Heinrich Andreas Contius

Heinrich Andreas Contius, also Cuntius (1708 – 1795 in Valmiera, Livonia) was one of the most important organ builders in the Baltic states in the 18th century.^[1]

Life

Contius was born in 1708 as the son of the organ builder Christoph Cuntzius in Halle an der Saale, Duchy of Magdeburg. In 1732 he is recorded as a journeyman of Joachim Wagner.^[2] He initially had his own workshop in Altenburg. From 1736/37, Contius worked in Halle and the surrounding area. From 1748, a letter of recommendation from Johann Sebastian Bach in his favour for the planned new organ building in the Konzerthalle Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Frankfurt [de] is known, then a letter to Contius himself.^[3][4] Den Auftrag erhielt er aber nicht.

In 1760, Contius moved to Riga in Courland, where he built an organ for the St. James's Cathedral, Riga.^[5] He then worked in Tallinn in Estonia and became the leading organ builder there. In 1771, he returned to Riga and in 1773 was commissioned to build a new building in the great Holy Trinity Cathedral, Liepāja (Libau), which was completed in 1779.^[5] In Valmiera, Contius opened a workshop together with Johann Andreas Stein (1752–1821) from Augsburg, who subsequently built further organs in Courland (1787 Cēsis, St. Johannis, 1788 Evele Wohlfahrtskirche).^[6]

Works (selection)

Contius is known to have built several new organs, as well as repairs and a maintenance contract in the Duchy of Magdeburg, Courland and Estonia. Preserved are most of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Liepāja, as well as the casing in the St. James's Cathedral in Riga. A replica of the organ in Liepāja has been under construction since 2016 in Leuven, Belgium.

Year	Location	Church	Picture	Manual	Casing	Notes
1739	Halle (Saale)	St. Ulrich				Renovation of the organ
1743	Halle (Saale)	St. Bartholomäus		II/P	22	New building.[7]
1750	Dieskau [de]	Annenkirche		II/P	22	New building
1751	Wallwitz					New building
1759	Merseburg	St. Maximi				Stop for repair with 120 Taler, not executed
1762 (?)	Merseburg	Cathedral				Supervision and maintenance of the castle and cathedral organ.[8]
1760–1763	Riga, Kurland	St. James's Cathedral		II/P	25	Casing preserved, Neubau
1768	Tallinn, Estland	St. Nicholas Church		III		Renovation of the organ from 1668
1773–1779	Liepāja	Holy Trinity Cathedral		II/P	38	New construction in facade and with parts of the organ by Johann Heinrich Joachim from about 1750, extended several times, lastly by Barnim Grüneberg in 1885 to become the largest organ in the world at that time, with IV/P, 131; preserved. → Organ of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Liepāja[9] seit 2016 Replik in Sint Michiel in Leuven (Belgien).[10]
1780	Valmiera, Livland	St. Simonis
1783	Riga	Reformierte Kirche		II/P	14	New construction, not preserved

References

1. Alexander Fiseisky: Die Geschichte der Orgel und der Orgelmusik in Estland. In Acta Organologica [de], 29, 2006, 11–32.
2. Uwe Pape (ed.): Lexikon norddeutscher Orgelbauer. Vol. 1: Thüringen und Umgebung. 2009. p. 45.
3. Werner Neumann: Schriftstücke von der Hand Johann Sebastian Bachs. Vol. 2. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2012. p. 51, führt den undatierten Brief an Contius an
4. Christoph Wolff, Markus Zepf (2006). Die Orgeln J. S. Bachs. Ein Handbuch. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. pp. ~XXV. ISBN 3-374-02407-6. (englisch The Organs of J. S. Bach. A Handbook. University of Illinois Press, 2012 S. XXV) Brief vom 12. Januar 1748 erwähnt
5. Imants Lancmanis: Libau. Eine baltische Hafenstadt zwischen Barock und Klassizismus. Böhlau, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-02806-0, p. 63.
6. Alexander Fiseisky: Die Geschichte der Orgel in Lettland. In Acta Organologica, 28, 2004. pp. 11–36. Summary Archived 2019-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
7. Holger Brülls [in German]; Thomas Dietzsch (2000). Architekturführer Halle an der Saale. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag. ISBN 3-496-01202-1.
8. Holger Brülls: Ladegast-Orgeln in Sachsen-Anhalt. Imhof, Petersberg 2005, ISBN 3-86568-020-8, p. 215.
9. Orgel Trisvienibasfonds.lv (deutsch)
10. Informationen Contiusfoundation, 2016 (Dutch, Englisch, French)

Further reading

• Alexander Fiseisky [de]: "Die Geschichte der Orgel und der Orgelmusik in Estland". In Acta Organologica [de], 29, 2006, 11–32.
• Alexander Fiselsky: "Die Geschichte der Orgel in Lettland". In Acta Organologica, 28, 2004. pp. 11–36. Summary Archived 2019-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Elita Grosmane (2003). Lars Olof Larsson (ed.). "Die Tätigkeit des Orgelbauers Heinrich Andreas Contius in Deutschland und Lettland". Studien zur Kunstgeschichte im Baltikum. Homburger Gespräche 1999–2001 (in German) (18). Kiel: 43–63.
• Uwe Pape, ed. (2009). Lexikon norddeutscher Orgelbauer. Band 1: Thüringen und Umgebung (in German). Berlin: Pape Verlag. ISBN 978-3-921140-86-4.