St. James
Anglican Church

John Ferguson, who will have spoken of the life and work of Walter Holtkamp earlier in the week, will then demonstrate the three-manual 1938 Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling (Opus 1602) at St. James Anglican Church, with a selection of hymn tunes and improvisations. The organ is one of the earliest extant instruments built under the hand of Walter Holtkamp. Transitional in nature, it reflects a compilation of design, renovations, and rebuilding begun in 1936 in collaboration with fellow Cleveland organ visionary, Walter Blodgett. The first work completed was the installation of the Positiv on the rear left side of the church—the first example of such a division in a 20th-century American church. If the exposed pipe display were not already radical enough, the return to slider chests surely was. Holtkamp’s intent for the Positiv is cleverly communicated across the front of the minimal casework, inscribed “Et non impedias musicam” (And let nothing impede the music). The Swell, Great, and Pedal were later tonally updated in a series of changes by Walter Holtkamp. On paper, the curious specification does not reveal its amazing flexibility both in repertoire and in accompanying the Anglican liturgy. Examining the pipework of this instrument reveals many non-traditional but inventive approaches: select ranks within mixtures constructed of linen lead; flared conical bell resonators on the Swell reed; the original curious inclusion of a 5⅓¢ stop on the Great; and the tierce-based Positiv mixture.