THE GREAT ORGAN OF ST PETER AND PAUL WEISSENAU (D)

 

  

 

Johann Nepomuk Holzhey (1741-1809), one of the great master organ builders of South Germany in the second half of the 18th century, has been enjoying considerable attention in recent years. Restaurations of his organs in the last three decades have been throwing more and more light on his personal contribution to organ building in South Germany. Holzhey succeeded in developing a distinct personal style. His organs are part of the Rococo and Classical era but in his final creations the influence of Romantic sound aesthetics can be felt with increasing intensity. He is a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart. In Holzhey the classical organ attains its zenith. (Dr. Ulrich Höflacher)

We have been invited to record this organ and did so in April. There were two reasons for that decision: Firstly, we would like to contribute to the rediscovery of the work of Holzhey which is currently going on. Especially outside of Germany Holzhey is still rather unknown. Secondly, the Weissenau organ offers a unique combination of sounds to us virtual organ enthusiasts. On the one hand there are all those beatiful 8' and 4' stops while on the other hand the Principals, Mixtures and reeds make for a festive full organ sound that reminds one of french organs.
Of course we aim to meet the highest possible quality standards in recording and production of the virtual Holzhey organ. Our MLP© processing system, the result of more than five years of research and development in the field of signal processing, will make sure that the virtual Holzhey organ will put it's best suit forward. However, thanks to our donationware concept, this fantastic instrument will be affordable for everybody!
Hauptwerk   Hinterwerk   Kornettwerk   Pedal  
               
Prestant 16' Principal 8' Nachthorn 8' Subbaß 16'
Principal 8' Rohrflöten 8' Dulciana 8' Oktavbaß 8'
Copel 8' Salicional 8' Spizflöten 4' Violinbaß 8'
Viola 8' Flautravers 8' Flageolet 2' Cornetbaß 4'
Gamba 8' Unda maris 8' Cornet Resi 4' Bompard 16'
Quintadena 8' Octav 4' Vox humana 8' Trompet 8'
Octav 4' Holflöten 4' Cromorn/Schalmei 8' Clairon 4'
Flöten 4' Fugari 4' Tremulant      
Superoctav 2' Quint 3'            
Nazard 2' Hörnle 2'            
Sexqualter 3' Cimbal 2'            
Cornet 3' Fagott/Hautbois 8'            
Mixtur 2'                  
Trompet 8'                  
Clairon 4'                  
unprocessed prepared for mlp mlp processing done ready for Hauptwerk


  
The Weissenau organ is featured on many recordings. Here are two new ones.
Left: The complete organ sonatas of Mendelssohn played by Jonathan Dimmock (Loft recordings);
Right: "ORGELKONZERT" - Johann Nepomuk Holzhey (organ promotion)

About this sample set :

 

Recordings have been made in 24bit/96kHz using Schoeps CMC6 xt microphones and high end RME Preamps. Processing will be done at the Lab Six sound&media solutions studio in Heilbronn, Germany (www.labsix.de) with the MLP (multi layer processing) system. Mastering and monitoring will be done on Adam Audio S2.5A speakers.

The virtual Weissenau organ will come in 24bit/48kHz resolution, with 56 (instead of 54) keys per manual and 30 (instead of 27) pedal keys.


Highlights of the virtual Weissenau organ:

- A unique South German classical organ of the 18th century

- Three manuals / 41 stops

- Wet recordings that contain the natural reverb of St. Peter and Paul (ca. 5 seconds)

- Pipe samples in 24bit quality processed with our MLP© system
  (results in a very detailed sound with an outstanding signal-noise ratio)

- Action noise samples for all keys/stops in 24bit quality processed with MLP©

- A tremulant model for each pipe(!) made with our TremulantTemplate© technology

- Three optimised release samples per pipe, made with our SampleTimer© technology