The first register I played was the eight-foot principal of the Hauptwerk, the Octave 8'. A broad, overtone-rich sound that suits Zacharias Hildebrandt more than Schnitger. Central European character, ideal for works by Bach.
The second stop I chose was the Rohrflöte 8' from the Rückpositiv. Unmistakably the sound of a Rohrflute, but still different; the operation of the Rohr is more intensive. Clear pleasant sound, a bit subdued.
Choosing two or more reeds togethere is rarely a success, although I was able to achieve good results with my own reeds. Multiple reeds can be used together in this Metzler organ. Common in French organs.
The sound beauty of this organ is striking.
Piotr Grabowski made the Sample Set of this organ and he showed his mastership by storing the sounds in the samples in such a way that they sound in my living room like in the church. Because every organ has different speakers, adjustment is necessary, but the samples are so regular that every organist quickly achieves good results.
Düren is a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. The city was completely destroyed after a bombardment during the second world war. The Anna church was built between 1954-56, because the previous Gothic church was completely destroyed. The only remaining part of the old church is the historic portal, which was integrated into the new building. In the new church there was an organ with 3 manuals, but this organ was not sufficient.
Thanks to the efforts of many parishioners, it was decided to build a new instrument. That was entrusted to the Swiss organ builder Metzler. This organ builder had already built up a very good reputation by supplying high quality organs. The organ for Düren is designed as a three-manual organ, with a disposition of 48 registers divided over three manuals and pedal. The organ was inaugurated in 2010.
The starting point for the organ is the sound of the classical baroque, as it was fully recovered around 1980. Today this style is used by every organ builder; the era of Bätz-Witte, Maarschalkerweerd, Adema, Kam with their industrial way of thinking is definitely behind us.
Metzler organ adds to this organ the new insights regarding the sound appearance. This can be seen in the unusual shape of the cabinet. This is completely focused on a sound radiation from one source. The upper cabinet contains the Great Work (2nd manual) and the Pedal. The Positive (lower manual) is placed in the low cabinet behind the organist. The Swell of the organ (3rd manual) is located at the back of the organ loft.
The organ was designed with the knowledge of Central European Baroque organ building, but French Baroque sounds have also been incorporated into the concept; it doesn't seem logical but the merging of these two concepts here provides a great improvement to the entire baroque sound. For example, swells received a full reed choir of Basson 16, Trompette harmonique 8 and Clarion 4. The Traversflöte 4, the Octavin 2 and the Voix céleste 8 are also voiced according to French tradition. There is a Bombarde 16 in the pedal. The Great also shows French influences with its Flûte harmonique 8 and a bank of pipes from the Cornet 5 strong from c1.
This interesting mix creates a unique disposition, where each section has its own character and yet each contributes to the full organ sound. They are distinguished from each other not only by their different acoustic locations, but also by their intonation and conception.
A very useful addition to the registers is the Chamade 8 register, it is a prominent register, with a powerful tone.
The organ combines two different concepts that apparently do not go together, but in practice they complement each other perfectly to a beautiful total sound. A fantastic intonation and the well-thought-out choice of registers make this instrument a very versatile and characteristic instrument, which plays baroque music in an authentic way. see: Piotr Grabowski
