The Cathedral Church of St. Paul

The Cathedral's Organs

The Cathedral contains two organs - one in the chancel and one in the gallery.  They were both built by D.F. Pilzecker & Company of Toledo, Ohio.   Although the two instruments are based on historical principles of design, reflecting an understanding of the liturgical, musical and acoustical demands placed upon cathedral instruments, they are in no sense copies of any particular type of organ.

Chancel Organ

The chancel organ is the twenty-third opus of the builders.  It has 71-103 ranks, 63 voices, 77 speaking stops, 21 couplers, and 5,204 pipes.  Most of the pipes are cone-tuned and voiced with open toes and flues.  The case pipes are 75% tin, most other stops being 40% tin.  Many of the flutes and some principles are of hammered lead.  There are several stops from the 1923 Austin and 1951 Casavant organs, rescaled and revoiced.  For a complete stop list click here.

Wind pressures are:  Chancel Great, Positiv, and Pedal, 3"; Swell, 4"-6"; Bombarde, 4" (Hooded Tuba Harmonic, 17"); North Chamber Pedal, 8".  Because of the cathedral's acoustic, each plenum includes an 8' Principal or Diapason.

The Positiv Cromorne 8', Pedal Trompette 8', Great mutations and Swell Mounted Cornet are patterned after classic French examples.  The Great and Positiv reeds are of German character and are part of the plenum.  The Swell Trompette Harmonique and Clarion Harmonique have French shallots with double blocks and are harmonic douible length.  The Hautbois and Voix Humaine have French shallots.  The slider windchests are electromagnetic with one large pallet valve and double relief valves, providing prompt and unanimous pipe speech.  The stop action is electrical.  Each division of the organ has its own tonal and acoustical identity, yet the dividions combine together into one artistic entity, providing the tonal resources for the performance of a large repertoire of organ music.

Gallery Organ

The gallery organ awaits completion of funding.  Currently, the case houses the Great plenum stops placed on a silder windchest with electric action.  The isntrument plays from both the gallery and chancel consoles.  It has four voices with seven ranks and 427 pipes.  The compass is from C1 to G56.  The stoplist is as follows:

     Manual I

Open Diapason	8
Principal	4
Fifteenth	2
Mixture	IV

Organ Cases

The chancel organ case is of classic English design.  The gallery organ case is more of a South German design.  Both cases have carvings and woodwork designed and executed in a manner consistent with the architecture of the cathedral.

Organ Design Team

• Tonal Design, pipe scles and voicing: Daniel F. Pilzecker.
• Design of organ cases: Daniel F. Pilzecker and David Graebe.
• Voicing: Kenneth J. Sweetman, Robert J. Pearson.
• Pipe shade carving designs: David Graebe.
• Pipe shade carvings: Derek Riley.
• Console: Jerroll H. Adams, Richard Houghten.

Construction and building of both instruments invovled many other people, including Kenneth C. Pilzecker, Robert S. Momany, Harold A. Klein, John Schreiner, Lorie Wagganer, James Neyhart, Zachary J. Callahan, and David Saunders