JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
THE BLOCKWERK - AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
Part Two: from Renaissance to Rococo
The first part of this account outlined the development of the Blockwerk during the medieval period. We will now trace its continued presence in organs from the 1500s to the 1700s.What follows is in no sense a history of the organ's tonal development during this time. It is rather a series of musical snapshots in a necessarily hurried tour, alighting merely at some of the points of interest.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
There is evidence for the presence of Blockwerk organs in all the major schools of European organ building; but the Mediterranean countries were quick to introduce separate ranks of chorus-work. Italy knew such dispositions as the following from an early time (probable reconstruction of the specification at St. Petronio, Bologna, 1483):
16 Principale front, 20ft. AA 8 Ottava rear, 10ft. AA, 2 ranks in the treble 4 Decimaquinta 4 Flauto in Decimaquinta 2 2/3 Decimanona 2 Vigesimaseconda 1 1/3 Vigesimasesta 1 Vigesimanona Compass: AA to c3, 50 notes (no BB-flat or b-flat2)This is simply a Blockwerk split into its constituent parts. The advantage was, of course, in the number of possible combinations and the varieties of tone-colour. Except for isolated instruments by foreign builders, mixture stops did not become popular in Italy until the 19th-century, and the native instrument retained "the qualities that give distinction to a mathematical theorem: clarity, economy, elegance " (Kenneth Clark, writing on architecture). The underlying aesthetic and psychological factors in relation to this interesting state of affairs have yet to be satisfactorily explored.
NORTHERN EUROPE
The Blockwerk gradually became divided into the Principal ranks (perhaps doubled, stopped and open, the latter supplying the case pipes), a Mixture and a Scharf or high Mixture. This was made possible by the advancing technology used in the organ, particularly sliders, ventils and spring-chests. The organ in Amsterdam Oude Kerk (as played by Sweelinck) was built in 1539-42 and contained a Hoodwerk which was nothing more than a subdivided Blockwerk:
16 Prestant 8 Octaaf Mixtuur Scherp Compass: FF to a2, 50 notestogether with a Rugpositief which contained both a miniature Blockwerk and an array of fashionable flutes and reeds:
(the Prinzipal (Blokwerk), on its own chest:) 8 Prestant 4 Octaaf Mixtuur Scherp (on a separate chest:) 8 Quintadeen 4 Holpijp 8 Krummhoorn 8 Baarpijp 4 Schalmey Compass: F to a2, 38 notesThere was also a nine-stop Bovenwerk (8ft. Principal, flute chorus to Terzzimbel, reeds) and a two-stop Pedaal. As if to emphasise the separate, hieratic nature of the Blockwerk, the Hoofdwerk could not be coupled to either of the other manuals, though there was a Hoofdwerk to Pedaal coupler. The precedence of the Blockwerk in this instrument was further emphasised by the name of its manual: Das Prinzipal. Elsewhere it was known simply as 'Das Werk', even when other manuals (Werks) were present.
Exactly a century later at St. Laurents, Alkmaar (organ built 1639-45), the same guiding principles were still in force. The range of available colour had increased, and the organ was considerably larger than at Amsterdam; yet the Hoofdwerk still consisted of:
16 Prestant 8 Prestant 4 Octaaf Tertian Mixtuur Groot Scherp Scherp 8 Trompet Compass: FF to d3 for the first two stops; C to d3 for the rest.while the other manuals comprised:
Rugwerk: 8 8 4 4 2 1 3/5 1 1/3 1 1/3 1 III-IV IV II 8 Bovenwerk: 16 8 8 8 4 4 4 2 1 3/5 1 1/3 1 1/3 1 II 8 4Note the curious duplication of the mutation ranks.
In the organ of St. Bavo, Haarlem, the Hoofdwerk as rebuilt in 1630-33 was even more economical than at Alkmaar:
16 Prestant 8 Prestant 4 Octaaf Mixtuur Scherp 8 Trompet Compass: FF to a2, no g2sharp.The same trends were evident everywhere in northern Europe. The 1565 organ at the Überwasserkirche, Münster, had three manual departments; the Hauptwerk was a straightforward undivided Blockwerk based on 16ft. pitch. When more colour was provided the Blockwerk might still be present, as in the 1586 instrument at the Marienkirche, Danzig. Here the independent principals do not go above 8ft. pitch; the rest of the chorus is provided by the mixtures:
16 Principal 16 Hohlflöite 16 Quintadehna 8 Otava 8 Spillpfeiffe 8 Quintadehna 8 Offenflöite or Viol 4 Spillpfeiffe 4 Viol 2? Sedecima - Rauschquint XXIV Mixtur (1,152 pipes) III ZimbelFrom an early date Southern German organs might include a variety of colour stops in what was otherwise a divided Blockwerk manual, such as at Trier Cathedral in 1537:
8 Quintadena 8 Nachthorn wide-scale, from b 4 Prinzipal 4 Hohlpfeife stopped Mixtur Zimbel 8 Zink from b Compass: FF to a2, 50 notes. N.B. pitch was about a fourth low; so FF sounded CC, and all stops were in effect an octave lowwer than stated (Quintadena 16 etc).Very large mixtures were common. Superimposed on a complete and separable principal chorus, they were an echo of the Blockwerk organ. Würzburg Cathedral had the following Hauptwerk in 1618:
16 16 8 8 4 2 2/3 2 1 1/3 X XIn Austria, mixtures which evoked the Hintersatz chorus of the Blockwek were familiar. At Klosterneuburg (1642) there was a XII-XIV rank Hauptwek mixture with the following composition:
C 8 15 15 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 33 33 c0 8 12 15 15 19 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 c1 8 8 12 15 15 15 19 19 22 22 26 26 c2 8 8 8 12 12 15 15 15 15 19 19 19 22 22 c3 8 8 8 12 12 12 15 15 15 15 19 19 19 19The 'Rauschwerk' was another unbreaking mixture of this sort. In 1706 the organ at Salzburg Cathedral had a subsidiary manual with a surprising tonal complement; part Blockwerk, part delicate colour-manual:
8 Viola 8 Salizional 4 Oktave 4 Rohrflöte 2 2/3 Quinte 2 Waldflöte XII Rauschwerk 16 Harpa (a regal)The ten-stop Pedal of the Salzburg organ contained both a Mixtur VIII (19) and a Rauschwerk X (8).
A device related to the Blockwerk and the Rauschwerk mixture was the Stier or Hornwerk at Salzburg (1502). This was a musical machine on the Castle Hill with 133 pipes. There were Bourdons sounding FF, AA, C, C, F, F and A, and Principal pipes comprising a hugue Blockwerk on the note F as follows:
3 5 5 8 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33It has been suggested that the famous 'La Force' stop at Weingarten, which plays 49 ranks on bottom C only, was intended as a device of this kind - though what it was meant to signal is not clear.
It is appropriate that we should end with Weingarten, that most exotic bloom of Rococo organ culture. Gabler's great organ of 1737-50 merits comment on many aspects of its tonal structure; for now we must confine ourselves to its mixture-work; its antique, Blockwerk-like nature led one writer to call it "gothic baroque". Here is the disposition of the Hauptwerk:
16 Praestant tin, C to c-sharp 1 in the case 8 Principal tin, narrow scale 8 Rohrflaut metal, very narrow scale V-VI Piffaro 1.8.8.15.15 comprises flutes and strings 4 Octav 50% tin, 2rks from d1 II Superoctav 15.22 mostly tin 2 Hohlflaut 2rks from c2 X-IX Mixtur 15.19.22.26.29.29.33.33.36.36 (formerly XX-XXI) XII Cimbalum 22.22.26.26.29.29.33.33.36.36.36.36 IX-VIII Sesquialter 15.19.22.22.26.26.29.29.31 8 Trombetten Piffaro V-VI C 1 8 8 15 15 c0 1 8 8 8 15 15 15 c1 1 1 1 1 8 8 8 Superoctav II C 15 22 c2 15 15 Mixtur X-IX C 15 19 22 26 29 29 33 33 36 36 c0 8 12 15 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 c1 8 8 12 15 15 19 19 22 22 c2 1 1 5 8 8 12 12 15 15 Cimbalum XII C 22 22 26 26 29 29 33 33 36 36 36 36 c0 22 22 22 22 26 26 26 26 29 29 29 29 c1 15 15 15 15 19 19 19 19 22 22 22 22 c2 8 8 8 8 12 12 12 12 15 15 15 15 Sesquialter IX-VIII C 15 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 31 c0 8 12 15 15 19 19 22 24 24 c1 5 8 12 15 15 19 19 19 19 c2 5 8 12 12 15 15 19 19Note the Piffaro, a Blockwerk of flutes and strings. Note also that the Mixtur originally contained XX-XXI ranks; this would have given a total of 52 sounding ranks from just 11 stops!
The compositions of the Hauptwerk mixtures are representative of those throughout the organ; but the remarkable tierce-rich Mixtur on Oberwerk must be mentioned:
C 8 12 15 17 19 22 24 26 29 c0 8 12 15 17 19 22 24 26 26 29 29 c1 5 8 10 12 15 15 17 17 19 19 22 22 c2 1 3 5 5 8 8 10 10 12 12 15 15The Pedal division was largely mixture-led, and had a disposition of:
32+16 32 16 16 16+8 8 8 8 4 V-VIII XI-X VII-VI 16 16 8 8One of the 16ft. reeds was originally intended to speak at 32ft. pitch. There is also a 2ft. Carillon of 20 bells, and the afore-mentioned 'La Force'.
Here are the Pedal mixture compositions: really, they are pure Blokwerk.
Mixturß V-VI C 1 5 8 12 15 c0 1 5 8 8 15 15 g 1 1 5 5 8 8 Cornetbaß XI-X C 8 15 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 31 31 F 8 15 19 22 22 26 26 29 29 31 Sesquialterß VII-VI C 12 17 19 24 31 31 31 g 12 17 19 24 31 31The sound of the Weingarten mixtures is, of course, a world removed from that of their medieval predecessors. The surprisingly gentle effect of Gabler's organ has often been noted; it is clear that, for him, these apparently extravagant multi-rank stops with all their duplications were a means of securing that peculiar richness and complexity of tone which results when many similar ranks sound together.
At Zwiefalten, the choir organ built by Gabler in 1753 had 23 stops on two manuals; the pedal organ had two 16ft. stops, two 8ft. stops, and a fifteen-rank 4ft. mixture. The main organ was built by Joseph Martin von Hayingen, a follower of Gabler. There were eighteen-rank mixtures on both Hauptwerk and Pedal.
The final part of this account will trace the persistence of the Blokwerk into modern times.