CTK Sanctuary, Pre-Pipe Organ/Pre-Vatican II (Note the Altar Rail)

The vision of a pipe organ for Christ the King began with the parish’s first professional organist, Mrs. Marjorie (Marshall) Field. She was hired by Christ the King’s pastor, Msgr. David Elwood.

Mrs. Field was a solid musician and respectable service player. She earned her BM from Boston’s New England Conservatory, and later, studied at the Union Theological Seminary in NYC. She also spent a year in Paris where she studied organ with Marcel Dupré. During Field’s active Worcester tenure 1960-1980, she played the organ and directed choirs at Tatnuck Congregational, St. Michael's on the Heights and Christ the King. She also worked as an accompanist for the Worcester Chorus in the 1960’s. She was also a frequent recitalist in the city.
Mrs. Field saw Christ the King’s location and active parish involvement as a prime opportunity to do something spectacular with their music scene. After years of conversation, convincing and setbacks, the church’s old Wurlitzer electronic organ was replaced by its current instrument. Interestingly, it was slated for installation in a Lutheran Church in the Midwest. However, due to unknown circumstances, the contract was void. Christ the King found this vacant contract and soon purchased and installed the organ for $30,375.
                                                    
The organ of Christ the King was built by Casavant Frères of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It was installed in its current location in 1974 by the late Henry L. “Hank” Hokans, former Director of Music at Worcester’s All Saints Church; Organist of the Worcester Art Museum; and Director of Music at WPI. Hokans also studied organ design, building and maintenance with several organ builders. His studies lead to the formation of his own organ service company, H. L. Hokans Associates. They sold and installed many instruments similar to Christ the King’s during the 1970’s. Not by coincidence—Hokans was a U.S. representative for Casavant Frères.
 
The design of Christ the King’s organ is Neo-Baroque in nature and its tonal palate was implemented by Casavant’s then newly appointed tonal director, Gerhard Brunzema. The recommended model for the church’s space was the 216-GS-22:

This picture (found in a series of original documents) shows an advertisement for the parish’s current instrument—a common model installed in several locations throughout the country. It was highly customizable and durable. Note the humorous misspelling of “Worcester”.

Like the above picture, Christ the King’s organ (No. 3243) was to be 2 manuals and pedal, 16 stops (excluding extensions), 22 ranks and 1,172 pipes.

Prior to the installation, there were 2 changes to the original stop list: Stop 5 (Oktave 2’) was changed to a Blockflöte 2’, and Stop 4 (Spitzflöte 4’) was changed to a Koppelflöte 4’ per Mr. Hokans’ guidance. Casavant unanimously agreed and built the organ with his recommended changes. The pencil markings (of unknown origin) to the right indicate mathematical counting and addition to find the accurate number of speaking pipes. Note the arithmetical error on the first unit: it should read “592”, thus putting the full number of pipes at 1,172.

In 1985, there was an addition of a Zimbelstern purchased through the Potter-Rathbun Organ Company.  Mr. Hokans installed the unit, its relays and toe-stud activation switch.

​​​​​​​Aside from the Zimbelstern, no significant alterations were made to the instrument throughout its tenure—at the time of this writing (2019), 45 years. The organ’s console was moved in the mid 1980’s to provide more space for the church’s growing music programs (also for renovations to the sanctuary in accordance with the Second Vatican Council).

CTK Sanctuary (2019)

Today, after 45 years of service, Christ the King’s instrument is in need of restoration. Consulting is currently underway for a major renovation of the instrument’s mechanics, pipes and internals. Interestingly enough, there are numerous letters of correspondence (not to mention copious outlines and sketches of stop lists) between Henry Hokans and Thomas Holland, Mark Dwyer and Dennis Ferrante indicating desires to enlarge the organ’s specifications to better suit congregational singing, and to correctly convey concert repertoire. This is an important find, one that should not be ignored for future considerations.

CTK’s Unaltered Organ Console (2019)