St. Petersburg
On June 4, Pentecost, the congregational members of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral (Petrikirche) first heard their new organ. It was tuned just a few days before. Now all the time and effort searching for an appropriate instrument as well as funds for its purchase, transport and installation are in the past. The Willi Peter organ was a gift for the congregation of St. Anna and St. Peter during this 500 anniversary of the Reformation.
”Three years ago the pastor of St. Gertrude congregation in Stockholm asked me if the newest of their three organs would fit for Petrikirche,” Pastor Michael Schwartzkopf explained, “their old organ was going to return to its former place while the Willi Peter organ, given to the congregation in the 1970s, was to be put in storage.”
After getting acquainted with the instrument and making a decision about whether or not it was the best option, the process of gathering funds began. Congregational members made offerings as did friends of the congregation. But most of all the project was able to happen thanks to the agreement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany to take on the main financial burden. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and this was another source of finances. Petrkirche’s partner congregation - St. Michael's in Hamburg - made a significant contribution as well. In October 2016 St. Gertrude's congregation Stockholm began to take down the organ in order to transport it. In January 2017 the reconstruction of the organ gallery began in Petrikirche in order to prepare a place for the new instrument.
After the building was closed in 1937 the historic organ was taken away, and for many decades that space was empty. The Walker organ had been installed in St. Peter's church in 1840; it had 63 registers, three manuals and one pedalboard. After the church's closure the organ was given to Moscow, where it was installed in the Tchaikovsky concert hall. But then in the 1950s the organ was taken apart; some of its registers remained in Moscow and the other part, having been taken to Czechoslovakia, turned up in Donetsk – then called Stalino - where the organ was installed in the regional philharmonic orchestra.
In 1997 a small, 10-register organ was installed in the altar area of Petrikirche; now it will have a worthy companion in the large Willi Peter organ (1972-73) with 43 registers and three manuals. The “new resident” of the cathedral came in April, during Easter week, and then after assembly, it was tuned by experts from the Beckerath company in Hamburg.
On July 1 the organ was officially “opened” at a concert at which two Petersburg musicians performed – the organist of Petrikirche Sergei Silaevsky and the organist of St. Catherine's Evangelical Lutheran Church Grigory Varshavsky. Now concerts of organ music will be performed in the cathedral a few times a week, while the blessing of the instrument will take place on September 28, and will be celebrate together with representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany.
Historic organ (lost)
New organ for Petrikirche
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