The Organ
As part of its historical commitment to the central role of music in worship, in 1999 the church decided to provide its congregation with a world-class pipe organ and turned to the acclaimed Klais Orgelbau pipe organ design firm located in Bonn, Germany. The process of renovating the sanctuary and installing the massive organ took the better part of two years. Under the guidance of Philipp Klais (great grandson of the founder of the company), the instrument was designed by Gesa Graumann, voiced by Heinz-Günther Habbig, all under the watchful eye of consultants Barbara Owen and McNeil Robinson, and former Director of Music F. Anthony Thurman. The organ had its debut on Easter Sunday, 2001. The first piece played on the new organ was “The Star Spangled Banner.”
More details about the organ, including a stop list and installation pictures, can be found at http://www.orgelbau-klais.com/m.php?sid=15.
News Release on the Organ
From Journal News, written by Robert Marchant in 1999:
“A new organ being built in Germany will return church to Old World music.
An Irvington congregation is ready to make some heavenly music, in a switch from electronic gadgetry to Old World craftsmanship that will add depth and richness to the sounds of Sunday morning services.
A fourth generation German firm i snow making an organ for the Irvington Presbyterian Church in time for Easter Sunday 2001.
Once completed, the instrument will replace an electronic organ that has piped out hymns since 1969 and will bring worshippers a little closer to the divine, church leaders hope.
“Music is one of the most profound ways to worship God. It feeds our souls directly,” said the Rev. David Harkness, pastor.
The old electronic organ was beginning to”lurch and wheeze and get on its last legs” Harkness said, so the church formed a committee to look for a replacement. It quickly pulled the plug on buying another electronic instrument and went for the older, mechanical style. The search led to the Bonn workshop of Klais Orgelbau.
“We’re actually making a leap back in technology,” the pastor said. “People realize the limitations of the electronic instrument.”
An organ built by a 117 year-old firm that casts each pipe by hand makes sense for this Romanesque landmark built in 1869. The Irvington church was designed by the same man who built St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, James Renwick. Sunlight filters into the nave of the church through stained glass created in the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
The company has built organs for some of the most prominent concert halls and cathedrals in the world, from Kyoto to Cologne. The Irvington commission would be the first Klais has built in the United States in 20 years.
The church is a “small customer” for Klais, said its musical director, Anthony Thurman, but the company president was intrigued by the church’s architecture and agreed to take the commission as a challenge.
The Presbyterian Church chose the German firm because it builds organs suitable for a wide range of music, from Bach to old Southern spirituals, which is an important consideration for a congregation that prizes musical diversity. The company’s chief, Philip Klais, also rendered plans that were sensitive to the church’s architecture and its particular needs.
The half-million dollar price for the organ is offset by its longevity. It is expected to last at least a century – and take a year to construct.
“It’s like building a house, only more complicated,”said Thurman. The parts will be disassembled and then shipped to Irvington, where it will take two weeks to put together. Another six weeks will pass for each of the pipes, which measure between 8 and 16 feet in length, to be tuned and “voiced” or fitted and fine-tuned for the space. “We’re going to have to wait for a long time, but it’s going to be special, to put it midldly,” said a church organizer, Joanna Gurley.
The church plans to share the organ, with the music-loving public through community concerts once it is working. But the new instrument means more than just pretty music, Harkness said. “We don’t want to be a museum or a concert hall. We want to be a living breathing church and it’s an instrument that allows us to be more of a church,”he said.
“You can make anything loud,” he continued, but only the right sounds speak to the soul.