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A Word from the Builder
A Word from the Builder
From its humble beginnings in 1873, the Schantz Organ Company, founded by Abraham Tschantz (later changed to Schantz), has evolved into one of the leading pipe organ building firms in the United States. Within the walls of its modern facilities in Orrville, Ohio, the many skilled artisans of the Schantz firm practice their centuries-old craft of pipe organ building.
With its distinguished tradition of music making, Wilshire Baptist Church has honored the Schantz firm with the commission to build a pipe organ for its Sanctuary. The new four-manual, 79-rank Schantz pipe organ was designed and constructed especially for the church.
The organ, housed in chambers flanking the baptistery and above the chancel area, takes full advantage of its placement on the central axis of the building to effortlessly produce tone. Additionally, the nine-stop antiphonal organ is encased at the rear of the gallery. The organ has been designed and constructed to meet the diverse musical requirements of the music ministry, dynamically support and encourage the liturgy and hymnody of the church, and accompany various styles of choral music, while effectively rendering organ literature of all periods.
 The grandeur and beauty of a pipe organ combines the discipline of many diverse crafts to produce an instrument that is visually beautiful, mechanically sound and musically pleasing. Designing a new organ is often spoken of as a marriage between musical considerations and physical parameters. The specification of the organ was a collaborative effort between Jeffrey Dexter, vice president and tonal director of the Schantz firm, Gregg Bunn, former organist of Wilshire Baptist Church, and Dwayne Short, area representative of the Schantz firm. Mr. Dexter determined the technical parameters of the pipe construction (scaling) while Stephen Leslie, together with Kerry Bunn, completed the on-site tonal finishing - the final adjustment of each pipe to assure that the many distinctive colors of sound will combine to form an elegant and cohesive ensemble. The organ's prospect and physical layout is the work of Elmer Gable of the Schantz firm engineering staff. In addition to the organ's visual impact and ability to create musically satisfying sounds, great attention was paid to providing ready access to all portions of the organ's interior for ease of maintenance.
Each of the organ's 4, 587 pipes is actually an individual windblown instrument designed, crafted and voiced especially for this building. Organized into 79 ranks or sets of pipes, the pipes are made from an assortment of materials including zinc, lead, tin and wood. The majority of the pipes, however, are made from a tin-lead alloy, which is cast, cut, shaped and soldered by the pipe makers in the Schantz workshop. The largest pipe in this instrument is 16 feet in length and more than 9 inches in diameter. By contrast, the smallest pipes are no larger than a common pencil.
Sixteen ranks from the church's previous instrument were retained and recast for inclusion in the new organ. This re-use of suitable existing pipework provides a connection to the church's musical heritage in addition to being mindful of the stewardship of resources.
The organ's six divisions - Great, Swell, Choir, Solo, Pedal and Antiphonal - are actually complete organs within themselves. The Great and Pedal form the backbone of the ensemble, and are located toward the front and side of the main organ chamber where they can carry and project sound into the nave. The Swell, choir and Solo, with their variety of accompanimental and solo sounds, are placed behind expression louvers to allow further control of dynamics.
Of special note are the two unique voices found in the Solo Organ. The Flauto Mirabilis contains pipework with double mouths, used in soaring solo melody lines. The Orchestral Oboe hearkens back to the symphonic/romantic tradition of American organbuilding in the early part of the 20th century.
The instrument's two most dramatic voices are found in the Great Organ - the heraldic, polished copper Trompette en chamade on 10" wind pressure and the Solo Organ's English-style Tuba Major on 18" wind pressure. The Choir Organ is home to the instrument's softest voice - the  ethereal Erzähler II (German for "storyteller"). The Antiphonal Organ, whose name suggestts its musical role, is comprised of both an unenclosed Principal chorus and an enclosed/expressive "swell" chorus. In addition, this division is fitted with a two-manual and pedal tilting-tablet console capable of controlling the Antiphonal resources or, through "blind" General pistons, the resources of the entire organ.
The moveable four-manual, English-style drawknob console in the chancel is made of walnut, with cherry stop jambs, ebony drawknobs and keys of bone and ebony. It features all the modern conveniences for aiding the player, including a solid-state combination action with 99 levels of memory and a record/playback system.
Having been completed during our firm's 131st year, the Wilshire organ challenged us again to create an instrument that represents the art of organbuilding in its highest form. This organ embodies the efforts of more than 100 lay persons, craftspeople, artisans and musicians.
From the stately tone of the Principal chorus, to the softest whisper of the Erzähler and the declamatory shouts of the festival trumpets, this organ now joins a tradition centuries old - that of calling hte faithful to worship and stirring amongst them that which inspired the likes of Bach, Luther, Watts and Wesley. The men and women who are the Schantz Organ Company are honored and privileged to have been a part of this historic process and are most proud to have been selected as organbuilder for this prestigious instrument. With you, we look forward to the many avenues in which this organ will lead well into the future.
Jeffrey D. Dexter
Vice President
Tonal Director
Schantz Organ Company
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Another Voice
Ryan Heritage
Music Ministry Resident
Wed. lunch., July 23
Grilled Catch of the Day
Parsley Potatoes
Fresh Asparagus
Cucumber Salad
Chesses Biscuits
Peach Cobbler
11 a.m. - 12 p.m., Lunch $6.00
12 p.m. - 1 p.m. -
Brad Jernberg - testimony & song
*No dinner & No evening Bible study
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The fall of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, devastated thousands of lives. In Michael Lee’s case, the change sparked that day was positive as well as dramatic.
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(214) 452-3100