Sonus paradisi Polná, organ by J. D. Sieber 1708 Hauptwerk

P2P | 1 July 2025 | 21.97 GB

The splendidly decorated church of Polná was built between 1700–08 according to the plans of the Italian architect Domenico d'Angeli under the patronage of the Prince Leopold von Dietrichstein, the owner of the Polná region. The organ was supplied in 1708 by Johann David Sieber (ca. 1670–1723), who apprenticed with Halbich organ builders in Králíky. Jiří Sehnal calls Sieber the best Moravian organ builder of 18th century. He was able to manufacture larger instruments than his competitors (up to ca. 40 stops on 3 manuals) and was renowned for the quality of his craftsmanship and technical inventiveness. His organ in St. Michael's Church in Vienna had a better reputation that the instrument of F. Römer in the Stephansdom. Sehnal lists 18 organs built by Sieber during his short life span.

The Sieber organ for Polná was his fourth largest instrument, and it was perfectly preserved in original form through to the present. Jürgen Ahrend studied the Polná instrument carefully when reconstructing the Sieber organ in Vienna (1986–87). The organists of Polná still remember that Ahrend restored the resonators of the pedal Trumpet in Polná in the gratitude for the research he could conduct there.

The organ was neatly overhauled by a consortium of Czech organ building companies in 2017. The companies were: MgA. Dalibor Michek (Puklice - Studénky u Jihlavy), Dlabal - Mettler (Bílsko u Olomouce), and MgA. Marek Vorlíček (Domažlice). The organ was dismantled and transported to the various organ workshops. The case of the instrument remained on the site, restored by Jan Mach from Červený Kostelec. The organ was heavily infested by wood-eating insects. Although according to the restorers, it was fortunate that it was worms and not humans that did most of the damage. Although the parts were dilapidated and worn, they were preserved in a very original (unchanged) condition. The original fifth comma mean-tone temperament could be identified and the organ re-tuned. The manual keyboards turned out to be the original Sieber keyboards, which is truly unique for an organ this old. These are some of the oldest surviving keyboards in the Czech realm. According to Martin Lexa on the website of the Polná parish, it was possible to restore the original winding: four large wedge bellows located in the church tower.