by John Brombaugh, Eng. '60
What I'm doing in the "organ" world is a complicated story, but that is part of the reason I was invited to participate in the work that is planned at the Johanniskirche (St. John's Church) in Lüneburg. In short, it's because I am interested in a type of detail that is hogwash for most people.
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Photo/Brombaugh & Associates |
The hogwash goes something like this:
Anything historic is eventually likely to undergo some significant alterations -- from great violins by Stradivarius to great paintings by Rembrandt and van Gogh. It's hard for later generations to keep their hands off the wonderful products of previous masters, especially when those works are not yet considered of much significance. This was the case with the Niehoff organ in Lüneburg.
In the mid-1500s, the congregation of St. John's Church, Lüneburg, noted that St. Peter's Church in its sister city of Hamburg had just funded a major alteration of its old organ. Impressed with the improvements in Hamburg, they decided it was a good idea for their church, too. They also chose Niehoff, the most significant organ builder of his time, to do the job, and so the Niehoff organ was built in 1551.
The Lüneburgers were very proud of their improved organ and took good care of it. But in 1580, the church organist realized that this organ, though remarkable in many respects, was not built to certain specifications that were common in Germany at that time, but to old Dutch standards. So they hired a builder from Hamburg to make a minor addition.
In another 50 years, the congregation felt a need to add more notes to the keyboards. Again, the old Dutch standards to which Niehoff had worked did not meet the standards necessary for north Germany. So Kretzmar, a builder of some significance, made more alterations to the Lüneburg Johanniskirche organ.
Adding extra notes to the keyboards, however, meant adding many more pipes to the organ, which caused major alteration to the wind chests in which the pipes fit. That wasn't easy. How do you make such a major change to the fine architectural layout of a magnificent organ case? But all necessary changes were accomplished.
By 1699, Georg Böhm, one of Germany's finest organists prior to J.S. Bach, was chosen to be the new music director at the noted Johanniskirche. Böhm was glad to take such a prestigious job, but noticed pretty quickly that although the organ had a wonderful history, it was not in good condition. Apparently, he put up with the poorly maintained instrument until 1714.
A major rebuild of the Niehoff organ was finished that year by Matthias Dropa, the student of a famed organ-builder in Hamburg. He added a complete new group of stops for the pedal division, which meant he needed to add the towers at the sides to the original Niehoff case that forms the center portion of the present organ.
It's interesting to note that shortly after Böhm took his post in 1699, 15-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach moved to Lüneburg to become a choir member at the nearby St. Michael's Church. Bach was pleased that such a major musician as Böhm was willing to take him on as a student. Whether or not Bach actually ever saw the Johanniskirche organ after the 1714 work was done, we do not know, but the organ was again considered to be a masterpiece.
By the mid-19th century, musical tastes had changed significantly and again the Johanniskirche organ was considered drastically out of sync with the time. In about 1869, a builder named Meyer made a number of major changes to bring the old organ up to the requirements of the Romantic Period. Fortunately, the visual appearance of the case was not altered.
The organ continued into the 20th century without revision until after WW II when the Germans realized that many ideas from the Romantic Period were against the best aspects of the organ in the time of Bach and earlier. There was a strong movement called "neo-Baroque" to return to the old ideas. As a result, Rudolf von Beckerath, who eventually was one of my teachers, was asked to alter the Lüneburg organ.
Beckerath was a master at such things and, within the finances available right after WW II, brought back as much of the greatness of the 1714 Niehoff/Dropa organ as was possible. In the period since 1953, additional knowledge has allowed significant improvements in the appearance of the organ case.
Modern research has continuously studied the ancient arts, and we learn more and more why they are so significant. Since the Johanniskirche organ has resisted the ravages of time better than most organs from the 16th century, the possibility to recover major parts of its original condition is considered very important in our time.
Because I have been so fascinated as to why ancient organs had such great musical thrusts and, therefore, studied them intently, I have been asked to help document the present condition of the Niehoff organ so it can be restored as much as possible to its premier condition following Dropa's alterations of 1714.
I will really enjoy being able to help on something so important in the development of Western history, art and science.
The fact that I know this kind of stuff is exactly why I am so glad to have had the wonderful professors in the UC College of Engineering. They helped me to learn a lot more than "pushing my slide rule."
RELATED STORIES
Original story on John Brombaugh
Story on Brombaugh in "The Lutheran"
LINKS
Brombaugh's work on an organ in Eugene, Ore.
