Hector Berlioz · section 26 of 67

The Organ

The organ is a keyboard instrument with pipes of wood and metal, which are made to sound by the wind sent through them by bellows. The greater or smaller number of series of pipes. differing in character of sound and in size, give the organ a corresponding number of stops, by means of which the organist can freely change the timbre, the volume of sound and the range of the instrument. The voices are selected by a mechanism of small draw-knobs, called registers.

The old tracker action (a mechanism of wooden strips and wire, which opened the tone-valves and admitted the wind) was put in motion by draw-stops with knobs. Organs with the now generally accepted pneumatic action, where air pressure discharges those mechanical functions, have to the right and left of the keyboard small register-plates, just large enough to carry the name of the stop. To be put in operation, they are slightly pressed down by a finger.

The present keyboard range of the instrument is usually from C, to f on the pedal keyboard, and from C to G’” ‘OF a” on the manual, Older instruments have a range on the pedal from C to c’ or d’, on the manual from C to f",

+ $$ The actual tonal range of large organs, however, $ surpasses that of the entire orchestra. An organ be-

comes larger as it has more registers (stops. ranks): this in turn causes an inerease in the number of hand keyboards, or manuals. Up to five manusls may be arranged one above the other—each operating a number of registers. Sinve the pneumatic action has furnished an almost unlimited number of mechanical devices for operating single and combined registers, the number of manuals has been somewhat reduced. Whereas one formerly spoke of the Great Organ, the Choir Organ, Positive. Echo Organ, etc.. today this simply means, Manuals I; Prineipal}, I, III and IV. which represent 2 deerescendo in the namber of stops as well as in their power, The hand keyboard is based on the 8’ tone: its largest pipe (that for C) is 8 feet long and it sounds the tone which we call great C. The great number of 8’ stops is supplemented by 4°, 2', 16". and even 1 stops The 4’ stop is an octave higher than the 8’; the 2 stop—two octaves; the 1’ stop—three octaves. Consequently. if the a” key b of a 1' stop is pressed down, a” is sounded. A 16 stop is an octave lower, a 32° stop (prov ided in the manual of only the largest organs) is two octaves lower than the 8’; their C-keys produce C, and C,,, respectively.. 4 The 16° tone is the basis of the foot keyboard or pedal, supplemented below by the 82’ tone. above by the 8', #' etc. As a rule, the 8’ tone forms the core of the manual, the 16’ tone of the pedal.;

In addition there are stops named 1°’, 273’, 5%’, 10%s’, They produce, instead of the normal tone of a ker, its fifth in different octaves, or—as the 31/5'_its third. Some stops, the so-called mixtures, are 2 rank, 3, 4, 5 rank etc., in addition to the foundation stop. This means that each key of these stops is connected with two, three, four or five different pipes, and that consequently the C-key produces also ¢, its fifth, octave, tenth, ete. Playing a C-major triad in this stop causes, therefore, the most awful nonsense, It is obvious that all these mixed stops may be used only—to reinforce, as it were, the harmonic partials—if the 8’, 4°, 2° and 16’ are properly emphasized.

Hence, one distinguishes between foundation and mutation stops. The foundation stops include the basic stops (8°) and octave stops (16', 4’, 2’, 1°); the mutation stops are those mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Some stops reinforce a particular range (e.g. the treble) and cover, therefore, only a part of the keyboard (in this case the upper part). They are called haif-stops.

Organ stops are either flue-stops or reed-stops. In the flue-stops pipes have “lips’’ forming the tone; in the reed-stops a brass reed is vibrated. Pipes are open or stopped (gedackt). The pitch of stopped pipes is an octave lower than that of open pipes of the same size. Stopped 8’ has, therefore, a largest pipe of only 4’; the largest stopped pipe of the 16' sub-bass is 8’.

Besides these stopped pipes, the basis of the organ

tone proper is formed by an open stop, the dicpason, probably the oldest organ stop. It appears as 82’, 16, 8' diapason in various scales (widths of pipes) and in various timbres, e.g. as Violin Diapason, Sanftprinsipal etc., furthermore as 4' octave, 2° octave and super-octave. In addition, there are the above mentioned mixtures, likewise components of the typical organ tone. On the other hand, the organ has a great number of stops imitating orchestral instruments, such as the numerous family of Mute stops, the Viola da Gamba, ete. The reed-stops belong to this class, for instance the Trombone, the Bombard, the Trumpet, the Clairon, the Clarinet, Oboe, English Horn, ete. Even the imitation of the human voice is attempted in a reedstop {Vox humana). Far more successful is the imitation of the celestial voice (Yor coelestis). In this stop each key is provided with two soft pipes of slightly different pitch, which results in a peculiarly tremulant (beating) tone. Similarly, in the “Unda maris” beats are produced between the same tone in different octaves,

It is not advisable to list here the names of all the organ stops; they can be found in any textbook on organ construction. The sensitive conductor should consider it his duty to examine closely the registers of the particular organ to be used; he should try them out and not rely on mere names. Different organ builders frequently give the same stop a different constraction or at least different voicing. Besides, some names of stops are ambiguuus, and others defy any attempt at etymological explanation.

The fingering on the organ is the same as on the pianoforte. A strict legato should be the basis of an appropriate performance on the organ. Staccatissimo should be avoided in forte and, particularly, when reed-stops are used. Staccato is better on flute stops than on the diapason, and better in the lower ranges than in the high ones where it often gives the impression of mechanical orchestrion playing. All this (as well as the choice of a more robust or more delicate style of phrasing, and of a slower or faster tempo) depends not only on the character of the stops, but also on the acoustics of the room. Presto runs are impossible on a viola da gamba stop, whle certain flute stops admit a beautiful, close arpeggio. A fugue by Bach has to played more slowly in an empty Gothic church, where each tone reverberates for a long time, than in a completely filled concert hall.

Organ music is preferably written on three staves, the lowest of these pertaining to the pedal. The organ —like the pianoforte—may be considered from two different viewpoints in reference to its position within the family of instruments: first, as an orchestral instrument joining the rest of the orchestra; secondly, as an independent and complete orchestra in itself. Berlioz’ remarks concerning this point reveal his keen » observation in reference to the organ:

It is doubtless possible to blend the organ with the various elements constituting the orchestra; this has been done many times. Nevertheless, assigning such an inferior function to the organ is actually a degradation of this instrument. Moreover, it is obvious that the even and uniform tones of the organ can never fuse completely with the extremely variable sounds of the orchestra; there is a secret antipathy between these two musical powers. Both the organ and the orchestra are kings; or rather, one is the emperor and the other the pope. Their tasks are different; their interests are too vast and too divergent to be mixed together. Every time this strange combination has been attempted, either the organ predominates, or the orchestra—raised to excessive power—almost completely eclipses its adversary.

Only the softest stops on the organ seem suitable for accompanying the voice. In general, the nature of the organ is to be the absolute ruler; it is a jealous and intolerant instrument. If seems to me that in one case only ean the organ combine with a chorus and orchestra on an equal basis, and even then only if it remains in solemn isolation. This is the instance where a great mass of voices placed in the choir of a church at a considerable distance from the organ interrupts its chant from time to time to let the organ repeat it in part or in its entirety; perhaps also in a ceremony of a mournful character where the chorus’ is accompanied by alternating laments of the organ and of the orchestra, placed in two extreme points of the temple, so that the organ sounds like a mysterious echo of the orchestra. Such a manner of instrumentation could certainly produce magnificent and sublime effects. But even in this case the organ would not actually blend with the other instruments; it would reply to them or question them. An alliance between the two contending powers is possible only inasmuch as neither of them would lose anything in dignity. Whenever I have heard the organ together with the orchestra,. the effect seemed to be negative—diminishing rather than increasing the power of the orchestra. $ What Berlioz has in mind here probably corre- sponds with what we have found in certain orchestral scores, e.g. Rubinstein’s. The clumsy and continuous employment of the wood-wind together with the brass results in a kind of dim and muddy color; the brilliance of the orchestra is lost, its power seems to be paralyzed. The organ, with its many wood-winds, has a similar effect. The reed-stops, too, frequently impair the brilliance of the orchestral brass. Moreover, small differences of pitch—never entirely avoidable —add to the deleterious effect.

We must remember, however, that the organ provided the accompaniment for concertante orchestral instruments during long periods (cf. Bach's church music). The tone of some of the organ stops as well as an unlimited number of possible combinations {for which our organists frequently have no ear) blends far better with the tone of orchestral instruments than does the pianoforte. Yet we hear the latter imstrument in our chamber music year after year in a frequently unhappy marriage with violins and even with wind instruments, There can be no doubt that many characteristics of the organ style have been taken over by the orchestra.

Moreover, all this has been changed by recent progress in the construction and mechanism of organs. The former absolutism of the organ has given way to a constitutional understending with the orchestra. The organ has actually enriched the orchestra with many new colors and color combinations. Basically the organ is really nothing but a wind instrument— perhaps not a soulful individual like the oboe. but still a soulful mechanism, comparable with the attitude of some instrumentalists toward the dynamics of a particular piece.

We are not thinking now of the Rollschzelier (crescendo pedal), already mentioned by Berlioz. This is a pedal by means of which all voices from the softest pp to the loudest ff can be made to enter on a tone or chord in rapid or slow succession, thus producing a kind of crescendo effect. For instance, a sustained C-major chord appears at first pp (Aeolina); more and more voices join it, first the pp stops, then p. mp, mf, f and ff stops, up to perhaps a 6-rank mixture and finally a trumpet stop. Then we return similarly in a decrescendo from the fff to the ppp of the Aeolina. The crescendo pedal can certainly produce powerful effects if combined with a great apparatus of orchestra and chorus. These effects can also be dynamically pleasing if the sequence of stops is arranged with sensitivity.

However, this “jerky” erescendo and decrescendo is of little use in accompanying, for example, instrumental and vocal solos, where frequently only one stop or 2 small number of stops can be employed. The organ tone of these few stops remains rigid and stiff

in contrast to the dynamic flexibility of the voice or

the violin. The warmth radiated by an organ voice when it is first heard (similar to a low chord of the horns in p) is gradually transformed into tonal “coldness”.

This is remedied by the Fenctian swell. It consists of a wooden box surrounding the organ pipes, with shatters in front and sometimes also on the sides, which can be opened and closed by means of a pedal. With the shutters open, the tone is clear, bright, f;

if they are closed, it sounds distant, muted. pp; gradually opening and closing them provides the intermediate shadings. In large organs this device is usually found only on the swell or solo manua]—the softest and weakest kevboard of the organ. which contains from one-sixth to one-eighth of the stops, and only very soft ones. Here the Venetian swell has a very negligible effect. It is advisable to build all organ registers. i. e. all pipes, into this box and tc furnish them with Venetian swells. Then a single stop as well as the entire organ sound could be increased and decreased at will.

The dynamics of the organ—such as crescendos— become even more perfect if the crescendo pedal is combined with the Venetian swell—by employing. for example, first the crescendo pedal with ‘closed shutters, and then opening them.

Some organists are satisfied with a crescendo produced by the rigid addition of voices through the crescendo pedal (for it always lets the voices or registers enter in the same order), Even if this increasing and decreasing is done musically, i.e. in accordance with the musica] phrases (which, unfortunately, is rarely the case), it becomes monotonons after a while. Frequently the composer requires a sequence of stops different from that provided by the crescendo pedal; or the conductor considers this kind of crescendo harmful to the ensemble tone of the orchestra. In these cases the organist will have to forego his Rollschweller—“virtuosity” and arrange with a “‘stopdrawer” (and page-turner at the same time), who will be indispensable in any case, to take care of the increasing and decreasing of the tone by adding or taking off accurately predetermined stops. Registration is also greatly facilitated in pneumatic, electropneumatic and the impending purely electrical organs by the great number of mechanical draw-stops supplementing the sounding stops. They are little plates, pushbuttons or pedals, which make it possible to alter very quickly any number of combinations of registers. There are combination stops, fixed and free combinations, which are arranged before the performance and put into action by a slight touch. One can also couple the different manuals with each other and transfer one manual to another, or even make the pedal voice playable on the manual,

Unfortunately, too little care is given to this matter of “instrumentation” of pieces on the organ; the orchestral effect is thus frequently impaired. The manifold sound effects planned by modern composers through the combination of orchestra and organ cannot be indicated precisely because of the diversity of organs; they have to be left to the intelligence of orgenists and are frequently distorted. In the future the conscientious conductor will have to pay more attention to this heretofore rather timidly treated instrument and to its unapproachable master, who usually combines the dignity of a monarch with the rudeness of a bellows-blower; in works of the past, such as a Handel oratorio, this was much less necessary. The clarity of Bach’s melody and polyphony, its “unfolding” as it were, also depends upon careful shading on the organ. Bach's great organ works—the Preludes, Fugues, Toccatas, etc.—should be “orchestrated” like a symphony, utilizing all the resources of the instrument: combination of colors, dynamics, the simultaneous use of different manuals and stops, and of the pedal. Only thus can the listener be brought 3 to a full appreciation of Bach's immensely rich and intricate melodic language.

Finally I should like to mention an innovation which deserves the conductor's special attention because the German organ builders in particular are none too enterprising or fond of innovations. It was not so long ago that the organ action was constructed out of little pieces of wood and wire. just like in the middle ages, while everywhere else steam, pneumatic power and electricity had taken over the mechanical work.

In the performance of large works for chorus, soli, orchestra and organ, the great distance of the organ console frequently makes the participation of the organ illusory if not impossible. At a music festival, how are the singer, the obbligeto violin and the string quintet to stay in contact with an organist separated from them by the entire orchestra. a large chorus, frequently also by the audience—an organist who sits high up in the corner of a gallery and frequently canot even see the conductor? He relies upon his ear as well as he can—and his ear deceives him; for the great distance from the participating soloists causes various acoustical illusions, The composer. whom the audience does not “understand”, is the victim of all

> The only remedy for this consists in movable con-

soles, connected with the body of the organ by electric cables. The organist sits wherever the conductor deems it besi—perhaps behind the soloists, near the first violins or the conductor, or anywhere else. This arrangement. generaliy instituted and approved for the past ten years in France, England and America (in churches the organist is placed near the officiating clergyman) has recently also been introduced in Ger- > many. Thanks to the rapidity of the electric current, it makes a precise ensemble of orchestra and organ possible, a beneficial cooperation, as it were, between “state” and “church”. Here, at 2 distance from the organ, the organist can also judge much better the musical effect of his registration, the volume of sound, ete.; whereas, when he sits near or practically in the organ, he cannot see the forest because of the trees, This is not the place to explain in detail the treataent of the organ as an individual instrument, consti‘uting an orchestra in itself. Our purpose is not to write a textbook on the performance of varions instruments, but a study of their musical effect when combined in-ensemble. A knowledge of the organ, skill in selecting and combining the different stops constitutes the art of the organist, inasmuch as he is—according to custom—an extempore player. In the opposite case— where the organist is simply a performer executing 2 written work—he should strictly follow the indications of the composer, who, therefore. must be thoroughly familiar with the resources of the instrument and their application. But these resources are so numerous and diverse that no cumposer. in our opinion, can understand them adequately unless he himself is an accomplished organist.

If the organ is to be combined with voices and with other instruments in a particular composition, it should

not be forgotten that it is tuned one tone lower than the present pitch of the orchestra. It must therefore be treated as a transposing instrument in B?,

This applies only to ancient organs, Modern organ builders tune their organs to the pitch of the orchestra, But unfortunately they frequently fail to tune them at the correct temperature by means of a warmed-up oboe. Tuned in a cold church according to the Paris tuning fork, the organ is useless for ensemble playing with an orchestra.

The organ of the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, on the other hand, is a tone higher than the orchestra.

This is no longer the case.

The organ has soft, brilliant, but also awful sound effects; however. it is not within its nature to deliver them in rapid succession. It cannot, like the orchestra, pass suddenly from piano to forte, or vice versa.

The organ can produce all effects, the softest and the loudest chords, in immediate succession; by means of the crescendo pedal. it can pass from ppp to fff. (Here Berlioz’ opinions are entirely out of date.) Recently devised improvements make it possible to

produce a kind of crescendo by the gradual addition of stops, as well as a decrescendo by gradually withdrawing them in similar fashion. But the increasing and decreasing of the tone obtained by this ingenious method still lacks those intermediate shadings which lend so much color and life to the orchestra. One cannot help feeling the inanimate mechanism. Only Erard’s instrument, known under the name “expressive organ”, has the possibility of really swelling and diminishing the tone; but it has not yet been adopted in churches. Serious people, otherwise generally intelligent, condemn its use as contrary to the religious character and purpose of the organ.

ye shall not examine here the frequently discussed

question whether or not expression is admissable in sacred music—a question which could be solved in a moment by unprejudiced, plain commonsense. Yet we take the liberty of pointing out to the champions of unembellished music, of plainsong, of the expressionless organ (as if the loud and soft stops of different timbre did not lend vatiety and expression to the organ) that they are the first to burst out in exclamations of delight when the performance of a choir in a sacred work enchants them by the delicacy of nuance, by shadings of crescendo and decrescendo, by chiaroscuro. by tones which swell, are sustained and fade out—in short, by all those qualities wanting in the organ. and with which Erard wants to enrich it by means of his invention. These people are obviously inconsistent, unless they should claim (as they are quite capable of doing) that nuances in expression which are perfectly appropriate, religious and catholic in vocal music suddenly become irreligious, heretical and blasphemous on the organ, Is it not strange (the reader will pardon this digression) that these same critics who are so conservative in all matters of sacred music and rightly demand that it should be inspired by truly religious feelings (banning, of course, all nuances that would express these feelings)—that these crities have never thought of prohibiting the use of quick fugues, which for ages have formed the basis of organ music in all schools? Is it that the themes of these fugnes—some of which are quite trivial, others even almost grotesque—become religious and dignified merely by being treated in fagal style, that is, in the form permitting their most frequent repetition and continuous display? Is it that these innumerable entries of different voices, these canonic imitations, these fragments of twisted and tangied phrases pursuing and fleeing each other, even falling over each other, this confusion that excludes all true melody, where the chords succeed one another so rapidly that their character can scarcely be discerned, this continuous commotion of the entire system, this appearance of disorder, these sudden interruptions of one voice by another, all these detestable harmonic absurdities appropriate in depicting an orgy of savages or a dance of demons—is it that they are all transformed in the pipes of an organ and assume the solemn, grandiose, calm, devout or meditative expression of a sacred prayer. of quiet contemplation or even of terror and religions awe?

Although I share Berlioz’ opinion regarding organ fugues, nevertheless, this whole paragraph seems to me to be inspired by his purely personal hatred of the polyphonic style in general—a hatred not generally

shared even by the admirers of Berlioz’ genius. In

this respect, the German and the Latin are antipodes.

There may be some queerly constituted beings who believe all this to be true. At any rate, these critics do not consider quick organ fugues inappropriate even though they do not claim them to be imbued with religious spirit. Their opinion is based on the fact that these fugues have been in long-established use, that they have been written in grest number by the most accomplished masters, following long-accepted custom. This is understandable when one considers the fact that writers on religious music are usually dogmatic and consider anything tending towards a change of ideas consecrated by time as dangerous and incompatible with faith. To return to our subject—it is my conviction that Erard’s invention would be a great improvement, entirely to the benefit of a true religious style, even if it were applied to the old organ merely as one new stop. so that the organist would be free to employ the expressive tones if he chose to do so, or at least to swell and diminish certain tones independently of others.

Brass instruments with mouthpiece