known to be only a copy of the Utrecht MS., which was written at least five centuries earlier. The drawing in the "Eadwine Psalter" is not a very accurate copy. The organ was first introduced into this country by Aldhelm, Bishop of Shireburn, in the seventh century. He describes it in some of his writings as a mightly instrument with innumerable tones, blown with bellows, and enclosed in a gilded case." In the reign of Edgar, St. Dunstan gave an organ to Malmsbury Abbey, which was described by the celebrated William of Malmsbury: "The wind, being forced out by the violence of the hot water, fills the whole cavity of the instrument, which, from several appertures, passing through brass pipes, sends forth musical noises." It will be noticed that the water is mentioned as being hot, which is probably not an error, as has by some authorities been supposed, inasmuch as that Dom Bedos, a Benedictine monk, in a celebrated work, "L'Art du Facteur des Orgues," mentions that the same William of Malmsbury, in describing an organ at Rheims still extant (A.D. 1125), says, that "the air escaping in a surprising manner, by the force of hot water, fills the instrument," &c. This has been urged as a possible instance of the use of steam, though there seems little or no reason that such was the case. St. Dunstan also gave an organ to Glastonbury Abbey, similar to the one at Malmsbury. Earl Ethelwin, the founder of Ramsay Abbey, A.D. 974, gave the sum of £30 to provide copper pipes for the organ of the abbey church. Elfeg, Bishop of Winchester, obtained for his cathedral the largest organ then known (A.D. 951). This was described by the monk Wolstan in the tenth century; and Mason, the poet, in his essay on "Instrumental Church Music," gives the following translation : Twelve pairs of bellows, ranged in stated row, The organ thus described could not have been of so great a magnitude as the poem would lead us to believe. The clavier or keyboard was then unknown, and each note was commanded by means of a distinct leverthe compass could not have been more than ten notes, including one semitone (the lyric), which probably took the position of our B flat. Each note would thus have had forty pipes, and as there is no reason to believe that any form of register or stop was known, it is obvious that the organ was always at its full power. Whether the "seventy men were employed at the same time to blow the bellows, or whether they came on in sets, is a question, though the latter is by far the more probable. At the close of the tenth century organs became general, not only in cathedral churches, but also in monastic establishments. Throughout Germany they were coming into general use, and many churches contained what were then large instruments, such as those at Haberstadt, Erfurt, &c. The monk Theophilus wrote a work on "Divers Arts" at the beginning of the eleventh century, in which he makes frequent mention of organs, and devotes much space to their description and mode of manufacture. At the close of the eleventh century one of the great steps in organ building took place, which marked the advent of an instrument which differed in no material manner from those now in use. At Magdeburg, in Saxony, was erected an organ, having a keyboard or clavier of two octaves. These keys were several inches wide, and were pressed down one at a time, and required no little weight to bring them into action, hence the old name of " organ beater," which was the original professional title of the performer. Taking into consideration the fact that at this period the organ was used merely as a guide for singing, and only rarely if ever as a solo instrument, it will be seen that after all this rough keyboard answered the requirements of the age. It does not appear at what date the semitones were introduced, though all the pictures of clavier organs possess them. The woodcut (Fig. 4) shows a "simple clavier organ of the fourteenth century-" the one priest blowing two pairs of bellows while the other "beats" the clavier; it will be most interesting to note the distribution of pipes, so like that of the smaller organs of the present day. The FIG. 4. shape of the key at this period was not square or oblong, but rounded at the outer end, with a contracted neck (Fig 5). And now the old difficulty arose about wind power, and as organs increased in size so did the necessity for increasing the amount and steady supply of the wind become felt. As was seen in the description of the Winchester organ, many bellows and seventy men were required to supply what would now be looked upon as a village instrument. In some organs men stood on the various bellows alternately, and by their weight thus kept up a constant supply; the bellows were sometimes placed above the pipes, and were "horizontal." The organ had no sooner become general in churches and cathedrals than some of the churchwardens of that day deemed their use during divine service scandalous and wicked; and in the thirteenth century we find that the priests of Rome and Greece expelled the organ from their service, that their worship might, by its simplicity, contrast with that of the Jews and Pagans*-it will be noticed that in the Greek Church it has never been re-introduced. This little opposition was the very impulse that was required to further the art. Controversy produced notoriety, and we find the organ at last asserting itself in such a manner that in a few years every monastery possessed a small instrument, termed a Regal," to lead the voices, and from this period the organ has steadily progressed, and is still making gigantic strides to perfection. 66 FIG. 5. About this time was introduced a characteristic which has since distinguished the organ from all other instruments, and given to it a character at once unique-we allude to the so-called mutation stops, mixtures, twelfths, &c. At the proper place we shall explain the modus operandi of these, with regard to their relations, &c., with the groundwork and other stops; here we only need mention that combinations of pipes tuned to thirds, fifths, and tenths of the fundamental notes were used, and were found to add peculiar brilliancy to the effect of unison singing. The reason for this will be given under the chapter treating on mutation stops. Registers or stops being unknown, it will be seen that the organ, being thus tuned, was a fixed mixture, and always produced the chord to which the pipes were tuned. The oldest 12 mixture spoken of was 8 in relation to the fundamental. There are 5 others containing the third mentioned. We would point out that in all *Pierce's Vindication of the Disenters. Ed. 1718, p. 395. probability there were many pipes to each key, tuned to the fundamental, and perhaps only one to the twelfth, octave, and fifth severally, so that the mixture effect was not necessarilly so overpowering as might at first be imagined. This is said by some to have been the origin of harmony, though it appears merely a supposition for which there is little foundation. There is another most interesting origin ascribed to the use of the quint. It is said that one of the earlier Popes, finding the unison singing of a choir of monks was peculiarly heavy, ordered a number of boys to sing the melody a fifth higher. This was found to brighten the general effect without in any way clashing, and is said to have originated the idea of the quint and twelfth, which will bye and bye be shown to be mathematically correct, and even necessary adjuncts to the organ. Having now traced the history of the instrument to the time when it nearly resembles those at present in use, we shall next proceed to mention some of the earlier celebrities who devoted their energies to the construction of the instrument. CHAPTER II. 1250 TO 1650. Early Lay Builders-William Wotton-John Loosemore-Robert Dallam, &c. As we said in the previous chapter, "Regals" became common in monastic churches throughout England. The above term was derived from the Italian Rigabello. The name "Portatives," from the Latin porto, I carry, was also given to these instruments, on account of the case with which they were moved from place to place, and, as some authorities have it, were borne in religious processions. There is a point of interest attached to this name, viz., that it stands in contrast to the 66 Posativ,' or immovable instrument, of a more solid construction, and which has been handed down to us in the form of our "choir" organ. Regals were in use up to a late period on the Continent, and were common up to the reign of Henry VIII., and even Elizabeth, in this country. The "Posativ" organ had a full set of keys, was played with both hands, and was frequently placed by the side or in front of a larger instrument in a church; it was made of small-scale pipes, and used for accompanying the voice; the clavier was often behind the performer as he sat at the larger instrument. A good instance of its position may be seen in the present organ of St. Paul's Cathedral, where the performer sits with his back to what represents an old "chayre," or chaire' organ, that name being an evident corruption of "choir" organ, and accounted for by the fact that the player had to change his seat in order to perform on the smaller instrument. It has been observed that in many old records of about this period organs were spoken of as if in pairs. This expression has been a great bone of contention with authorities, as they never could agree as to what plurality it referred. Some asserted that allusion was made to the number of keyboards, others that it meant "an organ with two stops;" but it seems that in all cases where there were more that one clavier the expression "double organ was used, and it would appear that the word |