Heavenly Sounds - The Organ and its Fascinating Versatility | Music Documentary

[Music] it's been called the queen of instruments but what makes the organ so magnificent from the softest pianissimo to thundering fortissimo it can produce a range of sounds unmatched by any other instrument the organ owes its rich sound to its many different pipes which resonate when played organists employ their hands and feet to operate the instrument's multiple keyboards hannes ludwig is a protestant candle and organ specialist in pranslau a town north of berlin his parish church is putting on an afternoon concert there are some 200 churches in this district and each one has an organ the instrument accompanies the congregation during church services and provides solace to the faithful from baptism to death however many of these organs are showing their age and many are in need of repair so ludwig's expertise is required at least once a month we're on our way to joachim's talk the parish there asked if i could come and take a look at the organ because they want to refurbish it it's on its last pipes so to speak they'd like to renovate the church's interior at the same time so of course it would be great if both things could be done together the church's interior needs a complete overhaul but its minister david koppel still lacks the funds especially for the restoration of the organ it dates from 1820 and was built by a master craftsman from a neighboring town his method was to copy existing organs right down to the smallest detail [Music] it sounds like there's still plenty of old substance there [Music] let's take a look inside as you can see it's terribly dirty here that the pipes managed to produce any sound at all is pretty amazing the protestant churches in berlin and brandenburg are thought to house around 2 000 organs they've witnessed numerous errors and dramatic changes in musical tastes when churches had the money they adapted their organs with the times by replacing the pipes for instance yet many parishes especially those in former east germany lacked the funds to do this so instruments like this one are still in their original condition this one's really old too 1820 from turlai the reed pipe with a little pipe on top oh complete they're all there all old the organ the organs in pitiful condition it just barely works and it's terribly out of tune because the entire wind system is no longer air tight and the pipes are incredibly dirty you can tell it hasn't had a good cleaning in a long time it's great that it survived the war virtually unscathed and it should absolutely be retained and restored saint mary of the assumption in the bavarian town of fustenfeld brook was built as a representative monastery church its elaborate interior was designed by the asmr brothers the two architects are considered important representatives of the german late baroque the organ was styled to match with ornamental embellishments the well-known organ builder johan georg fuchs was responsible for this instrument's outstanding sound which still impresses organist christoph hauser today we have a very special organ it dates from the time of the church's construction yet is still in almost original condition just as it was planned and conceived the foundation stone for the church was laid in 1700 and the organ was inaugurated in 1736 do [Music] i could pick out the sound of this organ from a thousand recordings straight away it has specific overtones which are typical for organs built in southern germany a certain sonority but also a certain polish it's a mixture that produces something really special here it's a testament to bavarian organ building in the baroque period at the time organ music was acquiring new meaning especially for protestants composers like bach wrote masterpieces for choir and organ sebastian johann sebastian bach was still alive when this organ was being built but these were separate worlds first there was the north south divide then the protestant catholic one back then the organ was much more important in the protestant liturgy but at a monastery like this one it played a subordinate role here the gregorian chant was still the most important thing so the organ music simply served as a tonal embellishment here while in protestant northern germany the organ choir and congregational singing were becoming a standard part of the liturgy in church services [Music] like the music itself the art of organ building also made great strides during the late baroque period at the turn of the 18th century the organs mechanics grew more refined and the instruments became even larger and they grew in popularity across europe every region in the world had its own organ sound a french baroque organ sounds completely different from an italian one and this bavarian fox organ also has a very specific sound in contrast to the french organ which has many trumpets integrated into it here we have a lot of flutes that's a big difference which makes for a much softer sound [Music] every organ consists of many different pipes depending on their size and the materials from which they're made they produce a sound all their own [Music] even a mid-sized organ has not several hundred but several thousand pipes and the largest of these can be over ten meters long this workshop near munich is one of 400 organ building businesses in germany here every instrument is one of a kind custom-made to meet the needs of a specific church or space christoph cups has been building and restoring organs for over 30 years now we're inside the organ in its casing this is one of the wind chests the wind chest holds all the organs pipes the pipe will later go into each one of these holes and with these sliders when the stops are pulled you can select the sound pipes of the same type are grouped together on the wind chest into what's called a rank or stop each one is named after its sound for instance there are trumpet stops and flute stops even today the organ operates according to the same principle as it did when it was invented over 2000 years ago a controlled stream of pressurized air flows into the various pipes to produce the sound this is one of the many bellows which are filled with air by the blower and can then supply the pipes with wind with windforce organ the organ is operated via a console it usually has several keyboards resembling those on a piano pressing on a key opens a valve that lets air flow into a pipe by pulling out the stops the organist can choose which pipes are to be played with an organ the observer only sees the first rank namely the pipes at the front of the facade but that's only one rank the many other ranks the many higher pipes all stand behind that organs are normally quite durable if they're not ruined by heating systems a well-made one can easily last for over 300 years [Music] leon berbin is a renowned organist and chamberlain based in cologne one of his favorite organs stands in the saint andreas protestant church in the village of osternan [Music] the organization this organ is very special because in parts it's actually the oldest organ in the world the wood was tested and it was actually possible to see that the tree used to make the wind chest was felled in 1410. since the wood was always seasoned for roughly 15 years we can assume that this organ was made around 1425. and most of the pipes date from that time so most of the pipes are also the world's oldest dating from around 1425. however the organ was only installed at the saint andreas church in osternan in 1721 it was already some 300 years old by then the romanesque church itself has remained largely unchanged since it was first built little is known about the music that was played in churches like this in the 15th century the organists left virtually no musical notation behind thomas hartmann back then it's probable that they mainly improvised today we have the image of people coming to the organ with a pile of sheet music but until well into the 18th century it was normal that the organists played whatever they found at an instrument and they improvised and that was what people learned when they took lessons somewhere they learned to compose and to improvise though in practice they mainly improvised [Music] and it was in the church that the organs great potential was recognized it allowed musicians to do something that could normally only be done with singing having different voices resounding at once the organs emergence as an instrument in europe coincided with the rise of polyphony in the sacred music of the middle ages contrapuntal singing was a model for the organ to follow without religion and the practice of religion i'd say without church services this music wouldn't exist without them there would have been no bach cantatas and no saint matthew passion either i'm a church musician body and soul and i think it's great to ensure that there's a thread to guide people through the entire service and as a church musician you can really move people and give them something to take away is the organist at the berlin cathedral it dates from the turn of the 20th century and the organ is the largest from that time still in its original condition built the organ in the berlin cathedral in 1905. it's the biggest one he ever built it's a late romantic organ a highlight from the period this type of organ tries to imitate an orchestra it makes the wafting of the holy spirit manifest this instrument moves listeners quite intensely especially with the lower notes that reverberate in your stomach right through to the tones to test the limits of our hearing at the upper end and of course the instrument has the power to fill the entire space with sounds with [Music] around 100 new church organs are built each year in germany the art of organ building continues to evolve because behind every instrument there's an organ builder with their own ideas [Music] an instrument either you build an instrument in a specific style copy the style of a classical french organ for example or a romantic organ or you go in a completely different direction and say we're building a universal organ on which you can play all styles or yet another way you go the ultra modern route and try to invest in as much technology as possible and use digital technology to create completely new sounds there are wonderful examples of that like in castle so much green castle [Music] for ten years i was involved in this instrument's development and since its completion since 2017 working with it daily has only strengthened my connection to it you delve even deeper into the instrument you're an explorer a researcher finding out which sounds are possible and through diversifying into contemporary music we have sounds that continue to astound me every day [Applause] ekadman's is the organist at saint martin's church in castle the more than 600 year old church was completely destroyed in the second world war and rebuilt with modern steeples saint martins is now an important center for new music especially during the documentary the major art exhibition that's held in castle every five years the organ was custom made by austrian company riga to meet the requirements of contemporary music [Music] this organ was made for free improvisation with any timbre or pitch being technically possible munz also uses it to accompany the congregation through the liturgical year the bishop gives sermons here and we hold festive services and traditional concerts in which the organ always plays a major role this isn't an instrument specific to new music it can also do an outstanding job performing the music of bach even if traditional music can be played perfectly well on it the organizations is unusual as can be seen at first glance [Music] the organ seems to float behind the artificial hair hanging from the facade which is set in motion by the wind blowing through the organ this creates a light airy impression that's at odds with the instrument's actual size 25 tons suspended on the wall here [Music] like human beings organs have lungs their bellows and the console that functions as a brain and like people every organ is unique no two instruments are exactly alike their sound also differs in every region of every country not just in germany what is a german organ that's really hard to say it's also very linked to the region and the period an organ from 1720 in northern germany is very different from one in central or southern germany northern german organ might have a slightly sharper sound a central german one would be broader and maybe a little warmer every country every region has its idiosyncrasies they had different types of pipes and different ranks producing other sounds to be discovered [Music] a village church near the town of prinzlow in brandenburg organs are still used primarily for church services or concerts of sacred music but because there are too few organists in rural brandenburg kanto hanas ludwig has taken it upon himself to teach young musicians the basics [Music] amateur organists like florian enable rural churches to accompany their services with organ music [Music] i'm preparing florian for his role in the church services we're going through all the literature we also talk a lot about the instrument about the stops timbres should we use to accompany the congregation it's important to coach our adjunct organist if it weren't for them a lot of things here would go down the tubes so to speak a month florian plays at a church service in translate stepping in for hannes ludwig for florian it's also a welcome opportunity to get more practice organ music is very much linked to religion even if it's no longer a strictly ecclesiastical instrument the organ continues to be marked by its history its liturgical functions and most of all the sacred works composed for it but at sid martin's church in castle they've dreamed up a new concept this lower organ which was inaugurated on pentecost sunday of 2021 stands in the center of the room it's an open invitation for eckhardt months to experiment and for listeners to marvel at the results [Applause] part of the concept is that the listeners surround the organist who traditionally remains unseen we really wanted to overcome this distance visitors can look directly at the pipes at eye level and stand right next to the performer that gives it an immediacy [Music] the organ is a musical marvel composed of pipes and keys and its development is ongoing while interest in traditional organ music in churches may be waning the instrument is getting an enthusiastic reception in concert [Music] the way i see it the art of organ building unites many different art forms it's architectural design as well as historical confrontation as people have been building organs for centuries and it's a handicraft that's been handed down for centuries it's noteworthy that germany employs the most organ builders here almost every church no matter how small has an organ as albert schweitzer once said a church without an organ is like a body without a soul it's part of it somehow on no other instrument can a single musician produce sounds that are so quiet as well as such bone-rattling loud noises organists have the equivalent of a huge symphony orchestra at their fingertips no wonder the organs still retains the title the queen of instruments you

Channel: DW Classical Music

Views: 67,421

Keywords: DW, Deutsche Welle, DW Classical Music, organ music, organ bach, j.s. bach, organ documentary, church music, organ story, organ building, organ builders, organ virtuoso, georg muffat passacaglia, georg muffat toccata tertia, antonio de cabezon, berlin cathedral organ, berlin cathedral, berliner dom, ave maris stella, johann sebastian bach, bach alla breve bwv 589, st martin kassel orgel, documentary, documentaries, organ history, Dvorak symphony 9 organ, Ostönnen, organ, orgue

Id: BNWfU4ehq5U

Length: 25min 51sec (1551 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 11 2021