First Congregational UCC offers many opportunities for expressing yourself through music. Our worship service is always full of music, including hymn singing, organ preludes and postludes, choral anthems and a cappela introits. On selected Sundays, we have instrumental and vocal soloists, handbells, and children's music. The Director of Music Ministries is Donald J. DeBruin. He may be contacted at ddebruin@firstcongmadison.org or tel. 233-9751.

Weekly Music Notes
On this web page, we offer notes about hymns and other music to be included during the following Sunday worship service. Since there is little room to include this kind of information in the bulletin, we hope this will be of use to everyone who enjoys music and would like to know more about the origin of lyrics and tunes.

Musical Instruments at First Congregational
Holtkamp Pipe Organ
The pipe organ was designed by the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and installed in 1980, during renovations to the sanctuary. It replaced the church's original, 1930 Kilgen pipe organ. The original organ was located in two large rooms located behind the screens at the west end of the balconies, and in a small chamber above the ceiling at the rear of the sanctuary. The Hoptkamp organ sits in a free-standing case directly behind the communion table.

The organ has 38 "ranks" or sets of pipes, consisting of more than 2,300 individual pipes made of metal or wood. Most of the organ pipes are hidden behind the pipes of the facade. These "ranks" or sets are divided into four separate divisions; one for each of the three keyboards and one for the pedals. Within the divisions the ranks of pipes are also divided into four different sound groups: "principals," which is the true organ sound, and strings, flutes, and reeds. These last three are imitative of the sounds made by orchestral instruments. Unlike some instruments, all of the pipes in the facade make sound.

This is a "mechanical action" instrument, which means that there is a direct link from the keyboard to the pipes. By pressing down a note, that action directly pulls down a small flap under the pipe, allowing air to enter the pipe and make it sound. Because of this direct, physical connection, the console is stationary, and cannot be moved.


Sanctuary Grand Piano
The sanctuary grand piano was made by the Steinway Piano Company during the 1920s. It is believed that the piano was one of three originally ordered by a school in the western part of the state, and then sold off at a later date. This is thought to be the case as three pianos were located many years later, in various parts of the state, which were found to have consecutive serial numbers. This 9-foot instrument was totally taken apart, and restored by Bob Hohf of Hohf Piano Works in the early 1980s. As Bob found and purchased the other two pianos, his workshop grew too crowded to continue to store this instrument. It was placed on loan in our sanctuary for several years, until the congregation decided to raise the money necessary to purchase it. The piano continues to be maintained by Mr. Hohf.

In addition, the church owns two other grand pianos, located in the Fellowship Room and the Chapel, as well as four spinit and upright pianos by various makers.


Whitechapel Handbells
As a retirement gift to the church, Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Swan purchased three octaves of handbells from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry located in London, England. These three octaves were given to the church in the mid-1960s and have been in continuous use since that time. By the late 1990s however, the bells were starting to show signs of wear-and-tear and were in need of major maintenance. Money was raised to replace most of the original, leather handles, and some of the interior mechanisms. At the same time, several members of the church felt the time was right to increase the number of bells in the set from 37 to 61. Additional monies were raised to purchase another two octaves of bells from Whitechapel. Our five-octave set is the largest set of Whitechapel handbells located in the area.

The most famous bell cast by the Whitechapel Foundry is the Liberty Bell, located in Philadelphia, PA.


Malmark Handchimes
In addition to five octaves of handbells, the church also owns five octaves of handchimes, made by the Malmark Handbell Company. The handchimes do not look like bells but rather like long, metal tubes with a slot at one end. Handchimes have a softer, more mellow sound than handbells. They also have the advantage of being lightweight and very durable, which makes them ideal for use by children and youth.

The first, two-octave set was purchased in 1997, with additional purchases since that time bringing the set to its current, 61-note range.