(Organ) culture in Rumania by Christine Kamp

by Christine Kamp | Het ORGEL | Year 99 | (2003) | Issue 2

Christine Kamp (Organ) culture in Rumania
Het ORGEL 99 (2003), nr. 2, 5-12 [summary]

Rumania shows in many respects that it was a communist country not long ago. One of these respects is the organ culture. As I prepared to make recordings of the Sauer organ in the Stadtpfarrkirche at Hermannstadt, my assistants and I had to cope with misfortune time and again: going through customs was a problem since we brought a lot of recording equipment; the instability of the power supply, which had its effects on the electropneumatic organ, was another problem.
The Sauer organ at Hermannstadt (1915) was reconstructed in 1997 by Orgelwerkstatt Christian Scheffler (Sieversdorf, Germany). The instrument is very well suited to German organ music from the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. Hence my visit to this organ: I had been looking for such an instrument.
Choosing proper repertoire is not the only condition for successful musicmaking on an organ like this. A balanced registration is essential as well; and although it may sound contradictory, the roller crescendo is indispensable. A third condition is the technique of the organist: organ music by Liszt, Reubke and Karg-Elert requires a thorough piano training.