Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/590

578 'tongue' of each slide was marked with a letter to indicate to which note it belonged—a custom that continued in use for centuries afterwards (as for instance in the Halberstadt organ finished in 1361; and in the old organ in the church of St. Ægidien, in Brunswick, built in the latter part of the 15th century, and illustrated farther on); that a hole was cut through the slide under each pipe about an inch and a half across, for the passage of the wind; that all the pipes of a note sounded together; that a note was sounded by the slide being pushed in, and silenced by its being drawn forward; and that in the front of each slide, immediately behind the handle or tongue, a narrow hole about two inches long was cut, in which was fixed a copper-headed nail, which regulated the motion of the slide and prevented its being drawn out too far.

The following illustration, deduced from Theophilus's description, shows the slide, and three passages for wind to as many pipes above. The slide intercepts the wind, but will allow it to pass on being moved so that its openings, shown by the unshaded parts, correspond with those below and above.



Gori's 'Thesaurus Diptychorum,' 1759, vol. ii. contains a most interesting engraving, copied from an ancient MS., said to be as old as the time of Charlemagne, which shows a person playing upon an instrument of the Theophilus type.



But of all the information given by Theophilus, the most important, because previously unknown and unsuspected, is that which relates to the finishing of the pipes so as to produce different qualities of tone. They were made of the finest copper; and the formation of a pipe being completed, Theophilus thus proceeds: 'He (the maker) can bring it (the pipe) to his mouth and blow at first slightly, then more, and then strongly; and, according to what he discerns by hearing, he can arrange the sound, so that if he wish it strong the opening is made wider; but if slighter, it is made narrower. In this order all the pipes are made.' Here we see that the means for producing a fuller tone by a wide or high mouth, and a more delicate sound by a narrower or lower one, were well known in the 11th century; and that the manner of testing the 'speech' by blowing the pipe with the mouth in various ways, is precisely that often employed by the 'voicer' of the present day, when 'regulating' or 'finishing' a stop. It is worthy of observation that although Theophilus incidentally recognises an addition to the number of pipes to a note as one means of increasing the utility of the organ, he as distinctly indicates its range or compass as simply seven or eight notes. It would have been of great importance had he mentioned the names of the sounds which formed a sufficient scale for the accompaniment of the chants of his day. His record, as a priest and monk, as well as an organ-maker, would have been most valuable.

We have intentionally introduced the account of Theophilus somewhat before its due chronological place, as it materially assists in elucidating the description of the remarkable organ erected in Winchester Cathedral in the 10th century by order of Bishop Elphege (died 951), and described in a poem by a monk of the name of Wulstan who died in 963. It is of further use in this place, since Wulstan's description has up to this time been a great puzzle to most writers on the history of the organ.

The following is a translation of the portion of the Latin poem with which we are concerned, as given by Mr. Wackerbarth in his 'Music and the Anglo-Saxons,' pp. 12–15.

"Such organs as you have built are seen nowhere, fabricated on a double ground. Twice six bellows above are ranged in a row, and fourteen lie below. These, by alternate blasts, supply an immense quantity of wind, and are worked by seventy strong men, labouring with their arms, covered with perspiration, each inciting his companions to drive the wind up with all his strength, that the full-bosomed box may speak with its four hundred pipes which the hand of the organist governs. Some when closed he opens, others when open he closes, as the individual nature of the varied sound requires. Two brethren (religious) of concordant spirit sit at the instrument, and each manages his own alphabet. There are, moreover, hidden holes in the forty tongues, and each has ten (pipes) in their due order. Some are conducted hither, others thither, each preserving the proper point (or situation) for its own note. They strike the seven differences of joyous sounds, adding the music of the lyric semitone. Like thunder the iron tones batter the ear, so that it may receive no sound but that alone. To such an amount does it reverberate, echoing in every direction, that every one stops with his hand his gaping ears, being in no wise able to draw near and bear the sound, which so many combinations produce. The music is heard throughout the town, and the flying fame thereof is gone out over the whole country."

From this we learn that the organ was built in two stages, as are most of those of the present day, but of which no previous example is met with; the chief department—corresponding with the Great organ of after-time, and fed by fourteen bellows—being below, and the two smaller departments—answering to the Choir and Echo organs of later times, and each supplied by six