You don’t see too many pipe organ players these days, let alone people who know how to repair and maintain them, but one Winnipeg man has spent almost five decades doing both.
Richard Buck, one of the few in the region with the know-how and experience to work on the majestic instruments often found in churches, told Global Winnipeg he’s been hands-on with almost every remaining pipe organ across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and northern Ontario.
“I’ve never counted them,” he said, “but each one has its own character.
“As soon as I hear them, I just have a feeling of calmness come over me — I just find it settling to your nerves.”
Buck’s dedication to the instruments is such that he’s set up a non-profit dedicated to making pipe organs more accessible, with financial help from his partner’s estate.
“That money will be solely dedicated to the preservation, upkeep … helping students with lessons, recitals, you name it,” he said.
“Anything associated with a pipe organ.”
Buck said he’s been fascinated by the huge instruments since he was a young boy — getting hooked the first time he encountered one in a church — and to this day, it hurts to see one of the few remaining organs get retired.
People who have access to pipe organs, he said, need to realize they’re dealing with ‘the king of instruments.’
“(The hardest thing) is to maybe convince the people who have the instrument that it’s a treasure to have a pipe organ.
“They should feel privileged, and keep it fully operational — it’s part of Manitoba’s musical history, and Winnipeg’s history.”
Dietrich Bartel, music director at Winnipeg’s All Saints Anglican Church, said the pipe organ is a unique instrument in its ability to create a range of sounds.
“It’s almost like you’ve got an orchestra at your fingertips,” he said. “All the colours from very, very gentle, quiet flute sounds to huge bombastic sounds.
“We have some wonderful instruments in the city, and it’s a fascinating instrument. It’s a fair bit of interesting technology, and that’s what gives you this richness of colour and sound.”
Unfortunately, Bartel told Global Winnipeg, while there are still a number of organ aficionados out there, the instrument tends to attract an older crowd, and there’s a dearth of up-and-coming players to carry on the tradition.
“There aren’t as many organ students as there used to be.
“I think the concern, for many of us, is where’s the next generation of organists going to come from?”
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