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Majestic
in sound and noble in sight, this fine pipe organ has provided a means for
inspirational worship for many years. It is used each Sunday as the main instrument to lead
worship for the 8:15 a.m. Liturgical service and in concert with piano and
strings for the 11:00 a.m. Traditional service. On Festival Sundays, Trinity's beautiful sanctuary with its
stained glass windows is filled with music from the choir, pipe organ, and
brass or woodwind ensembles.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
The
pipe organ at Trinity Lutheran Church downtown Houston
was built by Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio (est. 1855) and
dedicated on November 21, 1954.
The instrument was designed by Walter Holtkamp in consultation with Paul
Bunjes, a member of the music faculty at Concordia Teachers College in River
Forest, Illinois.
Besides
its pedal division, the organ has three manuals: Great, Swell and Positiv. The console was replaced in 1978 and built by
Visser-Rowland. It is made of red
mahogany and walnut with keys of rosewood and satinwood. With the exception of the Swell pipes,
which are enclosed in a chamber, the organ is unenclosed. This allows the pipes to speak freely
and clearly into the nave of the church from an open west gallery location to
dynamically support and encourage the hymnody of the Lutheran tradition. With the choir in front of the organ and
the organ console in front of the choir at the edge of the gallery, the
congregation will hear the music as a blended unit of sound to lead and inspire
congregational singing.
The
organ's appearance was given a contemporary design by Mr. Holtkamp to blend the
beautiful metal and wood pipes into one harmonious scheme. This attractive pipe work display, a
thing of visual beauty, was the first of its kind in downtown Houston. The wood pipes are made of pine, and the
metal pipes are made of zinc, copper and alloys consisting of various
proportions of tin and lead to produce specific tonal results. The organ has over 2, 000 individual
pipes divided into 40 ranks, with a capacity to expand to 48 ranks. The size of the pipes range from 32
feet to the size of a pencil. The
starburst Zimbelstern, attached to the Swell chamber, is a wheel of small bells
that produces a joyful tinkling sound.
This rare instrument, which originated in Germany in the 16th century,
was given in memory of Miss Emilie Hoop by Therese Mohnke and M. E. & Polly
Mohnke in 1962.
This
magnificent instrument is played to the Glory of God during church services,
weddings, funerals, concerts and recitals.
The
following are some of the organists (both local and international) who have
held recitals at Trinity:
·
Karl Richter (11-2-1956), eminent German organist
& director of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
·
Carl Weinrich (2-5-1958), Director of Music at
Princeton University Chapel.
·
Heinrich Fleischer (6-30-1958), direct descendant
of Martin Luther; organ professor at Lutheran University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
·
Herbert Garske (5-5-1959), Organist and Choirmaster
of Trinity Lutheran Church and School, Houston, Texas, then Professor of Music
and Humanities at Concordia Lutheran College, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Co-founder of the Houston Chapter of the American Guild of
Organists and its president for two terms.
·
Finn Videro (3-29-1960), from Copenhagen,
Denmark; Professor of music & Chapel organist at Yale University.
·
Marilyn Mason (11-6-1961), First American woman
to play the organ in recital at Westminister Abbey, Faculty member of
University of Michigan.
·
Jan Bender (5-11-1962), Organ Department Head of
Concordia College, Howard, Nebraska.
·
E. Power Biggs (12-7-1962), "America's
Favorite Organist."
·
M. Jackson Osborn (11-20-1970), Organist &
Choirmaster of Trinity Lutheran Church and School, Houston, Texas.
·
Carla Barrows (11-15-2005 “Organ & More” as
part of Metford E. Mountford Fine Arts Concert Series), Organist of Trinity
Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas.
This
organ has accompanied Hymn Festivals held at Trinity and led by notable organists and composers
such as Paul Manz, Walter Pelz, Charles Ore and John Leavitt, to name a few.
Trinity Organists
Oswald
Mueller, Herman Silwedel,
Emil
Schultz, Ruth Stelzer Prior
to 1937
Carl
Halter 1937-1943
Herbert Garske 1943-1964
Rodney
Schrank 1964-1969
M.
Jackson Osborn 1969-1984
Michael P. Held 1984-2000
Metford
E. Mountford 2000-2003
Carla
Barrows 2004-present
Assistant Organists *
Ed
Schamber * 1948-1949
Helen
Frederking * 1954-1960
Cindy
Costales * 1994-1998
Carla
Barrows * 2001-2003
Rollin
Cattau * 2001-present
Guest organists are
welcome to play Trinity’s organ.
Please contact the Director of Music and Worship by calling the church
office. Also, if someone is
interested in learning how to play the pipe organ, lessons can be arranged
through Trinity’s Conservatory of Music and the Arts. The church office has information and forms.
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