For beginner
The organ – Queen of instruments
How long have they been, what are the façade, an echo or a stop?
Where does the air supply come from? Why did the Christians initially walk away from the organ? All this you could experience in just three minutes with our animation film by the draftsman maniac. Have fun!
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The organ is called the Queen of instruments
Organs are found in concert halls, in schools, in old cinemas, and even in prisons! But most of all in churches
People think first about church when they hear organ
But the church and organ were not beloved at the first sight
For a long time, the instrument was even forbidden
The organ was already found in ancient Egypt
In Rome, the organ was played in arena during the gladiator battles
Due to their loudness organ was considered an instrument of power
It was the instrument at the court of the roman emperor, and therefore the Christians did not want to have any contact with this instrument
Later it became part of the papal court and became very popular abroad
Every small church in every small village had a beautiful organ
In the Reformation, however, was the organ initially in danger
Martin Luther said the pipes were blaring and screaming but his friend Johannes Bugenhagen gave his okay for the organ in the church service and thus founded the organ tradition of the Christian church that continues to this day
The Calvinists were more skeptical they scolded about the devil´s bagpipes
The large city churches in Netherland had huge organs but they were not played for services but only for organ concerts during the week
An organ consists of hundreds sometimes thousands of pipes
What we can see are only the tips of an iceberg
The face of an organ with pipes, where in old churches even the faces are drawn, are called façade (prospect)
The bigger the pipe, the lower the tone
Depending on how the organ pipe is built and shaped it sounds like a flute, an oboe, a trumpet, or a bassoon.
A complete orchestra in one instrument
The organist sits at the console and presses the key, the air flows through the pipes
In the past people had to manually supply the air
Nowadays it is done electrically with blower
Depending on which register, that is, which instrument or tone color are turned on, different sound is produced
The pedal, which are played with the feet, produces sound from the largest pipes
Some organs have Cymbal Star, which sounds like bright chimes
Large churches with very large organs such as in Hamburg St. Michaelis have a so-called echo
A small organ is hidden on the attic but is played from below
The sound comes via diversion into the church room and rings mystically from far away
Such an echo is also in the new organ of the Elbphilharmonie
Some pipes are hidden in the reflector over the concert hall
The Elfi organ is one of the youngest organs in Hamburg
But also, in the main church of St. Nikolai, a completely new instrument is being created, a fascinating gigantic project
Again and again arise new organs
Organs are not from Yesterday, but rather are still current and modern
Header Photo: Claudia Höhne