Some LDS Church members may have a little regret at leaving behind the famed pipe organ in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square for the brand-new, 21,000-seat Conference Center to open next spring.
However, the historic Tabernacle organ will continue to be used for the weekly Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts and other events, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now has announced ambitious plans for its new pipe organ in the Conference Center, near Main on North Temple, just north of Temple Square.According to LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills, the new organ will be in very much the same tradition as the historic Tabernacle organ and will continue the use of this appropriate musical instrument for LDS worship services and other functions. In fact, the style of the Conference Center organ is very reminiscent of the Tabernacle organ in its blueprint drawings.
The church announced Thursday that the contract for the new Conference Center organ, probably to be heard for the first time in October 2000, has been awarded to Schoenstein & Co. of San Francisco.
The organ can't be installed until the Conference Center structure itself is completed, accounting for the six-month delay in the organ's premiere after the center opens.
Installation of the new organ will not begin for at least several months, but preliminary work is already under way for its construction.
"A job like this comes to an organ builder just once in a lifetime," said Jack M. Bethards, president and tonal director for Schoenstein. "It's not only the size of the instrument, but the versatility required for the wide-ranging musical demands it will be expected to meet."
Schoenstein is a second-generation organ builder, and his company started doing business in 1877.
The company has done work for the church in the past. In the late 1940s, the company removed the Austin organ from the Tabernacle and assisted with the installation of the new Aeolian-Skinner organ. Also, during the 1980s, Schoenstein & Co. did restorative work on the Tabernacle organ.
Bethards said the construction and installation of any large musical instrument is always a challenge, but the Conference Center poses unique problems because of the vastness of the main meeting room and its particular acoustical characteristics.
"Nothing quite like it has been attempted before," he said.
The Conference Center organ will contain 130 ranks of pipes for a total of 7,667 individual pipes. In comparison, the present Tabernacle organ has 206 ranks totaling 11,623 pipes. The new organ also will provide several non-pipe sounds, such as chimes, bells, harp and celesta.
Bethards is dedicating his entire plant capacity of more than 100 artisans to the new Conference Center organ project. Some other firms will also be involved.
The Tabernacle organists have been heavily involved in the new organ project since the Conference Center was announced more than two years ago. Organist John Longhurst said he and other organists helped select the builder, as well as developing the instrument's tonal design.
"We were consulted at every stage of the visual design process, but the credit for the organ's appearance must be given to the architects, organ builders and others who comprised the design team," he said.
Another Tabernacle organist, Richard Elliott, said adjustments will have to be made as organists move between the Tabernacle and Conference Center.
"We tried to steer the design of the organ's console so that it would require a minimal amount of adjustment when transferring a piece of music from the Tabernacle organ," he said. "Nevertheless, the sonic contrast will probably be insignificant."
The new instrument will include several features the Tabernacle organ lacks. For example, its bass range will extend four notes lower than the Tabernacle organ. The new organ also will be able to digitally encode a performance and then replay it, allowing the organist to go out into the room and evaluate his or her own playing.
Although the organ should premiere in time for the next October general conference, final regulation for each of its pipes, optimal volume and tone quality will continue over the six months following its debut.