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In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more Pipe organ, pipe divisions or other means for producing tones, each played from its own Manual (music), manual, with the hands, or
pedalboard, with the feet.
Overview
Overview includes:
*
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
s, which use air moving through
pipes to produce sounds. Since the 16th century, pipe organs have used various materials for pipes, which can vary widely in timbre and volume. Increasingly hybrid organs are appearing in which pipes are augmented with electric additions. Great economies of space and cost are possible especially when the lowest (and largest) of the pipes can be replaced;
* Non-piped organs, which include:
**
pump organs, also known as reed organs or harmoniums, which like the
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
and
mouth organs (both Eastern and Western), notably the
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
, which use air to excite
free reeds;
**
electronic organs
Electronic may refer to:
* Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
(both analog and digital), notably the
Hammond organ, which generate electronically produced sound through one or more
loudspeakers;
*
Mechanical organs, which include the
barrel organ
A barrel organ (also called roller organ or crank organ) is a French mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated. The basic principle is the sa ...
,
water organ, and
Orchestrion. These are controlled by mechanical means such as pinned
barrels
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
or
book music
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical a ...
. Little barrel organs dispense with the hands of an
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...
and bigger organs are powered in most cases by an
organ grinder or today by other means such as an
electric motor.
History
Predecessors
Predecessors to the organ include:
*
Panpipes, pan flute, syrinx, and
nai, ''etc.'', are considered as ancestor of the
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
.
*
Aulos
An ''aulos'' ( grc, αὐλός, plural , ''auloi'') or ''tibia'' (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.
Though ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or "double flute", it was us ...
, an ancient double reed instrument with two pipes, is the origin of the word ''Hydr-aulis'' (water-aerophone).
Origins
Depiction of an organ in the ">Utrecht Psalter
The organ is a relatively old
musical instrument, dating from the time of
Ctesibius of Alexandria
Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius ( grc-gre, Κτησίβιος; fl. 285–222 BC) was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps (a ...
(285–222 BC), who invented the
water organ. It was played throughout the
Ancient Greek and
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
world, particularly during races and games.
[Douglas Bush and Richard Kassel eds.]
"The Organ, an Encyclopedia."
Routledge. 2006. p. 327. During the early medieval period it spread from the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, where it continued to be used in secular (non-religious) and imperial court music, to
Western Europe, where it gradually assumed a prominent place in the
liturgy of the
Catholic Church.
Subsequently, it re-emerged as a secular and
recital instrument in the
Classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
tradition.
Early organs
Early organs include:
* 3rd century BC: the
Hydraulis
The water organ or hydraulic organ ( el, ὕδραυλις) (early types are sometimes called hydraulos, hydraulus or hydraula) is a type of pipe organ blown by air, where the power source pushing the air is derived by water from a natural source ...
, ancient Greek water-powered organ played by valves.
* 1st century (''at least''): the ''Ptera'' and the ''Pteron'', an ancient Roman organ similar in appearance to the portative organs
* 2nd century: the
Magrepha, ancient Hebrew organ of ten pipes played by a keyboard
* 8th century: ''Pippin's organ of 757'' (
Carolingian dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
) was sent as a gift to the West by the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
emperor
Constantine V
Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...
* 9th century: the
automatic flute player (and possibly automatic hydropowered organ), a
mechanical organ by the
Banū Mūsā
The Banū Mūsā brothers ("Sons of Moses"), namely Abū Jaʿfar, Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (before 803 – February 873); Abū al‐Qāsim, Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th century); and Al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th ce ...
brothers
Medieval organs
Medieval organs include:
*
Portative organ
A portative organ (from the Latin verb , "to carry"), also known during Italian Trecento as the , is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a ri ...
: a small portable medieval instrument
*
Positive organ
A positive organ (also positiv organ, positif organ, portable organ, chair organ, or simply positive, positiv, positif, or chair) (from the Latin verb ''ponere'', "to place") is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more ...
: a somewhat larger though still portable instrument
*
Regal: a portable late-medieval instrument with reed pipes and bellows; forerunner of the
harmonium and
reed organ
Pipe organs
The
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
is the largest
musical instrument. These instruments vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic meter to a height reaching five floors, and are
built in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and homes. Small organs are called "
positive
Positive is a property of positivity and may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Positive formula, a logical formula not containing negation
* Positive number, a number that is greater than 0
* Plus sign, the sign "+" used to indicate a posi ...
" (easily placed in different locations) or "
portative
A portative organ (from the Latin verb , "to carry"), also known during Italian Trecento as the , is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a ri ...
" (small enough to carry while playing).
The pipes are divided into ranks and controlled by the use of
hand stops and
combination pistons. Although the keyboard is not
expressive as on a piano and does not affect
dynamics (it is binary; pressing a key only turns the sound on or off), some divisions may be enclosed in a
swell box, allowing the dynamics to be controlled by shutters. Some organs are totally enclosed, meaning that all the divisions can be controlled by one set of shutters. Some special registers with free reed pipes are expressive.
It has existed in its current form since the 14th century, though similar designs were common in the
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
from the early
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period (from the 4th century AD) and precursors, such as the
hydraulic organ, have been found dating to the late
Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
(1st century BC). Along with the
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...
, it was considered one of the most complex human-made mechanical creations before the
Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a single short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000
pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards (
manuals) with five octaves (61 notes) each, and a two-and-a-half octave (32-note)
pedal board.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the "King of instruments". Some of the biggest instruments have 64-foot pipes (a foot here means "sonic-foot", a measure quite close to the English measurement unit) and it sounds to an 8
Hz frequency fundamental tone. Perhaps the most distinctive feature is the ability to range from the slightest sound to the most powerful,
plein-jeu
On classical French organs, the plein jeu is a principal-based plenum registration. It includes the Montres, Bourdons, Prestants and Doublettes (Principals 16′, 8′, 4′ and 2′) and the Fournitures and Cymbales (lower- and higher-pitched m ...
impressive sonic discharge, which can be sustained in time indefinitely by the organist. For instance, the
Wanamaker organ, located in
Philadelphia, USA, has sonic resources comparable with three simultaneous symphony orchestras. Another interesting feature lies in its intrinsic "
polyphony" approach: each set of pipes can be played simultaneously with others, and the sounds mixed and interspersed in the environment, not in the instrument itself.
Church
Most organs in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia can be found in Christian churches.
The introduction of church organs is traditionally attributed to
Pope Vitalian
Pope Vitalian ( la, Vitalianus; died 27 January 672) was the bishop of Rome from 30 July 657 to his death. His pontificate was marked by the dispute between the papacy and the imperial government in Constantinople over Monothelitism, which Rome ...
in the 7th century. Due to its simultaneous ability to provide a musical foundation below the vocal register, support in the vocal register, and increased brightness above the vocal register, the organ is ideally suited to accompany
human voices, whether a
congregation
A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship.
Congregation may also refer to:
*Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship
*Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...
, a
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...
, or a cantor or soloist.
Most services also include solo
organ repertoire for independent performance rather than by way of accompaniment, often as a prelude at the beginning the service and a postlude at the conclusion of the service.
Today this organ may be a pipe organ (see above), a digital or electronic organ that generates the sound with digital signal processing (DSP) chips, or a combination of pipes and electronics. It may be called a church organ or classical organ to differentiate it from the
theatre organ
A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s.
Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...
, which is a different style of instrument. However, as classical
organ repertoire was developed for the pipe organ and in turn influenced its development, the line between a church and a concert organ became harder to draw.
Concert hall
In the late 19th century and early 20th century,
symphonic organs flourished in secular venues in the United States and the United Kingdom, designed to replace symphony orchestras by playing transcriptions of orchestral pieces. Symphonic and orchestral organs largely fell out of favor as the ''
orgelbewegung The Organ Reform Movement or ''Orgelbewegung'' (also called the Organ Revival Movement) was a mid-20th-century trend in pipe organ building, originating in Germany. The movement was most influential in the United States in the 1930s through 1970s, ...
'' (organ reform movement) took hold in the middle of the 20th century, and organ builders began to look to historical models for inspiration in constructing new instruments. Today, modern builders construct organs in a variety of styles for both secular and sacred applications.
Theatre and cinema
left, Theatre organ in State Cinema, Grays. (Compton Organ)
The
theatre organ
A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s.
Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...
or cinema organ was designed to accompany
silent movie
''Silent Movie'' is a 1976 American satirical comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid C ...
s. Like a symphonic organ, it is made to replace an orchestra. However, it includes many more gadgets, such as mechanical percussion accessories and other imitative sounds useful in creating movie sound accompaniments such as auto horns, doorbells, and bird whistles. It typically features the Tibia pipe family as its foundation stops and the regular use of a tremulant possessing a depth greater than that on a classical organ.
Theatre organs tend not to take nearly as much space as standard organs, relying on
extension
Extension, extend or extended may refer to:
Mathematics
Logic or set theory
* Axiom of extensionality
* Extensible cardinal
* Extension (model theory)
* Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate
* Ext ...
(sometimes called unification) and higher wind pressures to produce a greater variety of tone and larger volume of sound from fewer pipes. Unification gives a smaller instrument the capability of a much larger one, and works well for monophonic styles of playing (chordal, or chords with solo voice). The sound is, however, thicker and more homogeneous than a classically designed organ.
In the USA the
American Theater Organ Society (ATOS) has been instrumental in programs to preserve examples of such instruments.
Chamber organ
upChamber organ by Pascoal Caetano Oldovini (1762).
A chamber organ is a small pipe organ, often with only one manual, and sometimes without separate pedal pipes that is placed in a small room, that this diminutive organ can fill with sound. It is often confined to chamber organ repertoire, as often the organs have too few voice capabilities to rival the grand pipe organs in the performance of the classics. The sound and touch are unique to the instrument, sounding nothing like a large organ with few stops drawn out, but rather much more intimate. They are usually
tracker instruments, although the modern builders are often building electropneumatic chamber organs.
Pre-Beethoven keyboard music may usually be as easily played on a chamber organ as on a piano or harpsichord, and a chamber organ is sometimes preferable to a harpsichord for
continuo playing as it is more suitable for producing a sustained tone.
Non-piped organs
Reed or pump organ
file:Footpropelled organ.jpg , thumb , right , A
harmonium. Operation of the two large pedals at the bottom of the case supplies wind to the reeds.
The pump organ, reed organ or harmonium, was the other main type of organ before the development of the electronic organ. It generated its sounds using reeds similar to those of an
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
. Smaller, cheaper and more portable than the corresponding pipe instrument, these were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes, but their volume and tonal range was extremely limited. They were generally limited to one or two manuals; they seldom had a pedalboard.
*
Harmonium or parlor organ: a reed instrument, usually with several stops and two foot-operated bellows.
*
American reed organ
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
: similar to the Harmonium, but that works on negative pressure, sucking air through the reeds.
*
Melodeon: a reed instrument with an air reservoir and a foot-operated bellows. It was popular in the US in the mid-19th century. (This should not to be confused with the
diatonic button accordion
A melodeon or diatonic button accordion is a member of the free-reed aerophone family of musical instruments. It is a type of button accordion on which the melody-side keyboard contains one or more rows of buttons, with each row producing the ...
which is also known as the melodeon.)
The
chord organ
Chord organ is a kind of home organ that has a single short keyboard and a set of chord buttons, enabling the musician to play a melody or lead with one hand and accompanying chords with the other, like the accordion with a set of chord buttons ...
was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1950.
[Laurens Hammond]
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2009 - His later inventions included the chord organ (1950, i.e. Hammond S-6 chord organ). It provided chord buttons for the left hand, similar to an accordion. Other reed organ manufacturers have also produced chord organs, most notably
Magnus
Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...
from 1958 to the late 1970s.
Electronic organs
Since the 1930s, pipeless electric instruments have been available to produce similar sounds and perform similar roles to pipe organs. Many of these have been bought both by houses of worship and other potential pipe organ customers, and also by many musicians both professional and amateur for whom a pipe organ would not be a possibility. Far smaller and cheaper to buy than a corresponding pipe instrument, and in many cases portable, they have taken organ music into private homes and into dance bands and other new environments, and have almost completely replaced the reed organ.
;Hammond
left, Hammond B3 organ,
with
Leslie cabinet.
The
Hammond organ was the first successful
electric organ
An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the pump organ, harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has sinc ...
, released in the 1930s. It used mechanical, rotating
tonewheels to produce the sound waveforms. Its system of
drawbars allowed for setting volumes for specific sounds, and it provided vibrato-like effects. The drawbars allow the player to choose volume levels. By emphasizing certain harmonics from the overtone series, desired sounds (such as 'brass' or 'string') can be imitated. Generally, the older Hammond drawbar organs had only preamplifiers and were connected to an external, amplified speaker. The
Leslie speaker, which rotates to create a distinctive
tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo.
The first is a rapid reiteration:
* Of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments, by rapidly moving the bow back and fo ...
, became the most popular.
Though originally produced to replace organs in the church, the Hammond organ, especially the model B-3, became popular in
jazz, particularly
soul jazz, and in
gospel music. Since these were the roots of
rock and roll, the Hammond organ became a part of the rock and roll sound. It was widely used in rock and popular music during the 1960s and 1970s by bands like
Emerson, Lake and Palmer,
Procol Harum
Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for t ...
,
Santana and
Deep Purple. Its popularity resurged in pop music around 2000, in part due to the availability of
clonewheel organ
A clonewheel organ is an electronic musical instrument that emulates (or " clones") the sound of the electromechanical tonewheel-based organs formerly manufactured by Hammond from the 1930s to the 1970s. Clonewheel organs generate sounds using so ...
s that were light enough for one person to carry.
;Allen
In contrast to Hammond's electro-mechanical design, Allen Organ Company introduced the first totally electronic organ in 1938, based on the stable oscillator designed and patented by the company's founder, Jerome Markowitz.
Allen continued to advance analog tone generation through the 1960s with additional patents.
In 1971, in collaboration with North American Rockwell,
Allen introduced the world's first commercially available digital musical instrument. The first Allen Digital Organ is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
;Other analogue electronic
A combo organ">Vox Continental combo organ
Frequency divider organs used
oscillators instead of mechanical parts to make sound. These were even cheaper and more portable than the Hammond. They featured an ability to bend pitches.
In the 1940s until the 1970s, small organs were sold that simplified traditional organ stops. These instruments can be considered the predecessor to modern portable
keyboards, as they included one-touch chords, rhythm and accompaniment devices, and other electronically assisted gadgets.
Lowrey was the leading manufacturer of this type of organs in the smaller (spinet) instruments.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a type of simple, portable electronic organ called the
combo organ
A combo organ, so-named and classified by popular culture due to its original intended use by small, touring jazz, pop and dance groups known as "combo bands", as well as some models having "Combo" as part of their brand or model names, is an elec ...
was popular, especially with pop,
Ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
(in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and rock bands, and was a signature sound in the rock music of the period, such as
The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
and
Iron Butterfly. The most popular combo organs were manufactured by
Farfisa and
Vox.
Conn-Selmer and
Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish ad ...
, dominant in the market for larger instruments, also made electronic organs that used
separate oscillators for each note rather than frequency dividers, giving them a richer sound, closer to a pipe organ, due to the slight imperfections in tuning.
Hybrids, starting in the early 20th century,
[Synthetic Radio Organ Church Diagram French Print 1934]
The ILlustration Newspaper of 1934, Paris incorporate a few ranks of pipes to produce some sounds, and use electronic circuits or digital samples for other sounds and to resolve borrowing collisions. Major manufacturers include
Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to:
Buildings
* Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee
* Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas
* Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...
, Walker,
Compton, Wicks, Marshall & Ogletree, Phoenix, Makin Organs, Wyvern Organs and
Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish ad ...
.
;Digital
A modern digital organ ( Nord Electro 2) utilizing
modeling and
DSP technology
The development of the
integrated circuit enabled another revolution in electronic keyboard instruments.
Digital organs sold since the 1970s utilize
additive synthesis
Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together.
The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic '' partials'' ...
, then
sampling technology (1980s) and
physical modelling synthesis (1990s) are also utilized to produce the sound.
Virtual pipe organs use
MIDI to access samples of real pipe organs stored on a computer, as opposed to digital organs that use DSP and processor hardware inside a console to produce the sounds or deliver the sound samples. Touch screen monitors allows the user to control the virtual organ console; a traditional console and its physical stop and coupler controls is not required. In such a basic form, a virtual organ can be obtained at a much lower cost than other digital classical organs.
Mechanical organs
Mechanical organs include:
*
Barrel organ
A barrel organ (also called roller organ or crank organ) is a French mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated. The basic principle is the sa ...
: made famous by
organ grinders in its portable form, the larger form often equipped with keyboards for human performance
*
Organette
The Organette was a mechanical free-reed programmable (automatic) musical instrument first manufactured in the late 1870s by several companies such as John McTammany of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Autophone Company of Ithaca, New York, the Auto ...
: small, accordion-like instrument manufactured in New York in the late 1800s
* Novelty instruments or various types that operate on the same principles. These pipe organs use a ''piano roll'' player or other mechanical means instead of a keyboard to play a prepared song:
**
Orchestrion
**
Fairground organ (or
band organ
A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...
in the USA)
**
Dutch street organ
**
Dance organ
The wind can also be created by using pressurized steam instead of air. The steam organ, or
calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". ...
, was invented in the United States in the 19th century. Calliopes usually have very loud and clean sound. Calliopes are used as outdoors instruments, and many have been built on wheeled platforms.
Music
Organ in ">St Giles' Cathedral
Classical music
The organ has had an important place in
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, particularly since the 16th century. Spain's
Antonio de Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón (30 March 1510 – 26 March 1566) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most impo ...
, the Netherlands'
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard comp ...
, and Italy's
Girolamo Frescobaldi were three of the most important organist-composers before 1650. Influenced in part by Sweelinck and Frescobaldi, the
North German school The 17th century organ composers of Germany can be divided into two primary schools: the north German school and the south German school (sometimes a third school, central German, is added). The stylistic differences were dictated not only by teach ...
rose from the mid-17th century onwards to great prominence, with leading members of this school having included
Buxtehude
Buxtehude (), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (german: Hansestadt Buxtehude, nds, Hansestadt Buxthu ()), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg ...
,
Franz Tunder,
Georg Böhm,
Georg Philipp Telemann, and above all
Johann Sebastian Bach, whose contributions to organ music continue to reign supreme.
During this time, the
French Classical school also flourished.
François Couperin,
Nicolas Lebègue Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue (also ''Le Bègue''; c. 16316 July 1702) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in the 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the cou ...
,
André Raison
André Raison (c. 1640 – 1719) was a French Baroque composer and organist. During his lifetime he was one of the most famous French organists and an important influence on French organ music. He published two collections of organ works, in 168 ...
, and
Nicolas de Grigny
Nicolas de Grigny (baptized 8 September 1672 – November 30, 1703) was a French organist and composer. He died young and left behind a single collection of organ music, and an ''Ouverture'' for harpsichord.
Life
Nicolas de Grigny was born in R ...
were French organist-composers of the period. Bach knew Grigny's organ output well, and admired it. In England,
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training ...
was famous for his organ-playing no less than for his composing; several of his organ concertos, intended for his own use, are still frequently performed.
After Bach's death in 1750, the organ's prominence gradually shrank, as the instrument itself increasingly lost ground to the
piano. Nevertheless,
Felix Mendelssohn,
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
, and the less famous
A.P.F. Boëly (all of whom were themselves expert organists) led, independently of one another, a resurgence of valuable organ writing during the 19th century. This resurgence, much of it informed by Bach's example, achieved particularly impressive things in France (even though Franck himself was of Belgian birth). Major names in French Romantic organ composition are
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...
,
Louis Vierne
Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...
,
Alexandre Guilmant
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantor ...
,
Charles Tournemire
Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphon ...
, and
Eugène Gigout
Eugène Gigout (; 23 March 1844 – 9 December 1925) was a French organist and a composer, mostly of music for his own instrument.
Biography
Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organis ...
. Of these, Vierne and Tournemire were Franck pupils.
In Germany,
Max Reger (late 19th century) owes much to the harmonic daring of
Liszt (himself an organ composer) and of
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
.
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' ...
produced three organ sonatas and several works combining organ with chamber groups.
Sigfrid Karg-Elert
Sigfrid Karg-Elert (November 21, 1877April 9, 1933) was a German composer in the early twentieth century, best known for his compositions for pipe organ and reed organ.
Biography
Karg-Elert was born Siegfried Theodor Karg in Oberndorf am Neckar, ...
specialized in smaller organ pieces, mostly chorale-preludes.
Among French organist-composers,
Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
,
Maurice Duruflé
Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher.
Life and career
Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He became a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School f ...
,
Olivier Messiaen and
Jean Langlais
Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith").
Biography
Langlais was born in La ...
made significant contributions to the 20th-century organ repertoire. Organ was also used a lot for
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
,
with organists such as
Charles Tournemire
Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphon ...
,
Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
,
Pierre Cochereau
Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.
Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsible ...
,
Pierre Pincemaille
Pierre-Marie François Pincemaille (8 December 1956 – 12 January 2018) was a French organist, improviser, and pedagogue. He was known for his organ improvisations, both in concert and on CD and for his recordings of Charles-Marie Widor' ...
and
Thierry Escaich
Thierry Joseph-Louis Escaich (born 8 May 1965) is a French organist and composer.
Life
Born in Nogent-sur-Marne, Escaich studied organ, improvisation and composition at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), where he won eight First Prizes an ...
.
Some composers incorporated the instrument in symphonic works for its dramatic effect, notably
Mahler,
Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
,
Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
,
Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...
,
Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral sui ...
, and
Richard Strauss.
Saint-Saëns's ''Organ Symphony'' employs the organ more as an equitable orchestral instrument than for purely dramatic effect.
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...
wrote the sole organ concerto since Handel's to have achieved mainstream popularity.
Because the organ has both manuals and pedals, organ music has come to be notated on three
staves. The music played on the manuals is laid out like music for other keyboard instruments on the top two staves, and the music for the pedals is notated on the third stave or sometimes, to save space, added to the bottom of the second stave as was the early practice. To aid the eye in reading three staves at once, the
bar lines are broken between the lowest two staves; the brace surrounds only the upper two staves. Because music racks are often built quite low to preserve sightlines over the console, organ music is usually published in oblong or landscape format.
Jazz
Electronic organs and electromechanical organs such as the
Hammond organ have an established role in a number of popular-music genres, such as blues, jazz, gospel, and 1960s and 1970s rock music. Electronic and electromechanical organs were originally designed as lower-cost substitutes for pipe organs. Despite this intended role as a sacred music instrument, electronic and electromechanical organs' distinctive tone-often modified with electronic effects such as vibrato, rotating Leslie speakers, and overdrive-became an important part of the sound of popular music.
The electric organ, especially the
Hammond B-3, has occupied a significant role in
jazz ever since
Jimmy Smith made it popular in the 1950s. It can function as a replacement for both piano and bass in the standard jazz combo. The Hammond organ is the centrepiece of the
organ trio, a small ensemble which typically includes an organist (playing melodies, chords and basslines), a drummer and a third instrumentalist (either jazz guitar or saxophone). In the 2000s, many performers use electronic or digital organs, called
clonewheel organ
A clonewheel organ is an electronic musical instrument that emulates (or " clones") the sound of the electromechanical tonewheel-based organs formerly manufactured by Hammond from the 1930s to the 1970s. Clonewheel organs generate sounds using so ...
s, as they are much lighter and easier to transport than the heavy, bulky B-3.
Popular music
A modern digital Hammond organ in use
Performers of 20th century popular organ music include William Rowland who composed "Piano Rags";
George Wright George Wright may refer to:
Politics, law and government
* George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford
* George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island
* George Wright ...
(1920–1998) and
Virgil Fox
Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "H ...
(1912–1980), who bridged both the classical and religious areas of music.
Church-style pipe organs are sometimes used in
rock music. Examples include
Tangerine Dream,
Rick Wakeman (with
Yes and solo),
Keith Emerson (with
The Nice and
Emerson, Lake and Palmer),
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
(with
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...
),
Dennis DeYoung
Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...
(with
Styx),
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sa ...
,
Muse,
Roger Hodgson (formerly of
Supertramp),
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American alternative rock singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first sev ...
(with
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is an American alternative rock band that was founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four album ...
),
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he bac ...
and
Iron Butterfly.
Artists using the Hammond organ include
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...
,
Pink Floyd,
Hootie & the Blowfish,
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three l ...
,
Vulfpeck
Vulfpeck is an American funk band founded in 2011 by Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joe Dart. The band has released four extended plays, five studio albums and a live album, having released all of their music independently. The band ...
,
Sly Stone and
Deep Purple.
Sport
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In the United States and Canada, organ music is commonly associated with several sports, most notably baseball, basketball, and ice hockey.
The baseball organ has been referred to as "an accessory to the overall auditory experience of the ballpark." The first team to introduce an organ was the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
, who put an organ in
Wrigley Field as an experiment in 1941 for two games.
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pr ...
, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, hired baseball's first full-time organist, Gladys Goodding. Over the years, many ballparks caught on to the trend, and many organists became well-known and associated with their parks or signature tunes.
See also
*
List of organ builders
This is a list of notable pipe organ builders.
Australia
* William Anderson (1832–1921)
* Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd
* Robert Cecil Clifton (1854–1931)
* William Davidson
* J. E. Dodd & Sons Gunstar Organ Works
* Fincham & Hobday
* ...
*
List of organ composers
The following is a list of organ composers. It lists the more-important composers of music for the pipe organ.
Argentina
Modern
* Alberto Ginastera
Australia
* Graeme Koehne
* Christian Helleman
* Ernest Truman
Austria and Germany
...
*
List of organists
The following is a list of notable organists from the past and present who perform organ literature.
Living organists
Australia
* David Drury (born 1961)
* Douglas Lawrence (born 1943)
* Graeme Morton
* Christopher Wrench (born 1958)
...
*
Residence organ
A residence organ (also known variously as a house, box, cabinet, choir, continuo, home, practice, trunk, or chamber organ) is a musical organ installed in a personal home. Strictly speaking, the names ''residence'' and ''house'' organ are the m ...
*
Street organ
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
Choosing a Church Organ in the 21st Century*
External links
Organ Libraryof the Boston Chapter, AGO. 45,000 items of organ music.
Music and organ recital at Notre-Dame de Parisnpor.org.uknbsp;– Homepage of the National Pipe Organ Register of the British Institute of Organ Studies, with extensive information on and many audio samples of original instruments
The Organ Historical Societynbsp;– The Society promotes a widespread musical and historical interest in American organbuilding through collection, preservation, and publication of historical information, and through recordings and public concerts.
{{Portal bar, classical music, jazz, rhythm and blues
Keyboard instruments
*
Ancient Greek musical instruments
Articles containing video clips
Orchestral instruments