(Detail of the 50-year-old pipe organ crafted by John Brombaugh in 1976 for Central Lutheran Church in Eugene.)
By Daniel Buckwalter
It sits next to the choir loft in the back of the sanctuary, imposing in its grandeur in an otherwise intimate setting.
You can immediately spot first-time visitors to Central Lutheran Church in Eugene by the fact that many stop to take in the enormity of the instrument, then start taking pictures of it. I have always allowed myself the notion that the stately King of Instruments smiles broadly, shoulders square, for those moments.
It is the John Brombaugh-built pipe organ, a hand-crafted beauty now 50 years old, and it had a pair of moments in the spotlight in this year’s Oregon Bach Festival, which concluded on July 12.
The esteemed organist Paul Jacobs, who chairs New York City’s Juilliard School’s organ department, took to the organ bench on July 6 for a Johann Sebastian Bach-oriented program. And on July 10, Andrew ElRay Stewart-Cook and Lindsey Henriksen Rodgers — the organist/choir master and associate organist/children’s choir director, respectively, at Central Lutheran — played a selection of pieces in a program titled “Bach’s Classroom.”
Physical splendor aside, this organ is a treasure to hear, courtesy of three keyboards, 38 stops, the part of a pipe organ that allows pressurized air to flow to a set of pipes, in this case a total of 2,821.
The church signed a contract with John Brombaugh and Associates of Germantown, Ohio, in 1972. Brombaugh and his company were already well known throughout Europe and the United States, so this was a coup for the church.
Four years later, the organ was dedicated at a Vespers service, and it has since accompanied Sunday morning processions, given support for the hymn of the day and captured the attention of many with its capabilities during the end-of-service voluntary, meaning music performed freely, without strict liturgical guidelines. It also has helped to marry couples and to soothe the hurt at memorial services.
Brombaugh relocated the business to Eugene — he and his wife even became members of Central Lutheran — and eventually retired. Now 89 years old, he lives in the Seattle area.
For future recitals or Oregon Bach Festival events involving the organ, the church has a helpful streaming system in place where patrons can watch from a screen in the sanctuary’s front. It is something to watch — not only for the hands in motion (especially the push and pulls of the stops) but the footwork of the practiced players.
If you get a chance, by all means, see and hear the wonder of the John Brombaugh-built pipe organ at Central Lutheran Church at 1857 Potter St. near the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.
