Organ Works

The port city of Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. An International Art and Culture Center with a concert hall is currently being built in Busan's Civic Park on behalf of the city government. This 54-acre site formally returned to city hands in 2006 after being occupied by the US military for 50 years. Before that, it housed the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese occupation. From 2010, the area, burdened by history, was redesigned as a park with a cultural focus, which serves both as a educational place of remembrance and also looks to the future. The new concert building is practically and visually integrated into this significant context. Visitors experience the organic forms of the landscape, whose undulating movements lead to the equally lively lines of the building architecture. The dynamic continues within the concert hall, expanded here by the dimension of the music and its sound waves conveying wordless messages. The center is scheduled to open in 2025 and establish itself as a cultural and architectural landmark in the city.

A musical and architectural centerpiece of the concert hall is the new organ on the back wall above the orchestral stage. In an international competition for the new instrument, we were awarded the contract with the concept we presented. The rich specification is universal, despite a clear emphasis on orchestral and romantic sound qualities. As is to be expected from a modern concert organ, there are appropriate registers for a convincing interpretation of all musical periods. In addition to solo and ensemble performances, the instrument must also be designed to be played with symphony orchestras and generate the necessary power in relatively dry acoustics.

The scope of each of the first three manuals encompasses a complete sound pyramid, in which pipes of different shapes, tonal strengths and colors as well as various mutation ranks are contained. Without restricting the musical possibilities, the Hauptwerk can be described as the universal and powerful sound basis of the organ, while the enclosed Positive tends towards the (late) baroque and the Schwellwerk follows French-Romantic models. The Solo on manual IV, also enclosed, is primarily intended as the final increase in volume, e.g. when playing ff with an orchestra. Additional sound effects are available from a glockenspiel and a cimbalom. In the pedal, the tonal structure is based on two 32-foot registers. Three octave extensions and two transmissions expand the musical possibilities of this division. Generous scales and a voicing designed with symphonic potential, as well as fullness, color and brilliance ensure that high-quality concert organ standards are met. We benefit from our experience in concert organ building and the constant exchange with concert organists.

Thanks to the usable room height, the internal structure of the organ manages with a relatively small depth in the floor plan. The Hauptwerk is located in the middle behind the front pipes. Behind it, on the back wall, are the three enclosed divisions, distributed side by side over several levels, flanked by the Pedal, which is divided on both sides. The organists have two consoles at their disposal: one with mechanical action integrated with the organ case and a mobile, fully electric console for the orchestral stage.

In a further selection process for the external appearance, the façade design by our own organ designer was approved. The natural wave forms of the surrounding park and the concert hall architecture are taken up in the view of the organ and further developed in characteristic eye-catching manner. The dynamic lines of the visually floating pipes embody music as part of nature and gently carry the viewer's eye through the façade.

Our new opus magnum should be ready in early 2025.