The organ:
rigin of the organ. The oldest
keyboard instrument, the organ, dates back over one thousand years. No other instrument has developed in such a wide variety of ways.1
Historians generally
agree the first organ, a hydraulis, or water organ, was invented in the third century BC by the Greek engineer Ktesibios of Alexan- dria. Ktesibios invented a system to supply wind to the organ pipes with regulated water pressure, which was pumped by hand.2
This
A positive or free-standing bellows organ
first organ invention may have been influ- enced by the “mouth organ,” an instrument similar to a harmonica or pan-pipes, which is recognized as a precursor to the development of the pipe organ.
Hydraulis or water organ3. The stan-
dard keyboard placement of bass notes to the left of the player and treble notes to the right of the player dates back to the hydraulis. The evidence found in early images of the hydraulis shows the larger (lower) pipes on the left of the instrument and smaller (higher) pipes on the right. This convention has been passed down for centuries as standard positioning on all keyboard instruments. Around the sixth
century AD, bellow organs began to appear. Bellows supplied wind to the organ, replacing the pumps and water regulators of the hydraulis. In 980, an organ in Winchester, England, re-
18
Disadvantages to this method were lack of consistent air pressure, resulting in inconsistent pitch and tuning.
quired 70 men to keep 26 bellows filled with wind.4
the king of instruments
O
by Jane Kimbrel
Positive organ – free-standing with
bellows5. The illustration at the left of a
positive or free-standing bellows organ is the reproduction of a woodcut by the German artist Israel van Meckenem in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Several things can be seen in this print: • The background indicates a residence, so the organ is being played in a home, not a church.
• The bellows instrument is placed on a table, and the player is shown using both hands to play the keys.
• Behind the pipes, a second person is operating the two bellows. In an arrange- ment like this one, the upper portion of one of the bellows is raised, and as it falls it sends wind to the chest. A weight attached to the bellows provides the correct amount of pressure, so it both provides the wind and controls its pressure. While the first one is deflating, the second bellows is raised; the first bellows is then raised as the second falls, and the cycle continues as long as the positive is being played.
• The four small shapes on the side of the pipe support, at a level between the hands of the organist and the bellows, could be merely decorations. On the other hand, it is possible that they are the ends of sliders, in which case they indicate that the positive has four stops.6
• The taller bass pipes are to the player’s left, the shorter treble pipes to the right. Until the eleventh century, the pitch and range of organs were extremely limited, mainly due to the lack of uniformity in the style of keyboards. By the twelfth century the organ was capable of producing variety in individual tonal colors.
The organ developed rapidly after 1300 when instruments grew in size and gained refinement in both size and control. In
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010 • WORSHIP ARTS
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