Johann Scheibe

Abstract

This book is about the life and work of Johann Scheibe (1680–1748), a colleague of J.S. Bach and one of Saxony's most prominent and interesting organ builders. Scheibe built and renovated organs, primarily in Leipzig, for some forty years. Six chapters are devoted to Scheibe's new organs, which ranged from small organs in village churches to the sumptuous, 54-stop organ in the St. Paul's Church at Leipzig University; the creation of these organs is discussed, as are the organs' characteristics and how they compare with organs built by contemporaries. One chapter discusses Scheibe's renovations of the organs in Leipzig's principal churches of St. Thomas's, St. Nicholas's, St. Paul's, and the New Church. Two chapters deal with Scheibe's biography and work in general and his daily work as an organ builder – tuning and repairing organs, submitting proposals – in particular. An introductory chapter describes Leipzig and its organs at the time when Bach and Scheibe first met in 1717 and the concluding chapter provides an assessment of their relationship. The book draws on recent research, most of it by the author, to answer three basic questions: What contribution did Scheibe make to early eighteenth-century organ building? What relationship did Scheibe have to J.S. Bach? What were the organs in Leipzig like during the twenty-seven years that Bach worked in the city?