The Montafon organ landscape
A valley full of monuments of sound.
With 16 organs from four centuries, the Montafon is a veritable treasure trove of organ art. Musical epochs from the Baroque to the present day can be authentically experienced and reinterpreted here in the smallest of spaces.
"Valuable instruments that can no longer be found anywhere else in Vorarlberg"
Bruno Oberhammer, organist
To mark the 200th anniversary of the Bergöntzle organ in Tschagguns, the queen of instruments was honored with the book Montafoner Orgellandschaft and the CD Te Deum laudamus.
Vorarlberg organist Bruno Oberhammer has researched the organ scene in the Montafon. "Statistically speaking, there is one organ for every thousand inhabitants here - a density that would be twice as high nationwide if there were 400 instead of 200 organs in Vorarlberg," he explains.
The variety is also impressive: it ranges from a very small instrument with just one stop to a large organ with 41 stops. Some of them are listed organs of international standing.
Bergöntzle organ in Tschagguns
A masterpiece with history
In 1816, the Alsatian Joseph Bergöntzle completed his last and largest work: the organ of the Tschagguns parish and pilgrimage church. With 38 stops on three manuals and pedal, it is one of the most important historical organs in Austria. Until the 1920s, it was the largest organ in Vorarlberg and was restored in exemplary fashion more than 20 years ago. Bruno Oberhammer and the Choralschola Clemens Morgenthaler recorded its unique timbres on the CD Te Deum laudamus.
"The 200th anniversary was the perfect occasion for the presentation of the publications," says Oberhammer. "But organs in Gaschurn and Gortipohl also bear witness to the impressive organ landscape of the Montafon."
Book and CD on the Montafon organ landscape
- Bruno Oberhammer/Michael Kasper: "Montafoner Orgellandschaft", Volume 24 of the Montafon series of publications, published by the Montafon Heritage Society, 116 pages. 22 Euro
- Bruno Oberhammer/Choralschola Clemens Morgenthaler: "Te Deum laudamus", production of the Montafon stand. 15 euros.
