Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost

Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost (born around 1680; died 12August1759 in Altenburg) was a leading Thuringian organ-builder. Johann Sebastian Bach held him in high regard. His organs in the city church of Waltershausen (1722–1730) and in the Altenburg Palace (1735–1739) are amongst the best-known Baroque organs of middle-Europe, and are largely preserved in their original state.

Life
Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost was son of the organ-builder Johann Tobias Gottfried Trost and his wife, Anna Dorothea, née Thüm (died 1703). The first work that can be assigned to him was carried out between 1697 and 1706 in conjunction with his father, from whom he learned his craft. On 3November704 he married Susanna Catharina Schweinefleisch (died 1749) in Tonna. By 1711 he was a master-builder in his own right.

In early 1718 Trost moved to the house of his brother-in-law in Mockern, and then again to Altenburg in 1722, after the death of his father. Following an argument with Johann Jacob Donati the elder over organ-building privileges, he was chosen on 23November1723 as organ-builder to the court. The argument with Donati broke out again in 1726/1727.

In 1733 Trost found himself in financial difficulties and took out loans with his son-in-law and two widows. His health began to deteriorate in 1754; in the summer of 1756 he suffered a stroke, and he died in 1759 after three months' serious illness.

Career
Five rebuilds and 21 new organs can be assigned to Trost. Amongst others, he built the organ of the evangelical church in Waltershausen, the largest baroque organ in Thuringia. Another of his important works is that in the chapel of the Altenburg palace, which was much admired by Franz Liszt. Bach's pupil Johann Ludwig Krebs was organist of this organ from 1756 to 1780. A later organist at Altenburg, Wilhelm Stade praised the organ in 1880 in his assessment: "Die Orgel der Schlosskirche gilt als eine der besten Orgeln Deutschlands, und dies nicht mit Unrecht, denn sie zeichnet sich durch Glanz, Kraft, besonders der Bässe, durch charakteristische, feinsinnige Intonation einzelner Stimmen aus; die Solidität der Arbeit ließ nicht zu wünschen übrig. The organ of the palace chapel is rated as one of the best in Germany, and this with good reason, because it is outstanding for its brilliance, its power, and especially for its bass notes, and through the characteristic sensitive intonation of its individual voices. The solidity of its workmanship leaves nothing to be desired."

While Gottfried Silbermann built fairly conventional organs following five basic standardised patterns, Trost was more experimental. He frequently tried new ideas, and favoured colour stops. His flute choirs were particularly strong, reaching up into the one-foot pitch range. On the other hand, he used mixtures only sparingly. Each division had only one mixture containing thirds, and he did not use the Scharf or Cymbale stops. He used reed pipes sparingly, mostly confined to the pedal, but he appreciated "toy" stops and effects. Trost divided his stops between Hauptwerk (Great), Brustwerk, and Pedal, sometimes with an Oberwerk. This was the only arrangement he ever used.

Trost was a poor businessman. He often missed deadlines and exceeded agreed costs, causing disagreement with his employers. It is known that he worked on the Waltershausen organ from 1722 to 1730 despite having agreed to complete the work in two and a half years. The city councillor Marci was driven to poetry about the "dissolute organ-builder Trost", whose name translates as "comfort" or "consolation":

Gottfried Silbermann was asked for an expert opinion of the Altenburg organ. Despite his appreciation of the organ, Silbermann made various suggestions for improvements, "concerning which H. Trost went to much effort, sparing himself no work, but which can have brought him little profit". After its completion in 1739 this organ rapidly became a magnet for organists and a popular concert instrument.

Organs on which Trost worked
The roman numerals indicate the number of manuals. An uppercase "P" indicates an independent pedal organ with its own sounding stops, while a lowercase "p" indicates a pull-down pedal linked to the keyboards, merely allowing the player to play manual keyboard notes with their feet. The Arabic numerals indicate the number of sounding registers (i.e. stop-knobs excluding accessories such as tremulants and couplers).