David Tannenberg holds an important place in American organ building history. He was the first full-time organ builder in the colonies and built some of the largest and finest organs of his time. His work is a unique blend of influences that sets it apart from anything else builders in America (or the rest of the world) were constructing at the time. The organ at Hebron Lutheran Church holds a special place among Tannenberg’s instruments as perhaps the best example of his work. As styles changed and time went by, many of Tannenberg’s organs were altered in some way or another. The Tannenberg organ at Hebron Lutheran Church, on the other hand, has remained entirely unaltered since it was installed in 1802 and is the largest unaltered example of Tannenberg's work. It has been used for services every Sunday since its installation.

 

Hebron Lutheran Church is located a few miles outside of the small town of Madison, Virginia. It sits atop a small hill with the spectacular mountains of Shenandoah National Park acting as a backdrop to the historic building and graveyard. The church building was originally constructed in 1740 by German immigrants arriving in Virginia at the time. The church holds a storied history. Since its founding, services have been held in the sanctuary every Sunday. Among its many important roles in history, in 1789, the church acted as the stage for the debate between Founding Fathers James Madison and James Monroe. 

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In around 1800, the church was expanded, adding an annex to the original 1740 building. At this time, the church contracted Tannenberg to build an organ for the newly enlarged church. The organ was built in Tannenberg’s shop in Lilitz Pennsylvania for a sum of £200 and carried by ox cart over 300 miles to Hebron Lutheran Church. In his 70s, Tannenberg was too old to make the journey down to Hebron Lutheran Church himself, so to install the organ, he sent his successor Philip Bachmann. Since then, the organ has remained virtually unaltered. In 1970, George Taylor of Taylor & Boody restored the instrument. Later, in 2015, Taylor & Boody carried out maintenance work on the organ. At some point, an electric blower was added to the existing hand pumped bellows, though the hand pumped bellows still remain. Every detail of Tannenberg’s work, from the hand written stop knobs to the splendid voicing to the graffiti scratched into the back of the organ case by those pumping the organ over the years, remains perfectly preserved today.

 

Tannenberg built two rough “styles” of organ depending on whether he was making the instrument for a Lutheran or Moravian church. The Moravian church organs were intended to play in small chamber ensembles, and hence, had much less upperwork. The Lutheran church organs conform much closer to a Central German Baroque style instrument. The organ at Hebron Lutheran Church is a late example of the organs Tannenberg built for Lutheran churches.

 

The Tannenberg organ at Hebron Lutheran Church consists of a single manual with eight stops. Each plays a critical role in the organ’s sound. The organ is built on an incredible 8ft Principal Dulcis. It has a warm tone, but maintains perfect clarity needed for polyphonic works. Interestingly, the bottom octave of this Principal Dulcis is a quintadena, presumably to save space in the organ case. The other 8ft stop is a 8ft Gedackt. It can be used on its own as a gorgeous flute sound or with the Principal Dulcis to add body. 

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Atop the two 8ft foundations, Tannenberg built up a delightful chorus. Notably, Tannenberg did shrink his scaling as he moved upward in the chorus. The 4ft Principal and the 2ft Octav both share the same scaling as the 8ft Principal Dulcis. Atop the 4ft stops, Tannenberg included some interesting upperwork. There is a Quinta 3 that nicely colors the principal chorus by adding a 5th to the ensemble. Speaking above that is a two rank Mixtur with only a single break at middle C. It completes the chorus with some wonderful brightness. Lastly, and perhaps most interesting, there is a stop Tannenberg called a Terzan. This stop, likely meant to offer a similar effect as adding a trumpet, also has a single break at middle C. For the bottom two octaves, the stop plays at 1 3/5 pitch. Starting from middle C, it plays at 3 1/5 pitch. It fills in the harmonic series of the principal chorus and offers a truly unique effect.

 

Given the incredible historic nature of this instrument, I have decided to give this sample set away for free. Such a unique, important, and incredible instrument should be accessible by all! 

 

Lastly, I want to thank Jim Kniseley and everyone at Hebron Lutheran Church for their incredible support with this project. Thanks to their support, I am able to preserve and share this truly-one-of-a-kind instrument.