4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago

[Guest]

This church sponsors a nice complimentary recital series at noon on most Fridays and we were recently fortunate enough to attend one.This is a fine service to the public. My question, for the many familiar with this organ,is to what extent do you feel this instrument is encumbered by its location in the church?

[Guest]

Re: 4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago

Or, to phrase my thoughts differently, it seems that with my limited experience all these various stop lists we love to dwell on are deceptively informative. Inrealityit appears thatvoicing, placement, and acoustic considerations are so significant that a stop list alone is of littlemoreimportance than a pipe count. Maybe stop lists are popular and fun to review since the other factors are more arcane and difficult to quantify??

[Guest]

Re: 4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago



Mekongnarra, I think you've hit on a few good points. While I have never been to this church I will agree with you that stop lists are not the only factor. When it comes to electronic organs I don't take stop lists too serious as I know that what the stop says may not be what I hear. Although it's been my experience that Allens arequite decentin this department. I played a Baldwin that I found frustrating - stop list, sound, distortion, no crescendo pedal, only one expression pedal for everything, only 4 memory pistons, etc.

On the other hand with pipe organs, I find that what is on the stop list is indeed what I hear with some exceptions. Ifyou findyourself with a make of pipe organ that has changed tonal directors often then you may not always hear the same thing. And as you said there is voicing, placement of the instrument, acoustics, the building itself,who made the instrument, if it is being cared for or not, etc. I think this too is a factor with electronic organs - acoustics, placement, etc. As well, it all depends on what the builder had in mind when they made the instrument - Frenchromantic, Baroque, etc. So yes stop lists are important, but not the ultimate. There are a whole host of other factors to consider in my opinion, although I am no organ builderand I would not dare to presume to have all the answers or be an authority on the matter.