An Expanded Organ for St. Mark's

Music is about color.  The color of a sound helps us determine whether a soprano is singing or a baritone.  It lets us know if the solo instrument in a concerto is a piano or a harpsichord.  Timbre is the word that musicians use to describe an instrument’s color.

Instruments and voices also have registers – high notes and low notes.  When a harp plays in its lower register, you can still tell that it’s a harp.  In a piano concerto, the piano is also discernible whether it plays in the very depths of the keyboard or high on the other end. So, each instrument has its own timbre.

The organ is different from most instruments in that it plays many timbres depending on what the organist chooses to use.  There are basic classes of organ sounds: foundation, flute, string, and reeds.  Even within these four categories there can be many different colors – an example would be flutes with woody sounds and flutes with metal sounds. It’s also important to know that these sounds are imitative organ sounds and not replacements for instruments by the same name.  If you have a viola stop (and we do!) it is not a replacement for an actual viola.

In 1984 Lydia Krueger donated money to secure a pipe organ for St. Mark’s new nave.  It was installed by the Zimmer pipe organ builders and served our congregation well for many years.  Mrs. Krueger’s gift is still with us today.  The pipes that she gave provide the basis for the expanded instrument.  Thanks to R. A. Colby and the Walker Technical Company, we have added many layers of color.  An apt analogy would be to say we have gone from a box of eight crayons to a box of twenty-four.  We have added everything from shimmering strings to a robust festival trumpet!  All of these additions made a new console necessary.  I hope that you will come up and take a look at it some time.  You are even allowed to play it!

By now you have noticed the visual component that was also added. The facade pipes have been rearranged to follow the arms of the Christus Victor statue.  The rectangular grid pipe shades have been replaced with a grapevine motif that is carried up from the altar. A new center tower covered with a dark brown grille cloth highlights the statue in the center. The Celebrate Team spent much time choosing a look that would highlight the statue rather than overshadow it with a new organ design.

Thank you to those who served on our organ committee: Jane Daugherty, Bill Ahrens, and Pastor Hanson.  Thank you to the Celebrate Team and last year’s Council for approving this project – especially Bernie Giancola (property chair) who oversaw the new electrical needs. Thank you to R. A. Colby and Associates for their very fine work – especially Brad, Sam, and Nick who spent about 5 days here on site.  Thank you to Bob Walker of Walker Technical Company who spent the better part of two days working on the tonal finishing.  Thank you to John Parkyn whose expertise was invaluable from the very beginning.  Finally, thank you to the people of St. Mark’s and all who have contributed financially to the organ.  This organ will support the church’s song at St. Mark’s for many years to come!

Find more photos of the installation process on our Facebook album titled Organ Refurbishment April 2013 at https://www.facebook.com/stmarksjax.  If you're on Facebook, please like us while you're there!

This short video shows off the new Festival Trumpet!

Photos: 1) The original Zimmer console  2) The facade of the organ  3) Our happy organ builders from R. A. Colby, Inc. L to R: Nick, Brad, Sam  4) The new console was wheeled down London Road and taken through the back gate into the nave  5)  Pipes coming down for the facade rebuild  6) Before and After shots of the facade.