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Zavarsky,
J.
S. Bachs Entwurf fiir den Umbau
der
Orgel in
der
Kirche Divi
Blasii und das Klangideal der Zeit, in
Bach-Studien
5, edited by Rudolf Eller
and
Hans-Joachim Schulze (Leipzig, 1975).
11. See Ulrich Dahner t, Die Donat-Trost-Orgel in der Schlosskirche zu
·Eisenberg in Thiiringen, Walcker-Hausmitteilingen 31 (july 1963).
HARALD VOGEL
North German Organ uilding
o
the Late Seventeenth Century
Registration and Tuning
The
development
of
the North German organ
proceeded in
an un-
broken line from the late Middle Ages to the golden era
of
Arp
Schnitger and his school. Without entirely relinquishing the tonal
characteristics of earlier periods, a new style was launched, assimilat
ing particularly Dutch Renaissance influences and the ingen ious scal
ing
and
construction techniques
of
Gottfried Fritzsche
and
his fol
lowers. Starting with
the
Gothic Blockwerk and its intense Principal
sound, North
German organ builders of
the
sixteenth century
gradu-
ally added Ruckpositiv, Oberwerk Oberpositiv) and Brustwerk. After
1600 the multiple choir arrangement of these various divisions be
came the aesthetic ideal.
The
large pedal towers constructed on either
side of
the main
case, developed by
the Scherer
family and its circle,
were a special feature of this style. With the introduction of 32' facade
pipes
in
the seventeenth century, these towers grew to monumental
proportions.
t was not just in its
outward appearance,
however,
that
the
North German organ reflected both old and new;
the continuous
re-use of existing stops also
contributed
to
the unusual
synthesis
that
had been achieved.
t is
small wonder that the organ literature
of
North Germany shows a stylistic pluralism unparal leled in
the
seven
teenth century. Since there are so few registration indications present
in actual compositions, however, it is essential to begin a discussion of
registrational practices by examining four basic categories of sound
available
on
the North German
organ:
1. The
plenum (the cylindrical open pipes of the Principal chorus,
from
the facade pipes to
the
high-pitched mixtures). This plenum
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