Fig. 75.—Serinette or Bird Organ. French. Period of Louis XIV. H. 8⅛, L. 11⅛ in., W. 9 in. No. 629-’68.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
Fig. 76.—Organ (Positive). Bears the arms of John George I., Elector of Saxony (b. 1585, d. 1656). German. Dated 1627.
H. 45½ in., W. 27½ in. No. 2-’67.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
The serinette, or bird organ ([Fig. 75]), was formerly used in France by ladies to teach airs to little singing birds, especially to a kind of siskin or canary, called in French serin; hence the name of the instrument.
The organ positive ([Fig. 76]) is distinguished from the organ portative in so far that the former was a larger instrument, generally placed on a table and blown by an attendant, while the latter was carried about by the performer in religious processions and on such-like occasions.
In England some rude species of organ is said to have been used in public worship as early as about the middle of the seventh century. It was, however, on the Continent, principally in Germany, that almost all the important improvements originated which gradually brought the organ to its present high degree of perfection. Many old organs of fine workmanship are still extant in the churches of Germany. During the 18th century especially several large organs of deserved celebrity were built in that country; suffice it to instance those of the brothers Andreas and Gottfried Silbermann. In England the important inventions of the continental builders were not readily adopted. Recently, however, several huge organs of very fine workmanship have been constructed in England, chiefly for use in concert rooms, or public halls.
The regal, often mentioned in English literature of the time of Shakespeare, and earlier (see also [p. 96]), was a small
organ portative. There was till about the end of the 18th century a “Tuner of the Regals,” in the Chapel Royal St. James’s, with a salary of 56l. The name regal is supposed to have been derived from rigabello, a musical instrument of which scarcely more is known than that it was played in the churches of Italy before the introduction of the organ.
The expression “a payre of regalls,” used by writers some centuries ago, evidently implies only a single instrument. Thus also the virginal is not unfrequently mentioned as “a payre of virginalls.” Moreover, it appears that the regal was occasionally made with two sets of pipes, so as to constitute a double organ of its kind.