Organ Works

Mainz, St. Bonifaz

Renovierung der Oberlinger-Orgel (1957) | III/43 | 2019

The parish church of St. Boniface in Mainz-Neustadt was destroyed in the war and rebuilt in modern style in 1957. It is a sober, yet imposing three-aisled building, rectangular on plan and with a square-ended choir. The interior is broken up by full-height window openings in the solid, bare walls. Apart from the choir, the space is entirely without pillars. From the narrow side aisles, bold reflective ceiling panels reach out into the central nave. A large tripartite window dominates the west gallery, flanked up to the height of the side aisles by the organ divided in two on each side. Its plain wooden case rests on a reinforced concrete platform and encompasses several fields of pipes leading round the corner towards the window. A rounded tower at each corner contains the bass pipes.

The first stage of the instrument was delivered in 1957 by the Oberlinger firm. It was enlarged over the years by the same firm and in 1989 acquired a new console with rounded terraced stops. The Hauptwerk stands in the left-hand case with the Schwellwerk above, and on the right the Pedal chest with Positiv above.

Various items of work, apart from cleaning and inspection, were required to bring the instrument up to technically reliable and improved tonal standard.

The existing console were completely restored with new electrics and electronics, as was the whole organ, including the slider solenoids. A new combination setter was also installed. The extremely unstable wind system suffered from pressure drops of up to 35%, but is now fully stable following various modifications. These included new slider seals and purses, as well as new pneumatic motors providing especially wind-hungry pipes with a direct supply.

The most important part of our work was a comprehensive re-voicing. The form steep tonal build-up, sharp-sounding and weak in fundamental, has been evened out to give a fuller sound with better carrying quality. The following tonal changes were made: HW Pommer 16 modified to Bourdon 16 and SW Schalmey 4 replaced by a new Trompette harmonique 8.

To enable the organ to be played from near the altar a simplified MIDI console was added.

Disposition

I. Hauptwerk C-g3

  1. Bourdon 16’ (aus Pommer 16‘)
  2. Principal 8‘ (Prospekt)
  3. Hohlpfeife 8‘
  4. Octave 4‘
  5. Gedacktflöte 4’
  6. Quinte 2 2/3’
  7. Superoctave 2’
  8. Cornett 3f. 2 2/3' (neu, ab a°)
  9. Mixtur 5f. 1 1/3’
  10. Fagott 16’
  11. Trompete 8’

II. Positiv C-g3

  1. Holzgedackt 8’
  2. Salicional 8‘
  3. Principal 4‘
  4. Koppelflöte 4’
  5. Oktave 2’
  6. Quinte 1 1/3’
  7. Sifflöte 1’
  8. Scharff 4f. 1’
  9. Krummhorn 8’
    Tremulant

III. Schwellwerk C-g3

  1. Holzflöte 8’
  2. Rohrflöte 8’
  3. Viola da Gamba 8’
  4. Vox coelestis 8’
  5. Principal 4’
  6. Gemshorn 4’
  7. Waldflöte 2’
  8. Sesquialter 2f. 2 2/3’
  9. Mixtur 5f. 2’
  10. Dulcian 16’
  11. Trompette harmonique 8’ (neu, ersetzt Schamey 4’)
  12. Oboe 8’
    Tremulant

Pedal C-f1

  1. Untersatz 32’ (akustisch)
  2. Prinzipalbass 16’ (Prospekt)
  3. Subbass 16’
  4. Octavbass 8’ (Prospekt)
  5. Pommer 8’
  6. Octave 4’
  7. Rohrpfeife 2’
  8. Mixtur 4f. 2 2/3’
  9. Posaune 16’
  10. Trompete 8’
  11. Clarine 4’

 

6 Normalkoppeln
Cymbelstern
Elektrische Ton- und Registertraktur
Setzeranlage

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