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organ builders?

Izabella

New member
hi...
Can anyone name a few organ builders of romanticism...I found a few names in England and ofcourse in France but what about Germany? I just can't seem to find them even though I know they're out there somewhere:banghead:
 

methodistgirl

New member
organ builders

Hi! I don't know that much about Germany but here in america there are
some that I could suggest. One of them is Wicks. They build real nice
pipe organs. Maybe you could get in touch with them. Nice for you to
ask the question.
judy tooley
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Izabella,

Two fine organbuilders whose projects that have sometimes really been in the romantic vein are Sauer and Oberlinger.


Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 

Arvin B

New member
Could you clarify what you are looking for? Are you looking for builders active in the 19th century or current buildings working in the Romantic style?

Also a note about Wicks for our international members who may not know the builder. Wicks is probably one of the most prolific builders in the history of the art. They have used some fine innovations in their instruments, such as the triple gate (I think that is what it's called - someone please correct me if I'm wrong) mechanism on Subbass pipes which allows them to be drawn at three distinct different volumes. So you have two stop tabs: one soft, one medium and then if you draw them together you get the full winding to the pipes. If you didn't know what was inside the organ you really could believe that there are two ranks of pipes there instead of one.

Wicks is a factory builder, however. So it would be hard if not impossible to assign a specific tonal ideal (such as romantic). What they sound like is highly dependant on the representative / installer that sold the organ to the church. Some are quite nice. Some not so much. It sounds like Judy got a nice one, so congrats!

My complaint about the build-quality is that they used hoyt metal pipes. I'm not sure when they started this and if or when they stopped, but I've seen it on Wicks from the 70s and 80s.
 
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Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Arvin B,

If my memory serves me, I believe Austin Organs also experimented with dual and triple winding of certain bass ranks.
 

Caddis

New member
Hallo to the forum
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Klais,Van den Heuvel Orgelbou from the Netherlands also builds romantic instruments.If memory serves me correct Kuhn has built a few romantic instruments,another German organ builder.
The only other German organ builders I can thinck of is Hey Orgelbau and Lohmann,but I'm not sure if any of these companies build or have built romantic instruments.I forgot to mention Walcker.
 

Izabella

New member
I need informations about builders who were active in the ronantic era,like Cavaille -Coll in france...thanks for this informations....

respectfully
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Izabella,

Off the top of my head I can name Ducroquet, Callinet, and Theodore Puget. Callinet was a real bad boy - he had set fire to a competitor's instrument. Why one may ask? Because Callinet did not get the contract and so wished to take revenge. Not long after that incident Callinet commited suicide.

Theodore Puget has built some very nice instruments. the Church of Notre-Dame de La Dalbade in Toulouse has a nice instrument which he built. Its a three manual instrument with 50 stops.

Hope this helps,

Corno Dolce
 

Arvin B

New member
Hi Arvin B,

If my memory serves me, I believe Austin Organs also experimented with dual and triple winding of certain bass ranks.

That could be, although I haven't seen it. Austin has also been willing to think outside the box. Or inside the big wallk-in universal windchest as the case may be.
 

Arvin B

New member
I need informations about builders who were active in the ronantic era,like Cavaille -Coll in france...thanks for this informations....

respectfully


In Germany two big builders during this era were Walcker and Schulze.

I don't know much about England, but Robert Hope Jones was for sure hugely influencial all over the world.

In America the leading builders during the early 19th century were Hook, Jardine, and Erben. The Romantic ideal perhaps lasted longer in America than elsewhere in the world, so you also would have to consider such giants as EM Skinner (who built the Woolsey Hall organ) and John Austin - even though they built later than the other builders you would be talking about.
Also stir in Roosevelt and Hutchings for the American scene.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Arvin B,

Excellent point about Austin and their universal windchest - what a cavernous interior space that could be - of course, depending upon the size of the instrument.

Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 

Argoth

New member
What are the companies you looked into in England? I'm not sure if you're referring to British firms that were active in the 19th century or to something else, but one I know best that was active during this period was the firm of William Hill & Son, (I believe they later merged with another company of this period, Norman & Beard, to form Hill, Norman and Beard). The most famous example of their work currently in existence is probably the famous monster at the Sydney Town Hall in Australia. They also built the original organ at the Melbourne town Hall, and it was rebuilt by their merged incarnation after the original was destroyed by fire in the 20s. Their are many other famous works of theirs all over the former British Empire. Sadly, the company is no longer in existence as far as I know. Other 19th century organ builders who's works I know of, and are spread out all over the Empire, are Rushworth & Dreaper (still in existence), Bishop & Son (I believe they are still around), Harrison & Harrison(still around), and Henry Willis & Son (still around). There must be very many more that I'm not aware of. I hope these correspond to the period you're interested in. If not, I'm sure they'll still be of use to someone. However, I know little about German builders aside from what is on the web. Though I'm not an organist, the history of these British builders is of interest to me, because I've come into contact with some of their near century-old works in my native land, a former British colony on who's organs I'll start a topic about in the near future. Cheers!
 
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Udyret

New member
I am new to this forum so hello everyone. My name is Peter and i'm a danish organist and organfreak aged 24.
Another german organbuilder of the romantic era was Ladegast. In Denmark at first Daniel Köhne (doesn't exist) was the main romantic organbuilder. Since names like Marcussen (still around), Frobenius (ditto) and especially Immanuel Starup (no longer around) took the lead. In Sweden the leading builder at that time was Åkerman & Lund.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Peter,

If my memory serves me, Carl Jonas Åkerman of Åkerman and Lund had done some apprenticeship at Cavaillé-Coll in Paris. The former glorious organ in Katarina Church in Stockholm which was totally destroyed by fire in 1990, was the finest example of world-class organbuilding, voicing, and finishing known in Northern Europe. Too bad the current van den Heuvel organ in Katarina Church has become a major disappointment. Yes, its a bit bigger than the former instrument and has a greater sound output, but that does not mean it is more musical or better. A famous concert artist said of the new instrument: *It sounds like a bomb in a chicken coop going off* :eek::shake::scold:

Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 

Udyret

New member
Hello Corno.

I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me. In Denmark Immanuel Starup and Daniel Köhne did the same.
It's a sad story about the Katarina Church, that organ was a true gem, however it can still be heard on a recording by Hans Fagius.
In Denmark we had an even worse tragedy when the 3-manual Köhne-organ of Viborg Cathedral was simply scrapped... The console remains in the church, but everything else was scrapped. That organ rivaled the Katarina Church, but it was the 60's, so suddenly everything romantic was bad.
Forunately the only Cavaillé-Coll organ of Scandinavia survived, and is located at Jesuskirken in Copenhagen. Because they are so rare I really like the good romantic organs still existing here...

Cheers Peter
 

methodistgirl

New member
It's pretty much dead here in my neck of the woods. Kentucky has a
few pipe organs all ready in use across the state including my town.
They are building a new mall here. I wished they would build one so
that I could have a job. This other job training is not for me. I can
do what I'm doing now, the net, file papers, type, and other little
things like that. But people here are not looking for that for some
reason. They all ready have employees like that. So I wind volinteering
my time as a Jack of all trades worker. They won't hire someone
with my handicap for some reason. I have ADD and a bad memory.
If I had a computer with a memory like mine I would be looking for
another one.:rolleyes:
judy tooley
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hello Peter,

I am really shocked about the news of what happened in Viborg Cathedral. That is a crying shame :cry::cry::cry: Lucky for you guys in Denmark to have such a sweet Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Jesuskirken. It is my favorite of the Master's smaller works.

Remain in Peace,

Corno Dolce
 
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