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History of Grace &
Holy Trinity's Austin Organ
The Holy Trinity
building, built in 1894, contained a mechanical-action Hook &
Hastings organ. When Holy Trinity and Grace Churches merged
in 1924, Hook & Hastings enlarged the organ, using their new
electro-pneumatic action to operate the existing windchests.
The original Holy Trinity console was attached on the left side; the
new console was detached on the right side. The organ had an
abundance of unison tone. Perhaps the most unusual thing about
the organ was that the very rare Hook & Hastings orchestral flute stop
existed in both the main organ and in the Echo division. These
pipes were made without traditional mouths; a tube conveyed wind
from the toe to the hole in the side of the pipe, so they could be
blown just like an orchestral flute.
Evidently the original
windchests had problems, so that by the time of World War II, the
organ needed to be rebuilt. The Tellers firm of Erie,
Pennsylvania was very active in Richmond at this time, having
rebuilt the organ in the Catholic Cathedral, so they were given the
contract to rebuild and enlarge the organ. The console shell
was retained, and most of the pipes
were replaced with the Tellers ventil windchests, and more stops
were added, again mainly unison and solo stops.
By the 1970's the ventil
chests and the console were beginning to show their age. In
1979, a new Austin organ was installed. The Hook & Hastings was sold, except for a few stops
that were retained, such as the Pedal 16' Open Wood, and the
Antiphonal Gedeckt, Viole, Octave and Pedal Bourdon and Diapason.
After the initial
installation, additions were made though the years, such as the
Trompette en Chamade in the back, and additional stops were derived
from existing resources in the main organ. The console was
also converted from electro-mechanical combination action to
solid-state. However, the work was entrusted to different
firms at different times, each using the type of action they
preferred. The result was a confusing array of devices that
sometimes were not fully
compatible. In addition there was metal fatigue in the largest
reed pipes of the organ, the 32' Bombarde.
Lewis & Hitchcock
recommended converting the organ to one system of operation, so that
everything would be compatible. In 2004 the console was removed to
their
factory, where it was fitted with a new system designed by the
Peterson Electro-Musical Company of Chicago, Illinois. This system
was recommended because of the simplicity of operation, and the
reliability of the components, as well as the support available from
the company. A matching system was installed in the organ
chamber. All the information is sent from the console over an
Ethernet cable. This data stream can be manipulated by a Transposer or recorded by a Sequencer. Each organist has a
data bank available to keep combinations which may be locked.
Crescendos and Full Organ settings may be revised to suit the music.
As the system is software-based, it can be updated.
In 2008 a generous gift
was given by Graham D. Rollings, Sr. in memory of his wife Freda
Hatcher Rollings for a moveable organ console. The moveable
console will enhance the music ministry and our concert series at
Grace and Holy Trinity by making our wonderful organ more
accessible, and the organ music more meaningful to the congregation
and community.
Specifications
of Austin Organ #2638, 1979
63 Ranks
GREAT:
POSITIV:
1. 16 Geigen 73
pipes 16 Geigen
from #1
2. 8 Principal 61
pipes 8 Geigen
from #1
8 Geigen from
#1 25. 8 Holz Gedeckt 61
pipes
3. 8 Bourdon 61
pipes 26. 4 Principal
61 pipes
4. 4 Octave 61
pipes 27. 4 Koppel Flute 61
pipes
5. 4 Nachthorn 61
pipes 28. 2 Octave Principal 61
pipes
6. 2 Super Octave 61 pipes 29. 1 1/3 Quint Principal 61 pipes
7. 1 1/3 Fourniture IV 244 pipes 30.
1 Sifflute 61 pipes
8. ½ Cymbal III 183 pipes 31. 1/3 Zimbel III 183 pipes
9. 16 Fagot 61
pipes 32. 8 Rohr Schalmei 61
pipes
10. 8 Trumpet 61
pipes Tremolo
4 Clarion from
#46 8 Trompette en Chamade
from #38
16' Swell to
Great 8
Positiv Unison Off
8' Swell to
Great 8
Great to Positiv
4' Swell to
Great 8
Swell to Positiv
8' Positiv to
Great 8
Antiphonal to Positiv
16 Antiphonal to Great
8 Antiphonal to Great
ANTIPHONAL:
4 Antiphonal to
Great 8 Diapason
from #s 35 & 40
8' Great Unison
Off 33. 8 Gedeckt
56 pipes, H&H
8 Trompette en Chamade from #38
34. 8 Viole 56 pipes, H&H
Chimes 35.
4 Octave 56 pipes, H&H
SWELL:
36. 1 1/3 Mixture IV 168 pipes
11. 16 Gedeckt bass 73
pipes 16 Antiphonal to
Antiphonal
8 Rohr Gedeckt from
#11 4 Antiphonal to
Antiphonal
12. 8 Viola Pomposa 61
pipes Antiphonal Unison
Off
13. 8 Viola Celeste tc 49
pipes 8 Great to Antiphonal
14. 8 Flauto Dolce 61
pipes 8 Swell to Antiphonal
15. 8 Flute Celeste tc 49
pipes 8 Positiv to
Antiphonal
16. 4 Principal 61 pipes SOLO:
17. 4 Wald Flute 61
pipes 8 Vox
Humana from #23
18. 2 Block Flute 61 pipes 37. 8 Festival Trumpet 61 pipes
19. 2 2/3 Sesquialtera II tc 98
pipes 8 Bombarde from #46
20. 2 Plein Jeu IV 244 pipes
16 Trompette en Chamade from #38
21. 16 Basson 61
pipes 38. 8 Trompette enChamade 56 pipes
22. 8 Trompette
61 pipes 4 Trompette en Chamade from #38
8 Oboe from #21
23. 8 Vox Humana 61 pipes
24. 4 Clarion 61 pipes
Tremolo
16' Swell to Swell
8' Swell Unison Off
4' Swell to Swell
8 Positiv to Swell
PEDAL:
39. 16 Bourdon Antiphonal 32 pipes, H&H
40. 8 Diapason Antiphonal 32 pipes, H&H
Zimbalstern F
Zimbalstern P
Blank
Blank
32 Resultant from #41
41. 16 Open Diapason 32 pipes, wood, H&H
42. 16 Principal 44 pipes
43. 16 Subbass 32 pipes
16 Geigen from #1
16 Gedeckt Bass from #11
10 2/3 Geigen Quint from #1
8 Octave from #42
8 Geigen from #1
8 Gedeckt from #11
44. 4 Choral Bass 32 pipes
4 Nachthorn from #5
45. 2 2/3 Mixture IV 128 pipes
46. 32 Contra Bombarde 68 pipes
16 Bombarde from #46
16 Basson from #21
8 Bombarde from #46
8 Basson from #21
4 Bombarde Clarion1 from #46
4 Basson from #21
4 Fagot from #9
8' Great to
Pedal Peterson
ICS-4000 system
8' Swell to
Pedal Main
control panel for all functions
4' Swell to
Pedal MIDI
data filer (sequencer) for MIDI
8' Positiv to
Pedal
all data functions
4' Positiv to
Pedal SET
key/lock
8 Antiphonal to Pedal
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