First United Methodist
Church of London
London, OH
3/28 Johnson & Son - Muller
Opus 814 -
1894/2010
Inside the modest sanctuary of First United Methodist Church
in London, OH resides the three manual, 28 rank Johnson &
Son - Muller pipe organ, an instrument of great pride to its
congregation. The core of the instrument remains true to its 19th
century roots, however additions and changes have brought it up to 21st
century standards. These pages will illustrate the old and the new of
this historic instrument.
Church and Pipe Organ
History
The London United Methodist Church has been an active congregation
in some form or another since 1813, shortly after the establishment of
the town of London in 1811. The church community worshiped in several
locations before opening the current church building in 1894. The
Johnson & Son pipe organ was installed when the church was
opened.
The Johnson & Son pipe organ has been through several rebuilds
in its lifetime. Little to any work was done to the instrument from the
time it was installed until its first rebuild in 1959 by area organ
builder Henry Durthaler. During the rebuild, new chests and reservoirs
were installed, as well as a new two-manual console.
In 1988, The Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, OH was picked to
perform additional work on the instrument, including the replacement of
the console installed in 1959. Schantz also added a Mixture, a Viole
Celeste rank, and chimes to the instrument.
In 2010, the instrument was in need of work again, which was performed
by Muller Pipe Organ Company of Croton, OH who continues to maintain
the instrument today. Muller replaced the 1988 Schantz console, added
or extended a few ranks, which among the additions included an
Antiphonal division in the
rear of the church, rewired the entire instrument, and many other items.
In spite of the many changes, the original 17 rank instrument is still
intact, though a few ranks have been moved or revoiced.
Sound
Clips
Here
are a few clips (MP3 files) of the organ for your listening pleasure.
Though the church sanctuary is not very large, there is still some
resonance in the space. These clips were recorded in the front of the
room near the altar.
Title
Floor
These
clips, the first is a "Sortie" Op. 62 by Marcel Dupre and the other a
small fragment of Dietrich Buxtehude's "Prelude, Fugue and Ciacona",
give a nice illustration of the sound of this
instrument, proving that a modest number of ranks can still create a
full spectrum of sounds.
Crescendo
- In this clip, only the 8' First Open
Diapason stop is selected
and notes C, E and G (C chord) are played. The bottom C is
played
on the pedal but not heard as nothing is drawn from the Pedal Division.
As the crescendo pedal is depressed, additional ranks are gradually
added by the organ, culminating in full organ. On this instrument, the
Crescendo does not pull ranks from the Antiphonal division in the rear
of the church.
Special
thanks to London First United Methodist Church for providing
information regading the church and the changes made to the pipe organ.