About the New Pipe Organ in Šentvid pri Stični

After more than two years of study, careful planning, and technically and acoustically demanding construction, the new organ of the church of St. Vid in Šentvid pri Stični resounded magnificently on February 12, 2023. Great work has been done by the Močnik Organ Workshop – building and installing an instrument that will be a source of inspiration for musical creativity for present and future generations of musicians with its sound and visual beauty, technical perfection and comfort, and for listeners to realise that the organ truly deserves the title of “Queen of Musical Instruments”.

Močnik Organ Workshop

Močnik Organ Workshop was founded in 1998 by Tomaž Močnik, who had previously worked as an organ tuner in the Maribor Organ Workshop for several years. The Šentvid organ is their 41st work among new organs.

Although a small workshop, the Močnik Organ Workshop is also capable of executing large and complex projects. They are particularly challenged by stylistically oriented projects, such as the organ in the French Romantic style in the Ljubljana Šiška parish church (47, III + P) and the organ in the church in Höör, Sweden (34, III + P), designed as a stylistic adaptation of Gottfried Silbermann’s (1683-1753) concept, with the additions of South German organ builders (J. Gabler, K. J. Riepp, J. N. Holzhay) from the same period.

Among their most prominent instruments is the organ in Velesovo (37, II + P), which is stylistically inspired by the instruments of the famous Saxon organ builder Zacharias Hildebrandt (1688-1757) and Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753). The main guiding principle in designing this organ was to create an instrument in Slovenia that could perform the beautiful organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) as authentically as possible.

Special features of the new Močnik organ

Wind system

A double bellows with three feeder bellows is installed in the attic and placed in a dedicated space, modelled after Goršič’s design in the Ljubljana Ursuline Church. The organist has the choice of air sources between an electric blower or air extraction using motor-driven feeder bellows. The ducts leading the air from the bellows to the windchests are made of pine wood and are internally impregnated with glue.

Organ case

The classical organ case is positioned in the centre of the choir. The first manual (the main pipes) is in the front of the case. The Principal 8′ register pipes are in the prospect. At the back of the case, the second and third manuals are housed within swell shutters. The pedal section is placed along the back wall, with the largest pedal pipes resting on the floor. Organ master Jožef Močnik designed the layout based on the old prospect from Šentvid. The existing carved decoration and fillings were restored and completed in the Legan restoration workshop in Žužemberk. The organ case is made of soft solid pinewood. The load-bearing frames of the windchests are made of solid ash wood.

Organ console

The console is freestanding in front of the organ case, so the organist’s back is to the altar. The external appearance of the console draws inspiration from the Goršič and Walcker instruments of the second half of the 19th century. The manual keyboard ranges from C to g³ with 56 keys. The whole-tone keys are made of bone, while the semitone keys are made of high-quality ebony. The pedal keyboard ranges from C to f¹, comprising 30 keys made of oak, with the semitone keys covered in hard dark wood (grenadilla). The drawstops are arranged on both sides of the manual keyboards. The handles are made of hardwood and have porcelain nameplates. There is a light on the console to illuminate the music desk and a light to illuminate the pedal keyboard. The organist’s bench is made of solid oak and includes a built-in height adjustment mechanism.

Tracker action

The manual action is mechanical, light, sensitive, and precise. The swipe rails or abstracts are made of thick-grained spruce wood, guided by guides to prevent oscillation during playing. All parts of the manual action are made of wood, except the axles on the shaft boards, which are made of steel tubes. The organ has 19 rollerboards.

The draw-stop action is electric.

Mechanic cone chest

The windchest system is mechanical on cones. The windchest frame and register walls are made of solid wood. The valves (cones) shall be of selected hardwoods. The organ contains 1,908 cones. The sealing surface is glued with quality sheepskin. The threaded riser wire is made of brass. The pegs on the cone guides are stainless steel. The pipe boards are made of spruce wood. The recesses in which the pipes stand are burnt.

Pipes

The organ uses 14 original Goršič registers from the organ in Vipava (Op. 57, 1892). The pipes have been restored accordingly. The new metal pipes are made of an alloy of tin and lead in the proportions typical of each register. The surface is polished. The wooden pipes shall be of selected wood. The Trompette 8′ reed is preserved from an old organ from Šentvid pri Stični, the Oboë 8′ is a first-class product of the Killinger firm of Freiberg, Germany, while the Bombarde 16′ with half resonators and free reeds was made in the organ-building firm of Chwatal & Sohn, Merseburg, before 1892.

The organ has a total of 1650 pipes, of which 1220 are metal and 430 are wooden. The largest pipe in the organ is the Principalbass 16′ pedal register pipe, with a capacity of 254 l. The tallest pipe is the Salicional 16 manual register pipe, which measures 5.5 m. The body of the smallest pipe measures only 5 mm.

Organ disposition

The new organ is sonically inspired by the Goršič organ from the Ljubljana Ursuline Church (Op. 56, 1891), which features a mechanical action tracker with cone chests and a pneumatic system with bellows for switching on and off the couplers, and fixed combinations are implemented. These solutions were also used in Šentvid pri Stični.

The sound design of the new organ in Šentvíd was created by Luka Posavec, Aleš Razpotnik and Prof. Dr Christoph Bossert from the University of Music Würzburg.

Organ disposition >