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In the
fall of 1994, Peters bought a classical organ music CD—neither his first
nor last. (Peters considers the organ the "King of Instruments" while Silvija
thinks of it as somewhat garish!) Peters noticed it was recorded in Libau,
Lettland—Liepaja, Latvia! The organist was, in fact, attempting to bring
attention to the organ in Sv. Trisvienibu Baznica, Church of the Holy Trinity,
built by H.A. Contius, J. S. Bach's favorite organ builder. Peters determined
to visit it on his next trip to Latvia, which he did in 1995.
We
were recently asked for pictures of the organ for a project in Europe to build
an organ following the style and methods of H.A. Contius—in response, we
created this page to share this musical treasure.
The
following is excerpted and translated from the Guide to Liepaja's
Architecture,
published in 1991, authored by Liga Sane-Alksne.
The history
of the building of the organ is long and torturous. We'll touch on the most
pertinent.
The premier
organ builder of the Duchy of Courland, Johann Heinrich Joachim, being deaf,
built an instrument for the church which was not very good. This situation did
not please the cityfolk, and so, in 1773, Heinrich Andreas Contius, from Halle,
began building a new organ. The master had a letter of recommendation from no
less than J.S. Bach. In Liepaja's Church of the Holy Trinity is the the only
organ in the world still extant which was voiced by H.A. Contius.
Nonetheless,
the Liepajans' thirst for competition [with the Duchy capital, Jelgava] was not
sated. A further expansion of the organ was begun in 1844, by the hand of
Courland's master Karl Peter Otto Herman. Expansion of the instrument continued
for the next 40 years. To surpass the organ in Riga's Dom Church, the firm of
Grineberg expanded the organ to 131 registers in 1885. And with that, the
Church of the Holy Trinity's organ remained the largest in the world until
1912.
Among the
pipe ranks of the organ, some of the pipes are grouped in outward pointing
"trumpets" [en chamade -Ed.] which are arranged alternating with flat planes.
The flanking semi-circles at the top are adorned with life-sized carved gilt
figures. An additional two large and two small angels adorn the foreground. ...
You can find more
information on Latvian organs at:
http://www.music.lv/organ/ |
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