Orgelbau Th. Kuhn AG, 1985
New organ
www.orgelbau.ch/ope=112920
III/P/44
Switzerland, Zurich
Ref. Bühlkirche Wiedikon
Restoration or new organ?
Instead of extending the historic Wiedikon school and prayer house (built in 1789/91) at its existing location, it was decided to construct a completely new building on the «Bühl», one of the nearby moraine hills. The church was built in 1895/96 by the Basel architect Paul Reber (1835-1908) and the school building by the Zurich town builder Arnold Geiser. The church is Neo-Gothic, built of bricks and in the form of a cross. This, the preferred form of the time, is characterised by the former intersection of the nave forming a central area from which the four arms of the cross extend out. The former main aisle contracts to one of the four arms. The arm of the cross which was once the choir is separated on the ground floor by a pulpit wall (behind lies the vestry or schoolroom), whilst in the upper storey a musicians' gallery for organ, choir and orchestra opens up above the pulpit.
After various well-meaning «purifications» to the Bühlkirche which took place over the years, in 1983/84 a restoration was carried out which gave the building back its original character and colouring.
Straight after its inauguration on November 29th 1896, the church received its first organ in 1897. As Opus 154 of the Lucerne company Friedrich Goll, the instrument (III/P/33) which came to stand on the gallery above the pulpit wall was of appropriate size and typical of the time, constructed with pneumatic membrane chests.
After a history of modifications, enlargements and part electrification, the future of the organ was called into question during the church restorations of 1983/4. The wish of the musicians and specialists was clear: a new, fully mechanical slider windchest organ should be built for the church. The idea of returning the instrument to its original state of 1897 was dismissed. The time was not yet ripe for the restoration of a pneumatic organ. The Neo-Gothic case, in keeping with the architectural context, was, of course, to remain. The decision to adhere to a basic Romantic character in the organ's specification was also met with general approval. As many as possible of Friedrich Goll's high quality foundation stops were to remain. Out of the 44 sounding stops of the new organ, 27 are old, 5 incorporate old pipework and 12 are new. Among the new ranks are also a number of Romantic stops (for example, a free-reed Clarinette 8 ' and a Harmonica Bass 16 ' string stop). Even though the action is mechanical, the organist also has a capture system at his/her disposal.
Friedrich Jakob, 2006
Translation: SJR