2011-05-11 - Identified through online information from Peter Gonciarz. -- This organ is a 3 manual, 23 rank instrument built by the Tellers-Kent Organ Company out of Erie PA. This is an extremely interesting instrument that is a very interesting space. Blessed Trinity was built by the outstanding architect Chester Oakley. Blessed Trinity is a highly ornate byzantine styled church built in 1925 that was designed to be a miniature of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. I've always said that if anyone was placed in this church and you had to guess where in the world you were, Buffalo NY would be the last place you would say. I can't exactly say that the tone of the organ (American Orchestral) exactly matches the interior of the church, but it works. There are a couple things to know about the organ itself. The organ has been slightly altered, but not much. The console is absolutely 100% original, as well as the keyboards, and pedal board. The exact alterations are unknown, however since there weren't any extra stop tabs, things such as the Great Tremolo were sacrificed for the new stop by taping a small piece of paper over the old stop and wiring the new stop to that stop tab. So looking at the console the specification isn't exactly in the proper order, i.e. the 4' Octave on the Great comes after the 2' Super Octave, and one of the 4' stops on the Swell is located next to the Swell-Swell 16'. Some of the alterations that I suspect was the addition of a 2' Super Octave on the Great, the addition of a 4' Spitz Octave on the Swell (which is the stop located to the extreme right on the Swell stop rail), and I believe that the organ originally had double 8' Diapasons on the Great and one of the two was made playable in the 16' Open Diapason in the pedal which is 1-12 wood, 13-25 metal. Other than that everything else seems to be original, and the voicing hasn't been messed with. Unfortunately as of Spring 2011 some repairs need to be addressed. The organ is really in good shape considering that most of everything is original. The console is what really suffers most, and the ancient phosphor bronze contacts are probably a large part of the problem. The most notable issues are the fact that Swell-Great 8' does not work, and a quite unusual problem - almost any stop you select activates the 16' Tuba in the Pedal! (Talk about a pain during a soft communion meditation!). The combination action is also completely shot. The secretary did mention that church is in the process of raising funds to renovate this instrument. -Database Manager
stoplist taken from console as of 5/6/11 Source: Source not recorded Date not recorded
As it is mentioned above, please note that a few of the current stop names were literally typed on a small piece of paper that was taped over the original stop name, these stops will have a * next to them. Also please note that I am typing the specification in the proper order, and because of the couple alterations - this is not the exact order that the stops appear on the console. This organ is designed as follows - it would appear that the entire organ is behind the large facade that spans the entire length of the choir loft, when actually only the Great and Pedal divisions are behind it. The Choir is on the extreme right side that is in its own side chamber, and the Swell is on the extreme left in its own chamber. The Swell and Choir speak towards the facade (not towards the congregation as the facade/Great/Pedal does). With the exception of the Pedal Diapason and Bourdon, the entire organ is under expression. Note that on the console, there is a silent/dead stop that comes between the 8' Major Open Diapason and the 8' Doppel Flute on the Great that is labeled 4' Octave and is taped over the original stop name. I suspect that the original stop name was 8' Minor Diapason. I suspect that this stop became the open metal portion of the pedal Diapason. Great (enclosed)- 8' Major Open Diapason (61 pipes) 8' Doppel Flute (61 pipes) 8' Viole d'Gamba (61 pipes) 4' Octave (61 pipes) 4' Harmonic Flute (61 pipes) 2' Super Octave* (61 pipes - most likely an added stop, this stop replaced the Great Tremolo) 8' Tuba (61 pipes) Great - Great 16' Great - Great 4' Swell - Great 16' Swell - Great 8' Swell - Great 4' Choir - Great 16' Choir - Great 8' Choir - Great 4' Swell (enclosed) - 16' Lieblich Gedeckt (97 pipes) 8' Violin Diapason (73 pipes) 8' Gedeckt (ext. 16') 8' Viole d'Orchestre (73 pipes) 8' Aeoline (73 pipes) 8' Vox Celeste (61 pipes) 4' Spitz Octave* (61 pipes - most definitely an added stop) 4' Flute d'Amore (ext. 16') 2' Piccolo (ext. 16') 8' Cornopean (73 pipes) 8' Oboe (73 pipes) Tremolo Swell - Swell 16' Swell - Swell 4' Choir - Swell 8' Chimes (Located off to the side from Swell stop rail, all by itself as if it were a separate division. Chimes are located and playable on Choir) Choir (enclosed) - 8' Horn Diapason (73 pipes) 8' Melodia (73 pipes) 8' Dulciana (73 pipes) 8' Unda Maris (61 pipes) 4' Traverse Flute (73 pipes) 8' Clarinet (73 pipes) Tremolo Choir - Choir 16' Choir - Choir 4' Swell - Choir 16' Swell - Choir 8' Swell - Choir 4' Pedal (unenclosed) - 16' Open Diapason (32 pipes - 1-12 open wood, 13-32 open metal in facade) 16' Bourdon (42 pipes) 16' Gedeckt (Swell) 8' Flute (ext. 16' Bourdon) 8' Dolce Flute (Swell) 16' Tuba (12 pipes) Great - Pedal 8' Great - Pedal 4' Swell - Pedal 8' Swell - Pedal 4' Choir - Pedal 8' Choir - Pedal 4' [Received from Peter Gonciarz 2011-05-13.]
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