Bringing Back the Organ
When our generation hears the word “organ”, the only reference we have is the evil Maestro Forte from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Forest.
Remember this creepy face?
But the organ is much more than that.
This instrument has fascinated me for a long time. In my opinion, playing the piano is hard enough, but playing the organ seems almost impossible because it requires your whole body. I want to bring to light this complicated instrument, including its origins, how it works, and where and how you can experience one today.
The origins of the pipe organ come from the pan flute, which is just a set of pipes that you blow into. Then, someone got the bright idea to attach the pipes to keys. In order for this to function, the pipes were set into a windchest, and the person playing had to pump a bellows in order to maintain the airflow. As the instrument evolved, it also grew bigger, and the player needed to have a friend or family member pump the bellows as they played. Nowadays, the bellows are either mechanically or electrically activated. Although the organ dates back to the ancient Greeks, it was most popular during the Baroque period, and, in fact, the most important organ composer is probably already well-known to you: Johann Sebastian Bach.
Now, take a look at the picture below.
At first glance, it’s a monstrosity. I can even start to understand why Disney made its main antagonist an organ. Is it one piano? Is it three?
Let’s dissect it.
As a piano player, I’m going to move straight on to the keyboards. An organ has one or more manual keyboards, and one pedal keyboard. You heard right. Organ players play the piano with their hands and their feet at the same time. Can you imagine? And to play notes legato on the pedal keyboard, many organ players have to use both their heels and their toes. All these keyboards go down to a low C.
To understand how the keys are connected to the pipes, it is first necessary to understand the term tone color. Tone color is the difference in the quality of sound that is not attributed to frequency, pitch, or duration. For example, I can play an A on the harp at the same pitch, frequency, and for the same duration as an A on the trumpet, but the two still have a different quality of sound. The pipes of the organ are arranged in groups by tone color. Each of these groups is called a rank. Each pipe corresponds to a key on a keyboard, and each of the ranks must be called into play by a stop. These are all the buttons/knobs on the sides of the organ. Sometimes, a stop controls multiple ranks, blending the sounds. These stops are all numbered to show their pitch. The pipes are aligned above the box called the windchest, which feeds air from below into the pipes to produce sound.
The pipes have different families as well. There are principal, flute, string, reed, and hybrid pipes. The principal pipes produce the “organ sound.” Basically, they don’t imitate another instrument. The next three all imitate their namesakes. Hybrid pipes are pipes that produce sounds that seem to be from multiple families. So basically, playing the organ requires turning yourself into a giant one-person orchestra. Who knew?
And one more cool thing is that the organ has pedals (much like a piano) that control its volume (less like a piano). The expression pedal controls the volume by opening and closing louvers in a box of enclosed pipes. The crescendo pedal controls volume by adding to the number of stops. For example, when you press on the crescendo pedal, the organ employs 1 stop, 2 stops, 3 stops, and so on for that type of pipe, increasing the volume. When you let go of the crescendo pedal, the organ employs 3 stops, then 2 stops, and so on, decreasing the volume.
It’s not hard to see that the organ is very complex. In addition, organs are also huge. One of the largest organs ever built stands in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and weighs about 150 tons. That’s almost twice as heavy as the Space Shuttle. Traditionally, organs appear in churches and cathedrals. I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit the organ at the Salzburg Cathedral. You can see that there are four “smallish” organs spread throughout the church, and then another huge organ in the back.
Additionally, if you ever find yourself in San Diego, go visit the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. This organ has about 5,000 pipes, and you can listen to a free organ concert on Saturdays. Plus, you can go look inside the pipe chambers afterward!
I also got the chance to attend an organ concert by Pierre Grandmaison at the Montreal Cathedral. He spoke about how the main job of the organ player is to accompany the priest’s ongoing sermon. However, since the sermon is never exactly the same length, all organ players have to have excellent improvisational skills in order to finish at the same time as the priest, much like a jazz player. But it’s not all church music. The organ was at its height during the Baroque period, so it is well-known for classical music. Furthermore, the organ is fantastic for any number of pieces, even movie soundtracks. Click here for a link to an organ duet of various pieces from the Sound of Music.
I hope that this makes you gain some appreciation for the organ and for those who play it. After all, not every instrument requires both your hands and your feet, or has the range of an entire orchestra!
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