February 25, 2011
$600,000 pipe organ being installed at St. Mary’s, Evansville
Artist’s rendering shows the size of the pipe organ that is being installed at St. Mary Church in downtown Evansville. When the six-week installation process is complete, the electro-pneumatic pipe organ will have 34 ranks and 2,250 individual pipes. It will be located in the sanctuary, to the left of the main altar. The dimensions are 32 feet tall, nine-and-a-half feet deep and 16 feet wide. Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
Along with her duties as a chaplain at St. Mary’s Medical Center and as the associate music minister at St. Mary Church, both in Evansville, Sister Darlene Boyd has been taking organ lessons — all in preparation for the debut of a $600,000 pipe organ that is being installed at the downtown parish.
For the past few years she’s been playing the piano during weekend liturgies so she’s pretty excited about the opportunity to play the pipe organ, especially on special feast days such as Easter and during wedding liturgies. “It’s so much different than the piano,” she said.
When the six-week installation process is complete, the electro-pneumatic pipe organ will have 34 ranks and 2,250 individual pipes. It’s being built in the sanctuary, to the left of the main altar, and it towers at 32 feet tall. It’s nine-and-a-half feet deep and 16 feet wide.
There’s a lot of history in the decision to purchase a new organ for the church.
Steve McCallister, interim director of worship, said the parish was using its third organ — which had been built in 1941 — until the parish renovation project in the mid 2000s. During that time, there was discussion about the organ and consultation with experts about what would be a good fourth organ.
Based on the size of the church building and “the way people sing here, the consultants knew what size organ we should get,” he said. “We knew about what it would take. We knew we could go smaller and lose some of the versatility, or we could go bigger — but where would we put it?”
The 1941 organ had “13 ranks and was clearly inadequate. The mechanical parts of the organ were substantially out of date and needed to be replaced. The pipes worked fine, and were donated to St. Boniface Church in Evansville.
“We couldn’t use it for concert work or big festival pieces. We knew we wanted to replace it,” he said, explaining that “we asked, ‘Should we fix the mechanicals?’ ‘Should we move it?’ ‘Should we rebuild it or enlarge it?’”
The experts all agreed that a new organ should be positioned out of the choir loft and “towards the congregation.”
Plans for a new organ were not part of the recent renovation budget which included replacing 45-year-old air conditioning and making structural improvements to the building.
“There was the idea that if the church really wanted an organ they will come up with the money,” McCallister said.
And that’s what happened.
Someone — who remains anonymous — walked into the parish with a check for $500,000 which they wanted used for a new organ.
After talking to experts, the final price tag was over $600,000. “The additional $100,000 was raised in pledges,” McCallister said, “and we waited until we had almost all of the pledges in hand before we ordered it. By and large, most of the pledges have been paid.”
Five different organ builders were consulted, and the parish decided on the A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company from Atlanta, Ga.
The creation of the organ took about two years once it was ordered, and a few weeks ago, the workmen arrived in Evansville to begin the process of putting the organ together.
When completed the organ will have two keyboards, a pedal board and a series of stops. The casework will be painted wood that will cover the entire structure; in color, it will match the existing altars and decor of the church and include Victorian ornamentation similar to the altars in the church.
This process is expected to take five or six weeks, and then Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger will be invited to bless the organ.
McCallister said of the new organ, “Some people are really excited. I’m really excited. Near-ly everyone in the choir can’t wait. People in the assembly who are musicians can’t wait.
“We’ve never been a big concert church because we didn’t have the instrument. Now we do.”
He cited “Sacrosanctum Concilium,” a document on sacred liturgy issued during Vatican II which called for “full and active participation by the assembly.
“In the old days, all the organ had to do was accompany the choir. Pre-Vatican II Catholics rarely sang at Mass, so the [1941] organ was okay for pre-Vatican II liturgies.”
The 1963 document stated, “In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.”
McCallister said, “Now that’s a ringing endorsement!”
He expects that there will be a series of concerts every other month once the organ is in-stalled.
As he pointed to the organ, which is still under construction, he said, “That thing is all to the greater glory of God. It’s that simple.”
Sister Darlene agreed. “I think it will be a wonderful addition,” she said, adding, “Music is a wonderful way of praying.”