Bond Organ Builders, Inc.
2014

Marceau's reworking of the instrument involved moving the Great pipes and chest to a central area of the organ loft between the enclosures. In Bond's renovation the Great windchest was moved back into its original location to hold the Choir pipes. The Great pipes were placed on a newly built pitman chest.

Updated through online information from Dr. Walter Krueger. -- The Choir division added by Marceau in 1989 consisted of old materials from a dispersed Kimball organ, ca. 1914. This included a troubled windchest for 6 stops, and 4 ranks of pipes: Clarinet, Unda Maris, Harmonic Flute, and Octavin. Two ranks of Augustana’s original 1951 Reuter organ were included on this chest, the Violin Diapason (Sw.) and Melodia (Gt.). By 2013 it was causing huge problems that interfered with the music-making, ciphers, bleeding, strange sounds.

In the 2014 refurbishment, it seemed best to reconstitute the Choir Division entirely by re-deploying certain pipe resources in new locations.

1989 Choir Stoplist:
8' Geigen Principal
8' Melodia
8' Unda Maris
4' Flute Harmonique
2' Octavin
8' Clarinet

2014 Choir Stoplist:
8' Geigen Principal
8' Spitzflote
4' Holzflote
2' Octavin
1 1/3' Quintina ("little quint")
8' Clarinet

Retained were Geigen Principal, Clarinet, and Octavin. The Unda Maris, of conical pipes, became our Spitzflöte after careful revoicing by Grant Edwards. The Melodia (open wood) became a wonderful 4’ flute, with great presence of tone. The former Harmonic Flute (of nondescript tone) became our 1 1/3’ Quintina (my name for it, based on historical nomenclature). The result is very satisfying and was a true improvement of the organ’s tonal resources. With a strong 4’ and the 1 1/3” a whole new sonic world became available. The Choir, now more like a Choir-Positiv, was able to stand up to the Great as a secondary plenum. We invite all to hear the final results.