Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd, 2016

Restoration

Organ built by
Nikolaus Rummel d. Ä., 1746
Windchests
slider chests
Key action
mechanical
Stop action
mechanical
Inauguration
20.05.2018
Voicing
Gunter Böhme


www.orgelbau.ch/ope=801660

Wilhering

I/P/9

Austria, Upper Austria
Zisterzienserstift, Chororgel

© pictures Orgelbau Kuhn AG, Männedorf/Schweiz

Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd, 2016

Restoration

Organ built by
Nikolaus Rummel d. Ä., 1746
Windchests
slider chests
Key action
mechanical
Stop action
mechanical
Inauguration
20.05.2018
Voicing
Gunter Böhme

The chancel organ of the collegiate church, Wilhering

After the catastrophic fire in 1733, when the church and a large part of the abbey buildings were destroyed, a new abbey church was built which has been preserved up to the present day. It would be hard to surpass in richness and wealth of colour the architectural unity of the magnificent Rococo interior, with its creative integration of the organ case of the main and chancel organs.

The main organ was built in 1741, by Johann Ignatius Egedacher, followed in 1746 by the chancel organ. The chancel organ was built by Nikolaus Rummel the Elder (1708-1794). As a journeyman he had travelled from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Linz. We don't know where he stopped along the way. It is presumed that among other places Rummel spent some time in the workshop of Franz Anton Richter (1688-1765) in Brno. The case of his organ for the parish church of St. Peter in der Au (now in the parish church of St. Georg zu Pürgg) displays similarities with the Brno workshop.

The chancel organ was installed as a counterpart to the pulpit. The curved and richly decorated case was, like the pulpit, created by stuccoers from Augsburg. This particular form of the chancel organ can also be found in other Cistercian churches, such as the collegiate churches of Zwettl Abbey and Lilienfeld Abbey.

A special enthusiast of this organ was Anton Bruckner, who frequently played the organ of Wilhering.

Our restoration had to respect the state of the organ as it had evolved. Therefore, we reviewed the whole instrument. In our workshop, in order to render the
windchest airtight it was partly filled with glue which was immediately poured out again. The windchest was then refitted with leather glands and lead conveyances. All components that were worn out or damaged by worms and consequently no longer operating were replaced in line with the restoration.

One question posed by our restoration concerned the Alba 8 ' stop, which was not considered original and had for that reason been removed in the period 1951 to 1953.

With our inventory of the pipework and documentation of all the markings we were able to furnish proof that the ink writing on the block of this stop was the same handwriting as on all the original pipes - the confirmation of Rummel's authorship. Rummel himself, when working on the organ in 1771 - as substantiated by the files - installed this wooden stop instead of the metal pipes previously in place. We were able to reconstruct this particular stop on the basis of earlier descriptions and by assessing the relative positions on the windchest.

We are specially pleased when such a component part takes its place in the everyday life of the church; we were able ourselves to experience just how well the Alba is suited to daily choral prayers.

Translation: RS 2018