Playing History: 17th Century Swedish Organ Music in Övertorneå

A scholarship awarded in 2023 by Längmanska Kulturfonden in Stockholm allowed me to deepen my knowledge of 17th century Swedish organ repertoire at the Övertorneå Church organ, considered the most important organ from 17th century Sweden. The project began on Monday November 6th and ended on Thursday November 9th 2023 with a public concert at Övertorneå Church. My original study project also envisaged the use of the organ preserved at Hietaniemi Church; this instrument, together with the church, was tragically lost in a fire on the night between September 25th and 26th 2023. Due to this terrible and unexpected event, I focused exclusively on the Övertorneå organ. Here is an in-depth study, enriched by the recordings made during this historically informed performance project.

The period between the accession to the throne in 1611 of King Gustaf II Adolf (1594-1632) and the murder of King Charles XII (1682-1718) in Norway in 1718 is called Stormaktstiden in Swedish, meaning ”the era of great power”. These years witnessed the rise and fall of Sweden as a European great power. 

The organ was seen at the time as the highest expression of artistic creativity, proportions, mathematics and acoustics, and often reflected the wellbeing of a community. The organ at the German Church in Stockholm was the most important instrument in Sweden and a symbol of prosperity for the local German community. This church was equipped with a bell concert in 1666, the first ever in Sweden. The organist had to be able to improvise during the daily liturgy and contribute with his musical art to the teaching of sacred texts, in a similar context to the Abendmusik of Lübeck.

Scandinavia is often associated – or rather included – with Northern Germany in regard to 17th-18th century organ repertoire. In addition to the well-known composers of the Northern German organ school, many other composers contributed to the development of this repertoire at a local level in a language very close to leading names such as Scheidemann, Reincken and Buxtehude. Some of these almost forgotten composers may have written as much music as the big names, but despite this, their compositions are not as well-known and practised. Although generally of a lower quality than the pages of the greatest exponents of the genre, the compositions of the organists active in Scandinavia hold a certain historical significance, both in terms of the development of the composition forms of the Northern German organ repertoire (first of all the choral-fantasy) and for the testimony of a local Scandinavian organ practice and the birth of a proper – in our case – Swedish organ repertoire, despite the many similarities with the Northern German school. 

I believe it is appropriate to attribute the birth of the Swedish organ repertoire to the members of the Düben family who lived in Stockholm. This dynasty of prominent musicians had its origins in central Germany, most likely in Thuringia. The founder of the family, Andreas Düben ”the elder” (1558-1625) was organist at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig from 1595 to 1625. His sons, Andreas ”the younger” (1597/8-1662) and Martin (1598/9-ca.1645), both had important musical careers. Not yet twenty years old, Andreas was sent by his father to Holland to study in Amsterdam with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck between 1614 and 1620. Back to Sweden, he was appointed court organist and then organist of the German Church in 1625.

There are some contemporary testimonies that describe the fervent musical activity of the German parish of Stockholm in the 17th century, then populated by numerous German families, and how Andreas Düben was a great organ virtuoso. Although he had left the role of court organist years earlier, in 1640 he assumed the role of maestro di cappella at court and then also resumed the role of court organist when his brother Martin, who had replaced him in the role, became the organist of Stockholm Cathedral, replacing his predecessor who was fired because he was considered incapable of managing the large new instrument installed a few years earlier on the west wall of the cathedral. In addition to his position at court, Andreas also held a position in the German Church. Upon Martin's death, Andreas also took over the position left by his brother at the cathedral, becoming the leading figure in the musical (and organ) life of Stockholm, simultaneously holding the three most prestigious musical positions in the city.

The third Düben generation is represented by Gustav Düben (ca.1629-1690), son of Andreas “the younger”. He studied music in Germany between 1645 and 1648, first supported by his father and then thanks to a three-year scholarship awarded by the Swedish Royal Court. Upon returning to Sweden, he got the position of maestro di cappella at court and organist of the German Church from 1663, succeeding his father in these roles. During his years of service at the German Church, Gustav Düben hired some musicians from the Royal Chapel, confirming the musical relationships between these two important city institutions. Gustav Düben considered the position at court more prestigious than that at the German Church: it is documented that when his presence was required at court, he used to hire substitutes to play for the services at the church, often deemed unsuitable for the role. The musical ensemble available to Gustav Düben at court varied between ten and sixteen elements (including singers and instrumentalists), at least in the period between 1683 and 1687, when much of Buxtehude's music was performed in Stockholm, who sent a large number of manuscripts to his Swedish colleague. For this reason, the largest collection of Buxtehude manuscripts is found in Sweden, preserved today at the Uppsala University Library and known as the "Düben Collection". Direct contacts between Gustav Düben and Buxtehude are also confirmed by commissions for royal occasions, such as the royal wedding in 1680 for which Düben commissioned Buxtehude to write the wedding cantata Klinget für Freude BuxWV 119. The organ repertoire of the Düben family which has survived to this day includes only about ten compositions, including variations, two choral fantasies and three preludes, which follow the characteristics of the contrapuntal style typical of the Northern German school, with the special colours of the pre-Bach German organ.

Gottlieb Nittauff (1685-1722) was born into a musical family, where his father, Johan Nicolaus Nittauff (?-?) was a trumpeter at court. After his first musical studies, Nittauff obtained the job of organist in 1705 at St. Jame’s Church in Stockholm. His predecessor was Martin Decker “the younger” (?-?), son of Gustav Düben's cousin. In 1710, he left Stockholm to move to Gothenburg as cathedral organist. In Gothenburg, he married in 1713 and remained there for the rest of his life. Nine organ preludes composed by Nittauff have survived. 

Originally from Güstrow in the German region of Mecklenburg, Christian Geist (ca.1650-1711) received his first music lessons from his father, Joachim Geist (?-?), kantor at the local cathedral. Between 1665 and 1668, the young Christian appears in the list of paid singers serving in the musical chapel of Duke Gustavus Adolphus of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1633-1695). Although not confirmed in the available documents, it is very likely that Christian Geist received musical lessons from the Flemish composer Daniel Danielis (1635-1696), at the time active as maestro di cappella at the Ducal Court. After a short and unproductive stay in Copenhagen around 1669, where he went with the hope of obtaining a stable job at the Royal Court as a singer, Geist moved to Stockholm, where he was hired from 1671 as a bass singer in the Royal Chapel. Many handwritten compositions by Geist are preserved today in the Düben Collection at Uppsala University. Due to professional friction with Gustav Düben, Geist left Stockholm in 1679, and on Düben's recommendation, he obtained the position of organist at the German Church in Gothenburg. The assignment in Gothenburg did not satisfy Geist, who went back to his native Güstrow between 1680 and 1681 to take care of some family interests following the death of his father in 1679. Geist left Sweden in 1684 for a prestigious assignment in Copenhagen, where he became organist and musical director of three churches (Helligåndskirke, Trinitatiskirke and Holmenskirke). The plague epidemic of autumn 1711 tragically killed both the composer and his family. Although Geist composed around sixty vocal compositions, only three choral preludes have survived from his organ production.

The organs built in Sweden during the 17th century are very similar in style and structure to contemporary Northern German organs. A significant number of German organ builders, especially from Hamburg, are documented in Sweden in the 17th century. Let’s take for example the organ of the German Church in Stockholm. The presence of a large German community in Stockholm has been recorded since 1571, due to continuous commercial and economical ties. Their first 14th century chapel was transformed and rebuilt at the end of the 16th century, and from 1612 it was enlarged to take on its current appearance. The German parish of Stockholm commissioned the German organ builder Paul Müller (?-after 1631), originally from Spandau, the construction of an organ with 21 registers displayed on two manuals (Hauptwerk and Brustwerk) and pedalboard. Müller completed the new instrument between 1608 and 1609 with the following disposition:

Werk: Quintadena 16, Principal 8, Octave 4, Querpfeiffe 4, Nasat 2 2/3, Supra Octave 2, Mixtur III, Cymbelen II, Trummeth 8
Brustwerk: Gross Gedackt 8, Block flöte 4, Octave 2, Siuelit 1 1/3, Supra Octave 1, Regall 8
Pedal: Unter Bass 16, Gross Gedackt Bass 8, Octaven Bass 4, Baur flöte 2, Trummete 8, Corneth 4

The instrument was enlarged and modified several times, first in 1621 by Pehr Jönsson (?-1658) a Swedish organ builder active in Skänninge, who added a positive of ten stops, and again in 1625 by the German organ builders Georg Hermann (?-ca.1655 ) and Philip Eisenmenger (?-ca.1657). The brustwerk is not included in the original contract, it most likely remained unchanged. The disposition after the enlargement was as follows:

Werk: Quintadena 16, Principal 8, Zwerflött 8, Gedackt Flött 8, Octav 4, Süfflött 4, Super octav 2, Quinta (2 2/3 o 1 1/3?), Mixtur VI, Trommeten 8
Rückpositiv: Fiolflött 8, Kampfeiffen 8, Principal 4, Feltpfeiffen 4, Gedackte 4, Walt Flött 2 (?), Sedetz 4 (=Terz 1 3/5), Zimbel III, Krumbhorn 8, Geigen Regall 4
[Brustwerk: Gross Gedackt 8, Block flöte 4, Octave 2, Siuelit 1 1/3, Supra Octave 1, Regall 8]
Pedal: Unter Bass 16, Gedackter Bass 8, Octaven Bass 4, Dulcian Bass 16, Trommeten Bass 8, Corneten Bass 4

Hermann himself made new changes between 1647 and 1651, most likely following the instructions of Andreas Düben. The new reconstruction included the addition of an oberwerk and the addition of decorative statues to the facade made by woodcarver Martin Redtmer (ca.1575-1655), who also made the decorative sculptures of the warship Vasa. The disposition after the new reconstruction was as follows:

Werk: Quintadena 16, Principal 8, Quer Flöet 8, Gross Flöet 8, Octava 8, Spitz Flött 4, Quinta 3, Super Octava 2, Mixtur VI, Dussanen 16, Trommeten 8
Oberwerk: Quintadena 8, Principal 4, Zapflöiten 4, Octaven 2, Nassat, Spitzquineten, Zimball II, Schallmeyen 8
Rückpositiv: Flöet 8, Principal 4, Feltpfeiffen 4, Flött 4, Octav 2, Waltpfeiffen 2, Cimbaz III, Dulcian 16, Krombhörner 8, Geigen Regall 4
Pedal: Unter Bass 16, Gedackter Bass 8, Octava Bass 4, Boar Bass 16 (=Posaune), Dulcian Bass 16, Trommeten Bass 8, Corneten Bass 4

Modified again between 1660 and 1670 by Frans Bohl (ca.1620-1677), after over one hundred and fifty years of use, the Müller organ was considered too old-fashioned and not suited to the new musical taste of the second half of the 18th century. In 1774, the church council of the German Parish of Stockholm decided that the time had come to replace the organ, which was dismantled in 1777 by the organ builders Olof Schwan (1744-1812) and Mattias Swahlberg the younger (1730-1800). Fate wanted the instrument to be saved from certain destruction thanks to its purchase in 1779 by Nils Wiklund (?-?), parish priest of Övertorneå. The small town of Övertorneå is located on the edge of the Arctic Circle, very far from Stockholm: the journey undertaken in 1779 was anything but simple! The organ, too large to be set up in Övertorneå Church, was divided into two independent instruments: while the Werk and Oberwerk were installed in Övertorneå, the Rückpositiv was installed in the nearby Hietaniemi Church. The pedal pipes have been missing since. A first reconstruction project saw the creation of a historical copy of the organ in the conditions of 1684, inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent 1997 and installed by the Grönlund organ building company at Norrfjärden Church near Piteå. In 2002 a second reconstruction project, again carried out by the Grönlund company, saw the installation of a new organ in the German Church of Stockholm, a historical copy of the organ in its 1684 condition. Both projects were under the guidance by the expert organist and researcher Hans-Ola Ericsson. The Grönlund company also took care of the restoration of the two original organs in Övertorneå and Hietaniemi.

The current disposition noted on site at Övertorneå Church is the following:

Huvudverk: Quintadena 16 [1651], Principal 8 [1651], Spiel Flöte 8 [probably 1661], Gedackt Flött 8 [1651], Octava 4 [1651/1742], Spitz Flött 4 [1609/1651], Quinta 3 [1651], Super Octava 2 [1651], Mixtur III [1651], Cymbel II [rebuilt in 1971], Trommeten 8 [1971]
Öververk: Quintadena 8 [1651], Octava 4 [1600], Quinta 3 [1651], Octava 2 [1651], Octava 1 [1651], Zimball II [1651], Schalmeyen [1971]
Pedal [completely rebuilt in 1971]: Under Bass 16, Gedackter Bass 8, Octava Bass 4, Posaunen Bass 16, Trommeten Bass 8, Dulcian Bass 8, Corneten Bass 4

Two keyboards (C-c3), pedalboard (C-d1). Couplers: Hv-Ped, Öv-Hv
Vogelgesang. Werckmeister III. 467 Hz.

Below are the registrations used for the recordings and the concert:

Christian Geist – Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr [a 4, pedaliter]
W: Qd 16, Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2, Mix, Cy, Tr 8 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16, TrB 8, DB 8, CB 4 

Christian Geist – Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ [Auf 2 Clavier, a 4, pedaliter]
W: Pr 8, O 4, Tr 8 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8

Christian Geist – Aus tiefer Not [Auf 2 Clavier, a 4, pedaliter]
W: Pr 8 / Ow: Qd 8 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Preludium auff 2. Clavier [Lamento, 1]
W: Ged 8 / Ow: Qd 8, Sch 8 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [2]
W: Ged 8, SpFl 8, SpFl 4 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [3]
W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, DB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [4]
W: Pr 8, O 4, SO 2, Cy / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, TrB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [5]
Ow: Qd 8, Nas 3 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [6]
W: SpFl 4 / Ped: GB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium ex C [pur le Pedaliter, 7]
W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium di D fis [8]
W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2, Mix, Cy / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16, TrB 8

Gottlieb Nittauff – Praeludium [Toccata, 9]
W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2, Mix, Cy / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, Zimb / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16, TrB 8

Andreas Düben – Praeludium Pedaliter
W: Pr 8, O 4, SO 2 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4

Andreas Düben – Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (auf 2 Clavier)
W: Ged 8, SpFl 4 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, Nas 3 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, DB 8 (+/- DB 8)

Andreas Düben – Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
Var. 1 (Choral in cantu auf 2 Clavier): W: Pr 8, O 4, Tr 8 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4
Var. 2 (Choral in Basso): W: Pr 8, O 4 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, TrB 8

Martin Düben – Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
(Choral in Basso): W: O 4 / Ow: O 4 / Ped: GB 8, OB 4, DB 8

Martin Düben – Erstanden ist der heilig Christ
Simpel: W: Pr 8, O 4
Var. 1 (Auf 2 Clavier): W: Pr 8, SpFl 4 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, Zimb (+/- Zimb) / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4
Var. 2 (Choral in cantu auf 2 Clavier): W: Pr 8 / Ow: Qd 8
Var. 3 (Choral in Basso): W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, O 2 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, SO 2 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16

Martin Düben – Praeludium
W: Pr 8 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8

Martin Düben – Praeambulum Pedaliter
W: Pr 8, Ged 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2, Mix, Cy / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16, TrB 8, DB 8

Gustav Düben – Suite
Praeludium: W: Ged 8, SpFl 4
Allemande: W: Ged 8, SpFl 4, Q 3 / Ow: O 4
Courante: W: Ged 8, SpFl 4, SO 2 / Ow: Q 8, O 4
Sarabande: W: Pr 8 / Ow: Qd 8

Gustav Düben (?) – Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren (auf 2 Clavier)
W: SpFl 8, O 4 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, Nas 3, Sch 8 (+/- Nas and Sch) / Ped: UB 16, OB 4, DB 8

Düben family? – Nun komm der Heiden Heiland
Simpel: W: Pr 8 / Ped: UB 16, GB 8
Var. 1: W: Qd 16, SpFl 4 / Ow: Qd 8, Nas 3
Var. 2: W: Pr 8, O 4, Tr 8 / Ow: Qd 8, O 4, O 1
Var. 3: W: Ged 8, SpFl 8, SpFl 4 / Ow: Q 8, Zimb
Var. 4: W: Pr 8, O 4, Q 3, SO 2, Mix, Cy / Ped: UB 16, GB 8, OB 4, PosB 16, TrB 8

An historically informed performance approach to research has become part of my daily practice since I completed my studies in Gothenburg with professor Hans Davidsson where I had the great opportunity to study Northern German repertoire on the famous Schnitger copy at Örgryte New Church. The project in Övertorneå went further: here I got the opportunity to practise the repertoire composed for this very organ with the authentic sound intended by the composer. The sound of this organ is very soft and warm, enriched by a lovely unequal temperament. The two keyboards, originally with the first broken octave, were rebuilt as chromatics during the installation in Övertorneå. This is confirmed by the keyboard keys decorated with typical decorations used by organ builders from 18th century Stockholm like Schwan and Swahlberg. The front pipes are the original built by Hermann e Eisenmenger, as well as the statues and faces sculpted by Redtmer. The intimate acoustics of the church make these recordings even more delicate. A very warm thank you to Övertorneå parish and its organist Katrin Meriloo and to Längmanska kulturfonden who made this project possible. This organ is a precious monument of 17th century organ building art in Sweden and I am very grateful that I finally had the chance to experience it in person.