1997-10-14 - Great organ case at the front of the sanctuary (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Jim Stettner)
2018-03-26 - This entry describes alterations to an existing organ. <br>Identified by James R. Stettner, who has heard or played the organ.<br>This was a tonal revision of the existing Hinners with new additions. The original console was retained as were the Hinners Great, Swell, and Pedal windchests. A new free-standing case was installed at the front which housed the new Great 8\' Principal, 4\' Octave, and III Mixture; as well as the Pedal 8-4-2 principal unit. The rest of the organ remained in the two right-side chancel chambers. -Database Manager
Source: Taken from the console October 14, 1997
Missoula, Montana
St. Paul Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Hinners Organ Co., Opus ____, 1929 - 2-10
Balcom and Vaughan Pipe Organs, Inc., Opus 818RB, 1976 Rebuild & Additions
GREAT COUPLERS
8 Principal [façade] 61 Swell to Pedal 8,4
8 Melodia 61 Great to Pedal 8,4
8 Dolce 61
4 Octave 61 Swell to Great 16,8,4
4 Flute 61
III Mixture 2' 183
Chimes (Mass; A22-f42) (21) FINGER PISTONS
blank General 1 - 6
Swell 1 - 4
Great to Great 16' Sw. to Ped. (rev)
Great Unison Off Great 1 - 4
Great to Great 4' Gt. to Ped. (rev)
Pedal 1 - 4
Set
SWELL (Expressive) Cancel
8 Stopped Flute 61
8 Spitz Gamba 61
8 Spitz Gamba Celeste (tc) 49 TOE STUDS
4 Italian Principal 61 General 1 - 6
2 2/3 Nazard 61 Gt. to Ped. (rev)
2 Block Flõte 61 Sw. to Ped. (rev)
8 Oboe 61
Tremulant
Blank PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Swell Expression (bal.)
Swell to Swell 16' Great Expression (bal.)
Swell Unison Off Crescendo (bal.)
Swell to Swell 4'
PEDAL
16 Sub Bass [in Gt] 32
16 Gedeckt [Lieb. Action] –- ACTION: E-P ventil & unit
8 Octave [façade] 32
4 Choral Bass 12 VOICES: 15 STOPS: 20; inc. chimes
2 Super Oktave 12
II Mixture 2⅔ [derived] –- RANKS: 17 PIPES: 991
NOTES
The installation of the original Hinners instrument was supervised by physics
professor E.M. Little of the University of Montana, The organ had 2-manuals and
pedal. Wind was provided by a 1921 patented blower powered by a 1½ h.p. Century
motor. A 12” duct conducted wind from the blower to the pipe chambers.
The exact nomenclature of stops and controls is not verifiable. The original
console appointments have since been replaced. Names given are based upon writing
on the extant pipework and chests as well as from other extant and documented
examples of the builder's work from this period.
The church was enlarged in 1951 to approximately triple the seating capacity.
The encased Hinners organ was moved into the two divided, expressive, temperature-
controlled chambers on the front, right side of the chancel beside the altar at
that time. The Great chamber was on the left (when facing the grille) closest to
the front wall, and the Swell on the right closest to the chancel steps. The Pedal
16' Bourdon was placed in the Great chamber. This move and re-installation was done
without the aid of a qualified organ builder.
A 1963 fire destroyed part of the sanctuary, but spared the organ entirely. How-
ever it did necessitate the complete cleaning of the entire instrument to remove
smoke and soot residue.
In 1976, the organ was enlarged by Balcom and Vaughan of Seattle, Washington. The
original console was retained as were the original Swell, Great, and Pedal Hinners
chests. The new, free-standing Great case at the front of the church housed the
Great 8' Principal, 4' Octave, III Mixture, and the Pedal 8-4-2 Octave unit. New
Kilgen-style electro-pneumatic unit chests were built for the additions. The Great
chamber still housed the Hinners 8' Melodia, 8' Dolce (Dulciana), and 4' Flute
[d'Amour] on their original chest; as well as the 16' Bourdon and its original chest. A lieblich action was added to the Hinners 16' Bourdon chest to restrict the
volume of wind feeding the pipes allowing it to play softly as the 16' Gedeckt also.
The Swell chamber housed the original Hinners Swell chest. The original 8' Stopped
Flute was on its original chest. The 8' Spitz Gamba was on the original 8' Echo
Salicional toeboard with two pipes tubed-off due to being a larger scale than the
original pipes. The Spitz Gamba Celeste was on the original Voix Celeste toeboard.
The 4' Italian Principal was on the original Hinners 4' harmonic Flute toeboard.
And the Hinners 8' Oboe remained on its original toeboard. The added 2-2/3' Nazard
and 2' Block Flöte were on new, Kilgen-style electro-pneumatic unit chests built by
Balcom and Vaughan. A new, larger set of expression shutters replaced the originals.
The electro-mechanical relay for the entire organ was placed in the Swell chamber.
In 199_, Ray Garner of Kalispel, Montana replaced the console combination action
with new Devtronix components. Unfortunately, he omitted the Sw. to Ped. and Gt.
to Ped. functions in his Devtronix order, so those finger pistons and toe studs
no longer worked.
In 1996, Marceau & Associates from Portland, Oregon re-leathered the exposed 1976
Great/Pedal chests which had been built with a leather substitute called Perflex.
At the time of my [JRS] visit in 1997, the Perflex primary pneumatics for the Swell
expression shutters had also failed and were in need of replacement.
In 2006, John Grunow of Colorado built an essentially new organ with an impressive
full case front that filled the entire front wall of the chancel both side-to-side
and floor-to-ceiling. Pipes from the Balcom and Vaughan and Hinners instruments
were retained as was the existing console.
Sources: Eugene M. Nye compilation; Balcom and Vaughan opus list and files;
James R. Stettner; extant organ.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church
202 Brooks St.
Missoula, MT. 59801
(406) 549-4141 Documented: October 14, 1997Regrettably, 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.