Sunday, January 03, 1999

Sound of church music is changing

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BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Willie Jenne of Hamilton, dean of area organists, doesn't like the move to contemporary music in church. (Yoni Pozner photo) | ZOOM |

        As the echoes fade from another season of holiday song, the sound of church organs remains on the endangered music list.

        Changing tastes in music, shrinking enrollment in conservatory organ programs and persistently minuscule salaries have created a shortage of organists, especially at hectic times such as the Christmas and spring wedding seasons.

        “A lot of churches are currently going without an organist at this point,” said William Jenne of Hamilton, who is dean of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Guild of Organists, which has about 125 members.

        “A lot of major conservatories and music schools have either eliminated their organ departments or have very small departments. It doesn't seem to be a priority. That goes back to the churches — a lot of them are going toward a contemporary sound, a synthesizer sound, and a lot of organists are classically trained.”

        Roger Heather is a member of the dwindling ranks of organists. At 73, he keeps a busy schedule of substitute bookings, weddings and other special events. He loves the organ but would caution young music students to stay

        away from the field.

        “Nobody in their right mind would go into it. I'd never do it again, even though I love it, because of the salaries,” said Mr. Heather, who is retired. “They don't treat it as a professional job. I left my last job when I realized the janitor was getting two and a half times what I was getting, and the minister was getting three and a half times what I was getting.”

        The decline of organ music dates back a generation or so, to the rise in other instruments — guitar, piano, drums — in church music. Thirty years ago the College-Conservatory of Music had three full-time organ instructors for dozens of students; now there is one who instructs 13 students, many of them from overseas.

        The plummeting figures are duplicated at music schools around the country. The National Association of Schools of Music found that enrollment figures in organ programs fell from 1,003 in 1982-83 to 619 in 1994-95, the last year for which figures are available. In the same time period, organ degrees granted fell from 243 to 148.

        “Many parents, they look at what jobs are going to be there after graduation and they're seeing fewer jobs and lower salaries” for organ careers, said Roberta Gary, the only organ instructor left at CCM. “Also in their own churches (young people) might not hear the organ, so they're not thinking that's something they can do.”

        Pastors notice it, too, especially when a long-serving organist retires or moves and has to be replaced. The Rev. Anne Kear, senior pastor at Christ Church United Church of Christ in Fort Thomas, was forced to undertake a search last year when the church's organist took another job. “We advertised. We called UC and asked them if they'd give us names, and we didn't get many,” the Rev. Ms. Kear said. “We had maybe five people turn in applications.”

        The church finally found an organist, but it is also buying a synthesizer to give it more musical options. The pastor thinks a blend of musical styles is the best way to go, but she is also aware that not everyone agrees.

        “We have one woman who, whenever we used the Steinway (piano) at a service, she would write me a note: "You know the only kind of music we should have in worship is organ.' She was very adamant about it,” she said.

        Most organists would agree with the letter-writer — that contemporary Christian music and blended musical styles debase worship. Mr. Jenne and Mr. Heather both find more and more churches trying to mix genres, and they sometimes have to refuse.

        “The contemporary is so different, and when you mix it all together in one service, I find it very disturbing,” Mr. Jenne said. “I think it's a watering-down of good musical taste to appeal to large groups of people. In many cases it's not well-constructed music. Lots of people will argue with me on that point because many people in the pews sing it.”

        But will the organ be missed if and when it disappears? White Oak Christian Church purchased an expensive electronic Baldwin organ a few years ago when it built a new sanctuary. But it uses the organ less than weekly, mostly as background for communion or meditation, leaving some to wonder why it had spent so much money.

        Minister of Music Lloyd Hamilton understands their concerns. But he also knows most people don't listen to the organ Monday through Friday, so he prefers electronic keyboards on Sunday and other, more familiar instruments. The rumored death of the organ leaves him unmoved.

        “There's not many people left who know how to play the lute either,” he said. “I don't feel that emotion attached to it. There are those people who do, and I understand that; but one of our goals here is to reach people who aren't necessarily churched.”

       

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