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GENERAL REMARKS ON ORGAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 268 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GENERAL REMARKS ON See also:ORGAN TREATMENT The organ probably presents more difficulties then any other See also:instrument in the way of a See also:sound elementary mastery. Aperson of See also:ordinary capacity may See also:work at it for years before being able to See also:play passages of moderate difficulty with confidence and correctness. The See also:special difficulty appears to be chiefly See also:mental, and arises from the number of things that have to be thought of simultaneously. It does not See also:lie in the See also:execution —at least not chiefly; for to play a hymn-tune correctly, the See also:bass being taken with the pedals, the See also:tenor with the See also:left See also:hand, and the two upper parts with the right, is a See also:matter in which there is no execution required; but it is of See also:great difficulty to an inexperienced player. Other distributions of parts—such as bass with pedals, See also:treble with right hand on a See also:solo stop (e.g. See also:clarinet), two inner parts with a soft open See also:diapason, or some-thing of the kind—are of much greater difficulty in the first instance. Another See also:distribution is bass with pedals, See also:melody with See also:reed or solo See also:combination in the tenor with left hand (an See also:octave below its true See also:pitch), inner parts with right hand on a soft open diapason, or something that balances. This is of far greater difficulty, as it requires rearrangement of parts to avoid those faults of See also:inversion the avoidance of which is known as See also:double See also:counterpoint. All this can be practised with See also:common hymn-tunes; but the performer who can do these things with ease is in some respects an advanced player. There is a natural See also:gift, which may be called the polyphonic See also:ear-See also:brain. It is possessed by (roughly) about one in fifty of musical students, by students of the organ in much the largest proportion, and probably by a much smaller proportion of the unsifted See also:population. For the polyphonic ear-brain these difficulties have no existence, or take little trouble to surmount. It consists of the See also:power of See also:hearing the notes of a combination simultaneously, each being heard as an ordinary See also:person hears a single See also:note.

When a See also:

composition is played or sung in parts, each See also:part is heard as a See also:separate tune; and the effect is realized in a manner quite different from the single melody with See also:accompaniment, which is all that an ordinary person usually hears. This is in many but not all cases associated with the rare power of remembering permanently the actual pitch of notes heard. The observations made in the 9th edition of this See also:Encyclopaedia on " See also:Balance of See also:tone " do not now See also:call for the stress there laid on them, as there is an improvement in this respect. But it is still desirable to insist on the importance of balance in the performance of organ trios such as the organ sonatas of See also:Bach. In these compositions there are generally three notes See also:sounding, which may be regarded as belonging to three different voices, of nearly equal strength but different mean pitch, and, if possible, different quality; of these one is appropriated by each hand and one by the pedal. They are written in three lines, and are intended to be played on two manuals and the pedal. The fugues of Bach are the classical organ See also:music See also:par excellence. As to these nothing has come down to us as to the composer's intentions, except that he generally played the fugues on the full organ with doubles. It does not seem clear that this was the See also:case with. the preludes; and, any way, the See also:modern organ, with its facilities for managing the stops, appears to countenance a different treatment. The effect of doubles when a subject or tune is given out in solo on a See also:manual is very See also:bad. The doubles may be See also:drawn with See also:advantage when the parts are moving in massive chords. The usual practice is perhaps to employ various manual effects of a See also:light See also:character until the pedal enters, and then to produce full organ in its various modifications, but always to aim at variety of tone.

If a prelude begins with heavy chords and pedal, then produce full organ at once. If it then passes to lighter matter, reduce to some extent. Some begin a See also:

fugue on the stopped diapason of the great organ, add more as the parts enter, and continue working up throughout. But perhaps it is the better practice to throw in loud organ during the pedal parts, and soften between times. One of the greatest requisites in organ-playing is dignity of treatment. This is continually competing with clearness. The See also:chief mode of keeping the different parts distinct, where that is necessary, is by using reeds of a pronounced character. These reeds sometimes See also:verge on the comic, and anything more than the most sparing and careful employment of them is undesirable .l Expression is not possible unless the stops are enclosed in a swell box—a most desirable arrangement. In all cases See also:hurry is to be avoided. A See also:calm steadiness, a See also:minute finish of all the phrasing, forms most of the difference between first- and second-See also:rate players. With reference to the general treatment of modern music we quote the See also:preface to Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas: "•In these sonatas very much depends on the correct choice of the stops; but, since every organ with which I am acquainted requires in this respect special treatment, the stops of given names not producing the same effect in different See also:instruments, I have only indicated certain limits, without specifying the names of the stops. By fortissimo I mean the full organ; by pianissimo usually one soft 8-See also:foot stop alone; by forte, full organ without some of the most powerful stops; by piano, several soft 8-foot stops together; and so on.

In the pedal I wish everywhere, even in pianissimo, 8-foot and 16-foot (tone) together, except where the contrary is expressly indicated, as in the See also:

sixth See also:sonata [this refers to a passage where an 8-foot pedal is used without 16]. It is therefore left to the player to combine the stops suit-ably for the different pieces, but particularly to see that, in the simultaneous use of two manuals, the one See also:keyboard is distinguished from the other by its quality, without forming a glaring contrast." Importance is attached to the above directions as to single stops. The See also:habit of mixing up two or more stops unnecessarily results in the loss of the characteristic qualities of tone which reach their highest value in single stops. A habit is prevalent of using couplers in excess. One hears the swell coupled to the great during an entire service. The characteristics of the two manuals, which, separated, lend them-selves to such charming contrasts, are lost in the mixture, just as the characteristics of single stops are lost when employed in See also:groups. It is common to see an See also:English organist keep the right foot on the swell pedal and See also:hop about with the left on the pedals. This cannot be called pedal-playing. Both feet should be used, except where the swell pedal is actually required. It is a common habit to hold a note down when it should be repeated. It should be struck again when indicated. The repetition is a See also:relief to the ear.

The older organists commonly filled up their chords, striking See also:

pretty nearly every concordant note within reach. The effect of this was in many cases to destroy effects of parts, or effects of See also:restraint leading to contrasts intended by the composer. There is a well-known case of a See also:climax about a See also:line before the end of Bach's " See also:Passacaglia." Here there is a pause on a chord of four notes; one See also:low in the bass (pedal); two forming a See also:major third in the See also:middle; and one high iii the treble. Some players fill in every concordant note within the reach of both hands. Others consider the effect of Bach's four notes See also:superior. The writer thinks that the See also:average listener prefers the full chord, and the polyphonic hearer the thin arrangement of parts. Of course the parts are lost if thick chords are used. Restraint in the use of the pedal is also sometimes intended to See also:lead up to a contrast which is lost if the pedal is introduced too soon. Contrast and variety are essential elements in organ effects. A suitable phrase repeated on solo stops of different characters; a see-saw in a See also:series of rhythmical chords between two manuals of different characters—contrasts generally—are charming when suitably employed. Phrasing we cannot describe here. It is just as important in the organ as in any solo instrument, or in See also:song.

There has been a tendency to See also:

attempt too much in the See also:imitation of orchestral instruments. While such stops as See also:good flutes and good imitations of See also:wind instruments have their value, the imitation of stringed instruments and of the See also:orchestra in general As some difficulty has been See also:felt as to what is here meant, an instance is given. The writer has heard a first-rate player emphasize the entrance of a See also:chorale in the pedal (Mendelssohn's 3rd sonata in A) by coupling the See also:choir clarinet to the pedal. The effect was coarse and disagreeable, and would have been ridiculous if it had not been so ugly. It was clear, but not dignified.265 is undesirable. The organ's own proper tones are unequalled, and it is a pity to make it a See also:mere See also:caricature of the orchestra. The writer has had the opportunity of inspecting two of the installations known by the name of R. See also:Hope-See also:Jones; both under the care of an able enthusiast in the matter, Mr Collinson, of See also:Edinburgh. The Hope-Jones See also:system consists of two parts: a mechanism, and a system of See also:pipe-work. These must be considered separately. The mechanism is entirely electric. One example consisted of an application of this mechanism to a See also:fine organ by See also:Willis.

The conditions were as favourable as possible, with temperature regulation and See also:

constant use. Yet even in this case the contacts failed occasionally. The difficulty about repetition appeared to have been entirely got over, the performance being satisfactory when the contact was in good See also:order. These contacts appear to be the weak part of the system. All the mechanism, couplers and all, is worked by means of these contacts. With the care which is taken no difficulty is found in getting the arrangement to work in the case of the Willis instrument. The system is very complicated, with double See also:touch couplers throughout, by means of which a solo can be effected on one manual by varying the pressure. The study of the double touch appears very difficult. Stop handles are done away with. They are replaced by rockers, the faces of which are about the See also:size of small railway tickets. The See also:appearance is as if the See also:surface where the stop handles would be was plastered over with these rockers. They turn on a See also:horizontal See also:axis through the middle, and a touch of the See also:finger at See also:top or bottom opens or closes the stop.

The other instrument was Hope-Jones thoughout, pipes and mechanism. The See also:

curator was the same as in the case of the Willis instrument. But, the See also:hall being little used, there was no temperature regulation, and very little use. The See also:state of the mechanism was inferior, the contacts failing freely. It could not be regarded as an admissible mechanism from the writer's point of view. As to the pipe-work, the effect was remarkable; but it could not be regarded as genuine organ work, as the player admitted. Our requirement in the matter of See also:action is a perfectly unfailing connexion between See also:key and pipe. And in this respect we adhere to a preference for the old tracker action, where possible. Anything that leaves a possibility of failure in the connexion we regard as inadmissible. The writer desires to acknowledge his obligations to See also:Sir See also:Walter Parratt for much assistance in the preparation of this See also:article. (R. H.

M. B.) See also:

History of the See also:Ancient Organ. The earliest See also:authentic records of the organ itself do not extend beyond the second See also:century B.C., but the See also:evolution of the instrument from the See also:Syrinx or See also:Pan-pipe goes back to a remote See also:period. The See also:hydraulic and pneumatic See also:organs of the ancients were practically the same instrument, differing only in the method adopted for the See also:compression of the wind See also:supply; in the former this was effected by the See also:weight of See also:water, and in the latter by the more See also:primitive expedient of working the See also:bellows by hand or foot. What is known, therefore, of the evolution of the organ before hydraulic power was applied to it is common to both hydraulic and pneumatic organs. The organ of the ancients was a See also:simple contrivance, consisting, in order of evolution, of three essential parts: (I) a sequence of pipes graduated in length and made of reed, See also:wood or See also:bronze; (2) a contrivance for compressing the wind and for supplying it to the pipes in order to make them speak, the ends of such pipes as were required to be silent being at first stopped by the fingers; and (3) a system for enabling the performer to See also:store the wind and to See also:control the distribution of the supply separately to the several pipes at will. The pipes of the syrinx were the prototypes of No. i; the bellows and the bag-pipe—which was but the application of the former to the reed—foreshadowed No. 2. The third part of the organ was composed of contrivances and common See also:objects used by carpenters, such as boxes having sliding lids See also:running in grooves, levers, &c. It seems probable that the syrinx was recognized by the ancients as the basis of the organ. See also:Hero of See also:Alexandria, in his description of the hydraulic organ, calls it a syrinx. See also:Philo of Alexandria (c.

Zoo a.c.), mentioning the invention of the hydraulis(us) by Ctesibius, says, " the See also:

kind of syrinx played by hand which we call hydraulis." The fact that the syrinx was an assemblage of See also:independent stopped pipes, which in their See also:original See also:condition could not be mechanically blown, since the movable See also:lip of the player used to See also:direct the See also:air stream against the See also:sharp edge of the open end of the pipe was a See also:necessity, is no See also:bar to the suggested derivation. Wind projected into a pipe can produce no musical sound unless the wind be first compressed and the even flow of the stream be interrupted and converted into a series of pulses. In order to produce these pulses in an organ-pipe, it is necessary to make use of some such contrivance as a reed, See also:flute or See also:whistle See also:mouthpiece (q.v.). In the earliest organs there is no doubt that the pipes consisted of lengths of the large reed known as e&Xaaos used for the syrinx, but converted into open flue-pipes. Instead of cutting off the reed immediately under the See also:knot, as for syrinx pipes, a little extra length was left and shaped to a point to See also:form a foot or mouthpiece, which was placed over the See also:aperture in the wind-See also:chest, so that it caused the stream of air to split in two as it was driven through the hole into the pipe by the action of the bellows. A narrow fissure was made through the knot near the front of the pipe, and above it a horizontal slit was cut in the reed, the two edges being bevelled inwards. When the wind was pumped into the chest it found an outlet through one of the holes in the lid, and the current, being divided by the foot of the pipe, became compressed and was forced through the fissure in the knot. It then ascended the pipe in an even stream, as yet silent, until thrown into commotion by another obstacle, the upper sharp edge or lip of the notch, which produced the See also:regular (iutterings or pulses requisite for the emission of a note. The very simplicity of this See also:process disposes of any difficulty in accepting the syrinx as an important See also:factor in the evolution of the organ. The See also:conversion of a syrinx pipe is, in fact, a simpler and more natural expedient than the more elaborate construction of a wooden flue-pipe. In order to convert the syrinx into a mechanically played instrument, the addition of the actuating principle of the bag-pipe was necessary. It is probable that in the earliest attempts the See also:leather bag was actually retained and that the supply of wind was still furnished by the mouth through an insufflation pipe.

Such an instrument is described and illustrated by See also:

Father See also:Athanasius See also:Kircher,' but his See also:drawing should be accepted with reserve, as it was probably only an effort of the See also:imagination to illustrate the See also:text. In the instrument, which he calls the Magraketha or Mashrokitha of the Chaldees, the bag is described as being inside the wind-chest, the insufflation pipe being carried through a hole in the See also:side of the ,See also:box. Little wooden sliders manipulated by the fingers formed a primitive means of controlling the See also:escape of the wind through any given pipe. We have two pottery figures of musicians playing on primitive organs in the next See also:stage of development, namely with bellows, and a description in the See also:Talmud. The See also:quotation as given by See also:Blasius Ugolinus states that the instrument known as the Magrepha d'Aruchin 2 " consisted, as the Schilte Haggiborim teaches, of several rows of pipes and was blown by bellows. It had, besides, holes and small sliders answering to each pipe, which were set in See also:motion by the pressure of the organist; the vent-holes being open,a wonderful variety of sounds was produced." The See also:spurious See also:letter of St See also:Jerome to See also:Dardanus might also be consulted in this connexion. At See also:Tarsus in See also:Asia See also:Minor pottery and coins dating from c. 200 B.C. were excavated by W. See also:Burckhardt See also:Barker,' and amongst them is the fragment of a figure of a musician playing upon an instrument fastened to his See also:breast, and having seven pipes set in a rectangular wind-chest, in the centre of which appear to be two bellows of unequal sizes. Unfortunately both drawing and description are somewhat vague: nevertheless, there is no See also:room for doubt that this was an organ, perhaps without sliders or keys, the pipes being stopped at the open end, nearest the player's mouth, by the fingers, supposing that there was only one bellows. Another piece of pottery from Tarsus, discovered in 1852, during excavations carried out at Kusick-Kolah by M. M.

Mazvillier and V. See also:

Langlois,' and preserved in the Louvre, shows the back of an organ having fifteen pipes. Two See also:models of organs of more See also:recent date recall the construction of that found by Mr Barker. One found in See also:Chinese See also:Turkestan on the site of ancient See also:Khotan (fig. 1) represents a musician holding the instrument to his breast; both hands seem to be pressing what might be bellows; and there are seven pipes below the bellows. The other instrument (fig. 2) is of See also:Roman origin, and forms part of the decoration on a medallion on a yellow pottery See also:vase, which was excavated at See also:Orange (See also:Dauphine, See also:France), and is now preserved in the collection of M. Emilien See also:Dumas de Sommieres. The subject represented in the ' See Musurgia, bk. ii. ch. iv. § 3, p. 3. 2 or Eruchin.

See also:

Treatise XXXIII. of Babyl. Talmud. See See also:Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum (See also:Venice, 1744-1769), xxxii. ii and 21. 3 See See also:Lares and See also:Penates (See also:London, 1853), p. 260, fig. 69. ' See W. Froehner, Monuments antiques du musee de France (See also:Paris, 1873), pl. 32; also Archives See also:des See also:missions scientifiques, iv. 64-67. F See Ancient Khotan, detailed See also:report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, carried out by H.M. See also:Indian See also:Government, by Marc.

Aurel See also:

Stein (See also:Oxford, 1907), See also:plate xliii.medallion is an See also:amphitheatre, and in the centre a pneumatic organ with bellows is plainly visible (fig. 2). This brings us to a point in the history of the organ when the existence of the hydraulic organ can no longer be ignored. Some writers consider that the invention of the hydraulis in the 2nd century B.C. by Ctesibiuse of Alexandria constitutes the invention of the organ, and that the pneumatic organ followed as an improvement or variety. Such an assertion would seem to be untenable in the See also:face of what has been said above. It is most improbable that a See also:man busy with the theory and practice of See also:hydraulics would invent a highly complex musical instrument in which essential parts lying out-side his See also:realm, such as the flue-pipes, the balanced keyboard, the arrangements within the wind-chest for the distribution of the wind, are all in a highly See also:developed state; it would be a case for which no parallel exists in the history of musical instruments, all of which have evolved slowly and surely through the ages. On the other hand, given a pneumatic organ in which the primitive unweighted bellows worked unsatisfactorily, an engineer would be prompt to see an opportunity for the advantageous application of his See also:art. There are two detailed and duly accredited descriptions of the hydraulis extant, both of which presuppose the existence of a pneumatic organ. One is in See also:Greek by Hero of Alexandria,' said to be a See also:pupil of Ctesibius,8 and the other in Latin by See also:Vitruvius (De See also:Arch. See also:lib. x. cap. ii.). In both accounts reference is made to drawings now lost. Mr Woodcroft states that in each MS. the diagrams are said to have been copied faithfully, and that on consulting four See also:MSS. and three See also:early printed See also:editions ° he found that the See also:mechanical parts in all agree essentially, and that it is only the case of the organ and the arrangement of the pipes which vary according to the See also:fancy of the artist. The principle of the hydraulis, which remained a See also:complete See also:mystery until recently, is now well understood.

Representations of Roman hydraulic organs abound, but they were not' always identified as such10 As the front of the organ (the performer sat or stood at the back) was invariably represented, there had been no indication of the manner in which the pipes were made to sound. A See also:

clue was furnished by a little baked See also:clay See also:model of an hydraulus, and parts of the performer, excavated in 1885 on the ruins of See also:Carthage and now preserved in the Musee See also:Lavigerie, attached to the See also:cathedral of S. See also:Louis of Carthage. This little clay model, measuring 7 in. by 21 in. (See also:figs. 3 and 4), modelled by Possessoris, a See also:potter working at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D., whose name appears on the front, below the ends of the sliders, is so accurately designed that it tallies in every point with the description of the instrument by Hero and Vitruvius. The number and relative sizes of the three 8 See also:Tertullian (De anima, 14) names See also:Archimedes, which is probably an See also:error. See in this connexion See also:Hermann Degering, who devotes considerable space to the question, See also:Die Orgel, ihre Erfindung and ihre Geschichte (Muenster, 1905). 7 See The See also:Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, translated from the original Greek by See also:Bennett Woodcroft (London, 1851), with diagrams. $ See also:Edward See also:Buhle in Die musikalischen Instrumente in den Miniatures des friihen Mittelalters, pt. i. (See also:Leipzig, 1903), p. 55.

Note. i corrects this as an error, assigning Hero's activity to the beginning of our era, in which case the description by Vitruvius would be the earlier in spite of the fact that the hydraulus, as he describes it, contains an improvement on that of Hero, i.e. registers, and two pumps instead of one, and that he omits to explain the purpose for which water is used. Buhle gives as his authority Diels, " Das phys. System des Strabon," p. 291, in Berliner Monatsberichte (Feb. 1893). e For an exhaustive and careful compilation of these editions, and of the literature of the hydraulus generally, see Dr See also:

Charles Maclean's article, " The Principle of the Hydraulic Organ," Intern. See also:Mus. Ges. Sbd. vi. 2, pp. 183-237; also See also:John W. Warman, Bibliography of the Organ, who, however, takes the erroneous view that the See also:medieval editions of Vitruvius and Hero may be taken as See also:evidence that the instrument itself was in use until about the middle or end of the-17th century.

See Proc. Mus. Assoc. (1903-1904), p. 40. Io The See also:

present writer was apparently the first in See also:England to draw See also:attention to this identity by introducing the drawing from the See also:Utrecht Psalter and the model of the Carthage Organ, &c. See Music (London, See also:Sept. 1898), p..438. From Marc Aurel Stein, Ancient Khotan, by permission of the See also:Clarendon See also:Press. From Orange. rows of pipes, gauged by the remains of the organist, give the requisite See also:compass for the See also:production of the six Greek scales in use at that date., A working See also:reproduction based on the proportions of the remains of the organist, but at See also:half See also:scale for the See also:sake of portability (the real organ must have measured so ft. in height by 44 ft. in width), was successfully carried out by the Rev. F.

W. Galpin in 1900—1901 by the help of photo- graphs2 and of the text of Vitruvius. The principle of the hydraulus is simple. An inverted See also:

funnel, or See also:bell of See also:metal, See also:standing on See also:short feet and immersed in water within the See also:altar-like receptacle forming the See also:base or See also:pedestal, communicates by means of a pipe, with the wind-chest, placed above it. When the air is pumped into the funnel by the alternate action of two pumps, one on each side of the organ, constructed bucket within bucket and fitted with valves, the water retreating before the compressed air, rises in the receptacle and by its weight holds the air in a state of compression in .the funnel, whence it travels through the pipe into the wind-chest. The See also:rest of the process is common also to the pneumatic organ. As there are two pumps worked alternately, these conditions remain unchanged, until by pressure on a key working a slider under the apertures leading to the pipes, the compressed air is afforded an exit through the latter, thus producing the desired note.3 It will be seen, therefore, that water acts on the air as a See also:compressor exactly in the same manner as lead weights are used on the wind See also:reservoir of modern pneumatic organs. The See also:discovery of the Carthage model was of the greatest Importance to the history of the keyboard (q.v.), for it proved beyond a doubt the use at the beginning of our era of balanced keys (seen in front of the organist) on the principle described by Vitruvius. What appears to be a second keyboard with smaller keys on the side of the hydraulus labelled Possessoris (fig. 4) is simply the ends of the sliders, which are pushed out or drawn in by the action of the keys. The principle of the hydraulus made it possible to construct large organs of powerful tone more suitable for use in the See also:arena than the small pneumatic instruments, but the hydraulic organ never entirely supplanted the pneumatic, which was probably not so imperfect at the beginning of our era as has been thought, since it outlived the former and seems From the See also:Church o{ to have differed from it only in the matter of St See also:Paul ez muros, pressure. The hydraulus, on the other hand, See also:Rome.

4th or 5th cent. must have had many drawbacks, that of causing A.D. See also:

damp in the instrument being of a serious carry about. Of the pneumatic organ in portable and portative form, traces have been found during the palmy days of the Roman See also:empire, and the art of organ-See also:building, of which the organ in fig. 5 is an example, never seems to have quite died out during the decline of classic Rome and the See also:dawn of Western See also:civilization. This See also:illustration is derived from a 4th- or 5th-century slab in the church of St Paul extra muros at Rome. It is evident that the hydraulic organ was widely known and used in the See also:East during the early centuries of our era, but it never won a footing in the See Anonymi scriptio de musica, ed. Bellermann, p. 35. 2 See " Notes on a Roman Hydraplus," Reliquary (1904) ; also the writer's " Researches into the Origin of the Organs of the AncienLs " in Intern. Mus. Ges., Sbd. ii. 2, pp. 167-202 (Leipzig, 1901), and Pros.

Mus. Assoc. (1903-1904), pp. 54-55. 3 For a more complete explanation of the action of the hydraulus, with diagrams, see See also:

Victor Loret,' Revue archeol. (Paris, 189o); W. See also:Chappell, History of Music (London, 1874), pp. 325-361.267 See also:West, although a few solitary specimens found their way into the palaces of See also:kings and princes. On See also:account of its association with the See also:theatre, gladiatorial combats and See also:pagan amusements of corrupt Rome, it was placed under a See also:ban by the Church. The See also:ignorance and misinformation displayed on the subject by writers and miniaturists of the early and See also:late middle ages leave no room for doubt that the instrument itself was unknown to them except from hearsay. Venice seems to have been famed for its organ-builders during the 9th century, for Louis le Debonnaire (778–840) sent there, it is recorded, for a certain See also:monk, Georgius See also:Benevento,4 to construct an hydraulic organ for his See also:palace at See also:Aix-la-Chapelle. No progress in the art of organ-building is recorded until the use of organs in the churches had See also:long been established.

The recognition of the value of the organ in See also:

Christian See also:worship proved an incentive which led to the rapid development of the instrument. In France and See also:Germany the See also:Romans must have used organs and have introduced them to the conquered tribes as they did in See also:Spain, but the art of making them was soon lost after Roman See also:influence and civilization were withdrawn. See also:Pippin, when he wished to introduce the Roman See also:ritual into the churches of France, felt the need of an organ and applied to the See also:Byzantine See also:emperor, See also:Constantine Copronymus, to send him one, which arrived by special See also:embassy in 757 and was placed in the church of St See also:Corneille at See also:Compiegne; the arrival of this organ was obviously considered a great event; it is mentioned by all the chroniclers of his reign. See also:Charlemagne received a similar present from the emperor of the East in 812, of which a description has been preserved.5 The bellows were of hide, the pipes of bronze; its tone was as loud as See also:thunder and as sweet as that of See also:lyre and See also:psaltery. This organ must have had registers like those of the hydraulus of Vitruvius and the portative from See also:Pompeii. In 826 we hear that his son Louis le Debonnaire obtained a pneumatic organ for the church at Aix-la-Chapelle, not to be confounded with the hydraulus installed in his palace. The statement that the organ was introduced into the Roman Church by See also:Pope Vitalian at the end of the 7th century, which has been generally accepted, is rejected by Buhlee on the ground of insufficient See also:proof. There is abundant evidence to show that the organ had taken its See also:place in the churches in the loth century, not only in England but in Germany, where the construction by monks had become so general that we find no fewer than three See also:treatises on organ-building' written by monks, followed by three more in the 1th century.8 Considerable activity was displayed in England in the loth century in organ-building on a large scale for churches and monasteries, such as the See also:monster organ for See also:Bishop See also:Alphege at See also:Winchester, which had 400 bronze pipes, 26 bellows and 2 manuals of 20 keys, each governing ro pipes.9 There is also the elaborate organ presented by St See also:Dunstan to his monastery at See also:Malmesbury.xo of the Hydraulus—Car- FIG. 4. thage. c. A.D. 150.

Carthage. c. A.D. 150. j~S4f 9,.. s/ rss 4 " Vita Hludovici Imperatoris," Mon. Germ. ii. pp. 629-63o; see also Buhle, op. cit. p. 58, note 4, where See also:

fuller references are given. 6 Gesta Karoli Monachi Sangallensis, lib. ii. cap. x. p. 751. 8 Op. cit. p. 61, note 2, where the evidence is carefully sifted. (1) by See also:Notker of St Gallen (see Hattemer, Denkmaler, Bd. iii. pp.

568 seq. ; See also:

Hugo See also:Riemann, Studien z. Gesch. der Notenschrift, pp. 297 seq. ; See also:Martin See also:Gerbert, i. pp. 100 seq. (2) By Bernelinius (see Gerbert, i. pp. 318 and 325). The third is an See also:anonymous 9th-century See also:tract, the earliest of all, De mensura fistularum, giving only the proportions of organ pipes. MS. See also:Lat. 12949 fol.

4 a. Paris Bibl. Nat. reproduced by Buhle, op. cit. p. 104 (Latin only. 8 (I) Defstulis organicis, introduced in a MS. copy of Mart. Cap. by a Bernese monk; see A. Schubiger, Musikal. Spicilegien, pp. 82 seq. Reproduced also by Buhle, op. cit. Beilage iv. pp. 114-116, collated with a See also:

German See also:translation.

(2) See also:

Theophilus. De See also:divers. artibus, edited and translated into English by See also:Robert Hendrie (London, 1847) ; reproduced by Buhle, op. cit. Beilage iii. pp. 105 seq., Latin and German collated, who gives the See also:title as Schedula artium. (3) Tractatus de mensura fistularum, by Bishop See also:Eberhard of Freicin . Martin Gerbert, op. cit. ii. pp. 279-281. 9 See Wolstani, monachi Ventani, De Vita S. Swithuni; Coussemaker, " Essai sur See also:les instruments de musique du moyen-See also:age," in See also:Ann. Archeol., iii. pp. 281-282. io See also:William of Malmesbury, Gest.

Pontif., lib. v. See also:

Earl Elwin gave See also:money " triginta libras" to the monastery at See also:Ramsay for See also:copper pipes for a great pneumatic organ to be played on high days and holidays.' The great activity recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries in Germany is probably due to the influence and teaching of Byzantine masters during the 9th century. Pope John VIII. (872–880) applied to Bishop See also:Anno of See also:Freising to send him an organ and an organist.' Organs were installed in See also:Cologne (loth century), in See also:Halberstadt, in See also:Erfurt, in Augs- See also:burg, Weltenburg (Ilth century); in Utrecht, See also:Constance, From the See also:Bible of St See also:Etienne See also:Harding at See also:Dijon. r 2th cent. Petershausen (12th See also:berg, Cologne Cathedral, 13th century s The rest of the See also:literary and archaeological material—treatises, monuments, miniatures—available during the later middle ages yields very scant authenticated See also:information as to the progressive steps which lie between the 12th-century organ as described by Theophilus and the large church organs of the days of Praetorius4 (1618). The keyboard is the See also:principal feature concerning which miniatures offer any evidence. Here arid there a 13th- century See also:miniature gives a hint of balanced keys on small portative organs which already abound during that and the next century. The Bernese monk in his treatise on the organ, to which reference was made in the note above, clearly describes balanced keys, depressa lamina, pressed down, not pulled out, as were those mentioned by Theophilus; his description conforms strictly with that of Hero, which suggests that he was borrowing from classical authorities rather than describing an actual instrument with which he was well acquainted, an expedient to which Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 27665.

14th century. FIG. 8. many medieval writers had recourse. In the 14th-century miniatures, balanced keys are general for the larger portable organs. The See also:

adoption of narrower keys in the larger organs may no doubt be traced to the influence of the portatives, in which they in ' Vita S. 0swaldi: see See also:Mabillon Acta S. scl. v. p. 756. 2 See See also:Baluze, Miscell. v. p. 490. Buhle (op. cit.) gives a See also:list with quotations from authorities; see pp. 66 and 67.

4 See See also:

Michael See also:Praetorius Syntagma Musicum (Wolfenbiittel, 1618).most cases resemble the See also:white keys of the modern See also:pianoforte. There is no miniature on See also:record in which the fist action on the keys is indicated, the performer during the loth, 11th and 12th centuries being depicted in the See also:act of drawing out the stop-like sliders—as for instance. in the 12th-century See also:manuscript Bible of St Etienne Harding at Dijon 6 (fig. 6), where the organist is playing the notes D and F, the sliders being lettered from C to C. From the 13th century the keys are shown pressed down by means of one finger or of finger and thumb (fig. 7). In the beautiful See also:Spanish MS. said to have been compiled for See also:Alphonso XII. (c. 1237), known as the Cantigas de See also:Santa Maria, a portative is shown having balanced keys, one of which is being lightly pressed by the thumb, the instrument resting on the palm—while the left hand manipulates the bellows. The keys themselves varied in shape, being either likea T; a wide rectangle, with or without the corners rounded off, or a narrow rectangle. The earliest in-stance of See also:chromatic keyboard is that of the organ at Halberstadt' built in 1361 and restored in 1495. An inscription on the keyboard states that it formed part of the original organ, which had the semitonal arrangement of keys.' It must not, however, be inferred from these isolated cases that balanced keys were general from the 13th century, nor that the chromatic keys were common in the 14th. The St See also:Cecilia in the altar- piece in See also:Ghent by the See also:brothers See also:Hubert FIG.

and See also:

Jan See also:van See also:Eyck (15th cent.) is repre- 9. sented as playing upon an organ with a modern-looking keyboard. A picture by Fra See also:Angelico (15th cent.) in the See also:National See also:Gallery shows a portative with accidentals. It will probably be found that the earliest development of the organ took place in Germany and in the See also:Netherlands. (K.

End of Article: GENERAL REMARKS ON ORGAN

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