Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. Name written in front. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Waldkirch a small town in Germany’s Black Forest is known to mechanical music enthusiasts world-wide for its once flourishing craft-industry which produced hundreds of magnificent mechanical organs and orchestrions. Generations of families worked in the business and there was a time when the town’s prosperity depended on mechanical music. During the 1930’s new technology and changing tastes brought about a steep decline and the Second World War saw the end of an activity which had once been the pride of the town. However one organ-building company that of Carl Frei and Son was able to establish itself in the town after the war and this link with past glories ensured that the citizens of Waldkirch never quite forgot their unique heritage. In 1984 the first International Organ Festival was organised in the town when many organs built years earlier by its skilled sons returned to the place of their birth playing once again amidst the old factory buildings. The success of this first event ensured that it has been repeated every three years since attracting thousands of admirers of Waldkirch organs and orchestrions from all over the world. There has long been a demand amongst serious enthusiasts for a book about Waldkirch organs giving technical information and detailing the disposition and musical characteristics. This need has been met perfectly by respected author Herbert J?ttemann who has a great understanding of mechanical musical instruments in general. 50 colour plates and several hundred informative diagrams and photographs accompany the easi- ly understood text outlining the different types of pipes pneumatic actions and mechanisms found in products of the various Waldkirch factories. This is most certainly a book for all those interested in mechanical organs. (MP)