January 2014

Marceau Pipe Organ Builders, Inc., Seattle, Washington

The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation,

Great Falls, Montana

Marceau Pipe Organbuilders of Seattle, Washington, has completed a major project to the M.P. Möller pipe organ at this historic Great Falls church. The original instrument was installed in 1949, as Möller’s Opus 7821, in two expressive chambers. The Great and Choir were located in the right chamber, the Swell and Pedal in the left chamber. The tonal design was typical of the period, with a bold-sounding Diapason chorus on the Great, a rather timid-sounding Choir, and a Swell that provided the most successful variety of chorus and solo stops.

The genealogy of a restored instrument

The present pipe organ at St. James United Church is unique among Montréal’s many interesting organs because much of the organ’s pipework dates back to an 1889 instrument by E.D. Wadsworth & Brothers, Organ Builders.

The resurrection of a John Renton organ

A rare instance of a Scottish chamber organ (the only known example in the U.S.), with case and works by John Renton of Edinburgh, has found new life in the home of Thomas R. Thomas in Deering, New Hampshire. 

British Organ Music Seminar

July 25–29, 2013

It has always struck me as interesting that changing fingers on repeated notes and substitution are so similar to one another in what they actually involve physically. Thus it makes sense to me to use one of them to introduce the other. It is also important to keep them straight: it is extremely common for students to fall into the habit of doing a substitution when they think that they are changing fingers from one note to the repetition of that note.   

This continues without a break from last month’s column.

A further practice step is to try patterns in which the hand plays more than one note at a time (Examples 1–4). The fingerings given above and below each line are alternates. There are other possibilities, for example, involving pairs such as 1/4 and 2/5. You can adapt these exercises in ways that occur to you, such as using black notes. Once again you should experiment with articulation.

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 42, St. Bridget Catholic Church, Richmond, Virginia

From the builder

The new organ at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia, is the 42nd new organ to come from the workshop of John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois. It was completed on October 1, 2013, and inaugurated by Ken Cowan in concert on November 15.

The high cost of beauty

Organist, conductor, and composer Massimo Nosetti died November 12, 2013, of cancer. He was 53. Born in Alessandria, Italy, he was titular organist of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and the Sanctuary of St. Rita in Turin. He taught organ and composition at the conservatory in Cuneo, and led numerous masterclasses in romantic and post-romantic organ literature, especially in Japan, Korea, and the U.S. He conducted both orchestral and choral groups, including Cantus Firmus, the choral group he founded. Nosetti was also a composer, primarily of organ and choral works.