The organ was built by the Viennese master Johannes Woackerl in 1633, and the builder himself repaired the instrument twenty years later. The single-manual, pedal organ, which has 469 flue pipes and 109 reed pipes, survived the great fire of Sopron, which melted the bells of other churches, and it escaped the bombs of WWII. Perhaps the most damage done to the organ was in WWI, when its pipes were melted down to make shells.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Angster organ builders of Pécs said the instrument could not be rescued and deemed it ?firewood?. Still, it was saved. The organ underwent its first restoration in 1957. The latest restoration started in 2003, but dragged on for years because of a lack of funding as well as because of the research involved, which involved travel across Europe.
The organist, pianist and harpsichordist Tamás Szekendy, a member of Capella Savaria, brought the organ alive at a concert on the second day of Early Music Days. Szekendy played rarely heard works by Frescobaldi and Muffat, as well as by the practically unknown Johann Kaspar Kerll, showing everything the organ is capable of.
After the concert, Szekendy invited the audience to the choir where he gave a close-up demonstration of instrument.
Author: Éva Mikes
Photo: Dávid Magasi
