The Organ

  This past weekend was General Conference weekend. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather in meeting houses, the Conference Center and  around TV screens, computer screens, smartphones, radios and tablets to listen to talks given by church leaders on a variety of subjects. There is music by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and and sometimes other choirs.
  C and I were among those gathered to listen to the talks. I enjoy listening to them. I must confess, though, there is one thing about conference I like more than the talks.
  I like the organ.
  The organ in the Conference Center amazes me. It's huge. It's beautiful. It sounds really nice even over computer speakers. I love watching the organists play it. Their skill fascinates me. I'm challenged by one keyboard, yet there are five on the Conference Center organ.
  If that isn't enough there are also a lot of foot pedals. I have no idea how many. There's a lot of stops that are found on both sides of and under the keyboards.
  I've always had a liking for pipe organs. I can still remember when a pipe organ was installed in the church that I attended when I was young. I remember that the largest pipe was 6 feet tall and the smallest was the size of a pencil. I thought that was amazing until I looked at the specs for the Conference Center organ. The largest pipe on that organ is 40 feet tall and the smallest is 3/4 of an inch. There are 7,667 pipes in the CC (Conference Center) organ. Only 170 of them can be seen by the audience. The air needed to play the organ comes from six blowers that use 28,000 watts. That would be the equivalent of 467 light bulbs at 60 watts each.
  It took three years to install the pipes as it could not be done until the CC building was finished. An electronic organ was used until it was ready.
 The organ was built by Schoenstein and company of San Francisco California. They were founded in 1877. Their factory and archive are in on the National Register of Historic Places. They've built and repaired many organs all over the United States.
  There are five organists that play this organ. They are Richard Elliot (principle organist), Andrew Unsworth,Brian Mathias, Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts. All of them have impressive backgrounds in music. They play 30 minute recitals at both the Conference Center and the Tabernacle in Salt Lake.
  My guilty pleasure during General Conference is watching the organists play whenever they are being shown. I never get tired of it. I believe that those men and women have to be in really good shape. One time I watched one of the men (don't know which one) play a fast organ solo. He was moving both of his hands and both of his feet. I imagine he must have felt like he was running a marathon or something. I also like watching when two organists play together. Somehow they never seem to hit a bad note and they don't get in each other's way. I can't imagine how much time they must spend practicing. I'm grateful that they can share their talent. It makes conference just a little more enjoyable.