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
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
