Instruments

The Holbrook Organ, 1862

A large pipe organ with a wooden casing and gold pipes

Built by Edwin L. Holbrook (1824-1904) of East Medway, Massachusetts, in 1862, this instrument was first employed in the Universalist Church, Southbridge, Massachusetts. It was later removed by organ aficionado Barbara Owen and rebuilt and enlarged in 1966 by Charles Fisk of C. B. Fisk, Gloucester, Massachusetts. At that time it was placed in the rear gallery of Harvard Memorial Church to serve as a temporary instrument shortly after the removal of the Aeolian-Skinner organ in Appleton Chapel. The Holbrook organ remained in the Harvard location for 45 years. In the summer of 2011, it was moved to Redeemer Presbyterian Church and installed in Covenant Hall.

  • Organ Disposition

    Great (56 notes)
    Open Diapason 8’
    Stop’d Diapason 8’ (divided compass: B24/C25)
    Octave 4’
    Hohl Flute 4’ (from C13)
    Fifteenth 2’
    Cornet Treble III (C25-C49)
    Mixture II - III (C. B. Fisk, 1966)

    Pedal (30 notes)
    Bourdon 16’ (C13-F30 from Stop’d Diapason)
    Cornopean 8’ (C. B. Fisk, 1966)

    Mechanical key action
    Mechanical stop action
    Mechanical slider chests
    Coupler: Great to Pedal
    Temperament: Kirnberger III; Pitch: A=436

A vintage upright piano with decorative wood carvings on the side, a closed keyboard cover, against a red curtain backdrop.

The Taylor and Boody Positive Organ,
Opus 78

This fine instrument was built and completed in 2018-2019 by Taylor and Boody Organ Builders of Staunton, Virginia. They have extensive experience building positive/continuo organs since 1987. The organ case is made from black cherry and patterned after an American colonial Hadley chest by Thomas Dennis, found in the Yale University Art Gallery. The keys are made of ebony and bone. This organ (Opus 78) was one of three instruments created in the same time-period. Two sister instruments were made for the University of Notre Dame (Opus 75) and Princeton University (Opus 76).

  • Organ Disposition

    5 Stops Principal 8’ (from c’, wood)
    Gedackt 8’ Bass (C to b°, wood)
    Gedackt 8’ Treble (from c’, wood)
    Rohrflöte 4’ Bass (C to b°, wood)
    Rohrflöte 4’ Treble (from c’, wood)
    Nasat 2⅔’, (from c’, metal)
    Octave 2’, (metal)

    Manual, 51 notes C-d’’’
    Mechanical key action
    Mechanical stop action
    Pitches: A415, A440, A465
    Temperament: Kirnberger III
    Single wedge bellows

A decorative upright piano with an open lid, exposing the interior and keyboard, situated in a room with wooden floors and framed artwork on the wall.

The Peter Tkach Harpsichord,
Opus 12

Flemish double manual after Johannes Daniel Dulcken. Copy of a 1745 instrument at the Smithsonian. The soundboard is decorated in the Flemish tradition by Andrea Tkach, with birds and insects indigenous to Oklahoma. Opus 12 was built in 1981 by Peter Daniel Tkach (1935-2015).

  • Two manuals
    FF-f'''
    2 x 8', 1 x 4'
    Buff on lower manual
    Transposition: a'=392-415-440
    Wooden jacks
    White Delrin plectra

Two large, shiny brass timpani drums with wooden shells on a wooden stand.

The Charriére Maheu Timpani

Made by Charrière Maheu, Fournisseurs de Larmee et des Conservatoires, Ghent, Belgium, approximately 1881, and bought by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, in 1888, as an outside pair next to the middle pedal drums. They were purchased by Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Austin, TX, in March 2015 from Nick Woud, timpanist for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The timpani are brass screw (baroque/classical) drums with copper bowls. They are a numbered pair (#3570). The sizes are 26.3 and 29.3 inches, which makes them also suitable for classical or even early romantic repertoire. Prior to Redeemer’s purchase the drums were polished and new calfskin heads installed by Adams Percussion, Ittervoort, the Netherlands.