A number of students, faculty and University friends were waiting outside Bayard Sharp Hall on the morning of May 8 as vehicles from Lake City, Iowa, arrived to deliver the University's new custom-built pipe organ.

Helping transport the organ's 34,000 individual pieces from the vehicles into the former church is a tradition when new organs are delivered, according to David Herman, music department chairperson and professional organist.

The instrument, with its 1,234 pipes, was built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Ltd. and donated to UD by Edward and Naomi Jefferson of Greenville, Del. With its installation, the University's restoration of this historic Newark building, which formerly housed St. Thomas Episcopal Church, is now complete.

Since a large number of organs are associated with churches, Herman says, congregations often assist in the unloading as part of a church social and community event. He says he decided to offer the same opportunity to members of the music department student body and others in the campus community.

John Clayton, University development, was one of the earliest volunteers to arrive. "I'm a pipe organ enthusiast," he says. "And, when David put out a call for help, I responded. I've dreamed of having a pipe organ on this campus for years, and it's finally happened."

Herman, who has performed in concert on pipe organs throughout the U.S. and abroad, says this will be the first new pipe organ he's ever played in his life.

"We're very excited," Herman says. "This will give us the opportunity for student and professional programs that we have never been able to do before. We're planning a recital series that will feature the organ itself and other concerts featuring the organ with other instruments."

He says the organ will be used by faculty and students for the new minor in church music studies.

UD's organ is the 74th new instrument created by the Dobson company, which designed an organ for the Philadelphia Regional Performing Arts Center. The first Dobson instrument to be installed in Delaware, it has 18 stops, 22 ranks and 1,234 pipes and has been erected in the balcony of the Gothic Revival-style building.

Lynn Dobson, president and artistic director of the firm, visited Bayard Sharp Hall in 1998 to prepare for the instrument's construction. He also was present at the unloading.

"As with all our instruments," Dobson says, "the available space is, of course, an important factor in a given organ's design. However, first and foremost, one must learn about the instrument's intended function. What type of music does the organ need to be able to play and how will the instrument be used? The answers to these questions drive the entire design, and, in some situations, even the placement of the organ.

"With the placement of this particular instrument, the load-bearing capacity of the balcony was looked into to ensure that it could support the weight of the organ. Also, the architectural details and acoustics of the room were scrutinized so that the organ could be physically proportioned to the room's size and the pipes 'scaled' for the planned acoustics. When dealing with the restoration of an historic building, coloration and case design is planned carefully to compliment the interior space.

"This organ has been designed primarily for its use as a teaching and recital instrument," Dobson says. "It is capable of accommodating a generous amount of organ literature and is particularly well-suited for use with small instrumental ensembles. The intimacy of Bayard Sharp Hall and the organ's location require that the organ produce a warm, rich tone that invites the ear of the listener."

The physical installation took two weeks, and at the end of that period, "voicers" arrived to complete what is called the tonal finishing. This process took several additional weeks, as each pipe of the organ was carefully adjusted to suit the acoustics of the room.

According to Dean Zenor, Dobson projects manager, the members of his organ-building crew each placed a personal signature on the completed instrument. "There is a door or panel on the organ," Zenor says, "that each of us signs as a permanent record of the pride we take in our work. I don't know many firms that do this."

The 1,234 pipes in the Jefferson Organ include some constructed of wood and others of a lead/tin alloy. The main organ case is constructed of white oak with a fumed, oiled and lacquered finish with polychrome and gold leaf accents. The case, or façade pipes, are made of burnished tin.

The organ's case design has many English characteristics, such as the console being on the side of the case rather than in front, and it relies on the architecture of the building as inspiration for many of its details.

The Jefferson Organ was constructed by 19 craftspersons who spent more than 6,500 hours working on the organ at the Dobson shop in Iowa, before the installation and tonal finishing on the campus.

There are approximately 34,000 individual pieces in the organ, with the largest component weighing about 300 lbs. The total instrument weight is approximately 10,000 lbs. The smallest pipe is less than 1/2-inch long, and the largest pipe is 16 feet long. The total length of the mechanical keying action is about 1,400 linear feet, or 1/4 mile and encompasses about 8,500 pieces.

David Herman
Friday, Sept. 15, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 17, 3 p.m.
Admission, $10
David Herman is professor of music in UD's
Department of Music

 William Owen
Friday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m.
Admission, $10
William Owen is organist and choirmaster at Christ Church, Christiana Hundred, in Greenville, Del.

Dave & Friends
Friday, April 27, 8 p.m.
Admission, $10
A concert of music for organ and other
instruments/voices, performed by organist David Herman and colleagues from the University of Delaware faculty.