Church enjoying music of 1874 organ

NAUVOO, Ill. -- Sitting in a back row pew at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Marilynn Degroot and her teenage daughter, Johanna Degroot, listened intently, eyes closed, as about 3 inches of air pressure made the pipes of a circa-1874 organ sing.

Even with more than 350 other pairs of ears soaking up the sound, the Keokuk women could feel the music as it filled church.

"I really enjoyed hearing Bach. I really enjoyed the fugues in G minor. Just the way the low notes resonated through the building," Marilynn Degroot said.

Although a hand-crafted pipe organ can be emulated by an electronic facsimile, the digital sound doesn't quite compare to the majesty and bone vibrating harmonics of the real thing, the women agreed.

There was standing-room only Sunday afternoon as the E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings pipe organ packed the church to capacity for a concert dedicating the installation of the organ in its new home.

The program featured Sherry Seckler, director of sacred music for the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria; composer and musician Phil Hoenig of Fort Madison; and the SS. Peter and Paul choir.

The event began with the blessing of the instrument by the Rev. Tony Trosley, who performed the service wearing the formal white vestment known as albs.

"Before our concert program begins, we draw attention that today, in Catholic faith, we celebrate the feast of the baptism of the Lord," Trosley said. "We begin the concert with a period of prayer that will involve the blessing of this organ with the water we set aside for baptism and for blessings."

The blessing done, the concert opened with "Now Thank We All Our God," and the voices of audience members accompanied the organ.

Donated to the church by E. B. Gevedom of Ashland, Ky., the organ now sits in the church's balcony. The instrument was procured by the congregation for the cost of installation, which was lead by Hoenig.

As the music began, many audience members glanced up and over their shoulders to catch a glimpse of the colorful red, blue, gold and green pipes being played by Seckler's skilled hands.

Classics by composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach and more recent compositions by Hoenig entertained the audience.

"I liked how, towards the end, there were some more contemporary pieces that could be played on a classical instrument," Johanna Degroot said of the concert.

While the instrument has now been adopted by a Catholic church, its first home was with the Unitarian Church of Keokuk at its building at 228 N. Fourth St., which now sits vacant.

It provided music for the Unitarian congregation until they stopped using the building in 1929. Both the building and organ later fell into the hands of the Foursquare Gospel Church in 1949.

In 1981, Hoenig performed a restoration of the organ in hopes it and the old church would be used as a community hall. But the dream failed to come to fruition.

However, at least one concert was performed there in 1985 featuring the organ. Julian Soule, a Keokuk native, remembers being taken at age 5 by his father, Robert Soule, to help Hoenig clean and repair the church and organ for the concert.

The younger Soule has since moved to Seattle and composes music for use in movies, video games and television.

When Hoenig called Soule last fall asking for assistance in moving the same organ from Kentucky to its new home in Nauvoo, Ill., Soule rushed to help.

On Sunday, Soule made another trip to Nauvoo to record the dedication concert for "Pipedreams" a radio show featuring pipe organs produced by American Public Media.

For those who missed the live performance Sunday, there will be many more chances to hear the grand instrument.

"Our hope is that in the future we will be able to put on a series of concerts throughout the year. This organ has been a great gift to us as a parish, but we also know how much of a gift it is to the whole Tri-state community. So coming to us as a gift, we feel the need to share it," said the Rev. Thomas Szydlik of SS. Peter and Paul.

http://nauvoohookorgan.org/index.htm

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/organ-121609

http://www.journalpilot.com/articles/2009/10/07/news/news2.txt
“”135-year-old organ installed at Sts. Peter & Paul church

The “new” organ at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Nauvoo is about 135 years old.

The pipe organ being installed in the church dates back to 1874, just slightly after the church was built in 1867.

The church has not had a pipe organ for over 50 years, but this one was donated recently, and is being installed at the church by Phil Hoenig of Fort Madison, Iowa.

The organ has had a circuitous life, which started in Keokuk, Iowa. It was originally in a church in Keokuk that was most recently the site of the Christ Vision TV station on Fourth Street. Hoenig bought the organ and later sold it to a man in Florida, who thought it would be something he could sell to turn a profit, according to Father Thomas Szydlik of the church.

“The organ never went to Florida, but Hoenig found a buyer, and installed it into a large house for its new owner in Kentucky about seven years ago,” Father Szydlik said.

When this owner decided to sell his house this summer, he wanted the organ removed.

“Find somewhere I can donate it and remove it, or I will haul it away to the junk yard,” was the order Hoenig got.

“The (Sts. Peter and Paul) trustees learned about this in July. On Aug. 8, Phil Hoenig and his sons went to Kentucky, dismantled the organ in one day, loaded it on a Ryder truck and delivered it here,” Szydlik said.

It will cost $20,000 to $25,000 to install the organ, but its approximate value is $450,000 when it comes to insurance purposes. Now Hoenig is about finished assembling the organ in the choir loft of the church in Nauvoo.

Rita Allen, a church trustee and organist at Sts. Peter and Paul, said she has been at the church for 35 years, and there has always been an electric organ. The church bought an Allen digital organ in the 1980s.

“I’ve played organ since high school. I learned on a pipe organ. He says playing this is like playing a spinet,” Allen said. Her daughter, Therese Hayes, and Connie Hobart are two other organists who will play during services on the “new” organ.

The main changes made to the organ since it was built are the blower and lights. The organ works with a large bellow to pump air into the pipes. That was originally pumped by hand whenever it was played and now is electrical.

The workings are all mechanical, with small strips of wood as levers going from the keys to the 985 pipes. Some pipes are metal and some are wooden, made of white pine. The largest is 16 feet tall. Both the metal and wooden pipes have been repainted with their original designs by Hoenig.

“There’s no blue print for putting this together. It’s all in his head,” Szydlik said. “It should be piped by the end of the week. Then it needs to be adjusted and tuned. Hoenig thinks it should be done and ready to use by the end of October.”

Allen tells about being at a meeting recently when women were wondering what had happened to the old organ from the Christ Vision building.

“They talked about how they used to go to organ concerts there,” Allen said. She explained to the group that the old organ was coming back to the area.

This fall, the organ may again be used for concerts at its new home in Nauvoo. “”

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""The Priest wears special clothes called vestments:
The Priest first puts on an alb - a white linen garment with a sash round the middle.	The stole goes round the Priest's neck.	The chasuble is the outer garment - a long, sleeveless robe.

The stole and chasuble will be white, green, red, violet or rose, depending on the season of the church calendar, or if it is a special feast or other occasion.""