Better Pipe Organ Database

Casavant Frères Opus 516 (1913)

St. Ann's Academy / Le Couvent de Sainte Anne: Chapel
835 Humboldt St.
Victoria, BC, CA

Images

2013-11-23 - Console of organ (Photograph by Douglas Adams/Douglas Adams)

2013-08-14 - Chapel interior, from below organ (Photograph by Douglas Adams/Douglas Adams)

2013-08-14 - Location of Casavant opus 516 (Photograph by Douglas Adams/Douglas Adams)

Consoles

Gallery

Organ type: Traditional With a Keyboard Cover That Can Be Lifted To Form a Music Rack
Console position: Keydesk Attached
2 manuals
9 stops
10 registers
3 divisions
Key action Type: Tubular Pneumatic (Details Unknown)
Stop action Type: Tubular Pneumatic (Details Unknown)
Stop layout Type: Drawknobs in Horizontal Rows on Terraced/Stepped Jambs
Manual compass: 61 notes
Pedal compass: 30 notes
Expression Type: Balanced Expression Shoes/Pedals (Details Unknown)
Has crescendo

Notes

2014-09-05 - Identified through information in Casavant documents, courtesy of Simon Couture and Denis Blaine. -Database Manager

2021-07-02 - The Sisters closed the Academy in 1974 and sold it to the province, which used it as office space until it was condemned by the city. It then stood vacant for more than a decade while its future was debated. In 1995, it received a two-year renovation, in which most of its 76,000 square feet became modern office space, leased to the Ministry of Advanced Education, in line with the Sisters' educational aims. The section containing the deconsecrated chapel and its organ became an historical Interpretive Centre, restored to its 1920s deçor. It is a popular venue for weddings and other special events. From builder's quote #217: "Buffet en frêne 8 pieds de largeur, avec tuyaux de façade décorés en couleurs et en or." (Case of ash 8 ft wide, with facade pipes decorated in colours on gold.) During the years the building was closed, the organ bench disappeared; a new one in ash was produced by Grant Smalley Pipe Organs. Several ebony stop knobs taken by vandals were replicated from sample by a local turner. The stenciled facade pipes were at some point over-painted in silver, and then in the current gold. -Douglas Adams

Stoplist

Source: Quote #217 from Casavant Frères - St Ann's Academy collection 1912-11-16

Grand Orgue Montre 8, Mélodie 8, Dulciane 8 (53 (1-12 from Mélodie))

Récit (Expressive) Bourdon 8, Salicional 8, Voix Céleste 8, Flûte Harmonique 4, Hautbois 8 (49 (1-12 from Salicional))

Pedale Bourdon 16, Gedackt 16 (- - (Bourdon on reduced wind))

Accessories Trémolo

Grand Orgue to Pedale 8 (Grand Orgue à la Pédale), Récit to Pedale 8 (Récit à la Pédale), Grand Orgue to Grand Orgue 4 (Octave Aigüe Grand Orgue), Récit to Grand Orgue 16 (Récit au Grand Orgue Grave), Récit to Grand Orgue 8 (Récit au Grand Orgue Unison), Récit to Grand Orgue 4 (Récit au Grand Orgue Aigüe)

Source: Stoplist courtesy of the Casavant FrÃ¨res Archives Date not recorded

   Convent of St. Anne
   Victoria, British Columbia

   Casavant   Op. 516   1913   2/9
   ____________________________________________________________

   GREAT                SWELL                        PEDAL

8' Montre    65      8' Bourdon          61      16' Bourdon 30
8' Mélodie   65      8' Salicional       61       8' Gedeckt 12
8' Dulciane  53 a    8' Voix Céleste     49
   Octave Aigüe      4' Flûte Harmonique 61
                     8' Hautbois         49 b
                        Trémolo

a  1-12 Mélodie      b  1-12 Salicional

         [Received from Jeff Scofield December 30, 2017]

Documents

(1912-11-16) Quote for opus 516, 1912-11-16 Photo of reproduced document from Sisters of St Ann Archives taken on 2014-03-20 -Douglas Adams

Websites

St. Ann’s Academy - Website of St. Ann's Academy National Historic Site Little mention of its chapel organ, alas. (Check Internet Archive, archive.is)