The Church of the
Holy Name - Episcopal
Swampscott, MA USA

OBJECTIVE

To create a reliable and appropriate musical instrument for worship at Church of the Holy Name, through a restoration of the Skinner mechanism and pipework, the introduction of additional tonal resources in sympathetic style, and the provision of a rebuilt Skinner console.

To provide a more appealing visual façade, at the same time creating more room inside the organ chamber and better projection of organ tone.

To provide a handsome Skinner console as befits any Skinner organ.

CONTEXT

At first glance, the 1923 Skinner organ would appear to have been changed beyond redemption. The console has been replaced with a cheap supply house unit. Many of the pipes have been altered from their original condition; others have been discarded altogether. The new pipes are not only of inferior quality but make unappealing sounds inappropriate either to the acoustics or to the Episcopal liturgy. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of parties have recommended discarding this instrument and seeking a different pipe organ.

Beneath this superficial assessment, however, a much happier reality emerges. All of the Skinner mechanism is perfectly intact and has never been altered; it exists in an excellent state of preservation, and requires only routine, sensitive rebuilding to provide another seven decades of useful life.

Turning to the pipework, the original organ contained 16 stops on three manuals. Because of changes in wind pressures and shifting around of stops, no stop sounds forth as it originally did. However, of the 16, ten exist and with simple remedial effort can be readily returned to their original condition. These stops include virtually the entire Swell/Choir division and the Pedal Bourdon. The Great and one pedal stop are lost forever — and yet this allows perhaps an ideal opportunity to create a Great division more suitable to the enlarged church and to modern worship needs.

This is still a first-class organ waiting to be revived. The sub-standard quality of the replacement console and tonal changes should not be taken as license to condemn the organ to outright replacement. The underlying components and pipework are in excellent restorable condition and are fully worthy of retention and reuse. With careful engineering, proper planning, good restoration and prudent follow-through, the organ will provide Church of the Holy Name with a suitable and distinguished means for leading congregational and choral song.

STANDARDS, AESTHETICS and APPROPRIATENESS

1. Preserving the past, always seeking the simplest and most logical solutions
2. Replacing lost items in a manner that blends stylistic appropriateness with current musical sensitivity
3. Taking advantage of the best of modern technology to promote reliability, flexibility and ease of use
4. It is our policy not to introduce electronic voices into pipe organs.

PROPOSED STOPLIST(20 ranks, 27 stops over 3 manuals)

GREAT ORGAN, 61 notes
8' Diapason	Vintage or replica Skinner pipes on original toeboard. Notes 1-12 in façade, new pipes.
8' Harmonic Flute	Vintage or replica Skinner pipes on original Clarabella toeboard. Notes 1-10 in façade, new pipes.
4' Octave	Vintage or replica Skinner pipes on original Erzähler toeboard.
II-III Mixture	New or vintage pipes on original 4-foot Flute toeboard
8' Trumpet	New pipes on new unit chest
SWELL ORGAN, 73 notes (all extension trebles recreated and reinstated)
8' Diapason	Original Skinner pipes (presently in use as Pedal Diapason) reinstated on original toeboard, notes 1-12 offset
8' Salicional	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing restored notes 1-6 offset
8' Voix Celeste	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing restored notes 1-6 offset
8' Gedeckt	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing restored notes 1-8 offset
4' Octave	Vintage or replica Skinner pipes on original Aeoline toeboard (retain 1-6 offset or place all on toeboard)
4' Flute	Original Skinner pipes presently in use as 2-foot Piccolo, reinstated to original voicing, pitch and toeboard
2' Piccolo	Original Skinner pipes presently in use as 2-2/3-foot Nazard, reinstated to original voicing, pitch and toeboard
8' Cornopean	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing restored
8' Flügel Horn	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing restored
Tremolo	Present Skinner unit in blower room, restored
CHOIR ORGAN, 73 notes (extension trebles recreated and reinstated
8' Gedeckt	duplex from Swell
4' Octave	duplex from Swell
4' Flute	duplex from Swell
8' Clarinet	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing and pitch restored, fill in bass pipes either from vintage materials or made new
8' Trumpet	borrow from Great
PEDAL ORGAN, 32 notes
16' Bourdon	Original Skinner pipes presently in use, original voicing and pitch restored
16' Lieblich Gedeckt	Vintage or replica Skinner pipes on original Lieblich Gedeckt chest, now in use for Pedal Diapason/Octave unit
8' Diapason	1-12 common with Great, remainder borrowed from Pedal Octave
8' Bourdon	Extension 16-foot Bourdon, 12 new pipes and windchest
8' Gedeckt	Extension Lieblich Gedeckt, original
4' Octave	32 pipes, new pipes and windchest
16' Trombone	12 new pipes and windchest, extension from Great Trumpet
8' Trumpet	borrow from Great

WORKSCOPE

One of the appealing aspects of rebuilding this organ is how easily the work would fall into phases.

1. Restore all mechanical items
2. Refurbish all pipework; make tonal additions; provide new façade, extend casework
3. Provide new recycled Skinner console

Phase One — Mechanical Overhaul

BLOWER ROOM

1. Refurbish blower and blower motor.
2. Restore the static reservoir and related ductwork.
3. Restore tremolo.
4. Provide a clean air filter box for blower intake.
5. Oversee church's renovation of blower room, including additional lighting and power as required.

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY and CONTROL SYSTEMS

6. Provide new low-voltage rectifier to supply current to entire organ.

WIND SYSTEM

7. Restore reservoirs (Swell, Great, Pedal).
8. Clean, repair or replace metal ductwork as needed; any new ductwork will be provided in 26 gauge galvanized steel ductwork, soldered to match the original.
9. Restore and regasket all flanges; replace with replicas of originals as necessary.

WINDCHESTS, STOP ACTIONS and UNIT/BASS ACTIONS

10. Releather all pouch rails, pitman rails and key primaries; replace all pitmans with in-house made replicas; replace all leather nuts, valves and valve wires, gaskets; replace all key primary transfer tubes where present; releather all stop action valves and primaries, recondition stop action exhaust tubes, replace gaskets; re-attach all nailed bass valve unit blocks with screws.
11. Clean and refinish toeboards and rackboards, upright racks and stays, making repairs and reinforcements where necessary; replacing all securing twill ties. Any new rackboards will be made from quarter-sawn poplar, finished to the match the original. Any new toeboards will be made from California sugar pine, matching the originals.

SWELL ENCLOSURE, SHADES and MOTOR

12. Ensure that swell enclosures are sealed properly.
13. Clean and refelt shades, checking linkages to assure tight fit and smooth, bind-free operation.
14. Restore 16-stage whiffletree swell motor.

Phase Two — Chamber, Tonal Work and Façade

CHAMBER RENOVATION

1. Clean and refinish interior chamber walls as necessary.
2. Provide specifications to Church's contractor for installation of appropriate chamber lighting and electrical.
3. Optimize access points and pathways through chamber.

FLUE PIPES

4. Clean and repair all flue pipes; refinish zinc bass pipes; repack stoppers on Gedeckt; replace any missing or broken tuning scrolls; check all pipes for proper voicing.

REED PIPES

5. Disassemble, clean and repair all reed pipes; replace wooden wedges with new brass wedges; insert new tuning scrolls where necessary; replace defective tongues and wires only as necessary.

TONAL CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

6. Restore altered pipes to original voicing and locations as per proposed stoplist.
7. Install additional pipework, chests, ducting and associated wiring as per proposed stoplist.

CASEWORK

8. Design, engineer and provide new façade, coming forward from present opening approximately two feet, in order to promote better egress of tone and provide additional interior chamber room for additions. The new façade will be comprised of at least 22 speaking pipes, carrying the lowest notes of the Great Diapason and Harmonic Flute.

INSTALLATION and TONAL FINISHING

9. Install organ in good order; provide a clean and serviceable chamber.
10. Regulate each stop for power, blend and balance; fine tune entire organ.

Phase Three — New Console

1. Provide new solid-state switching system.
2. Completely re-wire organ, to comply in all respects with the National Electrical Code for Pipe Organs.
3. Provide new console

We already have in our possession the console from Skinner Organ Co. 883 of 1932, a loaner organ for Washington Cathedral (coincidentally, another Henry Vaughan-designed church). Originally a two-manual, it was reclaimed by Ernest Skinner in 1938, the console fitted with a third manual and provided as the organ to Lasell Junior College, Newton. The organ was recently removed from the College, but we were able to gain possession of the console.

For Swampscott, the console would be completely modernized with multiple level combination action. However, in appearance and detail it would attempt to resemble as closely as possible an unaltered Skinner console. All other aspects would be either restored or rebuilt as appropriate:

4. Refurbish existing keys.
5. Refurbish existing pedalboard.
6. Provide new Harris electric drawknob units.
7. Provide new solid-state combination action, 32 levels.
8. Refinish all console woodwork, making repairs where necessary.
9. Provide new incandescent lighting for music desk, coupler tablet rail and pedalboard area.
10. Rebush all knobs and pistons, replace missing pistons with vintage or ivory duplicates; adding and reconfiguring stopjambs and engraving as necessary.
11. Refurbish and retain all original toe studs, providing additional ones as deemed necessary.
12. Solid-state controls to be carried in a discrete drawer.
13. All fine details to be determined in consultation with, and only upon the approval of, the client.