The 1750 Joseph Gabler Organ at Weingarten December 23, 2020
Michael McNeil
Michael McNeil has designed, constructed, and researched pipe organs since 1973. He was also a research engineer in the disk drive industry with twenty-seven patents. He has authored four hardbound books, among them
The Sound of Pipe Organs, several e-publications, and many journal articles.
Very few organs survive the depredations of time. Some are the victims of wars and fires, but most are the victims of the good intentions and interventions driven by changing tastes in sound. Those few that have survived such calamities usually have something special about them in their sound or their visual impact. The 1750 Joseph Gabler organ at Weingarten, Germany, is special on both counts its dramatic chorus makes music come alive, and the architecture of its casework and façade is a stunning tour de force.