About Opus XIX

Opus XIX - the newest pipe organ in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston - will host 5,499 pipes (just one shy of 5,500) and at its tallest point the case will reach 45 feet high. The number of keyboards (or "manuals" as the term used in pipe organ parlance) is four - yes, four individual keyboards. A pedal board will also accompany the four keyboards, making for a total of five separate points of control for the organist.

History of the Opus XIX Pipe Organ. Most Houstonians and area Catholics recall that the groundbreaking of the new Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart occurred in October 2004. Shortly after, in January of 2006, a committee of experts convened under the direction of Bishop Vincent Rizzotto to discuss musical needs of the new church. After several months of study and visiting with a sampling of the world's most talented living organ builders, a choice was made.

Martin Pasi, of Pasi Organ Builders, Inc. in Roy, Washington was chosen to build Sacred Heart's new grand organ. The organ has been under construction since that time, with all parts carefully designed, hand-made and customized especially for the Co-Cathedral. Mr. Pasi is a native of Austria where he received his early training. He has previously been involved in several organ building projects of serious magnitude around the world - many of which where his firm has been at the head of the construction and design of the pipe organ.

Many ask where the name "Opus XIX" (Opus 19) comes from. There exists within each organ pipe builder's firm a unique tradition of naming their pieces. With the case of Pasi Organ Builders, the name of the glorious pipe organ became Opus XIX in line with their naming schema. The process of Opus XIX has taken so long because you have to think of a pipe organ like ordering a custom suit. Like a suit, each pipe organ is built to exacting specifications based on measurements taken inside the facility it will reside in.

When the pipes of this world class instrument arrive at Sacred Heart of the Co-Cathedral on January 18, 2010, (almost exactly four years after its conception) the pipe will include 5,499 pipes, (all of which are hand-made to exacting specifications), using around 11 tons of various metal work. The dual cases flanking the Resurrection Window will stand 45 feet at their tallest, and will contain the pipe work, mechanical action, and hand-carvings reflective of Co-Cathedral décor.

There's more to Opus XIX than Keynoards and a Pedalboard - also included are 75 stops! When you think of a stop, you must first think of a knob (or drawknob) on a pipe organ. These must also be controlled by the organist in addition to the four manuals (keyboards) and the footpedal. Each stop controls a rank of pipes - the short definition of a "rank" are those pipes that are grouped according to their pitch and timbre (tone color or tone quality).

After all the pipes are in the loft, which should take approximately three months, Martin Pasi and Mark Brombaugh (younger brother of the retired John Brombaugh, a man considered to be one of the great fathers of American organ building) will spend the remaining months "voicing" each of the 5499 pipes by hand. Technically, this process is known as "tonal finishing" and custom-designs the sound for our space and acoustics. Important and painstaking, this process is the key reason why every pipe organ is wholly unique. Tonal finishing is similar to the fine detail in the sculptures in the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. As you may recall, the sculptors did not stop with a rough chiseled outline of each Saint; rather, they slowly used smaller and smaller tools to create realistic detail over many months.

Aside from the weight of each pipe - with the heaviest pipe weighing in at a staggering 750 pounds - one of the most interesting features on the Opus XIX Pipe Organ at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart will be something called a "Clarinette" which marks one of the only free reed stops used on a pipe organ within the United States in modern times. True to Texas style, the Opus XIX also marks the largest pipe organ to date that Pasi Organ Builders, Inc. has constructed.