Cover feature A Symphonic Organ in the Cradle mixtures that add brilliance and clarity to of the Symphony the contrapuntal lines of the music with- The new Rieger Organ in the out ever becoming overbearing or harsh. Golden Hall of the Music Society The organ’s copious reed stops made it in Vienna possible for Lohmann to select ones that, in the Germanic tradition, added color Introduction while retaining the music’s transparency For centuries, Vienna, the capital of and lightness of texture. The direct ac- Austria, has been regarded by many as tion and responsiveness of the mechani- Europe’s music capital. It is here that cal console allowed the organist to artic- the symphony was developed as a musi- ulate his playing in a way that suited the cal form by composers such as Haydn, Baroque style admirably. Mozart, and Beethoven. So pervasive Martin Haselböck, internationally was the symphony in the development of known as conductor of performances Western art music that it not only domi- on original instruments with the Wiener nated creative music-making until well Akademie, recitalist and organ professor, into the 20th century, but also worldwide led the audience into the Romantic era became the most common adjective de- with Franz Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on scribing orchestras and concert halls. It B.A.C.H. This piece enabled him to dem- is also used to denote a style of organ- onstrate the organ’s symphonic versatility building that developed towards the end and ability to swell in sound from the soft- of the 19th century, when organs were est whisper to the point where it convinc- often used as substitutes for orchestras, ingly fi lls the hall. Playing from the de- and organ recitals in secular venues usu- tached console on stage, Haselböck made ally included orchestral transcriptions. the audience forget that a few moments With the fortunes of fashion being cycli- earlier they had been listening to a superb cal, the merits of symphonic organs were Baroque sound, as they were introduced queried in the mid-20th century, often to rich foundation stops, impressive cho- by their detractors. However, in recent rus reeds, and convincing string-toned years, one has come to realize that their colors. The full organ’s sound, based on salient qualities can be combined suc- a foundation of 32′ stops, resonated ma- cessfully with more traditional organ jestically around the hall as the exciting elements to create instruments of great piece came to its conclusion. versatility, warmth and beauty. Such an The next recitalist, Gillian Weir, the organ has just been installed in Vienna, doyenne of English organists, who was the birthplace of the symphony. honored for her contributions to organ Vienna is also the city in which the music with the title Dame Commander performance of music was fi rst democ- of the British Empire in 1996, illustrat- ratized. In 1812, as a result of coopera- ed convincingly how the new organ ac- tion between citizens and the nobility, commodates challenging 20th-century the Society of the Friends of Music was repertoire by playing Olivier Messiaen’s founded, through which a platform was “Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le created for performing concerts by any- ciel” from L’Ascension and “Dieu parmi one for everyone. Previously, secular nous” from La Nativité du Seigneur. concerts of this nature had primarily Her use, amongst others, of the Swell been restricted to stately homes, so this reeds—with their leaning towards the was the start of Vienna’s world-renowned Gallic tradition—lent authenticity to this civic musical life, and of a tradition that challenging music, as did her judicious continues to fl ourish. choice of mutations for solo passages. A major step along this civic cultural Olivier Latry, professor at the Paris road was the building of the Music Soci- Conservatoire and titular organist of ety’s concert hall in 1870 on ground that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, had become available following the de- Mechanical console played Alexandre-Pierre-François Boë- molition of the old city walls. The archi- ly’s Fantasy and Fugue in B Major and tect of this building, known locally as the the fi rst and last movements of Charles- Musikverein, was Theophil Hansen, who Marie Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 5 also created other impressive civic build- in F Minor. His faultless and seemingly ings along the famous Ring Road that re- effortless renderings of these demand- placed the demolished fortifi cations. ing works enchanted the audience. The The Musikverein is an imposing set of variations contained in Widor’s fi rst building in neoclassical style that houses movement gave the capacity audience of a number of facilities, amongst which is more than 2,000 further insights into the the Grand Hall that many regard as Eu- kaleidoscopic tonal variety attainable rope’s most acoustically perfect concert from the new Rieger organ. hall. It is also undoubtedly one of the The state-of-the-art technology of the most beautiful. Its rich decorations and playing aids, available on both consoles, abundant gilding are opulent, yet not of which more is said below, made it overbearing, resulting in the hall being easy to accommodate the diverse needs referred to colloquially as the Golden of the fi ve organists, who followed each Hall. At the rear of the stage, Han- other at the consoles in quick succession. sen designed an organ case that visually The listener was also left with a sense of forms the hall’s focal point, with a design admiration for the way in which the or- derived from the form of a Greek tem- gan’s stops have been scaled and voiced. ple. Behind this historic façade, a com- The choice of pipe scales has resulted in pletely new organ has been installed by the sound having suffi cient fundamental the leading Austrian organbuilding fi rm, tone for what is a very large hall, even Rieger Orgelbau (www.rieger-orgelbau. when fi lled to capacity, without becom- com); the festive inaugural concert took Electric console (mobile) ing turgid; care has also been taken to place on March 26, 2011 in the presence balance the constituent stops of the of leaders of the Austrian state, church, soloist, i.e., a symphonic organ; but also presented a brilliant improvisation to various choruses to ensure the seamless and civil society. This magnifi cent instru- one that would do justice to the ‘classical’ illustrate a selection of colors from the blending of their individual components. ment complements the fame and beauty organ literature. For these reasons, the organ’s vast tonal palette. Being sym- Furthermore, the voicing has resulted in of its setting and is a fi ne addition to the organ was, among other things, to have phonic in character, the organ has a rich clean, clear speech and a remarkable pu- musical infrastructure of a city that is al- two consoles—one mobile that could variety of possibilities, ranging from rity and evenness in tonal quality. ready, world-wide, at the apogee of civic be placed amongst the members of the the delicately soft to the majestic, and music activity. orchestra, and a second, with tracker ac- including an array of solo stops—fl utes, Tonal design tion, on the cantilevered balcony above reeds and mutations. As mentioned above, the tonal design Inaugural concert the orchestra. The second performer was Ludger of the new organ is essentially symphon- The inaugural concert was played by Following the formalities by the Soci- Lohmann, professor of organ and ca- ic. This term implies tonal warmth from the fi ve leading European organists, who, ety’s dignitaries, including a speech by the thedral organist in Stuttgart, who gave an a wealth of foundation stops, adequate together with two offi cials of the Music president of Rieger, Wendelin Eberle, the impressive rendering of J. S. Bach’s Toc- numbers of which are string toned, a di- Society, had formed the committee that music-making began. A fanfare by brass cata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major, BWV versity of colors, including imitations of had awarded the contract to Rieger and players from the Vienna Symphony Or- 564, using the attached mechanical- orchestral instruments, a wide volume overseen the project. chestra symbolically heralded the King of action console. This work demonstrated range, and smooth crescendi and diminu- Given the organ’s signifi cant and Instruments into the Golden Hall, there the beauty of the ‘classical’ diapason endi. However, this style of organbuild- prominent location, this committee had to be enthroned above the stage. choruses that form the foundation of this ing, stemming from the Romantic period, specifi ed a versatile instrument whose The fi rst recitalist was Peter Plan- organ, and combine effortlessly with its is also associated with less favorable char- primary focus was for use together with yavsky, former organist of St. Stephan’s symphonic nature. The principal stops of acteristics, viz. tonal qualities that obscure orchestras, both as an instrument within Cathedral in Vienna and professor at the these choruses blend admirably to form part-playing in contrapuntal music, inade- the orchestral ensemble and as orchestral Vienna Music University. Planyavsky one sound and are crowned by glorious quate primary organ tone, i.e., insuffi cient 30 THE DIAPASON Sept 2011 pp. 30-32.indd 30 8/10/11 9:52:40 AM Stop tabs constructed to link the two levels, those position of the Hauptwerk, raised above from the Orchesterwerk swell box appro- the stage, allows this important division priately being fi tted with swell shutters.