How the organ works: inside view. Musical instrument: Organ - interesting facts, video, history, photo

1. In Latin organism the stress falls on the first syllable (as in its Greek prototype).
2. The frequency range of wind organs, taking into account overtones, includes almost ten octaves - from 16 Hz to 14000 Hz, which has no analogues among any other musical instruments. The dynamic range of wind organs is about 85-90 dB, the maximum value of sound pressure levels reaches 110-115 dB-C.
3. Douglas E. Bush, Richard Kassel. The organ: An encyclopedia. New York/London: 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-94174-7
4. “The organ sound is motionless, mechanical and unchanging. Without yielding to any softening finish, he brings to the fore the reality of division, attaches decisive importance to the slightest temporal relationships. But if time is the only plastic material of organ performance, then the main requirement of organ technique is the chronometric accuracy of movements. (Braudo, I. A., On organ and clavier music - L., 1976, p. 89)
5. Nicholas Thistlethwaite, Geoffrey Webber. The Cambridge companion to the organ. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-521-57584-3
6. Praetogius M. "Syntagma musicum", vol. 2, Wolffenbuttel, 1919, p. 99.
7. Riemann G. Catechism of Music History. Part 1. M., 1896. S. 20.
8. The connection between the Pan flute and the idea of ​​the organ is most clearly seen in the anthological epigram of Emperor Flavius ​​Claudius Julian (331-363): “I see reeds of a new kind growing separately on one metal field. They make a sound not from our breath, but from the wind that comes out of the skin reservoir lying under their roots, while the light fingers of a strong mortal run through the harmonic holes ... ”(Quoted from the article“ On the origin of the organ. ”-“ Russian invalid", 1848, July 29, No. 165).
9. “He has 13 or 24 bamboo pipes fitted with metal (bronze) reeds. Each tube is 1/3 smaller than the next. This set is called piao-xiao. The tubes are inserted into a hollowed-out gourd (later wooden or metal) tank. Sound is produced by blowing air into the tank and drawing air into itself. (Modr A. Musical instruments. M., 1959, p. 148).
10. Brocker 2005, p. 190: “The term 'organum' denotes both the polyphonic musical practice and the organ, which in the Middle Ages had drone pipes. It could serve as a model when it came time to call it hurdy-gurdy, since its polyphonic type is probably not very different from hurdy-gurdy. "Organistrum" can then be understood as an instrument identical or similar to an organ. Goog Riemann interpreted the name this way when he saw it as a diminutive of "organum". He thought that, just as "poetaster" came from "poeta", "organistrum" came from "organum" and originally meant "small organ" (eng. The term "organum" denotes both a polyphonic musical practice as well as the organ, which in the Middle Ages had drone pipes. It could have served as a model when it came time to name the hurdy-gurdy, since its type of polyphony was probably not very different from that of the hurdy-gurdy. The "organistrum" then can be understood to be an instrument identical with or similar to the organ. Hug Riemann interpreted the name in this manner when he saw it as a diminutive of "organum". He thought that, similar to how "poetaster" came from "poeta", "organistrum" came from "organum" and meant originally "little organ")»
11. Each instrument has its own image, description of the form and appearance, and allegorical interpretation necessary for a kind of "sanctification" of biblical instruments so that they enter the Christian cult. The last mention of Jerome's Instruments is in M. Pretorius's treatise Sintagma musicum-II; this fragment was taken by him from S. Virdung's treatise Musica getutscht 1511. First of all, the description emphasizes the unusually loud sonority of the instrument, because of which it is likened to the organ of the Jews, which is heard from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives (a paraphrase from the Talmud “From Jericho is heard ...”) . Described as a cavity made of two skins with twelve bellows pumping air into it and twelve copper pipes emitting a "thundering howl" - a kind of bagpipe. Later depictions combined bagpipe and organ elements. Furs were very often not depicted, keys and pipes could be depicted very conditionally. Wirdung, among other things, also flips the image, since it was probably copied by him from another source and he had no idea what kind of tool it was.
12. Chris Riley. The Modern Organ Guide. Xulon Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59781-667-0
13. William Harrison Barnes. The Contemporary American Organ - Its Evolution, Design and Construction. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4067-6023-1
14. Apel 1969, p. 396: "described in a 10th-century treatise entitled (GS i, 303, where it is attributed to Oddo of Cluny) (eng. is described in 10th-century treatise-titled Quomodo Organistrum Constructur (GS i, 303 where it is attributed to Oddo of Cluny))»
15. Orpha Caroline Ochse. The History of the Organ in the United States. Indiana University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-253-20495-0
16. Virtual MIDI system "Hauptwerk"
17. Stonebreaker 2012: "Each key actuated switches connected to different drawbars, or drawbars"
18. ? An Introduction to Drawbars: “Sliders are the heart and soul of your Hammond organ sound. There are two sets of nine sliders, sometimes referred to as tone bars, for the top and bottom manuals, and two pedal sliders located between the top manual and the info center display. (English) The Drawbars are the heart and soul of the sound of your Hammond Organ. There are two sets of nine Drawbars, sometimes referred to as Tonebars, for the Upper and Lower Manuals and two Drawbars for the Pedals, located between the Upper Manual and the Information Center Display)»
19. HammondWiki 2011: "The Hammond organ was originally developed to compete with the pipe organs. Sliders were a unique innovation of the Hammond keyboard musical instruments (register buttons or labels were used to control the air flow in the pipes of the pipe organs)… The Hammond organ was originally developed to compete with the pipe organ. Much of the discussion that follows is easier to understand if you have a little knowledge of pipe organ terminology. Here's a link to A Crash Course in Concepts and Terminology Concerning Organs. Drawbars were a unique Hammond innovation to keyboard musical instruments. Prior to the hammond organ, pipe organs most commonly used stop buttons or tabs to control the flow of air into a specific rank of pipes. position controls; on or off. The organist blended the sound produced by the pipe ranks by opening or closing the stops. The Hammond organ blends the relatively pure sine wave tones generated by the ToneGenerator to make sounds that are harmonically imitative of the pipe organ (obviously Jazz, Blues and Rock organists aren't always interested in imitating a pipe organ). The Hammond organist blends these harmonics by setting the position of the drawbars which increase or decrease the volume of the harmonic in the mix. .
20. Orchestrations include a variety of self-playing mechanical organs, known in Germany under the names: Spieluhr, Mechanische Orgel, ein mechanisches Musikwerk, ein Orgelwerk in eine Uhr, eine Walze in eine kleine Orgel, Flötenuhr, Laufwerk, etc. Haydn, Mozart wrote especially for these instruments , Beethoven. (Musical Encyclopedia. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, Soviet Composer. Edited by Yu. V. Keldysh. 1973-1982.)
21. Spillane 1892, pp. 642-3: “The peculiarity of the American cabinet (salon) organ lies primarily in the reed structure system invented in this country, with the help of which the tone of the sound changed, which distinguished this organ from reed instruments of foreign production. Some other features in its interior and exterior, however, distinguish it from the reed instruments called harmoniums. The "free reed", as it was first used in American accordions and seraphs, was by no means an internal invention, as writers rashly claim. It was used by European pipe organ builders for drawbar effects, as well as in individual keyboards before 1800. The "free reed" is named to distinguish it from the "beating reed" of the clarinet and the "double reed" of the oboe and bassoon. The individuality of the American parlor organ rests largely upon the system of reed structure invented in this country, upon which a tone has been evolved which is easily distinguished from that produced by the reed instruments made abroad. Several other features in its interior construction and exterior finish, however, distinguish it from the reed instruments called harmoniums. The "free reed," as it was first applied in American accordeons and seraphines, was not by any means a domestic invention, as writers recklessly assert. It was used by European pipe-organ builders for stop effects, and also in separate key-board instrument, prior to 1800. The "free reed" is so named to distinguish it from the "beating reed" of the clarionet and the "double reed" of the oboe and basson)»

Musical Instrument: Organ

The world of musical instruments is rich and diverse, so traveling through it is a very informative and at the same time exciting experience. Instruments differ from each other in shape, size, device and method of sound production and, as a result, are divided into different families: strings, winds, percussion and keyboards. Each of these families, in turn, is divided into different types, for example, the violin, cello and double bass belong to the category of stringed bowed instruments, and the guitar, mandolin and balalaika are stringed and plucked. The horn, trumpet and trombone are classified as brass instruments, while the bassoon, clarinet and oboe are classified as woodwinds. Each musical instrument is unique and has its own specific place in musical culture, for example, the organ is a symbol of beauty and mystery. It does not belong to the category of very popular instruments, since not everyone, even a professional musician, can learn to play it, but it deserves special attention. Who ever hears the organ “live” in a concert hall will get an impression for a lifetime, its sound fascinates and leaves no one indifferent. One gets the feeling that the music is pouring from the heavens and that this is a creation of someone from above. Even the appearance of the instrument, which is unique, evokes a feeling of irresistible delight, which is why the organ is called the "king of musical instruments" for a reason.

Sound

The sound of the organ is a powerful emotionally influencing polyphonic texture that causes delight and inspiration. It shocks, subjugates the imagination and is able to bring to ecstasy. The sonic possibilities of the instrument are very great, in the voice palette of the organ you can find very diverse colors, because the organ is able to imitate not only the sounds of many musical instruments, but also the singing of birds, the noise of trees, the rumble of rockfall, even the ringing of Christmas bells.

The organ has extraordinary dynamic flexibility: it is possible to perform both the most delicate pianissimo and deafening fortissimo. In addition, the sound frequency range of the instrument is within the range of infra and ultrasound.

Photo:

Interesting Facts

• The organ is the only musical instrument that has a permanent registration.
• An organist is a musician who plays the organ.
• The Concert Hall in Atlantic City (USA) is famous for the fact that its main organ is considered the largest in the world (455 registers, 7 manuals, 33112 pipes).
• Second place belongs to the Wanamaker organ (Philadelphia, USA). It weighs about 300 tons, has 451 registers, 6 manuals and 30067 pipes.
• The next largest is the organ of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is located in the German city of Passau (229 registers, 5 manuals, 17774 pipes).
• The instrument, the forerunner of the modern organ, was already popular in the first century AD, during the reign of Emperor Nero. His image is found on the coins of that time.
• During the Second World War, German soldiers called the Soviet BM-13 multiple launch rocket systems, known among our people under the name "Katyusha", because of the frightening sound they called "Stalin's organ".
• One of the oldest partially preserved samples is an organ, the production of which dates back to the 14th century. The instrument is currently on display at the National Historical Museum in Stockholm (Sweden).
• In the XIII century, small organs, called positive, were actively used in field conditions. The outstanding director S. Eisenstein in his film "Alexander Nevsky" for a more realistic image of the enemy camp - the camp of the Livonian knights, used a similar instrument in the scene while the bishop was serving mass.
• The only organ of its kind, which used pipes made of bamboo, was installed in 1822 in the Philippines, in the city of Las Piñas in the church of St. Joseph.
• The most prestigious International organ competitions at present are: the M. Čiurlionis Competition (Vilnius, Lithuania); competition named after A. Gedike (Moscow, Russia); name contest I.S. Bach (Leipzig, Germany); competition of performers in Geneva (Switzerland); competition named after M. Tariverdiev (Kaliningrad, Russia).
• The largest organ in Russia is located in the Cathedral of Kaliningrad (90 registers, 4 manuals, 6.5 thousand pipes).

Design

An organ is a musical instrument that includes a huge number of different parts, so a detailed description of its design is quite complicated. The organ is always made individually, as it is necessarily determined by the size of the building in which it is installed. The height of the instrument can reach 15 meters, the width varies within 10 meters, the depth is about 4 meters. The weight of such a huge structure is measured in tons.

It has not only very large dimensions, but also a complex structure, including pipes, a machine and a complex control system.

There are a lot of pipes in the organ - several thousand. The length of the largest pipe is more than 10 meters, the smallest - a few centimeters. The diameter of large pipes is measured in decimeters, and small pipes - in millimeters. For the manufacture of pipes, two materials are used - wood and metal (a complex alloy of lead, tin and other metals). The shapes of the pipes are very diverse - these are a cone, a cylinder, a double cone and others. Pipes are arranged in rows, not only vertically, but also horizontally. Each row has the voice of an instrument and is called a register. The registers in the organ number in tens and hundreds.

The organ control system is a performing console, which is otherwise called an organ pulpit. Here are the manuals - hand keyboards, pedal - keyboard for the feet, as well as a large number of buttons, levers, as well as various control lights.

Levers located on the right and left, as well as above the keyboards, turn the registers of the instrument on and off. The number of levers corresponds to the number of instrument registers. A signaling control light is installed above each lever: it lights up if the register is turned on. The functions of some levers are duplicated by buttons located above the foot keyboard.

Also above the manuals there are buttons that have a very important purpose - this is the memory of the organ control. With its help, the organist before the performance can program the order of switching registers. When you press the buttons of the memory mechanism, the registers of the instrument are switched on in a certain order automatically.

The number of manual keyboards - manuals on the organ, is from two to six, and they are located one above the other. The number of keys on each manual is 61, which corresponds to a range of five octaves. Each manual is associated with a specific group of pipes and also has its own name: Hauptwerk. Oberwerk, Rückpositiv, Hinterwerk, Brustwerk, Solowerk, Choir.

The footboard, which produces very low sounds, has 32 widely spaced pedal keys.

A very important component of the instrument is the bellows, which are blown with air by powerful electric fans.

Application

The organ today, as in former times, is used very actively. It is also used to accompany Catholic and Protestant worship. Quite often, churches with an organ serve as a kind of “decorated” concert halls in which concerts are held not only for the organ, but also for chamber And symphonic music. In addition, at the present time, organs are installed in large concert halls, where they are used not only as soloists, but also as accompanying instruments. The organ sounds beautifully with a chamber ensemble, vocalists, a choir and a symphony orchestra. Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus" A. Scriabin, Symphony No. 3 C. Saint-Saens. The organ also sounds in the program symphony "Manfred". P.I. Tchaikovsky. It is worth noting that, although not often, the organ is used in opera performances such as “Faust” by C. Gounod, “ Sadko» N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, « Othello» D.Verdi, "Maid of Orleans" by P.I.Tchaikovsky.

It is important to note that organ music is the fruit of the creations of very talented composers, including in the 16th century: A. Gabrieli, A. Cabezon, M. Claudio; in the 17th century: J. S. Bach, N. Grigny, D. Buxtehude, J. Pachelbel, D. Frescobaldi, G. Purcell, I. Froberger, I. Reinken, M. Weckmann; in the 18th century W. A. ​​Mozart, D. Zipoli, G. F. Handel, W. Lübeck, J. Krebs; in the 19th century M. Bossi, L. Boelman, A. Bruckner, A. Gilman, J. Lemmens, G. Merkel, F. Moretti, Z. Neukom, C. Saint-Saens, G. Foret, M. Ciurlionis. M. Reger, Z. Karg-Elert, S. Frank, F. Liszt, R. Schumann, F. Mendelssohn, I. Brahms, L. Vierne; in the 20th century P. Hindemith, O. Messiaen, B. Britten, A. Honegger, D. Shostakovich, B. Tishchenko, S. Slonimsky, R. Shchedrin, A. Gedicke, C. Widor, M. Dupre, F. Novoveisky , O. Yanchenko.

Notable artists

From the very beginning of its appearance, the organ attracted a lot of attention. Performing music on an instrument has always been a difficult task, and therefore only truly talented musicians could be real virtuosos, moreover, many of them composed music for the organ. Among the performers of the past, such famous musicians as A. Gabrieli, A. Cabezon, M. Claudio, J. S. Bach, N. Grigny, D. Buxtehude, I. Pachelbel, D. Frescobaldi, I. Froberger, I. Reinken, M. Weckmann, W. Lübeck, I. Krebs, M. Bossi, L. Boelman, Anton Bruckner, L. Wiern, A. Gilman, J. Lemmens, G. Merkel, F. Moretti, Z. Neukom, C. Saint-Saens, G. Fauré M. Reger, Z. Karg-Ehlert, S. Frank, A. Gedicke, O. Yanchenko. There are quite a lot of talented organists at the present time, it is impossible to list them all, but here are the names of some of them: T. Trotter (Great Britain), G. Martin (Canada), H. Inoue (Japan), L. Rogg (Switzerland), F. Lefebvre , (France), A. Fiseisky (Russia), D. Briggs, (USA), W. Marshall, (Great Britain), P. Planyavsky, (Austria), W. Benig, (Germany), D. Gettsche, (Vatican ), A. Wibo, (Estonia), G. Idenstam, (Sweden).

History of the organ

The unique history of the organ begins in very ancient times and spans several millennia. Art historians suggest that the predecessors of the organ are three ancient instruments. Initially, it is a multi-barreled Pan flute, consisting of several reed tubes of various lengths attached to each other, each of which makes only one sound. The second instrument was the Babylonian bagpipe, where a fur chamber was used to create sound. And the third progenitor of the organ is considered to be the Chinese sheng - a wind instrument with vibrating reeds inserted into bamboo tubes attached to the resonator body.

Pan flute players dreamed that it would have a wider range, for this they added a number of sound tubes. The instrument turned out to be very large, and it was rather inconvenient to play it. Once the famous ancient Greek mechanic Ktesibius, who lived in the second century BC, saw and pitied an unfortunate flutist who was struggling with a bulky instrument. The inventor figured out how to make it easier for the musician to play the instrument and adapted to the flute for air supply, first one piston pump, and then two. In the future, Ctesibius improved his invention for a uniform supply of air flow and, accordingly, smoother sound transmission by attaching a tank to the structure, which was in a large container with water. This hydraulic press made the musician's job easier, as it freed him from blowing air into the instrument, but required two more people to pump the pumps. And so that the air did not go to all the pipes, but to the one that was supposed to sound at the moment, the inventor adapted special dampers to the pipes. The task of the musician was to open and close them at the right time and in a certain sequence. Ktesibius called his invention hydravlos, that is, “water flute”, but among the people they began to call it simply “organ”, which means “instrument” in Greek. What the musician dreamed about has come true, the range of hydraulics has greatly expanded: a large number of pipes of different sizes have been added to it. In addition, the organ acquired the function of polyphony, that is, it could, unlike its predecessor, the Pan flute, simultaneously produce several sounds. The organ of that time had a sharp and loud sound, so it was effectively used in public spectacles: gladiator fights, chariot races and other similar performances.

Meanwhile, the musical masters continued to work on improving the instrument, which was gaining more and more popularity. During early Christianity, the hydraulic structure of Ctesibius was replaced by bellows, and then by a whole system of bellows, which greatly improved the sound quality of the instrument. The size and number of pipes increased significantly. In the 4th century AD, organs had already reached large sizes. The countries in which they developed most intensively were France, Italy, Germany and Spain. However, for example, in the 5th century, the instruments installed in most Spanish temples were used only during large services. Changes took place in the 6th century, namely in 666, when, by special order of the Pope Vitaly, the sounding of organs became an integral part of the Catholic church service. In addition, the instrument was an obligatory attribute of various imperial ceremonies.

Improvement of the body continued at all times. The size of the instrument and its acoustic capabilities grew very rapidly. The number of pipes, which, for a variety of timbre coloration, were made both metal and wooden, reached several hundred. Organs acquired enormous size and began to be built into the walls of temples. Organs made by masters from Byzantium were considered the best instruments of that time, in the 9th century the center of their production moved to Italy, and somewhat later German masters mastered this complex art. The 11th century characterizes the next stage in the development of the instrument. Organs were built that differed in shape and size - real works of art. The masters continued to work on the modernization of the instrument, for example, a special table with keyboards, called manuals, was designed. However, playing such an instrument was not an easy task. The keys were huge, their length could reach 30 cm, and their width -10 cm. The musician touched the keyboard not with his fingers, but with his fists or elbows.

The 13th century is a new stage in the development of the instrument. Small portable organs appeared, which were called portable and positive. They quickly gained popularity, as they were adapted for field conditions and were indispensable participants in hostilities. These were compact instruments with few pipes, one row of keys, and a fur chamber for blowing air.

In the XIV-XV centuries, the organ became even more in demand and, accordingly, developed intensively. A keyboard for legs appears and a large number of levers that switch timbres and registers. The possibilities of the organ increased: it could imitate the sound of various musical instruments and even the singing of birds. But most importantly, the size of the keys was reduced, which led to the expansion of the performing possibilities of organists.

In the XVI-XVII centuries, the organ becomes an even more complex instrument. His keyboard on different instruments could vary from two to seven manuals, each of which contained a range of up to five octaves, and a special console was designed to control the musical giant. At that time, such remarkable composers as D. Frescobaldi, J. Sweelinck, D. Buxtehude, I. Pachelbel worked for the instrument.

The 18th century is considered the “Golden Age of the Organ.” Organ building and performance on the instrument reached an unprecedented peak. Organs built during this period had excellent sound and transparency of timbre. And the greatness of this instrument was immortalized in the work of the brilliant I.S. Bach.

The 19th century was also marked by pioneering research in organ building. The talented French master Aristide Cavaille-Coll, as a result of constructive improvements, modeled an instrument that was more powerful in sound and scale, and also had new timbres. Such organs later became known as symphonic organs.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, organs began to be supplied with various electrical and then electronic devices.

It is no coincidence that the organ is called the "king of music", it has always been the most grandiose and mysterious musical instrument. Its majestic sound, which has great persuasive power, leaves no one indifferent, and the emotional impact of this instrument on the listener is immeasurable, since music of a very wide range is subject to it: from cosmic reflections to subtle emotional human experiences.

Video: listen to the organ

The organ is an ancient instrument. Its distant predecessors seem to have been the bagpipes and Pan's flute. In ancient times, when there were no complex musical instruments yet, several reed pipes of different sizes began to be connected together - this is the Pan flute.

It was believed that the god of forests and groves Pan came up with it. It is easy to play on one pipe: it needs a little air. But playing on several at once is much more difficult - there is not enough breath. Therefore, already in ancient times, people were looking for a mechanism that replaces human breathing. They found such a mechanism: they began to pump air with bellows, the same as those with which blacksmiths fanned the fire in the furnace.
In the second century BC in Alexandria, Ktesebius (Latin Ctesibius, approximately III - II centuries BC) invented a hydraulic organ. Note that this Greek nickname literally means "Creator of life" (Greek Ktesh-bio), i.e. simply God. This Ctesibius allegedly also invented a float water clock (which has not come down to us), a piston pump and a hydraulic drive.
- long before the discovery of Torricelli's law (1608-1647). (In what conceivable way, in the 2nd century BC, it was possible to ensure the tightness necessary to create a vacuum in the Ctesibian pump? What material could the connecting rod mechanism of the pump be made of - after all, to ensure the sound of an organ, an initial overpressure of at least 2 atm is required. ?).
In the hydraulics, air was pumped not with bellows, but with a water press. Therefore, he acted more evenly, and the sound turned out better - smoother and more beautiful.
Gidravlos was used by the Greeks and Romans at hippodromes, in circuses, and also to accompany pagan mysteries. The sound of the hydraulics was unusually strong and piercing. In the first centuries of Christianity, the water pump was replaced by air bellows, which made it possible to increase the size of the pipes and their number in the organ.
Centuries passed, the instrument improved. The so-called performing console or performing table appeared. There are several keyboards on it, one above the other, and at the bottom are huge foot keys - pedals that produced the lowest sounds. Of course, reed pipes - Pan's flutes - were long forgotten. Metal pipes sounded in the organ, and their number reached many thousands. It is clear that if each pipe had a corresponding key, then it would be impossible to play an instrument with thousands of keys. Therefore, register knobs or buttons were made above the keyboards. Each key corresponds to several tens or even hundreds of pipes that produce sounds of the same height, but of a different timbre. They can be turned on and off with register knobs, and then, at the request of the composer and performer, the sound of the organ becomes like a flute, then an oboe or other instruments; he can even imitate the singing of birds.
Already in the middle of the 5th century, organs were built in Spanish churches, but since the instrument still sounded loud, it was used only on major holidays.
By the 11th century, all of Europe was building organs. An organ built in 980 in Wenchester (England) was known for its unusual size. Gradually, the keys replaced the clumsy large "plates"; the range of the instrument has become wider, the registers have become more diverse. At the same time, a small portable organ - portable and a miniature stationary organ - positive came into wide use.
The musical encyclopedia says that the keys of the organ until the 14th century. were huge
- 30-33 cm long and 8-9 cm wide. The playing technique was very simple: such keys were beaten with fists and elbows (German: Orgel schlagen). What organ lofty divine-spirited masses could sound in Catholic cathedrals (it is believed that from the 7th century AD) with such a performance technique?? Or were they orgies?
17th-18th centuries - "golden age" of organ building and organ performance.
The organs of this time were distinguished by their beauty and variety of sound; exceptional timbre clarity and transparency made them excellent instruments for performing polyphonic music.
Organs were built in all Catholic cathedrals and large churches. Their solemn and powerful sound was the best suited to the architecture of cathedrals with upward lines and high vaults. The best musicians in the world served as church organists. A lot of great music has been written for this instrument by various composers, including Bach. Most often they wrote for the "Baroque organ", which was more common than the organs of previous or subsequent periods. Of course, not all music created for the organ was cult, associated with the church.
The so-called "secular" works were also composed for him. In Russia, the organ was only a secular instrument, since in the Orthodox Church, unlike the Catholic Church, it was never installed.
Beginning in the 18th century, composers included the organ in the oratorio. And in the 19th century, he appeared in the opera. As a rule, this was caused by a stage situation - if the action took place in the temple or near it. Tchaikovsky, for example, used the organ in the opera The Maid of Orleans in the scene of the solemn coronation of Charles VII. We hear the organ in one of the scenes of Gounod's opera "Faust"
(scene in the cathedral). But Rimsky-Korsakov in the opera "Sadko" instructed the organ to accompany the song of the Elder, the mighty hero, who interrupts the dance
Sea king. Verdi in the opera "Othello" imitates the noise of a sea storm with the help of an organ. Sometimes the organ is included in the score of symphonic works. With his participation, the Third Symphony of Saint-Saens, the Poem of Ecstasy and Scriabin's "Prometheus" are performed in the symphony "Manfred" by Tchaikovsky, the organ also sounds, although the composer did not foresee this. He wrote the part for the harmonium, which the organ often replaces there.
Romanticism of the 19th century, with its desire for expressive orchestral sound, had a dubious influence on organ building and organ music; the craftsmen tried to create instruments that were an "orchestra for one performer", but as a result, the matter was reduced to a weak imitation of an orchestra.
However, in the 19th and 20th centuries many new timbres appeared in the organ, and significant improvements were made in the design of the instrument.
The trend towards ever larger organs culminated in the huge 33,112-pipe organ in Atlantic City, New York.
Jersey). This instrument has two pulpits, and one of them has 7 keyboards. Despite this, in the 20th century. organists and organ builders realized the need to return to simpler and more convenient instrument types.

The remains of the oldest organ-like instrument with a hydraulic drive were found in 1931 during the excavations of Aquincum (near Budapest) and dated to 228 AD. e. It is believed that this city, which had a forced water supply system, was destroyed in 409. However, in terms of the level of development of hydraulic technology, this is the middle of the 15th century.

The structure of the modern organ.
The organ is a keyboard-wind musical instrument, the largest and most complex of the existing instruments. They play it like a piano by pressing the keys. But unlike the piano, the organ is not a string instrument, but a wind instrument, and it turns out to be a relative not to keyboard instruments, but to a small flute.
A huge modern organ consists, as it were, of three or more organs, and the performer can control all of them at the same time. Each of the organs that make up such a "large organ" has its own registers (sets of pipes) and its own keyboard (manual). Pipes lined up in rows are located in the internal premises (chambers) of the organ; part of the pipes may be visible, but in principle all pipes are hidden by a facade (avenue) consisting partly of decorative pipes. The organist sits behind the so-called spiltis (pulpit), in front of him are the keyboards (manuals) of the organ, arranged in terraces one above the other, and under his feet is a pedal keyboard. Each of the organs in
“large organ”, has its own purpose and name; among the most common are “main” (German Haupwerk), “upper”, or “oberwerk”
(German: Oberwerk), Rykpositiv, and a set of pedal registers. The "main" organ is the largest and contains the main registers of the instrument. "Rukpositive" is similar to "Main", but smaller and softer, and also contains some special solo registers. The "upper" organ adds new solo and onomatopoeic timbres to the ensemble; connected to the pedal are pipes that produce low sounds to enhance the bass lines.
The pipes of some of their named organs, especially the "upper" and "ruckpositive", are placed inside semi-closed shutter-chambers, which can be closed or opened using the so-called channel, resulting in the creation of crescendo and diminuendo effects that are not available on the organ without this mechanism. In modern organs, air is forced into the pipes by an electric motor; through wooden air ducts, air from the bellows enters the windlads - a system of wooden boxes with holes in the top cover. Organ pipes are reinforced with their "legs" in these holes. From the windlad, air under pressure enters one or another pipe.
Since each pipe is capable of producing one sound pitch and one timbre, a standard five octave manual requires a set of at least 61 pipes. In general, an organ can have from several hundred to many thousands of tubes. A group of pipes producing sounds of the same timbre is called a register. When the organist turns on the register on the spike (using a button or lever located on the side of the manuals or above them), access to all the pipes of this register is opened. Thus, the performer can choose any register he needs or any combination of registers.
There are different types of pipes that create a variety of sound effects.
Pipes are made of tin, lead, copper and various alloys
(mainly lead and tin), in some cases wood is also used.
The length of the pipes can be from 9.8 m to 2.54 cm or less; the diameter varies depending on the pitch and timbre of the sound. Organ pipes are divided into two groups according to the method of sound production (labial and reed) and into four groups according to timbres. In labial pipes, sound is formed as a result of an air jet hitting the lower and upper lip of the "mouth" (labium) - a cut in the lower part of the pipe; in reed pipes, the source of sound is a metal tongue vibrating under the pressure of an air jet. The main families of registers (timbres) are principals, flutes, gambas and reeds.
Principals are the foundation of all organ sounding; flute registers sound calmer, softer and to some extent resemble orchestral flutes in timbre; gambas (strings) are more piercing and sharper than flutes; the timbre of the reeds is metallic, imitating the timbres of orchestral wind instruments. Some organs, especially theater organs, also have drum tones, such as cymbals and drums.
Finally, many registers are built in such a way that their pipes do not give the main sound, but its transposition by an octave higher or lower, and in the case of the so-called mixtures and aliquots, not even one sound, but also overtones to the main tone (aliquots reproduce one overtone, mixtures up to seven overtones).

Organ in Russia.
The organ, whose development has long been associated with the history of the Western Church, was able to establish itself in Russia, in a country where the Orthodox Church forbade the use of musical instruments during worship.
Kievan Rus (10-12 centuries). The first organs in Russia, as well as in Western Europe, came from Byzantium. This coincided in time with the adoption of Christianity in Rus' in 988 and the reign of Prince Vladimir the Holy (c. 978-1015), with an era of especially close political, religious and cultural contacts between Russian princes and Byzantine rulers. The organ in Kievan Rus was a stable component of the court and folk culture. The earliest evidence of an organ in our country is in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, which, due to its lengthy construction in the 11-12 centuries. became the “stone chronicle” of Kievan Rus. A fresco of Skomorokha has been preserved there, which depicts a musician playing on the positive and two calcane
(organ bellows pumpers), pumping air into the organ bellows. After death
During the Kievan state during the Mongol-Tatar rule (1243-1480), Moscow became the cultural and political center of Rus'.

Moscow Grand Duchy and Kingdom (15th-17th centuries). During this era between
Closer relations developed between Moscow and Western Europe. So, in 1475-1479. Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti built
Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, and the brother of Sophia Paleolog, niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI and since 1472 the wife of the king
Ivan III, brought organist John Salvator to Moscow from Italy.

The royal court of that time showed a lively interest in organ art.
This allowed the Dutch organist and organ builder Gottlieb Eylhof (the Russians called him Danilo Nemchin) to settle in Moscow in 1578. 1586 is dated a written message from the English envoy Jerome Horsey about the purchase for Tsarina Irina Feodorovna, sister of Boris Godunov, several clavichords and an organ built in England.
Organs were also widely used among the common people.
Buffoons wandering around Rus' on portables. For a variety of reasons, which was condemned by the Orthodox Church.
During the reign of Tsar Mikhail Romanov (1613-1645) and beyond, up to
1650, except for Russian organists Tomila Mikhailov (Besov), Boris Ovsonov,
Melenty Stepanov and Andrey Andreev, foreigners also worked in the Amusement Chamber in Moscow: the Poles Jerzy (Yuri) Proskurovsky and Fyodor Zavalsky, the organ builders are the Dutch brothers Yagan (probably Johan) and Melchert Lun.
Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from 1654 to 1685 he served at the court of Simon
Gutowski, a jack-of-all-trades musician of Polish origin, originally from
Smolensk. With his multifaceted activities, Gutovsky made a significant contribution to the development of musical culture. In Moscow, he built several organs, in 1662, by order of the king, he and four of his apprentices went to
Persia to donate one of his instruments to the Shah of Persia.
One of the most significant events in the cultural life of Moscow was the foundation in 1672 of the court theater, which was also equipped with an organ.
Gutovsky.
The era of Peter the Great (1682-1725) and his successors. Peter I was keenly interested in Western culture. In 1691, at the age of nineteen, he commissioned the famous Hamburg organ builder Arp Schnitger (1648-1719) to build an organ for Moscow with sixteen registers, decorated with walnut figures on top. In 1697, Schnitger sent another one to Moscow, this time an eight-registered instrument for a certain Mr. Earnhorn. Peter
I, who sought to adopt all Western European achievements, among other things, entrusted the Gerlitz organist Christian Ludwig Boxberg, who demonstrated to the king the new organ of Eugen Casparini in the church of St. Peter and Paul in Görlitz (Germany), installed there in 1690-1703 to design an even more grandiose organ for the Metropolitan Cathedral in Moscow. Projects for two dispositions of this “giant organ” for 92 and 114 registers were prepared by Boxberg ca. 1715. During the reign of the reformer tsar, organs were built throughout the country, primarily in Lutheran and Catholic churches.

Petersburg, the Catholic Church of St. Catherine and the Protestant Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. For the latter, in 1737, the organ was built by Johann Heinrich Joachim (1696-1752) from Mitau (now Jelgava in Latvia).
In 1764, weekly concerts of symphonic and oratorio music began to be held in this church. So, in 1764 the royal court was subdued by the performance of the Danish organist Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau (1741 or 1742-1813). At the end
1770s, Empress Catherine II instructed the English master Samuel
Grin (1740-1796) building an organ in St. Petersburg, presumably for Prince Potemkin.

Famous organ builder Heinrich Andreas Kontius (1708-1792) from Halle
(Germany), mainly working in the Baltic cities, and also built two organs, one in St. Petersburg (1791), the other in Narva.
The most famous organ builder in Russia at the end of the 18th century was Franz Kirschnik
(1741-1802). Abbot Georg Joseph Vogler, who gave in April and May 1788 in St.
Petersburg, two concerts, after visiting the organ workshop Kirschnik was so impressed by his instruments that in 1790 he invited his assistant, master Rakwitz, first to Warsaw and then to Rotterdam.
The thirty-year activity of the German composer, organist and pianist Johann Wilhelm left a famous trace in the cultural life of Moscow.
Gessler (1747-1822). Gessler studied organ playing with a student of J. S. Bach
Johann Christian Kittel and therefore in his work he adhered to the tradition of the Leipzig cantor of the church of St. Thomas.. In 1792, Gessler was appointed imperial court bandmaster in St. Petersburg. In 1794 he moved to
Moscow, won fame as the best piano teacher, and thanks to numerous concerts dedicated to the organ work of J.S. Bach, he had a huge impact on Russian musicians and music lovers.
19th – early 20th c. In the 19th century among the Russian aristocracy, interest in playing music on the organ in zhomash conditions spread. Prince Vladimir
Odoevsky (1804-1869), one of the most remarkable personalities of Russian society, a friend of M.I. Glinka and the author of the first original compositions for organ in Russia, in the late 1840s invited master Georg Melzel (1807-
1866) for the construction of an organ that went down in the history of Russian music as
“Sebastianon” (named after Johann Sebastian Bach). It was about a home organ, in the development of which Prince Odoevsky himself took part. This Russian aristocrat saw one of the main goals of his life in awakening the interest of the Russian musical community in the organ and in the exceptional personality of J.S. Bach. Accordingly, the programs of his home concerts were primarily devoted to the work of the Leipzig cantor. It is from
Odoevsky also issued a call to the Russian public to raise funds for the restoration of the Bach organ in the Novof Church (now the Bach Church) in Arnstadt (Germany).
Often M. I. Glinka improvised on Odoevsky's organ. From the memoirs of his contemporaries, we know that Glinka was endowed with an outstanding improvisational talent. He highly appreciated the organ improvisations of Glinka F.
Sheet. During his tour in Moscow on May 4, 1843, Liszt gave an organ concert at the Protestant Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.
It did not lose its intensity in the 19th century. and activities of organ builders. TO
1856 in Russia there were 2280 church organs. German firms took part in the construction of organs installed in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the period from 1827 to 1854 in St. Petersburg, Karl Wirth (1800-1882) worked as a piano and organ master, who built several organs, among which one was intended for the church of St. Catherine. In 1875 this instrument was sold to Finland. The English company Brindley & Foster from Sheffield supplied its organs to Moscow, Kronstadt and St. Petersburg, the German company Ernst Rover from Hausnaindorf (Harz) built one of its organs in Moscow in 1897, the Austrian organ-building workshop of the brothers
Rieger erected several organs in the churches of Russian provincial towns
(in Nizhny Novgorod - in 1896, in Tula - in 1901, in Samara - in 1905, in Penza - in 1906). One of the most famous organs of Eberhard Friedrich Walker with
1840 was in the Protestant Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Petersburg. It was built on the model of the large organ built seven years earlier in the church of St. Paul in Frankfurt am Main.
A huge upsurge in Russian organ culture began with the founding of organ classes at the St. Petersburg (1862) and Moscow (1885) conservatories. As the first organ teacher in St. Petersburg, a graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory, a native of the city of Lübeck, Gerich Shtil (1829-
1886). His teaching activity in St. Petersburg lasted from 1862 to
1869. In the last years of his life he was the organist of the Church of Olai in Tallineu Shtil and his successor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory lasted from 1862 to 1869. In the last years of his life he was the organist of the Church of Olai in Tallinei Shtil and his successor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Louis Gomilius (1845-1908 ), in their teaching practice focused primarily on the German organ school. The organ class of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the early years took place in the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, and among the first organ students was P. I. Tchaikovsky. Actually, the organ appeared in the conservatory itself only in 1897.
In 1901, the Moscow Conservatory also received a magnificent concert organ. During the year, this organ was an exhibition piece in
Russian pavilion of the World Exhibition in Paris (1900). In addition to this instrument, there were two more Ladegast organs, which in 1885 found their place in the Small Hall of the Conservatory. The largest of them was donated by a merchant and patron of the arts.
Vasily Khludov (1843-1915). This organ was in use at the conservatory until 1959. Professors and students regularly participated in concerts in Moscow and
Petersburg, and graduates of both conservatories also gave concerts in other cities of the country. Foreign performers also performed in Moscow: Charles-
Marie Vidor (1896 and 1901), Charles Tournemire (1911), Marco Enrico Bossi (1907 and
1912).
Organs were also built for theaters, for example, for the Imperial and for
Mariinsky theaters in St. Petersburg, and later for the Imperial Theater in Moscow.
The successor of Louis Gomilius to the St. Petersburg Conservatory was invited by Jacques
Ganshin (1886-1955). A native of Moscow, and later a citizen of Switzerland and a student of Max Reger and Charles-Marie Widor, from 1909 to 1920 he headed the organ class. Interestingly, organ music written by professional Russian composers, starting from Dm. Bortyansky (1751-
1825), combined Western European musical forms with traditional Russian melos. This contributed to the manifestation of special expressiveness and charm, thanks to which Russian compositions for organ stand out with their originality against the backdrop of the world organ repertoire. This also became the key to the strong impression they make on the listener.

musical instrument . Large concert organs are larger than all other musical instruments.

Terminology

Indeed, even in inanimate objects there is this kind of ability (δύναμις), for example, in [musical] instruments (ἐν τοῖς ὀργάνοις); they say about one lyre that it is capable [of sounding], and about the other - that it is not, if it is dissonant (μὴ εὔφωνος).

That kind of people who deal in instruments spends all their labor on it, like, for example, a kifared, or one who demonstrates his craft on the organ and other musical instruments (organo ceterisque musicae instrumentis).

Fundamentals of Music, I.34

In Russian, the word "organ" by default means wind organ, but is also used in relation to other varieties, including electronic (analogue and digital), imitating the sound of an organ. Organs are:

The word "organ" is also usually qualified by reference to the organ builder (e.g. "Cavayé-Cohl Organ") or trademark ("Hammond Organ"). Some varieties of the organ have independent terms: antique hydraulics, portable, positive, regal, harmonium, hurdy-gurdy, etc.

Story

The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments. Its history goes back several thousand years. Hugo Riemann believed that the ancient Babylonian bagpipe (19th century BC) was the ancestor of the organ: “The fur was inflated through a pipe, and at the opposite end there was a body with pipes, which, no doubt, had tongues and several holes” . The germ of the organ can also be seen in the Pan flute, the Chinese sheng, and other similar instruments. It is believed that the organ (water organ, hydraulics) was invented by the Greek Ctesibius, who lived in Alexandria of Egypt in 285-222. BC e. The image of a similar tool is available on one coin or token from the time of Nero [ ] . Large organs appeared in the 4th century, more or less improved organs in the 7th and 8th centuries. Pope Vitalian is traditionally credited with introducing the organ into Catholic worship. In the 8th century, Byzantium was famous for its organs. The Byzantine emperor Constantine V Copronymus donated the organ to the Frankish king Pepin the Short in 757. Later, the Byzantine Empress Irina presented his son, Charlemagne, with an organ that sounded at the coronation of Charles. The organ was considered at that time a ceremonial attribute of the Byzantine, and then the Western European imperial power.

The art of building organs also developed in Italy, from where they were sent to France in the 9th century. This art later developed in Germany. The organ has been widespread in Western Europe since the 14th century. Medieval organs, in comparison with later ones, were of crude workmanship; a manual keyboard, for example, consisted of keys with a width of 5 to 7 cm, the distance between the keys reached one and a half cm. They hit the keys not with fingers, as they do now, but with fists. In the 15th century, the keys were reduced and the number of pipes increased.

The oldest example of a medieval organ with relatively complete mechanics (pipes have not been preserved) is considered to be an organ from Norrlanda (a church parish on the island of Gotland in Sweden). This tool is usually dated to 1370-1400, although some researchers doubt such an early dating. Currently, the Norrland organ is stored in the National Historical Museum in Stockholm.

In the period of the late Renaissance and in the Baroque era, organ building in Western Europe acquired an unprecedented scope. In Italy of the 16th-17th centuries, the most famous was the dynasty of organ builders Antegnati. In the last quarter of the 17th and early 18th centuries, about 150 organs were built or reconstructed by the legendary organ maker Arp Schnitger (1648-1719), who worked mainly in northern Germany and the Netherlands. An outstanding contribution to German organ building was made by the Silbermann dynasty, their main workshops were in Saxony and Alsace. The Zilbermans flourished in the 18th century.

Composers of the same period, who successfully wrote for the organ, often acted as consultants on tuning the instrument (A. Banchieri, G. Frescobaldi, J. S. Bach). The same function was performed by music theorists (N. Vicentino, M. Pretorius, I. G. Neidhardt), and some of them (such as A. Werkmeister) even acted as official experts in the “acceptance” of a new or restored instrument.

In the 19th century, thanks primarily to the work of the French organ master Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who set out to design organs in such a way that they could compete with the sound of an entire symphony orchestra with their powerful and rich sound, instruments of a previously unprecedented scale and power of sound began to appear. , which are sometimes called symphonic organs.

Many historical organs in continental Europe were destroyed during the Second World War - especially in Germany, as a result of the bombing of temples by the "allies". The oldest surviving German organs are in churches St. James in Lübeck(2nd half of the 15th century), St. Nicholas in Altenbruch, Valentine's Day in Kiedrich(both - the turn of the XV-XVI centuries).

Device

Remote controller

Remote organ ("spiltish" from German Spieltisch or organ department) - a remote control with all the tools necessary for an organist, the set of which is individual in each organ, but most have common ones: gaming - manuals And pedal keyboard(or simply "pedal") and timbre - switches registers. There may also be dynamic channels, various foot levers or buttons to turn on copula and switching combinations from register combination memory bank and a device for turning on the organ. At the console, on a bench, the organist sits during the performance.

• Copula - a mechanism by which the included registers of one manual can sound when played on another manual or pedal. The organs always have copulas of manuals for the pedal and copulas for the main manual, and there are almost always copulas of weaker-sounding manuals for stronger ones. The copula is turned on/off by a special foot switch with a latch or a button.
• Channel - a device with which you can adjust the volume of this manual by opening or closing the shutters of the blinds in the box in which the pipes of this manual are located.
• The register combination memory bank is a device in the form of buttons, available only in organs with an electric register tracture, which allows you to memorize register combinations, thereby simplifying register switching (changing the overall timbre) during performance.
• Ready-made register combinations - a device in organs with a pneumatic register tracture that allows you to turn on a ready-made set of registers (usually p, mp, mf, f)
• (from Italian Tutti - all) - the button for turning on all the registers and copulas of the organ.

Manuals

Organ manuals - keyboards for playing with hands

The first musical instruments with an organ pedal date back to the middle of the 15th century. :59-61 is the tablature of a German musician Adama of Ileborg(Adam Ileborgh, c. 1448) and the Buxheim Organ Book (c. 1470). Arnolt Schlick, in Spiegel der Orgelmacher (1511), already writes in detail about the pedal and appends his pieces, where it is used with great virtuosity. Among them, the unique treatment of the antiphon stands out. Ascendo ad Patrem meum for 10 voices, of which 4 are entrusted to pedals. The performance of this piece probably required some kind of special shoes, which allowed one foot to simultaneously press two keys at a distance of a third :223. In Italy, notes using the organ pedal appear much later - in the toccatas of Annibale Padovano (1604): 90-91.

Registers

Each row of pipes of a wind organ of the same timbre constitutes, as it were, a separate instrument and is called register. Each of the extendable or retractable drawbar knobs (or electronic switches) located on the organ console above the keyboards or on the sides of the music stand turns the corresponding row of organ pipes on or off. If drawbars are off, the organ will not sound when a key is pressed.

Each handle corresponds to the register and has its own name indicating the pitch of the largest pipe of this register - feet, traditionally denoted in feet in Principal. For example, the pipes of the Gedackt register are closed and sound an octave lower, so such a pipe of tone "to" subcontroctave is designated as 32", with an actual length of 16". Reed registers, whose pitch depends on the mass of the reed itself rather than on the height of the bell, are also indicated in feet, similar in length to the Principal register pipe in pitch.

The registers are grouped into families according to a number of unifying features - principals, flutes, gambas, aliquots, potions, etc. The main registers include all 32-, 16-, 8-, 4-, 2-, 1-foot registers, auxiliary (or overtone ) - aliquots and potions. Each pipe of the main register reproduces only one sound of the same pitch, strength and timbre. Aliquots reproduce an ordinal overtone to the main sound, mixtures give a chord, which consists of several (usually from 2 to a dozen, sometimes up to fifty) overtones to a given sound.

All registers for the device of pipes are divided into two groups:

• Labial- registers with open or closed pipes without reeds. This group includes: flutes (wide-scale registers), principals and narrow-scale ones (German Streicher - “streichers” or strings), as well as overtone registers - aliquots and potions, in which each note has one or more (weaker) overtone overtones.
• Reed- registers, in the pipes of which there is a tongue, when exposed to the supplied air, which produces a characteristic sound similar in timbre, depending on the name and design features of the register, with some wind orchestral musical instruments: oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, etc. Reed registers can be located not only vertically, but also horizontally - such registers make up a group that is from fr. chamade is called "shamad".

Connection of various types of registers:

• ital. Organo pleno - labial and reed registers along with potion;
• fr. Grand jeu - labial and reed without potions;
• fr. Plein jeu - labial with potion.

The composer can indicate the name of the register and the size of the pipes in the notes above the place where this register should be applied. The choice of registers for the performance of a piece of music is called registration, and the included registers - register combination.

Since the registers in different organs of different countries and eras are not the same, they are usually not indicated in detail in the organ part: only the manual, the designation of pipes with or without reeds and the size of the pipes are written over one or another place in the organ part, and the rest is left to the discretion performer. Most of the musical organ repertoire does not have any author's designations regarding the registration of the work, so the composers and organists of previous eras had their own traditions and the art of combining different organ timbres was passed on orally from generation to generation.

Pipes

The register pipes sound different:

• 8-foot pipes sound in accordance with musical notation;
• 4- and 2-foot sounds one and two octaves higher, respectively;
• 16- and 32-footers sound one and two octaves lower, respectively;
• The 64-foot labial pipes found in the largest organs in the world sound three octaves below the record, therefore, those actuated by the keys of the pedal and manual below the counter-octave already emit infrasound;
• the labial tubes closed at the top sound an octave lower than the open ones.

A stimhorn is used to tune the organ's small open labial metal pipes. With this hammer-shaped tool, the open end of the pipe is rolled or flared. Larger open pipes are tuned by cutting a vertical piece of metal near or directly from the open end of the pipe, which is bent at one angle or another. Open wood pipes usually have a wood or metal adjuster that can be adjusted to allow the pipe to be tuned. Closed wood or metal pipes are adjusted by adjusting the plug or cap at the top end of the pipe.

Facade pipes of the organ can also play a decorative role. If the pipes do not sound, then they are called "decorative" or "blind" (eng. dummy pipes).

Traktura

An organ tractura is a system of transmission devices that functionally connects the controls on the organ's console with the organ's air-locking devices. The game tractor transmits the movement of the manual keys and the pedal to the valves of a particular pipe or group of pipes in a potion. The register tracture provides switching on or off of the whole register or a group of registers in response to pressing the toggle switch or moving the register handle.

Through the register tracture, the memory of the organ also acts - combinations of registers, pre-configured and embedded in the device of the organ - ready-made, fixed combinations. They can be named both by the combination of registers - Pleno, Plein Jeu, Gran Jeu, Tutti, and by the strength of sound - Piano, Mezzopiano, Mezzoforte, Forte. In addition to ready-made combinations, there are free combinations that allow the organist to select, memorize and change a set of registers in the organ's memory at his discretion. The function of memory is not available in all organs. It is absent in organs with a mechanical register tracture.

Mechanical

The mechanical tractura is a reference, authentic and the most common at the moment, allowing you to perform the widest range of works of all eras; mechanical tracture does not give the phenomenon of "delay" of sound and allows you to thoroughly feel the position and behavior of the air valve, which makes it possible for the best control of the instrument by the organist and the achievement of high performance technique. The key of the manual or pedal, when using a mechanical traction, is connected to the air valve by a system of light wooden or polymer rods (abstracts), rollers and levers; occasionally, in large old organs, a cable-block transmission was used. Since the movement of all these elements is carried out only by the effort of the organist, there are restrictions in the size and nature of the arrangement of the sounding elements of the organ. In giant organs (more than 100 registers), mechanical traction is either not used or supplemented by a Barker machine (pneumatic amplifier that helps to press the keys; such are the French organs of the early 20th century, for example, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris). The mechanical gaming is usually combined with the mechanical register tracture and windlad of the shleyflade system.

Pneumatic

Pneumatic tracture - the most common in romantic organs - from the end of the 19th century to the 20s of the 20th century; pressing the key opens a valve in the control air duct, the air supply to which opens the pneumatic valve of a particular pipe (when using windblade shleyflade, it is extremely rare) or a whole series of pipes of the same tone (windblade kegellade, characteristic of pneumatic traction). It allows building huge instruments in terms of the set of registers, as it has no power limitations of the mechanical tracture, however, it has the phenomenon of sound “delay”. This makes it often impossible to perform technically complex works, especially in “wet” church acoustics, given that the delay time of the sound of the register depends not only on the distance from the organ console, but also on its pipe size, the presence of relays in the tract, which accelerate the operation of the mechanics for due to the refreshment of the impulse, the design features of the pipe and the type of windlad used (almost always it is a kegellad, sometimes it is a membranenlad: it works to exhaust air, extremely fast response). In addition, the pneumatic tracture disconnects the keyboard from the air valves, depriving the organist of the feeling of "feedback" and impairing control over the instrument. Pneumatic tracture of the organ is good for performing solo works of the Romantic period, difficult to play in an ensemble, and not always suitable for baroque and contemporary music. The most famous example of a historical instrument with a pneumatic traction is the organ of the Dome Cathedral in Riga.

Electrical

Electric tractor is a tractor widely used in the 20th century, with direct signal transmission from a key to an electromechanical valve opening-closing relay by means of a direct current pulse in an electrical circuit. Currently, more and more often replaced by mechanical. This is the only tractura that does not impose any restrictions on the number and location of the registers, as well as the placement of the organ console on the stage in the hall. Allows you to place groups of registers at different ends of the hall (for example, a huge organ of the Rufatti brothers company in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, USA), control the organ from an unlimited number of additional consoles (the world's largest organ of the Broadwalk Concert Hall in Atlantic City has a record stationary pintish with seven manuals and a mobile one with five), play music for two and three organs on one organ, and also put the console in a convenient place in the orchestra, from which the conductor will be clearly visible (as, for example, the Rieger-Kloss organ in the P. I. Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow). It allows you to connect several organs into a common system, and also provides a unique opportunity to record a performance with subsequent playback without the participation of an organist (one of the first to receive such an opportunity was the organ of Notre Dame Cathedral during the reconstruction of 1959). The disadvantage of the electric tracture, as well as the pneumatic one, is the break in the "feedback" of the organist's fingers and air valves. In addition, an electric tractor can delay the sound due to the response time of the electric valve relays, as well as the distribution switch (in modern organs, this device is electronic and, in combination with reliable fiber optic cables, does not delay; in instruments of the first half and middle of the 20th century it was often electromechanical). The electric tractor of the 20th century is not reliable [ ], and in terms of the complexity of the device and repair, weight and cost, it often surpasses mechanical and even pneumatic ones. When actuated, electromechanical relays often give additional "metallic" sounds - clicks and knocks, which, unlike similar "wooden" overtones of mechanical tracture, do not decorate the sound of the work at all. In some cases, the largest pipes of an otherwise completely mechanical organ (for example, in a new instrument from Hermann Eule in Belgorod) receive an electric valve, which is due to the need to preserve the area of ​​​​the mechanical valve, and as a result, playing efforts, in the bass within acceptable limits. Noise can also be emitted by a register electric tractor when changing register combinations. An example of an acoustically excellent organ with a mechanical playing tracture and at the same time a rather noisy register tracture is the Swiss Kuhn organ in the Catholic Cathedral in Moscow.

Other

The largest organs in the world

Organ in the Church of Our Lady in Munich

The largest organ in Europe is the Great Organ of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau, built by the German company Stenmayer & Co (1993). It has 5 manuals, 229 registers, 17,774 pipes. It is considered the fourth largest operating body in the world.

Until recently, the largest organ in the world with a completely mechanical playing tracture (without the use of electronic and pneumatic control) was the organ of the Cathedral of St. Trinity in Liepaja (4 manuals, 131 registers, more than 7 thousand pipes), however, in 1979, an organ with 5 manuals, 125 registers and about 10 thousand pipes was installed in the large concert hall of the Sydney Opera House performing arts center. Now it is considered the largest (with a mechanical traction).

In the 20th century, the Dutch physicist A. Fokker developed an instrument with several keyboards and an unusual setting, which was called

Alexey Nadezhin: “The organ is the largest and most complex musical instrument. In fact, the organ is a whole brass band, and each of its registers is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.

The largest organ in Russia is installed in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music. I was lucky to see him from a side from which very few people have seen him.
This organ was made in 2004 in Germany by a consortium of companies Glatter Gotz and Klais, considered the flagships of organ building. The organ was designed specifically for the Moscow International House of Music. The organ has 84 registers (in a conventional organ the number of registers rarely exceeds 60) and more than six thousand pipes. Each register is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.
The height of the organ is 15 meters, weight - 30 tons, cost - two and a half million euros.


Pavel Nikolaevich Kravchun, Associate Professor of the Department of Acoustics at Moscow State University, told me about how the organ works.


The organ has five keyboards - four hand and one foot. Surprisingly, the foot keyboard is quite complete and some simple pieces can be played with one foot. Each manual (manual keyboard) has 61 keys. To the right and to the left are the register turn-on knobs.


Although the organ looks completely traditional and analog, it is actually partly controlled by a computer, which primarily remembers presets - sets of registers. They are switched by buttons on the ends of the manuals.


Presets are stored on a regular 1.44″ floppy disk. Of course, disk drives are almost never used in computer technology, but here it works properly.


It was a discovery for me to learn that every organist is an improviser, because the notes either do not indicate the set of registers at all or indicate general wishes. In all organs, only the basic set of registers is common, and their number and tone can vary greatly. Only the best performers can quickly adapt to the huge range of registers of the Svetlanov Hall organ and use its capabilities to the fullest.
In addition to handles, the organ has foot-operated levers and pedals. Levers enable and disable various computer-controlled functions. For example, the combination of keyboards and the effect of the increase, controlled by a rotating pedal-roller, as the rotation of which additional registers are connected and the sound becomes richer and more powerful.
To improve the sound of the organ (and other instruments at the same time), the Constellation electronic system was installed in the hall, including many microphones and mini-columns-monitors on stage, lowered from the ceiling on cables using motors and many microphones and speakers in the hall. This is not a sound amplification system, when it is turned on, the sound in the hall does not become louder, it becomes more uniform (spectators in the side and far places begin to hear the music as well as the audience in the stalls), in addition, reverberation can be added to improve the perception of music.


The air with which the organ sounds is supplied by three powerful but very quiet fans.


For its uniform supply, ordinary bricks are used. They press the furs. When the fans are turned on, the bellows inflate and the weight of the bricks provides the necessary air pressure.


Air is supplied to the organ through wooden pipes. Surprisingly, most of the shutters that make the pipes sound are controlled purely mechanically - by rods, some of which are more than ten meters long. When many registers are connected to the keyboard, it can be very difficult for the organist to push the keys. Of course, the organ has an electric amplification system, when turned on, the keys are pressed easily, but high-class organists of the old school always play without amplification - after all, this is the only way to change intonations by changing the speed and force of pressing the keys. Without amplification, the organ is a purely analog instrument, with amplification it is digital: each pipe can only sound or be silent.
This is what the rods from the keyboards to the pipes look like. They are wooden, since wood is the least susceptible to thermal expansion.


You can go inside the organ and even climb through a small "fire" escape along its floors. There is very little space inside, so it is difficult to feel the scale of the structure from the photographs, but still I will try to show you what I saw.


Pipes differ in height, thickness and shape.


Some of the pipes are wooden, some are metal, made of tin-lead alloy.


Before each big concert, the organ is tuned anew. The setup process takes several hours. For adjustment, the ends of the smallest pipes are slightly flared or rolled with a special tool; larger pipes have an adjusting rod.


Larger trumpets have a cut tab that can be twisted and twisted slightly to adjust the tone.


The largest pipes emit infrasound from 8 Hz, the smallest - ultrasound.


A unique feature of the MMDM organ is the presence of horizontal pipes facing the hall.


I took the previous shot from a small balcony, which can be accessed from inside the organ. It is used to adjust horizontal pipes. View of the auditorium from this balcony.


A small number of pipes have only an electric drive.


And the organ also has two sound-visual registers or “special effects”. These are “bells” - the ringing of seven bells in a row and “birds” - the chirping of birds, which occurs due to air and distilled water. Pavel Nikolaevich demonstrates how the "bells" work.


An amazing and very complex tool! The Constellation system goes into parking mode, and that's the end of the story about the largest musical instrument in our country.