T H E FEBRUARY 2022 - Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church Toledo, Ohio Cover feature on pages 18-19 - The Diapason
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THE
D I A PA S O N
FEBRUARY 2022
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church
Toledo, Ohio
Cover feature on pages 18–19
PHILLIP TRUCKENBROD
CONCERT ARTISTS
ŚĂƌůĞƐDŝůůĞƌWƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ
WŚŝůůŝƉdƌƵĐŬĞŶďƌŽĚ&ŽƵŶĚĞƌ
THE DIAPASON Editor’s Notebook
Scranton Gillette Communications
One Hundred Thirteenth Year: No. 2, THE DIAPASON has moved!
Whole No. 1347 The Diapason offices are in a new location as of February
FEBRUARY 2022 1, 2022. Please note that all mail should be sent to: The Diapa-
Established in 1909 son, 220 North Smith Street, Suite 440, Palatine, Illinois 60067. Stephen Schnurr
ISSN 0012-2378 847/954-7989; sschnurr@sgcmail.com
Summer events of all types www.TheDiapason.com
An International Monthly Devoted to the Organ,
The summer list of conventions, conferences, workshops,
the Harpsichord, Carillon, and Church Music
and seminars for 2022 is in preparation. If your institution is announcements received after our print deadlines are posted
sponsoring a new or is reviving an event of this type, please there. Also, one can find an ever-increasing collection of vid-
CONTENTS submit pertinent information to me no later than March 1. eos, as well. Visit thediapason.com frequently.
FEATURES
Also, is your church, university, or municipality having a
The mystique of the G. Donald Harrison summer recital series for the organ or carillon? Be sure to send In this issue
signature organs, Part 1 all the particulars for inclusion in the Calendar section and Neil Campbell presents the first installment of his series
by Neal Campbell 12 perhaps in Here & There. about select Aeolian-Skinner organs designed and finished
NEWS & DEPARTMENTS by G. Donald Harrison that had consoles that included ivory
Editor’s Notebook 3 A gift subscription is always appropriate! nameplates bearing Harrison’s signature. In “On Teaching,”
Here & There 3, 22 Remember, a gift subscription of The Diapason for a Gavin Black presents further thoughts on rhythm in pedagogy.
Carillon News 3 friend, colleague, or student is a gift that is remembered each John Bishop, in “In the Wind . . .,” muses on the importance
Nunc Dimittis 6 month. And our student subscription rate cannot be beat at of specialized training in organbuilding and other trades. Kim-
Carillon Profile by Kimberly Schafer 8 $20/year! berly Schafer’s Carillon Profile features the Glasscock Memo-
On Teaching by Gavin Black 9 Subscriptions can be ordered by calling our subscription rial Carillon of First Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, Texas,
In the wind . . . by John Bishop 10
service at 800/501-7540 or by visiting thediapason.com and recently rebuilt by the Verdin Company.
REVIEWS clicking on Subscribe. This month’s cover feature spotlights the Muller Pipe
Book Reviews 20 Organ Company instrument recently finished for St. Joan of
New Recordings 20 Speaking of our website . . . Arc Catholic Church, Toledo, Ohio. The organ includes some
New Handbell Music 21 If you have not recently visited our website, you are miss- pipework from an M. P. Möller organ formerly in a church in
ing out on frequent updates. Many of our news items appear Wisconsin, carefully worked into a new instrument, ready to
CALENDAR 23 at the website before we can put them in print. Last minute serve a congregation for generations to come. Q
RECITAL PROGRAMS 25
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 26 Here & There
Conferences others are featured, more than thirty Tickets are available for purchase
The Presbyterian Association of in total. Christophe Mantoux is the beginning in February. For information:
THE Musicians announces its 52nd Worship tour leader, tour co-directors are Bruce www.io-of.org.
D I A PA S O N
FEBRUARY 2022 and Music Conference, “In the Strang- Stevens and William Van Pelt. For
er’s Guise,” in Montreat, North Carolina. information: bbstevens@erols.com.
Artists include John Sherer, Ellen Phil- Carillon News
lips, and David VanderMeer. In-person
dates are June 19–24 (week 1) and June Online festivals
26–July 1 (week 2). An online option
occurs during week 2. For information:
presbymusic.org/2022conference.
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church
Toledo, Ohio
Organ tours
Cover feature on pages 18–19
COVER
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Toledo, Tom Gurin
Ohio; Muller Pipe Organ Company,
Croton, Ohio 18
The Sacred Music Festival of Per-
pignan, France, and the Friends of
Editorial Director STEPHEN SCHNURR the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral
and Publisher sschnurr@sgcmail.com Carillon announce the winner of the
847/954-7989 fifth carillon composition contest of Per-
President RICK SCHWER
pignan. Eleven candidates from three
rschwer@sgcmail.com countries participated.
847/391-1048 The winning composition is Des
Formes dans les Nuages, by Tom Gurin
Editor-at-Large ANDREW SCHAEFFER
diapasoneditoratlarge@gmail.com of Paris, France. Its premiere will take
First International Online Organ Festival place during a carillon concert that will
Sales Director JEROME BUTERA be part of the 36th Sacred Music Fes-
jbutera@sgcmail.com
608/634-6253 The first International Online tival, April 3, performed by cathedral
Circulation/ Organ Festival (IOOF) will take carillonneurs, Elizabeth Vitu and Lau-
Subscriptions THE DIAPASON place April 18–May 1 with more than rent Pie. It will be performed on the
P.O. Box 300
Lincolnshire, IL. 60069-0300 25 recorded contributions from organs Amédée Bollée carillon, which is ranked
DPP@omeda.com 1748 Dom Bédos organ, Abbatiale around the world, as well as encounters as a historic monument of France.
Toll-Free: 877/501-7540 Sainte-Croix, Bordeaux, France with organists, webinars, masterclasses, The jury was composed of Jean-Marie
Local: 847/763-4933
online symposia with topics related to the Scieszka, pianist and director of the
Designer KELLI DIRKS Historic Organ Study Tours organ—all digitally accessible worldwide. Conservatoire Perpignan Méditerranée
kellidirksphoto@gmail.com (HOST) announces its 27th summer tour The center of the festival is Munich, Métropole Montserrat Caballé (CPM-
to southwestern France, August 25–Sep- Germany. Featured instruments are MMC); Maï Saïto, organist of St. Mat-
Contributing Editors LARRY PALMER
Harpsichord tember 3, from Bordeaux to Toulouse. found in Munich, Dresden, Cologne, thew Church of Perpignan and organist
Centered in the region of Nouvelle Hamburg, Vienna, Paris, Milan, Vicenza, of the choir organ of St. John the Baptist
KIMBERLY SCHAFER Aquitaine, the ten-day, 11-night tour Moscow, Los Angeles, New York, Taiwan, Cathedral, accompanist in the ancient
BRIAN SWAGER will include stops in Bordeaux, Sarlat-la- Tokyo, Korea, Amsterdam, and Finland. music and dance department of the Con-
Carillon
Canéda, Marmande, Pau, Toulouse, and Performers include Wayne Marshall, servatoire Montserrat Caballé of Perpig-
JOHN BISHOP other locations. Organs by Cavaillé-Coll, Martin Baker, Thomas Heywood, Paul nan; Christian Sala, professor of viola de
In the wind . . . Dom Bédos, Grenzing, Merklin, and Jacobs, and Daniel Moult. ³ page 4
GAVIN BLACK
On Teaching THE DIAPASON (ISSN 0012-2378) is published monthly by Scranton Gillette Routine items for publication must be received six weeks in advance of the month of
Communications, Inc., 220 N. Smith Street, Suite 440, Palatine, IL 60067. Phone issue. For advertising copy, the closing date is the 1st. Prospective contributors of articles
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WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 Q 3
Here & There
³ page 3 Nomos; the audience and internet partic- The second International Martini competition will feature five instru-
gamba at the Conservatoire Montserrat ipants’ prizes are presented to Gabriele Organ Competition Groningen ments: the Martinikerk organ by Schnit-
Caballé of Perpignan, as well as professor Agrimonti for his work, 406 Years Later. (IMOCG) will take place July 31–August ger, the recently restored Timpe organ
of contemporary music, improvisation, The compositions in this category were in Groningen, the Netherlands. After in the Nieuwe Kerk, the Baroque-style
and chamber music; and Clément Per- performed on the gallery organ by Shin- the first competition in 2017, plans organ built by Edskes in the Lutherse
rier, carillonneur for the town of Grézieu- Young Lee and Yoann Tardivel. were made for this to become a biennial Kerk, the Schnitger organ in the Pelster-
la-Varenne, organist for the church of In the second category of works event, alternating with the other major gasthuiskerk, and the Schnitger organ in
Nôtre-Dame de Bon-Secours in Lyon, for small organ and voice, the winner organ event in Groningen, the Schnitger Der Aa-kerk.
and choir director of the Petits Chanteurs is Pierre-Alain Braye-Weppe for Festival. The second competition was The competition week will include
de Saint-Thomas d’Aquin of Oullins. his composition, Versa est in luctum, to take place in 2020, but it had to be concerts, masterclasses, and organ
Gurin is an alumnus of Yale University, also awarded the internet users’ prize; postponed due to the Covid pandemic. excursions. For the second round of
New Haven, Connecticut, earning his second prize is awarded to Alessio Registration for the 2022 competition the competition in the Lutherse Kerk,
bachelor’s degree in music, studying with Ferrante for his work, Lux; the public is open to organists under the age of 35 participants will demonstrate their tal-
Kathryn Alexander. At the Royal Caril- prize is awarded to Laurent Coulomb from all over the world. ent for ensemble playing. The Edskes
lon School “Jef Denyn” in Mechelen, for his composition, O Gloriosa Domina. The jury consists of Éric Lebrun organ (a reconstruction of the Schnitger
Belgium, he earned the artist diploma, Compositions in this category were (France), Pier Damiano Peretti (Italy), organ that once stood in the church)
studying with Eddy Mariën, Koen performed by vocal ensemble Sequenza Reitze Smits (the Netherlands), Jean- has a free-standing continuo manual,
Cosaert, and Erik Vandevoort. From 9.3 and organists Mélodie Michel, Alma Claude Zehnder (Switzerland), and which positions the organist between the
2019–2021, he served as carillonneur Bettencourt, and Alexis Grizard. Nathan Laube (United States). The other musicians. Participants will play
for Duke University Chapel, Durham, For each category, first prize is €4,000, jurors will also present concerts on an organ concerto, accompanied by the
North Carolina. He now studies com- second prize is €2,000, and audience the historic organs in Groningen. The ³ page 6
position at École Normale de Musique prize is €1,000. For information: aross.fr.
de Paris in Paris in the studio of Régis
Campo. For information: tomgurin.com.
Competitions
James M. Weaver Prize in Organ Emily Currie plays the Woodberry & Harris organ Nathan Barcelona plays the
Scholarship at the Masonic Temple, Nashua, New Hampshire. Austin organ at First Church.
The Organ Historical Society On November 6, 2021, eight organ students currently sponsored by the Young
announces its James M. Weaver Prize Organist Collaborative (YOC) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, went on a field trip
Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France, Cavaillé- in Organ Scholarship, which will to visit three pipe organs in Nashua, New Hampshire. The tour, an annual fall YOC
Coll organ foster scholarly research of pipe organs, event, was organized by Michael Laird, the chairman of the YOC governing commit-
wherein finalists, through lecture and tee. The students included Chloe Tan, Nathan Barcelona, David Kenney, Jr.,
Association pour le rayonnement performance, illustrate the influence Jesse Ball, Joshua and Brianna Decker, Katy Rohrbacher, and Emily Currie.
des orgues Aristide Cavaillé-Coll de that provenance has on both repertoire The group’s first stop was St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, where they played the
l’église Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France, and performance practice. three-manual, 37-rank, 1987 Beaudry instrument in the rear gallery. The second
announces winners of its 2021 interna- This new initiative accentuates the instrument was an 1895 Woodberry & Harris organ, two manuals, eleven ranks, in
tional composition competition. In the story of pipe organs in the United States original condition in the Masonic temple. The final instrument of the day was the
first category, works for organ, the winner and Canada. Organ scholars may dem- three-manual, 60-rank, 1926/2015 Austin Organs, Inc., instrument at First Church.
is Andrea Damiano Cotti for his work, onstrate their passion for the instrument The Young Organist Collaborative is an outreach of St. John’s Episcopal Church,
Marée, qui rassemblés les horizons; sec- through inspired historical lectures and Portsmouth, supported by the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and by the
ond prize is awarded to Jean-Emman- performances. For information: weaver. generosity of donors from throughout New England. YOC supports promising piano
uel Filet for his composition, Taphos organhistoricalsociety.org. students who are interested in exploring organ literature and performance by raising
and distributing funds to help defray the costs of instruction, and by linking stu-
dents to instruments for practice and to instructors located in their areas. In the
past twenty years YOC has helped over 125 students between the ages of 11 and
T HE J A M ES M . W E AV ER PR IZE 18 to play the pipe organ; many have continued their organ studies in college and
IN ORG A N SCHOL A R SHIP beyond, and more than a few have become professional performers. For information:
stjohnsnh.org/young-organist-collaborative.
M. WE AV A TRULY UNIQUE
ES ER
A
M OPPORTUNITY
PR
J
E
IZE
TH
IP
IN
SH
R
O
G R
AN LA
SC H O
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS
Students participating in “Organic Voices” performance: Jay Elliott, Jihye Choi,
Lynnli Wang, Rees Roberts, Nolan Snyder, Elijah Buerk, Nara Lee, Owen Telling-
huisen, Janette Fishell, Nicholas Stigall, Trent Whisenant, Abolade Olatunji, Katie
Hughes, Collin Miller, Deven Shah, Linlin Lian and Valentina Huang (Not pictured:
Heejin Kim, Yong Zhang, Yumiko Tatsuta, and Dalong Ding). Participants wear yel-
low roses, a symbol of women’s suffrage.
Students from the studio of Janette Fishell at Indiana University Jacobs
School of Music presented a recital November 15, 2021, entitled “A Bench of One’s
Own—Organ Music by Female Composers.” The event was part of the organ depart-
ment’s initiative, “Organic Voices,” an annual performance project centered around
repertoire from underrepresented composers. The performance occurred in Auer
WEAVER.ORGANHISTORIC ALSOCIETY.ORG Hall, utilizing C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 135. For information: blogs.iu.edu/jsomorgan.
4 Q THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
Allegro Elisa Jackson Robert Jeremy S. Tyler Vincent
con fuoco Bickers Borges Brewer Bruns Canonico Carr
Joseph Carson Shin-Ae Angela Theo. S. Laura Faythe Joy-Leilani
Causby Cooman Chun Kraft Cross Davis Ellis Freese Garbutt
Simone Margaret Justin Sarah
Gheller Harper Hartz Hawbecker
Jacob Christopher Jason Peter
Hofeling Jacobson Klein-Mendoza Krasinski
David Mark Colin Katherine Scott Shelly Brenda Joseph
Lamb Laubach Lynch Meloan Montgomery Moorman-Stahlman Portman Ripka
Vicki Patrick A. Thomas David Richard Beth Rodland Duo
Schaeffer Scott Sheehan Von Behren Webb Zucchino Organ & Viola
www.ConcertArtistCooperative.com
Faythe Freese, Director
512.470.7782
Colin Lynch, Assistant Director
ConcertArtistCooperative@Gmail.com
Beth Zucchino, Founder & Director Emerita
Here & There
³ page 4 of Richmond Beach. Two sons were born,
Jeremiah in 1983 and Benjamin in 1986.
In 1987 the family moved to the Chicago
area for David to serve at St. Luke’s
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Park
Ridge, Illinois. During these years, Susan
earned a master’s degree from Munde-
lein University and began her career as a
writer. Since 1990 the family has lived in
St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and has been
a part of the community at Mount Olive
Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, where
Susan served in many capacities as vol-
unteer, sacristan, and soloist.
St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Omaha, Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington, As a poet, Susan Cherwien wrote
Nebraska Virginia extensively, especially in two areas: hymn
texts and reflections for hymn festivals,
Casavant Frères, Limitée, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, has recently published by Augsburg Fortress and
completed several new organs. On September 26, 2021, Bradley Welch played the Schnitger organ, Martinikerk, Gronin- MorningStar Music Publishers. Her
inaugural recital at First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a gen, the Netherlands hymns are included in hymnals of many
four-manual organ of 47 stops, 59 ranks. That same day, Jan Kraybill presented the denominations, including Evangelical
dedicatory recital for the new organ at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Omaha, strings of the Luthers Bach Ensemble. Lutheran Book of Worship and its newest
Nebraska, a three-manual instrument of 53 stops, 65 ranks. Deadline for application is March 15. supplement hymnal, All Creation Sings.
In early November, the Bishop of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia presided For information: imocg.nl. Susan Louise Palo Cherwien is sur-
at a special liturgy to bless the renovated nave of Grace Episcopal Church, Lexing- vived by her husband, David; sons and
ton, Virginia, and its new organ of two manuals, 19 stops, 23 ranks. For information: daughters-in-law, Jeremiah and Karen
casavant.ca. Nunc dimittis and their children Hannah and James
Cherwien in Batesville, Arkansas; Ben-
jamin and Angel and their daughter
Gabriella Hull Cherwien in Blaine,
Minnesota; brother John Palo (Freddie)
of Lenexa, Kansas; and sister Nancy
Bukowski of Sacramento, California. A
funeral service was held on December
31, 2021, at Mount Olive Lutheran
Church. Memorials may be directed
to Mount Olive Lutheran Church debt
reduction fund (mountolivechurch.org)
or National Lutheran Choir (nlca.com).
Rodgers Instruments US, LLC, new facility Susan Louise Palo Cherwien
In April 2021, Rodgers Instruments Susan Louise Palo Cherwien
US, LLC, relocated to a larger facility died December 28, 2021. Born May
in Hillsboro, Oregon, not far from its 4, 1953, in Ashtabula, Ohio, she was
previous location. The task to move the active in music in school and at Zion
manufacturing company was a complex Lutheran Church (Finnish-American),
undertaking with much advance logisti- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
cal planning, but it was carried out Her undergraduate degree in church
with order fulfillment and production music and voice was earned from Wit-
resuming in 48 hours. In the new facil- tenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, in
ity, Rodgers has expanded its team with 1975. Her junior year was spent at the
people in production, engineering, and Berlin Church Music School, Spandau,
administration, and the firm continues Germany. After graduating from Witten-
to hire. berg, she returned to Berlin to complete Merrill Nathaniel (“Jeff”) Davis III
When international travel restrictions a graduate degree at the Berlin Conser-
lifted, Rodgers CEO John Moesbergen vatory of Music. She was active in the Merrill Nathaniel (“Jeff”) Davis III
and Global Organ Group CEO Marco American Lutheran Church in Berlin, a 80, died October 16, 2021, in Rochester,
Van de Weerd visited the new facility in Global Organ Group CEO Marco Van de mission church of the Lutheran Church Minnesota. Born February 13, 1941, in
person, after more than a year of virtual Weerd and Rodgers CEO John Moes- in America (now part of the Evangelical Chicago, Illinois, he lived most of his
visits and meetings. For information: bergen at the new location of Rodgers Lutheran Church in America). childhood and teen years in La Crosse,
Instruments US, LLC
rodgersinstruments.com. It was through this church in Berlin Wisconsin. He was an active organist
that Susan Palo met David Cherwien, while still in grade school, and at age 15
who came in 1979 to study at the Berlin was dean of the La Crosse area chapter
Church Music School. They returned of the American Guild of Organists.
to the United States in 1981 and were Davis earned his bachelor’s degree at
married on August 8 at Central Lutheran the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse,
Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two and studied organ privately with Arthur
weeks later they moved to Seattle where B. Jennings, Jr. He completed his Master
David served at First Lutheran Church ³ page 8
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6 Q THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
TRUST THE NAME THAT STARTED IT ALL
SOUND | TECHNOLOGY | SUSTAINABILITY
Our Savior Lutheran Church The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
Nashville, Tennessee Kansas City, Missouri
Here & There
of Michigan. During Jerroll Adams’s
Carillon Profile long tenure as organ curator there, the
Glasscock Memorial Carillon Houghten team renovated consoles
First Baptist Church for many campus organs, including the
Corpus Christi, Texas large four-manual at Hill Auditorium.
After a nineteen-year hiatus, the The University link was further strength-
Glasscock Memorial Carillon of First ened through a steady stream of organ
Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, students who also served as housemates
Texas, is ringing again. The carillon is in the Houghten condominium, tending
one of the southernmost in the United to the cats and technology Richard gath-
States and one of two in Corpus ered there.
Christi. The original 51-bell carillon The funeral for Richard Stanley
cast by Eijsbouts of the Netherlands Houghten was held January 12 at St.
was installed in 1976. Funds for the Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Detroit. A
carillon were donated by congregant broader celebration of his life is being
Lucille Glasscock in memory of her Richard Stanley Houghten in 2018, scheduled immediately preceding the
husband, Charles “Gus” Glasscock, in working at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 2022 Atlantic City Convention of the
the 1970s. This original gift resulted Wheaton, Illinois, M. P. Rathke Opus 5 American Institute of Organbuilders,
(photo credit: Casey Dunaway)
in the handsome, accessible tower with which Houghten was centrally
and instrument. partly at an organbuilding class taught active and at whose regular October
The church and campanile are Glasscock Memorial Carillon, First by Robert Noehren at the University gatherings he celebrated a half-century
situated on Corpus Christi Bay, and Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, Tex- of Michigan, where he was studying of his own birthdays. That same commu-
while it is an attractive setting, it did as (photo credit: Lloyd Lott) psychology. He eventually apprenticed nity remembers him as an uncommonly
contribute to the instrument’s dam- to Noehren as an organbuilder, as did generous colleague, ready to share
age. In 2002, one of the bells had classmate Jerroll Adams; Adams and knowledge, solve a problem, or make
fallen out of the open tower due to Houghten would soon be sharing a something as good as it could be for the
the corrosion of the steel frame by barn-workshop in Milan, Michigan, and benefit of all organbuilding.
the prevailing winds carrying salt regularly collaborating. —Jonathan Ambrosino
water. The bell frame was determined A conscientious and well-rounded Arlington, Massachusetts
to be unstable, and the remainder of organbuilder, Richard became best
the bells were removed until a new, known as a specialist in consoles and
corrosion-resistant apparatus could electrical systems. Early in his career
be erected. The bells were stored on he worked for Solid State Logic, even-
site, but unfortunately, three were tually becoming president and board
stolen. They were found before their chairman. In this role he was central
destined smelting, though they were The carillon clavier (photo credit: Lloyd to the industry’s adoption of solid-state
too damaged to use. Eijsbouts cast Lott) technology, particularly in the 1970s and
new bells to replace them. 1980s when such equipment was still
The directors of the Corpus Christi Bell Tower Foundation, an organization novel. He was further central in evolving
founded in 2015, and the organist/carillonneur of First Baptist Church, Loyd multilevel combination actions and other
Lott, worked to raise additional funds to rebuild the tower and reinstall the advanced console aids. By 1995, he was
bells. In 2021, Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, built and installed the new fully independent of SSL, undertaking
tower with the original bells, including corrosion-resistant stainless steel for all projects and occasional organbuilding.
metal parts, a new transmission system, and a new keyboard. Karel Keldermans From 1989 he also acted as North Amer-
of Illinois served as the consultant. ican representative for the German sup-
Loyd Lott performed the inaugural recital at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on plyhouse/organbuilder Aug. Laukhuff.
October 3, 2021. The formal rededication concert was performed by Kelder- For Houghten, demystifying solid-
mans on November 7. The carillon is performed on by Lott on some Sundays state technology was religion. He not only
and for special events throughout the year. Q sold early systems but installed them,
—Kimberly Schafer where, on site, he was intent on showing
Carillonist and campanologist local technicians how to diagnose and Marilyn Kay Stulken Rench
Chicago, Illinois service the new equipment. The reliable
results of these early projects earned Marilyn Kay Stulken Rench, 80,
Church website: firstcorpus.org him a high reputation. Projects readily organist, teacher, recitalist, author, and
came his way, often without competition, genealogist, died December 28, 2021,
and his client list over 57 years reads as in Franklin, Wisconsin. She was born
³ page 6 Davis was also involved in the pipe impressively as any could. In the last 15 August 13, 1941, in Hastings, Nebraska,
of Music degree at Southern Methodist organ industry as a sales representative years alone, St. Paul’s School, Concord, and studied organ and church music at
University, Dallas, Texas, as a student of and freelance consultant. The firms for New Hampshire; Duke University, Hastings College in Hastings, where she
Robert T. Anderson. Additional studies which Davis worked included the Aeo- Durham, North Carolina; Harvard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963.
and coaching were with Willard Irving lian-Skinner Organ Company, Rodgers University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; During this time, she had several piano
Nevins, Gerald A. Bales, Arthur Poister, Instruments, and Rieger-Kloss of Krnov, Calvary Church, Memphis, Tennessee; and organ students and from 1962–1965
and Heinrich Fleischer. Czech Republic. He also consulted on the Community of Jesus, Orleans, Mas- served as organist and program direc-
Davis served as musician for various behalf of other companies, in particular sachusetts; and Trinity Church, Boston, tor at All Faiths Chapel, Ingleside,
congregations, including First Congre- Hendrickson Organ Company, St. Peter, Massachusetts, sought his work. In turn, Nebraska. At Eastman School of Music,
gational Church, La Crosse, Wiscon- Minnesota. He also was involved as a per- Richard regularly collaborated with Rochester, New York, she studied organ
sin; St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, sonal financial advisor, working for IDS. J. Zamberlan & Co. for woodworking performance and church music, earning
St. Paul Church, Zumbro Lutheran Merrill Nathaniel Davis III is survived and his trusted affiliate Vladimir Vacu- a Master of Music degree in 1967 and a
Church, First Unitarian Universal- by two sons and two sisters-in-law. He lik, whose wiring had all the Houghten Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1975.
ist Church, and the Congregational was preceded in death by his parents, trademark elegance. One of her positions while in Roches-
(United Church of Christ) Church, a brother, a sister, and by his first wife, Houghten was equally active as a ter was as a sewing therapist at Strong
all in Rochester, Minnesota. He was Jane Schleiter Davis, and his second wife, subcontractor, working largely in the Memorial Hospital.
a frequent guest organist at Seven- June Fiksdal Davis. A memorial concert background to builders wanting clear Stulken Rench held a number of
teenth Church of Christ, Scientist, is planned for February 12 at the Congre- systems design coupled to immaculate church positions, including organist
Chicago, Illinois. Davis concertized gational Church, Rochester, Minnesota. installation and wiring. The relationships and choir director at St. Paul’s Lutheran
widely and was known for his skills as he forged with those shops, together Church, Pittsford, New York, 1966–1973;
an improviser. In 1974, he was one of Richard Stanley Houghten, 78, with his technical mastery and reassur- organist at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church,
four finalists at the International Organ died December 29, 2021, from compli- ing demeanor, meant that it was often Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1975–1979; direc-
Improvisation Competition at St. Bavo cations following heart surgery. Born he, not the electronics manufacturer, tor of music at Trinity Lutheran Church,
Church, Haarlem, the Netherlands, and October 7, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan, who would be called in a crisis. “Is there Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1979–1985; and
the first American to be invited to com- he was introduced to the organ partly smoke? Good. Next question . . . .” organist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church,
pete there. He was an active member of from exposure to the Barton organ at Throughout his career, Houghten Racine, Wisconsin, from 1986 to the
the Southeast Minnesota AGO Chapter. Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theatre, and retained connections to the University ³ page 22
CLAYTON ACOUSTICS GROUP
57 Granite Dr Penfield NY 14526
914-643-1647 mail@claytonacoustics.com
w w w. c l a y t o n a c o u s t i c s . c o m
CLAYTON
ACOUSTICS GROUP
ACOUSTICS AND SOUND SYSTEM
CONSULTING FOR HOUSES OF WORSHIP
8 Q THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
On Teaching By Gavin Black By Gavin Black
Further thoughts about ears could hear. If someone were to lis- normal and frequent, it is defined as an values stack up against one another or
rhythm, part 3 ten to (part of) such a piece would there aberration, and therefore it is often felt where the strong beats are. In this case it
What is rhythm? That question has be anything that they would experience to require specific justification. supplements that. The feeling of pressure
recurred to me as I have thought about as rhythm? Maybe not, but what occurs The second, opposite pole is a lot or momentum to move to the next note
and written about rhythm over the last to me is that they would experience the harder to describe. At any instant in a or cluster of notes comes in part from an
few months. This is a prime example of inner rhythm of their own shifting reac- piece of music, there is some prevailing awareness of the imperatives of the beat
putting the cart before the horse. After tion to the unchanging sound. sound—a note, more than one note, the structure. For example, everything about
all, how have I been thinking about I see from framing the last thought the dying away of released notes, the ambi- the opening chord and the act of mov-
rhythm without first sorting out what it way I did that I want something to hap- ent room sound, any combination of ing away from the opening chord comes
is? But there is no one answer to this pen in order to accept that the quality of these things and others—and something from sonority, ideally including whatever
very fundamental question, and we all “rhythm” is present. So possibly rhythm about that sound will suggest when it I can hear of room acoustics.
work with rhythm without having estab- is not just music moving through time, feels right for the next sound to happen. So how does this concept differ from
lished a clear definition. but things happening—things that we That suggested moment is the appropri- a simple acknowledgement that it is pos-
I searched the internet with phrases can hear—as music moves through time. ate time to play or sing the next note or sible to play ordinary measured music
such as “What is rhythm?” and “rhythm in I understand that this is sort of obvious notes. This perceived sense may some- either rather strictly or more freely? This
music.” I was not looking for any answers and phrased in a deliberately simple or times be caused by the phenomenon of is a common though not uncontroversial
as such, but to get an idea of some of even naïve way. Maybe it is even really a notes having come at a certain regular subject to debate, be it in a friendly or
the “headline” ways in which any sort tautology: if we are listening and some- pace up until that moment. But it may heated way. One point I like about this
of definition of rhythm is encapsulated. thing happens, we notice it. Since it hap- also be caused by other factors that have approach is that it seems to be true. That
The results were very interesting. There pens across time, there is rhythm to it, if nothing to do with regular pulse. These is, whether it is something a composer
were two basic kinds of results: 1) simple we define rhythm broadly or just decide could include something about the intends or a performer tries to bring
descriptions of some of the mechanics to apply that word to that phenomenon. inner behavior of the sound in the time out, it is palpably the case that each
of the way that rhythm is depicted in But as the first set of answers that I since anything was last expressly played, moment in a piece of music has some
some sorts of music, such as “Rhythm found in my internet search reminds us, shaped by the nature of the performing sort of inherent momentum. It can vary
in music is the regular motion of half- there is something specific about how medium or by the room acoustics; any- in strength and be perceived differently
notes, quarter-notes, etc.” or “Music has we use rhythm, not necessarily what thing about harmonic development and by one person and another. After all, this
a regular beat sometimes indicated by a rhythm is in most of the music that the ebb and flow of harmonic tension; momentum is something that arises in
metronome marking;” and 2) complex organists, pianists, harpsichordists, or something arising out of the desire for part from what a given performer or lis-
but certainly intriguing philosophical other classical musicians grapple with. a certain kind of forward momentum; tener wants to do with a piece, their prior
discussions of concepts of rhythm. That has to do with regular beat, which a need either to sustain a mood or to aesthetic predilections and tastes, and a
One set of answers to the question of presumably means that the “something change the mood; and so on. host of other factors. This is never some-
rhythm is contained in the fact that we happening” happens at regular time Each of these two poles can be found thing that can be defined by one person
work with rhythm when we make music. intervals, and some sort of way of group- to a greater or lesser extent in any piece for another: it must be heard and felt.
Music moves through time. Rhythm is ing that regularity. This is expressed with or passage that we play, and they inter- One way to demonstrate that this
predicated on the phenomenon of time a naïve pretense that we do not know it act in an infinite number of ways. The intrinsic momentum is real is to stop a
passing as we listen to music or create it. perfectly well already. It points to a vast second idea is often most obviously at piece at a random place. A jarring qual-
Music moves through time in a way set of questions as to why this should be work in recitative. This only starts with ity that experience creates comes from
essential to its nature. The same can be standard. How did it evolve? What does “official” sung recitative. It also includes unfulfilled expectation or broken momen-
said for dance, though I have less experi- it do that is different from what we might instrumental passages that imitate tum. That momentum cannot be just that
ence talking to people who have had a be able to do with musical sounds not recitative and are marked as such—for of a regular beat pattern—they stop all
deep involvement with it. Drama—live organized that way? Are there necessary example, the section in the first move- the time, and it does not bother us.
theater, television, movies—also moves relationships between this regularity and ment of Widor’s Sixth Symphony that Another matter that I like about this
through time, but in a way that seems other aspects of music in this range of immediately follows the opening about concept is that it ties in with the notion of
meaningfully different as much of what is styles: melody, harmony, texture, and so which I wrote in my September 2021 col- playing a piece as if you were improvising
going on is dialogue. The semantic con- on? To answer these questions is not the umn (pages 10–11), or sections of Bach’s it. Even if your sense of the directional-
tent influences the way one experiences point here, since the truth is that no one Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, BWV ity and momentum of the sonorities does
the flow. (This is in part also true of vocal knows, although there has been a lot of 903, or Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565. not lead you to do anything very differ-
music.) Painting, drawing, sculpture, and interesting research and speculation. More interestingly, perhaps, it ent from a fairly strict rhythm, as soon
other visual and graphic arts do not move So where does any of this leave us as to includes passages that strike us as being as you start listening for that momentum
through time the same way. Time passes the teaching or grappling with rhythm in in recitative style without being marked you are behaving like someone who is
as one experiences that sort of artwork, our own playing? Grappling with rhythm as such. This applies to many other creating the piece.
but visual focus is up to the viewer, as is means deciding when to play notes. The sections of those same Bach pieces, for Also, just as a matter of my own dis-
shifting of that focus as a viewer encoun- thought that has formed in my mind over example. The opening of BWV 565 is full cipline, trying to listen like this prods
ters the work of art. There is no set time the last few years is that there are two of fermatas, unmeasured and written- me not to let my attention and hearing
that the rhythm of viewing a painting, for fundamental ways to do this, and they out arpeggios, and tempo changes, all of faculties wander too much, to pay atten-
example, will occupy overall, and no set are opposite. They are both important, which add up to making it an absolute tion and to care about each note. This
ratio between times allotted to different but very different in how straightforward necessity to find some source other than is one of the key points in working with
parts of the whole. There is also no set they are to describe. a grid of beats and accents to figure out students around this idea.
order in which those parts will make The first of these is the normal one for when each successive note is best played. Next time I will write in some detail
themselves felt to the viewer, including most music that we play. It is the one that The opening of Bach’s Fantasia in G about that: how to introduce this idea
any aspects of repetition. we engage with all the time, the regular Minor, BWV 542, is not aesthetically to students, what some if its advantages
I have always thought it fascinating beat and meter phenomenon. I like to like the opening of BWV 565. It has no are, and what some of its pitfalls are, how
that if you hit the pause button while a describe it this way: there is a regular fermatas, tempo changes, or other direct to help students reconcile this approach
CD or any music file is playing, there is beat that exists outside of the piece and suggestions that the rhythm suggested by with whatever amount of respect to the
silence, whereas if you do the same on a before the beginning of the piece; the the mapping of the notes onto the regu- notated rhythm is due, if that ever rises to
video recording, a still image is displayed. notes of the piece will fit in with that beat lar meter is not perfectly viable. When I the level of conflict. I will end this series
Music has no existence without the pas- once the piece begins. That beat defines played this piece decades ago, that was about rhythm with notes on a few stray
sage of time, without motion and change. one note value, and the other note values how I derived my sense of when the ideas and observations about rhythm that
Would a piece of music that existed are all clearly defined in relation to that notes came. I recall being very focused are either germane to the above ideas or
in time but never changed seem to have one. There could be many other ways of on counting it correctly. Now, when I sit interesting on their own account. Q
rhythm in any sense we would recog- describing this same thing. And to avoid and read through it, I am more focused
nize? This is an abstraction, since we do its being a caricature, we should add that on listening to each sonority and trying Gavin Black is director of the Princ-
not encounter music that never changes. although the regular beat exists before to feel or intuit when what comes next eton Early Keyboard Center, Princeton,
Maybe the closest we could come would the piece begins, it is in a sense a separate should occur. This is not in the absence New Jersey. He can be reached by e-mail
be to play a note on an organ and hold entity from the piece itself, and to a large of an awareness of how the different note at gavinblack@mail.com.
it forever. But even that would change. extent governs the motion of the piece.
There is always a miscellaneous fluc- This is consistent with this concept
tuation in the sound or in the way that that the actual notes sometimes deviate
the sound reaches the ears. Maybe a
computer-based instrument could create
from the place where that regular beat
says they should have been. That then
The Sound of Pipe
a sound that really would never change becomes a matter of taste, of judgment,
even at the level of what the most sensi- of awareness of a composer’s intentions Organs
tive instruments could measure or any and so on. Although this deviation is
M. McNeil
BACH AT NOON A. Thompson-Allen Co., LLC
11 Court Street
191 pages hardbound
now on sale at Amazon books
Grace Church in New York New Haven, Connecticut 06511 $29.95
203.776.1616
www.gracechurchnyc.org www.thompson-allen.com
WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 Q 9
In the wind...
One size fits all.
As a plus-sized organ guy whose shoul-
ders are four or five inches wider than an
airplane seat, I always sit in an aisle seat
so I do not have to crunch up against my
neighbor. Instead, I am regularly clob-
bered by the flight attendant’s cart and
the sloppiest of my fellow passengers as
they negotiate the trek to the restroom.
Years ago, on a flight to who knows where,
I was seated next to a young woman who
was sitting with her legs curled under her
on her seat. I marveled at her flexibility,
and when we stood to deplane, I realized
she was under five feet tall and weighed
a hundred pounds or less. We had paid
the same price for our seats, and she was
sitting perfectly comfortably while I was
squeezed into my seat like toothpaste in
a tube. Hats, mittens, or leggings might
be sold as one-size-fits-all, but I know
that really means they will be loose on
small people and tight on large people.
So it goes with education. Modern pub-
lic schools are governed by the demands
of standardized testing as if every child Organ by Joseph Gabler, Basilica of Saint Martin, Weingarten,
in America needs an identical education. Welded aluminum architectural decoration built by Michael Germany, completed 1750. Hand-planed and hand-sawn lum-
My son Chris teaches English as a second Bishop (photo credit: Michael Bishop) ber (photo credit: John Bishop)
language in an urban public high school
where his students are first- or second- they are put together or how they work. Jack of all trades organs were particularly treacherous
generation immigrants who speak Span- Open the hood of a new car, and you can David Margonelli was a woodworker and suggested (required) that we would
ish, Vietnamese, and Chinese at home, as hardly tell there is an engine in there, whose shop was in Edgecomb, Maine, install new ladders, handholds, and
it is typical that their parents do not speak and to keep our precious hands clean, a few miles downriver from our house. railings to reduce the risk of accidents.
English. These kids cannot be expected some newer Mercedes models do not His first woodworking project was a There is a little metal fabricating shop in
to thrive if they are being held to the have dipsticks, as if it is not the owner’s Barnegat Bay Sneakbox, a small shallow our neighboring village of Damariscotta,
same standards as their classmates who responsibility to pay attention to whether draft boat that could be sailed, rowed, Maine, where two guys cut and weld iron
grew up speaking nothing but English. It there is oil in the engine. poled, or sculled. He was interested in to make things like gear for commercial
is a heinous form of discrimination. In 1917, Congress passed the Smith- Shaker furniture early on, and over the fishing boats amidst a gallery of tool
My other son Mike did not finish high Hughes Act that provided funding for years developed pieces that combined calendars. I took them drawings for a
school but worked in a succession of bicy- manual training in public schools, both the Shaker tradition with elegant curves collection of railings and ladders, and it
cle shops as a teenager and graduated to as part of general education and as desig- such as a chest of drawers with bowed is a lot safer to work in those organs now.
specialized piping, building the complex nated vocational schools. Crawford cites front or a bow-legged dining table. He All these skills and the specialized
networks of tubing in university research that starting around 1980, 80% of public had an elaborate vacuum table set up tools involved are part of the art of organ-
labs. When he told me he had learned to high school shop programs began to dis- in his shop, like that found in many building. Add to them sophisticated elec-
do internal welding on eighth-inch stain- appear.1 Throughout the book, he makes organbuilding workshops used for gluing trical systems, mechanical and structural
less steel tubing, I knew he was going to the case that while some people flourish windchest tables to grids, that allowed engineering, architecture, and the musi-
be okay. He has now had a fifteen-year practicing law or managing businesses, him to use the pressure of the atmo- cal realm of voicing and tuning, and you
career with an architectural fabrication many people are cut out to work with sphere to create his curved elements. approach the complete organbuilder.
firm where he builds high-end signage their hands, gaining the satisfaction of We have one of his tables in our apart-
with complex electrical systems, like the making or repairing something, what he ment in New York. It is made of cherry It takes a village.
miles of LED displays that encircle the calls “primary work.” He points out that with the signature bowed legs and a neat Having spent countless hours and days
guitar-shaped Hard Rock Hotel in Holly- surgery is a meeting of intellectual and sliding mechanism to allow the addition on job sites, bringing organs in and out of
wood, Florida. He built and installed all manual disciplines. Standardized testing of two leafs for larger dinners. It has churches and maintaining those in place,
the road signs for Terminal B of Logan implies that a kid who is destined to be been the host of countless wonderful I reflect frequently on the wide range of
Airport in Boston (“Central Parking, a plumber needs the same foundation as dinners, and its graceful shape is a beau- trades and vocations. An organbuilder
Next Left”), interior signs for Madison one who will be a musician or a corpo- tiful addition to our home. David was a must be conversant with musicians,
Square Garden including the jumbotron, rate executive. Who can tell the future of gnarly old guy, very sure of himself, and clergy, and the lay or professional lead-
and the new Whitney Museum of Ameri- a ten-year-old? You can’t. You provide all proud of his designs and craftsmanship, ers who operate churches and equally
can Art in New York City. You might children with an education that includes and I loved visiting his shop as much as I at home with custodians, electricians,
think that Mike is disadvantaged because academics, the arts and humanities, the love sharing meals at his table. HVAC workers, and the plumbers who
he did not have algebra or calculus in industrial world, and sports, and hope Camden, Maine, a coastal town an install overhead sprinkler systems. We
high school, but he uses more complex that each child will be captivated by hour or so east from us, is home to a deal with building and fire inspectors,
mathematics at his workstation every day something—liberal arts for teenagers. little shop that sells handmade leather insurance adjusters, and lumber ven-
than many of us do in a lifetime. Simply reading the table of contents of goods where I bought a bag made of dors. And working with the Organ Clear-
I had an industrial arts class in middle Crawford’s book gives an overview of his supple black leather that I use as a ing House, almost every job involves
school where I learned to use a stationary point of view regarding the manual arts: second briefcase. It is just the size of an scaffolding and trucking. It is funny to
shear, a metal brake, rollers, and rivets “A Brief Case for the Useful Arts;” “The iPad or letter-sized paper folded in half deal with a big-city pastor and a scaffold
making a half-pipe-shaped, sheet-metal Separation of Thinking from Doing;” “To and has three zipper compartments with delivery driver from Queens, New York,
firewood caddy with decorative black Be Master of One’s Own Stuff;” “The enough space for a phone/iPad charger, in the same morning, especially when
iron legs and hoop handle. That gold- Education of a Gearhead;” “The Further hand sanitizer, pens, a Moleskine note- it turns out that the pastor is the tough
painted beauty stood next to the fireplace Education of a Gearhead: From Amateur book, and a bottle of water. It has a long, customer while the driver is a sweetheart
in my parents’ home until they moved to Professional;” “The Contradictions adjustable leather strap so I can carry it who just wants to get things right.
into assisted living forty years later. I had of the Cubicle;” “Thinking as Doing;” around my neck, and I take it to local In 2004, we dismantled a huge M. P.
algebra in high school, but I sure spent “Work, Leisure, and Full Engagement.” meetings and on short trips when I know Möller organ in a chamber above the
a lot of days in my career as an organ- As an organbuilder, I have spent much I am not going to need my MacBook. I 125-foot-high ceiling of a 19,000-seat
builder developing the metal-working of my life negotiating and contemplat- never met the artisan who made it, but convention center. As it was in the
skills I learned when I was thirteen. ing the differences between blue- and I appreciate the accurate cutting of the union city of Philadelphia, we started
In his book Shop Class as Soulcraft white-collar work, and I recommend this material, the careful hand stitching, and the project with a meeting that would
(Penguin Press, 2009), Matthew Craw- book as a good read with lively writing the thoughtful usefulness of the design. define who would be allowed to do what
ford wrote about the dwindling of public and philosophical musings from the life Early in 2013, I was tuning a vener- work. Representatives of the unions for
school industrial arts education as schools of a literary motorcycle mechanic. able Hutchings organ in Cambridge, riggers, laborers, and carpenters were
focused more on standardized testing Early in my career, living and work- Massachusetts, when a 127-year-old lad- present along with administrators of the
and achieving 100% college admissions. ing in Oberlin, Ohio, one of our friends der collapsed under me. I had a classic University of Pennsylvania, which owned
The second paragraph of his book’s intro- taught diesel mechanics at the vocational view of a receding ceiling and landed the site. I described how delicate organ
duction begins, “The disappearance of high school. What could be more valu- flat on my back on the miraculously flat parts can be in spite of their industrial
tools from our common education is the able to a rural farming community than and uncluttered floor of the organ. (If I appearance, and the guy from the rig-
first step toward a wider ignorance of the a new generation of diesel mechanics? had landed on a windline, I would have gers’ union assured me that their men
world of artifacts we inhabit.” He goes Let’s face it, we need plumbers and auto never walked again.) Following surgery had vast experience. “We’ve been rig-
on to describe how modern engineering mechanics more than we need organ- and rehab, and our first season with our ging in Philadelphia for 100 years, we’re
focuses on “hiding the works” by design- builders. Those kids at Voke-Tech were new sailboat (we called it the Sciatica the guys who moved the Liberty Bell.” I
ing machines so that you cannot tell how onto something. Cruise), I contacted those clients whose quipped, “Are you the ones who cracked
10 Q THE DIAPASON Q FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.THEDIAPASON.COMBy John Bishop
on in the United States and Europe.
That iconic fifty-foot-tall organ case in
Haarlem is made of lumber that was
planed and cut without electric tools
and machines. I get blisters on my hands
just thinking about it. Since the fire at
the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris,
France, we have seen video footage of
the wooden superstructure of that build-
ing, made by artisans in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Felling trees, mill-
ing them into huge beams, transporting
them from the forest to the city, and
hoisting them hundreds of feet in the
air with only the power of humans and
oxen to haul wagons and turn winches is (photo credit: Félix Müller)
My son Michael’s workstation (photo credit: John Bishop) practically beyond belief.
Wendy and I are in New York City this three toilets), after which she could use
it?” He did not think it was funny, but me how to plane a rough board by hand week, and because of some complicated the outhouse. Darren was at the house in
there were audible snickers around the before letting me loose on the thick- twists of schedule, a friend is staying in fifteen minutes, cleaned the filter at the
table. The laborers insisted they should ness planer. That was a great lesson our house in Maine taking care of Farley, pressure tanks (of course, the filter), and
be in the organ chamber with us, moving about sharpening and handling tools the Goldendoodle. She called at five Cassie had water again. Take good care
the crates around. In the end, I won the and understanding the flow of grain in o’clock Saturday evening saying there of your plumber, pay his bills promptly,
point that we “owned” the organ cham- a piece of wood so my plane would not was no running water in the house. I and he will take good care of you. Q
ber, that no one but us could handle tear chips out of the surface if I worked walked her through resetting the pump at
organ parts until they were packed, but against the grain. That experience the wellhead without results, so I called Notes
as soon as a crate or organ part got to enhanced my appreciation of the his- Darren, the plumber. Meanwhile, I told 1. Michael B. Crawford. Shop Class as
the riggers’ rope we could not touch it toric organs I have visited and worked her that she had three flushes (there are Soulcraft (Penguin Press, 2009), p. 11.
again. We found out that “touch” really
meant touch. Later in the job, one of our
guys was on the floor guiding the labor-
ers about how to place and stack crates,
and he pushed a loaded dolly a few feet.
A whistle blew, the work stopped, and I
had to go to an emergency meeting with
the unions to smooth things over.
WHY CHOOSE AN NORTH AMERICA’S
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Mike, one of the riggers, showed up BUILDING, REBUILDING
one morning looking pretty rough. His
pal told us that he had been in a bar the
AND SERVICE FIRMS
night before that had a boxing ring set
1,500+
up where patrons could wrestle with a
bear, and the bear had won. Hughie (six
foot, eight inches tall) stands out in my
memory. The union was requiring him OUR MEMBERS
YEARS
to attend anger management classes
because he had beat up a highway toll
collector as he passed through the
booth. (Who gets that angry in that short BUILDER MEMBERS:
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later if our parents do not teach us. ɼɹɮɬɲɵɲʃɮɲɷɼɼɾɻɲɷɰʂɸɾɺɾɵɲɽʂ
I repeat the quote from Matthew ɲɷɼɽɻɾɮɷɽ&ɱɸɸɼɮɫɾɲɵɭɮɻɽɱɽɲɼ SUPPLIER MEMBERS:
Crawford’s book, “The disappearance Integrated Organ Technologies, Inc.
of tools from our common education is ɻɲɰɱɽɯɸɻʂɸɾ apoba.com OSI - Total Pipe Organ Resources
the first step toward a wider ignorance Peterson Electro-Musical Products
of the world of artifacts we inhabit.”
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When I visit an art museum, I marvel at Syndyne Corporation
the manual skills of painters, sculptors,
potters, and jewelers from centuries and
millennia past. If you have never held
tools in your hands, never tried to carve CONTACT US
a piece of wood, or never put brush and
paint to canvas, you will have less under-
standing of the magic that is around
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you. Visit the ancient sites in Greece or
Rome, and imagine the knowledge, skill, 800.473.5270
and singular sense of purpose necessary
to build the Colosseum, a 10,000-seat 11804 Martin Road
amphitheater, or craft an ornately deco- Waterford, PA 16441
rated pottery urn.
When I was an apprentice in John
Leek’s shop in Oberlin, Ohio, he taught
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