Organ of the Luther Church (Apolda)

Organ of the Luther Church (Apolda)
General
place	Luther Church (Apolda)
Organ builder	Wilhelm Sauer
Construction year	1894
Last renovation / restoration	1953–1959 by Gerhard Kirchner
epoch	Late Romanticism
Organ landscape	Thuringia
Technical specifications
Number of pipes	approx. 3,200
Number of registers	47
Number of rows of pipes	61
Number of manuals	3
Wind chest	Cone drawer
Tone tract	Pneumatic
Register action	Pneumatic
Number of 32 'registers	1
Number of 64 'registers	-

The organ of the Lutherkirche Apolda was built in 1894 by the Wilhelm Sauer company in Frankfurt (Oder) . It is a typical example of organ building in German late romanticism . After two renovations in 1933 and 1953 to 1959, the instrument has 47 registers , divided into three manuals and pedal .

Building history

New building by Sauer in 1893/94

The building of the organ was put out to tender in 1892 for the church under construction. The Weimar court organist Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg made the arrangements . In addition to Sauer, u. a. Friedrich Ladegast and Eberhard Friedrich Walcker . Sauer, who had already worked with Johannes Otzen , the church's architect, was awarded the contract. Otzen also designed the case.

Typical of the organ of the German late romantic period is the accumulation of 8 'stops with their structure Gedackt-Flute-Strings-Principal on each manual. This arrangement decreases in scaling and volume towards the top, so the swell is more of an echo work .

The action is a transitional construction. The wind chests are built as mechanical cone chests that are controlled by pneumatic relays.

I Manual C – f 3 Drone 16 ′ Principal 16 ′ Dumped 08th' Hollow flute 08th' Viola di gamba 08th' Principal 08th' Flûte harmonique0 04 ′ octave 04 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Mixture V 04 ′ Cornett III-IV Trumpet 08th'

II Manual C – f 3 Lovely Gedackt 16 ′ Lovely Gedackt 08th' Flauto traverso 08th' Salicional 08th' Violin principal 08th' Reed flute 04 ′ Fugara 04 ′ Piccolo 02 ′ Progressio IV – V0 oboe 08th'

III Manual C – f 3 harmonica 8th' Vox coelestis 8th' Delicately packed 8th' Concert flute 8th' Principal amabile0 8th' Vox angelica 4 ′ Soft flute 4 ′

Pedal C – d 1 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal bass0 16 ′ Violon bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Dacked bass 08th' violoncello 08th' Octave bass 08th' octave 04 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th'

• Coupling : II / I, III / II, I / P, II / P.
• Playing aids : roll sills, fixed combinations pp, p, mf, f, tutti.

Modification by Sauer in 1933

In 1933, the Sauer company, which at that time had already been taken over by Walcker, changed technology and scheduling .

The pneumatic control has been reinforced in order to be able to set up more playing aids and thus to achieve more playing comfort. The registers of the gaming table were completely renewed for this purpose. In addition, additional registers were built in to enlarge the sonic range of the swell . A second pneumatic cone chest was used for this. The registers of the II. Manual were placed in an additional swell box, so that by coupling the III. Manuals a larger swell is created.

The new high-sounding register, the sharpening of the Hauptwerksmixtur, the two new kurzbecherigen reeds and the simultaneous weakening of the sound foundation by eliminating the fifth 10 ² / ₃ 'in the pedal and the drone 16' in the main plant tend to a neo-baroque sound.

I Manual C – f 3 Principal 16 ′ Dumped 08th' Hollow flute 08th' Viola di gamba 08th' Principal 08th' Flûte harmonique0 04 ′ octave 04 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Cornet III-IV mixture V 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Trumpet 08th' Krummhorn * 08th'

II swellC-f 3 Lovely Gedackt 16 ′ Lovely Gedackt 08th' Flauto traverso 08th' Salicional 08th' octave 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′ Fugara 04 ' Piccolo 02 ′ Progressio IV – V0 oboe 08th'

III Swell C – f 3 harmonica 08th' Vox coelestis 08th' Delicately packed 08th' Concert flute 08th' Principal amabile0 08th' Vox angelica 04 ′ Soft flute 04 ′ Fifth * 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Recorder* 02 ′ Sif flute * 01' Cymbel * II Hopper shelf * 08th'

Pedal C – d 1 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal bass0 16 ′ Violon bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Soft bass 16 ′ Dacked bass 08th' violoncello 08th' Octave bass 08th' octave 04 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' Recorder (from III) 02 ′

The registers and playing aids marked with * are new.

• Coupling : II / I, III / II, III / I *, I / P, II / P, III / P *
• Playing aids : roll sills, cresc. ab, two free combinations, fixed combinations pleno * and tutti, automatic pedal switching *, pedal tutti *, reed tuning from *

Notes A.

1. ↑ Composition changed.
2. ↑ Swell box new.
3. ↑ before Bordun 16 ′ I. Manual.

Reconstruction by Kirchner 1953–1959

Luther Church, inside the Sauer organ

From 1953 to 1959 the organ builder Gerhard Kirchner from Weimar made various other changes: The additional stops on the III. Manuals were sharpened again, a third added on a third wind chest and the principal 8 'on the II. Manual switched to the much lighter octave 4'. The romantic string register Fugara 4 ′ was given up in favor of a sesquialter . This further strengthened the neo-baroque tendency of the renovations of the 1930s.

In addition, the range of the pedals has been extended by three tones up to f ¹ with an additional drawer . The reason for this measure was that you could also play the F major Toccata by Johann Sebastian Bach on it. The cornett in the main plant was dismantled in order to be able to equip a pedal mixture with pipes. The organ was also tuned higher, as the concert pitch a ¹ was at 435 Hz when the organ was built.

The additional wind chests and the complex console technology cause control problems to this day, and the maintenance of the organ has been made considerably more difficult by the built-in components. On the other hand, the added registers clearly stand out from the romantic, fundamental register fundus. Tuning up has also pushed some pipes to the limit of their intonation.

Disposition since 1959

I Manual C – f 3 Principal 16 ′ Dumped 08th' Hollow flute 08th' Viola di gamba 08th' Principal 08th' Flûte harmonique0 04 ′ octave 04 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Mixture V 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Trumpet 08th' Krummhorn 08th'

II Swell C – f 3 Lovely Gedackt 16 ′ Lovely Gedackt 08th' Flauto traverso 08th' Salicional 08th' octave 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′ Sesquialter II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Piccolo 02 ′ Progressio IV – V0 oboe 08th'

III Swell C – f 3 harmonica 08th' Vox coelestis 08th' Delicately packed 08th' Concert flute 08th' Principal amabile0 08th' Vox angelica 04 ′ Soft flute 04 ′ Octave* 02 ′ Third* 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Fifth * 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Ital. Principal * 01' Cymbel III Hopper shelf 08th'

Pedal C – f 1 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal bass0 16 ′ Violon bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Dacked bass 08th' violoncello 08th' Octave bass 08th' octave 04 ′ octave 02 ′ Rauschpfeife * IV trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th'

The registers and playing aids marked with * are new.

• Coupling : II / I, III / II, III / I, I / P, II / P, III / P
• Playing aids : roll sills, cresc. ab, two free combinations and pleno, tutti, two free pedal combinations *, pedal tutti *, tongue voices

Notes B.

1. ↑ From Cornett III – IV.
2. ↑ From Violin Principal 8 ′.
3. ↑ From fifths 2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′ (III) and recorder 2 ′ (III).
4. ↑ to additional wind load.
5. ↑ Extended by an additional row.
6. ↑ By rescheduling in III. Manual.
7. ↑ partly from Cornett III – IV (I).

Technical specifications

• 47 registers, 61 rows of pipes, approx. 3,000 pipes.
• Wind chest : cone chest.
• Action :
  • Tone action: Mechanically with pneumatically controlled Bark levers. Swell: Pneumatic.
  • Stop action: Pneumatic.

Refurbishment from 2018

In January 2018 the organ with its almost 3,200 pipes was completely dismantled within a week by employees of the organ building company Jehmlich from Dresden , and a protocol was made for each dismantled piece. The organ room and the organ loft are also to be thoroughly renovated. After the first inspection, the wooden pipes in particular show hardly any damage due to mold, woodworm or water ingress. The organ was last restored in 1966.

The duration of the restoration is open. The aim is to restore the original condition from 1894 and to remove any modifications. The installation of the instrument is expected to take three months. The investment required is estimated at more than 300,000 euros.

literature

• Viola-Bianka Kießling : Queen of Instruments - An organ guide through the Weimar region and Weimarer Land . Fagott-Orgelverlag, Friedrichshafen 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-021071-6 .
• Michael Schönfeld (Ed.): The Luther Church in Apolda . Wartburg Verlag, Weimar 1994, ISBN 3-86160-131-1 .

Web links

• Sascha Margon: The Queen is being dismantled and waiting to be renovated - Apolda's Luther Church has to do without an organ for a long time. Renovation of the gallery is imminent. Thüringische Landeszeitung Weimar, online edition. Retrieved February 3, 2018 . 
• Sascha Margon: The Queen is being dismantled and waiting to be renovated - Apolda's Luther Church has to do without an organ for a long time. Renovation of the gallery is imminent. Thuringian General Erfurt, online edition. Retrieved February 3, 2018 . 
• The organs. Internet presence of the ev.-luth. Parish of Apolda. Retrieved October 1, 2012 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sascha Margon: The queen is being dismantled and waiting to be renovated - Apolda's Luther Church has to do without an organ for a long time. Renovation of the gallery is imminent. Thüringische Landeszeitung Weimar, online edition. Retrieved February 3, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 30 ″  N , 11 ° 30 ′ 58 ″  E