The Hellmuth Wolff Organ Collection consists primarily of organ plans, pamphlets, photographs, books and periodicals, and personal correspondence. The majority of these documents are associated with or represent one of the fifty organs in Wolff’s opus. In addition to depicting Wolff’s instruments, the collection of organ plans also includes Wolff’s drawings for proposed but not-constructed organs, plans by other organ builders, and plans drawn by Wolff that are based on historical models and treatises by writers such as Dom Bédos. Of the photographs, most are associated with specific Wolff organ projects and represent a span date of the late 1960s to the early 2000s. Also in the photograph collection are images of historical organs in Europe, which Wolff presumably used in modelling and designing several of his instruments, as well as images associated with other organ projects by builders such as Casavant Frères, Karl Wilhelm, and Rieger, all of whom Wolff worked with before establishing his own workshop in Laval. The collection of pamphlets includes programs, program notes, and concert series information for several of the Recitals and concerts performed on Wolff’s instruments. Of the periodicals and books, titles include The American Organist, Choir & Organ, and Orgelforum. Also in the collection are several three-dimensional models, or maquettes, of Wolff organs.

This series includes large-scale drawings, preliminary sketches, and general plans of various parts of the organ, such as the buffet, console, keyboards, and windchest. This series is divided into three subseries: organs with opus number; organs without opus number, which includes Wolff’s plans for proposed but ultimately not-constructed organs; and finally plans by other organ builders or Wolff’s drawings based on historical treatises and documents.

This series contains Hellmuth Wolff’s correspondence files. Subseries i contains correspondence between Wolff and various organ builders in English, French and German, primarily related to Wolff’s editorial work for the for the International Society of Organbuilders’ ISO Yearbook 1993, which spanned four years from 1992-1996. Subseries ii contains workshop documents, including opus lists.

This series contains the print copies of journals and conference proceedings in Hellmuth Wolff’s library. There are some annotations on several of the issues. The works are listed in two separate bibliographies in Appendix 1: Periodicals/Journals Bibliography and Appendix 2: Conference Publications Bibliography.

This series contains print copies of published monographs of various languages. The works are lists in the bibliography in Appendix 3: Book Collection Bibliography.

This series contains seven recordings of organ music on Wolff organs.
Beauséjour, Luc (organist). Sonates bibliques = Biblical sonatas. Johann Kuhnau. CBC Records = Disques SRC MVCD 1086, 1996, compact disc.
Choir of the Church of St. John the Evangelist and Patrick Wedd (organist). A liturgical year: Alleluia psallat. Various composers. Church of St. John the Evangelist SJE CD0001, 1996, compact disc.
Fitzau, Jörn (organ builder). Organpipes. J. F. Organpipes, Promotional DVD from Taylor Fladgate.
Grew, John (organist). Livre d'orgue. Nicolas de Grigny. Outremont, Quebec: ATMA ACD 2 2169, 1998, compact disc.
MacDonald, David (organist). Journeys: Organ of Atlantic School of Theology. Various composers. CBC Radio Maritimes, 1997, compact disc.
Musique et tempérament [accord de l'orgue et du clavecin selon les tempéraments anciens]. Pierre-Yves Asselin, organ and Yannick Legaillard, harpsichord. Éditions Costallat MCE 9267-2, 1985, 2 cassettes.
Rousseau, Régis (organist). Johann Pachelbel. Johann Pachelbel. ATMA ACD 2 2173, 1998, compact disc.

This series contains published annual calendars from three European organ builders.

This series contains a variety of photographs, correspondence and scrapbook items related to Donald Mackey and the Renaissance Singers. Notes on several items suggest that the owner of this material was Helen Mackey. Please see the Donald Mackey Collection and accompanying finding aid at http://www.mcgill.ca/library/find/subjects/music/special/donald-mackey-collection for related material.

The documents in this series include posters for concerts, several of which were given on Wolff’s instruments, as well as drawings and sketches of Wolff organs. These documents are not rolled like the organ plans in Series 1 but rather are spread flat

The Pamphlets series includes programs, program notes, and general publicity for several of the organs in Wolff’s opus. These are stored in folders and divided into three subseries: documents associated with Wolff organs, publicity for Wolff & Associés, and pamphlets for non-Wolff instruments.