Kloster St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald

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Baden-Württemberg is famously rich in monumental abbeys and cloisters, many of them the homes of some of the most visually and aurally breathtaking instruments in the country. Weingarten and its Gabler organ already achieved international fame in the 18th-century, and the glorious Riepp(s) in Ottobeuren are equally renowned. Nowadays even slightly ‘off the beaten track’ builders like Johann Nepomuk Holzhey are beginning to have their moment in the spotlight. After an important century dedicated to the study of a “purebred” Northern (and later Central) German organs, with a corresponding corpus of literature, it’s exciting that these Southern instruments – with their unique blend of elements German, Italian, French, and different expressive priorities, perhaps valuing the poetic and picturesque over architecture and nobility – have become a valid object for our consideration and study. We can appreciate them by virtue of their quality of sound and fantasy-filled specifications (a dream for their corresponding culture of liturgical improvisation) rather than that rarefied, presumably “authentic” experience they offer the organist for a particular work of the canonic repertoire as one might experience chez Schnitger or Hildebrandt. After all, look at the glorious spaces they adorn - a spectacular sonic and visual expression of the Counter Reformation in excelsis…!

The Kloster St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald, a former Benedictine cloister dissolved like so many in the tumultuous years 1802-1806, is among these splendid architectural confections that populate Baden-Württemberg with their “Zwiebelturm” (onion-domed-towers) and ornate baroque interiors. Sankt Peter is a charmingly unostentatious, ‘down to earth,’ and rather intimate version of those larger-than-life Weingartens or Neresheims. You might say that the organ, too, was historically not quite in the same league. Johannes Götz, the organist and artistic director of the Internationale Orgelkonzerte in Sankt Peter, relayed the story that none other than Johann Andreas Silbermann recorded that the original 1731 organ by Johann Georg Fischer (from very nearby Freiburg am Breisgau) was apparently truly bad (Johannes used more colorful language). Indeed, all that is preserved of that organ today is its signature case, which, like so many in the region, is a virtuoso statement designed not to obstruct any windows. Walcker built in an organ for the church in 1880, and in 1966-67, Orgelbaufirma Klais built their Opus 1349 inside of Fischer’s weightless case.

It is a 3-manual organ of 46 stops, entirely unenclosed, owing much to the both the heritage of Southern German organs of this region (including the French influence of Riepp, Holzhey, and the Silbermann’s across the border), certain poetic stops characteristic of these atmospheric Catholic liturgical instruments (Gambas 8’ 4’ in the Hauptwerk), and also the natural mid-century desire for fully formed ensembles in all manuals according to that concept of the Werkprinzip (16’ in Pedal, 8’ in Hauptwerk, 4’ in Kronwerk and Rückpositiv; though it should be said that the 4’ in the Rück is very much a flötenprinzipal, whereas it’s 2’ Principal is more corresponding to the presence and color of the others).

This 1967 Klais makes an interesting point of comparison to the 1967 Beckerath in the Dom St. Marien in Hamburg, on which I performed some weeks back. There is actually much more variation in individual stops note-to-note and octave-by-octave. For example, the mid-range of the 4’ Principal of the Rückpositiv is a stringy, present color, in stark contrast to fluety “flötenprincipal-like” qualities of the bass and treble octaves. The Gambas of the Hauptwerk (8’ 4’) are wonderful surprises, blending beautifully with the Hohlpfeife and Rohrflöte of the same division. The particular color achieved by putting these 8’ stops together can only be likened to a “Glass Harmonica” in its faint, translucent timbre. The diskant-only 8’ Fernflöte in the Rückpositiv was another quasi-romantic surprise in a rather uncompromising orgelbewegt instrument, with some of that “Flauto Amabile” color of an 1840s early Romantic organ. The 4’ Traversflöte in the Rückpositiv must also be among the most enchanting stops in the instrument, really living up to its name. Reeds are uniformly very effective, especially the Cromorne (Rückpositiv), Hautbois (Kronwerk), and Regal (Hauptwerk, after Gabler). With the fiery Trompete of the Hauptwerk and 4’ Schalmei of the Kronwerk hitting the vault, it’s possible to assemble a rather effective “Grands Jeux.” These fine reeds served a suite of pieces by Rameau very well. A very fun 16’ Dulcian in the Kronwerk is the ‘buffo’ in the organ: an exceptionally light ensemble reed, or a very characteristic effect stop (as I enjoyed it in the Liszt Funerailles in its lowest octave with Tremblant, un peu à la Jean Guillou).

The pleno elements require a little more care. 8’ until 16’ 8’ 4’ 3’ 2’ on the Hauptwerk works very well and all are attractive stops. A 16’ Pommer (more or less a Quintadena) is a transparent base for this ensemble, but the Mixtures perhaps draw the clearest point of comparison between what was going on in the factories of Bonn and Hamburg in 1967. Whereas the compound stops in Hamburg (and other Beckerath organs from this period) truly work in a polyphonic sense and somehow never ‘just add confetti’ on top, these could go in this direction a bit. The Mixtur in the Hauptwerk works very well, and I did use it with the Acuta (the only mixture in the Kronwerk, and not as ‘acute’ as the name suggests) in a fugal texture; the others start to create fizz for fizz’s sake. A nice inclusion is a fine tierce-mixture in the Pedal of 5 ranks, ostensibly after the Wiengarten exemplar?

In 2015, Rieger Orgelbau built a new Chororgel, largely inspired by the sound concept of E.F. Walcker, and specifically the much-beloved organ of Hoffenheim which I visited just last year. It’s a simple, clear design which provides a good foil to the main Klais organ so as to expand possibilities (i.e. a swellbox, and a handful of otherwise absent sonorities (Voix Celeste, etc.), without standing completely apart. Walcker in the 1840’s, after all, was still rather classical in some ways when it came to voicing. The Hauptwerk with its 8’ PR 8’ GED 8’ V.d.G 4’ O 4’ Fl.d’A 3’ Q 2’ SO and Kornett-Mixtur really gives a good impression, and features some nice variation in attack (slow Viola de Gamba, fast Gedeckt). The Schwellwerk has to wear a few more hats, so the quasi-French 8’ Trompete is a little out of place in the general concept, but is very useful, to be sure! The 16’ Salicet is clearly inspired by the same stop on the HW in Hoffenheim, and paired with the 8’ Salicional and 4’ Fugara, this is among the most effective sonorities in the organ. The Pedal also sports a fundamental 16’ Posaune, worth its weight in gold.

There seems to be something about giant multiple-organ situations with a ‘master console’ in the Freiburg area. The Münster famously houses that remarkable ‘4-organ situation,’ offering the listener a truly stereophonic experience. St. Peter offers some of this potential, and with this duo-organ pairing, the possibilities are really quite interesting, indeed! It was a pleasure to navigate the always unique set of challenges posed by that spatial situation, but one which can often result in rather extraordinary effects, which the second half of my program sought to exploit.

Congratulations to Johannes Götz for this marvelous organ series which packs the church each Sunday at 5pm – impressive. The ambience of the whole complex is serene, and one could spend days going through the dozens of splendidly decorated rooms, one by one. Another time, I suppose! Great to share this experience with Adam and my dear friend Volker who spent the days with us there and helped listen for balances in the room, as has become a tradition. We also may or may not have eaten a not-to-be-recommended quantity of Spätzle and Sauerbraten…! Ooops.

Greetings from back in Copenhagen – Roskilde, here we come! 10 done, three more to go…

Cheers,
Nathan