Gober Organs, Inc., Elora, Ontario, Canada
The Oratory, St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota
This one-manual organ was conceived expressly for gentle support of singing in the daily prayer services of this Benedictine womens’ community. The services involve the whole community and take place in complete silence except for the readings, the chanting and singing of psalms and hymns. In this setting an organ of normal softness would still be too loud. For portions of the service, psalms are chanted in alternatim between the leader and the people. The very sweet Gedackt 8' contrasts with a Gamba 8' whose complex overtones give it great pitch definition, useful for accompanying lay singers. These two stops can be switched between psalm verses using the reversible pedal. The 4' and 2' flutes, both conical, give combinations in the nature of a flute consort, with rhythmical underpinning given by the pedal 16'.
The case functions as a swell box that encloses all the manual pipes; a swell pedal operates the end panels of the case. In the spirit of the austere simplicity of the community’s buildings and their furnishings, the solid white oak case’s only adornment is a shallow scalloping given to the quarter-sawn end panels by the carver’s gouge, creating an undulating effect in the grain.
—Halbert Gober
Manual C–f3 (54 notes)
8' Gedackt
8' Gamba (C–A with Gedackt)
4' Recorder
2' Fife
Pedal C–d1 (27 notes)
16' Subbass
Manual-Pedal coupler
Orgues Létourneau Limitée, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
The Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Following a complete reconstruction of the church’s chancel area, Létourneau’s Opus 83 was completed in March 2005. The organ was formally dedicated by Peter Sykes a month later in two recitals featuring works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Tunder, Bach and Vierne. The concerts were highlighted by the world premiere of a commissioned work by Joel Martinson entitled Out of the Depths: Three Essays on a Chorale.
The organ’s stoplist was prepared in collaboration with the church’s director of music, Ernest Drown, and reflects a classical disposition that pairs well with the instrument’s suspended mechanical key action. The organ has proven itself to be equally adept at supporting the church’s worship services and in the words of Mr. Drown, “has an uncanny sensitivity to the player’s intentions or lack of same . . . I get off the bench a better player every time.”
The organ features a two-manual and pedal console built into the organ case (en fenêtre); manuals have bone naturals and ebony accidentals, while the pedalboard features maple naturals with ebony accidentals. The stop action is electric, permitting a complete system of pistons with 64 levels of memory.
—Andrew Forrest
GREAT
16' Bourdon
8' Open Diapason
8' Chimney Flute
4' Principal
4' Spindle Flute
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Fifteenth
2' Block Flute
13⁄5' Tierce
11⁄3' Mixture IV
8' Trumpet
Tremulant
Swell to Great
SWELL (enclosed)
8' Salicional
8' Stopped Diapason
4' Principal
4' Spire Flute
2' Fifteenth
11⁄3' Larigot
1' Mixture III
8' Oboe
Tremulant
PEDAL
16' Subbass
8' Principal
8' Bass Flute
4' Choral Bass
16' Trombone
8' Trumpet
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
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