2024-03-26 17:00:00
Since 2019, the city has become a center for music cultivation in Saxony. The Free State is now honoring this by supporting a church music project that is unique in Europe.
Organ project.
It’s a fascinating idea: you’re sitting in the church and the organ music isn’t just coming from behind, as is common practice, but from all directions. From the left, from the right, from the front… In the medium term, this will not remain a fantasy in the city church of St. Petri in Augustusburg, but will become reality: On Tuesday afternoon, the Saxon State Minister for Culture and Tourism, Barbara Klepsch, gave the artistic director of the Augustusburger Musiksommer, Pascal Kaufmann, and the representatives of the non-profit association “360 Grad” presented a grant of 800,000 euros. This contribution from the Free State to the 1.2 million euro project, in which the Sparkasse Finance Group also makes a significant contribution, is intended to finance the “360° Klangwelt” organ installation, which is unique in Europe, in the Augustusburg town church.
Organ system with six partial organs
Specifically, the following is planned: The main organ from 1896, which was last renovated in 2013, will be restored and expanded in accordance with listed building standards. An altar organ and four other branch organs will be rebuilt for the installation so that they can be played simultaneously from an electric general console. This should be supported by visual effects that create an unprecedented spatial sound experience for church guests.
“The ‘360° world of sound’ in Augustusburg is intended to create a new, unique art offering with high cultural, liturgical and tourist significance, which will have a supra-regional appeal and binding power for visitors and musicians. An organ system with six partial organs at different locations such as in the town church St. Petri is unique far beyond Saxony. Saxon organ building and organ music are part of the intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO. With the ‘360° sound world’, this heritage is also maintained and passed on,” says Minister Barbara Klepsch.
Feel the low frequencies of the bass pipes
The feasibility study for the project, which was presented yesterday at a press conference, was already initiated in 2021 with the involvement of Sparkasse Mittelsachsen. Another sponsor was then gained in the form of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung. Pascal Kaufmann, who has been responsible for church music in Augustusburg at the town church and castle chapel since 2019, is enthusiastic about the prospects that exist for music in the church he plays in as Augustusburg city cantor: “The listeners will listen to the spherical sounds of the branch works, “You can physically feel the low frequencies of the bass pipes lying in the gallery floor and even look into the new altar organ. This only exists in Augustusburg, you have never heard an organ like this before. We are building a new cultural monument for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
In addition to the already established projects “Augustusburg Music Summer” and “Junge Philharmonie Augustusburg”, the initiators want the “360° world of sound” as the third pillar to further enrich the musical landscape in the region with a variety of cultural offerings. With the installation of the “360° world of sound”, according to a press release from the Saxon Ministry of Culture distributed on Tuesday, “a technical unique and a musical gem will be created, which will be outstanding both in terms of execution and technical sophistication as well as in making the music tangible for visitors “should set standards”. Organ building, as a traditional craft, and digitalization go hand in hand. The entire organ installation, including the new general console, should meet the latest international standards and fit worthy into the interior design.
With the introduction of the “Augustusburg Music Summer” in 2019, Augustusburg became a musical center that radiates far beyond the city. Through his high-quality short concerts on weekends, he established a low-threshold offering that is not a given in the classical music scene and demonstrated his ability to improvise during the Corona period the following year. The “Junge Philharmonie Augustusburg”, also founded in 2019, enables young students to take part in concert projects at the highest artistic level.
An idea bears new fruit – a comment from Torsten Kohlschein
A young church musician comes to a church fresh from college – and stirs up dust. This is the stuff success stories are made of. This is currently being continued in Augustusburg. What began in 2019 with the founding of the “Music Summer”, which has since become extremely popular, and the associated bold initiative to popularize classical music, is now bearing further fruit that is aimed at sustainability. Investments are being made here in a project that is as important musically as it is touristically. One that gives Augustusburg a unique selling point, at least in Europe, with an idea that is as simple as it is ingenious. A decisive “We want!” instead of a vague “You should…” has led to success here. Congratulations!
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