The Magdeburg
The Magdeburg Cathedral is among the German cathedrals that can give those in France a run for their money in sheer volume and height. Alongside the behemoth in Köln (I believe only surpassed by Milan as far as Gothic cathedrals go), and the ‘tallest in the world’ in Ulm (the spire, not the vault), Magdeburg impresses with a more or less northern French gothic skeleton (relatively narrow nave to its height, soaring ribbed vaulting, massive clerestory windows, and a full apse and ambulatory), but with representative regional design elements which reveal it its particular façade (in its elevation not terribly unlike Strasbourg in concept, but lacking a characteristically French rosace) as a distinctly German Gothic expression. Much of its present day appearance is also thanks to the famous gothic revival architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (whose fantasy “ideal Gothic cathedrals” can be seen on just about ever recording of Bruckner or Rheinberger ever produced). In any case, the experience of coming to the wide-open Domplatz, from which the cathedral can be viewed uninterrupted in all of its glory, is a pretty breathtaking one. It’s a staggering building.
The interior, too, is drenched with light (presumably less so originally when it would have had stained glass in its clerestory windows, but certainly since its reconstruction after much damage in WWII). Only a few cathedrals offer to an organist the sort of lofty “birds-eye-view” as in Magdeburg, owing to the extremely high placement of the organ at roughly the clerestory level (a bit like at Notre-Dame in Paris, in fact).
The history of the organs in the Magdeburg Dom makes for a truly fascinating read, and into which are folded some of the most hallowed names of organ art in Germany in the capacity as builder, reporter, musician, and tender: M. Praetorius, Heinrich Compenius, Arp Schnitger, Christoph Treutmann (famous for the Grauhof organ, notably), August Gottfried Ritter, and Adolph Reubke. I won’t reiterate the interesting details and progression of that here because, thanks to the great efforts of Barry Jordan, you can read all about it on the website of the Cathedral:
Oh, to have heard the Adolph Reubke organ! To know what exactly it meant to be a “Harmonika” (a specific stop called upon in the Organ Sonata – I’ve come across a few, even recently in two Schulze organs, but few remain), or if, in fact, the organ was wonderful at all and had any influence on the son of the organ builder…! There are so many lingering questions! I can’t decide if the idea of playing the Reubke organ or Schnitger's reminagination of Compenius is more tantalizing...!
In any case, following the destruction of the Röver organ in 1945, the gallery remained vacant until 2008 at which point the present organ of monumental proportions was erected. The contract went to Schuke Orgelbau (Werder an der Havel) who built the giant 4-manual, 92-stop organ, principally along German Romantic lines with certain French and English contributions. It’s about as complete as organ specifications come (save perhaps a fully developed fourth manual besides the “stentor/seraphon” type stops which are there) and is amazingly versatile in a compelling way. Chorus work is richly developed including the grit-and-texture-giving mutations at several pitch levels (32’ in the pedal, 16’ in the Hauptwerk, 8’ in the Schwellwerk), and mixtures of all varieties: 16’ and 8’ in the Hauptwerk, a wonderful Harmonia Aetheria (only quintes and octaves) in the Positiv, and Progressio in the Schwellwerk (very effectively reinforcing the 16’ 8’ fluework line in the treble). Cornets are similarly abundant at 32’ in the Pedal (only a 12 4/5’ would make this scheme yet more Ladegastian), 16’ in the Solo, 8’ in the Cornet, 8’ in the Schwellwerk (décomposé), and a narrower, softer version in the Positiv (“Echo Cornet”). The principals of the Hauptwerk are powerful without being pushed, with a stringy edge and considerable harmonic development, to which the calmer Diapason and Gamba add further breadth or edge, depending on what is required. I found myself typically taking the 16’ Bourdon under the HW chorus (especially since I was often using the wonderful 5 1/3’ and 3 1/5’ in this ensemble), and only the 16’ Principal in more massive chordal textures because of its highly charged 5 1/3’ harmonic of its own (attractive in slower textures, and less in more agile ones). The Mixtur Minor (8’) found its employment in the Liszt “Les Préludes” in the chordal string arpeggios that must ‘cut through’ the powerful fanfares of the Tuba played in chords. It’s a thrilling cap to a thoroughly developed HW ensemble.
The Positiv (enclosed) is a treasure trove of delicacies. String stops (16’ Salicional, 8’ Fugara, 8’ Viola, 4’ Fugara) are stars of the show here, but the 8’ Rohrflöte and 4’ Traversflöte are charmers as well. The marvelous (beating) 16’ Englischhorn is a complete chameleon – dark, creamy, and yet rich in overtones with great variation note-to-note. It has its own cameo appearance in Liszt’s “Funerailles” in its lowest two octaves (with the 16’ Salicional, 8’ Fugara, 8’ Cor de Nuit, and 4’ Fugara). The 8’ Klarinette (free) is the most delicate reed voice in the organ, making it both a poetic pianissimo solo stop, or a fantastic blending agent in sonorities up to mezzoforte. Added to the foundations, it magnifies string tones with its rich octave (and super octave) overtones, and contributes that signature onset of tone that only a free-reed can offer. The Harmonia Aetheria here is not a ‘small string mixture’ with tierce, but rather a mezzoforte quint-octave mixture rather along the lines of what one might find in Ladegast instrument to cap a secondary/tertiary ensemble of Geigenprincipals (rather than Violes).
The Schwellwerk is a universe unto itself: 8’ 4’ Flûte harmoniques plus a vinegary Gambe and Voix Célestes un peu à la Cavaillé-Coll,, a hybrid Oboe (not so overtone-happy as a French model, and not capped like the garden-variety German type), a relatively “matte,” muted 8’ Principal and Octave, a sharply intoned 4’ Viole (which really suggests a 2’ Flautino with it!), and then an entire “Jeu de Tierce” (1-8-12-15-17-19) with a 1’ Sifflet as the zenith, should one wish for a “Carillon” effect à la Cavaillé-Coll. There are 16’ 8’ 4’ reeds which, again, float somewhere between France and Germany (they have some of the heat and overtones of French reeds, but not the signature speech), and therefore integrate superbly into the Germanic whole brilliantly. Barry relayed to me that the model for the Vox Humana wasn’t Cavaillé-Coll, as one might suspect, but rather Joachim Wagner (if I’m remembering correctly what he told me while we were wandering around the Schwellwerk)! One of the most distinctive stops of the organ is the superb 16’ Aeoline (after Ladegast, presumably) which is haunting, textural, overtone-rich, and highly differentiated in speech/vowel/everything in all octaves. Wonderful!
The Solo contains the 16’ Cornet, 8’ Doppelprincipal, 8’ Flûte harmonique, treble-only Seraphon (double mouths on adjacent sides), and a real honker of a Tuba built by Mander (a fabulous stop!). A vintage Brindley & Foster Clarinet provides a more orchestral counterpart to the Cromorne (albeit a coloristic stop, not a Cromorne in the French Baroque sense) and Klarinette of the Positiv (what a luxury to have all three types in one instrument!).
About the pedal: 32’ 32’ 32’, oh my, not to mention all of the mutations! But there are three favorites: 16’ Violone (fantastic, semi-slow attack, lots of octave harmonic), 8’ Cello piano/Cello (2-ranks after Ladegast), and 2’ Flöte (it’s amazing, actually, what a stop does for a pedal division and your perception of a bass line, as opposed to a coupled-down, narrow 2’ Octave). Of course all the big stuff is fantastic, and especially the 10 2/3’, 6 2/5’, 5 1/3’ pay off dividends in multitude of scenarios (of course with the 4’ and 2’ Flöten on top!).
The possibilities, needless to say, are huge, but as is the case with all organs that have everything, it’s often best to have a plan of action which brings out of this Germanic-eclectic organ ‘several different organs,’ rather than tying up all of these resources in one giant casserole. Even in such a large instrument, the addition or omission of one or two characteristic stops in each division can totally shift one’s perception of the sound firmly from one tradition to the next – a blessing and a charge!
I’ve enjoyed following Barry Jordan on Facebook for years for many reasons - not the last of which is his sense of humor, but also for his great organological knowledge - and so it was wonderful to finally meet ‘the man behind the organ’ in person. Thank you for the invitation to be part of your series in Magdeburg and for an altogether fantastic time. Thanks, too, to Matthias Mück for briefly showing me the gorgeous Eule organ at the Catholic Cathedral just a stone’s throw away – splendid! And it was great to see other friends, Michael Benecke, Hannes Pohlit from Leipzig, and Karsten Nörenberg from Albersroda. And I'm happy to share this and the next 8 concerts with Adam before our lives in the USA resume in September!
Greetings from Bergen!
Nathan
