Our Church Dedicates New Organ Pipes
by Keith McClelland

(April 14, 2002) The service of dedication at our seaside church was a multiple occasion, celebrating the incredible brilliance of great organ composers and the talent of a fine organist.

We acquired our new Rodgers organ two years ago. This year we installed, as the ultimate  addition to the digital components, two ranks of live windpipes, one of Principal pipes and one of Metal Gedeckt, 144 pipes in all. They stand above the choir, outside the screened speaker chest. The result, visually and aurally, is stunning.

The soloist was David Ogletree of Needham, Massachusetts. David is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Baltimore and has studied under several well-known organists. The program was varied:

A Trumpet Minuet	Alfred Hollins
3 Hymn Preludes by American Composers     Noël Provençal (Il est Né, le Divin Enfant)     Reflection (In the Cross of Christ I Glory)     I Love to Tell the Story	Robert Leech Bedell Robert Hebble Arr. William Fisher
Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 547)	J.S. Bach
Cortège et Litanie	Marcel Dupré
3 Pieces for Organ     Elfes     Clair de Lune     Variations de Concert	Joseph Bonnet

Church members felt afterward that they couldn't have made a better choice for a celebration that was threefold.

• First: The pipes were dedicated, as was the console previously, to the glory of God.
• Second: The church is becoming a cultural center, and an organ of this scope will invite world-class organists.
• Third: The printed program, in this small church, carried four full pages of names of donors to the organ and the pipes, a real witness of dedication and growth.

And still, members continued to give. A particularly knotty problem was how to enclose the windchest which presented all sorts of difficulties: a custom-designed enclosure had to be built; there were various moving parts hanging from beneath; you had to be careful that you didn't puncture the windchest when attaching the enclosure; and it had to be removable for maintenance. Only the Stradivari of the wood shop - Carl Bartlett - could take this on and he did. He designed and built the enclosure, his son Alan used his router to match the wood with the speaker frame and wife Lillian applied three coats of paint. Many thanks to the Bartletts.

Proceeds support our continuing effort to attract quality organists to our church. You can also sample the first work. Congratulations to all!

The Church on the Cape
P O Box 7663
3 Langsford Road
Cape Porpoise, ME 04014-7663
207 967- 5787 or Email
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