Some Fun Christmas Organ Solos

This post will be a bit less talk and a lot more action.

I imagine that most people in the world see the organ as an instrument that is used primarily to play hymns and classical pieces. And most people would be right. There are, however, lots of fun things you can do with even a small organ.

The following are three of my favorite organ solos, all of which are Christmas songs.

The first is by Cameron Carpenter, one of today's most brilliant and unique organists. He is the only organist to ever be nominated for a Grammy award. His playing style is very unique and somewhat controversial. I personally enjoy his compositions. Here's a video of him playing his arrangement of "Sleigh Ride" at the Marshall & Ogletree Organ at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, which he helped to design. This organ is all digital, but it uses some new technologies I won't go into now to make it sound so authentic! This organ incorporates sounds from a classical and a theatre organ to create such a cool effect, with percussion and everything. It's all coming from the organ.

Here's the video:

This next one has some of the most amazing pedal work I have ever seen! This is "Go, Tell it on the Mountain," Arranged and performed by a man who is probably my favorite organist, Richard Elliott, Principal Organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:

And here's Richard Elliott, with my favorite Christmas organ solo ever, his own mashup of "Good King Wenceslas" and just about every significant part of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite:"

Have a Very Merry Christmas, everyone! 

My Ideal Friday Night - Utah State Hospital Chapel

It's been a while since I've posted, because I've been so busy with my studies. Finals are right around the corner, so I probably won't post anything else for another week or two, but I'll make it a good one!

Last night was a really fun night for me for a couple reasons:

1. I got to play a fantastic little pipe organ!

and 2. I went on a fun date after I finished playing! 

As the title suggests, that is nearly my ideal Friday night!

The organ I played was an 8-rank, 2-manual Wicks organ in the chapel at the Utah State Hospital in Provo, UT. They have the chapel to provide a worship space for their patients, no matter their beliefs, so the space is configured to be able to support LDS sacrament meetings, as well as Catholic Mass, and other religious services, along with meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous, etc. 

Here's a link to their website, with an outdoor photo of the chapel: 

USH Chaplain Services

I was able to play this chapel because it was rented out for the evening by Arches Academy, a small private school where my mom is a member of the faculty. Arches rented out the chapel for the evening for their annual Christmas concert, featuring the students of the school. My mom spoke to some of her fellow faculty members, and found out that there was a one-hour window--that happened to fit my schedule perfectly--in which I could go in and play the organ. I am grateful to the staff of the Utah State Hospital and the faculty of Arches Academy for making it possible for me to play in such a beautiful space on such a fun instrument!

The thing that makes this organ unique in this area is that it is positioned at the back of the hall. That is unusual for this area, since there is a very high number of LDS church buildings, and they all have their organs positioned at the front of the room, rather than the rear.

Here's a photo of the rear with the organ (pipes and console) taken from just forward of the center of the hall:

Here's the front of the hall, for those who are curious:

Here's a closer-up view of the pipe facade. Notice a couple things: First of all, no swell box. This organ does not have expressive capabilities (For my non-organist friends, this doesn't mean that I can't use it to express myself, but rather that I can't control the volume of the sound directly. I can add and remove stops, but not change the volume of the stops I have pulled.). Second, You will see some pipes left of center in this photo that appear to be in pairs. These are not a 2-rank Sesquialtera Mixture, but rather a 2-rank Erzähler stop. This is probably my favorite stop on this organ, and it occurs both on Manual I and Manual II, as this organ refers to them as, either as both ranks together, or individually. Manual I also has a 16' Erzähler, which is also beautiful. It's a hybrid sound, in between a principal and string sound, and I like the sound because it doesn't get as buzzy as strings sometimes can, and it's softer and smoother than a principal. Erzähler are hard to find, and are great for prelude or any meditative music.

My parents came to see me play for a few minutes, and my dad was once again my photographer:

It was really nice, I played a few different hymns and a pop song, then spent a good 20 minutes doing some improvisations on Christmas songs (mostly religious, but a couple were secular)! 

 Here's a closer-up view of the Zymbelstern, as I described in my post about the Provo Central Stake Center Organ. The kids who were coming into the concert loved this, they were simply enthralled by it! Those who had come before I left (I had to leave before the concert started) stood there in awe when I "made the bells ring," as did some of their parents! In this case, the bells are hanging on little wire hangers, and there is a set of small clappers (like mallets) that spin around when a toe piston is pushed, ringing the bells and creating a lovely twinkling, tinkling sound in the room. You can see it near the center of this photo, just above the center supporting beam for the organ.

  

Here's the console, and it's a pretty unusual design. It's narrow at the top, like a Holtkamp, but it uses drawknobs above the manuals, instead of the stop tabs or tablets typical of this design. (Non-organists: drawknobs are pulled out like these. Most of the other organs I have played use stop tabs, so just look back at some of my other photos if you are curious.) It was pretty comfortable to play though, I felt right at home, and I really enjoyed being able to observe what was happening from the back of the room. That was fun! That said, this organ has no reed stops, and no mixtures, either. I can't say I'm surprised, though, because the space is rather small, and a reed chorus could easily overpower someone sitting in the congregation. The principal chorus (with a flute for the 2' instead of a principal) is plenty powerful, and adding some of the mutations to the 2' gives you a pseudo-mixture, which produces a similar effect to an actual mixture stop. To be honest, it was refreshing to see an organ with more focus on some beautiful quiet stops, rather than some beautiful loud ones. The Erzähler stops are a very, very welcome addition!

And here's my selfie:

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season! In case I don't get to write another post until then, Merry Christmas to you all, and remember that Jesus Christ is the reason for the season!

Utah State Hospital Chapel (Multi-Use):

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: Unknown, rebuilt 1993-1994

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 8

Location: 1300 E Center St. Provo, UT

Utah State Hospital - Stoplist

A Great, Inspiring Song

Okay, so I know this isn't really organ related at all, but it is music related, and it something that means so much to me that I want to share it.

The reason that I love music so much is because it can touch the soul so deeply. I have lost count of the number of times a song or other piece of music has inspired me, comforted me, or touched me in some other way.

Today was a day that I really needed to have my soul touched in that way. I won't go into any personal details here, but I have been having some challenges recently. I listened to the following song, and the lyrics comforted and inspired me, and motivated me to press forward with peace in my heart. I know they have comforted others, and that they will continue to do so.

The video for the song is posted below, followed by the lyrics. It is entitled "Glorious," written by Stephanie Mabey and covered, in this case, by David Archuleta to be used in the movie Meet the Mormons.

I hope this touches your hearts like it did mine. Thanks for indulging me.

Here are the lyrics:

[Verse:]
There are times when you might feel aimless
You can't see the places where you belong
But you will find that there is a purpose
It's been there within you all along and when you're near it
You can almost hear it.

[Chorus:]
It's like a symphony just keep listening
And pretty soon you'll start to figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece in their own melodies
In each one of us, oh, it's glorious

[Verse 2:]
You will know how to let it ring out as you discover who you are
Others around you will start to wake up
To the sounds that are in their hearts
It's so amazing, what we're all creating

[Chorus:]
It's like a symphony just keep listening
And pretty soon you'll start to figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece in their own melodies
In each one of us, oh, it's glorious

[Bridge:]
And as you feel the notes build higher
You will see

[Chorus:]
It's like a symphony just keep listening
And pretty soon you'll start to figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece in their own melodies
In each one of us, oh, it's glorious

Field Trip! Wellsville & Brigham City

So in late July, I went to Wellsville, UT and Pleasant View, UT to attend my mission president's homecoming and reception. We stopped by the Logan LDS Tabernacle first, where they have a large and beautiful pipe organ, to see if I could play it, but there was nobody there. That does mean, however, that I had my shoes with me that day.

Fortunately for me, the chapel in Wellsville where my mission president spoke is adjacent to the Wellsville Tabernacle, which was sold by the church a couple of decades ago. The Organ, built by Henry Pilcher's Sons, was originally installed in the adjacent tabernacle, and was rebuilt by H. Ronald Poll & Associates of Salt Lake City, and moved to the chapel when the tabernacle was sold. It was installed in 1982. 

My dad was with me that day, so he took some photos of me playing this organ, since I was playing during the meeting block and didn't have a ton of time to play.
So, let's start with some photos of the Wellsville organ. Here's a shot of the case:

You'll notice in the shot below that the swell shades on one side are open, and the other side's are closed. This is because the Great and Swell divisions are both in expression (inside a swell box) with the exception of the facade pipes. I like this, it allows for greater versatility in playing and registration.

Here's a closer-up shot of the organist (yours truly) in lieu of a selfie.



And here's a wide shot of the organ in the room. I really like how this is set up, and the organ's tone quality is very clear and crisp. Everything is very well-voiced and it feels very well buttoned down compared to a Wicks. Of course, Wicks has made some good organs, but this is much nicer. It does not, however have any reed stops or any mixtures. This organ is amazing though. I really, really enjoyed playing it. Sadly, the ward organist didn't know much about organs. She never changed registrations, and never played the pedals. She had no idea how to bring the best out of this treasure of an instrument. Hopefully someone takes the time to teach her how to play, because this organ deserves it.

After the church meeting and my short organ practice session, we headed South to Pleasant View, where my mission president was having a sort of meet-and-greet with everyone who had come for the meeting. This meant we had to pass through Brigham City, where there is a new LDS temple. We wanted to see it up close, and see what the spire was that we could see on a building near it. Fortunately, that spire, just across the street from the Temple, belongs to the Brigham City Tabernacle, also known as the Box Elder Stake Tabernacle. This organ is a Reuter, refurbished by (you guessed it) H. Ronald Poll & Associates.

This is the first Reuter I ever played, and it was neat, because the pipes are voiced to fill a much larger space than your typical LDS chapel, so they seemed quite loud to me, since I was sitting right in front of them. This organ was the first I have played to have a Clarabella, a beautiful flute stop, a Flute D'Amour, a higher-pitched flute stop, and a Cornopian, a trumpet-like reed stop. It was cool, but an older gentleman who was there to give tours of the Tabernacle told me that when the organ was to be refurbished, another company made a bid and proposed several reed stops and a set of chimes, but in the end Ronald Poll won the bid, and the organ came to be as it is now.
This is the only shot we got of the entire organ case:

It's pretty high up in the room, and you can come up either the front or back end of the building to the balcony from the ground floor.
Here's a slightly closer shot. I think the facade pipes may be purely decorative, but I could be wrong.

And here's your close-up of the organist (yours truly).

You'll have to click on this next one to get the full effect. My dad took this panorama from the rear end of the balcony while I was playing. This shot gives you the idea of the type of space this organ is in. You can sort of tell by the way the case looks that it was installed long after the tabernacle was built. It was neat to hear the reverberations in this large space, especially those of the Cornopian. That thing is pretty loud.

So that was my little field trip. It didn't work out quite the way I had planned, but it ensured that whenever I'm going to visit a church other than my own, I make sure I put my organ shoes in the car! It really pays off, and I'm glad I had them with me, even though the Logan Tabernacle was closed at the time.


My next post will be about some organs I played the following week, all in Orem, UT. I'm still catching up on posting the organs I played this summer. As I play new ones, they will be posted right away, but I'm staggering these older photos to keep things neat.

Have a great weekend everyone!


Here are the specifications of the two organs:

Wellsville LDS Stake Center:
Built By: Henry Pilcher's Sons, moved and rebuilt by H. Ronald Poll & Associates
Opus Number (if indicated): 1422 (Pilcher), 8 (Poll)
Year: 1928, renovated 1982
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 9
Location: 30 South Center St. Wellsville, UT

Brigham City/Box Elder LDS Tabernacle:
Built By: Reuter Organ Company, rebuilt by H. Ronald Poll & Associates
Opus Number (if indicated): 966 (Reuter)
Year: 1951, Refurbished 1992
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 9 (originally, may have changed with renovation.)
Location: 251 S. Main St. Brigham City, UT

Organ Stops Explained - By a Great Organist on a Beautiful Organ!

This is my favorite video explaining most common organ stops, and all the different musical sounds a classical organ can make.

The Organist is Frederick Swann, who was, at one point, the President of the American Guild of Organists. He is absolutely amazing, and has a great sense of humor.

The Organ is C. B. Fisk's Opus 130, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California.
More information about the organ is available here and here.

What I can tell you about the organ off the top of my head, is that it is a tracker, as I explained in my post about Bach. This means the keys on the organ work mechanically, and Dr. Swann shows that towards the end of the video. The stops are operated electrically in this organ, which makes things easier on the organist. I think tracker action with electric stop action is the best combination, since you can have a tracker organ, yet still have memory levels, and plenty of them!

This video is about 10 minutes long, but if you're interested in learning more about organ stops, this is one of the best demonstrations. Dr. Swann doesn't play any actual pieces in this clip, but rather just explains what the different stops do. He's also pretty funny, so you probably won't get bored, even if you aren't quite as interested in Organs as I am.

Here's the video:

Anyway, that's "today's lesson!" Have a wonderful evening everyone! New organs should be coming to the blog here in the next week or so.

Halloween Organ Music

Hey Guys!

So, since today is Halloween, I thought I would share a couple of organ pieces that I particularly like, since organ music is often heard on Halloween. These two pieces are really cool, so I hope you listen to them!

The first is probably the most famous piece of organ music. It was featured in an early film version of Phantom of the Opera, and has been featured in many creepy and/or dramatic films since then.  It has become an iconic piece in today's culture, since just about everybody has heard the beginning of this piece at least once.You'll probably recognize it in the first fives seconds or so.

This piece is the Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, by Johann Sebastian Bach.

More history on the piece, and how it became associated with Halloween is very well summarized in this article.

Here's one of my favorite recordings of it, played on an organ that Bach may have played in his lifetime:

So, that's the famous one. This next one is a little more obscure, but it's one of my absolute favorite pieces. It's just so dramatic, and I hope to one day be able to play it!

This is the Toccata from Leon Boellmann's Gothic Suite. If you can, listen to this on some larger speakers, or with some good headphones, because this piece is so dramatic, and you lose some of the effect on smaller speakers.

Here's the video:

And, though it isn't classical, who could forget the now-famous overture from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, The Phantom of the Opera?

Here's a good recording of it played on a nice pipe organ:

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you enjoyed these three pieces as much as I did!

A Neat Organ and a Sad Story (with a New Happy Ending!)

As a little announcement about myself, I am now officially a member of the American Guild of Organists, or AGO! They are a great organization dedicated to excellence in organ and choral music, and I know some great people involved. Check them out at www.agohq.org/ or my local chapter at uvago.org!

As I mentioned last time, I took a little day trip this weekend. I was in the Ogden, UT area, and I had some pipe organs to find! I wanted to go to the Ogden LDS Tabernacle, but there weren't any meetings there today, and every other chapel I went to was occupied with Primary Program Rehearsals, except for one: the Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Ward Chapel.

I discovered this building, once again, through LDS Architecture.
Here's the link to their page on the chapel. with some great photos (a lot better than mine, actually):
LDS Architecture - Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Ward
There's some great history of the building there and some more photos on the tour handouts they have posted. It's definitely a good read, but not necessarily organ-related.

I only had a few minutes in the chapel, so I didn't have time to turn on all the lights for the pictures, I had just enough time to play a hymn, before leaving to get to a visit with some dear friends.

Here's my best photo of the organ:

It looks pretty impressive with all those beautiful brass pipes! I've never seen a Wicks organ like this with brass pipes before. It looks absolutely stunning! The organ has some very nice stops on it, the flutes are very nice and the principals are decent. There's an interesting stop called Oboe (Syn) 8' which sounds like an 8' flute with a high mutation or 2' stop playing with it. I like it, but I'd rather have a real oboe stop.

Here's the console. Notice the clock off to the right. The good news is this organ is in tune and loved. The bad news is that it is in disrepair. The Swell manual will not play unless the Swell to Swell 16' or 4' is engaged, or the swell stops will play coupled to the Great. The trompette rank is also missing a couple of pipes. This is the beginning of the sad story.

Here's a close-up of the console. This organ is a 5-rank Wicks built in 1961. But it may not have too many more years in the building. According to some members I spoke to, LDS Facilities The bishops of the wards in this building believe that when this organ breaks, it's going away and an electronic organ is coming to replace it, since they did just that at the nearby stake center. Therefore, they have kept it quiet that the organ is having troubles.

Fortunately, the members of these wards love this organ so much that they could probably raise the money to fix it and get the Church to let them keep it, especially if they start now, before it disintegrates completely. I believe it's probably just some electrical or mechanical issues inside the console, since the Swell stops still play, just not where they normally would. If anyone knows someone in Facilities Maintenance, or someone that could help save this organ through either skills or funds, I think this chapel could make a neat, intimate concert venue for the Ogden area. The chapel has a lot of character and is a nice acoustic space. It may not be the fanciest or largest organ, but it has some great stops, is in a great building, and has a lot of character. If you know anyone who could help with this project, or who has some inside influence, please contact me at right with their information, and I will pass it on.

UPDATE April 2016: Through some contacts in the American Guild of Organists, I have learned that this organ has been inspected, and a local company has the contract to rebuild the instrument later this year! Upon hearing the sad story, I emailed this post to a contact in the Salt Lake City AGO Chapter, which administers the Ogden area, and he passed it on to Clay Christiansen, who sits on the Musical Instrument Selection Committee for the LDS Church worldwide. When he learned of the removal of the pipe organ at the stake center, Christiansen was apparently very surprised, responding that removing pipe organs "is NOT the policy!" He then went with several others to inspect the instrument, and the decision was made to renovate it.

Here's my selfie. I'm smiling because I hadn't yet heard the sad story. And because I have hope for it, and because I got the chance to play it. (And now, I'm smiling again because I know the happy ending!)

Have a great night everyone! I have plenty of pictures of organs I played a couple of months ago that I haven't had the chance to post yet, so keep your eyes out for those coming soon!

LDS Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Wards:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1961

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 5

Location: 4760 S 200 E Washington Terrace, UT

Two Favorites - A Building and an Organ

This was a couple of months ago, but I just got some information I wanted for this post tonight at an AGO event, so I'm posting today.

These photos were taken in early July 2014.

The first chapel I went to on this particular day was the Provo 1st Ward Chapel, one of the most beautiful chapels I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

More photos of the building and information about the architects are available at the following link: LDS Architecture - Provo 1st Ward

Here are some quick pictures of the organ, taken by me:

Starting with the selfie:

Here's a closer shot of the organ. I know it's a Wicks and was rescued by a Provo bishop from an identical chapel in Arizona that was being demolished, but other than that, all I can tell you is what it's like to play.

The organ sounds pretty good, and it's in a great acoustic space, but there are a couple things to note: 1. There is no combination action (memory levels) in the console. 

2. There are probably only about 8-9 ranks in this organ. It's not very big, and it's not very loud.

3. The blower seems to be getting old. I pulled all the stops and played a C major chord, and I noticed that the pitch dropped momentarily, as if the organ were running out of breath.

Here's a cool shot taken from the back of the chapel just under the balcony (yes, a balcony in an LDS church. I know, right?) This is the favorite building. I love this place, and I would go back again just to see it. My school had a Christmas concert here when I was in elementary school, and I remembered how beautiful this building is from that day. 

The coolest thing about this evening was the experience I had playing this organ. As I played my interpretation of Diane Bish's arrangement of "God of our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand," an older couple and their friend walked in and sat on the back row of the pews. The gentleman came forward as I finished, and introduced himself as an attorney for the Church visiting from Canada. He, his wife and a friend had come to visit this beautiful building. With tears in his eyes, he recounted a story of when he was on his mission, I believe, and they were brought into a Catholic mass. He distinctly remembers them playing the aforementioned hymn, with a choir, organ and trumpeters from the choir loft in the rear of the church. He remembers being deeply touched by the experience and asked me to play the hymn again before he left, which I gladly did. I can see why this reminded him of his experience in the mass, since the arrangement I was playing emphasizes the trumpets on the organ quite a bit. As they left, he said "Thank you for playing that for us. You just made our day!" It's always nice when your music touches someone like that. 

And in case that amazing experience wasn't enough, I thought I would go find an organ that my friend Becca had told me about previously. She had given me the address, but I found no record of this church's organ anywhere else, so I went, not knowing what I would find.

What I found was this:

I walked in and I thought, WOW! And the sound was equally a wow! This organ has a drawknob console and a LOT of stops for a 2-manual organ. And it's powerful. And looks beautiful. I wondered about the origin of this organ for a long time, as there is no builders' mark on it anywhere to be found. I attended an AGO event this evening and spoke to local organ builder David Chamberlin, who said he has tuned this organ several times. He referred to it as the Provo Park Ward, and told me that it is a Wicks, but had been partially remodeled with the help of the late Dr. Douglas Bush and Mike Ohman (not sure the spelling is correct). He told me it has 9 ranks, and was built originally in the 50s or 60s, with Bush and Ohman making their modifications to it in the 1980s. 

This is one of my top 3 pipe organs I have ever played, since it has some great voice, and a relatively large number of stops and voices for a chapel organ. This organ is also less unified than others. Unification is when one rank of pipes is used for several different stops. This one still has some unification, but there are, for instance, different sets of pipes for the principal in the Pedal and in the Great, which gives it a more powerful sound and makes it easier to distinguish when stops are being played in different divisions.

Here's a view from the console:

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun that evening. I went to one of my favorite buildings, and discovered one of my favorite organs. What organist could ask for anything more?

That's all for tonight, guys, but more will be coming soon, I'm taking a little day trip here in the next few days, and I have planned to make some "organ stops" (pun intended) along the way.

Take care, everyone!

Organ Specifications:

1. LDS Provo 1st Ward Chapel:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: Unknown, Building Built 1928, Organ added later

Manuals: 2

Ranks: Probably 8 or 9

Location: 195 S 100 E Provo, UT

2. LDS Provo Park 1st Ward Building:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company, modified by Doug Bush and Mike Ohman

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1950s or early 60s (original), Building built 1946, organ modified by Bush and Ohman mid-1980s

Manuals: 2

Ranks: Around 9

Location: 101 W 800 N Provo, UT

Provo Park 1st Ward - Stoplist

Deja Vu - Some Familiar Sights

Okay, it's kind of late since I just got home from playing these organs, but I saw a couple of things that looked familiar to me.

I went looking for something a bit less familiar, a unique Swiss-inspired chapel located in Springville, UT. I found out about it here: 

Beautiful Swiss-Influenced Chapel in Spanish Fork

The author thought the chapel was in Spanish Fork, UT, whereas it is actually located in Springville, UT. Thanks to a Facebook post from an awesome friend who lives somewhat near this chapel, I located it, and went tonight to play the beautiful pipe organ there.

Sadly, when I got there, the chapel was locked, which forced me to talk to someone to see if they would open it for me. I found the Bishop of one of the wards sitting outside his office with another member. They indicated to me that the functioning pipe organ had been removed, that the pipes were still there behind the screen (the black shape on the wall above the rostrum in the photos) but had been disconnected from actually playing, and that an electronic organ was used for church meetings instead. This is an interesting decision from the Church, since this is such a unique building and they are preserving it, but not its organ.

The good news was that shortly after this, the member sitting with the Bishop said "Well, if it's a pipe organ you want, then you want the chapel over on 4th and 4th." They gave me directions to another LDS building just 4 blocks away, where there was "one of the top pipe organs in the state."

Here's a picture of that pipe organ:

No, I didn't go back to the Sharon East Stake Center, this is a different organ, but it is one year newer and has a different style of stop tabs. As I recall, the stops are the same as well, but there may be a difference in one or two of them. Other than that, the entire building is literally identical to the Sharon East building.

Here's my selfie:

This organ is one I played a couple of months ago, but it has pretty much the same stoplist as Sharon East Stake's organ, and this organ in Springville. It is located in northern Provo, and was sort of a first Deja Vu of the Sharon East Stake's organ.

So, that was today's first Deja Vu. This next one isn't quite as similar, but the console is what was familiar.

I recently had the chance to play an organ solo in a Sacrament Meeting in Cedar Hills, UT. I performed that solo on an Allen Protege digital organ. And the organ below has a console almost identical to that organ's console, but it also has some pipes attached.

Here are the pipes:

And here's a wider view:

This organ is what is called a Hybrid Organ. This means that it has some stops that are actual pipes, and some that are entirely digital. This is great, because it lowers the cost of getting additional voices (types of sound) out of your pipe organ, but it is, of course, better to have an all-pipe organ.

That being said, this is one of my favorite chapel organs. You get the great pipe sounds for about 2/3 of the stops, and you still get the additional voices, such as oboe, clarinet, etc. (and clarinet stops aren't all that common compared to others!), so it's a win-win situation.

This particular organ was recently tuned and maintained, and I am happy to say that this is probably what I would try to get in my building if we were up for an organ replacement. It's less expensive than an all-pipe organ, and you get more stops. Like I said before, win-win.

Here's my selfie. This organ is located in an LDS chapel in the foothills of Provo, UT.

Anyway, those were my "Deja Vus" for today. I hope that you guys enjoyed it!

And here are the specs for these organs:

1. LDS Springville Spring Creek South Stake Center:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1978
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 11
Location: 350 N 400 E Springville, UT

Spring Creek South Stake - Stoplist

2. LDS Edgemont 12th Ward Chapel:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1978
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 11
Location: 320 E 2950 N Provo, UT

Edgemont 12th Ward - Stoplist

3. LDS Oak Hills Stake Hillside Chapel:
Built By: Allen Organ Company/Heritage Church Organ Company of Orem, UT
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: Unknown
Manuals: 2
Ranks: Hybrid Pipe & Electronic
Location: 1960 N 1500 E Provo, UT

Oak Hills Hillside - Stoplist

Hot Pipes - A Fun Sunday Listen

This next piece is very catchy, which isn't something you can usually say about a piece written for the Organ.
The title of this piece is Hot Pipes - Movement 4 from Victor Davies' Jazz Concerto for Organ & Orchestra. The other movements of the concerto are entitled Boogie Pipes, Blue Pipes, and Cool Pipes.

This piece is so much fun, and I was actually at the performance in the video. As you see, it got a standing ovation at the end.

Here's the video:

Enjoy and have a great day! More to come soon!

Bonneville Stake Center - Small, but Unique

These pictures are actually from the 2nd time I went to play this organ. The first time, I was only able to stay for about 15 minutes because a bunch of people were coming in to watch the General Womens' Meeting, and obviously needed the chapel. I also couldn't get any pictures, because the room was rather crowded and the projection screen was down in front of the organ.

This is the first Wicks, and the first chapel pipe organ I ever played, but because of the short time, I had to go back to document it and really get a feel for it.

As you can see, there's some nice detailing on the wind chests for the facade pipes, and there's only room for the one row of pipes against the wall. Below you can sort of see the other pipes inside the swell box in the center. The shutters on the swell box are made of glass, which is why you can see the pipes. You can also sort of see the console in the back right corner of the rostrum.

Here's my selfie:

As you can imagine, with just a small swell box and a single row of facade pipes, this is a pretty small organ. You can see below that it only has 5 ranks of pipes, which isn't very many.

I was able to get this cool shot, since the pipes are right at eye level where you can reach them. Now, if you can ever get that close to organ pipes, DON'T TOUCH THEM, unless you have permission. It's easy for them to get them out of tune. Tuning and voicing an organ is a laborious and expensive affair, and most churches probably won't want to pay for it more than absolutely necessary.

This is the view from the console. It's tucked way back into the corner, and the piano is almost right up against it. I imagine, however, that this makes it easy to use piano and organ in the same program, since the organist could easily whisper in the pianist's ear (or vice versa) without either of them having to move.

I enjoyed this organ. It was fun, and I was able to get some fun sounds out of it. Being only a 5-rank organ, it's not very loud, even on full organ, but it makes it useful for general church services without the church buying a large, costly organ. It doesn't have the finest tone I've ever heard, but it's a workable instrument that I enjoyed playing. I'll be posting some more pics this week, and one of my favorite organs is coming up! 

Have a great week, guys!

Organ Specifications:
Built By: Wicks Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1979
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 5
Location: 85 S. 900 E. Provo, UT

Bonneville Stake - Stoplist

A Very Special Piece of Music

Today's post is a special one. This is something very near and dear to my heart.

This past Monday, my younger sister left the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT, where she had been since July 23 to serve in the West Indies Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was very excited, and I am very happy and excited for her as well. She is going to be a great missionary!

In May of this year, I had gone back to Guatemala to visit some of the people I served. I was there for a couple of weeks, and one Sunday night, I called my family on Google Hangouts. On this call, my sister humbly and sweetly asked if I would prepare an organ solo to play at her farewell meeting. I told her to pick a hymn, and that I would arrange it and play it.

She ended up telling me to pick the hymn, so I picked my favorite missionary hymn, I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go. It really speaks to my soul and I love it, and it's very much about missionary work. I started arranging it soon after I returned from my trip.

About the same time, I was called as assistant ward clerk in my YSA ward, and therefore received a key to the LDS Church's Multi-Stake Building in Provo, UT, which is about a block from my apartment. There is a beautiful digital organ in this building, and I now had access (and permission) to practice in the building. I'll probably do a post on this organ later, even though it's a digital organ, because it's my primary practice instrument and hands-down the best digital organ I have ever played.

Despite breaking my toe, I was able to arrange the hymn for her farewell, and perfect it before the day I would play it. I went through several registrations and iterations of the piece before finally arriving at what it now is. I got the organist from the building where I would be playing to lend me her keys, and I got everything arranged for the smaller Allen organ in my parents' chapel. I played the piece that day in Sacrament Meeting, and, as a surprise, I made a recording of the piece on the organ in the Multi-Stake Building, so she can listen to it her entire mission.

This was a sacred experience for me, and a way I was able to put my heart into my music, and give my sister something nobody else really could. It remains one of my favorite hymns, and when I need to feel the presence of the Holy Ghost, I will go to the Multi-Stake Building and play this piece. It never fails in calming me and helping me to see things clearly.

Below is the recording I made on the 3-maunal Johannus Monarke digital organ at the Provo Multi-Stake Building. It's not perfect, and the microphone I used wasn't designed for organ recording, but it's all there. For those interested in such things, I have not yet transcribed this to sheet music. I play it solely from memory.

Here's the recording. It's on YouTube, but it's just an audio recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTzI2Pf-rMc&feature=youtu.be

Oak Hills Stake Center - A Happy Day!

Sorry guys, I've been a bit busy, and haven't been able to post much this week. School just started, and that always makes for a fun time!

This is a great organ. I really, really enjoyed this day. This is the 9-Rank Schantz organ in the LDS Oak Hills Stake Center. It's just across the street from the Provo temple, and the building has a small bell tower attached to it, so it's unmistakable. I had visited this chapel once previously, a few years ago, for a friend's missionary farewell meeting. Then, I found out that the local AGO (American Guild of Organists) chapter has an event scheduled here, so I figured I should probably go check out the organ. 

Here's a shot of the console. This was the first Schantz I ever played, and I have played only one other since, but I absolutely love their consoles! They are very ergonomic, and it's always easy to reach everything and to get the bench right where you want it. Schantz organs are extremely comfortable to play. The keys also have wooden cores, giving them some heft and body. It makes the organ feel a lot better made, and more substantial. I wish more care was taken with consoles in general, because such a small thing can make a big difference.

You couldn't really see it there, but some of the pedals have had the finish worn off of them by frequently being played in street shoes. Please don't do this. It may be comfortable for you, but it makes it harder for every organist after you for years to come. And getting the Church Facilities Maintenance team to get the organ pedals refinished is pretty low on the priority list.

Here you can see the organ in the room a little better. I love that there's a window right above the organ! It's so cool! You really don't see that very often. I've only played one other organ that has a window among the pipes like this (pictures coming soon!).

All of the pipes are voiced beautifully. The tone colors are outstanding, and everything is very well put together. I am very impressed with Schantz' build quality. If I were petitioning for an organ in my local chapel, I would probably petition for a Schantz, because they are so nice. 

Another interesting thing about these is the action. I'm not exactly sure what kind of action they use (I know it's not a tracker action) but for a certain period after you power the organ off, you can continue to play the pipes on any stops you have engaged for a few seconds before a valve closes and prohibits further playing. That's strange for an organ that isn't a tracker, and it's pretty cool.

This photo was taken standing at the back of the console.

The entire organ fits in the same horizontal footprint. The swell box is just behind the facade, and I believe the blowers are just below these. It's a small organ, but has some beautiful stops. Unfortunately, one of the notes in the pedal was out when I played this on June 11th, but I'm sure they've taken care of it by now.

Above and below you get a view of the window at nighttime.

And I can't forget the selfie!

This is one of the organs I most want to revisit, since it was so much fun to play! Of course, this was an excellent day for me as an organist, as I got to put my organ shoe back on my right foot for the first time in two weeks, and it was a wonderful thing! It's like a soccer player recovering from an ankle injury, or a runner getting back on his feet after his broken leg healed. I really couldn't play the organ fully without the full use of both my feet, but I recovered, and learned some great spiritual lessons in the process. I am grateful for the experiences, and that I am now back to 100%.

Thanks guys, more to come soon!

Organ Specifications:
Built By: Schantz Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1992
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 9
Location: 925 North Temple Drive Provo, UT

Oak Hills Stake - Stoplist

Two Pipe Organs in One Day! - Provo Married Student Stake Center, Sharon East Stake Center

This was a great day. Memorial Day, 2014. It was the first time I ever played two pipe organs on the same day! Sadly, it was the last time I was able to fully play an organ, since the next morning, I broke my toe, making it impossible to put on my organ shoes. The boot they gave me at the hospital was also far too wide to be able to play the pedals with my right foot. For an organist, you can imagine, that this was dreadful. Thankfully, I work in an office and didn't have to walk around much anyway while I was healing.

But I digress.

The first place I went on May 26 was the Provo Married Student Stake Center on 900 East in Provo. This building has two chapels in it, and a large gymnasium in the middle. The South chapel has a Rodgers digital organ, and the North chapel has a Wicks pipe organ!

Here's a picture of the somewhat boring facade:

The pipes are located behind the grilles on either side of the central projection screen.

This was an interesting experience, as it was my first time experiencing a couple of stops: It was my first experience with a 32' stop on a pipe organ (I had played digital 32' stops previously) and a 10 2/3' "Quint" stop. I had never seen a bass mutation before, and honestly, I can't see a lot of applications for it in LDS music, but I imagine the occasional classical piece takes advantage of it.

Here's the placard, with a USB port below it. Being built in 1962, this is probably the oldest pipe organ I have played. As I understand it, the USB port was added during a recent renovation of the organ, and is there to allow organists to store their "profiles," essentially collections of memory levels, on a flash drive so they can keep their combinations from being modified by other organists. I wish more organs had this!

This organ was fun, but I really enjoyed the second one of the day, at the Sharon East Stake Center. I had known for a while that the aforementioned stake center is where my YSA ward goes to play volleyball on Monday nights, and I had recently discovered photos and details of this organ on the Organ Historical Society's Website, so I snagged a ride with someone to "volleyball," and quietly walked to the chapel to play the organ. I finished about the same time they did, so the timing was perfect

Here's a link to the Organ Historical Society's entry on the Sharon East Stake's Organ: 

OHS Sharon East Stake Center

Photos in the entry can be clicked on to make them larger. My photos are below.

Here's the facade, taken from just behind the pulpit. I really like the small, exposed-pipe design at the top. Notice that the swell box is in the center. This makes it a lot of fun to use the expression pedal, since the shutters are so close by and easy to see (and hear) in motion.

Here's something interesting, a 1' stop! This is the first time I ever played one, and this one is a flute, the Siffloete. It's a neat addition to the principal chorus, but it's very shrill, and I honestly prefer a mixture in most cases. You can see the stop tabs for the Swell division including the 1' here:

And how could I leave out the selfie? (One of my better ones, too!) This was my favorite organ in Provo for quite a while. I have been back to play it a couple of times, but I now have a couple of new favorites. This one will always be special to me though, since I later found out I have friends who attend church here.

As I mentioned, less than twelve hours after I took the above photos, I broke my little toe on my right foot in my apartment, and I couldn't properly play the organ for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, everything healed well and quickly, and I was soon back to being my organ-loving self! My next post will be about the organ I played the first time I managed to get my organ shoes back on after my little accident. Have a good one, guys!

Organ Specifications (Provo Married Student Stake Center):
Built By: Wicks Pipe Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1962
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 6
Location: 1600 N 900 E Provo, UT

Provo Married Student North Chapel - Stoplist

Organ Specifications (Sharon East Stake Center):
Built By: Wicks Pipe Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1977
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 11
Location: 2400 N 1060 E Provo, UT

Sharon East Stake Center - Stoplist