Thomas Marshall, Assistant to Tour XXXI, resident
harpsichordist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and artist faculty
member for the music department at the College of William and Mary, has been a
member of these Historic Organ Tours almost annually since 1985. A devoted
student of organ and its music, he lectures frequently on the subject of
"living history in antique musical instruments" at the Colonial
Williamsburg collection of organs, harpsichords and pianofortes.
The 31st Historic Organ Tour of the University of Michigan
took place August 3-18, 1994, with Marilyn Mason as tour director. Entitled "In the Footsteps of Bach," the tour concentrated on the principal Bach sites in Saxony and Thuringia, following Bach's life in an approximately chronological fashion. Bach knew and played organs of the great builder of Saxony, Gottfried Silbermann. Treated almost daily to the sounds of these organs, tour members concurred that Silbermann had been aptly named, for his organs do possess a "silvery tone." These organs may be characterized as having a refined and full ensemble without the brilliance associated with North European instruments. Pedal divisions are always small and functional (except on the largest instruments), utilizing the Haupwerk to Pedal coupler (permanently "ON" in Bach's day) to achieve an appropriate balance between manual and pedal. Solo stops always appear on the secondary manual.
Two Silbermann instruments at Rotha provided an opportunity
to compare design and function. Unspoiled by time and progress, the small
village of Rotha feels serene and quiet despite its proximity to the large
modern city of Leipzig and the destructive ravages of silver mining in the
surrounding area. One of the best of Silbermann's two-manual organs in St. George's church served as the inspiration for the Fisk organ built for the University of Michigan in 1984-85. Within a short walk is the Marienkirche built 1510-20. Here the paradigm of a well-planned small organ, consisting of 11 stops on one manual and pedal, was built by Silbermann in 1722. The 8-foot Prinzipal is most beautiful. Each stop on this organ was thoughtfully planned and serves the full ensemble perfectly.
An opportunity for our group was made possible to visit the
collection of musical instruments at the University of Leipzig. This collection
houses, in addition to numerous playable examples of harpsichords and organs,
the earliest surviving pianoforte of Bartolomeo Cristofori. Setting up this
visit in advance from the U.S. was made infinitely easier when Brad Jansen,
visiting intern at the museum, answered our long distance phone call in perfect
English! A recent graduate of the University of Michigan, he made all things
possible for a rewarding and memorable visit to an important collection.
Outside the Silbermann experience, other historic organs
included: 1) a small instrument by Hildebrandt (pupil of Silbermann) in the
town of Stormthat. Bach "proved" this organ on November 2, 1723 and composed Cantata #194 for its dedication; 2) an organ by Migend (1756) in Berlin, originally created for Princess Amalie (sister to Frederick the Great),
has survived the test of time and several relocations; 3) the magnificent organ
by Trost (1739) in the castle church at Altenburg. This famous organ was played
by Krebs and Bach, and is housed in an ornate and beautiful case. It was here
that Dr. Mason played one of three concerts to a capacity audience.
Performances for selected tour members are usually included
by Dr. Mason on her itinerary. With little or no practice time on site,
performers quickly learn the lesson of adaptability. Tour recitalists Dovie
Fields, Marcia Koller, Thomas Marshall, Julia Moulaison, Karen Phipps, Allen
Shaffer, and Dale Shoemaker played two public programs: 1) August 7 at the St.
Blasius church in Mülhausen (where Bach was organist 1706-07), which
contains a large organ by Schuke built in 1958; 2) August 13 at St.
John's church in Gera. This large organ by Kreutzbach from 1885 has seen
numerous enlargements and renovations which have retained some of the integrity
of the original instrument. Organist Berghardt Zittmann gave excellent
assistance to the organists who performed here. He also demonstrated the power
of the instrument's resources in some outstanding improvisations.
Tour members were impressed by travel in post-reunification
Germany. Those who had seen the former DDR on previous tours noticed many
changes. Guard buildings at a former border to Communist Germany have been
transformed into rest stops for travelers. Progress in repairing old roads
became evident and required that our limited German vocabulary be expanded to
include the word umleitung (detour). Cities and towns now live under a
veritable forest of cranes making renovations. Especially moving are
reconstruction efforts in Dresden including the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche.
This historic monument, totally destroyed by fire bombs in World War II, has
stood in ruin since 1945. Plans now underway are making possible the complete reconstruction of this massive building. All of us who stood silent before the sight of this seemingly impossible project could only hope to return at the conclusion of the ten year project. We also speculated at the replacement of the destroyed three-manual Silbermann organ which once stood within.
Finally, accolades are due to our land operators in Europe!
Wens Reizen, from the Netherlands, has been employed by Dr. Mason and Conlin
Travel of Ann Arbor in previous tours. Organization was exceptional.
