Goršič built the first organ with a mechanical tracker and cone chests in Borovnica (Op. 42, 1884). From the mid-19th century, these types of organs were crafted, among others, by the German organ builder Eberhard Friedrich Walcker (1794-1872) and his successors. They are characterised by their highly accurate and responsive tracker action and stable wind pressure in the pipes, but their more complex construction results in more demanding maintenance.
Franc Goršič considered the pipe organ in the Ursuline church to be his finest work and considered it to have “the most beautiful voice” among his organs.
In 1881, Goršič obtained a licence for a patented system of mechanical tracker action with cone chests from the South German Gebrüder Link Organ Workshop, and in 1891, he obtained a licence from the same manufacturer for the installation of a pneumatic system for switching on and off the couplers and fixed combinations. This system was first used in the organ in the Ursuline Church. Here, seven small bellows facilitate the switching on and off of the two manual and pedal couplers and the three fixed combinations (Tutti, Fortissimo I. and Fortissimo II.).
Photo: Brane Košir
In 1919, the composer and organist Stanko Premrl (1880-1965) ranked Goršič among the best domestic organ masters of all time, praised him as a first-class intonator, and quoted the opinion of Franc Kimovec (1878-1964): “Goršič was a master of a distinct, but in no direction exaggerated intonation, there is a certain fullness and flinty in his works that one cannot find more complete, while at the same time, especially in his more penitential works, there is an extraordinary softness and suppleness, so that it seems that in some registers […] no one has surpassed him, if anyone has surpassed him at all.
Windchests with pipes are arranged in one plane within the one-piece organ case, except for the large pedal. The three pedal registers (Untersatz 32′, Principalbass 16′ and Posaune 16′) are placed on the organ case base due to the size of the pipes. The windchest of manual I is divided into the so-called big (6 registers) and small (5 registers). Manual II is placed at the sides and divided into C and Cis. Of the 1771 pipes in the organ, 1385 are made of tin and 386 of wood. Fourteen pipes in the front are mute. From 1887 onwards, Goršič ordered all the tin pipes from the Gebrüder Link workshop. The disposition lists 33 register drawstops, but the 16′ registers of manuals I and II are divided into bass and discant. The Viola 16′ register of manual II can also be used as a pedal register with the transmission. Manual I plays the role of the main pipes [Hauptwerk], while Manual II plays the role of the positivo [Positiv]. The characteristic registers of Manual III (Viola d’amore 8′, Zartflöte 8′, Unda maris 8′ and Aeoline 4′) give their pipes the character of a so-called distant positiv [Fernwerk].
Goršič also incorporated for the first time in this organ some characteristic registers, e.g. Viola d’amore 8’, with the addition of inverted conical attachment (the so-called Bell Gamba), and the English-type register Oboë 8′ with a beating reed (rather than a free reed, as is often found in organs of the German Romantic type).
Photo: Brane Košir
Goršič and Vurnik have worked hand in hand to create a beautiful work that offers us aesthetic pleasure, both sonically and architecturally. From the very beginning, I have experienced that our organ has a special, unique sound that can gently caress the soul or ignite it and set it on fire. The restoration has further purified this sound and made it shine in all its clarity and grace.
S. Božena Kutnar, Principal of the Ursuline Monastery, 2014
Taken from the text by Tomaž Sevšek Šramel
