How Opus 37 entered the history of Southern Illinois University
Martin Ott Opus 37 was a four-stop, four-rank mechanical practice organ built in 1985 for Southern Illinois University's School of Music in Carbondale. Marianne Webb helped secure the commission. The oak-cased instrument stood in a small studio within the music school.
Opus 37 appears in the catalogue under 1985. For the Southern Illinois University project in Carbondale, Illinois, catalogue dates can mark different stages of an organ project, and this entry does not choose among them. For Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, the exact stage remains open unless a narrative or dated document names it. Within the documented Carbondale chapter, current status requires newer evidence than the catalogue year.
What the Carbondale location tells us, and what it does not: Opus 37
The named home, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, brings an educational context to the commission. That context may involve students and faculty, yet it does not establish a recital schedule, curriculum, public access, or present use. Any statement about the room or its acoustic response needs a specific source beyond the catalogue identity.
What the numerical overview actually establishes for Opus 37
Opus 37 is listed with 4 stops and 4 ranks. At Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, those numbers answer different questions: stops describe controls, while ranks count sets of pipes. The stop and rank counts for Opus 37 are equal. A full specification is still needed to rule out sharing, extensions, or compound resources. The figures recorded for the Carbondale project establish the documented scale, not the exact number of pipes, the balance between divisions, or the sound of a particular chorus.
At Southern Illinois University, the recorded overview for Opus 37 is useful because it fixes the scale associated with the historical project. That Opus 37 line cannot explain voicing or the balance between divisions. A later specification from Carbondale, Illinois could show whether the count remained stable and whether any stop changed name, pitch, or function. For Opus 37, the older total is reported without assuming continuity.
The action named for Opus 37
For Opus 37 at Southern Illinois University, mechanical action is the listed key system. For the Southern Illinois University project in Carbondale, Illinois, in broad terms, the player's finger moves a chain of physical parts rather than sending only an electrical command. In the Southern Illinois University account from Carbondale, Illinois, the entry does not give tracker lengths, key weight, console distance, or a condition report, so no claim is made about responsiveness now.
A cautious musical reading for Southern Illinois University: Opus 37
Beyond the totals, Opus 37 is defined by the source's own sequence: it was located in a small practice studio and it has an oak case. At Southern Illinois University, specification and access can serve very different kinds of work, from individual practice to recital. A named function can be reported when the Carbondale project history supplies it; the institution label alone is not enough. The evidence from Southern Illinois University does not reconstruct curriculum, repertoire, teaching practice, or current availability. Within the documented Carbondale chapter, the listed 4-stop, 4-rank scale remains the numerical boundary for this reading.
Where the chronology for Opus 37 falls quiet
The page records a manual compass from C to the upper a and a pedal compass from C to f, with one extension in the specification. It names no recital, relocation, or later alteration. The documented compass and studio setting describe the organ's intended daily practice use for students at Carbondale more precisely than a public event history would.
The photograph trail and the limits of the evidence: Opus 37
The image trail for Opus 37 breaks before a project-number match. Nothing in the extracted material securely identifies a photograph of the Carbondale, Illinois instrument. For the Southern Illinois University project in Carbondale, Illinois, a substitute organ image would confuse atmosphere with evidence, so any illustration must say plainly that it is not a documentary view. The page also contains 1 link carrying a different opus number; those files are excluded as documentary images of Opus 37.
Only a small part of the Opus 37 chronology survives. The most useful additions would come from Southern Illinois University: a dedication programme, a specification, or a clearly dated photograph. None of those can be replaced by assumptions about current ownership, access, or repair.