The organ of St. Martin is located in the Lutheran city parish church of St. Martin's Church, Memmingen, in the Upper Swabian town of Memmingen, Bavaria, Germany. The church itself is a three-aisled hall church begun around 1325 and completed around 1500. It serves as the main church of the Evangelical Lutheran Deanery of Memmingen. The building has housed an organ for over 500 years.
The present instrument was built in 1998 by Goll Orgelbau of Lucerne and is conceived in the tradition of the French symphonic organ of the late 19th century, particularly the style of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. It is used regularly for services, concerts, masterclasses, and recordings.
History
Late Gothic Organ The first organ in St. Martin was mentioned for the first time in 1453,Anzahl der Pfeifen Friedrich Döderlein (Ed.): Memminger Chronik des Friedrich Clauß. Memmingen 1894. acquired around 1400 and installed at the earliest in 1420, after the completion of the main nave,Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Die Orgeln von St. Martin in Memmingen. In memory of Walter Braun (1905–1977). In: Memminger Geschichtsblätter 1987/1988. Memminger Zeitung Verlagsdruckerei, 1990, ISSN 0539-2896, p. 8. on a swallow’s-nest gallery on the southern wall of the high nave. Access was via a small stair turret at the front southern porch. The bellows were presumably located above the side aisle in a chamber. The organ was probably built as a Blockwerk with a separately playable Principal. During the subsequent construction work in St. Martin, it did not need to be altered. The chronicler Jakob Friederich Unold reports that the organ was first played in the worship service in 1478.
The first Kantor was presumably Friedrich Rebmann from Mainz. In 1500 the city appointed, until further notice, the organist Albrecht Fischer, who was responsible for the organs in St. Martin and in the second city parish church, Unser Frauen. He was paid twelve pounds and ten shillings each Quatember (quarter tense/Ember days), but had to pay the calcants himself. In 1528 the organ was removed in the course of the Reformation in Memmingen, which at that time was oriented toward Ulrich Zwingli and his reformatory iconoclasm. However, the evangelical clergy of St. Martin wanted to shape the worship service again with organ music, which is why in 1568 they made do with a positive. Its location at that time is unknown.Günther Bayer: Memmingen in historischen Bildern. Memminger Zeitung, Memmingen 1983, ISBN 3-9800649-1-3, pp. 119.
New construction by Andreas Schneider 1598/1599
Since the iconoclasm of the Reformation period, the imperial city of Memmingen no longer possessed a representative organ. After the pastors of the two city parish churches had repeatedly but unsuccessfully campaigned since 1550 for the acquisition of a new, large instrument, the council – which had governed the churches since the Reformation – relented in 1597. It commissioned Andreas Schneider from Lower Lusatia, who was active as an organ builder in Ulm, to build a new organ. Schneider, who lived in the city with his journeymen during the construction period 1598/1599, received 5,000 guilders for his work. The organ was erected on the swallow’s-nest gallery of its predecessor. The case was richly gilded and decorated with carvings and many angel heads. On the central tower the case bore a statue of King David, which today stands on the balustrade of the Goll organ. On the lids of the organ case were portraits of the mayors Hartlieb, Keller and Funk, the parish administrator, and several other persons. The paintings were presumably attached to the balustrade panels of the Rückpositiv. The wing doors bore Old Testament scenes.
After completion, the Fugger court organist Hans Leo Haßler declared the organ on 21 November 1599 to be “successful.” Two years later, however, defects were discovered that Schneider was able to remedy. In 1681 Johannes Riegg repaired the organ. The following inscription could be read on a façade pipe: “Johannes Riegg, organ maker and organist there, renov. the organ work in Memmingen on the 1st hay month 1681.”Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Die Orgeln von St. Martin in Memmingen. In memoriam Walter Braun (1905–1977). In: Memminger Geschichtsblätter 1987/1988. Memminger Zeitung Verlagsdruckerei, 1990, ISSN 0539-2896, p. 13. Riegg presumably made no changes to the sound and merely repaired the mechanism, though in doing so he damaged the instrument more than he repaired it.Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Die Orgeln von St. Martin in Memmingen. In memoriam Walter Braun (1905–1977). In: Memminger Geschichtsblätter 1987/1988. Memminger Zeitung Verlagsdruckerei, 1990, ISSN 0539-2896, pp. 13/14. Based on a study by Gabler preserved in the city archives. The disposition of that time has not survived. In comparison with other Riegg instruments, especially the one in Ulm Minster and the later reworkings, it was presumably laid out as follows:Quoted from Ludwig Mayr: Memminger Geschichtsblätter. Volume 14, No. 1, 1928, p. 5. Masterwork C–c3Principal8′Coupler8′Hollow pipe8′Fifth tones8′Octave4′Rim pipe4′Sharps pipe4′Fifth3′Super octave2′Horn IIMixed IV1′Cymbalum IV1⁄2′Trumpet8′TremulantPositive organ C–c3Principal4′Coupler4′Octave2′Sharps pipe2′Fifth1 1⁄2′Mixed IV1′Cymbalum II 1⁄2′Brass horn4′TremulantPedal C–h1Great principal16′Octave bass8′Great principal4′Harp IV4′Trombone bass8′
Playing aids: Stop valves for the Great and the Swell.
In 1656, city architect Knoll built a bridge-like or rood screen-like gallery between the triumphal arch at the choir entrance and the first pair of pillars, presumably as a place for singers and instrumentalists who played alone or together with the organ, since the swallow's nest did not offer enough space for a larger number of people. It also made sense to distribute musicians across several galleries for the performance practice of polyphonic music, which was popular at the time. Until 1827, this gallery also housed a small organ, which was later moved to the children's teaching church and used there until 1874. It was probably built by master organ builder Siegmund Riegg.
The disposition was:Johannes Hoyer: Wo man die Musik pflanzet. Materialien zur Memminger Stadtgeschichte, Reihe B: Forschungen. Ed.: Stadtarchiv Memmingen, 2001, ISSN 1438-7336 Manual C–c3Coupler8′ WoodPrincipal4′ TinFlute4′ WoodCymbal2′ TinSalicional2' TinMixed3′ Tin Repair by Gabler 1759
After Riegg’s inadequate repair, Joseph Gabler was commissioned in 1758 to carry out another restoration, which lasted 15 months. Gabler also overhauled the organs in the Latin school and in the Collegium musicum. The three restorations together had been budgeted at 400 guilders, but ultimately cost 1,500 guilders, of which the city paid 1,080. Two months later, at Gabler’s request, the council paid an additional 30 guilders. During the restoration the disposition was modernised by incorporating Gabler’s typical tonal elements. The city archive records: “He has repaired the organ well and brought it into perfect condition, so that one found a strange pleasure in it.”Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Die Orgeln von St. Martin in Memmingen. In memoriam Walter Braun (1905–1977). In: Memminger Geschichtsblätter 1987/1988. Memminger Zeitung Verlagsdruckerei, 1990, ISSN 0539-2896, p. 14. Johann Nepomuk Holzhey gave the organ its last overhaul in 1778 for 433 guilders. After Memmingen lost its imperial freedom in 1802 and was incorporated into the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803, St. Martin also came under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Electorate.
In 1807 the organist Johann Konrad Ellmer, the organ builder Georg Rabus and the city music director Georg von Unold examined the large organ and concluded that it was in need of repair. They calculated 18 guilders for a makeshift repair and 140 guilders for a comprehensive restoration, but both proposals were rejected for cost reasons. As the swallow’s-nest gallery had become increasingly dilapidated, the parish decided in 1827 to abandon it. It was dismantled the same year and the organ was moved by Meinrad Dreher from Illereichen (Altenstadt) to the west wall of the main nave. Dreher completely repaired the instrument, added the two new reed stops Bombard 16′ and Clairon 4′, and removed both tremulants, the cut-off valve and the manual coupler installed by Gabler. The bellows were patched and unfortunately placed under the roof of the side aisle. The cost of relocation and repair amounted to 1,200 guilders. On 26 January 1828 the organ was played again for the first time, but at its new location no longer had the same sound as in the swallow’s-nest. A new case had to be built. Parts of the old prospect were incorporated into a Baroque coffered ceiling in Schloss Illerfeld in Volkratshofen. After this reworking the organ had the following disposition: MasterworkPrincipal8′Coupler8′Hollow pipe8′Octave4′Superoctave2′Sixth grade IV–VI1′Mixed IV–V1′Cymbalum IV–V1′Tremulant (Adagio)Positive organQuint tones8′Principal4′Couplerflette4′Pipe flute4′Octave2′Hollow pipe2′Mixed III1′Cymbalum II1′Trumpet8′Oboe8′Tremulant (Allegro)PedalPrestant16′Board bass16′Octave bass8′Double bass II8′Mixture bass VII4′Trombone bass 8′
Couplers: RP/HW, HW/P. Playing aids: Valve for the entire organ, Calcanten bell.
Rebuild by Samuel Friedrich Schäfer 1845 In 1845 the organ on the west wall was rebuilt by Samuel Friedrich Schäfer from Wolfschlugen. Between 15 April and 25 May 1845 a positive was used for church services. The neo-Gothic case of the rebuilt organ, which was completed in the summer of 1847, consisted of two case sections each with three pointed-arch pipe fields, grouped descending from the inside outwards on either side of the window wall. The instrument, however, proved unusable because Schäfer had not professionally combined the reused old stops with the newly developed cone chests. The rebuild cost 4,800 guilders for the organ itself and 400 guilders for the bellows chamber.Memminger Chronik des Friedrich Clauß. Ed. Friedrich Döderlein. Memmingen 1894, pp. 147.
The disposition was structured as follows: Hauptwerk C–f3Pentatone16′Principal8′Coupler8′Hollow pipe8′Viola da gamba8′Octave4′Superoctave2′SesquialterMixed2 2⁄3′SuperstructureSalicional8′Pentatone8′Principal4′ Coupler flute4′Dolce4′Octave2′Hollow pipe2′MixedPedal C–c1Prestant16′Subbass16′Double bass16′Octave bass8′Double bass8′Quintbass5 1⁄3′Trombone bass 16′Trombone8′Clairon4′
New organ by Walcker & Spaich 1853
In 1853 a new organ was acquired. Both the neo-Gothic case and the instrument were built by the organ-building workshop Walcker & Spaich of Ludwigsburg, which had shortly before constructed a new organ for the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). At the organ trial on 11 July 1853, the Augsburg Kapellmeister Karl Ludwig Drobisch described the instrument as “completely successful and masterly”. The gallery had to be enlarged for the new organ, which cost 5,700 guilders. Walcker took the old organ in part-exchange. With the new organ, organ music once again came into the public eye in the church. The instrument was repaired by Steinmeyer in 1900 and fitted with a new blower.
The organ had the following disposition: I. Manual C–f3Principal16′Principal8′Fute8′Gamba8′Salicional8′Pedal8′Octave4′Transverse flute4′Pedal4′Quint2 2⁄3′Wood flute2′Mixed VI2 2⁄3′Sharp III1′Trumpet8′II. Manual C-f3Pedal16′Principal8′Favorite pedal8′Dolce8′Harmonica8′Gem horn4′Viola4′pipe flute4′Octave2′Cornet V2 2⁄3′Basset horn8′Pedal C-d1Principal bass 16′Subbass16′Violon16′Octave bass8′Violon8′Octave4′Trombone16′Bassoon8′
Extension by Paul Ott 1938