Better Pipe Organ Database

Kenneth Coulter (1987)

St. Joseph Catholic Church: Sanctuary; rear gallery
732 18th Ave. E.
Seattle, WA

Images

1993-02-22 - Rear gallery with organ case (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Organ case (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Center section of the facade (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Tower stenciling detail (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Keydesk (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Left stopjamb (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - Right stopjamb (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

1993-02-22 - "Pedalboard, composition trundles, and expression shoe" (Photograph by James R. Stettner/Database Manager)

Consoles

Main

Organ type: Traditional Without Cover
Console position: Keydesk Attached
3 manuals
32 stops
40 registers
4 divisions
Key action Type: Mechanical With Pneumatic Assists
Stop action Type: Mechanical
Stop layout Type: Drawknobs in Vertical Rows on Flat Jambs
Manual compass: 58 notes
Pedal compass: 30 notes
Pedal Type: Concave Radiating (Not Meeting AGO Standards)
Expression Type: Balanced Expression Shoes/Pedals (Not Meeting AGO Standards)
Combination action: Fixed Mechanical
Has combination trundles

Notes

2004-10-30 - Status Note: There 1999. -Database Manager

2004-10-30 - Originally built in 1871 by Father Henry Willis for Christ Church, Westgreen on Waldeck Road, London, England. Installed here 1987 by Kenneth Coulter. Barker lever assists for the manual key action. Both Great 8' Trumpet and Choir 8' Clarinet are hooded. -Database Manager

2007-04-11 - Updated through online information from James R. Stettner. -- The casework is new, and the facade pipes were rearranged. The facade contains the first 15 pipes of the Great 8' Open Diapason, and the first 24 pipes of the Pedal 16' Violone. There is some speculation that the Choir 2-2/3' Nazard may have been altered in 1892, but otherwise the organ is completely and originally intact. The organ was dedicated in a service of Liturgical Celebration on Sunday, October 18, 1987 at 3:30 p.m. The Dedication Concert was that evening at 8:00 p.m. -Database Manager

2007-04-12 - Updated through online information from James R. Stettner. -Database Manager

2012-07-07 - Updated through online information from John Boots. -- Found it on the church's website -Database Manager

2016-06-12 - Updated through online information from James R. Stettner. -Database Manager

2021-05-05 - As with all the English organs Alan Laufman and the Clearing House agreed to relocate in a large shipment of redundants organs from an organ broker in England (who proved discreditable and gravely mis-represented the condition of the organs he was making available), the Willis organ arrived in deplorable condition requiring a great deal of rebuilding and restorative repairs unanticipated by the restorer. The entire keydesk area is new with the exception of the keyboards, stop knobs and mechanical pedals, and replicates an original Willis keydesk. The new case and facade layout also replicates a stock design of Willis during the period the organ was built. Note the nomenclature discrepancy between the 3' Twelfth and added 2 2/3' Nazard, given credence to the theory that the Nazard was added by Willis later in the organ's life -- either an addition or replacing another stop, likely a four-foot. -Scot Huntington

Stoplist

Source: Keydesk, church website

Kenneth Coulter (1987)
Henry Willis I, London, England, ca. 1871 and revised 1892 
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Seattle, Washington

Compasses: 58/30
Temperament: Valotti
Barker machine to Great and its couplers, remainder tracker

GREAT
16 Double Diapason
 8 Open Diapason   [15 facade]
 8 Claribel Flute
 4 Octave
 4 Harmonic Flute
 3 Twelfth
 2 Fifteenth
 8 Trumpet        [hooded]

SWELL [enclosed]
16 Lieblich Bourdon
 8 Open Diapason
 8 Lieblich Gedact
 8 Salcional      [sic]
 8 Vox Angelica   [t.c. celeste]
 4 Gemshorn
 2 Flageolet
   Mixture        [Sesquialtera III]
16 Contra Oboe
 8 Cornopean
 8 Oboe
 4 Clarion

CHOIR
 8 Gamba
 8 Lieblich Gedact
 8 Dulciana
 4 Concert Flute
2 2/3 Nazard     [1892]
 2 Piccolo
 8 Clarinet      [hooded]

PEDALE
16 Open Diapason Pedale [open wood]
16 Violone Pedale       [24 facade]
16 Bourdon Pedale
 8 Flute Bass Pedale
16 Ophicleide Pedale

COUPLERS
Swell to Great Unison
Swell Super Octave [to Great]
Swell Sub Octave   [to Great]
Choir to Great
Great to Pedals
Swell to Pedals
Choir to Pedals

PEDAL MOVEMENTS [unlabeled]
Great: Piano, Mezzo, Forte, Full
Swell: Piano, Mezzo, Forte
Great to Pedal Reversible   [rocking pedal]
Tremulant [Swell; rocking pedal reversible]