Organ of Halberstadt Cathedral

Cathedral organ in a baroque case from 1718

The organ of Halberstadt Cathedral has a history that goes back to around the year 1000. Due to the detailed description and the illustrations by Michael Praetorius , the late Gothic organ from 1495 is of particular importance for musicology. It has been replaced several times over the centuries.

Today's cathedral organ was built in 1965 by the organ building workshop Eule . It has 66 registers on four manuals and a pedal .

Building history

The first known organ of the bishop's church was built around the year 1000 and destroyed in the cathedral fire in 1060. A new instrument was built by Nicolaus Faber in the years 1357 (?) - 1361 without a pedal . The pedal was added or renewed as part of a move to the south pore and an overhaul by Gregor Kleng in 1495, and the three existing keyboards were also expanded. At that time it was probably the largest European block organ . Michael Praetorius describes the organ in his Syntagma musicum II (1619).

Gothic organ from 1361/1495

Upper treble piano H 1 –g 0 a 0 Block work XXXII – LVI 8th'

Lower treble piano H 1 –g 0 a 0 Principal 16 ′

Bass piano H 1 -AH Principal 32 ′

Pedal H 1 -AH Blockwork XVI – XXIV 16 ′

Praetorius gives the length of the largest pipe (principal 32 'on the key H ₁ ) as 31'. In relation to today's normal tuning with a ¹  = 440 Hz, this pipe sounded about the tone subcontra-c sharp. Thus the absolute tuning of the organ was about one and a half semitones above today's normal tuning.

The information given by Praetorius is made more difficult by the fact that he does not differentiate between the states of 1361 and 1495, that they contradict the range of the keyboard and do not match the illustrations, that typographical errors in the text can be assumed.

Hans Klotz calculated a length of 8.91 m (without boots) and a diameter of 31.5 cm for this pipe based on the size of the Braunschweig foot . Klotz considers the tone it  produces to be between C sharp and D, starting from a ¹ = 440 Hz. The Halberstadt organ was therefore the first to generate tones at the lower end of the human frequency range. According to tradition, its sound is described as follows: `` This pedal clavir has ... because of the size of the presences ... such a deep, coarse roar and growling rumble ... ' '

Technology and explanations

Pianos of the organ, picture by Praetorius - the lower keys in the treble piano are approx. 6 cm wide.

Since the instrument no longer exists, the above disposition is subject to corresponding uncertainties. So it is possible that the two individually playable principals contained several rows of pipes in unison, in the octave and the super-octave. The organ did not have registers as it is today. Each work stood on its own undivided wind chest .

The lower keys of the two treble pianos may originally have been pull keys for tone loops, as the illustration in Praetorius suggests. Their upper keys and the keys on the other keyboards, on the other hand, must have been pushbuttons from the start. According to Praetorius, the bass piano was played with the hands or with the knees. It continued the lower treble piano in the depth, which was probably used for quieter pieces and the vocal accompaniment. For the two block works, Praetorius assumes the following line-ups with corresponding progressive reinforcements, especially in the higher registers:

• Upper treble piano: 8 ′ + 4 ′ +  2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′ + 2 ′ +  1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′ + 1 ′ +  ¹ ⁄ ₂ ′

• Pedal: 16 ′ + 8 ′ +  5 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′ + 4 ′ + ...

The organ had 20 bellows, two of which were stepped on by a limestone .

16. – 19. century

The organ builder David Beck built a second organ on the west gallery around 1590, which had two manuals and a pedal. Presumably the Gothic organ was no longer playable at this point; around 1680 it was considered defective. A renovation of the old organ is documented in 1685 , after which it is lost. In 1717 the Beck organ was moved to the Andreas Church of the Franciscan monastery in Halberstadt . Ernst Röver replaced the interior work in 1913, the prospectus was destroyed in 1945.

Heinrich Herbst ( Magdeburg ) built a new three-manual organ with his son Heinrich Gottfried in 1718 , the baroque organ front of which is still preserved. The work had 66 registers with three playing systems for the main work and two side works. One of the side works was tuned for continuo in the lower concert pitch, the other for the chorus. The design of the prospect took into account a rose window in the west facade by incorporating a tunnel into the prospect for the light to enter through this window into the nave. The organ was one of the largest in Germany and cost 12,000 thalers. Modifications in 1837/1838 by Johann Friedrich Schulze and in 1861 by Carl August Buchholz and his son Carl Friedrich Buchholz resulted in an instrument with a symphonic, romantic sound. In connection with the installation of a neo-Gothic stone gallery in 1866, the prospectus was moved upwards and extended to the front, reducing the incidence of light through the tunnel.

New building in 1901 by Röver

40 years after the radical redesign by Buchholz, Ernst Röver ( Hausneindorf ) carried out a completely new building with a pneumatic cone store in 1901. After a reconstruction by Ernst Palandt & Sohnle in 1942, the organ had the following disposition with 63 registers:

I Manual C– Principal 16 ' Drone 16 ′ Principal 08th' Tube bare0 08th' Quintad 08th' Viol 08th' Fifth flute 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 04 ′ Flute 04 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Forest flute 02 ′ Backset VI Mixture VI – VIII Trumpet 16 ′ Trumpet 08th'

II Manual C– Quintad 16 ′ Principal 08th' Wooden flute 08th' Dumped 08th' String flute 08th' octave 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′ Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Put it small0 02 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Sif flute 01' Scharff IV Trumpet 08th' Krummhorn 08th' Trumpet 04 ′

III Swell C– Flauto Amabile 08th' Dumped 08th' Salizional 08th' Principal 04 ′ Night horn 04 ′ Violin beat0 04 ′ Schwiegel 02 ′ Capstan flute 02 ′ Pointed fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Sesquialter II Quintzimbel III Rankett 16 ′ Vox Humana 08th' Tremulant

Pedal C– Pedestal 32 ′ Principal bass 16 ′ Sub-bass 16 ′ Salice bass 16 ′ Octave bass 08th' Thought bass 08th' cello 08th' octave 04 ′ Dumped 04 ′ Night horn 02 ′ Rauschpfeife IV0 Mixture V trombone 32 ′ trombone 16 ′ Dulcian 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' Trumpet 04 ′ Singing cornet 02 ′

• Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P, super-octave coupling I / I, sub-octave coupling II / I

Although the organ was spared direct damage from bombs in 1945, it was severely damaged by moisture penetrating the bombed cathedral.

New building in 1965 by Eule

The current organ was built by Eule in 1962–1965 and revised in 1985. The prospectus from Herbst as well as some registers, prospectus pipes and the bellows from Röver were preserved and included in the new building. However, the light tunnel was closed, and the open spaces on both sides of the prospectus have since been closed. By the company Reinhard Hüfken (Halberstadt) 2000 couple were to enhance the sound of a year adds electrified the Manual paddocks and installed a combination system. The stops of the two side tables have been preserved to this day.

Ambitious plans include the construction of an extensive new organ behind the autumn prospectus, which is now in need of restoration and repair. Eule's work, built with post-war material, is now considered to be inadequate. The prospectus should be repositioned so that the daylight falls back into the interior as it was built in autumn.

Disposition since 1965

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 01. Principal 16 ′ 02. Octave 08th' 03. Pipe pommer 08th' 04th Octave 04 ′ 05. Capstan flute 04 ′ 06th Forest flute 02 ′ 07th third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 08th. Greater sesquialtera III0 09. Large mix V – VIII 10. Sharp IV – VI 11. bassoon 16 ′ 12. Trumpet 08th'

II substation C – g 3 13. Quintatön 16 ′ 14th Principal 08th' 15th Wooden flute 08th' 16. Black viola 08th' 17th Octave 04 ′ 18th Reed flute 04 ′ 19th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 20th Octave 02 ′ 21st Night horn 02 ′ 22nd Schwiegel 01' 23. Cornet II – IV 24. Small mix IV – VI0 25th Krummhorn 08th' 26th Clairon 04 ′ Tremulant

III Swell C – g 3 27. Principal 08th' 28. Far-drawn 08th' 29 Far principal 04 ′ 30th Quintad 04 ′ 31. Flat flute 02 ′ 32. Sharp fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 33. Sesquialtera II0 34. Tonus fabri II 35. Rauschwerk V 36. Dulcian 16 ′ 37. Hautbois 08th' Tremulant

IV Positive C-g 3 38. Quintad 8th' 39. Pointed 8th' 40. recorder 4 ′ 41. Principal 2 ′ 42. Terzian II 43. Sept-Non II 44. Zimbel III 45. Hopper shelf 8th' 46. Rohrschalmey0 4 ′ Tremulant Carillon

Pedal C – f 1 47. Pedestal 32 ′ 48. Principal bass 16 ′ 49. Sub bass 16 ′ 50. Subtle bass 16 ′ 52. Octavbass 08th' 53. Dacked bass 08th' 54. Octave 04 ′ 55. Reed flute 04 ′ 56. Dolkan 02 ′ 57. Large zinc III 58. Intoxication III 59. Choral Mix IV0 60. Bombard 32 ′ 61. trombone 16 ′ 62. Dulcian 16 ′ 63. Trumpet 08th' 64. Trumpet 04 ′ 65. Schalmey 02 ′

• Pairing :
  • Normal paddocks: II / I, III / I, IV / I, III / II, IV / II, IV / III, III / IV
  • Sub-octave coupling: I / I, II / I, III / I, II / II, III / II, III / III, IV / III, IV / IV
  • Super octave coupling: I / I, II / I, III / I, II / II, III / II, III / III, IV / IV
• Playing aids : tongue holder, setting system

Technical specifications

• 66 registers
• 5184 pipes
• Action :
  • Tone action: mechanical

literature

• Karl Bormann: The Gothic organ in Halberstadt. A study of medieval organ building . Merseburger, Berlin 1966.
• Felix Friedrich, Vitus Froesch: Organs in Saxony-Anhalt - A travel guide (=  268th publication of the Society of Organ Friends ). Kamprad, Altenburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-930550-79-1 .
• 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 .
• Michael Praetorius: Syntagma musicum . Volume II: De Organographia . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1527-1 (facsimile: Wolfenbüttel 1619).
• Rudolf Quoika : From block work to register organ. On the history of the Gothic organ 1200–1520. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1966.

Web links

• Halberstadt cathedral organ
• Orgeldatabase: Info on the organ in the cathedral (Dutch)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Felix Friedrich, Vitus Froesch: Organs in Saxony-Anhalt. 2014, p. 11.
2. ^ Michael Praetorius: Syntagma musicum . Volume 2: De Organographia. 1619. (Reprint: Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1527-1 , pp. 97–101. Illustrations of the keyboards and bellows on panels XXIV – XXVI.)
3. ↑ Klotz: About the organ art of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. 1986, p. 14.
4. ↑ 'Een trotsche en allerheerlykste vertooning' Een onderzoek naar de geschiedenis, de aard en het gebruik van het 32-voets orgelregister tot 1800, p. 5. See: http://www.pleijsier.net/scriptie.pdf (text on Dutch)
5. ↑ Friedrich Jakob among others: The Valeria organ. Zurich 1991, p. 30, caption
6. ↑ Short organ chronicle of the Halberstadt Cathedral. accessed on September 11, 2019.
7. ↑ Felix Friedrich, Vitus Froesch: Organs in Saxony-Anhalt. 2014, p. 12.
8. ↑ Felix Friedrich, Vitus Froesch: Organs in Saxony-Anhalt. 2014, p. 13.
9. ^ Cathedral organ Halberstadt: "Through the organ light". Retrieved September 11, 2019 .