# Organ [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CHRISTIAN, Johann Josef]() - Date: 1751-1800 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The stalls and woodwork of the organ in the "Swabian Escorial" were done by Josef Christian, sculptor, Martin Hormann, cabinetmaker and Karl Josef Riepp, organ-maker, who together created one of the most beautiful musical instruments of all time. The relationship of masses and supports on the triple-storied organ, beneath the frescoed vault, the exuberance of forms in the cabinetwork and stuccoes, the variety in the sculptural vocabulary for the atlantes and the gilded reliefs - in themselves suggesting a harmony appropriate to 18th-century musical forms - combine in the ideal, total masterpiece that was to transmit the monks' prayers to the Heavens. It is the only 18th-century organ that still preserves entire its original form. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 15 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/18\_cent/handel\_organ.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>George Frideric Handel: Concert for Organ in F major op. 4 No. 4</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [Angel]() - [Bust of the Prophet Ezekiel]() - [Interior with decoration]() - [St Benedict Chanting Psalms \(detail of the organ\)]() - [The Prophet Ezekiel]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()