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I've been close to the console when played and talked a bit with the old master organist, Hans Eckart Schlandt (now the main organist is his son Steffen Schlandt). This one is really hard on fingers - up to 400 grams for coupled manuals. Keys of other manual really 'move together on their own'.
The most complex organ in Romania in current working state. I've only listened to this one (and the smaller practice organ in a lateral room).
Due to the large and unequal delays of the pneumatic action to pipe cases in separate parts of the church, it seems only the resident organist Ursula Philippi can play this organ properly.
Yes, that architecture in Sibiu is marvelous. And hierarchically it's not a cathedral, since it doesn't house the "cathedra" of a bishop. "Stadtpfarrkirche" is their own word.
I tried there to buy a recording of Ursula Philippi, but it was available only in Euros, way more that I had on the spot.
Manual-Coppel (I to II) Tremulant Nachtigall Calcant {This seemed the on/off switch !} Cimbelstern
Large pedal - Swell shutters Pedal to I coupler Pedal to II coupler Pedal to II/Octave coupler
It sounds really nice (mainly because it's freshly tuned ;-). Quite powerful with all stops on, esp. the reeds Posaune, Trompete and Hautbois. Also the Piffaro+Principal sounds exquisitely. If the effect is too strong, then Piffaro+Octave (no Principal) still beats more subtly. I've tested only very briefly, the manual I Mixture is shriller than I thought, and the manual II Quintaton and Nazard gentler than I thought.
The design seems a reduction to about half of the famous Black Church organ in Brasov (Kronstadt) from 1837. A Neo-baroque / Orgelbewegung -inspired design, but still with enough options to play more modern repertoire.
Case is painted a curious green, with some red and gold trim.
Yes, that architecture in Sibiu is marvelous. And hierarchically it's not a cathedral, since it doesn't house the "cathedra" of a bishop. "Stadtpfarrkirche" is their own word.
I tried there to buy a recording of Ursula Philippi, but it was available only in Euros, way more that I had on the spot.
I didn't realize that, thanks. But it still is a grand building.
FWIW, searching for Ursula Philippi turned up some Youtube hits:
BucureÅŸti - Sf. Iosif - Catholic Archbishop's cathedral movable reserve organ - pending repair of main organ (1920-30's?) Tamburini, Italy. 2 manuals, 280 pipes
2 manuals x 56 keys (C2...G6) 1 pedalboard x 30 keys (C2..F4)
Bordone (16') Flauto a camino 8' II Ottava 4' Quintadecima 2' Sesquialtera alti (2 2/3' + 1 3/5') Sesquialtera bassi
Coppia pedale I Coppia pedale II Coppia tastieri
I listened to it carefully in a 'cameral'+vocal Christmas recital. At first only the Flauto a camino was used, it was so mild it could be barely heard near 2 acoustic violins. Organist didn't want to use 2' or Sesquialtera not to 'mark' too much the sound among the others.
Its full organ is a decent enough 'principal choir' of a normal-sized organ, impressive enough for a Wedding March. Still swamped by 8 violins + 2 cellos + 32 people mixed choir.
Manual I (Great) 6. Bourdon 16' 7. Principal 8' 8. Octav 2' [replacing an older 8'] 9. Salicional 8' 10. Csöfuvola 8' (=Rohrflöte) 11. Trombita 8' [A warm buzzy woody sound, not a Clarion] 12. Fl. doubl. 4' 13. Pr. Octav 4' 14. Mixtur 2 2/3' 5 Sör (=V or 5 ranks)
Manual II (Swell - with shutter expression pedal) 15. Quintaton 16' 16. Heg. Principal 8' (=Geigen-Principal, violin-toned) 17. Gamba 8' (together they did some Celeste beating) 18. Aeoline 8' 19. Piccolo 2' [replacing an older 8'] 20. Flute-harm. 8' 21. Oboa 8' 22. Zergekürt 4' (=Gemshorn) 23. Fl. travers. 4' 24. Harm. aetherea 2 2/3' 4 Sör (A milder-toned Mixture)
25. Man. cop. 26. Pedal cop. I M 27. Pedal cop. II M 28. Superoct cop. I+II 29. Suboct cop. I+II
P,MF,F,FF pistons Crescendo roll
The young local organist was really nice to demonstrate the capabilities of this organ. Quite mistuned now (church being not heated in winter, so it was us and the walls...). Attack was really delayed and slow-starting, but warmly resonant after. Thanks for the hospitality!
My first test-play and registration tinkering on true pipes! "A Whiter Shade of Pale" on I (The Tower): 16', 8' Principal, 4' Pr. Octav, 2', Mixture "Arrival" on II (A Milder Shade of Tower): Geigen+Gamba 8', Fl.travers. 4', Harm. aetherea "Child in Time" - impractical due to delay Pedal D2 (all except Posaune) + that building 6-chord on first page of BWV565
Also visited the St. Michael church of the German community. Organ was gently heard - 3 advanced students were practicing for a competition recital. Sturdy medieval door upstairs well locked with a medieval lock ;-) On the church floor there was a 4' movable organ, donation ~1700 to its village in Germany, re-donated to here in the 1990's. Artistic inscription in Gothic script praising God and its music.
BucureÅŸti - Romanian Radio Hall organ 1959-60 Rieger-Kloss Krnov, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic/Sudetenland 2009-2010 rebuild by same Rieger-Kloss varhany s.r.o. 4 manuals x 61 keys (C2-C7), 7300 pipes. Electric action Was (and will be after repair) the largest functional organ in Romania.
I. MANUAL 1. Principal 16' 2. Flaut cu tub 16' (= Rohrflöte) 3. Principal a 8' 4. Principal b 8' 5. Flaut deschis 8' (= Open Flute) 6. Corn de capră neagră 8' (= Gemshorn) 7. Cvintă mare 5 1/3' (= Großquinte) 8. Prestant 4' 9. Octavă 4' 10. Flaut cav 4' (= Hohlflöte ?) 11. Superoctavă a 2' 12. Superoctavă b 2'
PEDAL 77. Burdon mare 32' (= Großbourdon) 78. Principal de bas 2x 16' 79. Subbas 16' 80. Burdon de bas 16' 81. Cvintă mare 10 2/3' (= Großquinte) 82. Octavă de bas 8' 83. Flaut de bas 8' 84. Pommer cu tub 8' (= Rohrpommer) 85. Bas de choral 4' (= Choralbass) 86. Flaut pîlnie 4' (= Trichterflöte) 87. Flaut plat 2' (= Flachflöte)
The old installation played for the last time in March 2009 for a Haydn & Händel festival - with very limited stop selection (likely the others were unusable due to 'gaps' in certain keys, relays, valves etc). The console had brightly backlit color-coded stop flip-switches with original German names (I vaguely remember an Erzähler; now removed or maybe renamed) and several gaps - but I didn't take photos then. A very thick "cable snake" connected the console (movable a few meters) to a hole in the floor.
I transcribed the stop names as they are on the new rebuilt console. They are in Romanian, some are very funny/first-time litteral translations (Gemshorn > "Horn of black goat"). The "snake" is similar but thinner, likely digital coding.
Maybe someone more versed in big universal organ design can decode the meanings/uses of the 4 different manuals in this organ. I could not discern a classical design of Great/Swell/Echo etc.
The organ-spotting I tried is already done on a professional, officially financed scale. For now the database is open only to a few top organists each allocated a large 'area of interest', but they promise it will be public when the project ends. As official things go by here, I wouldn't hope an exact date. "The Repertoire of Pipe Organs in Romania" http://www.monografia-orgilor.uvt.ro/NEW/login.php?lang=en
But I think amateur interest is still not worthless for a closer feedback of personal impressions, state of functioning/disrepair etc.
i'd love to volunteer to give Ursula a month off. She must be tired from her duties.
How I wish I could play these organs.
I second that.
So many instruments of this late-romantic style have been destroyed or altered during the course of the 20th century because they were not baroque and thus "unworthy". I find it therefore most admirable that such an instrument is still existant and in playable condition. Fortunately the value of those romantic organs is now being recognized again.
I have an ice cream. I cannot mail it, for it will melt.
I'm glad you appreciate my reporting. Maybe soon I'll have another one...
... and for pneumatic-action lovers: do you really love that mechanism ? I quite disliked the delays. Electric is faster - except the same delays for pipes to start speaking. And both are on/off. But I agree that the timbre from higher pressures and many layered tones sounds greatly (when it's well tuned) and it's hard to do on purely mechanical action without being too heavy on fingers (like in the Brasov Black Church organ).
I also liked the crispness of the smallish new mechanical organ of the Conservatory. Didn't test exactly what the tracker action does to not be exactly ON/OFF and a pure AND logical gate between key and stop, like assisted mechanisms (pneumatic and electric) do. I mean, a stop pulled only partially should sound weaker, or with different timbre ? the position pattern in time of key attack and release matters too ? like in a piano, or differently ?
BucureÅŸti - Lutheran Church Smaller organ on church floor - Late baroque, restored late 20th century. [Pending repair of main organ in back balcony. Seems to become the norm around here...]
(right side pistons) Principal 8' Flauta 4' Superoct. 2' Mixtur 4fach Pauck Koppel Quintbass 5 2/3' Octavbass 4'
The Lutheran community of Saxon Germans having mostly migrated back to Germany, now the church was open at noon for the small Hungarian community of Unitarians. A Romanian organist played what looked like Bach on the sweet Flauta 8' alone. The Principal were too loud for the few people. And the low F key was ineffective on the Flauta this week ;-) Humidity in mechanism blamed.
We are planning to conduct a European tour of piano factories in 2011. Our thinking is to limit it to 3 piano factories and perhaps the Renner factory.
Because half the challenge is getting there (particularly for members outside Europe, like those of us in the U.S.) I thought we'd also visit some composer's homes and possibly Cathedrals. My friend Kathy and I both love architecture, particularly older buildings.
I hadn't really thought about combining pipe organs with the tour, but now I'm thinking that could be very interesting.
Thank you for the reports ROMagister, much appreciated.
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
Of the notable piano factories which also make pipe organs (and parts for them): Rieger-Kloss in the Czech Republic makes the "Bohemia" piano and other brands, and also major civic organs, like that big Radio Hall organ here, and installed in many parts of East Europe. Chişinău in Moldova republic also has a Rieger-Kloss in the "Hall with Organ", a major element of civic cultural life.
