The 1988 chapter of Opus 52 at First Reformed UCC
Martin Ott Opus 52 was built in 1988 for First Reformed UCC in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The preceding balcony organ had combined parts from several builders in a rear chamber. The new symmetric design placed Hauptwerk and Schwellwerk in a free-standing red-oak case while retaining the old chamber for the Pedal.
The surviving account pairs Opus 52 with 1988. In the First Reformed UCC account from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, without an event label, that pair is best read as catalogue chronology. The named place, First Reformed UCC in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, gives the date its context; a programme or invoice could distinguish order from completion. No present-state conclusion follows.
Manitowoc as the setting for Opus 52
Opus 52 is documented at First Reformed UCC in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The church name establishes who stood behind the Manitowoc project, but it does not reveal the room's size, materials, or acoustic behaviour. Within the documented Manitowoc chapter, claims about worship use or public recital belong here only when a dated local source supplies them.
The recorded scale of Opus 52 at First Reformed UCC
The Opus 52 overview lists 17 stop controls alongside 21 ranks. For the First Reformed UCC project in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a rank follows the keyboard compass at a given pitch and tone, whereas a stop may engage one rank or several. A difference of 4 separates the rank and stop counts for Opus 52. Within the documented Manitowoc chapter, several pipe rows may answer one control, but the exact arrangement remains undocumented here. At First Reformed UCC in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, names and pitches remain missing, so the musical reading stays deliberately limited.
A complete disposition would turn the short Opus 52 overview into a much clearer technical portrait. In the First Reformed UCC account from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, it could show how the recorded totals were distributed and which controls drew more than one pipe row. For First Reformed UCC, such a document would also make later alterations easier to recognize. The current evidence stops with 17 stops | 21 ranks Mechanical action, so the missing detail remains a research question rather than an invitation to guess.
Action and control in the Manitowoc project: Opus 52
For Opus 52 at First Reformed UCC, the project summary uses the term mechanical action. In the First Reformed UCC account from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in practice, that means the key movement reaches a wind valve through physical linkage rather than an electric-only command. The page for First Reformed UCC does not diagram that linkage or report its later maintenance.
Beyond the totals: one clue from First Reformed UCC: Opus 52
The source adds a human and physical dimension to Opus 52: it has a symmetric balcony design and the Hauptwerk and Schwellwerk share a red-oak case. For the First Reformed UCC project in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a church organ can carry several musical duties, but this evidence supports only the features and events it names. In the First Reformed UCC account from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, it does not reveal a normal registration practice or the balance between organ, choir, and congregation. Within the documented Manitowoc chapter, the stop list and parish programmes would answer those questions separately. The listed 17-stop, 21-rank scale remains the numerical boundary for this reading.
The later chapter at First Reformed UCC: Opus 52
Budget limits postponed an Oboe and Choralflöte until 2003, when those prepared stops were finally installed. Scott Riedel served as consultant and commissioned Michael Burkhardt to write a festive processional for the dedication service. The source records both a musical commission at the opening and a planned tonal completion fifteen years later.
Photographs and unanswered questions from Manitowoc: Opus 52
Opus 52 has 4 archived image references that agree with the project number. The first is images/052/052_m.jpg. Before an image is placed beside the First Reformed UCC article, its subject, date, photographer, and reuse terms need verification. Within the documented Manitowoc chapter, no complete attribution or permission statement survives in the extracted page.
The archived narrative gives Opus 52 a history, not a current inspection. A new statement from First Reformed UCC could confirm whether the organ remains in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and identify later work. In the First Reformed UCC account from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a dated stop list would then allow a responsible comparison with the original project.