ORGAN. 



ORGAN, CONSTRUCTION OF. 



warden ; Snetzler, Byfield, Ac. ; and at a later period, Green, Avery 

 (who most successfully imitated Smith) ; Gray, Elliot. &c. 



The tone of the pipes of the old builders depending on what is 

 technically called the roiceing has never been excelled by later makers; 

 but in point of <<mrh, and mechanism generally, the moderns are much 

 superior to their predecessors. In mechanical skill and delicate finish- 

 ing the English organ-builders far surpass their Continental rivals, 

 while in tone they at least equal them ; but the costliness of our mate- 

 rials and high rate of wages render the organs of this country much 

 more expensive than those of Germany and France. It has been truly 

 observed, that " notwithstanding the imposing enumeration of so many 

 stops, the large organs of the Continent are inferior in the choice and 

 variety of them to the best English instruments ; " a part being, in 

 fact but half -stops, and several only absurd imitations of other musical 

 instruments, and mrely. if ever, used by scientific organists. 



The following is a list of some of the largest and most celebrated 

 foreign organs, from Crease's ' Account of the York Festival,' 1823, 

 " collected," he says, " from many sources, and enriched with some 

 additions communicated by the Rev. C. I. Latrobe " : 



Stops. Pipes. 

 Seville cathedral . . . . . .100 5300 



Goerlitz, in Upper Lusatia f '270 



Hamburg, St. Michael's 67 



(9 pipes of 16 fei t, and 3 of 32) 



Amsterdam, the old chnrch 64 



Welngai ten, a Benedictine monastery In Suabim . 60 6666 



(7 pipes are of 16 fret, and 5 of J) 



Toon cathedral 60 



Haarlem 60 5000 nearly, 



(8 of these pips are 16 feet, and 2 of 32 ; the greatest 

 diameter being 15 inches. It is 108 feet high, and 

 50 broad.) 



Alost 5S 



1! rlin, St. Peter's 50 



Vienna, St. Michael's 40 



Home, St. John Lateran . . . . . . 36 



Baltimore, in America SO 2213 



Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Barrow, in his ' Tour' (1830), mentions a 

 new organ erected in the church of St. Lawrence, in Rotterdam, con- 

 taining 560ii pipes, which, according to his calculation, is 150 feet in 

 height. 



Our English church-organs are numerous, and generally well toned. 



Though we have none containing so many nominal stops as a few on 



iiitinent can boast, yet we possess some which, in regard to the 



greater calibre of the pipes, and power of every kind, surpass any 



foreign instrument. Chief among these are the new organ in York 



T, and that in the town-hall of Birmingham. 



The York organ, built by Elliot and Hill, which has lately been 

 enlarged and improved, contained 66 stops all through, besides b' copula 

 stops The numlier of pipe* was 4200. The largest metal pi| wns 

 32 feet in length and 20 inches in diameter ; the largest wooden pipe 

 was 27 feet long, 3 wide, and 24 deep. This, the builder boasted, 

 would contain 12 pipes and 2 gallons of wine. Both pipes gave c, 

 three octaves below the second space in the base. It had three rows 

 of keys, and two octaves and one-third of pedals. The width of this 

 instrument was 70 feet, and its height in proportion. Tlu> i>\<\ York 

 organ, burnt in 1829. was the largest in the kingdom; it had 3254 



distributed among 62 



The Birmingham organ, built by Hill, and completed in 1838, is, as 

 regards size and power, the rival of that at York, though the Utter is 

 superior in both, but not In quality. This is 35 feet wide, 15 deep, and 

 45 high. The swell-box alone is the size of a moderately large church- 

 organ. It has 40 real stops, about 3000 pipes, 4 rows of keys, and 't 

 octaves and one-third of pedals. The largest metal pipe is 35 feet 

 long, and 21 inches in diameter, formed, as all the metal pipes in this 

 instrument are, of zinc only. The weight of the whole is about 

 40 tons. 



The old organ in St. Paul's cathedral contains 1797 pipes, divide* 

 into 28 stops ; 3 rows of keyi, 2 octaves of pedals, and the largest pipe 

 la 22 niches in diameter. That in Westminster Abbey has 28 stops, an< 

 1524 pipes ; 3 rows of keys, and double diapasons for the pedals. At 

 Exeter is an organ, built by John Loosemore, in 160(i ; its largest pipes 

 are 15 inches in diameter. The organ at Lynn, made by Snetzler, has 

 30 (tops, and among them is a dulciana, there first introduced. Green 

 built the organs at Canterbury, Windsor, Lichtield, and Salisbury 

 That in King's College chapel, Cambridge, was built by Avery. The 

 organ at Yarmouth, erected in 1740, has 29 stops. St Peter's, a 

 Leeds, contain* the same number, with 3 rows of keys, built by Messrs 

 Greenwood, of that place. The new church (if St. Luke, Chelsea, has 

 been provided with an organ, made by Nicholls, containing 33 stops 

 and Ii7'> pip. The organ of St. Sepulchre, London, contains 2501 

 pipes, divided into 40 stops; and that at Christ's Hospital, by Hill, i 

 equal in n |i:pu< and pnwirto any in the metropolis. The 



large origan in St. Patrick's, Dublin, was presented to that cathedral bj 

 queen Elizabeth. 



The Great Exhibition of 1851 contained some fine organs, bu 

 uch was the vastncss of the enclosure that they produced very littli 



effect, except in their immediate vicinity. One of these organs (by 

 Willis), altered and enlarged, went afterwards to Liverpool. Another 

 large organ, by Hill, was exhibited at the Panopticon in Leicester 

 Square, but on the breaking up of that establishment it was transferred 

 to St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to meet the altered circumstances 

 under which divine service is now at certain periods conducted in the 

 nave of that building. The organ recently built for Ely Cathedral is 

 a fine instrument. It would, however, be quite impossible, within 

 moderate limits, to do justice, even by a bare enumeration of instru- 

 ments, to the organ builders of this country, so large has been the 

 demand made on them of late years. 



The liarrel-Oiyan is an instrument by which most of the effects of a 

 small keyed-organ are produced by certain machinery. Instead of keys 

 for the fingers, the keys, if so they may be called, are inside the organ, 

 and acted on by means of a cylinder, or barrel, pinned, or studded in a 

 particular and singularly curious manner. This barrel is made to 

 revolve by a winch, and in those of an expensive kind by wheel-work 

 moved by a spring. 



The Apollouicon and the barrel-organ are described elsewhere. 



[APOLLOXICON.] 



OKGAN, CONSTRUCTION OF. We have on record several kinds 

 of organs the Sfdntulie, the Pneumatic, the Barrel, and the finger or 

 (Jlinrch organ. 



Of the hydraulic organ we know little beyond its having been 

 operated on in some way by water : it may have resembled the clepsydra, 

 r water-clock, which chimed at certain hours ; but as the passage of 

 water through the pipes would not produce musical sounds, it is pro- 

 >able that water was employed as a moving power. Indeed, the plan 

 f using water-power to work the bellows of an organ or harmonium 

 las lately been revived, and the water engine may now be considered 

 a an essential feature of an instrument which requires so large a 

 upply of wind. The pneumatic organ, whether more or less ancient 

 han the hydraulic, was certainly the parent of the present finger-organ ; 

 nit it was so decidedly rude in its construction, that it must always be 

 considered as a distinct instrument. The barrel-organ is a machine 

 vith little variety and no expression ; it nevertheless contains many 

 clever contrivances, and is daily receiving improvements. The present 

 inger-organ is the largest and noblest of all musical instruments ; its 

 >ower is that of a full band, and for delicacy and sweetness of tone it 

 unrivalled. 



In such an organ there are several thousand pipes, with arrangements 

 'or enabling the organist to make any single pipe of the number speak 

 without disturbing any of the others. Now to do this there must be, 

 I, a bellows for supplying condensed air or u-ind ; 2, a channel for 

 conveying it to the pipe in question; 3, a valve, or some contrivance 

 ;or admitting wind to this pipe when it is required to speak, and for 

 cutting off the supply when it is required to be silent ; 4, a lever for 

 opening or shutting this valve. There are many other contrivances 

 for producing variety of effect, loudness or 'softness, qualities of tone 

 resembling various musical instruments, &e. 



The seU of pipes in an organ are called sto/>x ; the corresponding 

 notes of the different stops muy agree in pitch, that is, they may be in 

 unison; or they may produce a chord or an octave above. They 

 diller however in quality of tone. Each stop is, in fact, a range of 

 pipes of the same quality of tone, and extending throughout the com- 

 pass of the instrument. When a certain stop is drawn, the keys will 

 play throughout on pipes of that character of which the stop consists. 

 A complete and full finger organ should have three sets uf kcy, and 

 at least two vctaves of pedals. 



The first set of keys takes the siccll, the second the rjreat organ , and 

 the third the choi<: The compass, as well as the size of organs, must 

 depend upon circumstances. The German scale or compass ia c c to 

 F in alt ; the English formerly descended to o below, but are now 

 generally constructed on the German principle ; the pedal organ taking 

 the notes down to c c c, which, for duet and solo performances, is cer- 

 tainly the best. A good swell is always important to an organ, and we 

 ithoulil recommend cctof in alt as the compass to be preferred. 

 The comj a s of the choir is generally the same as that of the great 

 organ. These several parts, or organs, when brought together by 

 stops, called couplers, give to the keys of the ijreal organ the command 

 of every jape in the imtrument, the power and majesty of which are 

 without parallel in instrumental combinations. 



I'nj. 1 is a section of a large organ, showing the several situations of 

 certain principal parts of the instrument, which, however, are variously 

 placed by ditlerent organ-builders. A is the smell-buy, which is usually 

 made of deal, and the thicker the better, but it certainly should not be 

 less than an inch and a half in thickness ; it must be lined with paper 

 or leather to deaden the tone when shut. The front is formed of 

 boards, all of which are made to move on centres ; they must 

 also be an inch aud a half thick. The performer opens them by a 

 pedal expressly employed for opening and shutting the swell. This 

 kind of front is what is known by the name Venetian. B is the choir 

 nuitnd-h'iard, or part in which the pipes of that part of the organ are 

 placed ; C is the great organ 8<tund-b<>ard, which also contains its pipes ; 

 i> is the ttelltn' : K is the pedal sound-board ; F is one of the front 

 pipes, to which the wind is conveyed by metal tubes, called conveyances ; 

 o o a are three roller boards, one for each organ ; H is a tracker, used 

 with squares and centres to reach distant parts of the action ; at I arc 



