"Ludwig Mooser in Salzburg" can be read on a small, square,copper-framed plate on the console. Mooser built nearly 180 organsaltogether, including the one in Esztergom which was one of hisgreatest instruments, in the Mooser family there were famous organbuilders over three generations: Joseph Anton Mooser (1731 - 1792) andhis elder son, Joseph Aloys (1770 - 1839) had the chance to work forJohann Andreas Silbermann, too. The younger son was Peter Anton (1773 - 1823), father of Ludwig (1807 - 1881). Ludwig Mooser established aworkshop in Salzburg, where the metal pipes were usually made andcertain kinds of woodwork were completed. In accordance with themaster's method, this was followed by long work on the spot. Havingsettled in Hungary, Ludwig was soon elected as an honorary freeman ofthe town of Eger, on 2 December, 1863. His workshop was in the buildingof the 'Líceum', and he began to write his name in a Hungarian way,"Mooser Layos". Mooser arrived in Esztergom on 19 September 1854,accompanied by eight assistants. The finished parts of the organarrived from Salzburg the following day, by ship. The building of theorgan having 49 stops and 3530 pipes on three manuals was finished by31 August 1856, for the dedication of the Cathedral. At thededicational ceremony of both the church and the organ, in the presenceof Emperor Franz Joseph along with the Viennese Court Franz Liszt's"Messe Solennelle" [Graner Messe], commissioned by Archbishop Scitovskywas to be heard. The composition, written for symphonic orchestra choirand soloists was conducted by Liszt himself with the organ part playedby Alexander Winterberger from Weimar.The Esztergom Organ had been completed very quickly, as a result ofwhich its structure did not prove to be a lasting one. On 2 March 1857,Régens Chori Károly Seyler drew up a list of the faults.Mooser's instrument was obviously not able to fulfil the expectations.The tracker action was extremely awkward and the wind-chests were soshort of air that the instrument was "choking". The third manual was onthe cone chest and took place in the swell box. Except for the frontaltin pipes, which were taken away in World War I for war supplies andwere later, in the twenties, replaced with zinc pipes by JosephAngster, the organ remained in its original state until the end ofWorld War II. As a result of war events parts of the organ case and thetracker action were damaged. Even today, the extent of further damageis unclear. What is certain, is that in 1945, at the inauguration ofArchbishop Mindszenty, the organ was not working. Irreparabledestruction happened to the organ in 1947. Although Mooser's creationwas not damaged irreparably during the war, a small, two-manual organwith pneumatic action on cone chests built by Ottó Rieger and dedicatedon 11 November 1947 was placed in the left wing of the Mooser case. Howcould this happen? The answer is to be searched in the history ofHungarian organ-building in the 20th century. By that time nomechanical organs had been built, the method being regarded as out ofdate, therefore the rejection of the given system was obvious and theoriginal Mooser-instrument was considered worthless. This might be thereason why the original console and the tracker action were totallydestroyed during the 1947 reconstruction. The Mooser pipes were usedpartly in the pneumatic organ, either retuned, cut down or even in aremélted state, some remained in their original place, while aconsiderable number just completely disappeared and for lack ofinventory of the loss in the war, their later fate is not certainlyknown.The still current reconstruction of the organ dates back to themid-1970's, when canon Lőrinc Bart] dr, the Regens Chori of theCathedral and organist István Baróti (organist and choir master of theCathedral from 1975) launched to rebuild the instrument. The first stepof the work was to save the remained parts of the organ from theirthree-decade-long ruined state and to restore its original sounds. IntheHungary of the 1970's, the practice of restoring instruments wasunknown, therefore, this work, followed by the sceptical attention ofthe professionals, was completed by István Baróti and his students, allof them unsparing in time and efforts. The characteristically archaicand solemn sound of the Mooser pipe-rows revived was to be the startingpoint of Baróti's plan which was worthy of the Cathedral and adaptedextremely well to its dimensions and acoustics. Hence the next phasewas to build a new instrument with the generous help of prominentorgan-builders Gyula Vagi and János Farkas in 1978/79. The necessaryfunds were provided due to Cardinal Archbishop László Lékai's relationswith Rome and Germany, so it became possible to purchase certain partsand pipe-rows. At the end of 1980 the first seven restored Mooserstops, and at the same time the Rieger organ stopped being usedforever. However, the initial vigour started to diminish from 1983. Theswell organ, for lack of a couple of stops, was finished by autumn 1986and further progress was even slower: in 1988/ 89 three, in 1994 twostops, in 1996 twelve lower pipes of the Majorbass 32' stop managed tobe built in. By the time of publishing the present CD (in 1999), of the147 stops planned on five manuals only 39 had been completed, whilenumerous pipe-rows purchased at the time of Cardinal Lékai are still tobe built in. Growing inflation and other unfavourable circumstancesafter the change of the regime also retarded the building.Although István Baróti has devoted the major part of his life to thiscause for more than the past two decades, the completion of thebuilding is still a dream. If the artistic intentions and the chancesof realization should coincide again, then it would be possible toachieve the purpose in a reasonable time, and the new instrumentincluding the Mooser stops would be a worthy part of the beautifulensemble of the Bakócz-chapel and the surrounding Cathedral.

English Translation: Ágnes Izvekov

CD inlay: MZA-041 (András Mező)