Interview with Bryan Mitnaul, Organist and Music Director, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Lakewood, Ohio 

Welcome to Mighty Line Minute, the podcast where we cover manufacturing, entrepreneurship and creativity at its finest!

I’m your host, Dave, and this week we’re exploring the recent restoration of a historic Holtkamp pipe organ at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lakewood, Ohio, located near Mighty Line’s Rocky River headquarters.

Lakewood is a vibrant city on the shores of Lake Erie, just west of Cleveland. Known as Ohio’s most pedestrian-friendly city, it borders the scenic Cleveland Metroparks and is home to the Beck Center for the Arts, the largest cultural hub on Cleveland’s west side. Local businesses thrive, infusing energy into the economy and adding charm to Lakewood’s historic character and community spirit.

Today, we’re joined by Bryan Mitnaul, Organist and Choirmaster at St. Peter’s, who inspired and led transformative changes to the church’s historic Holtkamp pipe organ. We’ll be covering the project’s remarkable musical craftsmanship and explore the new sounds brought to life through recent work by the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio.

Brian Mitnaul, welcome to the show!

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

St. Peter’s Church has had a rich tradition of remarkable organists and choirmasters since its founding in 1907.

Bryan Mitnaul is now part of that legacy! Let's hear from Bryan himself about his background, the organ restoration project, and what led him to serve this beautiful local parish church. 

Well, I am a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, and St. Peter's has been well-known to me for most of my adult life, having gone to Oberlin. Two of my college professors who are also predecessors of mine here at St. Peter's, Bill Porter and Fenner Douglas, I worked with them during my time at Oberlin. And I am thrilled to be here at St. Peter's.

Those are legendary names in the organ world! Long-time parishioners speak fondly of their musical contributions to the parish and the wider community.

We wondered whether Bryan was aware of the necessary repairs and any challenges that might lie ahead.

Absolutely. After graduating from Oberlin, I remained in Cleveland. And over my 50-year career, I served four churches here in Cleveland, and two of them had major organ projects. Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in 1981 built a brand-new organ under my direction. And then in 1996, Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights built another large organ under my direction, and it was designed and built by the Schantz Organ Company. 

That was my first, association with them. And that project went so well that they also were contracted to rebuild the organ at Severance Hall. And they've also rebuilt the organ at the Metropolitan Opera.

And they are well-known in the organ world for their work, both with new instruments and rebuilding organs such as ours. And so, I'm very excited that the committee selected them to do the work here at St. Peter's.

 For listeners who may be unfamiliar with pipe organs, the mechanics can seem daunting. We asked Bryan to help us better understand a bit of the physics involved with these complex instruments, and how one learns about these details.

Most of it is just through experience. I took some classes at Oberlin, one of which was the physics of organ building. Honestly, it's been through the several projects that I have been involved with over the years at my various churches that I've amassed some pretty extensive knowledge in how organs are built, and more important, how they are rebuilt.

I got here almost three years ago and immediately realized there were issues with the organ. Most of the issues were related to two things. One was the age of the organ. It was slightly over 65 years old, and then I'm like 70, so I know things start falling apart right around sixty-five. So, I knew that was a problem, but also, the organ had not been releathered, and leather is the living part of the instrument. And they've tried other things, and they don't work. Leather was the only thing, and the Schantz Organ Company uses sheepskin leather because it's more durable and more pliable. And the leather is a moving part in the organ, both in the windchest, and in the mechanism that opens and closes the pipe box.

We knew we needed to releather the organ, but there were also tonal issues. They were things that were omitted from this instrument in its original design. Certain stops, but more importantly, something called a swell box. And the swell box is a room that's up there now that has louvers on it, or doors, and I control those doors by pedal that is now on the console. It's like a big accelerator.

So, let's have Bryan explain to us terms like '32-foot stop' and ‘16-foot stop’ which are commonly found on larger pipe organs. 

It is physics, and the whole nomenclature is based upon what's called eight-foot pitch, or fundamental pitch. And the eight-foot stop has a pipe that on low C is eight-feet long. Or a four-foot stop is an octave higher. Two-foot is an octave higher than that, and one-foot is an octave higher than that. And then there are what are called mutations, which are in-between those pitches, like two and two-thirds and one and three-fifths, and one and an eighth, and that kind of thing. And those mutations actually are enhancing the harmonics.

And you mentioned 16-foot and 32-foot stops. Those are stops that are lower. An octave lower. 16-foot is lower than an eight-foot, so the eight foot stop, if you go an octave lower, you get a pitch that is at 16-feet. So, the low C is at 16-feet, and then you can go another octave lower, which is the 32-foot pitch. Which is rarer, but organs even such as ours at St. Peter's will have two 32-foot pitch stops. Which are the sounds that you feel when those stops are in use. There are two different kinds of 32-foot stops. There are what are called flue stops, which are just —you know—pipes that sound like, what you think an organ should sound like. And then there are reed stops. So, a 32-foot reed you not only feel, but you hear. And the organ at St. Peter's will have both of those stops in the rebuild.

So, the other thing that this organ was deficient in was the lower register.

We have this, Okay…

Okay. Now we have something that's actually lower than that... 

which helps balance the fuller makeup of the organ as it now stands. 

That’s truly thrilling. Let's hear a few more specifics about this amazing restoration.

One of the issues with the St. Peter's organ was its original design. It was very unusual, particularly even for the time. But one of the divisions that was omitted from the original design, along with certain stops as well, was the Swell Division.

And the Swell Division came into play in 1712 in England. It is a division where the organ builder creates a room, and in that room there are pipes that make up a division. And three sides of the room are sealed, but one side has doors or louvres on it. And what that division enables the organist to do is it gives the organist the ability to have gradual degradations in volume, either getting gradually louder or gradually softer, because the pipes that are in that room, when the door is closed, you don't hear them as well. And then as the doors open, the sound becomes louder. 

So, I'm gonna demonstrate that aspect to you now... 

So, with that mechanism it's much easier for me to accompany the choir and to perform music that was written after, actually 1712, when the first swell box was built in England. 

And so, the organist uses his or her foot to press down just like a car accelerator, and the doors open, and when you want to get softer, you gradually go back the other way. The pedal in our instrument sends an electronic impulse to those louvers and they open and close. And those louvers have sides on them. So, the sound gets dispersed in different directions as those louvers move back and forth. So, you get reflected sound, and you get sound that is just totally encumbered by the doors. 

We then questioned Bryan as to what else was involved with the renovation of this fascinating Holtkamp organ - we knew there was much more.

Now, I mentioned there were certain things that were also omitted in addition to the swell box, and that is, the organ has four bodies of sound. One is Principal Tone, which only the organ can make.

There's Flute Tone, which is imitative of the flute in the orchestra.

Then there is Reed Tone, which is, really, it tries to imitate the orchestra, but it really doesn't. It's sort of a thing of its own kind. We have several on the organ.

And then we have one Solo Reed it's called, and on this organ, it's called the "Tromba" which is basically a Latin group trumpet. And it's the loud stop that I used.

So, that's what's called a solo stop. And as you saw during the service, I use that to help you with the hymns or to make special effects.

The one thing that we didn't have was what's called "string tone."

Our organ did not have anything that remotely resembled that. And when you hear that—at least for me—I always think "Church." 

The original design of the St. Peter's organ—while cutting edge at the time—omitted important stops that are necessary in a lot of literature. And again, the string tone is one of the stop families that's on just about every organ. And the swell box also is part of every organ unless you are building a concert instrument that is part of a historical period. 

And the keyboards were replaced and, this organ is the first ever they built that has something called "optical keyboards." Everything's done by light, and so it reads a light, and it transfers it into the mechanism that goes to the pipe valve.

So, that means that there's not a lot that can go wrong mechanically with this console. So, I will be gone to my reward for playing the Widor Toccata on a regular Sunday, in Heaven, and this organ will still be playing. So...

There's this one thing that I wanted to show you, and that is what this organ sounds like with almost everything on…

So, thank you all very much! And you are welcome to come up. And there's lemonade on the plaza! 

So, where is the restoration project at presently? And what might we expect to hear differently?

Yeah. Right now, we are out here in the Garth because they are still completing tuning and tonal regulation of the organ in the church. That is the last step. The pipes are in, the wind chests are in, all the electronics have been figured out, and now they are doing what's called the tonal finishing.

So, they are working with the organ to make it work perfectly in our room. Some of the work, tonal work is done at the shop. Schantz made all the new pipes, and then those pipes are put on, they're called voicing tables, I believe, and they make the pipe speak properly. But once the pipes are completed and shipped up here, they need to be regulated to fit the acoustic properties of our room.

Our room isn't very live, so there needs to be, from what I understand, a little more fundamental to the tone to help it carry into the room. The biggest thing was the absence of the swell box that we talked about a little bit earlier. But then there were also certain bodies of stops that were either omitted or only partially present.

The biggest thing that we've added is what's called "string tone." And that's a very soft, undulating sound that, you know, this organ just didn't have because it was, I believe, designed as an early French concert instrument, as opposed to a liturgical instrument. I believe that organs that are put in churches, their first responsibility is to support the liturgy, and then, things can be added to make them adequate for certain bodies of literature.

Let’s touch on the history of pipe organs in the Anglican Church. What sparked their prominence in liturgical worship?

The Anglican Church is known for its musical wealth, and a lot of that is because the Anglican Church is also the Church of England.

St. Peter's is an Episcopal church, which is basically the Church of England in America. And I think a lot of people are drawn to the Episcopal Church because of what they've seen on TV with the royal events, the funerals, the weddings, and the coronations. But the English choir has been around since like the 14th century, and the organ has always played an important role in supporting the choir.

One of the things that I found odd when I came to audition here was that the St. Peter's organ really could not do that, because it wasn't designed to support things like Anglican chant. Or the major choral works that came out of Elizabethan England and coming forward to this day. So, I'm really excited that our organ will now have what's called a Full Swell. And we talked about the Swell Division before. But that is the workhorse in choral accompaniment. Particularly for Anglican chant, where the organ provides support, but it also provides tonal colors and weight to the sound, or descants and things like that. But the organ is there to support the choir, not overwhelm it.

So, that's why the Swell Division is so important to the instrument. And remember I said earlier that the Swell Division came into play in 1712. Where? England! And so, I can only surmise that that division, or that design, came into play to help provide more nuance to the sound of the organ as it was being used to accompany the choir.

St. Peter's is really one of the few churches that still maintains a very traditional music model. We sing Anglican chant. All of our music comes from the body of literature that its designed to support the liturgy as it is in progress.

So, you come to St. Peter's, not just for the liturgy, but for the marriage of the liturgy and the music. And this new organ is really going to enhance that experience in ways that even the St. Peter's congregation has never had the opportunity to experience in the past. 

Bryan, that was a wonderful explanation to our question about pipe organs and their use in liturgical services, which can vary by religion. You've also provided our viewers and listeners a great deal of technical information in a manner that can be understood. Any final words?

I grew up in Princeton under the shadow of the Westminster Choir College, which was based in Princeton, New Jersey for many years. And that association had a huge influence on my musical background and my musical tastes, and particularly in church music. Also, the church I grew up in, Nassau Presbyterian Church had a Holtkamp organ that was installed in 1959, and it was their Opus 1721. That was the first organ I ever heard, and I fell in love with that Holtkamp sound. And in 1959, St. Peter's installed a Holtkamp organ, and it was Holtkamp Opus 1722. So, my first organ, and this will definitely be my last organ, are related to one another in a way that is unbelievably unusual. 

I think the most important thing is to encourage people to come and hear this wonderful instrument. I've heard bits and pieces of it, and it's truly magnificent, and I really believe it will enhance the worship here at St. Peter's in a wonderful way.

Thank you for having me. 

If you’re in the area, we encourage you to visit St. Peter’s—or a similar venue—to experience the grandeur of a historic pipe organ, especially when accompanied by the soaring beauty of choral music.

Thanks to the passion of artisans, musicians, listeners, worshippers and supporters, incredible sounds will continue to resonate and inspire for many years to come.

And a heartfelt thank-you to Brian Mitnaul, the leadership of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the organ committee and the talented choir for this journey together. 

This has been Dave Tabar for Mighty Line Minute. Stay safe, keep the music alive, and hold it close to your heart. We’ll see you on the next edition.