The organ case is largely inspired by the 1653-9 Stellwagen organ of Stralsund, Germany (photo in Sonnaillon, KING OF INSTRUMENTS, p. 96), and will feature free standing 16' pedal towers on the balcony rail, a 16' Great in the center main case, above which will sit the 8' Swell division, and with an 8' Ruckpositiv on a projecting forward section of the center balcony (pipes to 6' in length in facade). The organ balcony is on the front wall of the "shoe-box-Boston Symphony Hall" shaped building, approx. 14 feet above the orchestra stage.
The case is made from old fir logs (100 yrs old) found on the bottom of Lake Washington (Seattle), so that the case will harmonize with the fir panels which surround the seating area of the 536 seat hall. Gold leafed carvings (and even two life-sized carved figures) will grace the facade; >carvings to be made by Paul's sister, Judy Fritts.
A feature of Lagerquist Hall is the variable acoustic system, which permits 8 pairs of long drapes to be set in various configurations of from 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or to full-up position, thus varying the present reverberation time to between 2.2 seconds and 4 seconds. The organ builder and the University Organist are indeed smiling. The presence of the new case will of course, also have an effect on the room, but which we believe will be positive. The new organ will feature suspended key action, with a dual mechanical/electric stop action and solid state combination system. Two pedalboards will be supplied; one flat and one BDO (partly concave non-radiating).
The pedal division includes a full length 32 Posaune as well as a 32 Subbass (the only old pipes to be used--recycled from the 4 man. E M Skinner organ formerly in Plymouth Congregational Church, Seattle). As many of you may know, Paul Fritts makes all his own pipes, including reeds at his shop in south Tacoma.
With the superb design and voicing skills of Paul Fritts, and wonderfully sensitive and responsive key actions, this organ should prove to be a stunning addition to the already impressive array of first rate organs here in the Pacific Northwest.
16 Praestant (Tin, facade) 8 Octave 8 Rohrflote 8 Spielflote 8 Salicional 4 Octave 4 Spitzflote 3 Quint 2 Octave V Cornet (from c') mounted V-VII Mixture 16 Trompete (full length) 8 Trompete 8 Baarpfeife (see note below)
8 Praestant (tin, facade from F) 8 Hohlflote 4 Octave 4 Koppelflote 2 Waldflote 2 Octave 1 1/3 Nasat II Sesquialter IV-VIII Scharf 16 Fagott (cylindrical) 8 Trompete 8 Dulcian
16 Quintadena (or Bourdon)--determined at installation 8 Principal (tin, facade to Tenor F, then inside) 8 Bourdon 8 Viole de Gambe 8 Voix celeste (from c) 4 Octave 4 Flute 3 Nazard 2 Gemshorn 1 3/5 Tierce V-VIII Mixture 8 Trompete (more toward French style) 8 Hautbois 8 Voix Humaine 4 Clairon
32 Subbass (wood, low 12 EM Skinner, 1922, behind case) 16 Praestant (tin, facade of free standing Pedal Towers) 16 Subbass (continuation of 32) 8 Octave (from 16 Praestant) 8 Gedackt (from Subbass) 4 Octave (independent) 2 Nachthorn VII Mixture 32 Posaune (full length, mitered low 12) 16 Posaune (from 32 Posaune) 8 Trompete (independent) 4 Trompete 2 Cornett (from 4 Trompete) Direct Mechanical action, suspended Manual compass: 58 notes; Pedal 30 notes Tremulants Wind Stabilizer Three Wedge Bellows (Pedal; Great & RP; Swell) Temperament: to be determined (something mildly unequal)Note: The large number of ranks in the mixtures indicate doubling of pitches in the treble for blend and stability in tuning, and for better "lockup" of ensemble and tuning focus in the full plenums. Thus RP Scharf may not actually have any more than four pitches at any one time. These are not designed to be "high pitched" screaming mixtures. I shall try to have some first hand quotes and info. from Paul Fritts on composition of mixtures and his rationale for mixture design at a later time. Note also, that even though the names for the Trumpet stops are in German (Paul F. simply likes to be consistent throughout the organ in this) the actual reed construction is not strictly Germanic in type, but his own modification.
Prepared by Steve Fox from information created by David Dahl, University Organist, PLU. 9 Aug 1996.