St. Andrew Catholic Church
Upper Arlington, OH
3/35 Austin
Opus 2771 - 1998
One of my personal favorite instruments is the 3/35 Austin Organ at St.
Andrew Catholic Church in Upper Arlington, OH. Even though the
instrument is not a flashy instrument or one which will completely
rattle the
rafters, it still has a lot to offer. The rich, warm colors of the
beautiful case and pipes match the organ's soft but firm warm
tone. And like most organs, it has a story all of its own to tell.
The building
The organ, Austin Opus 2771, has 2,873 pipes and was built in 1998 and
was installed as a
part of the construction of the new church for St. Andrew. Previously
the parish held Mass services in a much smaller space which
was
constructed in 1956. In later years, a nice sounding Allen electronic
organ helped lead the music in the church. The parish continued to grow
and the existing church could not handle the numbers attending each
weekend. A temporary solution (which lasted many years) was to hold
additional Masses in the school's gymnasium to handle the overflow
crowds. 
In the mid 1990s the parish committed to building a new church to unify
the congregation on Sunday. Ground was broken in 1996 and completed in
1998. The new church mixes the modern with the traditional. An
asymmetrical background behind the altar, graded floor pitched
downhill as you move toward the altar, and stained glass windows on one
side combine with a wood drop ceiling, wood support beams, choir loft,
and of course a pipe organ in the rear.
A job not quite finished...
Schubert wrote the "Unfinished Symphony", and Austin
Opus 2771 could very well be named the "Unfinished Organ". The original
plans
for the organ included eight additional stops: 2 2/3' sequialtera II,
4' clarion, 4' flute, 4' rohr schalmei, 8' trompette
de fete, 8' voix humaine,
32' bombarde, and 32' violone. 
However
funding at the time resulted in
a scaled back
version of the instrument (I seem to recall discussions that the entire
church was shortened slightly due to funding but I have nothing to
substantiate this information). The end result is an organ which is
neither baroque nor romantic, but somewhere in the middle. Think of it
as the scale on an equalizer. Instead of being able to move the setting
20 db above or below center, the scale only goes 10 db above
or
below center.
After listening to the organ play a variety of pieces, it is clearly
evident the direction Austin was headed with the instrument. The
foundation was set for a remarkably dynamic sounding organ but
unfortunately remains unfinished. During my visit to photograph the
organ in September 2008, I asked St. Andrew Music Director Phillip
Lortz if the parish had considered finishing the instrument. He
indicated that the parish council has told him a couple times they are
interested in doing the work so there is hope that it will be completed.
Aesthetically the organ is one of the most pleasing to the eye. The
case of the organ was hand made by a parishioner as a donation to the
overall church project. This same parishioner also made the chairs for
the priest and altar servers in the front of the church (click here for more information). The
color of
the pipes compliments the colors of the wood in the case and in the
ceiling of the church. Light filters through the rose window in the
back of the church adding blue and purple hues to the pipes and case.
Despite its unfinished state, the organ remains one of my favorites for
its soft but warm sounds which match the rich, warm colors of its case.
Information
from St. Andrew about the organ
Organ dedication announcement
Credits and
Links
A big thanks to St. Andrew Music Director Phillip Lortz
for his
time and assistance with this page. Mr. Lortz agreed to
be my "ginnea pig" in terms of creating the pipe
organ pages.
Although the Ohio
Theatre Morton Organ page was my first web page pipe organ
project, this is the first classical organ I have
profiled.
However
funding at the time resulted in
a scaled back
version of the instrument (I seem to recall discussions that the entire
church was shortened slightly due to funding but I have nothing to
substantiate this information). The end result is an organ which is
neither baroque nor romantic, but somewhere in the middle. Think of it
as the scale on an equalizer. Instead of being able to move the setting
20 db above or below center, the scale only goes 10 db above
or
below center. 