The New Organ in the Winterkirche in Halberstadt Cathedral

Specification

The Winterkirche and her Organ, before May 2001

Today's Winterkirche was developed during the first phase of building the Cathedral. It involved the Cathedral's "upper cellar", which once served the Cathedral Chapter as an eating and recreation area, in the following way: Until its destruction during the Second World War, the Cathedral was used for services even during the cold months, since it could be heated by a large coal boiler.

During the Cathedral's reconstruction work, the congregation decided not to install a heating system. Instead, they looked for a smaller area, which would be suitable for holding services during the colder seasons. The aforementioned upper cellar was identified for this purpose, and was converted and renovated in 1952. Its inauguration took place at Christmas of the same year.

1953 saw the founding of the Church Music Seminary at Halberstadt Cathedral. Young people with a love for church music could complete their training as Church musicians here within a year. In addition to the Cathedral organ, Organ scholars could practise on the organs in the Johannes, Moritz and Martini churches - although these churches could not be heated.

In 1971, the master organ-builder, Wilhelm Sohnle from Halberstadt, was commissioned to build a new practice instrument for the Winterkirche (and thereby also for the Church Music Seminary - abbreviated to "KMS" in German). An organ dating from 1860, which was made by Knauf, was taken from the region of Winnigen in Aschersleben and became the basis for the new instrument. Behind a new facade, (draft architect F. Lewecke), Sohnle built a new organ using: the old soundboard, manual keyboards, parts of the note and stop mechanisms, the reservoir bellows, and also some individual stops. So at various points on the organ, it is possible to find Knauf's name, e.g. on the back-wall of the deep bass pipe C - Cs.

The organ was subsequently installed, hidden at the North side of the Winterkirche - in spite of the doubts expressed by Sohnle about its unfavourable position with regard to the acoustics. The organ was inaugurated at the Harvest Festival in 1972.

In later years, the organ developed persistent errors, due in the main part to its excessive use by organ scholars, and to its construction from old materials. The Cathedral congregation had to decide whether they should thoroughly repair the organ or replace it with a new instrument.

A new organ for the renovated Winterkirche

The decision was taken to go for a new instrument. In consultation with the Cathedral Choirmasters, Mr. Claus-Erhard Heinrich and Prof. Dr. Reinhardt Menger, organ expert Mr. Christoph Schulz drafted plans for an organ with 22 stops, 2 manuals and pedals. Since the new organ needed to be versatile, it was given a specification which would favour both Baroque and Romantic organ pieces, and would also be suitable for practice.

Winterkirche today

The acoustic conditions in Winterkirche continually caused problems in all areas of music work. The organ, on the North side of the building, was hidden behind a supporting column which served as the rear wall of the altar. In addition to this, the trumpet choir and other musicians could only find room behind the altar. This, of course, affected the direct contact between the congregation and the Priest. So the search began for a more suitable location for the organ; this, along with the necessity for a more versatile arrangement for the congregation, sparked a general overhaul of Winterkirche's organisation. The upshot of this was the removal of the altar and pulpit to the East side of Winterkirche; the installation of under-floor heating, which made it possible to ensure an even temperature throughout the church; and the acquisition of new pews, which were arranged around 3 sides of the altar. This has substantially increased the number of the congregation who have a direct line of sight and speech to the Priest. The organ was moved to where the altar used to be, and now forms the end of the church (behind which a new kitchen and cloakrooms can be found).

View of the Organ

1. The Soundboard

The heart of each organ is its soundboard. The pipes for each individual stop stand on it. The soundboard is divided into several small chambers inside; these are separated from each other by wooden partitions. There is one chamber for each keyboard key. Standing on these chambers (seen here from above) are the pipes of the different stops, which are assigned to the same note/key. The chambers direct the air from the air box to the pipe of a given note. Whether the note then actually sounds depends on whether its stop-slider (running transverse to the air box) blocks or frees the appropriate connecting hole. In this photograph, the soundboard is shown without these stop-sliders. Later on, each hole will have a pipe from the 1588 organ inserted

2. The Pipework

One can get a glimpse of the insides of the organ through the facade. The wooden pipes, which can be seen through the middle of the facade, are for the 16' Bordun. Altogether, there are 126 wooden pipes, which date from 1588.

The wooden stops Subbass 16', Oktavbass 8' and Gedackt 8' are all taken from the predecessor organ. These stops were adapted so that their intonation matched the new organ's sound conditions. Likewise, two octaves of the Gedackt 4' from the old organ can be found in the new organ.

3. The Tone Colours

The diapasons determine the strength and timbre of an organ. The diapason stops Prinzipal 8', Oktave 4', Oktave 2' and Mixtur belong to the Great

The String Stops

The string stops provide the tender and quiet voices of the organ. In contrast to the diapason pipes, the pipes for the string stops are much slimmer - that is to say, they are substantially smaller in diameter. The stops for this group are the Gambe 8' in the Great, and the Salicional 8' and Vox celestis 8' in the Swell.

Of these, the Vox celestis 8' is a floating register, in that this stop on the organ is completely intentionally "slightly out of tune". When the Salicional is played together with the Vox celestis, a delicate beating is audible. The romantic effect of these two stops is enhanced by the fact that they are located in the Swell and therefore have alterable volume, being played loudly or softly as required.

The Flute Stops

In this sound family, the new organ has the Bordun 16', Koppelfloete 8' and Gedackt 4' in the Great, and the Gedackt 8', Traversfloete 4', Nasard 2 2/3' and Waldfloete 2' in the Swell. The pipes for the flute stops have a much greater scale than the diapason pipes, and consequently produce a round, warm and full sound.

The Reed Stops

The reed stops are the crowning glory of each organ! In the new organ, there are four stops in this group: the Trompete 8' in the Great, the Oboe 8' in the Swell, and the Posaune 16' and Feldtrompete 4' in the Pedals. The Kornett 5fach is a speciality in the new organ, which can be identified by the raised section of the wooden partitions.

This stop, which was invented by French organ-builders, has been included as a standard stop in organs across France and Italy since the 16th Century. Although its design is not really that of a reed stop, it is nevertheless included in this family, since it serves as an imitation for trumpet sounds. What makes this stop special is that it actually consists of five different independent rows of pipes: that is to say, when one note is pressed, five pipes sound together. Since the Kornett consists of relatively small pipes, the register is raised up in order to gain better circulation of sound.

Small Details

Winterkirche's organ is equipped with a Tremulant for the Great and also one for the Swell. Their task is to shift the bellows board of the soundboard bellows with an even motion, so that the note begins to vibrate. The Tremulants are adjustable, to allow adjustment of the speed of the vibrations.
The specification of the organ makes it possible for organists to interpret organ music of a wide range of eras. To enable an authentic rendition of old organ music, the new organ is equipped with two different wind-systems. By means of a somewhat hidden switch, organists can choose to change the wind system of the organ to moved wind. During this procedure, a heavy 40kg (88lb) weight is lifted off the main bellows, and the bellows are fixed under manual control, so that any pauses in the airflow which develop during play are conspicuously no longer balanced out. The organ has also been supplied with electrical sub-octave and super-octave couplers, as a consequence of the positive results of introducing these on the main Cathedral organ. A particularly large sound is obtained by using the Swell's super-octave and sub-octave couplers. Using these couplers can multiply the volume of the Swell several times over.

The new soundboards are equipped with pistons, in order to allow organists to made a simple and independent selection of stops. By pressing these small buttons, which are attached to the soundboard directly in front of the reed stops, the organist can select a new selection of stops and simultaneously cancel old stops, without having to press any other buttons. This facility is particularly important for the instruction of the organ scholars while they are learning to select the correct range of stops.