The Church of St. Stefanus () is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, Belgium, part of an Augustinian monastery. It is dedicated to Saint

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

. The present building dates from 1841. The former monastery of 1606 was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1838. The Augustinians temporarily used the church of the

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

. The church was rebuilt on a design by Jean Baptiste De Baets, using items brought over from the Carmelite church, including a 17th-century Baroque

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

, the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

for the monks, and eight confession stalls. The church was also equipped with statues of saints, including one of St. Stephen created by Brother Prosper Venneman, who also designed the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. The church was consecrated on 26 December 1841, the patron saint's feast day. The tower was completed in 1849. Several altars are works by

Gaspar de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court painter ...

. The main

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was built by in 1873. A second instrument is a

Flentrop Flentrop is a Dutch company based in Zaandam that builds and restores Organ (music), organs. History The company originated in 1903 when Hendrik Wicher Flentrop (1866-1950) from Koog aan de Zaan, originally a house painter by trade, and organist ...

-organ, built in 1962, originally for a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

. When that church was put to other use, the organ was sold to the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to 197 ...

in Brussels, where it was played by

Pierre Cochereau Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue. Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsibl ...

. It was then moved to Ghent. The church and the monastery were listed as historic monuments in 1958; the church was listed as an item of architectural heritage in 2009. The church is a concert venue for mostly sacred music focused on the organs. The program included in 2017 an international organ festival on the theme ''Humor'', with

Winfried Bönig Winfried Bönig (born 1959 in Bamberg) is a German organist. Bönig studied organ and church music at the ''Musikhochschule München'' with ''Franz Lehrndorfer'' from 1978 to 1984. He passed his A exam in 1982 with distinction. Afterwards he st ...

, the cathedral organist of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, playing works by Bach,

Franz Lehrndorfer Franz Lehrndorfer (10 August 1928 – 10 January 2013) was a German organist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Franz Lehrndorfer was born in Salzburg and spent his youth in Kempten. He received his first music lessons from his father, a cho ...

and

Naji Hakim Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim (Arabic: ''ناجي صبحي حكيم'' 'Naji Sobhi Hakim'' born 31 October 1955) is a Franco-Lebanese organist, composer, and improviser. He studied the organ under Jean Langlais at the Conservatoire de Paris, ...

, among others. A concert programmed for the "Maarten Luther-jaar", features Max Reger's '' Der 100. Psalm'' in the organ version by François Callebout, performed by the international

Reger-Chor The Reger-Chor is a German-Belgian choir. It was founded in Wiesbaden in 1985 and has been conducted by Gabriel Dessauer in Wiesbaden. Since 2001 it has grown to Regerchor-International in a collaboration with the organist Ignace Michiels of the ...

, conducted by

Gabriel Dessauer Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German Cantor (church), cantor, concert organist, and academic teacher. After studies with Diethard Hellmann and Franz Lehrndorfer, he was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden ...

, with

Ignace Michiels Ignace Michiels (born 7 December 1963) is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist. Career Michiels studied the organ, the piano and the harpsichord at the music academy of Bruges ...

, cathedral organist of

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

References

External links

Gids voor Vlaanderen / 2007

kerkeninvlaanderen.be

osabel.be
De Sint-Stefanuskerk en haar orgels
deprincipaal.be

orgelsite.nl {{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Ghent Roman Catholic churches completed in 1841 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Belgium