Ugrino-Festival Orgelbewegung

Lectures and recitals on the German church's neoclassical organ by Willi-Peter (1972, Cologne) which will be sold to St. Petersburg and replaced by an Åkerman-organ (1884) in September 2016.

Friday May 13th: Christof Pülsch (Bielefeld/German/), Saturday May 14th: Martin Riessen (Vikbolande/Sweden), Sunday May 15th: Michael Dierks (Stockholm/Sweden). Lectures at 5.30 pm, concert at 6 pm.

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

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. As a result of that event, in 2002, in Moscow, an entry was put in the book Records of the Planet Earth. Sought after as a juror in international competitions both at home and abroad (Calgary, St. Albans, Kaliningrad), he has directed seminars and masterclasses in Europe (Vienna, Hamburg, Hanover, Warsaw, London) 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.

Historical sketch
While the history of the organ in the territories of modern Latvia stretches back to the Middle Ages, Latvian organ music itself (as well as classical Latvian music in general) emerged only in the last quarter of the 19th century. This anomaly arose from the history of the country, which was almost always under foreign rule and, accordingly, influenced by different cultural traditions.
Since the ninth century, those who lived in the territories of modern Latvia were often attacked by Scandinavians, and later by Germans, who wished to control and use the old Viking trade routes. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church had missionary designs on the indigenous peoples—the Kurs (or Curonians), the Zemgals, the Latgals, the Selonians, and the Livs (or Livonians)—who were still pagan. From 1164 onwards these objectives attracted a succession of representatives of different groups of German society: soldiers, merchants, and missionaries. Overcoming resistance of the local peoples, German crusaders in 1201 established Riga as the residence of an archbishop, the whole region being occupied by them by the end of the 13th century. From that time until the early 20th century, Latvia was under foreign rule: German (1290– 1581), Polish (1581–1621), Swedish (1621–1710), and Russian (1710–1917). In Latvian cultural life, developing under the ruling nations, the dominant influence was German. The Baltic German elite, although never amounting to more than about ten per cent of the population, maintained its privileged position in Latvian society, even when the Baltic territories were controlled by Poland, Sweden, or Russia.

Organs in Latvia in the 13th–16th centuries
Historical sources record that in the winter of 1205–1206 a liturgical drama (ludus prophetarum) was performed in Riga. From 1216 there existed a musical guild in the Livonian Order and from 1240 a “Domkapelle” also. The guilds took part in festivities, ceremonies, and processions, in which it is highly likely that portatives were used. However, the first documented reference to organs in the Baltics dates from 1329: in the small towns of Paistu (Paisten) and Helme (Helmet) (northern Livonia, now Estonia), the organs were destroyed by enemy action.
The 14th–15th centuries were characterized by a permanent struggle between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga for political domination. The documents of this time describe organs, mostly in the large churches of Riga. The church of St. Peter in Riga was known to provide musical instruction in the 14th century, in which perhaps positive organs were used, while the church of St. Catherine was known to have an organ in 1392. The best performers (trombonists, cornettists, trumpeters, drummers) received the title of Town Waits. These posts were given only to Germans.
According to Magister Brotze1 there was in the chancel of the church of St. Johannis in Cesis (Wenden) the tombstone of a councilor, Symon Schotdorn, and his wife Gerdrut, from the year 1441; it indicates that they were the donors of the church’s first Praising Sounds. As Paul Campe correctly noted, “it is uncertain whether, under the Praising Sounds, the carving on the tombstone was meant to indicate a particular musical instrument or a special kind of church music.”2
At the beginning of the 16th century, immediately after the “Augsburger Reichstag” (the Confessio Augustana of 1530), the Protestant liturgy was established in the Baltic territories. The first churches to be converted to Protestantism (already in 1522) were those of St. Jakobi and St. Peter in Riga. The latter received in 1520 a new organ built by Balthasar Zcineken, the first organ builder in Latvia known by name.3 This organ replaced the older one, which had existed since 1465.
In 1530 Nicolaus Ramm made the first translation of a liturgical text into Latvian, No szirdes dubben buus töw titczet (The Ten Commandments).
The music for the majestic and dignified services in the churches of Riga was provided by choir, solo singers, and organ. Documents from the Inneres Rigaer Ratsarchiv mention an organist, Lasserus, who received several payments for playing in the services in 1542 and 1543. One of them reads: “Dito noch anno 43 denn andern Mydewecke [Mittwoch] Inne [in] der Faste[nzeit] für den Laßerus demme [dem] organisten—20 Mark” (“The same again in ’43 on the other Wednesday in Lent for Lasserus, the organist—20 marks”).4
In the second half of the 16th century church services followed both the traditional German and the local order. By the end of the century the first printed compositions—masses, motets, spiritual songs (including Missa Rigensis)—by the Riga cantor Paul (Paulus) Bucaenus (?–1586) had been published (Sacrae cantiones, Riga, 1583).
Soon they were followed by the first collection of music with Latvian texts, Undeudsche Psalmen und geistliche Lieder oder Gesenge welche in den Kirchen des Fürstenthums Churland und Semigallen in Lieflande gesungen werden (Königsberg, 1587), based on Die Korte Ordeninge des Kerkendienstes der Cöfflichen Stadt Riga (Lübeck, 1530).
After the great fire of 1547 that destroyed the organ in Riga Cathedral, a new instrument was built there (1594–1601, III/P/42), which cost 5,685 thalers and 3 marks. This instrument was built by Jacob Rab(e) (d. 1609), an organbuilder from Lübeck who established his workshop there in 1598.
In the Duchy of Courland there existed organs before 1600 in the following churches: Holy Trinity in Jelgava (Mitau), 1586; St. Catharine in Kuldiga (Goldingen), 1593; the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bauska (Bauske), 1595.
From the middle of the 16th century, the Baltic territories became a subject of contention between Lithuania and Russia. In the year 1558 the army of the Russian Tsar Ivan “The Terrible” reached Riga. The army of Lithuania, together with that of Poland, went to war against Russia. As a result of the Livonian War (1558–1583), the Russians left the Baltics, and Latvia was divided and brought under Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian rule.

Cultural, religious, and musical life in the 17th and 18th centuries
If during this period cultural activity in Latvia continued to be mostly a product of the German-speaking elite, the Latvian peasantry had a vibrant oral folk tradition in their own language. As early as the 16th century, when Baltic German clergy supplied religious writings in Latvian to the peasantry, these two cultural lines began to converge, aided by Ernst Glück’s publication in 1694 of his Latvian translation of the Bible.
Seventeenth-century sources describe organs in Durbe (Durben), Valmiera (Wolmar), Cesis (Wenden), Edole (Edwahlen), Piltene (Pilten), Ventspils (Windau), and other places. Most at that period were positive organs. Master Moritz (Mauritius) Wendt, who lived in Riga from 1608 to 1633, made a positive organ for Grobina (Grobin). He also received some orders from Königsberg (1622) and Danzig (1623).5 In 1609 he was given the task of renovating the organ in the church of Kuldiga, but, as by 1611 he had failed to fulfill this commission, another organbuilder was engaged: Johannes Pauli (Paulus),6 who worked in Riga in 1611–1614, in 1630–1633 (when he built the new organ in the church of St. Johann), and in 1642. In January 1642, Jakob Wendt, the son of Moritz Wendt, finished a new organ in Jelgava.7
The collaboration of important cities in the Baltic area can also be traced in the activities of such organbuilders as Christopher Meinecke (Christoff Mencke) from Lübeck (who worked in Riga in 1674–1675), Martin Siewert (Sievert) from Danzig (in Riga 1676–1687), Gabriel Branditius (Brenditius) from Köslin in Pommern (in Durben and Riga 1674–1698), and Bartholomäus Schumann from Königsberg (in Riga 1695–1705).8
During the reign of Duke Jacob (1642–1682), and especially that of his son Duke Friedrich Casimir (1682–1698), Jelgava became the cultural center of Courland. The court orchestra and the court wind instruments, which normally included 12 trumpets with drums, were used on many occasions.
It can clearly be seen from the contract between Duke Friedrich Casimir and his “Musikdirektor” Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich how important the position of director of music had become and how many obligations had to be fulfilled:

We, Friedrich Casimir, by the Grace of God, Duke of Liefland in Courland and Semgallen, document and acknowledge by this our sealed open letter that we have appointed and confirmed our dear faithful Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich to be our director of vocal music in our church and organist, and we do so herewith and with all our might, in the expectation that he should be first of all loyal, gracious, and attentive, giving warning of avoiding our most terrible anger, but should promote, preserve and aid our best purposes, and then should also present music in our church when there should be made music and singing, and when banquets are held, he, being also experienced in composition, should have care of the pieces heard and should compose, and should inspire the vocalists to practice much, so that each of them will be able to perform his part properly, should play the organ when the parish enters the church and when they leave, but also for concerts and singing, and at banquets and for singing should play the harpsichord, and should allow himself to be a willing and unwearied, faithful, and diligent musician and servant. For such service we promise and order that he should receive for all together as a fee and board per year one hundred and fifty Rthl (Reichsthaler) Albertus, which should be given to him each time from Our Chamber.

Certificated by Our Signature in Our Own Hand and stamped with Our Princely Seal. Dated at Mitau, the 18. Augusti Anno 1694.9

The first hymnbooks in the Latvian language had already appeared in 1587 and 1615. During the 17th century the tradition of simple liturgical music steadily developed. The congregation sang in unison, accompanied by the organ. As a result of this, remarkable collections of music appeared in Riga in 1686, composed by Gustav von Mengden (1625 or 1627–1688), who was born in Riga (or in Sunzel Castle) and later became a district official.
These were two collections of liturgical songs, published by Georg Matthias Nöller (Riga, 1686), for soprano and basso continuo on Mengden’s own texts, Sonntages Gedanken eines Christen, So sich an Gott Ver-Miethet and Der Verfolgte, Errettete und Lobsingende David—outstanding monuments to German-Baltic Protestant church music.
Another talented musician of the next generation was Johann Valentin Meder (1649–1719), born in Wasungen on the Werra. From the catalogue of his sacred works made by his son Erhard Nikolaus, a notary in Riga, in the year of his father’s death, he was an extraordinarily prolific composer. This catalogue lists about 130 compositions, including 12 Masses, four Passions, five Magnificats, and many concertato motets. Apart from this, his secular music comprises a “Singspiel” (Die beständige Argenia), two operas, and one opera-ballet, plus vocal and instrumental chamber music. He was esteemed by Mattheson, Buxtehude, and others. From 1701 to 1719 he was cantor and organist at Riga Cathedral, where under his direction his St. Luke and St. Matthew Passions were first performed.
At the beginning of the 18th century a new style in art, Courland baroque, appeared in the cultural life of Latvia, first in evidence in Courland, which maintained close contacts with Germany, Holland, and Poland. An important role in establishing this new style was played by the workshop of the Sefrenss family. Nikolass Sefrenss “the younger” (1662–1710) finished in 1697 the altar of the church of St. Anna in Liepaja (Libau).

Cornelius Rhaneus
One of the next commissions that came to his workshop was the organ case in the church of Ugale (Ugahlen). The case was built by his future son-in-law Michael Marquardt, who worked in the Sefrenss workshop as a woodcarver. The instrument itself (1697–1701, II/P/28, featuring a Rückpositiv), the oldest organ in the Baltics still preserved in its original form, was built by Cornelius Rhaneus (1671–1719) from Kuldiga—the most famous Latvian organbuilder of his time.

Ugale (Ugahlen)
Cornelius Rhaneus, 1697–1701

Hauptwerk (CDE–c3)
16' Bordun
8' Principal
8' Hollflöt
8' Quintade
4' Octava
4' Rohrflöt
3' Raußquint
2' Superoctava
2' Waldflöt
13⁄5' Sexta
Mixtur 3 fach
8' Zincke

Rückpositiv (CDE–c3)
8' Flötte
4' Principal
4' Blockflött
4' Salicional
2' Gemshorn
2' Offenflött
1' Sedecima
8' Schalmeij

Pedal (CDE–e1)
16' Subbass
8' Gedactbass
8' Viola di Gamba
4' Octave
3' Quinte
2' Octave
16' Posaune
8' Trompete

Manual coupler
Pedal coupler
Cimbelstern
Pedal for Flying Bird and Angel (makes the wooden ornamental angel on the Rückpositiv conduct and the bird above the organ appear to fly)

Rhaneus also built organs for the castle chapel in Jelgava, 1695–1697; a church in Lestene, 1707–1708, 33 stops with a Rückpositiv (the case of this organ, which was finished in 1707, as well as the decoration of the church, was built in 1704–1709 by Nikolass Sefrenss with assistants); and the church of St. Catharine in Kuldiga, 1712–1715.

18th-century organbuilders
At the beginning of the 18th century Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian rule came to an end in Latvia. Swedish political domination of the Baltic world was challenged when Russia under Tsar Peter the Great deprived Sweden of her Livonian territories in the Great Northern War (1700–1721). The rest of the Baltic coastal region came under Russian jurisdiction when Catherine the Great purchased the Duchy of Courland from the ducal family in 1795. By the end of the 18th century all Latvian speakers had become subjects of the Russian Empire.
At that time, after Riga, Kuldiga became the second center for organ building in Latvia. The following organbuilders worked there: Mal. H. Erasmus, 1694–1744; Albrecht Jordan (b. 1689), 1746–1772; and Paul Frölich (1720–1775) from Frauenburg (East Prussia), 1758–1775.
Gabriel Julius Mosengel (Moosengel), the son of the famous organbuilder Johann Josua Mosengel (1663–1731) from Königsberg, also worked there from 1719 to 1730. In 1786 the church of Edole received a richly decorated organ by Christoph Wilhelm Braweleit (Braveleit) (1752–1796) from Labiau (East Prussia)—a pupil of Adam Gottlob Casparini (1715–1788).
The organbuilder Johann Heinrich Joachim (1696–1762) from Schafstädt (Thuringia), who settled in Jelgava, became well known in the first half of the 18th century. He renovated the organ in Sabile (1752) and built new instruments in the church of St. Gertrude in Riga (1753) and in the church of St. Anna in Jelgava (1755). Apart from his activities in Latvia, at the recommendation of the Duke of Courland, Ernst Johann Biron (1690–1772), he built an organ in the Lutheran Church of SS. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg (1737). His most important work was the organ in the church of the Holy Trinity in Liepaja (1758, 36 stops), which he was not able to finish because of increasing deafness from 1753.
Gottfried Clossen (Kloss, Klossen, Kloos, d. 1740), an organbuilder from Danzig, built an organ in the church of St. Peter in Riga (1728–1731, 1734, III/P/43) and repaired the organ of the cathedral in that city (1738).10
The rich appearance of organs in Latvia at that time often featured in contemporary reports. In the “Church register” of Rujiena (Rujen), for example, we find a wonderful allegorical description from the middle of the 18th century of the organ case, given by pastor Matthias Philipp Vorhuf (d. 1761):

On the Positive, which is placed in the gallery, you will find various pictures, figures, and inscriptions neatly carved in wood. At its highest point there is a sphere with two wings topped by the statue of Saturn who has an hourglass on his head and a scythe in his right hand, and an angel on each side. On the left where the ten stops may be drawn, Potiphar’s wife can be seen sitting on her bed trying to prevent Joseph in his attempt to escape. The inscription here reads FUGA AMBRIS. To the left near the bellows are the words POTPHE RAHI PRAESDES ONIORUM UXOR.
At the back, on the right, above the positive, there is a panel with various allegorical representations, e.g., a two-winged hourglass set on a skull decorated with a laurel wreath. Close to the ears one can see a tube emitting smoke and steam. The skull itself is placed on an anvil to the right of which lie the wheel of a gun mount, a mirror, a burning glass. On a pedestal we see two masks with a snake coiling itself round them, a hemisphere with four stars and the last quarter of the moon together with another mask. To the left of the anvil there are a helmet, a sheathed rapier, a retort with a glass to collect the liquid, and underneath the flask we see two books. Right above the hourglass the Latin text reads EXITUS ACTA PROBAT and at its foot:
QUID TERRA CINISQUE SUPERBIS
HORA FUGIT MA RECESAET HONOS
MORS IMMINET ATRA
In the four corners of the panel on which all this is shown are four small genii holding leafed branches. At the top of the Positive lies a MULIER UMBILICO TENUS DENUDATA MUNPO; behind this ‘woman’ lies a man at her head and two others at her feet. One of them seems to be tearing at his hair while screaming loudly, whereas the other one is holding a flask in each hand.11

The most famous organbuilder in the Baltics in the 18th century was Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708–1792) from Halle/Saale, to whom J. S. Bach gave a laudatory mention in 1748.12 Besides renovating smaller instruments, he constructed an organ in the church of St. Jakobi in Riga (1760/61, II/P/25; the case is preserved).
At the suggestion of the organist of Riga Cathedral, Johann Kristian Zimmermann, he enlarged the organ there in 1773–1776 by adding two stops to it: a Fagott 8' in the Oberwerk and an Untersatz 32' in the Pedal. He also extended the right and left hand cases, constructed new bellows, and renovated the Positive organ in the cathedral school.
In the instruments of Contius, features of a new style are noticeable—a Rückpositiv was not used, and the decoration became more restrained.
In 1773–1779 he worked in the Holy Trinity church in Liepaja, where he constructed within the existing case a new instrument (II/P/38). Here he began working with his son-in-law Johann Andreas Stein (1752–1821), who came from a family of organbuilders from Augsburg. On the occasion of constructing the organ in the church of St. Simonis in Valmiera (1779–1780), they founded a workshop there from which the organ for the Reformed Church in Riga (II/P/14) came in 1783. Stein also built new organs in the churches of St. Johann in Cesis (1786-1787) and Evele (Wohlfahrt, 1788). At the end of the century he established his own workshop in Pärnu in Estonia.
Around 1800 domestic organbuilders began to appear. At first they were self-taught, mainly constructing positives for private residences and schools. Later some attained regional importance.
Born about 1743, Theodor Tiedemann worked from 1778 to 1806 in Riga; from 1807 to 1835 his son Johann Theodor Tiedemann was active in Courland, and later in Lithuania.

Organ music in the 18th century
During the 18th century the organ became increasingly popular. The standard of playing also improved. An important role in this process was played by the German composer Johann Gottfried Müthel (1728– 1788), who was invited to Riga by the Russian Privy Councilor Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff (1722–1792). Vietinghoff, a great lover of music and theatre, who had his own private orchestra of 24 musicians, gradually established between 1768 and 1782 the City Theatre of Riga, which became the center of cultural life in that city.
Johann Gottfried Müthel was born into a family of musicians. He received his first music instructions from his father, organist of St. Nicolai in Mölln. Later he studied with Paul Kuntzen, organist at the church of St. Mary in Lübeck, and in 1747 he was appointed chamber musician and organist at the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In 1750 he visited J. S. Bach, lived in his house in Leipzig, and received some lessons from him. After Bach’s death, Müthel continued his studies with Bach’s son-in-law, Johann Christoph Altnickol, in Naumburg. Later he visited Johann Adolph Hasse and Johann Baptist Georg Neruda in Dresden, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach in Potsdam, and Georg Philipp Telemann in Hamburg. In 1753 he settled in Riga and there directed the Kapelle of Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff. From 1755 he worked as the assistant organist at Riga Cathedral, and in 1767 he was given the post of principal organist in the church of St. Peter, which he held until his death. His output includes works for organ and harpsichord, chamber music, and vocal compositions. He was one of the first to compose for fortepiano: Duetto für zwey Claviere, zwey Fortepiano oder zwey Flügel (Riga, 1771).
Musical life in Latvia became very active, especially after the Riga Music Society was founded in 1760. Performances were given by local musicians, as well as by guest troupes and recitalists. The music of Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini, Grétry, Paisiello, Salieri, and others was regularly performed.
Among foreign recitalists, Abbé Georg Josef Vogler should be mentioned, as he is known to have given organ recitals in Riga and Liepaja in 1788. In Riga he performed with great success in the building of the Brotherhood of Black Chieftains (Bruderschaft der Schwarzhäupter) on his own instrument the Orchestrion, which he had brought with him. The popular Johann Adam Hiller (1728–1804), the founder of Singspiel, lived in Jelgava from 1782 to 1785.
At the turn of the century the most important figures in church music in Latvia were Julius August Fehre (1745–1812), August Jenisch (1766– 1811), and above all Georg Michael Telemann (1748–1831), a grandson of Georg Philipp Telemann.
In 1773 Georg Michael Telemann was invited to become the cantor and Musikdirektor at the churches of St. Petri and St. Jakob, and the cantor at the cathedral in Riga. In addition, in 1813 he was given the post of the organist of the cathedral. He held all those posts until 1828. From 1773 until 1801 he also served as a teacher in the cathedral school in Riga. In 1785 he published Beitrag zur Kirchenmusik, bestehend in einer Anzahl geistlicher Chöre, wie auch für die Orgel eingerichteter Choräle und Fugen (A Contribution to Church Music, Consisting of a Number of Spiritual Choral Works as well as Chorales and Fugues Arranged for the Organ) (Königsberg). Another important publication was the chorale Auferstehn (Riga, 1809) on the text written by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803). In 1812 he published in Riga (or Mitau) a collection of chorale melodies (Sammlung alter und neuer Choral-Melodien).

Latvia in the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century
The 19th century brought momentous changes to Latvia. At the instigation of Emperor Alexander I, during 1816–1819 the Baltic barons freed their serfs. As a result, between 1860 and 1890 many peasants finally possessed the farms on which their families had worked for generations. Those of them who remained landless moved to the cities, which put a certain political pressure on the German burghers there. Latvian nationalist activists, particularly in Riga, grew in number, with their leaders coming from the ranks of young university-educated Latvians.
In 1886 they founded the Riga Latvian Association and hoped that their campaign against German Baltic control would gain support from the Russian government. As their hopes failed to be realized, political rhetoric in Riga during the Russian Revolution of 1905 included calls for an independent Latvian state. However, it took the collapse of the Russian Empire to create the conditions for the emergence of an independent Latvia, eventually proclaimed on the 18th of November 1918.
Against this background the intensity of musical life during the 19th century gradually increased. Many compositions from the central repertoire of European music were performed in Latvia, among them Haydn’s The Seasons (1802), The Creation (1803), The Seven Words on the Cross (1804), and Mozart’s Requiem (1811).
Famous recitalists performed in the country, primarily in such centers as Riga and Jelgava: John Field, Anton and Nikolai Rubinstein, Sigismund Thalberg, Clara Schumann, and others. The visits of Franz Liszt (1842), Hector Berlioz (1847), and especially Richard Wagner’s activities during his stay in Riga and Jelgava (from August 1837 to July 1839), were of enormous value in establishing a national school of Latvian music.
An important figure in improving the art of choral singing in the country was Heinrich Dorn (1800 or 1804–1892), who arrived in Riga from Hamburg in 1832 and in 1836 established the Düna Musikfest. His activities were continued through the Latvian musicians Janis Cimse (Zimse, 1814–1881) and Janis Betins (Behting, 1830–1912), who devoted themselves to the development of musical education in Latvia, and through Karlis Baumanis (1835–1905), one of the first Latvian composers to have a higher formal education, whose Dievs, sveti Latviju (God bless Latvia), written in 1873, became the Latvian national anthem after the declaration of independence in 1918.
After the establishment of the Russian Theatre in Riga in 1883 (known from 1902 as the Russian Opera), the influence of Russian culture in Latvia became stronger. Although the First Music Institute had existed in Riga from 1864 and despite the Riga Latvian Society having established the Music Commission (Muzikas Komisija) in 1888, most of the professional Latvian musicians continued to receive their instruction at the conservatoires of St. Petersburg and Moscow. So it was also for the founders of Latvian classical music, Jazeps Vitols (1863–1948) and Andrejs Jurjans (1856–1922), who were the pupils of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.
Musical education also continued through the participation of the population in church services. During the 19th century evangelical hymnbooks were published to meet the needs of the Baltic Lutheran parishes.
In 1839 the Evangelical Chorale Book Appropriate to German, Latvian, and Estonian Hymnbooks in the Russian Baltic Provinces (Evangelisches Choralbuch zunächst in Bezug auf die deutschen, lettischen und estnischen Gesangbücher der russischen Ostsee-Provinzen) was published in Leipzig by Johann Leberecht Ehregott Punschel (1778–1849)—a Latvian Lutheran pastor of German extraction. It included 363 chorales. Its second, enlarged edition was issued in 1844. By the end of the century two other collections of chorales had appeared, one by Wilhelm Bergner (the younger) (1883, Riga, 171 chorales), and the other by Rudolf Postel (1820–1889) (1884, Jelgava, 235 chorales).
At the turn of the century a new generation of Latvian composers entered upon the scene: Emils Darzins (1875– 1910), Emilis Melngailis (1874–1954), Alfreds Kalnins (1879–1951), Janis Zalitis (1884–1943), and brothers Jazeps Medins (1877–1947), Jekabs Medins (1885–1971), and Janis Medins (1890–1966).

19th-century organbuilders
From the middle of the 19th century up to the First World War, the art of organ building in Latvia reached its zenith. A large number of positive organs, very often built by self-taught peasants, appeared in the country districts. Besides positive organs, which continued to be the type of instrument most in demand, many new church organs also appeared. For example, Johann Christoph Christien—who worked from 1810 to 1839—is known to have already built 37 new organs in Katlakalns (Katlekaln) near Riga before 1831.
From the 1840s, in addition to Riga, Liepaja also developed as a center of organ building, the most famous builder in Riga being August Martin, and in Liepaja Karl Herrmann.
Karl Herrmann (1807–1868) moved to Liepaja from St. Petersburg, where he had worked as an organist. In 1830–1835 he constructed instruments in Kandava (Kandau), in 1836–1843 in Dobele, and in 1844–1868 in Liepaja. Altogether he produced about 80 church organs and more than 50 positive organs, of much variety in both construction and sound.
His son and successor Karl Alexander (1847–1928), after installing an instrument in the church of Jesus in St. Petersburg in 1877, stayed in that city from 1878 until 1893. Father and son enlarged the organ in the church of the Holy Trinity in Liepaja to 77 stops on four manuals and pedals during the period 1844 to 1874, while the nephew of Karl Herrmann, Karl J. Herrmann, worked in Jelgava from 1863 to 1883.
August Martin (1808–1892) from Dachwig (Thuringia) worked in Riga from 1837. He is known to have built about 67 church and 19 school organs in the Baltics, Russia, and Poland during 1840–1885. His largest instrument, originally built for the Old Church of St. Gertrude in Riga (1867–1876, III/P/31), was removed in 1906 to the New Church of St. Gertrude in that city. His son Emil Martin (1848–1922), who worked for four years under Friedrich Ladegast, installed the instrument in the Catholic church of St. Jacob in Riga (1913, II/P/35, Opus 322). Friedrich Weissenborn from Thuringia, who lived in Riga, Krustpils, and Jekabpils (Jakobstadt), produced 85 organs in Latvia and Lithuania during the period 1865–1894.
From the middle of the 19th century the large firms in Germany dominated Latvia: Friedrich Ladegast (five organs, the most sizeable being that in the church of St. Simonis in Valmiera, 1885–1886, III/P/33); Barnim Grüneberg from Stettin (Liepaja, Holy Trinity Church, 1884–1885, IV/P/130, to this day the largest tracker action organ in the world); Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer & Co. (Jaunpiebalga, 1914, Opus 1200, II/P/24); Wilhelm Sauer (1882–1906, ten organs, including the Old Church of St. Gertrude, Riga, 1906, III/P/45); Eberhard Friedrich Walcker & Cie. (1882–1913 and 1937, 25 organs altogether, including Riga Cathedral, 1882–1883, Opus 413, IV/P/124).

The Bergners of Riga
The primary representatives of the German musical tradition in Latvia were Wilhelm Bergner (the elder) (1802–1883) and Wilhelm Bergner (the younger) (1837–1907). The father worked actively in a number of spheres. In 1836–1882, as organist in the church of St. Peter in Riga, he organized many cultural events, including performances of oratorios and organ concerts. Apart from many other activities he became the director of the Riga Music Society and the founder of the Children’s Singing School in that city. He composed much, but not many of his compositions were published or performed. His most popular collections of music were Choralbuch (Riga, 1850), which was reprinted many times, and Preludes for the Most Frequently Used Church Melodies of the Evangelical Church (Vorspiele zu den gebräuchlichsten Kernmelodien der evangelischen Kirche) (Riga, 1861).
His son, also a tireless promoter of music in Riga, established the Riga Bach Society in 1865 and the Cathedral Choir in 1878. From 1868 until 1906 he held the position of organist at Riga Cathedral, and, among his many activities, his organ performances with the Helsingfors Symphony Orchestra under Georg Schnéevoigt should be noted. He also was responsible for the first performance in Riga of Anton Rubinstein’s religious opera Moses (1892), which took place under his direction in the City Theatre in February 1894. Altogether there were four performances, which were enormously successful. After the third performance Bergner received a telegram from Rubinstein: “Many thanks to all the participants for everything, especially to you. So disappointed not to have been present.”13
Bergner’s role in the history of the cathedral organ was also enormous. As a result of his activities, on September 14, 1882, the administration of Riga Cathedral finally accepted his proposal for yet again enlarging the cathedral organ, by adding 18 more stops to its then total of 102. It was confirmed that this commission should be given to the organ company Eberhard Friedrich Walcker & Cie., the contract with which was already signed on November 16, 1881. Karl Walcker suggested adding yet four stops more, and his proposal was finally incorporated. The instrument of 124 stops was finished in 1883, and at that time was the largest organ in the world. It was supplied with two consoles; the main one, from which the whole of the pipework could be played, was erected in the upper balcony; the second, from which 17 manual stops and eight pedal stops in the Swell box could be played, was erected on the lower balcony.

Riga, The Cathedral of St. Mary
Eberhard Friedrich Walcker & Cie, Opus 413, IV/P/124, 1882–83, Ludwigsburg (Germany)

Restoration: VEB Eule Orgelbau, Bautzen, 1961–62; D. A. Flentrop, Zaandam, 1982–84

I Manual: Hauptwerk (C–f3)
16' Principal
16' Flauto major
16' Viola di Gamba
8' Octav
8' Hohlflöte
8' Viola di Gamba
8' Doppelfloete
8' Gemshorn
8' Quintatön
8' Bourdon
8' Dulcian
51⁄3' Quinte
4' Octav
4' Gemshorn
4' Gamba
4' Hohlflöte
4' Rohrflöte
31⁄5' Terz
22⁄3' Quinte
2' Octav
1' Superoctav
51⁄3' Sexquialtera 2 fach
11⁄3' Scharff 4 fach
8' Cornett 5 fach (c–f3)
4' Mixtur 6 fach
16' Contrafagott
8' Tuba mirabilis
8' Trompete harmonique
8' Coranglais
8' Euphon
4' Clairon
2' Cornettino

II Manual: Brustwerk (C–f3)
16' Geigenprincipal
16' Bourdon
8' Principal
8' Fugara
8' Spitzflöte
8' Rohrflöte
8' Concertfloete
8' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Viola di Alta
8' Dolce
4' Principal
4' Fugara
4' Salicet
4' Flauto dolce
22⁄3' Quinte
2' Superoctav
2' Waldflöte
13⁄5' Terz
22⁄3' Sexquialtera 2 fach
22⁄3' Mixtur 5 fach
8' Cornett 5 fach (g–f3)
16' Aeolodicon
8' Ophycleide
8' Fagott & Oboë
4' Oboë

III Manual: Oberwerk (C–f3)
16' Salicional
16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Geigenprincipal
8' Viola d’amour
8' Wienerfloete
8' Gedeckt
8' Salicional
8' & 4' Bifra
8' Harmonika
8' Bourdon d’echo
4' Traversfloete
4' Dolce
4' Geigenprincipal
4' Spitzfloete
2' Piccolo
22⁄3' Mixtur 4 fach
8' Vox humana
8' Basson
8' Clarinette

IV Manual: Schwellwerk (C–f3)
16' Quintatön
8' Floeten Principal
8' Unda maris
8' & 2' Piffaro
8' Melodica
8' Flûte d’amour traversière
8' Bourdon doux
8' Aeoline
8' Voix celeste
8' Viola Tremolo
4' Floeten Principal
4' Gedecktfloete
4' Vox angelica
2' Salicet
22⁄3' Harmonia aetheria 3 fach
8' Trompete
8' Phÿsharmonika

Hauptpedal (C–d3)
32' Principalbaß
16' Octavbaß
16' Violonbaß
16' Contra Violonbaß
16' Subbaß
16' Floetenbaß
16' Gedecktbaß
102⁄3' Quintbaß
8' Octavbaß
8' Hohlflötenbaß
8' Gedecktbaß
8' Violoncello
62⁄5' Terzbaß
4' Octavbaß
4' Hohlflöte
2' Octav
102⁄3' Sexquialtera 2 fach
51⁄3' Mixtur 5 fach
32' Grand Bourdon 5 fach
32' Bombardon
16' Posaunenbaß
8' Trompete
4' Cornobaßo

Pianopedal (C–d3)
(in Swell box of IV Manual, except Bassethorn, Serpent)
16' Violon
16' Bourdon
8' Dolceflöte
8' Violon
4' Viola
2' Flautino
16' Serpent
8' Bassethorn

IV,III,II/I, II/I, I/P, “Noli me tangere” (P/I)
III/II, III/I, III/P, II/P
IV/II, IV/I, IV/P, I,II,III,IV/P

Auxiliary stops:
Tremolo for Vox humana 8' and Bourdon d’echo 8' (III)
Tremolo Oboë 8' = Fagott & Oboë 8' with Tremolo (II)

Temporary lock of the crescendo roller
Automatic drive for the crescendo roller: “Conductor”
Hand operated crescendo and decrescendo
Crescendo indicator dial: 0–124

I. Cancel tablet for Manual I
II. Cancel tablet for Manual II
III. Cancel tablet for Manual III
IV. Cancel tablet for Manual IV
V. Main Pedal Cancel
VI. Enclosed Pedal Cancel
VII. Manuals I, II, III General Cancel
Cancel tablet Omnia Copula

Second Console (on the lower balcony):
Manual (C–f3); Pedal (C–d1)
Manual = Manual IV of the Main Organ
Pedal = Enclosed Pedal of the Main Organ (except Bassethorn, Serpent)
Cop.: Manual to Pedal Coupler

All pipes in the organ case are decorative
Tracker action (with Barker levers)

The inaugural concert with Wilhelm Bergner, Rudolf Postel, and the head of the organ class of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, Lui (Ludwig) Homilius, took place on January 19 (in the old calendar), 1884. Besides other works, the first performance of Franz Liszt’s Nun danket alle Gott (which was dedicated to the new organ of Riga Cathedral) was given.
During the following years the Walcker organ was used a great deal for recitals in Riga. Most of the guest recitalists were German organists. Among them were the blind organist M. Nathan from Hamburg, Hugo Trötschel from Weimar, and Karl August Fischer (1828–1892), the “Saxon King of the Organ” who performed on the new Walcker organ and gave an excellent report of the instrument in the German press.14

Beyond Riga
The second important center of the organ world in Latvia continued to be Jelgava. There were both German and Latvian churches there. In the German Church of the Holy Trinity the instrument (II/P/26) by Johann Friedrich Schulze (1793–1858) of Paulinzella was in use from 1850. Rudolf Postel was its organist, and also the conductor of the choir and orchestra of the Jelgava German Music Society. His concert repertoire included the music of Johannes Brahms and Niels Wilhelm Gade. Among his pupils in Jelgava were Ludvigs Betins and Jazeps Vitols.
The Latvian congregation in Jelgava worshipped in the church of St. Anna, where Atis Kaulins (1867–1944) was organist.
The most famous Latvian organbuilder over the end of the century was Martins Kreslins (Martin Kresling, d. 1911) from Jekabpils, who built about 130–140 organs and harmoniums. Some of his instruments still exist today; for example, in Bauska (1891, III/P/36), in Araisi (1904, II/P/15), in the church of Usma (1879, II/6) (the church was transferred to the holdings of the Ethnographical Museum in 1936). Another creative figure both as organist and builder, Janis Betins, undertook many experiments in the art of organ building.

19th- and 20th-century Latvian organists
In the organ classes of Russian conservatoires most of the students were representatives of the Lutheran confession. Johannes Kappel, Miina Härma, and Konstantin Türnpu from Estonia, Ludvigs Betins, Andrejs Jurjans, Alfreds Kalnins, Emils Darzins, Atis Kaulins from Latvia were students of Lui Homilius (1845–1908) at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. Jacques Handschin (1886–1955) was a teacher of Janis Zalitis, Teodors Reiters, Adolfs Abele, Eduards Kalnins, Teodors Kalnins, Rudolfs Vanags, Voldemars Liepins, Janis Turss.
Many Latvian organists achieved a high standard as recitalists, and from the 1880s regularly performed in the Baltics, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Russian provinces, as Lutheran churches all over the Russian Empire had been increasingly used for concert purposes from the second half of the 19th century. Among them were: Oskars Sepskis (1850–1914), who also studied in Berlin and Dresden, and for the last 20 years of his life worked as the organist of the Old Church of St. Gertrude in Riga; Adams Ore; Ludvigs Betins; and Janis Sermukslis (1855–1913), who also studied in St. Petersburg. From the 1890s they were joined by Atis Kaulins, Pauls Jozuus, and Alfreds Kalnins.
Alfreds Kalnins lived in Liepaja from 1911 to 1915 and from 1918 to 1919. He was organist in the church of St. Anna and a conductor of the choir, which he himself organized. As a result of his activities, the new organ by Eberhard Friedrich Walcker was erected there (1913, Opus 1763, IV/P/56). The inaugural concert, the program of which included the premiere of Kalnins’s cantata Muzikai (To Music) for soloists, choir, and organ, took place on December 22, 1913.
The gifted virtuoso Nikolajs Vanadzins, who studied under Handschin from 1913 until 1917, played recitals in St. Petersburg during 1921–1922. His concert repertoire included major works by Bach, Reger, Widor, Glazunov, Lyapunov, and others. After Handschin’s emigration in 1920, he worked as the head of the organ class of the conservatoire until 1923.
For several years, from 1890 to 1900 and from 1910 to 1913 Ludvigs Betins (1856–1930) also held the post of the head of the organ class at the Moscow Conservatoire. It was on December 23, 1891, that the leading professors of the conservatoire met together in order to decide on the syllabus for the organ class. Together with Sergey Taneyev, Anton Arensky, and others, Ludvigs Betins was present at that meeting.15
Foremost among other organ students at the Moscow Conservatoire were such Latvians as Ernests Vigners (1850–1933), Marija Gubene (1872– 1947), and Elizabete Olga Francmane (1882–1967). The latter after Boris Sabaneyev’s death in 1918 for some time held the post of the head of the organ class there.16 From 1920 until her death she taught music theory at the Latvian Conservatoire.17
According to press reports,18 valuable organ compositions were written by Ludvigs Betins and Oskars Sepskis, who were also famous for their organ improvisations. Unfortunately, their organ music is lost, but one of the first Latvian organ compositions to survive was Vater unser (1875) for choir and organ by Karlis Baumanis.
The composer and organist Andrejs Jurjans lived in Khar’kov from 1882 to 1920 and was the first Latvian musician to collect and research Latvian folk music. Under the title Tautas muzikas materiali he published some 2,700 melodies that he had collected. He worked in Khar’kov in a music school and as the organist of a Latvian church, but he also took part in the concerts of the German congregation. As a composer, Jurjans composed the first symphonic works, the first cantatas, and the first instrumental concertos.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the first works for organ solo were written by such Latvian composers as Adams Ore, Nikolajs Alunans, Jazeps Vitols, Alfreds Kalnins, and others: concert pieces, chorale preludes for liturgical purposes, and miniatures for positive or harmonium. The organ was also often used as an accompanimental instrument or in ensemble, for example in Sapnojums (Dream) by Jazeps Medins for soprano, cello, harp, and organ (1901).
Adams Ore (1855–1927) received his first instruction in music from his sister and from August Pabst in Riga. He continued his studies in Stuttgart with Immanuel Faisst (organ and composition), and in Berlin with Theodor Kullak (piano). In 1882–1883 he visited Rome and Naples. In 1886 he began piano and organ concert tours in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Russia, and Finland. Soon he established his reputation as an international organ virtuoso, and critics reported upon his excellent pedal technique. He also played in Latvia, although quite seldom. Adams Ore never worked as a church musician, and most of his life was spent abroad, but he never lost his inner connection with his motherland. He became the first Latvian composer to have his organ music published. His organ compositions derive from the Romantic tradition of the 19th century.
His Andante Cantabile in F major, op. 15 (composed in the middle of the 1880s; Berlin, Simon, 1912), and written in two versions—for organ, and for harmonium—mirrors stylistically the liturgical organ music of the end of the century. His Pastorale Klusa nakts (Stille Nacht), op. 75 (Leipzig, Merseburger), follows the tradition of the lyrical romantic poem. Finally, his large-scale compositions, such as the Fantasia O sanctissima!, op. 25 (Leipzig, Merseburger), Concert Piece in D minor, op. 36, no. 1 (Baerenreiter 8421), or Choralfantasie Gaidi, mana dvesle! (Harre, meine Seele!), op. 76 (Leipzig, Merseburger), were written for a large Romantic instrument and require a skilful performer; they are characterized by touches of brilliance, pathos, and virtuosity.
Composer and conductor Nikolajs Alunans was born in Mazsesava in 1859, and his first organ lessons were from Rudolf Postel, organist of the Holy Trinity church in Jelgava. From 1882 to 1888 he studied composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and conducting with Anton Rubinstein at the Conservatoire in St. Petersburg. From 1893 until his death in 1919 he lived in Riga, where he gave lessons in music theory and piano, worked as a conductor at the Latvian Theatre (1898–1901), as music director of the New Latvian Theatre (1902–1905), and as the conductor of the first Latvian orchestra Eifonija (1907–1914). Besides this, from 1892 he wrote musical criticism for various newspapers. Alunans wrote a number of compositions for orchestra, choir, ensembles, and solo instruments, his only piece for the organ being Paraphrase on Robert Radecke’s Song ‘Aus der Jugendzeit’ (1908) (Baerenreiter 8421). He is also known as the author of a number of publications on different aspects of music theory.
The founder of classical Latvian music, Jazeps Vitols, after finishing his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire (1886) was invited to teach there. In 1908 he became the head of the composition class of the conservatoire (a post he held until 1918), where among his students were Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, and Igor Stravinsky; among his friends in St. Petersburg were Alexander Glazunov and Anatoly Lyadov. From 1897 to 1914 he was music critic for the German language St. Petersburger Zeitung and from 1918 to 1919 director of the Latvian Opera. In 1924 Jazeps Vitols published in Riga his collection of chorales Meldiju gramata, which included the harmonization of 143 church melodies. Among the large number of his compositions there are only two pieces for organ solo, Pastorale (1914) (Baerenreiter 8421), and Fugue (1937) (Baerenreiter 8421).

Latvia in the first period of independence (from 1918 to 1940)
Between the two World Wars, Latvian cultural life flourished. Poets such as Janis Rainis (1865–1929) and Aspazija (Elza Rozenberga) (1868–1943) achieved the height of their popularity. On January 11, 1920, the Latvian Conservatoire was established in Riga. According to the Decree of August 20, 1919, of the Latvian Government, Jazeps Vitols became the rector of the conservatoire. He held this post from 1919 to 1935 and from 1937 to 1944. Pauls Jozuus (1873–1937) became the head of the organ class of the conservatoire and was in charge of it from 1920 until his death.
Soon after that, People’s Conservatoires were established in Jelgava (1921), Daugavpils (Dünaburg, 1924), and Riga (1929). The Opera Theatre (known from 1919 as The National Opera) introduced Latvian operas as well as those of Wagner and Russian composers. Music programs with the Radio Symphony Orchestra were broadcast after its establishment in 1924.
The most famous organ recitalists of that period were Adams Ore, Adolfs Abele, Alfreds Kalnins, and Harald Creutzburg (1875–1946)—the successor of Wilhelm Bergner at Riga Cathedral (until 1933)—who also worked as the conductor of the choir of the Riga Bach Society.
At that time Latvian organ builders, as well as Herbert Kolbe (b. 1887) from Germany, built mostly small instruments. In addition to them there was August Terkmann from Estonia, who built an organ (II/P/16) for the Lutheran church of St. Anna in Kuldiga in 1927, and Waclaw Biernacki from Poland for Liksna (II/P/27+1 borrowed stop) in 1931. The latter organ was considered to be one of the best instruments in Lattgalen.
The last organ of Eberhard Friedrich Walcker & Cie. in Latvia was erected in the concert hall of Riga University in 1937 (Opus 2544, III/P/59+11 borrowed stops).
Among the most significant organ compositions at that time are: Introduction and Allegro (1928), Klosteridylle (Monastery Idyll) (1928), Skerzo (1928), Procession (1937), Variations on a Theme of Janis Kalnins (1938), and Agitato (1938) (Baerenreiter 8421) by Alfreds Kalnins (1879–1951).
Kalnins received his music instructions at the Music School (Schule der Tonkunst) in Riga and from 1897 to 1901 at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, where his teachers were Anatoly Lyadov (composition) and Lui Homilius (organ). As a church musician he worked in St. Petersburg (1900–1901), between 1903–1911 and 1915–1918 in Estonia (Pärnu, Tartu), in 1911–1915 and in 1918–1919 in Liepaja, and in 1920–1923 in the church of St. Jakob in Riga, where he became famous for his brilliant and thoughtful improvisations. In 1927–1933 he lived in the USA, working there as a choir conductor and organist. From 1933 he became the organist of Riga Cathedral and held that position until 1946. From 1944 to 1948 he was the rector of the Latvian Conservatoire. While Kalnins’s output includes two operas (his Banuta, 1920, in which he used the national idiom, became the first Latvian opera), a ballet Staburags (1943), many choral compositions, instrumental works, songs, and piano pieces, his organ works are of particular value. His knowledge of the organ and his experience in organ performance helped him to create fine music for his favorite instrument.
Jazeps Medins (1877–1947) graduated in 1896 from the Siegert Musical Institute in Riga as a cellist, pianist, and violinist, and became first a teacher and then, from 1901 to 1910, the director of that institution. He composed his first symphony in Baku (Azerbaijan), where he worked as the conductor of the Opera Theatre (1916-1922). From 1922 to 1925 he held the same position at the Latvian Opera Theatre in Riga. In the 1930s he wrote a number of compositions for orchestra, instrumental pieces, and vocal music. His only known organ pieces, Three Preludes: F-sharp minor (Baerenreiter 8421), G minor, and C major, were also written during this period (1939). From 1945 until his death he taught the piano at the Latvian Conservatoire.
Other important organ works created in Latvia during the first period of independence are Fantasy on the Latvian folk song ‘Arajini, ecetaji’ (1932) by Jekabs Graubins, Prelude in E major (1939) by Arvids Zilinskis, Gebet (Prayer) (1938) by Peteris Barisons, Pastorale in A-flat major (from the First Suite in E-flat major, 1937) by Peteris Zolts, and Meditation (1934) by Lucija Garuta.
As a result of the double occupation of the country by Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War, many musicians emigrated, among them Jazeps Vitols, Janis Medins, Janis Kalnins, and Wolfgang Darzins.

From 1940 until the end of the 20th century
With the establishment of “The Union of Latvian Composers” in 1944, the creative work of composers in Latvia received official support from the government. Many valuable compositions were written soon after the end of the war, among which we should mention the Fifth (1945) and Sixth (1949) Symphonies of Janis Jvanovs (1909–1983), the Piano Concerto (1951) of Lucija Garuta, and Partita in Baroque Style (1963) of Margeris Zarins.
Between 1940 and 1991, just as in the other territories of the former Soviet Union, many organs (approximately 80) were destroyed. Nevertheless, the Wilhelm Sauer organ (II/P/17) was installed in the Latvian Conservatoire in 1973, and Eberhard Friedrich Walcker & Cie’s organ in Riga Cathedral was restored twice, first by Hermann Eule (Bautzen) (1961–1962) and then by D. A. Flentrop (1982–1984). This organ had an enormous role in the cultural life of the USSR, being a kind of flagship in the organ landscape of the whole country.
More than one generation of Soviet composers was awakened to writing for the organ by its exquisite sound. Latvian composers also produced a number of valuable organ compositions. Some interesting organ works were written by Jekabs Medins (1885–1971), Indulis Kalnins (1918–1986), Romualds Jermaks (b. 1931), Pauls Dambis (b. 1936), Peteris Vasks (b. 1946), Imants Zemzaris (b. 1951), Ligita Sneibe (Araja, b. 1962), and others.
The most renowned Latvian composer nowadays is Peteris Vasks. After graduating from the Lithuanian State Conservatoire in Vilnius (Lithuania) in double bass (1970), Vasks continued his musical studies in the composition class of Valentin Utkin at the Latvian Conservatoire in Riga (1974–1978). During the 1990s his music gained wide popularity, being performed and recorded by orchestras, soloists, and ensembles in Europe, the USA, and Canada.
Vasks has been awarded several international prizes, including the Herder Prize (in Vienna, 1996) and the Baltic Assembly Prize (1996). His compositions include a number of symphonic scores, chamber music, and works for choir. Besides ‘Cantus ad pacem’, concerto per organo solo (1984) (Baerenreiter 8421), he has created two more works for organ solo: Musica seria per organo solo (1988) and Te Deum pro organo (1991). The composer’s own words, “The organ seemed to me the most suitable instrument with which to communicate the main problem of humankind—that of life and annihilation,” probably can well explain his deep interest in this instrument.
One of the most talented Latvian musicians of his generation, Aivars Kalejs was born in Riga in 1951. He studied at the Latvian Conservatoire in Riga (1969–1977), from which he graduated in 1974 as a composer (class of Professor Adolfs Skulte) and in 1977 as an organist (class of Professor Nikolajs Vanadzins). During the succeeding years his international reputation as a recitalist, composer, and musicologist steadily continued to grow.
At present Aivars Kalejs holds the posts of organist at both the New Church of St. Gertrude and Riga Cathedral, participates in major international organ festivals, continues his researches in the field of the organ history of Latvia, and works intensively as a composer. Although his works include compositions for orchestra, choir, and different instruments, organ music occupies the central place among them. Many of his colorful and brilliant organ pieces have already been performed, recorded, and published, among them: Per aspera ad astra (Baerenreiter 8421).
The organist of the church of St. Paul in Riga, Atis Stepins, belongs among the most gifted Latvian musicians of the younger generation. Born in Liepaja in 1958, he graduated from the Latvian Conservatoire as a pianist (1977–1982, in the class of Professor Konstantin Blumenthal) and organist (1977–1982, in the class of Larisa Bulava and Dozent Peteris Sipolnieks) and as a composer (1983–1987, in the class of Professor Adolfs Skulte).
His reputation as a concert organist was established after he won Second Prize in the Vincenzo Petrali organ competition in Ragusa, Italy in 1990. Besides his activities as a recitalist he works as the dozent of the organ class at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music.
Stepins is the composer of a string quartet, piano pieces (among them Twenty Four Inventions), and chamber music: Variations for Violin and Organ (1988); Trio for Alto Saxophone, Percussion, and Organ (1997). Apart from the Variations on the Christmas Carol ‘Alle Jahre wieder’ by Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (Baerenreiter 8421), his other pieces for organ are: Fantasia in A major (1984), Three Little Preludes and Fugues (1985), and Symphonic Poem for Two Organists (1986).
The organ class of the Latvian Conservatoire (known from 1990 as the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music) was directed by Nikolajs Vanadzins from 1938 to 1978, and many graduates from it became known as concert organists: Peteris Sipolnieks (1913–1984), Olgerts Cintins (1935–1992), Jevgenija Lisicina, Professor Talivaldis Deksnis (currently head of the organ class of the academy), Larisa Bulava, Vita Kalnciema, and others.
Finally, as a fitting tribute to the long developmental path of the organ and its music in Latvia, the Latvian Association of Organists and Organ Builders was established in Riga in March 1998.

Reflections ten years later

Joyce Johnson Robinson is editorial director of The Diapason. 

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.