What's a Lieblich Gedackt?

When I was working as a volunteer in England, I used to climb up the organ loft at the local church and try to get sounds out of it. It was just so fascinating being in the shadow and the stuff up there, all alone and quiet.

One of the stops drew my attention, as it was called lieblich gedackt. First the name: lieblich something. What dit it have to do with love, or being lovely? So I pulled it often. It had a very soft sound anyway, and quite independent at the same time.

And what the hell was a Gedackt? As I discovered, Gedackt is the name of a family of stops in pipe organ building. The name is a German word, meaning "capped" or "covered".

The gedackt produces a moderately soft, bland, flute-like tone, invaluable for basic ensemble sound in the pipe organ.The gedackt's strong fundamental tone is never lost, but is absorbed into combination, making a new "whole", rather than standing alone as a distinct sound in combination with other stops.

Yet, used as a solo voice, the gedackt has a contemplative and relaxing sound in its lower registers, and a singing and plaintive tone in the treble notes.

Large organs will sometimes have a gedackt especially voiced for solo work, frequently labeled as a "Lieblich" ("lovely") gedackt.

And this has everything to see with what I want to do with this blog: especially voiced for solo work, a strong fundamental tone that is never lost, making a new whole, contemplative and relaxing, and also singing.

The question has been for years if and when I would publish things I have on my mind and keep in booklets... Time has come to jump.

Thanks to Iza and to Jim for putting the pressure, and to Laurence to confirm.