The 1977 project at Bonhomme Presbyterian: Opus 6
Martin Ott Opus 6 is the Elaine Moseson Memorial Organ at Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, commissioned in 1977. The free-standing red-oak continuo has an attached keyboard and the words Sursum Corda carved into its pipe shades. Soon after inauguration it was moved temporarily to Powell Symphony Hall for a concert by Maurice André and Alfred Mitterhofer.
Opus 6 carries a recorded year of 1977. The wording remains broad because the source does not name the milestone it marks. Bonhomme Presbyterian and Chesterfield, Missouri anchor the project, and any later move or alteration belongs to a separate date. Present condition requires a present-day statement.
Reading the setting in Chesterfield, Missouri: Opus 6
The record associates Opus 6 with Bonhomme Presbyterian, Chesterfield, Missouri. That supplies a social and religious setting, not a description of how the sanctuary sounded. A plan, a placement photograph, or a measured acoustic report would be needed before the building could enter the musical analysis in greater detail.
Scale in figures: the stops and ranks of Opus 6
Reading Opus 6 numerically starts with 5 stops and 7 ranks. One number describes controls and the other describes pipe rows. Opus 6 lists 2 more ranks than stop controls. The relationship describes scale rather than a division plan, and it does not identify a single tonal voice. That is enough to compare scale, but not enough to reconstruct manuals, Pedal, wind system, or chorus structure.
The summary for Opus 6 cannot tell us how each division sounded, but it does establish the scale printed for Bonhomme Presbyterian. That distinction matters when later photographs or programmes surface in Chesterfield, Missouri. A reliable Opus 6 stop list could connect the count with actual pipe families and pitches. Until an Opus 6 list is found, no tonal resource should be added simply because it would be typical of another Ott organ.
From the keyboard into the organ: Opus 6
For Opus 6 at Bonhomme Presbyterian, mechanical key action is documented for the project. That separates the key command from an electric-only transmission while leaving the console relationship and tracker route undescribed. The source makes no claim about wear, noise, regulation, or playing condition today.
The label continuo places Opus 6 in a compact accompanying tradition, not automatically on the road. For the instrument connected with Bonhomme Presbyterian, mobility and pitch standards remain separate facts. They are reported only where the project history identifies casters, handles, two-part construction, or an A440 and A415 arrangement.
The detail that gives Opus 6 its character
The Bonhomme Presbyterian project is not described by numbers alone: it is a free-standing red-oak continuo and the case bears a Sursum Corda carving. The reading stays close to the documented church project. Placement, materials, action, and named events can be reported, while the full chorus structure and everyday role remain unknown. A specification would clarify the instrument; local programmes would clarify how musicians used it. The listed 5-stop, 7-rank scale remains the numerical boundary for this reading.
Later events named in the Opus 6 account
A 2014 to 2015 chapel renovation moved the organ from a side position to a front platform. The work added crown molding, a walnut bench top, and a fleur-de-lis music rack by Herbert Bilgram, while the facade pipes were repaired, the organ cleaned and tuned, and its voicing reviewed. A 2015 photograph is credited to Thorsen Ott.
Images, sources, and the open questions for Opus 6
The former builder page associates 1 numbered image file with Opus 6; images/006/006_m.jpg appears first. The project-number match supports identification, but it does not settle authorship or permission to publish. Caption credit offers a research lead while the licence remains unconfirmed.
The known chronology for Opus 6 ends before a present-day survey. For a current account, Bonhomme Presbyterian would need to confirm the location and supply a dated specification or condition note. Without that material, the article can describe the documented past but not present access or performance.