Music life of Vršac (Vojvodina, Serbia, Europe) had a very dynamic course and development in the XVIII and, particularly, the XIX century. It is difficult to distinct it from the theater life and general cultural events, since they were organized together at the time, complementing each other and interacting simultaneously. It should not be forgotten that, in the XIX century, Vršac finally became a developed and economically strong community, which provided a good basis for establishment of intellectual circles where cultural life could flourish. Therefore, it is not surprising that guest appearances of Serbian, German, Hungarian and even Italian theater groups used to be arranged regularly, while the concerts by local and visiting musicians and ensembles were held weekly throughout the Town, from the Municipal Garden, to the Magistrate. Most of those stage events were of an entertaining character; however, theater plays, opera, ballet performances and concerts were frequently organized, too. At the time, several masterpieces of musical art were regularly performed (such as “Coronation Mass” by Liszt, or “Requiem” by Mozart, for example), involving the musicians from Vršac almost exclusively, which can be considered quite an accomplishment, even nowadays. Last, but not least, many famous musicians, composers, choir leaders, conductors, music teachers and instrument builders lived and worked in Vršac, adding a special lure and colour to civic life in this charming little town.
One of the most important centers where the musical life in Vršac was developing, undoubtedly was St. Gerhard church, whose clergy, ever since the colonization of the Danube Swabians and the establishment of St. Gerhard Parish (1720), meticulously nurtured the musical culture. The pipe organ of this church also largely gave a strong stimulus to the quality of the music scene in Vršac, since certain cantors and choir leaders were, at the same time, prominent composers and music educators. St. Gerhard church in Vršac is the largest Roman-Catholic church in Serbia. Once, it was the second largest in former Yugoslavia, behind the Cathedral in Zagreb (Croatia). It was built on the foundations of an earlier church, dedicated to the same saint, between 1860 and 1863.
Still very little is known about the first pipe organ in Vršac, which was housed in the old church. Felix Milleker, a famous historian and chronicler of Banat, noted in his “Geschichte der königlichen Freistadt Werschetz, 1886” that the pipe organ was present in the catholic church as early as in 1741, and that the Municipality was paying a calcant (auxiliary worker whose job was to operate the bellows, providing the flow and pressure of air to create the sound).
The second instrument was brought from Budapest, in 1753. This pipe organ was mentioned in 1838, in traveller’s diary of Dr. Josef Lonovics von Krivina, the Bishop of Csanád, who described it as old (“antiquum”), specifying the number of stops (9).
The third pipe organ was designed in accordance to acoustic characteristics of the present church of St. Gerhard. When the Municipality of Vršac needed a new instrument in 1870, Alois Hörbiger, one of the most famous organ builders of his time, moved to Vršac with his whole family. Hörbiger was born on February 17th, 1810 in Thierbach, a small Tyrolean village above the Wildschönau valley, as a farmer’s son. From an early age, he showed a great interest in music (especially organ music), arts and crafts. On several occasions, he travelled to Italy, to get acquainted with the instruments in local churches. He built his first pipe organ for the church in his home village. Then, he gradually started expanding his activities across Tyrol; even in Styria. He first lived in Lower Styrian town Cilli (today: Celje, in Slovenia); later, with his brother Bartlmä, he moved to Atzgersdorf near Vienna, where he opened a workshop. He built his last instrument in Semlin (today: Zemun, in Serbia), where he passed away on May 7th, 1876. He was an “odd” builder. Although of humble origins and self-taught, what at the time when he lived could not be a good reference, he succeeded in expressing his undeniable talent, so that contemporaries regarded him as a “genius of mechanic” and a successful inventor who was even rewarded for some of his achievements. In addition, unlike the other builders, he travelled for a job, moving constantly and covering a distance of a few hundred kilometers, from his home in Thierbach, to Semlin. When and how Hörbiger ended up in Banat, is not known. According to available data, the city of Großbetschkerek (today: Zrenjanin, in Serbia) was his first “stop”, as he was mentioned there in 1867. On this occasion, he was also associated with the nearby Setschan/Petersdorf (today: Sečanj, in Serbia) where his sons, Gottfried and Wilhelm, repaired a pipe organ in the local church. He settled down in Vršac with his sons, daughters and their families in Weißkirchner Straße (today: Žarka Zrenjanina), on the periphery of the town. Some of his descendants remained in Vršac, giving a “Vršac offspring” of the Hörbiger family.
Hörbiger’s pipe organ performed its function untill the last instrument, present in St. Gerhard church today, was built. This instrument was completed in 1871; it had 2 manuals, 32 stops, neogothic prospectus and case, and cost the Municipal treasury 12000 florins.
During the restoration of St. Gerhard church (1902 – 1907), it was concluded that this instrument had to be replaced. The new one came in 1912 from the workshop of a famous master from Temeschwar (today: Timişoara, in Romania), Carl Leopold Wegenstein.
Wegenstein was born in Kleinhadersdorf, near Vienna, in 1858, and perfected the craft of organ building in Dresden, Berlin, Stuttgart, Erfurt, Luzern and Göttingen. He settled in 1880 in Temeschwar and found a job in the workshop of Josef Hromadka, where he remained for 5 years. Meanwhile, he befriended with Hromadka family and, in 1885, married the master’s daughter Maria who gave birth to eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Wegenstein received a residence permit for Temeschwar in 1886. In 1888, he takes the workshop from the master and leads it up to 1893, when he opens his own, independent workshop, equipped with the latest steam and, in the 1920s, electrical machinery. In the Hungarian part of the Dual Monarchy, his company was regarded as one of three most distinguished – along with those of Otto Rieger, from Budapest and Josef Angster, from Pecs.
Initially, he worked with nine employees, increasing their number to 50 in late 1930s. In 1926, he employed his sons Richard, Josef and Victor; then the workshop was named “Carl Leopold Wegenstein und Söhne”. At the age of 76, due to illness, he left the workshop to his eldest son, Richard, in 1934. He passed away in 1937, when he was 79. Towards the end of the Second World War (1944), when Richard was heading home by train after a successfully completed job, Temeschwar railway station was bombed. On that occasion, all his tools were destroyed. Symbolically, that tragical event marked the end of “Wegenstein” company: in 1948, the workshop was nationalized, and soon after – demolished completely. Richard continued repairing organs, while the son of Josef’s, Josef Wegenstein Jr. moved to Germany, where he was hired by the famous organ factory “Laukhuff”.
“Wegenstein” company was active for almost 60 years. During that time, nearly 400 pipe organs and harmoniums (reed organs) were built there. At the Millennium Exhibition in 1896, Wegenstein participated with the “Opus 18” pipe organ, which was awarded a Millennium Medal. This instrument was housed in the Central Parish church in Temeschwar initially; later, it was purchased by the City of Temeschwar and the original appearance of the organ had to be slightly modified, by entering the City amblem in the prospectus. Today, it is almost unplayable. The other major pipe organs built by Wegenstein were located in Temeschwar Synagogue, Maria Radna church, Cathedral of St. Joseph (Bucharest), Millennium Factory Town church (Fabrikstadt – former name for the Second area of Temeschwar) and the Cathedral of Temeschwar.
According to experts, in the organ landscape of Vojvodina, the St. Gerhard church pipe organ stands out as one of the most valuable instruments built in the XX century, and the pinnacle of quality, soundness and workmanship among the pipe organs in Serbia. Also, this instrument is one of the largest ever built by Wegenstein. It has 2 manuals, a pedalboard, pneumatic traction, crescendo roller, swell shades, 35 stops, a number of free and fixed combinations, more than 2000 pipes and romantic disposition. Although heavily damaged, due to decades of neglecting and a substantial lack of investment in maintenance, it is still a great concert instrument. Although this instrument can provide only a small fraction of its potentials, according to the artists who have played on it, it is still characterized by a rich, strong and full sound. Built in the spirit of the best traditions of Central European experience of the XIX century, this instrument is one of the last of its kind, not only in Serbia, but even wider. Romantic pipe organs have almost disappeared in Western Europe: with the end of epoch of Romanticism, the instruments which were built in this spirit have suffered substantial changes, or they were simply – replaced. By coincidence, or as a result of (un)fortunate circumstances, the only remaining unaltered romantic instruments are those of whom no one really cared; in other terms, the pipe organs in the territory of historical Banat, among which Vršac pipe organ is one of the most representative exemplars. The sound of Vršac pipe organ brings the music of the early XX century closer to us, almost unchanged, which is a reason good enough to celebrate the centenary of this King of instruments the way it deserves.
In the times before World War II, a series of concerts was performed on this pipe organ. Interrupted by the War, this tradition was continued in the late 1980s, when Carmen Cornier-Stevčić (mezzo-soprano) sang several arias accompanied by János Lovász, the cantor. Again, she sang in St. Gerhard church in 1997 and 1998, and the last-mentioned concert was broadcasted by the Eurovision, via RTV Banat on Christmas Eve, December 24th. The concerts of Tripo Simonutti (a famous Serbian violinist), the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra “Borislav Pašćan”, the Academic Choir “Branko Krsmanović”, and the RTS Symphony Orchestra (all from Belgrade) should also be noted, as well as occassional organ concerts of Branka Đorđevic, Maja Smiljanić-Radić and János Lovász. In August 2012, Raúl Prieto Ramírez, one of the World’s top organists, held a spectacular concert. The same year, Janko Siroma, an excellent young organist from Kovačica (Serbia), performed a concert. During 2013, a German organist, Franz Metz and a baritone, Wilfried Michl, as well as Saša Grunčić from Subotica (Serbia) and Vladimír Kopáčik from Slovakia, have presented their artistic skills to the audience in Vršac.
The need to preserve this organ, perhaps most succinctly, was expressed through the words of Raúl Prieto Ramírez, in a written communication to “Verein der Werschetzer Orgelfreunde” after the concert he had held in Vršac on August 6th, 2012:
“With these lines I would like to express my humble impression about the Organ in St. Gerhard church in Vršac. Since I put my feet in that wonderful building I immediately realized how equilibrated and colorful was the acoustic of the church. Not too long, not too short, rich but not dirty… just the perfect space for music making.The instrument is a testimony of Vršac’s history. Behind its beautiful neo-gothic case there is a perfect high quality machine linked with the style of those in central Europe including Austria, Germany or Switzerland… It shows the historic links of Serbia with the esthetic styles of central Europe. This concrete esthetic is being recovered in the mentioned countries because its extraordinary beauty and quality from which the organ in St. Gerhard church is a very good example.Despite the poor state in which it is now, this instrument clearly proof to hold an extraordinary potential which is worth to recover for the benefit of Vršac’s population, history and culture. Once restored, this instrument will increase the quality and presence of music, education and culture in the city, including the great possibility to offer young generations – the possibility to access to the great European music patrimony through the King of instruments.Vršac deserves this instrument restored since this is its property, patrimony, history… so basically its identity.”
I Manual (C-g’’’) – Hauptwerk/Grand
- Bourdon 16´
- Principal 8´
- Concertflöte 8´
- Gedeckt 8´
- Fugara 8´
- Gemshorn 8´
- Salicional 8´
- Octav 4´
- Rohrflöte 4′
- Rauschquinte 2x, 2 2/3´
- Octav 2´
- Mixtur 4-5x, 2 2/3´
- Trompete 8´
II Manual (C-g’’’) – Schwellwerk/Swell
- Quintatön 16´
- Principal 8´
- Flute Harmonique 8´
- Lieblich Gedeckt 8´
- Gamba 8´
- Aeoline 8´
- Voix Celeste 8´
- Flute Travers 4’
- Echoflöte 4´
- Piccolo 2´
- Harmonia aetheria 3-4x, 2 2/3´
- Vox humana 8´
- Oboe 8´
Pedal (C-f’)
- Contrabass 16´
- Subbass 16´
- Echobass 16´
- Violon 16´
- Octavbass 8´
- Cello 8´
- Flautabass 8´
- Posaune 16’
- Tuba 8´
Fixed combinations
- Piano
- Mezzoforte
- Forte
- Fortissimo
- Auslöser
- Handregister “ab”
- Crescendo “ab”
- Zungen “ab”
- Tutti
Couplers
- I/P
- II/P
- II/I
- Superoctav II/I
- Suboctav II/I
- Tutti
Verein der Werschetzer Orgelfreunde 