G. Christian Lobback

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G. Christian Lobback (born September 20, 1938 in Hamburg ; † January 23, 2015 ) was a German master organ builder and restorer .

Life

Lobback first studied violin with Georg Gerwien at the then Klaersche Conservatory in Blankenese and then art history in Hamburg . He completed his organ building apprenticeship in Lübeck at the organ building workshop of Emanuel Kemper . The decision to become an organ builder was influenced by Professor Adolf Detel. At the end of the 1930s, he campaigned for the storage of the Arp Schnitger organ from Sankt Jacobi in order to prevent it from being destroyed in the Second World War. In the following years he worked at Walcker in Ludwigsburg and at Detlef Kleuker in Brackwede . This was followed by the master's examination in Munich and the establishment of a workshop in Wedel near Hamburg. The workshop was relocated to Neuendeich near Hamburg in 1981 ; an average of five organ builders were employed. Lobbacks instruments are available all over Germany. By 2006, 200 organs had been built and restored.

Organ building

The lobback organ of the St. Dreikönigskirche in Haselau

Lobback practices a harmonic sound and design principle in his instruments, which prompted him to found the Harmonical Organ Building Working Group (AHO) in 1985 . Since then, the findings from this work have been used for the new building and the restoration. For example, pure intervals, i.e. octaves , fifths , fourths and prime are used for the housing designs, which are integrated into the design with the help of an arithmetic scale division into twelve equal parts. The division into twelve parts is obvious, because half of the number 12 can be formed in whole numbers, the octave 6:12, two thirds, the fifth 6: 9 and three quarters, correspondingly the fourth 6: 8. The scale is used by Lobback to determine the case dimensions and proportions.

For example, the width of the lower case can be 12 feet (3.60 m). The height of the lower housing can now be proportioned to 8:12 with a view of the overall housing, which is reduced in octaves to the basic interval 2: 3, which corresponds to the fifth. In the upper case, the ratio logically corresponds from a harmonic perspective 3: 4 (width: height), i.e. the fourth. The evaluation of the design can only be positive, as the proportions 2: 3 and 3: 4 are constitutively combined in the lower and upper housing. The result is therefore the octave, because, as is well known, the mathematical equation applies:

2/3 × 3/4 = 6/12 = 1: 2

Unity in diversity - as already contained in the original meaning of the octave, represents at the same time the most general and shortest formulation of harmony; and that has been achieved architecturally and mathematically understandably with this design.

The sound is designed with the help of a diagram ( Lambdoma ). For the sound weighting of the instruments, the partial tone coordinates are a cognitive and working instrument. The shaping factors are the numbers 2, 3 and 5. With these numbers the clay weights can be determined. The further the partials are from the center of the diagram, the lower the energy allocated to that particular partial group. The dominance of the equaltons with their lower and upper octaves is clear. The proportions of the fifths and thirds are represented quite evenly, but are far behind the octaves. 11/16 of the total energy is allocated to octaves, 3/16 to fifths and 2/16 to thirds. Ultimately, the degree of consonance of the pitch is decisive for the allocation of the energy. The implementation of the tone weighting is done as usual with the help of the scale lengths, the wind pressure and the parameters acoustics, installation location and intonation in the installation room. More information on individual organ works is available on the workshop website.

swell

Publications and lectures by Lobback

  • GC Lobback: The organ of the St. Pauli Church in Hamburg. Aspects of the Organ Movement, pp. 321–336 Merseburger 1985
  • GC Lobback: Significance and preservation of the north German organ landscape from the perspective of an organ builder. Lecture from February 19, 1986, Evangelical Academy Hamburg
  • GC Lobback: The case of the organ at Lohne (Oldenburg). St. Gertrud, Acta Organologica , Vol. 22, pages 383-390, Merseburger 1991
  • GC Lobback: Hans Henny Jahnn and his picture of the organ. in: Musik und Kirche 6/1994, pp. 323–328, Bärenreiter-Verlag
  • GC Lobback: The organ builder Hans Henny Jahnn and the harmonic law. in: Uwe Schweikert (ed.), I am also an organ builder. , Pp. 11-18, Igel-Verlag Paderborn 1994
  • GC Lobback: The absolute tone consciousness and the organ. Organ monograph, (Ed.) Ev.-luth. Parish Tarp 1989
  • GC Lobback: The Harmonious Basic Law. Lecture January 18, 1997, Harmonics Working Group, Munich
  • GC Lobback: The importance of the Lambdoma for the disposition of the organ. Lecture July 1, 1999, Evangelical Church St. Peter-Ording
  • GC Lobback: The church organ - fixated on style or creative? Lecture November 19, 2001, German-Russian seminar in cooperation with the Gnessin Music Academy Moscow, Don Bosco House, Hanover
  • GC Lobback: Hanseatic organ baroque. in: Organ - Journal for the Organ 2001/02, Schott-Verlag Mainz
  • GC Lobback: Sound polarity and sound weighting of the organ. Lecture June 2, 2004, workshop of the Association of Organ Experts in Germany, Elsa-Brändström-Haus Hamburg

Other sources

  • Wolfgang Adelung: Organs of the Present. Bärenreiter 1972
  • Roman Summereder : Dawn of Sounds. Edition Helbling, Innsbruck 1995, ISBN 3-900590-55-9
  • Werner Ohmsen: The organ of the Church of Reconciliation in Tarp. Orgelbauverein Tarp eV 1989
  • Hans Linder: re-encounter with a master organist. Nordseezeitung July 6, 1980
  • Sigrid Kroner: Cathedral organist Philippe Lefebvre let the organ sound in all its beauty. Westfälischer Anzeiger February 6, 1980
  • Hans Enzweiler: In conversation, (Hg) Kath. Kirchengemeinde St. Augustinus Hannover-Ricklingen 1991
  • Wolfgang Stockmeier: Russian organ music. in: Music and Church 2/1998, p. 135, Bärenreiter-Verlag
  • Hans-Herbert Räkel: Urpfeifen, orphic. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 31, 1999, No. 201 / S. 55
  • Reiner Niehoff: HH Jahnn, The Art of Exceeding. Matthes & Seitz, Munich 2001
  • Hannalore Reuter: Historical organs in Westphalia Lippe. Kulturlandschaft Westfalen, Volume 8, Ardey-Verlag Münster 2007

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lobback, G. Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organ builder and restorer
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH 23rd January 2015