Category Archives: Articles

Articles

A Day Down South!

Leave a comment

You are cordially invited to explore the Chehalis Valley in an organ crawl and then go up to the South Sound for an organ recital.

The Olympia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists invites you to explore three REMARKABLE organs and then enjoy a concert by Doug Cleveland on June 4, 2022!

10:00 a.m. St. Timothy Episcopal Church Chehalis


Kay Flores, Rector
Phone: 360.748.8232. Mobile: 307.265.6516
1826 SW Snively Avenue
Chehalis, WA 98532 US

Randall J. McCarty (Dedicated 11 March, 1979)
Plaque on organ states: Originally A. B. Felgemaker Opus 521 (1893) for
Trinity Methodist Church, Xenia, Ohio
Obtained through the Organ Clearing House
Exhibited in the 1982 OHS convention

Great (58 Notes):
8’ Open Diapason 58 m
8’ Dulciana 58 m
8’ Melodia 58 m
4’ Octave 58 m

Swell (58 Notes, enclosed):
16’ Bourdon TC 46 w
8’ Violin Diapason 50 m
8’ Salicional 58 m
8’ Stopped Diapason 58 w & m
4’ Flute d’Amour 58 m
8’ Oboe 46 m
8’ Bassoon 12m (plays bottom octave only)
Tremolo

Pedal (27 notes, pneumatic key action)
16’ Bourdon 27 w

Couplers
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Great
Swell to Great Super Octave
Bellows Signal
Wind Indicator

Pedal Movements (2 un-labeled double acting pedals)
Great Piano
Great Forte
Great to Pedal Reversible
Balanced Swell Pedal
Water Motor hitch-down pedal

11: 15 a.m. St. John’s Lutheran Church


2190 Jackson Highway
Chehalis, WA 98532
(360) 748 4741
Joan (Pronounced Joanne) Jahnsen, Director of Music and Organist

S. L. Huntington & Co. (1993)
Originally Koehnken & Grimm (1895)

GREAT
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Melodia
8′ Dulciana
4′ Octave
3′ Quinte
2′ Super Octave

SWELL
8′ Geigen Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Piccolo**
Tremulant

PEDAL
16′ Bourdon

Two Pedal Movements
Great Forte (Left shoe activates six Great stops)
Great Piano (Right shoe retires all Great stops EXCEPT Dulciana and Melodia)

**The piccolo pipes (also by Koehnken and Grimm) replace an 8′ Aeoline. Original pipes and rackboard were preserved.

Unused for over 25 years at St. Mary’s R. C., Shawnee, OH. In 1992 the organ was moved and reinstalled here by some 50 volunteers from the church. S. L. Huntington (of Stonington, Connecticut) worked with Herbert and Marianne Huestis (Ladner, BC, Canada) on the restoration and installation in Chehalis.
Painted decorations copied from the original facade pipes. Amy Huestis, student at Concordia University, Montreal, prepared stencils which reproduced the original colors.

12:30 p.m. Chehalis Seventh-day Adventist Church


120 Chilvers Rd.
Chehalis, WA 98532 US
360 748 4330


CASAVANT FRÈRES Ltée., Nº 3027, 1983
GREAT
16’ Quintaden 61
8’ Prinzipal 61
8’ Bordun 61
4’ Oktav 61
4’ Rohr Flöte 61
2’ Flach Flöte 61
IV Mixtur 11/3’ 244
8’ Trompette 61 [hooded]
8’ Festival Trompette 61
Blank
Chimes (Maas; TF – F4- 25 tubes)
Carillon (Schulmerich)

Great Unison Off

CHOIR
8’ Gedackt 61
8’ Erzähler 61
8’ Erzähler Céleste (GG) 54
8’ Geigen Prinzipal 61
4’ Kooppel Flöte 61
2’ Block Flöte 61
1 1/3’ Quint Flöte 61
III Zimbel 1’ 183
8’ Krummhorn 61
Tremulant
8’ Festival Trompete (Gt)
Harp (preparation

Choir Unison Off
Choir 4

SWELL (Expressive)
8’ Rohr Flöte 61
8’ Salizional 61
8’ Vox Cœlesstis (GG) 54
4’ Prinzipal 61
4’ Spitz Flöte 61
2’ Oktav 61
II Sesquialtera 22/3’ (TC) 98
IV Scharf 2/3’ 244
16’ Oboe 12
8’ Oboe 61
Tremulant
8’ Festival Trompete (Gt)

Swell Unison Off
Swell 4

PEDAL
16’ Prinzipal (1-30 Façade) 32
16’ Subbass 32
8’ Oktav 32
8’ Gedackt Pommer 32
4’ Choral Bass 32
IV Mixtur 2’ 128
16’ Posaune 32
16’ Oboe (Sw)
8’ Trompette 32
4’ Schalmei 32
Chimes (Gt)
8’ Festival Trompette (Gt)

COUPLERS
Swell to Pedal 8,4
Great to Pedal 8
Choir to Pedal 8,4

Swell to Great 8,4
Choir to Great 8,4

Swell to Choir 8,4

PISTONS
General 1-8
Swell 1-6
Swell to Pedal (reversible)
Swell to Great (reversible)
Swell to Choir (reversible)

COUPLERS
Swell to Pedal 8,4
Great to Pedal 8
Choir to Pedal 8,4
Swell to Great 8,4
Choir to Great 8,4
Swell to Choir 8,4

FINGER PISTONS
General 1-8
Swell 1-6
Swell/Pedal (reversible
Swell/Great (reversible)
Swell/Choir (reversible)
Great 1-6
Great/Pedal (reversible)
Choir 1-6
Choir/Pedal (reversible)
Choir/Great (reversible)
Pedal 1-6
Full Organ (reversible
Adjuster
Cancel

TOE STUDS
General 1 – 8
Pedal 1 – 6
Sw./Ped. (reversible)
Gt./Ped. (reversible)
Ch./Ped. (reversible)
Sw./Gt. (reversible)
Ch./Gt. (reversible)
Sw./Ch. (reversible)
Full Organ (reversible)
Zimbelstern (preparation) (reversible)

PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Swell Expression (balanced)
Choir Expression (balanced)
Crescendo (balanced)

ACTION: E-S; E-P unit; VOICES: 36; STOPS: 44; RANKS: 48; PIPES: 2554
(including. Chimes & carillon)

3:00 PM Doug Cleveland in concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia

Articles

April program: Seattle Organ Tour

Leave a comment

Our April 30, 2022 program will be a tour of Seattle organs. Hold that date!

We are still working on the schedule, but the tour will involve at least three, and probably four Seattle organs. We are planning to spend about an hour at each church. At each stop, the host organist will spend about 15 minutes demonstrating the organ, focusing on the sounds of the organ and not playing complete pieces. Afterward, members are invited to try the organ or to play a piece.

Lunch will be at a downtown church where there are multiple take-out options within a short radius, including Subway, Taco Del Mar, and Whole Foods.

Within a few days, we will send out an email with the schedule.

Articles

César Franck 200th Anniversary Concert at Spanaway Lutheran Church

Leave a comment

March 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birthday of César Franck, a legendary French organist and composer. The Tacoma AGO celebrated this birthday with a March program featuring a recital of the music of César Franck played by members at the Spanaway Lutheran Church.

The 1905 Woodberry organ is in a case at the front of the room, with a traditional style key desk and a keyboard cover that can be lifted to form a music rack. There are two manuals, with a compass of 61 notes, three divisions, 22 stops, 18 registers, and 20 ranks. The pedalboard is flat, with a compass of 30 notes.  The organ features slider chests, and mechanical key and stop action.

Dean Sheila Bristow standing at front of church holding notes
Dean Sheila Bristow welcomes audience at the March 2022 meeting

After Tacoma AGO Dean Sheila Bristow welcomed the members, member Tim Drewes began the program with Chorale Number 2 in B minor, one of three organ chorales that Franck wrote at the end of his life.

Member Wyatt Smith continued the program, with Pastorale in E Major, Opus 19, following which he was joined by Dean Sheila Bristow at the Steinway piano for a duet performance of Prelude, Fugue and Variation in B Minor, Opus 18. Franck wrote two versions of this piece–one for organ alone, but the second to be played as a duet with a pianist.

The program concluded with Chorale Number 3 in A minor, played by Cheryl Drewes, who is the organist at Spanaway Lutheran Church.

Cheryl Drewes standing in front of organ bench facing audience
Cheryl Drewes acknowledges the audience

Following the program, members enjoyed a wine and cheese reception in the church narthex.

People sitting in church pews
Tacoma AGO members at the March 2022 program
Tim Drewes playing the organ while Cheryl Drewes stands to the side assisting with registration
Tim Drewes plays Chorale No 2 in B Minor
Wyatt Smith sitting at organ
Wyatt Smith plays Pastorale in E Major
Wyatt Smith sitting playing organ while Sheila Bristow is playing piano in a church
Wyatt Smith (organ) and Sheila Bristow (piano) play Prelude, fugue and Variation in B Minor
Wyatt Smith and Sheila Bristow standing in front of organ at front of church
Wyatt Smith and Sheila Bristow acknowledge the audience
Cheryl Drewes playing organ while Tim Drewes assists with registration
Cheryl Drewes plays Chorale No 3 in A Minor
Articles

February Program: The Saint Matthew Passion

Leave a comment

On Monday evening, February 21, the Tacoma Chapter sponsored a program on J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, presented by Seattle conductor and composer, William (Will) White. Will currently serves as music director of Harmonia, a Seattle performing ensemble comprised of a chorus and orchestra. For four seasons, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and is a frequent pre-concert lecturer for the Seattle Symphony. Will is also a composer, and is one of the commissioned composers for the 2022 AGO National Convention in Seattle. His choral composition will be part of the O Antiphon service at St. Mark’s Cathedral during the convention.

Seattle Composer and Conductor William White discusses the St. Matthew Passion
Seattle Composer and Conductor William White discusses the St. Matthew Passion

While there are many ways to approach a talk on this monumental opus, White focused on the considerations and challenges facing a conductor when performing this work. For instance, the Matthew Passion calls for two choirs, so there’s a question about the best placement for each choir. J.S. Bach performed his Matthew Passion four times, always on Good Friday. Where might the two choirs have been placed in the Thomaskirche?

There is also the question of whether to use early instruments and tuning (415Hz) or modern instruments and tuning (440Hz). Yet another consideration is whether to use a harpsichord or portative organ, or both, for the continuo parts. (In the case of Harmonia’s upcoming performance of the St. Matthew Passion in March, both will be used, in addition to a theorbo.) Finally, there is the question of how to conduct the recitatives in a way that gives the soloist freedom but gives solid cues to the continuo players.

One example of a stylistic question in the Matthew Passion is whether to observe the fermatas in the chorales as holds, or whether to consider them as lifts, giving the choir an opportunity to breathe but move onto the next phrase of the chorale.

If all this sounds like a bit of a snore, it absolutely wasn’t! Will White made the presentation engaging and interesting, using visual examples of the score and sound examples to illustrate points.

The final conversation of the evening focused on Will’s experience as a composer, including how to compose for the organ when the composer isn’t an organist! The conversation broadened to composing in general, which generated lively questions and discussion from the attendees.

For more information about the upcoming performance, visit the AGO calendar entry.

Articles

January Meeting at St. Mark’s

Leave a comment

We will attend the January organ concert at St. Mark’s Cathedral featuring organists Michael Kleinschmidt and John Stuntebeck as our January meeting. More information about the concert is available in our calendar listing.

We have negotiated a group rate with St. Mark’s Cathedral, and the cost of admission for full voting members of the Tacoma Chapter will be covered as part of your dues.

Free admission applies only to full voting members (regular, special, and dual) in good standing. It does not apply to the chapter friends or young organist categories. It does not cover spouses or partners–only members. Your dues must be current in order to gain free admission.

When you arrive at the concert, identify yourself as a member of the Tacoma AGO chapter and be prepared to show identification in addition to your proof of vaccination.