Einsiedeln/Switzerland, Benedictine Monastery

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1 Einsiedeln/Switzerland, Benedictine Monastery The name Einsiedeln derives from a certain Einsiedler Meinrad who retreated into solitude in the forest and was slain by robbers in 861. The sites where he lived in the dark woods came to be revered. A capitular from Strassburg named Benno settled here in 910 followed by Eberhard, also of Strassburg. Eberhard founded a convent into which he initiated the hermits of the dark forest to the monastic life style according to the dictates of Saint Benedict. The first church was dedicated in 948, destroyed by fire in 1031 and rebuilt in the years 1031 to The basic shape of this house of worship remained until the Baroque and served as a foundation for all later constructions. In addition to its extensive construction legacy the historical pilgrimage church of Einsiedeln has a long history of organs. It was a fundamental element of the the Benedictine order to celebrate mass with elegant pageantry, of which excellent organs were an essential part. This tradition continues to be cultivated by today s convent sovereigns.

2 The historic Choir Organ The Choir Organ in EinsiedelnThe organ on the Upper Choir of the church was originally built in 1754 by Viktor Ferdinand Bossart and remodled by Anton Braun in the years 1811 and 1812 integrating usable original substance of the destructed Bouthilier main organ. In the years 1827 to 1828 the one-manual instrument was rebuilt with two manuals and pedal by

3 Franz Anton Kiene. Cleaning and overhaul were performed in 1866 by Johann Nepomuk and Johann Franz Anton Kiene and in 1871 by Kuhn & Spaich. In 1875 new «Trompetten» were added to the manual and pedal by Kuhn. It was this company that added pneumatic chests for the pipes C to B natural of the 16 Bourdon and C to b natural of the 8 Cornetto of the Great in In 1916 they increased the air pressure and revoiced the pipework in the manner of the times. In Kuhn made the last change to the specification of the organ.

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6 The present state of the historic instrument dates to the meticulous restoration in the years 1982 to 1985 by Mathis Orgelbau which returned this precious masterpiece to the state to which Franz Anton Kiene had brought it in the years 1827 to The instrument was not restored to the form of the original Bossart organ of 1754 since it would have meant an unjustifiable loss of original Kiene material. The restoration report summarizes: Acoustically the organ is favorably located and therefore easily heard throughout the entire church. Besides the unusual place of installation that had to withstand much opposition from within the monastery we are astonished at the boldness of placing the pedal in its own identical case on the epistle side which required venturing a mechanical action averaging 45 feet in length. The Choir Organ in EinsiedelnSome of the technical improvements undertaken by Kiene in must be considered marks of genius. The sound characteristics engendered by Bossart's pipework is typical for Kiene: His organ pleased in every respect. The Einsiedeln Choir Organ can justifiably be deemed a typical Kiene creation. For this reason the clear decision was reached in 1985 to critically and accurately restore the instrument to the original

7 state of the Kiene organ of With three exceptions: 1. Kiene s 8 Hohlflöte disappeared in 1959 with no trace of original substance nor was any information regarding its sound characteristics handed down. 2. There were remnants of the pipework of the 3-rank Sexquialtera 1 1/3, so that it was decided to attempt a reconstruction of this stop. 3. The 3- rank Cornetto 2 2/3 (g to f ''') was reconstructed according to Bossart's style. «Unfortunately it was impossible to elicit Bossart s and Kiene s tunings. They were certainly lower in 1828: Both the relatively large scaled pipes and the fact that all pipes including the stopped ones were shortened support this assumption. The overall mechanical form is as Kiene conceived it and the bellows have been reconstructed. The scaling of the entire pipework has been restored to its original state.» Photos: Günter Lade