Orgelbau Th. Kuhn AG, 1965
Restoration
www.orgelbau.ch/ope=800200
I/Pa/6
Switzerland, Valais
Waldkapelle
What is probably the earliest Valais organ surviving in its original state will be found in the sostyled forest chapel above Visperterminen. This is a pilgrimage chapel of the Visitation of Mary, situated in an idyllic spot at the end of a steep Way of the Cross lined with wayside chapels. For a long time the organ's history was unclear because a folding door of the organ case bears the year 1619 but the chapel was only founded in 1652. It was Rudolf Bruhin who came up with a credible answer to this paradox and, as so often, heraldry provided a clue. For above the year 1619 can be seen a sponsor's coat-of-arms. They belong to Johann In Albon, the feudal landlord of Visp who died on 4 July 1619. Probably the organ was originally endowed to the Visp parish church, either as a bequest from the landlord or as a memorial tribute by his heirs. There is no date for its later removal to the forest chapel, but 1749 (the creation of the present Way of the Cross) an 1818 (the installation of a new organ in Visp parish church) are two possibilities. When the chapel underwent a complete restoration in 1965, the organ was meticulously restored by the firm of Kuhn of Männedorf-Zurich.
The paintwork on the folding doors is on a stretched canvas with a wooden frame. When open, the doors show the Annunciation with Mary and the dove of the Holy Ghost on the left, the angel with God the Father on the right. When the doors are closed John the Baptist is visible on the left, the Apostle Paul on the right. The sponsor's arms and the date 1619 are on the exterior of the door on the left. The range of the manual keyboard is from C to a'', with the short octave and no g sharp ''. This was usual in the late 16th and early 17th centuries: it is exactly the same on the canopy organ in the Rhaetian Museum at Chur. The pedal keyboard is simply attached to the manual and may be a later addition. There are two quintuple wedge-bellows on the right-hand side of the organ. These are operated with a tackle and supply a wind pressure of 40 mm WS.
One respect in which the organ departs from the normal positive disposition is the «Vox Mele» stop, a term which cannot be traced elsewhere and for which there is no clear explanation. It may indicate a «mixed stop», because it is a stopped 2' flute from C to b and open 4' flute from c'.