St. Paul Lutheran Church (LCMS), New Melle, MO

The town of New Melle is home to one of the oldest Lutheran settlements in St. Charles County, Missouri. In 1839, settlers from Melle in Lower Saxony settled here, thus the name of "New Melle." St. Paul's parish was later established in 1844. The parish predates the Missouri Synod by three years, and it eventually became one of only twelve churches who signed the original charter which established the Missouri Synod in 1847.

The present native stone church was completed in 1860. The interior has changed little over the past 149 years. Art glass windows were installed in 1974 and various historical enhancements were undertaken in the late 1970s.

St. Paul's true "claim to fame" is its historical J.G. Pfeffer pipe organ, installed in 1870. A local saying has it that a good Lutheran church would have "a Missouri Synod pastor in the pulpit and a Pfeffer organ in the gallery." One of Pfeffer's earlier works, the instrument at New Melle is considered by some scholars as one of the finest Victorian organs in the country.

The recording below was made by a friend of mine to demonstrate the various stop combinations on this organ.

One last blast...

As the Christmas season draws to a close, I thought I'd share one of my favorite Christmas tunes! Enjoy & Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Fauré Requiem in Omaha

May angels lead you into Paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May a choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus , who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.

When listening to the Requiem of Gabriel Faure, his intent and frame of mind become obvious:

"It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience."

If you have the chance, be sure to attend the St. Cecilia Day Concert at the Cathedral:

Sunday, November 23, 2008 3:00 p.m. On Sunday, November 23 at 3:00 p.m. the 42-voice Cathedral Choir, Palladium Brass, and Dr. Marie Rubis Bauer, Organist will perform the annual Saint Cecilia Day Concert at the Cathedral. The choir will sing the Missa de Sancti Johannis (Mass of Saint John) with strings, as well as other sacred choral selections — featured will be special sacred works for Brass Quintet and for Organ. The concert is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Cathedral Arts Project. For more information contact Marie Rubis Bauer at MRBOmaha@aol.com or call 553-5524x2. Suggested $10 donation.

Serenade for Organ by Derek Bourgeois

of 11/8 and 13/8. It's definitely become a favorite of mine! The quality of the video is not so great, but enjoy it anyway!

International Year of the Pipe Organ

I had the privilege of attending the opening concert for the International Year of the Organ held at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha this past Sunday. On the same day there were organ concerts held at over 250 cities throughout the world to celebrate the King of Instruments. The concert was excellent and very well attended.

There are several significant upcoming organ events yet this year being sponsored by both the Omaha Chapter of the AGO as well as the Cathedral Arts Project. Of particular note:

Faure Requiem
Sunday, November 2, 3:00 p.m.
St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha

Progressive Organ Tour of Five Fremont Churches
Sunday, November 16, 1:30 p.m.
Begin at Dodge County Museum

St. Cecilia Day Concert
Sunday, November 23, 3:00 p.m.
St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha


I hope you'll take some time out of your busy life to enjoy some of the fine events that are centered around this special year. If you're not from around the Omaha area, do a google search for your local American Guild of Organists (AGO) chapter and see what they have to offer. If you can't make it to any events, at least hop on over to Pipedreams and listen to a program or two - they've got some great stuff!

Northern Nebraska Pipe Organ Tour

Over the Labor Day weekend, myself and a friend of mine decided to embark on a northern Nebraska organ tour. It was a very enjoyable trip, and I also leaned an important lesson: many parishes are unaware of value and/or historical significance of their pipe organ. Therefore, they are usually poorly maintained or have undergone some sort of very unfortunate renovation. Hopefully I will be able to upload a few audio files of our trip in the near future, but in the meantime, enjoy the photographs and information about the organs we visited!

Madison, NE - St. Leonard Catholic Church

• Hinners Organ Co. (1916)
• Two manuals, 20 ranks
  
• Tracker action
  

Humphrey, NE - St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

• Hillgreen & Lane (1926)
  
• Two manuals, 20 stops
  
• Electro-pneumatic action

Bancroft, NE - Zion Lutheran Church

• M. P. Möller (1901, Opus 341)
• Two manuals, 19 ranks
• Tracker action

Bow Valley, NE - Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church

• J.G. Pfeffer (ca. 1902)
  
• One manual, 7 stops
  
• Tracker Action
  

St. Helena, NE - Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

• Original builder unknown, reworked by Neuman Organ Co.
• Two manual
• Electro-pneumatic action (formerly tracker)
  

Menominee, NE - St. Boniface Catholic Church

• Reuter, reworked by Neuman Organ Co.
• Two manual
• Electro-pneumatic action

Yankton, SD - Sacred Heart Monastery Chapel

• Casavant Frères (ca. 1954)
  
• Three manual
• Electro-pneumatic action
  

All things British

For whatever reason, I'm fascinating by things British - their architecture, beer, and especially the Anglican Church. The choral tradition of the Anglican Church is something that has particularly captured my imagination.

I ran across this piece by Grayston Ives recently. It's the Gloria from his Missa Brevis. The video is from the 2008 Easter Mass at Liverpool's Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (which, by the way is one of my favorite contemporary buildings). I'm not much for the use of Latin in the Liturgy, but that aside, this is one piece that never gets old for me!