If Andreas Wimmer wants to practice playing his instrument, he can’t do it in his own four walls like many other musicians. The 55-year-old has to go to church: he is the organist in Sankt Alto in Unterhaching. “You can practice the technique on the piano,” says Wimmer. “But for the sound and the acoustics you have to go to the church.” And you won’t find the 19 registers of the Unterhachinger organ on a classical piano either.
Wimmer grew up with the huge instrument, his father was an organist. He himself played the piano as a child, “but at some point that got too boring for me,” he says and laughs. According to his own statement, he started playing the organ in church services at the age of about 13. It quickly became a passion, after graduating from school Wimmer studied at the music academy and then started as an organist in Unterhaching. That was almost 30 years ago now.
The 19 registers of the organ in the Sankt Alto Church in Unterhaching.
(Photo: Sebastian Gabriel)
According to the organist, experience and routine are essential when playing. Because an organ is not just a big piano, says Wimmer. This quickly becomes clear when he explains the complex functionality and shows the countless components of the instrument. “It’s not just about playing, you also have to master the technique.
This also includes the operation of the 19 registers, the meaning of which the musician demonstrates: He presses a key on the manual at the console while all of the 19 knobs on the left and right are pulled in – nothing happens. At that moment, the organist explains, the openings under the pipes, through which the air would flow and create the sound, are closed by a wooden panel. Wimmer pulls on one of the knobs, causing the plate to slide under one of the registers, revealing the openings. When he presses the button again, a deep tone sounds. Another knob, the same button and the sound comes out of two pipes – the more registers open, the fuller the sound.
Lots of pipes: a look inside the organ.
(Photo: Sebastian Gabriel)
With its 19 registers, the organ in Sankt Alto is one of the medium-sized instruments, says Wimmer. In cathedrals, however, the effect can be even greater: the cathedral organ in Passau, for example, has more than 200 registers, making it the largest in Europe. The full power of the instrument is used especially on church holidays. According to Wimmer, the clearest contrast can be seen on Easter Sunday, when the organ sounds again in all its glory after the long, quiet Lent. Even during Advent, the organist still has to hold back when playing, as Wimmer says. Only on the Christmas holidays will all the stops be pulled out again.
In the series “My number” the SZ presents people every day until Christmas, in whose life a number has a special meaning – from 1 to 24 like in an advent calendar.