When I was a kid in the early 70's Walter Kraft used to be a guest in my parent's house frequently. Every now and then he told the story, that he was practicing at the Totentanz Orgel that very night in 1942 when the bombs fell. The Church cought fire. Before he got out Kraft tried to grap a stack of Buxtehude's original hand scripts stored in an archive in the church. But he couldn't reach the papers and saw them burn to ashes just a few meters in front of him. When he reached for the main door the all wood made Totentanz Orgel behind him burst into flames. And so did the Totentanz-paintings. After this experience Walter Kraft composed the oratorium "Lübecker Totentanz" ("Death Dance of Lubeck").
Wow, this is amazing (and horrifying) stuff, straight from the horse's mouth. I was told that the Totentanzorgel (actually Klein orgel, as it was known until the 20th century) was actually dismantled and in storage under wooden scaffolding at the time of the bombing, since they did not expect incendiary bombs, but I guess it was not dismantled completely. I'd like to know more Walter Kraft stories, if you have them. I've talked to Mads Kjersgaard and Ibo Ortgies about the Totentanzorgel, and would like to see some of the documentation published - not much is out there right now!
@@joannescouchet7038 Well, all I have is childhood memory from long ago, maybe colored in this or that direction. I am definately not a relyable chronist, here. As for the details of the organ (there used to be - and still are - several ones in St. Mary) your information is surely a better source. But I clearly remember Kraft telling this story several times: The night, when his "baby", the Totentanz Orgel was destroyed. But I can give you a few personal impressions: I remember Kraft to be a charismatic man who's almost childlike enthusiasm could easily be ignited. He was sort of a tinkerer, too. He assembled adventurous constructions that surprisingly always worked.
This is like receiving a postcard from a dear friend who died years ago. Thank you Mr. Couchet for your apparently tireless effort to spread beauty and joy here.
The sound is surprisingly good, and this is so poignant - almost like a recording of the voice of someone who has passed. We owe a debt of gratitude to the musicians and church historians who somehow saw into the future and made recordings to preserve the sounds of these magnificent instruments. Like the bombing of Dresden three years later, this attack served no military purpose.
Joannes Couchet, thank you for this precious, indeed a very precious sound document by Walter Kraft, extraordinary organist who - for the VOX - recorded on the Stellwagen - rebuilt after the war by Karl Kemper - 3 magnificent records with works by Buxtehude, Vincent Lubeck, Nikolaus Bruhns, Franz Tunder, Jan A. Reincken, Arnold Brunckhorst, Christian Ritter, Georg Bohm, Delphin Strunck, and Georg Dietrich Leyding
It's both inspiring and heartbreaking to see these images of the beautiful old medieval city and the treasures of the church, knowing what was to come -- as we witness in the last part of the video -- and all to the sound of the lost Totentanzorgel. Cursed be war, forever!
Cursed be war, forever! Wishful thinking! War is just being prepared between people who, 70 years ago, were allies. Human stupidity and capitalism are the general enemy.
Indeed, but more importantly, curses on the unseen psychopathic arseholes who engineered the war for profit to themselves, caring not a whit for the grief and catastrophe on both sides ... So what? It's just a bit of colateral damage. Are we having that truffled smoked salmon for lunch?
@@philippefritsch1892 Capitalism the enemy? How about some lessons in human psychology and history, never mind learning about current events in Venezuela, China, North Korea, etc? The ambitious preachers of "anti-capitalism" love their socialist pretexts for yet more war. The way to hell is paved with "good intentions".
@@georgeszaszvari3108 Any system, religion or philosophy can twisted by those who seek only their own evil interests. Those who cite the evils of socialism should not forget the failures of capitalism- we created wars abroad that killed innocent millions and destabilized whole regions in their wake. In the States-has capitalism saved us from chaos? 100k dead from a pandemic, an attempted federal coup, hundreds of thousands of homeless children in our cities, failed infrastructure, and abandonment of any form of political cooperation for the greater good. Is this the world we want? We surely can do better. Let us cease throwing stones and seek solutions to to build up rather than tear down that which we share.
@@ceadachrua Full marks for trying to be "meaningful", but let's not be naive and at least try to comprehend the context of the messages before responding with such youthfulness. Evil is an equal opportunity pursuit, the old staid argument of socialism v capitalist a red herring, to distract from the real point, that of repressive autocracy (whether left or right, it is ultimately the same) v gov't by the people... of all those popular accolades for giving power to the people, the founders of the USA actually did so, from a masonic source, and after some attempts to advance from there, Americans have since abrogated on that birthright, the worship of materialism proving yet again how temporal life belongs to a Fallen World... those stuck in the delusory world of political slogans and propaganda parrot comments about the "greater good", MSM drivel about attempted coups, and in exhibitions of self parody criticize others for being critical, seemingly not having realized that a coup has already happened, the USA no longer a constitutional republic, but a corporate fascist dictatorship, quite similar in spirit to Putin's Russia and Xi's China in use of indoctrination and censorship, if by somewhat different means, not that subtle, but subtle enough to fool those who are full of their own self importance as advocates for the "greater good"... as mentioned previously, the way to hell is paved with "good intentions".
Thanks to the uploader, Joannes Couchet for lending me the recordings to apply to these 3 Organ works which I arranged the score of by hand, with the freeware Musescore, listen to these recordings and marvel at the genius of Buxtehude and Bruhns! Nicolaus Bruhns,: Prelude in E Minor "Kleine / Little" - czcams.com/video/LE5-DW49v1s/video.html Dietrich Buxtehude: Prelude in C Major - czcams.com/video/zFwoB6w-Omg/video.html Toccata in D Minor - czcams.com/video/h38XbWdlWSc/video.html
A shame that all the late medieval organs and aswell the whole interieur of the most bigger german churches were destroyed... An unbelievable big loss.
I remember my old music-teacher at school, Edith Guldhammer, telling me about the Totentanz-organ when she taught me the organ before she died. And in particular of Buxtehude and Walter Kraft whom she described as the greatest interpreter of Buxtehude’s music she had ever heard. She had even seen this organ in her youth, and had in fact met Kraft himself once. So to hear recordings of this extraordinary organ, and to see and hear about its sad destruction fill me with mixed emotions as I’m writing, listening and watching this video. It is fantastic to hear it played in such great style. Did they manage to rebuilt the Church of St. Mary after the war completely?
Sorry for the late reply. The Marienkirche at Lübeck was quickly reconstructed after the war, but neither of the two organs were reconstructed in their original shape and most of the formerly rich interior was also not reconstructed. There are plans to reconstruct at least the Totentanzorgel based on existing documentation, it seems.
It is worth noting also that the pitch of the organ in this recording is about 1/2-step above modern -- about a'=465, which was the normal pitch for organs in northern Germany in the Baroque period. The fact that the pitch had not been "modernized" (lowered to a-440) suggests that the organ was still in largely original condition even after the 1937 restoration by Kemper.
I think that there had been some changes of the specification before 1937. Kemper used material of minor value for replacements. 4 years after the restoration too many pipes were out of tune, esp the mixtures. Probably Kemper made changes of the wind pressure like many others during these years of organ revival.
A very special Thank You for presenting these fascinating recordings, the precious picture material and all historic information. A unique and valuable resource.
thanks so much for this, I share a family name with one of the composers featured here, my branch of the family tree left lubeck between the great wars, this video really helped me understand my heritage better. I have also become an organ enthusiast and this music is absolutely beautiful on this organ.
That's quite interesting! As I understand, Bruhns was only in Lübeck when he studied with Buxtehude, he later was organist in Husum, but he might have had relatives there - who knows? :)
@@joannescouchet7038 Nicolaus Bruhns lived and studied in Lübeck in 1681 - 1684, but he also had relatives, that lived there (his uncle Peter and the family of Nicolaus' wife). So it's possible
I felt the same way, especially when I had to make the video and scour through so many of these old photos depicting Lübeck & the Marienkirche as it was before the war. This is a glorious environment, full of centuries of accumulated beauty, that we will never get back. At the same time, as fragile, fickle and ephemeral humans, neither us nor our works will last for long in the grand scheme of things - the recent destruction of the organ in Nantes is a great reminder of this. Best to gather ye rosebuds while ye may...
@@joannescouchet7038 As Richard Wagner say in his diary, only being a nihilist grants the clearest view of reality - I agree, but we will have to persevere, if we want to fulfil out desires, whatever they may be.
@@joannescouchet7038 Sorry to bother you again but I need to ask - could you possibly upload the recording of these 3 works separate so I can use them (for non commercial purposes) to D.Buxtehude's scores I arrange on the website/software Musescore? musescore.com/user/5199981/sets/5099860 Whilst I haven't completed the score arrangements of any of these three particular Organ works yet, eventually I will and would love to use these historic recordings. Otherwise I (with permission) can re-record just the performances of each and upload them to my alternate channel myself, and credit, link to your channel.
I just started a playlist of recordings on organs destroyed during WWII. Feel free to comment more recordings that I can add to it! czcams.com/play/PLg3qqbsDLh-esdbUGhmLKCu3L7EDo-wwW.html
Před 3 lety+1
This is something I've been looking for. I'm wondering if there's a historic recording of the original organ in St Katharinen, Hamburg (the organ on which Bach presumably played the Great Fugue in G minor) .
@ Not that I know of. Neither is there one of Hamburg St.Jacobi in its original pre-war state, or Lübeck St. Jacobi, before both of them were "restored" by the Kempers (and subsequently re-restored) even if both of them were already considered instruments of comparable importance to the Totentanzorgel at that time.
Something that I do want to hear are the recordings made on the 1770 Wagner brothers (from central Germany) in Arnhem, the Netherlands. It was destroyed by German bombing in 1944, but for sure there were recordings done on it before that were also broadcasted. From the stoplist it looks like it would have been the perfect Bach organ - a really cool blend of Central German and Dutch styles.
@@joannescouchet7038 Hello again, I think you will be happy with my find - over 60 recordings of Walther Kraft on the (presumably) Totentanz Orgel, see here: Vol.2: czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_muWNZ28yvsoK757oWGRAOd2ooMcrt1P2Y.html Vol.3: czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_n5vGBtDcA-3xnWiP1gOFZSlM1HoHi-P18.html
@@TheOneAndOnlyZeno1889 The videos are unavailable for me, but are the recordings identical to these? czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_kn9KGTiP2p0yLfqg9iLDAgf6q3y2eFzdA.html If so, then they were recorded on the Totentanzorgel reconstruction by Kemper after the war, not on the 'orginal'.
You may have to contact the city library of Lübeck - they are the ones who originally issued this CD. Given the obscurity of the topic, it's very unlikely that they will be officially released again.
I have a recording of Walter Kraft playing in the Church of St. Mary, and I’m curious to know if he was playing the Totentanz-organ or not. He played Buxtehude’s Te Deum Laudamus. It’s on ITunes and I have it on CD as well.
@@runeulriksen These recordings were made in the 50's, on a Kemper reconstruction of the Totentanzorgel supposedly using original documentation. However this reconstruction was not technically well built, and was soon replaced by another "Totentanzorgel" with no intention of copying the original, which is also not a very good instrument and maybe replaced yet again soon.
@@joannescouchet7038 Wire recordings were much like a tape recorder. Wire was used instead of tape. Tape didn't become common until the 1950s / 60s with the development of better plastics. "Direct" phonograph disc recordings are just that. The recording is not first "mastered" on tape, wire or anything else. It's recorded right on to the disc, then a "reverse master' is made from that from which production copies are produced. No editing is possible.
Is there any way to tell if it is wire or direct to disc recording? BTW, I know a few years later after the war (1947?) Walcha made his famous recordings on the Totentanzorgel's "sister organ" in the Jacobikirche. The audio quality there is much better (but then it is DDG Archiv), and it will be interesting to do a comparison between these recordings.
You could extract the audio and play around with the noise reduction filters in software tools like Audacity, but it can take hours to get a good result depending on how picky one wants to be 😉
When I was a kid in the early 70's Walter Kraft used to be a guest in my parent's house frequently. Every now and then he told the story, that he was practicing at the Totentanz Orgel that very night in 1942 when the bombs fell. The Church cought fire. Before he got out Kraft tried to grap a stack of Buxtehude's original hand scripts stored in an archive in the church. But he couldn't reach the papers and saw them burn to ashes just a few meters in front of him. When he reached for the main door the all wood made Totentanz Orgel behind him burst into flames. And so did the Totentanz-paintings. After this experience Walter Kraft composed the oratorium "Lübecker Totentanz" ("Death Dance of Lubeck").
Wow, this is amazing (and horrifying) stuff, straight from the horse's mouth. I was told that the Totentanzorgel (actually Klein orgel, as it was known until the 20th century) was actually dismantled and in storage under wooden scaffolding at the time of the bombing, since they did not expect incendiary bombs, but I guess it was not dismantled completely. I'd like to know more Walter Kraft stories, if you have them. I've talked to Mads Kjersgaard and Ibo Ortgies about the Totentanzorgel, and would like to see some of the documentation published - not much is out there right now!
@@joannescouchet7038 Well, all I have is childhood memory from long ago, maybe colored in this or that direction. I am definately not a relyable chronist, here. As for the details of the organ (there used to be - and still are - several ones in St. Mary) your information is surely a better source. But I clearly remember Kraft telling this story several times: The night, when his "baby", the Totentanz Orgel was destroyed. But I can give you a few personal impressions: I remember Kraft to be a charismatic man who's almost childlike enthusiasm could easily be ignited. He was sort of a tinkerer, too. He assembled adventurous constructions that surprisingly always worked.
OMG, that's one hexx of a story, thanks for sharing.
This is like receiving a postcard from a dear friend who died years ago. Thank you Mr. Couchet for your apparently tireless effort to spread beauty and joy here.
The sound is surprisingly good, and this is so poignant - almost like a recording of the voice of someone who has passed. We owe a debt of gratitude to the musicians and church historians who somehow saw into the future and made recordings to preserve the sounds of these magnificent instruments.
Like the bombing of Dresden three years later, this attack served no military purpose.
Alph Luckau CZcams, Totentanz ist Teuflisch, es ist ein Fluch auf die Kirche -wiki
Joannes Couchet, thank you for this precious, indeed a very precious sound document by Walter Kraft,
extraordinary organist who - for the VOX - recorded on the Stellwagen - rebuilt after the war by Karl Kemper - 3 magnificent records with works by Buxtehude, Vincent Lubeck, Nikolaus Bruhns, Franz Tunder, Jan A. Reincken, Arnold Brunckhorst, Christian Ritter, Georg Bohm, Delphin Strunck, and Georg Dietrich Leyding
It's both inspiring and heartbreaking to see these images of the beautiful old medieval city and the treasures of the church, knowing what was to come -- as we witness in the last part of the video -- and all to the sound of the lost Totentanzorgel. Cursed be war, forever!
Cursed be war, forever! Wishful thinking! War is just being prepared between people who, 70 years ago, were allies. Human stupidity and capitalism are the general enemy.
Indeed, but more importantly, curses on the unseen psychopathic arseholes who engineered the war for profit to themselves, caring not a whit for the grief and catastrophe on both sides ... So what? It's just a bit of colateral damage. Are we having that truffled smoked salmon for lunch?
@@philippefritsch1892 Capitalism the enemy? How about some lessons in human psychology and history, never mind learning about current events in Venezuela, China, North Korea, etc? The ambitious preachers of "anti-capitalism" love their socialist pretexts for yet more war. The way to hell is paved with "good intentions".
@@georgeszaszvari3108 Any system, religion or philosophy can twisted by those who seek only their own evil interests.
Those who cite the evils of socialism should not forget the failures of capitalism- we created wars abroad that killed innocent millions and destabilized whole regions in their wake. In the States-has capitalism saved us from chaos? 100k dead from a pandemic, an attempted federal coup, hundreds of thousands of homeless children in our cities, failed infrastructure, and abandonment of any form of political cooperation for the greater good. Is this the world we want? We surely can do better. Let us cease throwing stones and seek solutions to to build up rather than tear down that which we share.
@@ceadachrua Full marks for trying to be "meaningful", but let's not be naive and at least try to comprehend the context of the messages before responding with such youthfulness. Evil is an equal opportunity pursuit, the old staid argument of socialism v capitalist a red herring, to distract from the real point, that of repressive autocracy (whether left or right, it is ultimately the same) v gov't by the people... of all those popular accolades for giving power to the people, the founders of the USA actually did so, from a masonic source, and after some attempts to advance from there, Americans have since abrogated on that birthright, the worship of materialism proving yet again how temporal life belongs to a Fallen World... those stuck in the delusory world of political slogans and propaganda parrot comments about the "greater good", MSM drivel about attempted coups, and in exhibitions of self parody criticize others for being critical, seemingly not having realized that a coup has already happened, the USA no longer a constitutional republic, but a corporate fascist dictatorship, quite similar in spirit to Putin's Russia and Xi's China in use of indoctrination and censorship, if by somewhat different means, not that subtle, but subtle enough to fool those who are full of their own self importance as advocates for the "greater good"... as mentioned previously, the way to hell is paved with "good intentions".
I just cried... Thank you for provide both performance and information about the organ.
These are moving recordings, aren't they!
It touched my soul.
thanks for sharing this great historical recording along with the pictures. As If am 100 years back in time
Thanks to the uploader, Joannes Couchet for lending me the recordings to apply to these 3 Organ works which I arranged the score of by hand, with the freeware Musescore, listen to these recordings and marvel at the genius of Buxtehude and Bruhns!
Nicolaus Bruhns,:
Prelude in E Minor "Kleine / Little" - czcams.com/video/LE5-DW49v1s/video.html
Dietrich Buxtehude:
Prelude in C Major - czcams.com/video/zFwoB6w-Omg/video.html
Toccata in D Minor - czcams.com/video/h38XbWdlWSc/video.html
A shame that all the late medieval organs and aswell the whole interieur of the most bigger german churches were destroyed... An unbelievable big loss.
Thank you for this! It is delightful that a record of this organ exists.
Cette vidéo représente un précieux document pour tous "les Amis de Dietrich Buxtehude". Merci Joannes.
I remember my old music-teacher at school, Edith Guldhammer, telling me about the Totentanz-organ when she taught me the organ before she died. And in particular of Buxtehude and Walter Kraft whom she described as the greatest interpreter of Buxtehude’s music she had ever heard. She had even seen this organ in her youth, and had in fact met Kraft himself once.
So to hear recordings of this extraordinary organ, and to see and hear about its sad destruction fill me with mixed emotions as I’m writing, listening and watching this video.
It is fantastic to hear it played in such great style.
Did they manage to rebuilt the Church of St. Mary after the war completely?
Sorry for the late reply. The Marienkirche at Lübeck was quickly reconstructed after the war, but neither of the two organs were reconstructed in their original shape and most of the formerly rich interior was also not reconstructed. There are plans to reconstruct at least the Totentanzorgel based on existing documentation, it seems.
It is worth noting also that the pitch of the organ in this recording is about 1/2-step above modern -- about a'=465, which was the normal pitch for organs in northern Germany in the Baroque period. The fact that the pitch had not been "modernized" (lowered to a-440) suggests that the organ was still in largely original condition even after the 1937 restoration by Kemper.
I think that there had been some changes of the specification before 1937. Kemper used material of minor value for replacements. 4 years after the restoration too many pipes were out of tune, esp the mixtures. Probably Kemper made changes of the wind pressure like many others during these years of organ revival.
A very special Thank You for presenting these fascinating recordings, the precious picture material and all historic information. A unique and valuable resource.
thanks so much for this, I share a family name with one of the composers featured here, my branch of the family tree left lubeck between the great wars, this video really helped me understand my heritage better. I have also become an organ enthusiast and this music is absolutely beautiful on this organ.
That's quite interesting! As I understand, Bruhns was only in Lübeck when he studied with Buxtehude, he later was organist in Husum, but he might have had relatives there - who knows? :)
@@joannescouchet7038 Nicolaus Bruhns lived and studied in Lübeck in 1681 - 1684, but he also had relatives, that lived there (his uncle Peter and the family of Nicolaus' wife). So it's possible
Absolutely fascinating! How could us musicians exist without You Tube.👏
It's really interesting. Thank you very, very much!
Merci et bravo pour la publication de tels précieux documents
Voir ces images et ces films au son du petit mi mineur de Bruhns c'est émouvant
wahrlich großartig, sehr vielen dank!
Bravo bravo bravo grandiose
Magnifique souvenir ! Merci pour le partage
Most interesting, thank you.
It's a gorgeous example of the art of german organists in the first part of last century…
Also check out Hanns Andre Donath's recordings on the Dresden Frauenkirche Silbermann!
Many thanks for this!
Of course the temperament has been modified to equal. The original was most likely 1/4 comma meantone until after Buxtehude's tenure.
Je agrée qu'il s'agît d'un témoin très précieux. Quelle est l'entreprise qui a fait cet enregistrement? La qualité est superbe pour l'époque!
A treasure of the highest order, but depressing to listen to giving the context and video.. conflicted....
I felt the same way, especially when I had to make the video and scour through so many of these old photos depicting Lübeck & the Marienkirche as it was before the war. This is a glorious environment, full of centuries of accumulated beauty, that we will never get back.
At the same time, as fragile, fickle and ephemeral humans, neither us nor our works will last for long in the grand scheme of things - the recent destruction of the organ in Nantes is a great reminder of this. Best to gather ye rosebuds while ye may...
@@joannescouchet7038 As Richard Wagner say in his diary, only being a nihilist grants the clearest view of reality - I agree, but we will have to persevere, if we want to fulfil out desires, whatever they may be.
@@joannescouchet7038 Sorry to bother you again but I need to ask - could you possibly upload the recording of these 3 works separate so I can use them (for non commercial purposes) to D.Buxtehude's scores I arrange on the website/software Musescore? musescore.com/user/5199981/sets/5099860
Whilst I haven't completed the score arrangements of any of these three particular Organ works yet, eventually I will and would love to use these historic recordings.
Otherwise I (with permission) can re-record just the performances of each and upload them to my alternate channel myself, and credit, link to your channel.
I have received your emails - will reply later!
I just started a playlist of recordings on organs destroyed during WWII. Feel free to comment more recordings that I can add to it! czcams.com/play/PLg3qqbsDLh-esdbUGhmLKCu3L7EDo-wwW.html
This is something I've been looking for. I'm wondering if there's a historic recording of the original organ in St Katharinen, Hamburg (the organ on which Bach presumably played the Great Fugue in G minor) .
@ Not that I know of. Neither is there one of Hamburg St.Jacobi in its original pre-war state, or Lübeck St. Jacobi, before both of them were "restored" by the Kempers (and subsequently re-restored) even if both of them were already considered instruments of comparable importance to the Totentanzorgel at that time.
Something that I do want to hear are the recordings made on the 1770 Wagner brothers (from central Germany) in Arnhem, the Netherlands. It was destroyed by German bombing in 1944, but for sure there were recordings done on it before that were also broadcasted. From the stoplist it looks like it would have been the perfect Bach organ - a really cool blend of Central German and Dutch styles.
@@joannescouchet7038 Hello again, I think you will be happy with my find - over 60 recordings of Walther Kraft on the (presumably) Totentanz Orgel, see here:
Vol.2: czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_muWNZ28yvsoK757oWGRAOd2ooMcrt1P2Y.html
Vol.3: czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_n5vGBtDcA-3xnWiP1gOFZSlM1HoHi-P18.html
@@TheOneAndOnlyZeno1889 The videos are unavailable for me, but are the recordings identical to these? czcams.com/play/OLAK5uy_kn9KGTiP2p0yLfqg9iLDAgf6q3y2eFzdA.html
If so, then they were recorded on the Totentanzorgel reconstruction by Kemper after the war, not on the 'orginal'.
Joannes Couchet, I would be interested in purchasing a CD of Kraft's performances if this CD is re-manufactured again in the future!
You may have to contact the city library of Lübeck - they are the ones who originally issued this CD. Given the obscurity of the topic, it's very unlikely that they will be officially released again.
I have a recording of Walter Kraft playing in the Church of St. Mary, and I’m curious to know if he was playing the Totentanz-organ or not. He played Buxtehude’s Te Deum Laudamus.
It’s on ITunes and I have it on CD as well.
@@runeulriksen These recordings were made in the 50's, on a Kemper reconstruction of the Totentanzorgel supposedly using original documentation. However this reconstruction was not technically well built, and was soon replaced by another "Totentanzorgel" with no intention of copying the original, which is also not a very good instrument and maybe replaced yet again soon.
This had to be wire recordings or "direct to disc" phonograph . Remarkably good considering...
Interesting, I don't really know about 40's recording techniques, would you care to elaborate?
@@joannescouchet7038 Wire recordings were much like a tape recorder. Wire was used instead of tape. Tape didn't become common until the 1950s / 60s with the development of better plastics. "Direct" phonograph disc recordings are just that. The recording is not first "mastered" on tape, wire or anything else. It's recorded right on to the disc, then a "reverse master' is made from that from which production copies are produced. No editing is possible.
Is there any way to tell if it is wire or direct to disc recording?
BTW, I know a few years later after the war (1947?) Walcha made his famous recordings on the Totentanzorgel's "sister organ" in the Jacobikirche. The audio quality there is much better (but then it is DDG Archiv), and it will be interesting to do a comparison between these recordings.
** joyeux noel 2020 **
is there any way to 'modernize' this recording.
I don't know. But if you have access to any good technology for denoising, I'd be happy to provide the original audio files.
You could extract the audio and play around with the noise reduction filters in software tools like Audacity, but it can take hours to get a good result depending on how picky one wants to be 😉
lübecker jakobikirche historische stellwagen-orgel klang
In my opinion the pedal beginning is a little bit too fast.