Roskilde Domkirke
It's wonderful to be back home in Rochester, and it was a great first day back to teaching! So, it's time to wrap up this summer's organ diary with just a few more posts - and with truly splendid instruments!
The Roskilde Domkirke, about 40 minutes from Copenhagen, remains one of the most important historical and spiritual sites in Denmark. Roskilde had once been the most important city in Denmark, serving as the capitol and the seat of the monarchs and bishops (from ca. 1020-1433) well before the eventual rise of Copenhagen as the epicenter of Zealand. The austere magnificence of its famous cathedral, the burial site of the Danish monarchs, reflects this weighty history. For organists, too, it is a “ground zero” for organ culture in Denmark, host to one of the most recognizable “schwalbennest” (swallows-nest) part-Renaissance-part-Baroque organ cases in Europe at the triforium level of the nave’s elevation. It’s a feast for the eyes, decorated in intense, primary colors, and seemingly bursting out of the otherwise plain, white, massive walls of this early gothic edifice. Along with the gold reredos (funded by shipping tariffs collected at Helsingør), the organ is probably the single most luxurious adornment in the building.
While there is material in the organ gallery dated to the mid 15th-century, the history of the organ as we know it today dates back to 1555 when Dutch organbuilder Hermann Raphaëlis built a new organ for the Cathedral. It was later expanded and updated by the famous Johan Lorentz in 1654, continued by Gregor Mülisch, and most likely also Peter Karstensen. It was during this period that the main case holding the Manualwerk (Hauptwerk), Brustwerk, and Pedal gained its present appearance; the Rygpositiv case dates from 1555. These changed effectively sprung the organ out of the Renaissance and into the rich culture of the high-baroque North-German organ culture, broadly speaking. But its sound is unmistakable and immediately identifiable as the Roskilde organ, not quite like any other organ a bit to the south in modern-day Germany (after all, Denmark still owned much of modern-day Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenberg at this time, and its borders at one point nearly reached Hamburg!). Of course, the organ underwent all the usual modifications and expansions in the 19th and 20th-centuries: in 1833 it was transformed by Marcussen & Reuter, then again in 1926 by Frobenius & Co.
Thanks to Cathedral organist Kristian Oleson, a decision was made to reconstruct the instrument roughly back to its mid-17th-century state, with a few small modifications. This work was carried out in consultation with the late Cor Edskes and the Marcussen & Søn firm in 1991. The small modifications were somewhat pragmatic and often brilliantly useful: the addition of an 8’ Gedect in the Brustwerk, and notably the addition of a Manualwerk (which I’ll refer to as “Hauptwerk”) to Rygpositiv (NOT a RP to HW) in the typical Dutch manner. This allows the organist to accompany chorals with the LH on the HW, and right hand on the RP (even in octaves) to use the penetrating, direct quality of the RP to sear the choral melody in the ears of the congregants below. It also means, of course, that one can assemble a super-pleno of various dimensions bringing together various ingredients from each werk. Even adding the Rygpositiv 4’ Principal gives the HW pleno a great deal of “point” and directness. Adding the 8’ 4’ (Sesquialtera and 2’) and Mixture positively sets the Hauptwerk pleno ablaze. The Hauptwerk Pleno is somewhat cloudy and atmospheric in comparison to the intense and incisive RP – so in highly intricate or high-energy passages, the RP helps invigorate and articulate the gravity-full HW. The Pedal reeds, too, are truly massive, with plenty of fundamental (but not smooth as those in the Schnitger school), but also a little gritty and with plenty of overtones with function like a sonic Velcro in the room. When full pedal is drawn (16’ Posaun, 8’ Trompet, 4’ Schalmei, Mixture; or without the Schalmei but with the 4’ Octave), the HW pleno can just barely rise to the occasion, even with the addition of the 8’ Trompet (in fact, even with only the 16’ and 8’ reeds, the pedal sounds quite dominant). Again, just a few well-chosen ingredients from the RP can balance this equation very effectively, and those 4 or 5 well-chosen pedal stops are always able to amply support even the fullest combined pleno combinations (HW 16-8-4-MIX-TR + RP 8-4-2-[1-Ses]-MIX). Registration therefore works in an remkarably economic way on this organ – every stop goes a very long way – especially in the pedal.
A few other notable sounds and effects… The two façade principals (8’ in the Hauptwerk, 4’ in the Rygpositiv) are two of ‘those sounds’ of transcendent beauty, capable of holding your attention for hours on end. There’s remarkable variation in the compass, ascendency in the treble, a noteworthy transparency in the bass (especially the HW), and the RP 4 Principal, played down the octave, must be one of the most cantabile, plaintive sounds for an ornamented choral imaginable. Indeed, it was truly a thing of beauty in “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein” with the slow tremulant of the RP. The 8’ Gedect in the RP and 8’ Spitzflöjt in the HW aren’t far behind. The 3’ Nassath in the HW works beautifully with the 8’ Principal (or Spitzflöjt) 4’ Rohrflöjt for solo registrations, and of course, is happily married to the Trompet 8’ (along with the 4’ Rohrflöjt). It’s possible to assemble a very convincing Praetorian Trompet-Zinck registration by taking those three stops in the HW (8’ Trompet, 4’ Rohrfl. 3’ Nas.) and the [4’ Flöjt], 2’ Waldflöjt, and 8’ Regal from the Brustwerk and coupling them down to the HW. With the RP 8’ Gedect and 4’ Principal (or 4’ and 2’ Principals down an octave so much as compass allows) for the accompaniment and 16’ Posaun alone in the pedal, this distinctive northern European recipe works a dream. This worked to great effect in coloratura of the second verse of Weckmann’s Magnificat. But it was the Pedal’s 4’ Schalmei that played an unforgettably poetic role in Weckmann’s “Ach wir armen Sünder,” singing the cantus firmus, accompanied by the 8’ Hoboy (of a Dulcian quality) and 4’ Gedect in the RP. While there is no 16’ manual Trompet à la Schnitger to play the marvelous, animated bass lines of the third verse of this work, the 16’ Bourdun, 8’ Trompet, 4’ Rohrflöjt, and 3’ Nassath worked quite well in giving the impression of this recorded “Sonata” registration.
How can one speak of this organ without a mention of the Brustwerk and its Regals? The composition of this division consists of 8’ 4’ 2’ flutes, 2’ + 1’ Principals, a stunning 8’ Regal which can be either lyrical or characteristically instrumental, and a sassy, blazing 4’ Geigen Regal which almost ‘ignites’ the reed pleno of the organ like a Spanish fractional length dulzaynas and orlos. Coupling those 8’ 4’ Regals (plus some upperwork to garnish), to the Trompet (+ 4’ and 3’ if you like), and also the RP Hoboy, Sesquialtera, (4’ 2’ Principals and 1’ Sedecima - to taste for a little sizzle) is quite a spectacular – even electrifying – sound. At the same time, with the BW doors partially shut, the 8’ Regal, used with tremolo and 8’ 4’ flutes transforms itself into a gorgeous Vox Humana-like soloist register. So fine indeed.
What an organ! It was a great pleasure to take part in the annual summer concert series held at Roskilde Cathedral, curated by Kristian Oleson. The program:
Buxtehude: Toccata in d, BuxWV 155
Van Noordt: Psalm 24 (3 verses)
Weckmann: Ach wir armen Sünder (3 verses)
Weckmann: Magnificat II Toni (4 verses)
Cabanilles: Tiento por A la mi re
J.S. Bach: Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot (Dritter Teil der Klavierübung)
J.S. Bach: Fughetta “Dies sind…” (Dritter Teil der Klavierübung)
J.S. Bach: Wenn Wir in höchsten Nöten sein (Orgelbüchlein)
Muffat: Toccata Septima
Lovely to share this experience with Adam (on his first trip to Denmark), as well as many friends old and new. Volker was indispensable as my “best pair of ears in the room,” and as always, one of my favorite travel companions for several of these concerts. Thanks, too, to David Bendix Nielsen for his assistance turning pages and pulling stops (and deciding registrations) at both the Garnisons and now Roskilde, and Michael Knudsen for a nice pre-concert lecture (unfortunately of which I couldn’t understand a word, but I’m sure it was brilliant) and post-concert reception!
Two more little posts left after this one. It’s good to be back home! :-)
Cheers,
Nathan
