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Specification of Brombaugh organ, Op. 22, for Christ Episcopal Church Tacoma, Washington DISPOSITION: Great - Manual I Quintadena 16 - Præstant 8 - Holpÿp 8 - Octave 4 - Spitzflöte 4 Quinte 2 2/3 ] Sesquialter II Octave 2 Mixture III-V Trumpet 8 * Harfenregal 8 Positive - Manual II Gedackt 8 Erzähler 8 + Erzähler Celeste (tf) 8 + Præstant 4 Rohrflöte 4 Nasard 2 2/3 ] Cornet (discant) II Cigarflute 2 Scharff III Krummhorn 8 Pedal Subbass (wood) 16 - Octave 8 - Octave 4 - + Posaune 16 + Trumpet 8 * Couplers, etc Great - Pedal Positive - Pedal Positive - Great Tremulant, adjustable Cymbelstern * Manual stop that transmits to Pedal - Some pipes common with another stop ] Quinte/Sesquialter and Nasard/Cornet have common 2 2/3 ' ranks; register selected by half or full drawing stop knob + Additions/changes in 1989 made possible by donors Kathryn & Gary Habedank and "Frugal Gourmet" Jeff Smith Keyboard compasses: Manuals, 56 notes: C - g '''; Pedal, 30 notes: C - f ', flat Mechanical key action, suspended; mechanical stop action; attached keydesk Metal flue pipes of tin/lead alloys, hammered and adjusted for vocale sound Cone tuning for small flue pipes; soldered hats for stopped metal pipes; reeds easily tunable by organist Solid wood slider windchests and wind system with large wedge bellows; wind stabilized, but flexible Kellner's "Bach" Temperament, suited for music of all periods. Simple modern freestanding casework of fumed solid white oak and western red-cedar at rear side of nave of architectural award-winning church, with blower and bellows in nearby oak case. This organ has 26 stops on 31 ranks, with 1430 pipes and 4 bells. David P. Dahl, AAGO, organist/choirmaster at Christ Church and Prof of Organ/University Organist, Pacific Lutheran University Kathryn Habedank, MA NEC, assistant organist at Christ Church The Rev. Mr. Patrick Tomter, rector during all phases of construction Dedication concerts on 2 & 3 November 1979, played by Dr. Mark Brombaugh Recordings available from: Organ Historical Society OHS David Dahl cassette 1982 Musical Heritage Society MHS Carole Terry LP 1983 Pacific Lutheran University PLU David Dahl CD 1989 The building for Christ Church in Tacoma, Washington, was designed by Paul Thiery, who had worked in Japan and won a number of architectural awards upon its completion in 1968. Electronic organs were becoming common at that time, so one of few flaws in the new church was no provision for placing a pipe organ. David Dahl, professor of organ and university organist at nearby Pacific Lutheran University, was appointed organist-choirmaster for the parish in 1970. He knew that fine tracker organs were always encased, compact self-standing musical instruments, so he was able to get the parish to consider replacing their electronic after an unexpected meeting with John Brombaugh in 1972. They worked up a plan for a small 2 manual organ that was to become its builder's Op. 22. Brombaugh was making Op. 20 for St. John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, CA and Op. 21 for St. Mark's Episcopal Chapel at the University of Connecticut, Storrs after moving his shop to the Pacific Northwest from Ohio in 1997. These were similar, but slightly larger instruments than the initial plan for Christ Church, and it was possible to upgrade Op. 22 so it could be built along with them. The nave at Christ Church is constructed with poured concrete walls and floor and has a very solid wooden roof, so it has a remarkably reverberant acoustic for a small space that reminds listeners of a mediaeval church - including the difficulty its acoustic can present to the preacher! When the organ was finished in early 1980 and dedicated in a recital by its builder's brother, Dr. Mark Brombaugh, its musical intensity entranced Patrick Tomter, rector at Christ Church throughout the project, enough that he gladly changed his mind on changing the sound of the room that was not a help to his preaching. A few years later, several parishioners had become familiar with sounds that might be helpful for enhancing the organ's use in services, so several stops were added or altered to bring the organ to its present condition in 1989 when the parish was celebrating its centennial. The organ at Christ Church is based on a composite of various historic ideas common to instruments in North Germany, Holland and England. In fact, during the initial voicing in the remarkable acoustic at Christ Church, the builder and organist gave consideration to using a much lower windpressure reminiscent of the ancient Italian organs. After careful listening for several weeks when the organ could first be used in services, Brombaugh decided it was necessary to raise the wind pressure and Principal chorus pipe cut-ups to get the vocale sound necessary to support congregational singing as was the norm for the old northwest Continental organs. A special amenity was given to Dahl's love of the sound of Italian Principals by a special voicing treatment Brombaugh gave to the Præstant 4' in the Positive division: everyone won and the people do sing! For variety, several reeds are present which are seldom seen in modern organs. The Trumpet is based on Brombaugh's familiarity with the Schnitger organ in Eenum, Province Groningen, Holland. The Krummhorn is modeled after a similar stop from Gerhard von Holy in Marienhafe, Ostfriesland, Germany - though it fails to be an authentic copy when coming into its own. A Regal was planned for the Great that was based on some obscure information on the Harfenregal in the Tobias Brunner organ in Tellingstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Brombaugh's brilliant assistant, Munetaka Yokota, was given the assignment to take these ideas and do whatever he wanted: the result is unique in modern organbuilding and continues positively to entrance everyone who listens to or plays the Christ Church organ. Musician Dahl continued to work with Op. 22 for almost a decade and observed that Brombaugh had placed some stops in his later work which were more of the Romantic vintage than anyone might have expected. To enhance Op. 22 for some parts of Anglican service music, Dahl wondered if a stop of the celeste type might be a possible addition. Of course, and Brombaugh looked at the remarkable stop attributed to the E.M. Skinner shop they called an Erzähler. With some tricky alterations to the extant Positive slider chest, it was possible to place a set of narrow scaled conical flue pipes into the organ to give a result comparable to great master of the high American Romantic period without damaging the wonderful sounds this instrument inherited from a much earlier period of great organbuilding. The organ's keyaction is simple suspended tracker action without any special enhancements which might keep the player from the closest possible connection with the windchest valves. Its stop action also is as simple as possible, yet facilitates the musician playing to his heart's desire. Several modern ideas are important to the musical success of Op. 22: the wind is produced by a typical electric blower, but it is regulated with a wedge bellows not unlike that found in organs centuries ago. Because this bellows is not the wind source, it functions instead to cause the pressure to rise somewhat (rather than fall as is common in typical modern wind systems) when the organ needs more wind for loud passages - a positive benefit not available to the old builders. The other major item is the temperament its inventor, Herbert Anton Kellner, attributes to Johann Sebastian Bach. This tuning is a full "well temperament" in the best sense of that idea: it can play in all keys with virtually no negative effects, but in the more common keys used in the majority of the organ literature, it has a harmoniousness virtually found in no other tuning system; it may eventually be considered the most remarkable 20th century improvement for the organ world. This instrument has served the Christ Church parish for more than 20 years now and is a wonderful example of collaborative help from the parish's rector, musicians, donors and the builder's staff and many organbuilding colleagues, particular David Dahl, Kathryn & Gary Habedank, Paul Fritts, Martin Pasi and "Frugal Gourmet" Jeff Smith.
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