Martin Ott Opus 81 at Immanuel Lutheran Church
Martin Ott Opus 81 was commissioned in 1993 for Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, Missouri. The specification gives 21 stops, 23 ranks, one extension, mechanical key action, and electric stop action.
Architecture and placement: the rear wall at Perryville
The organ stood at the center of the rear sanctuary wall. Opus 81 was planned for the worship space at Immanuel Lutheran Church. What survives about the room at Immanuel Lutheran Church is enough to say this: the most dependable room clues are concrete ones such as altar, balcony, windows or choir position; a general claim about the building's sound requires more evidence.
For Opus 81, visible surroundings and measured acoustics must be kept separate. In the room documented at Immanuel Lutheran Church, one can be checked against photographs; the other requires data or testimony from the room.
21 stops and 23 ranks: the scale of Opus 81
The short specification lists 21 stops against 23 ranks. The 21-stop, 23-rank summary for Immanuel Lutheran Church shows that a rank is a set of pipes; a stop is the control through which the organist brings a resource into use. There are enough resources for more than a single chorus, yet the totals do not reveal which division carried which colors. For Opus 81, how many manuals the player had is not stated here. One numerical limit remains in Opus 81: the page also counts 1 extension, meaning that at least one rank served more than one pitch or stop function. The Opus 81 outline adds that without the stop names and pitches, any description of color would run ahead of the evidence.
There is a 2-rank gap between the two totals for Opus 81. Within the published specification for Immanuel Lutheran Church, it signals that stop and rank counts are structured differently, without revealing the exact compound stops involved. The page separately lists 1 extension. For Opus 81, the figures invite questions that only the stop names can settle.
How the notes travel: the rear wall at Perryville
Under the action description for Immanuel Lutheran Church, pressing a key on a mechanical organ sets a train of parts in motion until a pallet opens at the windchest. That is the arrangement named for Opus 81. For Opus 81, the surviving description does not record touch weight, wear or later maintenance. The stops used electric action even though the key action remained mechanical, a distinction worth keeping in the description.
For Opus 81, action type and tonal design should be read on separate lines. One concerns control; the other concerns what the pipes were made to say.
Inside the physical design: the rear wall at Perryville
Opus 81's casework was made from red oak, and its console was detached. Those names, the recital date, and the placement and materials of the case are all the project history given on the captured company page. These details help separate Opus 81 from nearby commissions in the firm's catalogue. In the design record for Immanuel Lutheran Church, the page stops short of a complete technical survey, which is a different kind of document.
In the design record for Immanuel Lutheran Church, materials named for case or keys should not be treated as a tonal description. They tell us about craft and appearance; pipe material and voicing require their own evidence for Opus 81.
The human side of the commission: the rear wall at Perryville
The company page names Allyn Steffens as music director. Gary L. Miller, who lived from 1945 to 2011, served as organ consultant and played the dedication recital on July 20, 1997. It does not document later alterations or condition. At Immanuel Lutheran Church, the organ may have met hymn singing, choral accompaniment and solo repertoire, but the project history must name the intended roles. Dated programs would show how Opus 81 was used after dedication. A fuller sequence would require additional dated programs.
A documented performance date connects instrument, player and audience. For Opus 81, it is one entry in a history that later programs may extend.
Evidence, images and unanswered questions for Opus 81
The company entry for Opus 81, preserved from February 6, 2020, provides the project facts used here. The associated gallery contains 1 image. All belong to the dated gallery attached to the Opus 81 page. Photographer names are not attached to these images. Among the surviving sources for Immanuel Lutheran Church, the page proves their association with the project, but it does not establish present condition or ownership. For Opus 81, the best additions would be a credited recent image and the full specification.