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A Brief History of the Organs at St. Andrew’s Church, Ottawa
(47 stops, 63 ranks, three manuals and pedals, Opus 27, 1987) (specifications)

The first instrument installed in the organ loft of St. Andrew’s Church was inaugurated with the opening of this building on January 25, 1874. A hand-pumped tracker organ of 20 stops with two manuals and pedals by Samuel R. Warren & Co. of Montréal, it was built at a cost of $3200 and was “pronounced to be the finest organ of its size ever turned out by this builder” (Ottawa Citizen, January 27, 1874).  (original specifications)

After twenty years this instrument was in dire need of renovation and modernization, and so it was enlarged and electrified by S.R. Warren’s son, Charles Warren of Toronto, in 1894 to 33 stops (36 ranks) over three manuals and pedals. Samuel Prowse Warren played the inaugural recital on October 7, 1894. This project had been instigated by a $2000 bequest from the estate of John Roberts, a druggist from Perthshire who had died in August 1892.

Subsequent enlargements were completed by Casavant Frères of St-Hyacinthe, Québec: in 1911 a fourth manual was added (Solo) and the number of stops increased to 53 (52 ranks); in 1938, after the windchests had split due to the lack of humidity in winter, the additional pipework amounted to an instrument of 63 stops (63 ranks). It was only then that the original casework of 1874 was removed and the pipes hidden behind decorative grillework. By the 1960’s it had become obvious that the organ was in great distress, brought on by continued lack of humidity control, the heavy construction in the downtown area, and the deteriorating condition of the materials.

With the idea of the “reconstruction” of St. Andrew’s in the 1980’s the financing of a new organ became a reality. The Warren/Casavant organ was dismantled in November 1984, and the work of building a new instrument was entrusted to Guilbault-Thérien of St-Hyacinthe, who retained many of the old stops by Warren and Casavant while integrating new pipework by Aug. Laukhuff GmbH of Weikersheim, Germany. The organ was dedicated in October 1987 with an inaugural recital by Raymond Daveluy. In 2003 the mechanical action was redesigned by James Louder of Montréal, and in 2007/2008 the entire instrument was restored and re-voiced by Alain Gagnon of Kingston and Sylvain Brisson of Embrun.

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