2007-01-28 - Identified through online information from James R. Stettner. -- This was a project of restorative repairs to the original Hillgreen-Lane chests; removal, cleaning, and releathering of all stoppered pipes; addition of the Swell-to-Choir couplers omitted by Balcom and Vaughan in the 1972 relay replacement; tonal changes using existing pipes; and the addition of a prepared-for 16' Open Diapason in the Pedal. In 2006, the church suffered another, though less severe fire. The organ sustained smoke damage only. In January 2007, Jim Stettner dba Puget Sound Pipe Organs removed the pipes from the chambers, cleaned the chamber components, cleaned the pipes while the church had the chambers painted, repaired damaged pipework, cleaned the console and chimes, and reinstalled the pipework. The organ was first heard after a year of silence on January 28, 2007. Future plans include conversion of the console to solid state and a new s-s relay with some tonal changes and additions. -Database Manager
2015-06-14 - Updated through online information from James R. Stettner. -- The church suffered a fire in 2006. After the sanctuary was rebuilt, cleaned, and re-oriented - Puget Sound Pipe Organs came-in in January/February 2007 and removed all the pipes for repairs and cleaning. The church gymnasium as set-up for use and parishioners assisted wth the de-piping and re-piping. -Database Manager
Stoplist copied from the console May/June, 1995. Source: Source not recorded Date not recorded
Spokane, Washington
Salem Lutheran Church (ELCA)
HILLGREEN-LANE, CO., Opus 292, 1911
Balcom and Vaughan, Opus 501, 1950 - Rebuild, Electrification, & Enlargement
Meadway & Stettner, 1995 - Mechanical Refurbishing & Tonal Changes
GREAT (Expressive w/Choir) SWELL (Expressive)
8' Open Diapason 61 16' Bass Flute (Ped/Sw) --
8' Chimney Flute (Ch) -- 8' Open Diapason 61
4' Octave (*) 61 8' Stopped Flute 49
4' Hohl Flute (Ch) -- 8' Salicional (tc) 49
2-2/3' Octave Quint (*) 61 8' Voix Celeste (tc) 49
2' Fifteenth (*) 61 4' Flute 12
Tremolo 4' Rohr Flute 61
Chimes (Maas; a22-f42) (21) 2-2/3' Nazard 7
2' Flautina 5
Great to Great 16' 1-3/5' Tierce (prep) --
Great Unison Off 8' Trumpet (*) 61
Great to Great 4' 8' Vox Humana 61
Tremolo
CHOIR (Expressive w/Great) Swell to Swell 16'
16' Dulciana (tc) -- Swell Unison Off
8' Melodia 49 Swell to Swell 4'
8' Dulciana 61
8' Unda Maris [Aeoline] (tc) 49
4' Flute d'Amour 61 PEDAL (Expressive)
4' Dulcet 12 16' Double Open (1-12 el; Gt) --
2-2/3' Dolce Twelfth 7 16' Bourdon (in Gt) 32
2' Flute (Mel) 24 16' Gedeckt (in Sw) 30
2' Dulcetina 5 8' Flute (Sw) --
1' Sifflute (FdA) 12 4' Flute [Mel] (Ch) --
Tremolo
Choir to Choir 16'
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4'
COUPLERS FINGER PISTONS
Swell to Pedal 8,4 General 1 – 4
Great to Pedal 8,4 Swell 1 – 4
Choir to Pedal 8,4 Sw. to Ped. Rev. (rev)
Great 1 – 4
Swell to Great 16,8,4 Gt. to Ped. Rev. (rev)
Choir to Great 16,8,4 Choir 1 – 4
Ch. to Ped. Rev. (rev)
Swell to Choir 16,8,4 Sforz. (rev)
Gen. Canc.
PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Swell Expression (bal.) TOE STUDS
Gt/Ch Expression (bal.) Pedal 1 – 4
Crescendo (bal.) Gr. to Pedal (rev)
Sforzando (rev)
ACTION: E-P ventil VOICES: 17 STOPS: 33 RANKS: 17 PIPES: 1,013
& unit (inc. chimes)
NOTES
The original organ was a 2-manual, 13-rank Hillgreen-Lane operated by tubular-pneumatic
action. It was installed in the previous edifice in the spring of 1912, and was a gift
of the Young People's Society. The cost was over $1,000.00. The organ was located on
the front, right side of the sanctuary in a shallow recess. The case front was of
quarter-sawn oak, and the façade had 23 gold-painted pipes which included notes 3-17 of
the Great 8' Open Diapason. The keydesk was attached and projecting.
The building was lost to fire on February 15, 1949 when a workman's torch ignited dust
between the old wooden frame church and its newer brick veneer. This was during the
construction of the Youth Center. The altar painting and the organ survived. Balcom and
Vaughan of Seattle was contracted to remove the organ from the burnt building, and re-
build it for the new edifice.
The original chests were retained and some new chests were added. A new 3-manual console
was provided, and four new ranks of pipes were added. These are indicated by an asterisk
(*) in the stoplist. The rebuilt organ was reinstalled in the new [and present] sanctuary
early in 1950. The Dedication Service of the Church was held April 30, 1950 at 4:00 p.m.
The Dedication Service of Memorials including the organ was held May 21, 1950 at 4:00 p.m.
On the Great, the original 8' Open Diapason stayed on its original toeboard. The former
facade pipes were placed on a new offset chest. The new 4' Octave was placed on the orig-
inal 8' Dulciana toeboard. The new 2-2/3' Octave Quint was placed on the original 8' Mel-
odia toeboard. The original 4' Flute d'Amour stayed on its original toeboard. The Melodia,
Dulciana, and new 2' Fifteenth were placed on a new Balcom and Vaughan, Kilgen-style E-P
unit chest. The Melodia and Dulciana had additional pipes added to make them playable at
multiple pitches, and they became the Choir division. One less than desirable compromise
was made with the Melodia. On the original 1912 organ it had its own stopped bass. On the
rebuild, the 8' octave of the Melodia was omitted, and those notes are borrowed from the
tenor octave of the Pedal 16' Bourdon.
On the Swell, the original 8' Stopped Diapason was removed from its original chest and
was placed on a new Balcom and Vaughan, Kilgen-style E-P unit chest, and with extension
pipes added was made to play at five pitches. Unfortunately, the same compromise was made
in the Swell. The bottom octave of the 8' Stopped Flute was omitted, and those notes are
borrowed from the tenor octave of the Pedal 16' Gedeckt. The newly added 8' Trumpet took
the place of the Stopped Diapason on the original chest.
On the Pedal, the original 16' Bourdon was placed in the Great/Choir chamber on new unit
chests with two pipes added to the top to increase the compass from 30 to 32 notes. The
16' Gedeckt was placed in the Swell chamber on a new chest. Unusually, while the new chest
for the Gedeckt is a 32-note chest, the top two extension pipes appear to never have been
added. Even more unusual is that despite the Pedal 16' Gedeckt having 30 pipes of its own,
only the first 24 are being used, and the top 8 notes are borrowed from the Swell 8' Stop-
ped Flute unit. This shortcoming may have happened in 1975 when Balcom and Vaughan installed
a new Peterson solid state relay. Both the 16' Bourdon and the 16' Gedeckt are not able to
realize their fullest sound potential since their tenor octaves are borrowed as the bass of
the two manual 8' flutes.
During the 1995 refurbishing by Meadway & Stettner Pipe Organs, all of the stopped wood pipes
were removed from the organ to have their stoppers releathered. Damage to the original chests
was repaired, and a small top-note-magnet chest had new magnets installed to make it reliable.
Malfunctioning stop action magnets and the combination action were cleaned of corrosion and
re-adjusted.
Tonally, several changes were made. The original Great 4' Flute d'Amour was removed from its
original chest and was placed on a used, refurbished unit chest with 12 added treble pipes.
The 1950 2' Fifteenth replaced it on the original chest. The 8' Melodia also had 12 additional
treble pipes added. These changes permitted the use of the two flutes - Melodia and Flute
d'Amour - in two different flute chorus sounds. On the Great, the 8' Chimney Flute is the 4'
Flute d'Amour with the bass octave borrowed from the Melodia. The 4' Hohl Flute is the former
Choir 4' Flute which is the 4' Melodia. On the Choir, the 8' Melodia remained, but the 4' Flute
d'Amour became the 4' register. A 2' Flute and a 1' Sifflute were added. The 2' Flute is part
of the Melodia unit, and the Sifflute is part of the Flute d'Amour unit. Its top octave repeats.
The Great 8' Open Diapason was replaced with a newer, used principal from tenor C, and notes
13-20 were placed on a used, refurbished unit chest. A 12-note Peterson electronic bass was
added to the Great Open Diapason to allow for the Pedal 16' Double Open. The original Swell 8'
Aeoline was moved to the Choir, rescaled six notes larger, de-bearded, re-racked on the former
2' Fifteenth chest, and tuned flat of the Dulciana as an 8' Unda Maris celeste. The blank toe-
board left in the Swell by moving the Aeoline is prepared for a 1-3/5' Tierce. All that is
required are the pipes. The 4' Melodia was also borrowed to the Pedal as the 4' Flute.
The Swell, Choir, and Great Tremolo stoptablets were moved from the side stopjambs to the
faceboard over the Swell keys, as were the chimes. All four functions are now controlled by
a new Peterson rocker tablet assembly. Additionally, the chimes were removed from the Great/
Choir chamber and were moved to an exposed position over the console.
In 1975 when Balcom and Vaughan added the new Peterson relay to replace the 1950 electro-
mechanical relay, the three Swell-to-Choir couplers were overlooked, and were ordered as an
afterthought. Sadly, they were never connected, or at least never made to work. Meadway &
Stettner sent the unit back to Peterson for testing and repairs, and then re-installed it and
made it operate. The combination action is at finite capacity, so the Swell-to-Choir couplers
do not operate on the combination action.
Future dreams include placing the Great and Pedal on new, exposed chests cantilevered off of
the front wall of the church in front of the existing chambers. The organ would be doubled in
size, and a new MIDI compatible Multiplex relay will replace the present one. A new solid state
combination action and coupler driver will replace the present mechanical systems inside the
console.
Sources: Hillgreen-Lane opus list; Balcom and Vaughan opus list and files; Eugene
M. Nye complation; church histories; JRS; extant organ.
[Received from James R. Stettner 2015-06-08.]Regrettably, it is not possible to display the information about the sponsor of this pipeorgandatabase entry or if there is a sponsor. Please see About Sponsors on Pipe Organ Database.