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April 16, 2004
The original computers?
Looking at a beautiful pipe organ, most people would probably not think of it in terms of computers, yet, the action which lies hidden behind all the pipes and other bits and pieces that are on display, is just that. A mechanical computer. If you ever have the opportunity to look at the mechanism which operates the valves for the pipes you will see what I mean.
Each valve is linked to a "Stop" and to a "key". The "Stop" determines which rank of pipes will sound when any given key is pressed. Pressing the key operates a signal or a linkage which opens either a mechanical valve (Tracker action), an electromagnet (electro-pneumatic), or a pneumatic valve.
The "Stops" can be preselected by means of a "Selection" box - in effect a programmer which allows the organist to set the organ up to open certain groups of stops at the touch of a button on the console. A look at the mechanism which allows Fairground Organs - or "player pianos" - to play from a paper roll (or wooden "plates") will show that this is almost identical to the system which allowed a computer to run off punched cards. In effect this was the first "automated" programming for the operation of a "computer" whose function was to produce music.
It may surprise many people to learn that the organ is one of the oldest instruments in the world. The Romans had them, called a "Hydraulis" because it used water to create a stable wind pressure through the wind chests which supply air to the ranks of pipes. It has developed and grown over the years, coming to the form we know today around the 16th Century. The addition of electric blowers and the electro-pneumatic controls has allowed them to become much larger than previous instruments. That said, it was a joke in the 14th Century that the Cathedral in Winchester had been built around the huge organ that the city boasted, an instrument sadly now destroyed by the iconoclasts in the 16th and 17th Century.
Smaller instruments have survived and there is one at Sion in Switzerland which was built and first played in 1370. It is still played today. In different countries the organ has developed differently, with Spanish organs having no peddle organ - but they do have the most amazing "Reed" Stops including fanfare trumpets and incredible Clarina and Horn stops. French organs are rather lighter in combination of stops and pipes and have a more Symphonic sound, while German and Dutch Organs are amazing in their variety and range of sounds, each having been indivdually built to fit a specific building. English organs are also highly individual and range from small "Chamber" types up through the spectrum to the monsters that furnish the sound for the Albert Hall and, of course, our Cathedrals.
A variant was an instrument known as a "Regale", which is fitted with "Reeds" instead of pipes. Thiese create a rather rasping sound, but their advantage was that they were portable and easy to pump with hand operated bellows.
The Milton Organ at Tewkesbury Abbey. Reputed to be the largest collection of playable 17th Century pipes in England.
So, if the organ is really a computer, perhaps we should, in the parlance of "modernisation" now refer to the organists as "Air Programmed Computer Technologists"?
Maybe not - it doesn't quite convey the sense of artistry these folk bring to their playing.
Appended, for the interest of pipe organ anoraks like me, is some information on the Organs of Tewkesbury Abbey, with acknowledgement to their website.
The Organs of Tewkesbury Abbey
The Milton Organ
The history of this instrument is a long and fascinating one. In 1631, Robert Dallam built a new organ for Magdalen College, Oxford, where it was erected in an 'organ house' opening on to the south side of the chapel. In 1654 it was moved to Hampton Court Palace, where the poet John Milton is reputed to have played it. The instrument was returned to Magdalen in 1660 and re-erected the following year. The organ was substantially remodelled by Renatus Harris in 1690.
In 1736 the organ was sold to Tewkesbury Abbey and later placed on a special stone screen constructed on the site of the medieval pulpitum. A Swell Organ was added by John Holland in 1796. Major rebuilds followed - by 'Father' Willis in 1848 and J.W. Walker in 1948 (when the Echo and Solo depatments were added and a detached five-manual console was installed).
In 1997 the Milton Organ was rebuilt and reconstructed by Kenneth Jones and Associates of Bray as a four-manual instrument with 68 speaking stops and 4611 pipes. The lower three keyboards have mechanical action, whilst the Solo and Apse divisions have electro-pneumatic action.
The inaugural recital was given in May 1997 by Nicolas Kynaston, who also acted as organ consultant.
The Grove Organ
This wonderful Victorian instrument was built by Michel and Thynne for the 1885 Inventions Exhibition. The aim of the builders in this, their 'Model Organ', was "an attempt to place in the hands of the player a grand and complete organ, reduced to the smallest possible dimensions as regards the number of slides (stops)." It was also exhibited at the Liverpool Exhibition the following year, where W.T. Best declared it to be "the finest organ of its kind that I have ever played upon".
The Reverend C.W. Grove, a great benefactor to the Abbey, purchased it in 1887 and presented it to the Abbey to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was placed in the north transept where it has remained ever since.
When the Milton Organ was rebuilt in 1948, it was planned also to restore and enlarge the Grove organ, making it playable from the Walker five-manual console. This scheme was not carried out, and eventually the organ was restored in 1980-81 by Messrs. Bishop and Son on 'conservation' lines, the only modification being the insertion of the five largest pedal pipes acquired from the old organ in Christ Church, Oxford. The re-opening recital was given by Dr Francis Jackson of York Minster.
The Chamber Organ
This little instrument of five stops was built by Thomas Elliot in 1813. It was presented to the Abbey in 1918 by Colonel H.N. Thoyts. This lovely little instrument is currently being restored and will soon be again heard in concerts and at services when a smaller and less powerful accompaniment is needed.
Milton Organ Specification
The most recent restoration of this organ was in 1996/1997. This pipe organ of four manuals and pedals, with 68 stops and 4611 pipes, includes certain of the best of the pipes of the previous organ, carefully restored and revoiced.
GREAT ORGAN (13 Stops)
Double Diapason 16'
Open Diapason No 1 8'
Open Diapason No 2 8'
Claribel Flute 8'
Principal 4'
Wald Flute 4'
Twelth 2-2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Sesquialtera III ranks
Mixture 2' IV ranks
Cymbol 1/2' II ranks
Trumpet 8'
Clarion 4'
SOLO ORGAN (enclosed) (9 Stops)
Harmonic Flute 8'
Violincello 8'
Transverse Flute 4'
Piccolo 2'
Orchestral Oboe 8'
Voix Humaine 8'
Horn 16'
Trumpet 8'
Clarion 4'
SWELL ORGAN (enclosed) (12 Stops)
Open Diapason 8'
Stopped Diapason 8'
Salicional 8'
Voix Celeste TC 8'
Principal 4'
Open Flute 4'
Flageot 2'
Mixture 3' III-IV ranks
Double Trumpet 16'
Cornopean 8'
Hautbois 8'
Clarion 4'
APSE ORGAN (enclosed except Tuba) (8 Stops)
Cor de Nuit 8'
Dolce 8'
Unda Maris TC 8'
Fugara 4'
Flute 4'
Harmonia Aetheria III ranks
Corno di Bassetto 8'
Tuba (high pressure) 8'
CHOIR ORGAN (12 Stops)
Stopped Diapason 8'
Quintadena 8'
Dulciana 8'
Principal 4'
Chimney Flute 4'
Nazard 2-2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Flute 2'
Tierce 1-3/5'
Larigot 1-1/3'
Sharp Mixture 1' IV ranks
Cremona 8'
PEDAL ORGAN (14 Stops)
Open Wood 16'
Open Diapason 16'
Subbass 16'
Pedal Bourdon (Apse) 16'
Quaint Flute 10-2/3'
Principal 8'
Flute 8'
Nazard (extension of Quaint Flute) 5-1/3'
Fifteenth 4'
Mixture 2-2/3' IV ranks
Double Horn (extension of Horn) 32'
Trombone 16'
Horn 16'
Trumpet 8'
COUPLERS for Solo to Swell, Solo to Great, Solo to Choir, Swell to Great, Swell to Choir, Choir to Great, Apse, Sub-octave, Apse Octave, Apse Unison Off, Solo to Pedal, Swell to Pedal, Great to Pedal, Choir to Pedal.
TREMULANTS to Solo, Swell, Choir and Apse.
The organ is provided with a comprehensive combination system, with eight pistons per division and eight general pistons, also reversible pistons for the couplers. The combinations on all pistons are adjustable by setter piston and there are sixteen separate levels of memory for divisional pistons, ninety nine for general pistons. A 'stepper' facility progresses through the general pistons and level by level, giving nearly 800 sequences, and a memory-card facility can store the settings of the entire system.
The heart of the organ consists of the Great Organ, Swell Organ and Pedal Organ (in the Milton organ-case) with the Choir Organ within the screen, to the west. These divisions have tracker (mechanical) key-action. The Solo Organ and Pedal Basses (also within the screen) have electro-pneumatic action, as does the remote Apse Organ.
Posted by The Gray Monk at April 16, 2004 11:08 AM
Comments
MB hopes one day to have the privilege of hearing at least one of those organs!
Posted by: MommaBear at April 17, 2004 12:29 AM
I am sure you will not be disappointed. And you will be most welcome.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at April 17, 2004 09:55 PM