The Instruments of All Saints’

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In addition to our incredible choral offerings, All Saints’ Church is blessed to enjoy instrumental accompaniment from a collection of gorgeous musical instruments.

The Great Organ 

The Great Organ was originally built in 1951 by the Casavant Firm, and installed in the newly-constructed All Saints’ Church in Beverly Hills, recessed deep within chambers provided for the organ by the building’s designers. Each of the three manual divisions were in expression boxes: The Choir division was placed on the first floor level with most of the Pedal division, with the Great and Swell divisions located in second floor chambers (creating a m ongoing tuning problem, since these levels were often at a temperature different from that of the lower chamber).

In 1978, LA’s own Rosales Organ Builders made significant tonal improvements, yielding a more assertive sound, which was further improved by the space’s acoustic renovation in 1981.

By 1986 wear and tear had set in such that each of the wind reservoirs needed to be re-leathered, which was was followed by mechanical failures of the combination action in the console and an increasing numbers of dead notes (indicative of deteriorating leather in the wind chests). Eventually, we had all the leather parts of the organ replaced.

In 1988, Schlicker Organ Builders of Buffalo, NY were brought in to rebuild the organ, adding a new great wind chest immediately behind the channel openings, for maximum egress into the nave. The choir division was moved to the upper level, and given a new expression box, while principal stops were moved, resulting in principal tone at 8′ and 4′ pitch on all three manual divisions. Others stops in the organ were also re-regulated, and the principal chorus and the 8′ Trumpet of the Great division were all newly added, in addition to A full-length 32′ Contra Trombone.

The beautiful new console was patterned after 19th century French designs, with straight terraced stop jambs, made of solid white oak with flourishes of cherry around the keyboards and stop jambs. The stop knobs are boxwood, coco-bola, and ebony, with manual keyboards made from beefbone and solid ebony sharps. The pedalboard is made from maple, with solid walnut sharps.

The console itself is movable for recitals and concerts, and is equipped with a solid-state combination action containing 32 levels of memory.

Recent years have seen the addition of two additional stops, thanks to generous gifts from parishioner Patrick Gillis. In 1997 a new Fanfare Trumpet at 8′ pitch was added, along with pipework built by A. R. Schopp’s & Sons. comprising a brilliant solo stop capable of sounding above the full organ. In the winter of 2000 a new 32′ Bourdon was added, courtesy of Walker Technical Co.

In 2018, we undertook further upgrades and tonal revisions, again under the auspices of Rosales Organ Builders, with the goal of bringing the organ into state-of-the-art condition, preparing it to serve the church for many years. We rebuilt the console, expanding the SSL combination system to 500 levels, adding a new display panel and sequencer. We also replaced the “console to organ chamber multiplexer” with a new Opus 2 system, adding a record and playback feature. Key contacts were replaced with “Hall-effect” Laukhuff “Espressivo” sensors, and a number of tonal modifications were also undertaken, including the rebuilding of the Oboe stop, the cleaning and regulation of all Swell reeds, the replacement the first 12 pipes of the Swell 16’ Double Trumpet with full length resonators, and the addition of a Vox Humana stop in the Swell. Numerous mechanical improvements and repairs were also made.

The Roethke Memorial Harpsichord

The Roethke Memorial Harpsichord was built by North Carolina builder Richard Kingston. It is a single-manual, Flemish-inspired harpsichord with two sets of strings, a buff on the from 8′ set, and a soundboard painting by Pamela Gladding of Pittsburgh A transposing keyboard allows the instrument to play at either modern pitch or baroque pitch.

The instrument is a gift to All Saints’ Church, in memory of Harriet and William Roethke, by their daughters and families, Johanna and Robert Kroger, and Gretchen and Robert Young.

The Chamber Organ

The Chamber Organ was built by Los Angeles organ builder Winfried Banzhaf in 1992 as a commission from parishioner Travis E. Reed III, in memory of his grandparents. The organ is a marvel of engineering: inside its case are two sets of wooden flutes at 8′ and 4′ pitch, the playing and stop mechanisms, and the electric blower supplying air to the pipes. The facade of the organ shows the metal Principal 2′. The case is made of American black walnut, with natural keys covered in ebony and sharps covered in beefbone, exactly as would have been done in the 18th century.

The decorative gilded carvings were handcrafted by the builder, and surround two pieces of heraldry – the shield of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music; and the shield of All Saints’ Church. Although the organ finds its most authentic use in playing music of the 17th and 18th centuries, contemporary organ music often sounds satisfying, as well.

Our Other Instruments

Other instruments include the Chapel Organ, originally built in 1969 by Abbott & Sieker Co. of Los Angeles. The instrument was re-voiced and slightly enlarged in 1992 by Schlicker Organ Builders of Buffalo, NY and now comprises 16 ranks.

The church also owns a six-foot Steinway & Sons Grand Piano and a Roland Fantom X8 synthesizer. The synthesizer is the primary instrument used to accompany services in the style of Taizé.