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2049 Meetinghouse Way, West Barnstable, MA 02668
Photograph is courtesy of Sarah E. Bach
For many years it had been apparent that the previous instrument, a 1950 "Andrews" organ would one day need extensive repairs or rebuilding.
The West Parish Memorial Foundation trustees had held some investigative discussions with the various firms that maintained the organ, but little more than a general cleaning of the instrument and some minor pipe modifications was ever accomplished.
In 1999, as a result of a visioning process within the Church and the Foundation, an Organ Study Committee was formed and began to meet regularly to determine the means by which we might achieve the vision of having a "quality musical instrument for the Meetinghouse."
After a long period of generally educating ourselves about pipe organs and consulting with several authorities, the committee decided that the best way to realize the vision would be with a new organ, custom built for the Meetinghouse.
This recommendation was favorably received by both the Church and the Foundation who agreed to share equally, the cost of the proposed project.
The Organ Study Committee, acting on the advice of our consultant, traveled throughout New England and to New York City to look at, inspect and listen to many recently installed rebuilt or refurbished instruments.
Each member of the committee was then encouraged to evaluate the instruments from the point of view of their own experience.
As chair, I relied upon Babette and Sarah Bach to contribute their musical opinions and provide volumes of background information for study.
Al Amerigian and Dick Johnson would provide insights into the engineering and general quality of workmanship; Allen Nelson would evaluate the acoustic quality and instrument placement, and Joyce Joakim would comment on the sound and esthetics of the organs visited and keep a careful record of the thoughts and decisions of the committee.
Everyone on this committee rose to their individual tasks and was a valuable contributing member and I thank each of them heartily for all their effort.
Our nearly last visit was to meet John Mander of Mander Organs, Ltd while he was visiting NY city and hear the rather large instruments he had installed in two churches there.
All of us on the committee were impressed with what we saw and heard that day and the discussion went on well into the night at our hotel.
Ultimately, we decided to solicit proposals from four well regarded organ builders whose instruments we liked.
In the end, we settled on the firm of Mander Organs Ltd. of London, England to design and build our new Memorial Organ.
We began the very long process of reviewing the design of an instrument that would fit in the space available and produce the sound we felt would be appropriate for the Meetinghouse.
I quickly learned that in spite of the geographic distance involved, we could work issues out very well using e-mail.
I can't imagine how long a process it would have been if we had to rely on normal postal service!
There were weeks when messages would go back and forth with questions and concerns, often a daily basis.
When I made a visit to the 'organ works' in London, however, and saw the nearly fully assembled instrument in the shop, I knew all our efforts had been worthwhile.
The organ was shipped by container-ship from London in December, 2004 and was delivered in mid January, 2005 soon after the arrival of the installing crew who had experienced Logan airport on what was the coldest night of the winter!
No sooner after we had unpacked the container and stowed its contents all over the Meetinghouse, we had the worst blizzard the Cape has seen in the last century!
Over 100 inches of snow fell while the organ was being installed and this created no small problem in getting the men back and forth to the Meetinghouse and getting them fed and looked after.
That proved to be a project in which many of the congregation participated in one way or another and it gave us all a sense of working together toward something that would be enjoyed by everyone.
We presented John Mander with a letter of thanks and a sketch of the Meetinghouse on the day of his departure and I expressed our thanks to him for an instrument that could be characterized as "solid yet gentle in its sound and harmony."
May this instrument help remind us now that we should be solid in our own individual faith, yet gentle and harmonious in our actions with one another and may God help us in this place to pass this legacy unimpaired from generation to generation.
Dr. Peter R. Smith
Chair, West Parish Organ Committee
Trustee, West Parish Memorial Foundation, Inc.
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