Better Pipe Organ Database

Casavant Frères Ltée. Opus 2635 (1961)

Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church
15700 E. Warren Ave.
Detroit, MI

Images


2010-07-05 - Church exterior (Photograph from an archival source: Church Facebook, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

2018-05-19 - Exposed pipes on right side of chancel (Photograph from an archival source: Church Facebook, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

2010-07-04 - Console (Photograph from an archival source: Church Facebook, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

2018-10-07 - Chancel (Photograph from an archival source: Church Facebook, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

2019-04-21 - Church interior (Photograph from an archival source: Church Facebook, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

Consoles

Main

Notes

2007-06-20 - Identified through online information from Stanley R. Scheer. -- The organ is located on each side of the chancel. -Database Manager

2018-02-23 - Updated by John Matthias, who has heard or played the organ.<br> Peace Lutheran Church-s present sanctuary, which was dedicated in 1941, was initially outfitted with a rebuilt, 3-manual Kimball organ which was installed by the Toledo Pipe Organ Company. Approximately twenty years later, Casavant Frères of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec (near Montreal) was contracted to build and install a new instrument. The contract was for $37,475, and the organ was installed in June of 1961. The instrument consisted of 31 stops, 39 1/3 ranks, for a total of 2,152 pipes. In order to accommodate the instrument-s pipework, the block walls on either side of the chancel were rebuilt to create the present arched openings. An Antiphonal division of the instrument consisting of 4 stops, 5 ranks was planned for in the organ-s original design. The pipework was to be installed in the case which still exists high above the nave-s rear-most arch, but for unknown reasons, this division was never constructed.<br><br> The organ was designed by Lawrence Phelps, who at the time was the Tonal Director of Casavant Frères. He endeavored to design instruments which produced a "North German” pipe organ sound, while previous generations of American organ builders tended to prefer a more "American Classic” sound. As a result, this instrument has many individual stops which are voiced to be extremely quiet, the reed stops are voiced to imitate German-styled "chorus” reeds, and there are a variety of high-pitched mixture stops. This created a very versatile instrument which can produce an extremely bright sound. Some minor revisions have been made over the years. A 16' rank of wooden Bourdon pipes was added to the Pedal division (located in the Swell box). The 8' Erzähler rank was removed from the Swell division and replaced with a 4' Principal rank. Finally, a Zimbelstern, gift of Mr. Peter Paselk, was added to the front of the Positiv division.<br><br> Our pipe organ is a very well-designed and well-built instrument. It is a very stable pipe organ and has served the congregation consistently for over 50 years. All pipe organs do, however, eventually require a certain degree of maintenance and repair. Several of the instrument-s air reservoirs, which contain leather components, have recently been repaired to replace the 50-year-old leather which had deteriorated and created air leaks. The instrument-s remaining old leather components will probably need to be replaced eventually. Additionally, seven pipes of the 16' Principal rank, which are installed horizontally behind the Positiv division, are currently in a state of collapse (and have been for many years), the cause of which appears to be the quality of the metal that was available to the organ builders in the early 1960s. We are currently exploring whether or not there is a way to repair these pipes within the congregation-s current financial position. <br><br> We are extremely thankful for those who designed, built, and funded this wonderful instrument, and we look forward to it producing beautiful music to the Glory of God for years to come.<br>(Sources: original 1961 contract & documentation;<br>program from September 29, 1991, celebrating the building-s 50th anniversary and the organ-s 30th anniversary)<br><br>The above article was written by John W. Matthias, Minister of Music at Peace Lutheran Church from September 2005 to present (January 2018 at the moment), and was originally printed in the service folder for the Hymn Festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of the organ which was held on October 23, 2011. -Database Manager

Stoplist

Stoplist copied from the factory specifications Source: Source not recorded Date not recorded

    Detroit, Michigan
    Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church

    Casavant   Op. 2635   1961   3/39

    Courtesy of the Casavant Frères Archives
    St. Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
    _______________________________________________

    GREAT                         POSITIV
16' Quintaton       61         8' Gedeckt        61
 8' Principal       61         4' Principal      61
 8' Rohrflöte       61         2' Gemshorn       61
 8' Gemshorn        61        II  Sesquialtera  122
 4' Octave          61       III  Zimbel        183
 4' Koppelflöte     61
 2' Superoctave     61            PEDAL
IV  Mixture        244        16' Principal      32
 8' Trompette       61        16' Quintaton      GT
    Chimes                     8' Principal      12
                               8' Bourdon        32
    SWELL                      4' Octave         32
 8' Salicional      61         4' Rohrflöte      32
 8' Voix Celeste GG 54        II  Mixture        64
 8' Nachthorn       61        16' Posaune        32
 8' Erzähler        61         4' Rohrschalmei   32
 4' Spitzflöte      61            Chimes
 2' Blockflöte      61
IV  Scharff        244
 8' Schalmei        61
    Tremulant

[Received on line from Jeff Scofield June 21, 2010.]

Other Links

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.

"Better Pipe Organ Database" (development version) | Not affiliated with OHS and pipeorgandatabase.org | Source code | IRC chat