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Pipe organ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by

driving pressurized air (called wind) through organ pipes
selected via a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single
pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which
has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard
compass. Most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing
timbre, pitch, and volume that the player can employ singly or
in combination through the use of controls called stops.

A pipe organ has one or more keyboards played by the hands The pipe organ in Saint-Germain
(called manuals), and a pedalboard played by the feet; each l'Auxerrois, Paris[1]
keyboard has its own group of stops. The keyboard(s),
pedalboard, and stops are housed in the organ's console. The organ's continuous supply of wind
allows it to sustain notes for as long as the corresponding keys are depressed, unlike the piano and
harpsichord whose sound begins to dissipate immediately after it is played. The smallest portable
pipe organs may have only one or two dozen pipes and one manual; the largest may have over
20,000 pipes and seven manuals.[2] A list of some of the most notable and largest pipe organs in the
world can be viewed at List of pipe organs.

The origins of the pipe organ can be traced back to the water organ in Ancient Greece, in the 3rd
century BC,[3] in which the wind supply was created with water pressure. By the 6th or 7th century
AD, bellows were used to supply organs with wind.[3] Beginning in the 12th century, the organ
began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres. A pipe organ
with "great leaden pipes" was sent to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as a gift to
Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 757. Pepin's son Charlemagne requested a similar organ for
his chapel in Aachen in 812, beginning the pipe organ's establishment in Western church music.[4]
By the 17th century, most of the sounds available on the modern classical organ had been
developed.[5] From that time, the pipe organ was the most complex man-made device[6] - a
distinction it retained until it was displaced by the telephone exchange in the late 19th century.[7]

Pipe organs are installed in churches, synagogues, concert halls, schools, and other public
buildings. They are used in the performance of classical music, sacred music, secular music, and
popular music. In the early 20th century, pipe organs were installed in theaters to accompany the
screening of films during the silent movie era; in municipal auditoria, where orchestral
transcriptions were popular; and in the homes of the wealthy.[8] The beginning of the 21st century
has seen a resurgence in installations in concert halls. The organ boasts a substantial repertoire,
which spans over 500 years.[9]

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Contents
1 History and development
1.1 Antiquity
1.2 Medieval
Robert Huw Morgan plays Bach's
1.3 Renaissance and Baroque periods
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor
1.4 Romantic period
on the Fisk-Nanney organ at the
1.5 Modern development
2 Construction Stanford Memorial Church in
2.1 Pipes Stanford, California.
2.2 Action
2.3 Wind system
2.4 Stops
2.5 Console
2.5.1 Keyboards
2.5.2 Couplers
2.5.3 Enclosure and expression pedals
2.5.4 Combination action
2.6 Casing
2.7 Tuning and regulation Carol Williams (organist)
3 Repertoire performs "Flight of the
4 See also Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-
5 Notes Korsakov at the United States
6 References Military Academy West Point
7 Further reading Cadet Chapel.
8 External links
8.1 Online radio stations
8.2 Databases
8.3 Resources for pipe organ video recordings

History and development

Antiquity

The organ is one of the oldest instruments still used in European classical music that has commonly
been credited as having derived from Greece. Its earliest predecessors were built in Ancient Greece
in the 3rd century BC. The word organ is derived from the Greek όργανον (organon),[12] a generic
term for an instrument or a tool,[13] via the Latin organum, an instrument similar to a portative

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organ used in ancient

Roman circus games.

The Greek engineer

Ctesibius of Alexandria is
credited with inventing the
organ in the 3rd century BC.
He devised an instrument
called the hydraulis, which
delivered a wind supply
maintained through water
pressure to a set of pipes.[14]
Hydraulis from the The hydraulis was played in
1st century BC, the arenas of the Roman 4th century AD "Mosaic of the Female
oldest organ found Empire. The pumps and Musicians" from a Byzantine villa in
to date, Museum of water regulators of the Maryamin, Syria.[11]
Dion, Greece[10] hydraulis were replaced by
an inflated leather bag in the
2nd century AD,[14] and true bellows began to appear in the Eastern Roman
Empire in the 6th or 7th century AD.[3]

The 9th century Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911), in his lexicographical discussion
of instruments, cited the urghun (organ) as one of the typical instruments of the Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire.[15] It was often used in the Hippodrome in the imperial capital of
Constantinople. The first Western pipe organ with "great leaden pipes" was sent from
Constantinople to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as a gift to Pepin the Short
King of the Franks in 757. Pepin's son Charlemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in
Aachen in 812, beginning its establishment in Western church music.[16]

Medieval

Portable organs (the portative and the positive organ) were invented in the Middle Ages. Towards
the middle of the 13th century, the portatives represented in the miniatures of illuminated
manuscripts appear to have real keyboards with balanced keys, as in the Cantigas de Santa
Maria.[18] Its portability made the portative useful for the accompaniment of both sacred and
secular music in a variety of settings.

Large organs such as the one installed in 1361 in Halberstadt, Germany,[19] the first documented
permanent organ installation, likely prompted Guillaume de Machaut to describe the organ as "the
king of instruments", a characterization still frequently applied.[20] The Halberstadt organ was the
first instrument to use a chromatic key layout across its three manuals and pedalboard, although the
keys were wider than on modern instruments.[21] It had twenty bellows operated by ten men, and
the wind pressure was so high that the player had to use the full strength of his arm to hold down a

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key.[19]

Until the mid-15th century, organs had no stop controls. Each

manual controlled ranks at multiple pitches, known as the
Blockwerk.[22] Around 1450, controls were designed that
allowed the ranks of the Blockwerk to be played individually.
These devices were the forerunners of modern stop actions.[23]
The higher-pitched ranks of the Blockwerk remained grouped
together under a single stop control; these stops developed into
mixtures.[24]

Renaissance and Baroque

periods A painting of Saint Cecilia
playing a portative. Her left hand
During the Renaissance and can be seen operating the
Baroque periods, the organ's tonal bellows.[17]
colors became more varied. Organ
builders fashioned stops that imitated various instruments, such as the
krummhorn and the viola da gamba. The Baroque period is often
thought of as organ building's "golden age," as virtually every
important refinement was brought to a culminating art.[26] Builders
such as Arp Schnitger, Jasper Johannsen, Zacharias Hildebrandt and
The baroque organ in Gottfried Silbermann constructed instruments that were in themselves
Roskilde Cathedral, artistic masterpieces, displaying both exquisite craftsmanship and
Denmark[25] beautiful sound. These organs featured well-balanced mechanical key
actions, giving the organist precise control over the pipe speech.
Schnitger's organs featured particularly distinctive reed timbres and large Pedal and Rückpositiv
divisions.[26]

Different national styles of organ building began to develop, often due to changing political
climates.[27] In the Netherlands, the organ became a large instrument with several divisions,
doubled ranks, and mounted cornets. The organs of northern Germany also had more divisions, and
independent pedal divisions became increasingly common.[27] The divisions of the organ became
visibly discernible from the case design. 20th-century musicologists labelled this the
Werkprinzip.[28]

In France, as in Italy, Spain and Portugal, organs were primarily designed to play alternatim verses
rather than accompany congregational singing. The French Classical Organ, became remarkably
consistent throughout France over the course of the Baroque era, more so than any other style of
organ building in history, and standardized registrations developed.[29][30] It was elaborately
described by Dom Bédos de Celles in his treatise L'art du facteur d'orgues (The Art of Organ
Building).[31] For example, in France, the organ at Notre-Dame's (St. Etienne, Loire) was built by
Joseph and Claude-Ignace Callinet in 1837, at a time when their career was at its apex.

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In England, many pipe organs were taken out of churches

during the English Reformation of the 16th century and the
Commonwealth period. Often these were relocated to private
homes. At the Restoration, organ builders such as Renatus
Harris and "Father" Bernard Smith brought new organ-building
ideas from continental Europe. English organs evolved from
small one- or two-manual instruments into three or more
divisions disposed in the French manner with grander reeds and
mixtures.[32] The Echo division began to be enclosed in the
early 18th century, and in 1712 Abraham Jordan claimed his
"swelling organ" at St Magnus-the-Martyr to be a new
invention.[29] The swell box and the independent pedal division
appeared in English organs beginning in the 18th century.[32][33] Baroque pipe organ of the 18th
century at Monastery of Santa
Romantic period Cruz, Coimbra, Portugal

During the Romantic period,

the organ became more symphonic, capable of creating a
gradual crescendo. New technologies and the work of organ
builders such as Eberhard Friedrich Walcker, Aristide
Cavaillé-Coll, and Henry Willis made it possible to build larger
organs with more stops, more variation in sound and timbre,
and more divisions.[32] Enclosed divisions became common,
and registration aids were developed to make it easier for the
A typical modern 20th-century organist to manage the great number of stops. The desire for
console, located in St. Patrick's
louder, grander organs required that the stops be voiced on a
higher wind pressure than before. As a result, a greater force
Cathedral, Dublin
was required to overcome the wind pressure and depress the
keys. To solve this problem, Cavaillé-Coll configured the
English "Barker lever" to assist in operating the key action.[34]

Organ builders began to lean towards specifications with fewer mixtures and high-pitched stops.
They preferred to use more 8′ and 16′ stops in their specifications and wider pipe scales.[35] These
practices created a warmer, richer sound than was common in the 18th century. Organs began to be
built in concert halls (such as the organ at the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris), and composers such as
Camille Saint-Saëns and Gustav Mahler used the organ in their orchestral works.

Modern development

The development of pneumatic and electro-pneumatic key actions in the late 19th century made it
possible to locate the console independently of the pipes, greatly expanding the possibilities in
organ design. Electric stop actions were also developed, which allowed sophisticated combination
actions to be created.[36]

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In the mid-20th century,

organ builders began to
build historically inspired
instruments modelled on
Baroque organs. They
returned to building
mechanical key actions,
voicing with lower wind
pressures and thinner pipe The Cavaillé-Coll organ of the
The pipe organ in the chapel of cathedral of Nancy (France)
scales, and designing
San Carlos Seminary, Makati
specifications with more
City, Philippines exhibits a
mixture stops.[37] This became known as the Organ reform
modern façade.
movement.

In the late 20th century, organ builders began to incorporate digital components into their key, stop,
and combination actions. Besides making these mechanisms simpler and more reliable, this also
makes it possible to record and play back an organist’s performance via the MIDI protocol.[38] In
addition, some organ builders have incorporated digital stops into their pipe organs.

The electronic organ developed throughout the 20th century.

Some pipe organs were replaced by digital organs because of
their lower purchase price, smaller physical size, and minimal
maintenance requirements. In the early 1970s, Rodgers
Instruments pioneered the hybrid organ, an electronic
instrument that incorporates real pipes; other builders such as
Allen Organs and Johannus Orgelbouw have since built hybrid
organs. It should be noted that electronic "organs" may have a
lower purchase price but have demonstrated a higher cost of
ownership as components fail and parts become obsolete. Pipe
organs, made of metal, wood, leather, and felt can be
maintained for centuries. Positive organ

Construction
A pipe organ contains one or more sets of pipes, a wind system, and one or more keyboards. The
pipes produce sound when pressurized air produced by the wind system passes through them. An
action connects the keyboards to the pipes. Stops allow the organist to control which ranks of pipes
sound at a given time. The organist operates the stops and the keyboards from the console.

Pipes

Organ pipes are made from either wood or metal [39] and produce sound ("speak") when air under
pressure ("wind") is directed through them.[40] As one pipe produces a single pitch, multiple pipes

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are necessary to accommodate the musical scale. The greater

the length of the pipe, the lower its resulting pitch will be.[41]
The timbre and volume of the sound produced by a pipe
depends on the volume of air delivered to the pipe and the
manner in which it is constructed and voiced, the latter adjusted
by the builder to produce the desired tone and volume. Hence a
pipe's volume cannot be readily changed while playing.[41]
The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ
Organ pipes are divided into flue pipes and reed pipes according
found at the Salt Lake Tabernacle
to their design and timbre. Flue pipes produce sound by forcing
in Salt Lake City, Utah has
air through a fipple, like that of a recorder, whereas reed pipes
11,623 pipes and accompanies
produce sound via a beating reed, like that of a clarinet or
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
saxophone.[42]
and Orchestra at Temple Square.
Pipes are arranged by timbre and pitch into ranks. A rank is a
row of pipes mounted vertically onto a windchest.[43] The stop
mechanism admits air to each rank. For a given pipe to sound,
the stop governing the pipe's rank must be engaged, and the key
corresponding to its pitch must be depressed. Ranks of pipes are
organized into groups called divisions. Each division generally
is played from its own keyboard and conceptually comprises an
individual instrument within the organ.[44]

Action

An organ contains two actions, or systems of moving parts.

When a key is depressed, the key action admits wind into a
pipe. The stop action allows the organist to control which ranks
are engaged. An action may be mechanical, pneumatic, or
electrical (or some combination of these, such as electro-
pneumatic action).[45] The key action is independent of the stop
action, allowing an organ to combine a mechanical key action Interior of the Seville Cathedral,
along with an electric stop action. showing the pipes of the organ.

A key action which physically connects the keys and the

windchests is a mechanical or tracker action. Connection is achieved through a series of rods called
trackers. When the organist depresses a key, the corresponding tracker pulls open its pallet,
allowing wind to enter the pipe.[46]

In a mechanical stop action, each stop control operates a valve for a whole rank of pipes. When the
organist selects a stop, the valve allows wind to reach the selected rank. [43] This control was at first
a draw stop knob, which the organist selects by pulling (or drawing) toward himself/herself. This is
the origin of the idiom "to pull out all the stops".[47] More modern stop selectors, used for electric

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actions, are tilting tablets or

rocker tabs.

Tracker action has been used

from antiquity to modern
times. Despite the extra
effort needed in playing,
many organists prefer
Cross-section of one note of a tracker action because of a
mechanical-action windchest. feel and a control of the pipe Interior of the organ at Cradley
Trackers attach to the wires valve operation. Before the Heath Baptist Church showing
hanging through the bottom pallet opens, wind pressure the tracker action. The black
board at the left. A wire pulls augments tension of the rods, called rollers, rotate to
down on the pallet (valve) against pallet spring, but once the transmit movement sideways to
the tension of the V-shaped pallet opens, only the spring line up with the pipes.
spring. Wind under pressure tension is felt at the key.
surrounds the pallet, and when it This provides a "breakaway" feel.
is pulled down, the wide
A later development was the tubular-pneumatic action, which
rectangular chamber above the
uses changes of pressure within lead tubing to operate
pallet feeds wind to all pipes of
pneumatic valves throughout the instrument. This allowed a
this note and stop; note the
lighter touch, and more flexibility in the location of the console,
cutaway passages at the top.
within a 50-foot (15-m) limit. This type of construction was
used in the late 19th century to early 20th century, and has had
only rare application since the 1920s.[48]

A more recent development is the electric action which uses low voltage DC to control the key
and/or stop mechanisms. Electricity may control the action indirectly through air pressure valves
(pneumatics), in which case the action is electro-pneumatic. In such actions, an electromagnet
attracts a small pilot valve which lets wind go to a bellows ("pneumatic") which opens the pallet.
When electricity operates the action directly without the assistance of pneumatics, it is commonly
referred to as direct electric action.[48] In this type, the electromagnet's armature carries a disc
pallet.

When electrical wiring alone is used to connect the console to the windchest, electric actions allow
the console to be separated at any practical distance from the rest of the organ, and to be
movable.[49] Electric stop actions can be controlled at the console by stop knobs, by pivoted tilting
tablets, or rocker tabs. These are simple switches, like wall switches for room lights. Some may
include electromagnets for setting or resetting when combinations are selected.

The most modern actions are primarily electronic, which connect the console and windchests via
narrow data cables instead of the larger multiconductor cables of electric actions. Boxes containing
small embedded computers in the console and near the windchests translate console commands into
fast serial data for the cable, and back into electrical commands at the windchest[s].

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Wind system

The wind system consists of the parts that produce, store, and
deliver wind to the pipes. Pipe organ wind pressures are on the
order of 0.10 psi (0.69 kPa). Organ builders often measure
organ wind using a U-tube manometer containing water, so
commonly give its magnitude as the difference in water levels
in the two legs of the manometer, rather than in units of
pressure. The difference in water level is proportional to the
difference in pressure between the wind being measured and the
Bellow of a pipe organ at Museu
atmosphere.[50] The 0.10 psi above would register as 2.75
de la Música de Barcelona
inches of water (70 mmAq). An Italian organ from the
Renaissance period may be on only 2.2 inches (56 mm),[51]
while (in the extreme) solo stops in some large 20th-century organs may require up to 50 inches
(1,300 mm). In isolated, extreme cases, some stops have been voiced on 100 inches (2,500 mm). [52]

Playing the organ before electricity required at least one person to operate the bellows. When
signaled by the organist, a calcant would operate a set of bellows, supplying the organ with air.[53]
Because calcants were expensive, organists would usually practise on other instruments such as the
clavichord or harpsichord.[54] By the mid-19th-century bellows were also being operated by water
engines,[55] steam engines or gasoline engines.[56][57][58] Starting in the 1860s bellows were
gradually replaced by wind turbines which were later directly connected to electrical motors.[59]
This made it possible for organists to practice regularly on the organ. Most organs, both new and
historic, have electric blowers, although others can still be operated manually.[60] The wind
supplied is stored in one or more regulators to maintain a constant pressure in the windchests until
the action allows it to flow into the pipes.[61]

Stops

Each stop usually controls one rank of pipes, although mixtures and undulating stops (such as the
Voix céleste) control multiple ranks.[62] The name of the stop reflects not only the stop's timbre and
construction, but also the style of the organ in which it resides. For example, the names on an organ
built in the north German Baroque style generally will be derived from the German language, while
the names of similar stops on an organ in the French Romantic style will usually be French. Most
countries tend to use only their own languages for stop nomenclature. English-speaking nations as
well as Japan are more receptive to foreign nomenclature. Stop names are not standardized: two
otherwise identical stops from different organs may have different names.[63]

To facilitate a large range of timbres, organ stops exist at different pitch levels. A stop that sounds
at unison pitch when a key is depressed is referred to as being at 8′ (pronounced "eight-foot") pitch.
This refers to the length of the lowest-sounding pipe in that rank, which is approximately eight feet.
For the same reason, a stop that sounds an octave higher is at 4′ pitch, and one that sounds two
octaves higher is at 2′ pitch. Likewise, a stop that sounds an octave lower than unison pitch is at 16′

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pitch, and one that sounds two octaves lower is at 32′ pitch.[62] Stops
of different pitch levels are designed to be played simultaneously.

The label on a stop knob or rocker tab indicates the stop’s name and its
pitch in feet. Stops that control multiple ranks display a Roman
numeral indicating the number of ranks present, instead of its pitch.[64]
Thus, a stop labelled "Open Diapason 8′ " is a single-rank diapason
stop sounding at 8′ pitch. A stop labelled "Mixture V" is a five-rank
mixture.

Sometimes, a single rank of pipes may be able to be controlled by

several stops, allowing the rank to be played at multiple pitches or on
Stop knobs of the
multiple manuals. Such a rank is said to be unified or borrowed. For
Baroque organ in
example, an 8′ Diapason rank may also be made available as a 4′
Weingarten, Germany
Octave. When both of these stops are selected and a key (for example,
c′)[65] is pressed, two pipes of the same rank will sound: the pipe
normally corresponding to the key played (c′), and the pipe one octave above that (c′′). Because the
8′ rank does not have enough pipes to sound the top octave of the keyboard at 4′ pitch, it is
common for an extra octave of pipes used only for the borrowed 4′ stop to be added. In this case,
the full rank of pipes (now an extended rank) is one octave longer than the keyboard.[66]

Special unpitched stops also appear in some organs. Among these are the Zimbelstern (a wheel of
rotating bells), the nightingale (a pipe submerged in a small pool of water, creating the sound of a
bird warbling when wind is admitted),[67] and the effet d'orage ("thunder effect", a device that
sounds the lowest bass pipes simultaneously). Standard orchestral percussion instruments such as
the drum, chimes, celesta, and harp have also been imitated in organ building.[68]

Console

The controls available to the organist, including the keyboards,

couplers, expression pedals, stops, and registration aids are
accessed from the console.[70] The console is either built into
the organ case or detached from it.

Keyboards

Keyboards played by the hands are known as manuals (from the

Latin manus, meaning "hand"). The keyboard played by the feet The five-manual, 522-stop
is a pedalboard. Every organ has at least one manual (most have detached console at the United
two or more), and most have a pedalboard. Each keyboard is States Naval Academy Chapel
named for a particular division of the organ (a group of ranks) crafted by R. A. Colby, Inc.[69]
and generally controls only the stops from that division. The
range of the keyboards has varied widely across time and

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between countries. Most current specifications call for two or more manuals with sixty-one notes
(five octaves, from C to c″″) and a pedalboard with thirty or thirty-two notes (two and a half
octaves, from C to f′ or g′).[65][71]

Couplers

A coupler allows the stops of one division to be played from the keyboard of another division. For
example, a coupler labelled "Swell to Great" allows the stops drawn in the Swell division to be
played on the Great manual. This coupler is a unison coupler, because it causes the pipes of the
Swell division to sound at the same pitch as the keys played on the Great manual. Coupling allows
stops from different divisions to be combined to create various tonal effects. It also allows every
stop of the organ to be played simultaneously from one manual.[72]

Octave couplers, which add the pipes an octave above (super-octave) or below (sub-octave) each
note that is played, may operate on one division only (for example, the Swell super octave, which
adds the octave above what is being played on the Swell to itself), or act as a coupler to another
keyboard (for example, the Swell super-octave to Great, which adds to the Great manual the ranks
of the Swell division an octave above what is being played).[72]

In addition, larger organs may use unison off couplers, which prevent the stops pulled in a
particular division from sounding at their normal pitch. These can be used in combination with
octave couplers to create innovative aural effects, and can also be used to rearrange the order of the
manuals to make specific pieces easier to play.[72]

Enclosure and expression pedals

Enclosure refers to a system that allows for the control of volume without requiring the addition or
subtraction of stops. In a two-manual organ with Great and Swell divisions, the Swell will be
enclosed. In larger organs, parts or all of the Choir and Solo divisions may also be enclosed.[74] The
pipes of an enclosed division are placed in a chamber generally called the swell box. At least one
side of the box is constructed from horizontal or vertical palettes known as swell shades, which
operate in a similar way to Venetian blinds; their position can be adjusted from the console. When
the swell shades are open, more sound is heard than when they are closed.[74] Sometimes the
shades are exposed, but they are often concealed behind a row of facade-pipes or a grill.

The most common method of controlling the louvers is the balanced swell pedal. This device is
usually placed above the centre of the pedalboard and is configured to rotate away from the
organist from a near-vertical position (in which the shades are closed) to a near-horizontal position
(in which the shades are open).[75] An organ may also have a similar-looking crescendo pedal,
found alongside any expression pedals. Pressing the crescendo pedal forward cumulatively
activates the stops of the organ, starting with the softest and ending with the loudest; pressing it
backwards reverses this process.[76]

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Combination action

Organ stops can be combined in countless permutations, resulting in a

great variety of sounds. A combination action can be used to switch
instantly from one combination of stops (called a registration) to
another. Combination actions feature small buttons called pistons that
can be pressed by the organist, generally located beneath the keys of
each manual (thumb pistons) or above the pedalboard (toe pistons).[77]
The pistons may be divisional (affecting only a single division) or
general (affecting all the divisions), and are either preset by the organ
builder or can be altered by the organist. Modern combination actions
operate via computer memory, and can store several channels of The console of the organ
registrations.[78] in Salem Minster in
Salem, Germany.[73] The
Casing expression pedal is
visible directly above the
The pipes, action, and wind system are pedalboard.
almost always contained in a case, the
design of which also may incorporate the console. The case blends the
organ's sound and aids in projecting it into the room.[79] The case often
is designed to complement the building's architectural style and it may
contain ornamental carvings and other decorations. The visible portion
of the case, called the façade, will most often contain pipes, which
may be either sounding pipes or dummy pipes solely for decoration.
The façade pipes may be plain, burnished, gilded, or painted[80] and
The organ of the are usually referred to as (en) montre within the context of the French
Severikirche in Erfurt,
organ school.[81][82]
Germany, has a highly
decorative case with Organ cases occasionally feature a few ranks of pipes protruding
ornate carvings and horizontally from the case in the manner of a row of trumpets. These
cherubs. are referred to as pipes en chamade and are particularly common in
organs of the Iberian peninsula and large 20th-century instruments.[83]

Many organs, particularly those built in the early 20th century, are contained in one or more rooms
called organ chambers. Because sound does not project from a chamber into the room as clearly as
from a freestanding organ case, enchambered organs may sound muffled and distant.[84] For this
reason, some modern builders, particularly those building instruments specializing in polyphony
rather than Romantic compositions, avoid this unless the architecture of the room makes it
necessary.

Tuning and regulation

The goal of tuning a pipe organ is to adjust the pitch of each pipe so that they all sound in tune with

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each other. How the pitch of each pipe is adjusted depends on the type
and construction of that pipe.

Regulation adjusts the action so that all pipes sound correctly. If the
regulation is wrongly set, the keys may be at different heights, some
pipes may sound when the keys are not pressed (a "cipher"), or pipes
may not sound when a key is pressed. Tracker action, for example in
the organ of Cradley Heath Baptist Church, includes adjustment nuts
on the wire ends of the wooden trackers, which have the effect of
changing the effective length of each tracker.

Repertoire Tracker action showing

adjusters on tracker ends
The main development of organ repertoire has progressed along with which engage with the
that of the organ itself, leading to distinctive national styles of keys of the great organ.
composition. Because organs are commonly found in churches and
synagogues, the organ repertoire includes a large amount of sacred
music, which is accompanimental (choral anthems, congregational hymns, liturgical elements, etc.)
as well as solo in nature (chorale preludes, hymn versets designed for alternatim use, etc.).[8] The
organ's secular repertoire includes preludes, fugues, sonatas, organ symphonies, suites, and
transcriptions of orchestral works.

Although most countries whose music falls into the Western

tradition have contributed to the organ repertoire, France and
Germany in particular have produced exceptionally large
amounts of organ music. There is also an extensive repertoire
from the Netherlands, England, and the United States.

Before the Baroque era, keyboard music generally was not

written for one instrument or another, but rather was written to
be played on any keyboard instrument. For this reason, much of
the organ's repertoire through the Renaissance period is the
same as that of the harpsichord. Pre-Renaissance keyboard
music is found in compiled manuscripts that may include
compositions from a variety of regions. The oldest of these
sources is the Robertsbridge Codex, dating from about 1360.[86]
The organ music of Johann
The Buxheimer Orgelbuch, which dates from about 1470 and
Sebastian Bach forms an
was compiled in Germany, includes intabulations of vocal
important part of the instrument's
music by the English composer John Dunstaple.[87] The earliest
repertoire.[85]
Italian organ music is found in the Faenza Codex, dating from
1420.[88]

In the Renaissance period, Dutch composers such as Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck composed both
fantasias and psalm settings. Sweelinck in particular developed a rich collection of keyboard

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figuration that influenced subsequent composers.[89] The Italian composer Claudio Merulo wrote in
the typical Italian genres of the toccata, the canzona, and the ricercar.[90] In Spain, the works of
Antonio de Cabezón began the most prolific period of Spanish organ composition,[91] which
culminated with Juan Cabanilles.

Early Baroque organ music in Germany was highly contrapuntal. Sacred organ music was based on
chorales: composers such as Samuel Scheidt and Heinrich Scheidemann wrote chorale preludes,
chorale fantasias, and chorale motets.[91] Towards the end of the Baroque era, the chorale prelude
and the partita became mixed, forming the chorale partita.[92] This genre was developed by Georg
Böhm, Johann Pachelbel, and Dieterich Buxtehude. The primary type of free-form piece in this
period was the praeludium, as exemplified in the works of Matthias Weckmann, Nicolaus Bruhns,
Böhm, and Buxtehude.[93] The organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach fused characteristics of every
national tradition and historical style in his large-scale preludes and fugues and chorale-based
works.[94] Towards the end of the Baroque era, George Frideric Handel composed the first organ
concertos.[95]

In France, organ music developed during the Baroque era

through the music of Jean Titelouze, François Couperin, and
Nicolas de Grigny.[97] Because the French organ of the 17th and
early 18th centuries was very standardized, a conventional set
of registrations developed for its repertoire. The music of
French composers (and Italian composers such as Girolamo
Frescobaldi) was written for use during the Mass. Very little
secular organ music was composed in France and Italy during
the Baroque period; the written repertoire is almost exclusively
intended for liturgical use.[98] In England, composers such as
John Blow and John Stanley wrote multi-sectional free works
for liturgical use called voluntaries through the 19th century.
[99][100]
César Franck at the console of
the organ at Saint Clotilde,
Organ music was seldom written in the Classical era, as
Paris[96] composers preferred the piano with its ability to create
dynamics.[101] In Germany, the six sonatas op. 65 of Felix
Mendelssohn (published 1845) marked the beginning of a renewed interest in composing for the
organ. Inspired by the newly built Cavaillé-Coll organs, the French organist-composers César
Franck, Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor led organ music into the symphonic
realm.[101] The development of symphonic organ music continued with Louis Vierne and Charles
Tournemire. Widor and Vierne wrote large-scale, multi-movement works called organ symphonies
that exploited the full possibilities of the symphonic organ.[102] Max Reger and Sigfrid Karg-Elert's
symphonic works made use of the abilities of the large Romantic organs being built in Germany at
the time.[101]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, organ builders began to build instruments in concert halls and other

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large secular venues, allowing the organ to be used as part of an orchestra, as in Saint-Saëns'
Symphony No. 3.[101] Frequently the organ is given a soloistic part, such as in Joseph Jongen's
Symphonie Concertante for Organ & Orchestra, Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings and
Tympani, and Frigyes Hidas' Organ Concerto.

Other composers who have used the organ prominently in orchestral music include Gustav Holst,
Richard Strauss, Ottorino Respighi, Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, and Ralph Vaughan
Williams.[103] Because these concert hall instruments could approximate the sounds of symphony
orchestras, transcriptions of orchestral works found a place in the organ repertoire.[104] As silent
films became popular, theatre organs were installed in theatres to provide accompaniment for the
films.[101]

In the 20th-century symphonic repertoire, both sacred and secular,[105] continued to progress
through the music of Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé, and Herbert Howells.[101] Other composers,
such as Olivier Messiaen, György Ligeti, Jehan Alain, Jean Langlais, Gerd Zacher, and Petr Eben,
wrote post-tonal organ music.[101] Messiaen's music in particular redefined many of the traditional
notions of organ registration and technique.[106]

See also
Organ crawl

Notes
1. Organ built by François-Henri Clicquot, 1771 and Joseph Merklin, 1864. Poliquin, Robert (1997).
Organs in France: Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, Paris (http://www.uquebec.ca/~uss1010/orgues
/france/sgermainap.html). Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
2. Willey, David (2001). "The World's Largest Organs (https://web.archive.org/web/20071208171132/http:
//www.ondamar.demon.co.uk/lists/big1.htm)". Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
3. Randel "Organ", 583.
4. Douglas Bush and Richard Kassel eds., "The Organ, an Encyclopedia." (https://books.google.com
/books?id=cgDJaeFFUPoC&lpg=PA327&ots=nPL05keO3O&pg=PA327#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Routledge. 2006. p. 327.
5. Randel "Organ", 584–585.
6. Michael Woods, "Strange ills afflict pipe organs of Europe". (https://lists.wu-wien.ac.at/pipermail
/earlym-l/2006-March/003169.html) Post-Gazette, April 26, 2005. Archived (https://web.archive.org
/web/20120222231705/https://lists.wu-wien.ac.at/pipermail/earlym-l/2006-March/003169.html)
February 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
7. N. Pippenger, "Complexity Theory", Scientific American, 239:90-100 (1978).
8. Smith, Rollin (1998). The Aeolian pipe organ and its music. Richmond VA USA: The Organ Historical
Society. ISBN 0-913499-16-1.
9. Thomas, Steve, 2003. Pipe organs 101: an introduction to pipe organ basics
(http://www.lawrencephelps.com/Documents/Articles/Beginner/pipeorgans101.html). Retrieved on
2007-05-06.

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10. "The Museums of Macedonia:Archaeological Museum of Dion". Macedonian Heritage. Retrieved

August 28, 2009.
11. Ring, Trudy (1994), International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa, 4, Taylor &
Francis, ISBN 1884964036
12. Harper, Douglas (2001). Organ (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=organum&
searchmode=none). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
13. Liddell, Henry George & Scott, Robert (1940). Organon (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin
/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2374753). A Greek-English Lexicon.
Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-864226-1. Perseus. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
14. Randel "Hydraulis", 385.
15. Kartomi, Margaret J. (1990), On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments, University of
Chicago Press, p. 124, ISBN 0-226-42548-7
16. Douglas Bush and Richard Kassel eds., "The Organ, an Encyclopedia." Routledge. 2006. p. 327. Extract
of page 327 (https://books.google.com/books?id=cgDJaeFFUPoC&lpg=PA327&ots=nPL05keO3O&
pg=PA327#v=onepage&q&f=false)
17. Painting by Meister des Bartholomäus-Altars, 1501.
18. Riaño, J. F. (1887). Critical and Bibliographical Notes on Early Spanish Music
(http://ia340928.us.archive.org/1/items/criticalbibliogr00riauoft/criticalbibliogr00riauoft.pdf) (PDF).
London: Quaritch, 119–127. ISBN 0-306-70193-6.
19. Kennedy, Michael (Ed.) (2002). "Organ". In The Oxford Dictionary of Music, p. 644. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
20. Sumner "The Organ", 39.
21. Keyboard instrument (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/315885/keyboard-instrument)
(2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica Online (subscription required, though relevant reference is viewable
in concise article). Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
22. Douglass, 10–12.
23. Thistlethwaite, 5.
24. Phelps, Lawrence (1973). "A brief look at the French Classical organ, its origins and German
counterpart (http://www.lawrencephelps.com/Documents/Articles/Phelps/abrieflook.shtml)". Steve
Thomas. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
25. Organ by Hermean Raphaelis, 1554. Copenhagen Portal: Roskilde Cathedral (http://copenhagenet.dk
/CPH-Roskilde.htm). GBM MARKETING ApS. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
26. Webber, 222.
27. Randel "Organ", 585.
28. Bicknell "The organ case", 66–71.
29. Thistlethwaite, 12.
30. Douglass, 3.
31. (French) Bédos de Celles, Dom François (1766). Extraits de l'Art du facteur d'orgues (http://www.synec-
doc.be/musique/dbedos/dbedos.htm). Ferguson (Tr.) (1977). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
32. Randel "Organ", 586–587.
33. McCrea, 279–280.
34. Randel "Organ", 586.
35. "The decline of mixtures," in George Laing Miller (1913), The Recent Revolution in Organ Building
(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21204/21204-h/21204-h). Retrieved on 2009-07-07.
36. Thistlethwaite, 14–15.
37. Bicknell "Organ building today", 82ff.
38. Retrieved on 2009-07-07.
39. see Wikipedia: Organ_pipe and Materials heading

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40. Randel "Organ", 578.

41. Randel "Organ", 579.
42. Bicknell "Organ construction", 27.
43. Bicknell "Organ construction", 20.
44. Gleason, 3–4.
45. William H. Barnes "The Contemporary American Organ"
46. Bicknell "Organ construction", 22–23.
47. "Answers.com: Pull out all the stops (http://www.answers.com/topic/pull-out-all-the-stops)". Draw
knobs were the only type of stop control in past centuries, and are still used.American Heritage
Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Company (1992). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
48. William H. Barnes, "The Contemporary American Organ"
49. Bicknell "Organ construction", 23–24.
50. Douglas M. Considine, ed. (1974). Process Instruments and Controls Handbook (Second ed.).
McGraw-Hill. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0-07-012428-0.
51. Dalton, 168.
52. The Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ in Atlantic City has four stops on 100 inches and ten stops on
50. Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ (http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om02700.html).
Oddmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
53. Bicknell "Organ construction", 18.
54. Koopman, Ton (1991). "Dietrich Buxtehude's organ works: A practical help (http://links.jstor.org
/sici?sici=0027-4666%28199103%29132%3A1777%3C148%3ADBOAPH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23&
size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage)". The Musical Times 123 (1777) (subscription required,
though relevant reference is viewable in preview). Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
55. "Water Engines: Page 6". Douglas-self.com. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
56. "St Jude's: History Pipe Organ". Bowralanglican.org.au. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
57. "Antwerpse Kathedraalconcerten vzw". Akc-orgel.be. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
58. "organ blowers 3". Nzorgan.com. 1997-07-26. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
59. Sefl, 70-71
60. About Opus 72 (http://www.cbfisk.com/do/DisplayInstrumentAbout/instId/72). C. B. Fisk, Inc..
Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
61. Bicknell "Organ construction", 18–20.
62. Bicknell "Organ construction", 26–27.
63. Bicknell "Organ construction", 27–28.
64. Johnson, David N. (1973). Instruction Book for Beginning Organists (https://books.google.com
/books?id=e447xDPoQqoC&pg=PA9&sig=ACfU3U09NQbT7eglcEay77FtciLkmmCezQ#PPA9,M1).
Revised edition. Augsburg Fortress. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8066-0423-7. Google Book search. Retrieved on
2008-08-15.
65. This article uses the Helmholtz pitch notation to indicate specific pitches.
66. The purpose of extended ranks and of their being borrowed is to save on the number of pipes. For
example, without unification, three stops may use 183 pipes. With unification three stops may borrow
one extended rank of 85 pipes. That's 98 fewer pipes used for those three stops.
67. Randel "Rossignol", 718.
68. Ahrens, 339; Kassel, 526-527
69. Organ built by M. P. Moller, 1940. USNA Music Department (http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable
/organ.html). United States Naval Academy. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.

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70. Pipe Organ Guide (http://www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_9_10/console.html). American Guild of

Organists (http://www.agohq.org/). Retrieved on 2008-08-13. Archived (https://web.archive.org
/web/19700101000000/http://www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_9_10/console.html) January 1, 1970, at
the Wayback Machine.
71. Pipe Organ Guide (http://www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_5_5/frameset01.html). American Guild of
Organists. Retrieved on 2007-06-25. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/19700101000000/http:
//www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_5_5/frameset01.html) January 1, 1970, at the Wayback Machine.
72. "A brief tour of a pipe organ". Crumhorn Labs. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved
2008-04-19.
73. Organ built by Wilhelm Schwarz, 1901
74. Wicks "Swell division", "Swell shades".
75. Wicks "Expression pedals".
76. Wicks "Crescendo pedal".
77. Pipe Organ Guide (http://www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_16_17/frameset01.html). American Guild
of Organists (http://www.agohq.org/). Retrieved on 2008-08-13. Archived (https://web.archive.org
/web/19700101000000/http://www.agohq.org/guide/pages/pages_16_17/frameset01.html) January 1,
1970, at the Wayback Machine.
78. Electronic setter (http://www.toff.org.uk/CONSOLE/electronicsetter.html). The Cinema Organ Society.
Retrieved on 2009-07-07.
79. Randel "Organ", 580.
80. Kassel, 146.
81. PETER WILLIAMS, BARBARA OWEN, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ORGAN
STOP: Montre (Fr.). The case pipes of the French organ, corresponding to the English Open Diapason,
the German Prestant, the Italian Principale, etc. Early alternative names were ‘le principal de devant’,
‘devanture en monstre’ (Reims Cathedral, 1570). The tone of the classical French Montre was somewhat
more fluty than the various English Open Diapason types or German Principals.
82. G.A. AUDSLEY Art of Organ-Building, Vol. I, p.544 ISBN 0-486-21314-5: MONTRE, Fr. -The name
commonly applied by the French organ builders to such foundations and organ-toned metal stops as may
be mounted or displayed in the buffet or case of an organ; accordingly, the MONTRES, which are
usually of burnished tin, may be of 32 ft., 16 ft., and 8 ft. speaking lengths, as in the Organ in the Royal
Church at Saint Denis near Paris. Sometimes the name is applied to the PRESTANT 4 ft., when its pipes
are mounted. All the MONTRES are most carefully fashioned and finished, producing, when of tin
brightly burnished, a beautiful effect in combination with the dark wood-work of the case.
83. Bicknell "The organ case", 66–67.
84. Wicks "Organ Chamber".
85. Portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, c.1748
86. Caldwell, John (2007). "Sources of keyboard music to 1660, §2: Individual sources". In L. Macy (Ed.),
Grove Music Online (http://www.grovemusic.com/) (subscription required). Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
87. Cox, 190.
88. Stembridge, 148.
89. Webber, 224.
90. Stembridge, 160.
91. Caldwell, John (2007). "Keyboard music, §I: Keyboard music to c1750". In L. Macy (Ed.), Grove Music
Online (http://www.grovemusic.com/) (subscription required). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
92. McLean, Hugh J. (2007). "Böhm, Georg". In L. Macy (Ed.), Grove Music Online
(http://www.grovemusic.com/) (subscription required). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
93. Ledbetter, David (2007). "Prelude". In L. Macy (Ed.), Grove Music Online
(http://www.grovemusic.com/) (subscription required). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

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94. Yearsley, David (1999). "The organ music of J. S. Bach". In Nicholas Thistlethwaite & Geoffrey Webber
(Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, p. 236. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
95. Lang, Paul Henry (1971). "Michael Haydn: Duo Concertante for viola and organ. Joseph Haydn: Organ
Concerto in C major (http://links.jstor.org
/sici?sici=0027-4631(197101)57%3A1%3C173%3AMHDCFV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T)". The Musical
Quarterly 57 (1). Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
96. Portrait by Jeanne Rongier, 1888.
97. Higginbottom, 177, 189.
98. Higginbottom, 178–181.
99. Cox, 198.
100. McCrea, 279.
101. Owen, Barbara (2007). "Keyboard music, §II: Organ music from c1750". In L. Macy (Ed.), Grove Music
Online (http://www.grovemusic.com/) (subscription required). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
102. Brooks, Gerard (1999). "French and Belgian organ music after 1800". In Nicholas Thistlethwaite &
Geoffrey Webber (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 274–275. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
103. Barone, Michael (2004). "Pipe organs are popping up in concert halls nationwide. Now—what to play
on them? (https://web.archive.org/web/20050326113612/http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles
/0503_what_to_play.shtml)". Symphony magazine, Nov–Dec 2004. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
104. Lozenz, James Edward (2006). "Organ Transcriptions and the Late Romantic Period". In An Organ
Transcription of the Messe in C, op. 169 by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses
/available/etd-04052006-155413/unrestricted/LORENZTREATISE.pdf) (PDF). Florida State University
College of Music. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
105. Glück, Sebastian Matthäus (2003). "Literature-based reed assignment in organ design
(http://www.albany.edu/piporg-l/FS/sg.html)". PIPORG-L. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
106. Galuska, Andrew R. (2001). "Messiaen's organ registration (http://www.uh.edu/~tkoozin/projects
/galuska/andrewgaluska.html)". Moore's School of Music: University of Houston. Retrieved on
2007-06-19.

References
Ahrens, Christian (2006). In Bush, Douglas & Kassel, Richard (Eds.), The Organ: an Encyclopedia,
pp. 399–499. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94174-1
Audsley, G.A. Art of Organ-Building New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-21314-5:
Bicknell, Stephen (1999). "Organ building today". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber, Geoffrey
(Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 82–92. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Bicknell, Stephen (1999). "Organ construction". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.),
The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 18–30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-57584-2
Bicknell, Stephen (1999). "The organ case". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.), The
Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 55–81. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-57584-2
Cox, Geoffrey (1999). "English organ music to c1700". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber, Geoffrey
(Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 109–203. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-57584-2

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Dalton, James (1999). "Iberian organ music before 1700". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber,
Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 165–175. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Douglass, Fenner (1995). The Language of the Classical French Organ. New Haven: Yale University
Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06426-1
Gleason, Harold (1988). Method of Organ Playing (7th ed.). Edited by Catherine Crozier Gleason.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-579459-5
Higginbottom, Edward (1999). "The French classical organ school". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas &
Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 176–189. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Kassel, Richard (2006). Display pipes. In Bush, Douglas & Kassel, Richard (Eds.), The Organ: an
Encyclopedia, pp. 145–146. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94174-1
Kassel, Richard (2006). Sound effects. In Bush, Douglas & Kassel, Richard (Eds.), The Organ: an
Encyclopedia, pp. 526–527. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94174-1
McCrea, Andrew (1999). "British organ music after 1800". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber,
Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 279–298. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Randel, Don Michael (Ed.) (1986). The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press. ISBN 0-674-61525-5
Sefl, Alfred (2006). Blower. In Bush, Douglas & Kassel, Richard (Eds.), The Organ: an Encyclopedia,
pp. 70–71. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94174-1
Stembridge, Christopher (1999). Italian organ music to Frescobaldi. In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas &
Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 148–163. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Sumner, William Leslie (1973). The Organ: Its Evolution, Principles of Construction and Use. London:
Macdonald. ISBN 0-356-04162-X
Thistlethwaite, Nicholas (1999). "Origins and development of the organ". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas &
Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 1–17. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2
Webber, Geoffrey (1999). "The north German organ school". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas & Webber,
Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, pp. 219–235. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-57584-2

Further reading
Adlung, Jacob (1768). Musica mechanica organoedi. English translation (http://digitalcommons.unl.edu
/zeabook/6/), Q. Faulkner, trans (2011). Lincoln, NE: Zea E-Books.
Bédos de Celles, Dom François (1768). L'art du facteur d'orgues. Charles Ferguson (Trans.) (1977). The
Organ-Builder. Raleigh, NC: Sunbury Press.
Bush, Douglas and Kassel, Richard (Ed.) (2006). The Organ: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge.
ISBN 978-0-415-94174-7
Klotz, Hans (1969). The Organ Handbook. St. Louis: Concordia. ISBN 978-0-570-01306-8
Ochse, Orpha (1975). The History of the Organ in the United States. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
Praetorius, Michael (1619). De Organographia, Parts III – V with Index (English translation)
(http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/24/)

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Soderlund, Sandra (1994). A Guide to the Pipe Organ for Composers and Others. Colfax, North
Carolina: Wayne Leupold Editions. No ISBN.
Sumner, William L. (1973). The Organ: Its evolution, principles of construction and use (4th ed.).
London: MacDonald. No ISBN.
Williams, Peter (1966). The European Organ, 1458–1850. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
ISBN 0-253-32083-6
Williams, Peter (1980). A New History of the Organ from the Greeks to the Present Day. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-15704-1

External links
The Pipe Organ (http://ibiblio.org/pipeorgan/), a basic Wikimedia Commons
overview of the organ has media related to
The Organ (http://theorganmag.com/), quarterly UK Pipe organ.
publication about pipe organs
ellykooiman.com (http://ellykooiman.com/), pipe organ Wikisource has the text
website with information and detailed photos of various of the 1911
organs Encyclopædia
Sonderlund, Sandra. "A Young Person's Guide to the Pipe Britannica article
Organ". Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Organ.
Flue Pipe Acoustics (http://rjweisen.50megs.com
/fluepipe1_001.htm), a scholarly description of flue pipe physics
Organ transcriptions and the Late Romantic Period (http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available
/etd-04052006-155413/unrestricted/LORENZTREATISE.pdf)
Organs and Organists (http://www.musiqueorguequebec.ca/orgues.html), a repository of
information on significant organs and organ builders
Orgelgalerie (http://winterfeldt.de/orgel/), a gallery of over 2000 pipe organ pictures from
many different countries
The house organ (http://www.orgue-de-salon.com/), A little organ construction process
Dr Colin Pykett's website (http://www.pykett.org.uk/) - many technical articles on pipe and
electronic organs
Encyclopedia of Organ Stops (http://organstops.org/), a comprehensive database of over 2500
stops with descriptions, pictures, and sound clips
An introductory site to the organ (http://nersp.osg.ufl.edu/~bodinew/) particularly this
Glossary (http://nersp.osg.ufl.edu/~bodinew/Pages/Glossary.html) of Organ Terms
Organ Memes (http://www.organmemes.com) A site dedicated to the humorous struggles of
playing the pipe organ.

Online radio stations

Organlive (http://www.organlive.com/) An online station of classical organ music.

Positively Baroque (http://www.positivelybaroque.com/) An online station dedicated to organ
music of the Baroque period.

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At the Organ (http://www.attheorgan.com/) An online station providing weekly programming

about the classical organ.
Pipedreams (http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/) A weekly 2-hour public radio program of
organ music.
Sacred Classics (http://atlascom.us/listen.htm), a radio program of organ and choral music

Databases

International Organ Foundation (http://iof.pipechat.org/), an online pipe organ database with

specifications of more than 8000 organs in over 80 countries
Organ Historical Society Pipe Organ Database (http://database.organsociety.org/)
The Top 20 - The World's Largest Pipe Organs (http://sacredclassics.com/bigpipes.htm)
National Pipe Organ Register (http://www.npor.org.uk/), featuring history and specifications
of 28,000 pipe organs in the United Kingdom
Die Orgelseite (http://die-orgelseite.de/index_e.html), photos and specifications of some of
the world's most interesting organs (subscription required for some content)
Organ Database (http://www.orgbase.nl/), stoplists, pictures and information about some
33,500 pipe organs around the world
The New York City Organ Project (http://www.nycago.org/organs/nyc/) documents organs
present and past in the five boroughs of New York City

Resources for pipe organ video recordings

"TourBus to the King of Instruments" – video series with Carol Williams (organist) about the
large & small, famous & unique pipe organs of the world. American Video & Audio
Production Company (http://melcot.com/recordings.html)
"The Joy of Music" – television series with Diane Bish about large pipe organs in USA and in
Europe.

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Categories: Pipe organ Keyboard instruments C instruments

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