Organ

First a little history:

“Music has formed a part of the tradition of our parish from the day [the Church of the Redeemer] was founded. The original pipe organ by today’s standards would be looked upon as archaic. Operated as it was, by water power, we can well imagine the difficulties that must have been experienced by those who were responsible for the music of the Church. Countless stories exist to tell of those trials and tribulations.

Interwoven through the history of that first pipe organ are the unforgetable names of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, Mrs. Mary Packer Cummings, Mrs. Robert A. Packer, Bishop Talbot and Mr. E.P. Wilbur whose numerous gifts made the organ possible. Chief among those who worked to bring the first pipe organ into the Church more than 50 years ago was the Rev. Frank Thurber Cady, then Rector of the parish. Through Father Cady’s efforts, a substantial gift was received from the Carnegie Foundation. That honored instrument provided the music for the Services of the Church until December, 1955 when it was dismantled and removed to make room for the new one. It should be mentioned, however, that the golden thread which joins our day with the past was not broken when the old organ was removed. All the pipes that were in the original organ have been retained in the new one. They have been completely re-voiced and tuned to fit the action of the present organ and thus, the full-throated beauty of their music will continue to move through the hallowed House of God declaring His promise and carrying to His people their eternal message of hope, courage, and comfort.” [quoted from the leaflet of dedication for the “Lindsey Organ” of the L.W. Lindsey Co., Dickson City, PA – November 4, 1956]

The Church of the Redeemer’s principal instrument is a Schantz Organ installed in 1989. It is an electro-pneumatic organ with a detached console. It has two manuals (Compass CC to C4 … 61 notes), pedals (Compass CCC to G … 32 notes), and stop and coupler control (Tilting Tablets above the Sweel Manual). Although not a large pipe organ by some standards, it is an extremely versatile instrument in a marvelously acoustic setting. The current organ, designed, built and installed by the Schantz Company of Orrville, Ohio in 1989 is a two manual, 19-rank electro-pneumatic instrument with 27 voiced stops.

Pictured here are trumpet pipes in the swell box.

The Great and Swell manuals and the fliptabs for setting stops. The Swell bellows and tremolo, operated from the fliptabs on the console.

 The pedal board and toe studs on the console.

The mouths of three Bourdon pipes.