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Zürich, Reformierte Kirche Enge

Zürich, Reformierte Kirche Enge

Zürich, Reformierte Kirche Enge

The organ in the Reformierte Kirche Enge built by Kuhn in 1951, is an instrument with a noble, strong and round sound.

Its original stoplist, drawn up by Erich Vollenwyder, organist of the church from 1947-1989, was designed to perform repertoire of all style periods as faithfully as possible. It is nevertheless clearly an instrument in the romantic tradition, and with its dynamic ‘Récit expressif’ it obviously points in the direction of French symphonic music. The reeds in particular were made according to the tonal aesthetic of the famous French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, whose powerful and colourful instruments inspired an entire romantic-symphonic era of organ music. In the mid-twentieth century, through the turmoil of war, many French organ builders moved their activities to Switzerland. Thus Maurice Hurbain and Paul Beurtin, for example, became chief voicers with the Kuhn company. They had worked for Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll: Charles Mutin had carried on the business of the Cavaillé-Coll company after he took it over in 1898.
A particular feature of the Enge organ, and indeed a considerable asset, is the Fernwerk in the dome of the church. Its case stems from the previous instrument, which was the first in the church built in 1894. In 1994, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the ‘Sacré-Cœur of Zurich’, as this neo-Renaissance edifice in its lofty lateral position above the town is known, the Fernwerk which had been silent since 1951 was brought back to life again. The organ builder Norbert Stengele, who worked for Kuhn before starting his own business, and from 1990 maintained the instrument for some fifteen years, revised the stoplist of this division and thus optimally complemented the existing organ.
Today the organ is again in the hands of its original builder Kuhn, who extensively rebuilt it in 2017. Besides a new action with adjustable combinations, the instrument was revoiced by the company’s Stephan Wioland in the spirit of the builder and the French romantic style, through which it has acquired a new brilliance. On the 125th anniversary of the laying of the church’s foundation stone a Voix Céleste was added to the Fernwerk.



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