Sisterhood of St John the Divine
Toronto, Ontario
Built for the chapel of the new convent of this Anglican monastic community, which also houses retreat center facilities and a guest house for visitors and kin of patients at the adjacent St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital.
The organist faces the front at a freestanding console flanked by two posts which support the organ and contain the stop action. The narrow end of the organ is suspended from the building’s structure by a steel rod. The trackers extend upward behind the music rack, visible above between panes of glass. In elevation, the organ’s design echoes the architect’s “protective hand of God” motif seen in the shape of the chapel ceiling; the façade pipes a fitting metaphor for the people.
*treble 2 2/3’ only on half draw, full range Cornet on full draw
All stops under expression except the façade stop.
Key compass: manuals C-g3, pedal C-f1
Pedalboard straight with radiating sharps and parallel concave naturals
Manual coupler and two manual-to-pedal couplers; tremulant
Mechanical playing action, mechanical stop action; hand-forged stop levers and coupler levers, open metal pipes cut to length and cone tuned, stopped metal pipes with soldered-on caps for tuning stability; wooden trackers and action parts.
All stops are full length, including the Principal 8’, the Viola da Gamba, and the Trumpet, the Console on floor and the case containing the windchests and pipes overhead. Footprint 4 ½ ft sq. The upper section starts 11ft off the floor. The upper case is 16ft tall and 10ft wide; in plan it has a wedge shape 5ft deep at the south wall and 3ft deep over the font.