New Organs

From the builder

The color machine

The Accompanist-Orchestrator: Getting the Best out of Stanford and Korngold

When listening to one of the old Hollywood soundtracks, our ears instantly recognize hallmarks of the era. There are the singing melodies, the rich orchestrations, and the ingenious musical devices. (To say nothing of the fantastic playing.) We remember the great film songwriters and composers, and our modern minds often forget the many talented orchestrators responsible for two of the three hallmarks listed above.

Genesis of the Bigelow Opus 45

When the new facility was built for Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Brookhaven, Georgia, it was planned that a pipe organ would be installed. Knowing that they wanted a pipe organ, they included space in the building design for an instrument. Unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints this dream would be shelved and unrealized for over twenty-five years.

In February of 2023 I received a message from the Very Reverend Ward Simpson, dean of Calvary Episcopal Cathedral of Sioux Falls, on behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. He mentioned a Nordlie pipe organ in Sioux Falls at the Church of the Holy Apostles, that the building and property were to be sold, and wondered whether we could help him find a home for the organ.

Moving a pipe organ to a new home

Moving organs to a different location is becoming more than an occasional happening. There are some nice instruments out there looking for homes, and like other firms, we too are getting calls about moving an instrument. Over our nearly sixty years in business, we have tackled a number of pipe organ moves. There have been Skinners, Aeolians, Austins, and some Wurlitzers.

Rosemary brought the first box. It was plain brown cardboard, thin, waxed—the kind of container in which you take home leftovers from a restaurant.

Entering the grounds of Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston, one is immediately enveloped by an atmosphere where art, nature, and spirituality converge in harmonious splendor. The meticulously curated landscape features thoughtfully placed artworks that guide visitors toward a central three-stone waterfall, inviting contemplation of the Holy Trinity. Towering oak trees extend their majestic branches overhead, forming a lush canopy that shelters vibrant seasonal flower beds and ivy-clad walls.

Hook & Hastings informs the design of Wallace & Co. Opus 81

From the builder

“Beauty is an experience, nothing else. It is not a fixed pattern or an arrangement of features. It is something felt, a glow, or a communicated sense of fineness.”

—D. H. Lawrence

“It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.”    —Voltaire

From the builder

Given the opportunity for a major instrument in a large Catholic cathedral with superb acoustics, most builders might be forgiven for playing to type. These acoustics and this liturgy implies something French in nature, no? We know the great legacy the French have given to music and Catholicism; surely one thing follows another. And yet our Opus 52 for Saint Benedict Cathedral in Evansville, Indiana, had a different genesis and, in the end, a result well apart from the above pattern.

From the builder

One might expect the story behind creating a home pipe organ of this size to be an unusual one. But, in fact, it is rather straightforward.

Mascioni Organs, Azzio, Italy; Church of the Santissimo, Crocifisso, Ponte Tresa, Italy

September 2024 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the chartering of the American Institute of Organbuilders (AIO), a unique organization that has had a transformative effect on American organbuilding. Anniversaries invite us to reflect upon our past and contemplate how far we have come. Thus, this article will describe the history of the AIO, its programs, and its impact.

Schoenstein & Co., Benicia, California; Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) is an interdisciplinary graduate center for the study and practice of sacred music, worship, and the related arts. Its students pursue degrees in choral conducting, organ, and concert voice with the Yale School of Music, or they engage in ministerial or academic studies in liturgy, religion and literature, music, or visual arts with the Yale Divinity School.

From the builder

In our previous cover features in The Diapason and The American Organist, we exclusively showcased our own work. However, this time, we aim to spotlight another crucial aspect of our business endeavors—high-quality organ renovations and additions to existing instruments. These projects constitute nearly half of our workload and are just as essential to us as our new builds.