photos by Bob Sogge
The
organ at Church of the Resurrection is a tracker organ, each key is connected
directly by a thin flexible wooden strip called a tracker which activates the air valve
under the corresponding pipe allowing air to sound the pipe.There is no pneumatic
or electrical assistance to the keyboard action. Tracker organs which respond
more directly and sensitively to the skill of the organist are noted for their clean, crisp sound. (For more information
about the organ see below.)
| 1. Facts about the organ | 3. John Brombaugh and tracker organs |
| 2. History of the organ project at COR | 4. Description and disposition, comments |
| Because of their initial cost tracker organs are still the minority of church organs being made today; however, their upkeep and life expectancy far surpass every other kind of organ. Hundreds of tracker organs in Europe are still in use, some of them over 300 years old. J.S. Bach played a tracker organ. | |
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For more information see description and disposition below; also see comments from musicians about the organ.
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2. History of the organ project at Church of the Resurrection
Although the congregation had often talked about replacing a temperamental 1897 Estey reed organ which provided music for services, it was not until Betty Jean Bartholomew accepted a call to become music director and organist in 1996 that wishful thinking began to be converted into reality. Her vision was shared by the Rev. Jonathan Weldon, Vicar, who encouraged the congregation to go forward with the project. An Organ Committee under the leadership of Betty Jean Bartholomew was formed in 1997. The congregation responded generously to an initial pledge drive. Additional donations were also received from community members and persons from out-of-state. The Organ Committee sponsored a series of fund-raising events to raise the remainder of needed funds.
On April 19, 1997, enough funds were in hand or promised to make it possible to sign a contract with John Brombaugh & Associates, for delivery of an instrument in 2004.
While the organ was being crafted the church was being prepared for its arrival. A large dormer was constructed in the front roof to provide room for the longest pipes. Inside, alterations were made to the balcony to provide risers for the choir. The acoustics were improved by removing all the carpeting in the nave, replacing the baffle design of the underside of the balcony by a hard, reflecting surface, and erecting a large panel over the organ was to be sited in order to project its sound out into the nave.
Delivery, installation, and tuning took place summer and fall, 2004. At an Evenson, Nov.14, 2004, Bishop Johncy Itty dedicated the organ.
The inaugural year featured several recitals: a dedicatory recital by David Dahl (December 5, 2004); a duo recital by Julia Brown and Barbara Baird (March 6, 2005); a concert by Liuwe Tamminga and Marc Vanscheeuwijck, cellist,(May 8, 2005).
3. Description and disposition for John Brombaugh & Associates, Op.38a
Betty Jean Bartholomew and the Rev. Jonathan Weldon, both of Church of the Resurrection, worked with John Brombaugh on the specifications for this instrument. (See also facts about our organ above.)
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Symbols: * manual stops transmit to pedal; + bass pipes common with other stops; @ registers on same stopknob, i.e. one plays when halfdrawn, the other when fully drawn |
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This instrument has a twin (Op.38b) in the Florence Henry Memorial Chapel used by St. Dunstan's Church of the Highlands, Shoreline, WA. Op. 38a and Op. 39b are the final productions of the Brombaugh workshop in Eugene, OR.
Background: With the advances in the uses of electricity in the 19th century, organs began to change as organ makers devised ways to apply electro-pneumatic principles to the organ. Organs continued to evolve, eventually into something that no longer resembled the instrument for which the vast repertoire of organ music had been written. It became evident to some musicians as well as organ builders that something had been lost. Older organ music did not sound "right" on many of the newer organs.
A reaction set in. The organ reform movement which began in Europe was slowly taken up in the United States in the 1930's. A few American organs built before WWII showed the influence of the older classic designs, but for the most part they still had electric powered action. After WWII interest in mechanically operated (tracker) organs increased, but there was still much to be learned. Organ builders analyzed and experimented (and continue to do so today) to discover why older organs perform so well. Lost techniques were slowly recovered. Today for the most part organ builders are not interested in making exact replicas of older organs, but take features from several organs, being careful to design an instrument that retains artistic integrity.
John Brombaugh is a leader in what is regarded as the second generation of tracker organ builders in the United States. He work is mentioned several times in the book The Tracker Organ Revival in America, (Uwe Pape, 1974) and The History of the Organ in the United States, (Orpha Ochse, 1975). The Brombaugh tradition is being carried on by the many apprentices who have served in his workshop; at least twelve have opened their own shop.
A native of Ohio, John Brombaugh studied electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. After college he worked for Baldwin Piano and Organ Company, a manufacturer of electric organs. Intending to pursue a career in this field, he did graduate work in electrical engineering and acoustics at Cornell University. However his career took a different turn when he began listening to recordings of E. Power Biggs, Carl Weinrich, and Helmut Walcha playing tracker organs. Much taken with the sound of these older instruments John decided to become a builder of tracker action organs-----wholly mechanical organs which utilize techniques developed in the Middle Ages and perfected in the Baroque. At age 27 he apprenticed himself to Boston area organ builders Fritz Noack and Charles Fisk for three years. In 1967 he went to Germany to learn reed pipe making from Rudolf von Beckerath. Returning to the USA in 1968 he established his own firm in Germantown, Ohio. John moved his shop to Eugene, Oregon, in 1977.
A Ford Foundation sponsored grant the summer of 1971 enabled John Brombaugh to study European organs. This trip and subsequent trips abroad have been the inspiration for organs produced by his workshop. Brombaugh organs are noted for their emulation of the visual, mechanical and tonal qualities of Europe's finest historic organs, especially those of northern Europe.
There are Brombaugh organs in twenty-three states, Sweden, Canada and Japan. In Eugene Central Lutheran Church has a much larger (3 manual, 64 ranks, 38 stops) Brombaugh organ which was installed in 1976 and the Hult Center has a positive (small portable organ).
John Brombaugh is recognized internationally as one of the world's most distinguished organ builders. He was was awarded the [Oregon] Governor's Award for the Arts in 1996. He has a biographical entry in the New Grove Dictionary of American Music and is mentioned in five other articles about organ building in this important reference work. In 2006 Brombaugh was one of two American organ builders honored in a symposium sponsored by the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.
John is retired from active organ building; however he continues to act as a a consultant, mostly in Europe, on the restoration of historic organs.
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