Duke University, Memorial Chapel, Raleigh-Durham, NC
John Brombaugh Op. 34, 1997
(stoplist Randy Neighbarge, PIPORG-L 28 Oct 1997)

Mechanical key and stop action
47 mm wind
1/4-comma mean-tone temperament, pitch one semitone below a' at 440 Hz

GREAT (broken octave)
Bourdon 16'
Principale 8"
Voce umana 8' (discant)
Rohrfloete 8
Octave 4' (discant/full)
Flauto in VIII 4'
Flauto in XII 2-2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Nineteenth 1-1/3'
Twenty-second 1'
Twenty-sixth 2/3'
Twenty-ninth 1/2'
Thirty-third & Thirty-sixth 1/3' & 1/4'
Cornettina III (discant.  2-2/3', 2', 1-3/4'.  Includes Flauto in XII)
Trumpet 8' (bass/discant)

BRUSTWERK (short octave)
Oak Gedackt 8'
Oak Flute 4'
Querpfeiff 2'
Regal 8'

PEDAL (from GREAT)
Bourdon 16'
Principale 8'
Trumpet 8'
GT/PED

ACCESSORIES
Adj. Trem.
Ripieno
Enharmonic lever
b/c'-c'c#' bass/discant division knob for GT

Duke University Organist Robert Parkins played the dedication recital of John Brombaugh and Associates Opus 34 in the Memorial Chapel on Oct. 26 [1997] at 2:30.  The program of 16th- and 17th century Italian, Spanish, and South German music was repeated later that afternoon.  Soprano Kirsten Travers was cantor in the liturgical selections.  Mr. Brombaugh was in attendance.

Memorial Chapel is a small, all-stone, high-ceilinged room just off one of Duke Chapel's main transepts.  To preserve limited seating space (approx. 75) the new organ sits in a swallow's nest centered on one of the Memorial Chapel's long walls.  Most listeners in the Memorial Chapel are within 25 feet of the instrument.  The Memorial Chapel's large entry arch allows generous sound egress into the main chapel transept. 

This is a very specialized teaching instrument built to play late Renaissance/early Baroque Italian literature.  It is basically a one-manual, moderate-sized Italian organ to which  number of South-German style additions were made so the instrument could play a wider range of music:  16 and 8 foot flutes and a trumpet on the main manual, an entire second manual that controls a small Brustwerk, and a Schnitgeresque pedalboard.  Italianate stop levers to the left of the keydesk control the Italian-style stops, drawknobs to the right of the keydesk control the German-style stops.

While the organ's sound is gentle and intimate, almost like a chamber organ, it robustly fills the space and carries well into the transept.  Winding is naturally pliant.  Tuning is mean-tone; to expand the range of useful keys it is possible to select between the enharmonic pitches E-flat/D # and G#/A-flat on all keyboards.   Dr. Parkins's extraordinarily clean and pointed rapid passagework and ornaments suggested that the suspended action is particularly quick and responsive.

The front of the organ case is a Renaissance flat.  The mouths of the tin pipes have gilded mouths.  The swallow's nest and case are pale green with darker green, red, and gold highlights and natural wood pipeshades.  The Duke family crest crowns the case.