THE KARL WILHELM
ORGAN
AT TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The tracker pipe organ at Trinity Church was built by Karl Wilhelm of
Mount St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada and was installed in 1979. The first
service using the new organ was conducted on All Saints’ Sunday of
that year.
The organ builder, Karl Wilhelm, went to Canada in 1960 to take charge
at the internationally recognized firm Casavant Freres of the production
of mechanical action organs. He started his own firm in 1966. His organs
are found in most of the ten Canadian provinces and in more than half
of the states in America. Among Wilhelm’s works are organs at Christ
Church Cathedral (Anglican) in Montreal; the Abbey Church at St. Benoit-du-Lac,
Canada; the University of British Columbia; Trinity College, Toronto;
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Altadena, California; St. Alban’s
School Chapel, Washington, D.C.; First Presbyterian Church, Syracuse,
New York; St. Paul’s Cathedral, Burlington, Vermont; and St. Michael’s
in the Hills Episcopal Church, Toledo, Ohio.
His small instruments, regale or positiv, as well as his large instruments,
are in great demand. Wilhelm stayed loyal to the principles established
in the 17th and 18th centuries with regard to the tier of the divisions,
mechanical action, suspended action, and flexible wind pressure. “The
tonal voice of his instruments, whether of the German or French type or
even hybrid, is characterized by the purety of their ensembles as much
as by the richness of the detail stops which give to each of them a clearly
unique personality.” [from Antoine Bouchard in L’Encyclopedie
de la musique au Canada, 1993]
The Wilhelm organ at Trinity Church is a three manual instrument including
pedals. The splendid organ case is modern Gothic in design. The registrations
are as follows:
SWELL:
Gemshorn 2’
Rohrflote 4’
Gedackt 8’
GREAT:
Dulzian 8’
Mixture III 1’
Terz 1 3/5’
Superoctave 2’
Quinte 2 2/3’
Principal 4’
Rohrflote 8’
PEDAL: Subbass 16’
COUPLERS: BW/HW (Swell to Great)
HW/PD (Great to Pedal)
BW/PD (Swell to Pedal)
