New Organs

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Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 29, completed November, 2003

All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia

Some years ago I was contacted about a new organ for All Saints Episcopal Church by the assistant organist, Jefferson McConnaughey. We seemed to be speaking the same language concerning how we thought organs should sound, and I was eager to meet him, music directors Ray and Elizabeth Chenault, and to visit the church. Our conversations were put on hold while the parish called a new rector and undertook other projects. At the time we were blessed with commissions to build the organ at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Oklahoma City, and large instruments for Glenview Community Church (III/71) and Holy Family Catholic Church of Rockford, Illinois (III/56).

A few years went by, and I was invited to visit the church. Judging from the size of the instrument under discussion, I expected to enter a huge space. Instead, the church was more modest than vast, the acoustic more understated than generous. At first blush, it seemed that 40 stops could have adequately met their needs. But, no real lady ever gives up all her secrets at once, and so I patiently looked and listened.

I listened to their former instrument while walking around the room, and observed the acoustical phenomena under which the musicians had been laboring for so long. The organ, although installed in the chancel in relatively close proximity to the congregation, diminished drastically in volume in the nave. I concluded that a part of the organ had to be installed in the body of the church, to support singing and "pull" the sound out of the main part of the organ installed in the chancel. Additionally, sound generated in the nave lost its energy quickly; sound simply didn't travel well without becoming garbled.

The musicians wanted to be able to properly register an organ to "text-paint" Anglican Chant, choral anthems and ceremonial music in the Anglican musical tradition. They needed a wide variety of accompanimental tone colors at every dynamic level so that the organ could always support the singers, even at pianissimo volume levels. It was equally important that the organ musically render the great body of organ literature, even that of the French Baroque school, of which Mr. McConnaughey seemed quite fond. And, the Chenaults are duo organists; the literature which has been (and has yet to be) commissioned for them had to be accommodated. This requires a large organ, as coloristic stops outside the component voices for the essential choruses had to be included and integrated into the design. Fortunately, these stops were never in competition for space or funding, nor were our classic concepts of the hierarchical scaling of divisions within the instrument ever compromised. Some specific organs were studied: The Temple Church, London; King's College, Cambridge; and St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

There is a beautiful chapel behind the Epistle side choir stalls, at 90 degrees to the axis of the church, which also serves as an overflow room on Sundays. Worshippers there were relegated to viewing services on a small closed-circuit TV, and could not participate in the hymn-singing because, being outside the body of the church, they couldn't hear the organ. If the new organ were to address and meet all the musical and acoustical requirements of the church, then the chapel also needed to have some pipes in it, so that those seated there could feel a part of the worshiping community.

All of these requirements were brought to bear upon a single instrument. Yes, I agreed, this instrument has to be large--very large. Even if the room seats only 550 souls, the musical and physical requirements dictated an organ of a size which one might initially think out of proportion.

The position and installation of the new Main Organ was relatively straightforward. The Great, Swell, Choir, Tuba, and Pedal would have to be installed in the chancel, in an enlarged version of their existing chamber, plus spaces created by cantilevering steel platforms into the chancel space on both Epistle and Gospel sides.

The antiphonal division, a romantic Solo Organ including a Diapason Chorus which mirrors the Great, had to be installed in the nave. But there was no floor space for cases, no desire to see columns, and windows everywhere, many of them signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. By clever engineering of the diatonic windchest layouts (which we had first used at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City) we were able to tuck the Solo Organ cases up in the rafters of the church above the narthex, on either side of a central great window. By creative use of perspective, we were able to engineer the location of the supporting steel platforms so that they wouldn't block the view of the Tiffany windows in the side aisles, yet give us sufficient height for the pipes inside the cases.

As conversations concerning the tonal design took shape, Ray, Elizabeth, and Jeff fell in love with our tonal style which, while embracing eclecticism, has its own unique personality. They visited both our large organs, and Jeff actually played Sunday services on our Opus 7 organ at The Chapel of St. John the Divine in my wife Linda's stead. The All Saints organ is a very logical outgrowth of our style as practiced in our smaller organs, and as our two larger organs have led us. The humble beginnings of Opus 7 at the Chapel, in which we made 29 stops into a cathedral organ, can be seen all over this much larger organ. Well-informed national and historical inspirations are distributed throughout, so that the whole is at unity with itself. No German Hauptwerk, French Récit or English Chair Organs for us. For example the Great includes the mature English practice of 8' First & Second Open Diapasons, married nicely to the French Fonds d'Orgue. A voluptuous Full English Swell has continental fire by virtue of the authentic (but modified) French reed battery, but the lyrical soft solo reed is a plaintive English Oboe. No quirky nomenclature either. Although rooted in 19th-century English practice of "Diapason, Principal, Twelfth, Fifteenth," etc., the stops in our organs are what they say they are. If the Swell reed is spelled "Trompette," you can be assured that you will hear a Trumpet with French shallots and pipe construction.

The Great is based upon a 16' Double Open Diapason of tin which stands proudly in the Gospel side case along with the rest of the division. A complete Diapason chorus through Mixture, flutes at 8' & 4', and a Viola da Gamba make up the flue work, and the reeds are Trombas, brought up to the manuals from the Pedal Trombone. The Mixture breaks at octaves, rather than at fifth intervals. In this way, one doesn't hear alternating unison and fifths playing as the top rank, and the breaks are virtually unheard.

The Great also incorporates an harmonic corroborating stop which was more at home in English and American concert organs of the early part of the last century. Our four-rank Harmonic Mixture has in it a unison, a quint, a tierce, and a flat-seventh. These are all the harmonics present in Tromba class reeds, which are on the Great at 8' and 4' pitches. We originally included the Harmonic Mixture as a way to prevent the dark Trombas from covering the brightness of the mixture work in full organ, but have found that when used sans Trombas, the ancient flavor of 18th-century Dutch organs is perceived in an uncanny way. One could even imagine the wind to be unsteady--but of course it's not!

The Solo has a Diapason Chorus nearly mirroring the Great, and despite its distance from the Main Organ, it can exactly balance the Great Plenum in certain contexts. The Solo contains a pair of E. M. Skinner-inspired Gambas, the celesting rank in the case across the church from its unison pair. Now that's a Celeste! The Flügel Horn, while a lyrical romantic solo reed, has just enough harmonic interest to function beautifully as a chorus reed. The Bassett Horn is certainly at home playing obbligato parts in Elgar, but has just enough Cromorne in it to play Daquin with a French nose in the air.

One can use the Choir in a classic context, as a Positiv when a lighter foil to the Great is desired. But this division is the real choral accompanying workhorse. It's one of the most elegant, light, but profound Choir divisions we have created. The Choir features a flute chorus from 16' up, and a proper Diapason chorus complete with a four-rank quint mixture, a fifth interval higher than the Great. But the luxurious feature in this day and age is our Dulciana Chorus, which includes a three-rank mixture in which the 4' enters early on at tenor C. Our Dulcianas are truly small Diapasons, and there is nothing like the effect of accompanying voices with Diapason color, but at such a soft volume. The Dulciana Mixture has many uses in coloring and painting texts, 90% of which I would never have envisioned. Our Cornopeans are small-scaled, but fundamental Trumpets as the original prototypes were, not the horn-like Cornopeans one would otherwise love to hate. The Clarinet is truly of English style, and the English Horn is orchestral in color with enough body to be the foundation of the Choir reed battery, yet enough jazz in the color to differentiate itself from the more fundamental Swell English Oboe.

The Chapel Organ includes a small-scaled Diapason Chorus at 8' and 4' to lead the hymn-singing, and an 8' Aeoline and Vox Angelica. These very, very soft string-toned stops allow the worshippers there to feel connected, and also provide a powerfully effective pianissimo "wrap-around" effect as the softest sounds concluding a smooth decrescendo. These little strings can just be barely heard in the nave as the expression box closes on the Solo Flute Cœlestis. When they play alone, they are literally in another room, off in the distance.

In the All Saints organ, the Great, Swell, Choir, Solo, and a portion of the Pedal divisions play upon 4 inches of wind pressure. The Trombones and Trombas play upon 7 inches of wind, the Solo Festival Trumpets on 6 inches, and the Major Tuba plays upon 20 inches of wind. The Tuba is housed in its own expression box, and the organist can easily select which expression shoe may be used to operate the Tuba's expression (or whether it is to remain open) by a simple rotary switch. We aim to expand the color and dynamic range of the pipe organ, while keeping the console controls simple and straightforward.

Before I was selected as their builder, Ray, Elizabeth, and Jeff charged me to design the perfect instrument for all their requirements, and they would undertake the responsibility of presenting this plan to the organ committee to get their reaction, and see if the instrument would have to suffer at the hands of "value engineers." Although my past experience made me somewhat timid about presenting such a large (expensive) instrument as part of a selection competition, we arrived at the specification of 63 straight speaking stops, 87 ranks of pipes (5229 pipes overall), in five free-standing cases throughout their church.

I will never forget the evening of a crucial organ committee meeting when I received an excited telephone call from Ray. The musicians presented the proposal and the room fell silent. People on the committee asked questions to the effect: "Now, do all three of you musicians agree on this builder? Do all three of you agree with each other in every respect to this instrument?" When the answer was an emphatic yes, a committee member said: "How many times do musicians agree with each other about anything, let alone every of the many thousands of details in this organ's design!? This is what we need for All Saints, and we need John-Paul to build it for us." A member of the committee, Sarah Kennedy, later wrote a check for the entire project, in loving memory and in honor of her family, The Kenans.

The organs' visual designs were developed during August and September of 2001. The first draft of the Chapel Organ's design was revised to be more in keeping with the modern nature of the chapel (and less like King's College, Cambridge). The Main Organ and the Solo Organs were built according to my first pen-and-ink renderings.

All of my design drawings are executed by hand. The discipline of cleaning the drafting table and truing the parallel bars and 90-degree instruments contributes to clearing my mind of everything except what I need to think about for the organ on the blank piece of paper.

It is always my goal to design organ cases which appear as though they had always been in the church. The All Saints cases use shapes and colors found throughout the room, and mirror the restrained nature of the Victorian Gothic design. But the cases become vivid, exciting, and dramatic by incorporation of the fabulous red enamel and gold leaf adorning the church's clerestory. The inclusion of the red gave me license to add contracting pieces of red-stained Honduras mahogany in the stained white oak cases. The soaring nature of the Solo Organs, as their lines ascend while moving toward the great window, seemed to cry out for heraldic angels, announcing the Great Day of Judgment on gold-leafed trumpets. Thanks to parishioner David Foerster for making these possible.

All of us will remember exactly where we were on 9/11. I was at the drafting table finishing the designs for the Main Organ cases. I had penciled the drawing the day before and was preparing to ink the drawing when I heard the news reports. My entire staff came up to the drafting room and we all went to the conference area where a small television showed us the horrors unfold as the second airliner smashed into the second building. As we heard a large airplane overhead, being sent to land at our local airport, I was asked if we were going to close for the day. I said, no. We had to go about our task of making beautiful things, especially in light of the ugliness that visited itself on our country that day. If we wanted to take time off individually to mourn our country's losses, go with my blessing, but the doors would remain open and I would continue to draw a beautiful pair of pipe organ cases.

I set to cleaning out my India ink pens, and put on a CD of The English Anthem II from St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

Oh Lord, look down from heaven, and behold the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: Where is Thy zeal and Thy strength? Thy mercies towards me, are they restrained?

My deepest thanks to the musicians at All Saints Church, everyone on the organ committee, Greg Kellison, chairman; Paul Elliott, the rector; David Foerster, and Sarah Kennedy for selecting me and my firm for this tremendous commission.

My overwhelming gratitude goes to the members of my staff whose hard work and dedication made such an excellent instrument so sublime: Charles Eames, executive vice president, general manager and chief engineer; Brian K. Davis, associate tonal director; Keith Williams, service department director; Shayne Tippett, shop manager; Jay Salmon, office manager; Evan Rench, pipe maker, voicer; Steve Downes, tonal assistant; C. Robert Leach, cabinetmaker; Stuart Martin, cabinetmaker; Kenneth McCabe, winding systems; Ray Wiggs, consoles, windchests; Robert Ference, service technician; Stuart Weber, service technician; Jonathan Borchardt, service technician; JoAnne Hutchcraft Rench, receptionist.

--John-Paul Buzard

GREAT (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual II - unenclosed pipework

16' Double Open Diapason

8' First Open Diapason

8' Second Open Diapason (ext 16')

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Harmonic Flute

8' Bourdon

4' Principal

4' Spire Flute

22/3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

2' Fourniture V

13/5' Harmonic Mixture IV

16' Double Trumpet

8' Trombas (ext Ped)

4' Clarion (ext Ped)

Tremulant

Chimes

8' Major Tuba (20" wind)

8' Tuba Solo (melody coupler)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

SWELL (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual III - enclosed and expressive

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Salicional

8' Voix Celeste

4' Principal

4' Harmonic Flute

22/3' Nazard

2' Flageolet

13/5' Tierce

22/3' Full Mixture V

16' Bassoon

8' Trompette

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana

4' Clarion (ext 16')

Tremulant

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHOIR (4-inch wind pressure)

Manual I - enclosed and expressive

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (wood)

8' English Open Diapason

8' Flûte à Bibéron

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16')

8' Dulciana

8' Unda Maris

4' Principal

4' Koppel Flute

2' Recorder

2' Mixture III–IV (Dulcianas)

11/3' Fourniture IV

Sesquialtera II (22/3' & 13/5')

16' English Horn

8' Cornopean

8' Clarinet

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (14 bells)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

ANTIPHONAL SOLO (4- & 51/2-inch wind)

Manual IV - in twin cases over the narthex (expressive)

8' Open Diapason

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Gamba Celeste (CC)

8' Melodia

8' Flute Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)

4' Principal

4' Flûte d'Amour

2' Doublette

11/3' Mixture IV

8' Flügel Horn

8' Corno di Bassetto

Tremulant

Cymbalstern (8 bells)

Chimes (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

Harp (digital)

Celesta (digital)

PEDAL (various wind pressures)

32' Double Open Diapason (digital)

32' Subbass (digital)

32' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch, digital)

16' First Open Diapason

16' Second Open Diapason (Gt)

16' Bourdon

16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)

8' Principal

8' Bass Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

8' Gedeckt Flute (ext 16' Lieblich)

4' Choral Bass

4' Open Flute (ext 16' Bourdon)

22/3' Mixture IV

32' Contra Trombone (wood)

16' Trombone (wood, ext 32')

16' Double Trumpet (Gt)

16' Bassoon (Sw)

8' Trumpet (ext 16')

4' Clarion (Sw)

8' Major Tuba (Gt)

8' Fanfare Trumpets (Solo)

CHAPEL (4-inch wind, floating)

8' Open Diapason

8' Aeoline

8' Vox Angelica (tc)

4' Principal

Chapel on Great

Chapel on Swell

Chapel on Choir

Chapel on Solo

Chapel on Pedal

Intraddivisional couplers

Gt/Gt 16-UO-4

Sw/Sw 16-UO-4

Ch/Ch 16-UO-4

Solo/Solo 16-UO-4

Interdivisional couplers

Gt/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Ped 8, 4

Ch/Ped 8, 4

Solo/Ped 8, 4

Sw/Gt 16, 8, 4

Ch/Gt 16, 8, 4

Solo/Gt 16, 8, 4

Sw/Ch 16, 8, 4

Solo/Ch 16, 8, 4

Pedal Stops to Divisional Pistons

The Wicks Organ Company, Highland, Illinois has built a new organ for the Barrington United Methodist Church, Barrington, Illinois. In 1999 the church building was destroyed by fire. Their losses included a 41-rank Möller pipe organ, which had been rebuilt as recently as 1988. As planning for their new building began, the search for a new pipe organ started. The church’s demands for their new organ were that it had to be a great congregational organ, but also able to perform for recitals as well. The sanctuary was to be a top-notch performance facility as well as a place of worship. The church desired an organ of 3 manuals and 5 divisions, including an antiphonal. Each division was to have a principal chorus, and the foundations of the Great organ were to be exposed.

The church committee heard many styles of instruments built by Wicks over the last seven decades. This included, a North German neo-Baroque style instrument, a symphonic organ scaled and designed by Henry V. Willis, an American Classic, and an Aeolian instrument from the 1920s that had been rebuilt by the Wicks Organ Company in conjunction with Mr. Madison Lindsey. The service playing abilities of each instrument were demonstrated to the committee, and they identified and found themselves drawn to the English/symphonic style of the rebuilt Aeolian instrument. The organ committee chose Wicks over several other builders after hearing several new Wicks installations and the company ‘s recent success in exactly this style of instrument.

The completed organ is described as an English service organ with orchestral capabilities. The instrument is able to not only provide a seamless crescendo from ppp to fff, but can do it with flair. In addition to service music, the organ is able to perform every possible type of organ literature from the Renaissance to the present. It is also able to realize orchestral transcriptions with great skill, thanks to the presence of many orchestral solo stops in each division, blending choruses, and 2-inch thick beveled and overlapping felted shades. The completed organ consists of 24 ranks of pipes and 25 digital voices. The Wicks design team pre-engineered space to accommodate real pipe ranks to replace these voices. The Swell is on 7 inches of wind, the Pedal 10 inches; the Choir and Great are on 6 inches, with the exception of the Clarinet, English Horn, and Tuba in the choir, which are all on 10 inches.

The solo reeds of this organ are of a unique style, derived from the Willis/Wicks style reeds used in many Wicks organs over the decades, married to the traditional ideas of Skinner solo reeds. The end results were clear, smooth, stops of unique color and great versatility throughout the compass. The greatest asset to the organ is the lively acoustical environment of the sanctuary. The collaboration of the building committee, acousticians Kirkegaard & Associates of Chicago, and the Wicks Organ Company have resulted in a beautiful, successful combination of organ and room.

The console is drawknob style with 45-degree side jambs, a glass music rack, and P&S keys with ivory resin naturals and ebony sharps. The drawknobs are made of polished hardwood. Made of red oak, the interior is very light and the exterior is stained to match the woodwork of the chancel furnishings. The console features a tilt tab that allows the digital Tuba and Festival Trumpet to emanate from the antiphonal division located in the rear of the church instead of their native divisions. The console also has a Manual I/II transfer for French literature.

Installation of Opus 6412 began in August of 2003, and an initial tonal finishing and adjustment of digital voices took place in early September. After the church’s dedication, Wicks tonal director Dr. William Hamner and reed voicer Greg Caldwell completed an entire tonal finishing.

--Brent Johnson

Great (exposed)

16’ Violone*

8’ First Open Diapason

8’ Second Open Diapason

8’ Violoncello

8’ Harmonic Flute (Ch)

4’ Principal

4’ Flute Octaviante

2’ Fifteenth

IV Full Mixture

8’ Chorus Tuba (Ch)

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Chimes* (Ant)

Swell (expressive)

16’ Minor Bourdon*

8’ Open Diapason

8’ Stopped Diapason*

8’ Viola*

8’ Viola Celeste*

8’ Flauto Dolce*

8’ Flute Celeste*

4’ Octave Diapason

4’ Triangular Flute*

22/3’ Nazard*

2’ Recorder*

13/5’ Tierce*

IV Plein Jeu

16’ Waldhorn*

8’ Cornopean

8’ Oboe*

4’ Clarion

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

Tremolo

Choir (expressive)

8’ Geigen (1-12*)

8’ Concert Flute

8’ Dolcan*

8’ Dolcan Celeste*

4’ Octave Geigen

4’ Transverse Flute

2’ Harmonic Piccolo

16’ Bass Clarinet

8’ Clarinet

8’ English Horn

8’ French Horn*

8’ Festival Trumpet* (Ant)

8’ Tuba Mirabilis* (Ant)

8’ Chorus Tuba

Tremolo

Harp*

Antiphonal (unenclosed - floating) (prepared)

8’ Festival Trumpet*

8’ Tuba Mirabilis*

Chimes*

Antiphonal Pedal (prepared)

Pedal

32’ Contre Bourdon*

16’ Open Wood

16’ Major Bourdon

16’ Violone* (Gt)

16’ Minor Bourdon* (Sw)

8’ Principal

8’ Flute

8’ Stopped Flute

4’ Octave

4’ Harmonic Flute (Gt)

32’ Ophicleide*

16’ Trombone (1–12*)

16’ Waldhorn (Sw)

8’ Tromba

8’ Trumpet (Sw)

4’ Oboe (Sw)

7-bell zimbelstern

*= Digital Voices