Glück Pipe Organs, Opus 14
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Cover Feature Glück Pipe Organs, New York, All incarnations present compelling New York effects, from jumping between main and Mayflower Congregational dorsal cases in a North European organ, United Church of Christ, to the roaring, shuttered reeds scraping at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma the triforium of an English cathedral. The choice at Mayflower UCC was an arrange- An essay in determination ment that addressed the new chancel The quest to replace a six-stop unit and choir area as if it were a concert organ in Oklahoma City became a study hall, surrounding the proceedings with in considered choices made by a fully four well-engineered, highly effective involved group who gave to the future an chambers that were proximate enough instrument that serves worship, choral to cooperate without losing individuality. programs, solo recitals, and orchestral Rigid walls, properly shaped ceilings, and concerts. The organ committee at May- thick, tightly fitting shutter blades make flower Congregational United Church of for an enormous range of amplitude. Christ, in cooperation with their pastor- ate and director of music Richard Jobe, Tonal development worked with consultant Scott Riedel of Traditional structure—independent Milwaukee to develop an architectural, Principal forces for at least two manuals acoustical, and musical plan. They enthu- and the Pedal—anchors the organ in ter- siastically educated themselves, traveled raced levels of open tone at 16′ for the the nation to see and hear instruments, Pedal, 8′ for the Great, and 4′ for the and selected their architects, contrac- Swell. The Pedal has no chorus, per se, tors, and organbuilder. but a dedicated, extended rank retained Living with a mid-twentieth century from the previous instrument, voiced The new organ in the rebuilt chancel. The left chamber houses the Swell division stock-design instrument, the church so that movement of the pedal line is and the Pedal 16′ Trombone, with the right chamber accommodating the Choir, Great II, and Pedal flues. Behind the façades that flank the central window is the was moving from a position of extreme heard. An additional 8′ Open Diapason, unenclosed Great I; the bottom octave of the division and the Haskelled Pedal 16′ limitation to one of enormous freedom– extended up from this Pedal stop, is Contra Bass are behind the speaking façade on the left, and the main windchest is and its attendant responsibility. It was enclosed with the Choir division. There behind the non-speaking façade on the right. known from the outset that the stoplist was no room in the Swell for a desirable would evolve; omissions would be rein- 8′ Principal, but this voice serves as an to strengthen the alto voice in the middle ranks were revoiced and incorporated, stated, new ideas would be raised and English Second Diapason, as well as a and soprano octaves. The Swell mixture while the Clarinet and Harmonic Flute abandoned. That is how pipe organs are solo under expression to be accompa- breaks less frequently, maintaining a are new to the organ. refined toward their final design once nied by other divisions. slightly higher aggregate pitch in the con- The key was to make certain that inde- the builder is selected, a process that at The Pedal 16′ Contra Bass is not trapuntal range, the shimmer enhanced pendent voices could be drawn at each times both disappoints and elates during intended to be a 16′ Principal, but to by power parity between harmonic com- pitch, and that if two stops on the same the pursuit of cleverness. add definition through distinct tone and ponents. Toward the top of the compass, division were drawn from the same rank, There was no focus upon an idiom a substantial degree of independence a larger-scaled 8′ pitch enters to fortify we strive for a two-octave separation that would back the organ into a stylis- from the unit rank. Making evident the the unison line in the absence of an inde- to minimize “missing pipe syndrome.” tic or nationalistic corner. Mayflower’s motion of the pedal line was the goal, pendent 8′ Principal. The benefits are an elegant, clear third instrument is by all means an American and it works as well under full forces as ensemble punctuated by the sparkle of pipe organ, from its geographic location it does under the two undulants during The compound Great/Choir the 1′ Gemshorn, an historically dictated to the fact that its components were built introspective passages. Pedal power Between the wars, Mr. Skinner’s three- position for the Clarinet, and the nuance by Americans in selected shops through- comes from the 16′ Sub Bass, the 16′ and four-stop Choir divisions unintention- enabled by a second expression enclo- out this nation. Nonetheless, the term Trombone, and the harmonic complexity ally opened a window onto Classicism for sure. The Great gained the indispensable “American Classic” never entered our of duplexed mezzo-forte voices from the those Americans who had looked beyond 8′ Harmonic Flute for the French lit- thoughts or vocabulary. That era remains compound Great/Choir section. the vested American zeitgeist during their erature and a solid 16′ Bourdon to carry a crucial and brilliant transition, to be The mixtures are kept to an even overseas travels; in recent organs, I have hymnody and undergird the plenum. acknowledged for its contributions, but number of ranks for harmonic balance, followed his lead with very small third it was dotted with obstacles to the full and achieve different effects. The Great manuals that can make playable more The mutations understanding of organ literature and Mixture is unenclosed, speaks directly of the literature with satisfying accuracy For an instrument furnished with history. Many of its lessons still apply, but down the nave, sits at the front of the while enhancing the service of prayer. only one tierce combination, published should its templates? soundboard, breaks successively lower, I was determined not to make the Choir works—both treatises and scores—from and keeps its quints two scale diameters a garage for miscellanea at the expense of the 17th through 19th centuries provide Architectural placement smaller than the unisons, resulting in a filling out the Great, and recommended to guidance. Historically ensconced in the The spatial arrangement of pipe organs fuller treble. While I am personally dis- the consultant and the organ committee Choir or Positiv, the cylindrical half- has been under discussion for centuries, inclined toward the guttural infusion of that we strip and releather Mayflower’s length reed (here the Clarinet) cannot be as evidenced by myriad cyclical catch- a bold twelfth entering the chorus too far original six-stop unit windchest to accom- roommates with the Tierce combination phrases—“mixing chamber,” “line-of- down the compass, it was eased in care- modate enclosed voices that could both and perform the French dialogues of the sight,” “functional display,” “high and fully during tonal finishing, avoiding the embolden the Great and furnish a small Baroque (why deprive future organists encased,” “tone chute,” and “entombed.” “pull,” and in this case, actually appears Choir division. Four of the organ’s seven of that option?), and it is well unwise Glück Pipe Organs, Opus 14 GREAT I – Manual II, CHOIR – Manual I, enclosed unenclosed 8′ Solo Diapason* (Pedal 8′ Princ) 8′ Open Diapason 50% tin 8′ Bourdon* (ext) 8′ Holz Gedeckt pine 8′ Gemshorn* 50% tin 4′ Principal 50% tin 8′ Vox Angelica* 50% tin 2′ Fifteenth 50% tin 4′ Gemshorn* (ext) Chorus Mixture IV 50% tin 4′ Harmonic Flute pine C 1 19 22 26 29 2′ Principal* (ext, Ped 8′ Princ) A#11 15 19 22 26 2′ Recorder* (ext, Bourdon) G#21 12 15 19 22 1′ Fife* (ext, Gemshorn) F#31 8 12 15 19 8′ Clarinet 30% tin E41 1 8 12 15 Tremulant G#57 1 8 Chimes (25 tubes) 8′ Trumpet (Swell) Zimbelstern (unenclosed with Gt I) Chimes 16′ Choir to Choir Great I Silent Choir Silent 4′ Choir to Choir GREAT II – Manual II, enclosed with Choir 16′ Bourdon* mahogany 8′ Harmonic Flute (Choir) C1–B12 from 16′ Bourdon 8′ Gemshorn (Choir) 8′ Vox Angelica (Choir) 4′ Nason Flute (ext, Bourdon) 8′ Clarinet (Choir) Tremulant (duplicate control) 4′ Great II to Great The console 30 n THE DIAPASON n FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM Cover Feature The Swell soundboard nearest the expression shutters The compound Pedal/Great/Choir (left to right): Pedal Panoramic view of the Swell division. In the back- (left to right): 8′ Viole de Gambe, 8′ Stopped Diapason, 16′ Sub Bass (painted Portland blue), 8′ Bourdon, 8′ ground, mitered to follow the roof line, stands the 16′ 8′ Voix Céleste, 4′ Principal, 8′ Trumpet (with harmonic Pedal/Choir Open Diapason, 4′ Harmonic Flute, 8′ Clari- Bassoon, with the Pedal 16′ Trombone behind. The resonators), 8′ Oboe d’Amore net, 8′ Vox Angelica, 8′ Gemshorn, expression shutters. angled ceiling and heavily braced walls enhance the The 16′ Bourdon extension stands in the background. tone’s blend and clear projection into the sanctuary. to lock up two of the most pungent solo the last, is vital to the performance of the Carrying the chorus reed burden of anthem literature in lieu of a caricature effects on the same manual. The Nazard literature and should not be diluted. the entire organ, the Mayflower Trum- voice that might elicit questions of taste and Tierce (originally conceived as a pet is large, bold, brilliant, and must be or judgment. The Clarinet is made avail- Cornet II until funds made it possible to The three reed stops handled with care. Fortunately, it could able in the enclosed Great II section so separate them), reside in the Swell, ben- The reed allotment challenge in a be scaled and voiced with abandon as it that it can be accompanied by stops from efiting from the recombinant capabilities small organ is one of both color and descends into the Pedal 16′ Trombone its own department, and appears in the of the fully independent flute choir, and pitch.