All About he Organ at Calvary

Of all the musical instruments, the pipe organ probably has the greatest ability to take people to another realm of thinking and emotion. The Calvary organ, like many church organs, is called upon to play music from at least eight centuries, each era of which contained instruments of wildly different styles from the previous era. 

The organ at Calvary is an incredible instrument. It has 47 ranks of pipes and 27 digital ranks. For a list of all the stops, click here.

The organ is divided into several divisions:

• The Great Organ is the primary manual division, containing lots of foundation stops, and is the division primarily heard during hymns. more

• The Swell Organ division is on the left side of the chancel; the name of the division comes from the fact that the sound can “swell,” or get louder.  more

• The controls on the lowest, or first, manual of the console comprise two divisions, the Choir and the Positiv,  both divisions are above the right side of the chancel. more

• The pedal division of an organ is actually a 2 1/2 –octave keyboard. The totally new division on the organ is called the “Solo,” provides stops that are suitable for soloing out a line of music. more

Buttons and switches on the console control the organ. more

In the summer of 2003, a much-needed new organ console was installed in Calvary Church. more