Narration on the Celebration of Bay Shore Church's Musical Instruments
Date:   May 22, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  Psalm 150

In Psalm 150, written in the millennium before Christ’s birth, it is apparent that musical instruments were widely used to offer praise to God:  trumpet, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, pipe, cymbals all were mentioned.  Several of those sounds are able to be duplicated by our pipe organ. 

WICKS PIPE ORGAN

The organ you see before you is not the church’s original organ.  As the Bay Shore sanctuary neared completion in Fall 1950, the Rev. Milton G. Gabrielson acquired a console and small organ from a Long Beach funeral chapel and installed it himself.  He procured subsequent additions of ranks from theater organs in Los Angeles as they were dismantled throughout the 1950s.  These ranks were placed behind screens in the two side chambers.  It was common at the time for organ pipes to be heard, but not seen.

Additional ranks of new pipes were installed by the Wicks Organ Company of Highland, Illinois in 1987 and 1989.  A sanctuary fire in the chancel area a week before Christmas 1989 destroyed the entire organ, everything from the pillar on the left side of the altar to the corner behind where Rev. Susie is sitting.  A new pipe organ of 29 ranks was ordered immediately from Wicks and was installed in time to be used for Christmas 1990.  As the sanctuary was restored after the fire, recessed chambers on both sides of the altar window were created to allow several ranks of pipes to be visible, including the polished copper hooded trumpets.

Four ranks of antiphonal pipes were installed in the balcony in 1996 as a gift from her family in memory of Georgene Hayter.  A generous bequest from former choir member and organ aficionado Isolda McDonald funded an extensive organ addition in 2000, which included moving the existing principal from the side chambers to exposed chests over the choir seats, and additional ranks of Wicks pipes to bring the organ to its present 39 ranks of pipes and 8 digital ranks. 

Remodeling the chancel in 2006 moved the organ console from a pit in the chancel area to the main floor of the sanctuary.  Hidden wheels were added to the console, so while it usually sits in the right corner, this may be the first time you’ve seen it moved to the center, a better position for concert performances and organ recitals, such as Robert York’s last evening.  It is estimated that the replacement cost of the organ we have is in the range of one-half to three-quarters of a million dollars.  And yes, it is insured!

STEINWAY GRAND PIANO

If our organ is just over 20 years old, our oldest musical instrument is our 1908 Steinway grand piano.  It looks very different today than it did when I first saw it in 1987.  The finish was crackled and there was a large damaged spot on the lid where someone had placed a vase of flowers at some time in the past.  That same year, Isolda McDonald asked me how much it would cost to have the lid refinished.  We called out a piano technician, but he said it needed far more than the lid refinished.  The piano was 80 years old at the time, and the pins that hold the strings were so loose that it wouldn’t stay in tune more than a few weeks.  So we put out the plea for piano restoration, and in 1989 we spent $6500 in donated funds to have the piano completely rebuilt with Steinway parts and refinished.  In anticipation of its 100th anniversary, in 2007 we again had the piano refinished in Steinway black matte.

The church purchased the piano in 1955 at an estate sale for $600.  The bill of sale was in my desk drawer when I arrived.  In 2008, as we celebrated its 100th anniversary, we contacted Steinway, and found that a replacement six foot grand piano would be $55,000.

SCHULMERICH HANDBELLS AND HANDCHIMES

Bay Shore’s Schulmerich instrument consists of  61 handbells and 61 handchimes, with a minimum of 12 ringers to utilize all the bells.  The first 25 handbells or 2 octaves were acquired January 1, 1968, and continue to be rung today.  In 1999, another octave of 12 bells were acquired.

On August 1, 2000, Alicia Adams joined the music ministry at Bay Shore as organist and handbell director.  As interest developed in ringing the numbers of ringers increased.  In June 2001, to diversify the sounds available, 3 octave of 37 handchimes were acquired and subsequently additional handchimes were acquired so that we now have five octaves.  The handbells were expanded in 2002 and 2004 to complete the 5 octaves with the highest bell weighing ounces and the lowest bell weighing 11 pounds.

Bay Shore’s instrument of handbells and handchimes has a replacement cost for this valuable asset of $28,000.

Without the dedication of the ringers, the bells would be silent, remaining stored in cases.  However, Bay Shore is fortunate to have dedicated individuals that embrace ringing and the joy derived from making music together.  For the worship services, the Bay Shore Bells provide an extension to the music ministry through tonality, timbre and visual intrigue.  Our prayer is that the ringing of this musical instrument will provide guidance in your worship today.

ZUCKERMANN HARPSICHORD

Many years ago, Alicia Adam’s husband Ron Gagliano was first enamored with the sounds of a harpsichord and thought, “One day, I’d like to build one of those things!”  In early 2006, he mentioned this to Carl Duckworth at a choir rehearsal.  Later that year, Carl proposed that he buy a kit; they could build it and donate it to the church. 

So, after researching the parts builders, Zuckermann Harpsichord of Connecticut was chosen as the supplier of a Flemish single manual (keyboard) Harpsichord XVI.  The parts kit arrived in January 2007, and Ron and Carl spent the next four months building and finishing our instrument.  The instrument was dedicated in worship on May 27, 2007. 

Our harpsichord has been showcased quite a bit this month.  This is the third Sunday morning in a row it has been played, and last Sunday evening it was an accompaniment instrument for Kathleen Dyer’s masters piccolo recital here in the sanctuary.