Martin Ott Opus 78 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Martin Ott Opus 78 was commissioned in 1993 for St. Paul's Lutheran Church in West Allis, Wisconsin. The specification gives 24 stops and 26 ranks, with mechanical action and a detached console.
Organ, choir and congregation: the dark-oak West Allis balcony
The organ stood on the sanctuary balcony, and its case contained all three divisions. At St. Paul's Lutheran Church, the organ had to take its place within an active worship room. In the room documented at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, front, rear and balcony positions create different relationships with the choir and altar; the details above are used where the company account states them.
At St. Paul's Lutheran Church, placement and acoustics belong together, though they are not the same evidence. The project description can locate Opus 78; only measurements or first-hand technical notes can describe the room's response.
24 stops and 26 ranks: the scale of Opus 78
The published count for Opus 78 is 24 stops and 26 ranks. According to the 24-stop summary for St. Paul's Lutheran Church, stops are the choices presented to the player; ranks are sets of pipes running through the compass. Its numerical scale is neither miniature nor among the firm's largest. The musical plan still rests in the missing sequence of stop names and pitches. For Opus 78, no manual count appears in the condensed technical line. The Opus 78 outline adds that the numbers are a useful outline, not a tonal portrait.
The two totals for Opus 78 are separated by 2 ranks. The published numbers for St. Paul's Lutheran Church support a narrower conclusion: that difference can arise when one stop controls several ranks, but the disposition is needed to identify where. For Opus 78, this is why the two numbers should always be printed together.
Action and touch: the dark-oak West Allis balcony
The action record from St. Paul's Lutheran Church is precise on this point: tracker action places keys, connecting parts and pallets in one mechanical chain. The summary assigns that principle to Opus 78. For Opus 78, response and comfort would have depended on the exact geometry and later adjustment, neither of which is measured on the page.
The detached console made the mechanical layout of Opus 78 unusually visible. Trackers and intermediate parts had to carry each key movement across the recorded distance to the chests.
Console, divisions and facade: the dark-oak West Allis balcony
The red oak case was stained dark. The detached mechanical-action console stood about nine feet from the case, leaving room for three choir risers. At St. Paul's Lutheran Church, these are useful points of contact between the written history and the project images. Internal dimensions and the complete division layout of Opus 78 are not supplied.
The physical details of Opus 78 matter because they show how the organ shared space with people. The surviving design account for St. Paul's Lutheran Church clarifies this point: they are more useful than a generic description that could belong to any neighboring commission.
Who played and why: the dark-oak West Allis balcony
John Behnke served as organ consultant and played the dedicatory recital on February 9, 1997, including the first performance of commissioned hymn preludes. The archive identifies Paul J. Grime as senior pastor and describes Behnke's work as an organ recitalist, handbell clinician, and festival director. It also records ASCAP Composers Awards in 1998 and 1999. In the musical record for St. Paul's Lutheran Church, a church organ can accompany people as well as stand alone in recital. For Opus 78, those roles are kept separate unless the project narrative or a dated program connects them. The dated event is a beginning, not a complete performance history.
Players and consultants are included only where the project history identifies them. That keeps the musical narrative of Opus 78 personal without inventing a cast.
Evidence, images and unanswered questions for Opus 78
The former Martin Ott page for Opus 78, dated February 6, 2020, is the main source for this account. The page supplies 4 linked images for comparison with the text. Their placement on the project page ties them to Opus 78. The extracted page gives a usable caption or credit for 1. The project sources for St. Paul's Lutheran Church leave one question open: its evidence stops before the present day; current location, access and condition need newer confirmation. For Opus 78, a full disposition and a recent survey remain the most useful missing documents.