Johan Christian Dahl

Organ

1754-56 - Benedictine Abbey, Ottobeuren The stalls and woodwork of the organ in the "Swabian Escorial" were done by Josef Christian, sculptor, Martin Hormann, cabinetmaker and Karl Josef Riepp, organ-maker, who together created one of the most beautiful musical instruments of all time. The relationship of masses and supports on the triple-storied organ, beneath the frescoed vault, the exuberance of forms in the cabinetwork and stuccoes, the variety in the sculptural vocabulary for the atlantes and the gilded reliefs - in themselves suggesting a harmony appropriate to 18th-century musical forms - combine in the ideal, total masterpiece that was to transmit the monks' prayers to the Heavens. It is the only 18th-century organ that still preserves entire its original form

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