The inauguration of »L’Orgue Dubois de l’abbatiale Sts. Pierre et Paul en Wissembourg« is over. There was an excellent presentation of the timbres of the instrument followed by a concert with pieces of Nicolas de Grigny (Veni Creator), Johann Sebastian Bach (Deux chorals de Leipzig), Georg Böhm (Partita sur le choral »Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten«) et Pierre Dumage (Suite du 1er Ton). Screens have been used so that the attendees could directly see what is happening at the organ’s console.

Once again I was completely overwhelmed by the sound of the instrument. And once again I noticed that the sound of famous instruments gains its living and breathing from little imperfections. Individual pipes have an individual chiff, some pipes rattle a bit when being played (especially lingual pipes), others are not tuned perfectly.

The presentation will be available as a recording in CD respectively DVD formats. The visitors got a nice printed handout (available both in french and german language) which provides valuable information of the history and restoration of the instrument.

From 2012-05-27 through 2012-09-30 each sunday free concerts will be provided between 5:00PM and 5:45PM. Obviously I’ll revive a hobby of mine and choose Wissembourg as the favorite destination of my sunday biking trips :) .

On saturday I had the occasion (but not the time) to play the instrument depicted above. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of its console with traditional stops on either side, as I was in a hurry.

It’s quite an interesting instrument, built in 2007 by Freiburger Orgelbau. The disposition of the stops qualifies the instrument for authentic playing of both baroque and romantic organ music:

I. Main (C–g3)

1. Bordon 16’
2. Prinzipal 8’
3. Gedeckt 8’
4. Flute harmonique 8’
5. Viola da Gamba 8’
6. Octave 4’
7. Gemshorn 4’
8. Superoctave 2′
9. Mixtur 4-5fach 1 1/’3’
10. Trompete 8’

Tremulant

II. Swell (C–g3)
11. Geigenprizipal 8′
12. Rohrgedeckt 8’
13. Salicional 8’
14. Vox coelestis 8’
15. Octav 4’
16. Traversflöte 4’
17. Nasard 2 2/’3’
18. Octavin 2’
19. Terz 1 3/’5’
20. Piccolo 1’
21. Trompette harmonique 8’
22. Hautbois 8’

Tremulant

Pedal (C–f1)
23. Prinzipalbass 16′
24. Subbass 16’
25. Octavbass 8’
26. Gedacktbass 8’
27. Octav 4’
28. Bombarde 16’
29. Trompete 8’

Obviously it is dominated by 8’ stops. Its timbre is rather full and warm instead of brilliant. I hope there will be a second chance for playing it. Here are the stops I’m most interested in:

• Prinzipal 8’ – full and warm
• Flute harmonique 8’ – one of my all time favorite stops. The length of those pipes is twice the length necessary, while a small drilling in the middle of the length ensures the pipe’s pitch is correct.
• Trompete 8’ – not a bawler at all
• Vox coelestis 8’ – if you like programming pads with two detuned oscillators on synthesizers, this stop is for you. You will ask “How can I create such a sound on a synth?!?”
• Terz 1 3/’5’ – a third. A unique stop. I had absolutely no luck programming it on a synthesizer.
• Hautbois 8’ – another lingual stop. Another sound you won’t be able to program on a synth.
• Bombarde 16’ – nomen est omen. The right pedal stop for bombastic pieces. Grand Jeux comes to my mind :)