Walter Kraft plays the Lübeck Totentanz Orgel, 1941: the Organ of Buxtehude!

Calling all the Organophiles out there! Here is the only surviving recording of the legendary “Totentanzorgel“ in the Lübeck Marienkirche (St. Mary’s), before it, along with the whole interior of the church, was destroyed in an Allied raid in 1942. Although at the time this was recorded, knowledge about historical organs and restoration practices were not very advanced, we can’t forget that this was the very organ that key figures of the Northern German organ school (Hasse, Tunder, Buxtehude, Bruhns) and of course likely Bach played at, which makes this recording all the more precious and interesting. Be sure to watch the video too, since I provide further historical context, photographs, and footage of the organ, Lübeck, and the Allied bombing in 1942. 0:00 Nicolaus Bruhns “Little“ Praeludium in E minor 5:16 Dietrich Buxtehude Praeludium in C, BuxWV 137 10:55 Dietrich Buxtehude Toccata in D minor, BuxWV 155 Stoplist of the Totentanzorgel G = Joannes Stephani, 1475 Sch = Jacob Scherer, 1557 K = Henning Kröger, 1621 S = Friedrich Stellwagen, 1653 Ke = Karl Kemper, 1937 Indications of the builders of each stop are based on Gustav Fock’s notes after inspecting the organ in 1937. ? is probable attribution, ?? means that there is no indication of builder in the notes and they are “educated guesses“ by yours truly. Ruckpositiv Prinzipal 8’ (facade, Sch??/Kp) Rohrflöte 8’ (K) Quintatön 8’ (K) Oktave 4’ (S?) Rohrflöte 4’ (K) Sesquialter II (S) Sifflöte 1 1/3’ (S) Scharf VI-VIII (S/Ke) Tricherregal 8’ (S) Dulzian 16’ (S) Hauptwerk Quintade 16’ (S) Prinzipal 8’ (Facade, G??) Spitzflöte 8’ (K) Oktave 4’ (K) Nasat 2 2/3’ (K/Ke) Rauschpfeiffe II (K/Ke) Mixtur IV-X (Kp) Trompete 8’ (S?) Brustwerk Gedackt 8’ (K) Quintade 4’ (Ke) Hohlflöte 2’ (K) Quintflöte 1 1/2’ (Ke) Zimbel IV (Ke) Krummhorn 8’ (K, treble resonators Ke) Schalmei 4’ (shallots/boots by K??, resonators Ke) Pedal Principal 16’ (Facade, G??) Subbass 16’ (K, G-d’) Oktave 8’ (S) Gedackt 8’ (K) Oktave 4’ (K) Quintade 4’ (K) Oktave 2’ (K) Nachthorn 1’ (Ke) Mixtur IV (K) Zimbel II (Ke) Posaune 16’ (??) Dulcian 16’ (Ke) Trompete 8’ (K) Schalmei 4’ (K, new chest) Kornett 2’ (Ke, new chest) Manual compass: CDEFGA-c3, CD-c3 since 1760 Pedal compass: CDEFGA-d1, CD-c1 since 1760 Couplers installed 1760 Swell shutters for the Brustwerk installed by Christoph Julius Bünting in 1760, removed by Kemper in his 1937 restoration. Tuned in Equal temperament at A=~490 Hz Although this organ is of course long gone, it has a “Twin“ in the Jacobikirche (St. James church) down the street, also a Gothic organ enlarged by Stellwagen. Here is a feature of this organ: This recording was made in 1941 as part of a Radio Broadcast, and first released in CD format in around 1999 by the Lübeck City Library, along with much later recordings of Kraft at the Jacobi organ. This CD has however been out of print, so I thought I could do humanity a small service by making these recordings available again ;)