Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Organ pipes shoot toward the ceiling, suggesting a structure held up by columns of air.
Were standing in whats called the celestial division.
When you take a pew at St. Barts, you are sitting inside the instrument.
A leather diaphragm seals off one end of each pipe until the organist presses a key.
The principle is simple, but the effect is one of almost infinite nuance and overpowering drama.
The sound issues from all directions and ricochets off stone.
There were a million things to marvel at, he recalls.
Choirmaster and organist, separated by the full length of the cathedral nave, communicated by telephone.
The console was as intricate as a jet planes cockpit.
And once he was tall enough for his feet to reach the pedals, what power that gave him!
Pressing one key triggered a foundation-shaking vibration; pressing several set the whole atmosphere in motion.
The pipes vary from fist-size to enormous wooden boxes that double back along the floor.
Jet-engine-size turbines in the basement send pressurized air up to the loft and through the pipes.
The Trompette en Chamade, at the back of the nave, delivers brassy fanfare sounds.
Today, Bordignon plays an aging regal instrument that draws envious colleagues from all over the world.
The organ is the original synthesizer, designed to simulate flutes, clarinets, horns, and trumpets.
His baby is really a disparate collection of machines built up over decades.
The thing continued to grow in sync with the churchs changing tastes and spiritual ambitions.
In 1930 came the celestial division.
The Vanderbilts were members, which meant that the citys other distinguished families had to be seen there too.
Authenticity was negotiable in the musical sphere, too.
It worked: He married three wealthy women (culminating with Gloria Vanderbilt) and became a legendary maestro.
Thats a very different kind of music-making from a performance.
Youre helping people express what they need to in that moment.
Time and decay make that hard.
As organs get old, they fall silent or else wheeze and moan.
Occasionally, a pipe will keep whistling uninterruptedly even after its been released acipherin organspeak.
Its hard to find someone who knows how to re-leather a reservoir, McKeever says.
Pipes must be tuned, brass reeds repositioned, moving parts tightened.
The last time that happened at St. Barts was in 1971.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
