Instruments
In addition to a full schedule of choral music, St. John’s is home to some wonderful instrumental music. If you play an instrument and are interested in participating in the music programs at St. John’s Church, please email Jennifer McPherson Mulhern, St. John's Director of Music.
St. John’s is home to two spectacular organs and one concert grand piano. Read on for more information about our instruments.
The brattle organ
The Brattle Organ, thought to be the country’s oldest playable pipe organ, was imported from England before 1708. It was given to King's Chapel in Boston by Thomas Brattle, treasurer of Harvard College, where it was used for forty years. Later it was acquired by St. Paul's church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where it was used for eighty years. St. John's Church purchased it in 1836 for use in a new chapel on State Street, which has since been demolished. This organ was renovated in 1963 by C.B. Fisk and sits in the upper right balcony of the sanctuary.
The Brattle Organ disposition is as follows:
8’ Stopped Diapason
4’ Octave
Fifteenth (Divided)
Sesquialtera (Divided)
The Létourneau Organ
St. John’s primary organ is a 3 manual handcrafted pipe organ built for St. John's by Orgues Létourneau, Limited in Quebec, Canada. It was specifically designed to blend with the historic architecture of the church and boasts 36 stops and 2,425 pipes. The Létourneau pipe organ (the fourth organ since this edifice was built) was installed in 2001 and purchased with funds raised by parishioners and friends of St. John's to replace an electronic Allen Organ, purchased in 1960. The first organ in this church was made in England in 1807 by Thomas Elliot, London and was used until an Estey Organ was installed in 1915.
The Létourneau Organ disposition is as follows:
Great
Bourdon 16’
Open Diapason 8’
Harmonic Flute 8’
Chimney Flute 8’
Principal 4’
Spindle Flute 4
Twelfth 2 2/3’
Fifteenth 2’
Seventeenth 1 3/5’
Mixture IV-VI
Trumpet 8’
Tremulant
Swell (Expressive)
Stopped Diapason 8’
Viola di Gamba 8’
Viola Celeste 8’
Principal 4’
Spire Flute 4’
Flageolet 2’
Mixture IV
Basson 16’
Oboe 8’
Clarion 4’
Tremulant
Rückpositiv
Stopped Flute 8’
Principal 4’
Chimney Flute 4’
Nazard 2 2/3’
Block Flute 2’
Tierce 1 3/5’
Larigot 1 1/3’
Cremona 8’
Tremulant
Pedal
Open Diapason 16’
Subbass 16’
Principal 8’
Bass Flute 8’
Choral Bass 4’
Trombone 16’
Trumpet 8’
STEINWAY “MODEL B” GRAND PIANO
Our 1985 Steinway and Sons “Model B” grand piano was lovingly donated to St. John’s by a parishioner and treated to a complete factory overhaul prior to being relocated to our sanctuary. It is 6’ 11” in length, with a walnut finish, and is set up with recording grade microphones for direct close capture of its dynamic, highly responsive, and beautiful tone. It is professionally serviced multiple times per year, and kept in peak condition with a Damp Chaser piano humidification system.