The 2012 Reconstruction of the 1896 Casavant Organ, Opus 74,
by Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc., Northampton, MA
The
1896 Casavant Organ’s History
When reconstructed, the 1896 Casavant organ will be the
oldest playable Casavant organ in the United States, an instrument of
considerable historical importance with exceptional tonal quality and superb
craftsmanship. Named the “St.
Hyacinthe,” it was built especially for the St. Ann Church and School in
Woonsocket, RI, which served primarily the immigrants who worked at the
Woonsocket mills. When the St. Ann
parish built a larger church in 1918, the parish installed a larger organ in
the new church and moved the “St. Hyacinthe” organ to Our Lady of Victories
Church, a parish founded in 1909.
Eighty-five years later, three Woonsocket churches (All Saints Catholic
Community, St. Ann, and Our Lady of Victories) merged. The latter two closed, and All Saints
Catholic absorbed the other two congregations.
The “St. Hyacinthe” organ was acquired by the St. Ann Arts &
Cultural Center, which replaced St. Ann’s Church. It was the Center’s intent to restore the
instrument for continued use, but other priorities prevailed. When the Center offered the organ for sale,
Mr. Parkman Shaw, of Boston, MA, purchased it and made arrangements with
Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc. to document and remove the instrument with all of its
pipes and parts so that it could be restored and installed in a church in the
greater Boston area. Two Boston sites
were considered, but neither proved to be physically, musically, or visually a
good fit. The disassembled organ was
placed in safe storage until a new home could be found.
When South Church faced the prospect of having to make
expensive major repairs to its less-than-satisfactory Berkshire organ in early
2011, the Church’s Organ Committee explored the alternative of purchasing and
installing another organ that would be well suited to our sanctuary. With the advice of Grant Moss, the Smith
College Organist, and Jonathan Ambrosino, a Boston-based organ construction
consultant, the Organ Committee rejected the more expensive option of repairing
and rebuilding our Berkshire organ and advocated contracting with Mr.
Czelusniak to rebuild the available 1896 Casavant organ, which surprisingly was
almost the same size as the existing Berkshire organ. In a special congregational meeting called on
November 6, 2011, the congregation voted unanimously to purchase the organ from
Mr. Shaw and contract with Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc. to rebuild and
install the Casavant organ.
Subsequently, Mr. Shaw agreed to sell the organ to South
Church for a nominal price of $1 because he was pleased to know that this
historic organ would be treasured and preserved by our congregation. The firm of Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc.
of Northampton, MA, is now in the process of rebuilding the Casavant organ, and
will install it in the South Church sanctuary during the summer of 2012.
It is the Organ Committee’s intention to document progress
on the reconstruction of the Casavant organ with pictures and to share them
with the congregation. The following
photos represent the first installment.
The interior organ is being built. The wind reservoirs sit on the floor frame;
the wind chest for the Great division sits on top of the structure.
This is the rollerboard for the pedal key action. The jacks showing at the rear interconnect
the couplers from the manual keys. (Open
wind reservoirs appear behind.)
Fine craftsmanship supplies missing parts.
Organ builders (l-r) Jon Van Houten, Richard M. Frary, Jr.,
and Bill Czelusniak.
A row of Melodia pipes being cleaned carefully.
New leathers have been applied to all pipe stoppers.
The newly leathered tuning stopper is fitted into the pipe.
Larger Bourdon pipes with nicked languids to make the tone
smooth.
