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BucureÅŸti - Anglican church

A really fine sounding 2-manual (x61 key), 32-key pedalboard (C2-G4).

On closer inspection, it is really an electronic organ with 1 rank of facade pipes as passive resonators - and to hide the 6 speakers behind ;-)
A small label said 'Wyvern' and I searched and that's a prestigious UK classic-style-digital-organ company. It seems an older model, the closest currently made being the Wyvern Minuet:
http://www.wyvernorgans.co.uk/product.asp?id=19
The specification of the Swell is exactly as written there, the Great and Pedal are slightly different but broadly similar.

Playing was Florin Chiriacescu, one of the better organists of the few here, who was the titular of the large Radio Hall organ described above. He said to me that organ's repair may end 'in a month or so'...

BucureÅŸti - Mormon Church "of Jesus Christ of the Last day saints"

It has a Kawai LH-1 "digital piano/organ" - more a fancy digital piano. (1 manual), 88 weighted keys, 3 piano-like pedals, 1 organ-like volume pedal. No note pedalboard.
Factory documentation shows 2 piano and 5 organ voices (Soft strings, Mellow flutes 8'+4', Medium ensemble, Louder ensemble, Full ensemble - the last two with 16' component too) and a Bass coupler feature (doubling the lowest note played still one octave below).
There is a version coming with 176 pre-programmed pieces for worship and a system of 'meter' easy play to reduce player skill neeeded ;-) while still allowing to synchronize e.g. with a choir.

Also good news! I've been allowed access to the Repertoire of Pipe Organs described above! 1038 organs are described with detail similar to dedicated amateur spotters ;-) Unfortunately, it's already a bit optimistic about the (non-)degradation of many organs, and most of the country outside Transylvania is close to an organ desert...

Bucuresti - Radio Hall organ (stoplist above)
Finally I went to a concert, and confirmed (some of) it worked ;-)

It was a concert of the Radio Academic Choir (64 people, SATB, really crisply trained together). 17 pieces, of which 5 supported by piano (Yamaha grand) and 4 by organ. The organ was quite gently used, but I think for this concert as artistic decision, not as technical shortcoming. The tuning was really nice and tight!

- 2 Italian pieces: gentle trumpets mildly contrasting with the singers (that would be the Spanish Trumpets 8' and 4' ? or the Nachthorn 4' ?). Sounded quite much like real brass instruments, less sparkly, and nothing like that buzzy woody sound also known in the organ world as Trompete.
- 19th century joyous Anglican hymn: some Principals, not too overpowering, little upper harmonics. Weakly heard behind the 64 singers. Some gentle 16' Bourdon at end.
- Gustav Holst, a Psalm: a more powerful combination of Principals (this organ having many repeats of them, as you see), still no mixtures. Some stronger 16' at end, maybe the Principal bass. Didn't hear a Bombarde or something similar.

At the end, I watched the 'sacred ritual' of a young technician placing an articulated locking cover over the manuals and stops. He said of the 6-month hard effort to rebuild this organ, together with the Czech original manufacturers, and how they argued for an increase in price for 'hidden defects', and they got it after argument in the Radio director's board.

So Romania has a large 'modern' organ too.

BucureÅŸti - Romanian Radio Hall

The largest organ in the country (7420 pipes, stoplist above), re-inaugurated on March 16th, 2010 - had in October 1-11th, 2010 a festival 'Evenings with Organ at the Radio Hall' with 9 separate performances. Program (in Romanian but hopefully understandable):
http://www.bucuresteni.ro/evenimente/festivaluri/Festivalul_International_Seri_cu_orga_la_Sal.html

I attended 3 of the 9 concerts.
- French 19th-early 20th repertoire showcased well the power and versatility of this organ, but is certainly an 'acquired taste' and not yet mine. The tutti of this organ can get quite cacophonous when different delays happen.
- Martin Schmeiding's recital with various, some less known but very interesting pieces (Anyone knows the Passacaglia by Johann Kaspar Kerll ?). The first noticeable bug - a Spanish Trumpet (en chamade) valve got stuck ON a whole piece until 2 technicians raced to climb inside the chambers on stairs and disable it...
Next day I had some small talk with Mr. Schmeiding. He said the delay isn't large (~0.1s), similar to his organ in Germany, and that one gets easily accustomed to it. He took the bug as 'sometimes this just happens anywhere' and a bit funny.
- Cluj students with their teachers - again various pieces. An explicit demonstration of stops and their categories. Duet with a smaller positive organ (by Ferdinand Stemmer - Zumikon). A historical reconstruction of portative organ (pan pipe with bellows, as drawn in a medieval engraving) played an early Greensleeves.

It seems this organ won't play in concert until next year.

BucureÅŸti - Sf. Iosif - Roman Catholic archbishop's cathedral
Main organ
built 1930-31 - Carl Wegenstein, TimiÅŸoara, Romania
major repair 2007-2010 - Construcţii de Orgi şi Tâmplărie, Hărman, România
new console - Rieger Orgelbau, Schwarzach, Austria
Electro-pneumatic action. 3 manuals x 56 keys (C2-G6), pedal 30 keys (C2-G4)

From a richly illustrated brochure of the Catholic church - stop names in Italian, but I think the builder conceived them in German so I'll try to back-translate:

I (Principal = Hauptwerk)

1. Bordone 16'
2. Principale largo 8'
3. Viola di Gamba 8'
4. Flauto cavo 8' (=Hohlflöte)
5. Corno di camoscio 8' (=Gemshorn)
6. Ottava 4'
7. Flauto a camino 4' (=Rohrflöte)
8. Quinta 2 2/3'
9. Ottava 2'
10. Ripieno 2 2/3' V-VII (=Mixtur?)
11. Cornetto 8' III-V
12. Trombetta 8'

II (Positiv)

13. Quintadena 16'
14. Principale 8'
15. Flauto a camino 8'
16. Salicionale 8'
17. Viola 4'
18. Flauto traverso 4' (=Querflöte)
19. Flauto silvestre 2' (=Waldflöte)
20. Flauto quinta 2 2/3'
21. Terza 1 3/5'
22. Sesquialtera 2 2/3' II
23. Cembalo 1' III
24. Cromorna 8' (=Krummhorn)
25. Kopfregal 8'
Tremolo

III (Expressive)

26. Rankett 16'
27. Principale violone 8'
28. Flauto di concerto 8'
29. Bordone 8'
30. Eolina 8'
31. Voce celeste 8'
32. Prestante 4'
33. Corno di camoscio 4'
34. Flauto quinta 2 2/3'
35. Flautino 2'
36. Sifflöte 1'
37. Cornetto scheggiante 8' III-V (=Rauschkornett)
38. Trombetta armonica 8'
39. Oboe 8'
40. Voce umana 8'
41. Arpa 4'
Tremolo per Voce umana
Vibrafono per Arpa

Pedal

42. Basso principale 32' (resultant)
43. Contrabasso 16'
44. Subbasso 16'
45. Basso ottava 8'
46. Violoncello 8'
47. Basso corale 8'
48. Ottava 4'
49. Basso quinta 10 2/3'
50. Tromba 16'
51. Trombetta pedale 8'
52. Clarino 4'
53. Zampogna 2'
54. Rankett 16' transmitted from III

The 'Arpa' is really a set of 'Liberty Chimes' by The Kohler-Liebich Co. Chicago - metal tongues with a tuned resonator pipe, struck by electromagnet-driven hammers.

Re-inauguration - memorial service soon after the Polish president & staff plane crash (April 10th, 2010)

The smaller 'furniture' organ described some postings above is no longer in the Cathedral, don't know where.

Very interesting. Keep them coming.

Bucuresti - Radio Hall

There was a recital by veteran guest Georges Athanasiadès with many pieces. Starting "of course" with the well-known BWV565 (Bach Toccata in Dm). Played sharply in time, less rubatos and fermatas than I heard from other organists.

Then, near the end, a powerful reed was added on Manual I [Trompete 16'? Zink 8'?]. It was slow in starting to speak, blended poorly with the principal chorus, and for such a sharp piece, produced the sort of cacophony described above (hearing the bass of the previous note and the treble of the current note ;-)).
So it's not French Romantic repertoire to blame, only that it calls more for this kind of reed stop. Definitely not to try anything Baroque or fast with this combination.

The problem may also be with the hall - it being designed to be as 'dead' as possible from the audience to the recording area, and to spread quite evenly the sound (usually string-based orchestra or choir) to the whole hall. For that purpose it's the best in the country - but isn't a church-like setting for a large organ. It may add different delays for different frequencies to back in the hall.

Back on Athanasiadès' recital: he changed very often registrations, aided by the Sequencer foot knob, barely visible when used. Think it passed through almost every stop.
As a traveling musician, he may have not had enough time to 'scout' the organ and hall before to prevent the problem.

A more modern bird-song-like piece was a dialogue between the different toned high flutes and mixtures of manuals II,III and IV, some with seventh (1 1/7') component.

Bucureşti - Ateneul Român (Romanian Athenaeum)
- most prestigious concert hall in Romania, neoclassical dome - built 1886-88
- home of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra

Organ 1938-39 Oskar Walcker, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Major repairs 2007-8 by Gerhard Walcker-Meyer - 4th generation of original builder
(500,000 Euro including new console)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals x 58 keys (C2-A6)
32 pedals (C2-G4) - parallel and flat, German style

Pedal
1. Grand Bourdon 32'
2. Prinzipalbass 16'
3. Subbass 16'
4. Salicetbass 16'
5. Zartbass 16'
6. Oktavbass 8'
7. Bassflöte 8'
8. Choralbass 4'
9. Russisch Horn 4'
10. Nachthorn 2'
11. Pedalmixtur 5fach 2 2/3'
(then the right side of the console)
12. Posaune 16'
13. Pedaltrompete 8'
14. Bassoboe 8'
15. Feldtrompete 4'
16. Singend Kornett 2'
17. III/P
18. II/P
19. I/P
20. III/P 4'
21. II/P 4'

Hauptwerk (Lower manual or I)
22. Bourdon 16'
23. Prinzipal 8'
24. Spitzgamba 8'
25. Holzflöte 4'
26. Oktave 4'
27. Spitzflöte 4'
28. Quinte 2 2/3'
29. Superoktav 2'
30. Mixtur 5-7fach 1 1/3'
31. Zimbel 3fach
(then right)
32. Trompete 8'
33. III/I 16'
34. III/I 8'
35. III/I 4'
36. II/I 16'
37. II/I 8'
38. II/I 4'
39. I 16'
40. I 4'
41. I ab

Brustwerk (II)
42. Großgedackt 8'
43. Quintatön 8'
44. Ital. Prinzipal 4'
45. Nachthorn 4'
46. Deutsch Prinzipal 4'
47. Rohrflöte 2'
48. Kleinoktav 2'
49. Gemsquinte 1 1/3'
50. Sifflöte 1'
51. Mixtur 5-6fach 1 1/3'
52. Scharff 5fach 2/3'
(then right)
53. Oboe 8'
54. Tremolo
55. III/II 16'
56. III/II 8'
57. III/II 4'
58. II 4'
59. II ab

Schwellwerk
60. Quinatön 16' {exactly as written, not Quintatön}
61. Prinzipal 8'
62. Nachthorn 8'
63. Gedackt 8'
64. Aeoline 8'
65. Vox celeste 8'
66. Hellprinzipal 4'
67. Rohrflöte 4'
68. Gemshorn 4'
69. Zartquinte 2 2/3'
70. Blockflöte 2'
71. Terz 1 3/5'
72. Mixtur 6fach 2'
(then right)
73. Basson 16'
74. Trompete 8'
75. Vox humana 8'
76. Clairon 4'
77. Tremolo
78. III 4'
79. III ab

combination buttons: A-H (fixed), <, >, 1-8 (programmable)

foot controls: III/P, II/P, I/P, Cresc. 1, Cresc. 2, <
a cylindric roller
2 shutter pedals (Schweller II, Schweller III)
>, Tutti, Org. Pleno


Before the repair, this organ was in bad shape, many organists having tried it and finding it unacceptable for recitals. Ruptured sheep-skin membranes (pneumatic amplifiers of electromagnets) blamed.

In the recital of May 4th, 2010, Hans Eckart Schlandt, veteran organist of Brasov Black Church played a wide selection, from pre-Bach to Bach to French romantics and moderns.
http://fge.org.ro/ro/component/jeve...NTY3NWQ1ZTQ2MGJlZTE=/recital-de-org.html

It sounded really good ! with many nuances of flutes and horns and principals... each manual having a distinct tonal structure even if the stop names were not so indicative of differences.

I think careful testing before and adapting of registration to real possibilities of THIS organ was the key. Working in Romania ;-) the organist may have been well aware of the unequal condition of any organ, the need to scout and avoid problem stops, also just enough rubato with the harsher reed stops to give them time to sound in the steady state and impress the audience.

The organist looked just as an artist ;-) in the long-tailed coat (to hang behind the bench) and had an assistant looking just like a Man-in-Black, changing registration with sharp accuracy within the musical phrases (based on programs 1-8 + a few changes, pre-planned in the music)

Several organ-related events happened since...

Since last autumn, I just "was in the audience" of a good portion of advanced organ courses at the Conservatory in Bucharest. Professor 1:1 with two students (there were some 'extra' lessons for piano students with secondary organ course). The students were at amazing levels... pieces well practiced before, almost always note-perfect. The main learning consisted in internalizing fine adjustments of timing and phrasing, often <50 milliseconds between student's first try and Professor's intention.

The 2-manual mechanical Conservatory organ, built in 2007, sounds amazing in time-crispness. Loudness isn't too much different between stops, so one always can hear each new stop added, still blending nicely with the others [If some were much more powerful, they would just 'cover' all weaker ones]. The main loudness distinction is between manuals, as I think was intended. Manual I is quite loud (but not extremely) and II noticeably gentler. When accompanying voice, flute etc. only the very sweet Bourdon 8' is enough.

Professor demonstrated at one time the 'continuous' effects of drawing stops partially, or pressing keys partially. Especially weird effects on string-like Gamba and differently-starting sets of pipes (Mixture IV on manual I). Not very reliable musically. Practically to be used On/Off only.

The first time I contributed an idea on using this organ was when a piano student had an 19c English 'Tuba Tune'. First he tried the manual I Trompete 8' - too loud and penetrating and some pipes mistuned [This was seasonal - winter heating drying the wood pipe seats unequally. The bug reversed spontaneously in early summer...]. This Trumpet were more suitable for royal announcements or "The Final Countdown" ;-)

So... back to the only other reed: manual II Oboe 8'. Quite buzzy and 'closed' timbre, far from a real oboe either... but with some extra flute-tone harmonics from Nazard 2 2/3' and Tierce 1 3/5' they sounded just right, a 'synthetic Tuba'.
Also, all three 8' stops on manual II drawn together (Bourdon, Salicional, Quintaton 8') make a quite nice "synthetic Principal" - still a bit quieter than manual I Principal 8' alone.
Another exquisite combination on II is Bourdon 8', Prestant 4' (which is a bit louder and marks the ensemble, still keeping the 8' fundamental sensation). Good for Baroque music, with distinctive fluty attack-chiffs.

I still hope to improve enough to put hands on this organ, not in another lifetime...

At one time Bucharest Conservatory's hall with organ was needed for final choir rehearsal, so the advanced student invited the Professor to the place he plays on contract. (and I followed too...)

Bucharest - Roman Catholic Church "Ste. Therese de Lisieux / Child Jesus"

This has now an Ahlborn 2-manual+pedal electronic emulation of a classical organ. Made in 2000 or so. Modern play aids, couplers, stop combinations and presets, foot pistons etc. Sounds over 6 large sound boxes, plus 2 vertical 'column' even larger boxes especially for the pedal stops.

The timbral structure sounds just... German. That is, sampled and purified from German stops. At the bass end there was a lovely Lieblich Posaune 16', supporting but not crushing the sine waves [Subbass 16', Oktavbass 8']. Principal-style and flute tones... only that manual I and manual II principals were almost indistinguishable by timbre.
The electronic emulation sounded somewhat more realistic than the older English Wyvern of the Anglican church in Bucharest. That was often too pure and perfect and recognizable as sine-waves. This Ahlborn has more recent effort to emulate real pipes, timbres, attacks, fluctuations, even "wet" samples including a reverb of a hall larger than the cramped real balcony where this organ is installed.

The Romanian Repertoire of Pipe Organs, made by the West University, TimiÅŸoara is now accessible publicly from the web:

http://www.monografia-orgilor.uvt.ro/

It also points to an e-book with pictures of all of them, and some introduction in Romanian and English. No dispositions, those are searchable online from the site above.

The Lutheran (Evangelic by Augsburg Declaration) community of German Saxons also keeps a more recently maintained directory of their organs:
http://orgeldatei.evang.ro/

Last year (2012, June 16th), the Lutheran community of Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Romania led by organist Ursula Philippi organized, like they did in many cities of Germany and the world, a Walk to Organs (Orgelspaziergang). It turned out truly wonderful !

http://hermannstadt.evang.ro/nachrichten/news/908/88/5c198a9401/?tx_ttnews%5BpS%5D=1234836286 (in German)

Most were around the city and we literally walked to them, following a pipe-depicting flag, some were in nearby villages and a tourist bus moved us. A group of about 35 people, mostly nostalgic Saxons returning briefly from Germany.

Some 9 organs to see and hear played by advanced students and a few guests. An US pastor and... me. I was not too proud of my performance there of "my" Passacaglia for Europe improvisation. Pneumatic action (again!) broke my quick-correcting feedback link... Also voice, clarinet and cello students. (We have a Sissel equivalent!)

I have so much data and stories on that, so that a new forum Topic may be warranted. Unfortunately, I had poor Net access some time after that, so I didn't write it.

This year's little trip to Transylvania - the zone historically known as Ţara Făgăraşului ("Country" of Făgăraş) - north of the Făgăraş mountain range, also known as the Transylvanian Alps. Reached via a really spectacular road, named Transfăgărăşan - 1970's investment under Ceauşescu as dictator.

Cârţa (Kerz in German) Lutheran church - Smaller organ in the nave

Mechanical action. 1 manual, 49 keys (C2-C6), slightly narrower than modern keys.
"White" keys are dark brown wood, "black" are light brown wood.

Gedackt 8'
Traversflöte 8'
Flöte 4'
Salicet 4'
Oktavbaß 8' [Not working]
Subbaß 16' [Not working]
(dummy piston)
Superoctave 2'
Quint 1 1/3'
Mixtur 3f
Pedal Koppel [Not working]
Ein/Aus

Looks a moderately recent refurbishment of a veteran organ, ~1800. The original seemed not to have pedals. An unconnected pedalboard, already well weathered (recovered from another organ?) was stowed below some pews in the back [25 keys, C2-C4] with holes in the base of the main unit matched to receive connecting rods. The pedal upgrade was started then canceled.

In almost good shape and tuning now. Very quick response. I played a much better variant of my Passacaglia than in my last adventure (It's never the same!]. Adjusting of course for the fewer high keys - I folded back my perpetuum-mobile cycles earlier.
The Salicet 4' is the tonal heart of this organ, more like a harmonic-rich Principal than the string-flute hybrid usual with this name, and alone has subjective power like all the other stops combined. Gedackt, the flutes, quint and mixture are quite gentle. They blend very nicely.

Up in the balcony there is a larger organ, said to be not repairable for a long time. Looks like a ~1900 Romantic, pneumatic-action remake of an even older organ.
This is becoming a pattern all over Romania. Smaller antiques are easier to keep in some use. Most pneumatics - now kaputt.


Făgăraş (Fogarasch in German) Lutheran church - Smaller organ in the nave.

Mechanical action. 1 manual, 45 keys (E2-C6 apparently but with short octave layout, really C2-C6), slightly narrower. No pedals. Before 1800 ?
"White" keys are dark brown wood, "black" are light brown wood.

PRINcipal 4'
OCTave 2'
QUINT 1 1/3'
MIXTUR 3f
FLAUTA 4'
FLAUTA 8'

No electric blower on this one, just a large pedal on the side for a Calcant to step on. Moving indicator of remaining air volume - pressure being kept constant by weights over the bellows.
Principal is louder than the organ in Cârţa. I didn't have as good reflexes for this Short octave bass (E becomes C, F# becomes D, G# becomes E, A# remains A# or Bb).

Up in the balcony - yet another larger organ, said to be working but not as well. Only the smaller organ is currently in use for the 15 or so Saxon Germans still regularly attending.