Our organ for Glenville Presbyterian represents something unique- an organ designed for a new building. Since we were involved in the design process before the building was started, we could give the organ every possible advantage. The result is a terrific little five rank organ which suits the needs of this congregation perfectly.

The organ consists of five ranks: Principal, 85 notes (1-12 in the façade), Octave, 61 pipes, Gedeckt, 97 pipes, Dulciana, 61 pipes, Unda Maris, 49 pipes. These are arranged to produce the following stoplist:

The story started when the previous building burned down a few years ago. Being a determined congregation in this small community, they decided to rebuild the church on land donated to them just outside of town on Route 5. We were contacted by the organist, who sent a copy of the blueprints of the new building. It was obvious that this was a terrific opportunity to show what could be done with a small instrument. We made some suggestions as to the placement of the organ, and where the tone opening should be, how big it should be, etc.  Given the record of failed electronic organs in the previous building, the church decided to sign a contract with us for a new pipe organ, using some re-cycled pipes and a very attractive console shell from the 1950s. The result speaks for itself.

GREAT
16’ Dulciana TC
8’ Principal
8’ Gedeckt
8’ Dulciana
4’ Octave
4’ Flute
2’ Super Octave
SWELL
8’ Gedeckt
8’ Duciana
8’ Unda Maris TC
4’ Flute
2 2/3’ Nazard
2’ Piccolo
PEDAL
16’ Bourdon
8’ Principal
8’ Gedeckt
4’ Choral Bass
4’ Flute
2’ Principal
Glenville Presbyterian Church, Opus 3 (2007)
Kanawha Organ Works, 834 S. Walnut Street, St Albans, West Virginia 25177 304-727-5022

Note that the 4’ Octave has 61 pipes, and only plays at 4’ pitch. This eliminates any “drop outs” that occur with most unit-style organs. This one design feature means that for the most important use, hymn playing, no matter where one plays, a new pipe will always be heard. Also note that in this organ, unlike the others shown on this site, the Dulciana/Unda Maris combination was chosen instead of the usual Salicional/Celeste combination. Because the room is quite small (but reasonably good acoustically), using a Dulciana effectively expands the dynamic range of the organ, enabling it to get very quiet (another drawback commonly associated with small instruments). Indeed…when the Dulciana is used alone with the swell shades closed, one can easily talk over it right in front of the organ. Full organ, however, is very satisfying, and there’s plenty of power to lead a congregation when the room is full.