Tuyaux sonores / Dem Himmel Nahe / Looking up at organs and ceilings
Jenny SETCHELL

In large impressive public spaces, whether a great cathedral, an ancient abbey or a secular concert hall, it is often the pipe organ that first commands the visitor's attention. The 'King of Instruments' with its solidly-wrought, ornate casework and glistening façade pipes, is sufficient in its own right to elicit gasps of awe and wonder.

But the organ case is usually only part of a whole harmonious picture. Its grandeur is complemented and completed by the beauty of the surrounding ceiling whether it be fan, barrel or rib-vaulted, highly ornate stone work, or painted wood. It is the context in which the organ is placed and the harmony of the whole that creates the magical effect.

Jenny Setchell has captured a variety of thrilling organ façades and crowning glory ceilings; some as old as that in Breda Grote Kerk in the Netherlands which dates back to 1534, through the 18th-century joys of the exuberant baroque era in Bavaria, up to modern instruments built only in the last few decades such as in Willibrordi Cathedral, Wesel. Organ builders over the centuries and in different countries have found creative and artistic solutions to the strictures of architectural styles when installing or rebuilding these glorious structures so that they would harmonise with their surroundings, as well as making the music that is their reason for being.

The result is brought together in this fascinating and beautiful book.

Ce sompteux volume iconographique de Jenny Setchell (connue pour son Bestseller " Die königin und ihr Gefolge ", BuB 13) plongera dans l'étonnement même les plus blasés parmi les amateurs d'orgues !
Des livres avec des photographies de façades d'orgues, il y en a pléthore ! Cet album exceptionnel cependant regroupe plus de 50 prises de vue d'instruments importants de quatre continents et cinq siècles, instruments présentés pour la première fois dans le contexte spatial des voûtes et plafonds qui les surplombent. L'on montre ici la fascinante manière dont la facture d'orgue et l'architecture arrivent de concert à se hisser vers des sommets de l'esthétique. Un régal visuel qui comblera l'amateur d'orgues aussi bien que l'amateur d'architecture.