Estonian-built 1844 organ in Alaska among oldest in America
Built in Estonia in 1844 and shipped to Alaska, an organ by Tartu craftsman Ernst Carl Kessler is among the oldest in the U.S. Kessler's largest still sounds in Otepää Church.
Estonian organ professor Andres Uibo told ETV's "Prillitoos" that master craftsman Ernst Carl Kessler constructed around 120 organs during his lifetime.
One of those instruments, sent across the world to Sitka — then the capital of Russian Alaska — now holds a special place in American musical history.
Nearly destroyed at one point in a fire, Sitka Lutheran Church's one-manual five-rank Kessler pipe organ underwent careful restoration in the 1990s, and continues to attract the attention of composers and organists alike.
A concert Thursday will premiere "Fantasy on FINLANDIA," Andrew Johnson's winning entry to the Alaska pipe organ composition competition, which required that entries must incorporate the melody from Jean Sibelius' "Finlandia" in a nod to Sitka Lutheran's Finnish heritage.
Many of Kessler's works were modest in size, though he also built several large instruments. His biggest organ once stood in the University of Tartu Church but hasn't survived.
The largest remaining example of his work today is found in Otepää Church — where the blue, black and white flag that later became the Estonian flag was first consecrated as the flag of the Estonian Students' Society (EÜS) in 1884.
"The organ, like a person, is a breathing instrument — it cannot function without air," Uibo said.
From Dorpat to Sitka
Ernst Carl Kessler was born at Arula Manor in 1808. He founded his first workshop in Tartu — known then by its German name, Dorpat — as a young man. According to Uibo, he was an exceptional student with a gift for mathematics, and went on to refine his craft with prominent organ builders in Western Europe.
"You can't build an organ purely on intuition," he explained. "It requires a great deal of mathematical, physical, artistic and engineering skill."
He added that Kessler's organ facades remain among the most beautiful ever created by an Estonian craftsman.
One of Kessler's surviving instruments also stands in Nõmme Peace Church. For years, it was stored in a grain dryer — a surprisingly good place for preservation. Only the outer case, or facade, is original; the rest was rebuilt by modern organ master Hardo Kriisa.
Several other Kessler-built organs have survived in their original form, including one in Karksi Church that for a long time wasn't recognized as his work.
Each organ, Uibo said, has its own unique voice, the secret of which remains known only to its maker. He added that it's "deeply humbling" to realize one of the Estonian craftsman's organs stands as far away as on Alaskan soil.
When Alaska was transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States in 1867, Sitka's Kessler organ became part of American history as one of the oldest in the country.
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Editor: Annika Remmel, Aili Vahtla
