Wegenstein  Organ from Reformed Church in Brasov

Wegenstein Organ from Brasow
                                                                                             History
Brasov (German:  Kronstadt, Hungarian: Brassó)  is a large city with 250,000 inhabitants in Southern Transylvania (Romania)
Brasov was the center of the Transylvanian Saxons, who were settled in Transylvania by the Hungarian kings between 1100 and 1300. Brasov was an important industrial and trading city in the Middle Ages and in the modern era, and the largest Gothic church in Eastern Europe, the Black Church, is located here. 

In addition to the Saxons, the number of Romanians and Hungarians was always significant in the city. At the turn of the 20th century, the proportion of the population was 40% Hungarians and 30-30% Romanians and Saxons. After the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Brasov came to Romania. With the settlement of the Romanian population, the proportions of nationalities changed. During the communist era, the vast majority of the Saxon population left for Germany, which was also supported by an interstate treaty. After the regime change, many Hungarians moved from Brasov to Hungary. Currently, only 100-200 Saxons live in the city, and the number of Hungarians is around 20,000.

The religious distribution corresponds to the national distribution. The Romanians are Orthodox, the Hungarians are Catholic and Reformed, and the Saxons are Lutheran. The city's most significant church monuments are connected to the Saxon Lutherans. There are currently 15,000 Catholics and 7,000 Protestants living in the city. The Reformed belong to 3 communities, the most significant of which is the downtown Reformed parish. This parish had a beautiful neo-Gothic church built in the 19th century. The church's 2-manual, 18-register, late-romantic organ was built by the Wegenstein organ factory in Temesvár in 1915. The Wegenstein organ factory was a major organ manufacturer in Hungary, along with the Angster and Rieger factories. Wegenstein mainly built organs in Transylvania, but his organs can also be found in Bucharest and Budapest, in the Jesuit church.

In 1963, the communist regime destroyed the downtown Reformed church. Instead of the church, the Reformed parish got a gymnasium. This gymnasium is still used today, which was slightly rebuilt based on the plans of Károly Kós and equipped with a tower. This beautiful organ is now serving in this house of worship, converted from a gymnasium. Unfortunately, the dry acoustic environment does not reproduce the sparkle of the organ's original and unique sound. This is the first Wegenstein organ to be sampled by Hauptwerk. There is a 3-manual Wegenstein organ in the downtown Catholic parish church of Brasov, I hope that in the future I will be able to obtain permission to record this organ as well.

The following friends helped me to make and publish the sample set (in alphabetical order): Dominique Dantand, Gérard Lefranc, Nagy István and Jean-Pierre Silvestre. If something's done well, it's thanks to them. Thank you for their work.  I especially thank my friend László Megyaszai, a reformed cantor from Brasov, for his help. He also obtained the recording permit and the accommodation in Brasov. I can thank him for the recording of all Transylvanian organs (Gelence, Kanta, Sepsiszentgyörgy, Brasov Reformed church, Brasso Franciscan church).

Features
Sample quality 
The sample sets are available in wave format 48kHz/24bit, stereo, multiple loops (1-12) and multiple releases (3 levels). a=438 Hz
The sample sets are made in three forms. 

a. A version of wet stereo (far)

b. A Surround version (3 pairs of stereo recording: near,  front and in the background.

In the surround version you can adjust the perspective by setting the volume of the near, far and rear recordings. (Suitable HW loading and channel settings can be used to give wet or semidry stereo modes or 4 channel surround mode too).   

The sample set reverb is 1.5 s reflecting the original  acoustics of the church.  

Hauptwerk v4.2 or v5-v9 supported for the Organ Definition Files.

Keyboards, Pedal 
The original organ compass of the manuals are 58 keys, the compass of the pedal is 30keys.
Operating Instructions:

RAM requirements (GB)

2 channels sztereo

6 channels surround

 

16 bit

24 bit

16 bit

24 bit

Reformed Brasov

4

5

9

12
The data is for information only. They depend on the operating system and other apps.
Specifications  

Pedal  (original and virtual 30 keys) – 3+2 stops

Original: Subbass 16', Oktavbass 8’, Cello 8’

Extensions: Bourbon 8’ (from I. Bourdon 16’),

                    Choralbass 4’ (From I. Principal 4’)

I. Hauptwerk (original and virtual 58 keys) – 6 stops

Bourdon 16’, Principal 8’, Salicional 8’, Oktav 4’, Gemshorn 4’

Mixtura 2 2/3’ 4f

II. Schwell (original and virtual 58 keys) – 9 stops

Rohrfloete 8’, Gamba 8’, Vox celeste 8’ Oklava 4’ Flauto dolce 4’

Quinte 2 2/3’, Flautino 2’, Cornett-Mixtura 2 2/3’ 3 f

 English-horn 8’

Couplers

original: I/P, II/P, I super, II/I sub,  II/I,  II/I super

virtual extension: I sub, II sub, II super

Tremulant

Original: -

Extension: II

Enclosure

original: II

Pictures
Reformed Church in Brasow and Wagenstein Organ

Audio demos

Playing Dominique Dantand, Nagy István, and Jean-Pierre Silvestre
Download / Order
Try the the demo sample sets before you buy!
The Trial Versions of the Wegenstein Organ of Reformed Church in Brasov has a limited compass of C2-C3 (048-c to 060-c) in the pedal, C2-G5 (048-c to 079-g) in the manuals. All other functions work. 

(Install the part01 of the stereo-wet version. Install the part01 and then the part02 of surround version. It is important to sort.) 

The IR file should only be downloaded and installed by anyone using Hauptwerk version 5 or 6 or 7. It is optimized for the stereo near version.


Surround vs Stereo mode

If you do not have a surround sound system, but there is enough memory (RAM), I suggest you also install the surround version. If you activate the front and rear stops too, then you will get a more compact and fuller sound than the simple stereo.

Guide: simple stereo from surround, how to?  

Buy the full (stereo and surround) Wegenstein-Reformed Church in Brasov sample set (You can pay in dollars or euros.)


40 EUR
44 USD