From the Ministers of MusicIn May 2003, we had the

privilege of performing for thePiccolo Spoleto Festival inCharleston, South Carolina,playing on a new A.E. Schlue terinstrument at Bethel UnitedMethodist Church. This or-gan’s tonal palette, craftsman-ship, and imaginative flexibilitymade a great impression on us,planting the seed for a futurenew instrument in CovenantPresbyterian Church’s Morri-son Chapel.

The first organ in MorrisonChapel, an 1885 William A.Johnson & Son instrument,came from the old St. Mark’sLutheran Church of Charlotte.Enlarged and rebuilt by theSchlicker Organ Company in1962, the instrument served thecongregation until 2012. Gifts from individuals and local foun-dations established seed money for planning a new instrument.In 2010 a bequest from the estate of Esther L. and Charles E.Fishel provided the funds to build and endow a new organ as wellas support other musical initiatives. Using information gatheredin 2005, an ad hoc committee selected A.E. Schlueter Pipe Or-gan Company to build a 32-rank organ of great versatility andwarmth. Its tonal palette, in the American Classic Style, resem-bles the design of the sanctuary’s Aeolian-Skinner organ.

Upon its completion in May 2012, the new organ immedi-ately displayed its aural beauty and dependability in weekly Sun-day services, monthly Wednesday services, and frequent memo-rial services and weddings. Organists Susan and Stephen Talley,assisted by violinist Laurel Talley, dedicated the Esther L. andCharles E. Fishel Organ in two concerts on September 22, 2012.A festive setting of Lasst uns Erfreuen with original “organ dedi-cation” text and harmonizations by Karen Keene opened the con-cert, leading the audience in celebratory song. Michael Bedford’sTheme and Variations on “Le P’ing,” premiered at the NationalAGO Convention in 2010, displayed the organ’s flute and stringcolors as well as full organ in the concluding Carillon. Bach’s Pre-lude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, demonstrated the clarityand breadth of the new instrument’s principal choruses. Boëll-mann’s popular Prière à Notre-Dame and Toccata from Suite

gothique showed off the singing Harmonic Flute and the soulfulVox Humana as well as the dramatic reed choruses. A gentle vio -lin and organ Intermezzo by Peter Matthews offered a sorbet be-fore Albert Travis’s brilliant Toccata on “Rejoice, Ye Pure inHeart” concluded the program.

In the year following its formal dedication, the organ has con-tinued its weekly and monthly service duties. Congregationmembers at these services frequently express their appreciationfor the organ’s elegant hymn leadership and warm service music.

The chapel’s English Gothic architecture, elegant Willettstained-glass windows, and the new Schlueter organ create aninviting venue for the congregation’s “Chamber Music in theChapel” concert series. The organ will be a featured instrumentat the 2015 Region IV AGO Convention.

The new instrument joins other distinctive organs on theCovenant Presbyterian Church campus: a 1949 five-manual, 96-rank Aeolian-Skinner, bearing the signature plate of G. DonaldHarrison; a 1975 two-manual, 36-rank mechanical actionSchlicker; and a two-manual ten-rank mechanical-action Flen-trop. More information and photos of all the Covenant organsand the church’s 48-bell Petit and Fritsen carillon can be foundat Covenantpresby.org.

STEPHEN AND SUSAN TALLEY

Ministers of Music

COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

A.E. SCHLUETER PIPE ORGAN COMPANYLITHONIA, GEORGIA

COVER FEATURE

Front of sanctuary viewed from console in the rear gallery (photo: Thomas Geist)

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From the OrganbuilderAs we planned this instrument, we knew that it was going to

be very important that it be prepared to take part in all forms ofmusic. As we considered the tonal design, we quickly settled onan eclectic instrument that, while having resources that are anhomage to early-American Classicism (inclusive of a Romantic/symphonic core), had a stoplist that could support a wider bodyof repertoire that spanned the pre- and post-Romantic periods.

I have often said that when I discuss the stops in a specifica-tion, such as an 8' Principal, I know distinctly, with utmost clar -i ty, the sound that is in my head. However, this will also be trueof the church musicians, clergy, organ committee members, andconsultants—and the sounds that are in their heads. The ques-tion, of course, is, how are these individual definitions of soundbridged? The sound in my head may not be the right one if it dif-fers significantly from what my client wants. As part of our tonaldesign process, I develop what I like to call a “living will” for thespecification. During joint visits to instruments, meetings, tele-phone calls, and e-mails with our clients, we transcribe and docu -ment the way the organ will be used, characteristics about the waycertain stops or a body of stops may be used, inter- and intra-manual relationships, likes and dislikes in various organ stops,and myriad other factors. The resulting documentation not onlyserves as a guide for the formal stoplist and development of thescaling sheets, but also provides a clearly defined guide to the en-tire staff of the Schlueter firm throughout the project. Thismethodology was a significant part of our process in building thenew organ for Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The completed specification has 32 ranks with heavy relianceon an 8' weighted manual stoplist, the necessary resources to pro-vide an appropriate gravitas in the Pedal, and is replete with color, weight, and variety.

The instrument is centered around the generously scaled dia-pason chorus in the Great division. The 16/8 Violone is variablyscaled to enhance its use as a 16' foundation under the chorus,and as a more defined string as it ascends above the 8' register.To complete the Great fonds, we included a very generouslyscaled, tonally ascendant 8' Harmonic Flute, and companion 8'Bourdon of capped metal construction. The stops that are pitchascendant from the 8' flue line (4, 4, 22/3, 2, 13/5, IV) are scaledand voiced to fold in with the chorus, not dominate it. In keep-ing with their solo nature, the Harmonic Flute and II Cornetwere placed in a mounted position above the Great, which allowthem to sing unforced into the sanctuary.

In an instrument with just one enclosed division, the Swell di-vision takes on a special consideration. Our requirements for thisdivision included a secondary principal chorus, a complete flutechorus, rich and vibrant strings, and reed chorus. The expressionbox was built over two inches thick to allow complete dynamiccontrol of the full Swell resources.

The primary Swell strings are a pair of 8' Violas that are gener -ously scaled to allow the unison rank to ably serve an 8' founda-tional role with the 4' Principal and IV Mixture (2' ) to form theSwell principal chorus. These strings are companioned with apair of diminutive 8' Muted Violes and a pair of 8' Flauto Dol-ces. A generously scaled 8' Vox Humana in a separate enclosureprovides the final ingredient with the massed strings for a shim-mering, ethereal color.

The flutes in the Swell, while easily combined into a single uni-fied voice, are made of differing materials and include stoppered,semi-open, and open flues to allow each stop its own unique, dis-tinct voice, which ably serve solo or ensemble functions. Thesvelte flute cornet (8, 4, 22/3, 2, 13/5) provides a wonderful con-trast to the more incisive, focused, principal cornet in the Great.

The organ reeds were built with English shallots that providea balance between harmonics and fundamental tone. The Swellreeds are duplexed to the Great, which allows scaled dynamicswithin the Great chorus due to their enclosed position. The 8'Oboe is fitted with domed lift caps, weighted tongues and heavyresonator construction, which provides a darker color with a large

Console in front of side casework and facade (photo: Thomas Geist)The console arrives. (photo: Stephen Talley)

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vowel cavity, giving it a singing, plaintive voice. The 8' Swell cho-rus reeds are extended downward into the Pedal Division to pro-vide two differing stop weights in the 16' register.

For a festive organ solo voice, we incorporated an 8' EnglishTuba into the specification. Featuring small Willis tuba shallotsand higher wind pressure, this stop caps the organ with a voicethat is at once smooth, fluid, and bright, without clangor or ex-cessive éclat. This rank of pipes is located in the Swell expressionbox to allow full dynamic control of this powerful stop.

The primary foundational flue voices of the Pedal division arein the organ facade, where they can speak in a defined, unim-peded manner. While some duplexing and unification was in-cluded in the specification, it was oftenmore a consideration of a dedicatedbuilt-in coupling of individual stopsrather than pitch reliance. With space ata premium, digital stops were incorpo-rated for the 32' pitches and the tunedpercussions.

The rear gallery location provided achallenge in design, due to the gallerystairwell access on the right side and thecentered stained glass window. This wascomplicated by the fact that the physicalfloor space was only available on the leftside of the gallery. While we were confi-dent that the organ could work tonallyfrom this single speaking location, it pre-sented the problem of a visual anachro-nism with the potential for an off-centercase design in this Gothic space. Our so-lution was to bring the organ facade andcase forward of the gallery rail. Thisplacement, and the inclusion of a can-tilever, let us make use of the thin veneerof wall space on the right-hand side withonly a modest projection into the nave.The stairwell entrance into the gallerywas engineered through the organ case.

Through some clever winding and internal transmissions for noteactions, we were able to include speaking pipes in the right case.The wall sections behind these pipes were painted black, whichspatially gives an impression of a large cavity of space behind thefacade to match the organ side of the case. This treatment usedlittle floor space and allowed symmetry and visual balance in thedesign.

The twin cases are built of white oak, finished to pair with thesurroundings of wood, stone, iron, and stained glass. The ex-posed facade pipework includes the 16' Violone, 8' Pedal Octave,8' Principal, 4' Choral Bass made of polished aluminum, and thewooden 16' Subbass, stained with an oak finish. We were very

pleased with how the organ fits the visual fabric of this worship space.

To control the resources of the or-gan, we built a traditional, English-style two-manual drawknob console.The console sits on a rolling platformto allow it to be placed in a centeredconcert position or moved 90 degreesto the side to allow an unimpededview down the length of the nave. Theconsole exterior is built of white oakwith an interior of mahogany andebony. One unique feature of thisconsole is the inclusion of ebony andivory keyboards built from pre-banivory sources. Other console featuresinclude modern conveniences for theperformer such as multiple memorylevels, programmable crescendo andsforzando, transposer, MIDI, and theability to record and play back organperformances. The record/playbackcapability has proved an invaluableaid to registration by allowing the per-former to hear the organ from thechapel floor.

The design of the organ chassis in-corporates electropneumatic sliderwindchests for the manual flue stops,with unit stops and reeds on electrop-neumatic unit action. The wind israised through conventional springand weight curtain valve reservoirs.

Owing to the favorable speakinglocation, the organ was able to be gen-tly voiced with wind pressures in thethree- to four-inch range, save for theEnglish Tuba, which speaks on 73/4

inches of wind.As is our practice, the organ was

tonally finished during several voicingsessions that allowed us to evaluate theresults as part of the ongoing process.We have found that this method oftonal finishing results in a finer levelof pipe voicing than would be possi-ble from a single dedicated voicingsession.

View of gallery before organ installation. Notice the wallsenclosing the stairwell on the right side.

(photo: Thomas Geist)

Organ installed in gallery (photo: Kathryn G. Pickard)

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We would like to thank the staff and con-gregation of Cove nant Presbyterian Churchfor their trust and support during the organbuilding and installation. We particularlywould like to thank Stephen and Susan Tal-ley for their vision and dedication to thisproject. We were constantly buoyed by theirzeal and enthusiasm for building an instru-ment dedicated to edify and glorify Godthrough music and worship. Truly, theirmission became our own.

We are very fortunate to have so manytalented craftspeople at our firm whosecombined skills result in the ultimate suc-cess of our instruments. Our staff includesArthur Schlueter Jr., Arthur Schlueter III,Ro bert Black, Steven Bowen, Kelvin Cheat -ham, Marc Conley, Patty Conley, ShanDalton, Michael DeSimone, Pete Duys, JayHodges, Patrick Hodges, Ruth Lopez, JeffMoore, Chad Sartin, Al Schroer, BarbaraSedlacek, Jim Sowell, John Tanner, BudTaylor, Bob Weaver, Dallas Wood, and BillZeiler.

If you would like more information onthis instrument and our firm, I invite you tovisit the Schlueter Pipe Organ Companywebsite at pipe-organ.com, write to me atA.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, P.O.Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058, or feel free toreach me at my personal e-mail address:art3@pipe-organ.com.

ARTHUR E. SCHLUETER IIITonal and Artistic Director

GREAT16 Violone8 Diapason8 Violone8 Harmonic Flute8 Bourdon8 Flauto Dolce (Sw.)8 Flauto Dolce Celeste (Sw., TC) 8 Erzähler Celeste II4 Octave4 Chimney Flute22/3 Cornet II (TC)2 Fifteenth11/3 Mixture IV16 Bassoon (Sw.)8 Trumpet (Sw.)8 Tuba (Sw.)

TremoloGreat to Great 16Great Unison OffGreat to Great 4

SWELL (enclosed)16 Lieblich Gedeckt8 Stopped Diapason8 Viola da Gamba8 Viola Celeste (TC)8 Muted Violes II8 Flauto Dolce8 Flauto Dolce Celeste (TC)4 Principal4 Nachthorn22/3 Nazard2 Flageolet13/5 Tierce2 Mixture III–IV16 Bassoon8 Tuba8 Trumpet8 Oboe8 Vox Humana 4 Clarion

TremoloSwell to Swell 16Swell Unison OffSwell to Swell 4

PEDAL32 Sanftbass32 Untersatz16 Violone16 Bourdon16 Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw.)102/3 Quint8 Octave Bass8 Violone8 Bourdon8 Gedeckt (Sw.)

4 Choral Bass4 Cantus Flute22/3 Mixture II32 Bassoon16 Contra Trumpet (Sw.)16 Bassoon (Sw.)8 Trumpet (Sw.)8 Oboe (Sw.)4 Oboe Clarion (Sw.)8 Tuba (Sw.)

PERCUSSIONChimesHarpZimbelstern

INTERMANUAL COUPLERSGreat to Pedal 8Great to Pedal 4Swell to Pedal 8Swell to Pedal 4Swell to Great 16Swell to Great 8Swell to Great 4

COMBINATION SYSTEM128 memory levelsGreat 1 2 3 4 5 (thumb)Swell 1 2 3 4 5 (thumb)Pedal 1 2 3 4 (toe)General 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (thumb)General 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (toe)Set piston (thumb)General cancel (thumb)

REVERSIBLESGreat to Pedal (thumb, toe)Swell to Pedal (thumb, toe)32 Sanftbass (thumb, toe)32 Bassoon (thumb, toe)Sforzando, programmable (thumb,

toe)

ACCESSORIESSwell expression pedalCrescendo pedal, programmableLED system control panelSforzando indicator lightCrescendo indicator lightSignal indicator lightPiston sequencerMovable console platform

MIDISix programmable MIDI tabletsPlayback/Record sequencer

Cover photo: Kathryn G. Pickard

Covenant Presbyterian ChurchCharlotte, North Carolina

A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company

Two manuals, 32 ranks

Facade pipes in cantilevered corbel (photo: Kathryn G. Pickard)

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