Announcer: Support for WGTE presents Christmas in the King of Instruments, a celebration of Toledo's grand organs and sacred spaces is brought to in part by the American Guild of Organist Toledo chapter and by the following And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Brad Cresswell: Hello and welcome to WGTE Presents Christmas and the King of Instruments, a celebration of Toledo's grand Dorgan's and sacred spaces.

I'm Brad Creswell from W.G.

TV FM 91.

Tonight we visit four area churches and we hear from four fantastic organist performing a wide variety of Christmas themed works.

We'll also get a backstage peek at these marvelous instruments, and we'll hear from the musicians who bring them to life for this program of holiday music.

We begin our journey here at St Paul's Episcopal Church in Miami, Ohio.

St Paul's began as the first Episcopal mission and church in northwest Ohio in the mid 1830s as a small lord chapel constructed on the grounds of James and Mary Walcott's home, now known locally as the Wolcott House Museum.

The current neo-Gothic church was built in 1841 on land donated by Judge James Wolcott.

The pipe organ here at St Paul's was first installed in 1928 as a too manual instrument with pipes running through the attic.

In 1965, it was rebuilt by the Mueller Pipe Organ Company with a ground floor pipe chamber.

And in 2018, it was expanded and improved upon once again by the Molar Pipe Organ Company.

Well, speaking of the Mueller Pipe Organ Company, we've moved up here to where the actual pipe organ is.

You can see it behind me here.

I'm also joined by two very special guests.

Of course, we have the organist of St Paul's Jane Webber.

Jane is going to perform for us shortly.

But I also have Mark Mohler, who is here from Mother Pipe Organ Company.

Hello, Mark.

Mark Muller: Nice to meet you.

Brad Cresswell: I think that it would be interesting for folks to hear exactly what it is that you did with the 2018 rebuild of this organ.

We talked earlier about like the pipes being in the attic, how they were moved down into this cabinet.

But I know that you changed things a little bit.

You fixed some things, you added other things sort of tell us in layman's terms what this involved.

Mark Muller: Well, probably the association with St Paul's could best be described as a work in progress over the years.

Yeah, we started in the 1960s and ended up, of course, in 2018 with the culmination of a project that was thought to be, oh, I think over the years, necessary changes having to be made.

We dealt with some problems with the acoustical environment in the church and there were some changes made there.

The organ chamber itself was upgraded.

And once those changes were made, we developed a specification of pipes that would work best in the room.

Brad Cresswell: What's the life expectancy for an organ like this if your family is, you know, taking care of it?

Mark Muller: Well, we would think of approximately 100 years with changes along the way, upgrading over time.

Yeah, new systems.

The advent of computers, of course, changed things, but the pipe organ itself pretty much works the way it did back in the 1930s.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah, that's a wonderful gene.

What was the big difference for you and what they did with the rebuild?

Jane Weber: The organ that we had up until 2018 had a very bright sound to it.

It needed to be balanced a little bit better.

We had problems with intonation because of environmental issues in the pipe chamber, and that was corrected.

We also brought in trumpet rank yeah, pipes that produced the trumpet sound and also oboe.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah, I know that recently it was put through its paces with the American Guild of Organist and Toledo chapter.

They had a wonderful recital here, so you've had a lot of a lot of organist have come in and tried it out for you.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your association here at St Paul's.

Jane Weber: I grew up here at St Paul's.

My father was the rector here for 30 years, so I grew up in the rectory that is just a few feet from the exterior of the organ chamber.

So when I transition from piano to the organ, I really have no excuse not to come and practice and get my skills going Brad Cresswell: Yeah.

What are we going to hear from you?

Jane Weber: I'll be playing three pieces.

The first is that the snow lay on the ground and that one is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

I have no favorites, but that's what I really enjoy.

And then the second piece, What child is this?

That's a lovely arrangement for organ and flute.

And I have.

Prerecorded the organ part, and I'll be playing the flute.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah, that's one of the things that were added in 2018 right here, the ability to pre-record yourself as the organ and in your case specifically to also play against yourself.

Yes.

Yeah.

And your final piece.

Jane Weber: God rest you, Mary gentlemen.

And it's an arrangement by John Rutter.

Brad Cresswell: OK. Jane Weber: It's very powerful and flashing.

Brad Cresswell: Wonderful organist Jane Webber.

Mark Mohler from the Mueller Pipe Organ Company.

Thank you guys so much for talking with us.

Now let's enjoy the music here on W e presents.

(Organ Music) (Organ/Flute Music) (Organ Music) I'm here with Dr. David Saunders, and we are on the second stop of our tour of Toledo's great organs and sacred spaces.

This is the sanctuary of St Michael's in the hills, the Episcopal Church, where an Ottawa Hills David is the organist here.

Hello, David.

Hello.

Thank you for joining us tonight.

You have a really interesting program in mind for us that we're going to hear momentarily.

But but give us a little rundown on what it is you're doing.

Dr. David Saunders: I'm going to be playing four different settings of the same tune, variously known as into Cubillo or good Christian friends.

Rejoice, but I'm doing four different settings that demonstrate the different sounds that this organ is capable of making, all in keeping with its more traditional style.

The the one setting that will be a little bit different is the Duprey, which is just a sweet little setting, but this gem of an instrument just carries it off very nicely.

Brad Cresswell: Well, we're going to talk more about the organ.

We're getting a closer look at it after we hear you play it.

But for now, David Saunders, thank you for joining us and thank you for bringing this music to us here on WGTE presents.

Brad Cresswell: You're welcome.

(Organ Music) I'm Brad Cresswell, and you're watching WGTE Presents Christmas and the King of Instruments.

We just heard of wonderful, a wonderful performance from Dr David Saunders.

We talked about the music.

Now let's talk about this glorious instrument.

What can you tell us about the organ here itself?

Dr. David Saunders: This instrument was built in 1992 by Carl Wilhelm.

It is an entirely mechanical action instrument apart from the wind, which is supplied by an electronic blower, an electric blower.

Everything else is operated through linkages controlled by the player, including the key action when I press a key of a series of linkages, connect to the pallet underneath the pipe and admit the air.

So the three things that every, every pipe organ has are a large number of pipes and a win supply and a console or a key desk.

What's unique about this instrument is that rather than it being the pipes being installed in chambers, the pipes are entirely self-contained in this case, which itself is an architectural feature, and the case acts as a sounding board for the instrument and helps pull all the sound together.

All the pipes that you see exposed actually play.

They actually are speaking pipes.

They are not.

They're not false.

All the pipes from this keyboard are at what's called impost level and standing at the front.

The pipes that are played by this keyboard are in a box up behind, and it has shutters on the front that are controlled by a foot pedal so that I can make the sound softer or louder as needed.

Brad Cresswell: I know that this organ in particular has a big anniversary coming up 30 years, and I know that you have sort of a personal connection to the creation of this organ.

Could you tell us that story?

Dr. David Saunders: Yes, I do.

I was in the audience 30 years ago in September.

The anniversary is actually this this next September, right?

And I was in the audience.

The recital list was Professor Marilyn Mason from the University of Michigan, and she also was the consultant on the design of this instrument.

And eight years later, I became one of her students as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan.

And so I feel a very strong connection between Dr. Mason and my studies with her and this instrument.

And it is just a joy to play.

It's she described it in her letter to the congregation that it was a gem of an instrument, and I thought it was interesting that that's the way she described it, because before I had read that letter, that's the way I was describing the instrument.

It truly is.

There is a larger instrument by the same builder in Ann Arbor at first Congregational, and it shares many of the same features as this instrument.

But yeah, this this is truly a.

There are very few instruments that are like this particular instrument in Toledo.

Brad Cresswell: Absolutely.

Well, that's why you're here tonight sharing the music with us, and we thank you for that.

We thank you for telling us about this glorious, this glorious organ here at St Michael's in the Hills.

And thanks again, Dr. David Saunders for performing on W e presents.

Thank you.

Hello again, I'm Brad Cresswell, this is your duty presents Christmas and the king of instruments, and we're on the third stop in our tour of Toledo's great sacred spaces, great organs and great organists, and I'm joined right now by Cecil Bachman.

We are at Epworth United Methodist Church in Toledo.

Cecil, welcome.

Cecil Baughman: Thank you very much.

I'm glad to be here.

Brad Cresswell: I guess you should be welcoming me because I'm coming here to hear you play this wonderful organ.

Tell us a little bit about this instrument.

You've been playing this for 25 years now.

Cecil Baughman: Yeah, that is correct.

It is a chance instrument and they are located in Orville, Ohio, and it was built in 1962, about a year after this building was dedicated in 1961, and it was dedicated by Virgil Fox.

Actually, yeah, it has 32 and a half ranks spread out over four keyboards, three manuals and pedal board.

And in 2001, when we redid the sanctuary, Mueller Pipe Organ Company also did some upgrades to the instrument and especially to the console and installed solid state memory system.

And then currently, we are in the process over the next few years of doing some work on the pipes and also on the console as well to keep the instrument upgraded and working in good order.

Brad Cresswell: Well, you mentioned the pipes and we don't see the pipes.

Where are they if we.

Cecil Baughman: Layer on this side?

If I don't know if your video will pick this up, but you can see the screen over there and the screen over there behind you re.

Yeah.

And so those are where the pipes are located.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah.

Well, you're going to play sort of an epic set of variations for us on a familiar tune.

You want to tell us about the music you have for us?

Cecil Baughman: Yes, it's a variation set on a duster for Dallas, which American congregations know as I'll come all ye faithful.

And it actually was improvised by Marcel Duprey, who was a famous organist and the first half of the 20th century.

It was done on an hour scroll for an alien player organ, and then Rollin Smith took all the notes off the scroll and reconstituted it so that we can now play it.

So as you hear it, you will hear how Duprey improvised.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah, that's so interesting.

Well, let's hear the music.

This is the variations on a desk.

Stay fit or Oh come all ye faithful by Marcel Duprey.

Just improvise later.

Cecil Baughman: Transcribed by Rollin Smith.

Brad Cresswell: The organ and brought to us tonight on WTT Presents.

Enjoy.

(Organ Music) For the final stop on our Christmas tour today, we are in one of the Premiere sacred spaces here in Toledo, that is Rosary Cathedral.

I'm pleased to welcome Paul Monokini.

Paul is director of music as well as organist for the Diocese of Toledo.

Hello, Paul.

Paul Monachino: Hello.

Glad you could be here today.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah, we're I mean, this is a space that has been the host to so many musical events over the years.

And of course, you, as director of music, are intimately involved with those.

But this is an opportunity to show off this fantastic organ.

It's a Skinner organ, but it's been here since 1930, I believe.

Paul Monachino: one Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Brad Cresswell: Tell us about this instrument.

Paul Monachino: So the organ was installed in 1931.

It arrived in several railcars that January, and it was installed over the course of about four months.

It was first heard in April of that year.

At the time, Skinner was the Premiere organ builder of in the country when they were designing the cathedral and making plans for all of the wonderful artwork.

They certainly went to one of the the major and more important builders of that time for the organ.

So yeah.

Brad Cresswell: Yeah.

Now this organ I've seen in so many different organs during the course of this program, and sometimes the pipes are right there in the front, sometimes they're hidden in the back.

Where are the pipes?

Well, this particular work, all of.

Paul Monachino: The pipes for the organ are in this area right behind these screens here, and it's probably about a 30 foot wide by 15 foot deep chamber.

And and actually, it is right across from what was originally the choir loft.

So the choir would have been on this side and the organ would have been on this side.

Brad Cresswell: So interesting.

Interesting how that works now.

I know you have three works planned for us, some familiar tunes.

The first piece that you're playing is the lo.

How a rose are blooming, right?

Yes.

Tell us what we're going to hear.

Paul Monachino: So I chose that to show off some of the string stops or the softer foundation sounds on the organ, and it works very well to do that.

And then the second piece is a little setting of a Spanish Carol Allen Anita Nana, which were in a Spanish inspired cathedral.

I thought, well, appropriate for that.

And then the final piece is is a post-flood on the tune Bring a torch, Jeanette Isabella by a Canadian Denny Bedard.

And I thought that was an interesting connection because we really had a very close connection with Canada.

Actually, the archbishop who came and dedicated the cathedral was the Archbishop of Quebec.

I can't read, but anyway, it came from from Canada and Huma, who was an organist here for many years, about 37 years, he was from Canada.

So we have some connections with our northern friends there.

So I thought, well.

Brad Cresswell: Organist Paul Monokini, thank you so much for sharing the music and sharing this beautiful organ and this wonderful, wonderful cathedral with our viewers.

Paul Monachino: You're quite welcome.

(Organ Music) Brad Cresswell: We hope you've been enjoying this presentation of Christmas and the king of instruments from all of us to all of yours, a very merry Christmas, a joyous holiday season and a happy new year for WGTE Presents.

I'm Brad Cresswell.

Announcer: Support for WGTE Presents Christmas and the King of Instruments, a celebration of Toledo's grand organs and sacred spaces is brought to you, in part by the American Guild of Organist Toledo chapter and by the following And by viewers like you.

Thank you.