THE OTHER ORGANS: A CAMPUS OF JOYOUS MUSIC

THOUGH THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL and its predecessor, the Crystal Cathedral, are well-known for being the home of the Hazel Wright Organ, the campus actually contains two other organs and a carillon.

The first is the Frederick Swann Organ, an Aeolian-Skinner organ that was installed in 1996 inside the Arboretum. It has 82 ranks, 4,949 pipes and some digital ranks.

The instrument is named after Dr. Frederick Swann, the Crystal Cathedral’s principal organist and music director from 1982 to 1998. Dr. Swann was also involved in the Diocese of Orange’s years-long restoration of the Hazel Wright Organ, helping ensure a satisfactory completion of the massive endeavor in 2022.

The Frederick Swann Organ originally came from the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Beverly Hills, which installed it in 1951. However, damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake forced the congregation to sell the instrument to the Crystal Cathedral ministry.

The second organ is the Bob Tall Rodgers Organ, a Rodgers Model 805C that’s located in the 13th-story Chapel in the Sky in the Tower of Hope. The organ is informally named after Robert Tall, a highly successful organ salesman whose firm did the custom installation of the small instrument.

The Bob Tall Rodgers Organ has two manuals, a pedalboard and 40 digital ranks. It was installed in April 1996.

In addition, the campus contains the Arvella Schuller Carillon, located high in the Crean Tower next to Christ Cathedral. It was named Arvella Schuller, wife of Crystal Cathedral founder Rev. Robert Schuller. She was an organist who served the congregation with music and worship planning. She died in 2014 at age 84.

The Arvella Schuller Carillon contains 52 bronze bells that were cast by the Royal Eijsbouts Bell Foundry in the Netherlands. The carillon was the first in the U.S. to have bells with a major third overtone instead of the usual minor third, a feature that gives them a pure, completely in-tune sound.

The smallest carillon bell weighs 13 pounds; the largest is more than 5,000. Combined, the 52 bells weigh 38,000 pounds.

The Arvella Schuller Carillon can be played on a clavier (keyboard) inside the Crean Tower and from the Hazel Wright Organ inside the cathedral. Beneath the cathedral, there is also a practice carillon in a music office. C