“The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional musical instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendour to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up people’s minds to God and to higher things” (Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium #120, December 4, 1963). Because of this unique ability to evoke the glory of God’s creation, it is widely known as the “King of Instruments.”
The earliest organs date back to Greece in the 3rd century B.C., using water pressure to supply wind to a set of pipes. As the organ evolved, the water pipes and regulators were replaced by a system of bellows, and later, modern blowers, to produce the necessary wind to the pipes. In the 20th century, electronic enhancements were added to many organs, and today some are completely digital.
The console is the control center of the modern organ, containing a variable number of keyboards played by hand (manuals), various sound controls (stops), rows of couplers (which combine the sounds from multiple manuals), a pedal board played by the feet, and swell pedals, also played by foot, that open and close shutters on the swell box, determining how much sound is allowed to escape. The organist, then, becomes something of a musical gymnast, using hands and feet to communicate each note to the ranks of pipes while rapidly altering voices by pulling stops, changing couplers, and varying volume, often in space as short as an eighth-note.
St. Michael the Archangel Parish is blessed to have three excellent organs to enhance the celebration of the Mass at its two churches.
Casavant Frères, Opus 2641 (1961)
Pipework rebuilt by Emery Bros.
Console by R.A. Colby
Digital Additions by Walker Technical (2006)
The oldest and largest of the three parish organs, the magnificent Casavant in the upper church at St. Bernard, almost wasn’t a Casavant at all. In 1944, as the church was nearing completion, the St. Bernard parish organ committee, its music director, architect, and pastor, along with a representative from the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, collaborated on an ambitious proposal to design an electro-pneumatic instrument with two consoles, 4 organ cases and 110 stops. After elaborate 12-inch copper duct work was installed, paneling was applied to the walls and hard plaster covered the walls and ceilings of the church, construction abruptly halted.
Nothing else was done until 1959-60. Monsignor Quigley, the new pastor, decided to revisit the original Aeolian-Skinner proposal for the organ. A new committee, which included Lawrence Phelps from Casavant-Frères, Canada, and St. Bernard Music Director Joseph Michaud, determined that the musical results would not justify the exhorbitant expenditures needed to realize the original plan.
Casavant was able to produce a design and bid that satisfied the church’s new specifications, and construction began in early 1961. A year later, the new organ of 65 stops, 96 ranks, and 5,211 pipes, played from a 3-manual console, was completed and voiced. On September 17, 1962, the organ was blessed by Bishop John J. Wright, S.T.D., with a dedication concert featuring the renowned organist Anton Heiller from the Academy of Music in Vienna. After playing a program of Bach, Muffat, Pachelbel, and Kerll, Heiller said, “The new Casavant Organ in St. Bernard Church in Pittsburgh is one of the best American organs I have ever seen. It is an exciting instrument!” The 1960s were a heady time in the young Casavant’s life, with other world-class organists such as French composer Jean Langlais and Gerre Hancock, playing recitals on the organ, adding their own words of praise to Heiller’s.
During the period from 1989-1993, the organ underwent partial short-term restoration work by Robert M. Fischer, including a thorough cleaning to remove 25 years of dust and debris exacerbated by other church construction. Ranks of pipes were regulated, minor releathering was done to the resevoirs, an updated vertical wind pressure regulator and large oak organ cases were installed in the gallery, and the sagging en-chamade pipe racks were redesigned and rebuilt. Boots, shallots, reeds and resonators on a vast number of other pipes needed to be repaired or replaced before revoicing and retuning could take place.
In 2006, more permanent interventions and upgrades were needed for the organ; it was at this time a new console with 4 manuals and 150 stops was added to communicate with the organ’s 92 ranks plus digital additions and over 5,000 pipes. The range of new digital voices included not only an expanded pedal division, but also new stops for choral and congregational accompaniment, and colorful solo voices. The combination of pipes and digital stops in the present-day organ makes it a commanding instrument to accompany choirs, provide a venue for world-class organ recitalists, and add immeasurably to the beauty of the liturgy.
An excellent comprehensive history of the Casavant, with photos as well as original and current specifications, is available by contacting the Music Ministry at 412-531-7412.
Viscount, Physis 245 (2015)
A.E.Sterner Organ Company
Because two Masses were held simultaneously every Sunday at St. Bernard, the lower church in Clairvaux Hall housed its own organ. When a lightening strike in the fall of 2014 rendered the lower church organ unserviceable, members of the parish generously supplemented the amount paid by insurance to purchase a new instrument.
The Viscount organ is a fully digital instrument, with two keyboards, pedalboard, 45 stops/couplers, and the unique ability to change sound styles and “temperaments.” Instead of pipes, eight large speakers mounted throughout the church, as well as two bass cabinets, project and amplify the digital voices. Because of its relative portability, the Viscount is able to join the Casavant upstairs for such dual organ masterworks as Louis Vierne’s Messe Solennelle.
Cornell-Zimmer (1996)
W. Zimmer & Sons
As the Our Lady of Grace church building neared completion in 1963, the former organ of St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland was being sold, and a bid was placed to acquire the instrument for the new church building. Ultimately, that organ ended up in St. Anne church in Castle Shannon, and Our Lady of Grace church purchased an electronic organ until a pipe organ could be installed.
In the early 1990’s, proposals were submitted from various organ builders to install a pipe organ. After consultation with Fr. Ted Rutkowski, Music Director Kevin Trichtinger, and other members of the parish, a contract was signed with W. Zimmer & Sons to install a hybrid organ, with 10 ranks of pipes and 39 digital stops. Over five hundred pipes were installed in cases on the left and right sides of the crucifix, with the mechanics for the pipes and speakers for the digital stops located behind the pipework in the original “choir cage” behind the sanctuary. The organ was completed in 1996, and was dedicated that year with a recital played by Abbot Francis Klein, OCSO. Nationally-renowned organist and Pittsburgh native Nicholas Capozzoli not only played several recitals on the organ, but also served as one of Our Lady of Grace’s parish organists early in his career.