Opus 1 is installed at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greencastle, Indiana. The previous organ, assembled over the years by Art Carkeek, Professor of Organ at DePauw University and the church’s organist, had been destroyed by a fire that also damaged the church. Fritz Noack and I had already discussed my striking out on my own; while he was out of town I answered a phone call from St. Andrew’s regarding an insurance estimate for the old organ. Several months later the church asked for a proposal for a new organ, including the possibility of utilizing stops from the Organ Clearing House; Fritz’s reply included the suggestion that St. Andrew’s might consider asking me for a proposal, since I was planning to set up my own workshop.
After visiting the church to meet with members of the organ committee and discuss the music program, all concerned agreed that a two-manual tracker organ incorporating good used pipework would be the best solution. Alan Laufmann, at that time Director of the Organ Clearing House, had already suggested two likely candidates to the church: an 1870 E. & G.G. Hook and an 1856 Stevens & Jewett, both one-manual instruments and both unlikely to ever find new homes in their current state. Some of the old pipes — most of the Hook chorus on the Great — required generous reworking to remove over 125 years of use and revoicing. Others were designed and scaled to form one cohesive ensemble with the old pipework. The red oak casework, inspired by Gothic Revival designs of the 19th century, blends the various sounds before projecting them into the body of the church. While the “cozy” dimensions of the church presented a bit more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated, the organ fits the room extremely well and all parts of the instrument are easily accessible for servicing.
GREAT (Manual I, C1-a58)
Open Diapason 8’
Stopped Diapason 8’ *
Octave 4’ *
Twelfth 22⁄3’ *
Fifteenth 2’ *
Cornet IV 4’ (c13-c49)
Mixture III-IV 11⁄3’
Trumpet 8’
SWELL (Manual II, C1-a58, enclosed)
Geigen Diapason 8’ †
Stopped Flute 8’ †
Voix Céleste 8’ (from c13) *
Principal 4’ †
Flute 4’ †
Flautino 2’ †
Bassoon 16’
Hautboy 8’
PEDAL (C1-f30, flat)
Bourdon 16’
Trombone 16’
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Great
* 1870 E. & G.G. Hook
† 1856 Stevens & Jewett