Hendrik Niehoff
Encyclopedia
Hendrik Niehoff was a Dutch
pipe organ
builder, who learned with noted builder, Jan van Covelen (c. 1470-1532). According to Liuwe Tamminga, Niehoff was born in Leeuwarden, the capital of Province Friesland
. (Tamminga has been organist since the 1980s on the ancient organ {1471-75} of Lorenzo da Prato at the Basilica of San Petronio
in Bologna
and also was born in a nearby Friesland
village.) Following Jan van Covelen's death in 1532, Hendrik Niehoff established his shop in 's-Hertogenbosch to continue building new and upgrading organs throughout the Netherlands
and in major Hanseatic
cities and, thus, can be considered the most significant organbuilder in northwestern Europe in the middle third of the 16th century due both to the fabulous visual architectural quality of the cases and the exquisite sounds these instruments make for the eye and ear.
The pipes in Niehoff's organs are remarkable in that they use an alloy
of over 98% lead
, with only about 1.3% tin
and minimal amounts of antimony
, copper
and bismuth
- the latter probably due to the not highly refined ores available to the builders of that time. (The use of lead plate to make organ pipes probably stems from its use to fabricate the roofs of European churches of the time.) Pipes made of this alloy are noted for producing sounds with the "vocale" characteristic of the organs of the high Renaissance/early Baroque period. To enhance their appearance, the façade pipes usually were covered with thin, bright tin foil that was held to the underlying lead pipe with a glue made of duck egg white.
American organbuilder John Brombaugh
(b. 1937, retired 2005) used several surviving examples of pipes from the 1539 Schoonhoven Niehoff organ given to him in 1971 by Dr. Maarten A. Vente as models for many instruments his firm made after their first new examples were made and used in the organ at Central Lutheran Church, Eugene, Oregon
, that was dedicated in 1976. (Respected Belgian organologist, Koos van der Linde, disputes Vente's assertion that Niehoff made Brombaugh's sample Dutch pipes; he contends they were made by the hand of Peter Janz. de Swart, who built the Leiden Hoogslandskerk organ ca. 1565. Could de Swart have been an apprentice with Niehoff when the Schoonhoven pipes were being made?) This instrument also uses vertical pallets in its Ruckpositive windchest, a method that was normal in Niehoff's organs but seldom found anytime since. It gives a remarkable light touch to the keys - like a harpsichord.
gives another valuable description of work by the Niehoff family.
provides valuable information, especially on the Lüneburg Johanniskirche organ
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
builder, who learned with noted builder, Jan van Covelen (c. 1470-1532). According to Liuwe Tamminga, Niehoff was born in Leeuwarden, the capital of Province Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
. (Tamminga has been organist since the 1980s on the ancient organ {1471-75} of Lorenzo da Prato at the Basilica of San Petronio
San Petronio Basilica
The Basilica of San Petronio is the main church of Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore. It is the fifth largest church in the world, stretching for 132 meters in length and 60 meters in width, while the vault reaches 45 meters inside and 51 meters in the facade...
in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
and also was born in a nearby Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
village.) Following Jan van Covelen's death in 1532, Hendrik Niehoff established his shop in 's-Hertogenbosch to continue building new and upgrading organs throughout the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and in major Hanseatic
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
cities and, thus, can be considered the most significant organbuilder in northwestern Europe in the middle third of the 16th century due both to the fabulous visual architectural quality of the cases and the exquisite sounds these instruments make for the eye and ear.
The pipes in Niehoff's organs are remarkable in that they use an alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
of over 98% lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, with only about 1.3% tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and minimal amounts of antimony
Antimony
Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
- the latter probably due to the not highly refined ores available to the builders of that time. (The use of lead plate to make organ pipes probably stems from its use to fabricate the roofs of European churches of the time.) Pipes made of this alloy are noted for producing sounds with the "vocale" characteristic of the organs of the high Renaissance/early Baroque period. To enhance their appearance, the façade pipes usually were covered with thin, bright tin foil that was held to the underlying lead pipe with a glue made of duck egg white.
American organbuilder John Brombaugh
John Brombaugh
John Brombaugh is an American master pipe organ builder, known for his historically-oriented tracker action instruments, some of which are capable of playing at different historical pitches.-Personal life and early training:...
(b. 1937, retired 2005) used several surviving examples of pipes from the 1539 Schoonhoven Niehoff organ given to him in 1971 by Dr. Maarten A. Vente as models for many instruments his firm made after their first new examples were made and used in the organ at Central Lutheran Church, Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, that was dedicated in 1976. (Respected Belgian organologist, Koos van der Linde, disputes Vente's assertion that Niehoff made Brombaugh's sample Dutch pipes; he contends they were made by the hand of Peter Janz. de Swart, who built the Leiden Hoogslandskerk organ ca. 1565. Could de Swart have been an apprentice with Niehoff when the Schoonhoven pipes were being made?) This instrument also uses vertical pallets in its Ruckpositive windchest, a method that was normal in Niehoff's organs but seldom found anytime since. It gives a remarkable light touch to the keys - like a harpsichord.
Major Niehoff projects - BOLD entried organs still extant in 2006
- 1534 BredaBredaBreda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
- Groote / OLV (Onze Lieve Vrouwe - Our Lady's) Kerk. The positive case on the current organ survives from 1534; information on the 1534 case is taken from a book about the organs in this church which was published in 1989. Jan van Biezen states this organ was built by Jan Graurock; whether or not Niehoff helped is debatable.
- 1528 FranekerFranekerFraneker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...
- St.-Maarten. Van Biezen and Vente say this instrument was a Jan van Covelen project but, upon his death in 1532 and at the request of van Covelen's widow, Niehoff brought it to completion in 1534. This project is likely the beginning of Hendrik Niehoff's career as an independent organbuilder.
- 1539-1540 SchoonhovenSchoonhovenSchoonhoven is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality has a population of 12,195 , and covers an area of 6.96 km²...
- St.-Bartholomeüs. The case of this organ since 1958 houses the Marcussen organ located in the south transept of the Groote / Laurenskerk in Rotterdam. (Dr. Vente recovered the case when the Schoonhoven congregation abandoned this historic organ in the 1930s to purchase a new organ. He gave it to the war desecrated Rotterdam congregation to use in its new replacement organ as the demolished church was being restored.)
- 1539-1545 AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
- St.-Nicolaas / Oude KerkOude Kerk (Amsterdam)The Oude Kerk is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. It stands in De Wallen, now Amsterdam's main red-light district. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein.The bust of famous organist and composer...
. The renowned Dutch musician, Jan Pieterszoon SweelinckJan Pieterszoon SweelinckJan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...
, was organist here from 1580 till 1621.
- 1545 DelftDelftDelft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
- St.-Hippolytus / Oude KerkOude Kerk (Delft)The Oude Kerk , nicknamed Oude Jan , is a Gothic Protestant church in the old city center of Delft, the Netherlands. Its most recognizable feature is a 75-meter-high brick tower that leans about two meters from the vertical....
- 1544-1545 AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
- St.-Nicolaas / Oude KerkOude Kerk (Amsterdam)The Oude Kerk is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. It stands in De Wallen, now Amsterdam's main red-light district. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein.The bust of famous organist and composer...
. A second, smaller organ was made for the north transept. Some pipes of that organ are still extant in the new organ that Hans Wolf Schonat built ca. 1658 and Ahrend & Brunzema restored in 1964-65.
- 1545-1549 ZierikzeeZierikzeeZierikzee is a small city, located on the former island of Schouwen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 26 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis....
- St.-Lievensmonster. An interesting description of this organ is written in "Beschrijving van het oude en nieuwe orgel in de Groote of St. Lievens Monsterkerk der stad Zierikzee" by Willem Lootens, 1771.
- -1548 DelftDelftDelft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
- St.-Ursula / Nieuwe KerkNieuwe Kerk (Delft)Nieuwe Kerk is a landmark Protestant church in Delft, Netherlands. The building is located on Delft Market Square , opposite to the City Hall . In 1584, William the Silent was entombed here in a mausoleum designed by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser. Since then members of the House of Orange-Nassau...
- 1548 EnkhuizenEnkhuizenEnkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...
- St.-Gommarus / Westerkerk. Niehoff's organ case remains, but the organ was rebuilt by the van Hagerbeer and Duyschot families ca. 1645 and 1679-83. Some of its pipes are still extant in the organ at the St.-Pancras / Zuiderkerk church in Enkhuizen.
- 1548-1550 HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- an upgrading rebuild of the existing organ at the PetrikircheSt. Petri, HamburgThe St. Peter's Church ] in Hamburg was built on top of many churches. It was built by order of Pope Leo the Tenth.-History:...
. Following the terrible HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
fire of 1842, nothing remains of this organ.
- 1551-1553 LüneburgLüneburgLüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
- Johanniskirche, built together with Jasper Johansen. In 1699, Georg BöhmGeorg BöhmGeorg Böhm was a German Baroque organist and composer. He is notable for his development of the chorale partita and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach.-Life:Böhm was born in 1661 in Hohenkirchen, near Ohrdruf...
became organist here and, beginning soon after (according to Christoph WolffChristoph WolffChristoph Wolff is a German-born musicologist, presently on the faculty of Harvard University. Born and educated in Germany, Wolff studied organ and historical keyboard instruments, musicology and art history at the Universities of Berlin, Erlangen, and the Music Academy of Freiburg, receiving a...
) gave Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
lessons on this instrument during Bach's student tenure at the Michaeliskirche from 1700 through 1702. BöhmGeorg BöhmGeorg Böhm was a German Baroque organist and composer. He is notable for his development of the chorale partita and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach.-Life:Böhm was born in 1661 in Hohenkirchen, near Ohrdruf...
had the Niehoff organ considerably rebuilt and upgraded in 1714 by Arp SchnitgerArp SchnitgerArp Schnitger was a highly influential German organ builder. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, where a number of his instruments survive to the present day; his organs can also be found as far away as Portugal and Brazil.Notable examples still in...
's student, Matthias Dropa. It has been restored on several occasions by Rudolf von Beckerath's shop (Hamburg); it probably has the most of Niehoff's work remaining in any of his large organs.
- before 1553 SchiedamSchiedamSchiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen and south of Delft...
- St.-Jan The center case and some pipes from Niehoff are still extant in a new instrument the Flentrop firm built in 1975 and upgraded in 1994.
- 1555 Bergen op ZoomBergen op ZoomBergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
- St.-Geertruida Kerk
- 1556-1558 GoudaGoudaGouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....
- St.-Jans Kerk The drastically altered remnants of this organ's case were placed in the 19th century Roman Catholic parish church in AbcoudeAbcoudeAbcoude is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Since 2011 it has made part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen.- Population centres :...
.
- 1557 BrouwershavenBrouwershavenBrouwershaven is a small city on the Grevelingen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 45 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis.Brouwershaven received city rights in 1477....
- St.-Nicolaas , built together with his son, Nicolaas Niehoff. The historic case and upper case façade pipes were used when the Van Vulpen firm built a new organ in 1968 and 1980. Note the similarity between the Brouwershaven and Lüneburg Ruckpositive cases!
Published References
gives another valuable description of work by the Niehoff family.
provides valuable information, especially on the Lüneburg Johanniskirche organ
- Lootens, Willem. Beschryving van het oude en nieuwe orgel, in de Groote- of St. Lievens Monsterkerk der stad Zierikzee, beneffens ... ; Baarn, "De Praestantpers" (1966).
-
- Or. artificial leather, (X), 37+1, (8)p. + folding plate of the organ in the church. Facsimile of the edition 1771. With information about Lootens by Mr. A. Bouman.
External links
- Further information on the Niehoff family in Dutch
- Further information on the Niehoff family in German