Schoenstein Updates
Caring for a Treasure
It is always an honor to rebuild an historic instrument from a celebrated firm. The story of this Estey organ involves passionate advocates and smart designers. The result is an organ that has been providing a great musical benefit to the church for nearly a century.
Estey opus 2886 was installed at the Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church in San Francisco in 1930 by Felix F. Schoenstein & Sons. Strapped by financial woes of the Great Depression, the church had limited resources and struggled to pay for what little organ they could buy. They needed only the most practical instrument, leaving no room for any specialty stops. They needed an organ which is beautiful and useful.
James B. Jamison, then-sales representative for Estey, devised a stop list focusing on 8’ tone and power through reeds. The voices and scales were chosen carefully to create ensembles that stand on their own. Jamison speaks to the success of these choices in a letter to his colleagues at Estey. He says that when drawing the diapasons alone with Cornopean coupled at 16-8-4, “…you get an effect that should cost $10,000…. It really is exceptional.” In addition to the carefully-chosen voices, the organ is entirely enclosed for maximum versatility.
After Jamison finished the organ, letters show the church loved its beautiful tone from the first hearing. That love continues to the present day, and when Mary Morganti – a member of the congregation and professional archivist – heard the organ, she knew she wanted to help care for it. Her advocacy on its behalf, coupled with the steadfast support of longtime Lead Pastor Jeff Gaines and Director of Liturgical Music Luba Kravchenko, led to a restoration project for the aging organ to bring it back to top condition.
As part of her growing interest in Estey opus 2886, Morganti traveled to the Estey Museum in Battleboro, VT. There she met with the museum curators and even volunteered to go through company archives. The records she and others at the museum uncovered were valuable to us in our restoration efforts; they also shed light on Jamison’s particular interest in this job. After the church had raised the funds, they engaged us to restore the organ, a chance for us to connect with our heritage and breathe new life into an organ we installed nearly 100 years ago.
The whole organ was removed to our Benicia plant while the chambers were cleaned, painted, and modified for easier tuning access. In the course of the restoration, we improved some design elements that had severely limited technician access in the chamber. We also remedied mechanical and tonal issues that had arisen over decades of playing. Re-installed, the organ is easier to maintain and therefore in better tune.
Upon returning the organ to its chambers, we were struck by the beauty and practicality of this little instrument. From the incisive, magical Salicional to the “$10,000” Cornopean, the organ is full of color that is useful to the church. Of special note is the 16’ Dulciana, a perfect example of a gentle string that speaks promptly and beautifully across its whole compass. In short, this organ is designed practically and voiced beautifully. It was our pleasure to help the organ sing again, and we are confident the people of Seventh Avenue will treasure opus 2886 for another 100 years to come.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
Legion of Honor English Horn Receives a Tune Up
The famous 1924 Skinner organ at The Legion of Honor is a rare example of an organ built for a museum that is played weekly. It’s our honor to care for this beautiful instrument. We often undertake small projects to keep the organ at its full potential. One such project was the restoration of the Solo English Horn, a unique stop that was in development at the time of the organ’s construction.
Our Vice President, Louis Patterson, led the restoration which included a comprehensive cleaning and repairing of all pipes. Scrolls and pipe damage was repaired, reeds and motors cleaned and re-assembled, and all pipes were regulated at our Benicia plant. The English Horn will now be installed at the Legion and regulated by our service team. It is our hope that these restorative efforts will give this beautiful stop another 98 years of life. We look forward to continuing to see to the long-term health of the Legion organ.
A New Organ for a New Chapel
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was established in 1854 by royal charter of Queen Isabella II of Spain. The school was based in Havana, Cuba until 1961 when Fidel Castro, an alumnus of Belen, expelled the Jesuits, forcing the school to relocate to Miami. Belen has a long history of rigorous academics and emphasis on the arts. It’s no surprise, therefore, that when the school began planning for a new chapel they chose Jorge Hernández, an alumnus of Belen, to be its architect. We were honored to be selected as organ builder for this historic school.
As we began working on a new organ for the Chapel of Our Lady of Belen, the building was not yet constructed. This meant that we could not perform our usual on-site tonal test and geta “feel” for the room. Thankfully, the school added Scott R. Riedel & Associates to their design team. They provided acoustical reports for the building along with suggestions for modifications to improve the projection of tone from the gallery.
The school’s music program called for an American-Romantic style with a focus on leading liturgies and accompanying choral singing. Consultant Luis Cuza was very helpful in refining the stop list based on Belen’s specific needs. The result is a three-manual design with evenly-proportioned divisions.
Of particular note is the large, independent Pedal division – a luxury for a modest-sized organ! Contained therein is a set of three independent diapasons at 16’, 8’, and 4’. The large-scale 8’ Principal in the Pedal anchors the whole organ and lets the 16’ Open Wood speak naturally without muddying the bass. The 4’ Choral Bass is then scaled to add clarity with a uniform timbre across its compass. A Tromba and Chalumaeu offer more variety and French-flavored fire to the division, leaving the 32’ and 16’ reeds enclosed for maximum flexibility. The Belen organ also features the Tuba Ignati, a special solo reed that carries a full-bodied sound with lots of French brilliance.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Belen was opened in the Summer of 2022 and we began installing the organ immediately after the opening. We were pleased that the new organ required minimal on-site adjustments. The chapel provides a warm, ringing acoustic well-suited to the organ, and we were happy to hear our design choices fit well in the new space.
We were fortunate to work with a talented team at Belen led by the Rev. Guillermo García-Tuñón, President; Jonathan Sánchez, Music Minister; and Ricardo Echeverria, Executive Director of Facilities. Luis Cuza and Joanne Schulte served as organ consultants. The organ was dedicated in a recital by Nathan Laube on March 5th, 2023, as the final performance of the Miami Winter Organ Festival. As the music program and school continue to expand, we hope this new organ, housed in a beautiful new chapel, will inspire young students for generations to come.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
Put the Power in the Swell
Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco, TX is a healthy, growing parish with three choral services every Sunday. Eugene Lavery, Organist and Director of Music, leads a semi-professional Parish Choir and a Chorister Program in the Anglican tradition. When the time came to build a new organ for Saint Alban’s, the church entrusted us with creating an organ that would support a full-scale Anglican music program – a church organ in the symphonic style.
As with any organ project, decisions about where to focus resources were important to achieving our goal. Saint Alban’s is not a very large church, and so the organ needed to be modest in size and focused squarely on the accompaniment of the Anglican service. This meant an emphasis on 8’ tone and building a diapason chorus fit to lead congregational singing. It also meant putting the power of the organ where it’s needed most: in the Swell.
When we sing a hymn, the diapasons are leading us. Like the string section of an orchestra, the diapasons make up the core and most critical part of the symphonic organ’s sound. The Saint Alban’s organ has several 8’ diapasons, three of which are in the Great/Gallery. Just as the congregation loves singing to the sound of beautiful diapasons, so too does the choir feel secure when supported by their tone. For this we have in the Swell our Horn Diapason and 4’ Gemshorn (a tapered diapason in the English tradition, not a whisper stop).
One of the most thrilling effects in organ playing is the power of the Swell behind a closed box. More than just an effect, though, the value of a powerful, versatile Swell is critical to accompanying and organ playing in general. For Saint Alban’s, we designed this division to have everything needed to carry the choir from pp to ff. There is a particular focus on various reed colors, with four 8’ reeds in this department.
The third manual, usually called the Choir, is instead called the Solo because, in addition to Choir and Gallery stops, it contains both accompaniment and solo voices from the Great and Swell. Of special note here is the small yet vital Choir division. The church did not have room for what most would call a “complete” division, yet here again we found just two stops under expression can accomplish a lot of the Choir division’s work. The set of Dulcianas (again, small diapasons) offer numerous possibilities in accompaniment and solo playing as support and contrast. The Clarinet gives the organist another color reed in a different swell box for dynamic control and flexibility. The Gallery division is used with the main organ to add support for hymn singing. It has its own one manual console for accompaniment of occasional singing from the gallery.
The new organ at Saint Alban’s is an example of an instrument of modest proportion yet robust divisions. Much like the growing congregation, it is full of potential and possibility continuing to be discovered. We were lucky to work with a professional, hardworking team at Saint Alban’s. The Rev. Aaron M. G. Zimmerman, Eugene Lavery, and Florence Scattergood each helped guide the project to fruition. The organ was dedicated in a recital by Bradley Hunter Welch, organist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Organist and Director of Music Eugene Lavery’s command of the instrument’s musical resources offers a chance to hear the organ played to its full potential every week. We hope this new organ will inspire the people of Saint Alban’s with newfound possibilities as they grow into the future.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
The Symphonic Organ is the Spice of Life
As we age, it can be easy to fall into a comfortable rhythm of sameness. Work, home, and even social life can take the form of a routine. What to do when we feel stuck in this holding pattern? Seek some variety. And what’s one of the best ways to add color and variety to our lives? Why, the symphonic organ, of course!
Residents at Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community, like many of us, are seeking a mix of comfort and excitement. Their programs range from gourmet culinary experiences to full-service salons to a working woodshop. Their website proclaims, “Live an extraordinary life!” Their chapel mirrors this desire for variety in its programming: from services to concerts and events, the chapel plays a central role in the community’s spiritual and community life.
Our challenge was to build an organ that could satisfy these wide-ranging musical needs and remain small in size. We devised a three manual scheme with the bottom manual (Solo) as a home for solo stops, accompaniment stops, and ensemble stops from other divisions. This, coupled with our double expression system, offers the organist maximum versatility. Rather than being limited to three discrete divisions, with clever use of double expression the Solo manual can change identity. For practical purposes, this gives the organist the equivalent capabilities of six divisions in a 16-rank organ!
Even though the chapel has a warm, resonant acoustic, it’s an intimate space with the organ very close to the listener. It would be a mistake to seek variety in loud upper work or exotic voices. Instead, the variety comes from 8’ stops of many timbres and volumes. Contrasting color reeds and complimentary foundations are placed in different divisions to allow maximum timbral differences, especially when using the Solo manual.
The versatility of this small organ was demonstrated perfectly in its dedication performances. Nigel Potts of Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, SC, and Jeffrey Smith of Saint Paul’s Parish, K Street, Washington, D.C., both played recital programs, services, and led hymn singing with rousing, enthusiastic participation. Chapel organist Clara Godshall leads the community music program in the Anglican tradition. It is our hope that this small organ will continue to offer big returns for years to come, giving residents one more way to have variety, color – spice – throughout their lives.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
The Symphonic Organ is the Spice of Life
As we age, it can be easy to fall into a comfortable rhythm of sameness. Work, home, and even social life can take the form of a routine. What to do when we feel stuck in this holding pattern? Seek some variety. And what’s one of the best ways to add color and variety to our lives? Why, the symphonic organ, of course!
Residents at Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community, like many of us, are seeking a mix of comfort and excitement. Their programs range from gourmet culinary experiences to full-service salons to a working woodshop. Their website proclaims, “Live an extraordinary life!” Their chapel mirrors this desire for variety in its programming: from services to concerts and events, the chapel plays a central role in the community’s spiritual and community life.
Our challenge was to build an organ that could satisfy these wide-ranging musical needs and remain small in size. We devised a three manual scheme with the bottom manual (Solo) as a home for solo stops, accompaniment stops, and ensemble stops from other divisions. This, coupled with our double expression system, offers the organist maximum versatility. Rather than being limited to three discrete divisions, with clever use of double expression the Solo manual can change identity. For practical purposes, this gives the organist the equivalent capabilities of six divisions in a 16-rank organ!
Even though the chapel has a warm, resonant acoustic, it’s an intimate space with the organ very close to the listener. It would be a mistake to seek variety in loud upper work or exotic voices. Instead, the variety comes from 8’ stops of many timbres and volumes. Contrasting color reeds and complimentary foundations are placed in different divisions to allow maximum timbral differences, especially when using the Solo manual.
The versatility of this small organ was demonstrated perfectly in its dedication performances. Nigel Potts of Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, SC, and Jeffrey Smith of Saint Paul’s Parish, K Street, Washington, D.C., both played recital programs, services, and led hymn singing with rousing, enthusiastic participation. Chapel organist Clara Godshall leads the community music program in the Anglican tradition. It is our hope that this small organ will continue to offer big returns for years to come, giving residents one more way to have variety, color – spice – throughout their lives.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
A World of Difference from a Single Stop
When organist Douglas Brown approached us to build an organ for Union Presbyterian Seminary of Richmond, VA, he had a singular focus: maximum dynamic and tonal color range fitting within a small organ loft. Over the years our multum in parvo approach has led to versatile instruments in small spaces, and Union Presbyterian Seminary joins a unique group of organs in this style which contain only one double-enclosed stop. (The other two being Bishop Spencer Place, Kansas City, MO; and Wesley Memorial UMC, High Point, NC.)
Watts Chapel, housed in a beautiful, historic Late Victorian building from 1896, is a semi-circular room with the organ placed above and behind the dais. This allows the organ to speak directly into the chapel – a great advantage. After careful measuring, we determined that an organ of 8 ranks would be all that can fit in the tight space. The organ would be entirely enclosed, save a few bass and facade pipes, and only the most essential stops would be chosen. We knew that the double-enclosed Trumpet would be a key part of the organ’s success.
One of the primary advantages of double-expression is the ability to create more dynamic range while retaining the smooth crescendo and decrescendo of a swell box. In larger organs, we double-enclose the softest and loudest stops of the organ to expand both sides of the dynamic spectrum. In smaller organs, we double-enclose only the Trumpet to increase the dynamic range upward. The double-enclosed Trumpet expands organ’s tonal range in several ways: a) the Trumpet stop can be voiced louder and thus play from pp to fff, b) the Trumpet can serve as both a solo and ensemble stop, and c) the rest of the organ’s expression can essentially be controlled separately. Where in the jobs mentioned above we had an 8’ Trumpet double-enclosed, here we were able to add a 16’ octave.
Another advantage to double-expression is its ability to change a stop’s identity. By “setting” the inner swell to the appropriate dynamic level, the organist can use the single Trumpet stop as quieter ensemble stop, apt for choir accompaniment. The organist could also open the inner shades enough for a “standard” swell chorus reed. And if the shades are open all the way the Trumpet can gain enough power to be a solo reed fit for wedding processions and English choral anthems.
When using the Trumpet in these various ways, the overall effect would be severely limited by having the whole organ under the same expression. However, thanks to double-expression, the rest of the organ can be controlled independently of the Trumpet. This allows for more dynamic control while maintaining the Trumpet’s relationship to the rest of the organ. For example, if the Trumpet is being used as a quieter accompaniment stop it can still crescendo and decrescendo in even proportion to the rest of the organ.
Douglas Brown, Director of Music, played the dedicatory service on September 25. From the seamless introductory crescendo in Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn to a heroic performance of Widor’s Toccata from the fifth symphony, Brown has already demonstrated the breadth of color and dynamic available on such a small organ. The organ is now in consistent use for services and events, and we are especially proud to have this organ give musical inspiration and training to future generations of Presbyterian ministers.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
Hand in Hand: Acoustical Improvements and Good Organ Design
When an organ builder approaches a new project there are often many challenges, and acoustical environment is generally the most difficult. A good deal of credit for a beautiful musical instrument must go to the room that shapes its sound; likewise, a poor acoustic can limit the potential of even the most well-designed organ.
We were delighted by the grand proportions of First United Methodist Church, Montgomery, AL, but its acoustical effect was disappointing. The church engaged Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks, Norwalk, CT, to improve the acoustic profile. A detailed and lengthy study resulted in recommendations that were practical – achieving maximum result for time and money spent.
A great deal of credit for the success of our instrument goes to the organ committee and musicians for insisting on implementing the improvements. The key was to improve the reflection of the nave side walls. This created a more even, warm acoustic for the organ and for all music by increasing the reflection of sound during and immediately after it is produced. These considerations are far more important than long reverberation time. The room is now balanced acoustically, looks appealing, and serves myriad uses.
The musicians of First United Methodist Church were supportive clients who trusted our vision for the organ. The church’s long history of great music includes lots of organ-accompanied choral repertoire, and the congregation carries on the Methodist tradition of robust hymn singing. We designed the organ around these two primary musical needs. The Great division contains multiple diapasons to support the congregation, and a large swell division with double-enclosure gives more expressive control for accompanying. The Choir division is housed in a shallow, tall chamber, requiring a two-level design with pipes arranged carefully for tuning stability and easy maintenance. This is also where the 16’ Bourdon of the organ resides, allowing the bass tone to be brought down to ppp under the whisper stops across the chancel in the Swell.
The team at FUMC – music director James Seay, assistant director and organist Joshua Coble, and consultant Andrew Risinger – recognized that the best way to achieve a truly wonderful organ sound is excellent acoustics. We hope the new organ and resonant church serve this congregation for generations to come.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.
A French-Flavored Schoenstein to Silverado
Schoentein & Co. is in process of building a three-manual, 34 rank organ for St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, CA. The Norbertine Fathers, who can trace their heritage back to 12th-century northern France, have constructed a new monastery which opened in 2021. The first phase of this project included the installation of our opus 116A, a small French choir organ to accompany the liturgy. Opus 183 is a 31 voice, 34 rank organ to be placed in the Abbey’s Tribune (rear balcony), with installation planned for Summer of 2023. This is a unique project for us in that the instrument is designed for one purpose: to play the French Romantic repertoire. The Fathers regularly host acclaimed organists to give recitals, and this new organ will serve that purpose.
Opus 183 gives us an opportunity to use our study of Cavaillé-Coll organs over the years to fashion an instrument that is patterned after that tradition without being a copy. The new Abbey has similar acoustics to that of a French cathedral, and the new organ will offer a rare opportunity in the United States to hear French Romantic music on an instrument and in a space which are both designed to support that repertoire.
Expression Unenclosed: A Symphonic Antiphonal Organ
The 1928 Welte organ at Grace and Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs is a remarkable example of American symphonic organ building. It is filled with 8’ tone of every color and volume, it uses smart tonal design and voicing, its expressive capabilities are vast. These are all values we uphold nearly a century later, and so we were excited at the chance to complete this organ by adding an antiphonal division at the west end.
Welte’s original specification called for an antiphonal organ to draw the sound of the main organ to the back of the church. Over the years an additional musical problem emerged: bass did not carry well past the chancel. Rhythmic pulse did not come through to aid in hymn singing and processions. We wanted to design an antiphonal division that would enhance the already-expressive main organ while remaining small and practical. The space for the division was very tall and shallow, meaning there was no room for swell shades. Stops chosen had to be planned carefully for maximum color and dynamic variety. The tall space did, however, allow plenty of room for 16’ pipes.
Our antiphonal organ is comprised of three diapasons, one chimney flute, and a harmonic tuba. The three diapasons are of different tones and volumes. The 8’ Diapason is in line with our usual approach to antiphonals: most organs only need this stop to aid congregational singing, if they need an antiphonal organ at all. This diapason draws the sound of a rich, sonorous registration from the main organ to the back of the church without drawing attention to itself.
For more versatility another diapason of a milder tone was added. The Echo Diapason allows the organist to bring the sound of mp swell registrations from the main organ to the back of the church. This stop blends perfectly with the Welte Horn Diapason. With the Echo Diapason off, the swell sounds more distant, lighter – a fine effect. With the Echo Diapason on, that same swell sound becomes more present and gently surrounds the listener. Extension to 16’ pitch solves the rhythmic pulse problem with a clear, fast-speaking bass.
The Principal Conique is a way to bring subtle brilliance to the rear of the church as the main organ’s registration grows in volume. With reeds drawn on the Welte organ, the three diapasons in the Antiphonal give the main organ presence without sacrificing character or distracting the listener. The Chimney Flute, an English Lieblich Gedeckt, colors the other 8’ flues, expanding timbral possibility for each dynamic level. It also serves as a way to draw the many flute voices of the front organ back, allowing for that magical “flutes all around” effect. The Harmonic Tuba fits right in with the rest of the organ, heralding the entrance of the procession, or even accompanying the choir in the Howells Collegium Regale service.
When listening to both organs working together, one probably thinks the Antiphonal organ is enclosed – if they notice it at all! The new division can keep in lock-step with the main organ, from soft flutes to warm diapasons to rich reeds. Our challenge to complete an organ installed nearly 100 years ago in our shared symphonic ideal was a challenge, especially without the aid of swell shades. This project illustrated just how expressive unenclosed voices can be with the right design and voicing. Our thanks go to Organist and Choirmaster Simon Jacobs, Acting Organist and Choirmaster Scott Christiansen, as well as consultants Joseph Galema and Ralph Valentine, for giving us the opportunity. This project was funded through a generous gift from Conni Eggers. We hope our antiphonal organ brings out the beauty of the Welte organ for generations to come, giving even more musical possibility to a grand old instrument.
Bryan Dunnewald
Schoenstein & Co.