St. Charles Preparatory School
Columbus, OH
2/9 Kilgen
Opus 3721 - 1926

organ

A pipe organ I've longed to add to the growing list of instruments on the pages is this small 2/9 Kilgen organ at St. Charles Preparatory School. St. Charles is my high school alma mater (class of 1992) and I spent many a day in the Mother of Mercy Chapel (aka "Lower Chapel") attending Mass listening to Monsignor Gallen play the organ. Because of this connection it is a treat for me to be able to profile this instrument.

School and Organ History

St. Charles was founded in 1923 as an all-boys high school offering a tough curriculum of college preparatory classes. The current main school building was completed in 1925 and has had several additions built onto it over the years. The school's curriculum expanded shortly after it opened offering college courses. The college closed in 1969 at a time when the overall health of the school was not good. St. Charles today continues to provide a strong college preparatory curriculum to its students. Enrollment has been at an all-time high with over 600 for a number of years. The school is the last all-boys high school in central Ohio.

St. Charles' physical facilities have undergone a number of capital improvements over the past 20 years. Included in the renovation list are the Mother of Mercy Chapel (see photo below), and the Kilgen organ which sits in the rear of the church. When I was in school the chapel boasted a sub-standard sound system, no air conditioning and wood kneelers with no padding. Today it has a very nice sound system, air conditioning, and padded kneelers (kids have it so easy today!).
church inside

Back in my high school days the Kilgen organ was in less than ideal shape. Years of neglect had taken its toll on the instrument. And while most of the pipes played, some were out of tune and the organ had several mechanical problems. I remember MonsignorMonz Gallen ("Monz") telling me is that if you selected certain tabs it would cause a note to play so you had to be careful what you selected. What a mess! Fortunately the organ was rebuilt in July 2001.
The exact age of the Kilgen organ is somewhat of a mystery. The Mother of Mercy Chapel was completed in 1937, however the opus number of this instrument (3721) puts the build date of this organ at 1926. The theory behind the date discrepancy is that the Kilgen organ was originally installed in the Holy Angels Chapel (aka "Upper Chapel") at St. Charles and then was moved to the Mother of Mercy Chapel when it was built. While it is possible to poke holes in this theory, I've found more things to support this than to corroborate it as you will see as we tour the instrument.

The sound of the organ adequately fills the chapel space though it can be a little underpowered when the chapel is completely full. The school used to have all-school Mass in the chapel which meant filling the pews in the middle, along the sides, and folding chairs behind the altar. I'm sure Kilgen never envisioned that many people in the chapel so it did not think to build the instrument with the power to support.

The tone of the instrument is typical of those built during the early part of the 20th century with one exception. The highs are soft, firm tones but not bright which is typical of this time period. Not typical of this time period, but typical of Kilgen organs, is the lack of a robust bass sound which probably is in part due to the small size of the pipe chamber and chapel itself.

Credits and Links

I'd like to thank St. Charles Alumni Relations Director Louis Fabro (class of 1983 and my brother) for unlocking the doors so I could crawl around for an hour or so in the chapel. I'd also like to thank 1964 graduate of St. Charles Dr. James Yeager for providing information on the instrument's history. Dr. Yeager has also restored a reed organ which used to be installed in the Holy Angels Chapel at St. Charles.

Stop List Photos of the Pipes - Page 1 Photos of the Pipes - Page 2 Photos of the Console Other Photos of the Organ St. Charles Preparatory School - Columbus, OH


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