Antiphonal Organ
Have you ever noticed the two tall wooden facades that frame the stained glass window in the rear balcony in the sanctuary? Behind those facades are two organ chambers containing parts of the sanctuary pipe organ that have not been functional for many years. This part of the organ is known as an antiphonal organ.
When the church was completed in 1935, it included a large four-manual and antiphonal organ built by the Æolian-Skinner Company in Boston Massachusetts as their Opus #884. In 2007 the Goulding & Wood Company from Indianapolis, IN installed an essentially new organ in the front. Approximately 40% of the pipework in the front organ is from the original Æolian-Skinner. There have been slight modifications to the antiphonal organ over the years, but almost all of the pipework in the rear balcony is from the original organ!
The front organ now contains 120 individual ranks of pipes, for a total of more than 8,000 pipes. The antiphonal organ has 14 individual ranks of pipes, for a total of 928 pipes. The size of the antiphonal organ is approximately 10% of the combined main and antiphonal organs.
The function of the antiphonal organ is to provide additional sound from the rear of the 202-foot long, 75-foot high nave and is intended to enhance and support congregational singing as well as provide a variety of sounds appropriate for worship and concerts. It is quite common in rooms of this size for pipe organs to have separate divisions at opposite ends of the room to fill the vast space with sound.
Restoring the antiphonal organ and reconnecting it to the front organ would be a big project, including repair work to the interior of organ chambers. The sound of the antiphonal organ if completely restored would be very close to what churchgoers would have heard when the organ was first heard in 1935.
Antiphonal Organ Chambers
928 pipes located behind the tall wooden facades on either side of the balcony window
Antiphonal Organ Pipes
Antiphonal Organ Pipes
looking in to the rear balcony from behind the wooden facade
Antiphonal Organ Wind Reservoir
provides wind to the pipes, supplied by the main blower in the sub-basement
Antiphonal Organ Chamber Ceiling
plywood holding up the water-damaged ceiling to prevent damage to the pipes below