The organ at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Burlington was given in 1973 by the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, in memory of the Right Reverend Vedder Van Dyck, fifth Bishop of Vermont. Designed according to classic principles that are widely accepted as the most functionally reliable, as well as artistically satisfying, the organ was built by Karl Wilhelm of Mont St-Hilaire, Quebec.
The key action of the organ is mechanical; this means that a system of levers and rods called trackers connects the keys to the valves that admit wind to the pipes. This system responds precisely to the organist’s fingers and affords the closest possible control over the sounding of the pipes. The instrument’s only two electrical components are the motor driving the blower that supplies wind for the organ, and the lights on the music rack and over the pedalboard.
Encased in planed, unfinished white oak, the organ consists of three divisions—Hauptwerk (Great), Oberwerk (Swell), and Pedal. The pipes of the Hauptwerk are located directly above the organist and to the right and left of the center case. The Oberwerk’s pipes are immediately above the center pipes of the Hauptwerk, and are behind expression shades. The Pedal division is placed in its own case behind the main organ. The organ’s case, designed according to the Golden Section, is intrinsically a part of the instrument, serving as the main sounding board for the pipes, as well as the means of projecting the sound into the Nave. The case was originally surmounted by a carved oak seal of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; this was removed during a cleaning in the 1980s and enameled, and it now hangs on the parapet of the nave’s gallery.
There are 24 stops or voices, controlled by individual drawknobs placed on either side of the two manuals or keyboards. The pipes, totaling 1,558, are of metal (an alloy of 75% tin and 25% lead) and oak.
The German-born organ builder, Karl Wilhelm, served apprenticeships with Laukhuff in Germany and Metzler in Switzerland, before moving to Canada in 1960 to initiate the building of tracker-action organs there. In 1966, he started his own firm and has built organs in Canada and the U.S. since then.
The pipe scaling and voicing, including the organ’s tonal finishing, was the work of Christophe Linde. Also participating in the instrument’s building and installation were René Beauregard, Claude Godbout, and Claude Chauvin.
Click here to download this information along with a specification of the instrument.
The key action of the organ is mechanical; this means that a system of levers and rods called trackers connects the keys to the valves that admit wind to the pipes. This system responds precisely to the organist’s fingers and affords the closest possible control over the sounding of the pipes. The instrument’s only two electrical components are the motor driving the blower that supplies wind for the organ, and the lights on the music rack and over the pedalboard.
Encased in planed, unfinished white oak, the organ consists of three divisions—Hauptwerk (Great), Oberwerk (Swell), and Pedal. The pipes of the Hauptwerk are located directly above the organist and to the right and left of the center case. The Oberwerk’s pipes are immediately above the center pipes of the Hauptwerk, and are behind expression shades. The Pedal division is placed in its own case behind the main organ. The organ’s case, designed according to the Golden Section, is intrinsically a part of the instrument, serving as the main sounding board for the pipes, as well as the means of projecting the sound into the Nave. The case was originally surmounted by a carved oak seal of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; this was removed during a cleaning in the 1980s and enameled, and it now hangs on the parapet of the nave’s gallery.
There are 24 stops or voices, controlled by individual drawknobs placed on either side of the two manuals or keyboards. The pipes, totaling 1,558, are of metal (an alloy of 75% tin and 25% lead) and oak.
The German-born organ builder, Karl Wilhelm, served apprenticeships with Laukhuff in Germany and Metzler in Switzerland, before moving to Canada in 1960 to initiate the building of tracker-action organs there. In 1966, he started his own firm and has built organs in Canada and the U.S. since then.
The pipe scaling and voicing, including the organ’s tonal finishing, was the work of Christophe Linde. Also participating in the instrument’s building and installation were René Beauregard, Claude Godbout, and Claude Chauvin.
Click here to download this information along with a specification of the instrument.
