HAZEL: A PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE

BY DAVID BALL CATHEDRAL ORGANIST AND HEAD OF MUSIC MINISTRY

ON ANY THURSDAY night between 2005 and 2010, you would find me at the organ console inside the St. Louis Cathedral-Basilica. It is a cavernous nave, every inch of its three domes and massive walls sparkling with one of the world’s greatest collection of mosaics — intricate artwork made from millions of tiny pieces of colored glass used instead of drops of paint, in this case depicting biblical scenes, saints, and angels.

Just as fine as the St. Louis Cathedral’s mosaic collection is its historic Kilgen Organ. There are pipes behind in the front of the cathedral behind the altar, all the way across the block-long nave in the back choir loft, in the side balcony and even a giant tuba high in the cathedral’s main dome, over 300 feet above the floor. All of these pipes were controlled either from a console high up in the choir loft, or from the main console behind the altar comprised of four keyboards and a pedalboard, all in a giant wood-carved casing. Every time I slide onto the bench of the stunning Ruffatti console of the Hazel Wright Organ at Christ Cathedral, I remember endless hours of training and worship in the St. Louis Cathedral. I never predicted I would find myself at Christ Cathedral — one of the rare church buildings similar to St. Louis — a stunning acoustic, and a “surround-sound” organ with pipework in every corner. It feels like home.

My duties back then as the Cathedral Organ Scholar in St. Louis included not only preparing pieces from the organ repertoire to play as voluntaries, preludes and postludes for liturgies, but also to prepare to accompany the choral anthems as the accompanist for the children’s choir. On a particular Thursday evening, I was having an organ lesson with then-Cathedral Organist and Director of Music Dr. John A. Romeri. At some point we switched from the classical organ pieces I had prepared to working on the upcoming choral anthems, and after showing me some techniques for reading the score, Dr. Romeri stopped and commented, “If you really want to learn how to accompany a choir, go watch Fred Swann.”

That night, I went on YouTube and encountered the Hazel Wright Organ for the first time in a multitude of musical clips from the “Hour of Power.” I spent hours watching and listening that night, as I was so inspired by the legendary work of Fred Swann, playing some of the most thrilling organ music I had ever heard and simultaneously conducting the choirs from Hazel’s monumental Ruffatti console.

I am still in awe watching those videos of Fred, and so many legendary organists making incredible music on their appearances on the “Hour of Power.” Although I have watched these performances over and over again, I am still almost in tears when I run across Virgil Fox’s passionate performance of, “Thou Art the Rock” toccata. Whenever someone asks me for an example of the pinnacle of organ performance, I always pull up Paul Jacobs’ exuberant playing of Bach’s “Sinfonia” from Cantata 29. The legacy of the Hazel Wright Organ is how this instrument through its uniquely thrilling sound has truly touched souls of all types: Hazel has inspired world-class artists to bring their most passionate playing when they visit her console, has supported countless choristers in their sacred singing, has supported congregations both in-person, on television, and online to lift their voices in praise to God.

This is the legacy that I am so grateful that the Catholic Church has inherited and — because of Bishop Kevin Vann’s vision and support — will continue for generations to come. Meticulously restored by Fratelli Ruffatti, the same brothers Francesco and Piero who built the instrument many years ago, and now in the care of Kevin Cartwright of the Rosales company, the most passionate and dedicated organ technician I have ever met, the Hazel Wright Organ is ensured to continue to inspire generations of visitors and worshipers at the cathedral both in-person and online.

I am so excited to invite everyone to hear the Hazel Wright Organ in the cathedral’s gorgeous new acoustics, to celebrate that Hazel is Back not only at our Year of Hazel concerts, but at our Masses and Diocesan liturgies, especially accompanying our choirs!

Even at home, in the car, or wherever music is heard, everyone can enjoy Hazel’s amazing sound from two new albums (“The Hazel Wright Organ”; David Ball, Organist and “Hazel Is Back!”; Emma Whitten, Organist) to be released on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube from Gothic Records — the same company that recorded Hazel in the Crystal Cathedral era. In the new book “The Hazel Wright Organ” by Dr. David Crean, the whole history of the organ is available accompanied by full-color photos. The Hazel Wright Organ on the “Hour of Power” inspired generations of listeners, including myself, and as Cathedral Organist and Head of Music Ministry I am excited to do my part to usher in a new era of the Hazel Wright Organ in Christ Cathedral! C