Kristian Wegscheider: Master Restorer and Organbuilder

Michael Gailit received his musical and academic training at the University of Music in Vienna, Austria, studying piano with Hilde Langer-Rühl and Alexander Jenner, and organ with Herbert Tachezi. At age 20 he received his performance degree in organ, and took first prize in the competition “Jugend musiziert.” He subsequently earned degrees in piano and organ pedagogy. From 1993–2008 Michael Gailit was organist at St. Augustine‘s Church, which has the largest music program in Vienna, including recitals and orchestra concerts throughout the year. In 1995, Gailit was asked to take over an organ performance class at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. There he initiated a series of seminars and workshops on performance practices in organ music of all periods. Gailit has been a member of the piano faculty of the University of Music in Vienna since 1980. He has given courses, masterclasses and lectures in Europe and North America, and has performed in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Canada, Russia, and Mexico. Since 1984, he regularly has toured the United States giving recitals and masterclasses. In a series of six recitals in Vienna, Gailit played the six Mendelssohn Sonatas, the six Bach Trio Sonatas, and the six Vierne Symphonies within three weeks. Gailit has released seven solo CDs, among them piano and organ music of W. A. Mozart (the first interpretation of the organ pieces after the original open scores) and selections of rarely played French romantic organ music. In addition to several articles in music magazines, he has published the first comprehensive book on the Liszt pupil Reubke (Julius Reubke—Life And Works) in 1995.

Prologue
For some, musicology can offer captivating moments. What has happened at a certain place during a certain time? Changes in organs remind us sometimes of CSI. Who really knew what was going on? The pastor might be not the best guess, and the lead has intelligent ways to tell everybody how to look at things—2556 pipes in an organ it’s not worth it, with 1001 pipes you get even more!

Wagner and St. Mary
Let us imagine a visit to St. Mary’s Church in Berlin at the beginning of the 19th century. Our reason is the celebration last year of the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). During the period 1820–21, the ingenious multi-talent received organ lessons at St. Mary’s and composed his first organ pieces. Mendelssohn’s organ teacher August Wilhelm Bach (1796–1869)—not related to the Thuringian family of musicians—had at his post in St. Mary’s an organ by Joachim Wagner at his disposal. The instrument, Wagner’s first masterpiece from 1719–23, established his fame as the “Berlin Silbermann.” As Uwe Pape has pointed out,1 there are resemblances in the original stoplist of St. Mary’s Wagner organ to the first masterpiece of the famous Saxon organ builder Gottfried Silbermann at the Freiberg cathedral from 1714:

St. Mary’s Church, Berlin

Hauptmanual
(I; CD–c3; 12 stops)
16′ Bordun
8′ Principal
8′ Rohrflöt
8′ Viole di Gamba
4′ Octav
4′ Spitzflöt
3′ Quinta
2′ Octav
[8′] Cornet V (c1–c3)
11⁄2′ Scharf V
1′ Cimbel [III]
8′ Trompet

Oberwerk (II; CD–c3; 11 stops)
16′ Quintadena
8′ Principal
8′ Gedackt
4′ Octav
4′ Fugara
3′ Nassat
2′ Octav
2′ Tertie
1′ Siefflöt
11⁄2′ Mixtur IV
8′ Vox humana

Hinterwerk (III; CD–c3; 9 stops)
8′ Gedackt
8′ Quintadena
4′ Octav
4′ Rohrflöt
2′ Octav
2′ Waldflöt
11⁄2′ Quinta
1′ Cimbel
[8′] Echo V [c1–c3]

Pedal (CD–d1; 8 stops)
16′ Principal-Baß
16′ Violon
8′ Gembßhorn
6′ Quinta
4′ Octav
2′ Mixtur VI
16′ Posaune
8′ Trompet

Accessories
2 tremulants
Zimbelstern
4 ventil stops (one for each division)
2 manual couplers
1 pedal coupler

Freiberg Cathedral

Hauptwerk (I; CD–c3; 13 stops)
16′ Bourdon
8′ Principal
8′ Rohrflöte
8′ Viola da Gamba
4′ Octava
3′ Quinta
2′ Super-Octava
13⁄5′ Tertia
8′ Cornet V (c1–c3)
2′ Mixtur IV
11⁄3′ Cimbeln III
8′ Trompete
4′ Clarin

Oberwerk (II; CD–c3; 13 stops)
16′ Quintaden
8′ Principal
8′ Gedackt
8′ Quintaden
4′ Octava
4′ Spitzflöte
2′ Super-Octava
1′ Flaschflöt
11⁄3′ Mixtur III
1′ Cimbeln II
8′ Krummhorn
8′ Vox humana
8′ Echo V (c1–c3)

Brustwerk (III; CD–c3; 9 stops)
8′ Gedackt
4′ Principal
4′ Rohrflöte
3′ Nasat
2′ Octava
13⁄5′ Tertia
11⁄2′ Quinta
1′ Sifflöt
1′ Mixtur III

Pedal (CD–c1; 10 stops)
32′ Untersatz
16′ PrincipalBaß
16′ OctavBaß
16′ SubBaß
8′ OctavBaß
4′ OctavBaß
22⁄3′ Pedalmixtur VI
16′ PosaunenBaß
8′ TrompetenBaß
4′ ClarinBaß

Accessories
2 tremulants
2 ventil stops (HW/BW, OW)
2 manual couplers (OW/HW, BW/HW)
1 pedal coupler (HW/P)

Simply Vogler
When A. W. Bach was appointed to St. Mary’s, the organ was no longer in its original state. The history also of this organ was influenced by a man whose name has survived today mainly in treatises on organ building. The priest Georg Joseph Vogler (1749–1814), often addressed as “Abbé Vogler,”2 shouted at his contemporaries:
Wake up, you parrots, you philistines of Liliput, from your lethargic slumber!
Listen (to the music)! Look (at scores)! Feel (the effects)! And think!3
Vogler sought to make the organ a more vivid instrument, both by performance style and through certain construction components. The sound was to be based on lower registers, which he achieved through the acoustic phenomenon of combination tones. The Italian violinist Giuseppe Tartini, when developing the double-stop technique, had found that if a consonant interval were played as purely as possible, a third, lower tone could be heard as a result of the addition of the vibrations. Describing the effect in his Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell’armonia of 1754, Tartini was regarded as the discoverer of the combination tones, which were later even named Tartini tones. The German organist Andreas Sorge (1703–1778), however, had already described the effect in his treatise Vorgemach der musik-alischen Komposition of 1745. He had noticed that when a fifth is played on a flute stop, the note of the lower octave can be heard.
Vogler used this phenomenon to build a low-pitch stop from two ranks of smaller pipes in the octave and the fifth. His Simplifikationssystem comprised also the removal of mutation stops and mixtures. He achieved dynamic flexibility through the use of free reeds, which could respond to variable wind pressure without change of pitch, and through swell boxes that enclosed not only one division, but the entire organ. The first musical instrument with free reeds seems to be the Cheng, a Chinese pumpkin instrument equipped with a mouthpiece and bamboo tubes containing thin metal plates. This technical idea developed eventually into an organ pipe rank shortly before 1800, with the exotic attempt to build a speaking machine. The Cheng is also regarded as the common ancestor of the other free reed instruments, such as the accordion or the harmonium.4
No matter where, in the Swedish capital Stockholm or the Austrian capital Vienna, Vogler convinced authorities to improve the organs in their churches. In the Prussian capital, Berlin, he arranged the conversion of the Wagner organ at St. Mary’s in 1800–01, carried out by local organ builder Johann Friedrich Falckenhagen (1752–1823). The 40 stops were reduced to 26, and reports tell that from 2556 pipes only 1001 remained in the organ.5 On November 28, 1801, at 5 pm, Vogler presented the converted organ to an obviously enthusiastic, but not completely converted, crowd in an inauguration recital with a memorable program:

1st Part
1. Prelude and fugue with full organ, using 3 octave stops, 3 fifths, 2 thirds and 4 reeds, with a total of only 498 pipes
2. Terrace song of the Africans stamping limestone, to surface their terraces, always one choir resting and singing, the other one stamping
3. Double concerto of a flute and a basson, with clear distinction of four manuals:
I. [manual] for the flute
II. [manual] for the bassoon
III. [manual] for the full orchestra
IV. [manual] for the gentle instrumental accompaniment
Allegro. Andante. Rondo.

2nd Part
4. The Mahomedanian [sic] Creed: There is only one God and Mahomed is his prophet, which is sung during funerals alternately with 2 choirs in the front and in the back of the corpse, performed with an Adagio
5. The boat ride on the Rhine, interrupted by a thunder storm
6. The Chorale: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, with a Basso continuo, in contrapuntal and canonic manner
NB. The terrace song, the Mahomedanian song, and the boat ride have been specially requested by music lovers.6

In an extended review, the Leipziger Allgemeine Zeitung preserved the terrace song theme for posterity (Example 1). As seriously as possible, the author makes fun of the limestone stamping choirs, wondering if they are familiar with the European canon form (Example 2).
The pastor of the church later complained that Vogler had taken out the best pipes, selling them to St. Hedwig’s Church and the Catholics, and replacing them with pipes of lesser quality.7 Other sources claim that Vogler used the now superfluous pipes in a new organ at St. Hedwig’s. We can even read that he received money from the king to build the organ at St. Hedwig’s, that he completed it at his own expense, or even donated the whole instrument.8 Time for CSI.

Questions and questioning
First: Are the numbers 2556 and 1001 correct? Did the original Wagner organ have 2556 pipes, and did only 1001 really remain in the instrument? Provided that in the Hinterwerk the Cimbel consisted of three ranks and the Echo Cornet had the same compass as the Hauptwerk Cornet, the total number of 2556 Wagner pipes appears correct (Table 1).
The more difficult task is to find out what happened in the course of the conversion. (An “after” stoplist is shown in Table 13.) After all these pipe relocations, would we get a total of 1001 remaining pipes? At first, the report tells us which ranks stayed, which were removed, and which were partly or wholly relocated. For a whole new rank or stop in another pitch, Vogler needed to take out pipes from two ranks, one rank providing the majority of pipes for the upper octaves, and another rank at least for the lowest octave. The conversions can be described as follows. Sometimes there is more than one solution—in this case, only one is given.

Conversion 1
To achieve a 32′ sound, Vogler created a new Groß-Nasat 102⁄3′ on the Hauptwerk. He took the bottom octave from the Pedal Quinte 51⁄3′ and had it stopped to transpose the pitch an octave lower. The Hauptwerk Gamba 8′ supplied the rest of the rank. Since the lowest octave was taken from the same range, the missing C# did not cause a problem (Table 2).

Conversion 2
For a new discant stop, it was sufficient to take the corresponding section from one old stop. In this manner, part of the Spitzflöte 4′ became a new Terzflöte 31⁄5′ to support the 16′ sound at the Hauptwerk (Table 3).

Conversion 3
To ascertain the number of both remaining and removed pipes, one must keep in mind that the key for C-sharp did not exist. If a section of a rank were relocated to the bottom octave, then the pipe that would take the place of the bottom C-sharp must be included in the number of removed pipes. When creating the Klein-Nasat 51⁄3′ for the support of the 16′ sound of the Hauptwerk, the bottom G-sharp from the Gedackt 8′ of the Oberwerk was superfluous. Vogler took the rest of the rank from the Hinterwerk Oktav 2′ (Table 4).

Conversion 4
Except for the bottom octave, the Oberwerk Nasat 22⁄3′ provided the pipes for the new Hinterwerk Terz 31⁄5′. The bottom octave came from the Rohrflöte of the Hauptwerk; the pipe for the note f° became superfluous due to the non-existing key for the bottom C-sharp (Table 5).

Conversion 5
According to David and his sources, the new Vox humana 16′ started at tenor C. It is more plausible that it had the compass c1–c3. First, in order to meet 1001 as the total number of used pipes, all five discant stops could have comprised only two octaves or 25 keys each. Second, to change the Vox humana 8′ to a 16-foot stop, Vogler would have had the problem of a gap in the tenor octave caused by the missing C-sharp (Table 6).

Conversion 6
The conversion of the Hauptwerk Quintade 8′ to the Pedal Quintatön 4′ caused one superfluous pipe because of the missing C-sharp key (Table 7).

Conversion 7
There are a limited number of possiblities of how Vogler could have changed the Echo cornet of the Hinterwerk into the two pedal stops Nachthorn 2′ and Blockflöte 1′. This given solution takes the pipes only from the octave ranks. The actual conversion depended on the scaling of the rank (Table 8).

Conversion 8
To convert the Pedal Trompete 8′ into a Dulcian 32′ for the Hinterwerk, Vogler probably did not build a new pipe for the missing C-sharp. He could have shifted all pipes above C and tuned them a half tone lower. This is supported by the given number of pipes, otherwise there would be a difference of one pipe in the total numbers before and after the conversion (Table 9).

Conversion 9
While David names precisely from his sources the stops that were used in the other conversions, the creation of the Oberwerk Quinte 22⁄3′ is described only as “taken from the Hinterwerk.” This is logical because not one single stop remained in the Hinterwerk to put together a complete discant stop. Fitting to the Octave 4′, Vogler could have used the rest of the Octave 2′ (Table 10).

Conversion completed
An overview of all conversions shows the complete deforestation (Table 11). Diagonal arrows indicate direct relocation, straight and edged lines stand for relocations where pipes were taken from more than one stop. 535 pipes evaded relocation (white bars), 466 pipes changed into another division (grey bars); therefore a total number of 1001 pipes remained. Ranks and those parts that were not used anymore appear as free space.

Stories and Tellers
The overview (Table 12) shows the stops that were partially used or completely unused. The question of their whereabouts will probably never be settled. The Catholic priest Vogler donated, according to David, the pipes to the Catholic Church St. Hedwig. The Catholics were a minority, and their church was in need of spiritual and financial support. Consecrated in 1773, the edifice was completed only in 1887. Today having the status of a cathedral, St. Hedwig was the only Catholic church in Berlin until 1844.
Sieling has pointed out that a preacher named Rütschel complained that Vogler had cheated St. Mary’s out of the beautiful organ, taking out the best pipes, selling them to St. Hedwig, and replacing them with pipes of lesser quality.9 The priest was Dr. Georg Carl Benjamin Ritschl (1783–1858), who held the position of a preacher at St. Mary’s at that time.10 Ritschl poured his heart out to Julius Beer, the nephew of the famous opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Beer in turn told the story to his uncle in a letter as a warning against Vogler. Ritschl had noticed the difference in sound, but not known what had actually happened. As shown above, Vogler either removed pipes or kept pipes in the instrument.
In 1888, Karl Emil von Schafhäutl, an engineer by profession and organ expert by avocation, tells again something different.11 Vogler reportedly used the superfluous pipes to erect a new organ in St. Hedwig, completing the instrument at his own expense. Schafhäutl, a declared supporter of Vogler and his ideas, obviously exaggerated in his account in order to combat the rumor that Vogler, according to Schafhäutl being the envy of many, had been accused of stealing the removed pipes.
Another source also mentions that the organ at St. Hedwig’s had been enlarged and rebuilt at the expense of the renowned Abbé Vogler.12 On the contrary, A. W. Bach, organist at St. Mary’s, opined that Vogler had, through his machinations, built several organs, among them the instrument of St. Hedwig, at the expense of no less than the Prussian king himself.13 Pape mentions that St. Hedwig, formerly equipped with an organ of only 10 stops, got a new instrument in 1801.14 In this year, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reports that the Prussian king had commissioned Vogler to built a new organ in Neu-Ruppin (probably providing the mentioned 20,000 Prussian Taler for this purpose), while Vogler had been successful in establishing a budget for a new organ at St. Hedwig’s through the support of the Berlin people, acquiring 1600 pipes from the organ at St. Mary’s.15

Restoration
Usually a reliable source in his reports about organs, Schafhäutl tends to deviate from the facts as far as Vogler and his significance is concerned. The instrument at St. Mary’s did not remain as an example of Vogler’s ideas without major changes until 1888, as Schafhäutl wants us to believe. The insufficient condition of the instrument was constantly an issue and an example of Vogler’s questionable activities. Already before 1830, a rebuild was carried through by the Berlin organ building company Buchholz. While David gives April 18, 1829 as the date of the contract and quotes Carl August Buchholz (1796–1884) as contract partner,16 Sieling has pointed out that the Prussian organ expert A. W. Bach mentioned Johann Simon Buchholz as party to the contract who, however, died in February 24, 1825.17 Thus, the rebuild could have been taken place even earlier. Pape has been successful in discovering hints to three receipts in files of the Berlin municipal office. According to notifications on overdue fees, the organ builder Johann Simon Buchholz received three major payments in 1814 and 1815. Pape assumes that the organ had already been restored almost back to its original state when, in 1829, Carl August Buchholz carried out some work, not only cleaning and repair, but also changing some stops.18
Following is a comparison of the stoplists of the Wagner organ, the Vogler organ, and the state of the instrument after the work of the Buchholz company.19 Asterisks mark those restored stops that are said to have been given to St. Hedwig. The spelling of the stops is according to Seidel, who quotes A. W. Bach himself as his source (Table 13).
There were a few changes by Buchholz compared to the original Wagner organ. The rebuild must have been larger in the Unterwerk and Pedal due to space requirements of the lower stops.

Hauptmanual
All stops remained or were installed according to the original stoplist

Oberwerk
Mixtur IV — split in bass and discant, omitting the Terz
Vox humana 8′ — Fagott-Hautbois, split in bass and discant

Unterwerk
Waldflöte 2′ — Gemshorn 8′
Quinte 11⁄3′ — Salizional 8′
Cimbel 1′ — Liebliche Flöte 4′
Echo 5r. — Nassard 22⁄3′

Pedal
Mixtur VI — Subbaß 16′
Quinta 6′ — Groß-Nassard 102⁄3′
Baßflöte 8’ (from Vogler’s
Hauptmanual?)
Trompete 8′ — Posaune 32′

What actually happened in the course of the conversion and restoration will probably never be discovered due to the sparse and divergent evidence in the sources. At any rate, the pipes and ranks at St. Mary’s that became superfluous fall into two groups. As listed above, there were the remains of the ranks from which Vogler created new stops, and then there were 12 completely unused stops. Even a thirteenth stop could be added: If conversion 7 had been carried through as assumed, a discant Sesquialtera II would have remained from the Echo cornet on the Hinterwerk. Except for the Pedal Mixture, the stoplist of the restored organ shows again all these stops taken out by Vogler. It could be correct that those ranks were moved back to St. Mary. Why, however, should they have come back when they had been sold or donated in order to serve in a new organ at St. Hedwig?
The identical names of the restored stops do not necessarily mean that original Wagner pipes took their accustomed place. After further rebuilds in 1892/93 and during the 20th century, it had to be realized during the organ restoration in 2001 that there was not one stop that consisted only of Wagner pipes. The company Daniel Kern Manufactures d’Orgues finally built a new instrument into the renovated organ case with the incorporation of all Wagner pipes according to their scaling.20 On the one hand, pipes might have come back from St. Hedwig’s. Today we find in some of the completely removed or dismantled stops historical Wagner pipes:
Hauptwerk: Rohrflöte 8′, Cornet V, Scharf V, Cimbel III
Oberwerk: Octav 2′
Hinterwerk: Quintadena 8′, Octav 4′, Echo V
Pedal: Octav 4′, Mixtur VI

On the other hand, pipes might have never come back from St. Hedwig’s. The total number of Wagner pipes today is 823, that is, 178 pipes less than the 1001-pipe organ after Vogler’s simplification. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. Among the removed pipes there was certainly a surplus of high-pitch ranks, and probably not all of them were used at St. Hedwig’s. The Hauptwerk Scharf seems to be a candidate for this possibility. All its 240 pipes were given away; today it contains 149 (~62%) old pipes.

Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847) composed all of his early works between 1820 and 1823, during the tenure of his organ teacher A. W. Bach at the Vogler organ of St. Mary’s. In Bach’s organ works we find dynamic markings for both a swell and a stop crescendo as special effects. A stop crescendo is described for the first time 1798 in the organ method of Justin Heinrich Knecht (1752–1817). Swell devices for dynamic flexibility were new in Germany and an issue in music and instrument periodicals. In February 1799 of the first volume of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, an article explains Vogler’s Simplifikationssystem and the various existing swell systems. Besides those working with shutters in the front and on the roof of the swell box, the wind swell and the progression swell are explained, the former working with variable wind pressure, the latter meaning a stop crescendo device. Other articles followed in 1821 and 1823, for example Ueber die Crescendo- und Diminuendo-Züge in Orgeln by the music director and organ expert Friedrich Wilke. Readers were informed about the invention of the dynamically flexible free reeds, which remain stable in pitch despite changing wind pressure.21
In all of Mendelssohn’s organ works the designation crescendo appears only once22—at the beginning of his first completed organ work, the Prelude in D Minor. Was the opening inspired by Vogler’s swell in the organ of St. Mary’s? First bars played on the Hinterwerk, opening the swell during the crescendo, manual change at the mezzoforte (apart from other possibilities with a registrant)? Rich foundational sound, which would have pleased Vogler, was achieved by doubling the chords (Example 3).

Coda
Whoever gets hold of Vogler should cross-examine him asking a few awkward questions. Did the Catholic priest launch the simplification of the Wagner organ at St. Mary’s Lutheran in order to harvest pipes for a new Catholic organ? If the pipes were sold, who received the money? Why did the Catholics pay money for the pipes when others considered Vogler as their donor? And why was he considered as a donor when the pipes belonged to St. Mary’s? Maybe we can negotiate getting at least names from him. Did the Lutherans know in advance that 60% of their organ pipes would go to the Catholics? Quite some questions, but musically not relevant. So we leave possible answers to others and return to the inspiring music scores of Mendelssohn.

Aldo J. Baggia is Chairman of the Department of Modern Languages and Instructor in French, Spanish, German and Italian at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Iona College and the MA from Middlebury College, and has completed graduate work at Laval University and Duke University. He has pursued postgraduate studies in France, Germany, Austria, and Spain, and has travelled extensively in Europe. He has written numerous opera reviews for Quarterly Opera Review, Opera, Opera News, Orpheus, and Monsalvat.

Our guide book on Saxony in Germany indicated that no. 2 in Kleinbobritzsch was the house where the celebrated organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann, was born. I thought it was interesting that the town was so small that this address was sufficient to find the house, and indeed it is. Kleinbobritzsch, in effect, has one street and is in a line of small villages a few kilometers from Frauenstein where his family moved two years after his birth in 1683. One goes through Niederbobritzsch and Oberbobritzsch and therefore we have a "Lower," "Upper," and "Small" Bobritzsch but no town of Bobritzsch itself. Silbermann left Saxony for a short time to study the trade of organ building with his brother Andreas in Strasbourg and after a few years in France he returned to Saxony in 1710 and built his first organ for the Stadtkirche in Frauenstein in 1711. That organ was destroyed in a city fire in 1728.

It is amazing that, with such little experience, he was given the contract to build the large 3-manual organ for the Cathedral in Freiberg in 1711. He relocated to a house at the current Schloßplatz in Freiberg, which is only twenty kilometers from Frauenstein, and this became his living quarters and workshop until his death in 1753. He remained dedicated to Saxony during his entire life and was quoted at the time of building his first organ for the church in Frauenstein that he was doing it for his "country, the honor of God and the love of the church."

Silbermann was high on my list of interests in planning a trip to Saxony  this past summer. People are acquainted with his organ in the Cathedral of Freiberg (III/45), at least by reputation, but few have had the opportunity to see and hear a number of his other organs in the old province. Political considerations made trips to the former German Democratic Republic difficult, and it has only been in recent years that road conditions have been sufficiently upgraded in order to make travel in the former East Germany bearable. Four years ago I spent two months in Germany as part of a sabbatical year and drove through parts of the provinces of  Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen and found the roads to be in a deplorable state. That is no longer the case.

Werner Müller in his book Auf den Spuren von Gottfried Silbermann points out that Silbermann made forty-eight organs and that the last one attributed to him, the large 3-manual in the Katholische Hofkirche in Dresden (the Cathedral), was finished by his associates, one of whom was Zacharias Hildebrandt, who subsequently became quite well known for the organ in the Wenzelkirche in Naumburg (Thüringen).   The Dresdner Hofkirche organ was stored for safe keeping in 1944 and therefore survived the bombing of  the city  in February, 1945.   At the time the case was destroyed, and the present one is a copy of the original. The organ was restored by the Jehmlich Brothers of Dresden and re-dedicated in 1971.

Other Silbermann organs have also been  destroyed by fires, either in the Second World War or in other wars such as the Seven Years War in the eighteenth century. The famous organ in the Frauenkirche in Dresden (III/45) was destroyed in the bombing of 1945 as was the organ of the Sophienkirche (II/31). The large organ of the Johanniskirche in Zittau (III/44) was destroyed in the Seven Years War in 1757

Silbermann had the lofty title of  "Königlich-polnischer und kurfürstlich-sächsischer Hof- und Landorgelbauer," which translates as "Organ builder to the Courts of the King of Poland and the Elector of the State of Saxony." Saxony was his homeland and all of his organs with the exception of those in Burgk, Greiz, Lebusa and Großmehlen,  were built for churches there. Even those four towns were on Saxony's borders. Saxony is primarily Lutheran country and with the exception of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Dresden, the churches with his organs are generally the Stadtkirche (the city church) or the Dorfkirche (the village church), both of which would be the local Lutheran church of a particular town.   The architecture of all of these churches tends to be similar and the differences that exist in their layout are primarily those of size. There would be a central tower of considerable mass in the larger ones such as the churches in Sayda, Großhartmannsdorf and Oederan and a narrower one as at St. Petri in Rochlitz and all would be topped with some variation of an onion bulb under a cross. The massive Cathedral in Freiberg is basically a gothic construction that has two imposing towers that are squared and shaved at the top. The original Lady Chapel is pure gothic and the nave with its high arches is typical of other churches in Saxony. The south chancel portal is the elaborately sculptured "Goldene Pforte" which is now protected from the elements by a wooden foyer which completely encloses it.  A life-size replica of it can be seen at the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University. It was moved from the western side of the Cathedral in 1487 and covered during the renovation work of 1827-36. The Annenkirche in Annaberg-Buchholz, St. Aegidien in Oschatz, the Cathedral in Zwickau and the Marienkirche in Pirna have similar interiors insofar as the nave and aisles are concerned. These four churches are among the largest in Saxony and are architectural gems that survived the Second World War, but while they deserve a visit, they were never associated with Silbermann.

Freiberg itself is a treasure chest for anyone interested in Silbermann's organs since four of those extant are located there. Besides the two in the Dom, there are the (II/32) of 1735 in St. Petri and the (II/20) of 1716 in the Jakobikirche, the latter having been transferred to the current church which was built in 1892. In both examples the cases are the original ones and the case of the Jakobikirche carries the State of Arms of Saxony at the top because it was built by the municipal carpenter of Freiberg, Elias Lindner, in 1718. The Petrikirche organ, which also carries the Arms of Saxony, is considered important because it points the way to Silbermann's later ideas on organ building while the Dom organ of 1711, which was his second organ, was the fruit of  his earlier ideas. The Petrikirche organ was built between 1733 and 1735 and achieves a majestic sound that fulfils the desires of the later baroque era. It was his first organ with a 16¢ Principal in the Hauptwerk and is particularly important from that point of view because the organs in the Frauenkirche in Dresden and the Johanniskirche in Zittau, which were both larger and  more developed, have not survived.

Most of Silbermann's organs were one- or two-manual instruments of 12 to 20 stops, and the one-manual organ of 14 stops from St. Johannis in Freiberg was moved to the north chancel of the Dom in 1939 and very recently restored. It was featured in the five concerts that I attended this summer in Freiberg and was a very good example of what one expects from a Silbermann organ, i.e., a clarity of sound, particularly in the flutes, and a variety of color that is very appropriate for expressive music. It also has a power that one would not expect from a one-manual organ. Obviously the superb acoustics of the Dom have a lot to do with the sound that is produced. The west tower organ has a brilliance and clarity that really stand out. The case of the large organ is magnificent by any standards and when Dr. Felix Friedrich from the Altenburger Schloßkirche launched into Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor in the concert of August 13th, the sound of the instrument, the beauty of the church, and the piece itself made it a truly magical experience.

I was interested in hearing the organ in more modern music to see what its range would be and how it would sound when compared to much larger symphonic instruments such as those of E.M. Skinner or Henry Willis III.  Some nineteenth- and twentieth-century pieces were programmed and there was no difficulty in producing the necessary sound mass that one would associate with such music. Kent Tritle from St. Ignatius in New York City played George Crumb's Pastoral Drone, Ned Rorem's Views from the Oldest House and Mendelssohn's Sonata in C Minor, op. 65. Dr. Friedrich from Altenburg played Eberhard Böttcher's Choralvorspiel und Fuge über Veni creator spiritus and Friedrich Metzler's 3 Choralvorspiele aus dem Choralkreis. Stephan Leuthold from Dresden, who was the winner of the Gottfried-Silbermann competition in 1997, finished up his concert with Gustav Merkel's Sonata in D, op. 118. In general the other works played by all of these organists were by Bach or his contemporaries.

It so happened that the organ (II/19) in the Dorfkirche in Nassau celebrated its 250th anniversary on August 2nd and there were a number of activities associated with its re-dedication during the course of the ensuing week. The Jehmlich Company of Dresden was hired to do the restoration and Stephan Leuthold was the organist for the final concert of the week on August 9th. He closed his program with Schumann's Fuge Nr. 1 über BACH, op. 60 and Rheinberger's Sonata in A, op. 98. These are pieces that require a flexibility of  registrations and a certain amount of power, and there was no difficulty in the organ's ability to sustain the sounds required. The serious drawback was the lack of good acoustics in the building which had practically no reverberation at all. It is a very small church with a low ceiling and the sound is deadened even though the interior is entirely made of wood. As such, the amplitude and majesty that one hears in the Dom or in the Petrikirche in Freiberg were completely absent. The restoration of this organ was financed by a retired teacher and organ aficionado, Hubert Hofer, who supported the restoration of the Silbermann organs in Frankenstein, Großmehlen, Glauchau and Zöblitz. He was quoted in an article in the Freiberg edition of the Freie Presse as saying: "I have spent my lifetime in a simple and frugal way and have developed my great love for the organ. Gottfried Silbermann's organs are close to my heart because they are, as I would say, unequalled in their sound and manner of construction."

The one two-manual that really stood out in my mind was the organ at Oederan, which is a small town about 14 kilometers west of Freiberg and on the road to Chemnitz. The Stadtkirche is very large and the (II/25) instrument has a very impressive sound of clarity and grandeur. The contract was written in 1724 and the dedication took place on May 25th, 1727. The organ was kept in its original state until the middle of the 19th century by Silbermann's successors. When the church was renovated in 1890-92, a neo-gothic case was built to go with the changes in the interior. At the same time the Jehmlich Company of Dresden did some re-building of the instrument and further work was done in 1968 by the Eule Orgelbau Firma of Bautzen. The Eule Company did a complete restoration of the organ in 1992-93 with the intention of putting it in its original condition, i.e., meeting the technical and acoustical levels that Silbermann had achieved. Although Silbermann's organs are generally associated with Bach, one should note that Silbermann had never followed the customs of other German builders with respect to his stoplist and tuning and his organs represent a combination of German and French principles. Unless the tuning were changed, one would, in theory, play Bach's music "imperfectly" on a Silbermann organ, even though Bach had a great interest in the French school of organ building.

In his book, Organ, Arthur Wills stresses the point that Silbermann's organ at Fraureuth represents a good example of the blending of the German and French elements in organ building.    On the Ars Vivendi label there is a fine recording of Bach's Toccata, Adagio und Fuge C-dur BWV 564 by Johannes-Ernst Köhler on the Fraureuth organ (11/20), which was built between 1739 and 1742. There is a great variety of color, and the tone is absolutely beautiful.

I attended a recital in Oederan on Thursday, July 23rd, and the only disappointment was that there were only four people in the church, including my wife and me.   The organist played some variations by Johann Gottfried Walther and the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach and the results were most impressive. The acoustics of the church are outstanding and the depths of expression that one heard were remarkable.     This is an organ that would easily stand side by side with larger instruments for its capacity to inspire, and its sound is truly unique.

About thirty of Silbermann's organs are still extant, and it is extraordinary to consider that these organs are more than 250 years old, even with the understanding that some rebuilding has been done on all of them. Silbermann's influence on other organ builders has continued to the present time, particularly with respect to the manufacturing of the pipes. Friedrich Ladegast had remarked when building the large organ for the Schloßkirche in Wittenberg in 1858 that the pipes should be fashioned "nach Silbermann'schen Methoden," the meaning of which is quite evident.

This was a wonderful discovery and one that is waiting for other friends of the organ.

Alexander Fiseisky, born in Moscow, is one of the most famous and influential organists in Russia. He graduated with distinction from the Moscow Conservatoire as pianist and organist. He is an organ soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic Society, head of the organ class at the Russian Gnessins’ Academy of Music in Moscow, and president of the Vladimir Odoyevsky Organ Center. He organized and served as artistic director for organ festivals in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, and Tallinn, among others. In 1997 he was honored by President Yeltsin with the title ‘Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation’. Fiseisky has given concerts in more than 30 countries. In the Bach Anniversary Year of 2000 he played J. S. Bach’s entire organ works, twice in the context of EXPO 2000 in Hannover, and once in a single day in Düsseldorf as a Bach Marathon. Sought after as a juror in international competitions, he has directed seminars and masterclasses in Europe and the USA. He is the dedicatee of numerous compositions, including works by Mikhail Kollontai, Vladimir Ryabov, Milena Aroutyunova, and Walther Erbacher. A musicologist, he has edited anthologies of organ music of Russia and of the Baltics (Bärenreiter-Verlag). He has many recordings to his credit, including the complete organ works of J. S. Bach.

1. Historical Sketch
Until the 13th century, the indigenous people of the territories of modern Estonia suffered numerous invasions from the West, the South, and the East. Nevertheless, they were able to keep their independence, and the Estonian language emerged in the sixth century. During the 13th and 14th centuries the Estonians were Christianized, in the course of which the southern parts of Estonia were divided in 1224 between the German Schwertbrüderorden (a military-religious order) and the bishops of Dorpat and Ösel. The northern part of the country, together with the city of Reval (Tallinn) founded by German merchants in 1230, was under Danish rule from 1238 to 1346.
The country was ruled by the Teutonic Knights and local bishops, who were supported by the merchants of the towns and the landed gentry. This ruling class was almost entirely ethnic German, and the native Estonian farmers fell by degrees into bondage. The church, showing no interest in the Estonian language, had only limited influence on the local people until the Reformation, when, during the 1520s, the Estonian people began to take a more active part in church life.
As a result of the Livonian war (1558–83), the Order of the Teutonic Knights collapsed. The northern part of Estonia was occupied by Sweden, the southern part brought under Polish–Lithuanian rule, while the island of Saaremaa remained Danish. From 1645, all Estonian territory was under Swedish jurisdiction. After the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War (1700–21), which was accompanied by a devastating plague, Estonia fell under Russian rule, remaining a part of the Russian Empire until 1917.
Under these circumstances, Estonian culture always developed under the influence of the ruling nations, that of the Germans being particularly strong. The Baltic German aristocracy, the clergy, and the merchants of the Hanseatic League maintained their privileged position in Estonian society, even when the Baltic territories were controlled by Poland, Sweden, or Russia. The church’s administration in Lutheran Estonia from the 16th century until Estonia’s declaration of independence in 1918 was, for instance, always headed by Germans.

2. Organs in Estonia from the 13th to the 16th century
Early Estonian music developed in monasteries and church schools, founded even during the subjugation of the Estonian tribes by foreign invaders. Twelfth-century unison church hymns written in neume notation can be found in liturgy books preserved in the Tallinn City Archives. In 13th-century sources, the main churches of Tallinn are mentioned for the first time: the Cathedral of St. Mary (1219); St. Nicholas’ Church (1230); and St. Olai’s Church (1267). It is evident that organs began to spread in parallel with the growing influence of the church in Estonia. However, the first documented reference to organs in Estonian territories dates only from 1329: in Paistu and Helme (northern Livonia) organs were destroyed by enemy action.1 Some years later (1341), an organist working for a church in Tallinn is mentioned.2
After the great fire, which almost completely destroyed Tallinn on 11 May 1433, a new organ was built in St. Nicholas’ Church (Niguliste) by the organ builder “Orgelmaker” Albrecht; it was later rebuilt in 1489 by Hermann Stüwe from Wismar and six assistants. Most of the organ builders working in Estonia during this period came from the Hanseatic cities of North Germany. Around 1500, the church of St. Nicholas, the largest and wealthiest church in the influential Hanseatic city of Tallinn, boasted a total of three organs3: the first on the west wall; the second in St. Antonius’ chapel; and the third in the chancel, built in 1502 by the local organ builder and Dominican monk Peter Schmidt.4 Tradition hands down the name of one more local “Maker of Organs”: Yllies. His name is mentioned in the report of the treasurer of St. Olai’s Church (Oleviste) in 1540.5
A new organ in St. Nicholas’ Church was built in 1547 by a certain “Meister Hans.” In 1584 this organ was enlarged by the organ builder Bartolt (Bartold) Fiehoff (Viehoff, Fehoff)6 and fitted with a Rückpositiv.7 Between 1588 and 1590 the same builder built an organ of 38 stops for St. Olai’s Church.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, positive organs became fashionable among the wealthier nobility, citizens, and town officials. For instance, in 1499 the “Domherr” and “Stadtschreiber” (Town Clerk) Magister Christianus Czernekow bequeathed his positive organ to the organist Matthias: “ . . . Item domino Mathie, organiste in summo, positivum stantem in camera mea . . .”8 The above-mentioned Bartolt Fiehoff also built a positive organ in 1585–86 for the church of St. Johannis in Tartu (Dorpat).
With the spread of Protestantism, church music in Estonia acquired new significance. Lutheran hymns, accompanied by the organ, became the musical basis of the liturgy. Following the guidelines of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon about education, the Latin school at St. Olai’s Church in Tallinn was reorganized in 1528 as a Lutheran town school (Stadtschule). Its curriculum included basic studies of Protestant music. Choral singing was practiced under the direction of the Kantor—a special teacher who also became responsible for the musical accompaniment of the church services. Gradually the Kantors became the main figures in the cities’ music life. The first Protestant Kantor in Tallinn whose name has come down to us was Petrus Mellin (1531–2).
After the Reformation, the Tallinn churches of St. Nicholas and St. Olai became the focus of cultural life. In the second half of the 16th century, the choir of St. Nicholas’ Church, consisting of about 50 members, performed vocal music from handwritten Kantionalien (liturgical books) by Lukas Lossius, Jacob Meiland, Melchior Vulpius, Hieronymus Praetorius, and others.

3. Culture, religion and musical life in the 17th and 18th centuries
In 1630, the Swedish King Gustavus Adolfus II established a Gymnasium in Tartu for the purpose of strengthening Protestantism. Two years later this Gymnasium was transformed into a university (Academia Gustaviana) and became the most important center of cultural life in Estonia. In Tartu, for the first time in the history of the country, the music of an Estonian folk song was printed (Friedrich Menius, Syntagma de origine livonorum, Dorpat 1635). Another important publication appeared in Tartu in 1640, the Oratio de musica of Jacob Lotichius, who later became the Kantor of the Cathedral School in Riga (Latvia). Concerts and theatrical performances regularly took place in the University of Tartu.
The churches continued to be centers of musical life, the concerts that regularly took place there being contributed by choir, organ, solo singers, and the musicians in the service of the town. It should be noted that organists in Estonia maintained a privileged position compared with town musicians. While the latter received a payment of 20 Taler per year (with three tons of rye and other food in addition), the organists of the Tallinn churches of St. Nicholas and St. Olai in the middle of the 17th century received 100 Taler a year (as well as accommodation and other benefits).9
Much attention was paid to church music; for instance, St. Johannis, the main church in Tartu, employed two organists in the 1680s—one of them, the cantor figuralis, being responsible for the choir, the other, the cantor choralis, for hymn singing.
Use of the Estonian language had also grown. The first attempts at translating Lutheran hymns into Estonian had already been made in the 16th century, while the earliest surviving historical source in the Estonian language is Pastor Henrico Stahl’s anthology of religious hymns, Hand- und Haußbuch Für die Pfarherren und Haußväter Esthnischen Fürstenthumbs (Handbook and Domestic Book for the Clergy and Nobility in Estonia, 1632–38). The first collection of music was published in Estonia (in 1637) by Tallinn’s Gymnasium (founded in 1631 by Gustavus Adolfus II). From the end of the 17th century, lessons at schools were increasingly held in the mother tongue. The New Testament was translated into Estonian in 1686, followed by the entire Bible in 1739.
Country parish churches established the post of sacristan (Küster in German, köster in Estonian), whose duties included instructing young people in reading and writing, prayers, and singing hymns. In 1684 Bengt Gottfried Forselius founded a seminary near Tartu to train young people for such posts, and from the 19th century the köster was also the village schoolmaster and organist.
A tendency towards secular influences is noticeable in the art and religious life of that time. The decorative depiction of saints on organ cases was replaced by allegories from non-religious art. The organ gallery in the chancel of St. Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn, finished in 1639, was decorated with seven wooden sculptures. The “Allegory of Music” was placed in the middle between six other female figures. Together they portrayed the seven fine arts (septem artes liberales).
Important among organ builders working in Estonia at this time were Johannes Pauli (Pawels, Paulus) from Riga, who built and repaired several organs in Tallinn and Kuressaare (Arensburg) between 1611 and 1644, the Swede Andres Bruse (mid-17th century), and above all Christopher Meinecke (Christoff Mencke) from Lübeck, who, working first with Bruse, was active in Tartu until 1645, and from 1660 in Tallinn (St. Nicholas, III/P/3010, 1668).

Tallinn, St. Nicholas’ Church
Christopher Meinecke (Christoff Mencke), 1668 (does not exist)
HAUPTWERK (upper manual)
16' Principal
16' Quinta-Thön
8' Octava
8' Rohrflöte (4'')
4' Super-Octava
2' Rausch-Pfeife
Mixtur IV–V
16' Trommet
8' Trommet
RÜCKPOSITIV (lower manual)
8' Principal
8' Gedackt
4' Octava
4' Gedackt
Tertian II
Scharf III
8' Krumbhorn
8' Dulcian
BRUSTWERK (played from the upper manual)
8' Quinta-Thön
4' Gedackt
2' Octava
Sesquialtera II
8' Regal
PEDAL
16' Untersatz
8' Octava
8' Gedackt
4' Gedackt
16' Posaune
16' Fagotto
8' Trommet
4' Cornet

Tremolo
Koppel

Sources:
Leonid Rojman, Organnaja kul’tura 'stonii [The Organ Culture of Estonia], Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo [State Musical Publishing House] 1960, p. 84.
Hugo Lepnurm, Istorija organa i organnoj muzyki, Kazan’ 1999, p. 74 (translation of the Estonian original “Oreli ja orelimuusika ajaloost,” Tallinn 1971 [“On the History of the Organ and Organ Music”]).
During the Great Northern War (1700–21), almost all organs in the Estonian territories were destroyed. There is a reference to only one organ preserved in a small church in Mänspä on the island of Hiiumaa (Dagö), built by an unknown organ builder at the beginning of the 18th century. After the war and until the end of the century, most of the existing organs were in poor condition because of the country’s extraordinary poverty. Only a few installations or renovations of organs are known; Gottfried Kloos (Clossen, Klossen, Kloss, died 1740), an organ builder from Danzig, installed a Vox humana stop and a Zimbelstern in the main organ of St. Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn (1720–21).
In the 1780s, the organ builder Johann Friedrich Gräbner from Bremen, who later became a citizen of Tallinn, began working in Estonia. He also built harpsichords, clavichords, lutes, harps and fortepianos. In April 1789, he visited St. Petersburg and handed over plans for two organs with 45 and 60 stops to Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potyomkin (1739–91). Shortly before that, he had finished an organ for the Cathedral of St. Mary in Tallinn and brought a report about his work to St. Petersburg:

We, the undersigned members of the council of the church “de la Noblesse” and the Cathedral, certify by this document that Johann Friedrich Gräbner, an organ builder, designed and built a wonderful and majestic organ [ . . . ], which gained the endorsement of all experts.11
The most famous organ builder in the Baltics in the 18th century was Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708–92). Between 1764 and 1771, he built a new organ in St. Olai, Tallinn (III/P/60)12 (Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart gives the starting date as 176713). Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler played this organ on his way from Stockholm to Moscow in 1787; according to his report he “never encountered a better organ.”14
Contius’s son-in-law, Johann Andreas Stein (1752–1821), born in Karlsruhe, established his own workshop in Pärnu (Pernau) at the end of the century. In 1805, he installed an organ in the church of Kihelkonna on the island Saaremaa. This instrument, with a case in the late rococo style, is the oldest church organ in Estonia still preserved.

The Church of Kihelkonna
Johann Andreas Stein, I/P/14 (Pärnu), 1805
Friedrich Weissenborn, II. Manual (J'kabpils [Jacobstadt], Latvia), 1890
I. MANUAL (C–f³)
16' Bourdon
8' Principal
8' Gedackt
8' Gamba
4' Octave
4' Flöte
2 2/3' Quint
2' Octave
Mixtur II–III
8' Trompete
II. MANUAL (C–f³)
8' Geigenprincipal
8' Hohlflöte
8' Piano
4' Geigenprincipal
PEDAL (C–c¹)
16' Subbass
8' Principalbass
4' Octave
8' Posaune

II/I, I/Ped.
II. Manual in Swell Box

Sources:
Leonid Rojman, Organnaja kul’tura 'stonii [The Organ Culture of Estonia], Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo [State Musical Publishing House] 1960, p. 85.
Andreas Uibo and Jüri Kuuskemaa, Historical Organs in Estonia, Lilienthal/Bremen (Eres Edition 2408) 1994, p. 72.
Among the foremost musicians in 17th-century Estonia was Johann Valentin Meder (1649–1719). Born in Wassungen on the Werra, he worked as a Kantor in the Tallinn Gymnasium (1674–83), and was a prolific composer. The first performance of his Singspiel Die beständige Argenia took place in Tallinn in 1680.
Notable contributions to the development of the art of the organ in Estonia were also made by Erasmus Pogatz (organist at St. Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn 1583–1630), Christopher Asmes (organist at St. Olai’s Church in the first half of the 17th century), and representatives of the Busbetzky musical dynasty. The most important of the latter was Ludwig Busbetzky, a pupil of Dietrich Buxtehude and from 1687 to 1699 organist at the German church in Narva.
Playing the organ became widespread in private homes from the middle of the 17th century. Organists were evidently invited to play at weddings there, for in 1665 a special decree was issued by the Tallinn Magistracy emphasizing that: “ . . . at weddings of housemaids only two musicians and an organist should play, and each of them should receive two Taler for his work.” In 1777, August Wilhelm Hupel, a member of the Independent Economics Society founded in St. Petersburg in 1765, wrote about organists coming from rural families: “ . . . our farmers are not completely without a musical ear: nobles have sent them to study and now they can satisfactorily accompany dances.”15
Musical life became more active in the second half of the 18th century, when it became fashionable to take music lessons and to give concerts in private homes. One instrument that was probably played on such occasions, a positive organ built by Johann Karl Thal from Antsla (I/2, 1795), is now exhibited in the Theatre and Music Museum in Tallinn.
Established by Carl Christian Aghte, the Hündelberger Theater-Kompanie (1776–82) performed the first Singspiels under his direction. In 1784, August von Kotzebue founded the Tallinn Liebhaber-Theater, known from 1809 as the Staendiges (“Permanent”) Theatre, where such works as Mozart’s operas Die Zauberflöte (1795') and Don Giovanni (1797) were performed.

4. Estonia in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century
The 19th century brought momentous changes to Estonia. The abolition of serfdom between 1816 and 1819 by Tsar Alexander I (reigned 1801–25) was the decisive step towards liberating the Estonian peasants from the grip of their Baltic German landlords; however, it took several decades before the peasants came into the possession of their farms. In the course of agrarian reform and development of the education system, national self-awareness began to awaken. It was during Alexander II’s reign (1855–81) that the Estonian national movement came into being. Its leaders saw it as their main task to develop Estonia culturally, but step by step the movement became increasingly more political. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Estonians demanded cultural and political autonomy, but the Tsarist government refused any concession. It took the collapse of the Russian Empire to create the conditions for the emergence of an independent Estonia, proclaimed on February 24, 1918.
Against this background, concert-giving activity in Estonia steadily expanded. In Tallinn, compositions of the Viennese classical period were performed, among them Mozart’s Requiem (1814) and Haydn’s Creation (1817). In 1819 and 1821, compositions by Peter Andreas Johann Steinsberg using folk melodies and folk dances were performed in the Estonian language for the first time: Häbbi sellel’, kes petta tahhab (“Shame on One Who Wants to Cheat”) and Krappi kaie willetsus, ehk: Kes paljo lobbiseb, peab paljo wastama (“Krappi Kais’ Need, or: Who Chatters Much Has Much to Answer”).
Many famous musicians performed in Estonia, among them Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Sigismund Thalberg, and Anton Rubinstein, while the conductor Arthur Nikisch brought the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra to Tallinn in 1899.
Among composers particularly active in Estonia in the first half of the 19th century was Johann Friedrich de La Trobe (1769–1845), who came from Chelsea near London. From 1829 he worked as a music teacher in Tartu; in 1834 he conducted Handel’s Alexander’s Feast in St. Johannis Church there with more than a hundred singers, and in 1835 he founded the Tartu Choral Society, to promote the development of choral music in the town. De La Trobe’s works included mainly sacred vocal compositions, as well as piano and chamber music. His son-in-law Woldemar von Bock (1816–1903) studied law in Tartu before living in Riga (1857–66) and afterwards in Quedlinburg. His collection, Chorale Studies for the Organ, was published in Erfurt in 1855.
The surviving organ works of de La Trobe (the Chorale Preludes, 1805, and the Fughettas, 1798, from the early period of his life)—as well as those of von Bock—are of little artistic value.
The national epic poem Kalevipoeg (“Kalev’s Son”) by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, written between 1857 and 1861, became a landmark in Estonian literature. Poetry became the most important genre, represented by Lydia Koidula-Jannsen, Ado Reinwald, Mihkel Veske, Marie Under, and Betti Alver.
In 1841, the pianist Theodor Stein (1819–93) and Ferdinand Johann Wiedermann founded the Musical Society, followed by such associations as the Men’s Choral Society of Reval (1849), the Reval Choral Union (1854), the Harmony (1858), and the Jäkelsche Choral Union (1859). The art of choral performance developed rapidly, reaching its zenith in 1869, when the First Song Festival (Üldlaulupidu) took place in Tartu, involving 1,000 singers and an audience of 15,000. It was initiated by the journalist Johann Voldemar Jannsen (1819–90). Here for the first time choral works by Aleksander Saebelmann-Kunileid (1845–75) were performed, settings of patriotic poems by Lydia Koidula-Jannsen (1843–86): Mu isamaa on minu arm (“My Native Land, My Dearest Love”) and Sind surmani (“I’ll Cherish You till Death”).
In 1827, Eduard Philipp Körber published his Little Estonian Hymnal in the Tartu Dialect (Das kleine ehstnische Choralbuch in Dörptscher ehstnischer Sprache). Soon afterwards, Johann Leberecht Ehregott Punschel (1778–1849) presented the Evangelical Chorale Book Appropriate to German, Latvian and Estonian Hymnbooks in the Russian Baltic Provinces (Evangelische Choralbuch zunächst in Bezug auf die deutschen, lettischen und estnischen Gesangbücher der russischen Ostsee-Provinzen) (Leipzig, 1839). This book included 363 chorales. Its second, extended edition was issued in 1844.
These collections of hymns were complemented by tutorial books in the Estonian language for those who wanted to learn to play the klavier. One of the first books of this kind was the unfinished work by Johann Heinrich Rosenplänter (1782–1846), How One Can Learn to Play the Piano [and the Organ] (Õppetus kuida klawwerit [ja orelit] mängida) (manuscript, 1830).16 A little later, the Saxon Johann August Hagen (1786–1877), who from 1815 was the organist at St. Olai’s Church in Tallinn,17 published his instructive book Instruction on How Singing People, and Whoever Else Wishes, Can Learn to Bring Forth Songs from the Written Notes, in Order to Play Them on the House Organ and to Sing Themselves, As Well As Together with Their Pupils (Õppetus, kuida laulomehhed, ja kes muud tahtwad, joudwad notidest laulo wisid ülleswõtta, lauloerrelatte peäl mängides ja nende järrel lauldes, ni hästi nemmad isse, kui ka nende õppetus lapsed) (Tallinn, 1841). In 1861, a new work by Hagen was published: A Guide to Organ Playing for Those Who Wish to Attain the Position of Country Organist and to Prepare Themselves for It (Juhhataja errela mängimisseks neile, kes maal errela mängimisse ammetid noudwad ja ennast selle wasto tahtwad walmistada); and finally, the textbook of Andreas Erlemann, Instruction in Music (Musika õppetus), was published in 1864, placing special emphasis on the organ.
In addition to these theoretical works by Hagen and Erlemann, the large number of chamber organs built by self-taught enthusiasts had a significant influence on the musical education of the people. As a rule, most of these instruments had only wooden pipes. At the end of the 19th century, hardly any sizable family in Estonia did not possess a chamber organ. Schools contributed much to the spreading of music, as they also possessed organs. Thus the organ in Estonia really became the folk instrument.
Organs of a larger scale were built by Carl Tanton, as well as by the Germans Ernst Kessler and Wilhelm Müllverstedt, who had settled in Tartu. Some of their church organs are still preserved in Kullamaa (C. Tanton, I/P/12, 1854), Otepää (E. Kessler, I/P/12, 1853), Vigala (W. Müllverstedt, II/P/14, 1886), and other Estonian towns.
The Church of Vigala
Wilhelm Müllverstedt, II/P/14. Originally the organ was built for the church of St. Peter in Tartu (1886); was moved to Vigala in 1888.
I. MANUAL (C–f³)
16' Bordun
8' Principal
8' Gedackt
8' Gambe
4' Principal
4' Flöte
4' Spitzflöte
2 2/3' Quinte
2' Octav
Mixtur IV
II. MANUAL (C–f³)
Phisharmonika
PEDAL (C–d¹)
16' Subbass
8' Principal
8' Bassflöte

Calcant
Sperrventil Pedal
Pedal Coupler

Source:
Andreas Uibo and Jüri Kuuskemaa, Historical Organs in Estonia, Lilienthal/Bremen (Eres Edition 2408) 1994, p. 78.

Müllverstedt had often been in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where he repaired and tuned, in particular, the house organ “Sebastianon”18 of the Prince Vladimir Odoyevsky, and the old organ (1889) in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. As Professor Alexander Fyodorovich Goedicke (1877–1957) remembered, in the 1890s the Tartu master regularly visited towns in central Russia to tune and repair organs. There were about 60 organs in Russia in the care of Müllverstedt.19
Gustav Normann (1825–93), a very productive organ builder, was the founder of the “organ building school” in Northern Estonia. He built one of his more significant works for St. Johannis’ Church in Tallinn (III/P/40, 1869).20 Others of his surviving instruments include those in Harju-Madise (I/P/7, 1859) and Simuna (II/P/20, 1886).
Normann’s successors were the father and son Gustav and August Terkmann. Gustav (1855–1911) founded his own organ workshop in Tallinn in 1882 and produced mainly small organs with tracker action for village churches. One of his instruments (II/P/13, 1902) can be seen in Järva-Madise.
His son, organ builder August Terkmann (1885–1940), who had been a trainee of Laukhuff, used pneumatic and electropneumatic action in his instruments. Active in the Estonian countryside, as well as in St. Petersburg, Astrakhan and Simbirsk, he also built some larger organs in Tallinn, in particular for the Estonia concert hall (III/P/56 + 3 borrowed stops, 1913)21 and in St. Johannis’ Church, (III/P/36 + 23 borrowed stops, 1914).22

Tallinn, The Estonia Concert Hall
August Terkmann, III/P/56 + 3 borrowed stops, 1913 (does not exist)
I. MANUAL
16' Principal
8' Principal
8' Seraphon-gambe
8' Hohlflöte
8' Rohrflöte
8' Gemshorn
4' Octave
4' Rohrflöte
2' Octave
2 2/3' Quinte
Mixtur III
8' Trompete
II. MANUAL
16' Bourdun-doux
16' Quintatön
8' Principal
8' Bourdun
8' Quintatön
8' Traversflöte
8' Gamba*
8' Salicional
8' Unda maris
4' Principal
4' Traversflöte
4' Salicional
2' Waldflöte
Cornett III–IV
8' Clarinette
8' Basson
III. MANUAL
16' Lieblichgedackt*
8' Geigenprincipal
8' Gedackt
8' Flauto amabile
8' Gamba
8' Viola d’amour
8' Aeoline
8' Vox celestis
4' Fugare
4' Flauto dolce
2' Flautino
Harmonia aetheria III
Cornett IV
16' Fagott*
8' Trompete
8' Oboe
8' Vox humana
4' Clairon
PEDAL
32' Untersatz
16' Principalbaß
16' Violonbaß
16' Subbaß
16' Gedecktbaß (* Manual III)
8' Octavbaß
8' Cello (* II)
8' Flöte
8' Dolce
4' Flöte
(102'3' Quinte)**
16' Posaune
16' Fagott (* Manual III)

* Borrowed stops
** Thus in the source

Source:
Leonid Rojzman, Organnaja kul’tura 'stonii [The Organ Culture of Estonia], Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo [State Musical Publishing House] 1960, pp. 85–86.

The large German companies were very productive in Estonia, above all
E. F. Walcker & Co. and Wilhelm Sauer. Walcker built two large organs in Tallinn: St. Olai (III/P/65, 1842) and St. Nicholas (III/P/43, 1895). Of the most important Sauer instruments to have been preserved, that in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tallinn, is noteworthy (III/P/71 + 2 borrowed stops, 1914).

Tallinn, Cathedral of St. Mary
Wilhelm Sauer, III/P/71 + 2 borrowed stops (Frankfurt/Oder, Germany), Opus 1171, 1914
I. MANUAL (C–a³)
16' Principal
16' Bordun
8' Principal
8' Gamba
8' Doppelflöte
8' Flauto amabile
8' Quintatön
8' Gemshorn
8' Gedackt
8' Dolce
51'3' Nasard
4' Rohrflöte
4' Gemshorn
4' Octave
2' Waldflöte
Mixtur III
Cornett III
8' Trompete
II. MANUAL (C–a³)
16' Gedackt
16' Salicional
8' Dulciana
8' Rohrflöte
8' Salicional
8' Koncertflöte
8' Viola
8' Flauto traverso
8' Principal
4' Dolce
4' Flauto amabile
4' Principal
2 2/3' Nasard
2' Piccolo
Progress II–III
Cymbel III–IV
8' Klarinette
III. MANUAL (C–a³)
16' Gedackt*
16' Gamba
8' Voix celeste
8' Aeoline
8' Gemshorn
8' Gedackt
8' Viola d’amour
8' Quintatön
8' Flauto amabile*
8' Portunalflöte
8' Schalmei
8' Geigenprincipal
4' Flauto dolce
4' Salicet
4' Fugara
2' Flautino
Harmonia aetheria III
8' Aeolodian
8' Oboe
8' Trompete
PEDAL (C–f¹)
32' Untersatz
16' Lieblich Gedackt (* Manual III)
16' Gemshorn
16' Subbass
16' Quintatön
16' Violon
16' Principal
102'3' Quinte
8' Dulciana (* Manual III)
8' Gemshorn
8' Bassflöte
8' Cello
8' Principal
4' Flauto
4' Principal
16' Posaune
8' Trompete
4' Clairon

* Borrowed stops

III/II, III/I, II/I
III/Ped., II/Ped., I/Ped.

Sub-octave Coupler II/I
Super-octave Coupler II/I
General Coupler

Prepared Combinations: Piano, Mezzoforte, Forte
3 Free Combinations
Crescendo Roller
Swell Pedal for Manual III and Lieblich Gedackt 16', Dulciana 8' (Ped.)

Piano Pedal
Mezzoforte Pedal
Forte Pedal

Stops Off
Reeds Off
Pedal Couplers Off
Crescendo Off

Pneumatic Action

Restoration: Orgelwerkstatt Christian Scheffler (Frankfurt/Oder, Germany), 1998

This organ incorporates many elements of an earlier instrument by Friedrich Ladegast (III/P/51, 1878). Ladegast built also a number of organs in provincial towns, of which the instrument in the Town Church of St. Johannis (II/P/21, 1867) in Valga (Walk) should be first of all mentioned.

Valga, Town Church of St. Johannis
Friedrich Ladegast, II/P/21, 1867

I. MANUAL (C–f³)
16' Bordun
8' Principal
8' Doppelflöte
8' Flauto traverso
8' Viola d’amour
4' Rohrflöte
4' Salicional
2' Octave
Cornett III
Mixtur IV

II. MANUAL (C–f³)
8' Lieblich Gedackt
8' Gamba
8' Bassflöte
4' Principal
4' Flauto amabile
2 2/3' Quinte
2' Waldflöte
PEDAL (C–d¹)
16' Subbass
16' Violon
8' Cello
16' Posaune

II/I, I/Ped., II/Ped.

Source:
Andreas Uibo and Jüri Kuuskemaa, Historical Organs in Estonia, Lilienthal/Bremen (Eres Edition 2408) 1994, p. 78.

Other German organ builders who also worked in Estonia include E. Ch. Lemke (Narva, 1837); Guido Knauff from Coburg (Viljandi [Fellin], St. Paul’s Church, II/P/31, 1866); and the brothers Schwalbenberg.
Of great interest is the activity of another Estonian organ building dynasty, that of the three brothers Tannil, Juhan, and Jakob Kriisa. From Haanja in southeast Estonia, they continued an old popular tradition by building first smaller organs. Slowly their business expanded, their sons joined the firm, and at the beginning of the 20th century their instruments were to be found all over Estonia; one of their biggest was installed in the church in Võru (1910).
The importance of the organ in Estonian music is underlined by the fact that almost all significant Estonian composers were organists. This is particularly true in the older generation such as Johannes Kappel (1855–1907), Konstantin Türnpu (1865–1927), and Miina Härma (1864–1941), all of whom were graduates of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, where their organ professor was Louis (Ludwig) Homilius (1845–1908).
Having finished his conservatoire studies in 1881, Kappel became the organist at the Dutch church in St. Petersburg. In later life he remained connected with that city, conducted Estonian choirs, and regularly took part in song festivals in Tallinn and Tartu.
Türnpu finished his studies in 1891 and became organist at St. Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn. As a choir trainer, he was unequalled in Estonia at that time. His choir performed major works of the central classical repertoire, such as J. S. Bach’s B-minor Mass, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and others.
Härma (who graduated in 1890) became an active recitalist not only in Estonia and Russia, but also beyond their borders. The inclusion of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, and Reger in her programs introduced these organ classics to the Estonian public.
Kappel, Türnpu and Härma composed neither symphonic nor organ music. Their works consist mainly of choral music and solo songs. The first Estonian symphonic music was written around 1900 by the succeeding generation.
Rudolf Tobias (1873–1918) composed in 1896 the tragic overture Julius Caesar, and Artur Kapp (1878–1952) a dramatic overture, Don Carlos, in 1899. Both musicians were graduates of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, the artistic traditions of which, represented in the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov, and Glazunov, deeply influenced Estonian music.
Tobias, the founder of classical Estonian music, was born into a sacristan’s family in the village of Käina in 1873. He received his first music instruction from his father. From 1893 to 1897, he studied organ with Homilius and composition with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. For a diploma, he submitted the cantata Johannes Damascenus for mixed choir, male voice choir, soloists, organ, and symphony orchestra. Having finished his studies, he became the choirmaster and organist at the Estonian church of St. Johannis in St. Petersburg. He was held in high regard as a performer and improviser.
In autumn 1904, he settled in Tartu and there conducted symphony and choral concerts, gave music lessons, and wrote articles on music, thus inspiring Estonian musicology. In 1908, he moved to Leipzig, and then from 1910 lived in Berlin, where he published articles as a music critic in (for example) the Deutsche Allgemein Musikzeitung. From 1912 onwards, he taught music theory at the Royal Music Academy (Königliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik). He died in 1918 in Berlin.
Besides the overture Julius Caesar and the cantata Johannes Damascenus, his output includes a concerto for piano and orchestra, string quartets, chamber music, and vocal compositions. For organ, Tobias wrote more than thirty preludes and choral arrangements, Fugue in D minor, Largo, Prelude and Fughetta in C minor, as well as a Concerto for Organ and Orchestra in F minor. He made use of the organ in almost all of his large choral works—in the oratorios On the Other Side of the Jordan, Jonah’s Mission, the cantata Johannes Damascenus, and others.
Artur Kapp, a classical master of Estonian music, was born in Suure-Jaani in 1878. He received his first instruction in music from his father, a village sacristan. After graduating in 1898 from the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, studying organ with Homilius, he continued his studies there in the composition class of Rimsky-Korsakov (diploma in 1900), and then for a few years he worked as the second organist (as assistant to Homilius) at the Lutheran church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg.
From 1904 to 1920, he was director of the music college and head of the local department of the Russian Musical Society in Astrakhan. In 1920, he became the musical director of the Estonia theatre and a teacher at the Tallinn Conservatoire (from 1925 professor of composition). Among his pupils were Edgar Arro, Gustav Ernesaks, Eugen Kapp, Riho Päts, Villem Reiman, and others. He died in 1952 in Suure-Jaani.
His output includes symphonic works and oratorios, concertos and compositions for different instruments, as well as chamber and vocal music. His organ works are of great importance; the first was the Sonata in F minor, which Kapp wrote while studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire (1897). This was followed by Variations on a Chorale Theme (1902), two concertos for organ and orchestra (1934 and 1946), a trio for violin, cello, and organ (1936), the Sonata in D major (1948), choral fantasias, and other compositions.
In Kapp’s truly independent works, various stylistic influences are obvious. His style attempts to combine the tradition of the classical Viennese school, polyphony and a Romantic internationalism.
Homilius’s predecessor as head of the organ department of the St. Petersburg conservatoire, Heinrich Stiehl (1829–86), had lived in Tallinn since 1880, being the organist of St. Olai. Besides the above-mentioned musicians, Louis Homilius was also the teacher of such renowned composers of Estonian music as August Topman (1882–1968), Mart Saar (1882–1963), and Mihkel Lüdig.
Mihkel Lüdig was born in Reiu in 1880. He received his first instruction in music from Max Peters, the organist at Pärnu. In 1897, he began his studies at the Moscow Conservatoire, but in the next year moved to St. Petersburg, where he graduated from the conservatoire organ class (of Homilius) in 1904. His other teachers there were Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov and Solovyov (composition), and Czerny (piano). After graduating the conservatoire, Lüdig worked in St. Petersburg as an organist and choirmaster. From 1912 to 1914, he was solo organist in Count Sheremetyev’s symphony orchestra. Lüdig’s organ recitals were always well received by both experts and press. Honored by the composer’s request to give the first performance of Alexander Glazunov’s first organ work, the Prelude and Fugue in D major, op. 93 (1906), he did so in the Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire on January 29, 1907. In 1917, Lüdig moved to Tallinn, where in 1919 he established the Higher Music School, of which he became the director (1919–23). At the same time, he was the organist of the Charles’ Church in Tallinn (until 1924). He spent three years in Argentina and returned to Tallinn in 1928. From 1934 until his death in 1958, he lived in the village of Vändra.
Mihkel Lüdig’s output includes symphonic works and oratorios, as well as chamber and vocal music; his choral compositions are of great importance. Apart from Three Fugues for Organ (1946), Lüdig composed another work with organ (or piano) accompaniment: the romance In Remembrance of Mother.
Among the pupils of Louis Homilius, the talented Peeter Süda should also be mentioned. Born on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel) in Lümanda district in 1883, Süda studied organ at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire from 1902 to 1911 (first with Homilius, and, after the latter’s death in 1908, with Jacques Handschin). In 1912, he passed the final examination in composition, his teachers being Anatoly Lyadov, Nikolai Solovyov, and Alexander Glazunov. After completing his education, Süda lived in Tallinn, gave private music lessons, and performed as a solo organist. Even as a student, his organ playing was praised. It is known that Professor J'zeps V'tols, for instance, said of Süda’s playing in the final examination, “What playing! Precise, clear cut, pure, and exciting in its virtuosity. One should play the organ exactly as Süda does.” In 1919, Süda became the teacher in composition and organ at the newly established Tallinn Higher Music School. He died in 1920 in Tallinn.
Süda’s compositional output comprises mainly organ pieces, which are of great importance in the development of Estonian organ music. As a brilliant executant, whose knowledge of the potentialities of the instrument was excellent, Süda used the polyphonic style with great mastery. Süda wrote the following organ works (the autographs are preserved in the Theatre and Music Museum in Tallinn): Fugue in F minor (1910), Basso Ostinato (1913–14), Ave Maria (1914), Prelude (1914) and Fugue (1920) in G minor, Scherzino (1916/1918), Gigue à la Bach (1919), and Pastorale (1920).
By the turn of the century, the first music schools in Estonia had been established: in Tartu (1897) and Tallinn (1898). In 1900, the Estonian Symphony Orchestra first appeared under the direction of the composer Aleksander Läte (1860–1948). Soon afterwards the first professional theatres were opened in Estonia’s larger towns: Vanemuine (Tartu, 1906), Estonia (Tallinn, 1906), Endla (Pärnu, 1911), and the Tallinn Dramatic Theatre (1916). In 1905, Artur Lemba (1885–1963) composed the first opera in the Estonian language, Sabina (St. Petersburg, 1906), the second version of which bore the title Lembitu tütar [“Lembitu’s Daughter”] (Vanemuine theatre, Tartu, 1908).
The choral tradition developed with great momentum. There were seven song festivals from 1869 to 1910, with more than 10,000 singers taking part in the last of these, while the composer Juhan Simm (1885–1959), who played a significant role in the organization of subsequent song festivals, founded in 1911 the Tartu university choir.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the literary movement Young Estonia (Noor Eesti) was inaugurated and presided over by the poet Gustav Suits. The motto of the movement “Let us remain Estonians, but let us also become Europeans!” became the inspiration of cultural Estonia.

5. Estonia in the period of its first independence (1918–1940)
The period between the First and Second World Wars witnessed many brilliant events in Estonian artistic life. The greatest literary achievement was the five-part epic novel Truth and Justice (Tõde ja õigus) by Anton H. Tammsaare (written 1926–33), depicting Estonian life between the 1870s and 1920s.
The Tallinn Song Festivals attracted constantly rising numbers of participants (with 17,500 singers in the 11th Song Festival of 1938). From the 1920s, operas were regularly performed in the Theatre Estonia. The concert repertoire in the 1921–22 season included such works as Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss. In 1936, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms was performed under the direction of Eduard Tubin (1905–82) in Tallinn, and in the following year the composer himself came to conduct his Firebird Suite and the Capriccio for piano there.
As mentioned above, in 1919 the Higher Music School (from 1923–93 the Conservatoire, and from 1993 the Estonian Academy of Music) was established in Tallinn. In 1919, the Tartu Higher Music School (Tartu Kõrgem Muusikakool) was opened. The Tallinn Conservatoire was directed from 1923–33 by Rector Jaan Tamm, and August Topman was the head of the organ department. Hugo Lepnurm (1914–99), who studied organ there from 1928 to 1933, recalls that Topman laid particular emphasis on preparing his students for their work in Lutheran churches. Since playing services occupied little time and yielded little income, Topman tried to prepare his students for a greater variety of activities, stimulating their interest in choral skills and teaching. Sometimes he joked, “any organist, especially in the provinces, should be able to conduct choirs and the fire brigade band, accompany guest soloists, perform operettas in the House of Culture, be the chairman or at least secretary of the agricultural society, and, if still able, play the organ well.”
In the period between the wars, Peeter Laja (1897–1970), Alfred Karindi (1901–69), Edgar Arro (1911–78), and Hugo Lepnurm were among Topman’s best pupils.
Peeter Laja first became known in 1923, when, at that time a student of the Tallinn Conservatoire, he made his debut in the Estonia Concert Hall, performing as a soloist in G. F. Handel’s Organ Concerto in B-flat (from Op. 4), accompanied by an orchestra under Raimund Kull. Laja’s programs contained compositions of both international and Estonian composers (A. Kapp, R. Tobias, P. Süda, and others).
A distinctive performer, Alfred Karindi was born in Kõnnu. He studied organ (with Johannes Kärt) and composition (with Heino Eller) at the Tartu Higher Music School, where in 1925–28 he taught music theory. From 1927, he was organist of the Tartu university church (here he played the organ that was later moved to the Estonia concert hall) and performed in concerts as organist and conductor. In 1928–32, he was a teacher and a conductor of the mixed students’ choir at the Tartu university. In 1931, he finished his studies as organist and composer at the Tallinn Conservatoire. At the beginning of the 1930s, he moved to Tallinn, where he pursued an active career giving concerts, conducting choral works, including Mozart’s Requiem (1940), and performing as a solo organist. Between 1940–50 and 1955–69, he taught at the conservatoire (from 1946 as a professor). Karindi wrote a symphony, cantatas, piano, chamber, and vocal works. His output includes a number of interesting pieces for organ, of which the central place is held by his four sonatas: No. 1 in E minor (1928), No. 2 in G minor (1932), No. 3 in F minor (1944), and No. 4 in E minor (1963).
Born in Tallinn, Edgar Arro studied the organ at Tallinn Conservatoire with August Topman (1929–35) and composition with Artur Kapp (1934–39). From 1935 to 1940 he worked for the radio. It was one of his tasks to improvise on the organ in the morning hours. Occasionally, he gave solo concerts. From 1944, he was a teacher at the Tallinn Conservatoire (Professor from 1972). Arro wrote symphonic works and oratorios, compositions for choir and different chamber ensembles and—together with Leo Normet—the popular musical comedy Rummu Jüri. Throughout his life as a composer, he had a strong liking for the organ. His first work, Sonata for Organ (1938), was written while studying at the conservatoire. In the early 1940s, it was followed by Maestoso (1943). Of his other organ music, the collection of about 56 concert pieces Eesti rahvaviise orelili (Estonian Folk Tunes for Organ) is of great interest.
A little different was the artistic life of Hugo Lepnurm during the period between the two World Wars. After graduating from the conservatoire, he served as assistant to Professor Topman (1936), but soon he moved to Paris, where he continued his studies with Marcel Dupré (in the winter of 1938–39). In Paris, the young Estonian musician got to know the work of celebrated French organists and he had the chance to listen to Rachmaninov, Cortot, and Menuhin.
During the 1920s two other large organs were built in Tallinn. One of them was the largest organ ever built in Estonia by the company E. F. Walcker & Co. and installed in the Charles’ Church (III/P/81 + 3 borrowed stops, 1923). The other was built by August Terkmann for the Holy Ghost Church (IV/P/71, 1929).23 The Brothers Kriisa were also very active, and among their notable instruments in the 1930s were Paide (II/P/20, 1933), Urvaste (II/P/25 + 1 borrowed stop, 1938), and Suure-Jaani (II/P/25 + 1 borrowed stop, 1937). This last was installed by the Kriisas behind a Johann Andreas Stein case from 1804.

The Church of Suure-Jaani
The Brothers Kriisa, II/P/25 + 1 borrowed stop, 1937

I. MANUAL (C–a³)
8' Principal
8' Viola di Gamba
8' Doppelflöte
8' Gemshorn
8' Salicional
4' Octave
4' Flauto dolce
Cornett III–V
Mixtur III–IV

II. MANUAL (C–a³)
16' Bordun
8' Principal
8' Gedackt
8' Viola d’amour
8' Voix celestes
4' Flauto
2 2/3' Quintflöte
2' Flautino
1 3/5' Terzflöte
Cymbel IV
8' Trompete
Tremolo

PEDAL (C–f¹)
16' Kontrabass
16' Subbass
16' Gedacktbass (Tr. Manual II)
8' Octavbass
8' Violon
16' Posaune

II/I, Super II/I, Super I, Sub II/I
Super II, Sub II
I/Ped., II/Ped., Super II/Ped.

II. Manual in Swell Box

Source
Andreas Uibo and Jüri Kuuskemaa, Historical Organs in Estonia, Lilienthal/Bremen (Eres Edition 2408) 1994, p. 77.
A milestone in Estonian culture was the foundation of the Music Museum in 1934 in Tallinn (from 1941 the Theatre and Music Museum); it became the custodian of archival material and manuscripts of Estonian composers, recordings of folk songs, musical instruments, and other holdings.

6. Estonia from 1940 to the end of the 20th century
With the establishment of the Union of Estonian Composers in 1941, the creative work of native musicians received official support from the government. In the 1940s, some professional choirs were founded on the initiative of the famous choirmaster and composer Gustav Ernesaks (1908–93); their performances on radio and in the concert halls of the Soviet Union were well received. In 1947, the tradition of the Song Festivals was revived after a break of nine years (the 21st Song Festival in 1990 assembled some 30,000 singers and half a million listeners).
In 1947, the theatre and the concert hall Estonia, both of which had been destroyed in the Second World War, were rebuilt. In the years 1948–49, the Tallinn organ builder Gutdorf Brothers transferred the organ of the university church in Tartu, built by Herbert Kolbe (1928), to the concert hall and installed it on the stage. In doing so, the specification was enlarged (III/P/75). This instrument was superseded as early as 1961 with an organ by Rieger–Kloss (IV/P/66). Two others by this company were installed in the Vanemuine theatre in Tartu (III/P/47, 1978) and in St. Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn (IV/P/63, 1981), which had been turned into a museum and concert hall.
In the 1940s, the work of the most important representative of the Tartu school of composers, Heino Eller (1887–1970), reached its climax. Eller wrote three symphonies (1936, 1948, 1961), five string quartets, music for piano, chamber music, and vocal compositions. An estimable pupil of his, Eduard Tubin, wrote ten symphonies, two operas, two ballets, chamber and choral music, and a Pastorale for alto and organ (1956).
The decades following gave rise to a new generation of Estonian composers who were influenced by 20th-century Western European music: Veljo Tormis (*1930), Eino Tamberg (*1930), Jaan Rääts (*1932), Arvo Pärt (*1935) and Kuldar Sink (1942–95). Tamberg’s and Rääts’s compositions show neoclassical tendencies. Pärt and Sink tend towards serial techniques. Tormis, following the tradition of Mart Saar and Cyrillus Kreek (1889–1962), is interested in folklore and prefers choral music.
Eller taught Alo Põldmäe (*1945) and Lepo Sumera (*1950), while Ester Mägi (*1922), Jüri Tamverk (*1954), Erkki-Sven Tüür (*1959) and Urmas Sisask (*1960), a composer of a number of organ works, are among the distinguished pupils of Saar.
Apart from the works presented in the collection Organ Music from the Baltic States, Volume 2: Estonia (Bärenreiter, BA 8422), the following compositions for the organ written by Estonian composers in the 20th century should be mentioned: Kaljo Raid (*1921), Sonata in Classical Style (1948); Peeter Laja, 5 Pieces (1950); Leo Virkhaus (1910–84), Organ Prelude on Psalm 108 (Be Thou Exalted) (1973); Igor Garschnek (*1958), 3 States (1980); and Arvo Pärt, Trivium (1976), Annum per annum (1980) and My Path Has Peaks and Troughs (1989).
In the post-war period, the tradition of centuries of organ-playing in Estonia manifested itself above all in the work of Hugo Lepnurm. After his evacuation, he returned to Tallinn in 1944 and continued teaching organ, solfeggio, and music theory at the conservatoire (from 1945 as a professor). He also gave many concerts in the USSR, was organist at Tallinn’s Cathedral of St. Mary, and made recordings. In 1971, he published his book On the History of the Organ and Organ Music (Oreli ja orelimuusika ajaloost). Lepnurm’s compositions are not numerous, but include a number of interesting pieces, especially for the organ: a toccata (1943/50), two cycles of variations for violin and organ (1942, 1954), and a concerto for organ and orchestra (1956). Among his pupils, the Tallinn organist Rolf Uusväli (*1930), Andreas Uibo (*1956), and Urmas Taniloo (*1953) from Tartu are well known.
An important part in the revival of public interest in early music and its authentic performance was played by Hortus Musicus, a specialist ensemble (artistic director Andres Mustonen), founded in 1972. Since 1987, the International Tallinn Organ Festival has taken place every year in the Estonian capital. The tradition of organ building is continued by Hardo Kriisa (*1940), a representative of the third generation of the famous organ dynasty. His workshop is in Rakvere.'

Notes

Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church, Paris, France

Carolyn Shuster Fournier is a French-American organist and musicologist living in Paris, France where she is titular of the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll choir organ at La Trinité Church. An international concert organist, she wrote her doctoral thesis on Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s secular organs. Her writings on French music and organs have appeared in numerous journals.

Choosing a builder

Situated next to the famous Isle de la Cité, the Isle Saint-Louis in Paris, France, is known for its quaint shops and delicious Berthillon ice cream. Upon entering its church, one is struck by the well-lit interior, a drastic contrast to the inner darkness of the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral. Bernard Aubertin’s organ case shines brilliantly in the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church. (See Photo 1.)
The original 1745 Lesclop organ had been melted down during the Revolution in 1789. In 1798, the church was sold as a national property. In 1817, the city of Paris purchased the church and cleaned it. In 1888, the parish priest, abbot Louis Bossuet, acquired a new organ case, which was placed at the end of the nave. Its first level later lodged a small 15-stop Merklin organ. In 1923, Charles Mutin installed a 34-stop organ in this vast organ case. According to the organist Marie-Thérèse Michaux, it was in such poor condition when she arrived in 1975 that she was obliged to play on the Gutschenritter choir organ.
In 1976, the city of Paris began to plan the purchase of a new organ for the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church, one especially suited to the 17th- and 18th-century Germanic repertory, notably the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.1 In 1977, Georges Guillard2 was named as a second organist of the church. He launched a project for the new organ that proposed the German builder Jürgen Ahrend, well known authority on Baroque-style organs. An association was founded with Monsieur Henry Ecoutin as president. According to Jean-Louis Coignet, the technical advisor for historical organs of the city of Paris since 1979, at that time the rules for constructing an organ in Paris were not very strict, and the city had intended for Jürgen Ahrend to build this organ. Unfortunately, various disagreements between the builder and the administration, notably with the head architect who did not approve Ahrend’s proposed organ case, led to postponing the project on numerous occasions.
In the meantime, the legislation concerning public markets and transactions had become much more rigorous. In July 1997, it was therefore necessary to launch a competition to determine the builder of this new organ. Jean-Louis Coignet established a program of work for the invitation to tender, detailing the 41 stops to be included in this three-manual organ:3

RÜCKPOSITIV (56 n.)

8' Principal
8' Gedackt
8' Quintatön
4' Octave
4' Rohrflöte
2' Waldflöte
11?3' Sifflöte
II Sesquialtera
IV Scharf
8' Krümhorn

HAUPTWERK (56 n.)

16' Principal
16' Quintadena
8' Oktave
8' Salicional
8' Rohrflöte
4' Oktave
4' Spitzflöte
22?3' Nasat
2' Oktave
IV–VI Mixture
16' Dulzian
8' Trompete

OBERWERK (56 n.)

8' Gedackt
4' Principal
4' Rohrflöte
2' Oktave
13?5' Terz
11?3' Quint
III Zimbel
8' Vox Humana

PEDALWERK (30 n.)

16' Principal
16' Subbass
8' Oktave
4' Oktave
2' Nachthorn
IV Mixture
32' Dulzian
16' Posaune
8' Trompete
4' Trompete
2' Cornet

Accouplements: OW/HW, RP/HW, OW/PW, RP/PW
Tremblants: RP et OW

Around a dozen European organ builders submitted proposals. Unfortunately, Jürgen Ahrend committed an error during the tendering and, consequently, was disqualified. On January 28, 1999, the city chose the French builder Bernard Aubertin.

Bernard Aubertin, Organ Builder, Maître d’Art

Bernard Aubertin (see Photo 2) was born into a family of woodworkers going back to the Napoleon Bonaparte era, originally from Moselle. After studying in Strasbourg, he designed organ cases for various firms, notably for the Felsberg Orgelbau in Switzerland. In 1978, at the age of 25, he founded his own company to build mechanical-action organs with top quality materials in a traditional manner.4 He installed his shop in two large wings of a historic Romanesque priory dating from the mid-twelfth century in Courtefontaine, the region of eastern France known as the Franche-Comté, in the department of the Jura (between Dijon, Dole and Besançon). A fervent collector of 0.60 m gauge railway equipment, several narrow tracks on his property enable him to easily transfer heavy equipment and materials. He now employs up to 14 workers, including his wife Sonja, who is his secretary and accountant. In 1995, the French Cultural Minister named Bernard Aubertin Maître d’Art. On November 10, 2005 the city of Paris gave him the Médaille de Vermeil.
Aubertin organs are installed in the following locations in France, Portugal, Scotland and Japan: the Besançon Conservatory (1979 and 1981), the churches in Sarralbe (1987), Viry-Châtillon (1989), Saint-Vincent in Lyon (1994, with Richard Freytag), Saessolsheim (1995), Vertus (1996), Sainte-Catherine Church in Bitche (1997), Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet (1998), Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire (1999), Saint-Marceau in Orléans, the Nice Conservatory (2001), Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle in Paris (2005), a 24-stop house organ in Faro, Portugal (2003), the University in Aberdeen, Scotland (2004), and for concert halls in Japan: in Shirane-Cho (Yamanashi, 1993), Kobe (destroyed in the 1995 earthquake), Ichigaia, Karuizawa and Zushi.5 Bernard Aubertin has also restored historic organs with a strict adherence to their original nature in Pontarlier (1982), West-Cappel (1984), Arbois (1985), Orgelet (1987), Seurre (1991), Saint-Antoine-l’Abbaye (1992) and Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville (1984). In addition, he builds cabinet organs.6
Instead of constructing direct copies of 17th- and 18th-century historic organs from northern and central Europe as well as France, Aubertin uses them as inspiring models. The craft logo of the Aubertin organ firm sums up his production: it depicts an oak tree being blown by three forge bellows at its roots, with songbirds perched in its branches. (See Photo 3.)
His organs are made of natural materials: solid French oak for the organ cases, the windchests, the wind trunks, the sliders, the trackers, stickers, backfalls and for parts of the stop action; some of the bass pipes are made with chestnut, fruit tree or spruce wood. The sliders are made as wind-tight as possible with covers of soft leather; the stop action may be set between pads of felt, and the lower parts of the windchests are sealed with large cowhides. The metal pipework is made mainly of alloys with a low tin content (35% or less). Some narrow-scale stops, such as the Gambe, the reed stops, and the façade pipes may contain up to 75 to 96% tin. All of the metal pipes are varnished to protect them against handling and long-term oxidation.
Among the unusual stops found in Aubertin’s organs, the Quintinal is a Quintadena in the bass and more string-like in the treble. At his organ in Vichy, the 32' reed stop in the Pedal is labelled “Napoleon.” His use of imitative harmonic flute pipes, overblown without piercing, such as the 2' Traversine at the Saint-Marceau Church in Orléans, is a copy of a 17th-century stop in the Jacobikirche in Hamburg. For his three-manual, 27-stop organ at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, he incorporated two little pipes that imitate the bagpipe drone. (See Photo 4.)
Several of Aubertin’s organs (Vertus, Orléans and Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle) are tuned in the mild 1800 Young temperament with six pure and six tempered fifths, suitable to a large part of the organ repertory. His organ at the Saint-Denys Church in Viry-Chatillon is tuned in the Kirnberger III temperament. The pitch is often set at A=440 Hz. The balanced, suspended key action is light and responsive. His standard wind pressure for the manual divisions is 95 mm (33?4 inches), and for the pedal generally 105–115 mm (43?8 inches). The 56-note keyboards are covered with boxwood, ebony or bone. The 30-note pedalboards are straight. The Positif keyboard is coupled to the primary manual à tiroir (in a drawer fashion).
Aubertin has a special talent for designing each of his organ cases to blend harmoniously with the building. He often incorporates particular decorative emblems (often various astronomical elements: stars, planets and flames of fire) into his sculptured elements. At the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church, the Trinitarian symbol in the glory that is located in the apse is reproduced in the center panel of the organ case. Likewise, the mystical lamb that overhangs the Positif de Dos corresponds to the lamb on the altar. Another one of Aubertin’s characteristic hallmarks: the pipe mouths of his tower pipes are often decorated with dancing golden flames. In addition, he labels the names of the stopknobs in his own handwriting, in a dark blue (a Prussian blue) and red ink on paper or parchment.
The construction and installation of the new Aubertin organ at the Saint-Louis-en-L’Isle Church In accordance with Jean-Louis Coignet’s initial invitation to tender, Bernard Aubertin had the possibility of making a limited number of modifications in the stoplist, providing that the number of stops did not exceed 45. It was also possible to propose limited changes in the tonal plans, for example, an Unterwerk instead of an Oberwerk. On March 12, 1999, Aubertin submitted an estimate of a 41- or a 45-stop organ. The latter was accepted on August 20, the feast day of St. Bernard. The first order of service for this 45-stop organ was signed by Jean-Louis Coignet, the technical advisor for historical organs, on August 25 (the feast day of St. Louis and Aubertin’s birthday). The work officially began on the organ on September 27, with a delivery deadline of 30 months. Aubertin collaborated well with Jean-Louis Coignet and François Lagneau, the architect of the historical monuments. However, since the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church is classified as a historical monument, the various architectural agreements and work concerning the restoration of the tribune, the staircases, the arches and the two stained-glass windows near the organ took a great deal of time, three years longer than anticipated. From March 2000 to September 2001, the work was interrupted because the Mutin organ had not been dismantled, rendering it impossible to measure the organ tribune, necessary to determine the exact layout of the new organ. The city decided to restore and reincorporate two statues of angels from the former organ case into the new one. Discussions began with Aubertin to add six more stops to the new organ. According to Aubertin, in spite of an obtained tacit agreement, the future May 2001 elections paralyzed any official document concerning these additional stops. From January to August 2002, the work was interrupted again to carry out the photogrammetrical measurements of the church. In August 2002, Aubertin visited several early historical German organs with the American organ builder Gene Bedient, notably the 1750–1755 Gottfried Silbermann at the Hofkirche in Dresden and the 1746 Zacharias Hildebrandt organ at the St. Wenceslas Church in Naumburg. These visits enabled him to choose the six new stops he wished to install in the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle organ. From September 2003 to October 2004, other numerous delays occurred to allow the restoration of the tribune.
In the meantime, Aubertin constructed this organ with the six new additional stops: Allemande 4' in the Rückpositif, Cornet VI in the Hauptwerk, Sifflet 1' and Unda Maris 8' in the Unterwerk, and Bourdon 16', Bourdon 8' and a Tierce rank to the Mixture IV–V in the Pedal. He considers that these additions provide supplementary musical possibilities and augment the flexibility of the instrument for interpretation and improvisation. He explains them in the following manner:

The Rückpositif Flûte allemande is made of stopped pipes of triple length. Its sonority recalls the attacks and the strange sounds of the glass harmonica, whose moving glass containers are made to vibrate with the musician’s moistened fingers. This stop combines very well with the others, adding its characteristic attack.
The Hauptwerk Cornet, known as a maritime cornet because it is used along the coast from the English Channel to the Baltics, includes two 8' ranks in this six-rank stop: one 8' is open and the other one is stopped with very long chimneys. This solo stop fills out the upper range of the keyboard. Its average-size pipes provide a certain elegance. It can easily be combined with the two Hauptwerk reeds to form a sort of Grand Jeu.
In the Oberwerk, the Sifflet 1', found in numerous organs played by J. S. Bach, is the highest pitched stop in the organ and reaches the limit of audible sounds. Its use with other stops allows sonorities close to that of certain percussion instruments, metallophones (Stahlspiel) or small bells. The Unda Maris 8', an undulating Principal stop known since the sixteenth century, in Dresden and Naumburg, is used in fantasies and certain meditative pieces throughout the centuries. Its combination with the foundation stops is appropriate for romantic and contemporary music.
In the Pedal, the Bourdon 1' is a soft, deep stop that can fill out the others without adding heaviness to the entire sound. The large and soft Bourdon 8' with the Bourdon 16' allows a clear and light bass, it gives clarity without dominating the Violon 16' or the Principal 16' and gives the impression of a 32' when used with the Bourdon 16' and the Quinte 102/3'. The addition of the Tierce rank to the Pedal Mixture adds spice and definition to the sound of these pipes, located at the extremities of the organ case. This mixture can also serve as a cantus firmus when used with the Prestant 4'.

In addition, Aubertin added an Appel Anches Pedal at the console that allows the organist to prepare powerful pedal stops and then to add them by simply activating this pedal. This is extremely useful with sudden dynamic changes, often encountered in North German Baroque music. In addition, the Voix humaine stop on the Unterwerk is enclosed in a box whose cover can be opened by activating another pedal.
On November 11, 2004, the completed organ was inaugurated in the Aubertin workshop by Francis Jacob, organ professor at the Strasbourg Conservatory and an organ consultant for the Aubertin firm. In December, Michel Chapuis played it for a delegation from the city of Paris. Finally, in February 2005, the organ was transported to Paris. On March 2, the sub-director of the patrimony of the city of Paris authorized Aubertin to install the six previously approved stops, at his own personal risk. The city had spent all of their remaining funds for this construction on the considerable amount of work that had been carried out by the architects. The organ installation was completed on March 11. After the tuning and voicing of the instrument, the city acknowledged its reception of the 45 agreed-upon stops on March 18. After some final minor adjustments, the official reception of this organ took place on May 9.
Here is the stoplist of this 51-stop organ, with the six added stops in italics:

I. POSITIF DE DOS (RÜCKPOSITIF) (56 n.)

8' Montre
8' Bourdon
4' Quintaton
4' Prestant
4' Flûte à cheminée
4' Allemande (an overblown Bourdon)
2' Flageolet
11?3' Flûte
II Sexquialtera
IV Mixture
8' Dulciane

II. GRAND-ORGUE (HAUPTWERK) (56 n.)

16' Principal (façade pipes)
8' Octave
8' Gambe
8' Flûte
4' Prestant
4' Flûte cônique
22?3' Quinte
2' Octave
IV–VI Mixture
VI Cornet (Open 8', Chimney Flute 8', 4', 22/3', 2', 13/5')
16' Basson
8' Trompette

III. INTERIOR POSITIF (UNTERWERK) (56 n.)

8' Bourdon
8' Principal (beginning at F)
8' Traversière (overblown)
8' Unda Maris
4' Octave
4' Flûte
22/3' Nazard 2' Traversine
2' Octave
1' Sifflet
13/5' Terz
11/3' Quinte
III Mixture
8' Voix humaine
16' Fagott

PEDALE (30 n.)

16' Bourdon
16' Principal
16' Violon
102/3' Quinte
8' Bourdon
8' Octave
4' Prestant
2' Flûte 2
IV–VI Mixture (the Tierce rank was added)
32' Dulciane
16' Buzène
8' Trompette
4' Cornet

Keyboard couplers : I/II (à tiroir), III/II, II/III
Pedal coupler: Great to Pedal
Tremulant I et III et Tremulant II
Appel Anches Pedal
Expression for the Voix humaine

Inauguration

In May, two new organists were chosen to share this post with the organist Marie-Thérèse Michaux: Vincent Rigot7 and the 20-year-old Benjamin Alard.8 On June 19, the organ was blessed by an auxiliary bishop in Paris, Monseigneur Pierre d’Ornellas, and the parish priest, Father Gérard Pelletier. During this ceremony, the three church organists improvised and performed, and George Guillard premiered a commissioned piece by Jacques Castérède entitled L’Hommage à Saint Louis for organ and brass trio. On June 22, this organ was inaugurated by Benjamin Alard, Vincent Rigot, and Michel Chapuis. Alard performed Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C-minor, Rigot interpreted Alain’s Litanies, and Chapuis’ improvisations demonstrated the various tonal colors of the organ. He then played works by Buxtehude, Böhm, Bruhns, and Bach. A recording of J. S. Bach’s Clavierubüng III by Francis Jacob, a member of Bernard Aubertin’s team, was released for the inauguration of the organ.9
On September 18, 2005, a day consecrated to historical monuments in France, Aubertin gave a presentation with Régis Allard, and then Vincent Rigot improvised and gave a concert for a packed church. The organ association of the church,10 presided by Monsieur Robert Ranquet, organized five concerts for the first Europa Bach Festival in Paris and its region from September to December 2005. They were given by given by Pascal Rouet, Carolyn Shuster Fournier, Eric Ampeau, Frédéric Desenclos and Francis Jacob.

The search for a patron

Now that the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle organ is installed and inaugurated, will this organ continue to sound as the builder conceived it, remaining intact for present and future generations? If the funding does not arrive after one year, Bernard Aubertin has said that he might be obliged to remove the added stops from the organ, even though he considers them to be indispensable to the entire balance of this instrument. He hopes that a patron will eventually cover their expense, amounting to 170,000 euros. It took 23 years to choose a builder for the organ at the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church and six years to construct and install this instrument. During those 29 years, from 1976–2005, the city of Paris financed the construction of other new organs at Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal Church (Alfred Kern, 1977), Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Grenelle Church (Théo Haepfer, 1988), the reconstruction of the monumental gallery organ at Saint-Eustache Church (Van den Heuvel, 1989), Notre-Dame-du-Travail Church (Théo Haepfer, 1990), Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot Church (Daniel Birouste, 1994), Saint-Ferdinand-des-Ternes Church (Pascal Quoirin, 1995), the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris-C.N.R. (Gerhard Grenzing, 1996) and at Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours Church (Bernard Dargassies, 2004). In addition, the city of Paris financed numerous restorations and renovations.
This article renders homage to the various members of Aubertin’s team who worked on this organ at Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle: cabinetmakers Loïc Gaudefroy (Best Worker in France), Thomas Gaudefroy, and Thomas Guinchard; organ builders Michel Gaillard, Olivier Mondy, Jean-Marc Perrodin, Daniel Rey, and Anke Saeger-Blaison; pipemaker Jérome Stalter (Best Worker in France); organist Francis Jacob; apprentice Alexandre Aubertin; and administrator Sonja Aubertin; as well as craftsmen: Serge Bisson who did the wood carvings; Benoït Camozzi, the assistant sculptor; and Marie-Odile Valot-Degueurce, who applied the gilding to the decorations.
The author thanks Bernard Aubertin, Jean-Louis Coignet, and Robert Ranquet for providing her with information for this article.

The Aubertin organ of Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle, Paris

by Bernard Aubertin, Organbuilder, Maître d’Art, English translation by Carolyn Shuster Fournier

Introduction

The new 51-stop organ that I have built for the Saint-Louis-en-l’Isle Church in Paris is in the style of a 17th- to 18th-century German instrument. I designed it according to the most renowned works of J. S. Bach’s favorite organbuilder Zacharias Hildebrandt (1688–1757), a student of Gottfried Silbermann. The balance between the various families of stops, with its 16', 8', 4' stops and a 32' reed stop in the Pedal, is entirely in keeping with the cantor’s wishes: Majestät und Gravität.
This organ incorporates some of Hildebrandt’s innovative stops: the Violon 16' (in the Pedal) and the Gemshorn 4' (the Hauptwerk Flûte cônique) as well as some Nordic contributions: in the Rückpositiv, the Sexquialtera II is narrow-scaled, the Mixture IV is a high-pitched Scharf, the Flageolet 2' is a Waldflöte, the Dulciane 8' is an Oboe (Hoboe); in the Unterwerk, the Fagott 16' is a Dulcian, and in the Pedal, the Cornet 4' recalls the Cornet 2', as well as the Dulciane 32' reed stop in the Pedal, which Gottfried Silbermann never built. In addition, this new organ contains some colorful stops described in Praetorius’s Syntagma Musicum (1619), notably a Querpfeif (the Unterwerk Flûte Traversine 2') and the Schweitzerpfeif (the Hauptwerk Gambe 8').
The entire organ uses mechanical action and is constructed with noble materials, solid oak and chestnut woods. Knowledge of the practices of our predecessors is absolutely indispensable, especially since they were based on a sensibility that is completely different from our own.

Technical Description

The organ cases

While the organ case conforms more to the curved surface of the 1745 organ gallery than to that of a German organ, its internal structure was conceived in a spirit that respects the Werkprinzip: the Rückpositiv projects over the gallery rail, the Unterwerk is placed above the keyboards, surmounted by the Hauptwerk, with the large 16' pedal towers on the sides.

The windchests

The various windchests are laid out in the following manner:

The Rückpositiv is at the level of the organ gallery.
On the first floor of the gallery, the Pedal foundation stops are placed in the front part of a large double windchest with the reeds behind. The Dulciane 32' is placed against the wall with the Violon 16' on a similar chest underneath. In the center, two diatonic V-shaped windchests are used for the Unterwerk stops.
On the second floor, the Hauptwerk bass pipes are placed on three windchests in the center, followed by two diatonic windchests with the upper pipes located towards the center.

The mechanical key and stop actions

The mechanical key and stop actions are as simple and efficient as possible. The 56-note keyboards are covered with bone for the natural keys and ebony for the sharps. The 30-note flat pedalboard is made of oak.

The wind

Due to the shallowness of the organ gallery (and consequently the organ cases) and to the total lack of adjoining space, the wedge-shaped bellows were placed near each of the windchests. The blowers are suspended in two double isolated boxes placed on the floor of the organ gallery, underneath the large pedal towers. A ventil pedal, which cuts off the air in the pallet box, enables the organist to bring on or put off the prepared stops. The wind pressure is 95 mm for the keyboards and 115 mm for the pedal. This strong wind permits narrow note channels, trunks and conveyances leading to pipes that are tubed off. The windchest pipe valves are relatively thin, allowing a sensitive touch.

The pipework—the voicing

All of the pipework has been made by artisans. The following stops are made of 75% and 96% fine tin:
• on the Hauptwerk: Principal 16', Octave 8', Gambe 8', Basson 16' and Trompette 8';
• on the Unterwerk: Unda Maris 8', Voix humaine 8', Principal 8' and Octave 4';
• on the Rückpositiv: Montre 8' and Prestant 4'.
The rest is made of a tin-lead alloy with a high lead content or of hammered lead, the languids of the flue pipes with 3% lead. All of the capped pipes are soldered on. The wooden pipes are made either of oak or of chestnut. The bodies of the Buzène 16' and Violon 16' pipes are made of spruce from the Vosges. The principal stops have a clear sound in spite of their rather high mouths. All of the wooden pipes have metal lips, that is, the inner edge of the lower lip is planed down and garnished with a metal bar, thus providing:
• an immediate attack;
• a high development of harmonics, notably in the lower pipes, where the human ear can scarcely distinguish the precise pitch of the notes;
• finally, a considerable economy of wind, which is very important in the lower registers of the manual keyboards, limiting the key depressions and maintaining a light touch.
The metal pipework is voiced as naturally as possible with a minimum of nicking on the languids. The feet are slightly closed in the bass pipes.
The design consisted, more of less, of a quadruple plenum:
• the Hauptwerk plenum is deep, full and effective and can be reinforced by the Basson 16' reed stop;
• the Rückpositiv plenum has a much clearer attack, is very present and can be colored by the Sexquialtera II;
• the Unterwerk plenum is more restrained, but can be brightened by the Quinte 11/3', the Sifflet 1', the Terz 13/5' or deepened by the Fagott 16';
• finally, the Pedal plenum is deep, dark, and full, and can be spiced with the Mixture Tierce.
Each principal stop possesses its own characteristic sound, in accordance with the previously described divisions. When the 16', 8' and 4' principal stops are played together with the 16' and 8' Bourdons and the Quinte 102/3', they produce a deep, full and poetic sound.
In addition to these standard stops, there are colorful flute stops, harmonic, with or without holes, and a very narrow-scaled Gambe in the Hauptwerk with its characteristic attack. The Rückpositiv contains a third 4' stop named (Flûte) Allemande. This is, in fact, a harmonic Bourdon whose body length is triple that of an ordinary Bourdon. This stop recalls the Glasharmonika with its strange attacks and its succession of rich harmonies. The same applies to the Traversine 2' with its double length without a hole whose crystalline sonority is doubled by a supplementary pseudo-lower octave sound.' Some of these stops are unknown in France and yet they were used as early as 1560 in northern Europe. As for the Unda Maris on the third keyboard, it also appeared as early as the mid-16th century from Italy to Scandinavia under different names: Voce Umana, Biffera, Piffaro, Unda Maris, Schwebung. This stop allows sounds that are clearly less Baroque. Finally, a colorful Violon 16', with its precise attack, provides definition to the Pedal division.
The tuning of the organ is A=440 Hz at 20°C. The organ is well-tempered with six pure fifths and six tempered fifths according the system of Thomas Young (1800), based on the same principle as the Tartini-Vallotti system (Venice, 1740).

The reed stops

On the Hauptwerk, the conical Basson 16' (C–G half-length) is narrowly scaled, ranging from a deep to a brilliant sonority. In addition, a rather bright Trompette stop can be combined with the double Cornet 8' to form a sort of Grand Jeu. These reeds can be easily combined with the plenum.
On the Unterwerk, a Fagott 16' with a cylindrical body and leathered shallots can serve as a foundation to the plenum but can also be used for smaller combinations. A colorful Voix humaine 8' is installed in an individual expression box that tones down the upper harmonies of this Renaissance Régale. Combined with the 16', 8' and 4' foundations, this stop has the distinctive feature of swelling these foundation stops when one opens the box and thus offers possibilities that are not Baroque at all.
The Rückpositiv contains a well-rounded and colorful Dulciane 8' that can be combined with any stop. The Pedal is quite full, due to four of its stops. A Dulciane 32' (from the family of stops with cylindrical-shaped bodies) provides the indispensable Gravität so cherished by the Cantor from Leipzig in large ensembles. A Buzène 16' (neologism of the Latin Buccin) provides a foundation for the entire building. If one could only place one reed stop in the entire organ, this would be the one. The conical shallots are made of casted tin and leathered. The feet and the blocks are made of oak, the bodies of spruce. All of these various elements combine to produce a well-rounded and full sound whose fundamental clearly stands out from the harmonics (contrary to the French Bombarde). Therefore, the upper harmonies have been weakened. The Trompette 8' with its conical-shaped reeds sounds well-rounded and deep in the bass and progressively becomes brighter in the upper registers. This is reinforced by the Cornet 4' made of tin, which is a very narrow-scaled Clairon in the bass registers and wide in the upper registers (in fact, the size of these thirty notes does not really differ). Each stop played alone sounds gentle and calm but when combined, the 16', 8' and 4' stops produce a majestic sound.
This instrument is by no means a copy of an ancient organ. It is not the latest in fashion. It should be considered as a creation in a given spirit, a creation that would likely bring to life a tradition without nostalgically claiming to bring to life a particular period or any other alleged bygone golden age.

Pipedreams Organ Tour, April 21-May 3, 2002, Part 3

Mary Ann Dodd is Colgate University Organist Emerita. Her lectures and performances have often featured the music of contemporary American composers. She is presently at work on a book about the life and times of organist Leonard Raver.

Day 8

Altenburg

Monday morning dawned much sooner than some of us might have
wished. But here we were in Altenburg, seeing it for the first time by daylight.
Located on the Pleisse River in the northeastern corner of Thuringia, Altenburg
is a small, industrial city noted for its production of sewing machines and
playing cards and also for the fact that it fortuitously managed to escape the
Allied bombing in WW II. Its neighbors were not so lucky. But our destination
on this gray and chilly morning was the castle church and its famous
"Bach" organ. The castle dates back to the twelfth century and has
survived at least three fires and at least as many restorations. Today only the
tower and the chapel are open to the public. The original organ, built at the
end of the fifteenth century, had already undergone several renovations when
Gottfried Silbermann's advice was sought in the year 1733. A proposal for a new
instrument by the local Thuringian builder, Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost,
was accepted at that time. Trost, whose organ at Waltershausen we had visited
only a few days before, was a colleague and a good friend of Bach's, and we can
well imagine that Bach might have taken a lively interest in this instrument,
whose disposition does indeed seem to reflect many of Bach's ideas and
preferences regarding organ design. It is interesting to speculate on the fact
that somewhere along the way, two additions were made to the original
specification--a 32' posaune and a glockenspiel! Due to financial and technical
difficulties, the organ was not actually completed until 1739, at which time
Bach performed on the instrument and declared it an unqualified success. Also
of interest is the fact that Johann Ludwig Krebs, perhaps Bach's most famous
pupil, was court organist at Altenburg for a quarter of a century (1756-1780),
and it was for this instrument that his organ works were written. Helmut Werner
of the Eule firm was responsible for the recent restoration (1974-76) of this
important instrument.

The interior of the chapel, with its high, vaulted ceiling,
is breathtaking. The organ (II/39) sits high on the north wall, its shallow
case magnificently ornate with gilt and elaborate carving. The scene is
altogether one of quintessential "Baroquial" splendor. But by now we
had become somewhat inured to the sight of gorgeous castle interiors, and it is
the indescribable sound of this instrument that draws us in and wraps itself
around us. It is penetrating, yet gentle; bold, yet never brash. The plenum has
presence, but is never overpowering. There is gravitas aplenty, and the tierce
rank in the mixtures gives the full organ a reedy flavor. There is a
preponderance of 8' flue stops, and the strings really sound orchestral.
Organist Felix Friederich was on hand to greet us and to demonstrate the
instrument. There was open console time for those who wished to play.

I found myself reluctant to leave. Not only were we leaving Altenburg,
but also Thuringia. For the past three days, though we had traveled to several
cities and visited many organs, we had remained always within a rather
circumscribed area at the heart of Bach country. For me, musically, it had been
a landmark experience. The sights and sounds of Thuringia had altered forever
my perceptions and my understanding of Bach, the man, and his musical legacy.

Saxony

But now it was on to Saxony. Destination: Dresden. We had a
relatively long drive ahead of us--nearly two hours--and with his infallible
sense of timing, Michael seized this opportunity to let us get better
acquainted with our fellow passengers. Our bus was equipped with a good
portable microphone, which Michael and Sonja had been putting to excellent use
along the way. Now each of us was invited, as the spirit moved us, to take over
the microphone and share briefly something about ourselves and what had led us
to this time and place.

Everyone, indeed, had a story, the telling of which space
does not permit. But let me attempt a brief summary. There were perhaps only
six among us who had professional ties to the organ. There were, as one might
expect, a number of retired people. Some were seasoned travelers; others were
neophytes. Professions represented were many and various: organ builder,
physician, librarian, pastor, farmer, securities analyst, commodities trader,
tour guide, lawyer, restaurateur, academic administrator, engineer, computer
experts, and teachers. One among us had a famous name, being none other than
the son of Alexander Schreiner of Mormon Tabernacle renown. We hailed from
every corner of the country, from Alaska to California, to Florida, to Rhode
Island, and everywhere in between. Almost without exception, all were loyal
fans of Michael Barone and Pipedreams. Once begun, this "oral
history" project took on a life of its own and would continue, as
traveling time allowed, for the remainder of our trip.

Meissen

Our first stop along the way was the ancient city of Meissen
where we were scheduled to tour the famous porcelain factory and see and hear
the Meissen/Jehmlich organ, I/4, with pipes of porcelain. Meissen is a
picturesque city on the banks of the Elbe River, whose mix of medieval and
Gothic architecture attests to its more than one thousand years of history.
Since the thirteenth century, porcelain had been produced only in China. But in
1710, as a result of the research instigated by Augustus II, King of Poland and
elector of Saxony, the manufacture of white, European, hard porcelain was begun
in Albrechtsburg Castle, high atop a hill overlooking the town below. Later on,
in the nineteenth century, the operation was moved from the castle to the
Meissen factory, which we would be visiting today. A tour of the facility takes
perhaps an hour and a half, affording the visitor the opportunity to actually
observe the complex process of porcelain making at each step of the way from
the creation of the design to the finished product. The pièce de
résistance is a walk through the many showrooms of priceless pieces on
display. The Meissen factory has been, from the very beginning, a state-owned
business, drawing thousands of visitors annually from all over the world.

In 1730, and again in 1920, unsuccessful attempts had been
made to produce sounding organ pipes of porcelain. Since a porcelain pipe is
not adjustable, the technological problem is to find a way to position the lips
of the pipe accurately so as to enable the wind to set up an appropriate
vibrating air column. In the year 2000, success was finally achieved through
collaboration between Horst Jehmlich of the Jehmlich Orgelbau of Dresden and
Ludwig Zepner, porcelain designer and artistic director of the Meissen factory.
The instrument is undeniably a work of art. The case of the little Positiv is of
pearwood with porcelain door wings designed by the Meissen artist Christoph
Ciesielski. The twenty-two façade pipes are porcelain flutes at 2'pitch.
The organ is opus 1140 of the Jehmlich firm, one of the oldest organbuilding
firms in Germany. All involved in this project are justifiably proud of this
unique connection between porcelain and music.

Coswig

We had one more stop to make before we reached Dresden, and
that was the Alte Kirche in the town of Coswig. The church, whose newly
restored organ may well be the oldest in Saxony, celebrated its 500th
anniversary in 1997. The builder of the organ is not known, and the earliest
documentation is from 1735, the year it came to Coswig. It is thought to be
quite old, probably dating back to the seventeenth century. The organ, of one
manual and ten stops, had become quite dysfunctional by the end of the
nineteenth century. Since there were no funds to replace it with a new
instrument, the church made do with a harmonium. A slowly evolving restoration
project in the '30s was interrupted by the war, at which time all of the metal
pipes were taken. In 1989, at the time of the reunification, Christian
Wegscheider approached the authorities about the possibility of a restoration,
and the work was begun in 1992. Almost all of the pipes are new, and a
zimbelstern has been added. The keyboard has a short octave, and the hand
bellows date from 1531. The pipe shades and their decoration are from the
eighteenth century, and the instrument has been tuned in an early Baroque meantone.
The organ was back in its case in time for the 500th anniversary jubilee in
1997, and has been playable since 1998. It was demonstrated for us on this day
by the music director Volkmar Werner, who played a Pachelbel toccata followed
by sets of variations by Pachelbel and Sweelinck. Herr Werner thoughtfully
provided us with the organ specification as well as the registrations he used
to show off the rather amazing variety of delightful sounds. But I'm getting
ahead of myself.

From the outside, this late-Gothic structure, with its
rather massive tower and gated stone walls, seemed to me more suggestive of a
fortress than a house of worship. It is not a graceful structure, but rather
staunch, and stolid, and firmly rooted, as if serving notice that it has every
intention of standing unaltered for at least another five hundred years. When
one enters the church, it is indeed to step back in time. There is an aura of
decay, and the air itself seems to come from ages past. The walls are full of
cracks and peeling plaster. The ancient stone floor, dark, sturdy wooden pews,
and large multi-paned Gothic windows are neither warm nor welcoming, and are a
far cry from the golden splendor to which we had recently become accustomed.
The room is not large and seats perhaps 100 people. The ceiling is flat and
surprisingly low, and there is a small gallery running along the north and west
side which houses the organ. What seem to light the room from within and bring
it aglow with life and warmth are the extraordinary Gothic-style paintings on
the wooden panels of the ceiling and on the fronts of the gallery rails. They
are painted directly onto the wood and date from 1611. It was a space unlike
anything in my experience--a place of sanctity, diffuse with an eerie loveliness.
That this ancient organ with its mysterious origins should reside here seemed
most apt.

It was something of a jolt to leave this otherworldly place
and find ourselves once again in the real world. As we gathered to re-board our
bus, I was touched to take note of a World War I memorial, which had been
erected on the church grounds. It listed on five separate plaques the names of
the dead for each year from 1914 through 1918. Whether members of this church
or of the entire community, it was not clear, but I was surprised to see that
there were so very many of them.

Loschwitz

Back on the bus, we were rapidly approaching the city of
Dresden. But first we had one more stop to make in the suburb of Loschwitz,
where Michael had arranged for us to visit the Evangelical Church and its new
II/20 organ by Christian Wegscheider, whose restoration of the anonymous
Renaissance organ we had just visited in Coswig. The original organ and the
original church both dated back to the eighteenth century. The organ had been expanded
and altered in typical fashion over the years. And then, in 1945, both church
and organ were destroyed by a firebomb. The reconstruction of the church was
completed in 1994, and a new instrument has been built according to
eighteenth-century practice. Christian Wegscheider has incorporated design
elements, which reflect the work of Silbermann, Hildebrandt and Leibner, the
builder of the original organ. Parking turned out to be a bit problematical,
and we ended up leaving our bus on a residential side street across from a row
of neat and rather uniform houses. The houses were smallish, as were the lots,
and all were impeccably kept. Colorful gardens reflected loving care. This was
working-class suburbia, and one presumed that the owners were likely off in
Dresden earning their livelihood. And we too were on our way to Dresden and our
next adventure.

Dresden

We would spend the next two nights in Dresden, and during
that time we would see quite a bit of the city--some of it on foot, and much of
it by bus as we moved between various locations. Dresden is a manufacturing
city and a cultural center of more than half a million people, comparable
perhaps to Leipzig, though not quite so large. Like Leipzig, it too has a
history of many wars and occupations over the centuries. Long regarded by many
as one of the world's most beautiful cities, it has been an architectural
showplace, much of it the creation of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland, who
ruled in the eighteenth century. It is a city of museums and palaces. Among the
most famous buildings are the Semper Oper and the Zwinger Palace, which houses
a priceless collection of paintings. As hard as it is for us to imagine, nearly
all of this was destroyed in 1945 during one awful night of firebombing during
which as many as 35,000 people were killed. Fortunately, the paintings had been
removed and stored for safekeeping somewhere outside the city. Now, more than
half a century later, the city is still in the process of rebuilding, stone by
stone.

Dresden is also an important inland port on the Elbe River.
Four graceful bridges cross the Elbe, and beautiful old homes line the banks of
this long, narrow river valley with the occasional hilltop palace and/or castle
sitting high above the river on the other side. There is the usual commercial
river traffic, and there are pleasure boats and paddlewheel steamers as well,
filled with tourists and visitors on holiday. Lilacs and rhododendrons were in
bloom, and there were vineyards along the river valley and lovely old half-timbered
houses, which were by now becoming a familiar sight. Always with us were the
contrasts of old and new, as in the occasional sighting of an encroaching
shopping mall or the ubiquitous "Golden Arches." We could not know
that only a few months hence, this beautiful river would be over its banks and
on the rampage, leaving a path of destruction in its wake and the recently
restored historic buildings of the old city partly submerged. Three thousand
people were evacuated. Miraculously, the more than 4,000 paintings were
salvaged by heroic efforts, and the Semper opera's production of Carmen was
staged last fall in the Volkswagen factory. "No more fire--the flood next
time!" This is indeed a remarkably resilient city whose citizens treasure
their cultural heritage and are determined to preserve it.

Kreuzkirche

That evening some of us elected
to attend an organ concert at the Kreuzkirche. This eighteenth-century church
was seriously damaged in World War II and is still rebuilding after 57 years.
There are colorful medieval paintings, and there is a curious mix of old and
new stone work. The church is home to the famous Dresden Kreuzchor and was a
meeting place for freedom demonstrators in the eighties, as was the
Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. The organ is a 1963 Jehmlich (IV/76) with mechanical
action and an enclosed Swell. The specification is typical neo-Baroque
eclectic. The performer was Christian Collum from Cologne, and the performance
was in memory of his father, Herbert Collum, who had been organist at this
church for 47 years (1935-1982). It was the twentieth anniversary of his death,
and the second half of the program was devoted entirely to his compositions.
The program was well attended, and the audience was attentive and enthusiastic.
I enjoyed the evening thoroughly and felt very much at home in my non-tourist
guise.

And then it was back to our
hotel to settle in for the night and to ponder the multitudinous events of an
unbelievably full day.

Day 9

A new day. Tuesday morning, so
it must be Dresden. Dresden is, of course, the capital of Saxony, and Saxony is
Silbermann country. All of my professional life, I had heard about Silbermann
organs and tried to imagine their "silvery" sound. And now, here we
were, about to spend an entire day seeing, hearing, and playing the instruments
of Gottfried Silbermann.

Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753)
was a friend and colleague of Bach's. He had learned the art of woodworking
from his father, and then he had apprenticed as an organ builder with his older
brother Andreas, during which time he had spent two years in France, where he
came under the influence of both French and Italian sounds and ideas. In 1710
he returned to his native Saxony where he set up his shop in Freiberg and built
his very first instrument for his hometown of Frauenstein. He built 45
instruments in all, and 31 organs remain extant today. By 1723, such was his
reputation that he requested and was granted the title "Honorary Court and
State Organ Builder to the King of Poland and Duke of Saxony."

St. Nicholas, Langhennersdorf

On this particular day we were
scheduled to visit at least five Silbermann organs--all in the general vicinity
of Dresden. But first on our schedule was a stop in the village of Langhennersdorf
to visit a 1722 Hildebrandt (II/21) in the parish church of St. Nicholas. Some
of the non-organists in our group had elected to stay behind and do some
sightseeing on their own, so we were a somewhat smaller group than usual. What
a pleasure it was to get off the main highways and escape the ever-encroaching
roadside emblems of modernity in the form of automotive centers and shopping
malls. Instead, winding, narrow roads took us past storybook villages and small
rural farms with only an occasional graceful church spire punctuating the
horizon.

The church of St. Nicholas has
an ancient medieval tower, dating from 1350, which was part of the original
fortification around the town. The more recent adjoining chapel dates from
1530. The present organ was, so to speak, the "graduation project" of
Zacharias Hildebrand at the end of his apprenticeship to Gottfried Silbermann.
The instrument is earlier and much smaller than the Hildebrandt we had heard in
Naumburg on Friday. It was regrettably, but predictably, altered in the early
twentieth century. In 1989, after the reunification, the restoration was begun
by Christian Wegscheider and completed in 1996. The casework is lovely with
gilded pipeshades, and the contrasting panels--behind the case and on either
side of the key desk--are in that same lovely shade of blue we had seen earlier
at Naumburg. Andreas Hain, the parish organist, demonstrated for us with music
of Sweelinck, Scheidt, Bruhns and, predictably, the Bach D-minor Toccata and
Fugue. Perusing the stoplist, one can see that this early instrument is
smaller, more conservative, and lacking in some of the innovative color stops
and the gravitas of the larger, later Hildebrandt. But the glorious sound of
this little organ blows us away, leaving absolutely nothing to be desired. It
is a sound that is, quite literally, incomparable and sufficient unto itself.
How does one describe such a sound? Let me try: rich, intense,vibrant, but
never overbearing. It visibly lifted our spirits--a real ear-opener in every
way. What a way to start our day!

Perhaps this might be a good
place to comment on the relationship between the organs and those among us who
were playing them. For several days now, I had become aware of a subtle yet
unmistakable transformation that was taking place with each individual player.
It was fascinating to observe the mysterious and complex interplay that was
occurring as mind, body and instrument responded to each other, becoming more
and more as one. Many times I had to remind myself that these complex
conglomerations of wood and metal, to which we have given the name organ, are,
nevertheless, inanimate objects. All evidence to the contrary, they do not have
hearts and minds and wills of their own.

St. Petrikirche, Freiberg

And then it was back on the road
and on to Freiberg where we would see, hear and play no less than three
Silbermanns. Freiberg is an old city whose wealth came from its iron and silver
mines. Our first stop was the St. Petrikirche. Situated high on a hilltop, it is
perhaps the oldest and most important of the Freiberg churches, dating back to
the year 1210. It has been altered, damaged and reconstructed many times over
the centuries, and the original organ no longer exists. The present instrument
(II/32) was completed by Silbermann in 1735. It is the largest of Silbermann's
two-manual instruments. Nineteenth-century additions and alterations were
removed in the 1959 restoration. Much to our surprise, our demonstrator turned
out to be none other than Andreas Hain, who had just played for us at
Langhennersdorf. Herr Hain is the cantor at St. Peter's, and in an apparently
not-all-that-unusual arrangement, his services are divided among three
congregations. On this occasion, we heard works by Mendelssohn and Petr Eben.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Next on our agenda was St.
Mary's Cathedral, which houses two Silbermanns--a 1714 (III/44) and a 1719
(I/14). Both instruments were restored by Jehmlich in 1983. Gottfried
Silbermann built only four three-manual organs in his lifetime, and this was
his first. It was demonstrated for us by Jacob Wagler. It was interesting to
note that though the St. Peter's instrument was built twenty years later than
that of St. Mary's, the stoplists were basically identical, and the
sounds--including those of the one-manual organ--were unmistakably Silbermann.
Silbermann was greatly admired and respected in his time, and continues to be
today. His craftsmanship was solid, and he found his own distinctive voice
early on--powerful, colorful and brilliant. I would not have described it as
"silvery." Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the two-manual 1718
Silbermann in the Jacobiekirche because of structural work being done on the
building.

Grosshartmannsdorf and Zethau

And so we left Freiberg and
continued on to Grosshartmannsdorf to see a typical two-manual Silbermann from
1741. And then it was on to the village of Zethau and the recently restored
1788 Oehme organ (II/20) in the Elisabethkirche. This lovely old Baroque
church, built between 1728 and 1736, stands atop a rather steep hill. One must
park below and climb the path leading up to the old tower and gatehouse. The
old gated cemetery is here and--as we have come to expect--is beautifully
landscaped and tended. The interior of the church, with its vaulted ceiling and
double galleries, is at once simple and elegant. The building has been lovingly
restored between the years 1982 to 1983. Adam Gottfried Oehme (1719-1789)
apprenticed under Silbermann and was perhaps his most important student. The
restoration by Christian Wegscheider was completed in 2001.

Parish Church, Nassau

One more Silbermann to go, and
that would be in the parish church at Nassau. In 1745 the congregation decided
to replace their organ from which pipes had been stolen, leaving it in a very
sad state of disrepair. On the basis of his reputation for quality materials
and workmanship, a contract was signed with Gottfried Silbermann for a
"standard" village organ of two manuals and nineteen stops. Not only
were there problems in coming up with the necessary cash, but the Silesian War
was raging, and Prussia had invaded Saxony. Two thousand cavalry troops were
quartered in Nassau during the winter of 1745, and the village suffered all
manner of hardships and deprivation. The details are not precisely clear, but
apparently some financial assistance was forthcoming through the offices of
authorities in Dresden and/or Freiburg. In 1748, the organ was finally
delivered. After the reunification in 1990, the church itself was restored, and
in 1998, the Jehmlich firm of Dresden undertook a complete restoration of the
organ in time for its 250th anniversary in 1998. 

Another beautiful, park-like
setting with lovely tall shade trees. The graveyard and the surrounding grounds
enchant us. The church is impressive both outside and in. A tall tower graces
the steep, slate-tiled roof. Inside, narrow, arched floor-to-ceiling windows
illuminate the interior and its two-tiered galleries. The acoustics are
wonderful--live and very intimate. Before we take our turns at the organ, Herr
Katschke demonstrates for us with works by Zachau, Pachelbel and Krieger.

What a day it has been. We take
our leave reluctantly, our ears filled with Silbermann sounds, and our hearts
filled with the beauty and the peace of these lovely old churches and the
surrounding countryside. It is late afternoon as we settle in for our drive
back to Dresden. Time to reflect on what we have seen and heard as we pass
through evergreen forests punctuated by birch and accompanied by ever-meandering
streams. Far off to our right, in the distance, we could see the Czech Republic
across the border. It was dinner on our own this last night in Dresden, and
some of the hardier souls in our group had made plans. Three of us joined
forces and made our way to an outside table at what appeared to be a popular
restaurant/bar up above the street level. Relaxing over a beer and a simple
meal, my companions and I pretended that, for at least a little while, we were
simply "Dresdenites"--old friends out to enjoy the early evening.

Day 10

Up early. Ah, yes, I
particularly remember the birds of Dresden--no silent spring here! My hotel
room was high and overlooked a commercial, not-all-that-attractive back street
with relatively few trees. I slept with my window open and had wakened each
morning to the cheerful song of birds soaring over and above the traffic noise
below. The birds of Dresden seem to be as resilient and indomitable as their
human counterparts.

Last minute packing. Luggage in
the hall to be collected. Only two more days remain. We would be leaving
Germany today, and tonight we would sleep in Prague. But, as usual, we had some
interesting stops to make along the way.

Lohmen

Destination: Lohmen. We traveled
again along the Elbe to reach this beautiful, rural area of woodland and
meadow, settled by German farmers as early as the thirteenth century. An
earlier church no longer exists. The church that stands today is thought by
many to be the most beautiful in Saxony, and it is not hard to see why. Planning
for this remarkable structure began as early as 1781, and the first stone was
laid in 1786. It is constructed of massive squares of sandstone. With its
sturdy clock tower dominating the landscape, it presents an almost
fortress-like appearance. The overall structure of the building is that of a
symmetrical octagon with two longer opposing sides and three shorter sides on
each end. The interior is breathtaking--all in white and gold, including the
organ, which sits high above the altar. There are three (!) tiers of galleries,
and the multi-paned windows, which rise all the way from floor to ceiling, seem
to bathe this magnificent space with ethereal light. The church seats more than
eight hundred people, and the pews on the first level--also in white--sit on
the original stone floor. They are in three banks, facing the organ and altar
(east) as well as north and south, giving at least a partial effect of
"church-in-the-round."

The organ (II/18) was built in
1789 by Johann Christian Kayser (1750-1813), another student of Silbermann.
Just as we saw in the case of Hildebrandt, the organ looks and sounds very like
the work of the teacher. No surprises here:  lovely, exquisite, individual colors, all of which blend well
together, and big but gentle principals. There are no manual reeds, but the 16'
posaune in the pedal supplies ample gravitas. The acoustics are wonderful--a
felicitous conjunction of surface and space that could not be improved upon. I
can only describe it as "surround-sound," eighteenth-century style.
With eyes closed, my ears hadn't a clue as to where the organ was located.
There was no one to officially greet or play for us (perhaps because it was a
regional holiday), and so we were free to explore the instrument on our own. It
was hard to leave, and one wished for time to explore the old, walled
churchyard with its ancient stones and inscriptions.

Reinhardtsgrimma

But today we did indeed have
many miles to go before we slept, and so it was back on the bus and on to
Reinhardtsgrimma, another small village with a very special organ in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church. The organ, a Silbermann (II/20), was purchased for
the church in 1731 by a wealthy widow of high position. In its white and gold
case, it sits high in a rear balcony. It was recently restored by Christian
Wegscheider. Again, there were no surprises, visually or tonally, and the now
familiar, bright Silbermann sound did not disappoint. Herr Katzschke, whom we
remembered from the parish church in Nassau on the previous day, played Tunder,
Pachelbel and Mendelssohn for us.

Frauenstein

We had one last stop to make
before heading for the Czech border. Destination: Frauenstein, where we would
have time for lunch before visiting the Silbermann Museum. Frauenstein is the hometown
of Gottfried Silbermann, and it was to this place that he returned after his
apprenticeship to establish his own business in 1711. The museum, founded by
the Silbermann scholar Werner Muller, is located in a sixteenth-century castle,
which sits on a hill high above the town. It opened in 1983, just in time to
celebrate the 300th anniversary of Silbermann's birth. The exhibits have been
thoughtfully and attractively arranged, and there is a plethora of material to
be seen in the form of photographs and documents. One of the most popular
exhibits is a "hands on" working model provided by the Jehmlich
company, which demonstrates the inner workings of an organ from bellows, to
stops, to keys, to pipes. The pièce de résistance is the small
1993 organ (I/8) by Wegscheider--an exact replica of the1732 Silbermann, which
now resides in the Cathedral in Bremen. Ordinarily, I enjoy museums, but after
two days of such intense exposure to the real thing, the museum seemed
anti-climactic.

Back on the bus once more, we
settled in for the relatively long drive to Prague. By now, nearly all of us
who wished had taken a turn at the microphone. Another pastime, in which we had
been engaging, also deserves mention here. I'm not quite sure exactly how it
all began, but for several days now, several of us had been indulging in
limerick writing, along with some other equally silly word play. These
contributions were deposited with Michael, who proceeded to serve them up at
what he deemed to be appropriate times. Here, for example, is one of my humble
contributions:              

When a feisty old lady from
Kassel

Tried the organ at Altenburg
Castle,

It is sad to relate

A pipe fell from the Great,

And her fingers are no longer
facile.

A word of caution is due here:
limerick writing is known to be habit forming and may become seriously
addictive.

It was a pleasant bus ride
marked only by what seemed to be an unwarranted and nerve-wracking delay at the
border crossing. The Czech countryside offered a welcome contrast to the
landscape to which we had become accustomed. There was a lot of climbing
through forested, mountainous country, marked occasionally by some rather
spectacular panoramic vistas. When we reached Prague, we would be checking into
two separate hotels because of space limitations, and then we would gather for
a meal that had been arranged at a local restaurant. So we had a good
introduction to Prague from the bus during the rather lengthy process of
dropping people off at two different locations and then picking them up again to
transport them to dinner. Tomorrow--our last day--would e a whole new
adventure, albeit a short one. Since tomorrow belongs to Prague, this seems to
be the time and place to tie up a few loose ends and to give some overall
consideration to the Bach-country experience.

First, the loose ends. I
believe, but am not sure, that the incident which I'm about to describe
happened en route from Freiberg to Grosshartmannsdorf. Sonja Ritter's parents
live in the little village of Brand-Erbisdorf and had been told by Sonja that
our bus would be passing right by their house. There was no time to stop, but
Manuela slowed the bus down just enough to allow time for big smiles and
enthusiastic waving all around. Forever engraved in my memory is the sight of
this merry couple leaning out of their second story window, beaming and waving,
looking for all the world like storybook characters out of a nineteenth-century
children's tale. And speaking of tales, mention needs to be made here of the
storybook charm of the countryside through which we had been traveling the past
few days. The small "storybook" farms are right in the villages, or
perhaps I should say that the villages are really clusters of small farms with
one or two small shops near by. A typical front yard might have flowers, a
vegetable garden, a cow and/or a goat, pig or sheep, and perhaps a few geese,
ducks and chickens. Outside one of the old, stone churches to which we had
climbed, we were greeted by a tethered sheep grazing contentedly on the grass.
One has the impression that nothing has changed all that much over the
centuries. There is a timelessness and an authenticity about these places
unlike anything I have ever experienced. The churches we visited were typically
on hilltops, and when Manuela would park our bus at the side of the road below,
it sometimes caused quite a stir--this anachronistic behemoth driven by a
woman, no less!

At one of these small
churches--and I forget which one--we were warmly received by a gentleman who
proceeded to give us a fascinating and detailed history of the organ, told with
great pride and enthusiasm. We all assumed that he was the local organist.
Imagine our astonishment when he turned out to be the pastor! No longer
subsidized by the state, and with attendance and membership down, times have
been difficult for these small churches since the reunification. The amazing
thing is the pride that the people take in these wonderful old churches and
their organs. Their tenaciousness and their strong sense of stewardship in
preserving and restoring them is to be marveled at. Many of these churches have
concert series and festivals and are a real source of pride to the entire
community.

And lastly, but not at all in
the least, the organs we had seen, and heard, and played. Peter Williams' book,
The European Organ: 1450-1850, begins
with a quote from D. A. Flentrop: "It is not easy to write about organs;
they need to be played or listened to." And to that, I would add the word,
seen. The vivid intensity of each individual experience was indeed
indescribable. So very many instruments in such a few short days! Our senses
were at times overwhelmed. The larger, sometimes newer, instruments in the
cities were magnificent to be sure, but in retrospect, I find that what I
treasure most are the memories of the smaller instruments in the smaller
parishes off the beaten path. In this case, the whole was indeed greater than
the sum of the individual parts, and now, in memory, these kaleidoscopic images
seem to have merged into a kind of visual and sonic template: the incredible
sweetness and vibrancy of the sounds combined with that translucent,
transforming light which flooded the rooms with an almost palpable energy. Most
important of all--and a real gift, since I hadn't expected it--is the recent discovery
that my approach to the music of Bach has been forever changed in some
fundamental, yet mysterious way. This is not a conscious change, and I am not
speaking of things musicological. I can neither describe nor explain it. It
remains my own priceless souvenir.

And having said all of that, I
must in all honesty admit that Prague, with all of its magnificence and
splendor, would be, for me, an anti-climax.

Day 11

Prague

Thursday, May 2. It is blessedly
warm, and the sun is shining! It is the last day of our tour, and our one and
only day in Prague. It is, of course, impossible to do more than barely scratch
the surface. Prague is the first really large city we have visited since we
started out in Berlin. Berlin, in many aspects, resembles any modern western
city. Prague, by comparison, seems strange and exotic. Though the Germans have
a certain formality about them, they are, by and large, a warm and friendly
people. The Czechs seem more distant and remote. Since we were not due at the
Basilica of St. James/St. Jacob until ten o'clock, we began our day with a
walking tour accompanied by our new guide. Sonja was still with us, but our
arrangements through the travel agency specified that here, in the Czech
Republic, we should use a Czech guide.

Architecturally, Prague is
undeniably stunning--a city of golden domes, graceful spires, and red-tiled
roofs. Back in the fourteenth century, Emperor Charles IV set out to create the
most splendid city in all of Europe, and it would seem that he succeeded. It is
a colorful city whose buildings and streets span a period of more than a
thousand years. Castles, palaces, cathedrals, libraries, museums, theaters and
concert halls attest to a marvelously rich cultural heritage. Charles
University, one of the oldest and largest in all of Europe, dates back to 1348.
This is the city of King Wenceslaus, Kafka, Kepler, Smetana and Dvorák,
to name but a few. Music is everywhere, and Prague is home to many of Europe's
finest orchestras and chamber music groups.

Prague is a port city with an
important inland harbor. The Vltava River (the Moldau to us Westerners) divides
the city in half with two ancient castles standing sentinel on the right and
left banks of the river respectively. It is a city of bridges--fifteen in
all--the most famous being the Charles, with its splendid Gothic arches dating
back to the fourteenth century. Pleasure boats ply the river along with the
usual commercial river traffic. None of us could know that only a few months
hence the newspapers at home would be filled with photographs and accounts of
the devastating flooding of the Vltava into the old sections of Prague.
Thousands would be evacuated from their homes and much property destroyed.

I had been told by friends at
home that this was an excellent time to visit Prague because we would be there
before the height of the tourist season. I cannot, nor do I want to, even
imagine what that must be like. As it was, we were surrounded by a great number
of tourists--many in groups like ours. I found this phenomenon to be a major
distraction to say the least--dominating the scene and tending to obliterate
those very sights and sounds that had drawn us here. It was pedestrian gridlock
of the worst kind, and it was all we could do to stay connected with our own
group and not end up in another! Not only that, but there was a plethora of
little tourist shops which seemed to have sprung up in every nook and cranny,
seriously--in my opinion--detracting from the authenticity of the old parts of
the city. Perhaps I was a bit travel weary at this point and wasn't really
ready for Prague. But the truth is that I had left my heart back in Bach
country.

Basilica of St. James/St. Jacob

Our first musical stop was at
the Basilica of St. James/St. Jacob. The organ had its beginnings in 1705 as a
two-manual instrument of twenty-six stops by the builder, Abraham Stark.
Although it has been expanded, the original case remains today along with a few
of the original Stark registers. Over the years, it has been extensively
altered and expanded, most recently by the Rieger-Kloss firm in 1982. It now
has four manuals and 91 stops, and it may very well be the largest organ in the
Czech Republic. On this day, the organ was impressively demonstrated for us by
Irene Chribkova.

By now it was nearly noon, and
so we were able to join the droves of tourists in the Old Town Square as we
waited in front of the Old Town Hall for the striking of the fifteenth-century
astronomical clock. At noon, twelve elaborately carved apostles appear, while a
bell-ringing skeleton dances off to the side.

Strahov Monastery

Then it was on--or perhaps I
should say up--to the ancient monastery at Strahov, which was built on the
highest point on the approach to Prague Castle.  Now the Museum of National Literature, the library houses
many thousands of books and works of art, the oldest dating back to the tenth
century. We had come to see and hear the small cabinet organ of six registers
in the chapel upon which Mozart once improvised.

Tyne Church

Our last organ--and the last
organ on our tour--was an instrument by Hans Heinrich Mundt built in 1673 for
the Tyne Church. A two-manual instrument of twenty-nine stops, it was restored
in the year 2000 by the Klais firm. The organ has survived largely intact and
offers an interesting blend of Austrian-Moravian and Netherlands-North German
building styles.

A farewell dinner had been
arranged for us at a restaurant overlooking the river at the foot of the
Charles Bridge. There was much camaraderie as well as some spontaneous toasts
and impromptu entertainments. Some in our group departed early in order to
attend various performances in the city that evening. The more adventurous
among us concluded the evening by walking across the famous Charles Bridge. And
then it was back to our bus and on to our hotels for the night. Some had very
early departures in the morning, a few would remain in Prague for more
sightseeing, and the rest of us would be bussed to the airport where we would
begin to go our separate ways. Our extraordinary journey had come to an end.

Postlude

Though we have come to the end
of this narrative, the astute reader will have noticed that little mention has
been made of our genial tour host, Michael Barone. That is simply because it is
Michael's style to keep a low profile. As his Pipedreams fans have come to
expect, the focus is always on the organs and the music. Throughout the entire
trip, he seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. Talk about
multi-tasking! In his quiet, efficient way, he somehow managed to keep us
always on schedule. Up in the organ loft, he was our great "enabler,"
ever ready to lend a hand or an ear as needed to register, pull stops and turn
pages. He encouraged those who needed encouragement and made sure that no one
took more than his/her fair share of time at the organ. Often, but not always,
he also played. If everything was under control at the console, he was off to
sample the sounds of the organ from as many different locations in the room as
possible. In addition, he held doors, distributed sandwiches or concert tickets
as the occasion demanded, and otherwise kept himself in constant circulation in
order to ascertain that all was well with each of us. In regard to the hosts
and performers at our many and various venues, he was ever the gracious
ambassador, sowing seeds of goodwill and laying the groundwork for future
exchanges. Yet the casual observer might easily have been unaware that he was,
indeed, our leader. A Pipedreams organ tour is not unlike the weekly radio
broadcast. The difference--and it is a big one--is that in this case, we have
become much more than mere armchair travelers. Michael's challenge to each of
us, as it is each week, is to open our ears and our minds--and in this case,
our eyes--and make our own discoveries.

It was our good fortune on this
particular tour to be the direct beneficiaries of Michael's having led an
almost identical tour two years before. Not only were we able to profit from
this experience, but we also inherited the other two members of this great leadership
team--our bus driver, Manuela Huwe, and our German tour guide, Sonja Ritter.
Manuela was wonderful, always keeping us safely on track, getting us there on
time, and taking our bus into places it was never designed to go! Sonja's
excellent English and her engaging and informed commentary enriched our whole
experience immeasurably. Our one day in Prague without Sonja as our guide only
made us appreciate her all the more.

Another important aspect of this
tour, in my opinion, was the makeup of our group. We were as unlikely a
collection of people as one could possibly imagine, coming from an amazing
variety of backgrounds, experiences and expectations. How marvelous to think
that this unique and ancient instrument we call the organ had brought us all together
in a joint adventure of discovery and enlightenment. In the light of the
uncertain and disturbing political climate in which we find ourselves today,
tours such as this afford a wonderful opportunity to build bridges between
countries and cultures and people.

I hope you enjoyed reading about
my Pipedreams adventure. If, in the future, the opportunity to take a
Pipedreams tour presents itself, I urge you to take it. Much will be promised,
and you will find few, if any, disappointments, and a great many unexpected
delights. In the meantime, I encourage you to take the "virtual"
Pipedreams tour each week and to support your local public radio station. To
learn more and whet your appetite even further, you can explore Pipedreams
online at

<www.pipedreams.org&gt;.

Ending on a lighter note, this
is my limerick for Michael, which I wrote somewhere along the way:

Through ancient cathedrals so
pietal,

With organs of endless varietal,

With Baronial splendor,

Apt words he did tender.

Heartfelt praises and thanks to
our Michael!  

Carl Parks, a freelance writer, is organist-choirmaster of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Holmes Beach, Florida, and a past dean of the Sarasota-Manatee Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Photographs are by the author.

Saxony’s Organs and Bachfest Leipzig 2004: A study tour of Bach, Luther & Silbermann

Every organist dreams of playing the Saxony region’s baroque organs that were designed, performed on, and approved by Johann Sebastian Bach. That, combined with the annual Bachfest Leipzig 2004, proved irresistible.

The annual Bach Festival in Leipzig, Germany--with day trips to hear and play over a dozen historic organs, many known to J. S. Bach--provided 27 of us an unforgettable study tour May 12 to 26. The tour included 16 festival concerts, lectures by Bach scholar Dr. Christoph Wolff of Harvard University, guided tours of the cities visited, and the opportunity for masterclasses with Thomaskirche organist Ulrich Böhme. It was Historic Organ Tour 50 led by the University of Michigan’s University Organist Dr. Marilyn Mason.

After a bus tour and night in Berlin, we proceeded on May 14 to Wittenberg. Our walking tour took us through the Luther House, which is the world’s largest museum of Reformation history, and the Schloßkirche, where Martin Luther presented his 95 theses and is now buried. After lunch next door in the Schloßkeller we arrived in Leipzig on time for the festival’s opening concert at the Thomaskirche, where Bach was Kantor for 27 years. Three settings of Psalm 98, by Bach (BWV 225 and 190) and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (Opus 91) were given a world-class performance by the church’s boys’ choir, soloists, and the Gewandhaus orchestra conducted by Georg Christoph Biller. The Sinfonia in D from the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249) opened the concert.

Leipzig

Our walking tour of Leipzig the next morning showed a city coming to life again since the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and the reunification of Germany. Construction is everywhere. Historic buildings are being cleaned and restored, while the big, vacant housing projects and other Stalinist architecture are about to be torn down. One grim building about to be razed sits on the site of the University Church, which the Communists dynamited. The church will be rebuilt with an organ designed but never built by Gottfried Silbermann, the great master of organ building during the baroque era. Unfortunately, unemployment in Leipzig is around 20 percent, while in other eastern cities of the former DDR it is as high as 28 percent.

Leipzig is a city of music. Excellent street musicians play the classics everywhere within the ancient confines of this once-walled burg. Walks to the Bach Museum, Mendelssohn House, Musical Instrument Museum or a concert are always a treat. We often paused to hear a flautist, a xylophonist, even a full brass choir playing Henry Purcell’s Trumpet Tune in D.

Thomaskirche

The first of Saturday’s three festival concerts opened with Ulrich Böhme playing Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue on the Bach Organ in the north gallery of Thomaskirche. This 4-manual, 60-stop organ was built by Woehl in 2000 and replaces an earlier 3-manual instrument built in 1966 by Schuke. It duplicates the organ that Bach knew as a boy in Eisenach. While its location is certainly not what Bach would specify, the large-scale principals and overall tonal design provide the “gravitas” he found so necessary. And the organ sounds well throughout the church despite its location on the side. Jürgen Wolf playing all 30 Goldberg Variations on harpsichord at Nikolaikirche followed. The evening concert in the Gewandhaus featured fortepianos and orchestra in performances of Bach and Mendelssohn works.

Sunday’s services at Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche are like those in Bach’s day and always include the performance of a Bach cantata at the liturgy of the word. The afternoon festival concert, again on the Thomaskirche Bach Organ, was a reconstruction of Mendelssohn’s organ recital of August 6, 1840, performed by Michael Schönheit. His improvisation on the Passion Chorale in the style of Mendelssohn was similar in structure to the Sixth Sonata and brought a standing ovation, a much less common occurrence in Europe than the United States.

Among the many excellent concerts, Matthias Eisenberg’s Ascension Day performance of  Max Reger’s Fantasie and Fugue on B-A-C-H stands out in particular. The entire sell-out crowd remained through a long, standing ovation until he improvised an equally stunning encore on Thomaskirche’s west gallery organ. That instrument was built by Wilhelm Sauer in 1899, who then extended it to 88 stops in 1907. A fund to restore this big tubular pneumatic has so far raised 100,000 of the 300,000 euros being sought.

Nikolaikirche

A similar romantic organ is almost restored in the west gallery of Nikolaikirche, but was not ready for this year’s Bachfest. It was built by Friedrich Ladegast in 1862 and expanded to 84 stops by Sauer from 1902 to 1903. Near the apse, the church also has a 17-stop organ that was built by Eule in 2002 in the style of Italian organs of the baroque era. As Kantor of Thomaskirche, J. S. Bach was also was the city’s civic director of music, giving him duties at Nikolaikirche. Thus, it was here that many of his cantatas and other works were performed for the first time.

Rötha

A bus trip on May 17 took us to Rötha, a city with two Silbermann organs. Dedicated in 1721 by Johann Kuhnau, the Silbermann in St. George church was the model for the Marilyn Mason Organ built by Fisk for the University of Michigan. A smaller Silbermann at St. Mary’s church was dedicated in 1722. Some of our group joined a masterclass with Ulrich Böhme, while others went on to Weimar. The pedalboards on these old Silbermann organs take some getting used. Not only are they flat, but the spacing is different from modern pedalboards. They also lack a low C-sharp and other notes at the top end. As Marilyn Mason explained, heel and toe pedaling worked out for pieces learned on a modern pedalboard must be changed to a technique using mostly the toes.

European acoustics demand slower tempi and proper phrasing to a greater extent then the dry acoustics of most American churches. For speech reinforcement, Germans take an approach that differs from our boom-box public address systems. Stässer loudspeakers, measuring approximately 18 x 21/2 x 21/2 inches, are mounted on each of a church’s columns, with electronic reinforcement delayed to match the time sound takes to travel. This permits clarity of the spoken word without compromising the divine ambiance for which the music was composed.

Gottfried Silbermann

Gottfried Silbermann was born in 1683, the son of a craftsman-woodworker. From 1702 to 1707 he studied organ-building with his elder brother Andreas in Strasbourg and Thiery in Paris. A condition was that Gottfried would not work in his brother’s territory. So in 1710 Gottfried returned to his native Saxony and set up shop centrally in Freiberg. His first commission was for a small, one-manual and pedal, 15-stop organ for his hometown of Frauenstein. So well-received was this first instrument, completed in 1711, that in the same year Freiberg’s Dom St. Marien (Cathedral of St. Mary) invited the young builder, then only 28 years old, to construct a new organ of three manuals and pedal with 44 stops. This was completed in 1714. Thereafter Silbermann built some 45 instruments, 31 of which are still extant. All are located within or very close to the Saxon borders. 

Gottfried Silbermann was given the official title of Court Organbuilder by Frederick I, at that time King of Poland and Duke of Saxony. Similarly, J. S. Bach had the title of Court Composer. The two were great friends, and often discussed the techniques and acoustics of organ building. Silbermann was Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach’s godfather and a regular visitor to the Bach home in Leipzig. The two even worked together on the escapement mechanism for the world’s first fortepianos.

Silbermann believed that an organ should look as beautiful as it sounds, and his organ cases are truly beautiful. Also, in a play on words of his name, this “silver man” was known for the silver sound of his pipes. His organs typically have a Hauptwerk that is scaled for gravitas, a Brustwerk scaled to be delicate, an Oberwerk to be penetrating, and a Pedal scaled for a grandness of sound that produces foundation without necessarily using a lot of pipes. Compared to Arp Schnitger, the organs of Silbermann are more spacious with the pipes less densely arranged. 

Eisleben and Halle

Another bus trip took us to Eisleben. Here we visited the houses where Martin Luther was born and died, and the church where he was baptized. Further on in Halle, we stopped to play two organs in the Marktkirche, where Georg Friedrich Händel was baptized and learned to play the organ. That organ is a one-manual instrument of six stops built in 1664 by Reichel. It has all of its original pipes as well as meantone tuning. At the other end is a much larger organ in a baroque case. It is a three-manual, 40-stop instrument built by Schuke in 1984. Both had recently been restored, following extensive damage to the church from a broken city steam pipe. We then visited the Handel House, which has several chamber organs, and we took turns playing the newly restored organ built by Johann Gottlieb Mauer in 1770.

Altenburg, Störmthal and Pomßen

On May 21 we visited Altenburg. It is here that Heinrich Trost built an organ in the Schloßkirche from 1736 to 1739, the same year Bach played it. Eule restored it in the mid-1970s. After walking up well-worn stone steps in one of the castle’s circular stairwells, we found ourselves in the balcony opposite this magnificent instrument. Demonstrating was Dr. Felix Friedrich, a scholar of Johann Ludwig Krebs. Marilyn Mason, who was familiar with the instrument, pulled stops for those of us who played and offered suggestions. Among the more interesting stops is a viola that speaks with an attack and harmonic development nearly identical to that of a bowed string instrument, making it ideal for trio sonatas. 

Further on in the village church of Störmthal is the only Hildebrandt organ still in its original condition. Zacharias Hildebrandt was a student of Gottfried Silbermann. He built the two-manual instrument that was inspected and approved by his friend J. S. Bach in 1723. Kantor Thomas Orlovski demonstrated the instrument and registered it for those of us who played. 

The afternoon took us to Pomßen’s 750-year-old Wehrkirche. Originally built as a fortress, this Romanesque church is home to the oldest organ in Saxony. The instrument has one manual and pedals that play 12 stops, plus a Cimbelstern and Vogelgesang. Built in 1570, the organ was purchased second-hand to save money, and it was installed in 1690. It has been well maintained since its restoration in 1934 and was a thrill to play. 

Naumburg

Several of us had expressed an interest in playing the newly restored organ in Wenzelkirche, Naumburg, which was not on our tour. It is the largest instrument built by Zacharias Hildebrandt from 1743 to 1746, comprising 53 stops on three manuals and pedals. His old teacher Gottfried Silbermann examined the instrument and approved it, finding it to be as beautiful as his own but much larger. J. S. Bach had assisted with its design; and, when he played it, he found all the qualities he liked: thundering basses, strong mixtures, and beautiful solo stops. We convinced enough in our group to charter a bus and rent the organ the morning of May 22. 

Words can describe neither the baroque splendor nor the divine ambience of the vast St. Wenzel interior. There, Kantor Irene Greulich demonstrated the organ. Frau Greulich is a fine organist who has performed and given masterclasses at the University of Michigan. She and Marilyn Mason have a friendship that began before Germany’s reunification, when the organ had been playable from an electro-pneumatic console of the 1930s in the balcony below. They registered the organ for those of us who played, thus ensuring that nobody touched the original pen and ink inscriptions in the drawknobs.

A walk to the Dom SS. Peter and Paul revealed a handsome new organ under construction in a fenced-in area in the nave. No information was available, but among the pipes to be installed were wooden resonators, presumably for a Posaune. The building is late Romanesque and Gothic from the 13th century.

That evening we attended a very fine concert of The Creation by Joseph Haydn at the Hochschüle for Music and Theater. It was sung by soloists and choir from the school and the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Roland Borger conducting. We heard it as Die Schöpfung, Haydn’s own translation from English for German audiences.

The last day of Bachfest included breathtaking performances of the St. Matthew Passion, the Mass in B Minor, and pieces written for organ, four hands, played by Ulrich Böhme and his wife Martina at Thomaskirche. The Matthäus-Passion performance was a reconstruction of that given by Mendelssohn on April 4, 1841. Thus, orchestration made use of instruments that had replaced those of Bach’s time. A continuo organ was played with the orchestra. The chorales, however, made use of the Gewandhaus’ 89-stop instrument built in 1981 by the Schuke-Orgelbau of Potsdam. The festival closing concert of the B-minor Mass was in Thomaskirche, with 85-year-old Eric Ericson conducting.

Freiberg and Frauenstein

After we checked out of our hotel, our bus took us southeast to Freiberg. There, in the Freiberg Dom we played two fine Silbermann organs. The larger was built from 1711 to 1714 and has a particularly remarkable case with ornamentation by Johann Adam Georgi. It has 44 stops across three manuals and pedal. The small organ of 1719 has 14 stops on one manual and pedal. 

We continued to the Silbermann Museum in Frauenstein, located in a medieval castle, and the only organ museum devoted to just one builder. There, Dr. Marilyn Mason played a short recital on the museum’s replica of a Silbermann organ. It is a copy by Wegscheider Organ Builders, Dresden, of an instrument Silbermann built in 1732 for Etzdorf, and is a working model demonstrating the basic principles of Baroque organ construction.

Part of the attraction of a Marilyn Mason tour is her ability to unlock the doors to organ lofts. She was the first woman to have played in Westminster Abbey, Egypt, and many other places around the world. She is also a very helpful coach in unlocking the secrets of performance for a broad array of organ literature. Dr. Mason offered our group many pointers on the performance of baroque music, and personally advised me on ways to practice the difficult passages and tricky rhythms of Jehan Alain’s Trois Danses, which she had worked out for her own brilliant performances.

Dresden

In Dresden, our excellent tour leader, Franz Mittermayr of Matterhorn Travel, treated us with a surprise visit to the Hofkirche (Roman Catholic cathedral). There we played the magnificent three-manual, 47-stop Silbermann of 1755 that had been hidden in the countryside during World War II. This cathedral was destroyed in the allied firebombing, but the organ was back among us in a newly restored building. For that we gave grateful thanks. Unfortunately, another fine Silbermann in the Frauenkirche was destroyed. A 3-million euro restoration of that church is nearing completion using original, numbered stones wherever possible. A new organ will replicate the destroyed Silbermann. 

It has been said that Germany has too many churches. This is because, like elsewhere, church attendance is down. In Germany approximately nine percent of the population is Protestant, while two percent is Roman Catholic. In the former DDR of Eastern Germany under the Communists, religion was discouraged, so attendance fell even further. Maintaining and restoring these ancient churches is beyond the reach of most congregations, so they survive through tourism and entrance fees. Many are considered museums and are given government funding. In Naumburg, for example, the city paid for the restoration of the Hildebrandt organ. On average, a group pays an entrance fee of 150 euros or about $185 U.S. for each church visited. In Leipzig, the group paid entrance fees on top of concert ticket prices. This was all included in the cost of our tour. An organist traveling alone to play benefit recitals will pay rental fees of similar amounts. 

For a first visit to the Saxony region, this tour provided the best way to play these instruments and learn about them. While our personal playing times were seldom more than five minutes each, the cost was spread over the entire group. An organ tour also makes all the preliminary arrangements to open doors that are otherwise locked. The University of Michigan is known for its excellent tours, and this one proved why. Matterhorn Travel provided us with a guide who had extensive knowledge of the area, numerous contacts, and the ability to run things so smoothly that we never encountered delays.