A Late Update: The Importance of Tuning and Maintenance

Hey Everyone! I've been really busy with my classes in the Information Systems program at BYU, so I haven't been able to post since I started school. I've attended a couple of different church music workshops, and had the chance to play for my Stake Conference a couple of weeks ago, which was exciting and successful!

This post will be about a couple of organs I played several months ago. The first one is in an LDS chapel in Salt Lake City. I was at this chapel for a mission reunion. I only got to play this instrument for a few minutes after the reunion was over. I was one of the last people to leave. It was a typical small Wicks, with a decent Trompette and a nice Erzahler, sadly without a corresponding celeste.

Here's a photo of that instrument:

It looks quite a bit larger than it actually is. The wings on the two sides contain no pipes, but rather the pipework is all contained within the visible facade and the swell box just behind the center portion of the instrument. 

I enjoyed playing this organ, but it wasn't much to write home about. I'm including it here to document it, and to make a point later in the post.

On to the next organ, at the Provo 5th and 8th Wards Chapel. I have friends who attend church in this building, and they alerted me to the presence of this instrument. Unfortunately, at the time I visited, the phone I was using to take the pictures did not respond at all well to the lighting in the building, and the contents of the photos are barely visible. Here's a link to some good photos of the building and chapel taken by another blogger.

What I can tell you is that no pipework is visible. Not everything is enclosed, but it is behind a screen at the front of the room. You can see this in the photos on the other blog.

This instrument had no maker's mark or opus number anywhere on the console, but several characteristics lead me to believe it is a Reuter organ. These are: 1) The design of the console and 2) the specification of the instrument. The Springville 1st and 3rd Wards building has a Reuter that has a console with the same carvings as this one, and the stoplist is very similar (though the facade is much more impressive on the Springville instrument).

The unfortunate thing about both the Salt Lake City organ and the Provo 5th and 8th Wards Organ is that when I went to play them, I wasn't able to get an accurate impression of either instrument because both were severely out of tune at the time I visited. On the Salt Lake instrument, the principal rank is unified, and if you play higher than the C above middle C or attempt to use the 2' principal, it sounded like a giant calliope, except not musical at all. On the Provo instrument, most of the individual stops sounded fine, but they were out of tune in relation to each other, causing a celeste-like sound, except in an exaggerated and unpleasant manner, and with nearly every stop. 

The point is, if you or your congregation has or decides to obtain a pipe organ, PLEASE take good care of it! I know that maintenance is expensive, but it is worth the trouble! A well-maintained pipe organ can bless the lives of people for generations, but if you let it dwindle into disrepair, it will become a nuisance, and in many cases, you will lose a treasure of an instrument.

Neither of these organs had anything broken on them, but an organ being out of tune significantly limits its usability. Here are some tips on keeping your organ in tune:

• ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS leave the swell box(es) open when you shut the organ off!!! This causes the organ to maintain constant tuning between divisions that are enclosed(such as the Swell) and divisions that are unenclosed (such as the Great), and allows them to be used together, even if the organ as a whole is no longer tuned to A-440. This is so easy, yet so many people forget it! Many modern organs default to opening the swell shades automatically upon turning off the instrument, but you should open the shades just to be safe.
• Try to maintain a consistent temperature in the room year-round. This is easy in a home, but can be more difficult in a church building. Many LDS buildings have thermostats that shut off automatically after three hours. Since this will not maintain a constant temperature in the building always, try and make sure that the room is the same temperature (or close to it) when the organ will be played. Come in 30-60 minutes early to start the thermostat before the meetings start. You can even use this time to practice! That way as the pipework detunes, it will be tuned back to its proper pitch when at the correct temperature, at least for the duration of the meeting.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and that you keep enjoying all the Bach, Franck and Widor you can! 

Here are your organ details:

LDS Wards:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1965

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 7

Location: 3051 S 2900 E Salt Lake City, UT

LDS Provo 5th and 8th  Wards:

Built By: Reuter Organ Company?

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: Unknown

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 6-7 (approx.)

Location: 502 E 200 N Provo, UT

Provo 5th and 8th Wards Stoplist

Tabernacle Day Trip

Hey everyone!

This week I had the chance to take a day trip to Ogden and Logan to play the organs in the LDS tabernacles in those cities. Bear with me, this post is going to be long!

I also tried to play the organs at Utah State University's Kent Concert Hall, and at the University of Utah's Libby Gardner Concert Hall, but was unable to do so. USU's concert hall is under renovation, and most of the organ has been removed to prevent damage, even though the organ was just restored in 2012! The University of Utah's concert hall was not under renovation, it was just locked.

I'll start where I started my day: at the Ogden Tabernacle. This is my new favorite organ, at least my favorite that I have had significant time with. I was let in by the Facilities Maintenance and Security team when I turned the knob on their office door at the rear of the tabernacle. Nobody was scheduled to practice on the day I was there, so I was given plenty of time alone in the tabernacle. It is a beautiful building, and it's very unique. It was just renovated this past year along with the Ogden Temple, and that includes the organ.

The organ was originally installed in the tabernacle by Balcom & Vaughan Organ Builders in 1956, shortly after the Tabernacle was completed. Recently, it was renovated and added to by H. Ronald Poll & Associates Organ Builders of Salt Lake City, UT. Michael Poll, President of Poll & Associates, confirmed in April 2015 that tonal work was still being finished on the organ, and a dedication concert was planned featuring Rulon Christiansen, an Ogden area organist. When I arrived, the memory unit was set to the organist "Rulon C," so I take it that the dedication concert had already taken place. (Note: I later found out the organ was finished, but the concert was scheduled for Sept. 20, 2015. I attended, and it was wonderful). The man who let me in told me that Clay Christiansen, one of the Temple Square Organists, had been there the day before to play the instrument. And from what I could tell, everything was finished and sounded wonderful. (Clay also performed at the dedication, along with other musicians from the local interfaith council.)

Here are some pictures of the facade. This is one of my favorites, if not my favorite organ facade. I think it looks fantastic! It's elegant and interesting without being too flashy or distracting from the worship that takes place in the building. The casework near the top of the facade and just below the tubas mimics patterns found in the stone on the outside of the building, which resemble Mayan writing. Very cool!

The console is very large and has many stops. There is no rolltop on it, and it's hard to see anything over the top of it. The accidentals (black notes) on the keyboards are made of wood. The organ feels very well put together and is a pleasure to play. The chamber in which most of the pipes sit is directly behind the facade, and is very open into the room. This provides some nice effects with the quieter stops, as some really sound distant, with the sound floating out from behind the facade, whereas others are closer and speak more directly into the space. It allows for great contrast of sound for doing call-and-response type pieces, both on the soft and the louder stops. My favorite soft stops are the Dulciana with Celeste in the Choir division. They're just stringy enough, and very warm, and they make a great soft prelude registration. I'd probably add a flute with them, or use them as an accompaniment for the Harmonic Flute on the Great.

Surprisingly, this organ has a Zimbelstern, operated via a drawknob in the Great division. It also has real chimes (not digital ones, as far as I know) and an 8' Harp and 4' Celesta which sound acoustic as well. This is a very fun organ to play. (note: all percussion stops are digital except the chimes).

Here's my selfie, taken near the console:

Notice what's above my head: The horizontal trumpets! These are not a traditional Trompette en Chamade, but rather a Tuba en Chamade, which gives a fuller, warmer trumpet sound, rather than the harsh, piercing tone of a French Trompette. It is a beautiful solo voice, available on Great, Choir, and Pedal at the 8' and 4' pitches. It can be soloed out over a full principal chorus with mixture, even if I have the Swell principal chorus coupled in with the Great and a trumpet in the pedal, and it sounds great on its own as well, with a decent reverberation time in the room as well. I used the Horizontal Tuba to play the fanfare from Wagner's Also Sprach Zarathustra (also known as the theme music to 2001: A Space Odyssey) and it sounded absolutely AMAZING. 

Here are a couple more unique things: The Vox Humana on the Swell doesn't have its own tremulant, so you can hear what the Vox Humana actually sounds like without the "rwah-rwah-rwah" that usually comes with it. To use it with a tremulant, you must draw the Swell Tremulant, at which point it sounds like a regular Vox Humana. Click here for my favorite joke about the Vox Humana.

As you can see below, this organ has the elusive and myserious Pedal on Great Coupler. I tried it, and it does indeed play the pedal ranks on the Great, though they end at the G above middle C. I guess it's an alternative version of a bass coupler? (note: also used for playing duets, when one organist is already using the pedals)

There is so much to love about this organ. It's in perfect condition, it has a wide variety of tone colors, and everything I put my hands on felt very well-built and solid. I can't see someone ever needing more organ than this to play a piece, unless it's written for more than 3 manuals or you need an Antiphonal division. I am grateful to have the chance to get to know this instrument, it is quite a beauty, and I hope I get the chance to play it again!

Now on to the last organ I played: The Logan Tabernacle. The church authorities in charge of this building have a strict policy that nobody plays the organ unless they're practicing for or playing in a conference or concert. Fortunately for me, the man in charge of the organ itself was there, and since he saw that I have my own organ shoes and am clearly a serious organist--not some kid who just wants to derp around and bang on the keys to make noise--he allowed me to play for five minutes or so. I didn't get really good pictures since I wasn't alone, but I did get to hear the organ for quite a while, since I came during someone's scheduled practice time. The sister who was practicing asked my advice about stops that had been set, and requested some tips to improve her playing. I gladly obliged, since service is why I play the organ. I then talked to the members in charge of tours about the history of the tabernacle for a good while, while listening to this fine sister play.

Sadly, because I didn't have a lot of time to experience this organ on my own, I don't have a very comprehensive impression of the instrument. I do know that it is a hybrid organ, and I got a good feel for the power it has, since I registered my own piece. What I did notice is that the instrument is extremely well-maintained, extremely loved, and extremely beautiful. I would love to have the chance to return some day and give a concert.

A few notes: most of the facade pipes are fake. Only a few on the left side are speaking pipes. The console is also wonderful to play at since the top is so low. You can see the choir director perfectly and without intrusion. This would be a wonderful place to accompany a choir. The instrument also has a beautiful Dulciana with Celeste, similar to that on the Ogden Tabernacle's organ. The two are quite similar in their tonal design.

I don't have a lot of information about this organ, but what I have is below. More is available through the Organ Historical Society's database and through other websites.

Here's the obligatory selfie:

Here are your organ specifications. Since these are outside Utah Valley, I am not providing stoplists. These (as well as more photos) can be found in the Organ Historical Society's Database.

LDS Ogden Tabernacle:

Built By: Balcom & Vaughan, H. Ronald Poll & Associates

Opus Number (if indicated): 34 (Poll)

Year: 1956 (B&V), 2015 (Poll)

Manuals: 3

Ranks: 51 + Digital (32' extensions and percussion stops)

Location: 350 South 22nd St. Ogden, UT

LDS Logan Tabernacle:

Built By: Henry Pilcher's Sons, LDS Church Organ Maintenance Department, H. Ronald Poll & Associates

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1908 (Pilcher), 1953 (LDS Church), 1987 and 2009 (Poll)

Manuals: 3

Ranks: 66 (44 Pipe, 22 Digital)

Location: 50 North Main St. Logan, UT

Pipe Organs of the Rich and Famous: LDS Edition

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I posted. I took an intense class for Spring term, and I just finished my application to the Information Systems Program at BYU. I've been pretty busy studying, but I've also been busy composing (recordings to come soon!) and discovering new pieces.

I've played a few different organs over the past few months, and I'm grouping them into a couple of different posts. This one will outline a couple of organs I really, really enjoyed playing. A later post will outline a couple more I enjoyed, but that could have used a good tuning.

I call this post "Pipe Organs of the Rich and Famous: LDS Edition" because the two organs I will discuss were influenced in their design and building by two of the most famous LDS organists to live in the past few decades.

The first of these is a tracker action pipe organ built by Kenneth Jones in BYU's Harris Fine Arts Center. This organ is not in a large performance space, but rather in a professor's office. The office in question used to belong to the late Douglas Bush, a world famous LDS organist and arranger who also had a hand in the construction of the Provo Central Stake's Organ. The current occupant of this office is Brian Mathias, a BYU organ professor.

Here is a photo of the entire organ:

As you can see, the console is attached at one end (right edge of the picture) and the facade speaks out into a small space. You can see the corner of the ornate rug and the back of a harpsichord near the left of the photo. Basically, I want an office like this. 

The fantastic thing about this organ is that it's not in a big huge space, and it wasn't designed for one. While enjoying this organ, I pulled the Trumpet on the well and it was a trumpet sound, but just right for the room size. A friend and I took turns and both of us played full organ on this instrument with the other standing in front of the facade. The noise was loud and glorious, but not overwhelming in such a small space as one would expect a pipe organ to be.

Here's the console:

This organ has a nice tracker action, and some great tone colors as well. The salicional with celeste is rich, warm, and absolutely beautiful. The oboe is a fantastic sound, and the cornet is very nice as well. The stop knobs feel like they have mechanical action, but there is a combination action with motors that operate the knobs, even though they are large and ornate, requiring a long draw to pull them out.

Here's a closer photo of the center of the facade. Notice the beehive in the carving.

I forgot to get a selfie with this one, probably because I was so excited to play it. I knew about this organ, but I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to play in this office. I stayed after our Utah Valley AGO Super Saturday to play it. We had just finished a class in the room and I jumped at the chance to play the instrument, and boy am I glad I did!

On to the next organ! This next organ was orginally built in the 1970s by the Wicks Organ Company, and renovated last year by R. M. Ballantyne Pipe Organs under the direction of James Kasen, another famous LDS organ composer. He has written arrangements of many popular LDS hymns, and every one I have heard is absolutely beautiful!

(Edit: When I first played this organ, it was not finished. I played it later in September when it was finished and several changes had been made. The stoplist has been updated.)

Here's a photo of the organ facade. This organ is also located in Provo, UT.

I knew this organ would be nice, but when I first saw it, Wow! This is one of the better open-pipe facades I have seen. It is symmetrical and interesting, and I rather like it! (There is now a visible Gemshorn rank that changes the look slightly, but the visual change is subtle.)

This organ has two manuals and Wicks' Direct Electric Action. I would guess that by number of stops, this is one of the larger organs I have found in an LDS church building, though I have played others with more ranks. The way it is configured, the organ makes very good use of  its 15 1/2 ranks, and it is versatile, making it easy to create effective and interesting registrations.

Here's a wider view of the space:

The organ projects very well into the space. Tone is clear, crisp, and powerful. Even when all the curtains are open to the overflow, I imagine that this instrument is very well-suited to congregational accompaniment.

Here's the console:

On the left side, some of the stop knobs are sort of hidden behind the key cheeks, but they can still be pulled out fully, or operated via the combination action. This organ is blessed with three different types of flutes, oboe and trumpet ranks available at 8' and 4' pitches, and a beautiful Gemshorn that extends all the way down to 16'.

This organ was fun to play. It feels more buttoned down than most Wicks instruments of the era, and it is absolutely beautiful. (Note: a 2-rank String stop was added on the Great, and it's a wonderful addition. There are also separate strings on the Swell now.)

Overall, I had a lot of fun playing these instruments. Specs and stoplist links are below. Now that I have more free time, expect a few more posts about new organs and about new pieces of music that I have discovered.

Have a great day!

BYU Teaching Studio:

Built By: Kenneth Jones & Associates

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1999

Manuals: 3

Ranks: 22

Location: E-208 HFAC, BYU, Provo, UT

HFAC E-208 Stoplist

LDS Provo Stake:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company, R. M. Ballantyne Pipe Organs

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1974, 2015

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 15.5 (originally 12)

Location: 1315 East 900 South, Provo, UT

Provo Stake Stoplist

Pleasant Grove - A Nice Little Schantz

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while again. I'm now done with school for the summer (except for one class) so I'm out and about looking for organs again! It's a wonderful feeling!
I've only been out once or twice so far, but I have some photos from last year that I still need to post.

The organ in question is the 9-rank Schantz in the LDS Grove Creek Stake Center in Pleasant Grove, UT. It's the same model as the Schantz in the Oak Hills Stake Center in Provo, which I played even longer ago. The Pleasant Grove organ is two years newer, and playing it gave me a different perspective on the instrument, for a couple of reasons: 1. The PG organ is in better condition than the Provo one, and 2. I had several months more experience by the time I played the second one, so I was able to notice more details that I hadn't before.

The facade is a little different from the Oak Hills organ. The PG organ looks like this:

It's a little more unique than the Provo organ, though the Provo organ is more striking to my eye. I do, however, love the wood in this building, and on the organ. It's lovely to see dark, rich wood like this, and I think it should be used more often.

Here's a wider shot, where you can better see the wood paneling in the room and the organ facade:

And here's the console:

I think every organ should be this comfortable to play. The backrest on the bench is a common Schantz feature, and it's great, especially for long meetings when you have to sit on the bench for an hour or more. Schantz also has a way of making their instruments to comfortable to play. The keys always feel very solid and precise, and at just the right height, and nothing ever seems too far away. On smaller organs like this, they use the large rocker tabs you can see, which are extremely easy to change without removing your entire hand from the keyboard. If I were to make my dream organ, the console would probably be a Schantz.

In addition to being a pleasure to play, this organ is also a pleasure to listen to. It has some great and useful sounds, and is versatile for such a small organ. My personal favorite is the replacement of the 2' principal in the Great principal chorus with a 2' Gemshorn. It adds just the right touch of softness and stringiness to the chorus and is absolutely beautiful. The swell gemshorn celeste is also nice, as is the mixture. Everything on this organ seems to be manufactured to a very high standard of quality, and all the stops produce a sweet, beautiful tone.

Overall, I would be extremely pleased to play this instrument, be it for a recital, for church, or just for fun. I have been told that even though the sound is not overwhelming in the chapel, it is robust enough to support congregational singing, even when all the overflows are opened.

And I can't forget the selfie!

I hope you enjoyed reading about this organ as much as I enjoyed playing it. I have some newer photos that will be posted soon, but these ones have been itching to get onto the blog for months now. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

LDS Grove Creek Stake Center:

Built By: Schantz Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1994

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 9

Location: 1176 N 730 E Pleasant Grove, UT

Grove Creek Stake - Stoplist

Springville - A Second Trip

About a month ago, I was in Springville again to see a friend, but this time I came more prepared. I had more information about some of the organs in Springville, and this one was just a few blocks from my friend's home. I had been waiting for a while to get into this particular chapel, and I finally made it that evening.

It was funny, as I was playing, one of the bishops who uses the building came in and, optimistically hoping I was from the other ward that uses the building, inviting me to play for their sacrament meetings. I told him I would love to, but that it was too far away for me to travel every Sunday and that I had commitments in my own ward, but otherwise I would love to!

The organ in this building is a small but nice 1949 Reuter.

Here's a photo of the main facade:

I really like the visual design of this organ. I like the different colors of the wooden pipes and the principals in the center are rather striking. The larger wooden pipes on either side are actually stuck to the wall, either with glue or screws of some sort. I thought that was interesting. 

The console of this organ is also very nice. It has a neat little design on the sides and the rear:

The pedalboard is also a little different. It still feels close to if not exactly like AGO standard and is still concave & radiating, but it looks different in that the natural keys have a cutout near the console end of them. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't think to. Silly me!

Speaking of the keys, I love the touch on this organ! You barely have to depress the key at all and you get sound out of the pipes. This makes it much easier to play faster passages on this instrument. The toccata from Bach's BWV 565 was very enjoyable here, though not very loud. This organ is pretty small, and there are no reeds or mixtures. But what there is is in tune and a pleasure to play. This organ would be more suited to hymn playing or to some baroque and earlier pieces, rather than French romantic or most modern classical music. 

One of my favorite stops on this organ is the Dulciana. It's a smaller, lighter Principal that almost resembles a string stop, and it's absolutely beautiful. You don't see them so often on these organs, yet they are so useful, especially with how the organ is used in LDS services, as we do a lot of quiet preludes before and after our meetings, sometimes incorporating a short interlude near the middle of the meeting, just before the administration of the Sacrament.

Personally, I love a good reed chorus, some trumpets, and a nice 16' Posaune in the pedal, they demonstrate the majesty of the organ and are a lot of fun to play. But organs such as this one and the one at the Utah State Hospital, organs that focus on the beautiful soft tone colors, are a nice break. They are beautiful, and allow for a nice, relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of life. I'll take a good Dulciana or an Erzähler any day of the week, it's a nice escape for me, since a lot of the time I play the organ to unwind and de-stress from the many activities I enjoy so much.

Anyway, Here's a wider-angle shot of the pipe facade. Once again, I really like the way those different colors of wood contrast with each other, and with the paneling on the wall (and yes, I know the smaller ones on the top are painted, and so are the swell shades.). 

...And the obligatory selfie:

Have a great day everyone, more to come soon!

And here are your organ details:

LDS Springville 1st & 3rd Ward Building

Built By: Reuter Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated): 854

Year: 1949

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 5 (Originally, probably added to later)

Location: 55 North Main St. Springville, UT

Springville 1st & 3rd Wards - Stoplist

Salt Lake Adventures

Hey everyone!

I apologize for not having posted anything for a couple of months.

School has been crazy, and I'll get home late at night tired, and ready to just go to sleep.

Such is the life of a college student.

I have played a couple of new organs, but today's post is going to focus on my trip to Salt Lake City a couple of months back. There's so much to say, that I'll just have to get started right away!

The Salt Lake Chapter of the American Guild of Organists hosted an Open Console and Organ Crawl at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral with its 2011 Bigelow Organ and at the Salt Lake LDS Tabernacle, with its world famous 1948 Aeolian-Skinner. It was a great day, and I got to spend time with some other organists, both from Utah Valley and from SLC. I drove up with my friend Bryce and we both had a wonderful experience playing these two world-class instruments.

Let's start with St. Mark's. This organ is a 40-rank, 3-manual tracker action organ built by Bigelow & Company of American Fork, UT, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's in a great little acoustic space, too. It's a great balance between live and dead. It's live enough that there is some reverberation, but dead enough that the sound is still clear and doesn't overlap with itself as it does in buildings with a more live acoustic.

More information about this organ can be found at bigeloworgans.com

Here are some great shots, thanks to Becky of SLCAGO:

This one is from one end of the organ loft:

This is from the other end, and you can see the Ruckpositiv on the left. This is a small division of German origin that hangs on the gallery rail behind the organist. It can be a whole organ on its own, and it generally contains some smaller, softer stops.

Here's my selfie, you can see the Ruckpositiv just there on the edge with the main case behind it:

Here's a shot I took of the main case, to focus on the 8' Processional Trumpet, what is known as an "en chamade" stop. These are the pipes coming straight out of the front of the case. They are very loud, and were a lot of fun to play in my rendition of "God of our fathers, whose almighty hand," inspired by Diane Bish.

I was very impressed by the organ at St. Mark's. I looked all over it, and I could not find one single flaw. It was meticulously assembled and maintained, and was a pleasure to play. Before we began playing, Adam Hansen, the resident organist of St. Mark's played snippets of a couple of pieces to show how well this organ handles both German Baroque and French Romantic music. It was absolutely amazing. He played the beginning of Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D Minor BWV 565 as the German example, and a bit of the ending of Louis Vierne's "Carillon de Westminster" as the French example. It blew me away how perfect both of the pieces sounded on this instrument. Kudos to Bigelow & Co. for designing and building such an impressive instrument!

Before I forget, here's St. Mark's small organ, which is only 4 ranks, 1 manual and no pedal. It's portable in that it can be rolled around the building, and you can either plug it in or operate it with a hand crank. This organ was restored by Bigelow in the 1980s. I didn't get to play this one, but I thought you all might like to see it.

Now on to the reason I went in the first place: The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ. This organ has a long history, which includes one of my ancestors, John J. McClellan, Jr., who I have mentioned here before. He oversaw this organ's renovation by the Austin company in 1916, and played on some of the many pipes I played that day. 

This organ has some of the greatest sounds on it! There are two great trumpet-like stops, juxtaposed with each other on either side of the case, the Trompette Harmonique and the Tuba Mirabilis, which allows the organist to create a call-and-response effect with the trumpets across different sides of the stage. This organ also has an antiphonal division, meaning that there are pipes in a chamber at the back of the room, allowing for yet more call-and-response effects. And the strings on this organ are so lush and soul-stirring it's absolutely unbelievable! This was truly a once in a lifetime experience, but I really hope it's not!

Since we did the organ crawl at the Tabernacle, I'll show the shots of me playing first, then the shots of our trip inside the organ.

Before we played, we heard a 30-minute recital played by Linda Margetts, one of the Temple Square organists, and professor of organ at the University of Utah. It was a great recital, and Dr. Margetts put her own little spin on the end of Bach's BWV 565, which was neat.

I opted to play my arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go," since it was a piece that would use the amazing strings on this organ, and it was a spiritual moment, as well as a nerve-wracking moment. I was so nervous, even though I wasn't performing for an audience. This is the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Organ we're talking about here! It was more spiritual than anything, playing a piece I wrote for my sister on pipes once played by our ancestor.

Here I am playing:

And another shot with a better view of the Facade:

And a more close-up view. In case you were wondering, I only had a few minutes, so I didn't get to set my own stops. Rob Stefanussen, a frequent guest organist on Temple Square and proprietor of one of the best YouTube organ channels, set the stops for me. I wish he had given it reeds and mixtures towards the end of the piece, but I didn't tell him to, so that's okay. I would like to go back and play this piece again, and play something else that takes better advantage of the reeds.

Now for the trip inside the organ. This was really cool. It was neat to see the different stages of the organ, since it has been rebuilt 4-5 times since its original installation. Bryce and I spent an extra half hour talking to Robert Poll, the curator of organs on Temple Square, as well as one of the gentleman from the Rocky Mountain Organ Company, who assisted with the renovation of the organ when the building was renovated in the early 2000s. There's so much to know that I couldn't possibly explain it all here, but feel free to contact me, and I'll tell you more!

I will tell you this: Of all the pipes you can see, only ten of them are real, and those are the ten largest ones: the six in the two main towers, and the one on the front and the side of each of the two next largest towers for a total of ten. The rest have been fake since the beginning. But don't worry, other than the ten you see, there are 11,613 more lurking behind the scenes that provide the rest of the tones. This is a 206-rank organ, so there's a lot going on here!

There's also a neon sign on the organ, behind a grille just under the center of the facade, so it is invisible unless you are close to the organ case. It reads "Quiet Please." It is currently disconnected, as it is so old that they need a special transformer for it, and since it isn't used, they haven't bothered fixing it.

Here are some of the pipes we saw from inside. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because I was too excited, and too preoccupied with the questions I had for the curator.

Here's a violone:

And part of the Bombarde in the pedal:

Here's the plaque from the Organ Historical Society, recognizing the historical nature of the instrument. I just realized, it's also inadvertently a self-portrait, but don't let that bother you.

In the large metal room/box you see in the background are the blowers that run the main organ. Air entering the chamber is temperature and humidity controlled, and heavily filtered before it enters the blowers. This helps keep the tuning stable in the pipes.

 Here I am standing next to the main blower. This blower provides air to all of the stops in the manuals of the organ, while the smaller one behind it runs a few of the larger ranks. The large pipes had a tendency to steal too much air from the treble pipes, so they separated them.

Here you get a better view of both of the blowers. There is a third blower, but it runs the pipes at the back of the room, and is hidden from view, as are the pipes. These are behind a grille that is easily mistaken for an air-conditioning vent. The man in the white shirt and tie is Robert Poll, the organ curator.

So that was my amazing day in Salt Lake City. It was an out-of-this-world type of experience for someone as amateur as me to be able to play and visit two world-class instruments such as these, and I am very grateful to SLCAGO for letting me participate. I hope I will have the chance to again play these instruments, as well as (eventually) the LDS Conference Center, the LDS Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Assembly Hall on Temple Square and Salt Lake City's Cathedral of the Madeleine. A man can dream, right?

I've played a couple of chapel organs recently, so I'll post those in a couple of days. I figured I'd keep this separate since this is already one of the longer posts I've written.

Summer break is coming and I will have a lot more time to take and post photos of organs! Starting in the fall, things will slow down, but I'm very excited for summer, as I'm sure you are!

Have a great day, and keep your eyes peeled for more posts soon!

Orem Organs - And Salt Lake to come soon!

I'll explain the Salt Lake part first:

Yesterday I participated in an Open Console and Organ Crawl event in Salt Lake City at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral and the Historic Tabernacle on Temple Square. I had the opportunity to play both of these wonderful instruments, and enjoy the music and company of some wonderful and talented organists. 

I will write a longer, more detailed post about this shortly, I am waiting to get some pictures back from another AGO member who brought a nicer camera than I did.

In the meantime, I thought I would post pictures and information about a couple more organs in Orem that I played last Summer. 

This first one is one of the larger pipe organs in an LDS chapel, at 17 ranks. It is located in the Sharon Stake Center in Orem, UT, and was built by the Wicks organ company in 1969. It recently underwent renovation and restoration, to ensure its performance for years to come.

Here's a photo of the facade:

As you can see, there are a LOT more pipes than are typical for your typical LDS Chapel Wicks Facade. There are usually only a couple ranks visible, but this has at least three or four open to the room.

One interesting thing about this organ is the types of the 17 ranks. Prior to this, the largest organ I had seen in an LDS chapel was 13 ranks, but it had a Rohr Schalmei, a great 16' Trompette in the pedal division, and 16' Gemshorn in the Great. It was more eclectic in its tonal design than this organ, at least to my inexperienced ear. So you can see that I was pretty excited to see what kinds of interesting stops I would find on this organ. Sadly for me, most of these additional ranks had been used for different types of flute stops. Not that I don't love a good Nachthorn, but I think this organ could have been made more tonally diverse, and therefore more versatile, by replacing one or two of those flute ranks with an interesting solo reed, such as an Oboe or Clarinet, or extending the pedal down to an actual 32' rather than just a resultant*. I still like this organ a lot, but I am admittedly puzzled by the tonal design.

*A resultant is two ranks of pipes that reproduce the overtones of a lower rank. They are used for 32' stops with a 16' and a 13 2/3' rank, or for a 64', a stop called a Gravissima. 

So here's my selfie, with excitetement, before I found out there was no oboe. Console is located behind the pulpit to the right (stage left), as it is in most LDS buildings.

After I finished at the Sharon Stake, I went to another nearby chapel, the LDS Orem Stonewood Stake Center, and was pleasantly surprised by a 9-rank 1994 Wicks organ. Its tonal quality is a lot nicer than those of the older Wicks organs, especially those from the 1970s, but it's no Schantz. I like this organ very much, but I didn't have a lot of time to get to know it, so I only got a couple of blurry pictures, since it was late and I needed to get going.

So here's the selfie of that one:

And here's a wider shot of the chapel. There are 41 pipes in the Facade, which I'm pretty sure is a principal, with the rest behind the gray screens just behind the main facade.

Overall, I would be happy to play either of these instruments every Sunday if I had the chance, but if I had been the one in charge when they were installed and designed, I would have done things just a little differently: I would have chosen a more eclectic tonal design for the Sharon organ, and for the Stonewood organ, I may have chosen a different builder if it had been within the budget.

Have a great Sunday everyone, and I'll be back with more pictures soon!

LDS Sharon Stake Center:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1969

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 17

Location: 545 South 800 East, Orem, UT

Sharon Stake Center - Stoplist

LDS Orem Utah Stonewood Stake Center:

Built By: Wicks Organ Company

Opus Number (if indicated):

Year: 1994

Manuals: 2

Ranks: 9

Location: 450 South 100 West, Orem, UT

Friends, Fugues and Fournitures

Let me just start with a shout out to my awesome readers! You have helped me locate so many new organs to play, got me access to play them, and supplied me with such great and detailed information about these instruments. THANK YOU!!! 

As a small announcement, I will be adding a link to a stoplist for each organ in Utah County I have shown here on the blog. The link will be at the bottom of each post near the specifications and address for each organ. I'm still working on getting some of the information, so stoplists will be going up one by one, but keep an eye out for them.

This week has been a wonderful week for me as an organist. On Saturday, I went to the Utah Valley American Guild or Organists' Pedals, Pipes and Pizza activity on Saturday, and I got to go inside Bigelow's Opus 16! It was a really neat experience to see the inside of an organ up close. I also noticed how meticulously crafted, tuned and maintained Bigelow organs are. I've seen the pipework of several instruments up close, and Bigelow's is so pristine, right down to the tuning scrolls on the pipes Here's a picture of me inside the organ:

Yes, it was a great day, as you can tell by my face. I also made some new friends in the local AGO chapter, which was wonderful! I even met a couple of fans of Pedals and Pipework, which was really cool! 

One of the people I met, Bryce, made me an offer I couldn't refuse, to play the organ at the Alpine Stake Tabernacle in American Fork! We set a time on Monday, and I met him at the Tabernacle to discuss and play this instrument. We were joined by David Chamberlin, who I have mentioned before, a local organ builder and talented organist who is very versed in the history of the Alpine Tabernacle Organ. 

Here's a picture of the organ, and I'll give you the condensed version of the Organ's history:

This organ was completed in 1923 by the Austin Organ Company, after persuasion by John J. McClellan, tabernacle organist (and my relative) to have Austin, one of the foremost organ builders at the time and who had just renovated and expanded the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ, to build this one. Over the years, some changes were made. The current Trompette was originally a Tuba stop, and the organ got a new console in 1976 after being vandalized. When this happened, several stop tabs were added, plans having been made to add these ranks to the organ, but they have not yet been added, and the new console is almost 40 years old. Stops that were simply "prepared for" have a red dot on the stop tab, so as not to confuse the organist. Here's the console:

You'll see from the stop list, this organ is very symphonic. It has both a clarinet and an oboe, a vox humana, some beautiful flutes, and two separate ranks of strings with accompanying celestes. Another interesting thing about this organ, is that some of the ranks extend up to the 2' range, even though there are no functioning 2' stops on the organ. This top octave of pipes is accessed using a 4' coupler, meaning that everything being coupled is played an octave higher than normal. This allows something resembling a full principal chorus to be achieved.

Also, the bar above each divison's stops is a divisional cancel when depressed. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted one of these! Sometimes, I'll have the Pedal set up just right, but I need to start from scratch on the Swell, so I push the general cancel and Whoops! There goes my perfect pedal. This is a feature more organ builders should integrate into their consoles, it makes it so much easier to play. 

This console was also a little confusing at first to me, since there are two rows of stop tabs. With stop jambs and drawknobs, I know the standard location of the divisions, as I do with a single row of stop tabs, but with more than one row, it confused me at first, but it's less confusing after playing for a while. This organ's manuals are also farther apart vertically than they are on other three-manual organs I have played, which, once again, took some getting used to, but is fine after playing for a bit.

This organ's sound is unique. It's not quite like anything else I've ever played. The Tutti is not quieter, but less bright than on most of the organs I have played. I understand this is part of the design, and I like it. This organ is capable for pieces some traditional or more baroque-style pipe organs would not necessarily be capable of. And I love the eclectic nature of symphonic organs, there are so many different tone colors to play with, even on organs with relatively few ranks for a symphonic instrument. 

Here's another view of the organ, from the balcony. Bryce made it in this shot! He's at the console:

This is the last tabernacle we have in Utah County, and we are very blessed to have it. I don't think many people realize what a treasure this instrument is. Though it has had some minor changes over the years, this instrument is pretty close to how it sounded in 1923 when it was first installed. And it's still in amazing condition, with Austin's impeccable build quality manifest in every piece I had contact with. The organ sounds wonderful and brings life to the space. I see why John J. McClellan wanted this organ installed, it's wonderful, and most of all unique.

And here are a couple fun photos; my selfie and a nice shot of me at the console!

Keep your eyes out for more posts soon! I have several pictures from last year I still need to show you, and some new organs to play as well, thanks to you!

Have a great week, everyone!

LDS Alpine Stake Tabernacle:

Built By: Austin Organs, Inc.

Opus Number (if indicated): 1130

Year: 1923

Manuals: 3

Ranks: 20

Location: 100 E Main St. American Fork, UT

Alpine Stake Tabernacle - Stoplist