Martin Ott Opus 102 at St. Anne R.C. Church
Martin Ott Opus 102 was commissioned in 2001 for St. Anne R.C. Church in Oswego, Illinois. The stop specification gives 25 stops, 31 ranks, one extension, mechanical key action, and electric stop action.
The space around the organ: St. Anne's post-fire rebuilding
The church subsequently presented several concerts on it. On January 24, 2000, a fire devastated both the church and Opus 34. The congregation decided to build a larger sanctuary and a new organ on the same site. At St. Anne R.C. Church, the organ had to find its place within a working worship space. According to the architectural record for St. Anne R.C. Church, front, gallery and balcony sites change the organ's relation to choir and altar; this article follows only positions documented by the builder.
According to the architectural record for St. Anne R.C. Church, siting and acoustics need to be read together, though they are not the same evidence. The commission description can locate Opus 102; describing the room's response requires measurements or first-hand technical notes.
25 stops and 31 ranks: the scale of Opus 102
The published count for Opus 102 is 25 stops and 31 ranks. The published numbers for St. Anne R.C. Church support a narrower conclusion: stops name the organist's available controls; ranks count the pipe sets behind those choices. The published numbers describe moderate breadth, not volume. Voicing, wind and the interior would decide how large the organ seemed to a listener. For Opus 102, no manual count appears in the condensed technical note. The Opus 102 outline adds that the entry also counts 1 extension, showing that one rank supplied more than one pitch or stop function. These figures sketch scale without describing tone.
The two totals for Opus 102 are separated by 6 ranks. At St. Anne R.C. Church, compound stops can create that difference; only the complete disposition can show where the extra ranks lie. The entry separately lists 1 extension. For Opus 102, this is why the two numbers belong together in print.
Control at the keydesk: St. Anne's post-fire rebuilding
For Opus 102, a tracker mechanism links the keys, connecting parts and pallets in one physical linkage. The outline assigns that principle to Opus 102. The Opus 102 action description adds that response and comfort would have depended on the precise layout and subsequent regulation, neither of which is measured on the entry. The action record from St. Anne R.C. Church is precise on this point: key and stop commands followed different paths: mechanical for the notes, electric for registration.
Because the keydesk was joined to the organ case, the player's position formed part of the architecture of Opus 102. The technical description from St. Anne R.C. Church documents one point: later regulation cannot be read from that layout alone.
Construction in the room: St. Anne's post-fire rebuilding
Martin Ott began the replacement project in 2001 as a mechanical-action instrument with an attached keydesk. At St. Anne R.C. Church, these are helpful points of contact between the written history and the commission images. Internal dimensions and the full division plan of Opus 102 are not supplied.
The physical details of Opus 102 matter because they show how instrument and people occupied the same setting. The design evidence from St. Anne R.C. Church has one clear limit: they are more useful than an interchangeable description that could belong to any nearby organ project.
Programs and performance evidence: St. Anne's post-fire rebuilding
An earlier Martin Ott instrument, Opus 34, had been built in 1978 and dedicated on November 13, 1986. The company entry does not document a later status beyond the rebuilding account given there. The performance evidence for St. Anne R.C. Church sets the limit of the account: in worship, an organ may accompany congregational music or take a solo role. For Opus 102, those roles are kept separate unless the commission narrative or a dated program connects them. For Opus 102, the dated event is a beginning, not a complete record of performances.
At St. Anne R.C. Church, players and consultants are included only where the commission history identifies them. That keeps the musical narrative of Opus 102 personal without inventing a cast.
Evidence, images and unanswered questions for Opus 102
The former Martin Ott page for Opus 102, dated February 6, 2020, provides the principal evidence for this article. The entry supplies 2 linked images to be read beside the written account. Their presence in the project entry ties them to Opus 102. The documentary trail from St. Anne R.C. Church stops here: individual image credits are absent from the extracted material. For Opus 102, its evidence stops before the present day; present location, access and condition need more recent confirmation. The Opus 102 evidence also shows that the most valuable additions would be a full disposition and a recent survey.