early history of the pipe organ

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-Saëns. (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. BibliographyHopkins, 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 UniversitySchott,
Howard. "Keyboard." In The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Ed. Don
Michael Randel: 427-8. Cambridge, London: The Belknap Press of
Harvard University