The Pipe Organ

The history of the organ stretches back to Ancient Greece.

Known as “the King of Instruments,” the pipe organ is forever associated with grand church music. Music for organ appears in virtually every historical era. 

The organ’s massive size and powerful presence distinguish it from all other instruments. Yet it comes in an almost endless variety of sizes and styles. Some pipe organs can be carried under your arm. But in a large cathedral organ, you will find thousands of pipes. A single pipe may be 32′ tall and could weigh more than a ton. Another might be no bigger than a pencil stub.

Professor Carol’s webinar “What’s So Great About the Pipe Organ”

Terms:

  • Pipe
  • Rank
  • Diapason
  • Stop
  • Registration
  • Manuals
  • Swell
  • Great
  • Choir
  • Pedal Board
  • Coupler
  • Bellows
  • Mixture

Organs need air. Before electricity came into use, somebody had to pump the air using some form of bellows.

Bach “Gigue” Fugue in G Major, BWV 577

The organ repertoire includes music in many styles, by many composers, across many eras. But the fugues of J.S. Bach tend to be the gold standard.

This fugue, a “stand-alone” work, is unusual for being written in the bouncy triple meter typical of a Baroque gigue, a dance form that frequently served as the last movement of a Baroque suite. 

The organ is small tracker by the builder Van Vulpen in the Netherlands.

Liszt, Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam” (1850)

Saint Sulpice Church in Paris boasts Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré as former organists. Its much larger organ has five manuals and is well-suited to the large-scale Romantic music of the 19th century. The organ’s specifications can be seen here.

Unlike the Baroque era, Romantic organ works like this move quickly through a variety of moods and dynamics. The assistants to the organist handle the page turns and frequent changes in registration that this music requires. 

(There are a couple of unfortunate breaks in the video, but it is instructive in showing how the organist works with his assistants.)

Vaughan Williams, Organ Prelude on Rosymedre

This prelude is based on the Welsh hymn tune Rosymedre.

This digital organ recreates the sound of Salisbury Cathedral and will fit in your living room. You can shop for your own virtual organ at the Hauptwerk website.

Pipe organs tend to inspire superlatives, and naturally there is some competition for being the biggest. But you might also enjoy seeing the smallest.

Pipes, of course, are not bought off the shelf at your local music store. They are hand-crafted, as you can see here.

This video comes from the Reuter Company in Lawrence, Kansas.