March 2019

Sebastian M. Glück, New York, New York; The William and Alice Stack Cathedral Organ, The Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior, Wisconsin

Sebastian M. Glück, New York, New York

The William and Alice Stack Cathedral Organ

The Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior, Wisconsin

Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders, Bellwood, Illinois

Saint Paul’s Memorial United Methodist Church, South Bend, Indiana

Every organ project is unique, but the unusual circumstances surrounding our introduction to the project at Saint Paul’s Memorial United Methodist Church make it stand out. The opportunity came to our attention after a friend of the firm took an architectural tour of the church, and Saint Paul’s was kind enough to allow us to assess the organ and provide several options for consideration.

It was an organbuilder’s dream assignment, and a formidable challenge: a monumental instrument in a grand church renowned for elegant music and liturgy—as well as architecture—with the generous acoustics most church musicians only dream of. Because of its high visibility, it was sure to draw high-intensity attention from organists—and others—with widely varied experiences, tastes, and expectations.

A review

When I reviewed the 2009 Organ Historical Society Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, I remarked on the evolution of such gatherings from their mid-century beginnings: long gone were the days of the un-air-conditioned school bus with bad springs on dusty back roads visiting a bevy of two-manual, nineteenth-century Hooks, Simmonses, or Johnsons. The feel of the modern OHS convention is one altogether more sleek and polished, and the Rochester convention, ably led by co-chairs Myles Boothroyd and Nathan Laube, continued this trend in spades.

A fascinating book by Beverly Jerold, Music Performance Issues: 1600–1900

Music as community . . .

When I was offered the opportunity of joining the Organ Clearing House during the summer of 2000, I faced a critical choice. In addition to working independently as an organbuilder and technician, renovating and maintaining a gaggle of organs in the Boston area, I was also director of music at a large suburban Congregational church. I knew that the Organ Clearing House would sweep me into a busy travel schedule, and that I would have to make a choice.

Repetition II

During the week after I finished writing my previous column, I had several experiences, each of which had some bearing on what I wrote about, so I will describe these before continuing and expanding the discussion from last month. One of them was a delightfully well-timed refutation of something that I wrote last month, the others more in sync with my thoughts.

Jean Guillou

Nunc Dimittis

Jean Victor Arthur Guillou, 88, died January 26 in Paris, France. Titular organist at Saint-Eustache Church in Paris from 1963 until 2015, he was an international concert organist and pianist, prodigious improviser, teacher, composer, poet, and writer.