A nearly simultaneous commission to Trinity Church, New York is the 54-rank instrument for First United Methodist Church, Marietta, GA. The colonial architecture of the recently renovated building is being enhanced with new speaking façades for the chambers of the divided chancel. The 10 flats of the speaking façade, facing into the choir and towards the congregation, are designed to complement the architecture of the building and to give both visual interest and to communicate that it is pipes that make the sound.
Working closely with Ronald Ebrecht, consultant to the church, a three manual design with 44 stops has been elaborated. A rich array of stops includes principal choruses and reed choruses on each manual and in the pedal. These are situated to have balance and blend across the choir area and to project into the congregation. On the left are the exposed Great principal and Pedal principal and reed choruses as well as the 32’ Subbass, and enclosed with the Swell strings, the Great reeds. These divisions are answered from the right by Choir and Swell enclosed principal and reed choruses and undergirded by the Pedal 16’ Open Wood. The batteries of manual chorus reeds as well as colorful solo reeds are complemented by a Great 16‘ jeu de tierce and a mounted Cornet and in the Swell, a Cornet décomposée. The all-pipe tonal design is broad and eclectic making the instrument capable of fulfilling all the musical needs of the parish and to serve as a versatile concert organ.
