Martin Ott Opus 93 at Community Presbyterian Church
Martin Ott Opus 93 was commissioned in 1997 for Community Presbyterian Church in Clarendon Hills, Illinois. The stop specification gives 22 stops, 26 ranks, one extension, suspended mechanical key action, and electric stop action.
Where the instrument stood: the Clarendon Hills ceiling chambers
Several years earlier, organist Bonni Rex had asked Martin Ott to inspect the church's failing organ, which combined parts and pipes from several older instruments in ceiling chambers. In 1997 the church formed an organ committee and decided to replace the old instrument. Sanctuary renovations created a new chancel for the organ while retaining space for choir and piano. Opus 93 was planned for the worship space at Community Presbyterian Church. What survives about the room at Community Presbyterian 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 93, visible surroundings and measured acoustics must be kept separate. One can be checked against photographs; the other requires data or testimony from the interior.
22 stops and 26 ranks: the scale of Opus 93
The short specification lists 22 stops against 26 ranks. A rank is one row of pipes, while a stop is the organist's means of selecting a resource. The 22-stop, 26-rank summary for Community Presbyterian Church shows that its numerical scale is neither miniature nor among the firm's largest. The musical plan still rests in the missing sequence of names of the stops and pitches. The record does not state how many manuals were available to the player. The entry also counts 1 extension, showing that one rank supplied more than one pitch or stop function. Without stop names and pitches, a claim about color would outrun the evidence.
There is a 4-rank gap between the two totals for Opus 93. The 22-stop, 26-rank summary for Community Presbyterian Church shows that it signals that stop and rank counts are structured differently, without revealing the exact compound stops involved. The entry separately lists 1 extension. The published numbers invite questions that only the names of the stops can settle.
The playing action: the Clarendon Hills ceiling chambers
The technical description from Community Presbyterian Church documents one point: 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 93. The surviving description does not record touch weight, wear or subsequent maintenance. The stops used electric action even though the key action remained mechanical, a distinction worth keeping in the written account.
For Opus 93, action type and tonal design should be read on separate lines. According to the action account for Community Presbyterian Church, one concerns control; the other concerns what the pipes were made to say.
How the instrument was arranged: the Clarendon Hills ceiling chambers
The builder prepared a preliminary mechanical-action specification. These details help separate Opus 93 from nearby commissions in the firm's catalogue. The project entry is not a technical survey, which would require another kind of source.
Case and key materials document craft and appearance, not tonal design. They document craft and appearance; pipe composition and voicing need separate evidence for Opus 93.
Listening history: the Clarendon Hills ceiling chambers
The organ project was received on November 23, 1997. The instrument arrived in November 2000, entered worship use in February 2001, and was dedicated that April with a recital by David Schrader. At Community Presbyterian Church, the organ may have met hymn singing, choral accompaniment and solo repertoire, but the commission history must name the intended roles. Dated programs would show how Opus 93 was used after dedication. A fuller sequence would require additional dated programs.
A documented performance date connects instrument, player and audience. For Opus 93, it is one entry in a history that later programs may extend.
Evidence, images and unanswered questions for Opus 93
The company entry for Opus 93, preserved from February 6, 2020, provides the commission facts used here. The associated gallery contains 3 images. The dated project gallery links all of them to the Opus 93 page. The documentary trail from Community Presbyterian Church stops here: the old gallery identifies or credits 1 of its views. The entry proves their association with the commission, but it does not establish present condition or ownership. The best additions would be a recently credited image and the complete stop specification.