I grew up in St. Victor and played my first mass on the organ when I was in fifth grade at St. Victor School. Even back then in early 1970, it was clear that the pipe organ was inadequate in terms of sound possibilities. The wiring from the keyboard to the pipe chamber frequently failed. The wind chests leaked air. The original organ was made by the Geneva organ company from Geneva Illinois.
The cost of a new replacement pipe organ was beyond the means of our parish even back in the 1970s. So, Fr. Sullivan hired Bob David to make improvements. Some additional used pipes of spotty quality were added and the wiring in the organ counsel was certainly updated. Those improvements lasted almost 25 years. However some of the mechanical problems in the wind chests and wiring that were not addressed 25 years ago had reached a crisis point by 1996. Every weekend, another problem surfaced. Berghaus Organ Company, who had serviced our organ for at least 25 years, advised St. Victor that our failing pipe organ not worth working on any more. The wiring, the wind chests, the pipes were all too old or worn out, or just not worth repairing anymore. Those problems necessitated a decision. We could buy a new pipe organ, restore the organ, or give up and switch to an electronic organ.
Under former music director Siobhan Maguire’s leadership, we sought out three restoration bids since the price of a new pipe organ was again out of the question. Only Berghaus’ bid was within our reach financially. And so eight years ago, a new restoration project was embarked upon.
In the first phase in 1998, we bought wind chests and 3 ranks of pipes (183 pipes total) from a Moeller practice organ formerly used by Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois. No change in sound was heard; we only had improved parts waiting for installation in the next phase.
Then, our own parish remodeling project began and repair of the organ had to be postponed until the painting and remodeling was complete.
In May of 2001, the pipe chamber on the east side was completed and one of the two manuals was playable as was part of the pedal pipes. In the east pipe chamber 5 more ranks were purchased from Concordia and there were a total of 9 ranks of pipes representing 532 pipes for both the pedal and great manual. Previously there was only 6 ranks. This supported congregational singing, but had only one option to try to accompany a cantor or the choir.
On August 25, 2002 the pipe chamber on the west side was complete. Whereas we formerly had 5 ranks of pipes, we now have 8 ranks of pipes representing 442 different pipes. This west side is for the top manual which has mostly quieter sounds to accompany a cantor and choir.
In The 8’ Oboe in the positive was still from the David renovation from the 1970s never sounded nice. Luckily, the original 8’ oboe that was part of the practice organ from Concordia was now available to St. Victor. This Oboe was installed in August 2003. We now had a nice quiet solo reed on the postiv manual.
The finishing touch was the installation of another rank of pipes, the 16’/8’ trumpet. This brilliant reed came from another Moeller pipe organ, Our Lady of Loretto from South Bend Indiana. Happily, the sound balances and complements the rest of the pipes from the Concordia Moeller organ pipes.
In 2005, the organ now has only one rank of pipes (16’ Bourdon in pedal) and the lowest 12 notes for the 8’ Principal on great from the original pre-1970 organ.
St. Victor now finally has a restored pipe organ that is worthy of our great Roman Catholic musical tradition. This organ has enough sound options to accompany liturgical music as well as concert music. While it is not new, the dependability of the wind chests and the wiring has been vastly improved.
What is left to do? A new rectifier will be installed shortly. The combination/piston action hasn’t worked for over 8 years and hopefully will be restored and working within a year or two. Perhaps 12 more pedal pipes can be added to the west pipe chamber as an extension of the 8’ Spitz Principal pipes already in the west chamber.
Pedal
Positiv (upper manual, quieter, accompanies soloist, cantor, choir)
Great (lower manual, louder, accompanies congregation)