The Following is taken from the 1993 Organ Historical Society
Convention handbook
German Catholics in Louisville, mostly from Bavaria and other southern
German states, worshipped initially at St. Louis Church, the predecessor of
the Cathedral of the Assumption. In 1838, St. Boniface Church was
organized as the first German Catholic congregation in the city. Within
fifteen years, the need for another “Uptown” German Catholic church led
to the establishment of St. Martin of Tours under the guidance of Father
Leander Streber, who was to shepherd the church until 1881, and under
whose leadership a program of fine church music took firm root. The
church building was dedicated August 20th, 1854 and enlarged in 1860.
A variety of disasters and near-disasters have threatened St. Martin’s
Church over the years. In August of 1855, “Know-Nothing” rioters were
barely diverted from a destructive attack on the building. The church
itself narrowly escaped damage from two fires, one in the School and
one in the Rectory, but was not so fortunate in a 1929 tornado, or during
the 1937 Ohio River Flood. In recent years, it appeared that the aging
parish would not survive time, indifference, and its decaying, urban
neighborhood. By 1979, it seemed inevitable that the parish would be
forced to close, recalled Rev. Vernon Robertson, appointed that year as
pastor. Faced with a deteriorating church building and an average
Sunday attendance of 37, Father Robertson reached a decision.
“Since there weren’t any people, I decided to fill it with music,” Fr.
Robertson said. “We chose good music that was right for the building. I
knew it wasn’t a guitar place.”
The organ was tuned, revealing the splendor of its sound and the
unexpected beauty of the building’s acoustics. Fr. Robertson hired an
organist and a small group of singers to perform sacred choral music
and the Latin Propers at Mass.
It was the first step toward the slow but steady revitalization of the
parish. Gradually, worshippers began to return, drawn by the music,
reverent liturgies, colorful stained glass windows, vaulted ceiling,
marble sanctuary, and life-size statues of the Saints.
“We just began with good music,” Fr. Robertson said. “Pretty soon,
people who were tired of bad music and ugly buildings started coming.”
Attributed to Johann Heinrich Koehnken of Cincinnati, the first organ at
St. Martin’s arrived in 1861, and appears to have been rebuilt and
enlarged, perhaps by Koehnken and Grimm, in 1876. In February of that
year, the church’s centennial history relates.
Fifteen big heavy trucks and two small ones arrived at St. Martin’s last
week. A few days later, two men arrived from Munich. They quickly
opened the boxes and promptly and deftly assembled all the parts and
installed the organ, the largest and finest in all the West, due to
ceaseless efforts of the pastor, Fr. Leander.
In 1894, Farrand & Votey installed the present instrument, which
incorporates some older pipes, most likely from the previous organ. In
1949, Joseph Ruf supplied a new console, which by 1978 had fallen into
disrepair. Sam Bowerman kept the organ going for some years. Several
proposals for renovation were shelved until July 1990, when Keith
Norrington, just back from the Organ Historical Society Convention in
Wisconsin, informed Fr. Robertson that the O.H.S. hoped to showcase the
Farrand & Votey at their convention in 1993. Under the guiding hand of
Fr. Robertson, and with the encouragement of Dr. Linda Morrison, the
Director of Music and Organist of the Parish (1987-2008), the organ was
renovated by the Miller Pipe Organ Co. of Louisville, who provided it
with a new console in the style of the original. They also provided a new
wind system.
The organ was originally pumped through a series of “feeder-bellows”
which were operated by a water motor. When the street car line was
installed on Shelby Street, 500 volt D.C. current became available and a
motor, provided by the Ottis Elevator Co. of Springfiled, Massachusetts,
and fitted with a “Weston Voltmeter” made in Newark, New Jersey, was
installed to drive the water motor, which in turn operated the feeder-
bellows system. When A.C. current became available, a unit was
installed in the tower of the church which converted the A.C. current to
D.C., which the D.C. motor, whichran the water motor, which in turn
operated the feeder-bellows system. Finally, everything was bypassed
except the two reservoirs under the organ and an organ blower was
installed in the side of the tower opposite the A.C./D.C. unit.
Stops which may have been recycled in whole or in part by Farrand &
Votey from the previous organ, include the Open Diapason 16’, the
Bourdon 16’, and the Dulciana 16’ in the Pedal. The great Double Open
Diapason 16’ has six wood basses, and the Quint 2 2/3’ is tapered, as is
the Swell Gemshorn 4’; the Swell Bourdon 16’ has three metal chimney
flute trebles; the Choir Quintadena-basses, and the Choir Rohr Flöte 4’
have scribed mouths in German fashion and adjustable caps. The Great
Mixture is actually III-IV. The Swell Oboe 8’ appears to be of French
manufacture, leading to speculation that it may have come from the
Cavaille-Coll firm.
The organ is currently used for Mass 6 days each week, and is in need of
extensive restoration. Please visit our organ restoration page for more
information. Please consider donating to our Organ Restoration Fund.
Thank you for your generosity!
St. Martin of Tours Church - 639 South Shelby
Street - Louisville, KY 40202