Hyde Park Community United Methodist
Church
The organ at Hyde Park Community United
Methodist Church (Opus 3671) was built by Casavant Frères
of Quebec, Canada. It was completed in 1990 and was first heard
in a dedicatory recital given on September 25 of that year
by organist and director of music, Mark Schaffer, who with
his predecessors, Edwin Domb and Todd Wilson, assisted in the
design of the instrument. Tonal designer was Jean-Louis Coignet.
Final voicing was carried out by Yves Champagne. It was designed
in the tradition of French organs to fulfill the dual role
of Orgue de Choeur, an accompanimental organ for the choir
in the chancel, and Grand Orgue, or main organ, speaking down
the central axis of the nave from the gallery.
The organ has 88 ranks of pipes – 63
in the gallery and 25 in the chancel – and is operated
from a single four-manual console located in the chancel. It
has a total of 4,843 pipes. Opus 3671 has been compared to
other fine instruments built by Casavant Frères, including
those in Saint Clement Church in Chicago and the Basilique
Notre-Dame-du-Cap near Montreal. It has attracted a number of international artists, including Pierre Pincemaille and Paul Jacobs during the 2004-2005 season of The Organ Concert Series, Stefan Engels, Olivier Latry and Carol Williams during the 2005-2006 season, and Vincent Dubois, Martin Jean and Gary Beard (with Ryan Anthony, trumpet) during the 2006-2007 season. The complete specifications for the organ follow.
