JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
THE BLOCKWERK - AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
Part Four: Anti-Blokwerk
In the previous part of this essay we traced the spirit of the Blockwerk as it has persisted in organs to the present-day. We will now examine three trends in 20th-century organ building which stand in direct contrast. First, organs in which at least some of the chorus upperwork was available on individual draws. Second, the creation of 'Italian' divisions containing completely separate upperwork. Third, 'harmonic' or 'farbwerk' divisions from 1920s Atlantic City to 1980s Germany, containing flute and string tones for the purpose of harmonic synthesis.
CHORUS UPPERWORK We have mentioned that in Italy the organs of the renaissance and baroque periods featured chorus upperwork drawing as individual ranks; this persisted into the 19th-century.
By 1650, the native English organ still disposed its upperwork in separate ranks. A late example was the organ contracted for by Lancelot Pease in 1662 at Canterbury Cathedral, where the Great had a disposition as follows:
GREAT 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 4 Principal 4 Flute 2 2/3 Great Twelfth 2 Fifteenth 2 Fifteenth (2?) Recorder 1 3/5 Tierce 1 1/3 Small Twelfth 1 Two-and-Twentieth 1 Two-and-Twentieth(Information from Pease's contract, reproduced in 'The History of the English Organ' by Stephen Bicknell, Cambridge 1996.)
The continental influences introduced by Renautus Harris and 'Father' Smith ensured that by the end of the 17th-century such dispositions had become outdated.
Before leaving England for New York, Edward Hodges (1796-1867) had a number of organs in his native Bristol rebuilt to his designs. In 1822 he outlined his ideas in the musical press, including a consideration of chorus upperwork:
Three, four or even five of these harmonics, are bundled up commonly into one stop, (as the sesquialtera, mixture, and cornet for instance,) whereby of course the performer is compelled to use all or none. Were every rank made to draw separately, there would be much more room for the exercise of taste and ingenuity on the part of an intelligent organist than the present arrangement affords, and a bungler might draw them all together, as at present.(Cited in 'The Making of the Victorian Organ' by Nicholas Thistlethwaite, Cambridge 1990)
The organ at St. Stephen, Bristol was rebuilt to Hodges's stoplist by John Smith Junior in 1836. There was a three-stop Choir division, one Pedal stop, and a Great as follows. The continuity - on paper - with Pease's design nearly 200 years earlier is striking.
8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth 1 3/5 Tierce 1 1/3 Larigot 1 Twenty-second 8 TrumpetThe same tendency was to re-emerge nearly 100 years later in the USA. In 1922 the Austin organ at the Eastman Theater, Rochester NY, had the conventional mixture ranks of both Great and Swell available on individual draws. Here is a synopsis of the Great division:
16 16 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 5 1/3 4 4 4 2 2/3 2 1 3/5 1 1/3 1 1/7 1 2/3 1/2 V (collective) 16 8 4The same arrangements were found in the Swell and Choir divisions of the 1926 Aeolian organ at Longwood Gardens, Kennet Square PA.
In about 1930 Moller built an organ for the Church of the Holy Communion, South Orange, NJ, with a Great division as follows:
16 16 16 8 8 8 8 8 5 1/3 5 1/3 4 4 4 4 3 1/5 2 2/3 2 2/3 2 2 2 1 3/5 1 1/3 1 16 8 8 4 8 8 4(For a full stoplist of this organ, click here.)
The organ at the Epiphanien Kirche, Berlin-Charlottenburg was begun by Weigle in 1975 and completed by Voigt. The Modernist stoplist includes four chorus mixtures drawing as separate ranks; here are two examples. The Pedal Rauschpfeife VI contains the following ranks on individual draws: 12.15.19.22.26.29 The Mixtur VI-XII on Manual I is divided between three draws: 1) IIrks 15; 2) IV-Vrks 26; and 3) I-Vrks 15, from a1.
The concept of separable chorus upperwork reached its apogee in the large organ at West Point Cadet Chapel, NY. Here, the 117-stop Great has a unique amount of individually-drawing upperwork. The final part of this essay examines the West Point Great in detail.
ITALIAN DIVISIONS The idea of making a division of the organ as a pastiche of Renaissance and Baroque Italian organs seems to have originated in Germany in the 1930s. It was part of the concept of a 'universal organ', which might also have included 'French' and 'German' divisions. In a different way it inspired some of the nomenclature in the V/220 Walcker organ at the Kongreßhalle, Nuremburg (1936); the stops included Russisch Horn, Italienisches Prinzipal, Englisch Horn, Niederland Vox and Franzözisches Horn. More recently, we have seen the ubiquitous popularity of the Spanish-derived 'Trompeteria'.
Here are two examples of Italian divisions from the 1930s as described in Walter Kwasnik's 'Die Orgel der Neuzeit' (1948).
The first is from the 1935 organ at Die Alte Ottakring, Vienna (builder not named, IV/62). This organ also included a Hauptwerk named 'Deutsche Werk'.
16 Prinzipale 8 VIII 4 XV 2 2/3 XIX 2 XXII 1 1/3 XXVI (XXIV in source) 1 XXIX 2/3 XXXIII 1/2 XXXVI 8 Flauta VIII 4 Flauta XV 8 Voce UmanaThe second example is from the Stiftskirche, Sekkau (neither date nor builder stated, IV/75). Here, the Italienisches Werk acted as the Hauptwerk of the organ; there was also a Schwellwerk named 'Franzözisches Werk', Positiv and Brustwerk.
16 Principale 8 Ottava 4 Quintadecima 2 2/3 Decima nona 2 Vigesima seconda 1 1/3 Vigesima sexta 1 Vigesima nona 2/3 Trigesima terza 1/2 Trigesima nona (actually Trigesima sesta) 8 Flauta 4 Flauta 2 FlautaNow an example from the 1950s, in the Rieger organ at St. Elisabeth, Stuttgart (1959, IV/55). There was also Hauptwerk, Rückpositiv and Brustwerk.
16 Principale 8 Ottava 4 Decima Quinta 2 Vigesima seconda 1 1/3 Vigesima sexta 1 Vigesima nona 2/3+1 Trigesima III e VI 1/3+1/4 Quadragesima e III 4 Flauto in XV 2 2/3 Flauto in XIX 1 3/5 Flauto in XXIV 1 1/7 Flauto in XXVIII 8/9 Flauto in XXX 8/11 Flauto in XXXIINote the odd fractions, which are derived from 20th-century Modernism rather than historical Italian practice. The organ was later altered by Albiez, and Rieger in 1980-83. The two-rank mixtures were incorporated into a single IVrks Quattro di Ripieno 2/3, and a Flauto Coperto 8 and a Hautbois 8 were added.
In 1977, Klais built an organ at St. Augustinus, Bochum-Querenburg (II/21). The Hauptwerk was an Italienisches Werk:
8 Principale 8 Voce Umana 8 Flauto Coperto 4 Ottava 2 Quintadecima 1 1/3 Decimanona 1 Vigesimaseconda 2/3 Vigesimasesta 1/2 Due di Ripieno II 16 VioloncelloIn the 1980 rebuild of Europe's largest church organ at Passau Cathedral (V/226), Eisenbarth transformed the Epistle divisions into a two-manual and pedal organ of Italian inspiration. The Positiv was as follows:
8 Flauto a Camino 4 Principalino 4 Divinare 2 Ottavino 1 1/3 XII 1 XV 4/5 XVII 2/3 XIX 1 XXII 16 TrombonciniItalian divisions have appeared in the USA. One of the first was built by Schlicker in 1969 at First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, CA. Unlike the German/Austrian examples, this 'Continuo' division formed no integral part of the overall tonal (and physical) structure of the organ.
8 Principale 8 Voce Umana 8 Flauto 4 Ottava 4 Flauto in Ottava 2 Quintadecima 1 1/3 Decima nona 1 Vigesima seconda 2/3 Vigesima sesta 1/2 Vigesima nona 1/3 Trigesima terzaSince about 1980 an 'Organo Piccolo' division has been prepared-for in the gallery organ at Riverside Church, New York. When installed it will form, in effect, a positive division to the Gallery Great and Gallery Swell.
8 Flauto 4 Ottava 4 Flauto in Ottava 2 Decima Quinta 1 1/3 Decima Nona 1 Vigesimaseconda 2/3 Vigesimasesta 1/2 Vigesimanona V Ripieno (collective)A third American example is that at the Second Baptist Church, Houston TX (Rodgers 1987, V/182).
8 Flauto 4 Ottava 4 Flauto in Ottava 2 2/3 Duodecima 2 Decimaquinta 1 1/3 Decimanona 1 Vigesimaseconda 2/3 Vigesimasesta 1/2 Vigesimanona 1/3 TrigesimaterzaAll these American examples appear like 'toy positives' when compared with the German/Austrian ones, which were based on a 16ft. Principale and formed a more integral part of the organ's tonal structure.
In the organ by Ronald Sharp at Sydney Opera House, Australia (1979, V/126), the large Positiv division included separate chorus ranks up to the 43rd, 1/8ft. An Italianate disposition was thus incorporated into a Germanic scheme.
8 Prinzipal 8 Piffaro 8 Gedackt 8 Quintadena 4 Oktav 4 Nachthorn 4 Rohr Flöte 2 2/3 Nasat 2 Oktav 2 Spitz Flöte 1 3/5 Terz 1 1/3 Quint 1 1/3 Sifflöte 1 Oktav 2/3 Quint 1/2 Oktav 1/3 Quint 1/4 Oktav 1/6 Quint 1/8 Oktav II Sesquialtera 16 Rankett 8 Trompete 8 Dulzian Glocken 1'
HARMONIC DIVISIONS With the 20th-century revival of interest in mutation stops came the phenomenon of a division of the organ entirely devoted to pyramids of mutations, supplied in order to synthesise new tonal colours and to inflect the stops and choruses of the other manuals.
George Ashdown Audsley was a proponent of this feature. In his 1925 book 'The Temple of Tone' he included a proposal for a 273-stop concert organ which included the following 'Harmonic' division, providing colour at two dynamic strengths:
ANCILLIARY HARMONIC ORGAN (box 9) Forte subdivision: 8 Quintaten wood 5 1/3 Quint 4 Octave 3 1/5 Tierce 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 2/7 Septième soft 2 Super-Octave 1 Twenty-Second IV Mixture 19.22.26.29 Piano subdivision: 8 Dolce 5 1/3 Dolce Quint 4 Dolce Octave 3 1/5 Dolce Tierce 2 2/3 Dolce Twelfth 2 Dolce Fifteenth 1 3/5 Dolce Seventeenth 1 1/3 Dolce Nineteenth 1 Dolce Twenty-Second V Dolce Acuta 26.29.33.36Audsley wrote:
... this Harmonic Ancilliary is essentially an adjunct, not complete in itself, and not to be played alone. Herein, however, lies its great importance and value. As an addition to any other Division or Subdivision of the instrument, it immensely increases its powers in the colorations of compound tones which are dependent on the introduction of varied harmonic over-tones... thereby rendering it largely unnecessary to insert numerous harmonic-corroborating stops in the stationary Divisions.On a smaller scale, a similar division was included in the Willis rebuild of J.M. Courage's residence organ at 'Derry's Wood', Wonersh, Surrey in the 1920s. There were 44 stops on three manuals; a 'Mutation' division was placed in a separate Chippendale case, with the folllowing stoplist:
8 Flute 4 Flute 2 2/3 Nazard 2 Octavin 1 3/5 Tierce 1 1/3 Larigot 1 1/7 SeptièmeIn the USA things were taken far beyond what Audsley had imagined. The 1925 Midmer-Losh organ built to the specification of Emerson Richards at Atlantic City High School NY included a Harmonic division available on Swell or Choir. It was enclosed, and spoke on 6in. wind:
Aeoline Flute: 8 Unison 6 2/5 Tierce 5 1/3 Quint 4 4/7 Septième 4 Octave 3 5/9 Ninth 3 1/5 Tenth 2 10/11 Eleventh 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 2/7 Fourteenth 2 Fifteenth 1 7/9 Sixteenth 1 3/5 Seventeenth 1 5/11 Eighteenth 1 1/3 Nineteenth 1 1/7 Twentyfirst 1 Twenty-second 8/9 Twenty-third 4/5 Twenty-fourth 8/11 Twenty-fifth 2/3 Twenty-sixth 1/2 Twenty-ninth 2/5 Thirty-first 1/3 Thirty-third 1/4 Thirty-sixthThe High School organ also contained a String division with separate chorus ranks to 1ft.
At West Point Cadet Chapel a Harmonic division was installed in 1930. It is divided into two sections. Harmonic A contains the diapason and reed ranks also used in Great; Harmonic B has flutes, gemshorns and dulcianas. Here is the stoplist of the 'soft mutations' in Harmonic B:
10 2/3 Gemshorn tc ext 8 Gemshorn 5 1/3 Gemshorn 5th 4 Gemshorn Octave ext 8' 3 1/5 Dulciana 10th 2 2/3 Gemshorn 12th 2 2/7 Dulciana 14th 2 Gemshorn 15th 1 7/9 Dulciana 16th 1 3/5 Dulciana 17th ext 10th 1 1/3 Gemshorn 19th ext 12th 1 1/7 Dulciana 21st ext 14th 1 Gemshorn 22nd ext 15th 8/9 Dulciana 23rd ext 16thThe flute section includes four ranks: Bourdon (from Pedal), Flauto Magico (stopped harmonic wood & metal), Flauto Magico Celeste (sharp; stopped harmonic metal) and Stopped Flute. There is also a small amount of diapason upperwork from 1 3/5' upwards; here is a synopsis of this subdivision:
16 16 10 2/3 8 8 8 8 5 1/3 5 1/3 5 1/3 4 4 3 1/5 2 2/3 2 2/3 2 2/7 2 2 1 7/9 1 3/5 1 3/5 1 1/3 1 1/7 1 1/7 1 8/9 8/9 4/5 4/7 II 12.15 II 19.22 II 19.22 II 26.29 8The principle was given its most complete expression at Atlantic City Convention Hall in the Great-Solo and Choir-Swell divisions. Here are their stoplists; the first column states the number of the rank in the scheme, and the last column states the number of pipes in the rank. Parent ranks are given in block capitals; extended stops are in normal upper and lower-case.
GREAT-SOLO (dupluxed on Great & Solo manuals; 15in. wind) 81 16 WALD FLUTE 104 wd 82 16 GEIGEN PRINCIPAL 109 mtl 83 16 TIBIA CLAUSA 104 wd 81 10 2/3 Wald Quint 83 10 2/3 Minor Quint Tibia 84 8 DIAPASON PHONON 85 mtl 85 8 HORN DIAPASON 85 mtl 82 8 Geigen Principal 87 8 GEMSHORN 109 mtl 88 8 GEMSHORN CELESTE 101 mtl 81 8 Wald Flute 83 8 Tibia Clausa 86 8 DOPPEL GEDECKT 85 wd 89 8 VIOLA D'GAMBA 85 tin 90 8 VIOL CELESTE 85 tin 91 6 2/5 GEMSHORN TERZ 109 mtl 81 5 1/3 Wald Quint 92 5 1/3 GEMSHORN FIFTH 109 mtl 93 4 4/7 SEPTIEME 97 mtl 84 4 Octave Phonon 85 4 Octave 82 4 Octave Geigen Principal 87 4 Gemshorn 88 4 Gemshorn Celeste 81 4 Wald Flute 83 4 Stopped Flute 86 4 Doppel Flute 89 4 Viola 90 4 Viola Celeste 88 3 1/5 Gemshorn 10th 91 3 1/5 Tenth 81 2 2/3 Flute 12th 64 2 2/3 FLUTE TWELFTH 73 wd 83 2 2/3 Minor 12th 92 2 2/3 Twelfth 93 2 2/7 Octave Septieme 85 2 Fifteenth 82 2 Geigen 15th 87 2 Gemshorn 15th 81 2 Piccolo 15th 88 1 3/5 Gemshorn 17th 91 1 3/5 Seventeenth 92 1 1/3 Nineteenth 93 1 1/7 Twenty First 87 1 Twenty Second 91 4/5 Twenty Fourth 92 2/3 Twenty Sixth 87 1/2 Twenty Ninth 87 1/4 Thirty Sixth 95 16 OBOE HORN 97 96 16 SAXOPHONE 97 97 16 ENGLISH HORN 97 98 16 FRENCH HORN 97 99 16 BARYTON 85 100 16 KRUMMHORN 85 95 8 Oboe 101 8 CLARINET 73 100 8 Krummhorn 102 8 ORCHESTRAL SAXOPHONE 73 96 8 Saxophone 97 8 English Horn 103 8 ORCHESTRAL OBOE 73 98 8 French Horn 106 8 KINURA 73 105 8 VOX HUMANA 85 99 8 Vox Humana 95 4 Octave Oboe 96 4 Saxophone 97 4 English Horn 98 4 French Horn 100 4 Krummhorn 105 4 Vox Humana CHOIR-SWELL(duplexed on Choir and Swell manuals) 147 16 DOPPEL GEDECKT 15 97 wd 311 16 STOPPED DIAPASON 15 97 wd 148 16 CONE GAMBA 15 97 mtl 147 8 Doppel Gedeckt 15 311 8 Stopped Flute 15 149 8 CLARABELLA 15 92 wd 150 8 DOPPEL SPITZ FLUTE 10 97 wd 152 8 GEMSHORN 15 97 mtl 153 8 GEMSHORN CELESTE 1 15 97 mtl 154 8 GEMSHORN CELESTE 2 15 97 mtl 148 8 Muted Gamba 15 155 6 2/5 THIRD 10 97 mtl 156 5 1/3 FIFTH 10 97 mtl 148 5 1/3 Cone Fifth Gamba 15 153 5 1/3 Gemshorn fifth 15 157 4 4/7 SEVENTH 10 97 mtl 147 4 Doppel Flute 15 311 4 Stopped Flute 15 149 4 Claribel Flute 15 150 4 Spitz Flute 10 151 4 ZAUBER FLUTE 15 97 st.h'c.wd 152 4 Gemshorn 15 148 4 Cone Flute 15 158 3 5/9 NINTH 10 85 155 3 1/5 Tenth 10 154 3 1/5 Gemshorn Tenth 15 159 2 10/11 ELEVENTH 10 85 311 2 2/3 Flute Twelfth 15 149 2 2/3 Twelfth 15 153 2 2/3 Gemshorn Twelfth 15 156 2 2/3 Twelfth 10 157 2 2/7 Fourteenth 10 150 2 Fifteenth 10 151 2 Magic Flute 15 152 2 Gemshorn Fifteenth 15 158 1 7/9 Sixteenth 10 154 1 3/5 Seventeenth Gemshorn 15 155 1 3/5 Seventeenth 10 159 1 5/11 Eighteenth 10 156 1 1/3 Nineteenth 10 153 1 1/3 Gemshorn Nineteenth 15 157 1 1/7 Twenty-first 10 151 1 Twenty-second 15 152 1 Gemshorn Twenty-second 15 158 8/9 Twenty-third 10 155 4/5 Twenty-fourth 10 159 8/11 Twenty-fifth 10 156 2/3 Twenty-sixth 10 152 1/2 Twenty-ninth 15 152 1/4 Thirty-sixth Gemshorn 15 19 32 Fagotto (Pedal) 20 160 16 CONTRA OBOE 15 97 161 16 BASS CLARINET 15 97 162 16 VOX HUMANA 15 97 160 8 Oboe 15 161 8 Clarinet 15 162 8 Vox Humana 15 160 4 Octave Oboe 15 161 4 Octave Clarinet 15 162 4 Vox Humana 15The two divisions cleverly complement each other. Great-Solo emphasises chorus timbres in the fluework, while Choir-Swell has a greater variety of flutes and synthetic colours. Both include gemshorns, which make excellent tonal foundations for pyramids of mutations.
Great-Solo includes quints (from 10 2/3ft. to 2/3ft.), tierces (from 6 2/5ft. to 4/5ft.) and septièmes (from 4 4/7ft. to 1 1/7ft.). Choir-Swell lacks the low-pitched 10 2/3ft., but includes ninth-mutations (from 3 5/9ft. to 8/9ft.) and eleventh-mutations (from 2 10/11ft. to 8/11ft.)
Harmonic divisions appeared in some of the more avant-garde German instruments from the 1960s onwards. Here are two examples by the builder Gerhard Schmid. First, the 'Farbwerk' at St Anna, Altötting (1976, V/82).
8 Nachthorn 8 Quintade 8 Spitzgamba 5 1/3 Großnasat 4 Principal 4 Schweizerpfeife 3 1/5 Großterz 2 2/3 Nasat 2 Blockflöte 1 3/5 Terz 1 1/7 Septime 1 Octav 8/9 None 8/11 Undezime 8/13 Tredezime IV Scharfmixtur 22 16 Bärpfeife 8 Messing RegalSecond, the 'Bombardwerk' at Maria Himmelfahrt, Landsberg (1983, V/87). This division also includes two rare reed mutations.
8 Bourdon 5 1/3 Große Quinte 4 Prestant 3 1/5 Große Tierce 2 2/3 Nazard 2 2/7 Septième 2 Doublette 1 7/9 Neuvième 1 3/5 Tierce 1 1/3 Larigot 1 Sifflet IV Fourniture 22 16 Bombarde 10 2/3 Bombarde 8 Bombarde 8 Trompette 5 1/3 Trompette 4 Clairon 2 Clairon
The final part of this essay examines the Great division of the organ at West Point Cadet Chapel, NY.