Vashon Island lies at the end of a short ferry ride from both Tacoma and Seattle.  It has been the home to a number of artists, musicians, and writers–and is also the home of three organs visited by the Tacoma Chapter of the AGO on Saturday, October 13.

Holy Spirit Episcopal Church

 

Carl Kishline and Tim Drewes served as hosts for this program, which began at the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church.  Tim Drewes gave a brief history of the organ, which was built by A.B. Felgemaker for Westwood Baptist Church of Cincinnati, as Opus 629 (or thereabouts) in 1896.  Exactly 85 years after its dedication, it was removed and sold through the Organ Clearing House.  The organ was installed at Holy Spirit by Randy McCarty, a harpsichordist at Pacific Lutheran University who was responsible for the acquisition of 8 to 10 additional organs transplanted to the Pacific Northwest through Organ Clearing House at about the same time.  The organ is in much the same condition as when it was installed, the biggest change being a transposition of the Great 4-foot flute to a 2-foot flute by Tim Drewes.

Following the introduction, Tim demonstrated various sounds of the organ, including strings, flutes, and the principal chorus, based on an 8-foot open diapason.  The Swell division has a 16-foot flute, which is a strong stop for accompanying hymns..  Tim played Bach’s F Major Prelude and Fugue from the Eight Little Preludes and Fugues, leading to some open bench time.

Vashon Presbyterian Church

 

The Estey organ at Vashon Presbyterian Church is most likely opus 23, made in 1902 for a merchant in Philadelphia.  Its subsequent history is somewhat vague, but it most likely made its way to a Portland funeral home, followed by at least one additional funeral home.  Vashon Presbyterian acquired the organ from a funeral home in Walla Walla in 1999.    The organ features three stops on each keyboard and a beautiful oak case in pristine condition.  Tim Drewes pointed out that the case might not be in such good shape had the organ been in a church surrounded by kids for the many years it sat in funeral homes.

At one time, the organ had a player mechanism which was removed and has been lost.  The church still has some of the player rolls.

The organ also has an unusual stop arrangement whereby there is a small “keyboard” sitting above the other two, each key labeled with the name of a stop.  The stop is engaged by pressing the white note, then disengaged by pressing the black note above it.

Vashon Lutheran Church

 

Following the Presbyterian Church, the last featured church was Vashon Lutheran, which features a three-rank Moller Artiste.  The stop list shows quite a few stops, but all are based on the three ranks.  There are no couplers, but most of the stops show up in some way on both keyboards and the pedal, with different names, and different pitches.

Much of the history of this Moller Artiste is unknown, but Vashon Lutheran acquired it from Anacortes Lutheran in 1969.  Members of the church traveled to Anacortes with a truck and brought the organ back on the ferry.

Carl Kishline prepared a handout for this meeting, reproduced below.  Tim Drewes also provided a copy of the dedication program from the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, also reproduced below.  Each of these documents contains multiple pages.  To page through the document, select it and use the controls at the bottom.

Thanks to Carl Kishline for organizing this program, and to Tim Drewes for his expertise in the organs.

20181013-Vashon program

 

20181013-Holy Spirir-Inaugural Recital

In the present time, it is probably safe to assume that Clicquot champagne is better known than Clicquot organs. However, in eighteenth century France, the Clicquot name would have been more widely recognized as the family name of the organ building legacy that includes Notre-Dame and St. Gervais.

François Couperin was born into a musical family, much like J S Bach.  Eight generations of Couperins served the St. Gervais church. François began his organ career at an early age, sitting on the bench as a child as his father played.  His father died when François was only eleven years old, but by that time, the church had already signed an agreement to name François as organist on his eighteenth birthday.

Thus David Dahl, Organist Emeritus at Pacific Lutheran University and Christ Episcopal Church, introduced the first program of the 2018-2019 year for the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.  The program, entitled “Celebrating the 350th Anniversary of the Birth of François Couperin,” focused on the historical context of the organ mass–and, in particular, the practice of alternating organ stanzas with sung parts of the mass.

In 1789, at the age of 21, François Couperin published two organ masses–the Mass for the Parishes, intended for a large space such as St. Gervais; and the Mass for the Convents, intended for use by individual monasteries.  Both are based on the practice of alternatum, the alternation of the sung parts of the mass with organ stanzas.

For this program, David Dahl chose to focus on the Mass for the Convents.  Opening the demonstration portion of the program, AGO members Sheila Bristow (program chair) and Satya Jaech ( board member) sang the opening verse of the Kyrie, alternating with organ verses played by Cooper Sherry, also a Tacoma AGO board member.

Time did not permit a complete performance of the mass.  Instead, seven performers, all members of the Tacoma AGO, played selected examples as David Dahl discussed the progression of the mass through the Gloria, Offertoire, Sanctus, Elevation, Agnus Dei, and Deo Gratias.  Performers included Cooper Sherry, Sheila Bristow, Shari Shull, Thomas Clark, Mark Brombaugh, Satya Jaech, and Paul Tegels.

The French were particularly interested in organ color, going so far as to name pieces primarily for the prescribed registration.  For example, the opening organ verse of the Kyrie is named “Plein jeu: Premiere Couplet du Kyrie”, indicating that the organist should use the defined combination of flue stops known as a plein jeu–all of the principal stops of the grande orgue from 16 feet to mixtures.  Similar names might indicate a chorus of reeds or a solo stop.  The Christ Episcopal Church organ, built by John Brombaugh, is particularly well suited for classical French music.  It features two cornet combinations.  The cornet sound is composed of five pipe lengths, either as individual stops or a single one:  8 ft, 4 ft, 2 ft, 2 2/3 ft, and 1 3/5 ft.   It is a prominently featured tone color in classical French organ music, similar to a reed but stronger than a reed in the upper range.

After David Dahl’s final comments, the program concluded with Paul Tegels, Associate Professor of Music and University Organist at Pacific Lutheran University, playing the last couplet of the Agnus Dei and the Deo Gratias.

The meeting concluded with a wine and cheese reception prepared by Nancy Ferree and Loi Le.

Credits: Thanks to David Dahl for sharing his vision, charm and expertise in French classical organ music, Loi Le for designing the handout, and Sheila Bristow, program chair.  Thanks also to the seven organists for bringing the music to life, and to Mark Brombaugh and Christ Episcopal Church for making the building and organ available for this meeting.

A handout prepared by David Dahl is attached to this article.

handout: Couperin performers handout: St Gervais org