[rodgersorgan] Re: Rodgers Pipe Organ
- From: Mark Huth <pdx_36@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: rodgersorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 11:06:25 -0700 (PDT)
Carlo (et list):
One of the supreme joys of my tenure at Rodgers was serving as
the administrator/coordinator for the pipe organ program for
many years. My duties at that time included acting as a liason
between factory, dealer and company, both for the standard pipe
complements and the large custom organs.
It was a tremendous opportunity for me and I was thrilled to be
involved in organ design, installation and voicing, mostly from
the Marketing and Product Specialist viewpoints. In that time,
I had contact with many wonderful artisans and great customers;
there were also countless dealers who worked very hard to make
certain that the Rodgers installations were stunning
achievements.
I came on board one month after the initial dedication recital
of Second Baptist, in October of 1987, yet was quite involved
with that instrument over the next 12 years.
To answer your first question, yes - - - there are other "all
pipe" instruments by Rodgers. I use quotes around "all pipe"
because Second Baptist has some electronic ranks - - - the
Chimes on the Great and a few of the 32' stops are
electronically generated. However, the bulk of the instrument
is pipe - - - there are more than 10,000 of them if you're
keeping score.
Other notable instruments which are "all-pipe" save a few
electronic ranks include Glenkirk Presbyterian in Glendora,
California (67 ranks on 4 manuals) and St. Matthew's Church in
Cincinatti (37 ranks on 3 manuals - - - perhaps fellow list
member Jerry Dulski can talk about this instrument). Both are
extremely successful organs which have a warm yet thrilling
sound.
I was also involved with the organ in 1988 when the combination
action failed on the day of the recital. Oddly enough, the
organ had worked perfectly for a year previous (save the
occasional cipher so common in a brand new instrument,
especially a 10,000+ pipe behemoth). Diane had arrived a day or
two earlier and was very happy with how things were sounding.
The failure of the microprocessor one the day of the recital is
still a mystery, both to me and to the engineers who were there
to take in the AGO Convention and Diane's recital. I'm not
someone who subscribes to conspiracy theories by nature,
however, it is strange that the room with the microprocessor
control system was found open (it has always been locked
before); what's more, the cage which holds the computers was
also open.
This had never been seen before or since.
At the time, we had nothing to gain by suggesting that someone
had intentionally broken in and damaged the combination action
system - - - all our efforts were directed toward repairing the
damage and getting the organ back to 100% for the recital.
Unfortunately, Diane's combinations were lost in the process.
We also announced at the outset of the recital that Diane was
working under extremely stressful circumstances, as
re-registering an ambitious program on a 5-manual instrument in
mere hours (and having little or no time to run through pieces
on the day of the recital) must have been a terrific strain on
her.
That said, she walked out on stage and played wonderfully, using
the resources of the instrument with tremendous sensitivity and
fire. Featured in the program were a number of pieces she had
composed for organ, choir, soloist and orchestra which brought
forth enthusiastic applause.
I think I will always remember her composure under the most
difficult of circumstances and how she and the Rodgers engineers
worked feverishly to overcome a tremendous obstacle on the eve
of a very important occasion.
Mark
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