our organ
Happy Birthday to our organ!
Fifty years ago, our beautiful pipe organ was heard in this sanctuary for the first time. It was built especially for this space by Casavant Freres of Ste Hyacinthe, Quebec. It travelled to Winnipeg by train and was installed here during the summer of 1958. Photographs in the hallway just outside the sanctuary show the instrument as it appeared at the time. All the pipes were housed in the tower based on the architects' plans but certainly not with the blessing of the organ builder! A curtain covered all but a few ranks at the front of the tower opening. The curtain must have made a poor acoustical situation even worse.
In 1981, the organ was completely dismantled and re-built in its current location, with the Great division on either side of the stained glass windows on the north wall and the other three divisions (Swell, Choir and Pedal) moved closer to the tower opening above the chancel. This resulted in a considerable improvement in the projection of sound into the church.
The organ has three manuals and 39 stops. There are 2251 pipes of which about two thirds are visible from the chancel. The original purchase price was $36,000. The 1981 alterations cost $24,000. The replacement value as of 2006 was $617,000.
In September 1958, Helen Young had just taken over as organist from long-serving Jessie Kennedy. In 1966, Douglas Bodle became organist, followed by John Derksen in 1968, Lawrence Ritchey in 1969, Audrey Belyea in 1971 and Linda Fearn in 1986. Recently a photograph of the organ was found in the building and on the back, there is a hand-written inscription by Helen Young. She says, I loved my organ. Certainly the current organist agrees with that sentiment. We are indeed blessed to have such a wonderful instrument to lead in worship.
The pre-service organ selection this morning is the first movement of In Mystery and Wonder, written in 2004 by the American composer Dan Locklair to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Casavant Freres. It demonstrates the wide dynamic range of the organ as well as the various tonal colours. The melody employs many Cs and Fs! The Postlude is the very familiar Toccata from Organ Symphony V by French composer Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937).