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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Dr. John Obetz has either designed or led teams designing organs for numerous churches, including the equally impressive Casavant organ at the Community of Christ Temple in Independence. Obetz is very much a part of that community, having served as Principal Organist for more than 30 years at what was then known as the RLDS Auditorium and Temple in Independence. His reputation spread far beyond the Kansas City area, however, largely because of his weekly radio program, "The Auditorium Organ," heard nationwide.

He and some equally passionate supporters of Kansas City’s performing arts helped convince Julia Irene Kauffman of the importance of including a great concert organ in the new center, and how it would make it an even greater place. She then made a special donation to pay for this instrument—certainly not an inconsequential gift.

Next he met with the architects and other committee members, taking them to the Community of Christ Temple and demonstrating that great organ. He performed for them, let them climb through the organ chambers and view up close the thousands of pipes. They were absolutely amazed at the complexity and scope of an instrument this size.

Casavant Bros. built—by hand—this magnificent instrument, their largest mechanical action instrument to date. No small feat considering the company has been building organs since the 1840s. The first concert of the Symphony with the new organ will take place next June so as to give installers time to individually tune each of the 5548 pipes.

David Peironnet: When the new organ is first performed in Helzberg Hall you will have the satisfaction of knowing you were instrumental (pardon the pun) in obtaining that organ. This must be an enormous source of satisfaction. What do you hope will come of this?

John  Obetz: I hope the audiences will discover the variety and wonder of music written for the organ, that it is not just an instrument used in church. I’ll be thrilled to know that some 600 orchestral works that call for the organ will now be available to our audiences. It will make the Kansas City Symphony an even greater orchestra. It will become its halo.

I also understand the Kauffman Center will soon hire a conservator for the organ who, as part of the job, will give organ demonstrations to area school children, letting them see and hear our wonderful new instrument. When I was at the Community of Christ Auditorium I gave many such demonstrations, often inviting a child who was studying piano to play a piece on the organ. They were thrilled and amazed!!

DP: One common misconception about organs is that they only produce sound at one volume level: full power. How does an organist control the volume?

JO: It is correct that once a pipe is voiced, its volume is not controllable. However, the majority of the pipes will be enclosed in chambers that have wooden louvers that open and close, much like Venetian blinds. Their aperture is controlled with foot pedals that look like gas pedals on a truck and are located above the notes of the pedalboard. The audience won’t see those louvers; those pipes are behind the metal screen. The pipes that are visible to the audience (the so-called façade) are all real, speaking pipes, and those cannot have their volume adjusted.

The design of the façade, incidentally, was mutually worked out with the architects and the Casavant designers. It is absolutely unique and will distinguish our organ from any other in the world. It will instantly say, Kansas City’s Kauffman Center. The inclusion of so many wooden pipes in the façade helps it become an intrinsic part of the hall’s overall design, one with a preponderance of wood.

DP: This concert organ in the Kauffman Center will have four keyboards laid out in a stairstep design and over 5500 pipes. Why are all of those keyboards and all of those pipes necessary? How do they work?

JO: The organ can be conceived somewhat like an orchestra. Just as an orchestra has different divisions, i.e. strings, brass, woodwinds, etc., so the organ has different divisions, each of which is played from its own keyboard. Thus contrasting colors and combinations can be played in rapid alternation on the separate keyboards. Additionally, however, there is a coupling mechanism that permits the keyboards to be combined for fuller ensembles.

Each of the keyboards has 61 notes (5 octaves), each requiring a separate pipe. So, for example, the flute stop has 61 separate pipes to cover its 5 octaves. As one goes up the keyboard the pipes get shorter and shorter, they are ranked. The organ’s smallest pipe is only as long as a pencil, with the speaking length about the length of the eraser. The pedal board has 32 notes, is played with the feet, and requires a separate pipe for each of its notes. This division has the largest pipes, some the size of a three-story house, and plays the lowest pitches. Having so many stops, or ranks, means that all those many pipes, 5548 to be exact, are available to provide the fantastic range of color, pitch, and dynamics that are called for.

DP: The great cathedral organs of Europe are mostly mechanical action. When the organist presses the key, they are physically opening a valve which lets air flow into the pipe. Isn’t our new organ built in the same way?

JO: Yes, our organ has mechanical, or tracker action. Trackers are thin wooden strips that extend from the rear of the keyboards and are connected to the various components of the organ. This gives the organist nuanced control of the speech of the pipe, much like a flute player can control their instrument’s speech with their lips. Tracker action permits the organist control of how quickly the pipe is brought into play, and how it is released. The majority of organs in this country have electro-pneumatic actions. On these, when the key is depressed, an electric contact is made and a magnet under the pipe drops to permit the entrance of air. In reality, it is unlikely that an audience member would be aware of the action of the organ, but it does provide a fine and subtle control for seasoned organists.

DP: This organ is something of a hybrid, isn’t it?

JO: Well, there are electronic components to the organ, but none that control the sound or speech of the pipe. The organ’s electronics are essentially a computer, or memory system. The computer lets the organist program into the instrument, in advance, the various combinations of stops that are desired at any given moment. There are buttons, called pistons, under each keyboard and pedalboard that are used to call into action the combination desired. Thus the organist can instantly change the sounds and stop combinations.

Top Photo: The Kauffman Casavant underconstruction.

By David Peironnet

Special to KCM

David Peironnet has been a concert-goer for more years than he would care to admit, and can clearly recall hearing the Kansas City Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Schweiger. This comes from someone who admits to be only 24 years old though acknowleges that his undergraduate degree was not in math but rather political science -- a group of people who are notoriously able to see only those facts they want to see in statistical data.

David has churned out the newsletter for the Friends of the Symphony - Kansas City for six or seven years. He doesn't recall and really doesn't care how many years it has been because the only thing that's important is the next deadline -- and the one after that.

This is one of a series of interviews he runs periodically usually consisting of five open-ended questions which reveal answers which can give information to the person walking into a concert hall for the first time, or like himself have been enjoying concerts for many years.

David and Kathy Peironnet frequently work at the Friends of the Symphony gift shop which is located in the lobby of the Lyric Theatre. The next time you come to a concert, stop by and say, "hello." Ask for a copy of the current FoS newsletter. If a copy isn't available, just ask and one will be mailed to you.