St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church

Everett, Washington

2022

Marceau Pipe Organs has completed Phase One for a new pipe organ for this very active Catholic Parish. The original organ, built by Balcom & Vaughan of Seattle, was a small instrument of 6 stops. During a major renovation of the Nave, it was decided to invest in an instrument that would better serve the musical and liturgical needs for the many and varied services. Marceau Pipe Organs was contracted to build this instrument.

In a time when the availability of good, quality pipe organs is high, this presented an opportunity to explore those options. One such option came from Wenatchee where a pipe organ from First Presbyterian Church was available. The organ, originally built by M.P. Möller and augmented and enlarged by Balcom & Vaughan was a good fit. The organ was transported to Everett where it became the basis for this project. After a thorough examination of all the components, it was decided to utilize all the exposed Great pipes along with selected stops from the Swell. A recent addition to the Marceau inventory was a modest Balcom & Vaughan pipe organ, originally built for the First Church of Christ, Scientist on Mercer Island (WA); the Swell from that organ became the “new” Swell for St. Mary’s. Thus, the Swell utilizes windchests and much of the pipework from the B&V organ of Mercer Island with three stops from the original Möller. Given the physical layout of the organ, an enclosed Great was a natural choice with the Principal chorus of the Great in the center of the instrument.

The casework, consisting of two massive chambers, was milled and fabricated by Frans Bosman. Prior to the in shop assembly, Frans retired and returned to his homeland of the Netherlands. A recent addition to the Marceau staff was Randy Pettigrew, an experienced and multi talented woodworker who over saw the in shop assembly and was present for the on site installation. This was the first major casework project to come out of the shop in over 20 years! The Pedal 16’ Subbass was chosen for the façade. The low 12 pipes are in Philippine Mahogany and the rest of the rank is of sugar pine. These two wood varieties provide a contrast to the red oak casework.

Tonally, the organ is designed to provide the musical resources for accompanying the Choir as well as supporting congregational singing. In the Swell, a complete flute chorus is provided that includes mutation stops at 2 2/3’ and 1 3/5’ pitches. The strings are from the Möller instrument and provide a sheen and shimmer, befitting of their orchestral flavor. The 8’ Hautbois is both assertive as a solo stop and demure enough to blend when a reed tone is needed. The 4’ Principal provides a much needed tuning stop and brings a cohesive blend to the Swell chorus.

The unenclosed Great, of four stops, is comprised of the 8’ Principal, 4 Octave, 2’Super Octave and 1 1/3’ Mixture IV. This is the workhorse for congregational singing, providing a colorful and present sound throughout the entire Nave. The façade for this division includes the low 12 pipes in flamed copper with the center section in polished tin. The flamed copper pipes were originally built by the Reuter Organ Company and were available during the early stages of this project. They provide a colorful focus to the center section of the organ case. The enclosed Great is prepared for future addition. It consists of two flutes (8’ Rohrflute and 4’ Spillflute), two strings (16’/8’ Dulciana and 8’ Dulciana Celeste), one principal (4’ Geigen) and one reed (16’/8’ Trumpet). The result is a tonal design that can provide two expressive divisions that provide color and contrast to the overall design.