Organ in Strahov Monastery
There are two organs in the monastery basilica.
The choir organ, with which the restoration of both Strahov organs began, has a different function from the main church organ. They are intended primarily to provide musical accompaniment and support the singing of the religious community gathered in the chancel of the church in whose choir the instrument is built. This is also where it is best heard. Because of its location and limited size, its sound is more subtle and fainter than that of a large organ when heard from the nave. The Strahov choir organ has historically always been one of the great choir instruments. With two manuals and 24 registers, the restored instrument will provide the organist and listener with an unusually rich palette of individual register timbres and their varied combinations for both liturgical accompaniment and concert use.
The Great Organ has long gained fame in this country, especially thanks to the Premonstratensian Jan Lohelius Öhlschlägel. In addition to his musical and compositional activities, he was also a regensor of the Strahov choir and an enthusiastic organist. Not surprisingly, the Strahov organ was appreciated by many important musicians, the most famous being Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Their restoration will come after the completion of the smaller choir organ.
Sacred music has always been an integral part of the celebration of the liturgy for Premonstratensians, and organ music or accompaniment is one of the means Premonstratensians use to praise God. The cases of both Strahov instruments are richly decorated with depictions of angels, often holding musical instruments. We may be reminded of the many biblical invocations, especially in the verses of the Psalms, that encourage us to praise God. For example, the first verse of Psalm 138 reads:
"I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will play before the angels."
Scripture testifies to angelic praise in many places. We suspect it is an enthusiastic, happy, inventive, and ever-new return of God's love. At Mass, even humans sing hymns that are put into the mouths of angels in the Bible: the Gloria, which the angels sang at Jesus' birth, and the Sanctus, which Isaiah says the holy seraphs proclaim before the throne of God.
The Strahov Premonstratensians are called to praise the Lord in the presence of the angels, to praise Him with all their hearts. And they are aware that no music or sound of any musical instrument, no matter how uplifting, can praise God enough. The final verse of Psalm 150, at the very end of the Psalter, clearly states that the main thing to join musical instruments is "everything that breathes," everything that lives.
One of the patrons of the Order, St. Augustine, sees in the musical instruments the saints who praise God: "You, saints, are the trumpet, the dulcimer, the lute, the timpani, the choir, the strings, the organ, and also the exultant spinet, which make beautiful sounds, for they play in delightful harmony."