By Paula Day

Christ the King Cathedral's powerful 60-rank Ruffatti pipe organ will be silenced for eight months beginning in early January.

The organ, capable of producing 60 unique instrumental sounds, will undergo complete renovation by the Indianapolis firm of Goulding and Wood. Dismantling and packing for shipment to Indiana will begin immediately after the Christmas season.

Made in Padua, Italy, by Fratelli Ruffatti, the organ was installed in 1971, replacing the church's original 30-year-old instrument. At the time the Second Vatican Council's directives for liturgical music encouraged a shift from music sung by a choir to congregational singing. The smaller, 20-rank organ, did not have the tonal depth to accompany such singing, according to Hamilton Smith, Cathedral music director. A gift from Mrs. Katherine Reilly covered half of the $80,000 cost of the new organ. The remainder of the money was raised by Monsignor John Stapleton. However, to economize, approximately one-third of the original 1938 organ was retained and it is that portion that is now causing problems, Smith said.

"It finally caught up with us," the music director said, adding that the organ could be fixed but under the strong direction of Father Richard Kieran, rector of the Cathedral at the time, "we decided we needed to do the organ right." Because Ruffatti had changed its company focus, Cathedral planners selected the American company, which specializes in rebuilding large pipe organs.

Renovation will cost $280,000. Replacing the instrument would cost $600,000, Smith said. Mrs. Reilly's family foundation is donating approximately one-half of the $280,000. The rest will come from donations being sought by the Cathedral's finance committee. The rebuilt organ will be dedicated to Mrs. Reilly's memory.

"The goal of the renovation is to preserve the very rich and exciting tonal characteristics of the current instrument," Smith explained. "The organ is unique in the Southeast."

The renovation will add selected ranks of pipes to fill out tonal gaps. A new console with a solid state memory system taking up one-third less space will be installed. With the exception of those which form the facade of the organ, the pipes will be enclosed in large wooden boxes to protect them from dust. Pipes now placed under the rose window will be redeployed into cases on the gallery giving room for another row of choir risers under the window. In the choir loft changes, a moveable platform will be installed to accommodate instrumentalists.

During the eight months the Ruffatti is in the shop, the parish will rent a small, 10-rank Walker pipe organ.

Smith speaks of a pipe organ as being "like a chief executive."

"Each has its own personality which it can impose on its audience," he said. "In the hands of a master it can be made to do anything -- be seductive or prophetic, evocative or mournful. There are so many ways to make a pipe organ speak."

Of all the organs Cathedral organist Dr. Timothy Wissler has played, the Ruffatti "took the longest to be friends with, but now we're friends for life."

"This one is a very powerful, dramatic instrument," Wissler said. "The temptation is to use too much of it. You'd like to rock the building, but that's not always an attitude of prayer. Maybe the greatest challenge for an organist is to find colors which will express emotion in liturgy that can't be expressed in words."

Wissler pointed out that the pipe organ has been attractive for church use because, although a single instrument, it can incorporate so many sounds controlled by one person, that it is, in a sense, a ready-made orchestra for liturgical use.

The redesigned Cathedral organ will be ready in time for the 1992 biennial meeting in Atlanta of the American Guild of Organists, its first Atlanta convention in 1966.