The usual number of pipes in each tower is in England three, in France five, and in Germany seven (in the Tyrol, flat towers with seven pipes are the rule); but to these numbers there are many exceptions. Towers with two stories of pipes are in use in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, but I cannot call to mind any in England or in France. In general the number of pipes in the upper story exceeds that of the lower. A single pipe either forming a compartment, or projecting so as to form a tower, is not a good feature, except when, as in some of the North German organs, a thirty-two feet pipe is used as a tower. In some flat towers, four pipes are inserted instead of five; but an uneven number, I think, is more satisfactory to the eye. It does not look well for all the pipes in a compartment to be of the same height, and it is still worse when all the flats are alike: for this reason the organ in Exeter Hall is ugly, and good as the case is in Rouen Cathedral, it would be much improved if some gradation in the pipe lengths were introduced into its four similar compartments.
In the flats, two tiers of pipes are common in English and Dutch organs, and in Holland more often appear in large cases. Oval and circular openings for pipes are used in England, and more rarely in France: it is an artificial mode of arranging pipe work. There are a few examples of pipes being arranged to form a perspective, which may be looked upon as a fanciful conceit. Panels carved to give the same effect are not quite so outré. In Holland and North Germany, inverted pipes are to be met with: they in general stand on the wood framing, but at Perpignan (France) there is a flat of inverted pipes which hang from the case by their feet. I fancy that in general these are shams, but an inverted pipe would not be liable to be choked with dust. In Dutch fronts occasionally double pipes, or what may be more correctly styled two pipes with their feet joined together, are used: those that I have seen were dummies, as no means of supplying them with wind was to be seen. Projecting mouths are a great finish to large pipes. French builders are often very good at this work; but it may be overdone, as in the new organ in Chester Cathedral, where the mouths are certainly exaggerated. Old French builders sometimes inserted a few pipes with various fancy mouldings about them, brightened with paint. The organ of Gonesse has some, and two are preserved as curiosities in the Museum at Beauvais. Pipes with their surface hammered into facets are rare. At Hertogenbosch, the centre pipes of the towers are so treated, and are also plain gilt; but that in the central tower is parcel gilt. Belgian and Dutch organs often have the mouths of their bright tin pipes gilt, which has a good effect. I have no great liking for diapered (painted or illuminated) pipes, even if it has taken a fortnight to paint each, as has lately been done; it gives the idea that it is necessary to hide bad workmanship, or poor metal. Coronals to the pipes, however elaborate, had best be eschewed, although in caseless organs they give a sort of finish to the pipes. But after all I have said against painted pipes, one cannot help liking the bright appearance of a small case, with well-coloured pipes, even if one doubts how it will look after a few years, when the freshness has departed. Plain gilding perhaps looks well longer than anything else. Tin pipes, when dull, have a very neglected look; and nothing can look worse than bronzed pipes. In Spain, it is the custom to place the Reed Stops so that their tubes project horizontally, or at an angle from the case: this throws out their sound.[A] This arrangement is not common in England, but might be adopted with good effect both for tone and appearance. The Tuba at York, projecting from the west façade of the organ, is most satisfactory in both respects; any arranging of trumpets, like a fan or half-circle at the top of the case, is as well avoided.
[A] At Leeds, the pipes of the solo portion of the Town-hall Organ are entirely placed horizontally, and it is stated that this increases their power from 20 to 30 per cent.
CHAPTER V.
THE CHOIR ORGAN AS A SEPARATE CASE. As a Screen to the Player.—Choir Front in the Lower Part of Case.
Although organs now do not consist merely of a Great and Choir (or Chair) organ, the two cases add much to the look of an instrument, and the Choir case makes an excellent screen to conceal the organist. Old organs of any pretensions are rarely without it, and for church organs, which stand in a gallery, or in any other raised position, it should always make its appearance. For a concert-room organ, or an organ standing on the ground, it is not required. In some German instruments, the Choir case is so small, that one suspects that it is a sham, or at most merely a console to hold the keys. In France, reversed key-boards are coming into fashion; and to hide them, a screen of pipes is a pardonable deception. A German custom of putting the Choir Front into the lower part of the case of the Great Organ, under its pipes, where the key-board is usually placed, has a very uncomfortable look; although we know that Great and Choir pipes are often put into the same case, and there is no reason why, if this is done, the exterior of the case should not show it. Still there is something strange in the appearance.
CHAPTER VI.
THE MINOR DETAILS OF AN ORGAN.
Room in the Loft.—Loft should not be used as a Singing Gallery.—Reversed Key-boards.—Black Keys for Naturals, &c.—Rows of Stops, perpendicular, horizontal.—Varied Forms of Pedals.—Music Desk.—Lights.—Looking Glass.—Clock.—Carving between the Pipes.—Fox-tail Stop.—Electric and Pneumatic Actions.
It is a pity that many small things about an organ are not a little more cared for. The cramped room in the loft is uncomfortable for the player; he is often jammed between the two cases, or his back touches the balustrade of the gallery, rendering it a matter of difficulty for any one who may be in the loft with him, to get from one side of the instrument to the other, which is troublesome if the player requires assistance, as is sometimes wanted; and a loft should have comfortable sitting and kneeling accommodation: an organist and those with him in the loft ought to have the means of following the service, and hearing the sermon, with a certain amount of ease. The organ-loft being used as a singing-gallery is to be avoided, except when it is a spacious gallery, and even then the organist should have plenty of elbow room, and be screened off more or less from the singers. A reversed key-board rather complicates the mechanism, and therefore should be avoided, as the supposed advantage of the player being able to see what is being done in the church is problematical, for with his music before him, it is next to impossible for him to do so. The organist at Exeter Hall used to face the conductor, but some years back the key-board was re-arranged in its usual position. The organist’s place between the Great and Choir of Father Smith’s organ at Durham, when it stood on the north side of the Choir, was as good as could be wished. Black keys for naturals, and white (ivory) for the sharps look well: they are sometimes to be seen in old instruments, and should be retained; the contrast between them and more modern key-boards, which have a strong harmonium or American organ look, is in their favour. Every player has his own views as to whether the old perpendicular rows of stop-handles, or the French horizontal rows, are the best, and no one form of pedals, plain, concave, radiating, or both concave and radiating, gives universal satisfaction. A good music-desk should be fixed to every organ: in general they are ricketty things, and will only hold a little octavo hymn-tune book. The lights, be they candles or gas, should be securely fixed, and not liable to be knocked against by the player.