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Music
The Organ of Blessed Sacrament
In 1925, the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont built the
original organ for the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. It
featured a four-manual luminous console and had 107 stops
(individual sounds) and 5,231 pipes. This pipe organ, which
at the time was the Estey Company’s magnum opus, sustained
water damage a mere 25 years after being built. The Estey
organ was replaced in 1950 by an organ built by Casavant
Frères, Limitée
of St. Hyacinthe, Québec,
Canada. While utilizing much of the original Estey pipework,
the 1950 Casavant organ featured a new console of 44 stops,
including new mixtures, the “Great” Principal 16’, the
“Choir” Silver Flute 4’, and the “Pedal” Trombone 16’. The
1950 enclosed “Great” division was located in the former
“Solo” box. An enclosed division or “box,” as it is called,
consists of many pipes located within a room, the front of
which is covered by a large set of Venetian blinds. The
organist can increase or decrease the volume of sound by
opening and closing these blinds.
James A. Konzelman Organs, of Maplewood, New Jersey,
recently rebuilt the Casavant organ, and the organ was
rededicated on February 21, 2005 in a concert featuring the
accomplished organist Dr. Gregory D'Agostino. The power of
the new organ can make the church vibrate to the point that
the congregation can literally “feel” the music. Konzolman’s
work resulted in the present and expanded organ of 52 stops,
three manuals (keyboards), and four divisions—the “Great,”
“Swell,” “Choir” and “Pedal.” Konzelman rescaled and
revoiced many stops and added a significant amount of new
pipework, including the Trumpet 8’ and Flutes 8’ and 4’ on
the “Great,” the Tompette 8’, Clarion 4’, Mixture IV,
Blockfloete 2’ and Tierce on the “Swell,” and in the
“Pedal,” the Trombone 16’. In addition, Konzelman
re-leathered wind chests and rebuilt the wind regulators and
the electro-pneumatic expression mechanisms for both the
“Swell” and “Choir” divisions.
The Casavant console received a makeover as well and now has
new drawknob units and tilting tablets, new manual pistons,
new toe pistons, and a new pedal-board. The winding is now
provided by a new, sleeker, quieter blower and the organ
also features a new Solid State relay system as well as a
new Solid State capture combination action.
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