FLC's organs

The larger instrument at First Lutheran Church was built by Casavant Frères of Québec, a firm established in 1879. It has 26 ranks and over 1,500 pipes. The carefully-crafted specifications, designed especially for the small, acoustically live sanctuary, were developed to ensure the most flexible instrument possible. A special focus in its design was music of the Lutheran heritage, especially J.S. Bach. Many of the characteristics of the organs Bach played--clean, unforced, colorful, articulate--form the foundations of this organ. Yet it is versatile enough for a wide variety of organ and choral literature of various traditions.

The pipes for the Casavant organ are constructed of wood and various alloys of metal; each rank slightly different. It has electric slider action chests except for the unit stops, which are Pitman. The keys are made of bone and ebony. The organ was completed in May, 2002.

The Casavant organ joins the 3-rank positiv, or continuo, organ built in 2000 by Bond Organ Builders of Portland, Oregon, in memory of Charles A. Ferguson. With mechanical key and stop action, this instrument is especially suited for accompanying Baroque and Tudor music with choir and chamber orchestra.

The back of the case is formed by the first 11 notes of the 8' Gedackt. These pipes are built with common walls to minimize size and weight; the instrument weighs only 185 pounds. The pipes are made of oak, Peruvian walnut, or metal. Wind is supplied by an electric blower located in the bench. The keyboard shifts to allow either A-440 or A-415 pitch. The natural keys are made of cow bone with front arcades; the sharps are blackwood.



Charles Albert Ferguson (1933-1998) wrote his master's thesis on the Moroccan Arabic verb and his doctoral dissertation on the phonology and morphology of Bengali. He worked in the Middle East from 1946-1955 where he established and directed the Foreign Service Institute Area and Language School. He taught Syrian Arabic and Classical Arabic at Georgetown University. In 1955 he established the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington. In 1967 he came to Stanford University to establish a Department of Linguistics. His major publications range from language diversity in South Asia to studies in child language development and language change in more than 20 languages. One of his lifelong passions was the study of saints' lives, language and religion.

Charles was an ardent supporter of music at First Lutheran and the Charles Ferguson continuo organ was made possible through a bequest from his estate.

These two organs have opened new possibilities for worship and service to the community with a great variety of music.

Organ stoplists