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A FEW HISTORICAL NOTES ABOUT THE ORGAN IN MIDWOLDE

by Victor Timmer

Introduction.

There is hardly an old church to be found that in the passage of time has not undergone changes. Repairs and modifications of a major or minor nature often leave a clear trail or become visible when whitewash and plaster are removed. Thus, in front of the eyes of a careful observer, an exciting story unfolds of how parishioners treated their building and made it serviceable according to their concept of divine worship. We now have a reasonable understanding of church interiors of earlier times from the work of (amongst others) van Saenredam and De Witte. Usually this involves large city churches. When photography arrived in the nineteenth century, images of church buildings were usually limited to exteriors unless it involved an unusual interior or detail thereof. Particularly rare are images of the interiors of village churches in North Holland so that our knowledge must derive from archival information and clues from the existing interior.

In this report we wish to focus attention on the church in Midwolde whose restoration in the meantime has been completed. First of all, we will pose the question of how this church may have appeared, both the interior and the exterior, before the restoration that took place from 1911 to 1913 which has so clearly left the church with its current character. After that we will shift our attention to the organ and study the interesting history of that instrument. Several images of the church and organ have been preserved and form the starting point of this article.

The Church in Midwolde before 1911.

Around 1800, the church in Midwolde was undoubtedly already one of the best known village churches in Groningerland, not in the least because of the famous grave monument of Rombout Verhulst. That this work of art could already be viewed at the beginning of the nineteenth century is noted in a reference in the church archives. Also memorialized is the duty of ringing the bell, carried out for some time by "the inn keeper who lives near the church, who is also the keeper of the church key and enjoys some recompense from persons who come to see the handsome tomb standing1 inside." The monument is mentioned in various geographic writings from the middle of the nineteenth century and is depicted2 in one of them.
1 Grave monument of Midwolde
1. The grave monument of Rombout Verhulst as seen by J. Ensingh in 1839.
Already around 1900 there existed picture postcards of the church. One image of the exterior, shot from the south west, shows that the upper bell tower openings on the south side are closed. Unfortunately, vegetation growing beside the cemetery obscures the view of the south side of the church. Fortunately a beautiful photo has been preserved which does give a good view of this side of the church. This image was made during the restoration of the tower in the fall of 1911. How necessary the repairs were is indicated by a decision made by the church wardens to suspend ringing of the bell while the work was carried out "since the upper part of the tower shakes3 markedly while the bell is being rung." At the same time, during excavations near the church, a 'stone coffin with lid' was found. There also exists an image of the north-east side of the church in which the buttresses against the north side of the choir are visible5. Exterieur before 1911
2. The exterior before 1911 as seen from the southwest. The tower openings in the south facade have been closed.
Views from two picture postcards from around the turn of the (last) century show the monument. Noteworthy is the fact that the postcard gives the location of the tomb as Midwolda! The confusion with this place in the Oldambt occurred more often since in the past, the town in question was also called6 Midwolde. Interesting also is another card showing the view from the nave to the choir. We see the pulpit surrounded by a simple baptismal garden, in front of the monument a platform for the placing of extra chairs, and on the left a railing (on which are found two vases) connecting to a portal. The gentlemen's bench, supported by four pillars, was apparently to be accessed via this wooden portal (one may compare this with the Peters plan view7plan view which depicts the situation as it was before the restoration). The inscription above the door of the portal (This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous shall enter) is hereby given a somewhat profane aftertaste. Originally this inscription definitely did not serve a function with respect to the entrance to the crypt. This entrance which currently does indeed lie in front of the portal, in earlier times was situated near the middle of the church. Also, the portal did not have an exterior door; this was only implemented during the restoration8. Until then, one could exit the church through a door in the south wall of the choir, next to the triumphal arch, in addition to the main entrance under the tower. The current staircase near the gentlemen's bench was added during the construction of the new entrance in the north wall. Finally, the picture lets us see that the choir had a wooden vault in contrast to the nave of the church which has a masonry vault (like the one that can still be found in the Nederlands Hervormde Kerk in Roden). During the restoration, the cross beams were replaced with new ones and the nave received a wooden vault. During the restauration 1911
3. The exterior in 1911 during the restoration of the tower as seen from the southeast. The bell tower openings have already been reopened. Also visible is the southern entrance which was gotten rid of during the restoration and had probably been used for funerals. The small window above this entrance was enlarged during the restoration.
Het interieur voor 1911
4. The interior in 1911 towards the east. The baptismal railing is still present. On the left and the right, between the cross beams, the narrow planks of the wooden choir vault are visible. Also note the staircase near the gentlemen's bench (altered during the restoration).
 
Side view of the north side
5. Side view of the north side, plan and cross section of the church before 1911. Drawn on the ground plan is the passage through the southern part of the western wall and the two buttresses supporting the north wall. The door into the choir drawn in the side view of the church was not present before 1911 not even as a blind door. The northern entrance to the nave was already bricked up before 1911.
Footnotes for the article by Victor Timmer.
1. Archives of the Hervormde Gemeente Oldebert (on location): Index to the most important issues in the Minutes of the Transactions of the church wardens in the Herv. congregation of Midwolde and de Leek as mentioned on p. 48 (citation from the report issued to the church authorities at the Prov. College van Toezicht, dated August 23, 1833).
2. See J. H. Laarman, Beschrijving der Nederlanden (Amsterdam 1841) 297.
3. According to a report in the Algemeen Nieuws- en Advertentieblad voor Westerkwartier en omstreken, September 23 1911.
4. Ibid. December 9, 1911. The coffin and the lid, made of red Bremer sandstone, was found in front of the door in the choir and was presented by the church wardens to the Museum van Oudheden te Groningen (see also: Verslag van den toestand van het Museum van Oudheden voor de provincie en de stad Groningen over het jaar 1911, gifts, no. 6)
It would make sense to return the coffin (currently residing in the Monastery at Ter Apel) to the church in Midwolde after the restoration of the church.
5. C. H. Peters, Oud-Groningen, Stad en Lande (Groningen 1921) 108.
6. See for example: Joachim Hess, Dispositien der Merkwaardigste Kerk-Orgelen Gouda 1774). On p. 40 Midwolde is named as the place with the nicest organ in a Groninger village church; from the printed disposition on p. 56, it is apparent that it refers to the church of Midwolda.
F. Talstra refers to a rebuilding of the organ at Midwolde (Wk.) by N.A.G. Lohman in 1864, in his article: "Het Groninger orgelbezit van de reformatie tot de romantiek I," Publicatiemap Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken, Historique de la facture et des facteurs d'orgues (Antwerpen 1865) 133. Considering that the church archives do not mention any repairs to the organ in Midwolde, the reference must be to Midwolda.
7. Peters, Oud-Groningen, 8. As is also apparent from "Bestek en Voorwaarden" before the restoration of 1911-1913; with thanks to Mr. Postema at Nietap for sharing a copy.

Credits for Illustrations
1: From J.H. Laarman, Beschrijving der Nederlanden.
2: From a picture postcard; collection of R. Hazenberg, Niekerk.
3: Municipal Archives Leek.
4: From a picture postcard; collection of the author.
5: From C.H. Peters, Oud-Groningen, Stad en Lande, 106.


HISTORY AND RESTAURATION OF THE ORGAN IN MIDWOLDE

by Jan van Biezen and Koos van de Linde

EEKMAN'S ORIGINAL ORGAN

The organ of Midwolde was originally a house organ built by Levijn Eekman1
Levijn Eekman, blombergensis, Orgelmaecker zu Amsterdam, Anno 1630

From this we can conclude that the builder came from Blomberg, not far from Detmold, or from Blomberg in the Oostfriese Harlingerland, both in Germany. He established himself in Amsterdam at the latest in 1630. In 1635 he received a commission to renew the organ in the Nieuwezijdskapel in that city. One can still admire the case of this instrument in the Roman Catholic Church in Jutphaas. Eekman died in 1638 just when he had received2 an important commission for the organ in the Grote or St.-Laurenskerk in Alkmaar. In the current organ in Midwolde, important elements of Eekman's house organ have been preserved. What currently serves as the bottom case, comes from the original small Eekman organ. The style of the case so closely matches that of furniture found in residences in the beginning of the seventeenth century that one wonders if one is dealing with a household cabinet that has been rebuilt as opposed to a case specifically built for the organ. That the latter applies is apparent from the fact that the two panels in the bottom part do not belong to two separate doors, as would be the case with an ordinary cabinet, but form a single unit. In the lower right hand corner, the opening is still present where the treadles for pumping the organ must have jutted out.
The wind chest is also still principally Eekman's. It now resides in the upper case where originally it was positioned directly under the keyboard. The ends of the sliders extended through openings (still present) in the side walls of the Eekman case. The ventils are labelled with the names of the corresponding draw knobs. There are two extra cancels with corresponding ventils in the Eekman chest. One is inscribed with ster: the house organ must therefore have had a Cymblestern. The other ventil was likely used for a Nightingale stop.

In the end, bits and pieces of Eekman's pipe work have been preserved including some of the Holpijp 4', an Octaaf 2' and a Mixtuur. Until now this is his only pipe work that has made an appearance. From the holes in the preserved pipe rack one can see that the instrument had a reed as fourth stop, likely a Regaal 8'. The Holpijp 4' consisted of rohrflutes with the caps soldered to the pipe body. Even for a classic Dutch rohrflute, the scale is exceptionally large.

The disposition of Eekman's house organ is as follows:

Holpijp 4'
Octaaf 2'
Mixtuur 2-3 ranks
[Regaal 8']

Cimbelster
[Nachtegaal]

The mixture had the following composition3:
C       2/3' 1/2
a     1' 2/3' 1/2'
g'   1 1/3' 1' [2/3']  
dis'' 2 [1 1/3'] [1']    


Eekman's organ case
6. Eekman's organ case during the disassembly.

The wind chest mounted in its original position
7. The wind chest mounted in its original position in Eekman's organ; the sliders stick out through the side walls.
The keyboard compass was from CDEFGA-c'''. The ranks were divided with the division between c' and c' sharp. The pitch level was approximately a semitone higher than usual. The instrument was likely tuned in meantone4. THE REBUILD BY DE MARE

Around 1660, Andreas de Mare rebuilt Eekman's house organ into the configuration that now stands in the church of Midwolde. Inside the organ case we also find his 'business card':

Andreas d'Mare Orgelmaker ende organist tot Bedum

Of this builder - not to be confused with his famous sixteenth-century namesake - not much is known. From the archives we know that in the second half of the seventeenth century he worked on various organs in the province of Groningen5. Thanks to the organ in Midwolde, we now know what his pipe work and the inscriptions thereon look like. As a result, it was possible to determine during an inventory of the present-day organ in the Aa church in Groningen, which had originally stood in the Academiekerk, that De Mare had also worked on the organ in the latter church.

De Mare used Eekman's case as the base for a newly constructed upper case. This upper case with its painted shutters still exists in its entirety. In it De Mare placed Eekman's chest and on it found room for two more ranks beyond the four for which the chest originally served. The Octaaf 2' and the Mixtuur he left unaltered. He moved the Holpijp 4' over and extended it to a Holpijp 8'. He discarded the reeds. He supplied the instrument with a Prestant 4' with new pipe work in the front and a collection of existing pipe work - including from van Hagerbeer - on the chest. In addition he added a Nasard 1 1/2' in the bass and a Sesquialter 2 ranks in the treble as well as a complete rank of Quint 1 1/2'. Of all this pipe work, only what was needed has been preserved. The scales of De Mare's ranks follow the usual pattern with the exception of the Holpijp 8'; the scale of these pipes, relatively speaking, is even wider than those of Eekman.

The disposition of the organ after De Mare's rebuild is as follows:

Prestant 4'
Nasard 1 1/2' bass
Sesquialter 2 2/3-1 3/5' treble
Octaaf 2'
Mixtuur 2-3 ranks
Quint 1 1/2'
Holpijp 8'

Two cymblesterns

The keyboard had a compass from CDEFGA-c'''. The ranks were divided with the division between c' and c' sharp. The pitch level was approximately a semitone higher than usual. The instrument was likely tuned in meantone.

DECLINE AND RESTORATION OF THE ORGAN.

With the latest restoration the organ has been returned to the state of De Mare. To give the readers an impression of the detective work that the authors of this article had to carry out to determine the disposition at the time of De Mare (and that of Eekman), here follows an overview of the chaotic state the original pipe work was in before the restoration.
The Prestant 4' in the front was complete and on the chest, virtually intact. The largest part of the Nasard 1 1/2' bass was found disguised as the Woudfluit 2' bass: the conical pipes were awkwardly modified with a cylindrical extension with cap. Except for three, the remaining eighteen pipes of the Sesquialter trebleOctaaf 2' bass and a few from the treble served as the Fluit 4'; each had been equipped with a cap. Starting from g' the Fluit 4' pipes consisted of pipes from an open Quintfluit 3' treble from another organ. Except for two, the remaining Mixtuur pipes were found in the treble of a Quintfluit 3' treble; they had been soldered shut at the top. Almost the complete bass of the Quint 1 1/2', disguised as Speelfluit 3' bass, had the larger pipes equipped with caps and the smaller pipes had been awkwardly doubled in length. The bass of the Holpijp 8' was virtually complete; the treble of this rank before the restoration consisted of a s topped Quintfluit 3' from another organ. In the location where the bass of the Mixtur had once stood, before the restoration the Quint 1 1/2' bass was found; apparently the pipes of this rank had been scrounged from a collection of discarded mixture pipes and the like from some other organ workshop. Similar pipes also formed the Octaaf 2' in the position where earlier the Quint 1 1/2' had stood.

There is reason to believe that the disposition of De Mare had already been chaotically altered by an amateur in the first half of the nineteenth century. With the latest restoration by Albert de Graaf from Leusden, the post De Mare pipe work was removed and the old pipe work was reinstalled with missing pipes replaced by ones made with similar construction and scale.
The stop mechanism had been altered by the firm of van Oecklen in 1912; on either side of the keydesk they had built additions for the draw knobs which disfigured the external appearance of the instrument. Before van Oecklen, the stop mechanism consisted of vertical levers which protruded from either side of the upper case. This construction could not have originated with De Mare since this would have required destroying his consoles. With the restoration - in the absence of indications for the original situation - an esthetic and practical solution was pursued.
The existing, although not original, wind supply was retained. The reason for this was that nothing was known about the original arrangement of the bellows and it was questionable whether a construction based on speculation, even within the original arrangement, would have been an improvement.
However, during the restoration the keyboard which dated from a later period was replaced with one more suited to the time of De Mare. (figure 11) An extensive discussion preceded the decision to return the organ to the state it was brought to by De Mare. It was clear from the outset that reconstruction of the Eekman organ was not feasible. Such a reconstruction would have robbed us of the only De Mare organ still in existence. Besides, we rarely encounter his pipe work in other organs.
Not so clear was whether one could justify removing the pipe work that was installed later. In addition to a collection of worthless material dating from the period of the decline of the organ, there is also a collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century pipe work that does have historical value. It was decided not to use this material for the following reasons:
- The pipe work was not made for the organ in Midwolde but apparently taken from a collection of discarded pipe work from other instruments. It was likely that it was placed in the Midwolde organ by the firm of Van Oecklen in 1912.
- The pipe work was a bad match to that of Eekman and De Mare and made it unusable without doing damage to De Mare's concept. It involved prestant pipes of greatly differing provenance and a Quintfluit 3' probably by van Lohman. Reusing the prestant pipes would not have led to a coherent whole; the pipes of the Quintfluit 3' did not match in character the scheme involving the Holpijp 8' of Eekman and De Mare.
With the return to the disposition of De Mare, the pipes of the Quintfluit 3' also had no place in other ranks. Fortunately enough of the pipe work of van Eekman and De Mare was left over to do a reasonably faithful reconstruction.

The sorted pipe work
8. The sorted pipe work in the workshop of the organ builder.

The restored wind chest
9. The restored wind chest.

The new stop action trackers
10. The new stop action trackers with transfer mechanism.

The keyboard after the restoration
11. The keyboard after the restoration.

Pipework and bellows
12. Pipework on the right, bellows on the left.
This article appeared earlier in shortened form under the title 'Het Eekman/De Mare-orgel in de kerk te Midwolde, VII (1986) Pp. 13-15.

Footnotes accompanying the article by Jan van Biezen and Koos van de Linde
1. In the absence of adequate archival materials, we were dependent for the history of the organ in Midwolde on clues presented by the instrument itself. Therefore the writers of this article have made a thorough inventory of the organ. The archival materials of 1786 were incorporated in: Victor Timmer, 'Enige historisches notities over kerk en orgel te Midwolde', Groninger Kerken, I (1984) pp. 53-59. (Partially reprinted above)
2. About Eekman see:Walter Kaufmann, Die Orgeln Ostfrieslands (Aurich, 1968) p. 37; C.C. Vlam and M.A. Vente (editors), Bouwstenen voor een geschiedenis der toonkunst in de Nederlanden (Utrecht, 1965) pp. 30-31.
3. Considering that Eekman's pipe layout for the Mixtuur is still present (if only as key inscriptions), with the aid of the surviving Mixtuur pipes (with pitch inscriptions) the original composition of this stop could be largely reconstructed.
4. It was as late as 1786 that D. Lohman was required to tune the organ in Leek and likely also that in Midwolde so that "na die nuwe art (...) uit alle thonen well kan gespeelet werden." (according to the new art (...) one can play in all keys). Huisarchief Nienoord, inv. nr. 952: Addenda to the church accounts 1779-1820.
5. About De Mare see: Kaufmann, Orgeln Ostfrieslands, pp. 35-36; Frans Talstra, Langs Nederlandse orgels Groningen Friesland Drenthe (Baarn, 1972) p. 22.
About the authors:
Victor Timmer is a teacher at 'De Waezenberg' in Leek. He is also a member of the organ commission of de Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken and contributor to the periodical De Mixtuur.
Dr. J. van Biezen is associated with the Rijksuniversiteit in Leiden and the Rijksuniversiteit in Utrecht as lead researcher for musical studies. His university related investigations are devoted in particular to the classic Dutch organ up until around 1650. He served as an advisor on several organ restorations in the Netherlands. He serves as organist and cantor with the Hervormde congregation of Wassenaar. From 1956 to 1973, he collaborated on the preparation of the Liedboek voor de Kerken.
J. van de Linde is organist at the Pieterskerk in Utrecht. He also works as an advisor on restorations and new organs in the Netherlands and Belgium. He teaches organ construction and literature at the Antwerps Conservatorium. He contributes to a cooperative project of musicologists and art historians which has as its goal to develop as complete an overview as possible of 16th century Dutch organ building and its 17th century repercussions. As organist, he specializes in music of the Renaissance and the early Baroque.
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