History

The organ in the Church of Saint Martin in Cuijk.

1625-1650
Period in which the organ must have been built, for a church in Liège – in all likelihood that of Benedictine Abbey of Saint Laurent. Though documentary evidence is lacking, the inscriptions and building characteristics of the pipe work clearly points to Andries Severijn (c1600 Maastricht – 1673 Liège), the most important maker of the period in the Liège area. It must have been originally conceived as a one-manual instrument without pedal. The Positief, Echo and Pedaal were added at a somewhat later stage to the instrument but still by Severijn himself.

1803
The organ, which became available after the Liège abbeys were closed in 1796, was bought by the Parish of Saint Martin of Cuijk. It was installed there by the Nijmegen organ builder Peter Torley and dedicated on May 23, 1804.

1827
The Smits brothers (Reek) worked on the organ for the first time. It remained in the care of this dynasty from 1827 to 1860 and again from 1906 to 1926, during which various alterations were carried out.

1861
L. Smits from Cuijk (not related to the Smits from Reek) removed the case of the Positief and placed its chest and pipework in the lower part of the main case, to create more space for the choir.

1913 
The organ was re-erected in the newly-built Saint Martin’s Church by the Smits brothers (Reek); it was then placed against the northern wall of the west-end balcony, again to ensure sufficient place for the choir. During this work the construction and disposition of the instrument was again altered, including elimination of the Pedal and Echo divisions.

1927
The Vermeulen brothers (Weert) added a new pneumatic pedal department and supplied three new stops.

1955
First restauration, carried out by the builder L. Verschueren (Heythuijsen), in which the organ was placed in the middle of the west-end balcony. The disposition was altered in a more baroque sense according to the standards and knowledge of the day.

1992
A second, much more comprehensive restoration and reconstruction of the instrument to its original state was finished by Verschueren. The preserved pipework was restored and missing pipes and stops were reconstructed. The Echo and Pedaal divisions were newly built and the case of the Positief was reconstructed, and a new wind system with three wedge bellows which can also be operated by hand was installed.