Johann Friedrich Wenthin

Wenthin organ in Backemoor (1783)

Johann Friedrich Wenthin (born August 10, 1746 in Otterstedt near Bremen , † May 27, 1805 in Emden ) was a German organ builder .

Life

Johann Friedrich Wenthin was possibly a journeyman with Heinrich Wilhelm Eckmann and was considered Hinrich Just Müller's worst competitor in East Frisia . From 1774 he was a citizen of Emden. There he married Catharina Gertrud Wenthin from Neustadtgödens in 1775 and had four children with her. His second oldest son, Joachim Wenthin , took over his father's workshop, but hardly worked in East Frisia any more.

plant

Wenthin's greatest work was the new organ in the Great Church of Emden , which established its fame, so that orders from the Netherlands were also made. The instrument had 40 registers and was the only new build with an independent pedal. The disposition is handed down to Nicolaas Arnoldi Knock in 1788. All later organs only have a pedal attached and a register of less than 20 voices. In the case of two-manual works, an upper work is added to the main work. In contrast to the Schnitger School and to Müller, who built more traditionally and preferred a powerful sound, Wenthin's organs are characterized by an elegant and delicate sound, with a larger proportion of flute and string registers. He also used new registers such as the transverse flute and the labial cornetto and used the equal tuning . Wenthin's progressive style is externally recognizable by the curved design of the prospectus, which is kept in the Rococo style and incorporates classicist influences in his last works , such as the lidded vases on the organ case.

List of works

The following organs from Wenthin are proven. Italics indicate that the organ has not been preserved or only the historical case has been preserved. The size of the instruments is indicated in the fifth column by the number of manuals and the number of sounding registers in the sixth column. A capital “P” stands for an independent pedal, a lowercase “p” for an attached pedal.

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1779	Emden	Big church		II / P	40	New building; not received
1776-1781	Back	Behind church		I / p	8th	New building; Prospectus received
1779-82	Weener	Evangelical Reformed Church		III / P	37	Installation of the organ by Arp Schnitger on a new gallery, repair and expansion with a breastwork and the pedal towers; Pedal tower case, but no registers from Wenthin survived (today II / P / 29) → Organ of the Evangelical Reformed Church (Weener)
1785	Riepe	Riepster Church		I / p	10	New building; replaced, prospectus with prospectus pipes received
1783	Backemoor	St. Laurentius and St. Vincenz		I / p	12	New building; largely preserved → organ
1785	Zweins (NL)	Reginakerk (Hervormde Kerk)		I / p	13	New building; later rebuilt
1787	Nieuwolda (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	21st	New building; largely preserved
1788-1789	Reepsholt	St. Mauritius		II / p	17th	New building; largely preserved
1790-1793	Wolthusen	Wolthuser Church		I / p	8th	New building; 4 registers received
1793	Hesel	Liudgerikirche		I / p	13	New building; only the side carvings remain
1793	Westerende	St. Martin		I / p	13	New building; 1885 extension conversion by Johann Diepenbrock (today I / P / 15); largely preserved
1796	Oldersum	Oldersum Church		II / p	12	New building; not received
1797-1798	bad Bentheim	Ref. Church		I / p	12	New building; not received
1798-1801	Groothusen	Groothuser Church		II / p	19th	New building; over half of the registers preserved
1802	Blersum	Blersum Church		I / p		A house organ from Wenthins was acquired in 1850 by the Blersum parish; Replaced by Johann Martin Schmid in 1890 .
1804	Great Midlum	Great Midlum Church		I / p	13	1956 Pipework replaced, prospectus and wind chest are preserved.

There are also various renovation and expansion work and repairs.

literature

• Walter Kaufmann : The organs of East Frisia - organ topography . Publishing house Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1968.
• Ralph Nickles: Organ inventory of the Krummhörn and the city of Emden . Hauschild, Bremen 1995, ISBN 3-929902-62-1 .
• Fritz Schild: Monument organs. Documentation of the restoration by Organ Builders Guide 1974–1991 . Florian Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2005, ISBN 978-3-7959-0862-1 (2 parts: Backmoor – Groothusen, Hage – Wiesens).
• Harald Vogel , Reinhard Ruge, Robert Noah, Martin Stromann: Organ landscape Ostfriesland . 2nd Edition. Soltau-Kurier-Norden, Norden 1997, ISBN 3-928327-19-4 .

See also

• List of organ builders
• List of historical organs in East Frisia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sign: Monument organs. 2005, p. 30.
2. ↑ Sign: Monument organs. 2005, p. 426.
3. ^ Nicolaas Arnoldi Knock: Dispositien the most remarkable Kerk organs . Petrus Doekema, Groningen 1788, p. 47 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ↑ Vogel, Ruge, Noah, Stromann: Organ landscape Ostfriesland. 1995, p. 86f.