Music

My grade school, High School and College years always had a pipe organ in the church that I attended every Sunday. A church without a pipe organ seems devoid of meaning. The current trend in churches to use guitars and Synthesizers is repulsive to me. Even pianos don't do it for me. This is obviously a personal taste thing, but it is a shared feeling among many church attendees especially the older folks such as I who grew up with the uplifting sounds of a pipe organ to accompany the services.

What makes the pipe organ unique? It is never in perfect tune. It is a mechanical device and every pipe is an individual expression of sound. Sort of like people. It has a very wide dynamic range of tone interactions and sound levels. The music is alive from the interacting sounds, cancelling each other slightly and abetting each other slightly. Electronic wannabes are too perfect. The interactions are not there. I can immediatly detect the uckey sound of an electronic substitute.

So what is the cause of the pipe organ's decline? I belive it is twofold. Organists themselves and shortsighted purchasing.

Organists are the major cause of the pipe organs' decline. Organists want to express their inner self rather than convey an uplifting sound. 10 years ago I attended several Summer sessions of the Organ Historical Society and bought DVDs of those that I missed. The OHS would select a different geographical area every year and we would be bused to about 36 different historically significant pipe organs over a week's time. At first the orgainsts were showing off the grandeur of the pipe organ selected.but as the years wore on, the emphasis shifted from the instument to the artist. A well know organist was selected to play on the majestic old pipe organ at St. Mary;s Catholic Church in New Haven, Connecticut. She had one volume- Full blast! She played pieces like she was suffering from dyreaha, having no time to waste. Even the leader dog of a blind attendee put his paws over his ears! Another well known organist was selected to play the great organ at Holy Ghost Church in Denver. I have never heard such a display of bombasity and dissonance on every piece played. I walked out of that church before the final blast, and have never attended another pipe organ concert.

Music committees fail to select the pipe organ because it is a long term investment with a high initial cost The short sighted committee is only looking at the present cost, not the prorated long term value of the pipe organ.