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~ IN CONCERT ~
FERNANDO ORTEGA
in support of Dr. Jon & Amanda (Martzluf) Fielder's mission to Africa
SATURDAY - NOVEMBER 8, 2008
7:30 PM
RECEPTION and SILENT AUCTION for MISSIONS
DOORS OPEN—6 PM
CAPITOL THEATRE 159 S. MAIN STREET CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17201 General seating tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, groups of 20+ are available for $23. Tickets are available by contacting St. John’s UCC Church Office at (717)263-8593. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!The title above tells you that this is to be a year full of information and concerts and articles centered around the pipe organ. This is the first of several articles I will write to inform and educate you about my favorite musical instrument – The Pipe Organ. Think back in time 300 years before the birth of Christ. Think of the country Greece and an inventor named Ctebius. A new, simple musical instrument has been constructed, the first pipe organ. It is a very small box with perhaps a half dozen crude pipes inserted in its top, pipes of varying lengths which make musical sounds when air is piped through them by a small hand-held bellows.
Move centuries ahead to the early church and this curious instrument, the pipe organ. Since its infancy, the Christian Church has claimed the pipe organ as its own. The church and the organ grew up together. Check the history of the Christian Church in Europe and Great Britain and the organ is there. Saint Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music, is usually pictured holding a very small portative (portable) organ which she holds with one hand while playing with the other hand.
King Henry VIII, the famous and infamous king of England in the Middle Ages, owned dozens of small chamber organs and other keyboard instruments. In 1889, Sir George Grove in his Dictionary of Music said, “The organ is, together with the clock, the most complex of musical instruments developed before the Industrial Revolution. Among musical instruments its history is the most involved and wide-ranging and its repertory the oldest and largest. No other instrument has inspired such avowed respect as the organ.” This has to be the most compact brief history of the organ ever written. In months to come I will relate more and more material about the “King of Instruments.” As you listen to our own wonderful pipe organ or any other pipe organ, listen very carefully and ask questions about this “box of whistles sitting on a box of air!”
The International Year of the Pipe Organ 2008: Part II “Go for Baroque”In the April issue of The Spirit I began a series of articles concerning The International Year of the Pipe Organ. I will continue this saga in the issue for May. Historically the pipe organ predates Christianity by at least 500 years but somehow the two grew up together and the organ has been associated with the Christian Church since the very beginning. We know that the first attempt at an organ was a simple “box of whistles.” As the church grew so did the pipe organ. History records a rather amazing statement that in the 10th century there was a pipe organ in Winchester Cathedral in England which could be heard for many miles. Winchester did have an organ since early years but it is not quite accurate to think that the sound carried for many miles.
The pipe organ continued its growth within the church into the Medieval Period and as the great cathedrals rose in Europe great organs were a part of these buildings. We need to stop briefly and talk about the fact that not only were these musical instruments crafted by hand but also operated by hand, or more properly muscle power. If the church held a rather small organ, the bellows could probably be operated by more then one person and lots of muscle power. In the larger churches and cathedrals there would have been rooms located under the wind chests and pipes of the organ which contained rows of bellows which were operated by men standing on them and doing a stationary march as the bellows supplied air to operate the pipes which meant less physical activity for the arms and legs.
Historically the Renaissance was a period of great vocal and choral music but as the Renaissance faded and the new period, the Baroque, began we had a major shift or emphasis to instrumental music. This did not mean that vocal and choral music were gone but that there was a greater interest in instrumental music of all types. Much of this instrumental music was written as accompaniment to vocal/choral music. Part of this emphasis could well have been the fact that more musical instruments were being created and they were being extremely well built. This applies directly to the pipe organ and this new Baroque Period, the period of Bach and Handel which saw many of the world’s great pipe organs being built and played and having music written for them. This was particularly true in Germany where some of these wonderful instruments still survive and are heard by people from all over the world. The Baroque Period lasted roughly from 1600 until 1750 and yet in 1963 when our new church was being built, the design of the pipe organ was directly influence by the pipe organs of this period. Those organs and our fine organ were built with most of the pipes unenclosed and visible and only one section under expression. (We will discuss this at greater length in future writing.) This brings us to 1750 and the beginnings of our own country. We will start here next month.
Once again this month we return to my saga about the pipe organ. Thus far I have traced the history of the organ from its roots in the Greek civilization through its use in the early church, its steady progression through the Middle Ages and into one of its greatest periods of development in the Baroque Era with composers like Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and many others.
By the time of Bach’s death in 1750, our own country was in its beginning stages and the first great organ builder lived and worked in Pennsylvania. David Tannenberg emigrated from Europe as a young man and set up his workshop in the small village of Lititz (near Lancaster). Even in this time of poor communication, his fame spread, and he was building pipe organs for congregations in our own state and as far away as North Carolina. He died while finishing a new organ in York. A few of his instruments survive to this day and are used and treasured. His final instrument is now in the York County Historical Society.
The 19th century was the great time of expansion, development and invention in our country. We all know the strides which were made in all areas along with the names of the great people who made these advances. The church also spread throughout the land, and these buildings wanted and needed pipe organs. It was in the 19th century that many of the great organ builders set up shop and turned out literally thousands of instruments. The pipe organ in our sanctuary was built by the firm of Mathias Peter Moller from Hagerstown, MD; although the firm really started in Greencastle, a few miles from us. From these humble beginnings, the Moller firm developed into the largest builder of pipe organs in the world, building instruments for the tiniest chapel to the largest cathedral.
By the end of the 19th century our own church was built and standing on Lincoln Way East (across from the Post Office), and before long it would replace its original Melodian with a pipe organ built by the Moller company. There are still pictures of the sanctuary of this church with its imposing looking organ in the front of the sanctuary behind a fence of fake pipes which was the style of the day. It was about this time that the great American Industrialist Andrew Carnegie wanted every church to have a pipe organ and offered to pay 50% of the cost. Can you imagine this today? The church where I grew up had a Carnegie organ.
“The Word of God which ne’er shall Cease” by the martyr John Hus was written in the early 15th century. It is just as profound today as it was when it was written.
The Word of God which ne’er shall cease; proclaims free pardon, grace and peace, Salvation shows in Christ alone, The perfect will of God makes known. The holy word exposes sin, Convinces us that we’re unclean, Points out the wretched ruined state of all mankind, both small and great. It then reveals God’s boundless grace, Which justifies our sinful race, And gives eternal life to all, Who will accept the gospel call. It gently heals the broken heart, And heavenly riches doth impart; Unfolds redemption’s wondrous plan, Through Christ’s atoning death for man. O God, in whom our trust we place, We thank Thee for Thy Word of grace, Help us its precepts to obey, Till we shall live in endless days.For more information, e-mail us at: office@stjohnschambersburg.org