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The "king of instruments" has a long history, one which can arguably be traced to the
concept of a collection of "fixed-pitched pipes blown by a single player (such as the
panpipes)" (Randel 583). The first examples of pipe organs with the basic features of
today can be traced to the third century B.C.E. in the Greco-Roman arena; it is said to
have been invented by Ktesibios of Alexander and contained "a mechanism to supply air
under pressure, a wind-chest to store and distribute it, keys and valves to admit wind to
the pipes, and one or more graded sets of fixed-pitch pipes." (Randel 583) These early
organs used water as a means to supply air-pressure, hence the use of the terms hydraulic
and hydraulis.
Hydraulic organs were in use for several hundred years before the concept of bellows,
similar in concept and style to those of a blacksmith, came into use with the organ.
Numerous bellows were used to supply air to the wind-chest, often being pumped in pairs
by men. The disadvantages of this method of air supply include the lack of consistent
pressure, which leads to inconsistent pitch and tuning; also, many people were required
to operate the bellows since there were upwards of twenty-four bellows per organ (Hopkins
& Rimbault 35). Also, with organs of this size, the bellows took up large amounts of
space, thus forcing the organ to be located in a fixed place, such as a church.
Up until the eleventh century (approximately), pitch and range of organs were extremely
limited, mainly in part to the lack of a any style of keyboard. Keys of a sort were
introduced around this time, though not in the manner we are accustomed to. "The
earliest keyboards were sets of levers played by the hands rather than the fingers."
(Randel 428) They looked similar to large rectangles "an ell long and three inches wide"
(Hopkins & Rimbault 33) and were played by pushing on them with a hand, although some
were large enough that one might need to step on them. While allowing no real technical
dexterity, they were sufficient to play plain-song and chant melodies, particularly with
the use of more than one player. As time progressed, the keys became smaller and more
numerous until they began to resemble the modern keyboard (except for range) in
appearance ca. 1400.
While these large early organs were used in limited fashion in churches, many of the
organs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were known as portatives or regals.
Portatives were small enough to be carried and played by a single person, one hand
playing the keys and the other operating a single bellow. Due to the size limitations of
portative organs, their range did not usually exceed two octaves; their use was to play
plain-song and chant melodies, usually in processions. Similar to a portative, but
larger, was the positive organ. "Positives were larger, standing on a table or the
floor. They were played with both hands, had a larger compass, and required a second
person to operate the bellows, of which there were usually two." (Randel 485) The
positive was sometimes added to a larger, stationary organ and joined to the larger's
keyboard (two manuals), with the positive being located in front of the larger organ with
the organist located between them. (Hopkins & Rimbault 42-3)
Up until this time, organs did not possess pedals. The pedal is generally attributed to
a German named Bernard, organist to the Doge of Venice. It is thought that while he did
not actually create the pedal board, he improved upon it to the point of being able to
assign its creation to him, making it similar in concept to modern pedal boards only with
a smaller range. (Hopkins & Rimbault 45-46)
With the addition of the positive to the large organ, one began to have two sets of pipes
associated with an organ. These two sets of pipes allowed there to be two distinct
tones, similar to stops, to be produced from one organ, though they could not be played
simultaneously. German organ builders in the early sixteenth century made possible the
addition of ranks other than the principle, each new rank being called a stop. By
"adding" a stop to a manual, one could then play, in unison, two or more sets of ranks
simultaneously. These stops included new types of pipes created by the Germans which
provided varying sounds, including those that mimicked the viol family, reed stops
(trumpet, posaune, shalm, vox-humana, etc.), closed pipes adding a much softer and deeper
sound and smaller pipes which produced more penetrating sounds. There was also the
mixture stop, which originated (we think) in the twelfth century when one or two pipes
were added to a key, usually tuned to a fifth and octave or third and tenth; it is also
speculated that this practice helped spark harmony in music composition. (Hopkins &
Rimbault 36-8) During this time the pedal began receiving its own set of stops separate
from those of the other manuals.
At this point in the organ's history, development was fairly uniform throughout Europe
due mainly to the unrestricted travel of organ builders and musicians whose input would
influence foreign builders. The uniformity of the Catholic church also helped perpetuate
the use of similar organs throughout Europe. This trend of consistent organ building
began to decline during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, both leading toward more
political and national boundaries being enforced, which increased the difficulty of
unrestricted travel. Now we begin to see trends and different regional styles of
construction, some more lasting and effective than others. (Randel 585)
The first area to look at are the Flemish countries of France, Spain, Italy, Austria and
England. These areas contained many organs of similar designs until the Calvinist
Reformation in 1560, the northern portion (Holland) becoming Protestant and its organs
being used mainly for church services, and the southern portion (Belgium) remaining
Catholic, whose influence resulted in the organ becoming a strong liturgical instrument
of great influence to the later French organs. Secular organ playing developed in
Holland; while the organs were housed in churches, many of them were also played as
concert instruments for market days and special occasions. (Randel 585)
North German builders were the real masters of organ building, creating instruments known
for their size and complexity. Building upon their knowledge from the Middle Ages,
sixteenth century builders added numerous stops, some ranging in size from 32? to 1?,
including "foundations, mixtures, mutations, flutes and reeds" and a complete pedal
division. These large, multi-faceted organs would be the precursors to the influential
Baroque organs of J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Scheidemann and others; these organs also
influenced builders in northern Holland. (Randel 585-586)
While initially Flemish in design and influence, a new school of organ design and playing
began to develop in France during the sixteenth century. While these organs usually were
not as grand in scale compared with the north German organs, they are known particularly
for their ornate casework and later influence on typical French-style registration and
compositional techniques. The organs of the Alsace region of France, which were
influence by the German builders, would become the inspiration for composers such as
Widor, Franck, Guilmant and Saint-Saens. (Randel 586)
English organs of this time period suffered greatly. While in proliferation in many
churches throughout the country, the Commonwealth period led to the destruction of most
organs. Those which were left were small in scale and similar to the French organs in
technical design, having only two manuals and often incomplete or nonexistent pedal
boards. These small organs were used by composers such as Byrd, Redford, Tomkins, Lugge
and Gibbons. (Randel 586)
Italian organs were even more limited in design, having only one manual (two were rare)
and limited ranks of pipes, although some contained inventive mixtures of pipes in 1/2?
and 1/3? sizes. Reed stops were generally not used, and when they were, they were of
limited size and number. Spanish and Portuguese organs where similar in design and
limitations, though the number of stops were generally larger, and a Flemish influence
remained fairly strong even after the regional Iberian style took grasp. These Spanish
organs were also imported to the Americas in the early seventeenth century, thus
beginning the American tradition of organ building which would commence much later and be
of a more unique style. (Randel 587)
While many do not consider the organ to have had such a colorful history, its history has
been one of constant change and refinement. Beginning with the hydraulic organs of the
ancient realm, through the portative and positive organs, continuing to evolve into large
instruments effected as much my the church needs as those of composers, the organ has
survived every attempt to thwart its development and demise into that of something
relegated to old churches. The organ will continue to survive through the ages and
retain its colorfulness and ingenuity.
Bibliography
Hopkins, E. J. And E. F. Rimbault L.L.D., The Organ, Its History and Construction. 3rd
ed. London: Robert Cocks & Co., 1887.
Grout, Donald Jay and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. 5th ed. New York,
London: W.W. Norton, 1996.
Fesperman, John T. and Barbara Owen. "Organ." In The New Harvard Dictionary of Music.
Ed. Don Michael Randel: 578-89. Cambridge, London: The Belknap Press of Harvard
University
Schott, Howard. "Keyboard." In The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Ed. Don Michael
Randel: 427-8. Cambridge, London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University
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