Organs of St. Stephen's Cathedral

This article describes the organs of the Vienna Cathedral. For information on the organs of Passau Cathedral, see Organs of St. Stephen's Cathedral .

Organs of St. Stephen's Cathedral
General
place	Stephansdom
Organ builder	Johann M. Kauffmann Rieger organ building
Construction year	1991 (cathedral organ) 1960, 2020 (west gallery)
epoch	Modern
Technical specifications
Number of registers	55 (cathedral organ) 130 (west gallery)
Number of manuals	IV / P (cathedral organ) V / P (west gallery)
Number of 32 'registers	1 (cathedral organ) 5 (west gallery)
Number of 64 'registers	1 (west gallery)
Others
Eminent organists	Konstantin Reymaier Ernst Wally

The St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna has three organs: the giant organ of Kauffmann on the west gallery from 1960, which in 1991 by the Vorarlberg organ builder Rieger built cathedral organ, and in 2009 also created by Rieger Haydn organ. The large Kauffmann organ, which was shut down in 1991, is currently being reorganized and expanded.

history

An organ in St. Stephan is first mentioned in a document in 1334; possibly a new organ was built in 1336. In 1371 the instrument in question was repaired by the organist and organ builder Peter .

Organ base

After the Orgelfuß of Master Anton Pilgram had been completed in 1513, was there installed an organ; possibly it was the instrument built in 1336. After work by Friedrich Pfannmüller (1560) and J. Scherer (1561/1562), Hermann Raphael Rodensteen built a new factory in 1566–1567. This organ was dismantled in 1797, with its registers being integrated into the newly built west gallery organ.

Fox canopy

In 1507 the cathedral received a large organ that was placed on the fox canopy next to the large sacristy. It came from the workshop of the Bozen master Burchhard Tischlinger and was expanded in 1545 by Jacob Kunigschwerdt from Zwettl. This organ was also removed in 1797, whereby its registers were also used in the new west gallery organ.

Choir room

In 1701, Ferdinand Josef Römer created a new organ with ten registers on the musicians' choir that was newly built above the choir stalls . In 1886, the Rieger company, which was still based in Jägerndorf at the time, built a new instrument with 16 stops on two manuals and pedal in its case, which was destroyed in 1945 in the last days of the Second World War. After the cathedral was rebuilt, the Viennese company Kauffmann built a new choir organ with twelve stops and six extracts on two manuals and pedal; their action was electric.

Gallery over the giant gate

Since the Walcker organ was founded in 1886, the instruments on the west gallery have also been called the giant organ because they stand above the giant gate, a Romanesque funnel portal.

Roman organ from 1720

In 1711 - in the course of the baroque renovation of the cathedral at the beginning of the 18th century - a new organ was put out to tender. a. Ferdinand Josef Römer from Vienna and David Sieber from Brno took part. Römer, who was able to assert himself, completed the ordered instrument in 1720, which comprised 32 stops on two manuals and a pedal. In 1797 it was expanded to 41 registers, presumably by Ignaz Kober, whereby the pipes required for this came from the aisle organs that had been removed in the process.

New building by Walcker (1886)

In 1886 the organ builder Friedrich Walcker built a new instrument with 90 registers in the case of the Roman organ .

This important instrument was destroyed in the fire of the cathedral in 1945.

Kauffmann organ (1960)

Kauffmann organ on the west gallery

The monumental organ stood on the west gallery of St. Stephan until 2017, which was built between 1956 and 1960 by the Viennese organ builder Johann Marcellinus Kauffmann , or assembled from organ parts purchased from Aug. Laukhuff . On October 2, 1960, the organ was consecrated by Cardinal Franz König together with Cardinal Joseph Frings from Cologne. The instrument had 125 registers on four manuals and a pedal with a total of around 10,000 pipes; as well as electric cone shops and a free pipe brochure. It was the largest organ ever built in Austria and the largest musical instrument in the republic. The angels carrying the prospectus were created by the East Tyrolean sculptor Josef Troyer .

After the music hall was destroyed in the fire of 1945, the choir and orchestra needed space on the west gallery, which placed increased demands on Kauffmann because of the reduced space available for the new organ to be built. He therefore placed essential parts behind the arch supporting the two Heidentürme (" Schwibbogen "), which significantly impaired the sound radiation. It had beautiful individual registers and produced beautiful sounds, but did not fill the cathedral completely despite the large number of registers. In addition, it was built with inferior post-war material and was therefore considered problematic from the start. Because of the neo-baroque disposition of the instrument, it was not possible to play symphonic organ music, for which large organs are in themselves predestined, or baroque works, as the instrument had a poorly suited electric action mechanism. When a new instrument became available with the inauguration of the new cathedral organ in 1991, the defective Kauffmann organ was shut down.

Current instruments

Westemporen organ (from 2020)

The use of the Kaufmann organ was unclear for a long time because of the extensive structural defects; the instrument was neither renovated nor removed until 2017.

For the so-called "rescue" of the giant organ, a committee was formed on October 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the consecration of this instrument, made up of relatives of Johann Marcellinus Kauffmann and some prominent supporters who, despite arguments to the contrary, stubbornly insist on preservation propagate the same. In 2014, the organ was made playable for one night at great expense in order to carry out acoustic tests.

In Holy Week 2017, the contract for the construction of a new large organ behind the Kauffmann prospectus was signed by the Rieger company. The costs for the modifications and repairs amount to around 3 million euros. The organ was originally supposed to be re-inaugurated on Easter Sunday 2020, the 75th anniversary of the destruction of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The consecration was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic or because the work to complete the instrument had to be canceled four weeks before the planned consecration date and was postponed to Sunday, October 4, 2020.

The instrument will have 130 stops on five manual works and pedals on new wind chests . As many as possible (around 50%) of the Kauffmann registers will be reinstalled, but the disposition will differ from that of the Kauffmann organ from 1960. The special features include a labial 32 'register in the main work, a 64' register and now two 32 'reeds in the pedal, as well as two harmonica registers in its own wind sill in the solo work. Of the total of 104 manual registers, eight labial parts are in 16 'position, 26 labial parts in 8' position and a total of 23 reed parts. Also new are the trumpeteria with four horizontal trumpet registers and a glockenspiel, as well as the extended manual range up to c ⁴ . Furthermore, the arrangement of some parts of the works will be changed: the main and solo works as well as the new trumpeteria will now stand in front of the Schwibbogen spanning the organ gallery and will be able to radiate unhindered into the cathedral. Parts of the organ are still given a housing (not visible from the church interior) in order to focus the sound and reduce soiling. The giant organ and the choir organ (current cathedral organ) can be played from two general console tables, each with five manuals.

I main work C – c 4 01. Principal 32 ′ 02. Principal 16 ′ 03. Bourdon 16 ′ 04th Principal No. 1 08th' 05. Principal # 2 08th' 06th Double flute 08th' 07th Covered 08th' 08th. viola 08th' 09. Fifth 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 10. octave 04 ′ 11. Open flute 04 ′ 12. Gemshorn 04 ′ 13. third 03 1 ⁄ 5  ′ 14th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 15th octave 02 ′ 16. Mixture major IV00 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 17th Mixture minor IV 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 18th Cornett V 08th' 19th trombone 16 ′ 20th Trumpet 08th' 21st Trumpets 08th' 22nd Clarine 04 ′

II positive (swellable) C – c 4 23. double bass 16 ′ 24. Aeoline 16 ′ 25th Suavial 08th' 26th Covered 08th' 27. Viol 08th' 28. Vox coelestis 08th' 29 Aeoline 08th' 30th recorder 04 ′ 31. Fugara 04 ′ 32. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 33. flute 02 ′ 34. Seventh 01 1 ⁄ 7  ′ 35. Harmonia aetheria IV-V 02 ′ 36. clarinet 08th' 37. Rohrschalmei 08th' Tremulant

II Rückpositiv C – c 4 38. Principal 08th' 39. Bourdon 08th' 40. Quintatön 08th' 41. Principal 04 ′ 42. Night horn 04 ′ 43. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 44. Duplicate 02 ′ 45. Tierce 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 46. Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 47. Sif flute 01' 48. Scharff IV-III 00000 01' 49. Cromorne 08th' Tremulant

III Swell C – c 4 50. Quintatön 16 ′ 51. viola 16 ′ 52. diapason 08th' 53. Flute harmonique 08th' 54. Bourdon 08th' 55. Bourdon celeste 08th' 56. Violoncello 08th' 57. Voix celeste 08th' 58. Octave 04 ′ 59. Flûte traversière 00 04 ′ 60. Salicet 04 ′ 61. Nazard harmonique 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 62. Flute octaviante 02 ′ 63. Tierce harmonique 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 64. Fittings V. 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 65. Cymbals III 02 ⁄ 3 ′ 66. Cornet V 08th' 67. Bombard 16 ′ 68. Trompette harmonique 08th' 69. Basson-Hautbois 08th' 70. Voix humaine 08th' 71. Clairon harmonique 00 04 ′ Tremblant

IV positive (swellable) C – c 4 72. Bourdon 16 ′ 73. Salicional 16 ′ 74. Principal 08th' 75. Viennese flute 08th' 76. Gemshorn 08th' 77. Unda maris 08th' 78. Fifth 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 79. Prestant 04 ′ 80. Flauto amabile 00 04 ′ 81. third 03 1 ⁄ 5  ′ 82. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 83. Seventh 02 2 ⁄ 7  ′ 84. octave 02 ′ 85. None 01 7 ⁄ 9  ′ 86. Mixture IV 02 ′ 87. bassoon 16 ′ 88 Trumpet00 08th' 89. Cor anglais 08th' Tremulant

V Solo work (swellable) C – c 4 90. Viol 08th' 91. Viola celeste 08th' 92. Flûte harmonique 0 08th' 93. Flûte harmonique 04 ′ 94. French horn 08th' 95. Clarinet 08th' 96. tuba 08th' 97. tuba 04 ′ Tremulant 98 harmonica 16 ′ 99 harmonica 08th'

V Trumpeteria C – c 4 100. Trumpet (Bb, D) 00 16 ' 101. Trumpet (Bb, D) 08th' 102. Trumpet (Bb, D) 04 '/ 8' 103. tuba 08th' 104. Bells

Large pedal C – g 1 105. Gravissima 64 ′ 106. Principal bass00 32 ′ 107. Pedestal 32 ′ 108. Sub bass 16 ′ 109. Open bass 16 ′ 110. Gemshorn 16 ′ 111. Quintbass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 112. Major seventh 09 1 ⁄ 7  ′ 113. Open flute 08th' 114. third 06 2 ⁄ 6  ′ 115. Theorbo 03 1 ⁄ 9  ′

(Continued large pedal) 116. Counter bombardment 00 32 ′ 117. Contrabassoon 32 ′ 118. Bombard 16 ′ 119. trombone 16 ′ 120. Trumpet 04 ′ 121. Clarine 04 ′

Small pedal C – g 1 122. Violon bass 00 16 ′ 123. Principal 08th' 124. Covered 08th' 125. cello 08th' 126. octave 04 ′ 127. Night horn 04 ′ 128. flute 02 ′ 129. Mixture IV 02 ′ 130. Dulcian 16 ′

• Remarks:

B = bass side

D = treble side

electric music actions

1. ↑ Gospel page .
2. ^ Epistle page.
3. ^ High pressure register.
4. ↑ ^{a b} In the wind sill.

Organ in the aisle (cathedral organ)

Cathedral organ

Game board and prospectus of the positive

Due to the unsatisfactory organ situation that had existed since the 1960s, the organ building company Rieger was commissioned to build a new cathedral organ. The new instrument was set up at ground level on the wall of the south aisle near the crossing, in order to enable the parish singing as well as the interaction with the cathedral music and the solo performance. The organ was built from April to August 1991 and inaugurated on September 13, 1991 by Hans Hermann Groër .

The instrument has 55 stops on four manuals. In order to do justice to the diverse liturgical tasks of a metropolitan church as well as concertante demands, the synthesis idea of ​​the Alsatian organ reform - the division into main work, positive and swell work - was made the guideline of the disposition. The swell is of particular importance in the sound concept of the cathedral organ, as it can not only be used to represent French-Romantic literature, but also serves to reproduce German Romanticism and the English cathedral style; the positive, which is integrated into the main case due to the spatial conditions, on the one hand forms the tonal counterpart to the main work, on the other hand it is intended for continuo playing and the accompaniment in quiet dynamics. The solo work is less to be understood in the sense of a highly romantic high-pressure work or French bombard work, but rather aims to be used as a cantus-firmus work, in order to be able to clearly emphasize the melody part, especially in congregational singing.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 1. Principal 16 ′ 2. Octav 08th' 3. Gamba 08th' 4th Hollow flute 08th' 5. Octav 04 ′ 6th Pointed flute 04 ′ 7th Quint 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 8th. Octav 02 ′ 9. Mixture major VI 02 ′ 10. Mixture minor IV 0 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 11. Trumpet 16 ′ 12. Trumpet 08th'

II positive C – g 3 (swellable) 13. Principal 08th' 14th Covered 08th' 15th Quintad 08th' 16. Principal 04 ′ 17th Reed flute 04 ′ 18th Sesquialtera II 00 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 19th Octav 02 ′ 20th recorder 02 ′ 21st Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 22nd Scharff IV 01' 23. shelf 16 ′ 24. Cromorne 08th' Tremulant

III Swell C – g 3 25th Bourdon 16 ′ 26th Principal 08th' 27. Reed flute 08th' 28. Salicional 08th' 29 Beat 08th' 30th Octav 04 ′ 31. flute 04 ′ 32. Nazard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 33. viola 04 ′ 34. Flat flute 02 ′ 35. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 36. Mixture VI-VIII 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 37. Trumpet harmonique 0 08th' 38. oboe 08th' 39. Clairon 04 ′ 40. Voix humaine 08th' Tremulant

IV solo work C – g 3 41. Trumpet000000 08th' 42. Clairon 04 ′ 43. Cornet V 08th' Pedal C – f 1 44. Pedestal 32 ′ 45. Principal 16 ′ 46. Sub-bass 16 ′ 47. Octave bass 08th' 48. Covered bass 08th' 49. Fifth bass 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 50. Chorale bass 04 ′ 51. Night horn 02 ′ 52. Rauschpfeife V 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 53. trombone 16 ′ 54. Trumpet000000 08th' 55. prong 04 ′

• Coupling: II / I, III / I, IV / I, III / II, IV / II, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
• Mechanical action and coupling
• Mechanical stop action with integrated electrical actuation (setter system)

Haydn organ

Haydn organ

In the Haydn year 2009, the organ building company Rieger built an organ with twelve registers on two manuals and a pedal. In memory of Franz Joseph Haydn and his brothers Johann Michael and Johann Evangelist , who enjoyed ten years of training at St. Stephen's Cathedral, the instrument is called the Haydn organ. The external appearance of the organ is based on the design of the cathedral organ.

The instrument does not have a fixed location in the cathedral, but with its 1,600 kilograms it can be moved freely throughout the church using an integrated electric forklift truck (so-called ant ). This mobility was designed on the one hand with a view to the use at church services at the various side altars, which means that additional (permanently installed) small organs can be dispensed with, and also with a view to use at concerts in the cathedral; For this purpose, the instrument is equipped with modern sound transmission technology, which makes it possible to receive the signals from the microphones in the organ in the control room of Radio Stephansdom and to forward them to the mixer.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 1. Principal 8th' 2. Viola da gamba 8th' 3. Covered 8th' 4th Octave 4 ′ 5. Principal (in advance from No. 6) 0 2 ′ 6th Mixture III 2 ′

II positive C – g 3 (swellable) 7th Coppel 8th' 8th. Transverse flute 8th' 9. flute 4 ′ 10. Flat flute 2 ′ 11. Fifth (in advance from No. 12) 0 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 12. Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 13. Sub bass 0 16 ′

• Coupling: II / I, I / P, II / P.

Organists (selection)

• 1921–1946: Karl Walter (1892–1983). One of his substitutes from 1928 was his student Anton Dawidowicz .
• 1946–1969: Wilhelm Mück (1899–1973), previously second cathedral organist behind Karl Walter
• 1969–2004: Peter Planyavsky (* 1947 in Vienna), of which between 1983 and 1991 overall responsible cathedral music director (cathedral organist and cathedral music director)
• since 2010: Ernst Wally (* 1976 in Vienna) as a full-time organist, with a vacancy at the cathedral organist
• since 2016: Konstantin Reymaier (* 1967) and Ernst Wally as cathedral organists

literature

• Anton Heiller : Problems with the new organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral . In: Austrian music magazine , 15th year, issue 10 . October 1960, p. 457-460 .
• Egon Krauss : About the Kaufmann organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna: The wasted opportunity. In: Wochen-Presse, No. 40 . October 1, 1969, p. 25 .
• Peter Planyavsky : Steps towards the sound concept of the new organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna . In: Austrian Organ Forum . 1991, p. 219-228 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Consecration of the giant organ canceled. In: ORF.at . March 26, 2020, accessed March 26, 2020 . 
2. ↑ www.musiklexikon.ac.at: St. Stephan (Vienna) , accessed on March 21, 2015.
3. ^ Günter Lade: Organs in Vienna . Edition Lade, Vienna 1990, p. 212.
4. ↑ Lade 1990, p. 214.
5. ↑ Lade 1990, p. 214.
6. ↑ Lade 1990, p. 214.
7. ↑ Lade 1990, p. 214.
8. ↑ Lade 1990, p. 214.
9. ↑ Franz Falter : The victims of the organ war at andreas-unterberger.at ; accessed on March 2, 2017
10. ↑ ^{a b c} St. Stephen's Cathedral: "Giant organ" is being repaired. April 5, 2017, accessed April 12, 2020 . 
11. ^ Anton Heiller: Problems with the new organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral . In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, vol. 15 / issue 10, October 1960, pp. 457f.
12. ^ Egon Krauss: The wasted opportunity . In: Wochen-Presse, No. 40, October 1, 1969, p. 25
13. ↑ http://www.pfarrekagran.at/riesenorgel.html ( Memento from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ St. Stephen's Cathedral: “Giant organ” is being repaired. religion.ORF.at of April 5, 2017, accessed June 5, 2017.
15. ↑ Information on the new disposition of the giant organ
16. ↑ New sound concept. Retrieved February 19, 2020 . 
17. ↑ The new Vienna Cathedral organ. Retrieved February 19, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Walter Sengstschmid: "... an organ that is suitable to fulfill its liturgical and artistic tasks according to the importance of the cathedral church ...". The creation of the new cathedral organ. In: Orgelmusikverein St. Stephan (Ed.): Cathedral Organ St. Stephan Vienna. Festschrift for the organ consecration on September 13, 1991 . Vienna 1991, p. 19f.
19. ↑ Sengstschmid 1991, p. 19.
20. ↑ Sengstschmid 1991, p. 23.
21. ↑ Roman Summereder: Aufbruch der Klänge. Materials, pictures, documents on organ reform and organ culture in the 20th century. Edition Helbling, Innsbruck 1995, ISBN 3-900590-55-9 , p. 22.
22. ↑ Roman Summereder: Aufbruch der Klänge. Materials, pictures, documents on organ reform and organ culture in the 20th century. Edition Helbling, Innsbruck 1995, ISBN 3-900590-55-9 , p. 318.
23. ↑ Peter Planyavsky: Steps to the Sound Concept. In: Orgelmusikverein St. Stephan (Ed.): Cathedral Organ St. Stephan Vienna. Festschrift for the consecration of the organ on September 13, 1991. Vienna 1991, p. 14ff.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Website of the Wiener Dommusik, section cathedral organists. Retrieved October 25, 2011 . 

Web links

Commons : Organs of St. Stephen's Cathedral Vienna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the cathedral music at St. Stephen's Cathedral about the organs of St. Stephen's Cathedral
• Homepage of the organ building company Rieger on the Haydn organ
• Website of the company EFWalcker & Cie Orgelbau for the giant organ