Uploaded January 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Master cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe describes the building of the case for Cornell University's new majestic baroque organ in Cornell's Anabel Taylor Chapel.
The project required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ's construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians.
For more information: baroqueorgan.cornell.edu
Master cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe describes the building of the case for Cornell University's new majestic baroque organ in Cornell's Anabel Taylor Chapel.
The project required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ's construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians.
For more information: baroqueorgan.cornell.edu
