Organ of the main church Sankt Jacobi (Hamburg)

Organ of the main church Sankt Jacobi (Hamburg)
General
alternative name	Schnitger organ
place	Main Church of St. Jacobi (Hamburg)
Organ builder	Arp Schnitger
Construction year	1693
Last renovation / restoration	1990-1993 by Ahrend
epoch	Baroque
Technical specifications
Number of pipes	approx. 4,000
Number of registers	60
Number of rows of pipes	98
Number of manuals	4th
Tone tract	Mechanically
Register action	Mechanically
Number of 32 'registers	2

The organ of the main church Sankt Jacobi in Hamburg was built by Arp Schnitger between 1689 and 1693 . The organ has four manuals , a pedal and 60 registers , including 15 reeds , with a total of almost 4000 sounding pipes. Overall, only a few changes were made to the organ between its construction and its partial destruction in World War II. The old pipe inventory was almost completely preserved except for the prospectus pipes. It is the largest organ from before 1700 and is one of the most important preserved baroque organs.

Building history

Predecessor instruments

It is not documented when the first organ was built in St. Jacobi . Around 1300, however, a "Master Rudolf" is attested as organist. From 1512 to 1516 a two-manual organ was built by Jacob Iversand and Harmen Stüven. A Rückpositiv was added before 1543 . Further modifications and extensions were carried out in the 16th and 17th centuries by master organ builders such as Jacob Scherer (from 1551), Scherer's son-in-law Dirk Hoyer (1577–1578), who built a new Rückpositiv and two new pedal towers, Hans Bockelmann (1588–1589) and Hans Scherer the Elder (1588–1592), who added a new upper work. Scherer's sons Hans Scherer the Younger and Fritz Scherer overhauled the instrument in 1606/07. At the end of the 16th century, Hieronymus Praetorius had one of the largest organs of that time with this instrument. In his Syntagma Musicum handed Michael Praetorius the former disposition with 53 stops on three manuals:

Schematic work structure ("Hamburger Prospekt") (Pd = pedal, OP = upper positive, We = Werck, BP = breast positive, RP = back positive)

1635–1636, Gottfried Fritzsche expanded the smaller keyboard range of the Renaissance instrument to four octaves and four keyboards through a major renovation. He set up seven divided upper keys (subsemitonies) in the keyboard of the Rückpositiv for the additional tones D flat , A flat and A sharp (from D flat to D flat ² ). The then Jacobi organist Ulrich Cernitz (1598–1654), a student of the famous “Hamburg organist” Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck , reported in detail on these measures, at the end of which the instrument had 56 registers. Fritzsche's son Hans Christoph Fritzsche renovated the organ 1655–1658 on a larger scale for 1656 Mark lüb. It is not known whether this work was carried out in 1655 with regard to and perhaps even in consultation with the new organist Matthias Weckmann . However, he must have worked closely with H. Chr. Fritzsche on this work from the time he took office at the end of 1655. Weckmann held the position until his death in early 1674.

New building by Schnitger in 1693

Polygonal pedal tower

The master organ builder Arp Schnitger adopted 27 registers from this previous instrument , the oldest of which is from the original organ (1516); he built the remaining registers himself. Schnitger expanded the four-manual instrument to 60 registers. Against the advice of Johann Adam Reincken , organist at St. Katharinen , the pedal was given a principal 32 ′ and a trombone 32 ′, which were considered particularly prestigious. The cost of building the organ amounted to 29,108 marks. The works have the names: Werck (main work), Rückpositiv, Oberpositiv, Brustpositiv and Pedal. The prospectus of the Schnitger organ in St. Jacobi is the largest existing example of the " Hamburg prospectus " with the multi-part work structure, which was developed around 1600 by the Scherer family of organ builders in Hamburg. Characteristic for this is the symmetrical layout with the large lateral pedal towers and the graduation of the manual works, whereby the upper positive does not appear in the prospectus. It is in an elevated position behind the factory, which has no rear wall. The direct sound effect occurs through the vaults that are drawn down far, which cause very good sound radiation into the room. The figures in the prospectus were carved by Christian Precht ; they are among his latest known works.

In 1720 Johann Sebastian Bach applied for the position of organist at St. Jacobi. However, instead of his, Johann Joachim Heitmann was given the position because, in contrast to his famous competitor, he was able to pay a large sum of money (4,000 marks) to the church treasury and to marry the daughter of the main pastor.

Johann Mattheson handed down the condemned sermon of Erdmann Neumeister , the main pastor of St. Jacobi at the time: “He certainly believed that if one of the Bethlehemite angels came from heaven, who played divinely and wanted to become organist at St. Jacobi, he would have no money so he just wants to fly away again ”.

In fact, there is evidence that Bach played on the large organ in the neighboring Katharinenkirche. The condition of the Jacobi organ was temporarily not very good and Bach left before the official audition.

Otto Diedrich Richborn reports Schnitger's disposition in 1721:

Later work

In 1722 the organ was overhauled by Otto Diedrich Richborn, who made a small change to the layout. The Hamburg organ builder Johann Jacob Lehnert changed the disposition slightly in 1761. 1774–1775 Johann Paul Geycke renewed the gaming table . Further changes were made in 1790 by Johann Daniel Kahl, in 1836 and 1846 by Johann Gottlieb Wolfsteller . In 1866 new canals and compensating bellows were built. Another change in disposition and the installation of an additional pneumatic drawer with five registers was carried out by Marcussen in 1890 .

Restorations

A serious intervention in the tonal substance of the instrument took place in 1917, when the prospect pipes had to be handed over to the army administration for metal collection during the First World War . Hans Henny Jahnn , together with Gottlieb Harms, discovered the value of this instrument after the First World War and campaigned for the repair and replacement of the missing front pipes. With the implementation of the benefit concerts (Ugrino concerts) that began in 1922, substantial financial resources could be raised. For the concerts, Jahnn won Günther Ramin , the organist of the Leipzig Thomaskirche , who for the first time again performed compositions by Hamburg organists of the 17th century alongside works by Buxtehude and Bach. At the organ conference initiated by Jahnn in Hamburg and Lübeck in July 1925, the Schnitger organ in St. Jacobi became the focus of interest in the organ scene in Northern Europe at the time. It was perceived as an exemplary instrument for baroque and pre-baroque organ music.

The outsourcing of the wind chests , the pipework and the carvings in 1942 saved the sound-determining parts of the organ from destruction in the Second World War , when the church burned down completely and Schnitger's case, the bellows and the console from 1774 were lost. After the restoration of the only slightly destroyed south aisle, a provisional installation was carried out here in 1950 by the Lübeck organ workshop Kemper , which had already carried out the restoration work of previous decades under the direction and with the assistance of Hans Henny Jahnn.

Another step on the way to the final restoration was the installation at the old location in the west of the main nave , which was completed in 1961. A new case in the old work structure, a new console with carved heads on the register slides (1950), an expansion of the range of the keyboard with the necessary adjustments in the technical area and an extremely stiff action by Kemper were created.

Reconstructed gaming table

The result of this effort to get closer to the old state was tonally inconsistent and technically unsatisfactory. The use of different wind pressures in the manual works and in the pedal did not correspond to historical practice. The pipework had been shortened differently in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries in the course of an adjustment to the modern pitch and the relocation of many pipes to the wind chests. The sound of the principal choir was too flute and the flutes too similar. The tongue voices had no equality. Furthermore, the proportions of the cases were not correct, as the keyboard extensions with many additional large pipes had to be taken into account. On the other hand, the tonal substance was still recognizable and continued to fascinate the audience.

The impulse for a fundamental restoration and the elimination of the technical and sonic deficiencies came from Rudolf Kelber, who took up the church music position at St. Jacobi in 1982. The discussion resulted in the consensus that the concept of restoring the old condition of the Jacobi organ with all the preserved parts was aimed for by the late 18th century. This included the registers by Johann Jacob Lehnert from 1761 (the Viola di Gamba 8 ′ in the Werck and the Trommet 8 ′ in the Rückpositiv). A reconstruction of the gaming table from 1774 was not sought, as the extended deep octave was available here in view of a later expansion that was not carried out. It made more sense to go back to Schnitger's concept with the short octave in the manual keyboards based on the model of the preserved Schnitger console from the Lübeck cathedral organ. What was essential was the recovery of the original case proportions with Schnitger's original windchest dimensions. A compromise was the addition of the D flat (or E flat) tone in the bass octave of the pedal on an additional drawer that was placed outside the case. The wind turbine was set up with six wedge bellows in the upper area of ​​the tower room behind the organ.

Jürgen Ahrend in his workshop during the pre-intonation of the Oberwerk

For this work Jürgen Ahrend could be won, who is considered to be the outstanding connoisseur of Schnitger organs and was able to show all the resources for this project in his workshop. This also included a store of wood that had been stored for decades. Three hundred years after the completion of the organ by Arp Schnitger, the restored and reconstructed work was put into use in 1993. Cornelius H. Edskes , the leading Dutch organologist and Schnitgerkenner, carried out a meticulous documentation in order to put the restoration on the safest possible basis. The result was a collection of more than 60,000 individual data.

The discussion about the tuning of the organ led to the decision in favor of a modified mean-tone tuning. It is a compromise between the finding of an almost perfect third-tone tuning and the requirements for playing many masterpieces of organ literature from the 17th and 18th centuries in keys with several accidentals. The finding of a mid-tone tuning could be read from the pipe lengths of the inner pipes of the principal 32 ′ in the pedal.

The Schnitger organ in Hamburg's main church St. Jacobi is one of the most influential models for organ building in the last 100 years.

Disposition since 1993

The current disposition goes back to the restoration in 1993, which restored the condition of 1762.

I Rückpositiv CDE – c 3 Principal 08th' A. Dumped 08th' Sch / F Quintadehna 08th' Sch / F Octava 04 ′ FA Block flea 04 ′ Sch / F Cross whistle 02 ′ FA Octava 02 ′ FA Siffloit 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′ F. Sexquialtera II0 FA Scharff VI – VIII FA Dulcian 16 ′00 S. Bar whistles 08th' S / A Drum up 08th' L / A Cymbal stars

II Werck CDEFGA – c 3 Principal 16 ′00 A. Quintadehn 16 ′ F / S Octava 08th' before Sch / Sch / S Pointed flea 08th' S. Viola di gamba0 08th' L. Octava 04 ′ Sch / S Rohrflöht 04 ′ Sch / S Flat flea 02 ′ A. Rauschpfeiff II Sch / S Great Octave 02 ′ S. Mixture VI – VIII F / S Drum up 16 ′ F / S

III Upper positive CDEFGA – c 3 Principal 8th'00 S / A Rohrflöht 8th' S. Holtzflöht 8th' S. Pointed flea 4 ′ S. Octava 4 ′ Sch Nasat 3 ′ S. Octava 2 ′ S. Gemshorn 2 ′ Sch / F Scharff IV – VI FA Cimbel III S / A Drum up 8th' S. Vox humana 8th' S. Drum up 4 ′ S / A

IV breast positive CDEFGA – c 3 Principal 8th'00 F /? Octav 4 ′ S / A Hollflöth 4 ′ S. Forest flea 2 ′ S. Sexquialtera II F / Sch Scharff IV – VI S. Dulcian 8th' S. Straight shelf 8th' S.

Pedal CD – d 1 Principal 32 ′00 A / S Octava 16 ′ S. Sub-bass 16 ′ S. Octava 08th' S. Octava 04 ′ F /? Night horn 02 ′ S. Rauschpfeiff III F / S Mixture VI – VIII F / S trombone 32 ′ S. trombone 16 ′ S. Dulcian 16 ′ S. Drum up 08th' S. Drum up 04 ′ S. Cornet 02 ′ S.

• Coupling : Sliding coupling IV / II, II / III (A)
• Two tremulants (A)
• Zimbelstern (A), drum (A)

Remarks

Sch = Scherer (16th / 17th century)

F = Gottfried Fritzsche (1636)

S = Arp Schnitger (1693)

L = Johann Jacob Lehnert (1761)

A = Jürgen Ahrend (1993)

Technical specifications

• 60 stops, four manuals and pedal
• Approx. 4000 pipes
• Action (Ahrend):
  • Tone action: mechanical
  • Stop action: mechanical
• Wind supply:
  • Twelve Wind Chests (Schnitger)
  • One main valve and five shut-off valves for the individual plants (Ahrend)
  • Six wedge bellows (Ahrend)
  • Wind pressure: 80 mm water column
• Mood :
  • Altitude a ¹ = 495.45 Hz at 18 ° C
  • Modified mean tone tuning ( ¹ ⁄ ₅ - syntonic comma )

literature

• Cornelius H. Edskes : About the pitch and temperature of the Arp Schnitger organ from St. Jacobi in Hamburg . In: Hans Davidsson (Ed.): Cornelius H. Edskes doctor honoris causa . Göteborgs Univ., Depart. of Musicology, Göteborg 1996, ISBN 91-85974-37-4 , pp. 19-41 .
• Cornelius H. Edskes, Harald Vogel : Arp Schnitger and his work (=  241st publication by the Society of Organ Friends ). 2nd Edition. Hauschild, Bremen 2013, ISBN 978-3-89757-525-7 .
• Gustav Fock : Arp Schnitger and his school. A contribution to the history of organ building in the North and Baltic Sea coast areas . Bärenreiter, Kassel 1974, ISBN 3-7618-0261-7 .
• Karl-Heinz Göttert, Eckhard Isenberg: Organ guide Germany . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1347-3 .
• Rudolf Kelber : The Arp Schnitger organ of the main church St. Jacobi, Hamburg . In: Franz Josef Stoiber (ed.): Beautiful organs. Building history - sound - prospect design (=  283rd publication by the Society of Organ Friends ). Figaro, Laaber 2019, ISBN 978-3-946798-17-0 , pp. 124-131 .
• Günter Lade (Ed.): 40 years of organ building Jürgen Ahrend 1954–1994 . Self-published, Leer-Loga 1994.
• Ibo Ortgies : The practice of organ tuning in northern Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries and its relationship to contemporary music practice . Göteborgs universitet, Göteborg 2004 ( gbv.de [PDF; 5.4 MB ] rev. 2007).
• Heimo Reinitzer (Hrsg.): The Arp Schnitger organ of the main church St. Jacobi in Hamburg . Christians, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-7672-1187-4 .
• Günter Seggermann, Alexander Steinhilber, Hans-Jürgen Wulf: The organs in Hamburg . Ludwig, Kiel 2019, ISBN 978-3-86935-366-1 , pp. 191-192 .
• Harald Vogel: Dietrich Buxtehude: Organ Works Vol. 7 . Dabringhaus and Grimm, Detmold 1993 (booklet accompanying the CD).

Web links

Commons : Arp Schnitger organ in the main church St. Jacobi in Hamburg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Arp Schnitger organ database
• Organ in Hamburg St. Jacobi at NOMINE eV
• Page by Hans-Werner Coordes
• Discography of all Schnitger organs striving for completeness
• Organ city of Hamburg
• Organ at the Greifenberg Institute

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, pp. 52-65 (basic presentation).
2. ^ Michael Praetorius: Syntagma musicum . Vol. 2: De Organographia (1619). Reprint: Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1527-1 , pp. 168–169; Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, pp. 54-55.
3. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, pp. 54-55.
4. ↑ Fock 1974, p. 56.
5. ↑ Data based on Liselotte Krüger: Johann Kortkamps Organistenchronik. A source on the Hamburg music history of the 17th century . In: Journal of the Association for Hamburg History . tape 33 , 1933, pp. 188-214 . , P. 203.
6. ↑ Gustav Fock: Hamburg's share in organ building in the Low German cultural area . In: Journal of the Association for Hamburg History . No. 38 , 1939, pp. 351-352 (on- line ).
7. ↑ Fock 1974, pp. 45 and 56.
8. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, p. 32.
9. ^ Karin Eckhardt: Christian Precht. A Hamburg sculptor in the second half of the 17th century (= contributions to the history of Hamburg. Volume 32). Verlag Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte, Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-923356-18-8 , p. 88 f.
10. ^ Johann Mattheson: The musical patriot . Hamburg 1728, p. 316.
11. ↑ Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 161.
12. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, pp. 190-191, cf. the facsimile on p. 147.
13. ↑ Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 161.
14. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 61.
15. ↑ ^{a b} Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 62.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, p. 129.
17. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, p. 130 f.
18. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, p. 130.
19. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, pp. 227-228; Edskes: About the pitch and temperature of the Arp Schnitger organ from St. Jacobi in Hamburg. 1996, pp. 22-23.
20. ↑ Reinitzer (ed.): The Arp Schnitger organ. 1995, pp. 290-291.

Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 1.3 ″  N , 10 ° 0 ′ 1.1 ″  E