Keyboard before restoration

 

Restoration

In addition to new organ constructions, restoration and reconstruction, as well as maintenance of pipe organs, are also important activities of Van den Heuvel.

The starting point for restoration is in principle to reconstruct the instruments back to their original style. Every historic organ has a history that is connected to people, times and events. This makes historical instruments special. One often recognizes the joy and involvement of the people who have worked on the organ over the years, sometimes unfortunately the opposite is also observed. When it comes to sound, restoration often involves a lively history. In depth knowledge of all contributes to the enthusiasm to pass it on to future generations.

Working with new instruments and with old ones are two completely different worlds Every old organ has a history that is closely bound up with people, epochs and events. And each of these histories is different. This makes organs from past epochs unique witnesses of their age. The reconstruction of a historical organ includes the rebuilding of lost parts to the original condition. It is our requirement to refer back for the initial technical and tonal status to that cultural in-heritance which may have been partially lost through the passage of time. Missing parts are reconstructed in accordance with material and building style of the original builder. The sound of a restored organ is a way for us to experience living history. We see our work as part of a continuum: we are doing our best to ensure that the history of organ building is handed down to generations yet to come. It is this that makes restoration such a highly gratifying task.

For new organs, we search for the very best realized in times past in order to let this result in a very personal style. Van den Heuvel build as much as possible in their own workshops in order to meet with the special requirements and wishes of organ consultants and customers. One of our main principles is to get to know the special atmosphere and location for each new instrument we construct. We believe that the design of the organ, its acoustic concept and its technical structure are all equally essential to its completion and character. Each instrument develops thus its own character and takes over a certain place in the history of our company. Every organ from our company represents the work of the whole team. Our success is based on the commitment and the continuously improved expert knowledge of all our employees. Only qualified specialists work in our company, and they invest their heart and soul in it.

With the filters below you can search for restored and transferred instruments