What is a Spanish organ?

Today is Christ the King Sunday. It's always a festive day in Roman and anglo-catholic Episcopal parishes since it's the end of the church's liturgical year; next Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent and "new years day" at church. I went to the bowling alley church (a/k/a St. Stephen Martyr here in Foggy Bottom) this morning for Mass. Several of you have asked me why I call it the "bowling alley church," so I took a few pictures the other day to show you.





You remember all those bowling alleys that were built back in the early 1960s with exactly this style of arches and undulating architecture? Every time I go to Mass here, I'm reminded of the Rose Bowl back in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Anyway, since this is a festival day at St. Stephen's they had a special service program for today. The inside front cover was reserved for comments about their music program and organ. Let me excerpt a few things:

...your encouragement helped Msgr. Hill and now Msgr. Filardi to articulate a developing vision for St. Stephen's as Washington's Musical Catholic Parish........However, unlike many of our Protestant and Jewish neighbors with fine music programs, our music department doesn't function on an endowment.

All music for organ is based on whatever parts of our broken organ happen to be working in a given week. While the remaining instrument may "sound OK" to some ears, it is extremely difficult to play and the last remaining division will very soon be completely unplayable. Help! We need generous angels to help us raise the remaining $814,000.

As a special project in Washington's most musical neighborhood, please consider helping to build the country's first Spanish-inspired orchestral organ......

What is a Spanish organ?

Now, I'll be the first to confess that my tastes (and knowledge) in organs lean heavily towards the modern British sound, though I am tolerant of French organs (largely because there are so many French composers whose organ works I love). I know the German sound, which I'm not terribly fond of, but I just don't know the "Spanish" sound. When last I was in Spain, it was summertime and they wouldn't let me in to the cathedrals because I was wearing shorts, so I've not heard or seen a Spanish organ. I'll have to refer this explanation to some of my infinitely more knowledgable musician readers.

Acoustic design at St. Stephen's is difficult. If you look at the interior photo above, you'll see on the left three bays on the "mezzanine" level; that is the choir loft, and the organ console is located in the bay which is closest to you. The pipe chamber, however, is in a room at the far end of the choir loft, and opens into the loft, not into the nave or the sanctuary! I should think that problem needs to be fixed. It's also a large enough nave that an antiphonal division in the back would be useful. Of course, I don't know the "Spanish" solutions to the organ. I also have no clue why this parish wants a "Spanish sound," since the previous pastor was Irish, the current is Italian, and I see very few New World Hispanics in the pews, let alone Spaniards.

Anyway, this morning's Mass was nice. I still think the organist/choirmaster comes from an Episcopalian background (as I've previously observed), since the opening hymn was Diademata, the offertory hymn was Leoni, the closing hymn was Nettleton, and the communion motet was Healy Willan's "O King All Glorious." Of course, they still do a few of those "unfortunate" modern Roman congregational antiphon/cantor-choral verse songs for communion and the Gloria, and I continue to fail to see why this parish does a not-sung-by-95%-of-the-congregation congregational hymn during the offertory, instead of an anthem. It's not as if they don't have a competent choir! This morning, the choir sang an a capella choral prelude ( John Amner's "Come, Let's Rejoice") then did a new plainsong arrangement of "The Lamb Who Was Slain" for an introit, so we know they are capable of an offertory. The usual female cantoress was not there this morning, so they were playing musical cantors with a woman I could barely hear and a college boy who bleats and hasn't learned to negotiate his passaggio.

Now I just have to decide where to go for Mass on Thanksgiving morning. I don't know which parishes make a big deal out of it and which just have a low Mass.