The organ of Ribe Cathedral

Old photo of the organ of Ribe Cathedral.

The organ in Ribe Cathedral was renovated in 1904 by the organ builder, Emil Nielsen, in connection with a restoration of the whole church. The old organ case from around 1635 was preserved.

In 1937 the organ was rebuilt by the firm of Frobenius, who preserved some of the earlier pipes and added an additional 50. It was therefore a mixed instrument, in which a number of the Romantic stops were preserved, supplemented by a range of Baroque stops, which had come into fashion in the organ trade as a result of the so-called "organ movement". This movement strove to reintroduce the type of stops used in the Baroque period, rejecting "the symphonic organ" that had been developed in the course of the 19^th century. Rued Langgard was not a supporter of this movement, but was very pleased with the organ in Ribe. In the long run, however, "Langgaard's instrument" became antiquated, and in 1973 it was more or less replaced in its entirety.

Unfortunately, there are no recordings of Langgaard at the organ. The closest we can get is an LP recorded on Langgaard's instrument in 1970 by the organist, Jørgen Ernst Hansen. Listen to two excerpts - from the record - of Langgaard's music played on Langgaard's organ:

• Section of Som Lynet er Kristi Genkomst (As Lightning Cometh Christ Again) (1948)
• The beginning of the 2^nd Movement of Sonate (Sonata) (1950)

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