Pipe Organs Inspire

[KB7DQH]

http://pipeorgansinspire.org/

Pipe Organs Inspire is a collaborative outreach and gift to the community by three Pasadena (California) churches:

    * First United Methodist Church
    * First Church of Christ, Scientist
    * Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Each of these congregations, within walking distance of each other in downtown Pasadena, possess arresting architecture, excellent pipe organs, and extraordinary resident organists—the perfect combination for a project such as this.

All three organists will perform on each recital, providing a unique opportunity to hear each both on their "home" organ and on two other excellent instruments. As the three organs represent very dif­ferent approaches to organ building, the repertoire for each pro­gram has been carefully selected to maxmimze each in­stru­ment's strengths.

Visit us here at PipeOrgansInspire.org for periodic updates as the project planning progresses, and be sure to mark your calendars right now for the three FREE festive 2012 program offerings:

    * Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m., First United Methodist Church
    * Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m., First Church of Christ, Scientist
    * Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m., Pasadena Presbyterian Church

I wish them every success in this endeavor... 

Eric
KB7DQH

[David Pinnegar]

WOW!

Pipe Organs Inspire! It looks as though the theme of this forum really is taking hold . . . Can we get priests and organists from those parishes to join the forum and contribute about their work and inspirations?

Can we get more members more generally to contribute to the forum and wake up passions and passions in others?

Eric - thanks for all the work you do, and throwing across the pond overnight so much of inspiration to Europe dozing in the early hours . . .

Best wishes

David P

[KB7DQH]

I thought this concert announcement was particularly well written,  with plenty of information to entice people unfamiliar with the pipe organ to  come to the concert... 

http://annistonstar.com/bookmark/17492092-The-king-of-instruments-St-Michael%E2%80%99s-hosts-concert-to-show-off-its-new-pipes

The king of instruments: St. Michael's hosts concert to show off its new pipes
by Eddie Burkhalter
eburkhalter@thepiedmontjournal.com Anniston Star

Pipe organs are like living things.

They breath air, their vertical pipes stretched skyward as if to send their voices straight into heaven.

They complain if it's too hot or too cold.

They work best when lavished with lots of money and attention.

From the softest murmur of a single pipe to ear-splitting chords that have to be played with both hands and both feet, organs can produce all sorts of emotions in listeners.

In churches, synagogues and concert halls around the world, pipe organs are used to worship and to celebrate, to send up sacred music and the works of composers like Johann Sebastian Bach.

Mozart called the pipe organ the "king of instruments."

"A large organ installed in a proper acoustical space can be one of the most thrilling musical experiences possible — right up there with a symphony orchestra," said Legare McIntosh, head of the music department at Jacksonville State University. McIntosh teaches piano, organ and music theory at JSU.

When the organist at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal in Anniston sits down to play, it looks more like she's flying an airplane than playing an instrument. Patricia Corbin enlists the help of every appendage as she manipulates a myriad of keys and knobs. A set of pedals on the floor — called a pedalboard — acts as an extra keyboard. The music she makes with the beautifully painted pipes is like nothing else.

St. Michael's pipe organ was installed in 1889 by Henry Pilcher and Sons of Louisville, Ky. With almost 3,000 pipes, it is considered one of the better instruments in Anniston.

Four other Anniston churches have pipe organs: First United Methodist, First Presbyterian Church, Grace Episcopal and Parker Memorial Baptist.

A special concert to celebrate the installation of new trumpet pipes on St. Michael's organ will take place at the church on Sunday. Jacksonville State University's Chamber Winds will perform, along with visiting organist James Dorroh, the organist and director of music for St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Birmingham.

Invented in ancient Greece

It may not look much like the first pipe organ, but the instrument at St. Michael's has roots that go back to ancient Greece. Ctesibius of Alexandrea, from about B.C. 200, is generally thought of as the father of the pipe organ. His hydraulis used water to drive air into pipes of varying lengths.

Today's organs use air provided by a large blower motor. The air fills bellows and air lines, which lead to rectangular boxes called windchests, which sit underneath the pipes. Press a key and pull out the correct stop, and a valve on the windchest opens under a particular pipe, creating the sound.

Stops — controlled by knobs arrayed next to the keyboards — act as gates, which increase or decrease the volume of the music.

"Pull out all the stops," and things can get very loud.

Corbin has served as organist and choirmaster at St. Michael's for 12 years. It's a job she says she loves, and one that's becoming increasingly hard to find applicants for. "People just aren't studying organ like they used to," Corbin said from her office at JSU, where she is the director of choral activities.

The American Guild of Organists reports that for every 200 job openings, there is but one qualified organist. The organization runs several programs designed to introduce young people to the instrument.

It's a complicated thing to play, Corbin said. Although it has keyboards — called manuals on organs — that's where the similarities with a piano end. "You're playing with two hands and your feet, plus you're managing the mechanics of the instruments," Corbin said. "You're not just playing. You're manipulating the mechanics of the organ."

There are still places to learn to play the pipe organ. Five universities in Alabama have either a dedicated program or a stand-alone class for the organ: JSU, Birmingham Southern College, Samford University, The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa and the University of Montevalo.

There is no specific program for the organ at JSU, but McIntosh will teach interested students. He said that in cities with larger churches, interest in pipe organs is growing, but in places without access to organs there is little opportunity to learn.

"At my previous position, I had 15 to 18 students over the course of some years. The college had a church music program and a large instrument in the college chapel," he said. "The situation here is a little different."

The care and feeding of organs

Christopher Brothers works part-time in pipe organ repair. The 27-year-old college student from Gainesville, Ga., has worked on almost every pipe organ in Anniston, including the one at St. Michael's.

Changes in the humidity wreak havoc on the instruments, but the parts themselves are simple, Brothers said. The technology hasn't changed much over the centuries.

"The No. 1 reason why pipe organs have problems is the person who controls the church thermostat," Brothers said. Wood and sheepskin, leather gaskets instead of rubber; it takes a dry, stable environment to keep a pipe organ happy. They have to be tuned twice a year as the weather changes.

It takes a fair amount of money to keep the instruments up, and they require a great deal of training to play, but McIntosh sees hope in their future.

"Organ builders around the country and abroad continue to be busy installing new instruments and enlarging or improving older organs. Birmingham is a good example with some fine instruments, several of them being quite new," McIntosh said.

Attendees at Sunday's concert at St. Michael's can expect powerful performances. The antiphonal trumpet pipes installed on the organ last April add a whole new dimension of sound to the instrument, Corbin said.

The concert will feature:

• Canzon Primi Toni (Four Part Brass Choir with Organ) by Giovanni Gabrieli.

• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach.

• Fanfare by John Cook.

• Fantasia in G Major by J.S. Bach.

• Finale, Symphony No. 3 in C (Organ Symphony) by Camille Saint-Saens.

Pipe organ concert

What: Jacksonville State University's Chamber Winds and visiting organist James Dorroh, of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Birmingham.

When: 3 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Church of St. Michael and All Angels, 1000 W. 18th St., Anniston, 256-237-4011.

Admission: Free.

If announcements were written like the one above organs would likely play to packed venues once again...

Eric
KB7DQH