© DDOA 2008
Unfortunately my photograph taken of the Mayer console did not save to disc though a brief description will establish for the reader how different the German approach can be from the usual English design. All of the stops, rocking tablets, are positioned in one bank to the player's left, with the switches for the free pistons placed above each tablet: manual pistons appear under the lower manual only and are duplicated by toe pistons. The mechanism for engaging couplers is electrically operated though the link between manuals/pedals is mechanical. Only the width of the manual sharps was disconcerting as they were, to this player, very narrow.
In contrast, the Klais organ at Bensheim is three manuals, 42 stops, with a manual compass CC — g3 and pedal CC — f. I visited the church on a Sunday afternoon to watch two of my host's children perform in a Singspiel directed by the talented and enthusiastic Regionalkantor, Gregor Knop, who very kindly allowed me to play the organ after the delighted audience had left.
Hauptwerk I
16
8
8
4
4
3
2
Mixture
Mixture
8
Couplers
I -
P -
P -
Three free
pistons
Pedal
16
16
8
8
4
4
2
Mixture
16
Schwellwerk II
8
8
8
8
4
4
2
1
II
III
16
8
Tremulant
Few English organists have the opportunity to sit at the Rolls-Royce (or should I say Mercedes) of modern German organs; the experience did not disappoint. The craftsmanship evident at the console was reflected in the tonal qualities of the instrument and once more, due to the prominent position of the organ, the voicing appeared
at first to be understated in a terribly English sort of way: upon release of the keys however, the sound rolling around that resonant acoustic showed that the voicing was all that one might ask for. At close quarters, for example, the Schwellwerk 16' Dulzian seemed to lack the 'bite' that we like in our Swell reeds; the reverberation, however, demonstrated that in the nave it was everything one would hope for.
The Klais Console at Bensheim