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As Holy Week moved toward Easter, organist Brad Van Horn prepared once again to fill Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City with the glorious strains of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” his favorite hymn of the season.
Playing a pipe organ is like conducting an orchestra, said Van Horn, 36, of Mason City.
“It has the ability to create a wide variety of sounds, colors, timbre, from a flute to a trumpet, and it’s all at the tip of your fingers.”
Small wonder, then, that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart pronounced it “the king of instruments.”
With its massive console and three keyboards, called manuals, Trinity’s Reuter pipe organ is one of the finest in North Iowa.
Located in the church balcony, the organ was upgraded and renovated in 2006. It features more than 2,500 metal and wooden pipes ranging in size from a foot in diameter and 18 feet tall to smaller than an ordinary pencil.
The organ also has 38 ranks — groupings of pipes — and 33 stops, which Van Horn pulls to produce a range of sounds, including sounds of flutes, strings and reed instruments.
Generals — sets of buttons above the manuals and knobs above the foot pedals — are programmed with the desired registrations, or combinations of sounds, that will be played.
“You can actually make this place rumble,” Van Horn said, eyeing the vast keyboard before him with a grin.
Van Horn wears a special pair of soft-soled leather shoes when he’s playing the pipe organ, because, he said, “You just basically dance on the pedals.”
Mary Jane Crail, organist at Clear Lake United Methodist Church, has been playing the pipe organ there for 31 years.
Even as a little child she was fascinated with the sound of the pipe organ, often sitting on the lap of the church organist to watch. “It’s the largest instrument and the loudest,” she said.
Van Horn said he hopes the music of the pipe organ will inspire the people who hear it.
“Hopefully it’s an uplifting experience and it brings them closer to God.”
link with video:
http://www.globegazette.com/articles...f477423548.txt
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