Prelude:
When the City Council of Leipzig in 1723 named Johann
Sebastian Bach Cantor and Director of Music, he was given responsibility for
the music of four churches: St. Thomas, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, and the New
Church. St. Thomas was restored over a ten-year period and rededicated in 2000
on the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. St. Nicholas just finished a
renovation and will dedicate a restored and enlarged Ladegast organ in October.
St. Peter was torn down in 1886, and the New Church (later known as St. Matthew)
was destroyed in the bombing of World War II.
Bach also had responsibilities at St. Paul's or the
University Church during festival days and during fair periods with the
Collegium Musicum. St. Paul's was destroyed on May 30, 1968 by the GDR.
It was literally blown up to make way for the Karl Marx University, a hulking
concrete eyesore that sits at the edge of the Augustus Platz overlooking the
Gewandhaus and Opera House. Before and after pictures on the 25th anniversary
of this travesty appeared on the front page of the "Leipziger
Volkszeitung" in 2003 during the Bach Festival. The images were stunning
and disturbing. Now history is about to take a new course and so Ullrich
Böhme writes:
The decision to construct a new building for the University
of Leipzig is good news. The design by the Dutch architect, Erick van Egeraat,
should become a reality in the near future. Central to van Egeraat's
design for the building complex is St. Paul's Church. From the outside
the building will have a distinctively modern façade, but inside the
design will draw heavily on the configuration of the old hall churches with
their late Gothic webbed arches, very much like St. Thomas Church.
The university administration has decided that the church or
"aula" (auditorium) should have an organ. But how should one
envision this instrument?
The University of Leipzig numbers among the oldest German
universities and looks back on a 600-year history. Certainly no ordinary organ,
such as we too often find in many churches and concert halls, should be built
here. On the contrary, it should be a very special instrument that uniquely
relates to the tradition and history of this site.
Historically the old St. Paul's Church appears to have
had little luck with its organs. The earliest organ can be traced back to the
15th century, which after a renovation in 1528 had a specification of 15 stops
with its placement believed to have been on the south wall. In the 17th century
it is reported that there were many unsuccessful attempts to restore this
instrument by such famous organ builders as Heinrich and Esaias Compenius.
In the years 1711 to 1716 the Leipzig organ builder, Johann
Scheibe, built a 48-stop organ with three manuals and pedal using parts from
the old organ. The approval and recommendation to accept the organ was made by
J.S. Bach, who certified that the organ builder indeed had constructed the
organ "with good diligence." And, as Bach noted, the organ, except
for several limitations and problems, otherwise sounded fine. On the other
hand, already in 1741 Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712-1783) wrote a very
negative assessment of this organ.
The next instrument at St. Paul's was made by Johann
Gottlob Mende (1787-1850) and dates from 1844. Mende's preserved
instrument was recognized for its solid workmanship, and yet the highly
respected Prof. Heinrich Magirius, author and historical curator, wrote in 1995
that this organ at St. Paul's was "not much good."
In the 19th and 20th centuries the organ builders Friedrich
Ladegast, Julius and Johannes Jahn, and Hermann Eule worked on the organ at St.
Paul's. In the 1950s the instrument was provided with electric action,
but recordings from this period give the impression that the work was not of
high quality.
At the beginning of the 18th century a truly breathtaking
sensation took place in the organ history of the University of Leipzig.
Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753), regarded by many to be the most
significant and famous organ builder of all time, created an organ proposal for
St. Paul's.
Beginning in 1702 Gottfried Silbermann learned the craft of
organ building from his older brother, Andreas, in Strasbourg, Alsace, and
built several organs there with him. In 1710 Gottfried Silbermann returned to
Saxony to establish his livelihood as an organ builder in Germany.
In the same year he became acquainted with the most
important musical personality of Leipzig at that time, Johannes Kuhnau
(1660-1722), who was Cantor at St. Thomas and the University Music
Director. Kuhnau apparently recognized the extraordinary talent of this young
organ builder, for in a letter he praised Silbermann's
"quintessential mathematical and mechanical knowledge of organ
building." He called Silbermann's attention to the planned project
at St. Paul's and recommended him to the university.
Silbermann was prepared for the meeting before the
Professors' Council on November 20, 1710 by the University Rector
himself, and, as a result of his presentation, Silbermann was given the
assignment to "examine" the old, defective organ at St.
Paul's and "to make a proposal for building a (new) organ."
The university archive has preserved two of
Silbermann's handwritten and signed documents, both dated on the 27th of
November, 1710. The first is addressed to the Magnificae Academiae Rector
("Magnificent Rector of the School") and contains a detailed
examination of the old organ. In this report Silbermann establishes in graphic
detail why he "regrets that the problems of the organ are such that
continuing repairs of the instrument could not produce results to the
satisfaction of the university."
Indeed he would discourage "patching up the old
work" and recommends to the university "providing a completely new
organ according to the enclosed specification of 43 stops, some of which have
not been known in Germany, but have enjoyed the greatest admiration in France
for their inherently charming sound."
The second document contains a detailed specification of a
large organ with 44 stops on three manuals and pedal (University of Leipzig
Archives, Signatur II / III No. 6 / Litt. B / Sect. II, Bl. 15, 16). (See box
page 25)
Unfortunately, the assignment for the organ was not given to
Gottfried Silbermann, but to Johann Scheibe instead. It was surely difficult
for those who were accountable to the university at the time to judge whether
the young organ builder from Freiberg was a genius or a braggart endowed with
exaggerated self-confidence. For in Germany he could not show a single completed
organ.
A few years later, however, it was clear that an error in
judgment had been made. Silbermann was to build about 45 organs in Middle
Germany, of which 32 are preserved to this day. His instruments stand in little
village churches with dry acoustics and in cathedrals with long reverberation.
Everywhere his organs sound wonderful and have an
indescribable effect on every hearer. Already in his own lifetime Silbermann
attained a legendary fame, which throughout the centuries to our own day has
lost none of its luster, even with all the changes in musical taste.
If, in fact, Silbermann had built the organ at St.
Paul's back then in 1710, then many things in Leipzig's history
would have turned out quite differently. To build what could have been one of
his greatest works he would have established an organ workshop in Leipzig.
Perhaps he would have remained in Leipzig, and the city and its surroundings
would have the number of Silbermann organs that we now find in Freiberg and
that region.
And--perhaps a Silbermann organ at St. Paul's
would have inspired Johann Sebastian Bach, who later became Thomascantor in
1723, to produce even more magnificent organ compositions than we now have.
Ultimately there is a high probability that the GDR authorities in 1968 would not
have dared to demolish a church which featured a great Silbermann organ.
All these considerations lead one to the idea that after 300
years we should now consider realizing Gottfried Silbermann's organ
proposal for St. Paul's Church/Aula. The construction of a new university
building therefore provides a unique opportunity. The new St. Paul's
could have a beautiful sounding instrument full of character, which would
attract organ lovers from all the over the world. Building such an organ now
creates an opportunity to realize the beautiful sound of a historic instrument,
that the Leipzig region would be enriched with heretofore unavailable colors.
The scientific discussion that would ensue with building an
18th-century instrument would be appropriate for a university organ project. It
would be similar to the impressive reconstruction of a North German Baroque
organ inspired by Arp Schnitger (1648-1719) undertaken by the University
of Göteborg's Organ Art Center (GOArt) and completed in 2000 in the
Örgryte New Church. Silbermann's organ in the 1714 Freiberg
Cathedral--many experts regard it his most beautiful work--provides
an original of the same period for a study course in the art of his organ
building.
Finally, the City of Leipzig could deliberately take a
different approach than the authorities of Dresden's Frauenkirche, who
have spent all these years and money restoring the church stone by stone, but
who have decided against the reconstruction of a Silbermann organ, a decision
deplored by numerous well-known organ experts.
The organ case of the Dresden Frauenkirche was designed by
the church's chief architect, George Bähr. Certainly an architect
such as Erick van Egeraat with his ingenuity and stature could create a truly
beautiful organ case, whether classical or modern, for a Silbermann organ in
Leipzig.
In reconstructing this 1710 Silbermann organ Leipzig and the
university would be expressing its history, realizing its destiny and
fulfilling a great promise for the future.
Postlude:
Ullrich Böhme's title "Out of Love for This
Famous Place" was inspired by Silbermann's words from the last
paragraph of his proposal.
You can see Erick van Egeraat's conception of the
University of Leipzig project for St. Paul's by going to their website,
<www.eea-architects.com>. Click on Projects, then Public, and then
University of Leipzig. Note that Silbermann did not design or build his own
casework, but had this work done by local craftsmen.
Bach did have a relationship with Gottfried Silbermann. In
fact, he played recitals on two of Silbermann's instruments in
Dresden--at St. Sophia's (Sophienkirche) in 1731 where William
Friedemann later became organist and at the Frauenkirche in 1736 on a new
three-manual. Both organs were destroyed in the bombing of 1945, but the
Frauenkirche is now scheduled for rededication in 2006. In 1746 Bach and
Silbermann were the examiners of Zacharias Hildebrandt's organ at St.
Wenzel's Church in Naumburg.
Recordings have been made of all the Silbermann organs,
including the Freiberg Cathedral, and are available from the Organ Historical
Society at <www.ohscatalog.org>. Take special note of Querstand's
eight-volume CD collection of all his organs. Go to "Search," enter
Silbermann and click.
For discussions on the decision by the Dresden Frauenkirche
not to reconstruct the Silbermann organ of 43 stops, but instead to install a
larger, modern organ of 65 stops by Daniel Kern of Strasbourg, do a Google
search for "Silbermann Frauenkirche Dresden" for websites and
possible translation of German texts.
