post. Newly constructed by the master organ builder Johann Friedrich Wender, the organ was inaugurated by Bach in a Sunday recital for the feast of St John the Baptist. Bach was fortunate to be able to play on such a modern and fully operational instrument: it had well-tempered tuning, permitted diverse harmonic effects, and did not require constant repair. His period in Arnstadt ended in 1707, but already by then Bach had acquired an almost complete mastery of organ and keyboard technique, that would remain with him throughout his life. His organ works ranged from large-scale chorales to more diverse pieces, such as fugues, preludes, fantasias, toccatas, passacaglias, sonatas and concertos. He also drew inspiration from his contemporaries, as well as the Italian, German and French masterworks of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, such as the Fiori Musicali of Girolamo Frescobaldi. As point out, for the critical period between 1703 and 1707, Bach has ideal conditions "to strengthen and expand his virtuosity and, as a composer, build and develop his harmonic fantasy and tonal ideas". Sport The town hosts an annual high jump meet – Hochsprung mit Musik – which attracts some of the world's foremost high jumpers. Kajsa Bergqvist set a world record in Arnstadt's Sporthalle am Jahn-sportpark in 2006. Twin towns – sister cities Arnstadt is twinned with: Le Bouscat, France Dubí, Czech Republic Gurk, Austria Kassel, Germany Notable people Sons and daughters of the town Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703), composer Johann Michael Bach (1648–1694), composer August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof (1705–1759), naturalist Johann Christian Gottlieb Ernesti (1756–1802), classical scholar Johann Christian von Hellbach (1757–1828), lawyer and writer Ernst August Nicolai (1800–1875), naturalist Friedrich Filitz (1804–1876), composer and musicologist E. Marlitt (1825–1887), writer Bernhard Stade (1848–1906), theologian Katrin Schreiter (born 1969), athlete Kornelia Greßler (born 1970), swimmer Sandra Wallenhorst (born 1972), triathlete and duathlete Thomas Ziegler (born 1980), cyclist Theresa Senff (born 1982), cyclist Marcel Kittel (born 1988), cyclist Associated with the town Johann Friedrich Wender (1655–1729), organ builder, worked here Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), composer and musician, worked here Willibald Alexis (1798–1871), historical novelist, lived and died here Ludwig Bechstein (1801–1860), writer, studied here in 1818–1821 Gallery References External links Ilm-Kreis Schwarzburg-Sondershausen