The Friedrich Meyer organ in the Josephkerk in Utrecht restored by Cees van der Poel

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Cees van der Poel The Friedrich Meyer organ in the Josephkerk in Utrecht restored
Het ORGEL 107 (2011), nr. 4,36-43 [summary]

There are but two extant instruments by the nineteenth-century German organ builder Friedrich Meyer. One is in the Josephkerk in Utrecht. Last year the restoration of this organ was completed. It was originally built for the Johanniskirche in Barmen, Germany. Due to its foreign origin, it is comparable only to a limited extent with nineteenth-century instruments of Dutch manufacture.
A familiar sound emerges from the instrument. The string stops have the cutting quality known from Witte Sr. The brilliance of the plenum is more classical than that of Dutch organs of the same time, including those by Dutch builders of German origin. The organ has the same characteristics as the earlier organs of Wagner and Buchholz, particularly the smaller instruments of the latter. The loudness is also characteristic of their work and that of Ladegast and Schulze. The pedal, placed behind with much wooden pipework, is not particularly remarkable for a German organ.

Foto’s: Cees van der Poel