The console (where the organist sits) has two manuals (keyboards) and one set of pedals that control which pipes make a sound at any given time. The organ works by blowing air under low pressure into pipes that behave similarly to a simple penny whistle. The wind comes from a blower in the basement under the organ. The keys in the console send electrical signals to mechanisms in the wind chest that open and close valves under the pipes. The length of the pipe determines the pitch of the sound, with long pipes making a deeper sound than short pipes. The longest pipe in our organ is 16 feet long and the shortest is less that one inch! Some of the pipes are visible over the choir loft, but many others are enclosed in a “swell box” which has louvers that the organist opens and closes by a foot pedal to make the sound louder or softer.

The organ has 23 ranks of pipes. A rank is a set of pipes—one pipe corresponding to each key on the keyboard—that make a certain tone characteristic, such as flute, oboe, or violin. The most important tone characteristic, however, is called “diapason” or “principal,” which is identified as the “typical” pipe organ sound and is especially good for accompanying congregational singing and playing the organ masterworks. The organist uses “stop keys” to turn on and off the various ranks of pipes depending on the sound desired. For example he or she may be playing a bass note with the pedals, a flute sound with the left hand on the lower manual, and an oboe sound with the right hand on the upper manual. Altogether, there are about 1400 pipes in our organ.

We are blessed that the original members of Messiah saw fit to purchase this fine instrument which not only provides a superior sound over any electronic organ, but has also lasted far longer than today’s electronic instruments are likely to last. We can speculate that they bought this instrument to support the fine Lutheran hymn-singing tradition, and indeed the support of congregation singing is still the most important function of the pipe organ.

Some of the control equipment is worn out, however, resulting in some “strange” sounds emanating from the instrument and frequent calls to the technician. The church has decided to preserve the organ by upgrading the console and control system, but all the current pipes will remain. This work is now complete including the addition of digital ranks and should enable the instrument to continue to serve the people of our church well into the future.

Dave Flanigan - Organist