The restored organ can be fully used again
24.01.2024
The restorers have completed the restoration of the playing part of the organ located in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It has been restored to the appearance it had when it was built in 1897.
Thanks to God's help and the intercession of St. Joseph, the restoration of the playing part of the organ located in the Bučovice church was successfully completed at the turn of this year. The two-manual romantic organ has 23 registers with 1,502 pipes.
HISTORY
The romantic two-manual organ with 20 registers and 1,245 pipes was built for the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Bučovice in 1897 for 4,261 gold coins by the company of the Brauner brothers from Unicovice. The company used an existing neo-baroque organ case with decoration, probably from an older instrument, designed by the Moravian Industrial Museum in Brno. The organ was significantly modified in 1908 and then completely rebuilt in 1935. Both interventions were carried out by Jan Tuček's factory in Kutná Hora, which published the instrument as its opus 418. However, the quality of the rebuilding was of a low standard, so the instrument had to be constantly repaired, often by non-professional hands, which led to its disrepair to the verge of life. In this dismal state, the organ served until 2021, when it was commissioned to be restored to its late 19th century sound.
PROCESS
The demanding work, which took place between 2021 and 2023, was carried out by the Anton Škrabl organ factory from Rogaška Slatina in Slovenia, ORGLARSTVO ŠKRABL, d.o.o. The expenditure amounted to almost CZK 6.8 million. The restoration work began with the dismantling of the pipe fund. This was followed by a restoration and comparative survey of the individual parts and an evaluation of the findings, which were discussed at an inspection day with representatives of the National Heritage Institute and the State Heritage Preservation Authority. After the export permit for the monument was issued, the dismantled pipe fund was transported to Slovenia at the end of 2021 to the studio of a restoration company for the purpose of restoration. The Slovenian workshop also made restoration copies of the parts that could not be restored (the playing table, the tract, the air tube and the air system). During the work, regular inspection days were held in the organist's workshop, when individual restoration procedures were further consulted. Subsequently, the individual parts were assembled and packed. At the end of April 2023, the restored parts were brought back to the church in Bučovice. The left side aisle of the church served as a depository where the individual parts of the instrument were stored. A laborious installation and tuning followed.
The restoration restored the instrument to its original authenticity, appearance and full functionality. The sound part of the instrument has been restored to the romantic organ layout, i.e. to the Brauner brothers' instrument, of which about 80% of the pipe fund has been preserved.
The restored unique mechanical romantic organ with auxiliary equipment by Brauner, including the restored organ case with arts and crafts and sculptural decoration, is a unique instrument of the period and thus enriches the region both historically and in terms of style and sound.
The restoration of the organ is part of the project "Restoration of the organ and revitalization of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Bučovice", for which the Bučovice parish managed to obtain a grant from the EEA Grants 2014 - 2021 under the Culture Programme. Another significant financial support was provided by the South Moravian Region. The parish of Bučovice is also grateful for the generosity shown by companies and small donors.
Information on the EEA and Norway Grants