm-toned flutes, purring strings and gorgeous English horn and French horn stops still ravish the ear.

Organs sound best in more reverberant buildings, and the vastly larger Shreveport church, with a high ceiling and mostly hard surfaces, has a brighter and much more reverberant acoustic. The considerably larger organ here still has great richness and warmth.

But, demonstrated by Tom Trenney, Ken Cowan and Dallas' own Bradley Hunter Welch, choruses are clearer, capped by brassier, more French reeds. The full-organ sound is as thrilling as you'll hear anywhere, but never does it overwhelm as so many newer organs do.

The organ world used to be well-populated with great characters, and Roy Perry, whom I met during my undergraduate years at SMU, was one of the greatest. A gourmet cook, he was a great raconteur and wit, although many of the best stories couldn't be printed in a family newspaper.

See alsohttp://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1792.0.html

Eric
KB7DQH

Quote 'Why are there so many buttons?'
By JAMES DRAPER
news1@kilgorenewsherald.com

NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER Super Mario, edelweiss and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – the repertoire of this week's East Texas Pipe Organ Festival featured more than fugues, fanfares and fantasias.

In his third year performing for local and cross-country music aficionados, organist Brett Valliant once again offered a pop culture pastiche for pintsized pipe organ pupils this week, welcoming more than 300 Chandler Elementary School students to St. Luke's United Methodist Church Wednesday morning. While playing renditions of familiar tunes on the church's Opus 1175 (another Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ designed by festival honoree Roy Perry in 1952), Valliant and festival organ tuner Steve Emery also allowed the children a quick peek behind the curtain of the 'King of Instruments.'

Valliant's annual accompaniment of a select silent movie – this year, Cecil B. Demille's 'King of Kings' featured at First Presbyterian Church Wednesday night – has become the three-yearold festival's highest-attended event, but he found an equally eager crowd among the 14 classes of second graders earlier in the day.

Chandler Elementary School second grader Cade Henry takes a peak at the inner workings of St. Luke's United Methodist Church's pipe organ Wednesday morning. NEWS HERALD photos by JAMES DRAPER Chandler Elementary School second grader Cade Henry takes a peak at the inner workings of St. Luke's United Methodist Church's pipe organ Wednesday morning. NEWS HERALD photos by JAMES DRAPER With 2,000 plus pipes, "In this organ the longest pipe is 16-feet-long," Valliant told the wide-eyed, fidgety audience. "The smallest one is smaller than a pencil."

Dozens of tiny hands leapt into the air as soon as the Wichita, Kans.organist invited questions.

"Why are there so many buttons?"

The pre-sets make it easier for the organist to perform complex pieces, Valliant explained, rather than having to constantly adjust settings.

"Which pipes make the really low sound?"

The low sounds are the white wooden ones, the organist noted, while the tiny metal pipes make the high sounds.

"The very biggest pipes are sometimes the softest," Valliant said.

Expanding the organ festival's events into the classroom is important, he added later, opening a wider musical world to the children.

"I think that they gain an awareness," he explained. Maybe one child in 1,000 will pursue the piano or organ and "With so many kids who don't go to church anymore where these organs are, this is a means of introducing them to an instrument that's so stationary they have to come to it."

Certainly, Valliant mixed classical pieces into his pop melody program for the kids.

However, "It's all about trying to get it into something they may have heard elsewhere in their world."

In order to reach audiences unfamiliar with the beauty of the pipe organ, performers have to create a special draw. Hence, the silent movie, Valliant said: it appeals to movie fans and cult film connoisseurs as well as history buffs who want to experience a style of show that faded from marquees decades before they were born.

"I think everyone who shows up ends up being pleasantly surprised at how the organ just fades away, it becomes part of the film score," he insisted. "It's a perfect marriage between something visual and something auditory."

Primarily employed as a music director and organist at First United Methodist Church in Wichita, Valliant splits his time with freelance work in other venues like Kilgore's pipe organ festival.

For fellow festival feature performer Joby Bell of North Carolina, the local event is one of the best ideas he's seen in a while. In its first two years, the Kilgore organ celebration – brainchild of First Presbyterian Church organist and choirmaster Lorenz Maycher – has already reached national and international audiences.

"It's helping keeping the word out about these fine instruments in this part of the world and their history," Bell said. "And they sound wonderful."

The programming developed by Maycher, his committee of volunteers and their guest performers has been amazing, Valliant agreed, unsurprised this year's festival sold out its first block of local hotel rooms for registered guests.

"I think it's gained a following for being good quality and (for the) really outstanding instruments this area has to offer," he said, all the handiwork of Maycher's predecessor, Perry, spread throughout multiple cities. "Every year it's gained attendance as the momentum has built."

http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2013-11-16/Front_Page/Why_are_there_so_many_buttons.html

8) 8) 8)

Eric
KB7DQH

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4179876-wanted-a-good-home-for-a-very-big-church-organ/

The organ is available "free to a good home" and the developer is willing to help with the relocation...

More about the organ...http://members.shaw.ca/radenton/For%20Sale.htm

Quote GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PIPE ORGAN in James Street Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ontario



            For more information contact.



Maggie Steele   Realtor

905-308-1274



                                   OR



            R. A. Denton & Son, Organ Builders

            140 Mount Albion Road

            Hamilton, Ontario. L8K 5S8               

            Phone 905-561-1331

            Email radenton@shaw.ca

CONSOLE DESCRIPTION:

            The 3-manual Casavant drawknob console has an oak shell complete with roll top and bench.  In 1988 the oak shell was refinished and is in good condition, (mid brown colour).  The interior of the console is all original 1939 Casavant hardware including the coupler assemblies (key contact system for the manual keyboards), the electro-pneumatic pedal stop switches and pedal couplers, and the capture style combination action (adjustable, single memory pistons).  Some minor re-leathering of the pneumatics for the Full Organ piston and reversible pistons is required at this time.  All other console components are operating.  The manual keyboards are ivory and ebony, and the pedal board has maple keys.  This console requires wind at approximately 6" W.P. to operate.  All of the original Casavant stop draw knobs and tilting tablets respond promptly to the pistons.  The hardware in the console is showing some signs of wear; however it continues to operate well even after 73+ years of use.

            The console is 68" wide, 52" tall and 60" from the back of the console to the back of the pedal board, (add a few more inches for the organ bench).    The moveable platform (console dolly) is approximately 71" wide, 67" deep, and 6" tall.

            Although this pipe organ has not been the primary instrument used for worship at this church for the past 15 years, the organ has been played every few weeks.  The organ service log books covering the past 25 years are available.

THE CHEST ACTIONS:

            The organ contains Casavant standard Pitman electro-pneumatic action.  The action is compact and very reliable.  For most of the pipechests, the action is accessed from the bottom of the chests by simply unscrewing bottom panels.  All chest actions are still operating on the original leathers and felts circa 1939.  To date, only three valves in the pipechest for the Pedal Open Diapason 16' (notes #1-#12) have failed.  The valves in the main pipechests for the Swell, Great and Choir have not given any problems, however all the leathers on these valves are original and are now 73 years old.

GENERAL LAYOUT OF THE ORGAN CHAMBER COMPONENTS:

             The organ chamber is located at the front of the church on a second floor approximately 10' above the main church floor.  There is a large new open staircase on the front right-hand side of the church which should facilitate the removal of most organ components.  Once the organ façade is removed, the largest components could be lowered directly down to the main floor.

             The organ façade was part of the original S. R. Warren pipe organ built in 1891.  Originally stained a very dark brown, the wood of the façade (from now extinct species of Chestnut trees) was sandblasted during the 1988 church renovations and is now a light golden colour with a deep textured surface.  The façade pipes are made of zinc and have been painted gold.  Prior to 1939 some of these pipes did play, but they no longer function.  This façade is available with the organ.

            In its current layout, the four divisions (Swell, Great, Choir and Pedal) require an organ chamber with minimum dimensions 24.6' wide x 10' deep x 26.4' tall. Currently the organ chamber has a dropped floor in the middle of the chamber. Some minor changes to the length of the chest legs may be required in another installation. The Swell and Choir chambers could be lowered by several feet in a new location with minimal changes to the layout.

            The Swell division is on the left side of the chamber.  The Swell box enclosure is 10' 3"wide x 10'deep x 13'tall and is approximately 7' above the chamber loft floor. It is supported by five large posts (see diagram).  The expression louvers are located on the front side of the Swell box.  The space below the Swell box contains the main Swell bellows, Tremulant and various air conveyances.

            On the right side of the chamber is the Choir division.  The Choir box enclosure is 5.5' wide x 10' deep x 13' tall and is also approximately 7' above the chamber loft floor and it also is supported by five large posts. The Choir expression louvers are located on the front side of the Choir box as well as on the right side facing the Great division.  The area below the Choir box contains the Choir bellows, Tremulant, a couple of boxes containing switching for the 32' electronic reed base and various air conveyances.  The pneumatic action Chimes (20 notes A to E) are hung on the outside of the Choir expression box. These chimes are not Casavant but were an addition to the organ in 1991.

            The Great and Pedal divisions fill in the space between the Swell and Choir division.  Two layers of cross supports extending from the Swell posts to the Choir posts and form the supports for Great and Pedal wind chests.  The lower cross supports hold the pipechests for the Trombone 16' (32 pipes on a separate pipe chest), the Violone 8' (32 pipes on a separate pipechest), the Bourdon 16'/8' (44 pipes on a separate chest), and the Open Diapason 16' (notes #13 to #44 on a separate chest). These pedal chests are 10' long.

            Notes #1 to #12 of the Pedal Open Diapason 16' stop are located on a second separate pipe chests on the centre top level behind the Great division and above the walk way.  The Great division has two pipe chests which share a single primary action.  This action is located under the central Great walk board.  The Great pipechests are approximately 3' higher than the pipechests of the Swell and Choir divisions.

BLOWER:

           The organ blower is located in a room to the left of the organ chamber. It is a modern 3hp, 3-phase Zephyr Electric Organ Blower installed in 1992 and it is in very good working order.

SUMMARY:

            In general, the condition of the organ is very good considering its age.  If moved and installed carefully the organ should give good service for many decades to come.  Most likely re-leathering of pipechests and bellows will be needed in the future; this is normal procedure.  The organ's design is of the traditional romantic style of the 1930's period and was of the highest quality when it was constructed.  We would recommend this instrument to any purchaser who has the space and funds to install it.





STOPLIST SPECIFICATION



SWELL



16' Bourdon

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Voix Celeste

8' Aeoline

4' Flauto Traverse

2' Flageolet

III Mixture



8' Cornopean

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana



Tremulant



Swell Sub

Swell Unison Off *

Swell Super





GREAT



8' Diapason I

8' Diapason II

8' Doppel Flute

8' Dolce

4' Principal

4' Wald Flute

2' Fifteenth



8' Harmonic Trumpet



Great Super

Great Unison Off *

Great Unison Off *

Swell Sub to Great*

Swell to Great*

Swell Super to Great*

Choir Sub to Great*

Choir to Great*

Choir Super to Great*



CHOIR



               8' Open Diapason                   

8' Melodia

8' Dulciana

4' Harmonic Flute

2' Piccolo



8' Clarinet



Tremulant

Chimes



Choir Sub

Choir Unison Off *

Choir Super

Swell Sub to Choir*

Swell to Choir*

Swell Super to Choir*



PEDAL



l6' Open Diapason

l6' Bourdon

l6' Lieblich Bourdon (SW)

8' Bass Flute (Ext. O.D.)

8' Stopped Flute (Ext. Bour.)

8' Cello



32' Contra Trombone

l6' Trombone



Great to Pedal*

Great Super to Pedal*

Swell to Pedal*

Swell Super to Pedal*

Choir to Pedal*

Choir Super to Pedal*



* Intra-manual couplers and Unison Offs are on tilting tablets.



ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC COMBINATION ACTION:



4 Swell thumb pistons

3 Great thumb pistons

3 Choir thumb pistons

3 Pedal thumb pistons

4 Generals (toe studs)



6 Reversibles:

Swell to Pedal (thumb)

Great to Pedal (thumb, toe stud)

Swell to Great (thumb)

Choir to Great (thumb)

Choir to Pedal (thumb)

Swell to Choir (thumb)

1 Full Organ (toe stud)

1 Adjust

1 Release

2 Expression Pedals (Swell, Choir)

1 Crescendo Pedal

4 Meters: Wind, Full Organ, Voltage, Crescendo.

Eric
KB7DQH

This is now an annual event ;) 

Quote Organ fest organizers prepare for hundreds of visitors
By JAMES DRAPER
news1@kilgorenewsherald.com


The organ-tuner is here.

It's an important part of the final days of preparation for the 2013 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, getting Roy Perry's Aeolian-Skinner organs in tip-top shape before hundreds of people fill churches throughout East Texas (Louisiana as well) to see 14 featured organists put the Kilgore organ designer's instruments to the test.

The third annual festival officially begins Monday evening and closes Thursday – since the final notes of the last festival faded, it's been another busy year for organist and choirmaster Lorenz Maycher, who founded the festival in 2011 and continues to spearhead the effort with a group of dedicated volunteers from First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore.

With light at the end of the tunnel, things are really clicking, Maycher said Monday.

"This falls together too easily for there not to be somebody else looking down on it and organizing it," Maycher said incredulously, crediting his predecessor and the festival's primary honoree, Perry. "I don't know if he's involved or there's a guardian angel. It all comes together too easily for their not to be a larger force at work. "It's certainly not me, because I have no experience doing any of this. I think it's wonderful how people come together and make it run smoothly."

With more spots than previous years and already sold out, there are 100 registered guests for this year's festival, Maycher noted; after filling their block of rooms at Comfort Suites, the remaining visitors are spread between three other Kilgore hotels.

While the festival performances are free and open to the public – and drew some large crowds the past two years – paying visitors receive transportation to and from concerts in Kilgore, Longview, Tyler, Nacogdoches and Shreveport as well as admission to select private events and post-performance socials.

"We have a public schedule of events, then we have a private schedule of events for registered people. We've got some interesting people coming," he said, including former concert organists and several notable organ working and retired organ professors at large universities and conservatories. In addition to one overseas guest, "Almost every state is represented except Hawaii and Alaska. We have quite a few coming Saturday because they want to come to church Sunday morning."

A Houston benefactor is also sponsoring 10 college students' trips to the festival, Maycher noted.

"I'm just continually amazed at the support we receive," he said, especially in organizing the event through First Presbyterian Church. "Almost every time I asked a question – 'Can we do this? Can we do this?' – it's always a yes."

With two festivals behind and the third primed, the festival has proven its worth, FPC Rev. Scott Nowack said.

"We're taking an asset of our church, our congregation and we're trying to maximize our use of it and use it not just for worship on Sundays – although that's what it's mainly there for – but to share with everyone in the world," he explained. "It's exciting, it feels great. Lorenz has worked very, very hard. He has some help, but he's worked very, very hard to make this happen. All year. I don't know how he does it, but he does make it happen."

The concert series is precious to people, Nowack said. They travel great distances to arrive in Kilgore for a few days of firstclass organ music.

"We're just excited that it keeps growing, that more and more people want to come and be here for it," he said. "This isn't an easy place to get to. That says a lot too, that people are really interested and are really ready to go to great lengths to be here.

"That feels good on our end, it feels like we're respected and admired. That never hurts."

Considering the early arrivals, the festival's organizers have set two pre-festival concerts Sunday afternoon and evening and three on Monday before the 7:30 p.m. opening performance Nov. 11 by organist Isabelle Demers on Perry's 1949 Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church.

Sunday's pre-festival entertainment includes an 8 p.m. duet by Maycher and organist Charles Callahan at FPC, performing music by American composers and including the world premiere of Callahan's

"Lyric Suite."

"My practice time is normally around midnight, so I'm basically playing it in my sleep," Maycher quipped, eager to debut the piece, commissioned by the festival committee.

For a complete schedule of events log on to easttexaspipeorganfestival.com.

Last year's most well-attended event was organist Brett Valliant's accompaniment of "The Phantom of the Opera" silent movie on the Opus 1173 at FPC – he returns this year to accompany "The King of Kings" by Cecil B. DeMille.

"It was supposedly his favorite movie he ever directed," Maycher said. Valliant will also once again perform shows for local schoolchildren next Wednesday at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. "He's done that every year. He's a big hit. He's up on all the latest movies so he can play Disney scores or Star Wars – the kids just love it. And he communicates with them really well."

Other guest performers at the 2013 festival include: Joby Bell, George Bozeman, Ken Cowan, David Ford, Scott Hayes, Nathan Laube, Bruce Power, Jason Roberts, Chandler Teague, Tom Trenney, Thomas Trotter and Bradley Welch. Special elements of this year's event include a lecture by Callahan entitled "Alexander McCurdy: A life of Teaching" and a visit to Perry's burial plot in Thompson Cemetery.

In addition to Perry, the 2013 festival honors one of his contemporaries, organist William Teague.

At 91, "He has more energy than I ever had even when I was 14," Maycher praised. "He's just a human dynamo."

For more information on the festival, contact EastTexasPipeOrganFestival@yahoo.com, call 903-987-0317 or search "East Texas Pipe Organ Festival" on Facebook.

8) 8) 8)

Eric
KB7DQH

This appeared as a reply to an article posted on Facebook...

QuotePieter Visser     I see theology as the roadmap of life. But if we only use the roadmap to look at, life wont happen. Many times in church I want to cry because so many opportunities are missed. My whole youth was consumed in a very positive way because the Triune God was always clear in all our doings. We were far from perfect, but we understood we were forgiven.

For those who don't know, Pieter Visser is a retired organbuilder here in the US...

Eric
KB7DQH

http://www.omaha.com/article/20131020/LIVING/131029972/1696&ct=ga&cd=ODMzODI2MDgxNjUxNTI3NjI3Ng&cad=CAEYAA&usg=AFQjCNGWmNK4wmlTrvoLb-KstAyCWLwqaA

Marie Rubis Bauer sits at the bench of an immaculate pipe organ three stories tall and summons forth sounds centuries in the making.

Bauer, 51, the director of music ministries for Omaha's St. Cecilia Cathedral, performs two versions of a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. First, she plays in a "modern" tuning system: powerful, dissonant and slightly foreboding — the organ of masked phantoms hiding out in opera houses. Then, she plays the piece as Bach would have heard it in his time: lighter, sweeter and more delicate, like hundreds of piccolos in harmony.

This ability to switch styles and evoke some 700 years of sound — or play in two temperaments, in organ speak — makes the pipe organ that sits high above the west entrance at St. Cecilia a musical landmark in the United States. There is one other like it in the country, on the campus at Stanford University.

"In organ circles, this organ would be known on a world basis," Bauer said.

Over the next month, St. Cecilia Cathedral will celebrate the organ's 10th anniversary with a series of events, beginning with a free concert Tuesday night featuring Olivier Latry, chief organist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Latry, a world-renowned performer praised for his improvisation, also appeared at St. Cecilia during the year-long celebration of the instrument's installation.

Bauer recalls that when Latry arrived a decade ago, he spent hours and hours getting to know the organ before playing it for the public. It is an idiosyncrasy unique to an instrument that is architectural in nature. Organists do not travel with their instruments; they travel to them.

"Up until the Industrial Revolution, organs and clocks were some of the most sophisticated things that people built," Bauer said.

The innards of the St. Cecilia organ — officially known as the Pasi Opus 14 — illustrate her point. Behind the intricate wood shell that faces the congregation courses an elaborate mechanism of wood and lead capable of operating without electricity. An entire room to the north of the organ is devoted to the intake and output of air, providing the wind that gives voice to the 5,500 pipes.

The organ was designed by an Austrian named Martin from a Washington town called Roy.

Martin Pasi of Pasi Organ Builders researched, built and installed the $1.1 million instrument, a process that spanned five years and produced an organ that draws visitors from around the world. An artisan organ builder such as Pasi faces numerous challenges, starting with the acoustics of their environment. In this regard, the Omaha cathedral was ideal.

"As far as the sound goes, it's a beautiful room," Pasi said. "One can usually only dream about these kinds of things. I had the luxury of actually having one to work in like that."

Pasi returned to Omaha for the organ's 10th anniversary. He'll check to see if it requires any maintenance before taking in Latry's performance.

"My career wouldn't be the same without that instrument," he said. "It has always been extremely special to have had the privilege to build that organ."

Most days, the privilege of playing goes to Bauer, who came to St. Cecilia the year the instrument debuted. On Sundays, she arrives at the cathedral at 6 a.m. to practice for an hour before doors open, then plays at Masses into the early afternoon.

"It's life-changing every time I sit down (to play)," she said. "I'm a lucky duck."

Bauer grew up outside the small town of Lakefield, Minn., where her music-loving father listened to Bach as he milked cows and volunteered as the church organist on Sundays. She followed in his footsteps and then some, completing her education with a doctorate from the University of Kansas, a school known for training organists.

On a recent weekday morning, Bauer demonstrated the range, power and responsiveness of the St. Cecilia organ, manipulating the dozens of keys, knobs, levers and pedals that give voice to the instrument — or more accurately, voices.

"If an organist is doing their job, they're managing a large choir," she said. "Some would say orchestra, but because it's wind, I say choir."

She looks forward to this week's anniversary concert — though she recognizes a decade is a blip in the life span of an instrument built to last centuries.

"In the life this organ will lead, 10 years is just the beginning," she said.

* * * *

If you go...

What: Olivier Latry, chief organist for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Cost: Free
Where: St. Cecilia Cathedral, 701 N. 40th St.
Information: cathedralartsproject.org

Eric
KB7DQH

The following news article about the creation of a new pipe instrument reveals how the "organ" becomes a "symbol"... 

QuoteThe $950,000 organ planned for the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew will no doubt be an impressive instrument with its 2,477 pipes, and it will also be an impressive symbol.

By using parts of the organs in the predecessor churches, it will cement their 1996 union and celebrate the growth of church membership.

The organ is being named for Kitty Esterly, who said it "will be a  symbol of the refurbishment of Wilmington. The city is coming back."

She said "it's a great honor" to have it named for her, "but it's also intimidating. The church belongs to the city."

Esterly, a member of the church or its predecessors since 1957, worked for 50 years as a pediatrician and leader of neonatal and pediatric units at Wilmington and Christiana hospitals. At various times, she was chairwoman of the altar guild, member of the Episcopal Church Women, and she served in the vestry and as senior warden. She was honorary chairwoman of the capital campaign for the organ project.

She looks forward to a "beautiful" organ that will handle classical music as well as popular tunes, and one that sounds good alone and accompanying a chorus.

David Christopher, the church's organist and music director, is planning for all that. He said leaders of the Delaware Symphony are interested in programming at the Shipley Street church after the new organ is installed in 2016, and choral groups associated with the church will all benefit from singing with a new organ.

On Sunday, the church marked the name for the organ with an event that featured organ music by Bach and Enrico Morricone and a Gabriel Rheinberge organ-violin piece with Barbara Govatos.

The old organ was deteriorating in multiple ways, Christopher said, including air leaks, sticky pipes, unstable wind supply and difficulty in staying in tune. Patchwork repairs were recurring every few weeks, so last year the church temporarily started using an electronic organ.

Church staffers and members inspected 15 to 20 organs before selecting Quimby Pipe Organs of Missouri. The new organ will incorporate pipes from both the St. Andrew's and St. Matthew's organs, particularly ones as long as 16 feet or created for special effects – elements costly to reproduce.

Christopher hopes parts of the organ from the Cathedral Church of St. John, which closed last year, will be included, but that organ is remaining intact until the building is sold. The organ will have 41 ranks of pipes; its console has three keyboards (61 notes each) and a pedal keyboard (32 notes).

The goal is to get a highly functional design with modern conveniences and historic touches.

"We are building a new organ in the same style as the old ones, incorporating certain key aspects," he said, noting that the organ will symbolize  how "the two churches have blended in a healthy, well-functioning relationship."

[/size]

In this case we are observing the organ representing the condition of  a community within the influence of of an individual instrument.  If one were to widen one's observational viewpoint significantly and  "view" the entirety of civilized society and relate that to the "state of the organ" what do we  "see"... and where do we "see" it???

I will refer to another topic here briefly, and suggest a thought experiment:  What happens to "civilized society" if we "kill all the organs"???

Eric
KB7DQH 

See also http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,1502.0.html

Eric
KB7DQH

Quote
Adam Wesley Updated: 13 October 2013 | 11:30 am in Life & Accent, Local News
Iowa City organ, under restoration, to be moved to St. Andrew
$1.7 million organ was damaged during 2008 flood

    Tweet

A treasured Iowa City instrument will have a future after being saved from its condemned location in the final weeks before demolition.

A couple dozen volunteers assisted the Dobson Organ Co. in the dismantling and removal of the Casavant Opus 3105 pipe organ from the 2008 flood-damaged Clapp Recital Hall, in the Hancher-Voxman-Clapp complex on the University of Iowa campus, in a little over two weeks.


Volunteers assist with disassembling the pipe organ at the University of Iowa's Clapp Recital Hall which was severely damaged in the 2008 flood and is soon to be demolished on Monday, August, 26, 2013 in Iowa City, Iowa. The organ is being taken apart piece by piece with the help of volunteers and will then be moved to under go cleaning and renovations at Dobson's Pipe Organ Builders in Lake City. The organ will be installed at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church when its new building is completed around 2015. (Adam Wesley/The Gazette)

The organ, which has a replacement value of $1.7 million, is now at Dobson's Lake City facility for restoration and storage until it can take its place at St Andrew Presbyterian Church's new location in Iowa City.

After discussions that included the possibility of selling the organ's 3,796 pipes for scrap metal, Peterson Contractors Inc. donated the instrument to St. Andrew where it's set to be installed in 2015, when the church's new location is finished.

"It wasn't looked at like 'we scored a really big organ,'" recalled Matthew Penning, St Andrew's director of Music Ministries. "But as an opportunity to connect with the university and the larger community."

The process of removal, restoration and reinstallation will cost around $400,000, an amount for which the church will hold fundraisers in the upcoming months.


Carroll Hanson, of Casavant, a Montreal-based organ manufacturer, was part of the team that installed the organ in Clapp Hall in 1972. At the time, it was the largest mechanical action pipe organ at a U.S. university.

Hanson also was in charge of its maintenance during the 36 years it was in operation. It one of the most heavily used Casavant organs, with many weeks seeing more than 100 hours of use until the hall was flooded in 2008, Hanson recalled.

"The instrument really came through the 40-some years in that room looking pretty darn good," Hanson said.

"I was delighted that it was going to have a happy future. It would have been a flat-out scandal had it been destroyed."

Penning, who volunteered alongside church and community members to get the organ removed in time, said the dismantling process was incredibly smooth, with no damage incurred — especially considering the hot weather and intermittent power losses during the work.

"It's fun to hear people say on Sundays that they're excited, telling me, 'Just wait until you'll be able to play that piece on the new instrument,'" Penning said. "And that excitement will grow as it becomes more real."

Eric
KB7DQH

To answer David's question, the relevant paragraph was snipped from the following:http://larouchepac.com/node/28460

QuoteFor how many people is such a sad reality a metaphor, standing at the margins of thought waiting for others to do things for them and carry them along, waiting for the big politicians, the powerful men to sort out their lives, instead of constructing lives themselves?

Sadly, I suspect, all too many of us... But there is "hope"...

http://larouchepac.com/node/28175

QuoteThe important of set of points which I have just presented in this chapter so far, is the distinction of the purpose between the person who thinks of death as his permanent outcome in the universe, and the one who relies on the continuing reach of a person's mission in existence, as being that person's responsibility to the purpose of the fulfillment of an indefinitely extended mission to be performed within this universe, however that may occur, whenever, or wherever.

The issue is not that of a mere attitude; it is a commitment to the ultimate outcome of a personal human life. It is that outcome, which must be served, which must become a mission for an indefinitely extended outcome within the future of our society and as far as our universe is extended. That outlook is what might be termed "the outcome" of our mission, the sense of an obligation to steer the future of mankind into a safe arrival of missions served as if "down the line" of all generations. Living thus becomes steering the universe to what means the necessary certainty of it all: the mission of creating the necessary future.

QuoteIt's in this way that Jesus teachings promoted constructing, intending, thinking and the freedom that results.

Eric
KB7DQH