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The Watjen Concert Organ is an American musical rarity. Opus 114 of the renowned C.B. Fisk Company of Gloucester, MA, it is one of the few large modern organs designed and built expressly for a symphonic concert hall. Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, was opened in 1998; the Watjen Concert Organ was dedicated in July of 2000.

The design of Benaroya Hall, first made public in 1995, included space for a large organ. Craig and Joan Watjen, notable northwest philanthropists and lovers of music, funded design, construction, and installation of the instrument in its entirety, gifting it to the Seattle Symphony.

A symphony hall organ is used in ways rarely required of instruments in other settings. The design of the Watjen Concert Organ reflects this requirement in a number of ways. Its tonal ‘palette’—the number and types of different sounds it can produce—is extensive, and can encompass musical requirements from the Renaissance era to our own. Combinations of sounds typical of French organs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the ‘Germanic’ combinations necessary for J.S. Bach’s works, are particularly well represented; also favored are the ‘English’ sounds of the fourth division. When playing with a symphony orchestra, shear power is sometimes required. The Watjen Concert Organ’s dynamic range extends from the barely perceptible to the thunderous. The latter effect is aided by the “tuba” division, a set of pipes driven by a higher wind pressure and designed specifically to accompany a full orchestra at musical climaxes.

Each of the keys and pedals of the organ’s three manual keyboards and the 32-note pedalboard are connected mechanically to a valve controlling the wind to each pipe; when many pipes sound together, a mechanical assist device aids the organist with what otherwise might require the strength of many. This “mechanical” key action—favored by serious organists everywhere—is complemented by a fully electronic stop action, which allows rapid changes of combinations of sounds with a literal push of a button.

The visual aspect of the Watjen Concert Organ bears noting. The large Sitka spruce façade pipes were chosen for their Northwest forest connotations, and mark the instrument unmistakably. The position of the console, in the midst of the façade above the orchestra, affords a view of the organist’s performance—hands, feet, and all—rare with instruments in other venues. The pieces on this recording, the first recorded solo works on the Watjen Concert Organ, have been chosen to highlight the variety of musical styles possible on such a superb instrument.

 

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Prestant 16' (en  façade)
Octave 8'
Violoncelle 8'
Spillpfeife 8'
Flûte harmonique 8'
Octave 4'
Rohrflöte 4'
Quite 2-2/3'
Superoctave 2'
Terz 1-3/5'
Mixture VI-VIII
Bombarde 16'
Trommeten 8'
Trompette 8'
Clairon 4'

Quintaton 16'
Principal 8'
Salicional 8'
Unda maris 8'
Gedackt 8'
Octave 4'
Baarpijp 4'
Grosse Tierce 3-1/5'
Nasard 2-2/3'
Doublette 2'
Quarte de Nasard 2'
Tierce 1-3/5'
Larigot 1-1/3'
Piccolo 1'
Sharp IV-VI
Dulcian 16'
Trompette 8'
Cromorne 8'

Tuba Magna 16' (ext, Solo)
Tuba Mirabilis 8' (Solo)
Tuba Clarion 4' (Solo)