Late Baroque sounds for Christ Lutheran Church, Oberhausen, Germany:
Director of Music Klaus Müller offers some thoughts on the design and
concept of the new Hey organ.
The scathing opinion of the congregation’s previous
1950’s era organ offered by organ expert Günther Eumann helped to pave the
way for the planning of a new instrument for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Christ, located in the historic city of Alt-Oberhausen,
Germany. Many aspects of both (potential) instrument and church were
carefully examined, and it was deemed worthwhile to begin with a concept
uniquely suited to the church’s acoustical environment, which is superbly
suited to the performance of sacred music. Complex polyphony, whether
small or large in scale, can be heard from any point in the church with
absolute clarity and transparency. The acoustic of the room is such that
a simple flute or recorder can fill the space as readily as a full
orchestra; a decided acoustical advantage for the multiplicity of tonal
possibilities inherent in a pipe organ.
But how would the tonal design of the instrument be
determined? Every region and time period have their own aesthetic: The
years following the Second World War were heavily influenced by the organ
reform movement of the 1930’s, resulting mostly in Neo-Baroque instruments
with prominent upper work, but lacking in fundamental pitches. In the
1970’s, numerous attempts were made to build a so-called “Universal
Organ”, intended to play the entire palette of organ repertoire, an
undertaking which ultimately proved fruitless. In the 1980’s and 90’s,
the popularity of the French Romantic school held sway, and often, space
and acoustical conditions were not taken sufficiently into account. As a
result, many symphonic, tonally powerful instruments were installed even
in small spaces with a dry acoustic. At the opposite end of the spectrum,
neo-Baroque organs with delicate, transparent voicing were installed in
vast cathedral spaces. In the city of Oberhausen, one finds today
numerous ‘universal’ organs, a few neo-Baroque instruments, and two rather
successful French Romantic installations. Anyone wishing to play the
music of Franck or Couperin with a sense of authenticity would find
suitable instruments in our neighboring Catholic parishes. However, an
organ dedicated to the effective rendition of Lutheran organ music,
particularly that of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries, has
until now been lacking.
As a result of the aforementioned conditions, it was
decided that the new organ for Christ Lutheran Church should have
mechanical action and be rich in transparent tone colors; an instrument
eminently suited to the polyphonic music of Bach and his contemporaries.
However, it was equally important that the individual ranks achieve a
blended ensemble, so that the works of the German romantic composers could
be accommodated. An examination of historical organs will show that this
new organ displays the tonal ideal of a typical central German instrument
from the last years of the 18th century. These instruments represented
the pinnacle of Baroque organ building technology, and were mechanically
sound and very dependable. Already at this time, these organs showed
signs of later 19th century tonal concepts, since they built upon and
strengthened the fundamental pitches of earlier Baroque building styles,
and introduced characteristic ‘string’ ranks, such as the Gamba and the
Salicional. Indeed, Felix Mendelssohn himself played on and composed for
instruments such as these.
The new organ in Christ Lutheran Church thus combines
the tonal ideals of the Late Baroque with the unique acoustic properties
of the space in which it stands. Nonetheless, elements of earlier styles
are still in evidence, such as the employment of a sensitive mechanical
action, and the traditional division of the instrument into Hauptwerk,
Rückpositiv, Echowerk and Pedal.
The church’s first instrument, built in 1876 by the
organbuilder Ibach from Wuppertal, was also a purely mechanical action
organ, with 21 stops over 2 manuals and pedal. A 1908 rebuild saw the
replacement of the tracker mechanism with a pneumatic action; this
insensitive key action resulted in a disturbing time delay for the
player. Both the church and the organ were destroyed in the Second World
War. In the years following the war, the church, which was rebuilt in a
rather austere and simple style, became home to a new three manual organ,
constructed by the builder Stahlruth of Aachen. This instrument, with
its pipework divided between the main case and a Rückpositiv (installed on
the expansive gallery rail), enlivened the space both architecturally and
tonally. Unfortunately, the electropneumatic key and combination action
was prone to failure, and this organ ended its service after 40 years.
The concept for the new organ creates a synthesis
between the good qualities of the previous instruments and the
contemporary, Baroque-influenced technical and musical achievements in
organbuilding. Like the church’s first organ, the new instrument has a
purely mechanical action. The combination action is a solid state
programmable system, designed to expedite the changing of registrations
for both service and concert playing. The gap in the gallery rail,
created after the removal of the previous organ, has once again been
filled with a new Rückpositiv, and the entire instrument is completely
enclosed in casework, designed specifically to accommodate the space in
the gallery. Not only does this guard against dirt and dust, but also
serves to facilitate a blending of the ensemble, and allows for good
directional projection of sound into the room.
Of particular interest in the new Hey organ is the
small Echo division (Echowerk), playable from the third manual. With its
two delicately voiced stops, this division has been conceived primarily
for continuo playing, as well as providing suitable accompaniment for solo
instrument or voice. The soft, delicate stops speak into the room in a
rather indirect manner, rendering this division particularly useful in
organ literature calling for echo effects. Due to financial
considerations, it was not possible to include a swell division on this
organ, but the presence of this small gem makes up for this.
Particularly well represented on this new organ are the
fundamental pitches, at 16’ and 8’. In particular, the 16’ Principal in
the pedal and the 16’ Bordun in the Hauptwerk set the instrument on a
solid foundation. The 8’ Gamba on the Hauptwerk and the 8’ Salicional in
the Rückpositiv serve to broaden the Baroque tonal spectrum of the organ,
and help to facilitate the performance of Romantic literature. The organ
derives it’s needed gravity of tone from the well stocked store of reeds:
two 8’ trumpets (Hauptwerk and Pedal), 16’ Posaune (Pedal), 8’ Dulcian and
8” Krummhorn (Rückpositiv). Along with the 23 speaking stops over 4
divisions, the new organ also has 2 toy stops, once common on Baroque
organs but seldom seen today: A Cymbelstern, made of bronze bells and
installed high in the main organ case, and a ‘Nachtigall’, or nightingale,
which imitates bird song. This stop is comprised of two small organ
pipes, mounted upside down and blowing into a water-filled vessel.
The new Hey organ is without a doubt an instrument
conceived specifically for the room in which it stands. Never designed to
play the entire canon of repertoire, this organ imparts its own unique
color on the repertoire which will be played on it, and for this reason
also the instrument is not tuned in equal temperament, but rather in a
well temperament after Kirnberger. As a result, each key has its own
character, contributing to the organ’s multiplicity of tone colors.
As Director of Music for Christ Lutheran Church, I am
both delighted and thankful to have had the privilege of being involved in
this project. I thank in particular the directors and members of the
Organbuilder’s Guild, without whose assistance this project would never
have come to fruition. My thanks also to our Presbytery, who placed their
complete trust and confidence in our work. Our collaboration with master
organbuilders Herbert and Erhard Hey has resulted in the construction of a
truly wonderful instrument.
It was a lot of work, but well worth it!
Translated by Chris Oelkers,
US Representative and Baroque Specialist |
