), built in 1998, is the first domestic instrument of this class created in the territory of the former Union and the largest in Crimea. This organ has over 4600 pipes. The length of the largest pipe is about six meters, and the smallest is only a few millimeters. The pipes are divided into 69 groups (registers) and through a complex system of rods (tractures) are controlled from the organ console using four keyboards for the hands (manuals) and one keyboard for the feet (pedals). In addition to the above, to control the registers, there are over 230 buttons and levers on the remote control.

In the construction of the instrument, its mechanical parts and pipes, wood from local tree species was widely used: cedar (Lebanese, Himalayan, Atlas), cypress, pine, oak, beech, pistachio, sequoia, elm, etc. and some tropical ones, as well as non-ferrous metals tin, lead, copper and brass.

Along with traditional organ mechanics (levers on needle axes), this instrument contains a 700-channel electronic control unit with dial-up electronic memory (up to 2000 memories) and an optocoupler (non-contact) control system, which allow expanding the technical and artistic capabilities of the organ.

The hall is decorated in blue and white colors, the windows are decorated with stained glass, and spectators sit on wooden benches.

The Livadia organ and hall are included not only in the Ukrainian Book of Records as a cultural object of national importance, but also in the World Catalog of Organs, which is published in Holland.

Story

The building in which the Livadia Organ Hall is located was built simultaneously with the royal Livadia Palace as a power station, which subsequently supplied electricity to the whole of Livadia. The author of the project was the first court architect Gushchin Gleb Petrovich, and the structure itself is one of the first in Russia created by the sliding formwork method, i.e. made of monolithic reinforced concrete. In 1927, the power plant equipment was dismantled, and a canteen and a club were located in the vacated premises. During the Yalta Conference in 1945, the functions of the power plant were temporarily restored. Subsequently, a camp for prisoners of war (1945–1947), warehouses, workshops, etc. were located here. The building fell into disrepair and by the end of the 80s. was in a dilapidated state.

During the reconstruction, a large amount of work was done to restore the destroyed parts of the building, and new decorative elements were added that transformed its appearance. In addition, thousands of tons of soil were removed from around the building, retaining walls were built, and metal fencing was made. To better accommodate the organ, an additional room was specially built. The newly created interior included modeling consisting of tens of thousands of elements, hundreds of square meters of stained glass windows, metal fences, pilasters, capitals, etc. As a result of all the work carried out, the technical building turned into a brilliant architectural ensemble

Author and developer of the project for the construction of the organ and reconstruction of the building Vladimir Anatolyevich Khromchenko - director and artistic director Center for Organ Music "Livadia", organist and organ builder, graduate of the Tallinn Conservatory, student of the famous Estonian organist and composer Hugo Lepnuom. In Yalta, in addition to the Livadia organ, there are two more instruments of the same author: in a music school and in an Armenian church.

Currently, the Livadia Center for Organ Music is the only enterprise in the CIS that creates such instruments and has a closed production cycle. In the concert hall of the Center, traditional international organ music festivals LIVADIA-FEST are annually held, in which the best musicians from many countries of the world participate, and master classes are organized for young Ukrainian and foreign organists. In addition to organ music, you can hear performances by choral and instrumental ensembles and numerous soloists.

Notes from the press

The famous Dutch organist Ville Chrezel, who visited Yalta in 2001, examined the organ hall and tested the instrument, and noted the magnificent sound of the Livadia organ. V. Khrezel said that among the organ halls in Europe (and he played in almost all) the Crimean center is one of the best.

How to get there?

Travel from the “Spartak Cinema” stop by route No. 100 to the final stop “Livadia”, by bus or minibus No. 35 to the “Taxopark” stop.

Address: Yalta, town. Livadia, st. Baturina, 4.
Tel.: (+7 3654) 31-25-15, 31-56-78.

With the onset of spring, we dedicated one of the first school excursions to the South Bank to the blooming Livadia Park and the organ hall. On our part, this was a kind of challenge to teenagers who flaunted their ignorance. Not a botanical garden, not a zoo, not a cable car, but a concert of organ music! Will they survive?
The schoolchildren walked off, grimacing and mocking, and suddenly they calmed down. The combination of severity and festive warmth of colors literally hypnotized the children even before the concert began. They took their seats in the hall quietly, not even whispering to each other.
No epithet, the most sublime and flowery, will be an exaggeration in relation to the organ. Humanity knows neither the name of the inventor nor the exact date of the appearance of this divine musical instrument on earth. Its history, very roughly, can be traced back to the flute that the ancient Greeks depicted in the hands of the forest deity Pan. In the “book of books” of the Bible, the Old Testament says: “Praise the Lord with trumpets.” What was meant, of course, was not solitary shepherd’s pipes, but different-sized pipes collected together, the voice of which – clear, ringing, alarming and powerful – would gather fellow believers, generate a high and reverent mood in the soul, and direct thoughts and gazes to Heaven.
Russian music critic V. Stasov wrote about the organ: “It alone has those amazing sounds, those thunders, that majestic voice, as if speaking from eternity, the expression of which is impossible for any other instrument, no orchestra.” Church (or, as they now say, sacred music) deafens and confuses. But wasn’t it designed to listen and submit to the power of the Most High? It was then that the twentieth century layered on the previous ones, allowing earthlings to enter into conversation with someone who should only be revered in awe. You listen - and it begins to seem that the melodies stop time, delay glimpses of childhood and the best moments of youth, resurrect times of anxiety and enchantment, and gently heal black holes of loss. Filling the emptiness of the hall, the creation breaks the ascetic framework and spills into the living, natural, sinful interhuman space to capture us and lead us with its labyrinths.
The ancient Greeks and Romans had something like an organ. An image of the instrument was found on a coin or token from the time of Nero. The art of building organs came from Byzantium and Italy, then penetrated to France, and later to Germany. Since the 7th century, the organ has become an invariable attribute of the temple in Catholic worship. But not only cantatas and oratorios, not only Bach’s fugues, which are difficult and difficult for an amateur to understand, can be performed on this divine instrument, but also, for example, K. Gluck’s opera “Orpheus and Eurydice” - gentle, romantic melodies. Even the “Voice of Trumpets” stylized as folk music can be heard in the Livadia Organ Hall!
The guide to this infinity and its discoverer for Simferopol schoolchildren was not a clergyman, but a modern musician - Vladimir Anatolyevich Khromchenko. He graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory and moved to Yalta, dreaming of playing the instrument to which he dedicated his life. But there was no organ in the city! They offered a piano...What could a fan of incomparable music do? Relearn, reconcile, calm down? Or plan the impossible?
The musician orders literature from abroad with drawings and calculations, calculates and designs the instrument he has dreamed of. To create an organ, you need to be not only a top-class musician, but also a mathematician, physicist, engineer, a jack of all trades and, of course, a diplomat. To convince the authorities of the reality of their plan and the benefits of the final result.
Vladimir Anatolyevich built the first two instruments at the Yalta Music School and in the Armenian Church, and he worked alone. Happened. Believe it!
Here, in the former Livadia Club, which previously served as a power plant for the royal palace, a restless craftsman created a new instrument, the largest in Ukraine. He no longer worked alone, he headed an entire production. The modern world has never known such a precedent! Even in the Baltic states, there are only assembly and restoration workshops for working with finished parts that are produced in Western companies. And organs are collected mainly from metal, which experts can always determine by ear. Wooden pipes sound incomparably richer. The Livadia organ has 4,600 pipes, about a third of which are wooden. They are made from local wood species - cypress, cedar, sequoia, pistachio. Yes, these trumpets “glorify the Lord”, according to the indisputable estimates of experts, are better and more sonorous than branded ones...
The children listened to the concert with quiet delight, as if they had drunk nectar and penetrated into the mysteries that they had not suspected before this excursion. And the thunder of heaven, and the quiet spring drops - everything sounded for them this Sunday, everything will be deposited in their memory like a golden layer.

Dmitry Tarasenko, “Southern Capital”.

Reading time: 3 minutes

View of the building of the Organ Music Center in Livadia

One of the brightest attractions of Yalta is the Organ Music Center in Livadia. The history of its creation goes far into the past. It all started with the fact that 1910–1911. when the famous one was being built, it was decided to build a power plant. Which would subsequently provide the entire Livadia with electricity. Such a significant project was given to the court architect G.P. Gushchin.

The construction was carried out using the sliding formwork method, in other words, the building was built from monolithic reinforced concrete. At that time, this type of construction was rare, one might say outlandish.

In 1927, a decision was made to close down the power plant. All equipment was moved to another location. Lots of sq.m. remained empty until a sanatorium club-dining room opened on their territory.

But during the event, in 1945, it was decided to temporarily resume the operation of the power plant. After its completion, everything was removed again and the building was empty for some time. Then a camp was set up here where German prisoners of war were brought. Then a warehouse, various workshops, etc. were opened in the building. Over the years, the walls have seen a lot; they have been silent witnesses to various events. Over the years, the building deteriorated, no one even carried out cosmetic repairs, and therefore by 1980 it had reached a dilapidated state.

To prevent the complex from collapsing completely, a decision was made to reconstruct it. Such a responsible mission was entrusted to V.A. Khromchenko, artistic director and director of the Livadia Center for Organ Music. In addition, it was he who was the author of the famous organ on the territory of Ukraine.

During reconstruction, almost the entire building was rebuilt. The destroyed part of the building was completely restored. Retaining walls and metal fences were built around the building. A separate room for the organ was built, where the new interior of the building was made in the form of moldings, using numerous elements. It truly looked great. Visiting it you can see various stained glass windows, capitals, pilasters. After reconstruction, an ordinary building intended for technical purposes acquired a truly magnificent appearance that can surprise any visitor.

Concerts and festivals are often held in the concert hall. Everyone can take part in them and demonstrate their abilities. The organizers of the event invite famous guests, the best musicians from different countries of the world.
The creator of such an amazing instrument was Vladimir Khromchenko. He graduated from the Tallinn Academy of Music. Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming an organist, but his dream might not come true due to the lack of an instrument. Then an amazing idea came to his mind: to invent an organ himself. This was not an easy matter; to implement the plan, it was necessary to have deep knowledge of physics and mathematics.

To begin with, he ordered a large amount of various literature, drawings, diagrams from abroad, and began to select the necessary materials. Every day Vladimir Anatolyevich worked on his project to make his dream come true. These long months of work predetermined his future life. When the small organ was ready, it was transferred to the music school. After this, another one was created; it is currently located in the Armenian temple.

In 1998, the master’s dream came true, and the largest organ in Ukraine was created. The organ consists of more than 4,600 pipes. Many people are surprised when they see a musical instrument for the first time, because the size of the largest of the pipes is 6 meters, and the smallest does not exceed a few millimeters. They, in turn, are divided into 69 registers, which can be controlled from the organ console using 4 hand keys and 1 foot key. But that’s not all, there are also about 230 levers and various buttons on the remote control. This unique musical instrument was created by V.A. Khromchenko.

The mechanical components of the instrument were made using the following tree species: Cedar, Pine, Oak, Cypress, Sequoia, Beech, Pistachio.

Of the non-ferrous metals, brass, copper, tin, and lead were used in the work. In addition to traditional organ mechanics, the instrument contains 700-channel electronic control units. Thanks to this, the technical and artistic capabilities of the organ have increased significantly.

According to authoritative people and music connoisseurs, the Livadia organ sounds special. After all, a third of the pipes out of the total number of 4600 pieces. was made of the highest types of wood, apparently this gives the sound of the organ a special, inimitable timbre.

Address: this is a unique building located in the city of Yalta. Livadia st. Baturina 4. You can get there by shuttle buses No. 11,100

Address: Livadia village, Baturina street, building 4.
Telephone of the Organ Hall in Livadia +7 365-4 31-25-15, +7 365-4 31-56-78

Geographical coordinates of the Livadia Organ Hall, on the map of Crimea GPS N 44.476874, E 34.142864.

The poster of the Livadia Organ Hall is published once a week in printed form only at the box office. The repertoire of the organ hall includes works by classics of organ music: Bach, Mozart, Lemmens, Liszt, Buxtehude, Yanchenko and other famous composers.
All performances start at 16-00 every day, seven days a week.
The Livadia Organ Hall is perhaps one of the most famous in the post-Soviet space and is one of the 10 largest organ halls in Russia.

The uniqueness of the Livadia Hall lies in almost everything, from the organ itself to the building in which it is located.
The building in which the organ is located was built in 1911 as a power plant to provide electricity. In 1927, the equipment was completely removed, some remained in Yalta, and some were transported to Simferopol. The building began to be used as a public canteen. In the evenings it was often used as a club. In 1945, 3 months before the start of the Yalta Conference, it was again equipped as a power plant; closer to October of the same year, all the equipment was removed again and the building was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp, which partially restored the Crimean Peninsula. Already in 1946, the task was transferred to industrial warehouses. At the end of the 80s, the building fell into disrepair and was taken out of service, and later simply became abandoned.

Reconstruction of the building began in 1996. Changed the purpose several times. In 1997, it was decided to build an organ hall and the building began to take on modern forms. The foundation was strengthened, most of the walls had to be demolished and rebuilt, the supporting structures were strengthened and stucco was added to the facade. The building is surrounded by a wrought iron fence and has 18th-century style lanterns.
During construction, the question arose of how to purchase an organ; there were no funds for the purchase. One of the creators of the project for the organ hall building was V. A. Khromchenko, a graduate of the Tallinn Conservatory in organ class, and he proposed a bold solution: to assemble the organ himself. This did not happen in the practice of the USSR, and especially in the post-Soviet Crimea. A lot of materials on the construction of the organ were collected, many days were spent in consultations with foreign experts, and then construction began. Almost all materials for the organ were Crimean.

Crimean tree species were used to make organ pipes: oak, beech, cedar, pine and cypress. Also, some pipes were made of non-ferrous metals: brass, copper, tin and lead. The organ turned out to be almost classic: four keyboards for the hands and one for the feet. The organ consists of 4,600 pipes of different diameters and lengths and many mechanical traction systems, including a control panel located on the main panel of the organ. One of the highlights of the organ was the 700-channel electronic control unit, which significantly expanded the sound capabilities of the Livadia organ.
And in the fall of 1998, the Livadia Organ Hall opened to visitors and guests of Crimea. Organ music has been gaining more and more popularity in recent decades; many young people and older people are becoming familiar with the classics, because it is not for nothing that the organ is the “King” of musical instruments. It is for him that the most musical works in the world have been written. Livadia Organ Hall is one of the stunning