Twentieth
Anniversary Concert
St. John's Lutheran Church
November 14, 2003
St.
John's Lutheran Church celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its' pipe
organ with the following program.
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Please contact the church office to purchase a recording of this concert.
Program (TOP)
"Secrets of St. John's Organ"
David EngenPrincipal Chorus (Great, Positiv, Pedal)
"When in Our Music God Is Glorified" Engelberg
Sts. 1, 2 - All (see printed music)
St. 3 - Low Voices, Unison
St. 4 - High Voices, Unison
St. 5 - AllFlutes (Great, Positiv Flutes 4' and 8')
"Flute Voluntary" Benjamin Carr (1768-1831)Trumpets (Positiv, Great, Swell, Flute Celeste)
"Prelude for Rosh Hashana" Herman Berlinski (1910 - )Strings, Flutes, Principals in Combination
"Fantasy on 'Holy, Holy, Holy'" Piet Post (1919 - 1979)
Introduction and Hymn
(Principals Great, Positiv Principal 8' alone)
Four Variations
1. Swell Flutes
2. Positiv Flutes
3. Great Flutes, Swell Oboe
4. Swell StringsHidden Couplers
"Carillon de Westminster" Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937)
Karen Bartz"Aria" (op. 51) Flor Peeters (1903 -1986)
"Aria" Paul Manz (1919 - )
"He Comes to Us as One Unknown" Repton
St. 1 - All (see printed music)
St. 2 - High Voices, Unison
St. 3 - All
St. 4 - Low Voices, Unison
St. 5 - All"Dieu Parmi Nous" (La Nativité du Seigneur) Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992)
(God Among Us)
INTERMISSION
Kathryn Schenk and Allan Mahnke"Let All Things Now Living" The Ash Grove
Sts. 1, 2 - All (see printed music)"Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" (from Solomon) G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
"Suite No. 3 in D Major" J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
"Air"
"Gavotte"
"Bourrée"
"Gigue""Overture to St. Paul" Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
Chorale and Fugue on "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme"
Joyce Larson"Choral Benediction" (1983) Washburn Park
St. 1 - All (see printed music)
St. 2 - Harmony
St. 3 - All, High Voices Descant"The Day You Gave Us, Lord, Has Ended" St. Clement
St. 1 - All (see printed music)
St. 2 - High Voices
St. 3 - All in Harmony
St. 4 - Low Voices
St. 5 - All
CANTATE DOMINO CANTICUM NOVUM
SONG SAMPLE (TOP)
The beginning of "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba":
PROGRAM NOTES
(TOP)
The Hendrickson Organ
The organ was dedicated on All Saints Sunday, November 6, 1983. The instrument has 35 stops, 48 ranks, 2670 pipes. The console has three keyboard manuals and pedals. Twenty-five feet of cable make it possible to bring the console out into the middle of the chancel for special events. The organ was built in the Hendrickson shop in St. Peter, Minnesota, with overall design and coordination by Charles Hendrickson.
Comments from David Engen
In the opening hymn you have heard the backbone of this organ, its' large principal chorus. A chorus such as this is essential to a pipe organ's primary purpose of leading a congregation. You have just demonstrated that this chorus can do just that.
This instrument is a prime example of recycling. While its mechanism was mostly new 20 years ago, it contains pipes from at least two previous organs. We were probably ahead of the times 20 years ago since so much was recycled. I'd like to tell you some of the secrets this organ holds as a result of this recycling.
Nearly 40 years ago I had my first encounter with this instrument's predecessor when, as a high school student, I was contracted to play a wedding here. It was one of the first joint Catholic/Lutheran weddings in the Twin Cities following Vatican II. Things did not go smoothly at the rehearsal. The priest was not at all happy at having to participate outside of a Catholic church, and he let us all know his displeasure by arriving over an hour late. My concern, however, was the organ, and even at that early point in my career I knew there was something missing in the instrument, which was still relatively new. The large four-manual console did not have very many stops, it was difficult to get good balance, many sounds did not blend or were downright ugly, and the organ was plagued with dead notes. Of course, I had no idea that one day I would have the opportunity to reshape those sounds in such a significant way.
The acoustics in this room are not particularly responsive for music. If you look at the side walls you will see a great deal of acoustic tile. Its function is to absorb sound choir and the organ must work very hard to be heard at the back of the room. If you walk down the aisle while the organ is playin you will hear the volume drop off with every step you take. I voiced the organ to osun best about one third of the way back on the east side. The pipes you see closest to you are the pipes of the Great division, with the Positiv division closer to the altar.
During negotiations before construction began, Charles attempted to get the authorities to remove that acoustic tile, knowing from experience that this would enhance all sound in this room. He encountered resistance, and when it became evident that this was not going to happen, we revised the design and raised all of the wind pressures to force the sound into the church. We knew that the tile walls would not allow the sound to bloom naturally, so everything was made louder. Perhaps someday that wretched tile can still be removed.
Next I'd like to play four of the flutes for you. These four stops have unusual pedigrees. First will be the 4' Spitzgedackt of the Positiv. You can see these pipes in the exposed part near the altar with red felt bands on slightly tapered pipes. Those bands hold the caps that allow for tuning. These pipes were originally destined for a practice organ, but they found a very happy home here.
The second flute is the 4' Spitzflute of the Great. These pipes are also tapered, but they are open at the top, giving a sound with more harmonics than the Spitzgedackt. These pipes were designed for this organ and were new 20 years ago. They are made with a high percentage of lead.
The third flute will be the 8' Gedackt of the Positiv, which has black felt bands on cylindrical pipes. In its first life, two organs back, these pipes were a String stop. In its next life it was a very soft and thin flute with a fairly unstable tone. For its third incarnation we made it fatter, fuller and stable.
Finally, we hear the 8' Bourdon of the Great. These pipes began their life in southweatern Minnesota at First Lutheran Church in St. James as an Open Diapason in a chamber in the attic. They were recycled by being cut down in length and having caps made with small chimneys on most of them. You can see some of them, painted silvery gray, with the other pipes of the Great.
The four flutes you will hear have unique and distinctive colors caused by different pipe construction. See if you can distinguish the different qualities - the Spitzgedackt, the Spitzflute, the Gedackt and the Bourdon.
(Play "Flute Voluntary" by Benjamin Carr)Several of the reeds in the old organ were changed fairly radically. The loudest of them, a tuba, was enclosed in a chamber which muffled its already smooth sound. These pipes were shipped to Europe to a pipemaker who rebuilt them to have a much more commanding sound. They are the loudest pipes in this organ. The two reeds in the Swell of the old organ - a trumpet and an oboe - were almost identical in volume and quality. The trumpet was sent to an American pipemaker and rebuilt, providing contrast between these two stops which are once again paired together in the Swell. You will hear all three of these stops in the next piece, as well as a very brief - 4 note - echo passage played on the Trumpet of the Great.
The "Prelude for Rosh Hashana" is for the Jewish New Year. It is subtitled "The day the world was called into being", and you will hear the shofar effect in the trumpet fanfares and echoes. There is a large climax in the middle, and the music ends very softly with the ethereal strings of the Swell. (Play "Prelude for Rosh Hashana" by Herman Berlinski)
The Variations on "Holy, Holy, Holy" are a good way to hear some of the other small combinations of principals, flutes, reeds and strings. In particular, listen for the statement of the hymn tune just after the extended introduction. It is played on the 8' Principal of the Positiv. In the previous organ it was a 4' Gemshorn, a very quiet but colorful stop that sat on top of that thin Gedackt. It converted beautifully into a small Principal, and is perhaps my favorite stop on this organ, well worth hearing by itself. You will also hear those two flutes in the Swell that I mentioned earlier, the 8' and 2' flutes of the Positiv, the 16' and 4' flutes of the Great along with the Positiv Cromorne, and finally the recycled and mystical Flute Celeste of the Great, the softest sounds on this organ.
(Play "Holy, holy, holy" by Piet Post, through the variations only.)Finally, I want to tell you about a few electrical secrets. The switching system is multiplexed, so there are very few wires between the console and the relays in the chamber. There are a few hidden electrical controls in the console, controlled by small toggle switches. There is a 32' Cornet wired into the pedal which is fairly loud and probably isn't used much. There are also three levels of Full Organ. The third level includes hidden 16' and 4' couplers which are not otherwise available. This is not really how the organ was designed to be used, for it is loud enough without extra couplers. For illustrative purposes, however, I will use both the Cornet and the third level of Full Organ at the end of "Carillon de Westminster" by the blind composer Louis Vierne.
(Play "Carillon de Westminster by Louis Vierne.
Comments on Selections
Aria
Webster's Dictionary defines Aria as an air or melody in an opera, cantata, or oratorio for solo voice with instrumental accompaniment. The "Arias" composed for organ illustrates the use of the same form by two composers who had a special relationship. Flor Peeters served as organist at the Mechelin Cathedral in Belgium and also as Director of the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp. Paul Manz served as organist and choirmaster of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Chair of the Division of Music at Concordia College, St. Paul. During that time, Paul studied with Flor Peeters in Belgium under a Fulbright Scholarship.La Nativité du Seigneur
"The Nativity of Our Lord"
"La Nativité du Seigneur" is a suite of Nine Meditations for organ by Olivier Messiaen. In his Ninth Meditation (God Among Us), Messiaen approached the subject with an attempt to com-municate with the listener from three points of view: theological, instrumental, and musical. Breaking away from traditional Western tradition, Messiaen uses different modes, added rhythms and transpositions. He opens the Ninth Meditation with a descending pedal motif, representing God descending to earth. The second theme stated tenderly on the strings, represents God taking human form as an infant. The first section contrasts a joyous theme with the descending motif on the reeds. The second section uses a joyful statement of the second theme with transposition. The meditation closes with a brilliant toccata over the descending pedal theme."Arrival of the Queen of Sheba"
The instrumental sinfonia to the third act of Handel's oratorio Solomon is, in the words of Winton Dean, "another work with a past." It appears that Handel had originally composed it for a com-pletely different context, inserting it here when he needed music for this oratorio. Handel had nothing to do with the nickname, "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba." Adoring fans invented the label. Following his frequent practice, Handel borrowed heavily from other composers. He based the sinfonia most heavily on material from an aria in the opera Numitore by his contemporary, Giovanni Porta. We could probably say -- without much disagreement --that Handel rarely let a good musical idea go unborrowed."Suite No. 3 in D Major"
The great organ composer Max Reger transcribed Bach's four orchestral suites for two players at one keyboard. We play all the dances of the Suite No. 3 in D Major, omitting only the lengthy "Overture." The "Air" with which we begin is perhaps one of Bach's best known and most loved pieces.
"St. Paul" (1836)
Mendelssohn's oratorio "St. Paul" (1836) was his first effort in this form. Jewish by birth and later a Christian convert, the composer felt an obvious kinship to the Apostle Paul. The overture to the oratorio is in the form of a short, simply-harmonized chorale, "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying," which is followed by a substantial fugue. Mendelssohn indicated that the fugue should begin quietly and gradually grow, much like the great fugue in his third organ sonata. Since Mendelssohn arranged several of his organ pieces for organ duets, we are encouraged to think he would not object to our transcription of this piece of orchestral music.
BIOGRAPHIES (TOP)
David Engen holds an MA degree in Organ Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa (1973), a Master of Science in Software Design and Development degree from the Univer-sity of St. Thomas (1988), and a Bachelor of Music degree -- magna cum laude - from St. Olaf College (1971). From 1987-2001 he was Director of Music and Organist at Olivet Congrega-tional Church in St. Paul. Organ teachers have included Ronald Nelson, Robert Kendall, and Gerhard Krapf. He taught in the music department of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter for five years, conducting the Gustavus choir in 1978-1979. From 1970-1984 he worked at the Hen-drickson Organ Company in St. Peter and was Head Voicer from 1980-1984. He voiced the St. John's organ during this period. David was sub-dean of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a member of the City of Minneapolis Convention Center Kimball Organ Steering Committee. He is a member of the American Institute of Organbuilders. As president of David Engen & Associates, Inc. ("The Organ Doctor"), he maintains a select number of pipe organs in the Twin Cities area - including St. John's. He has assisted a number of churches as consultant, helping them to enlarge or modify existing organs or to design and purchase new instruments. He is currently employed as a Senior Manager at Seagate Technology in Bloom-ington, where he manages a group of software engineers supporting the worldwide sales and marketing organization.
Karen Bartz attended Concordia College, St. Paul, and received her B.S. in Education from Concordia College, Seward, Nebraska. She received her MFA in organ performance from the University of Minnesota. Her organ teachers include Paul Manz, Jan Bender, and Heinrich Fleisher. She has served as elementary teacher and organist at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Spring Lake Park, Faith Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, and assistant to Paul Manz at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. She is presently serving as Assistant Minister of Music at House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Richfield and as adjunct Professor of Music at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Allan Mahnke holds a D.M.A. from the University of Minnesota and an M.Div. from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, with additional graduate studies in classical languages at the University of Minnesota. He is an adjunct Professor at Concordia University, where he teaches music history, and is organist at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park.
Kathryn Schenk performed her first solo recital at the age of twelve and appeared as piano soloist in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the age of sixteen. She is a graduate of San Jose State University and the University of Southern California, where she earned a Master of Music in piano performance. She also holds a Master of Music in harpsichord performance and a Ph.D.
in music from the University of Minnesota. She is a Professor of Music at Concordia University, St. Paul.Joyce Larson is in her fourth season as Music Director of St. John's Oratorio Chorus, part of her responsibilities as Choral Director of St. John's Lutheran Church. She has served as music director and organist in Lutheran churches in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and Pierre, South Dakota. Joyce has degrees in Music Education from Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota and the University of Arizona in Tucson.