North German Organ, Gothenburg.

[biggestelk]

I was very fortunate to have a quick guided tour/play on the North German School organ in the New Church, Orgryte, Gothenburg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_German_baroque_organ_in_%C3%96rgryte_Nya_Kyrka

 

Quite an experience. I haven't played a short octave, split key action before! Also, the two odd looking studs on the pedalboard, are in fact notes!

 

 

[Chris Woollard]

May I ask how you found the touch on this organ. Was it heavy and deep with a real feel of inertia, or something to the contrary.

[biggestelk]

Quite heavy when the shove coupler was on, but easy enough action to play if you can remember which blinkin notes you're supposed to be playing depending on the key!!! Not too deep, nice and positive, not spongy.

:-)

[mjgrieveson]

Probably not the most intelligent observation this, but how on earth can anyone play this (admittedly beautiful) instrument without an assistant to manage the stops?

I envisage much recourse to Post-It stickers.

[Contrabombarde]

I would imagine you would need an army of people to help play the organ - a registrant either side of the organist and a troupe of blowers at the rear of the instrument!

[innate]

Surely it's pretty much a standard design for a large baroque-era console?

[davidh]

This organ was built to reproduce as closely as possible a certain type of Baroque instrument, and through the research and experimentation necessary for the design and building, to understand the Baroque organ better. Such instruments were entirely adequate - in fact superb - for playing the music of their time, and the virtual impossibility of changing stops while playing is a clear hint that the music was not intended to undergo changes in registration. It must also teach players how to perform the music in an appropriate manner.

 

If players find it necessary to change stops during a Bach or Buxtehude fugue that surely means that their instrument lacks any registration worth hearing for very long.

 

Of course, with the aid of registrants, many Baroque instruments can be surprisingly versatile, but there can be a temptation to tweak an instrument to make it more versatile, as was done to the Muller organ in the Bavokerk in Haarlem, which no longer sounds like a Muller.

[innate]

Thank you, David, I was hoping someone would say that.

[Phoneuma]

'Surely it's pretty much a standard design for a large baroque-era console?' - Yep - I'd go along with that, I get a free trip (school exchange in reality) to Bavaria every other year and I end up with this wonderful organ to play with as long as I like, not a piston in sight. I could play for hours with just a couple of flutes washing around the building.

http://www.metzler-orgelbau.ch/htm/organs/braunau.htm

I have a photo of the console which is very similar (although smaller) than the Gothenburg organ above but have no idea how to attach it to this post....duh. Same short pedals but no split keys (although there are a number of organs down there which have the Bohemian short octaves which take a bit of getting used to).

[mjgrieveson]

 

If players find it necessary to change stops during a Bach or Buxtehude fugue that surely means that their instrument lacks any registration worth hearing for very long.

 

 

I believe I did just this in an exam recently, apparently without penalty; I'm sure Buxtehude would forgive me, especially as I didn't have access to the Gothenburg instrument.