From the Organist and Choirmaster

Saint Michael and All Angels’ new positive organ is given to the glory of God and in thanksgiving for the life for Martha Hirsch Lynch (1906-2004). I am very grateful for the generosity and vision of the Lynch family, who have made this magnificent musical gift to Saint Michael and All Angels Church.

The word positive comes from the Latin word ponere, meaning “to place”. As such, the term “Positive organ” refers to one that can be moved but is set in place when played. (Contrast this with the medieval portative organ, an instrument so small and light that it was carried by the player and played in procession.) Our positive organ has four ranks (sets of pipes), sounding at 8’, 4’, 2’, and 1 1/3’ pitch. The highest two ranks are “divided”: that is to say, the bass and treble halves of these ranks can be turned on and off independently of each other, allowing the player to solo out a voice in the treble with an accompaniment of fewer stops in the bass, or vice versa.

Despite its small size, the organ ingeniously houses approximately 250 pipes. The organ is playable in either modern (A = 440 Hz) or baroque (A = 415 Hz) pitch by adjusting a sliding knob. There is an additional slider to adjust the exact location of the break point of the two divided stops.

The organ was designed and handcrafted by Orgues Létourneau Limitée of St. Hyacinth, Quebec, the same builder who created our beautiful new organ in the Saint Michael Chapel. Our positive organ is one of a series of four instruments that were built at the same time and have gone to great places for music in North America and abroad: one was acquired by The Royal Academy of Music, London; one by the Dutch Church, London; one by the Francis Winspear Centre of Music, Edmonton (new home of the Edmonton Symphony); and one by Saint Michael and All Angels, Dallas.

While each of these instruments has the same specification of pipes and stops, the Saint Michael instrument has uniquely ornate casework and features in its façade the personal seal of perhaps the greatest organist and church musician of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach’s personal seal not only possesses great beauty but also a profound Christian message—analogous to Bach’s music and his personal commitment to Jesus Christ. The seal features Bach’s monogram “JSB” calligraphically with its mirror image superimposed on it. The sweeping strokes of calligraphy are crafted not only to outline the monogram but also to create the Greek letter x (chi), symbolizing both Christ and the Cross. Above the monogram is a crown with twelve precious stones grouped in seven (the number of completion) and five (the number symbolic of Christ’s Passion). The monogram and crown work together to represent the axiom, “Christ will crown those who carry his cross.”

© 2008 Saint Michael and All Angels
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