Kispest Pipe Organ
From Inspired Acoustics Knowledge Base
Kispest Pipe Organ Samples, (abbreviated 'KO') from Inspired Acoustics, is the virtual pipe organ version of the 1927/2001 Rieger-Varga pipe organ (Op. 2256) of Kispest, Budapest, Hungary. The 38-stop virtual organ set is considered as representing one of the finest sounding romantic style pipe organs outside of famous French cathedral settings. Several sounds of this organ were originally released in the Notre Dame de Budapest Pipe Organ Samples in the Kontakt and Gigasampler software formats, but the upcoming Hauptwerk version represents a complete re-recording of the instrument using the latest in audio recording technology and cutting edge spatial customization features.
Roulade by Seth Bingham (1872-1972) courtesy of Joseph Felice, USA.
Chant de Paix (Song of Peace) by Jean Langlais, courtesy of Joseph Felice, USA.
Hornpipe from Handel's Watermusick, with modern cadenza, courtesy of Joseph Felice, USA.
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History of the Kispest organ
The beginnings date back to the 19th century. In the old, small church, because of its size – and also because of its poverty – only a small harmonium served the liturgy. A typical sign of the 19th century conditions listed the harmonium at a value of 500 crowns, while all the rest of the equipment (chalices, clothes for the liturgy, books, benches, etc.) were valued at not more than 800 crowns! Construction of the Rudolf Votive Church was completed in 1904, and was consecrated on October 23 of the same year. The sheer cost of building the church placed a heavy financial burden on the parishioners in the form of loans, so at that time it was impossible to even think about an organ. The walls stood plain, only whitewashed; whatever little furniture they had was inherited from the old church. It is likely that the harmonium was borrowed from that place.
However, to a great joy of the Kispest congregation, the Capitol donated an organ to the Rudolph Votive Church. We have only indirect records of the event, because according to the November 23, 1906 minutes of the ’R.C. presbytery of Kispest-Szentlőrincz’, the secular chairman reports that the organ donated by the Capitol has been set up by public contributions”. We might conclude that the contributions were collected the same year. We have no further information about this instrument.
The parish probably received a used instrument, in the place of which a new organ was built. We do not know about its mechanism, but it is quite possible that – while pneumatic organs had become popular – it had mechanical action. It certainly did not have an electric motor, which would have provided the necessary wind for the pipes because the March 24, 1907 minutes of the presbytery ‘the church chairman [i.e. parson Antal Ribényi] asked for the establishment of the position of an organ-blower.’ According to the decision of the organization, ‘the position was established, and the salary of the organ-blower was set at 80 crowns a year.” The presumption that the instrument was a second-hand one, is also supported by the February 25, 1912 meeting, in which the ‘parish clerk reported that the organ needed large-scale repairs and asks for their implementation. The presbytery decided to have the organ repaired.’ The document consistently mentioned repairs and not maintenance. A mere five-year-old instrument would only require regular preventive maintenance; but here we read about repairs of a large scale. If it was a new instrument, it had to be of very low quality, both in terms of the materials used and the work of the so-called ‘master’ organ builder.
There is a ten-year-long silence in the documents about the organ, but it is quite likely that larger and smaller repairs were needed. Nevertheless, even these could not prevent the degradation – and the final ruin – of the instrument. This must have happened in the first years of the 1920’s. Sometime later, an organ fund was created, which first aimed at the total reconstruction of the old organ, but later the goal was to have especially a new instrument.
From the November 15, 1925 minutes: “The mayor as chairman discussed in a long speech that in such a large town as Kispest, it is intolerable that the Roman Catholic church has a bad harmonium for an instrument instead of an organ. It is the moral duty of the presbytery to have an organ built.”
Three months later, on February 15, 1926, “Dr. Gyula Válya deputy mayor, secular chairman presses the matter of organ-building. He proposed that the Church ask for a quote from a few organ builders until the meeting next month and then they should decide about the order of the new organ.” The body of representatives approved the proposal and later on everybody tried to help the case of organ-building as much as they could. Sándor Lanther cantor and choir master, for example, organized a collection among the members of the male choir of the Church, and the revenue from their church concert was also put into the organ fund. An agreement was made with Viktor Sugár, government counselor, the organist of the Matthias Church, about the professional management and supervision of the works, and the actual building of the organ was awarded to the Rieger company, which also had an office in Budapest. By the autumn of 1927, after much hard work and sacrifices, the new 29-stop instrument -- Opus 2256 – was finished. The October-November issue of the Catholic Cantor carried an article that praises the organ in Kispest and prints the acceptance statement of Viktor Sugár, together with the original disposition. It is basically the very same organ that was used in the church until November 1997, but in the intervening decades, so many things were rebuilt that the instrument’s original state can only be guessed. One thing is for sure, this was not an entirely new instrument, some of the structural elements (e.g. pipes) of the old organ was kept or reconstructed. The windchest became a pneumatic membrane chest, which has a number of advantages, but is very cumbersome to maintain and repair. The organ received a new console, and the pipes spoke with a mainly German Romantic overall sound. The invitations and programs still in existence are proof that the concert life was blooming in the first half of the 20th century. Famous organists visited the Rudolph Votive Church in Kispest and they played the very best pieces of the organ literature for the congregation.
The original Rieger organ underwent many changes and reconstructions, much of which did not help with the instrument’s sound, reliability or playability. Perhaps in the 1940’s, the unified disposition of the organ was significantly altered: in the spirit of some organ movement of the time, re-builders tried to adjust the instrument to suit a neo-Baroque taste. Some pipe ranks were moved to different parts of the organ, other pipes were sliced in half, and still others were simply removed from the instrument. Naturally, these “enhancement” blunders had exactly the opposite effect than expected: the artistic value of the instrument had been irrevocably diminished; combined with the inevitably gradual but continual degradation, the organ could fulfill its role less and less. By the middle of the 1970’s, a total renovation was planned but was constantly postponed. It was about this time that the organ could still be fiddled about, but not repaired any more. At the beginning of the eighties, a total examination and cleaning brought forth some small repairs, but none of this “patch-up” work yielded the expected results. By the nineties, the organ had become worthless in providing meaningful musical support of the liturgy; worse yet, it was totally useless regarding any artistic work. The instrument has become extremely unreliable: the pipes played very inaccurately, -- they either spoke very late, or not at all; none of the combination pistons worked, about two-thirds of the switches were unusable, and the crescendo roll was broken. Because of the wear and tear on those aging parts that did remain intact, notes frequently stuck open (in the form of ciphors), making not only the masses ‘hard to forget’ but also the weddings. Just as in 1925, it was inevitable that the organ must be totally rebuilt.
The body of representatives considered the renovation first on February 25, 1995. During the year the presbytery appointed Bertalan Hock, organist of the Matthias Church to assess the technical state of the instrument, to design the new organ, and to perform the technical management and supervision of the renovation. In November 1995, the body of representatives decided to establish the Centenary of our Church Foundation, the goal of which is to promote and financially support the organ-building and the renovation of the church.
The presbytery appointed master organ builder László Varga with the renovation and reconstruction of the instrument, who transported some of the pipes into his workshop already in December. While the renovation lasted, for some time the stops of the organ not yet repaired were used. However, on Sunday, November 30, 1997, during the evening rosary prayer-meeting, the organ gave up: keys got stuck one after another, altogether some eight of them wailed simultaneously in a dissonant death cry, so any further play became impossible. Then – just as 75 years earlier –, for about one and half years, the harmonium substituted for the mute organ. According to the agreement, the renovation was implemented in phases, so the instrument would be missed for the shortest time possible. The blowers were built, the original Swiss blower motor from 1927 was fully renovated; the swellwork was installed with its pipes, together with the nearly new console, which only reused the original wooden case. Thus, after long weeks of intonation and tuning, the first 16 stops sounded on Easter 1999, which were gradually followed by the remaining ones, first the stops of the main work, then the pedal work.
Compared to the original ideas, the works have been quite delayed, some of the plans have changed and some changes were needed in the budget as well. The great amount of sacrifices, patience, and the financial support of the congregation, the local government and the foundation finally yielded the expected result: on February 25, 2001, during the even mass at 6 o’clock, Bishop Dr. Miklós Beer blessed the organ. After the holy mass, Bertalan Hock organist gave a very successful concert. He created a program to show the versatility and the virtues of the organ. This was when everybody realized that they managed to exceed their originally intended goals: besides modernization and renovation, a new sonic quality was born – the overall sound of the organ showed many features of the French Romantic style.
When the renovation work started, the parishioners could not even think about financing a new organ, so the goal was to achieve the most from what was available. Therefore the years of the renovations were spent in constant compromises. The parts used (e.g. the valve magnets) were built in Hungary instead of buying very expensive ones from abroad. The whole console is the work of the organ builder. Only some very special, impossible-to-replace materials were imported from abroad, such as the three new reed stops. When designing the overall sound and the disposition, the available pipe materials had to be considered, but this significantly limited the possibilities, as they originated from an instrument of a very different style, much of which had been tampered with and generally ruined several times. Especially in the light of these, we can safely say that the result is exceeding the expectations by far, and is a work of lasting artistic value.
What changes were implemented during the renovation? In general, the only part that stayed in its original state and place is the case of the organ. The construction and the action of the organ is brand new: it received a large, common blower and two balancing small blowers (wind reservoirs). Brand new electric slider chests were built for the main and swellwork, a totally redesigned electric membrane chest for the pedal work, and a new, combined electric cone chest for the principal stops of the pedal. A new swell case was built, with a large row of lamellae in the front, currently positioned in the middle. All the pipes were renewed, the missing ones replaced; some stops resumed their original functions, and some brand new stops were built into the organ, among them the aforementioned three reed stops. Some stops were radically rebuilt: there was a pedal stop which now works in the swellwork! (The lower two octaves of Gamba 8’ were created from the Cello 8’.) The instrument has now 38 stops instead of the original 27. Because of the expansions, the old case has proven too small, so the pedal work was moved behind the organ. The console’s inner workings are entirely new; its case was only kept for staying in style. The old, totally worn out and impossible-to-repair manuals were replaced by new ones, and the performance helpers were placed while taking ergonomic aspects into account. The case was veneered and varnished again on the inside, painted on the outside. The electric action received a totally new control system, with a special computer, allowing the storage of 576 different combinations. A fully programmable Tutti and 3 different crescendo roll programs are also available.
The renewed organ cannot deny its German Romantic heritage, but because of the careful planning, the significant changes and especially the excellent, artistic intonation (which is the joint work of the master organ builder and Bertalan Hock), it became capable of portraying the gems of the French Romantic organ literature. Not only can it perform its duties in the liturgy, but those interested could hear its versatile and beautiful sound at many memorable concerts. Besides the Hungarian organists, artists even from as far as South Korea appeared as guest performers. Some intended parts of the renovation could not be finished, due to the lack of funds. These unsettled matters include a missing rank of pipes, plus major and minor mechanical issues of pipework, infrastructure and the console. For example: The Trompette 8’ stop from the Pedal is still missing, as is the Tremulant motor. Smaller remaining details include swell shutters that creak when they move. In addition, there are a few missing pipes waiting, still today, for their final place in the organ case (already of which is packed densely with pipes, due to the case’s original limited volume). Although the salvaged original pipework was lovingly reworked and restored by professional craftsmen, they remain more prone to changes in humidity and temperature than new pipes. As such, these particular pipes require more frequent adjustments – a good example is the Flute 8’ on the 2nd manual. Regarding the console, due to its regular use over the decades since the previous restoration, its keyboards require yet another replacement. In summary, even though the restoration has been signed off as being completed in 2001 (with the funds then available), continuous work must be conducted as funds allow, maintaining the organ’s restored 2001 state as much as possible. All of the above issues are real and many are serious, but they are very likely to diminish once the organist experiences “the sound” that this magnificent instrument is capable of producing.
Sample set details
The KO sample set contains user-selectable multiple loops and multiple release samples to optimize computer usage. In addition, a photo-realistic version of the fully operational console is reproduced with the organ's original internal sequencer, along with additional controls such as the swellbox operational direction selector or the wind control.
Release date and development progress
- December 2008: The complete re-recording of the Kispest Pipe Organ was completed.
- July 2009: Spatial customization feature announced and being developed.
- August 2009: Private Beta version.
- November 2009: Public Beta version.
- December 2009: Pre-ordering starts for the first release.
The Kispest Pipe Organ Samples is expected to be released and shipped before 20 December 2009 as a download delivery and before 20 January 2010 as a retail box delivery. Retail box deliveries are made on an External Hard Disk Drive.
Types, versions, editions and ODF files
There are two editions of the Kispest Pipe Organ:
- Kispest Pipe Organ Samples Professional Edition (2009 release)
- Kispest Pipe Organ Samples Extended Edition (TBA)
The Professional Edition contains versions of the Kispest organ samples in one package, featuring multiple Organ Definition Files (ODF) for different scenarios, dependent upon available computer capability and audio output hardware. For each type of organ there are 2 ODF files provided: one having all 3-release sample layers programmed and the other providing 2-release layers only. This allows going beyond Hauptwerk's Version 3.XX supported loading setups and provides more flexibility in RAM usage allowing smaller computers to load the sample set fully. These two Organ Definition Files files share the same cache in Hauptwerk so with the available separate Hauptwerk editions ('stand-alone', 'for MIDI sequencing' or 'VSTi') they can be used to load and separately cached without conflicts. This method was already used in PAB Medium and Extended Editions in 2009.
Kispest Pipe Organ Samples Professional Edition contents (types):
- Stereo organ (2 ODF files for 3 release layers and 2 release layers, respectively)
- Quad surround organ (2 ODF files for 3 release layers and 2 release layers, respectively)
- Adjustable surround organ (2 ODF files for 3 release layers and 2 release layers, respectively)
The Adjustable surround in the Professional Edition outputs 3 independent channels that allows using the provided INSP:DEC Surround Customizer full adjustability from 2.0 to 8-channel surround in any 2-dimensional setups.
Realtime spatial customization
The organ supports real-time spatial customization for both its stereo and surround versions. Customization will include setting microphone pick-up patterns and orientations, continuously, for stereo and surround speaker configurations. Spatial customization also affects the ways the release samples happen to sound, so when facing the organ facade with the microphone setup, for example, the perceived psycho-acoustic characteristics of reverberation will change accordingly. Spatial customization is achieved by the provided INSP:DEC Surround Customizer VST plug-in.
Dynamic KeyboardMass™ control
Organ and sample set data
- Build date: 1927 (29 stops) Rieger, 2001 (38 stops) Varga Organ Building Manufacture
- Manuals: 2 and pedal
- Stops: 38 (1, 5 and 7 combined; 12 and 29 shares C2 to G3) of which currently 37 is built
- Original compass: 58 (keyboards) / 30 (pedal)
- Internal sequencer: 576 frames
- Crescendo wheel stages: 50
- crescendo programs (independently programmable): 3
- Release layers: 3 and 2 provided with different ODF files
Business model and the missing pedal stop
The Kispest Organ has a missing stop in the Pedal which was never built, due to financial shortage. When the organ recording project started at Shirokuma with Notre Dame de Budapest Pipe Organ Samples and recently at Inspired Acoustics, a business model was developed to support the pipe organ from customer purchases. Monies provided by Shirokuma and Inspired Acoustics donations supported replacement of the Kispest organ's main blower engine (when it had suddenly broken in an accident) along with other internal parts of the instrument.
Following the previous business model, customers with their purchase of the Hauptwerk version of the Kispest organ support the original instrument: to maintain its state and to build the missing stop in the Pedal. Direct donations are also welcome to the foundation: Templomunk Centenáriuma Alapítvány.
The missing pedal stop is however available in the Hauptwerk release by a custom-developed acoustic relocation technique that virtually moved and re-intonated the Trompete 8' stop into the physical location of the pedal pipes. Acoustic measurements and simulations aided this virtual relocation.
Stoplist
| Pédale C–f1 | Grand orgue C–a3 | Récit Expressif C–a3 |
| 1. Principal (combined) 16’ | 12. Principal 16’ | 29. Bourdon 16’ |
| 2. Violon 16’ | 13. Praestant 8’ | 30. Diapason 8’ |
| 3. Soubasse 16’ | 14. Flûte harmonique 8’ | 31. Flûte 8’ |
| 4. Octave (combined) 8’ | 15. Bourdon 8’ | 32. Bourdon 8’ |
| 5. Bourdon 8’ | 16. Salicional 8’ | 33. Gambe 8’ |
| 6. Octave (combined) 4’ | 17. Unda maris 8’ | 34. Voix céleste 8’ |
| 7. Bombarde 16’ | 18. Octave 4’ | 35. Dulcian 4’ |
| 8. Trompette 8’ (not built yet, available virtually) | 19. Flûte 4’ | 36. Flûte octaviante 4’ |
| 9. P+I | 20. Quinte 2 2/3’ | 37. Nasard 2 2/3’ |
| 10. P+II | 21. Doublette 2’ | 38. Octavin 2’ |
| 11. P+II super | 22. Cornet 5x | 39. Tierce1 3/5’ |
| 23. Mixtur 5-7x | 40. Mixtur 3-5x | |
| 24. Trompette 8’ | 41. Trompette harmonique 8’ | |
| 25. Clarinette 8’ | 42. Basson-hautbois 8’ | |
| 26. I+II | 43. Voix humaine 8’ | |
| 27. I+II sub | 44. Clairon 4’ | |
| 28. I+II super | 45. Tremulant | |
| 46. Sub II | ||
| 47. Super II | ||
Photos, maps
