LUCERNE.
HOFKIRCHE, CHURCH OF ST. LEODEGAR (St. Leger).—The fine old organ of this Church stands at the west end, and was greatly added to and repaired, by M. Hass, who lives close to the Church, and who completed his work in 1862. It now contains seventy sounding stops, all of which are throughout, none of the metal stops having the lowest octave in wood, nor are closed pipes used instead of open. There are four manuals and a pedal. The case consists of five compartments. The centre, which is by far the largest, holds the five lower pipes (of pure tin) of the thirty-two foot open, which have very short feet. On each side of this, is a compartment of nine pipes with very long feet. The outer flats have nine good-sized pipes, with feet of average length. These two last compartments stand at an angle with the other three compartments. All the pipe-work is bright tin; the wood-work brown oak, with a quantity of fantastic carving. There is a peculiar look about this front, it is a Screen, not a case to the organ. The Great Organ has a good tone, the old tone, without the bray of the reeds, which one so often gets in modern instruments. The imitation of thunder is fair, the full power of the organ good, the trumpets telling well, without being overpowering. The vox humana was very good: “Quelle soprano!” exclaimed a French lady behind me, as the organist was showing it off. When the swell of the vox humana is closed, and the tremulant drawn, it makes an excellent vox angelica, very soft and good, but trembling a little too much, and the tone is so hushed, that people must be very quiet in the Church to hear it. The organist, when I heard this instrument, was a showy player, but he accompanied the Mass in a very efficient manner, and with great judgment. A fugue he played at the end of the service had only one fault, that was, its shortness. 1863, 1869.
THE ENGLISH CHURCH has a modern Gothic organ at its west end. At each end of the case is a tall tower, of seven pipes, with pinnacles of open work. Next is a gabled compartment, and the centre consists of two flats, having a horizontal cornice. Much tawdry gilt-work is spread about the case. The Choir Organ has three compartments, with a flat cornice and much gilded carvings. I expect this case is a sham, and is merely a buffet for the keys, as on the top of it was a music-desk, and the player sat with his back to the Great Organ. I did not like the tone of the instrument, which was but fair. 1869.