Oberwerk

What it means

The Oberwerk is a division of the organ, a separate department with its own windchest and manual, standing in the organ case above the main division (Hauptwerk). A division is a self-contained group of stops played from one keyboard. The Oberwerk is one of the secondary divisions of a larger organ, alongside the Rückpositiv, the Brustwerk and the pedal.

Musical use

In the baroque organ the Oberwerk often stands one storey above the Hauptwerk and is frequently furnished with bright, fine stops that make melody and ornaments clearly audible. The number of divisions determines how many tonal levels the organ can offer at once, so that the player can change between manuals or couple them.

The Oberwerk should be distinguished from the Hauptwerk, the central and often most powerful division of the organ, from the Rückpositiv, which stands behind the player, and from the swell division of the Romantic organ, which stands in a closable box and can change the volume.

Performance practice

As an organist you use the Oberwerk for a clearly distinct sound, for instance for a solo or an echo. Pay attention to the registration so that Oberwerk and Hauptwerk remain distinguishable in sound.