Cathedral liturgist examines progress on organ

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
May 26, 2005

When Matthew Geerlings visited the rural community where the Cathedral of the Epiphany's new organ is being built - Buchloe, Bavaria - he felt a connection between the farming communities of Iowa and this area of Germany.

"There seemed to be a lot of similarities. The people are just as friendly as they can be. It made me think that this was right choice. It has really worked out well," noted Geerlings, director of liturgy and music at Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. He holds a master's in the organ and is completing work toward a doctorate in organ from the University of Kansas.

The German organ builder - Robert Wech - was selected for a variety of reasons but three of the main ones were price, design concept and reputation for quality work. The organ committee at Cathedral wanted the organ to look as it had been there since the church was built.

Geerlings pointed out that it is in the contract with the builder that as the organ is being built, it would be inspected two to three times to verify that the work is being done according to terms.

He mentioned that this visit in particular was critical because of the many details that still needed to be worked out.

"When we signed the contract, we had a general concept of the organ. We knew what stops we were going to have, how many stops we were going to have and the basic design of the organ but now we are getting down to more specific things that have to be determined. Things so specific as when you depress the key, how far does the key travel before it stops," he said. "He and I argued about that for a little bit - would it be 10 or 11 millimeters?"

He compared selection of these details with decisions made by buyers of new homes. Rather than selecting carpet color, paint and bathroom fixtures, the Cathedral liturgist worked with the organ builder to decide such things as the layout of the console and the selection of script and language to appear on the organ stops.

In the end, Geerlings chose a modern font for the organ stops as opposed to something like the Gothic style in order for it to be easier to read. And what language will appear on the organ stop knobs?

"We chose German, partly because it is being built by a German firm but also because we have a large contingency of people with German heritage in this diocese," noted Geerlings. "Most organists can look at a stop-list in German and know exactly what that stop is going to do. It's pretty common for organists."

Construction began on the organ in January of this year although the contract was signed in March of 2004. The builder had been working on another project at that time and this allowed him to get the wood purchased and have a year for it to dry. Work on the case will be done this summer.

"His wood supplier owns his own forest there in Bavaria and they go out and choose which trees will be cut down for use in the organ," noted Geerlings. "German white oak and spruce will be used in the construction. It's all very good hard woods with nice, straight grains and it will have a nice finish on them as well."

He said it should be a work of art.

Geerlings said the visit was affirming as he could see the care that went into the smallest of details in the construction of the mechanical-action organ.

"Almost everything is handcrafted in the shop," he said. Even the pipes - both metal and wood ones - are made in the shop. About 20 percent of the pipes have been built.

His wife, Cara, also made the trip. Geerlings said this was very beneficial because as they visited area churches to check out organs made the same builder he could play the instrument in order to examine its key action and get her opinion on the sound. And then, as she is organist at Nativity, Geerlings could also listen to the sound as Cara played.

"We will check it again once the main case has been built and the windchests are mounted into the case frame. By then the console will be pretty much complete as well so we can verify that work is being done and workout the other few minor details," he said. "We will go over once again after the organ is completely assembled in his shop and is playable."

Geerlings noted that at that point it may not sound the best because it would not have been tuned, but it will allow the builder to touch up any problems right there in the shop before the organ is shipped to the United States.

The builder is looking at completion in his shop in June of 2006. It is anticipated that July will be spent disassembling and packing it. By September of 2006, the organ should be ready for assembly at the Cathedral. The builder and his team - all of whom are Catholic - will come to Sioux City to assemble the organ.

"Robert speaks English quite well, but he is so concerned about speaking well that he has a private tutor come by once a week for lessons in English," said Geerlings. "Everybody in the shop speaks English, too. He has made that a goal of theirs so that when they come over and set up the organ, if parishioners have questions they will be able to communicate with his employees if he is not there."

Geerlings noted that this is the first new organ built specifically for the church. The first organ came from a church in Chicago and with the present organ about 80 percent of the pipes in this organ were resalvaged from another unit.

"After 100 years, we finally will get an organ that was meant specifically for us," he said. "Excluding acts of war and natural disasters, realistically it will be 100 years before any major work has to be done on the organ and that will be at minimum of cost - mostly cleaning and releathering. There is no reason, if it is maintained properly that it could last 200 or 300 years before something happens."