Groeninger organ

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Groeninger organ
Halberstadt Martini organ (1) .jpg
General
location St. Martini (Halberstadt)
Organ builder David Beck
Construction year 1592-1596
Last renovation / restoration Reconstruction from 2012
epoch Renaissance / early baroque
Technical specifications
Number of registers 59
Number of manuals 2
Others
Eminent organists

Michael Praetorius

Base area with breastwork

The Gröningen organ is an organ that David Beck created between 1592 and 1596 with 59 registers for the castle in Gröningen . It became widely known through the organ rehearsal on August 2, 1596, to which more than 50 organists were invited. The interior was lost due to renovations and decay. Essentially only the prospectus in St. Martini in Halberstadt has been preserved. The Gröninger organ is to be reconstructed there from 2012.

Building history

New organ 1592–1596

The new organ was commissioned by Duke Heinrich Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel for the palace chapel in his residential palace in Gröningen, after the Duke was appointed Protestant bishop of the Halberstadt diocese in 1578 at the age of 14 . As an artistically diverse and trained man, he appointed Michael Praetorius as his chamber organist in 1594 . It is not clear whether Praetorius had any influence on the new building, as it had already started in 1592.

Together with nine journeymen, David Beck created a work for which he received 10,000 Reichsthaler. The organ was to be the largest, most magnificent and most important organ of that time.

The monumental work with 59 registers was examined and inaugurated on August 2, 1596 in an organ rehearsal by the 53 most renowned organists of the time. Among them were Michael Praetorius Heinrich Compenius the Elder (Nordhausen), Hieronymus Praetorius (Hamburg), Hermann Ebel ( Lübeck ), Petrus Schröter (Rostock), Johann Steffens (Lüneburg), Cajus Schmidtlein (Danzig), Johann von Ende (Kassel) and Hans Leo Haßler (Augsburg), some of whom had traveled up to 500 km. They received 3,000 Reichsthaler for their expenses. After the consecration, Michael Praetorius became the organist of the Gröningen organ and was responsible for its maintenance. He described the organ and its disposition in his Syntagma musicum . The castle with chapel, organ and the Gröninger barrel was considered a wonder of the world and attracted crowds of visitors. In 1604/05 Esaias Compenius the Elder was entrusted with the maintenance, who in 1605 was entrusted with the construction of a precious wooden organ. This counterpart to the Gröningen organ was completed in 1610 (→ Frederiksborg Castle organ ).

Dilapidation and renovations 18. – 20. Century

In the 18th century the work deteriorated increasingly. In 1705, Andreas Werckmeister compiled an Organum Gruningense redivivum report on the condition of the instrument and criticized the organ because he understood the chamber music conception of an extensive register collection, the Renaissance disposition, the rather delicate register sounds, the low wind pressure and the mid-tone tuning 100 Years after the organ was built.

In 1741 the instrument was in an unplayable condition. As part of the dissolution of the Gröningen Palace, Frederick the Great gave the organ to St. Martini in Halberstadt in 1770. Sixty years later, however, it lost all of its original pipework due to a new building in the style of Johann Friedrich Schulze's time , so that only the prospectus and all of the original prospectus pipes have been preserved. In the course of the renovation work by Schulze, the prospectus of the Rückpositiv came to the church of St. Simon and Judas Harsleben around 1838 , where it was preserved with the original pipes. Ernst Röver renewed the Halberstadt organ in 1921 with a work that he had originally created for the Barmer Stadthalle .

During the Second World War, the organ was relocated and thus saved from being destroyed in the air raid on April 8, 1945.

Reconstruction from 2012

Reconstruction (photomontage)

In 2007, an international support association was founded, which is committed to the return of the Rückpositiv and the faithful reconstruction of the Gröningen organ. In the past few years, Christian Lutz, Dietrich Kollmannsperger and Christoph Lehmann worked out the first findings and the organological basis for recovering the organ. The Röver organ was dismantled in July and August 2012 and is now being installed in the Stephanie Church in Calbe (Saale) . In the empty case, Koos van de Linde and Jörg Dutschke carried out detailed investigations that brought decisive new knowledge about the original condition of the organ. The parish of Harsleben has approved the integration of the original Rückpositiv prospectus into the preserved housing in Halberstadt; approval from the monument protection authority has been in place since 2015.

description

Michael Praetorius reproduces the original disposition in his Syntagma musicum , which is also used as a basis for the reconstruction. The information provided by Werckmeister in his report deviates somewhat from this, which has led to various harmonizations. The breastwork was playable from the main work ( upper work ). The small pedal was in the breastwork housing ( in the chest on both sides of the pedal ) and the large pedal in the two side pedal towers ( in the two side horns to the pedal ). The third pedal unit was on a separate drawer behind the main drawer ( in the pedal on the upper drawer ).

Angel on the left pedal tower Angel on the right pedal tower
Angel on the left pedal tower
Angel on the right pedal tower

The organ stands on the threshold of the Renaissance and the Early Baroque . The exterior design of the case shows an Italian influence. The sweeping carving on the whole case with ornaments, figures, stylized musical instruments and cherubs is striking . Christian symbols are juxtaposed with pagan symbols that appear to be in competition with one another. There are also numerous paintings and gildings. The central pipes in the polygonal or pointed towers are completely covered with ornaments. The cornices are richly profiled. The register inventory was a collection of all registers known up to then, as they are listed in the Organographia des Praetorius. Six works were distributed over eight windchests and two manuals and pedal. The pedals, which consisted of large and small pedals, were unusually rich. Further registers were on a separate wind chest in the housing of the upper structure. The labial pipes had a high proportion of tin, the bell of the reeds were made of pure brass. In the upper works the prospect pipes stood directly on the drawer without conductors.

The disposition combines kompendienartig the three registers families principals , flutes and reeds . It is based on the Central German type, but with the trumpet 8 ′ in the manual and the numerous pedal strokes, it also has northern German style elements. As with Beck's other organs, the principal choirs are fundamental. In Hauptwerk they are based on the eight-foot position, in the Rückpositiv on the four-foot and in the pedal on the 16-foot. In all three works they are supplemented by flute choirs, which, according to the Central German tradition, also contain flute aliquots . The tongue choir is fully developed in the Rückpositiv. The lack of reeds in the main work, which has a stronger fundamental tone, is compensated for by high-lying labial and lingual parts in the breastwork. The richly occupied pedal has numerous characteristic individual voices from the three register families. In this way, the organ was ideally suited for the large chorale arrangements in the consort style of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

Appreciation

Prospect pipes decorated with masks
Jewelry on pointed towers and flat fields

The Halle art historian Holger Brülls from the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology paid tribute to the Gröningen organ on January 22nd, 2009 in the lecture room of the Cathedral Treasury in Halberstadt with the following words:

“The prospectus of the former Beck organ from 1596 is equally important from the point of view of art and organ building history. It is one of the most magnificent and artistically ambitious organ facades of the 16th century in northern Europe. The overabundance of ornament and figurative ornament that oppresses the observer corresponds to the need for representation of a music and art-obsessed Renaissance prince: with this instrument, originally built for the chapel of his castle in Gröningen, Duke Heinrich Julius von Braunschweig-Lüneburg created the ideal type of a courtly ceremonial organ in the age of Mannerism. The construction of this soon world-famous organ was one of the prince's daring undertakings. The sound concept and artistic design were clearly guided by the aspiration to create, if not the largest, then the greatest organ of the era. The traditional opulent disposition of Beck's work seems like an encyclopedia of all organ sounds imaginable and desirable around 1600. The overall architecture of the organ in its overwhelming beauty can of course only be understood if one thinks of the Rückpositiv prospectus, which was removed in the early 19th century and is now in the village church in Harsleben. The imposing position of the floor-to-ceiling pedal towers, which reach down to the gallery level and therefore show the longest and largest pipes in full length and magnificence, is also significant in terms of organ building history. Commonly referred to as the 'Hamburger Prospect', this structure in the Beck organ was noticeably early on in its unsurpassable magnificence.
While the organ, also commissioned by Duke Heinrich Julius von Esaias Compenius in 1610, was originally built for Hesse Castle halfway between Halberstadt and Wolfenbüttel and is now installed in the chapel of Frederiksborg Castle near Hilleröd (Denmark) as the most important sound monument of the Central German organ building from around 1600, the prospectus of the Beck organ is a unique symbol for the maximum of architectural and sculptural splendor that organ building had to offer in the period between the late Renaissance and early Baroque. In this respect it can only be compared to the most splendid Italian, northern French, Dutch and Spanish organ prospectuses of that era. The valuable work of art, especially the color version and plastic jewelry, is in a badly damaged and acutely endangered condition. The fastest possible backup and comprehensive restoration examination is the order of the day. The restoration of the prospectus and the creation of a new organ work based on Michael Prätorius's disposition of David Beck will make the organ of the Martini Church by far the most brilliant phenomenon among the testimonies of organ building art from the 16th century and therefore from the age of the Reformation in Saxony-Anhalt. "

Disposition

detail
medium prospect pipes
right prospectus pipes
I Rückpositiv CDE – c 3
1. Quintadehn 8th'
2. Principal 4 ′
3. Gemhorn 4 ′
4th Gedact 4 ′
5. Octava 2 ′
6th Spizfloite 2 ′
7th Quinta 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′
8th. Subflöite 1'
9. Mixture IV (?)
10. Zimbel III (?)
11. Sordunas 16 ′
12th Drum up 8th'
13. Krumbhorn 8th'
14th Small shelf 4 ′
II Oberwerk CDE – c 3
15th Great Quintadena 16 ′
16. Principal 8th'
17th Holfloiten 8th'
18th Rough act 8th'
19th Gemhorn 8th'
20th Large cross flute 8th'
21. Quinta 6 ′
22nd Octava 4 ′
23 Small transverse flutes 4 ′
24. Night horn 4 ′
25th Mixture VI – VIII (?)
26 Double cymbal II

II Front in the chest CDE – c 3
27 Klein Gedact 2 ′
28. Little Octava 1'
29 Small Mixture II (?)
30th Double cymbal II
31. Rancket 8th'
32. shelf 8th'
33. Cymbal Shelf 2 ′
In the pedal on the upper drawer CDE–
34. Pedestal 16 ′
35. Quintads bass 16 ′
36. Octave bass 8th'
37. Small octave bass 4 ′
38. Small quintades bass 4 ′
39 Night horn bass 4 ′
40. Intoxication fifths bass 3 ′ (?)
41. Get fifths bass 3 ′ (?)
42. Holfloiten bass 2 ′
43. Mixture Bass V (?)

In the two side speakers CDE–
44. Great Principal Bass 16 ′
45. Large Gemshorn Bass 16 ′
46. Great transverse flutes 8 ′ (16 ′?)
47. Gemshorn bass 8th'
48. Fifth flute bass 6 ′
49. Small edact 4 ′
50. Sordoon bass 16 ′
51. Trombones bass 16 ′
52. Pounding bass 8th'
53. Schallmeyen bass 4 ′

In the chest on both sides CDE–
54. Fifth flute bass 12 ′ ( 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′?)
55. Bawrflöiten bass 4 ′
56. Cymbal Bass III (?)
57. Rancket bass 8th'
58. Krumbhorn bass 8th'
59 Small shelf bass 8 ′ 4 ′

Technical specifications

  • 59 registers
  • Action :
    • Tone action: mechanical
    • Stop action: mechanical
  • Wind supply:
    • 8 multi-fold wedge bellows
    • Wind pressure: 66 mm water column
  • Mood :

literature

Web links

Commons : Gröninger Orgel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.praetorius-beckorgel.de: Heinrich Julius , accessed on May 6, 2019.
  2. ↑ Ablitzer et al .: Organum Gruningense Redivivum (PDF; 1.3 MB), p. 2.
  3. ↑ Ablitzer et al .: Organum Gruningense Redivivum (PDF; 1.3 MB), p. 4.
  4. ↑ Ablitzer et al .: Organum Gruningense Redivivum (PDF; 1.3 MB), pp. 4–6.
  5. ↑ Dutschke & Van de Linde, pp. 6-9.
  6. ↑ Orgeldatabase: Organ in Harsleben , accessed on May 6, 2019.
  7. ↑ praetorius-beckorgel.de , accessed on May 6, 2019.
  8. ↑ volksstimme.de: Internationally occupied sponsoring association initiates a replica of the David Beck organ from the 16th century , accessed on May 6, 2019.
  9. ^ Friedrich: The spectacular and visionary Halberstadt organ project. The reconstruction of the Beck organ in Grüningen . 2016, p. 136.
  10. ↑ Praetorius: Syntagma musicum , pp. 188f ( online , accessed on May 6, 2019).
  11. ↑ Ablitzer et al .: Organum Gruningense Redivivum (PDF; 1.3 MB), p. 13.
  12. ↑ Hans Klotz: About the organ art of the Gothic, the Renaissance and the Baroque. Music, disposition, mixtures, lengths, registration, use of the pianos . 3. Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0775-9 , p. 212 f .
  13. ↑ Ablitzer et al .: Organum Gruningense Redivivum (PDF; 1.3 MB), p. 3 f.
  14. ^ Friedrich: The spectacular and visionary Halberstadt organ project. The reconstruction of the Beck organ in Grüningen . 2016, p. 139.
  15. ↑ Quoted from Ralf Staufenbiel: From the Wallburg to the Renaissance and residential palace in Gröningen. A dream in gold - for a short time only . 2nd Edition. Ed. Winterwork, Grimma 2009, p. 182.
  16. ^ Friedrich: The spectacular and visionary Halberstadt organ project. The reconstruction of the Beck organ in Grüningen . 2016, p. 138.

Coordinates: 51 ° 53 '43.6 "  N , 11 ° 3' 3.9"  E