Luogo e data di registrazione		- Marzo 1976 (*/**) - Maggio 1973 (***/°/°°)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Recording Supervisor		Wolf Erichson
	Recording Engineer		Dieter Thomsen
	Prima Edizione LP		Seon (Philips) | 6775 023 | 2 LPs - durata 50' 59" - 51' 25" | (p) 1977 | ANA Seon (RCA Red Seal) | RL 30765 | 2 LPs - durata 50' 59" - 51' 25" | (p) 1981 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Sony | SB2K 61780 | 2 CDs - durata 50' 59" - 51' 25" | (c) 1999 | ADD
	Original Cover		Stade, St. Cosmae
	Note		-

St. Cosmae - Stade In 1959 the church and its newly completed organ were destroyed by a great town fire. Once the church hab been rebuilt, Berendt Huss built the present organ in the years 1668 to 1673- It is with good reason that the instrument is associated with the name of Arp Schnitger, as it is the first milestone in Schnitger's career as an organ-builder. He was appointed Berendt Huss's assistant in Stade, and he there received a gift of money - evidently as a reward for his work on this organ. The fashioning of the organ case clearly shows his influence as a practised cabinet-maker; thus the turrek mouldings are no longer round but polygonal. The instrument has a generous array of 42 stops. Nor was expense spared in the construction. The front pipes were made from an alloy containing 77% tin. The ornamental carving of the oak casing is of a high standard, and the so-called double spring chest is unparalleled in its quality. The colouring, however, remained seimple; no goldleaf was found under subsequent coats. The wind supply came from eight large wedge-shaped bellows. This organ did not escape untouched with the passing years. In addition to repair work some alterations were made. During the years 1973-1974 the organ builder Jürgen ahrend undertook restoration work with the aim of recreating the original condition of the instrument. Of the original pipes some nine registers were missing, among them only two ranks of reeds: the Dulcian and the Cornet on the Pedal Organ. The large quantity of sound original pipes, including many 16 and 8-foot stops and old reed pipes, makes this organ something of a rarity among the great old organs of North Germany. St. Materniani - Ochtersum The church dates from the thirteenth century. On December 5, 1732, the minister reported: "For years the congregation has wanted an organ." In 1734 a contract was signed with the organ builder Christian Klausing from Herford. The original contract has been preserved. It stupulates that "he will also execute a new structure in fine oak wood, including the fretwork or carving done according to the sletches..." After further description of the "sliders, keyboard, and associated ducts, three pairs of bellows with conduits and casing," there follows the specification. The organ was to be fetched "by three empty carts stuffed with straw or hay" (it must have been straw, for when the organ was being restored in 1973 an ear of corn appeared which had remained hidden for all that time under cover of a stopped pipe). After the completion of the new organ, according to a contemporary report, "incomparably more people now go to church in order to hear the pleasing sound." A number of modifications brought changes in the exterior and also in the sound of the instrument. Thus the Sesquialtera was replaced first by a Dulzian 16', and later, in keeping with the times, its place was taken by a Gambe (1900). The Mixtur stop had finally retained only a few choruses. The front was deprived ot its tin Prinzipal pipes during the First World War. When necessary restoration work came to be carried out (by J. Ahrend in 1973) the organ was dismantled and all the woodwork was assembled afresh in the workshop. A new tin Prinzipal, a new Sesquialtera, and the missing Mixtur pipes were made so as to correspond exactly with the originals. The pipes have very thick wakks, with high orifices and broad basal slits ensuring a powerful sound. The pedal attachment is particularly effective when used with the Trompete. This has extremely wide wind passages in the bass. Reformed CHurch - Rysum The church in Rysum was built around 1400. The organ is now situated in the Gothic west gallery. The façade is broken in the centre by a small precentor's pulpit. A Latin inscription beneath this shows that it was built during the time of the ìgilded knight' Victor Vriese in 1513. The organ and gallery are not of a piece. The latter had to be rebuilt in order to take the bottom part of the case which was a little too wide. It is therefore to be supposed that the organ is older and stood in a different part of the church. It is possible that this is the instrument mentioned in the "Beninga Chronicle": for the organ made for them in  Groningen, the people of Rysum gave "fat cattle" in payment. This was in 1457, and the organ nuilder is not namend. After a number of repairs and alterations, restoration work was carried out in 1959-60 by the organ builders Ahrend and Brunzema, recapturing the original conception of this very old organ. In addition to some ornamental parts and sections of beading, the case lacked above all its folding doors. Soom of these pieces were discovered in use as covering for the case, and fortunately these were precisely the ones that had the sun, and stars painted on them. The former colour of this Gothic organ case proved to be an imitation of sandstone with somewhat contrasting colours painted over it at a later date. The Prinzipal pipes, made of lead and having very thick walls, where restored to their old lustre with new tin-foil. The other old ranks, too, were of lead. These were, Gedackt 8', Oktave 4', and Oktave 2'. These three missing ranks were recinstructed from the old plans. The covers of the Gedackt pipes were soldered on. The wind pressure is high and the measurements of the pipe slits are correspondingly large. Today the action once more leads from the 41 rear-pivoted keys (C, short octave, to a" with no g" over the old soundboard to the valves sited at the front. The slider for the Prinzipal is operated as in the Gothic organ in Alkmaar by means fo a lever placed above the music stand. The pipes are now once again tuned to mean pitch. St. Paulus - Uttum The church was built between 1280 and 1300. There was already an organ there in the sixteenth century. According to an old tradition this is supposed to have been brought to the church in Uttum from the monastery church at Sielmönken after the Reformation. The present organ was built in around 1660, possibly using the older pipes. This was in the time of the minister Cornelius Wybenius Müller (1655-1666), whose name has been preserved in gold lettering under the present paintwork. The organ-builder is not named. In 1828 the organ was moved from the West of the church to a rood-loft in front of the chancel. To a large extent the instrument has been spared alterations. It possesses a manual with a compass from C, short octave, to c''' and no pedal. The organ case consists of good oak, as do the three wedge-bellows and the rest of the structure apart from th pipes.These were made from lead. The feet of the Trompete were of copper. At the time of the restoration of the instrument by the organ-builders Ahrend and Brunzema in 1956-57, only the Sesquialtera and the six large pipes of the central turrel were missing from the original number. These were replaced by suitably designed new ones. The covers of the three stopped ranks were soldered on, which meant that the original pitch is still present today. It is even a simple matter to undertake a modified mean tuning. Minor retuning of the pipe-work takes place no more frequently than once every 10 years. St. Marien-Kirche - Marienhafe The church was erected between 1250 and 1260 as a vaulted cruciform basilica. In the nineteenth century the gigantic structure was considerably reduced: the chancel, valts, and aisles were demolished. The present organ was made in 1713 by the organ builder Gerhard von Holy. Until 1828 it stood by the east wall of the chancel and in 1831 it was moved to a loft on the west side. The instrument has 20 stops and two manuals with a pedal attachment (Compass: C, short extended octave, to c''', Pedal: C to c'). The instrument has a sliding coupler. The wind supply comes from four large wedge-bellows feeding oak ducts. One of the most valuable organs in North Germany, it has been protected as a monument since 1952. Renovation work on the church during the 1960's, involving the installation of heating, new plasterwork, and new pews, made it necessary for work to be carried out on the organ too. This work was done by Ahrend and Brunzema. Added to the original pipe-work, the Quintadena 18' and Trompete 6' registers were introduced as reconstructions. The Mixtur and Zimbel were again brought up to their original number of choruses. The accoustical design of the Great Organ as a whole clearly takes into account the Pedal whitch is simply coupled to it; the sizes in the bass are very broad, giving it a healthy fulness of sound. In the discant there is an audible brilliance without hatshness. The pipes are very rich in lead. There are no wooden pipes. The four wedge-bellows which supply the wind have new leather and a foot-operated action which has a particularly agreable flexibility. Jürgen Ahrend