Anabel Taylor Chapel Organ

GOArt’s most recent research organ for Cornell University in Ithaca, New York is a reconstruction of the organ built by Arp Schnitger for the Charlottenburg Court in Berlin in 1706 combining features of both the North German and the Bach schools in one case.

The project has had three partners. GOArt has been responsible for the overall design and project coordination, the production of the pipework, which is almost completed, and the voicing. A very talented local craftsman from Ithaca named Christopher Lowe has built the case, and the Parsons Organbuilding firm of Canandaigua, New York was responsible for the construction of the windchests and action and the installation of the organ in the Chapel. 

Based On Arp Schnitger's Organs

Arp Schnitger was the most important organ builder of late-seventeenth-century North Germany, and was active mainly in its northwestern corner. Yet his work was well known in all of the German speaking lands and he built several organs in the eastern cities as well.

The interesting thing is that those organs he built for the eastern cities have unique features that the northwestern counterparts do not possess. Many of his works in the northwestern areas survive today and are well-known, but none of his instruments in the eastern areas are extant today, with the one exception of the organ case in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.

The organ in Berlin Charlottenburg existed until the last war, and we have access to the documentation that was made before its loss.

Further Information and Resources

Cornell University maintains a special website and blog for the organ. Here you can see upcoming events and read more about the organ and the organ building process. The website also has videos from the debut concert and about the organ with interviews.