First Church (Center Church) Hartford

FIrst Church of Christ Congregational
“Center Church”

Austin Organs, Inc. Opus 189-A (1954)
Console Shell from Austin Organ Co., Opus 189 (1907)
Console renovation and additions by Foley-Baker, Inc., Tolland, Connecticut (2004)
Four manuals – 71 ranks

CenterChurchOrganCenter Church’s great organ, built by Hartford’s own Austin Organs, Inc. in 1954, contains nearly 4,000 pipes. It uses many pipes from two previous instruments: a 1907 Austin and an 1883 Roosevelt. The case and façade pipes are from the church’s second organ, built by Thomas Appleton in 1835. (The church’s first organ was installed in 1822.)

The organ’s primary role is to support congregational singing and accompany choral anthems, responses, and vocal solos. The instrument’s size and dynamic range make it capable of rendering all styles and periods of organ literature.

Center Church also owns two Steinway grand pianos: the older having been built in 1895 (2nd floor of the Church House), the younger having been built in 1965 (Meeting House). A 2-manual harpsichord, built in 1976 by William Dowd, is located in the Meeting House.

CHOIR (Manual I, expressive) SWELL (Manual III, expressive)
8’ Montre 16’ Lieblich Gedeckt
8’ Bourdon 8’ Spitz Principal
8’ Dolce 8’ Rohrflöte
8’ Dolce Celeste (from tenor “C”) 8’ Viole de Gamba
4’ Koppelflöte 8’ Voix Celeste
2 2/3’ Nasard 4’ Principal
2’ Blockflöte 4’ Waldflöte
1 3/5’ Tierce 2 2/3’ Rohr Nasat
1 1/3′ Larigot 2’ Octavin
8’ Krummhorn [1969] Plein Jeu IV [2 2/3’]
8’ Clarinet [1998] Zimbel III [1/3’]
8’ Trompette harmonique [high pressure] 16’ Basson
Tremolo 8’ Trompette
16’ Choir 8’ Basson (ext. 16’ Basson)
Choir Unison Off 4’ Clairon
4’ Choir 8’ Vox Humana
16’ Swell Vox Tremolo
8’ Swell Tremolo
4’ Swell 16’ Swell
8’ Great Swell Unison Off
8’ Positiv 4’ Swell
8’ Choir
GREAT (Manual II) 8′ Positiv
16’ Quintaten [1969]
8’ Principal POSITIV (Manual IV)
8’ Flûte harmonique 8’ Holzgedeckt
8’ Gedeckt 4’ Prinzipal
4’ Octave 2’ Oktav
4’ Spitzflöte 1’ Sifflöte
2’ Superoctave Sesquialtera II
2’ Flachflöte Scharf III (2/3’)
Fourniture IV [1 1/3’]
8’ Trumpet [1969] PEDAL
8’ Trompette harmonique (from Choir) [2004] 32’ Open Wood Diapason [prep. 2004]
16’ Great 32’ Contreviolone [prep. 2004]
Great Unison Off 32’ Untersatz [prep. 2004]
4’ Great 16’ Contrebasse [from 1883 Roosevelt organ]
16’ Swell 16’ Violone [from 1883 Roosevelt organ]
8’ Swell 16’ Bourdon [from 1883 Roosevelt organ]
4’ Swell 16’ Quintaten (from Great)
16’ Choir 16’ Lieblich Gedeckt (from Swell)
8’ Choir 8’ Principal
4’ Choir 8’ Bourdon
8’ Positiv 8’ Cello [ext. 16’ Violone]
Chimes [under expression via Choir] 8’ Lieblich Gedeckt (from Swell)
Manual Transfer [2004] 4’ Octave [ext. 8’ Principal]
4’ Flute [ext. 8’ Bourdon]
CONSOLE CONTROL SYSTEM [2004] 2′ Flautino [ext. 8’ Bourdon]
Artisan “Classic” system with Mixture III [2’]
254 levels of memory 16’ Basson (from Swell)
piston sequencer 8’ Basson (from Swell)
transposer [+/- 5 semitones] 32’ Contrebombarde [prep. 2004]
programmable Crescendo pedal 16’ Bombarde
programmable Sforzando 8’ Trompette [ext. 16’ Bombarde]
Automatic Solo 4’ Clairon [ext. 16’ Bombarde]
Automatic Pedal 8’ Great
4’ Great
ACCESSORIES 8’ Swell
14 General pistons (1-9, thumb; 10-14, toe) 4’ Swell
7 Divisional thumb pistons each for Choir, Great, and Swell 8’ Choir
Great 3, 5, & 7 and Swell 3, 5, & 7 duplicated via toe studs 4’ Choir
8’ Positiv
4 Divisional thumb pistons for Positiv
5 Divisional toe studs for Pedal MIDI [prep. 2004]
Reversible pistons: MIDI on Pedal
Great to Pedal – thumb and toe MIDI on Choir
Swell to Pedal – thumb and toe MIDI on Great
Choir to Pedal – thumb and toe MIDI on Swell
Positiv to Pedal – thumb MIDI on Positiv
Swell to Great – thumb
Swell to Choir – thumb
32’ Untersatz – toe [2004]
Chimes Volume Control Knob