A “Bach organ” for Riga
On the gallery of Riga's Dome Cathedral stands one of the world's largest and most beautiful romantic organs, built by the Walcker organ workshop (Ludwigsburg) in 1884.
The organ landscape of Riga is missing an organ that can reproduce the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers of the 17th and 18th centuries in the contemporary tonal language. For this reason, many large European churches have two or more organs with different tonal characteristics.
A new organ with a special baroque sound is now to be built in the southern aisle of the cathedral as an instrument for church services, concerts and choral singing.
In a letter of recommendation (1748), Johann Sebastian Bach expressed great esteem for the organ builder Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708–1795) from Halle an der Saale. In 1763, Contius built a baroque organ for the Church of St. Jacob in Riga, of which only the baroque façade remains today. The baroque organ was replaced by a romantic instrument.
In addition to the organ in St. Jakobi, H.A. Contius also built the organs in Liepāja, in Valmiera and in the Reformed Church in Riga. He also worked on the old organ that stood in front of the Walcker instrument in the cathedral. In Liepāja and in the large Riga Cathedral organ, many of Contius's pipes are still preserved, providing a good basis for rebuilding a baroque organ in his style.
H.A. Contius's teacher was the Brandenburg organ builder Joachim Wagner (a student of the famous Gottfried Silbermann). Contius worked in Wagner's workshop for seven years.
The design of the new ‘Bach organ’ is therefore visually based (with all the decorative work) on the organs of Contius's teacher Wagner and tonally on the still-existing organ registers of H. A. Contius.
Picture on the right: Historical drawing of the baroque organ for the church of St. Jakobi in Riga
The plan is to create a magnificent-sounding organ with 38 stops on 2 manuals and pedal, which will give the church services and concerts a special baroque tonal colour.
The cantatas of J.S. Bach and other baroque ensemble music by contemporary and modern composers can be performed with this new Bach organ in the lower part of the church, close to the listening visitors.
