Sample set Sonus Paradisi - Rotterdam - Laurenskerk - Transept Organ Surround Sample Set

Rotterdam - Laurenskerk, Transeptorgel, Marcussen & Son, 1959

The smaller and the older brother of the main rear gallery organ (which is available as a sample set for Hauptwerk as well) is located in the Transept of the same St. Laurentis church in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and it is a top example of the European organbuilding of the mid twentieth century, in the years following the 2nd World War.

The bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May 1940 damaged the building as well as its organs. The church was restored after the war, and the new organs were created from scratch, built upon the historical legacy of the previous instruments. The Transeptorgel occupies the space on a balcony where a renaissance instrument was located in the distant past. A medium size instrument was chosen to accompany the services held temporarily in the Transept of the church, which was reconstructed first after the bombing. The historical organ case used comes from the St. Bartholomeus church in Schoonhoven, because it has striking similarity with the renaissance instrument known from 17th century paintings of St. Laurentis. Originally, the case belonged to a Henrick Niehoff organ (1539-1540), but that instrument was out of use for a long time. The Marcussen organbuilding company filled this case with a 3 manual instrument. The main organ case houses a Hoofdwerk and a Pedaal and a tiny Borstwerk underneath. A smaller Rugwerk case was added to the balustrade of the balcony. The lowest octave of the Spitsgedekt 16' is located in a small room behind the organ.

The organ has 31 speaking stops, divided into four divisions: Rugwerk, Hoofdwerk, Borstwerk and Pedaal. It is the last work of Sybrand Zachariassen, the leader of the Marcussen company at that time, and it is usually praised as his greatest work. The special feature of the instrument is the horizontal Regaal 16' sticking out of the organ case under the door enclosing the Borstwerk. The door can be opened or closed by a pedal, adding a "swell" effect to the Borstwerk.

RugwerkHoofdwerkBorstwerk (enclosed)Pedaal

Holpijp 8'Praestant 8'Gedekt 8'Spitsgedekt 16'

Praestant 4'Roerfluit 8'Quintadena 4'Praestant 8'

Roerfluit 4'Octaaf 4'Koppelfluit 4'Spitsgedekt 8'

Woudfluit 2'Spitsfluit 4'Praestant 2'Octaaf 4'

Quint 1 1/3'Octaaf 2'Blokfluit 2'Mixtuur 6x

Sexquialter 2xMixtuur 5-7xSifflet 1'Fagot 16'

Scherp 4xCymbel 3xCymbel 2xSchalmei 4'

Dulciaan 8'Trompet 8'Regaal 16' 

Tremulant Tremulant 

The organ offers the usual couplers:

Hoofdwerk/Rugwerk

Hoofdwerk/Borstwerk

Pedaal/Hoofwerk

Pedaal/Rugwerk

Pedaal/Borstwerk

There are two additional foot levers:

M - the organ blower

L - the console light on/off (not modelled in Hauptwerk. However, if you have MIDI driven illumination of your hardware console, you can switch its light on or off by using this button. This feature is known to work with Magnus consoles.)

The swell pedal operates the door closing/opening the Borstwerk division.