Musical instrument: Organ - interesting facts, video, history, photo. How the organ works Brief description of the organ

Alexey Nadezhin: “The organ is the largest and most complex musical instrument. In fact, an organ is a whole brass band, and each of its registers is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.

The largest organ in Russia is installed in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music. I was lucky enough to see a side of him from which very few people have seen him.
This organ was manufactured in 2004 in Germany by a consortium of companies Glatter Gotz and Klais, considered the flagships of organ building. The organ was developed specifically for the Moscow International House of Music. The organ has 84 registers (in a regular organ the number of registers rarely exceeds 60) and more than six thousand pipes. Each register is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.
The height of the organ is 15 meters, weight is 30 tons, cost is two and a half million euros.


Pavel Nikolaevich Kravchun, associate professor of the Department of Acoustics at Moscow State University, who is the chief caretaker of the organs of the Moscow International House of Music and who took part in the development of this instrument, told me about how the organ works.


The organ has five keyboards - four manual and one foot. Surprisingly, the foot keyboard is quite complete and some simple pieces can be performed with just your feet. Each manual (manual keyboard) has 61 keys. On the right and left are handles for turning on registers.


Although the organ looks completely traditional and analog, in fact it is partly controlled by a computer, which first of all remembers presets - sets of registers. They are switched using buttons on the ends of the manuals.


Presets are saved on a regular 1.44″ floppy disk. Of course, disk drives are almost never used in computer technology anymore, but here it works properly.


It was a discovery for me to learn that every organist is an improviser, because the notes either do not indicate a set of registers at all or indicate general wishes. All organs have only a basic set of registers in common, and their number and tonality can vary greatly. Only the best performers can quickly adapt to the huge range of registers of the Svetlanov Hall organ and use its capabilities to the fullest.
In addition to the knobs, the organ has foot operated levers and pedals. Levers enable and disable various computer-controlled functions. For example, combining keyboards and a rising effect controlled by a rotating roller pedal, as it rotates, additional registers are connected and the sound becomes richer and more powerful.
To improve the sound of the organ (and at the same time other instruments), a Constellation electronic system was installed in the hall, which includes many microphones and mini-monitor speakers on stage, lowered from the ceiling on cables using motors and many microphones and speakers in the hall. This is not a sound reinforcement system; when it is turned on, the sound in the hall does not become louder, it becomes more uniform (spectators in the side and distant seats begin to hear the music as well as spectators in the stalls), in addition, reverberation can be added, which improves the perception of the music.


The air with which the organ sounds is supplied by three powerful but very quiet fans.


To supply it evenly,… ordinary bricks are used. They press the furs. When the fans are turned on, the bellows are inflated, and the weight of the bricks provides the necessary air pressure.


Air is supplied to the organ through wooden pipes. Surprisingly, most of the dampers that make pipes sound are controlled purely mechanically - by rods, some of which are more than ten meters long. When many registers are connected to the keyboard, it can be very difficult for the organist to press the keys. Of course, the organ has an electrical amplification system, which makes the keys easy to press when turned on, but high-class organists of the old school always play without amplification - because this is the only way to change intonation by changing the speed and force of pressing the keys. Without amplification, an organ is a purely analog instrument; with amplification, it is digital: each pipe can only sound or be silent.
This is what the rods from the keyboards to the pipes look like. They are wooden, since wood is least susceptible to thermal expansion.


You can go inside the organ and even climb a small “fire” ladder along its floors. There is very little space inside, so it’s difficult to get a sense of the scale of the structure from the photographs, but I’ll still try to show you what I saw.


Pipes vary in height, thickness and shape.


Some pipes are wooden, some are metal made of tin-lead alloy.


Before each major concert, the organ is tuned anew. The setup process takes several hours. To adjust, the ends of the smallest pipes are slightly flared or rolled with a special tool; larger pipes have an adjusting rod.


Larger pipes have a cut-out petal that can be twisted or twisted slightly to adjust the tone.


The largest pipes emit infrasound from 8 Hz, the smallest - ultrasound.


A unique feature of the MMDM organ is the presence of horizontal pipes facing the hall.


I took the previous shot from a small balcony that you can access from inside the organ. It is used to adjust horizontal pipes. View of the auditorium from this balcony.


A small number of pipes are only electrically driven.


The organ also has two sound registers or “special effects”. These are “bells” - the ringing of seven bells in a row and “birds” - the chirping of birds, which occurs due to air and distilled water. Pavel Nikolaevich demonstrates how the “bells” work.


An amazing and very complex instrument! The Constellation system goes into parking mode, and here I end the story about the largest musical instrument in our country.

On June 17, 1981, its keys were first touched by the hand of a musician - the outstanding organist Harry Grodberg, who performed Bach's toccatas, preludes, fantasies and fugues for Tomsk residents.

Since then, dozens of famous organists have given concerts in Tomsk, and German organ builders have never ceased to be amazed how in a city where the temperature difference between winter and summer is 80 degrees, the instrument still plays.

Child of the GDR

The organ of the Tomsk Philharmonic was born in 1981 in the East German city of Frankfurt an der Oder, at the organ-building company W.Sauer Orgelbau.

At a normal working pace, building an organ takes about a year, and the process involves several stages. First, the craftsmen inspect the concert hall, determine its acoustic characteristics and draw up a design for the future instrument. Then the specialists return to their home factory, make individual elements of the organ and assemble them into a whole instrument. In the assembly shop of the factory, it is tested for the first time and the shortcomings are corrected. If the organ sounds as it should, it is again disassembled in parts and sent to the customer.

In Tomsk, all installation procedures took only six months - due to the fact that the process took place without any hiccups, shortcomings or other inhibitory factors. In January 1981, Sauer specialists came to Tomsk for the first time, and in June of the same year the organ was already giving concerts.

Internal composition

By the standards of experts, the Tomsk organ can be called average in weight and size - a ten-ton instrument holds about two thousand pipes of different lengths and shapes. Just like five hundred years ago, they are made by hand. Wooden pipes are usually made in the shape of a parallelepiped. The shapes of metal pipes can be more intricate: cylindrical, reverse-conical and even combined. Metal pipes are made from an alloy of tin and lead in different proportions, and pine is usually used for wooden pipes.

It is these characteristics - length, shape and material - that affect the timbre of the sound of an individual pipe.

The pipes inside the organ are arranged in rows: from highest to lowest. Each row of pipes can play separately, or you can combine them. On the side of the keyboard, on the vertical panels of the organ, there are buttons, by pressing which the organist controls this process. All the pipes of the Tomsk organ are sounding, and only one of them on the front side of the instrument was created for decorative purposes and does not produce any sounds.

On the reverse side, the organ looks like a three-story Gothic castle. On the ground floor of this castle there is a mechanical part of the instrument, which, through a system of rods, transmits the work of the organist’s fingers to the pipes. On the second floor there are pipes that are connected to the keys of the lower keyboard, and on the third floor there are pipes for the upper keyboard.

The Tomsk organ has a mechanical system for connecting keys and pipes, which means that pressing a key and the appearance of sound occurs almost instantly, without any lag.

Above the performing platform there are blinds, or in other words, a channel, which hide the second floor of organ pipes from the viewer. Using a special pedal, the organist controls the position of the blinds and thereby influences the strength of the sound.

The caring hand of a master

The organ, like any other musical instrument, is very dependent on the climate, and the Siberian weather creates many problems in caring for it. Special air conditioners, sensors and humidifiers are installed inside the instrument, which maintain a certain temperature and humidity. The colder and drier the air, the shorter the pipes of the organ become, and vice versa - with warm and humid air, the pipes lengthen. Therefore, the musical instrument requires constant monitoring.

The care of the Tomsk organ is provided by only two people - organist Dmitry Ushakov and his assistant Ekaterina Mastenitsa.

The main means of combating dust inside the organ is an ordinary Soviet vacuum cleaner. To search for it, a whole campaign was organized - they were looking for one that would have a blowing system, because it is easier to blow dust from the organ, bypassing all the tubes, onto the stage and only then collect it with a vacuum cleaner.

“Dirt in the organ must be removed where it is and when it interferes,” says Dmitry Ushakov. - If now we decide to remove all the dust from the organ, we will have to completely tune it again, and this whole procedure will take about a month, and we have concerts.

Most often, façade pipes are subject to cleaning - they are visible, so fingerprints of curious people often remain on them. Dmitry prepares the mixture for cleaning façade elements himself, using ammonia and tooth powder.

Sound reconstruction

Major cleaning and tuning of the organ is carried out once a year: usually in the summer, when there are relatively few concerts and it is not cold outside. But a little sound adjustment is required before each concert. The tuner has a special approach to each type of organ pipe. For some, it is enough to close the cap, for others, tighten the roller, and for the smallest tubes they use a special tool - a stimmhorn.

You won't be able to tune an organ alone. One person must press the keys and the other must adjust the pipes while inside the instrument. In addition, the person pressing the keys controls the setting process.

The Tomsk organ experienced its first major overhaul relatively long ago, 13 years ago, after the restoration of the organ hall and the removal of the organ from a special sarcophagus in which it spent 7 years. Specialists from the Sauer company were invited to Tomsk, who inspected the instrument. Then, in addition to internal renovation, the organ changed the color of the facade and acquired decorative grilles. And in 2012, the organ finally got “owners” - full-time organists Dmitry Ushakov and Maria Blazhevich.

1. In Latin organum the stress falls on the first syllable (as in its Greek prototype).
2. The frequency range of wind organs, taking into account overtones, includes almost ten octaves - from 16 Hz to 14000 Hz, which has no analogues among any other musical instruments. The dynamic range of wind organs is about 85-90 dB, the maximum value of sound pressure levels reaches 110-115 dB-C.
3. Douglas E. Bush, Richard Kassel. The organ: An encyclopedia. New York/London: 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-94174-7
4. “The organ sound is motionless, mechanical and unchanging. Without succumbing to any softening finishing, he brings to the fore the reality of division, attaches decisive importance to the slightest temporal relationships. But if time is the only plastic material of organ performance, then the main requirement of organ technique is the chronometric accuracy of movements.” (Braudo, I. A., On organ and keyboard music - L., 1976, p. 89)
5. Nicholas Thistlethwaite, Geoffrey Webber. The Cambridge companion to the organ. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-521-57584-3
6. Praetogius M. “Syntagma musicum”, vol. 2, Wolffenbuttel, 1919, p. 99.
7. Riemann G. Catechism of the History of Music. Part 1. M., 1896. P. 20.
8. The connection between the Pan flute and the idea of ​​the organ is most clearly seen in the anthological epigram of Emperor Flavius ​​Claudius Julian (331-363): “I see reeds of a new kind growing separately on one metal field. They make sound not from our breath, but from the wind, which comes out of a leathery reservoir lying under their roots, while the light fingers of a strong mortal run through the harmonic holes...” (Quoted from the article “On the Origin of the Organ.” - “Russian” disabled person", 1848, July 29, No. 165).
9. “It has 13 or 24 bamboo tubes fitted with metal (bronze) reeds. Each tube is 1/3 smaller than the next. This set is called piao-xiao. The tubes are inserted into a tank made of a hollowed out gourd (later made of wood or metal). The sound is produced by blowing into the reservoir and drawing in air.” (Modr A. Musical instruments. M., 1959, p. 148).
10. Brocker 2005, p. 190: “The term organum denotes both polyphonic musical practice and the organ, which in the Middle Ages had drone pipes. It could serve as a model when it comes time to call hurdy-gurdy, since its type of polyphony is probably not very different from hurdy-gurdy. “Organistrum” can then be understood as an instrument identical or similar to an organ. Hugh Riemann interpreted the name this way when he saw it as a diminutive of "organum". He thought that, just as "poetaster" came from "poeta", "organistrum" came from "organum" and originally meant "small organ". The term "organum" denotes both a polyphonic musical practice as well as the organ, which in the Middle Ages had drone pipes. It could have served as a model when it came time to name the hurdy-gurdy, since its type of polyphony was probably not very different from that of the hurdy-gurdy. The "organistrum" then can be understood to be an instrument identical with or similar to the organ. Hug Riemann interpreted the name in this manner when he saw it as a diminutive of "organum". He thought that, similar to how "poetaster" came from "poeta", "organistrum" came from "organum" and meant originally "little organ")»
11. Each instrument has its own image, description of form and appearance, and allegorical interpretation, necessary for a kind of “sanctification” of biblical instruments so that they enter the Christian cult. The last mention of the Instruments of Jerome is in the treatise of M. Praetorius Sintagma musicum-II; he took this fragment from S. Virdung’s treatise Musica getutscht 1511. The description first of all emphasizes the unusually loud sonority of the instrument, which is why it is likened to the organ of the Jews, which is heard from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives (paraphrase from the Talmud “From Jericho is heard...”) . Described as a cavity of two skins with twelve bellows pumping air into it and twelve copper tubes emitting a "thunderous howl" - a kind of bagpipe. Later images combined elements of bagpipes and organ. Furs were very often not depicted; keys and pipes could be depicted very conventionally. Virdung, among other things, also turns the image upside down, since he probably copied it from another source and he had no idea what kind of instrument it was.
12. Chris Riley. The Modern Organ Guide. Xulon Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59781-667-0
13. William Harrison Barnes. The Contemporary American Organ - Its Evolution, Design and Construction. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4067-6023-1
14. Apel 1969, p. 396: "described in a 10th century treatise entitled (G.S. i, 303, where it is attributed to Oddo of Cluny) is described in 10th-century treatise entitled Quomodo Organistrum Construatur (G.S. i, 303 where it is attributed to Oddo of Cluny))»
15. Orpha Caroline Ochse. The History of the Organ in the United States. Indiana University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-253-20495-0
16. Virtual MIDI system "Hauptwerk"
17. Kamneedov 2012: “Each key actuated switches connected to various register sliders, or drawbars.”
18. ? An Introduction to Drawbars: “Sliders are the heart and soul of your Hammond organ sound. There are two sets of nine sliders, sometimes referred to as tone bars, for the upper and lower manuals, and two pedal sliders located between the upper manual and the information center display. (English) The Drawbars are the heart and soul of the sound of your Hammond Organ. There are two sets of nine Drawbars, sometimes referred to as Tonebars, for the Upper and Lower Manuals and two Drawbars for the Pedals, located between the Upper Manual and the Information Center Display)»
19. HammondWiki 2011: "The Hammond organ was originally developed to compete with pipe organs. Sliders were a unique innovation of Hammond keyboard instruments (register buttons or shortcuts were used to control the air flow in the pipes of wind organs)... The Hammond organ was originally developed to compete with the pipe organ. Much of the discussion that follows is easier to understand if you have a little knowledge of pipe organ terminology. Here's a link to A Crash Course in Concepts and Terminology Concerning Organs. the hammond organ, pipe organs most commonly used stop buttons or tabs to control the flow of air into a specific rank of pipes. Pipes can sound flutey with few harmonics or reedy with many harmonics and many different tonal qualities in between The stops were two. position controls; on or off. The organist blended the sound produced by the pipe ranks by opening or closing the stops. The Hammond organ blends the relatively pure sine wave tones generated by the ToneGenerator to make sounds that are harmonically imitative of the pipe organ (obviously Jazz, Blues and Rock organists aren’t always interested in imitating a pipe organ). The Hammond organist blends these harmonics by setting the position of the drawbars which increase or decrease the volume of the harmonic in the mix. .
20. Orchestras include a variety of self-playing mechanical organs, known in Germany under the names: Spieluhr, Mechanische Orgel, ein mechanisches Musikwerk, ein Orgelwerk in eine Uhr, eine Walze in eine kleine Orgel, Flötenuhr, Laufwerk, etc. Haydn and Mozart wrote especially for these instruments , Beethoven. (Musical Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, Soviet Composer. Edited by Yu. V. Keldysh. 1973-1982.)
21. Spillane 1892, cc. 642-3: “The peculiarity of the American cabinet (salon) organ lies primarily in the reed structure system invented in this country, with the help of which the tone of the sound was changed, which distinguished this organ from reed instruments made abroad. Several other features in its internal structure and external decoration, however, distinguish it from reed instruments called harmoniums. The “free reed”, as it was first used in American accordions and seraphins, was by no means an internal invention, as writers rashly claim. It was used by European pipe organ builders for register effects, as well as in individual keyboard instruments before 1800. The "free reed" is named to distinguish it from the "breaking reed" of the clarinet and the "double reed" of the oboe and bassoon. The individuality of the American parlor organ rests largely upon the system of reed structure invented in this country, upon which a tone has been evolved which is easily distinguished from that produced by the reed instruments made abroad. Several other features in its interior construction and exterior finish, however, distinguish it from the reed instruments called harmoniums. The "free reed," as it was first applied in American accordeons and seraphines, was not by any means a domestic invention, as writers recklessly assert. It was used by European pipe-organ builders for stop effects, and also in separate key-board instrument, prior to 1800. The "free reed" is so named to distinguish it from the "beating reed" of the clarionet and the "double" reed" of the wallpaper and basson)»

“The King of Instruments” is what the wind organ is called for its enormous size, stunning sound range and unique richness of timbres. A musical instrument with a long history, which has experienced periods of enormous popularity and oblivion, it served both for religious services and secular entertainment. The organ is also unique in that it belongs to the class of wind instruments, but is equipped with keys. A special feature of this majestic instrument is that to play it, the performer must masterfully control not only his hands, but also his feet.

A little history

The organ is a musical instrument with a rich and ancient history. According to experts, the ancestors of this giant can be considered the syrinx - the simplest reed flute of Pan, the ancient oriental organ made of sheng reeds and the Babylonian bagpipe. What all these dissimilar instruments have in common is that to extract sound from them, a more powerful air flow than human lungs can create is required. Already in ancient times, a mechanism was found that could replace human breathing - bellows, similar to those used to fan the fire in a blacksmith's forge.

Ancient history

Already in the 2nd century BC. e. Greek craftsman from Alexandria Ctesibius (Ctesebius) invented and assembled a hydraulic organ - hydraulics. Air was pumped into it by a water press, and not by bellows. Thanks to such changes, the air flow was much more uniform, and the sound of the organ became more beautiful and smooth.

In the first centuries of the spread of Christianity, air bellows replaced the water pump. Thanks to this replacement, it became possible to increase both the number and size of pipes in the organ.

The further history of the organ, a musical instrument that was quite loud and little regulated, developed in European countries such as Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

Middle Ages

In the middle of the 5th century AD. e. organs were built in many Spanish churches, but due to their very loud sound they were used only on major holidays. In 666, Pope Vitalian introduced this instrument into Catholic worship. In the 7th-8th centuries the organ underwent several changes and improvements. It was at this time that the most famous organs were created in Byzantium, but the art of their construction also developed in Europe.

In the 9th century, Italy became the center of their production, from where they were distributed even to France. Later, skilled craftsmen appeared in Germany. By the 11th century, such musical giants were being built in most European countries. However, it is worth noting that a modern instrument is significantly different from what a medieval organ looks like. The instruments created in the Middle Ages were much cruder than later ones. Thus, the sizes of the keys varied from 5 to 7 cm, and the distance between them could reach 1.5 cm. To play such an organ, the performer used fists rather than fingers, hitting the keys with force.

In the 14th century, the organ became a popular and widespread instrument. This was also facilitated by the improvement of this instrument: the organ keys replaced large and inconvenient plates, a bass keyboard for the feet appeared, equipped with a pedal, the registers became noticeably more diverse, and the range was wider.

Renaissance

In the 15th century, the number of tubes was increased and the size of the keys was reduced. During the same period, a small portable (organetto) and a small stationary (positive) organ became popular and widespread.

By the 16th century, the musical instrument was becoming more and more complex: the keyboard became five-manual, and the range of each manual could reach up to five octaves. Register switches appeared, which made it possible to significantly increase the timbre capabilities. Each of the keys could be connected to dozens and sometimes hundreds of pipes, which produced sounds that were the same in pitch but differed in color.

Baroque

Many researchers call the 17th-18th centuries the golden period of organ performance and organ building. The instruments built at this time not only sounded great and could imitate the sound of any one instrument, but also of entire orchestral groups and even choirs. In addition, they were distinguished by their transparency and clarity of timbre sound, most suitable for the performance of polyphonic works. It should be noted that most of the great organ composers, such as Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Bach, wrote their works specifically for the “baroque organ”.

"Romantic" period

Romanticism of the 19th century, according to many researchers, with its desire to give this musical instrument the rich and powerful sound inherent in a symphony orchestra, had a dubious and even negative influence on both the construction of organs and organ music. Masters, and primarily the Frenchman Aristide Cavaillé-Cohl, sought to create instruments capable of becoming an orchestra for one performer. Instruments appeared in which the sound of the organ became unusually powerful and large-scale, new timbres appeared, and various design improvements were made.

New time

The 20th century, especially at its beginning, was characterized by a desire for gigantism, which was reflected in organs and their scale. However, such trends quickly passed, and a movement arose among performers and organ builders that advocated a return to convenient and simple Baroque-type instruments with an authentic organ sound.

Appearance

What we see from the hall is the outside, and it is called the façade of the organ. Looking at it, it’s difficult to decide what it is: a wonderful mechanism, a unique musical instrument, or a work of art? The description of the organ, a musical instrument of truly impressive size, could fill several volumes. We will try to make general sketches in a few lines. First of all, the facade of the organ is unique and inimitable in each of the halls or temples. The only thing in common is that it consists of pipes assembled into several groups. In each of these groups, the pipes are arranged in height. Behind the austere or richly decorated facade of the organ lies a complex structure, thanks to which the performer can imitate the voices of birds or the sound of the sea surf, imitate the high sound of a flute or an entire orchestral group.

How is it arranged?

Let's look at the structure of the organ. The musical instrument is very complex and can consist of three or more small organs that the performer can control simultaneously. Each of them has its own set of pipes - registers and manual (keyboard). This complex mechanism is controlled from the executive console, or as it is also called, the lectern. It is here that the keyboards (manuals) are located one above the other, on which the performer plays with his hands, and below there are huge pedals - keys for the feet, which allow you to extract the lowest bass sounds. An organ can have many thousands of pipes, lined up in a row, and located in internal chambers, closed from the viewer's eyes by a decorative facade (avenue).

Each of the small organs included in the “large” one has its own purpose and name. The most common are the following:

• main - Haupwerk;
• top - Oberwerk;
• "ruckpositive" - ​​Rückpositiv.

Haupwerk - the "main organ" contains the main registers and is the largest. Somewhat smaller and softer sounding, the Rückpositiv also contains some solo registers. “Oberwerk” - “upper” introduces a number of onomatopoeic and solo timbres into the ensemble. “Rukpositive” and “overwerk” pipes can be installed in semi-closed chamber-blinds, which open and close using a special channel. Due to this, effects such as gradual strengthening or weakening of sound can be created.

As you remember, an organ is a musical instrument that is both keyboard and wind. It consists of many pipes, each of which can produce a sound of one timbre, pitch and strength.

A group of pipes producing sounds of the same timbre are combined into registers that can be activated from the remote control. Thus, the performer can select the desired register or a combination of them.

Air is pumped into modern organs using an electric motor. From the bellows, through air ducts made of wood, the air is directed into vinladas - a special system of wooden boxes, in the top covers of which special holes are made. It is in them that the organ pipes are strengthened with their “legs”, into which air from the vinlad enters under pressure.

The organ is a musical instrument that is called the “king of music.” The grandeur of its sound is expressed in its emotional impact on the listener, which has no equal. In addition, the world's largest musical instrument is the organ, and it has the most advanced control system. The organ's expressive resource allows it to create music with a wide range of content: from thoughts about God and the cosmos to subtle intimate reflections of the human soul. When you hear the word organ, you want to throw superlatives and epithets like “majestic,” “unearthly,” “divine.” And for many decades and even centuries this is what determined the development of the instrument.

A person who plays music on an organ is called an organist.

The organ is a musical instrument with a unique history. Its age is about 28 centuries.

Organ (lat. organum) is the largest keyboard wind musical instrument, which sounds using pipes (metal, wooden, without reeds and with reeds) of various timbres, into which air is pumped using bellows.

The organ is played using several hand keyboards (manuals) and a pedal keyboard.

The embryo of the organ can be seen in the Pan flute, as well as in the bagpipes. It is believed that the organ was invented by the Greek Ctesibius, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt in 296 - 228. BC e. An image of a similar instrument appears on one coin or token from the time of Nero.

Large organs appeared in the 4th century, more or less improved organs - in the 7th and 8th centuries. Pope Vitalian (666) introduced the organ into the Catholic Church. In the 8th century, Byzantium was famous for its organs.
The art of building organs also developed in Italy, from where they were exported to France in the 9th century. This art later developed in Germany. The organ began to receive its greatest and most widespread use in the 14th century. In the 14th century, a pedal appeared in the organ, that is, a keyboard for the feet.
Medieval organs, in comparison with later ones, were of crude workmanship; a manual keyboard, for example, consisted of keys with a width of 5 to 7 cm, the distance between the keys reached one and a half cm. They struck the keys not with their fingers, as now, but with their fists.
In the 15th century, the keys were reduced and the number of pipes increased.
Improved organs have reached a huge number of pipes and tubes; for example, the organ in Paris in the Church of St. Sulpice has 7 thousand pipes and tubes.

The organ is used in Catholic and Protestant services as an accompanying and (less often) solo instrument. It is not uncommon for a Catholic or Protestant church to be used in some sense as a decorated concert hall; in such “halls” concerts of non-liturgical church music are held (for example, in the Moscow Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception), where, along with other instruments (up to a symphony orchestra), the organ is also used. Organs are installed in secular concert halls, as a rule, opposite the stalls, along the wall bordering the stage (for example, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory). It is often used not only as a solo instrument, but also as an ensemble and accompanying instrument, in combination with other instruments of a chamber ensemble, orchestra, vocalists and choir, used in various cantata-oratorio musical genres, and rarely in opera. In addition, the instrument is widely used to play the basso continuo part in Baroque music. Many composers wrote for the organ.

By the time of Bach, organ music in Germany already had long-standing traditions that had developed thanks to Bach’s predecessors - Pachelbel, Böhm, Buxtehude and other composers. During his lifetime, Bach was best known as a first-class organist, teacher and composer of organ music. He worked both in the “free” genres traditional for that time, such as prelude, fantasy, toccata, passacaglia, and in more strict forms - chorale prelude and fugue. Throughout his life, Bach not only composed music for the organ, but also consulted in the construction of instruments, examined new organs and was well versed in the peculiarities of their tuning.

Bach. Passacaglia and fugue.

Handel. Sarabande.

Handel. Passacaglia for organ and orchestra.

Just recently, a wonderful and subtle composer Mikael Tariverdiev lived among us. Most people know him primarily as a melodist, songwriter, and film composer. His music for the cult “Seventeen Moments of Spring” and “Enjoy Your Bath” is known to everyone. And they are iconic largely thanks to Tariverdiev’s music.

And I personally learned that the composer was also an excellent organist and wrote works for the organ after the Master’s death.
Unfortunately, Tariverdiev does not have many organ works. But what is there is enough to talk about the composer’s discovery of a new facet of this instrument.

Tariverdiev. Chorale prelude.

Handel. Passacala for organ.

Sheet. Fantasy and fugue.

The structure, principles of sound production and other characteristics of a particular organ directly depend on its type and type. In acoustic organs (wind, hydraulic, mechanical, etc.), sound is generated due to the vibration of air in special organ pipes - metal, wood, bamboo, reed, etc., which can be with or without reeds. In this case, air can be pumped into the pipes of the organ in various ways - in particular, with the help of special bellows. For several centuries, almost all church music, as well as music written in other genres, was performed exclusively by wind organs. However, it is known about the church and secular use of not a wind instrument, but a string keyboard instrument with organ properties. The electric organ was originally created to electronically imitate the sound of wind organs, but then electric organs began to be divided into several types based on their functional purpose: Church electric organs, the capabilities of which are maximally adapted for the performance of sacred music in religious churches. Electric organs for concert performance of popular music, including jazz and rock. Electric organs for amateur home music playing.

The text is compiled from various sources.