Trinity Organ History and Today
From the very beginning of Trinity’s history, our congregation’s singing has been led by the sounds of a pipe organ. Congregational records show that our founding members “for a sum of $15 procured a little organ.” In 1927 the congregation saw the need and desire to install a permanent pipe organ. After much planning and saving, an eight-rank M.P. Moller pipe organ - Opus 4962 was installed. That small eight-rank Moller organ served Trinity for nearly 60 years, until the renovation of our sanctuary, when it was replaced with a larger, newer Wicks pipe organ.
The Wicks organ, Opus 1427, was built in 1936 for St. Mary’s Chapel in Hoboken, NJ. In 1975 it was removed and subsequently bought by Maxine and Paul Persson the next year. The Persson family stored the organ until 1986, when they gave it Trinity. The organ was refurbished with funds from by the Persson family and members of the congregation, and in June 1986 it was dedicated at Trinity.
In 2015 we prepared to mark the 80th anniversary of the original Wicks organ. Plans centered around a refurbishment project to address the many complications and repairs the ageing console and organ needed. An Organ Fund was established and the congregation responded and raised nearly one-third of the cost of the refurbishment project. In early 2016, the family of long-time Trinity members Herbert and Gertrude Goddard offered to fund the remaining cost of the organ project with a gift from the Goddard estate. The rosewood organ keyboards were made possible by contributions made to honor the service of interim pastor Rev. Daniel R. Schroeder.
The plaque, quoted below, acknowledges and gives thanks to all who made it possible for the people of Trinity to worship with the glorious sounds of a pipe organ for past 128 years, and for generations to come.
Thanks Be To God!
To the Glory of God and in Thanksgiving to:
MAXINE and PAUL PERSSON
For donating the Wick's Opus 1427 Organ in June 1986
To Members of the Congregation
and to
THE ESTATE OF GERTRUDE and HERBERT GODDARD
for contributions to restore the organ – Peragallo Opus 748
and to
Friends and Family of
THE REVEREND DANIEL R. SCHROEDER
for the gift of the rosewood keyboards
The Organ Restoration Project (2015)
The original organ at Trinity was built by the Wicks Organ Company of Highland, Illinois. The organ console and switching had deteriorated after many years of use. The pipes were of good scaling and design. and worthy of reuse in the new tonal pallet. The wind system had been updated over the years along with portions of the chamber switching. After visiting several instruments of similar design, the organ committee decided to commission the Peragallo Organ Company to refurbish and update the organ.
The reed pipes and the console of the organ were removed to the Peragallo factory in Paterson, New Jersey. The organ committee made a Saturday field trip to the Peragallo workshops to see the instrument being restored.
The Trivo Reed Company of Hagerstown, Maryland re-voiced the reeds. These include the 8’ Trumpet - 61 pipes; 8’ Oboe - 61 pipes and the 8’ French Horn - 61 pipes. The expression louvers were refurbished and adjusted to provide ultimate control of the expression dynamics.
At the Peragallo factory, the console was refinished and fitted with new key claviers featuring maple-and rosewood-covered naturals and sharps. A new pedal clavier was provided. A new backlit nameboard was installed, providing for the new tonal specification. A new state-of-the-art switching system was installed, providing playback and recording capability, a transposer, multiple levels of combination memory, a piston sequencer and many additional features.
The tonal resources of the organ were expanded with digitally sampled stops from the Walker Technical Company of Zionsville, Pennsylvania. A complete two manual and pedal stop list is now capable of providing for all service music and concert repertory.
The tonal finishing of the organ was completed by the third and fourth generations of the Peragallo firm, now celebrating 100 years in business!
The Peragallo Organ Company is now in its fourth generation of family business – 100 years of continuous operation – founded in 1918 by John Peragallo Sr. who apprenticed with the E.M. Skinner Organ Company. The firm has completed a new organ for the United Methodist Church of Colonial Williamsburg, our Opus 711, and a new organ for Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona, and refurnished the Wurlitzer Organ at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. We have refurbished the famous Kilgen Organs and currently serve as the curators at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. We are also curators of the G. Donald Harrison - Aeolian Skinner organ at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York City.
Tonal Specifications
Two Manual and Pedal Pipe Organ
8-1/2 ranks of pipes with 634 speaking pipes
18-1/2 digitally sampled ranks (wps = Walker pipe sample)
Pedal # of voices Great # of voices
Flute Conique 32’ 32 wps Principal 8’ 61 pipes
Contre Bass 16’ 32 wps Rohr Bourdon 8’ 61 wps
Sub Bass 16’ 32 wps Harmonic Flute 8’ 61 pipes
Bourdon 16’ 12 pipes Spitz Flute Celeste II 122 wps
Octav Bass 8’ 12 wps Dulciana 8’ 61 pipes
Stopped Flute 8’ swell Octave 4’ 12 pipes
Spitz Flute 8’ great Flute Traverso 4’ 12 pipes
Open Flute 4’ great Octavin 2’ 61 wps
Contre Fagotta 32’ 12 wps Fourniture IV 244 wps
Trombone 16’ 32 wps Harmonic Trumpet 8’ 61 pipes
Contre Fagotta 16’ swell Clarinet 8’ 61 wps
Harmonic Trumpet 8’ great Tremblant
Clarinet 4’ great Chimes 37 wps
Great to Pedal 8’ Great to Great 4’
Swell to Pedal 8’ Swell to Great 8’
Swell to Pedal 4’ Swell to Great 4’
Swell Combination System
Singen Diapason 8’ composite Pistons
Stopped Gedeckt 8’ 61 pipes 1 - 10 General thumb and toe
Salicional 8’ 61 pipes General Cancel thumb
Voix Celeste 8’ 49 pipes 1 - 4 Swell thumb
Prestant 4’ 61 pipes 1 - 4 Great thumb
Nachthorn 4’ 61 wps 1 - 3 Pedal toe
Nasat 2-2/3’ 61 wps
Block Flute 2’ 12 wps Reversibles
Tierce 1-3/5’ 61 wps Great to Pedal thumb and toe
Plein Jeu IV 244 wps Sforzando thumb and toe
Contra Fagotta 16’ 61 wps Setter thumb
Trompette 8’ 61 wps Next thumb and toe
French Horn 8’ 61 pipes Previous thumb
Oboe 8’ 61 pipes
Clarion 4’ 12 wps
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16’
Swell to Swell 4’