Blockwork

As Blockwerk not in will register divided organ of a medieval organ called. Such organ works only contained labial pipes .

history

In Romanesque organs there were usually only a few rows of pipes with usually only one open labial pipe for each foot position contained in the block. Such a block work could z. B. be occupied with 8 '+ 4' + 2 '. Another variant was z. B. 8 '+ 5 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ' + 4 '+ 2 ² ⁄ ₃  ' + 2 '. In this case it was not about the formation of an acoustic 16 'position, but about playing in parallel fifths , which was not unusual at the time. Since only one part was usually played on these instruments , the fifth did not disturb .

In the Gothic period, the first larger organs were built and the block works were expanded. The fifth above the lowest row of pipes ( 5 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′ with an 8 ′ base) was now increasingly omitted, since polyphonic playing came up and the fifth that was running along disrupted it. It was now also possible to produce larger and smaller organ pipes as well as closed pipes, so that the block work could also be built on a 16 'base and higher pipe rows could be added. A smaller block work of that time was z. B. with 8 '+ 4' + 2 ² ⁄ ₃  '+ 2' + 1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  'occupied. A large block work could already contain rows of pipes of 16 '+ 8' + 5 ¹ ⁄ ₃  '+ 4' + 2 ² ⁄ ₃  '+ 2' + 1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  '+ 1'. In these block works, the higher tiers in particular were filled several times, with the number of pipes per tread usually increasing towards the height. In small organs, however, there was only one pipe per foot position. During this time the first pedal works appeared, the block works of which were usually an octave lower than the manual block work.

By today's standards, the medieval organs had a manual range of B – a ¹ (–f ² ), the pedal also began at B, but often only lasted over one to one and a half octaves. The pipes were made with a fixed gauge, which means that all pipes in one position had the same diameter. This resulted in an iridescent sound over the range, from gently stroking in the lowest register to flute-like in the highest register.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the first "registers" appeared (voting). With the first vote, the blockwork was divided into the prefix and the backseat. For this purpose the wind chest was divided into two parts and each part could be switched on via a shut-off valve . This system is called a check valve drawer . The prefix contained the deepest rows of pipes, i.e. 8 '+ 4' or 16 '+ 8' + 8 ', the backward all higher pipe rows. With the second vote, the "old" prefix became prefant (then also alternatively referred to as principal ), which now only contained the lowest row of pipes, i.e. 8 ′ or 16 ′, and an octave that contained the other rows of the “old” Prestants, i.e. 4 'or 8' + 8 ', contained, divided. The "old" back set was divided into back set, which contained the deeper rows of pipes of the "old" back set, and Zimbel, which contained the two or three highest rows of pipes of the "old" back set. In smaller organs, the rear part was often not divided. During this time, the scope of the manual was expanded . So that the sound differences between the low and high register did not become too great, it was necessary to turn away from the fixed meter reading, that is, the smaller pipes had to be built with smaller diameters than the large pipes within a foot position. A technical limit was reached with four shut-off valves. In order to split off more rows of pipes (“registers”) from the block or even to add new registers, fundamental changes in the organ construction were necessary. From the 14th century onwards, the sliding drawer and spring drawer, which were invented at the same time, were introduced.

Music for the block organ

Robertsbridge Codex, around 1320
Codex Faenza, around 1420
Organ pieces from the sermon collection from Winsen, 1431
Tablature by Adam Ileborgh from Stendal , 1448

literature

Georges Le Cerf, Edmond René Labande (eds.): Les traités d'Henri-Arnaut de Zwolle et de divers anonymous. Paris 1932, reprint: Kassel 1972.
Hans Klotz: About the organ art of the Gothic, the Renaissance and the Baroque. Music, disposition, mixtures, lengths, registration, use of the pianos . 3. Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0775-9 .
Maarten Albert Vente : The Brabant Organ. On the history of organ art in Belgium and Holland in the Gothic and Renaissance ages . HJ Paris, Amsterdam 1963.
Rudolf Quoika : From block work to register organ. On the history of the Gothic organ 1200–1520. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1966.