Rudolf von Beckerath organ building
Rudolf von Beckerath organ building | |
---|---|
legal form | GmbH |
founding | 1949 |
Seat | Hamburg , Germany |
management | Holger Redlich and Rolf Miehl |
Branch | Musical instrument making |
Website | www.beckerath.com |
Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau is the name of a German organ building company based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1949 by Rudolf von Beckerath (born February 19, 1907 in Munich ; † November 22, 1976).
history
Rudolf von Beckerath was born in Munich in 1907 as the son of a painter and a pianist. Soon after his birth, his parents moved to Hamburg . There he went to school and began training as a mechanical engineer, but then switched to organ builder, although the buildings by Arp Schnitger obviously influenced his decision. On the recommendation of Hans Henny Jahnn , he finally went to France in order to receive the necessary fine-tuning from 1929 in Victor Gonzales' organ building workshop in Chatillon sous Bagneux near Paris . After completing his apprenticeship, he briefly moved to the Frobenius & Co company in Denmark , where he was involved in building the large organ in the Frauenkirche in Copenhagen .
Gonzales brought him back in 1931 and Beckerath became a partner in this company. In the course of the sanctions in France against German companies and company employees, he separated in friendship from his Paris company in 1935 and returned to Germany, initially to work as a freelance consultant in Hamburg. There he designed the organ for the Christ Church in Othmarschen .
In 1938 he also became an “expert for organ and bells” in the Reich Ministry for Church Affairs and in 1939 he also moved to Berlin .
In 1941 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and in 1945 was taken prisoner by the Americans . In May 1946 he was released and initially returned to Munich. He then worked again as an organ expert. Rudolf von Beckerath's notes, which he made of numerous North German organs after the war, are of great documentary value.
After many problems, he succeeded in taking his master's examination in organ building in 1949, so that he could start his own business. He built his first organ in 1951 for St. Elisabeth in Hamburg-Harvestehude (II / P / 18). His international career began in the 1950s.
Von Beckerath died in 1976 and the company was converted into a GmbH, which was managed by his wife and his closest employees. The managing directors Helmut Kleemann and Herta Deichmann retired in 1987 and 1990 and Timm Sckopp, a former student of Beckeraths, took over the management. 1995 von Beckerath's wife Veronika passed the company on; Organ building was handed over to Rolf Miehl by Timm Sckopp, while Holger Redlich took over the commercial area. Both have been managing directors since 1995. 2001 the company was taken over by both with the help of the investor Whitney Reader.
List of works (selection)
year | place | building | image | Manuals | Rows of pipes | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1951 | Hamburg-Harvestehude | St. Elisabeth | II / P | 18th | Opus 1 | |
1951 | Hamburg | Laeiszhalle | IV / P | 59 | → organ | |
1953/1954 | Dusseldorf | Johanneskirche | IV / P | 66 | ||
1954/1955 | Wetzlar | Wetzlar Cathedral | III / P | 49 | → organ | |
1955 | Hamburg | Main Church of St. Petri | IV / P | 66 | → organ | |
1957 | Cleveland , USA | First Trinity Church | IV / P | 44 | ||
1957 | Kiruna , Sweden | Kiruna Church | IV / P | 40 | ||
1958 | Hamburg-Barmbek-Nord | Catholic Church of St. Francis | II / P | 20th | → organ | |
1959 | Nuremberg | St. Andrew | II / P | 27 | → organ | |
1960 | Montreal , Canada | St. Joseph's Oratory | V / P | 78 | Its largest organ with 78 stops and five manuals | |
1960 | Munich | St. Ludwig | IV / P | 54 | → organ | |
1960 | Wurzburg | St. John's Church | III / P | 39 | → organ | |
1962 | Pittsburgh , USA | St. Paul's Cathedral | IV / P | 67 | ||
1963 | Bad Reichenhall | Evangelical town church | III / P | 36 | ||
1965 | Bremen | St. Stephani | III / P | 39 | → organ | |
1966 | Hildesheim | St. Andrew | IV / P | 63 | → organ | |
1966/2008 | Hamburg | St. Mary's Cathedral (Hamburg) | IV / P | 65 | Built in 1966 with III / P / 50, expanded in 2008 by a swellable rear section and two 32 ′ in the pedal → organ | |
1966 | Travemünde | St. Lorenz | II / P | 30th | → organ | |
1966 | Hamelin | Market Church of St. Nicolai | III / P | 41 | Originally III / P / 39; Goll added one register each in 1991 and Hillebrand in 2003 | |
1967 | Darmstadt | Bessunger Church / Petrusgemeinde | III / P | 28 | ||
1969 | Hamburg | Catholic Church of St. Erich | ||||
1970 | Berlin-Kreuzberg | St. Thomas | II / P | 25th | → organ | |
1970 | Munich | St. Thomas Apostle | II / P | 18th | ||
1971 | Dusseldorf | Andreas Church | III / P | 42 | ||
1971 | Bad Salzuflen | Church of the Redeemer | II / P | 28 | ||
1972 | Sydney , Australia | Sydney University Great Hall | II / P | 53 | ||
1973 | Hanover | University of Music and Theater , auditorium | III / P | 43 | ||
1975 | Honolulu , Hawaii, USA | Lutheran Church of Honolulu | II / P | 25th | ||
1976 | Dubrovnik , Croatia | Samostan Dominikanaca | II / P | 26th | ||
1978 | gain | St. Sebald | II / P | 22nd | ||
1980 | St. Wolfgang in the Salzkammergut | Parish and pilgrimage church | II / P | 28 | ||
1981 | Bad Kreuznach | Diakoniekirche | II / P | 20th | ||
1982 | Saarbrücken | Ludwig Church | III / P | 49 | → organ | |
1982 | Detmold | St. Michael im Kampe | II / P | 19th | ||
1985 | Herxheim near Landau / Pfalz | St. Mary of the Assumption | III / P | 50 | ||
1991 | Hamburg-Blankenese | Blankenese Church | III / P | 46 | → organ | |
1995 | Hamburg-Farmsen-Berne | Church of the Redeemer | II / P | 18th | ||
2002 | Wichita, Kansas , USA | Holy Cross Lutheran Church | III / P | 50 | ||
2007 | Marlborough, Wiltshire , England | Chapel of Marlborough College | IV / P | 61 | ||
2008 | Incheon , South Korea | The Heavenly Dream Methodist Church | III / P | 48 |
literature
- Rudolf von Beckerath . In: The American Organist . tape 19 , no. 5 , 1985, pp. 59 .
- Wolfgang Adelung: 25 years of organ building by Beckerath . In: Ars Organi . tape 22 , no. 45 , 1974, p. 2008 .
- Arthur Carkeek: Rudolf von Beckerath . In: The American Organist . tape 29 , 1995, pp. H. 9, 58-63; H. 12, 54-58. 30, 1996, H. 3, 54-57; H. 8, 56-59 .
- Paul S. Hesselink, Rolf Miehl: Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau, Hamburg, Germany. Maurine Jackson Smith Memorial Organ, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Doc Rando Recital Hall. In: The Diapason . tape 98 , no. 8 , 2007, p. 30th f .
- Christoph W. Linde: On the 100th birthday of Rudolf von Beckerath . In: Ars Organi . tape 55 , 2007, p. 130 f .
- Thomas Lipski: A Bajuware as a Hanseatic organ builder - Rudolf von Beckerath (1907–1976) . In: Instrument building magazine . tape 54 , no. 3–4 , 2000, pp. 74-77 .
- Almut Rößler : Letter to Rudolf von Beckerath, August 1974. In: Music and Church . tape 47 , 1977, pp. 99-101 .
- Karl Schuke : A fulfilled life has come to an end. Rudolf von Beckerath. February 19, 1907 - November 20, 1976. In: ISO Information . tape 1 , no. 15 , 1976, p. 43 f .
- Helmut Winter : Rudolf von Beckerath † . In: Ars Organi . tape 25 , no. 52 , 1977, pp. 67 .
Web links
- Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau GmbH
- Family website
- Documentation of north German organs richardsfowkes.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ richardsfowkes.com: Historic organs Beckerath Notes , accessed February 12, 2012.
- ↑ Catalog raisonné Rudolf von Beckerath , accessed on October 13, 2016.
- ^ Organ of St. Elisabeth Church, Hamburg , accessed on October 17, 2016.
- ↑ Description of the organ on the Lutheran Church of Honolulu website , accessed July 17, 2020.