The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | Page 3

Stainer says this
was undoubtedly the precursor of the organ. "It was formed of seven,
eight or nine short hollow reeds, fixed together by wax, and cut in
graduated lengths so as to produce a musical scale. The lower ends of
the reeds were closed and the upper open and on a level, so that the
mouth could easily pass from one pipe to another." This is the
instrument used at the present day by the Punch and Judy man. He
wears it fastened around his throat, turning his head from side to side as
he blows, while with his hands he beats a drum.
The next step would be to combine a set of flutes or shepherd's pipes
with the wind reservoir of the bagpipes, placing a little slider under the
mouthpiece of each pipe which could be opened or closed at will, so
that they would not all speak at once. Then some genius steadied the
wind pressure by pumping air into a reservoir partly filled with water.
This was the so-called "hydraulic organ," which name has given rise to
the impression that the pipes were played by the water passing through
them--which is impossible.
And so we come down the ages to the Christian era. The Talmud
mentions an organ (magrepha) having ten pipes played by a keyboard
as being in existence in the Second Century. "Aldhelm (who died A. D.
709) mentions an organ which had gilt pipes. An organ having leaden

pipes was placed in the Church of S. Corneille, at Compiegne, in the
middle of the Eighth Century." St. Dunstan had an organ with pipes
made of brass. Then we have the organ in Winchester Cathedral,
England, described by Wulfstan of Winchester in his "Life of Saint
Swithin." This was a double organ, requiring two organists to play it. It
contained 400 pipes and had thirteen pairs of bellows. It was intended
to be heard all over Winchester in honor of St. Peter, to whom the
Cathedral was dedicated.
The year was now A. D. 951, and this is an important date to remember,
as modern harmony took its rise about this time. Before this, as far as
we know, there had been no harmony beyond a drone bass, and the vast
companies of musicians described in Holy Writ and elsewhere must
have played and sung in octaves and unison. I quote Stainer again:
"The large pipes of every key of the oldest organs stood in front; the
whole instrument sounded and shrieked in a harsh and loud manner.
The keyboard had eleven, twelve, even thirteen keys in diatonic
succession without semitones. It was impossible to get anything else
than a choral melody for one voice only on such an organ * * * the
breadth of a keyboard containing nine keys extended to three-quarters
the length of a yard, that of the single key amounted to three inches * *
* even from five to six inches * * * The valves of the keys and the
whole mechanism being clumsy, playing with the finger was not to be
thought of, but the keys were obliged to be struck with the clenched fist,
and the organist was often called 'pulsator organum' (organ beater)."
Gradually the keys were reduced in size and the semitones were added.
By 1499 they had almost reached the present normal proportions. In
1470 pedals were invented by Bernard, the German, a skilful musician
of Venice, the pipe work was improved and so we come to the
Sixteenth Century[1] after which the organ remained almost in statu
quo for hundreds of years.
Since then there have been four great landmarks in organ construction,
viz:
1. The invention of the swell box by Jordan in 1713;

2. The invention of the horizontal bellows, by Samuel Green, in 1789;
3. The invention of the pneumatic lever by Barker in 1832; and the
electro-pneumatic action, by Péschard in 1866; and,
4. The marvelous improvements in mechanism and tone production and
control in 1886 to 1913 by Robt. Hope-Jones.

[1] The organ compositions of Frescobaldi, a celebrated Italian organist
who flourished 1591-1640, show that the organ must in his time have
been playable by the fingers.
CHAPTER II.
THE ORGAN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Before proceeding further we propose to give a brief description of the
construction of the organ at the beginning of the last century and
explain the technical terms we shall use later.
As everybody knows, the tone comes from the pipes, some of which
are to be seen in the front of the instrument. The pipes are of various
shapes and sizes and are arranged in ranks or rows upon the wind-chest.
Each of these ranks is called a stop or register. It should be borne in
mind that this word