by Fred Moleck

New Life for the Beckerath Organ in Pittsburgh

Last year St. Paul’s Cathedral in the Oakland section of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh celebrated its one-hundredth-year anniversary like many other churches in the United States.

By 1900, the Roman Catholic immigrants were well on their way to establishing themselves as a self-assured parcel of the American national profile.

What better way to announce that the Catholics had arrived than to put up a significant church building in a part of a city that carried some social sophistication?

In other parts of the United States, cathedrals were erected in neighborhoods that one day would disintegrate, leaving the cathedral plant’s life, let alone its vigor, in jeopardy.

Not so much in Pittsburgh. Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Carlow University, and the prestigious University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are all within eyesight of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

As with all anniversaries, there is a lot of looking back with photos and commentary, usually done in a memorial book with half the pages dedicated to advertisements.

The commemorative book of St. Paul’s Cathedral is a masterpiece in graphic design and thoughtful essays. It captures the high craft of the building and its gems of stained-glass windows and sculpture.

A renovation plan to mark the anniversary included total revamping of the lighting—it is now brighter; repainting—it is no longer gloomy; and accessible from the nave are restrooms in high gothic style—the design, not the plumbing of the facility.

For one hundred years one had to walk down a cumbersome flight of steps to the basement to go to the restrooms.

Now, well-lit, graceful chambers with glass doors and automatic door openers take you into the antechamber.

Now, that is forward looking.

There is another example of the faith of the people of the cathedral with their enlightened rector.

Taking place right now is the restoration of the forty-six-year-old Rudolph von Beckerath organ. The organ is in sad shape with collapsing pipes and stodgy mechanisms. It needs the following (sorry, non-organ people, but we have to talk organ stuff now):

            —replace pneumatic stop action with electric stop action
            —replace eighteen collapsing 32' principal pipes with new pipes
                        (Yes! The pipes are unable to sustain their own weight.)
            —restoring the console
            —strengthening the sides and backs of the case
            —cleaning and repairing all interior pipes
            —polishing all façade pipes

The scene in the rear (front) of the cathedral looks like a major construction site with the huge scaffolding and several of the 32' principal pipes laying across the back pews, waiting to be taken to the truck for transfer to intensive care at the Taylor and Boody Organ Builders in Staunton, Virginia.

It is a real hands-on educational experience for most of the people who have minimal knowledge of what that big organ-thing is in the gallery.

Now they can see the pipes stretched across the pews, step back and look up at the gallery and see only the case with no pipes. The light goes on!

With such a large undertaking, it just doesn’t simply happen. Under the surveillance of the organist–music director, Don Fellows, and his associate, Ken Danchik, the work is moving pretty much on schedule.

I need to applaud the Taylor and Boody team who are on site at exactly 9:00 a.m. (There is an 8:15 a.m. Mass, which usually lasts thirty minutes most of the time unless one of the clerics doesn’t know when to finish the homily.)

Updates on the progress of the work appear frequently in the worship leaflet every Sunday.

Here is an excerpt:

Taylor and Boody Organ Builders arrived early on Memorial Day to perform the heavy lifting of the remaining façade pipes. Slowly and carefully each pipe was lowered to the cathedral floor.

The largest pipe is about 30' in length and weighs nearly 350 pounds. Interestingly, the crew used this pipe to “rehearse” the manner in which they will need to install the new pipes.

The thoroughness of both Don Fellows and Ken Danchik plus the high expertise of the Taylor and Boody team led by the on-site foreman, Tom Karaffa, bodes well that the organ should be trouble free and regain its place as one of the finest organs in the world.

Do access the website Ken has constructed, where you can view photos of the organ and loft. The site contains prerestoration photos and restoration progress photos.

www.kodakgallery.com/pghbeckerath

One cannot forget, however: it is a working instrument. It leads the sung worship. It edifies and inspires. It showcases major music compositions.

It also prophesies that the St. Paul’s Cathedral has at least another one hundred years.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam

You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net

Search: