Christian Brembeck - La pastourelle (2020)

The historic organ of the St. Michaels Church in Bobenthal, Palatinate, is a unique work of art in several respects. The instrument was built in 1817 by the organ maker Wendelin Ubhaus(er) from Kirrweiler. In 1879, as part of the church renovation, the organ was removed and stored by the Schlimbach company from Speyer. Actually there was a desire for a new instrument, but this (luckily from today's perspective!) Failed for financial reasons; the old Ubhaus organ was repaired by Hermann Schlimbach and set up again. The organ case was originally untreated; today's color scheme dates from 1964. Some special features make the instrument a rarity not only in the rich Palatinate organ landscape: the pedal does not have a 16' voice, but the manual is unusually completely expanded from the low C to f''', whereas the pedal has a (typical of the time) small amount of just over an octave (C-d).

The disposition contains a quarter of string parts, which may pay homage to both baroque traditions and a certain late classical sound ideal. The mixture contains a third chorus, which enriches the overall sound magnificently. For a long time the organ was in shadow and increasingly desolate, but luckily more than 90% of the original substance had been preserved. In 2016/17, at the initiative of some Bobenthal organ lovers, the valuable and qualitatively remarkable historical instrument was subjected to a fundamental restoration by Johannes Rohlf (Neubulach), in which the old bellows pedal system was also restored and made usable again. In the 200th year of its existence, the organ shines in old splendor and new sound freshness.