diapason
Diapason ( Latin diapason ) is originally the Greek name for the octave . Ancient Greek διαπασων diapasōn is composed of διά dia and πασῶν [ χορδῶν ] pasōn [chordōn] , which means "through all [notes]".
In French , diapason has other meanings. Because the octave is created by shortening the length of the strings or pipes, the French used the word diapason in the construction of musical instruments and, in other respects, also in the tuning of the instruments, so that the French diapason is not only the scale length , but also the concert pitch and tuning fork or pitch pipe can mean.
The English foreign word Diapason still refers to an organ register . In the old English organ building, only the bass pipes of the principal Diapason were initially mentioned , later the entire principal register. The term was expanded analogously to the drone . While in Dutch the term "Holpijp" emerged for the covered labial register , the English organ building made a distinction from the beginning between the open diapason , the open principal register , and the covered stopped diapason , which was made of wood. Both names have found their way into organ building in the USA since the early 19th century. Aristide Cavaillé-Coll used the term for a principal register relatively often from 1870 onwards. From the 1880s onwards, it was spread through his successors in Franco-Belgian and occasionally in German-speaking countries. The length of the Open Diapason corresponds to that of the principals. In contrast, the name Stopped Diapason was restricted to England (and the USA) and some organs exported from there. In contrast to the continental Gedackt, the wind is not guided via the core, but via the lower labium of the pipe. Since the 19th century at the latest, the plugs could be drilled through, which resulted in wooden reed flutes.
See also
literature
- The big Brockhaus . 16th edition 1953. Vol. 3, p. 248.
- Roland Eberlein : Organ register. Their names and their history . 3. Edition. Siebenquart, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-941224-00-1 , p. 149-152 .