Christian Vater

Christian father ( born October 10, 1679 Hannover, † January 25, 1756 ) was a German organ builder. He worked from 1697 to 1702 in the workshop of Arp Schnitger, has built a total of 36 organs and was also for a time as an organist. Father was Hanoverian court organ builder and had his own workshop in Hannover.

Life

Christian father was baptized on October 11, 1679 in Hanover. He went after a brief apprenticeship with his father Martin and training as organist to Arp Schnitger in Hamburg. He stayed there for a little over five years. 1702 he started his own business. In the spring of 1703 he delivered his first organ to Langenhagen near Hannover. On January 22, 1709, he married Sophia Margaretha Coberg, daughter of the late 1708 court organist Johann Anton Coberg in Hanover. In the same year he became organist of the New Town Court and Town Church of St. John at Hanover, succeeding his father- in organist.

The position as court organist gave him good contacts so that he was a famous organ builder soon. Thus, also the connections to Darmstadt ( castle ) and Amsterdam declare ( Oude Kerk ). His main field of work was in the Electorate of Hanover, in the Bishopric of Osnabrück and Oldenburg in the country. On the occasion of an application in Hohnstedt in Northeim lifts father indicated that he " has 33 organs partly rebuilt, partly renovated. " To 1716/17 already in Bockhorn, Wiefelstede and Gifhorn organs are well preserved. At least in Einbeck, Moringen and Celle pipes were taken over by Carl Giesecke and Ernst Wilhelm Meyer.

Father's dispositions and housing are closely modeled on the style of Arp Schnitger. His works are characterized by a well-designed and well-engineered design and have a great resemblance to each other. They are of such good quality that, for example, the organ builder Chandler Hoff could find in 1803 in a report for the organ in Bockhorn, that everything is " still pretty much in good usable registry " was, although until then nothing essential to the organ had been done. It is " one of the best in the country. "

List of works (selection)

The size of the instruments is shown in the fifth column by the number of manuals and the number of sounding registers in the sixth column. A big " P" stands for an independent pedal, a small " p" for an attached pedal. A italics indicates that the organ in question or only the prospectus has not yet received.