Organs of the Martinikerk (Groningen)

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Organs of the Martinikerk (Groningen)
Martinikerk Groningen organ.JPG
General
alternative name Schnitger organ
place Martinikerk (Groningen)
Organ builder Arp Schnitger
Construction year 1692
Last renovation / restoration 1976–1984 Jürgen Ahrend
epoch Baroque
Technical specifications
Number of registers 52
Number of rows of pipes 81
Number of manuals 3
Tone tract Mechanically
Register action Mechanically
Number of 32 'registers 1
The Schnitger organ console. The stops for the Rückpositiv are on this (in the back of the organist).

The organs of the Martinikerk (Groningen) are the large Schnitger organ on the west gallery and the small choir organ. The core of the main organ dates back to the 15th century and reached its current shape in the 18th century when it was expanded by Arp Schnitger , his son Franz Caspar Schnitger and his successor Albertus Antonius Hinsz . It has 52 sounding registers on three manuals and a pedal and is one of the largest and most famous baroque organs in Northern Europe. The choir organ is the former Rückpositiv of the Nunhem monastery organ from 1744 and has 12 registers.

Main organ

Building history

Predecessor organ

In the middle of the 15th century an instrument was built in the Martinikerk (by Master Harmannus?), Which was expanded in 1479, after the construction of the high Gothic tower, probably under the direction of the Groningen city syndicus and humanist Rudolf Agricola . A number of pipes from this late Gothic instrument have survived to this day. In later times, the Vorschnitger organ was considered to be the work of Agricola's, as indicated by the plaque placed under the positive back by the city fathers in 1691: "OPUS RUDOLPHI AGRICOLAE ...".

In 1542 - the year is still in the prospectus - an unknown organ builder (possibly the young Andreas de Mare ) expanded the instrument in the Renaissance style , which now had three works . The manual range typical of the time ranged from FGA – g 2 a 2 , the pitch was 1 1 ⁄ 2  whole tones above Schnitger's pitch. The housing of the main and upper works dates from this time and covers the Gothic structure with pilasters, strips and panels. Since then, a gabled frontispiece has formed the upper end . Andreas de Mare repaired and expanded the organ from 1564 onwards. Since then, the formerly flat prospectus of the main housing has had a round central tower and pointed towers on the side. The upper labia of the pipes in the upper flat fields show the round labia of the Renaissance period, while the Gothic pipes have a lanceolate shape.

When the church passed to the Reformed in 1594, the organ no longer played in services until 1627. In the years 1627 to 1628 Anthoni and Adam Verbeeck cleaned and restored the organ. Further changes and extensions took place, including a. the organ was fitted with seven new bellows. In addition, it received its crowning structure with the Groningen city coat of arms, which is flanked by two dragons.

From 1685 to 1690 Jan Helman tried in vain to repair the war damage to the organ that had occurred during the siege of Groningen in 1672 and provided the work with new bellows, keyboards and spring lockers . He died in 1690 without having completed the work.

Extensions by Arp Schnitger and his school

Arp Schnitger signed the restoration contract on June 9, 1691 and transferred the tasks to his master craftsman Johann Balthasar Held . Schnitger's first wind chest for the upper work with a full bass octave was created on time in less than eight months, the disposition was changed and the pitch was lowered by three semitones by moving the pipes up. The work was completed to the fullest satisfaction at the end of January 1692 and rated as "extra ordinaris goedt". On February 15, Schnitger received a follow-up order and expanded the instrument with the powerful pedal towers, built two new wind chests, two bellows and some new registers. The wind chest of the upper works was Schnitger's first with a full bass octave. The work was completed in mid-December 1692. The principal 32 'from F (24') in the pedal is the only one that has been preserved from Schnitger. It was made in the church with the help of ship masts. The four lowest pipes C, D, and E are there inside pipes Gedackt of wood. The pedal case by Allert Meijer and a total of around six stops by Schnitger are still preserved.

His son Franz Caspar Schnitger built a new Rückpositiv in 1728/1729 using some older registers and renewed the play area. With a total of 16 registers, it was the largest Rückpositiv in the republic in its time. The cabinet was created by the cabinet maker Egbert Tiddens. When Frans Caspar Schnitger died in 1729, his work was completed in 1730 by Albertus Antonius Hinsz, who was given care of the instrument in 1735. 1739/1740 replaced Hinsz in Rückpositiv seven registers and gave the instrument a color version and gilding, which formed the basis of the restoration in the 20th century. The organ now had 47 registers. The initiative for these extensions came from Jacob Wilhelm Lustig , who was organist at the Martinikerk for almost seven decades from 1728 until his death in 1796. In 1781/1782 Hinsz repaired the organ. Further repairs were made in 1793 by Frans Casper Snitger jr. and Heinrich Hermann Freytag occupied.

The monumental prospectus shows the state of the building only in detail. The main case from the 16th century preserves the Gothic prospect pipes from the 15th century in the main work and the Renaissance pipes from 1542 in the upper work. They are all characterized by a high proportion of lead. The elevated, round central tower is flanked by two two-story flat fields, which are joined by pointed towers that are the same height as the flat fields of the upper structure. The case structure with the gable-shaped frontispiece and the two dragons has been effectively crowned by the city arms, a double-headed eagle with a golden crown, since 1628. The majestic shape of the organ is largely due to Schnitger's mighty pedal towers. The polygonal pedal towers had to be stylistically adapted to the Renaissance style of the main housing. The upper labia are lanceolate, as in the prospectus of the Hauptwerk case, the lower labia are semicircular. Towards the inside, the pedal towers have two-story flat fields with blind whistles. The crowning of the bass towers with a curved spire with a knob is without parallel in a Schnitger organ. The upper ornamented decorative frieze bears small cartouches with the year of construction "Anno / 1692". Two trumpet angels each protrude from the veil of the pedal towers. The organ received its current shape through the Rückpositiv of 1729/1730. The Regency style does not adapt to the strict prospectus form of the other works. The carvings go back to the sculptor Caspar Struiwigh. The seven-axis Rückpositiv has a raised central round tower. Two-storey concave pipe fields lead over to cantilevered pointed towers, which, like the central tower, are crowned by gold-plated trumpet angels. Two-storey convex fields mediate to the two-storey concave outer fields. The pipe fields of all works close with openwork carving of acanthus and volutes at the top and bottom and are completely gilded.

Charles Burney also visited Groningen on his European tour in 1772 and wrote in his travelogue about the organ of the Martinikerk:

“The organ of St. Martin's church was originally built by the famous Rodolpho Agricola; but it has received several additions since; however, that part which was of his construction is far the best, particularly several reed stops. The vox humana is very sweet, but resembles a fine hautbois or clarinet, more than a human voice; there are four sets of keys, with 54 stops, a few pipes of the pedals are 32 feet long, and, upon the whole, it is one of the most pleasing instruments I ever met with. "

“The organ in the Martinskirche was originally built by the famous Rudolph Agricola; but much has been done in the following. But what is from Agricola, especially some reed voices, is still the most excellent. The voxhumana is very lovely, whether like a beautiful hoboe or clarinet it comes closer than a human voice. It has four manuals, 54 registers, some of which are 32-footed in the pedal. On the whole, this work is one of the most pleasant I've heard. "

- Charles Burney : The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces. 1773

Later work

Today's marble painted pillars with partly plastered composite capitals were placed under the Rückpositiv in 1808. They are partly built of stone and replace four wooden pillars that were installed in 1782/1783 to prevent the organ gallery from lowering further. In 1808 and 1816 Nicolaus Anthony Lohman, son of Dirk Lohman , carried out repairs and changes to the layout. Petrus van Oeckelen repaired the organ and changed the arrangement in 1831. In 1854/1855 van Oeckelen expanded and changed the instrument according to the taste of the time. Further repairs by van Oeckelen are documented in 1867.

In 1904 the pedal action was pneumatized by Jan Doornbos . In 1912 the eight original wedge bellows were replaced by a magazine bellows.

The J. de Koff & Zoon company made further changes from 1937 to 1939 and intervened deeply in the historical substance. She provided the organ with a new electric, free-standing console . The wind pressure was lowered, new registers installed, the range of the keyboard expanded, the pipework was re-voiced in a romantic style and the playing and register action was set up electro-pneumatically. Fortunately, the old wind chests and the game table from Hinsz have been preserved.

restoration

In the course of the church renovation, the organ was outsourced in 1971 and a concept for the organ restoration was drawn up with the advice of the organ expert Cornelius H. Edskes . The state of 1740 was taken as the starting point for the restoration, whereby some later registers were retained, which were integrated into the grown state.

The leading organ restorer Jürgen Ahrend was entrusted with the difficult task and carried it out successfully in two steps: in 1976/1977 the case, Rückpositiv and upper work, 1983/1984 main work and pedal were restored or reconstructed. The principal 32 ′ was repaired on site.

Disposition since 1984

I Rückpositiv C – c 3
Praestant 08th' SH
Quintadena 16 ′00 tD / F
Bourdon 08th' U / SH
Roerfluit 08th' SH
Octaaf 04 ′ A.
Speelfluit 04 ' A.
Gedektquint 03 ′ SH
Nasard 03 ′ A.
Octaaf 02 ′ SH
Fluit 02 ′ tD / U / SH
Sesquialtera II0 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ A.
Mixture IV – VI 01' SH / A
Cimbel III 01 ⁄ 5 ′ A.
Basson 16 ′ A.
shawm 08th' A.
Hobo 08th' HA
II main work C – c 3
Praestant 16 ′00 tD / U
Octaaf 08th' tD / U / JH
Salicet 08th' L.
Quintadena 08th' U / AV
Gedekt 08th' JH
Octaaf 04 ′ SH
Gedektfluit 04 ′ L.
Octaaf 02 ′ A.
Vlakfluit 02 ′ L.
Tertiaan III 04 ⁄ 5 ′ A.
Mixture IV – VI 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ S / A
Scherp IV A.
Trumpet 08th' S.
Viola da gamba0 08th' A.
III Upper structure C – c 3
Praestant I-III 08th'00 U / YH / S
Holfluit 08th' M.
Octaaf 04 ′ U / YH
Nasard 03 ′ S / A
Sesquialtera II0 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ A.
Mixture IV – VI 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ A.
Trumpet 16 ′ A.
Vox Humana 08th' A.
Pedal CD – d 1
Praestant 32 ′00 S.
Praestant (HW)0 16 ′
Subbas 16 ′ A.
Octaaf 08th' tD / U / S
Gedekt 08th' H
Roerquint 06 ′ vO
Octaaf 04 ′ U
Octaaf 02 ′ A.
Night horn 02 ′ H
Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ A.
Bazuin 16 ′ S.
Dulciaan 16 ′ A.
Trumpet 08th' S.
Cornet 04 ′ S.
Cornet 02 ′ A.
  • Pair: I / II, III / II (A)
  • 2 tremulants (for the Rückpositiv and for the whole organ) (A)

Remarks

tD = unknown (Johan ten Damme?) (1482)
U = unknown (1542)
M = Andreas de Mare (1564)
AV = Anthoni and Adam Verbeeck (1627)
JH = Jan Helman (1685)
S = Arp Schnitger (1692)
SH = Frans Caspar Schnitger / Albertus Anthonius Hinsz (1729)
H = Albertus Anthonius Hinsz (1740)
L = Nicolaus Anthony Lohman (1808/1816)
vO = Petrus van Oeckelen (1855)
A = Jürgen Ahrend (1976–1977, 1983–1984)

Technical specifications

  • 52 registers (as well as a transmission in the pedal)
  • approx. 3500 pipes
  • Action :
    • Keyboards: manuals (SH / A), pedal (A)
    • Tone action: mechanical
    • Stop action: mechanical
  • Wind supply:
    • 2 magazine bellows (de Koff, 1939)
    • 80 mm water column wind pressure
  • Windchests : Rugpositief (SH), Hoofdwerk (A), Bovenwerk (S), Pedaal (S / SH / Vo)
  • Mood :

Picture gallery

  • Gaming table

  • Game table, detail

  • Tabs on the left

  • Register pulls on the right

Choir organ

Organs of the Martinikerk (Groningen)
Martinikerk koororgel.JPG
General
alternative name Choir organ
place Martinikerk (Groningen)
Organ builder Le Picard
Construction year 1744
Last renovation / restoration 2001 by Verschueren
epoch Baroque
Technical specifications
Number of registers 12
Number of rows of pipes 17th
Number of manuals 1
Tone tract Mechanically
Register action Mechanically
Number of 32 'registers -
Number of 64 'registers -

Today's choir organ is the remaining positive part of the Nunhem monastery organ . This organ was built in French style in 1744 by the organ builder Le Picard. After the monastery was closed in the French era, the main work came to Roggel , where it disappeared. The Rückpositiv came to Heythuysen and was sold to the Martinikirche Groningen in 1939. After the transfer and restoration by the Verschueren organ workshop, it was dismantled as part of the church restoration. It was not until 2001 that the organ was set up again and restored by Verschueren. In addition to the registers from the 18th century, the pipes date from 1847 when a renovation was carried out. The disposition is:

I Manual CD – g 3
Montre 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Prestant 4 ′
Flute 4 ′
Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Duplicate 2 ′
Cornet (D) III
Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Fittings III
Sesquialter II
Trumpet (B / D) 8th'
Pedal C – d 1
Sousbasse 16 ′
  • Mood :
    • Height a 1 = 415 Hz
    • Unequal

literature

  • Arie Bouman: De orgels in de groote of Martinikerk te Groningen. HJ Paris, Amsterdam 1941.
  • Cornelius H. Edskes : Het organ van de Martinikerk te Groningen. In: Het Orgel , Vol. 81, No. 6, 1985, pp. 282-286.
  • 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 .
  • Hans Fidom (Ed.): Het maakzel van Agricola. De orgels van de Martinikerk te Groningen. WalburgPers, Zutphen 2019, ISBN 978-94-6249262-2 .
  • 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 .
  • Günter Lade (Ed.): 40 years of organ building Jürgen Ahrend 1954–1994 . Self-published, Leer-Loga 1994.
  • Maarten A. Vente: The Brabant Organ. On the history of organ art in Belgium and Holland in the Gothic and Renaissance ages . HJ Paris, Amsterdam 1963.
  • Erwin Wiersinga: The organ of the Martini Church in Groningen . 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. 102-109 .
  • Bert Wisgerhof: The organ of the Martinikirche in Groningen . In: Ars Organi . Vol. 33, No. 1, 1985, pp. 34-39.

Discography

Web links

Commons : Schnitger organ of the Martinikerk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Presentation of the organ on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ3-0cBKh44
  2. ^ Vente: The Brabant Organ. 1963, p. 173.
  3. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 220.
  4. ↑ Bouman: De orgels in de groote of Martinikerk te Groningen. 1941, pp. 15-19.
  5. ↑ a b Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 216.
  6. ↑ a b c Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 46.
  7. ↑ a b Wiersinga: The organ of the Martinikirche Groningen. 2019, p. 104.
  8. ↑ Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, pp. 179, 186.
  9. ↑ a b c Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 48.
  10. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 223.
  11. ↑ Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 186.
  12. ^ Charles Burney : Diary of a Musical Journey. Volume 3. Bode, Hamburg 1773, pp. 223-224. Digital full-text edition at Wikisource: s: Page: Burney - Diary of a Musical Journey 3rd Vol. 1773.pdf / 229 , accessed on December 30, 2019.
  13. ^ Charles Burney: The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces . Volume 2. Becket, London 1773, pp. 282-283, limited preview in Google Book search
  14. ↑ Wiersinga: The organ of the Martini Church Groningen. 2019, p. 105.
  15. ↑ Fock: Arp Schnitger and his school. 1974, p. 225.
  16. ↑ Edskes, Vogel: Arp Schnitger and his work. 2nd edition 2013, p. 187.

Coordinates: 53 ° 13 ′ 9 ″  N , 6 ° 34 ′ 6 ″  E