Christian Müller (spelled also Christiaan;

Sankt Andreasberg Sankt Andreasberg is a former town in the Goslar (district), district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it is part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the Harz, approximately 7 km west of Braunlage proper, and 2 ...

, 4 February 1690 - Amsterdam, 8 March 1763) was a Dutch organ builder, born in the Lower Saxony part of Germany. He is renowned for building the great organ in the Grote Kerk, Haarlem, which at the time was deemed as the largest organ in the world; its reputation has been amplified by the fact that several composers have performed on it over the centuries, including Georg Friedrich Handel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Around 1720 Christian Müller moved to Amsterdam, where he became an apprentice in the workshop of organ builder Cornelis Hoornbeeck. Following the master's death in 1722 Müller took over the establishment, where his nephew Johann Caspar Müller (1697–1746) was employed until 1729. The latter is mostly noted for rebuilding the Christian Vater organ in the Oude Kerk of Amsterdam in 1738. Apart from the famous 60-stop in Haarlem (1735–38), Müller is noted for a number of instruments found in many Dutch towns. Standing out among them are: the 1727

Grote of Jacobijnerkerk Grote of Jacobijnerkerk () is a Protestant church in the city of Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The square surrounding the church is the Jacobijnerkerkhof. History The church was built in the 13th century. The building was originally part of the Domini ...

organ in Leeuwarden (three manuals, 37 stops); the 1734 Oude Waalse kerk organ in Amsterdam; the 1737 Lutheran church organ in Zaandam; the 1756 organ in Beverwijk; and the 1762 Koepelkerk organ in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

. A number of smaller instruments, used both in churches as well as domestic households, have been attributed to Christian Müller, the majority of which survive to this day. After the death of Christian Müller in 1763 the workshop was taken on by his apprentice

Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz (1 January 1709 – 13 December 1770) was a Dutch organ builder. Life Bätz was born in Frankenroda (Thuringia). He learned the organ-building profession in Gotha under the auspices of Christoph Thielemann. He c ...

(1709–70) along with the master's son Pieter (1738 – c.1789); aside from organs the workshop also produced harpsichords.

References

* George Ashdown Audsley ''The Art of Organ-Building'', New York 1965 * Anthony Bains ''Organ'' in The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments, Oxford 1992 * Adri de Groot ''Christian Müller'' in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, London 1995

External links

The St. Bavo organ in Haarlem

The Grote Kerk organ in Beverwijk
{{Commonscat, Christian Müller (orgelbouwer) Flemish pipe organ builders