Arp Schnitger

Arp Schnitger (born July 9, 1648, Schmalenfleth, in Oldenburg [Germany]—died July 24 or 25, 1719, Neuenfelde, Imperial Free City of Hamburg) was one of the most skilled organ builders of the Baroque era, whose fine instruments inspired composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach.

Schnitger was born into a family of woodworkers; his father was a carver, and Arp was apprenticed to a cousin at age 18. Three years after his cousin’s death, in 1676, Schnitger moved to Neuenfelde, where he donated an organ to the church in which he is buried. Of six children born to his first wife, two became notable organ builders.

Schnitger built about 150 organs, some of them quite large. Among the finest was the one played by Bach at St. Jakobi’s Church in Hamburg. Although Italian influence can be detected in the pipework of his latest organs, Schnitger built in the northern, Lutheran style. His surviving instruments are transparent and clear sounding, ideal for the contrapuntal style (based on interwoven melodic lines) of the north German music of his time. His pipes were generally of tin-lead alloy rather than wood; as was traditional, they fell into two classes, wide scale (female) and narrow (male). In both classes, which were not meant to be combined, he made possible a satisfying variety of registrations (combinations of stops of different tone and pitch), while avoiding strong contrasts of loudness.