Arp Schnitger

Arp Schnitger (born July 2, 1648 in Schmalenfleth, buried July 28, 1719) was a highly influential German organ builder. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, where a number of his instruments survive to the present day; his organs can also be found as far away as Portugal and Brazil.

Notable examples still in use include the organ at St. Pancratiuskirche, Neuenfelde, Hamburg [1] (completed in 1688, his largest two-manual instrument); St. Jacobikirche, Hamburg (perhaps the most famous surviving Schnitger organ, completed in 1693)[2]; St. Martinikerk, Groningen, the Netherlands (1692)[3]; St. Ludgerikirche, Norden (1688)[4]; St. Cosmae und Damianikirche, Stade (Schnitger's first organ, completed in 1676 after the death of his teacher Berendt Huss)[5]; St. Peter und Paulkirche, Cappel (perhaps the most authentic of Schnitger's organs still in existence, originally in the Johanniskirche, Hamburg, 1680)[6]; and St. Michaeliskerk, Zwolle, the Netherlands (completed by his son Franz Caspar after Schnitger's death)[7]. Organs like this are credited with inspiring the renaissance in organ building during the early twentieth century, with a return to tracker action and smaller, more cohesive instruments, as distinct from the late-Romantic trend of extremely large symphonic organs. In particular, the organ at the Jacobikirche, Hamburg, played a pivotal role in the organ reform movement beginning in 1925, as a series of conferences taking place at historical organ sites in Germany and Alsace was inaugurated there.

The importance of Schnitger to the history of organ building cannot be overestimated. Schnitger was one of the most prolific builders of his time, completing more than 150 instruments and running several shops. His organ designs typify the essential North German organ: multiple divisions, usually with a rückpositif (division on the gallery rail, behind the player's back); large, independent pedal divisions, often placed in towers on either side of the main case; well-developed principal choruses in each division with abundant reeds, flutes, and mutation stops; and meantone temperament. All of these features could be found on North German organs prior to Schnitger's activity; Schnitger's genius lay in his ability to synthesize these elements into a prototypical style of organ building, and in his prolific output. The latter was made possible by his good business sense: Schnitger was one of the first builders to use cost-cutting measures on a large scale to ensure the affordability of organs for small village churches.

Many of Schnitger's landmark instruments were actually rebuilds or expansions of existing organs (as at St. Jacobikirche, Hamburg, a renovation and enlargement of an earlier instrument by Fritzsche, 1635). Often, the expansion of the pedal division required the addition of pedal towers on either side of the case. This feature has come to be one of the most-typically associated with the North German style, despite the fact that a majority of smaller organs did not have pedal towers.

A number of Schnitger's organs were featured on recordings by E. Power Biggs, who is generally credited with reintroducing them to modern listeners. More recently, Schnitger's organs can be heard on several recordings by German organist Harald Vogel. Schnitger's instruments in Groningen, Uithuisen, Nordbroek and Nieuw Scheemda were featured in the documentary Martinikerk Rondeau, in which Jurgen Ahrend, Cor Edskes and Bernhardt Edskes detail Schnitger's life and demonstrate his working methods. Schnitger's organs have also served as inspiration for many modern builders; GOArt, a Swedish organ building consortium, has even gone so far as to build an exact copy of a Schnitger organ for research purposes.

Surviving Schnitger organs

year	town	church	picture	manuals	stops	original by Schnitger
1668–75/88	Stade (D)	St. Cosmae et Damiani		III/P	42	case, prospect, 35 stops (8 partly)
1677–79	Bülkau (D)	St. John the Baptist		I	10 (?)	case, prospect; today II/P/22
1678–79/1709	Jork (D)	St. Matthias		III/P	35	case, prospect; today II/P/22
1680	Cappel (D)	St. Peter and Paul		II/P	30	case, prospect, 18 stops, 10 other old stops re-used by Schnitger
1678–82	Oederquart (D)	St. Johannis		III/p	28	case, prospect; today II/P/17
1682–83	Lüdingworth (D)	St. Jacobi		III/P	35	case, prospect, 14 stops (complete or partly), much old pipework reused by Schnitger (half of the organ)
1684	Elmshorn (D)	St. Nicolai		II/P	23	case; today III/P/33
1686	Hamburg-Bergstedt (D)	Ev. Church		I	8	case, 2-3 stops
1687	Blankenhagen (D)	Village Church		II/p	12	case, 4-5 stops
1687	Steinkirchen (D)	St. Nicolai et Martini		II/P	28	case, prospect, 13 stops, 8 other partly
1683–88	Hamburg-Neuenfelde (D)	St. Pankratius		II/P	34	case, prospect, 18 stops
1688	Mittelnkirchen (D)	St. Bartholomäus		II/p	22	6-8 stops; today II/P/32
1688–90	Hollern (D)	St. Mauritius		II/P	24	case, prospect, 13 stops (complete or partly)
1686–88/1691–92	Norden (D)	St. Ludgeri		III/P	46	case, 13 stops, 8 old stops reused by Schnitger
1691–92	Groningen (NL)	Martinikerk		III/P	53	case of the pedal, prospect, 6 stops, other old stops reused by Schnitger; today III/P/52
1689–93	Hamburg (D)	St. Jacobi		IV/P	60	43 stops (complete or partly), some reused by Schnitger → Schnitger organ (Hamburg)
1693	Groningen (NL)	Pelstergasthuiskerk		II/p	20	case, 2 register (7 partly)
1693	Eutin (D)	castle		I	9	case
1693–94	Grasberg (D)	Luth. Church		II/P	21	case, 14 stops
1695–96	Noordbroek (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II/P	20	case, 10-11 stops; today II/P/24
1695–96	Harkstede (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		I	7	case, prospect, 5 stops; today I/p/9 (10)
1696–97	Peize (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II/P	22	case, prospect, 4-6 stops, old stops reused by Schnitger
1697–98	Strückhausen (D)	St. Johannes		II/p	12	case of the Hauptwerk, 2 stops; today II/P/15
1697–98	Dedesdorf (D)	St. Laurentius		II/p	12	case of the manuals, 10 stops; today II/P/18
1697–98	Golzwarden (D)	St. Bartholomäus		II/P	20	case; today II/P/22
1699	Nieuw-Scheemda (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		I/p	8	case, 4-6 stops
1696–99	Mensingeweer (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		I	9	case, prospekt, 6 stops
1699	Ganderkesee (D)	St. Cyprian und Cornelius		II/p	16	case, prospect, 9 stops; today II/P/22
1700–01	Uithuizen (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II/P	28	case, 19 stops, 6 others partly
1701	Maia, Portugal	Monastery Church San Salvador	[8]	II	12	case, 11 stops
1701	Mariana, Minas Gerais (Brazil)	Cathedral Nossa Senhora da Assunção		II/p	18	case, prospect, 14 stops (complete or partly); probably by Schnitger's co-worker Heinrich Hullenkampf
1701	Faro, Portugal	Cathedral		II	22	probably by Schnitger's co-worker Heinrich Hullenkampf
1699–1702	Clausthal-Zellerfeld (D)	St. Salvatoris		III/P	55	case; today II/P/29
1700–02	Groningen (NL)	Der Aa-kerk		III/P	32	case, prospect, ca. 13 stops, 10 old stops reused by Schnitger; today III/P/40
1702	Estebrügge (D)	St. Martin		II/P	34	case
1704	Eenum (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		I	10	case, prospect, 4-6 stops; today I/p/10
1704	Godlinze (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II/p (?)	16	case, prospect, 8-9 stops; today I/p/12
1705	Accum (D)	St. Willehad		II/p	14	case
1707–08	Lenzen (D)	St. Katharinen		II/P	27	case partly, 2-3 stops
1707–08	Hamburg-Ochsenwerder (D)	St. Pankratius		II/P	30	case, prospect, 5-11 stops; today II/P/24
1709–10	Weener (D)	St.-Georg		II/p	22	case, 6 stops; today II/P/29
1710–11	Pellworm (D)	Old Church		II/P	24	case, 11 stops (complete or partly)
1710–11	Sneek (NL)	Grote of Martinikerk		III/P	36	case, prospect, 10 stops (complete or partly)
1711	Ferwert (NL)	Hervormde Kerk		II/P	26	5 stops
1710–13	Abbehausen (D)	St. Laurentius		II/P	24	case, prospect, 2 stops
1714–16	Rendsburg (D)	Christuskirche		II/P	29	case, 4 stops; today IV/P/51
1715–19	Itzehoe (D)	St. Laurentii		IV/P	43	case, prospect; today IV/P/58
1719–21	Zwolle (NL)	Grote of Sint-Michaëlskerk		IV/P	64	case, main part of the stops; finished by the sons Franz Caspar Schnitger and Johann Georg Schnitger

See also

• Pipe organ
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Dieterich Buxtehude
• North German Organ School

References

• Peggy Kelley Reinburg (1982). Arp Schnitger, organ builder; catalyst for the centuries. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-30927-3. 

External links

• Organs of Arp Schnitger
• Arp Schnitger, Organ Builder – Organ Itinerary. In Google Earth Community.
• http://www.schnitgerorgel.de
• http://www.fuguestatefilms.co.uk/martinikerk