AIODitty

I SING A SONG ABOUT RANKS OF PIPES
a satirical hymn about organbuilders
by Marcia Van Oyen
Tune: Grand Isle (I Sing A Song of the Saints of God)

The song is based on this premise:

"Most organbuilders dream of building a large organ that would be
the magnum opus of their professional life."
- Jean-Louis Coignet

It should be sung with a self-important, egotistical attitude.

1. I sing a song about ranks of pipes,
sonorous reeds and flues,
and the foremost builders
who lived and died for the art they loved and knew.
Men like Silbermann, Willis, and Fisk and Cliquot,
not to mention Skinner and Cavaillé Coll,
God-like heroes to whom genuflection is due,
and I mean to be one, too.

2. To secure a place in the pantheon,
I need to define my style
with a windchest design or a certain color red,
things original, yet worthwhile!
Like a most serene harp placed in swell boxes three,
a resonance division, and a rank of pipes free!
(repeat the dominant cadence with the next four phrases, ad. lib., ad nauseum)
a case of pure hardwood dried in a kiln,
pipes of rich hammered lead give a sound that will thrill,
or a gleaming facade made of bright polished tin,
with some digital voices, and flexible wind!
Add a Trommeten, Flute à Biberon -
the list could go on and on!

3. To achieve such prodigious and precious fame,
by God, I won’t cease to try
to distinguish myself from the rest of the pack,
and keep OHS well-supplied.
And what, you might ask, does this mean to me?
Very simple: GUARANTEED IMMORTALITY!
(Yeah, until someone REBUILDS it! - shouted from off-stage)
I affix my nameplate for all to see,
and ensure they’ll remember me!

after a grand pause, continue in a much more subdued manner:

4. If truth be told, in reality
my career isn’t all that grand,
plagued with dreadful acoustics, inadequate funds,
and committees - which ought to be banned!
But I’ll keep working hard and I’ll pay my bills
building two manual organs for St. Harold’s in the Hills,
Holding fast to the hope that pipe dreams do come true
and I’ll join the honored few. Amen!