Gerhard Brunzema: His Work and His Influence

Documents the craft of the organbuilder Gerhard Brunzema (1927-1992) in terms of the organs he built and how his instruments and his approach to organbuilding had an influence on music history. Divided into two parts, Part I contains essays by people who knew Brunzema and his work, and documents his skill both in the restoration of historically significant instruments in Europe, as well as in the building of new organs in his own style throughout the world. Also included in this section are two musical compositions in his memory by Gerhard Krapf and Barrie Cabena. Part II details the organs themselves during the three phases of his career: in Germany (1954-1971) with his partner Jurgen Ahrend; in Quebec, Canada (1972-1979) with Casavant Freres; and in Ontario (1980-1992) in his own workshop. This section features a complete listing of all the organs he built, descriptions of seventy organs, and a complete technical documentation of one of his instruments. Also included are three articles by Brunzema, proposals for organs that were never built, an annotated discography, a listing of the published photographs of his organs, videography, bibliography, 16 black and white photographs and 41 line drawings.

Documents the craft of organbuilder Gerhard Brunzema (1927-1992) and looks at how his instruments and his approach to organbuilding influenced music history.

Journal Of AmericaN Organbuilding

...valuable and interesting...this book belongs in the library of every student of organ history and design..

Thomas Donahue (D.D.S., SUNY at Buffalo) is a member of the Auburn Pro Musica group, as well as the American Guild of Organists. He is the author of The Modern Classical Organ (McFarland, 1991) as well as several articles on the topic of organs. He has also recently completed a recording of one of Brunzema's organs, scheduled for release in 1997.