sprondel

Counting ranks, you mean? True; but still a 131-stop slider chest tracker. In Germany, as well as in France, usually only stops are counted, not ranks. The rank count as a measure of the organ's scale is well open to debate: What makes one organ larger than the other? The number of choruses in a Scharf, or the number of manual 16- and 32-foot ranks? And what about all the beautiful foundations that wouldn't begin to fit into Ronald Sharp's case? Perhaps one might say that the Liepaja organ has one impressive belly, while the Sydney instrument sports some spectacular hairdo. Best, Friedrich

Since I did not find it on the web, here is the stoplist of the instrument. Libau (Liepaja), Lettland/Latvia Kirche zur heiligen Dreifaltigkeit / Church of the Holy Trinity Barnim Grueneberg, Stettin, 1885 Hauptwerk, II, C–f''' 1. Abteilung (Ventil C) Geigenprincipal 32' ab G Principal 16' Trompete 16' Principal 8' Trompete 8' 2. Abteilung (Ventil Salicional 8' Gemshorn 8' Doppelflöte 8' Octave 4' Gemshorn 4' Octave 2' Waldflöte 2' Cornetti 2–4f. 3. Abteilung (Ventil A) Viola 16' Clarinette 16' Viola 8' Geige 8' Gedackt 8' Portunal 8' Flöte harmonique 8' Quintatön 8' Clarinette 8' Geige 4' Gedackt 4' Portunal 4' 4. Abteilung (Ventil E) Flauto major 16' Bordun 8' Flauto 8' Principal 8' Oboe 8' Clairon 4' 5. Abteilung (Ventil D) Gedackt 8' Quinta 5 1/3' Octave 4' Terz 3 1/5' Quinta 2 2/3' Septime 2 2/7' Octave 2' Terz 1 3/5' Octave 1' Mixtur 2–6f. Scharf 3–4f. Brustwerk, III, C–f''' 1. Abteilung (Ventil A) Untersatz 32' ab c° Geigenprincipal 16' Viola di Gamba 16' Fagott 16' Contius Viola di Gamba 8' Hohlflöte 8' Gedackt 8' Gedackt Quinta 5 1/3' Viola 4' Hohlflöte 4' 2. Abteilung Bordun 16' Contius Principal 8' Contius Spitzflöte 8' Füllflöte 8' Flauto amabile 8' Trompete 8' Contius Octave 4' Spitzflöte 4' Quinta 2 2/3' Contius Octave 2' Contius Spitzflöte 2' Terz 1 3/5' Cornetti 4f. Contius Mixtur 3–5f. Contius Oberwerk, IV, C–f''' im Schwellkasten / enclosed 1. Abteilung (Ventil A) Salicional 16' Gedackt 16' Geigenprincipal 8' Salicional 8' Rohrflöte 8' Doppelflöte 8' Harmonica 8' Liebesgeige 8' Vox coelestis 8' Schalmey 8' Contius Octave 4' Contius Rohrflöte 4' Contius Nasatt 2 2/3' Contius Flautino 2' Mixtur 2–4f. Contius 2. Abteilung (ohne Ventil) Aeoline 16' Aeoline 8' Echowerk, I, C–f''' 1. Abteilung (Ventil A) Harmonica 16' Zartflöte 8' Viola d'amour 8' Vox angelica 8' 2. Abteilung (Ventil Quintatön 16' Viola 8' Fugara 8' Traversflöte 8' Lieblich Gedackt 8' Vox humana 8' Geigenprincipal 4' Zartflöte 4' Traversflöte 4' Pedal, C–d' 1. Abteilung (Ventil Contrabass 32' Untersatz 32' Bombard 32' Majorbass 16' Posaune 16' Contius Offenflöte 8' Füllflöte 4' 2. Abteilung (Ventil A) Principal 16' Contius Octave 8' Contius Posaune 8' Quinta 5 1/3' Contius Octave 4' Contius Clairon 4' Quinta 2 2/3' Octave 2' Clairon 2' 3. Abteilung (Ventil D) Violon 16' Dulcian 16' Violoncello 16' 4. Abteilung (Ventil C) Subbass 16' Contius Quinta 10 2/3' Gedackt 8' Contius Dulcian 8' Terz 6 2/5' Septime 4 4/7' 5. Abteilung (Ventil E) Viola di Gamba 16' Quintatön 16' Bordun 16' Viola 8' Flöte 8' Bordun 8' Gedackt 4' Dulcian 4' Flautino 2' Dulcian 2' Koppeln / Couplers IV/III, III/II, I/II, II/P Einschaltung Pneum. Maschine (schaltet Barkermaschine II ein / activates Barker lever for 2nd manual) 15 Sperrventile / ventils 3 Calcantenglocken / calcant's bells 3 Evacuanten Glocke Kirchendiener / church warden's bell Schleifladen mit mechanischer Traktur / slider-and-pallet chests, mechanical action Barkerhebel zum II. Manual / Barker lever for 2nd manual eine Kegellade (Pedal, 5. Abteilung) / one cone-valve chest (Pedal, 5. Abteilung) Quelle: CD "Romantische Orgeln III", Thorofon CTH 4193

Sydney Opera House has an equal then in the Liepaja (formerly called by its German name Libau) organ. It has 131 stops on four manuals and pedal. When I first heard about this organ I was quite baffled. It has been sitting almst forgotten in Latvia for almost a century. It was inaugurated in 1885, and the builder was the pomeranian Barnim Grueneberg from Stettin (Szczecin, today Poland). Grueneberg used a front, soundboards and some pipework from an older Compenius organ, added two facades in the side aisles and windchest upon windchest. There are some classical choruses in the organ, but also ranks upon ranks of the most beautiful romantic flutes and strings. The Hauptwerk alone has 42 stops. The organ is still in playable condition but apparently needs work. A recording with Martin Rost was taken in 1993 and issued on the Thorofon label (CTH 2193). See details about the organ and some pictures at http://tinyurl.com/rr76c and marvel. Best, Friedrich

I think Pierre means that, in slider chests, the note channel poses a limitation to supplying sufficient wind for multiple foundation stops and doubles on the same chest. By "ventil chest", he does not mean Cavaillé-Coll's slider chests which are divided in a "Fonds" and an "Anches" half, but any kind of chest with stop channels instead of note channels. In stop-channel chests, every single pipe has its own small pallett, and the stops are winded separately, which allows for more wind-consuming stops. And sorry, but I just have to write it, just for the record: Tromba (fem.) (ital.), pl.: Trombe Tromba, if used as a loanword in English: pl. Trombas. I apologize. Must be traumatized by the ongoing discussion on orthography (-fy?) in my home country. Best, Friedrich

What a great sound! Splendid! When are they going to do "La nativité" at Norden? (No, really: Saint-Maximin sounds great with Liszt!) Best, Friedrich

Well, honestly. What choice do flutists have. Ask a letterpress-trained typesetter about word processors. I am married to a philosopher and pop critic. She left out the "vulgar" part and moved straight on to the "creepy" judgement. (She used to be a pretty good bassoonist, by the way.) Best, Friedrich

Friedrich Sprondel. Grew up in a very Orgelbewegung environment, father a minister in a succession of north-German churches with organs by Paul Ott (Bremen, Hannover) and Flentrop (Osnabrück). Interested in everything organ-related since age 12. Learned to play the violin from an early age; piano and organ lessons in his teens. Studied Musicology in Freiburg (that's FreibUrg with a "u", no Silbermann there), where he continues to live, earning his living as a freelance musicologist, journalist, and musician (occasionally). Between 1997 and 2002 editor for the organ journal "Orgel International", during that time growing interest in the anglo-saxon organ world.

I don't know. Doesn't this kind of "refinement" boil down to "making all the raucuous voicing and explosive speaking unheard"? To my ears, it is just the other way round. I feel uncomfortable when listening to the muffled and indirect sound of pipes buried in boxes or chambers. Especially flutes and principals do suffer, losing much their initial build-up and overtones. If you take the Aeolian-Skinner at Woolsey Hall, the very pinnacle of American organbuilding in the early 20th century, everything sounds completely free to the listener, be it inside one of the numerous boxes or in the open. Some enclosed divisions even were provided with metal reflectors in order to project more clearly into the hall. Does this organ lack refinement in any way? Certainly not. I some instances, of course, you are completely right. The Vox humana (the organ stop) was one of the favourite stops of the romantic era, but the apparent "Regal" tone of its short-length resonators was found a nuisance by many listeners. Consequently, the builders went to lengths to provide that sort of "refinement by distance" you mention: They put it behind everything else onto the Swell chest, which often was the most remote chest in the instrument; or it was available only on the Fernwerk; or it was put into a narrow box imside the main instrument, and the tone was forced through meters of wooden sound channels. (That way the Vox humana was originally built, and now restored, in the famous Walcker at Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany. A gentle tremolo is provided by a wooden panel rotating inside the sound channel.) I do like that saying (was it by Biggs?): "A pipe in the open is worth two pipes in a box." Best, Friedrich

I understand what you mean, and agree in part. Their efforts on each part -- French classical and romantic, German baroque and romantic -- are quite convincing, I think, but then the non-romantic bits don't work as good as they probably could with some kind of unequal temperament. I visited the cathedral when they were putting the organ together, and was intrigued by the engineerng and the overall layout of the instrument, as well as by the quality of engineering. It is all very well thought-out. They managed to bring the main divisions -- Choir, Positiv, Great, Solo, the Pedal chorus and some of the reeds -- out from under the sound-consuming vault between the towers; and all the divisions that form the symphonic Grand-Chœur -- Great, Swell, Solo, Pedal reeds -- are located on the same level, so that they stay in tune with each other. I also was surprised about how meticulously David Pike, the head voicer, worked in every detail. He played the Positiv Prinzipal to me, which appeared to be a completely satisfying stop, musical and lively. When I said this to him, he answered, "a bit too lively still -- this division will be my work for next week". He had a tough job bringing all the different parts together. The organ probably is not easy to handle. It needs a discerning player more than other instruments of that size. Best, Friedrich

This seems to boil down to a matter of taste, I am afraid. I haven't heard the Meyerson "Organ Fireworks", but I trust that the Hyperion staff did their usual high-end recording work and caught the organ as well as possible. From all other recordings from Meyerson I know, I find the organ utterly fascinating, powerful and bold. Mary Preston's Dupré recordings on Naxos are, to me, spectacular musically and soundwise, and so are the Dorian recordings with maître Guillou and Eduardo Mata playing Jongen and Saint-Saëns. The organ is, among American "tracker backers", considered the definitive achievement of American tracker organ building in the 20th century. On the recordings, I always found the sound beefy, with unexpectedly heavy basses, and a flexibility on a truly symphonic scale. The instrument speaks, admittedly, with a voice of its own, and is easily recognised in recordings. There is some edge to the mixture sound, a certain sour quality, but the sound never lacks of healthy fundamental tone. As Fisk's own Greg Bower once said to me, "our organs are never shy". As far as I know, there is only one builder in the US who is up to this, whose instruments are built along more traditional American lines, with e-p action, pitman chests etc, which is Schoenstein. The comparison to the Birmingham Klais I find a difficult one, because there is such a difference in the overall approach to scaling, voicing and composing the sound in its entirety. The Klais sound traditionally (after all, they are along for 124 years now) is leaner, less heavy, and has a bias to the mixtures rather than the reeds. It may be more refined, but also is a little cooler than Fisk's Meyerson sound. Best, Friedrich

It has been done, e. g. by Johannes Rohlf in Stuttgart-Feuerbach in 1983. Stoplist: I - Principal 8, Rohrflöte 8, Oktave 4, Waldflöte 2, Cornett III (TA), Mixtur IV 2, Trompete 8 II (enc) - Gedackt 8, Rohrflöte 4, Principal 2, Quinte 1 1/3, Sifflöte 1, Krummhorn 8 III and P - Subbass 16, Oktavbass 8, Tenorflöte 4, Hohlflöte 2, Fagott 16 I/P, II/P, II/I, III/I, trems for I and II Manuals 56 notes, pedal 30 notes The 4- and 2-foot ranks in the pedal are variants of principal tone. Doesn't this mean to reintroduce the notorious Pedal on Great coupler by the back door? Best, Friedrich

It might be interesting to know that, of all major organ works, Reger's Opus 73 variations were premiered, on 3 March, 1905, on a rather unusual two-manual Sauer in Berlin. It was -- and fragments of it still are -- in the Neue Garnisonkirche, now Kirche am Südstern. The organist was Walter Fischer. The organ was built in 1897. I. 16' 16' 8' 8' 8' 8' 8' 8' 4' 4' 4' II Rpf. / III-IV Cornet / III Mix – 16' 8' II. (enc) 16' 16' 8' 8' 8' 8' 8' 8' 4' 4' 4' 2' IV – 8' Trompete P. 32' 16' 16' 16' 16' 8' 8' 8' – 16' 8' II/I, II/I 4' (?), I/P, P 4', 2 freie Kombinationen etc. WP 120 mm flues, 180 mm reeds Best, Friedrich

Another possibility is the duplexing of one entire division mechanically in the "either-or" manner (in German "Wechselschleife", "alternating slider"). This might work especially well if the secondary division is a substantial Swell with three or four unison flues, an independent chorus, and at least two reeds. With thoughtful registration and well-considered use of the couplers, possibilities abound. In this concept, the "either-ored" division has two channels per note, each of which is fed by its own pallet box; the pallets are controlled from manuals II and III, respectively. By pulling the slider this way or that, each stop of the division is available on either manual II or manual III. This concept requires some experience concerning the technical layout as well as the voicing. Smaller stops, mixtures, and reeds are very sensitive to shortage or instability of wind. Some possibilities (I = Great, II & III = Swell, either-ored) • II: Oboe 8', III: String + Flute 8'. • II: Flute 8', III: String + Céleste 8', coupler III/II. • II: Principal chorus + Trumpet, III: Basson 16', Ped.: flues 16' + 8' + coupler II/P, III/P. • I (unenclosed): fonds 16' + 8'+ 4', II: mixture, reeds 16' + 8' + 4', III: fonds 8' + Oboe 8', couplers II/I, III/I, along with their respective pedal coupler. A couple of years ago, I came up with this idea on PIPORG-L, and the comments ranged from contempt to utter excitement. Meanwhile, I found the concept in some organs that have been built since. I do not claim this idea to be my own, though. The "either-or" concept has been around for quite a while, and having been used at first only in single-division organs, it just waited to be incorporated with a two-division concept. To be honest, it is a space-saving rather than a funds-saving concept, since the technical layout of the "either-ored" chest apparently is quite intricate, and the building requires considerably more time than that of a normal slider chest. If space, however, is a consideration, then why not? And the stoplist of the unenclosed divisions might be skeletal in a Cavaillé-Coll "orgue-de-chœur" manner or in another way (e. g. Great : Chorus 8 4 3 2, Bourdon 16, Flute 8, Cromorne; Pedal: Opens 16 8 4, Posaune). The most substantial instrument I know of that incorporates this concept can be found at http://www.abtei-st-hildegard.de/spenden/orgel/neuOrg.htm In the right-hand menu, click on "Die Disposition der Orgel der Abtei St. Hildegard (pdf)" to see a stoplist of the organ. The old-fashioned orthography, of course, is utter kitsch, and faulty at that. Best, Friedrich

Do you know the old Klais ones, those that were made in the pre-Hans-Gerd era? They still exist in some organs, I believe in Erfurt as well, and were copied for the rebuild at Cologne cathedral, because they were very popular with the organists there. These stop-tabs are L-shaped. The upper part looks like an ordinary stop tab, with the stop name written on it, while the lower part protrudes into the stop terrace and looks a bit like the front end of an ivory key. The stops are engaged by pressing this part of the tab vertically, so that certain registrations resulted in "chords". To disengage the stops, one easily runs one's finger over the upper part of the tabs as in a glissando. Very comfortable to handle, I wonder why they are so rarely copied. See an impression on http://www.orgelsite.nl/kerken43/bonn.htm E. g., if you wanted the Great chorus to Fifteenth, you would play a Sixte-ajoutée chord on the great tabs (see third picture from the top). Best, Friedrich

Hmm. Give me Zaha Hadid everyday. Again a suspicion -- I guess it is the combination of Polish Catholicism, decades of suppression of free thought and speech, deep conservatism, and a fatal cultural and artistic ignorance in some quarters, inspired by Radio Marya and the like. I hasten to say that I do not in any way mind the purpose of the building, even though I do not fully understand it (being protestant). But there have been built other pilgrimage churches within the last century -- and by people who are not the least bit less God-fearing -- that responded more actively to contemporaneous means of architectural expression. I don't even have to mention Ronchamps -- I mean, even Guildford cathedral appears a modern building, aware of 20th-century architectural thought, when compared to that contraption. (Just imagine that lady architect's living room!) About the possible sound: I do not envy a voicer who has to make an organ sound good and articulate that is set up in a vast railway station. Best, Friedrich

I don't think I have ever seen anything as tasteless as this monstrosity. The building is apparently nothing but steel, concrete, plaster, and tons of colour, style and proportion not being involved. It looks like Stalin's biggest hotel lobby. Where's the Smoker's Corner where one might get some Cuban cigars? Having seen this, one might find oneself inclined to give Polish churchgoers free flights to Rome in order to make them recognise the real thing, and that it was designed originally some 500 years ago. Just to give them a chance to see the genius in Michelangelo, and the fake in this huge sugary fabrication. Sorry, but UGH! To make this on-topic, the case of the main organ clearly imitates the front of the Schoenstein at the Mormon Conference Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. Best, Friedrich

This might be a performer, for once, who actually takes "historically informed" performance seriously. On the other hand, there is this wicked question -- wouldn't Bach have taken off his wig when he sat down at the organ? Puzzled Friedrich

Many thanks to all contributors. Your answers to my question helped a lot. My friend's recital is going to take place next Sunday, in St. Joseph, Bonn-Beuel, Germany. There is quite an interesting (and big, see http://tinyurl.com/rauew) organ there, and the organist, Hans Peter Reiners, keeps running an extensive recital programme. The late Pierre Cochereau used to play there a lot, and now the big names of the younger French school do, among others. My friend, Michael Gassmann, has named his programme "Entente cordiale", and is going to play works by Whitlock, Franck etc. See http://tinyurl.com/jwval Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the recital next sunday. Thanks again, Friedrich

A friend of mine is just preparing a recital and came across an interesting question concerning registration in Whitlock's Fantasie Choral No. 1. Apparently, the piece starts with the following stops: III: Vox angelica 8 + Sub octave I: 8-foot Stopped Diapason + III/I When Whitlock wrote the Fantasie Choral No. 1, he had just been appointed organist at St. Stephen, Bournemouth, with an 1898 Hill, and appears to have chosen the registrations with this instrument in mind. Now, in a Hill of this vintage, probably tubular pneumatic: Would the combination of couplers (III + sub octave, III/I) mean that the sub octave of the third manual would also sound while you play on the first manual? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, Friedrich

There are some German cathedrals with "organ in the round". In most cases, however, there are several independent instruments in several places and with their own consoles, that can be played together from a main console. It depends on how the player uses the respective constellation: As antiphonal organs, or as divisions of one whole instrument. Examples: Passau http://www.eberhard-geier.de/padomdispall.htm Freiburg http://tinyurl.com/q2emh Cologne http://www.koelner-dom.de/16955.html http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=16977 http://www.koelner-dommusik.de/index.php?id=8 [stoplists for download] Best, Friedrich

Well, maybe Bach thought in terms of grandeur. But he simply did not know what a French Grand Jeu was about. He knew French scores, but he never experienced the fiery tone of French trumpets and Cornets, or a silvery grand plein jeu, for that matter. (Speaking of which: Would it have appealed to him, concealing the polyphonic texture as it does?) Even Silbermann's reeds were of modest scale and gentle tone if compared to what Clicquot did in organs of equal size. Bach might have heard or read of "ravalement" pedals, but why write a piece for a type of organ that exists hundreds of miles away but nowhere in the neighbourhood? Someone mentioned the compass in the treble. There were organs around that went beyond c'''. At least one Bach knew: The big Stertzing at Eisenach, built probably to specifications by Bach's uncle Johann Christoph. The organ had manuals with 53 keys, fully chromatic from C to e'''. Then there was the Mühlhausen organ, which was rebuilt to Bach's own specifications in 1708 and had manual/pedal compasses of C, D to d'''/C, D to d'. About the "harpsichord theory": I think it is as good as any, as long as it concerns that single infamous note in the bass. Sound-wise, it is anything but convincing. The "stile antico" texture of the five-part section would be mostly lost. The Pièce d'orgue sounds best on an organ, as does the Passacaglia, which from its first 19th-century editions on suffered from the burden of the "Pedalcembalo" rumor. It is so very well written for pipes, and so much less well for strings, that I wonder why the question ever came up. But then, around 1840 no-one knew what a pedal-harpsichord really sounded like. Try and make bar 89ff. or 129ff. of the Passacaglia sound good on a harpsichord ... I apologize if all this sounds a bit impatient. Best, Friedrich

And then, there is the infamous Dupré method. Pratice. Two hours of literature playing a day -- and six hours of improvisation. With fourty-two hours of practice a week (sorry, on Sundays the church always is occupied by whoever!), one should get somewhere sometime. I whish I could afford the luxury of practicing that much ... kept attending the lottery quite a while, but nothing came out of it ... Best, Friedrich

In German romantic organs, you need to engage the Rollschweller with a piston if you want to use it. Choosing a Freie Kombination after that, in turn, would disengage the Rollschweller. You could indeed talk of the Crescendo as one specific kind of Kombination. In his essay "Deutsche und französische Orgelkunst und Orgelbaukunst" (On German and French organ music, playing and organbuilding) Albert Schweitzer, by the way, suggests to design the stop action in a way that allows the player to choose if the Freie Kombination should a: disengage all stops already drawn, or b: be added to the drawn stops. He envisioned a combination action that combines the advantages of the Freie Kombination and of the Appels des Anches. Best, Friedrich

I quite like the design. If voiced properly, you should be able to make some vivid music on an organ like that. Only one remark: The Oboe I would rather not have too far on the smooth side. First, there are Gedackt and Gamba for soft and smooth effects; and then, you might want to use the Oboe as a duo or trio partner for the Great Sesquialtera (8, 4, Twelfth, Seventeenth). In that case, a more spicy version of the reed might be in order, more like an elegant Schalmei. Would mix better with the 4'-flute and/or Larigot as well, I assume. Best, Friedrich

Sorry, I'm being slow here. What's the difference to a sequencer then? Isn't that a bit harsh a name for a "blunder correcting" device? Best, Friedrich