Cantabile E-Dur (No. 5 from “Préludes, Fugues et Autres Pièces pour L'Orgue”, Brussels 1778)

Today I present the third recording that I created while trying out the new sample set from Augustine (AVO), the model of the organ of the church “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” in the small town of Bodajk in northwestern Hungary.

This two-manual instrument with 26 stops, built in 2021 by Hungarian organ builder Péter Takács, who incorporated old pipe material from a previous organ by Rieger from 1910, is stylistically rather baroque oriented. With its lively, transparent sound, full of character principal registers, charming flutes and colorful aliquot voices (including even a seventh 1 1/7'), this small organ encourages experimentation with styles and colors.

I decided to try out the sample set on pieces from the collection “Préludes, Fugues et Autres Pièces pour L'Orgue” (Brussels 1778) by Johann Christoph Schmügel (1727–1798).

Born and raised in the town of Prietzier in Mecklenburg, Schmügel received his first music lessons from his father, who was an organist and whom he assisted from the age of 16.

Around 1750, the young Schmügel was drawn to Hamburg, where he was taught by Georg Philipp Telemann, who later described him as one of his best composition students. In 1758, Schmügel took up the post of organist at St. Johannis Church in Lüneburg. His pupils there included Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, whose compositions were strongly influenced by the style of his teacher.

In 1766, Schmügel moved to the Nikolaikirche in Mölln, where he probably between 1767 and 1777 wrote the twelve organ pieces that he then published in his collection “Préludes, Fugues et Autres Pièces pour L'Orgue”. Stylistically, they are in the realm of the "sentimental style" (Empfindsamer Stil) and the early classical period. Many of these compositions are of an astonishingly high quality, so it is definitely worth taking a closer look at Schmügels music – for example, the Cantabile in E major, which I present in two versions:

0:00–2:34 original version
2:35–5:19 corrected version