The organ in the Magnuskerk at Anloo by Peter van Dijk
by Peter van Dijk | Het ORGEL | Year 98 | (2002) | Issue 5
Peter van Dijk 
The organ in the Magnuskerk at Anloo
Het ORGEL 98 (2002), nr. 5, 17-26 [summary]
On 15 March, 2002, Harald Vogel examined the reconstructed and enlarged Radeker/Garrels organ from 1719 in the Magnuskerk at Anloo. The project was carried out by organ builder Henk van Eeken, who added an independent Pedal. Vogel was very enthusiastic. Initially, Klaas Bolt and Stef Tuinstra had been consultants. After Bolt died in 1990, Harald Vogel was appointed consultant.
The project suffered misfortune. In 1995, Van Eeken’s workshop caught fire, and many original parts of the organ were destroyed; thanks to Van Eeken’s detailed documentation, the parts could be reconstructed. Furthermore, Stef Tuinstra was dismissed after he and Van Eeken had fundamental differences of opinion.
Several organ builders had worked on the organ before: Hinsz (1738), Knol (1795), Lohman (1806), Freytag (1827) and Doornbos (1906/1922). Mense Ruiter restored the organ in 1944-1948. He added two concussion bellows and an extra wind trunk; he found the wind volume and stability insufficient.
Van Eeken’s idea was to reconstruct the process of the original building. To give the pipes on the manuals sufficient wind, he had no choice but to adjust the tracker action without any slack. This has an adverse effect on the touch. The voicing is not [DCC3]in every aspect well-balanced. Voicing is a process based on knowledge (science) and skills, as well as considerable doses artistic intuition and musical creativity. I ask myself whether the last two haven’t been made too much subordinate to the first two.
Van Eeken made all new parts in detail according to Radeker’s and Garrels’s construction and style; for instance, he cast the metal for the pipes on sand. The new Pedal is placed behind the organ in a separate case. Its sound matches that of the rest of the instrument verywell.