When I arrived at Pacific Lutheran University, I knew I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I was going to get to play Paul Fritts & Co. Opus 18, a truly magnificent instrument, almost every day of the week. I wanted to make sure that I took the time to learn the sounds of the instrument, to learn beautiful stop combinations for my own performances and to support guest artists. I thought it would be both fun and educational to make a project out of exploring the organ’s tonal palette, and I decided to use the Görlitz Organ Tablature to help me on my journey of discovery.

The Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch, as it is known in German, is a collection of 100 Lutheran chorale melodies harmonized in four voices by Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654), one of Sweelinck’s most well-known students. He was commissioned by the city of Görlitz to create these harmonizations, which Scheidt intended for organists to use and learn from in services and private devotion. They are miniature masterpieces of early Baroque counterpoint, often employing advanced chromaticism; we might compare them favorably to J.S. Bach’s collection of Lutheran chorales that represent the developments of the Late Baroque.

The Fritts organ is especially well-suited to playing music of the North German Baroque, so it felt like a good fit to use Scheidt’s music to explore the instrument’s timbral resources. The combination of many tunes for different seasons of the church year combined with their short length made the collection even more attractive to me. I knew that the scope of this task, registering 111 unique harmonization of 100 chorales, would stretch my thinking about combining stops to beautiful musical effect.

At first, I followed my education in Baroque registration practice. I relied especially on Barbara Owen’s fabulous resource The Registration of Baroque Organ Music, which I had picked up in college. I explored each of the divisions’ principal choruses, their individual flute stops, and the reeds on their own. Once I had exhausted single registers, I was confronted by the many possibilities of combining stops. I considered historical principles, but most often I tried to match the tone of the hymn to the sound of the stops: this principle helped inspire me when I had already employed obvious combinations. Later in the project, I allowed myself to start thinking outside the box, employing ideas more suited to Romantic or even modern styles to see how far I could stretch the organ’s tonal possibilities.

I learned that the reed stops on this particular instrument are its greatest resource. Using reed stops in combination with principals, flutes, mixtures, and other reeds expanded my thinking about how they can be used as an alternative foundation for chorus registrations. By combining many stops at matching pitch levels, I learned important lessons for creatively registering music from the 1800s and 1900s that I will be able to employ in future performances. It was certainly a challenge to find over 100 sonically distinct registrations, and there were times that I used multiple harmonizations to show off the same registration on different divisions. I learned so much about the different qualities of the same stop on the Swell as compared with the Positive and the Great. That point seems obvious, but being attentive to the differences will certainly help me make creative choices in the future when adapting music that may require some deviation from the written directions.

I am sure that many of us have worked through the stops of a new instrument to learn how to make it sound its best; however, I wanted to share my experience as a way to encourage us to take more time with instruments we know, to discover tonal possibilities that may not be immediately obvious. It was important in this case to face the challenge of devising more than just a few ordinary combinations, as I learned a lot more about how stops best like to be combined in specific circumstances. 

I am not quite done (I will reach the finish line at the end of the church year on Christ the King Sunday), but I know the project has already reshaped my thinking about registration—I am a much more flexible thinker, and I am willing to think outside the box if a specific effect will make an exciting sound. I can now better combine my knowledge of registration traditions with the immediate need to register music with a specific instrument’s resources. I also had a lot of fun learning many Lutheran chorale tunes that are no longer commonly used in worship and discovering some very idiosyncratic takes on familiar melodies.

You can hear my registration journey through this YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjRr8YZiHEj_s1zPGoBc2SysMg7-lemBc&si=t604v9roGAPCev0s.

The Wesley Community Foundation will sponsor an exciting and vibrant evening of music on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 7:00 PM, in the White-Helms Chapel at The Gardens at Wesley Des Moines. The Choppers Brass Quintet and organist Thomas B. Clark will present From Bach to Beach Boys, a program that spans the centuries with music both sacred and secular, classical and contemporary.

The program opens with Gabrieli’s Sonata pian ’e forte, one of the earliest known works to specify loud and soft alternations between two choirs of instruments. Organist and Tacoma AGO member Paul Tegels transcribed this work for organ and brass, and it will be performed antiphonally, with the brass choir at the opposite end of the chapel from the organ.

The concert will also feature selections by J. S. Bach, George Frederic Handel, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, alongside works by living composers including Thomas Marlatt, Frederik Magle, and Robin Dinda. The program highlights original contributions from within the ensemble: a composition by hornist Stacey Eliason and three Beach Boys transcriptions for organ and brass by organist and Tacoma AGO member Thomas Clark. The evening concludes with a dramatic rendition of Grand chœur dialogué by Eugène Gigout, transcribed and arranged for organ and brass by Paul Tegels.

Performers include:
Shelly Devlin, trumpet
Kevin Slota, trumpet
Stacey Eliason, horn
Zach McLurg, trombone
Dennis Goans, tuba
Thomas B. Clark, organ

The Choppers Brass Quintet is a Seattle-based ensemble known for its eclectic programming and dedication to both historic and contemporary brass repertoire. Whether performing at art festivals, churches, museums, or colleges, The Choppers are committed to making brass music engaging and accessible. Their repertoire spans from the 16th century to the present and includes original compositions and arrangements by ensemble members. In addition to their collective work, Choppers musicians are active throughout the Puget Sound region as soloists, teachers, clinicians, and conductors, and have performed across the country.

The chapel at Wesley Des Moines is fortunate to have Paul Fritts and Co Organs opus 46, a two manual mechanical action organ situated in a gallery. The room was designed to be accoustically favorable to music, with a shoebox shape, tall ceiling with complex shape, and low pile carpet. The organ is a gift from then Wesley residents Tom and Jan Crews.

Admission is free, and refreshments will be served following the performance.

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Sponsorship Information

The program is sponsored by the Wesley Community Foundation. Wesley Community Foundation helps enhance the lives of older adults and their families by supporting wellness and educational programs for residents and staff, funding improvements to make Wesley communities even better, and developing capital campaigns to create new Wesley communities.

Funding for the players is provided by the Music Performance Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians, which supports admission-free, live, quality music performed by professional musicians to the public of all backgrounds. The Choppers Brass is part of Seattle Musicians’ Union, Local 78-493.

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More information, including a Google map, may be found in the calendar entry.

On Monday, May 19, 2025, the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists hosted a thoughtful and practical presentation on composing for choirs, ensembles, and congregations, with a focus on music created in and for the church.

The program, at Spanaway Lutheran Church, was introduced by Cheryl Drewes, organist and Director of Music Ministries, and featured two local composers and church musicians: Dr. Dawn Sonntag and Sheila Bristow.

A Composer’s Musings: Dawn Sonntag

The two presenters split the hour, with Dr. Sonntag speaking first. Currently teaching part-time at Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. Sonntag spoke extemporaneously about her personal journey as a composer. From an early age, she felt called to write music, but was hesitant to pursue composition while the academic world favored atonality. Only later, when tonal composition gained acceptance again, did she begin to pursue it more seriously.

Dr. Sonntag provided the following written take-away points:

• When composing a choral piece, sing all of your parts and imagine a different conductor looking at your score – what information would they need? 
• A piece that works for your own ensemble will likely work for others, so consider sharing your music by publishing.  GIA and other choral music publishers do appreciate accessible pieces. You can also consider self-publishing (which I do) and can list your works on distributor websites like J.W. Pepper. You can also share your music through Choral Net by posting under “announcements.” Choral Net used to have a commissioning forum for connecting choral conductors and composers, but I cannot find this anymore. It would be helpful to start on online AGO group for sharing and commissioning works among AGO composer members. 
• Help your pastor/choir/congregation understand that composing is time-consuming.  But it is rewarding to write pieces that you can immediately hear performed, and you can then share this work beyond your own church choir. 

She also provided the following list of her compositions and two sample pieces. The two pieces are copyrighted by Dr. Sonntag, but she has given permission for reproduction on the Tacoma AGO website and for personal use. Redistribution and performance are prohibited. Many of her works are available for purchase on her website.

Composing for the Church: Sheila Bristow

The second half of the program, led by Sheila Bristow, was rich in insight and practical guidance for those composing in church contexts. Bristow, the organist at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island, earned her undergraduate degree in composition at Cornish College of the Arts. Despite not originally intending to pursue music as a profession—nor composition specifically—she now does both actively.

Bristow began by contrasting the romanticized image of the 19th-century composer—isolated and working for months on a grand concert piece—with the realities of composing in a church setting. Church composition often responds to immediate, practical needs: a specific liturgical moment, an unusual choir configuration, or an instrumental gap. Far from being a limitation, she noted, this environment offers unique rewards. Church composers get to hear their works performed right away, receive immediate feedback, and revise or refine their music accordingly. Even modest works can become part of the lived experience of a congregation.

She also touched on the financial realities of composing. Bristow shared that while she doesn’t sell her church music directly, income can come from commissions, sheet music sales, royalties, and licensing through organizations like OneLicense. This structure allows composers to write with purpose and still generate income over time.

Bristow illustrated her talk with three examples of her own compositions:

• “Deep Peace” was composed for a Unitarian Universalist church in Seattle over thirty years ago. The congregation requested music that sounded classical but did not include overtly sacred language. Drawing on a text from their hymnal, Bristow wrote an SATB benediction response that remains a useful example of adapting sacred music traditions to fit non-traditional liturgical settings.
• “O Queen of Heaven” was created when Bristow served at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Kenmore, WA. Facing an August visit from the bishop—during the slowest choir month—she set a medieval Marian text to music. The piece was well-received and eventually published by GIA. While publication offers broader distribution and relationships with editors, she noted that the royalties are modest—typically just 10% of the cover price, with checks only issued after a $50 minimum.
• Psalm settings for Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle represent Bristow’s ongoing freelance work, even after her formal position there ended. Working with a professional choir and a congregation comfortable with chant, she composes Anglican chant psalm settings with antiphons for the congregation. These commissions, paid on a quarterly basis, provide both creative fulfillment and long-term use, with potential additional income from licensing reprints and streaming.

Sheila Bristow has provided a handout of musical examples (reproduced below), and has granted permission for reproduction on the Tacoma AGO website and for personal use. Redistribution and performance are prohibited.

Throughout her presentation, Bristow emphasized that composing in the church is not about perfection but about service, responsiveness, and presence. Whether writing for a feast day with limited singers or crafting music for weekly liturgies, church composers build relationships with their communities and create music that speaks to the spiritual lives of real people.

Following the program, attendees enjoyed a warm reception featuring wine, cookies, and pastries—generously curated by Jan Regier, who visited several local bakeries to select the treats.