New organs for St. Vitus Cathedral will be built by a company from Barcelona

Prague - New organs for St. Vitus Cathedral will be built by the Spanish company Gerhard Grenzing. They have already created 138 new organs, including instruments for the Brussels and Madrid cathedrals, and have carried out over 90 reconstructions and restorations of historical instruments. The instrument for Prague will be inspired by French influences and will allow not only classical music to be played but also contemporary organ compositions. The organs will require an investment of 80 million crowns and are expected to resonate for the first time in October 2019. Cardinal Dominik Duka signed the contract with representatives of the company today at the cathedral.

A symphonic instrument with 97 registers will be created, corresponding in its representativeness to the space of the cathedral. The smallest pipe will measure seven millimeters, the longest will exceed seven meters in length, with a total of 5000 pipes. Today, Grenzing symbolically handed over the first pipe to Duka. It has already been calculated that the whole instrument will travel to Prague in eight trucks, and its total weight will exceed 20 tons.

"It is our wish that the organs build upon the tradition of Czech instruments and further enrich this tradition with knowledge and experience from other countries. The construction of large organs in St. Vitus Cathedral represents a unique challenge for us," Grenzing stated today. He added that each pipe sounds different, and he will listen to Czech sounds and try to reflect their sound and melody in the organs.

At the time of the centenary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, to which the initial consideration for the new organs was directed, they will already partially stand in the Barcelona workshop. They will be transported to the Czech Republic in August 2019, installed for two months, meaning that the cathedral will have limited operations. For another month to a month and a half, the cathedral will be completely closed due to the acoustics of the instrument, said organologist and member of the selection committee Štěpán Svoboda to journalists.

According to the plans of the St. Vitus Organ Foundation, the money is to be collected in a national collection; currently, one-third of the needed funds is available. Contributions can be sent to the foundation's bank account 2109930876/2700.

The organs themselves will cost 69.1 million crowns - for which they will be built and placed in the cathedral. Additional costs include static securing of the choir or electrical installations.

Four organ-building companies applied for last year's competition. Both classical and modern variants were considered, and ultimately the contemporary interpretation by the Gerhard Grenzing company prevailed. The musical form of the new instrument is clear; according to the organizers, the architectural and artistic design of the organ's prospect is more challenging. The forms of Baroque organs are known; however, the new instrument is being created in the 21st century, which will be reflected in its external appearance. Given the extraordinary historical value of the cathedral and its significance as the spiritual center of the Czech state, the authors have chosen a free arrangement of pipes in the space of the gallery.

"It is up to us to fulfill the legacy of our ancestors, especially the Father of the Fatherland, Charles IV, in this time of peace and freedom, and symbolically complete the cathedral," said project initiator Cardinal Duka. "Going the route of a national collection is symbolic given the deep tradition that collective effort has in Czech history. The public collection not only built the National Theatre but was also the main source of funding during the construction of St. Vitus Cathedral in the 19th century. Because of this, the cathedral belonged to everyone, and its symbol far exceeded and still exceeds any ecclesiastical framework. Today, the cathedral is a symbol of spiritual heritage, culture, and history," he explained.

Institutions grouped in the Community of St. Vitus Cathedral, which aims to promote this idea, contribute to the construction of the organs. It follows the Unity for the Completion of St. Vitus Cathedral, established by Cardinal Schwarzenberg in the mid-19th century, which completed the new part of the cathedral. The National Technical Museum will present the organs in an exhibition this season, and a number of benefit concerts will take place.