“Recital-hymn fest for organ dedication” from the June 13, 1978 Door County Advocate
When Bay View Lutheran church held a dedicatory recital for its new pipe organ Sunday night people saw the console but not the pipes creating the sounds. Two photos show some of the 560 pipes. The longest is 16 ft., the low C, 32 cycles per sound. At the console is regular organist Paul Jacobson and standing is organ builder Chris Feiereisen of Manitowoc.
Recital-hymn fest for organ dedication
With an overflow crowd on hand, the new pipe organ at Bay View Lutheran church was “baptized” Sunday night by Dr. Paul Manz, recitalist, teacher and composer.
It was a combination concert and hymn festival, with a happy congregation booming out such standards as “Praise to the Lord", “For All the Saints” and “O God Our Help in Ages Past.” For the latter Dr. Manz played improvisations before each of the six verses.
For some in the audience it was also a first look at the beautiful new church, built on the site of the former edifice.
In the audience were former pastors Vernon Hintermeyer and Myron Medin. Richard DeBenedetto is the present pastor.
Dr. Manz played the music of Buxtehude, Bach, Widor, Peeters and Franck, including Bach’s popular Toccata and Fugue in D. The selections enabled him to use the full range of the instrument.
The man behind the new organ is Christopher Feiereisen of Manitowoc, who assembles organs from collected components. The Bay View instrument represents pipes from several others and Feiereisen said it is better than any organ from which the pipe came. He uses only the best parts.
The Bay View instrument has eight ranks, 560 pipes. A rank is a set of pipes for each key, normally 61 but more for what are called extended ranks. There are pipes as small as a pennywhistle. The largest is low C at 16 ft. long, sounding at a rumbling 32 cycles per second.
The “brand name” part of the organ is the Klann console. The rest is Feiereisen.
The organ builder says he can build a pipe organ at a cost competitive to a new electronic model and he claims it will last longer and sound better. It took him two weeks to install Bay View’s.
Feiereisen has had a love affair with pipe organs since he was in high school. He majored in psychology at Madison but has never pursued that field. What started as a hobby developed into a full time occupation.
Feiereisen has his own theater organ in his home.
[Praise to the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCnQNwQG5GI
For All the Saints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkaocGFsA6k?feature=shared&t=28
O God Our Help in Ages Past: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKP_XxCBDZY?feature=shared&t=15
Toccata and Fugue in D: http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/detail.php?ID=BWV0565
A Portrait of Paul Manz: https://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2001/0114
Castle North, Manitowoc, Wisconsin: http://theatreorgans.com/wi/manitowoc/castlenorth
Chris Feiereisen’s Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/htrnews/name/christopher-feiereisen-obituary?id=20064289 ]
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