In Eenum, a small village in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, there is a small organ built by Arp Schnitger. The church in which it was built is one of the oldest churches in the Netherlands, dating back to the late 12th century. The organ was originally built in 1704 by Arp Schnitger. Over many years, several changes and renovations were made until finally in 1987 it was restored.
About the Organbuilder
Arp Schnitger (1648-1719) was an organbuilder who lived in Germany. He is known for building many famous instruments all across Europe. He is considered to be one of the greatest organ builders. He helped define the North German baroque pipe organ, which had many differences compared to organs from other regions. These organs were often larger and had independent pedal divisions that helped inspire the works of many german composers, including Buxtehude and J.S. Bach.
History of the Organ
In 1704, Schnitger was asked to build an organ in the church in Eenum. This organ originally only had a single manual, with a short octave and no pedalboard. Later, in 1809, Heinrich Hermann Freytag added a pedalboard to the organ, which had no independent stops; it was permanently coupled to the manual. The pedal did not have a short octave. Instead, the pedal keys that didn’t have a key on the manual to couple to due to the short octave were coupled to the same note an octave higher. In 1845 Petrus van Oekelen changed the specification of the organ, and later in 1891 the organ was repaired. The original wedge shaped bellows were replaced with reservoir bellows. The organ wasn’t changed or repaired until the restoration in 1987 by Reil.
About the Organ
The organ case is very unusual compared to Schnitger’s other instruments. The organ case is attached completely to the gallery that it sits on. The case also suggests that the instrument has two manuals due to it having two layers of pipes, but in reality, the pipes visible on the façade are dummy pipes and do not sound. This organ is tuned at 466 hertz, which is a semitone above concert pitch. It uses a 1/4 comma meantime temperament.
| Manual (CDEFGA–c3) | Pedal (C–d1) (Coupled to manual) |
| Holpijp 8’ Praestant 4’ Holpijp 4’ Quint 3’ Woudfluit 2’ Octaaf 2’ Quint 1 1/2’ Sesquialter II 2/3′ Scherp IV 1/2′ Trompet 8’ |
References
- Eenum
- Arp Schnitger in Steinkirchen
- Eenum, Hevormde kerk
- Repute and Renown: Five Schnitger Organs in Groningen