Nearly 20 years ago, I was asked to provide consultory services to address the mechanically failing organ previously installed in the Basilica. Its greatest intrinsic flaw was that it was tonally only about 30% as large as is required to fill this large building with a wide palette of tone colors at a variety of volume levels. My report provided a preliminary specification and a budget. The project stalled for 18 years until 2007 when we were asked to construct a small organ in the Apse to accompany monastic services in the Choir, which had been a part of our overall master plan. As a part of this project we included a console which would control both it and the planned-for Gallery Organ.

When the Gallery Organ project moved forward, the 18 year-old budget was insufficient and could not be increased. We had a dilemma: if we built an organ to accommodate an inadequate budget, it would repeat the past mistake of being too small for the Basilica’s heroic size and its musical requirements. So, we decided to build an organ with the infra-structure of a complete instrument, but preparing the Choir Division for future addition. This would provide the Abbey with heroic bodies of sound to support the liturgical needs, and accommodate a good body of the solo organ literature. The prepared-for Choir Division will include a wide variety of softer orchestral reed flue colors for more registrationally intricate choral accompaniments, and to act as a secondary foil to the Great for playing solo literature requiring three independent manual divisions.

Architecturally, the Gallery posed a challenge: The Gallery is not large, nor is the wheel window located high enough up on the wall to allow a generous configuration of pipes and their mechanical systems to live under it. Additionally we were told that the organ must be located entirely in the Gallery with no pipes over the rail. After reviewing the many drawings I had made during past years, The Rev. Vincent Crosby OSB, the Abbey’s resident Artistic Director, suggested that he simply wanted to see pipes in the Gallery, with only the amount of casework necessary to support them. This general direction and a very rough sketch was the genesis for the visual design you see.

The Great Division is split into two windchests located just behind the front of each of the large façade pipe groupings. The Swell is located on the right side; the prepared-for Choir Division will be on the left. The 32’ and 16’ Pedal Trombone resonators and the 16’ Double Open Diapason basses are made of wood so that they can lie down under the window, with the remaining Pedal stops, the Solo Tubas and Trombas standing vertically under and around the window. The façade pipes are all made of copper lined polished tin and are comprised of the Pedal 16’ First Open Diapason, the continuation of the Great 16’ Double Open Diapason from the wood basses behind, the Pedal 8’ Principal and the Great 8’ First and Second Open Diapasons. The smaller façade pipes in the central display are from the Pedal 4’ Open Flute.

The decorations on the cases’ woodworking take their cues from the painted decorations in the colonnades in the Basilica. Although the lower portion of the case cannot be seen from the main floor, being blocked by the solid balcony rail, it is made of 1 ½” thick solid white oak, incorporating Romanesque arches in each panel opening, stained and finished to match the other woodworking in the Basilica.