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August 20, 2008
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The Arts at St. John's
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Music at St. John’s is vital and integral to our many worship experiences. Whether choral, solo vocal, organ, or instrumental, the music, eclectic and of a colorful variety, is always of a high quality that stems from a traditional of excellence that has been offered to the glory of God for over a century.
St. John’s church building, by design, is an acoustically excellent place to sing and make music. Our choirs are privileged to make wonderful Spirit-filled noises in this space on a regular basis and are always eager to share this gift with others. Currently, there are two vocal choirs, divided by age group and musical ability.
The Chancel Choir is a group of 18-25 singers, men, women, and teenagers, who rehearse and sing on a weekly basis. The choir also sings for seasonal services during Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, Easter, as well as 3-4 seasonal services of Evensong. Perhaps one of the times of year this choir shines its brightest is for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, held the second Tuesday of December each year. Volunteer singers looking for a wonderful, diligent group are always welcome to join this choir. A quartet of professional singers augment each section, help struggling volunteers, and add lustre to the overall sound.
The Cantoria Choir is for young singers somewhere around the ages included in grades 3 thru 6, or older. There is a weekly rehearsal, and a periodic participation in worship, usually once or twice per month during September through June. The music is usually one or two-part, and challenging enough to keep everyone interested. As a “stepping-stone choir”, there is also opportunity to learn parts of the liturgies, and to sing them during Sunday morning worship. We love to include new members at any time. Parents – please remember that YOU are vital to the success of this choir!
The newest musical group to St. John’s program is the Handbell Choir, comprised of 12-14 ringers. After a very successful debut this past spring, we look forward to getting back into the swing of things in September. We are always interested in new ringers. However, since there are limited positions, it takes a little longer to secure a position, so contact us as soon as possible if you’re interested in ringing.
Instruments have always been a blessing to our services, whether played by members, students, or guests. Often, we will feature a guest instrumental soloist, or have them play as an accompaniment to a choral offering, or both. We are always searching for additional talented players, and would welcome your suggestions for future offerings.
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Our Organ
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The Pipe Organ in St. John’s sanctuary has been celebrated for many years, particularly after its most recent refurbishment in 1993 by the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas. However, there is an interesting history of the organs of St. John’s Church:
| 1854 |
A melodeon was St. John’s first instrument, brought to each service, donated to St. John’s in 1990 by the Pretz family, and is currently on display in the chapel |
| 1856 |
Henry Knauff, Philadelphia, PA, built new organ for new church |
| 1870 |
Samuel Böhler, Reading, PA, built new 16-stop organ for rebuilt church |
| 1897 |
George Jardine & Sons, New York, NY, rebuilt the existing Böhler organ |
| 1938 |
E. M. Skinner and Son Company, Methuen, Mass., installed (Opus ?) for the new building, 4 manuals, 46 stops, which was dedicated November 30 of 1939 by St. John’s organist, Homer Nearing. |
| 1950 |
Chester Raymond, Organbuilder, Princeton, NJ, new Antiphonal Division, discovery of pipework in organ by Æolian-Skinner, M. P. Möller, George Jardin & Son, C. S. Haskell, E. F. Walcker, and one rank installed by C. Raymond, maker unknown |
| 1969 |
Lehigh Organ Company, Macungie, PA, major tonal alterations throughout, new pipework by Gieseka and Stinkens, new “Trompeta” mounted in the ceiling, Skinner console replaced with used Austin console and moved to its present location, original Skinner display pipework in the bay openings removed ostensibly for better sound egress. |
| *1993 |
Reuter Organ Company, Lawrence, Kansas, complete refurbishment and tonal re-alignment with existing pipework, enlargement with releathering, some new chests, pipework, new console, and new façade for Antiphonal Division in the north gallery |
| 1997 |
Installation of four digital stops by the Walker Technical Company of Zionsville PA in memory of Charles H. Nehf, Sr. & Charles H. Nehf, Jr. |
| 2003 |
Crossan-Savage Organ Company, Cedars, PA, curators of St. John’s organ, a complete rebuild, rescale, redesign, and upgrade of the en chamade Festival Trumpet mounted 80 feet above the nave floor between ceiling trusses. |
*In December of 1992, St. John’s contracted with the Reuter Organ Company to refurbish the organ mechanically and tonally using virtually all of the existing ranks of pipes, particularly the ones built by Skinner. New ranks of pipes of needed color and substantive power were built by Reuter incorporated into the scheme, all controlled by a new Reuter console of four keyboards with a new state of the art system including switching capabilities and memory needs.
St. John’s pipe organ is one of the finest examples of an American eclectic instrument, built to play as many styles of music as sacred music and concert repertoire demands. Most importantly, it is an instrument built to play the Lutheran liturgies to the glory of God, specifically scaled in proportion to its spacious environment, and voiced to speak with distinction so that every artistic nuance is heard and understood.
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