It is very exceptional that the organ has been sampled by two companies, Pipeloops and Prospectum. However, after 17 years of research, Prospectum has developed a completely new method of sampling, which gave me the opportunity to compare the new system with the existing method. An opportunity to look for evidence for the novelties that Prospectum puts forward.
My Sonarte organ has the same precious speakers that Prospectum used to judge the samples. To arrive at an objective assessment, I involved two fellow voicers in the test. However, the difference in quality is so great that all three of us soon heard how much better the Prospectum samples are.
Real sounds of pipes; the Sonarte organ makes the pipe sounds extremely realistic.
Order: Prospectum
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Up to seven release samples per pipe
Unsurpassed realistic sound reproduction
see Quality test
According to the book Die Baumeister-Orgel von 1737 in der Klosterkirche Maihingen, this unique organ was built by Johann Martin Baumeister from 1734 to 1737, with the exception of the Rückpositiv which is attributed to Jakob Philipp Bouthellier.
What makes it so special is that, due to an incredible combination of fortunate circumstances, it is almost perfectly preserved, including its original voicing. In the course of the secularisation of the Monastery of Maihingen, the instrument was sealed in octobre 1802 and no longer used as masses where then held in the nearby parish church Mariä Himmelfahrt.
In addition, Baumeister did not equip the organ with an entrance - an inconvenience which appears to have prevented potential attempts to perform maintenance work for a long time. Thus, when the organ was finally opened and restored from 1988-1990, it was de facto still in its original state as built and voiced bei Baumeister.
The restoration was carried out very carefully, and it was exceptionally well documented. The goal was to make the organ playable while working on it as little as possible so as to preserve its original state.
Having remained in its original state, its sound is unusual for today's ears, and, as Christoph Bossert (1) demonstrates, one needs to take one's time and get involved with it.
Patricularly noteworthy are the incredibly beautiful 8' flute, string and Quintatön stops, including the Cythara 8' which is a celeste stop to be used together with Flauten 8' for a tremulant like effect.
The mixtures in the main work contain terz choirs and so the cymbel is a pure third mixture. It has only thirds and octave pipes, while from c1 the thirds are added. The mixture in the backpositive, on the other hand, contains only fifths and octaves. In the pedal only the low basic voices (16' and 8') are present, a quint 6' carries the 16' foundation.
(1) Maihingen, Baumeister-Orgel 1737 - Orgelführung mit Christoph Bossert
Prospectum innovative Sampling