Jean-Charles Ablitzer plays Motets and Dances by Praetorius on the 1610 Compenius organ
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- Jean-Charles Ablitzer (1946~), organist
William Dongois, cornetto
Christian Wegmann, tenor
From the OOP CD "Auch auff orgeln", 2009
Michael Praetorius / Motets transcribed for organ by Johann Woltz, c. 1617, Ablitzer, and Friedrich Wandersleib
0:00 Danses di Terpischore, Arr. Ablitzer
Passameze (Terpischore CCLXXXIII)
II RR16 PP4 GQ3
I KH8 PC4 GH 2
P GFB16 GHB8 DB8
Ballet de Monseigneur le prince de Brunswieg (Terpischore CCXLVI)
7:52 Nun freut euch, lieben Christen G'mein
Sinfonia (Polyhymnia caduceatrix & panegyrica IX, arr. Wandersleib)
I KH8
P GHB8 DB8
Motet à 2 chœurs (Musae Sioniae I/XII, arr. Wandersleib+Ablitzer)
II GGF8 PP4
I KH8 GF4
P GFB16 GHB8
12:39 Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist
Sinfonia (Polyhymnia caduceatrix & panegyrica XXXIX, arr. Wandersleib)
II GP8
I BFC4 GF4
P GFB16 GHB8
Choral (Musae Sioniae V/VII)
II GP8 GH4
I KH8 NS1½
P GFB16 GHB8
À 3, cantus firmus à la basse (Musae Sioniae V/VI, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GH4
I GH2
P GHB8
À 3, cantus firmus au soprano (Musae Sioniae V/V, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GGF8 GH4
P PFB1
À 4, cantus firmus au ténor (Musae Sioniae V/VIII, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GP8 NH4
I QD8 GF4 GH2 NS1½
P DB8
20:58 Danses di Terpischore, Arr. Ablitzer
Courante a 4 (Terpischore CXXV)
II NH4 GGF8
I QD8 GH2
P GFB16 QDB8
Courante a 5 (Terpischore LXXII)
Courrant Sarabande (Terpischore CIV)
Pavane de Spaigne (Terpischore XXX)
II GP8
I QD8
P GFB16
Spagnoletta (Terpischore XXXVIII)
II GGF8
I GF4
p GFB16
29:22 O lux beata Trinitas
À 3, cantus firmus à la basse (Hymmodia Sionia CLVI, Arr. Wandersleib)
II GGF8 KF2
P GHB8 QFB4
À 4, canon in Epidiapente (Hymmodia Sionia CXLII, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GGF8 GQ3
I KH8
P RB4
À 2 chœurs (Hymmodia Sionia CXLIV, Arr. Ablitzer)
II RR16 PP4
I KH8 NS1½
P SB16 QDB8
36:58 Zu dir, von Herzensgrunde
Sinfonia (Polyhymnia caduceatrix & panegyrica XXVI, Arr. Wandersleib)
II GP8 H4
P GFB16 GHB8
Motet à 2 chœurs, partite 1 (Musae Sioniae I/XX, Arr. Woltz)
II GP8 GH4
I QD8 GF4
P GFB16 GHB8
Partite 2 (Arr. Wandersleib)
II GP8 PP4 GQ3
I QD8 GF4 NS1½
P GFB16 QDB8 QFB4
42:18 Wir gläuben all an einen Gott
Bicinium (Musae Sioniae V/XXIV, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GH4
I PFC4
À 3, cantus firmus au ténor (Musae Sioniae V/XXVII, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GGF8 PF4 GQ3
I QD8 PC4 GH2
P QFB4 RB4
À 5, cantus firmus à la basse (Musae Sioniae V/XXI, Arr. Ablitzer)
II GP8 PP4 GQ3
P GFB16 SB16 GHB8
55:17 Danses de Terpsichore, Arr. Ablitzer
Volte (Terpsichore CCXXXI)
II PF4 GH4
I QD8 KR4 NS1½
Bransle de Villages (Terpsichore XIV)
II GP8 RR16 Sackpfeiffe
I KR4 GH2 NS1½
P GFB16 GHB8
Accouplement I-II
Bransle Gay (Terpsichore V)
Bransle simple de Novelle (Terpsichore II)
Bransle double (Terpsichore VI)
Volte (Terpsichore CCXXX)
1:04:34 Allein Gott in der Höh sei ehr
Sinfonia (Polyhymnia caduceatrix & panegyrica, Arr. Wandersleib)
II GGF8 PF4
I KH8
P GFB16 GHB8
Motet à 2 chœurs (Musae Sioniae I/III, Arr. Wandersleib)
II RR16 KF2
I QD8 PC4 GH2 NS1½
P GFB16 SB16
Liner notes in comments
Played on the organ in the chapel of Frederiksborg Castle, built by Esaias Compenius (and designed by Michael Praetorius) for Duke Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel c. 1610, restored 1988 by Kjersgaard
Carol Williams gives a tour of the organ: • Excerpt from TourBus g...
stoplist:
UPPER MANUAL:
Gross Principal 8' (GP)
Gross Gedackt Flöite 8' (GGF)
Principal Prospect 4' (PP)
Gemshorn 4' (GH)
Nachthorn 4' (NH)
Plockflöite 4' (PF)
Gedact Quint 3' (GQ)
Kleine Flöite 2' (KF)
Ranket Regal 16' (RR)
LOWER MANUAL:
QuintaDehna 8' (QD)
Gedactflöite 4' (GF)
Principal Cantus 4' (from f°) (PC)
Block Flöite Cantus 4' (from f°) (BFC)
GemsHorn 2' (GH)
NaSatt 1 1/2' (NS)
Zimbel einfach (Z)
Krumb Horn 8' (KH)
Klein Regal 4' (KR)
PEDAL:
Gedact Flöiten Bass 16' (GFB)
Gems Horn Bass 8' (GHB)
QuintaDehn Bass 8' (QDB)
QuerFlöiten Bass 4' (QFB)
NachtHorn Bass 2' (NHB)
Paurflöiten Bass 1' (PFB)
Sordunen Bass 16' (SB)
Dolcian Bass 8' (DB)
Regal Bass 4' RB
Koppel/ Manual Tremulant / Pedal Tremulant
Sackpfeiffe, Kleinhümlichen /a= 467 Hz (20°C)
Temperament mesotonique, 8 tierces pures
Manual: CDEFGAB-c"' / Pedal: CDEFGAB-d'
Painting: "Children's Games" c. 1560
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
From the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna - Hudba
Charles Poploch Ablitzer. Fantastic.
Orgue aux sonorités extraordinaires. Certaine registres sont une pure merveille.
Que dire ? C'est une pure merveille !
Most enjoyable! Also, great piece of art by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, depicting children’s games (I have a copy hanging in my study)!
Music that breathes silence and a grandeur that modern times no longer recognize, times without sources, without truth, without hierarchy, without future!
Amazing and wonderful music. Balm for the soul. From a time when Western society was still civilized and Christian. Many thanks for uploading.
Yes indeed, although I'm happy to have antibiotics and flush toilets AND be able to enjoy the sounds of this Compenius organ in the present day! :)
@@joannescouchet7038 I never said that I'm against antibiotics or flush toilets.:-) The Renaissance kind of invented the idea of scientific progress, didn't it? Greetings and blessings and thanks for your music uploads.
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
One of the finest CDs I've ever heard. Beautifully produced too, with a fine insert. PS You don't happen to know if one can acquire Helmut Tramnitz's 1960s recording on the Compenius on CD or even online? I've been looking for years!
Hey, I only saw this now. No idea, but the Tramnitz does look very interesting and I'll be on the lookout for it.
I've found a digitized copy of these recordings! I will upload it soon.
@@joannescouchet7038 Wonderful news :-)). Thank for work :-)
THE ART OF TRANSCRIPTION IN THE EARLY BAROQUE
Organ transcription of vocal and instrumental works was normal
practice in the time of the Renaissance and the early Baroque period. It has nothing in common with what was done later in this field. The word transcription, when referring to German motets, can even add to this confusion, because the terms variiren and kolorierung are difficult to translate into the modern language. It was not a question of hearing the latest fashionable music played on the organ, as was often the case in the nineteenth century for opera arias, or even taking the example of Johann Sebastian Bach, of yielding to the delights of Vivaldi, nor even of giving organists the chance to play some of the beautiful arias from the cantatas. For the organists who were the contemporaries of Michael Praetorius transcription was their daily bread. The composers of this era wrote a polyphony which was used freely and in multiple ways, even if its first destination, vocal or instrumental, is clear and specific. They put their knowledge and their talent at the service of organists, harpsichordists or instrumentalists who may not have been as skilled or who did not have the time or even the desire to the art of transcription requires an ability to adapt music which all organists possess from their training. Using polyphony of great quality they can give free rein to their personal talent in the choice of form, ornamentation and adaptation to keyboard by the use of tablature and registration. Ornamentation can go from simply adding short ornaments (mordants) to trills and cadences (tremulo, tremoletto, gruppo) to rapid passages (tiratae) and the most flexible diminution.
In the preface to his Musae Sionie Michael Praetorius writes:
" ... besides, such poly
phonic compositions for choirs (variatio per Choros) can also be played on organs (auch auff Orgeln). .. by alternating on two or three keyboards, in a very pleasing and subtle way, not only for the satisfaction of scholars or professional musicians but also for the enjoyment of all listeners in the Christian assembly ... ( would hope that these pieces will not only serve for cantors and singers but also for organists and instrumentalises who would not wish to take the charge of such a work of composition on themselves".
In the preface to Urania, Praetorius returns to conveniently, pleasantly and graciously on the organ using two or three keyboards, imitating the dialogue of choral music, in a way that is much more satisfying than with any other musical instrument". This concerns the possibility of playing music on the organ or other instruments which was written for voices, but the transcription of instrumental music for the organ was also frequently practised. Michael Praetorius makes a clear allusion to this in his explanation of the function of a sinfonia. "A sinfonia is a beautiful and subtle harmony in four, five or six voices to play on one or more instruments without the direction of a kapellmeister. This sinfonia, which can be compared to a prelude or a toccata, is played as an introduction to singing or an instrumental concert, in the same way that an organist preludes on the organ, the regal or the harpsichord. But if there are no instrumentalists it is the custom for the organist to play the sinfonia alone, adding delicate ornaments (lieblichen Mordanten)". In the prefaces concerning vocal music there are allusions to the use of the organ alone, as if the pieces written for voices were quite naturally also intended for this instrument.
In Urania again Praetorius speaks of how to perform the bicinium on the organ.
"The bicinium which is written for two upper voices or any other equal voices often calls for the crossing of parts. The organist cannot play them effectively on one manual. He will play the piece on two keyboards, the first upper part with the right hand on a Principal 8', the second with the left hand an octave lower with a Principal or another 4' stop. This will cause the unisons to be heard. The organist will have the leisure, if he desires, to transpose other voices from tablature to an octave lower, which will give his playing an agreeable facility".
In this proposition Michael Praetorius demonstrates the custom which organists had of drawing from vocal and instrumental music the pieces they played as soloists and he gives a valuable indication as to how to play and register a piece with two parts. It is certainly vocal music which is involved here because Urania contains no music specifically intended for organ. At this time printed pieces for keyboard were rare. Michael Praetorius distinguishes his ten pieces written for organ by the term pro organico or pro organicis. These pieces, "written at the express wish of organist colleagues", were certainly not those of current normal usage. They were above all intended to make known a particular type of writing. In his preface the author emphasises that organists who want to play them should recopy them as tablature. Praetorius had planned the publication of numerous organ pieces, psalmen, toccaten, fugen phantasien und concerte, for which the use of two keyboards was recommended. He states that he has prepared different font characters and matrices suitable for printing tablature. Unfortunately this publication was never realized, certainly because of lack of time.
An organist at the end of the sixteenth
century therefore had no other choice in the current usage but to put his compositions, improvisations, copies of existing tablatures or the transcription of vocal and instrumental pieces, published or copied, into tablature. In this period improvisation was essentially based on the diminution of known melodies used in polyphony. One could say that the same approach is involved as with the work of transcription but carried out in a spontaneous manner. Transcription was so commonplace in this era that during the course of the seventeenth century many gifted composers published pieces for organ which had their origin in motets for voices. Thus Heinrich Scheidemann (c.1596-1663) transcribed twelve motets by Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) or Giovanni Bassano (1558-1617). The competition for organists' posts, in certain famous parishes, involved a transcription test. It was expected that the candidate could accompany a six voice motet with basso continuo but equally that he could achieve a transcription on two keyboards adding the ornamentation suitable for this type of realisation (auff zwei Clavier variiren)
Concerning the music of Michael
Praetorius in particular one example has come down to us, thanks to Johann Woltz of Heilbronn. This organist in 1617 transcribed three motets in an organ book printed at Basel entitled Nova Mucices Organicae Tabulatura. Their titles are: Allein Gott in der Hoh sei her - Zu dir, von Herzensgrunde - Nun lob mein Seel den Herrn. The transcription in tablature perfectly respects the polyphony written by Prretorius, without added ornaments. It is probable that the ornamentation in this case is left to the executant's initiative. These valuable examples, of which two figure in this recording, give an exact idea of the technique used during the composer's lifetime, for the transcription
Parallel to this evidence about transcription it is interesting to ask what musical use the Compenius organ in Hessen castle could have been put to as "a chamber instrument". Although installed in a room in the castle and not in the chapel, which had its own instrument, it was certainly true that it would have been used for spiritual purposes at a time when the Lutheran reform favoured the practice of domestic religious music. The instrument's specification, with its very full Pedal from 16' to 1' makes one think inevitably of the chorale melody being expressed as a cantus firmus in all tessiture. The other use, confirmed by the archives, is for accompanying instruments and for dances. The organ took part in ball music, as a soloist or as a continuo instrument, the accessory stops, such as the drum, but above all the bagpipes, transposable into several keys, leave no doubt as to this fact It seems evident that not only were pieces written for organ performed but also wide use was made of improvisation and transcription. Today transcription again allows us to demonstrate the organ in its role of accompanying instruments and dances, but it also leads us to explore a more speculative use with a religious character in a spiritual collaboration with the composer.
This recording also seeks to honour
the duke of Brunswick, Heinrich Julius, his Kapellmeister Michael Praetorius and his close friend Esaias Compenius, organbuilder and instrument maker at the court of Wolfenbüttel. These deeply committed men showed a common desire to follow their own paths in the area of organbuilding and the manipulation of sound. Four centuries later, in Frederiksborg castle, surviving various disasters thanks to a series of providential circumstances, their final project realised together is still miraculously accessible to our senses. Listening to a programme conceived in the freedom that transcription provides, off the beaten track, can help us to understand better this magical secular part of the programme takes equally into account the function of Michael Praetorius as kapellmeister, which we must refrain from seeing exclusively as that of a church musician, his work being to celebrate in all circumstances the praise and glory of God. The court organists at this time often also held the position of court valet, as was the case for Heinrich Schutz in the service of the Landgraf Moritz in Kassel. Michael Praetorius entered the service of the duke of Brunswick in 1594 as court organist. In his contract he was also charged with the entertainment music which plazed a very large part in the court of duke Heinrich Julius. It also had to be, when highranking personalities were received, the reflection of the duke's reputation as an artist-prince.
Jean-Charles Ablitzer
Translation : Andrew Henry Williams
THE COMPENIUS ORGAN IN HESSEN CASTLE (1605-1610)
In 1605 nine years had passed since
the prestigious organ constructed by David Beck (†1601) from 1592 to 1596 for the chapel of Gröningen castle, one of the residences of duke Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig and Lüneburg (1564- 1613) and bishop of Halberstadt, had been inaugurated. This instrument with its encyclopaedic character had provided the occasion for a celebrated event to which 53 organists who came from all over Germany were invited by the duke. The construction of its 59 stops, using only metal, high percent tin for the labial pipes and brass for the resonators of the reeds, makes one clearly aware that here experimentation was carried out by individuals deeply committed to organbuilding. To make oneself understand the experimental character of this construction it is sufficient to read the instrument's completely unique and astounding specification which was possibly conceived by Duke Heinrich Julius himself, who was definitely passionate about organs and he was also a distinguished organist.The other person involved in the matter was the organist, composer and theoretician Michael Praetorius (1571/72-1621), who entered the duke's service in 1594.
David Beck was elderly and had ceased his organbuilding activities a little after the construction of this instrument. He enjoyed an excellent reputation as an organbuilder. His successor as court organbuilder and instrument maker, Esaias Compenius (1565-1617), was to show himself as a genius in his art. In 1603, he was probably recommended by the canon of Halberstadt cathedral, Johann Georg von der Schulenberg, to carry out some maintenance work on the Gröningen castle organ. In 1605, when Compenius had just signed the contract to construct a new instrument for the church at Kroppenstedt, a town a few kilometres to the East of Gröningen, duke Heinrich Julius, wanting to experiment further, asked him to start straight away with the construction of a new organ to be placed in a room in Hessen castle which is halfway between Halberstadt and Wolfenbüttel. This instrument was a gift to the duke's second wife Elisabeth who was a Danish princess (1573-1625). Michael Praetorius, an organbuilding expert, kapellmeister and close friend of Compenius was charged with directing the work. There is no doubt that he participated also in the instrument's design. Unlike the project in Gröningen, which required the entire pipework to be made of metal, the 27 stops of the organ intended for the castle of Hessen were to be made entirely of wood, using brass for a part of the reed resonators. According to Mads Kjersgaard this use of brass was probably inspired by the technique of the construction of the reeds at Gröningen.
The organ appears in the form of a very 1 large cabinet. When the doors of the cabinet are closed over the Principals and the Pedal is retracted nothing reveals the contents of this Renaissance piece of furniture, sculpted, inlaid with marquetry work and decorated at its corners with the arms of the Houses of Denmark and Brunswick Lüneburg. Its dimensions are relatively modest, about 2.5 min length, 0.9 m depth and only 3.6 m height. Nothing would lead one to suppose at first glance that this is a musical instrument. Concerning the technical skills of the organbuilder in managing to mount an organ of 27 stops in such a small space it is possible that the case was constructed before the instrument and not the contrary. A unique set of keys muse be used to reveal all the instrument's princely splendour. The naturals of the manual keyboards, the pedalboard notes as well as the pipes of the Principal, are all inlaid with ivory. The decorated fronts of the keys and the heads of the register drawstops are of solid silver. The facade is surmounted by allegorical scenes, in polychrome and gilded. Numerous types of wood, some of them rare, were used in the construction of the case and the instrument. The pipes themselves were made following a remarkable and unusual technique. This instrument is a witness to the intense and fruitful cooperation between Michael Praetorius and his friend Esaias Compenius in the same way as the second part of the Syntagma Musicum dedicated to the organ (De Organographia 1613) which they edited together and the fascicule Orgel Verdingnis from which one can learn to tesl: the qualities of a new organ.
Transfer of the organ
to Frederiksborg castle
The contention that Duchess Elisabeth, who had been widowed, gifted the organ in 1616 to her brother king Christian IV of Denmark, has not been proved. Praetorius only writes in the Syntagma Musicum II (p.189) that "the organ was at that time held in high esteem by the king of Denmark, being installed in the chapel of Frederiksborg castle". Christian IV had occasion to discover and admire this organ during a visit to Central Germany around 1616. It is certain that he could have thought such an instrument would be welcome in the context of the considerable artistic development which he was carrying out at his court. So it was
that in 1617 eight people, including Esaias Compenius, left Hessen to transport the instrument to Denmark. The journey was made with horse-drawn vehicles as far as Lubeck and then embarcation on boats heading for Copenhagen. There were still 25 kilometres to be covered before reaching Hilleröd where the royal palace of Frederiksborg is situated.
The instrument, though it was not conceived as a church organ, is installed
in the castle chapel. Esaias Compenius did not return to Germany because he fell ill and died that same year of 1617 at Hilleröd where he was buried. Later the organ was moved to the knights' great hall where it was used for dances. King Christian IV had indeed observed it being used for this purpose at the court of Brunswick. During the course of this removal a document in Latin co-signed by Compenius and Praetorius was found inside the organ. It recounts the history of the construction of the instrument and asserts that duke Heinrich Julius had the idea for this particular project and ensured the financing, that Michael Praetorius directed the works and that Esaias Compenius was its designer and constructor. There is also a canon in 6 parts written by Praetorius Mea Spes Christus Jesus. A copy of the document in Latin was provided as well as a translation into German and Danish. Deposited in the Danish archives these copies have come down to us, but unfortunately the organ was again moved, this time to the castle of Frederiksberg near Copenhagen. The instrument was not finally returned to the castle of Frederiksborg until 1868. This late return saved it from destruction because in 1859 a fire ravaged a part of the castle including the great hall where the organ had been placed.
In 1894 Aristide Cavaille-Coll supplied a report for a restoration. Aware of the
value of the instrument the restorers undertook careful work, perhaps for the first time in the world, following deontological principles because a historic monument was involved. Thus the organ of the chapel of the castle of Frederiksborg is considered to be the most important example of organbuilding at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
The last restoration took place between 1985 and 1988 and was conducted
by two organbuilders of extreme ability, Jurgen Ahrend of Leer/Loga, Germany, and Mads Kjersgaard from Uppsala, Sweden. On this occasion Mads Kjersgaard discovered stuck under the lid of the largest pipe of the Gedackt Floiten Bass 16' a block of wood in three parts. A manuscript text from Esaias Compenius tells us here that the organ was made in Wolfenbüttel, installed in the castle of Ulrich (1591-1634), his nephew, in thanks for his military aid during the siege of the city of Brunswick. The war between Wolfenbüttel and Brunswick came to a close in 1616 with the Erbhuldigung or hereditary homage permitted to Friedrich Julius, which till then had been denied to his father Heinrich Julius. For the celebration of this act in the st Blasii cathedral in Brunswick a "beautiful and agreeable musical composition by Michael Praetorius" was performed.
The block of wood glued by Compenius inside the Gedackt pipe is a puzzle. It was installed when the organ was re-erected to correct the height of a pipe which did not sound properly. At Hessen the same pipe gave the right note for the same length. Esaias Compenius wrote on the second piece of wood his incomprehension of this phenomenon: "Give me some basic reasons for this" (Sage mir
einer fudamentaliter gewisse Rationes).
It is almost miraculous that the instrument has come down to us in its original state.
Besides the quality of its construction the fact that the pipes are of wood means that they are less likely to undergo modifications than metal pipes and this is probably one of the reasons.The organ has always escaped disasters which could have been fatal to it. If it had stayed in the castle of Hessen it would not have survived the Thirty Years' War which severely damaged the building.
What is to be the musical
approach to such an instrument?
Just as the organ in the castle of Gröningen remains an the enigma from the point of view of its rich composition so the true "sound laboratory" which is formed by the wooden pipes of which the Compenius instrument is constructed leaves us also rather mystified. The expert report on the organ of Groningen castle, produced in 1705 by Andreas Werckmeister, the organist of the Martinikirche in Halberstadt, states that the instrument has faults in its winding, especially when the organo pleno is played, or when all the reeds are used and mixed with the diapasons. Unfortunately it is impossible for us to verify this assertion but concerning the use of the Compenius organ this concept of a fault seems completely relative. Everyone agrees that the design and construction of the instrument in Frederiksborg caftle are perfect, however combining the registers produces unpleasant surprises when the best usage is not followed. It soon becomes apparent that many combinations do not work, notably those with the 8' and 4' reeds on the first manual or one using too many labial stops with reeds. The notion of using registers imitating the instrumental consort should remain the rule so as to obtain harmonious combinations. This rule is very distant from the musical concerns of the eighteenth century. There is no doubt that the consort approach is the only one which permits an instrument like the one in Frederiksborg caftle to sound well.
While its rich specification invites us to look for subtle combinations,
the question has to be asked do we know what literature is best adapted to this
tonal world. It is certain that for a musician at the beginning of the seventeenth century the best reply to the question lies
in the practice of improvisation. It is not a question of finding a registration which is
suitable for this or that verse but on the
contrary of spontaneously improvising music destined to magnify an acoustic
combination. The programme of trans
criptions interpreted in this recording was conceived following the same prin
ciple because the tonal ideas have often influenced the choice of verses to be transcribed. This approach also allows such a special inftrument to be encountered with a certain detachment concer
ning playing habits and reflexes acquired during performing the main repertoire. Thus transcription, a completely different
form of creation, implies a spiritual collaboration with the composer beyond time and allows a true communion with the instrument. The Esaias Compenius organ, which can be compared to no other, can be seen as a sort of tonal inventory of the Renaissance spirit. But looking towards the future in its specification the organ, an exact contemporary of Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also allows us to experiment in the style of the works of Michael Praetorius, the inventions of early Baroque (cantus firmus, ornamented accompanied melody, etc). In the Syntagma Musicum the words of Michael Praetorius also invite us to to abandon a context which is fixed, habitual and known. During the course of his description of the organ in Hessen castle he confesses to the feebleness of words in qualifying the sounds of the instrument and he writes "its sonority so strange, soft, sweet, subtle and delicate could not in truth be described". In this unusual and slightly magical context the message delivered by those who conceived this
"laboratory of sound" seem to come close to the spiritual maxim noted by Bach in
the Musical Offering: quaerendo invenietis
(in seeking you shall find).
Jean-Charles Ablitzer
Translation: Andrew Henry Williams