An organ reborn 1907-2018 by Zeneakadémia

AN ORGAN REBORN 1907-2018 VOIT & SÃ&#x2013;HNE OP. 975

22 OCTOBER 2018 (MONDAY), 7.30 p.m.

GRAND HALL

INAUGURAL ORGAN RECITAL National anthem Welcome Ferenc Liszt: Prelude and Fugue on the B-A-C-H Motif Zoltán Kodály: Laudes organi Interval Richard Strauss and Max Reger: Feierlicher Einzug der Ritter des Johanniterordens (Solemn Entrance of the Knights of the Order of St John) Zsigmond Szathmáry: Organ Concerto Balázs SZABÓ, János PÁLÚR, István RUPPERT and László FASSANG (Organ) Liszt Academy Alma Mater Choir (Csaba SOMOS, Choirmaster) Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra Conductors: Gergely MADARAS and Csaba SOMOS Host: Ádám BŐSZE For the inauguration ceremony, the organ which has been returned to the Grand Hall will not only be introduced as a solo instrument, but with an orchestra and a choir as well. Both in 1907 and 1967, one of Ferenc Liszt’s most famous organ pieces, the Prelude and Fugue on the B-A-C-H Motif, was played on the organs in the Grand Hall. The first piece performed on the revived instrument will thus be this monumental composition by Liszt. Zoltán Kodály was commissioned to write Laudes organi by the American Guild of Organists in 1966. The ageing composer used a twelfth-century sequence for his large-scale piece. As the overture to the second part of the concert, Max Reger’s arrangement of Richard Strauss’s The Solemn Entrance of the Knights of the Order of St John (1909) will be heard on organ and trombones. The famous composer and organist Zsigmond Szathmáry has composed a symphonic organ concerto for the inauguration of the Voit organ to be performed for the first time that evening. After graduating from the Liszt Academy, Szathmáry moved to Germany in the 1960s. He is an expert on twentieth-century avantgarde music, has a penchant for experimenting with unique modes of performance, special timbres and electronics, and uses a wide range of devices and genres. His organ concerto was inspired by the Liszt–Bartók–Ligeti legacy. The Liszt Academy orchestra and choir are composed of the university’s students. Since 2014 the Alma Mater Choir has been led by Csaba Somos, who, in addition to being one of the university’s lecturers, is also the principal conductor of the Hungarian National Choir. The conductor for the ceremony will be Gergely Madaras, who has been the music director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne since 2013 and became the principal conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in 2014. The organ will be played by the university’s professors in the following order: Balázs Szabó, the expert originator of the project, János Pálúr, István Ruppert and László Fassang.

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME The organ in the Grand Hall was first played more than 111 years ago, on the 15th of May, 1907. The organ’s façade became a symbol of Hungarian music during the last century. Built by the Voit & Söhne workshop, this exceptional instrument had been housed in this gallery until 1967, when its pipes went mute. Another organ was set up behind them, and the façade became nothing more than a silent set – until now. The organ in the Grand Hall regained its voice in October, and thus the finest pieces from the world’s organ repertoire can at last be performed on it. Our season pass concerts will introduce many facets of the instrument through a selection from well-known Baroque pieces through the German Romantic repertoire to unique works of chamber music and an assortment by the greatest Hungarian composers. Let me highlight one of these pieces, Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on the B-A-C-H Motif, which will also be performed at the inauguration gala. With this piece we pay homage first to our university’s founder, then to Johann Sebastian Bach, the world’s greatest organist, and finally to those who left no stone, pipe or key unturned to see their dream come true, and whose dream has also become ours: to hear the exceptional sound of the Voit organ fill this concert hall once again. Dr Andrea Vigh President

THE REBIRTH OF THE VOIT ORGAN IN THE GRAND HALL The organ in the Liszt Academy Grand Hall was built with four manuals and 74 stops by the Karlsruhe-based firm of Voit & Söhne as its Opus 975. The construction of the instrument took place in conjunction with that of the Main Building of the Liszt Academy at Liszt Ferenc Square, with the organ being played for the first time at the inauguration ceremony for the institution in 1907. Voit was an outstanding organ builder of his time, specializing in concert hall organs. He won the contract to build the Academy’s organ by virtue of his pioneering ideas. His instruments were built to emulate the sound of a symphony orchestra, making it possible to create a great variety of timbres from pianissimo to fortissimo, a feat produced through his technological innovations, which allowed the organ to be played with unprecedented ease.

Organ of the Grand Hall in 1943 © FORTEPAN

The organ’s arrival invigorated Hungary’s organ scene: between 1907 and 1925, several famous organists gave concerts on it: Karl Straube, the organist at Leipzig’s St Thomas Church; Alexandre Guilmant, the then principal of the Conservatoire de Paris; Enrico Bossi, one of the greatest organ virtuosi of his time; and Dezso d’Antalffy, a newly appointed young organ teacher at the Liszt Academy. On the 18th of May, 2010, the Liszt Academy senate took a decision to reconstruct the Voit organ, with due consideration for aspects of art, architecture, cultural preservation, economy and history. The rector formed a panel of experts in the fields of organ studies as well as economics, law and technology. The panel’s mandate was to lay the technical foundations for the project and to draft a feasibility and funding study. Their efforts were rewarded by the Hungarian government’s decision to support the project. As a result of an international public procurement process, the reconstruction project was executed by the highly reputable Johannes Klais Orgelbau and its Hungarian subcontractor, AerisOrgona Kft. The plan for the reconstruction was drawn up and certain other specialist interventions carried out by Balázs Szabó and by the panel of organ teachers and technical experts at the Academy. The reconstruction is considered groundbreaking throughout the world, since it has been the firstever project to require a turn-of-the-century organ with electric action to be rebuilt as thoroughly and authentically as possible. Also, beyond the old system, there are innovations of modern organ building, such as the computer-controlled Setzer memory, which makes it much easier to use timbre combinations. The unique Voit organ is a treasure that enriches the Liszt Academy and organ teaching as much as it does the whole of Hungary. The persistent efforts of ten years have finally paid off, thus restoring the brightest jewel in the Grand Hall to its former glory. The Voit organ has risen from its ashes like a phoenix.

ORGANS OF THE GRAND HALL The construction of the Voit organ, 1905–1907 The Liszt Academy and the the German firm Voit & Söhne agreed on the construction of an organ with four manuals and 74 stops on the 21st of August, 1905. The 23-tonne cargo was sent to Budapest by rail on the 7th of January, 1907. Oskar Binder, the firm’s operations manager, took delivery of the organ and supervised the construction project, which was carried out on site between February and May. It was Dezso d’Antalffy who played the organ for the first time during the inauguration of the new building on the 15th of May. Antalffy played his own arrangement of Ferenc Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on the B-A-C-H Motif. Reconstruction efforts in the past The first reconstruction took place in 1910, when a second console was built onto the gallery. Later reconstruction efforts, however, became necessary for artistic and practical reasons: malfunctions in the building’s steam heating system resulted in unbearable heat in the gallery. Due to wildly varying temperatures and humidity conditions, the performance of the organ became uneven, and by the 1920s the instrument had become almost unusable – so much so that several recitals had to be interrupted. The complete structural reconstruction project – based on designs by Aladár Zalánfi and József Geyer – was awarded to the Pécsbased Angster firm. The original electric action and the stage console were replaced. The sleek Voit console was replaced by a behemoth, which was difficult to move around and was eventually placed at the back of the stage.

The world’s first-ever solely electric console, which can be moved anywhere on stage © ILLUSTRATION BY THE ANTALFFY ORGAN SCHOOL

Further reconstruction efforts, 1925–1967 The root problem, that is, the climatic conditions of the room, had not changed since the Angster reconstruction and caused further complications. The distance to the Angster factory hindered maintenance and troubleshooting, as the crews had to travel over 200 kilometres from Pécs to Budapest each time they were needed. Thus organ maintenance was

The reconstructed console © BALÁZS SZABÓ

Installing the Walcker organ in the space previously occupied by the Voit organ was quite a challenge © BALÁZS SZABÓ

handed over to the Budapest-based Rieger organ manufactory in 1934. This brought relative stability to the organ’s performance, since it now took just an hour for maintenance staff to arrive in the event of a malfunction. The organ suffered some damage during the war, and repairs were soon started. However, the shortage of material and losses suffered by the factory made it impossible to repair everything, and so the instrument remained in critical condition. Plans were drawn up for a complete structural and dispositional reconstruction of the organ in the Neo-Baroque style, based on Zalánfi’s plans. The pedal division and the great division were modified, and the windchests were converted into cone chests. Like all the other organ manufactories, Rieger was deprivatised in 1950, and further maintenance and reconstruction were handled by its successor, the organ factory of the Municipal Craft Company, FMKV.

To the right, the Voit’s silent façade, and to the left, the Walcker’s red copper pipes © BALÁZS SZABÓ

The Walcker organ After several Hungarian and Czechoslovak experts confirmed that the instrument was no longer in playable condition due to the poor quality of previous reconstruction efforts, the idea of building a new instrument arose in 1966. The solution was to be a “modern” concert organ, which the Liszt Academy ordered from Walcker, a West German firm, in 1966. All that had remained of the original organ was the converted Voit façade, and it was behind this that a new organ with 86 stops and four manuals was built. The installation of the new organ in 1967 lent a fresh impetus to the Hungarian organ scene. The Walcker organ was truly a product of its time, both in its intonation and use of materials. The experimental materials, such as plastic and sealing, and the unconventional components, such as pipes made of plywood, greatly helped to make the instrument more resistant to the extreme climate of the Grand Hall. However, they adversely affected, and drew frequent criticism of, the sound and artistic value of the new organ. The Grand Hall never truly accommodated the sound of the Walcker organ, which was eventually dismantled when the building was renovated in October 2011.

The inner pipes of the Walcker organ protrude from behind the Voit façade, and the visual harmony of the hall is thus disturbed © JÓZSEF HAJDÚ

The original windchests of the Voit organ in storage. Airflow is provided through drill holes. © BALÁZS SZABÓ

The pipes of the Voit organ in the Town Hall in Győr © BALÁZS SZABÓ

The story of the Voit organ, 1967–2011

The swan waiting to be renovated © BALÁZS SZABÓ

The Voit organ was disassembled and divided into two parts in 1966. One part was installed in the Liszt Ferenc Hall in Sopron; the other was earmarked for a new concert hall in the city of Győr. The component parts were stored in a shed and covered with corrugated cement roofing sheets for two years on the premises of the Municipal Craft Company, only to be eventually installed in the Town Hall’s banquet hall, since the planned concert hall was never completed. Both organs were reconstructed over the years. The first major reconstruction work on both organs was performed by István Szakács, resulting in considerable damage to a large number of the pipes. Szakács mixed up the original pipes, and made alterations to the scaling and the lips. When the concert hall in Sopron was renovated in 1998, the organ was disassembled. Organ builder Péter Takács picked out some of the more valuable pipes and used them in subsequent organ construction projects. The structure of the organ was destroyed, however: its constituent parts were discarded along with the building rubble. The organ in Győr also suffered losses in 1998: during reconstruction, seven of the original windchests and a number of other structural components and stops were destroyed. The city government of Győr allowed the original components to be returned to their original place in the Liszt Academy. The organ was dismantled by AerisOrgona Ltd. under the supervision of Balázs

Andreas Saage, chief voicer © ISTVÁN FAZEKAS

FACTS Voit & Söhne 1907, Opus 975; Klais-AerisOrgona 2018 (IV/77) Number of stops: 77 stops (71 speaking stops, 4 transmissions, 1 combined stop and a 44-tone Carillon (Celesta)) Number of pipes: 4472 (99 speaking front pipes, 32 non-speaking front pipes and 22 dummy front pipes) Number of manuals: 4 Number of pedalboards: 1 Range of voice: manuals (C-g’’’, 56 notes), pedals (C-f’, 30 notes)

Szabó in 2011. The original parts and Voit pipes were separated from subsequent add-ons. Restoration and reconstruction Rebuilding the organ involved both restoration and reconstruction of parts that had been lost or destroyed. The missing parts of the casework, the entire internal framework, the three swell shades, the bellows, the windchests for several manuals, the entire stop and key action, numerous stops and the console were recreated based on the original plans, designs, photos and contemporary instruments. The organ was returned to its original place, in line with the 1907 arrangement. During the renovation of the Liszt Academy in 2011, the climatic anomalies that had once put a heavy strain on the organ were eliminated. The organ’s long-term, stable operation is ensured now that the thermal bridges have been broken and advanced engineering systems are in place to control temperature, humidity and air quality. The reconstruction of the instrument was carried out in cooperation with the Bonn-based Klais company and the Hungarian organ manufacturer AerisOrgona Ltd. between 2015 and 2018. Using the remaining parts and discovering original traces helped to accurately reconstruct both the structure and sound of the organ.

Swell boxes: 2 (3 swell pedals, 1 for manual III and 2 for the double swell shutters of manual IV) Consoles: 1 movable stage console (exact replica of the 1907 console) Action: Voit’s patented electro-pneumatic action Windchests: Voit’s patented windchests with wedgebellows Blowers: 3 (2 big blowers for normal pressure and 1 high-pressure blower for tuba mirabilis 8) Pressures: pedals: 150 mmWS; manual I: 120 mmWS; manual II: 110 mmWS; manual III: 100 mmWS; manual IV: 90 mmWS; tuba mirabilis 8: 250 mmWS

Balázs Szabó

Disposition of the organ based on the labels of the 1907 console Pedal 1

Principal

16'

Cello

Violon

16'

Flauto basso

Sub. Basso

16'

Salicet basso

Harm. Bass

16'

Bourdon bass

16'

Ottava basso

Ottava

Quinta

10 2/3'

Grand bourd. (comb. Nr. 8.)

32'

Bombardo (free reed)

32'

Fagotto (tr. I. Nr. 29.)

16'

Trombone

16'

Tromba

Clarino (tr. I. Nr. 31.)

Dolce (tr. I. Nr. 17.)

Manual I 17

Dolce

Corne de chamoix

Flauto concert

Flauto

Pileata

Fugara

Principál

16'

Principál

Ottava

Ottavino

Mixtura 4 x

Cornetto 3-5 x

Basson

16'

Tromba

Clarino

Tuba mirabilis (tr. Nr. 60)

Manual II

Salicional

Unda maris

Dolce

Carillon

Chalumeau

Vox humana

Pileata

Tremolo a vox h. Hoz

Bourdon

16'

Quintatön (1925)

Flute harm

Flauto tibia

Gamba

Principale

Ottava

Piccolo

Cimbalo 3 x

Acuta 4 x

Clarinét (free reed)

Tuba mirabilis (HP)

Aeolina

Vox coelestis (from c0)

Sub. Okt. II x I

Manual III (Swell)

Accessories 33

General coupler

II x I

III x II

IV x III

IV x I

III x I

IV x II

Pedal I

Pedal II

Pedal III

Pedal IV

Violino

Sup. Okt. I

Pileata dolce

Sup. Okt. III x I

Quintatön

16'

Echo Gamba

Flute d’amour

Flauto traverse

Flauto Sylvestre

Violino princip

Ottava

Harm. aether. 4 x

2 2/3'

Oboa (free reed)

Trompette harm. (1925)

Manual IV (in double swell)

P, MF, F, FF for all manuals and pedals Pianopedál II, III and IV Generaltutti with all couplers Tutti without reeds Tutti of all reed stops Crescendo off General off Reeds off General crescendo Swell shoe for Manual III Swell shoe for the IV. Man.

Flauto cuspida

Swell shoe for the Echo-swell (Manual IV)

Flauto dolce

3 free combinations

Viola

Vox angelica

Bourdon

16'

Touchscreen for the Setzer-combination and extended couplers, pedal divisi, sostenuto etc.

Flauto pileata

Principal

Preastant

Flageolet

Sesquialtera 2 x

2 2/3'

PARITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH ORGANISTS BALÁZS SZABÓ AND LÁSZLÓ FASSANG As a student, Balázs Szabó, teacher at the Keyboard and Harp Department of the Liszt Academy, dreamed of playing the reconstructed Voit organ in the Grand Hall. However, in the early 2000s, it seemed as if this dream would never come true: the Voit & Söhne had been replaced by a West German organ made in 1967. Apparently, Balázs was the only one interested in the fate of the old instrument, and he researched and dug through archives and German organs, believing that the Voit instrument could return to this gallery. When was the first time you felt that your dream could come true? B.S.: When I met Laci [László Fassang, organist – Ed.] here at the Liszt Academy in 2008, as early as our first chat, we talked about the organ in the Grand Hall, and he asked for my opinion on what instrument should be there. This was the point where I felt that the issue of the Voit organ could take a new direction. L.F.: We already knew when I got here that the building was going to be reconstructed and that the organ in the Grand Hall needed to be disassembled, at least for the time being. The question was what road we should take after that. It’s not so easy just to take an organ apart and then reassemble it. I barely knew anything about the old organ or Voit organs, so I had no preconceptions. But Balázs was so convincing that I said to myself, okay, let’s examine the possibility of rebuilding the Voit. The whole interview can be read in the spring issue of the Liszt Academy’s Concert Magazine.

THE LAST PAGES OF A DIARY: A DREAM FULFILLED The issue of the organ was the most complex challenge to be tackled during the historic reconstruction of the Liszt Academy. We knew that the instrument was in no condition to satisfy the standards for concerts, education or cultural preservation and that we would not be able to combine historical accuracy and the state-of-the-art innovative elements required to restore it. We felt certain from experience that the journey of building the organ would exceed the time, space and budget available for the renovation of the building. So from the start we were considering a stand-alone project which would complement the EU-funded refurbishment project both in scale and quality. The technical rationale for the restoration and reconstruction of the Voit organ – a unit closely integrated into the historic building of the Liszt Academy around the turn of the century – was submitted to Academy decision-makers by two of its young lecturers, László Fassang and Balázs Szabó. Having considered aspects of education and art, the Liszt Academy senate arrived at a decision on the reconstruction in 2010, backed by Hungarian Government Decree 2012/1502 (XI.16.). The project started out quite adventurously and continued in the same vein, replete with difficulties finding original components and storage for the nearly 100 cu m instrument as well as overcoming the well-known technical problems in the original instrument. We laid great emphasis on all factors, thus making for a perfect sound and

stability of intonation: wind supply substantially greater than the 1907 volume was provided so as to preserve the organ’s total force of sound, i.e. prevent it The pipes for the original BOMBARDO 32’ from “choking up”. and the reconstructed Trombone 16 ‘ During the reconstruction of the Grand Hall, the © ISTVÁN FAZEKAS thermal bridge behind the back wall of the instrument was cut: after several decades, the flues running behind the back wall were now covered, preventing them from releasing cold air onto the instrument during the winter. The air conditioning in the hall also had to meet the strict requirements of the organ. The pipe rank on the façade is the most notable remnant of the instrument’s troubled past. It is a visually dominant element of the Grand Hall, without which the historically accurate appearance of the concert hall would be unimaginable. Marks found in the structure during the reconstruction were recorded, thus bringing out the original position of the façade’s pipes and evidence of a 110-year-old unity between the instrument and the building housing it. Repositioning the façade after nearly 60 years of silence restored the proportions of the organ to the hall and created a remarkably valuable site of performance: a perambulatory balcony situated above the stage. The unique symbiosis of the hall and the instrument again became evident when the original position of the pipes was discovered. The positioning of the stops did not merely save space; it was also intended to optimize the anticipated sound field. The sound surface of the Voit organ is spectacular: the ratio between the surface areas of the façade and the two side chambers in proportion to the total surface area of the boundaries of the Grand Hall exceeds

that of most concert hall organs. Acoustic space and sound source operate in perfect harmony; a wide spectrum of timbres can be played with an immense dynamic range such that the sound remains elegant and noble, yet free of obtrusion, aggression or pretentiousness. As a result of a tender procedure, the reconstruction was executed by the German firm Johannes Klais Orgelbau GmbH & Co. KG (established in 1882) and its Hungarian subcontractor, AerisOrgona Kft. Philipp Klais, the Executive Director of the internationally renowned organ builders, calls it one of Europe’s most significant reconstruction projects and an outstanding example of an international effort to preserve Europe’s cultural heritage – one that we can rightly be proud of.

Gergely Lakatos Chief engineer, project leader for the organ reconstruction

The organ reconstruction in numbers Amount of wood used: 100 m 3 Time span of the project: 2009–2018, nine years altogether. Total value of the project: Ft800 million (€2.5 million), of which the cost of the reconstruction was Ft711.2 million (€2.24 million).

© ISTVÁN FAZEKAS Contributors to the organ reconstruction project: Dr Andrea Vigh - President of the Liszt Academy Dr András Batta - Former President of the Liszt Academy László Fassang - Organ expert and professor of organ studies at the Liszt Academy Balázs Szabó - Organ expert and professor of organ studies at the Liszt Academy Gergely Lakatos - chief engineer, project leader Martin Kuhnt - Organ expert in charge of overall assessment Dr Miklós Bányai - Chair of the project preparation committee László Csepeli - Technical inspector, technical expert ... and many others.

ORGAN GLOSSARY Bellows Functions as the organ’s ‘lungs’, supplying the pipes with an airflow at constant pressure. The bellows is usually driven and “refilled” by an electric motor. One type of bellows is the double-fold bellows, which originated in France and is primarily used in Romantic organs.

Pneumatic system Conveyance of energy based on compressed air of various pressures and their resulting pressure differences. When an organ key is pressed, pressurised air is released from a tube, so the cone-shaped flap at the other end of the tube opens allowing the air to enter the pipe.

Windchest A flat, box-like component inside the organ, on which the pipes sit, while air is conveyed to its bottom from the bellows through the wind trunk. The windchest stores the air passing through from the bellows and allows it to enter the pipe that the organ player selects by operating the action. There is a valve that corresponds to each key inside the windchest; thus, this component is responsible for the tone colour and pitch of each note spoken by the pipes.

Wind trunk A wooden duct that conveys wind through the organ.

Stops The stops determine the tone colour of the organ and are differentiated by pitch and tone quality. Each stop controls an entire rank of pipes. The Voit organ has 77 stops, which implies that there are 77 different types of pipe ranks in the organ.

Principal Metal stops prominently characterised by open flue pipes in the façade of pipe organs, which represents the primary timbre of the organ.

Action The mechanical (or electro-pneumatic) linkage between keys or pedals pressed by the organist and the valve that allows air to flow into the pipes of the corresponding note. The stop action allows the organist to control which ranks are engaged.

Manual A keyboard played with the hands; the Voit organ has four manuals placed above one another. Pedals A single large keyboard to be played with the feet.

Console The control centre of the organ consisting of a cabinet, which contains the manual and pedal keyboards as well as the stop control and other technical assistance devices. The sound of the organ can be controlled with these components.

Organ mechanics

Pipes

Air

Selected stop: chest valve open Other stops: chest valves closed

Windchest Key Wind supply - bellows

Wind reservoir

Traction rods and routing mechanism

Selected stop speaks

Selected stop: chest valve open Other stops: chest valves opened

Windchest Key Wind supply - bellows

Wind reservoir

Traction rods and routing mechanism

Publisher: Dr Andrea Vigh, President of the Liszt Academy Editor-in-chief: Júlia Torda Publication manager: Ágnes Mester Translated by Kristóf Ambrózy Translated revised by Thomas Williams Layout: Allison Advertising Ltd. Layout editor: András Váradi Press: Keskeny és Társai 2001 Ltd. Cover photo: István Fazekas Photos: Gábor Ancsin, István Fazekas, Andrea Felvégi, Fortepan, József Hajdú, János Posztós and Balázs Szabó Published by the Communications and Media Contents Directorate of the Liszt Academy. Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music Liszt Ferenc tér 8., 1061 Budapest, Hungary ZENEAKADEMIA.HU/EN

The reconstruction of the organ was made possible by funding from the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities based on Hungarian Government Decree 2012/1502. (XI.16.).