Dresden has a new Frauenkirche with a new organ. The original “Church of Our Lady” was a striking architectural achievement by Georg Bähr, city architect and master builder, whose design dominated the Dresden skyline for over 200 years. It was Germany’s largest Protestant (Evangelical-Lutheran) church, seating 3200, and popularly known as the “stone bell” because of its enormous dome rising over 320 feet. The organ was built by the renowned Saxon builder, Gottfried Silbermann, and played by Bach in a two-hour recital on December 1, just days after the dedication in 1736.1
The new Frauenkirche was dedicated almost 270 years later on October 30, 2005. The old church had collapsed in 1945 after a two-day Allied bombing blitz created an inferno that incinerated the church’s interior. The ruins, tons of stone, lay like a grim memorial pile until the fall of the Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany made fund-raising and rebuilding a possibility. The cornerstone was laid in 1992, and thirteen years later the monumental reconstruction at a cost of $210 million was dedicated with three days of celebratory services, as The New York Times announced, “A Symbol of War’s Horrors Is Reborn in Dresden as a Testament of Hope and Healing.”2 See the church’s website in English:
The new organ was intended to be part of that healing process. A reconstruction of the Silbermann was considered, but in the end the church’s Organ Commission asked Daniel Kern of Strasbourg to present a proposal for a new organ that would not be a copy of Silbermann, but for which Silbermann would serve as a model. Kern’s plans and concept raise questions, which are best answered in his own words, outlined in an informative commentary on the organ’s design at
When he visited Dresden in 2003 to get an impression of the church, which was still shrouded in scaffolding, Kern was struck by the sign “Creating Peace—Building Bridges.” He writes, “In that moment it was clear to me [that my mission was] to create a musical, cultural, and peace-making bridge—to build a work in which the Saxon (via Gottfried Silbermann), Alsatian (via Andreas Silbermann) and Parisian organ culture (via Cavaillé-Coll) could be united in sound.”
Kern has never been inspired by the strict reconstructions of Gottfried Silbermann except for his great organ at Dresden’s Hofkirche (Court Church) and Kathedral, a short walk from the Frauenkirche.3 So instead of another reconstruction, Kern proposed “to offer the musical life of Dresden [an organ that would bring] new horizons and possibilities.” The Organ Commission agreed and chose Kern in February 2003. The organ was installed a little over two years later in May 2005 at a cost of $2.1 million.
Silbermann’s organ had three manuals: Hauptwerk, Oberwerk, and Brustwerk. Kern has added a fourth: a Récit Expressif after Cavaillé–Coll. The two specifications look almost identical—compare the stoplists—with Kern adding a few stops here and there and a Récit that increases the organ from 43 ranks to 65. The placement of the divisions within the new organ case, a replica of Bähr’s original plans, is also close to Silbermann’s layout: the Brustwerk and Pedal at the bottom, the Hauptwerk high in the façade with the Oberwerk above that and the Récit directly behind it.
The suspended tracker action for all four manuals was built in the “classical” style and with solely “classical” materials. [Where Kern uses the word classical, we might understand historical.] The manuals can be coupled mechanically, but an assist can also be used, especially in the large Romantic pieces where many stops and couplers are needed. For the Brustwerk there is a mechanical transposer that shifts the pitch to 415 Hz to accompany older music. The Silbermann was tuned in meantone, while the Kern is in equal temperament.
The pipework for the three historic manuals (HW, BR and OW) and pedal is made according to the “classical models and scales” of Gottfried and Andreas Silbermann. The principals and reeds are of 87.5% tin, while the flutes and Gedackts contain more lead. For the pipes of the Récit, Kern used Cavaillé–Coll’s scaling and alloys. The principals and reeds are 75% tin, the Bourdon and flutes 33%. The Swell is modeled after Cavaillé–Coll’s organ of St. Sernin in Toulouse.4 The organ is tuned at 442 Hz at 18° Celsius (64.4° F), whereas Silbermann used chamber pitch 410–415 Hz.1
In voicing the organ, Kern has given himself a complex, challenging balancing act of creating “a classical brilliance in the mixtures for the plenum, a singing strength in the principals, gravitas in the reeds and bass stops, color and poetry in the mutations and reeds, and subtlety and clarity in the flutes and strings.”
This builder has great confidence in his ability and the success of the Frauenkirche organ. For Romantic and 20th-century repertoire, Kern believes it is possible to integrate a large Swell without compromising the historical core of the organ. By providing principals, wide flutes, narrow strings and a Voix Celeste, he feels it is possible to create a stylistic breadth that also embraces the Romantic and symphonic repertoire. The results draw not only on the inclusion of the Récit, but also “on our experience with scaling and voicing” in creating a comprehensive tonal palette.
“The instrument is, structurally and tonally, in decisive respects (including wind supply from six bellows, internal layout and intonation), closely based on the Silbermann organ. It has, however, been modified to meet contemporary requirements . . . . The Kern organ combines numerous virtues of a historic organ with technical advantages of a modern concert instrument. Thus an organ has been created which meets both the new and the historic requirements for church music in the Frauenkirche.”5
The Kern Company was founded in 1953 by Alfred Kern, whose work was warmly supported by Dr. Alfred Schweitzer. The company is internationally known due to its restoration and reconstruction of many instruments by Clicquot, Cavaillé-Coll, and Andreas Silbermann. They have also new instruments in France, Germany, Japan, and one in the USA at University Park United Methodist Church, Dallas. In 1977 Alfred Kern’s son, Daniel, who had apprenticed in other firms, took over the company.
Frauenkirche Dresden—Organ Music: Bach & Duruflé. Samuel Kummer, organist. Hybrid Multichannel Surround-Sound. Carus CD 83.188, ©2005. Available through Albany Music Distributors, 800/752-1951 or online at
Bach-Vivaldi Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596; Trio on “Herr Jesu Christ,” BWV 655; Pièce d’orgue, BWV 572; Partita on “Sei gegrüßet,” BWV 768; and the Duruflé Suite, op. 5.
The proof, they say, is in the pudding, here the sound—and also in the playing—in this debut CD of the Kern organ and the Frauenkirche organist released on the day of its dedication, October 30, 2005. The organ was commissioned in February 2003 and installed a little over two years later in May 2005. This recording was made last September.
Performer. Samuel Kummer won the post as organist of the Frauenkirche over a field of 38 applicants. A native of Stuttgart, he studied organ and improvisation there at the Hochschule for Music and the Performing Arts and upon graduation in 1987 received an award in improvisation. He has been a prize-winner in international organ competitions, taking First Prize at the “Concours l’Europe et l’Orgue” at Maastricht.
He has performed recitals in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic States, Poland, Hungary, Guatemala, and in the USA at the Mormon Tabernacle. He has appeared at the European Organ Festival (Maastricht) and the International Bach Festival (Warsaw). Before his appointment at the Frauenkirche, he served as district Cantor at St. Martin’s Church, Kirchheim/Teck. He began his duties in Dresden on July 1, 2005. Performance. Kummer’s program reflects two roles of the Kern organ—Silbermann and Cavaillé-Coll, Bach and Romantic. He presents four Bach genres: concerto, chorale prelude/trio, chorale partita, and JSB’s “French” piece, a favorite among Germans. The room has a reverberation of 71?2 seconds, but Kummer’s Bach is nonetheless brisk, energetic, and articulate with a straightforward rhythm that could benefit from a dash of Viennese warmth. By contrast, his Duruflé has a musical sweep and unfolding shape that engages the ear. As much as he may love Bach, his heart, his passion, seems to be French Romantic.
Registration./ Registrations are carefully documented,6 and Kummer strives to meet the composer’s expectations with interesting results and by the idiomatic inclusion of tierces to enrich Saxon plenums and of flutes to mellow French solo reeds. For Bach, Kummer uses the transparent, bright resources of the Silbermann HW/OW, whereas the Cavaillé-Coll Récit dominates and richly colors the Duruflé, proving the organ to be something of an ingenious, ingratiating chameleon. “A program rich in stylistic contrasts demonstrates the amazing tonal versatility of this organ.”7
Production. Carus has presented an attractive, well-engineered multi-channel surround-sound SACD/CD that will delight audiophiles and rattle bass woofers, making it possible to count the beats of the 32' Fagott at the end of the Bach Pièce. This issue by Carus is distinguished by a clarity of ambient sound and a brochure with beautiful photos, informative essays, and helpful notes. Refer to the German or French text for full comments with a structural diagram on “Sei gegrüsset.” Overall—splendid contribution and an admirable debut for the Frauenkirche organ and organist Samuel Kummer.
