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Walcker organ in Stockholm City Hall

Janne

New member
Hi!

Found this videos on the tube, thought it would be interesting for you.

An impressive organ may I say :D


Improvisation by Anders Bondeman on the recently re-inaugurated Walcker organ in Stockholm City Hall, on the 18th november 2008.

Improvisation on a theme by Carl Michael Bellman. Walcker/Harrison & Harrison, 135 stops, 5 manuals and pedal, 10.271 pipes.


STOCKHOLM CITY HALL
Specification of the rebuilt Organ, 2008​

The City Hall, a superb building of the 1920s, occupies a spectacular position on the waterfront facing the Old Town of Stockholm. The immense Blue Hall is the scene of the Nobel Prize banquet each year.
The organ was built by E.F. Walcker in 1925, with four manuals and 115 stops. The main organ is in a gallery near the ceiling, concealed behind a screen. The Echo Organ of 25 stops is placed above the ceiling, and is connected to the opposite side of the Hall by a long acoustic tunnel.
The organ was extensively altered in 1972 by the Swedish organ builder Magnus Fries, who commissioned slider soundboards, electro-pneumatic actions and a few stops of pipes from Harrison & Harrison. A considerable enlargement of the instrument, to five manuals and 138 stops, was accompanied by major changes to the layout and wind system. The console, originally within the instrument, was replaced with a new one on the floor of the Hall. Almost all of the Walcker pipework, including that of the Echo Organ, survives.
The work of 2007-8 involves re-designing the instrument with a completely new layout and wind system; the Harrison soundboards and actions will be retained, and a new five-manual mobile console will be installed. The Walcker scheme of 1925 forms the basis of the renewed musical structure, which will include some of the 1972 additions and several new stops.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphQRrNho5M&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b42PV6quCY&feature=related[/youtube]
 

acc

Member
Thanks for sharing this, Janne!

Since you mention that the 1972 restoration by Fries introduced slider chests, I guess the original 1925 Walcker organ must have had cone chests. Do you know if this is indeed the case? If so, has the 2008 Harrison restoration reverted the organ to its original cone chests?
 

acc

Member
Thanks for the link with the specs, Janne!

Actually, I could have seen the answer to my question if I had read more carefully: the text you've quoted speaks about slider soundboards, electro-pneumatic actions and a few stops of pipes commissioned from H&H, so when it says later that “the Harrison soundboards and actions will be retained”, it obviously refers to the 1972 slider chests.
 
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