The Historical Italian Organ

by Francesco Ruffatti

One of the most famous organbuilding "schools" in Italy was founded in Venice during the first part of the eighteenth century by Pietro Nacchini, a monk from Dalmatia.1 He established a factory and built over 300 organs mainly for the territories of the Republic of Venice,2 and for the Vatican State, which at the time comprised the largest portion of central Italy.  Although his designated successor was Francesco Dacci, with no doubt his most famous pupil was Gaetano Callido, born in Este, near Padova, who established his own organ factory in Venice and built well over 430 organs during his lifetime,3 some of which were for very distant countries.4

In manufacturing his instruments Callido basically followed the style of Nacchini, with only a few changes, both from the standpoint of tonal composition and type of construction. He conceived an organ as a one-manual instrument, with a limited pedal division. This is confirmed by the fact that in the original list of his works5 the relatively few two-manual instruments were designated as "double organs" and were given two consecutive opus numbers.

Callido's organs were by no means all alike, but their size was dependent upon the presence or absence of certain stops, all chosen among a limited pallet of stops from which the builder never departed.6 By giving the tonal composition of the Great division of the largest organ by Gaetano Callido, built for the Cathedral of Feltre,7 a good picture of his "selection" of organ stops is given.

The first part of the list includes all Principal-scaled ranks that form the "Ripieno". The stops can be used separately in various combinations or all together, collectively activated by a "Tiratutti" consisting of a rotating handle placed on top of the corresponding stop knobs.

Principale                (8')8 almost invariably divided, bass and treble

Ottava  (4')

Quinta Decima                        (XV - 2')

Decima Nona                           (XIX - 11/3')

Vigesima Seconda             (XXII - 1')

Vigesima Sesta                       (XXVI - 2/3')

Vigesima Nona                       (XXIX - 1/2')

Trigesima Terza                    (XXXIII - 1/3')

Trigesima Sesta                     (XXXVI - 1/4')

The last two ranks are often missing in the smaller instruments and are of full compass only in the larger organs, being normally limited to one or two octaves in the bass. The reason for limiting their compass is quite simple: since the highest pitched pipe in the ripieno of a Callido organ is C at 1/8', all ranks break back by one octave once they reach this limit. By doing so the "mixture" composition appears as in Table 1 (as an example I am considering a four-octave keyboard compass, C1 to C5).9

With this configuration, which is common to the majority of Italian historical organs (although the "breaking-back" points may vary at times), a number of pitch duplications are present from mid-keyboard up, to the point that, starting at F#4, only two different pitches are present while playing five pipes. In order not to extend the duplication of pitches towards the lower register and to avoid increasing the number of duplications at the treble, Callido normally ended the XXXIII and XXXVI ranks at the point where they would start breaking back (at F2 and C2 respectively) or further up the scale only by a few notes.

The "registri da concerto" or "consort" stops, as Callido called them, follow. First the flute scaled stops:

Flauto in Ottava (Flute in VIII - 4') often, but not always, divided, bass and treble. Normally built as a tapered flute, it is also found in the form of a metal stopped flute (with stoppers or caps made of leather-coated cork and inserted into the resonators of the pipes) or even as metal chimney flutes, with soldered-on caps.10

Flauto in Duodecima (Flute in XII - 22/3'), normally not divided in bass and treble (but it is divided for example in the Feltre organ). It was normally built as a tapered flute, although some examples of stopped pipes at the lower register and tapered at the treble do exist.

Cornetta (Flute in XVII - 13/5') - treble only, consisting of tapered flute pipes.

Voce Umana (principal-scaled, 8', treble only, tuned flat)

and finally the reeds:

Tromboncini      (trumpet-like regal at 8') bass and treble

Violoncelli (regal with wooden resonators - 8') bass and treble

Another "consort" stop, not present in the Feltre organ but rather common in Callido's instruments, is the Violetta, usually in the bass only, but also as a complete stop, especially in the later instruments. It is a 4' string stop of narrow cylindrical scale, tuned to the unison.

The Pedal division includes, in the Feltre organ, the following stops:

Contrabassi, Ottava di Contrabassi and Duodecima di Contrabassi.  These are three ranks of open wooden pipes at 16', 8' and 51/3' pitch respectively, which are activated simultaneously. In smaller organs only the first two (16' + 8') are present, or just the 16'. In the smaller instruments the 16' pipes are often found as stopped.

Tromboni ai Pedali (a trumpet-like reed, with 1/2 length resonators at 8' pitch)

Of particular interest are the reed stops, for their unusual shape and sound. The resonators of the Tromboncini are made of tin and consist of a lower four-sided portion and a "bell" on top. Their four-sided lead sockets are inserted into walnut boots. The tuning wires are made of brass, with cow horn sledges to facilitate the sliding over the tongues for tuning. The stop at low C (8' pitch) is of 1/8 length, the resonator approximately one foot long.

The Violoncello is even more unusual and complicated. Its resonators are made of cypress wood in the form of a stopped wooden pipe, the stoppers or caps being made of boxwood. The shallots are also made of hand carved boxwood, while the tuning wires, which go through the resonators and their caps on top, are equipped with cow-horn sledges. Unlike the sound of the Tromboncini, rather "biting" and penetrating, the harpsicord-like sound of the Violoncello is very sweet and gentle.

For many of his instruments Callido left a series of "operational instructions" for the organist, intended to give suggestions on how to best use the organ stops in combinations. Several of them, if strictly followed, show us how different the musical taste of the time was from the present. For example, under the title "Elevazione," or stops to be used during Consecration, for opus # 10 Callido specifies: Principale, Voce Umana, Contrabassi . . . and Tromboni! Not the type of pedal combination that we would consider appropriate for quiet meditation. And under the title "Corni da caccia," or sound to simulate the hunting horns, he suggests: Principale, Contrabassi, full ripieno (tiratutti), Tromboncini and . . . Voce Umana! An off-unison stop used along with the ripieno! (Opus # 5, 7, 9, 12, with the addition of the pedal Tromboni in opus # 10). Other combinations of stops are closer to what a contemporary organist would choose to do.

From the standpoint of construction, the instruments built by Callido are of unsurpassed quality. Each pipe is a true masterpiece, with thin, regular, absolutely perfect solder joints. The windchests and all other parts are manufactured with the highest attention for details. Callido was quite obviously trained in a very strict way and demanded the same perfection from his workers.

The contracts with his customers contain a very meticulous description of materials: pure tin for the façade pipes "without any alloy"11; "the rest of the internal pipes made of lead with a 20% alloy of tin."12 And he goes into detail to the point of stating that "the Contrabassi will be manufactured with spruce and painted inside and outside, and will be made of walnut at the mouth . . . " and also "the windchests will be made with walnut from Feltre13 . . . with metal parts made of brass."

It is certainly worth examining in closer detail some of the manufacturing characteristics of Callido's instruments. I will try to do so by describing the most significant components of the instrument in as much detail as it is possible within the reasonable length of a magazine article.

The keyboards

The most common compass of Callido's keyboards was C1-C5, for a total of 45 keys (with first "short" octave)14 or C1-D5, for a total of 47 keys. For the organs featuring the "counter" octave the compass consisted of four complete octaves, plus an extension at the bass consisting of a short octave, real from F1 as in the case of the Feltre Cathedral organ, whose Great manual has a total of 57 keys. When two keyboards were present, the Great Organ division keyboard was always placed on top and the coupling of manuals (Positiv to Great) was made possible by sliding the Great keyboard towards the back by a very short distance (drawer-type coupling, as it is often called in Italy).

The natural keys were normally covered with boxwood and the sharps were made of walnut painted black, capped with a strip of ebony, simple or with boxwood or bone inlays.

The "breaking point" between bass and treble was normally located between the notes C#3 and D3, except for the instruments featuring the "counter-octave," where it was placed between notes A2 and Bb2 .

The total width of a full octave was practically constant at 167 mm and the length of the keys was considerably smaller than in today's keyboards: 71 mm for the sharps and only 39 mm for the front portion of the naturals.

The pedalboard

It was always made with short, parallel and tilted pedals, common to the vast majority of historical pedalboards in Italy. It featured a first short octave and was always permanently connected to the corresponding keys of the manuals (of the Great, when two manuals were present). Its compass was of 17 notes, C1 to G#2, plus a pedal for the "Rollante," or drum, a device simultaneously activating a number of harmonically unrelated wooden pipes, thus reproducing the sound effect of the rolling of a drum. The compass of the pedal division in essence consisted of a full octave, since the notes of the second octave activated the corresponding pipes of the first.

The pipes

The façade pipes were made of pure or almost pure tin and all internal metal pipes were made of a tin/lead alloy with high lead content (about 80 to 85%). The metal was not poured on the table over cloth or marble, but over sand, and then planed by hand. Both the inside and the outside surfaces of the pipe resonators were made perfectly smooth. For the smaller internal pipes a laminating machine was used to roll cast metal into thinner sheets.

Since a few Callido organs, especially in the former territory of the Vatican State, have been found almost intact,15 it has been possible to identify not only the voicing parameters used by the builder but also, in some instances, the original tuning temperaments and wind pressures.

The flue metal stops were invariably voiced with some kind of wind control at the toe. Toe openings were generous, but the voicing could not be defined of the "open toe" type. Consequently, the flue was rather wide and this determined the need for nicking of the languids in order to avoid an excessive transient at the attack, which was obviously considered not desirable in 1700s Venice. Languids were nicked all the way to the smallest pipe in the ripieno ranks, but the nicks, although numerous, were very lightly marked and in some cases almost invisible. This created a precise, clean attack and still a clear and beautiful sound. This voicing practice has one exception: the languids of the Viola pipes were left totally unnicked. And no tonal bridges or beards, which were unknown to the Venetian tradition of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, were used. Consequently, their sound features a very prominent transient at the start, intended to simulate the "noise" produced by the bow of the orchestral Viola when hitting the strings.

The low wind pressure was also a determining factor for obtaining a rich, unforced sound. It was usually set between 48 and 55 mm at the water column, with only a few verified examples of slightly higher pressure.16

Tuning was strictly done by cutting the pipes to length and adjusting with the cone, except for the façade pipes, which were cut close to length and subsequently fine tuned by further carving the back of the resonator at the top in a curved shape. These cuts are called "lunette", or moon-shaped cuts by Italian organbuilders.

Wooden pipes were always made of spruce, painted with a composition of light hot glue and red clay powder, with lower lip and upper lip made of walnut. The lower lip "cover" was fastened with hand-made iron screws. At 16' pitch these pipes could be stopped or open, depending on the size of the instrument. All open pipes were tuned with the cut-to-length method, with an occasional end correction made by applying small pieces of lead sheet or wood on top of the resonator to "shade" the note.

The windchests

The builder exclusively used the conventional slider chests, with table, top boards and sliders made of walnut. The sliders were all built parallel and of constant thickness.17 They always worked "wood-on-wood," without any form of leather seal or any other device intended to avoid the sticking of sliders. This of course required the use of high quality materials, but also a very clever choice of manufacturing techniques. It must be said, from this standpoint, that the "table" or the portion of the chest located under the sliders, which includes the note channels, was made of a solid board of walnut, 40 to 45 mm thick, on which the note channels were carved. This procedure is quite common in historical Italian slider chest construction, and differs substantially from techniques used at the time in northern Europe. Carving out channels from a single piece requires much more work than building a frame and creating the channels by means of inserting dividers, but this technique has a number of advantages. First, and most important, the whole unit is made from the same piece of wood, and this avoids warping and cracking due to contrasting tensions from different pieces of material. Also, the risk of air bleeding between note channels caused by an imperfect gluing of the different elements (table and dividers) is totally avoided, since gluing is not necessary, the elements being built from the same piece of wood. But since no tree would be wide enough to form a windchest table all in one piece, several portions were joined together for the purpose, with alternating direction of the grain in order to compensate for the tendency of warping all in one direction.18

The channels were always of generous size in order to provide adequate supply of air.19 Wooden dividers were placed inside the channels to avoid interference and wind supply instability between the larger pipes of the façade and the reed stops, which were invariably placed in front of the façade, exposed to facilitate tuning by the organist. The pallets were always made of light, straight-grain spruce from the Alps. Their seal consisted of a double layer of sheepskin leather, and the surface on which they rested was also covered by leather. This provided a very effective seal for the wind and apparently did not affect in any way the precision and sensitivity of the tracker action.

The Pedal division consists of only one windchest, located at the back of the organ case. The stop knobs for the Contrabassi pipes open or close a large valve located inside the windline, which controls the air flow to the chest. The reed, when present, is activated by a slider. In practical terms this means that the Tromboni cannot be played separately from the Contrabassi, because the Contrabassi stop knobs, and consequently the air valve, must be open to feed the whole windchest.

The mechanical action

Callido always used the suspended action, which is the simplest and most direct mechanical transmission mechanism. When a Positiv divison was present, always located at the left side of the keyboards, the corresponding keyboard worked in the same fashion, except that the keys is this case pushed down the trackers istead of pulling them.20

The rollerboards for the manual divisions, for the stop action and for the pedal, were made with forged iron rollers fastened to spruce boards by means of brass wire. The "swords" pulling the windchest sliders were also made of forged iron.

The winding system

The most common winding configuration in Callido organs includes two multiple-fold bellows (consisting of five folds) made entirely of spruce wood. They were normally placed one on top of the other and were activated by ropes through a system of pulleys. Their size was rather standardized: larger size bellows were used for the larger instruments, and smaller size for instruments requiring less wind.

Restorations are conducted in such a way that the original winding system is always preserved and carefully restored and, where not present, in many instances built new as a replica of the old.21 A modern blower is usually connected to the system, in such a way however as to keep the hand pumping system operational. This makes it possible to make a very interesting comparison between the original wind supply, slightly irregular due to the small but detectable differences in pressure caused by the manual pulling of the reservoirs, and the more stable supply furnished by the blower. "Flexible winding" as it is referred to today is a different matter: it has to do with the response of the wind and, in practical terms, the drop in wind pressure at the use of certain combinations of stops or notes. From this standpoint, although the phenomena of the so-called "flexible" wind is present in Callido organs, the design of the wind supply system, starting from the size of the bellows all the way to the generous dimensions of the windchest channels, indicates that Callido was trying to avoid instability in the wind supply.

The tuning system

As far as we know Callido never used equal temperament, already present in other parts of Europe at the time. Already well known for a few centuries, it was considered uninteresting and not desirable, especially due to the unpleasant "wide" tierce intervals which are present even in the most commonly used keys. An interesting statement on this subject is given by Giordano Riccati.22 In his book, "Le leggi del Contrappunto" written in 1754, he states: "Practically speaking, I have never been able to find an organ or an harpsichord tuned with the equal 12 semitones." In 1780 and 1790 he stated the same concepts again. But equal temperament continued to be rejected in Italy well into the 19th century. Giovan Battista de Lorenzi, a very ingenious builder from Vicenza, in 1870 created a "moderate temperament" which, although very close to equal, was intended to reduce the "out of tune" effect of the most used tierce intervals.

We know that Callido's master, Pietro Nacchini, for some of his works used a tuning method which consisted in tuning the 11 quint intervals from Eb to G# flat by 1/6 comma each, a method which was very close to the practice of Gottfried Silbermann.24 Callido may also have used this method, but he departed from it at some point and he adopted a variety of similar systems,25 among which the temperament invented by Francescantonio Vallotti, Music Director at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padova, and Alessandro Barca in 1779, which avoided the wide G#-Eb interval, making it almost pure.26

A unique example of a non-codified temperament comes from the organ built by Callido's sons Antonio and Agostino in 1813 (the year of Gaetano's death at age 86) for the Parish Church of Tai di Cadore (Belluno). This instrument was restored by Fratelli Ruffatti in 1980-81. Prior to restoration, the pipes were found in almost perfect condition, due to the fact that the organ had been left untouched early in its history when the access stairway to the balcony was removed. After cleaning, the pipes were  almost in tune and it was relatively easy to identify and restore a type of unequal temperament which did not follow codified methods and which represented one of the many "variations" introduced by the tuners at the time for a "sensitive" tuning of the instruments.27

The tonal ideals and manufacturing techniques of the Callido factory were carried on, primarily in the Veneto and Marche regions, by a number of organbuilders: in Venice by Giacomo Bazzani, a former worker in his shop, and by his successors; in Padova and its province, among others, by Gregorio Malvestio, a priest (1760-1845), by his nephew Domenico, by Domenico's son Giuseppe and grandson Domenico. The closing down of this shop originated the beginning of the Ruffatti firm.28

In the Marche region Callido had a number of followers including Vincenzo Montecucchi from Ancona, Sebastiano Vici (Montecarotto, 1755-about 1830), Vincenzo Paci (Ascoli Piceno, 1811-1886) and others, who in some cases produced organs so close to Callido's techniques that sometimes their identification as non-Callido instruments requires an expert examination.29                   

Notes

                        1.                  His real name was Peter Nakic, born in Bulic, near Skradin, north of Sibenik, in present Croatia, a former territory of the Republic of Venice. As was customary during the time, his name was "Italianized" and became Pietro Nacchini.

                        2.                  The Republic of Venice during the eight-eenth century was a large State, including parts of Slovenja and Croatia and the present Italian regions of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and eastern portions of Lombardy.

                        3.                  See Studi e Documenti di Storia Organaria Veneta by Renato Lunelli. Ed. Olschki, Florence, 1973, and also Gli organi di Callido nelle Marche by Ferrante--Quarchioni, Ed Villa Maina, 1989.

                        4.                  Opus numbers 13, 185 and 393 were built for churches in Istambul and opus number 424 for Izmir, Turkey.

                        5.                  The original list or catalogue of organs built by Gaetano Callido survives. It consists of three panels made of canvas on which the opus number, year of construction and location of the instruments were marked in India ink by the builder. Although water damage washed away the names of 88 of his instruments, between the years 1789-91 and 1794-98, it still gives accurate information about 342 organs manufactured in his factory. The last opus number is 430, built in 1806, after which the list was discontinued. In recent years many of the "lost" instruments have been identified.

                        6.                  Only at the turn of the nineteenth century, when Callido's sons Antonio and Agostino were active in the factory, a limited number of "variations" were introduced, in the form of new reed stops (but still of the commonly used "regal" type) and flutes. Times were changing in Italy and a more "orchestral" style of sound, requiring highly characterized solo stops, was being introduced in churches, in the wave of the predominant influence of opera even in the music composed for organ.

                        7.                  This exceptional instrument, built in 1767 (opus numbers 37 and 38) and restored in 1979-80 by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padova, is practically equal in size to another organ, built for the Parish church of Candide (Belluno).

                        8.                  The Great keyboard of the Feltre organ is extended by one octave at the bass . This "counter-octave" as it is commonly called, consists of a short octave (C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-B) of which only the notes from F up are real, the preceding ones activating the corresponding notes of the higher octave. In essence therefore the Principal starts in this case at 12'F, the Octave at 6', the Fifteenth at 3', etc.

                        9.                  This is the normal system used in Italy to designate not the pitch but the position on the keyboard. F3 for instance designates the note F of the third octave of the keyboard.

                        10.              Due to the absence of the "beards," which makes tuning adjustments possible when the caps are soldered, it is quite obvious that Callido must have had a very precise scale for cutting the resonators of these flutes to length before soldering the caps. Minimal tuning adjustments were however still possible through cone tuning of the chimneys.

                        11.              i.e.,  without the addition of lead, as reported in the specifications for the new organ to be built for the Madonna della Salute Church in Venice, dated September 19, 1776.

                        12.              Same, as above. In other contracts he chooses different alloy compositions for the internal pipes, as in the case of the contract with the Parish Church of Borgo Valsugana, November 8, 1780, where a 15% tin content is specified.

                        13.              The walnut from Feltre (Belluno) was traditionally of the highest quality, dense, dark and almost redish in colour.

                       14.              The short octave, or "broken" octave as it is often called in Italy, consists of 8 keys: C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-B. The key arrangement is different from normal: basically, it looks like an octave starting from note E, where E plays C, F# plays D, G# plays E and all other notes are in the right place.

                        15.              This is the case of the organ in the convent Church of S. Anna in Corinaldo (Ancona), where Callido's daughter was a nun. The instrument, which is presently under restoration at the Fratelli Ruffatti shop, was found in remarkably good condition, still with the original hand-pumped bellows in good working condition. Since Callido was rightfully considered a master, his work was highly respected over the years by other organbuilders and for this reason the voicing of his instruments was often never altered in spite of the changes in musical taste.

                        16.              It is the case of the Callido organ at the Chiesa della Croce in Senigallia (Ancona), restored by Fratelli Ruffatti in 1993, where the original hinged bellows and their carved stone weights were found. Probably due to the unusually dry acoustics of the church, whose walls and ceiling are literally covered with elaborate wood ornaments and canvas paintings, the pressure was originally set at 60mm at the water column. Another example is the Callido opus 69, 1771 in the church of the Agostinian Fathers, Civitanova Marche. The instrument, restored in 1987 by Pier Paolo Donati, shows an original wind pressure of 64 mm (information courtesy of Dr. Massimo Nigi, honorary Inspector for the "Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici" of Florence, a governmental agency in charge of supervising the preservation of Italian ancient works of art).

                        17.              This is not an obvious observation, since a great number of slider chests built in the 17th and 18th centuries in central and southern Italy were built with sliders non-parallel and of decreasing thickness. This feature was intended to avoid the sticking of the sliders. When in the "on" position, the sliders were pushed in and no space was left between the sliders and the other wooden surfaces; on the contrary, when pulled out (stop in the "off" position) the sliders, due to the decreasing thickness and width, could move freely.

                        18.              One might say that, during Callido's time, the problem of artificial heating of churches did not exist, thus making this procedure possible. It is to be noted on this subject that the very high number of strictly philological restorations on these organs by Fratelli Ruffatti and other restorers in Italy, performed without the introduction of any non-original elements for the sealing of the sliders, proves that the original system of windchest construction well withstands changes in heat and humidity level of the air.

                        19.              For a scale drawing of a Callido windchest see L'Organo Callido della Cattedrale di Feltre by Oscar Mischiati. Ed. Pàtron, Bologna, 1981.

                        20.              In this case the key pushes down a wooden tracker which in turn pushes down the rollerboard tracker placed under the keyboard. At the opposite end of the roller the pallet is pulled open by means of a brass wire.

                        21.              In some cases, where the original bellows were replaced in the nineteenth century by the more "modern" multi-fold parallel bellow with pumps, activated by means of a wooden lever or a wheel, the local governmental authorities designated to supervise the preservation of ancient instruments may choose not to have the system rebuilt as a replica of the original but to keep the already "historical" substitute.

                        22.              Born in Castelfranco Veneto (Padova) in 1709, he studied at the University of Padova and became a famous mathematician, architect, expert in hydraulics and music. He was the author of an interesting temperament, which became famous at the time, used by many organbuilders especially in the Venetian area. It was surely used in his later works by Nacchini and possibly by Callido as well.

                        23.              See Patrizio Barbieri, Acustica Accordatura e Temperamento nell'Illuminismo Veneto, Ed Torre d'Orfeo, Roma 1987.

                        24.              See Patrizio Barbieri, Acustica Accordatura e Temperamento nell'Illuminismo Veneto, Ed Torre d'Orfeo, Roma 1987.

                        25.              The result of studies conducted during restorations show that a variety of similar temperaments, which can be defined as variations of the above Riccati and Vallotti temperaments, were used in normal practice.

                        26. The Vallotti temperament in the slightly corrected version by the contribution of Barca, was intended to simplify the Riccati, and consists of a series of six consecutive quint intervals, from F-C to E-B tuned flat by 1/6 comma, and the six remaining quint intervals practically pure (flat by an imperceptible 1/66 comma). The value in cents of semitones of its quint and tierce intervals follow:

Quint intervals cents

F - C        698.4                              C - G      698.4      G - D      698.1                              D - A      698.6                              A - E       698.4                              E - B       698.4                              B - F#    701.7                              F# - C#                        701.5                              C# - G#                      701.6                              Ab - Eb                       701.7                              Eb - Bb                       701.6                              Bb - F    701.6                                                     

Tierce intervals                      cents      

C - E       393.5

F - A       393.5

G - B      393.5

Bb - D  396.5

D - F#   397.1

A - C#  400

Eb - G   400

E - G#   403.2

Ab - C  403.3

F# - A#                       406.4

Db - F   406.5

B - D#  406.5

                       

Keeping in mind that the value of the pure quint is 702 cts and the value of the quint in the equal temperament is 700 (narrow by 2 cts), by analysing the quint intervals of this temperament it is easy to see that they are basically divided in two categories, narrow (but more moderate than, for example, in the 1/4 comma mean tone, which shows a value of 696.5 cts.) and almost pure. As to the tierce intervals (pure tierce = 386 cts, tierce in equal temperament = 400 cts) although no pure intervals are present, five of them are "better" or more in tune than the corresponding ones in the equal temperament, and two more show the same value of 400 cts. It is also to be considered that no tierce reaches extreme values. The absence of really unusable keys and the relatively easy application in practical terms by the tuner have determined the success of this temperament during its time.

                        27.              The Tai temperament includes two "wolf" quint intervals, at the opposite ends of the "circle of quints," one wide (G#-Eb) and one narrow (A-E) and six very good tierce intervals. This system is of particular significance primarily because it shows how far from equal temperament this organ was tuned so late in Callido's history.

                        28.              See Renato Lunelli, Studi e Documenti di Storia Organaria Veneta, Ed. Leo Olschki, 1973, p. 200.

                        29.              Information about Callido's followers in the Marche region are the courtesy of Mauro Ferrante, honorary Inspector for the preservation of ancient organs in the Marche region, appointed by the "Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici" of Urbino.

Fabrizio Scolaro, English translation by Francesco Ruffatti

Fabrizio Scolaro has studied organ, harpsichord, and composition at the conservatories of Bologna and Vicenza, and with Harald Vogel, Michael Radulescu, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Monika Henking, Ton Koopmann, and Jordi Savall. He has been a teacher of organ for several years, and is involved in concert activity both as a soloist and with chamber orchestras. Every Sunday he plays the G. Cipri organ (1556) of the Basilica di San Martino in Bologna. Since 2000, he has worked in the voicing department of Fratelli Ruffatti, organbuilders of Padova, Italy, as a reed and flue voicer and tonal finisher, both in the field of historical restorations and new instruments.

It is a general belief that the stop composition of historical Italian organs is rather standardized, based on a series of principal-scaled stops forming the Ripieno, and enriched by one or two flutes. In many cases and especially for certain historical periods, this is a correct assumption; however, exceptions abound.
Organbuilding has been greatly influenced by the peculiar Italian geographical configuration, by its very interesting history, and its political fragmentation into a number of states, to the point that even a small distance between two cities or two areas often exhibited marked differences in organbuilding practices. A notable example of this is the coexistence, around the middle of the 18th century, of two organbuilding schools, featuring drastic differences in the tonal character of their instruments: one in the city of Venice and the other in the Lake Garda territory, two areas that are geographically very close.
The Italian organ did not crystallize its tonal structure, as many believe. Quite to the contrary, it remained open to influences coming from across the Alps, by incorporating new stops, mechanical features or accessories, and special effects that ended up becoming common even in smaller instruments. A notable aspect of this is the presence of accessories and special effects. The use of the tremulant, of ingenious systems imitating birds (sometimes of different species) or of singing insects, the rolling of drums, and the sound of shepherds’ bagpipes is mentioned in a number of texts, not necessarily connected to organ music. Here are a few examples:

The organs built by Vincenzo the Flemish, the first located in the Cathedral of Orvieto played by Gio. Pizzoni, the second in S. Pietro at Gubbio and played by Grisostomo Rubiconi; they both deserve being greatly praised, and in particular the one in S. Pietro, which in addition to 12 continued organ stops [meaning Principal-scaled stops extended for the entire keyboard’s compass], is enriched by the presence of an equal number of stops imitating stopped and open Flutes . . . Drums, Tremulant, and Nightingales . . . .1

. . . there is a precious and rare organ, comprising 2,800 pipes, with 40 stops, the sound of which imitates that of Trompettes, Timpani, the song of birds . . . .2

. . . In the organ of S. Giustina in Padova one hears the Trompette, and the Viola, the Violin, and also the song of various birds . . . .3
The purpose of this article is to present the history of such effects and accessories in Italian organs and to provide suggestions for their use in musical performances, on the basis of documents, books written by scholars and composers of organ music, and also by notations in musical manuscripts (few in earlier times, but which became more and more abundant and specific later on). A further source is the Tabelle di Registrazione (registration charts) that a small number of organbuilders wrote and left with their instruments, as instruction manuals to prevent registration mistakes or to suggest the best ways to utilize their instruments.
While a wide variety of sources has been consulted, it is, however, almost inevitable to have left out some of them. Italy is extremely rich in this respect, with its large number of organbuilding schools and the variety of instruments that still exist or that existed in the past, but for which we still have documentation. Many documents (contracts, descriptions) are certainly yet to be discovered in the archives of churches and monasteries.
The starting point that I have chosen for this research is the first part of the sixteenth century. At that time, the Renaissance—one of the most extraordinary and rich periods in the history of humankind—was flourishing in Italy. The splitting of the territory into many different states ruled by marquises, dukes, princes, and kings—all very rich and prosperous, all competing with each other to obtain the work of the most famous artisans and artists—produced an artistic level that is among the highest in all of art history. The names of the painters, sculptors, and artists in general that one would have then encountered in the squares, churches, and palaces throughout Italy are the same names that we encounter today in the most famous museums. It is obvious that such intense artistic and economic activity would attract artists and artisans from other European countries. What was happening in the figurative arts had its parallel in music as well. The names of Costanzo Festa, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Claudio Merulo were mixed with those of Adrian Willaert, Jakob Arcadelt, and Orlando di Lasso, to mention just a few, the latter all coming from northern Europe.
In organbuilding, the work within Italy of artisans coming from across the Alps helped enrich the tonal spectrum of the Italian organ, and influenced the local organbuilding schools. The foreign organbuilders brought with them from their original countries the effects and accessories, but also different pipe types, such as stopped pipes, for example, and these new features and ideas were readily adopted by local organbuilders.
As we will see, during that period the new special effects (tremulant, rolling drum, and nightingale) were systematically introduced from the north to the south of Italy, even to already-existing instruments.

The Tremulant
The introduction of the tremulant (tremolo in Italian, also referred to in the past as tremolante, tremolare, tremolli) in an organ requires a rather simple mechanism. Two types were used in the Renaissance and in successive centuries: the open wind tremulant (also called lost wind tremulant) and the closed wind tremulant.
In the first case, a pallet, to which a spring or a weight is applied, is located externally over an opening in the windline or in the windchest. When the pallet is released and made free to move, the pressure inside the wind system will try to push the pallet open, while the spring or weight installed over the pallet will react by applying a contrasting force. The result is an oscillation of the pallet, which determines a periodic release of wind out of the system and a resulting periodic pressure drop, which in turn creates the undulating effect in the sound. This was the most common system during the Renaissance.
In the second case (the closed wind system), the pallet is installed inside the windline to stop the wind flow. When the tremulant is not active, the pallet is pulled up in the open position and the wind can flow without restrictions. The device is activated by releasing the pallet, which, by falling down in the closed position, tends to prevent the wind from flowing. This creates a periodic oscillation of the pallet, pushed open by the wind rushing through, but the pallet being heavy enough to try to return itself to the closed position by gravity. The resulting wind instability creates the undulating effect. This system is very close, if not identical, to the one described a few centuries later as Tremblant doux by Dom Bedos.4
The two types of tremulant produce two different effects on the sound of the instrument: The “open wind” system has an oscillating frequency that is independent of the number of notes played by the organist (or, in other words, by the wind absorption), while the “closed” system is effective only when a few notes are played, but loses its speed and depth as the wind consumption is increased by pulling more stops or by playing big chords, to the point of losing its effect completely.
During the restoration of the 1519 organ built by Giovanni Piffero, located in the Palazzo Pubblico at Siena, one of the oldest examples of the introduction of an open wind tremulant in an Italian organ was found.5 Starting from this date, evidence of the manufacturing of organs with tremulants, or of their additions to existing instruments, becomes more and more frequent in instruments located throughout the Italian peninsula.
In 1561, Massimiliano da Udine included the tremulant in the contract for the organ for the Sisters of San Daniele in Venice, an instrument that no longer exists.6 During the same year, in Sicily, Silvestro Colliga included a “Flute in the German style with its Tremulant” for the organ of S. Antonio Abate in Palermo.7
In 1570, the Venetian organbuilders Emiliano and Giulio Zacchino were contracted to restore the new organ in the Basilica of S. Antonio in Padova, and, among other things, to update the fiffari (meaning the tremulant) to modern practices.8 In 1577, the brother organbuilders Vittore and Federico Federici restored the organ in the Cathedral of Feltre, and among the repairs needed, they included a modification of the tremulant to make it reproduce the effect of the fiffaro.9
These last two citations are particularly important to help us understand one of the most frequent uses of the tremulant in musical performances.
It is first of all necessary to note that in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries, the term fiffara or fiffaro was used with reference to the transverse flute (also then called traversa or fiffaro traverso).10 A further name for the same instrument was Flauto alemanno or Flauto alla todisca (or tudisca), meaning flute in the German style.11 One of the most valued characteristics of such stops was the vibrato: Martin Agricola, in 1545, in the fourth edition of his work Musica instrumentalis deudsch, calls the transverse flutes Schweitzer Pfeiffen, and writes that it is good practice to use them with oscillating breath.12
One of the first sources on the use of the tremulant is the registration chart written or dictated, probably in 1558, by organbuilder Vincenzo Colombi for the organ in Valvasone, where the use of the “flauto along with the fiffaro”13 is suggested. (Photo 1) The tremulant is there called fiffaro, thus exchanging the end result (the imitation of the transverse flute) with the means to obtain it.
As mentioned above, Silvestro Colliga in 1561 promised to manufacture a
Flauto alla todisca with its tremulant. Similarly, in other contracts for Sicilian organs, in almost every case where flutes with stopped pipes are mentioned—to imitate the flutes alla todisca, or of German style—the tremulant appears as well.14 It is therefore clear that it was rather common practice among organists to imitate the transverse flute by combining the flute stop (whether made of stopped pipes or not) with the tremulant. However, we need to wait until the beginning of 1600 in order to find texts of wider diffusion, containing specific indications on the use of tremulants in pipe organs.
In 1608, Costanzo Antegnati wrote L’arte organica. In the portion of this treatise that deals with registration practices, he explains that the tremulant can be used with the Principale alone, but only when playing slowly and without diminutions, in order to accompany motets with few voices or to play softly.15 Later on, Antegnati provides another indication on the use of the tremulant, stating that it can be used with the Ottava and the Flauto in Ottava, or (proposing the registration suggested by Vincenzo Colombi 50 years before) even with the Flauto in Ottava alone, again specifying that it is necessary to avoid fast playing or rapid phrasing. He had previously noted that those who play rapidly with the use of the tremulant show bad taste16 because such an accessory confuses the sound when notes are played at a fast pace.
In 1610, Claudio Monteverdi, in his music for the Vespers,17 expressly requests for the organ—which provides the basso continuo—the registration of Principale and tremulant,18 from the end of the 11th to the 19th measure of Versus 3 “[quia respexit] humilitatem ancillae suae” of the II Magnificat a sei voci. It is to be noted that the same verset in the primo Magnificat had been orchestrated with two real fiffare (then two trombones and subsequently two blockflutes),19 while the organ was accompanying with the Principale alone: once again, it is quite evident that the tremulant is used to imitate the “affetto” or the sensation created by the transverse flutes.
In 1622, Girolamo Diruta explains the use of the tremulant in the course of his dialogue Il Transilvano,20 saying that the second tone makes the harmony melancholy, and it requires the Principale (by itself) with the tremulant, while the fourth tone makes it lamentevole (mournful), mesta (sad) and dogliosa (grievous), and this effect is obtained by the Principale with the tremulant or a Flute stop played in the appropriate range of the keyboard and with the correct melodic behavior. As one can see, Diruta narrows down, or redefines, the use of the tremulant, by associating it to the basic tone (second or fourth) of the music being played, and to the character that such tone gives to the pieces (melancholy, mournful, sad, grievous).
Toward the end of the 16th century, with the advent of the Voce Umana stop21 (a principal-scaled rank of pipes beating with the Principale), once again called Fiffaro, the tremulant gradually disappeared from the tonal compositions of new instruments. The sound of the new stop, which played in the treble section of the keyboard, was better, richer, and more interesting than the simple mechanical oscillation of sound. However, in 1718 it is possible to find yet another citation on the use of the tremulant: it can be found in the registration table of the organ built by W. Hermans in 1650 for the Cathedral of Como. It includes a complete description of the instrument and quite a few suggestions on the use of the stops. At #45 of the list in the chart, one reads “Voce Umana, Principale e Tremolo,” where the Voce Umana is in this case a reed stop (a Vox Humana). Later on, in the paragraph entitled “For the music,” it is explained that such a Voce Umana can be used with the tremulant in the bass portion of the keyboard, while the Principale and Tromba are played in the treble section, or the contrary (left hand with the Principale and Tromba, right hand with Voce Umana and tremulant). Such combinations are made possible by the presence of two manuals. As a conclusion for the long series of registration suggestions, the registration table states that “the tremulant can be used at the discretion [of the organist], when one, two or at most three stops are played.”22

The Nightingale
The Nightingale—literally translated in Italian as Usignoli, but normally referred to with the more generic term Uccelliera (song of birds) and sometimes also called, in various linguistic variants, stortis philomelis,23 ocellj, risignoli,24 rossignoli, usignoli, passeri (sparrows), canarini (canaries)—is uniform in its construction features: it consists of a series of two or more pipes mounted upside down, with the ends of their resonators submerged in water. (Photos 2, 3 and 4) When the pipes play, the wind coming out of the resonators sets the water in motion, and this creates an effect on the sound of the pipes that very realistically simulates that of singing birds.
Traces of the presence of nightingales even in important instruments are numerous. Starting from just before the mid-1500s, they continue until 1880 without interruption all over the Italian territory from north to south, as evidence that such effects were held in high esteem by the organbuilders who manufactured them, and by their clients.
One of the first traces of such a device is connected to Vincentio Beltramo, who came from the Burgundy region of France, and who in 1544 signed a contract for a new organ for the church of San Nicola at Tortoreto (Teramo), in the Marche region, mentioning the Nightingale among the other stops.25
In 1569, Lodovico Arnoldo, a Flemish organbuilder, restored the organ at the Pieve di S. Maria in Gemona, adding, among other things, the Nightingale, as noted in the letter of payment.26 One could mention a number of other locations and organbuilders, because, as stated above, almost everywhere already-existing or brand-new organs were equipped with such a device. Its installation is very simple: a hole is made in a windline, or in an accessible location at the windchest, and a stop control is installed to allow the organist to turn the effect on and off at will by opening or closing the wind. Often the Nightingale is located at the foot of the façade pipes, and in some cases several of them can be found within one instrument, one for each section of the façade when the same is divided, as is often the case in Renaissance-style instruments. In this case, the series of nightingales is operated by a slider similar to that of the other stops. Once the slider is activated, each nightingale unit starts to operate as soon as one or more façade pipes in the corresponding section is played. The end result, when playing a scale on the façade pipes, is that of birds singing at random from one side to the other of the instrument.27
In 1797, Pietro Agati built the organ (restored in 1990 by Fratelli Ruffatti) for the Church of S. Michele Arcangelo at Vignole, in Tuscany (Photo 5), where the Usignoli can be found. In later periods such devices appear mostly in organs built in central and southern Italy. For example, in 1881–1882 the Serassi brothers of Bergamo, in cooperation with Casimiro Allieri, built their largest instrument ever for the Cathedral of San Giorgio in Ragusa Ibla (restored in 1987 by Fratelli Ruffatti). Among the special effects, still at this late stage in history can be found a Nightingale, in this case a very large one, consisting of 12 pipes! It must have been specially requested by the customer, since the Serassi brothers had stopped manufacturing such devices by that time.
On the suggested use of the Nightingale in repertoire, little information can be found until the beginning of 1600; it is a fact, however, that it was widely used, since we have evidence of its presence in pipe organs from the middle of the 16th century on.
One of the first sources that indicates its use can be found in the registration chart for the organ in Orvieto built by Vincenzo Fulgenzi.27 It was written by Vittore Federici from Belluno (mentioned above for his work in the Cathedral of Feltre). In 1602 he was hired to perform some maintenance work on the instrument and he was asked to give his suggestions as to its use. He indicated that the use of the Nightingale was appropriate in the “Battles,” to be used in conjunction with the Contrabassi (24′), the Ottava di Contrabassi (12′), the Tromboni, the Flauto in Quintadecima (6′), all of the manual stops, and Cuckoo.29 Another suggestion concerning the use of the Uccelliera (birdsong) can be found in the registration chart for the Willem Hermans organ, built in Rome in 1666 for the church of S. Apollinare, which contains the suggestion to register the combination “Flauto in 8a. Rossignollj.” In the same chart, which most likely Hermans himself wrote, we also find a rather generic suggestion as to the use of the effects in that organ: that “The tremulant, drums and nightingales be used at the discretion of the organist,”30 leaving total freedom to the organist as to their use in music.
A further indication, this time in northern Italy, can be found in the organ of the Cathedral of Como, built in 1650 by the same Hermans. In the already mentioned chart, under number 24 we find the combination: “Flauto in Ottava, Drum, Nightingales.”31
Around the turn of the 19th century, we find a similar indication for the use of the nightingales, this time without the drum, in the registration chart of the Tronci family, organbuilders active in Tuscany, who proposed the use of the Flute and the Nightingale for the “andante movements.”32
A much more varied and interesting use can be found in the music of Giuseppe Gherardeschi (1759–1824), a Pistoia-born musician from whom a large number of compositions survive, expressly composed for use on the late 18th–early 19th century Tuscan organ. Many of these works (most still unpublished) include extremely detailed registration notations; below are a few that mention the use of the Nightingale. In the Messa per Organo in Elafà, per uso del signor Francesco Baldansi di Prato, 1813, in the first verset for the Gloria the nightingales are called for twice.33
In the Sonata per Organo a guisa di banda militare che suona una Marcia, one finds the following requested registration:34 Reed stops, Flauto in Selva, and [Flauto] in 8a, Flautino Basso and Timpani (rolling drum) played in the loud passages but staccato, and nightingales where expressly indicated. One of the latest indications for the use of this effect can be found in the Pastorale, dated 1850, by another composer of the Gherardeschi family, Luigi (1791–1871), who, in two instances, suggests adding the nightingales to the initial registration, which comprises Principali, Ottava soprana, Flauti e Trombe.35
Judging from the indications that have been found, it seems prudent to conclude that the tendency was to use the Nightingale when lower pitch registers are used in contrast with higher pitched ones, to introduce it in the andante movements and in compositions such as the pastorali, and therefore in conjunction with softer stops, but also as a reinforcement in combinations using reeds and color stops.
Other effects were made to imitate the song of different species of birds: the “Nightingales, Cricket first, Cricket second, Titmouse birds and Sparrows” of Giuseppe Bonatti (1716) at San Tommaso Cantuariense in Verona,36 or the “Canaries and Cuckoo birds” in a specification by Giovan Battista Piaggia for an organ in the Cathedral of Bolzano (1752).37 The use of such effects obviously follows the same indications given for the nightingales.

The Rolling Drum (or Thunder)
In examining documents that refer to modifications of existing instruments, or contracts for the manufacturing of new organs, the rolling drum (in Italian Tamburo, but also called timpano, gran timpano, timballone, rollante, rullo, tamburro a ruolo, tuono, tremolo) is very often found in conjunction with the tremulant and the nightingales. It seems, in fact, that in most cases the three effects were all installed together.
As we have seen for the tremulant and the nightingales, the installation of the drum was also rather simple, even in already-existing instruments. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it normally consisted of a couple of pipes of 6 or 8 feet especially dedicated to this effect. They played together at close but not identical frequencies, thus producing a prominent beat that resembled rolling drums. In later years, when pedal stops began to appear in pipe organs,38 in order to avoid the construction of such additional pipes and thus save space and money, a number of pipes of the Contrabasso were made to play together by means of a special mechanism, producing a very realistic effect.
In some 19th-century organs of the Lombard school, in which the drum sound is produced by 3, 4, or 6 dedicated pipes, it is even possible to increase the intensity of sound: by pressing the pedal half-way down, only a few pipes will play, thus producing the “normal” rolling drum; pressing the pedal all the way down will cause all pipes to play at once, thus producing the effect called Gran Timpano or thunder.39 In the 19th century it is possible to find a variety of “drums” within the same instrument, obtained through different combinations of 16′ and 8′ pipes playing together.40
One of the first traces of a rolling drum in an organ dates from 1543, when Giovanni Paolo Contini used it in the organ at the church of San Francesco in Montepulciano;41 subsequent traces abound and can be found all over the Italian peninsula, thus giving us an idea of how widespread these effects were. It is possible to state that between 1550 and the second half of the 1800s, drum stops (Rollante, Timpano, Thunder, Earthquake42) were almost always present in organs built in Italy, just like the Principale or the Flute stops.
The first suggestions for using the drum come from Vittore Federici for the organ in Orvieto: he describes a registration to play a battaglia with the drum in the German style,43 which we have already mentioned under the sections dealing with the nightingales. The association of the drum with pieces describing battles is obvious, a type of performance which, according to Adriano Banchieri, was “commonly allowed on Easter Sunday . . .” with reference to the verses “Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando” (“Death and life have struggled”) of the Gregorian sequence Victimae paschali laudes.44
Willem Hermans, both in the instructions for the use of the organ in the Como Cathedral, built in 1650, and for the organ in the German College in Rome (1666), suggests “Flauto in 12a Tamburrj,”45 the resulting sound being a beautiful imitation of a military flute or a Flagioletto, very similar to one of the registrations suggested 100 years later by Dom Bedos, even if the French builder specifies the use of two 2′ flutes in place of one 22⁄3′ Flute.46
An interesting aspect in the use of the drum is the type of mechanism by which it is activated. If the organbuilder has provided a pedal, the drum can be used rhythmically, by pressing the pedal in sequence. In some cases, however, the drum is activated by a stop knob, in which case the use can only be continuous, or else the player will have to resort to the help of a registrant. The latter, more archaic method can be found in several instruments built in different times and regions of Italy, for example: an organ built in 1735 at the Church of SS. Filippo e Giacomo in Erbezzo (Verona) by Gaetano Amigazzi, a builder of the Lake Garda and Verona area in northern Italy; and an organ by Nicola Abbate, built in 1780 for the Church of SS. Annunziata in Venafro (Isernia).47
As one can see, while in most organs throughout Italy the drum was being activated by a pedal, a few builders were still continuing to build it with archaic systems. Thus one must recognize that there are no general rules in Italian organbuilding practices, and that the organist’s interpretation of a musical piece when utilizing this effect should also take into account the most common organbuilding practices in the area where the music was composed.
In 1790–1792, Girolamo Zavarise, another builder of the Lake Garda school of organbuilding, in the registration chart for the organ of Selva di Cadore (Belluno), writes that “the drum is played by gently striking the pedal and must not be held for a long time, otherwise it creates disturbance.”48 This indicates that the action for the drum allowed the organist to use this effect at will, by means of a pedal. In fact, in the Veneto region and in Lombardy, the rolling drum is predominantly activated by the last pedal at the right hand side of the pedalboard.
Likewise Gaetano Callido, the famous late 18th-century Venetian organbuilder, left many registration charts (Photo 6), all indicating the use of the rolling drum, where this effect is referred to as “drum to be played a tempo,”49 clearly indicating a change in musical taste. In all these suggestions, the drum appears in the registration for the characterization of a march, which required the Principale, the Ripieno stops, the Flauto in XII, the Cornetta (a Tierce rank in the treble), the Tromboncini (a Regal stop), the Pedal Tromboni (8′) and Contrabbassi (the keyboard being permanently coupled to the pedals). It is therefore a mélange, which included all of the organ stops except the Flauto in Ottava and Voce Umana.
I have earlier described the registration for the Sonata per Organo a guisa di Banda Militare che suona una Marcia (Organ Sonata in the mode of a Military Band playing a March) by Giuseppe
Gherardeschi of Pistoia, written between 1800–1820, where, in the same fashion, it was requested that the timpano (drum) be played staccato, together with a loud registration.50
An interesting series of suggestions and recommendations on the use of the drum is contained in the book by Giovanbattista Castelli, which was adopted by the Conservatory of Music in Milan as a “practical manual for the students who are learning the use of the organ.” Castelli was the equivalent of today’s CEO of the Fratelli Serassi factory, one of the most notable organbuilding families operating between the 18th and the end of the 19th century.51
In the chapter titled “tremolo” [sic], he deals with the rolling drum, and he describes its use in a more elaborate and creative way than other organbuilders ever did. He explains that it is used predominantly during the last few chords of a piece. He continues by stating that it is also “pleasant in the piano passages” by pressing the pedal for a longer or shorter time as required by the piece, making sure, however, that the volume of the solo part on the manuals is prominent enough. It must also be used on the weak beats of held chords. However, after stating that a “judicious application” must be used, he cautions the organist “not to overuse it in the piano passages.”52
The example by Vincenzo Petrali, which illustrates the use of the drum (no. 16), an attachment to Castelli’s text, is self-explanatory: the piece opens with two held notes of the drum, separated by a pause; the keyboard section follows, with a registration including the Principale and the Voce Umana, during which the drum is not activated, until the musical theme is introduced, underlined by two more “held notes.” Subsequently the drum is activated on the weak beats of the closing measures of the piece.
Consequently, an orchestral use of this effect should be established, and, following an accurate analysis of the musical piece to be played, it is appropriate to also use it, without going overboard, in a wider spectrum of situations, beyond allegro movements or marches. It must be emphasized that this device was commonly found throughout Italy and that consequently it would be a good practice to imagine a broader and more articulate use of the drum when performing Italian organ literature.
It is also interesting to mention a curiosity: Giuseppe Verdi, who began his musical life by playing the organ in his parish church, and who took music lessons from two organists, Pietro Baistrocchi and Fernando Provesi, must have had a good knowledge of the effect of the rolling drum and of its construction. In fact, in the first scene of Act 1 of Otello, he requires that the organ on stage hold the first three notes of the pedalboard (C, C#, D) for numerous measures. It is a dramatic beginning with “lightning, thunder, hurricane,” as specified in the introductory description; it is a natural storm, which anticipates the emotional turmoil of the leading character. The three held notes in fact reproduce the effect of thunder quite faithfully.

The Bagpipe
The narration of the birth of Christ in the Gospel according to Luke tells us that among the first to come to the manger was a group of shepherds. The nativity representations obviously incorporated such features (the first nativity scene was created in 1223 at Greccio, in the region of Umbria, by St. Francis of Assisi), and it is clear that the shepherds who participated would carry with them the typical musical instruments of their tradition: bagpipes and reed flutes, or ciaramelle. A large number of paintings also testify to this tradition. The style of the pastorale, literally “shepherd’s song,” is directly inspired by the songs of the shepherds and by their musical instruments. One of the characteristics of the bagpipe—commonly referred to in Italian as cornamusa, but also found as müsa, baghet, and piva, just to mention a few of the original dialect-derived names that were given to several instruments, all similar but sometimes incorporating marginal construction differences—is the presence of at least one Bourdon pipe, which produces a drone. In the year 1544, Vincentio Beltramo from the Burgundy region of France specifies the Zampogne (bagpipes)53 in the contract for the organ at S. Nicola a Tortoreto (Teramo). The name may have indicated a complete reed stop; however, since immediately before in the same document he had mentioned the Trombecte stop, it is likely that, in the case of the bagpipe, he meant them to be only an effect.
This device was particularly common in organs built in central and southern Italy well into the nineteenth century. One reed pipe, usually with a short wooden resonator, could be easily activated by means of a stop control, and left on to play continuously. In some instruments two of these pipes, at different pitches, can be found, but always individually controlled. These pipes can be tuned at different pitches according to the need; having two of them instead of one, of different sizes, expanded the tuning range without creating excessive speech or volume problems. The notes normally produced by these pipes rotate around the keys used for musical compositions named Pastorale: G, F, D, and C. They simulated the continuous sound of the bagpipe’s Bourdon, and music in pastorale style would be improvised over this background sound. This can be done today as well, of course, or a pastorale piece can be played that is compatible with one of the keys produced by the bagpipe effect. 
 

by John Brombaugh and Robert Parkins

From the Builder

Discussions about building a special organ for Duke
University's Memorial Chapel began some twelve years ago. Since the room is
relatively small, the milder sound of the early Italian organ was considered a
most suitable complement to the large Flentrop and Aeolian organs in the main
part of the Chapel. Mean-tone tuning, customary for organs before the 18th
century, would also offer a wider scope of unusual musical opportunities. To
avoid diminishing even further the limited seating space, the new organ would
be placed in a "swallow's nest" loft made by the organbuilder to
match the organ case. A contract was signed in the spring of 1991, actual
construction began in the Brombaugh shop in the summer of 1995, and the organ
was installed in the Memorial Chapel during the summer of 1997. The result is a
new organ--consisting of 21 ranks, 23 stops, and some 923 pipes--that may very
well be the only modern example of its type in the Western Hemisphere.

The early Renaissance organs in southern Europe seldom made
the aggressive sounds that became common later in France and Germany. These
organs were remarkably simple compared to their northern cousins, but
(especially in Tuscany) they made a wonderful, sweet sound. Instruments in
Italy seldom had more than one manual keyboard, and the limited pedals, if
present at all, assisted only in playing occasional bass notes.

Nonetheless, these bass pipes could be quite large, as one
can still see in the  24' front
pipes of the  Epistle organ in the
Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna. This remarkable instrument, made in 1475
by the renowned Tuscan builder Lorenzo da Prato, has only about a thousand
pipes, but the sound carries softly throughout the immense church. One of the
very few remaining organs from the 15th century, it underwent a minor
renovation in 1532 to accommodate retuning in mean-tone
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  temperament. The San Petronio organ--as
well as similar ones by Domenico di Lorenzo in Lucca and Florence, and by Giovanni Piffero in Siena--was the primary inspiration for the Principal chorus and two flute stops (4' and 22/3') on the main (Great) division of the Memorial Chapel organ. The Italian pipes are modeled specifically after extant examples from 1480, 1551, and 1612.

The Italian Principal chorus, referred to as the ripieno,
comprises several sets of narrow cylindrical metal pipes, of which the visible
front pipes are the largest. The lowest rank of façade pipes (Principale
8') extends from two octaves below middle c to two octaves above it. Additional
stops in the ripieno sound either an octave or a fifth higher in successively
higher registers and can be added separately in various combinations. The
smallest pipe of the highest rank, producing a pitch sounding four octaves
above middle c, is only 11/2≤ long, approaching the upper limit of normal
human hearing. Consequently, the usual Italian practice was to "break
back" the highest pitches to an octave below to avoid pipes that would be
too small for practical use. The Memorial Chapel organ includes a tiratutti
pedal to engage the entire Principal chorus at once, a device that appeared on
some Italian instruments by the turn of the 18th century.

In addition to the Principal chorus and the flutes in the
main division, another stop called a Cornettina (seen in later Venetian organs)
has been included. Containing a tierce, or third-sounding rank, it can be used
for solo melodies in the manner of similar treble stops found in contemporary
French, Germanic, and Iberian organs.

The Great also has two non-Italian flute stops (16' and 8')
and a German Trumpet 8' to expand the organ's versatility when playing
literature of other national schools. The Trumpet is divisible between bass and
treble, following a common historic convention in some instruments. The
division is found historically at various points near the middle of the
keyboard, but most commonly between b and c' or between c' and c#' (the latter
a consistent feature in Iberian organs). The Memorial  Chapel organ features a lever that will allow the organist
to select either dividing point.

To make the organ still more flexible for playing a variety
of non-Italian music, a second manual division (in the style of a small north
German Brustwerk) adds four more stops. Of special interest is the Querpfeiff
2', inspired by an unusual overblowing flute stop with a similar name in the
Schnitger organ of the Jakobikirche in Hamburg.

The Brustwerk manual has the conventional bass "short
octave" format that was customary in keyboard instruments throughout
Europe before the 18th century. That is, the keys that would appear to be E,
F#, and G# in the lowest octave actually play C, D, and E respectively. The
Great keyboard is similar, except the apparent F# and G# keys in the bottom
octave are "split" to make those pitches available as well as the

D and E (an arrangement referred to as a "broken
octave"). The keys on both manuals reflect the shorter dimensions found in
early instruments.

The Pedal keyboard, however, has a different layout,
assuming a format often used by the renowned 17th-century north German builder
Arp Schnitger. This keyboard includes F# and G# in the bass octave but (like
the manuals) not C# and D#. The Pedal plays three of the Great stops by
transmission but has no pipes of its own.

The tuning system used in the Memorial Chapel organ is
mean-tone, the accepted standard for keyboard instruments in Europe during the
16th and 17th centuries. The most distinctive feature of 1/4-comma mean-tone
temperament is that the eight usable major thirds (plus two enharmonic ones)
are tuned absolutely pure, that is, without the audible "beats" that
characterize all intervals (except the octave) in modern equal temperament. For
long-established acoustical reasons, every practical tuning system involves a
certain quid pro quo. In this case, tuning some pure intervals creates other
unusable intervals, thus permitting only a limited constellation of keys
(corresponding to those commonly used in the repertoire at the time).

To allow composers and keyboard players to venture beyond
the usual limitations of mean-tone tuning, a few historic organs had more than
twelve notes per octave, extending the range of tolerable keys. This transient
system usually required double (split) keys for Eb and G# so that one could
also play the enharmonic notes D# and Ab. To ameliorate this rather curious
(and at times awkward) keyboard design for the player, we developed an unusual
(but not unprecedented) mechanical system for the Memorial Chapel organ so that
one can switch between the enharmonic pitches Eb and D# or G# and Ab on all
keyboards by means of two levers.

The organ case and loft for the Memorial Chapel instrument
follow basic Renaissance architectural styles. The upper case, containing the
pipes of the main division, is based on ancient Italian cases like the one in
the Church of San Bernardino in Verona as well as others found in some Tuscan
churches. The layout of the front pipes follows a conventional pattern seen,
for example, in the organ at Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. The façade
pipes are made of an alloy that is over 98% tin, and the pipe mouths are gilded
with 23-carat gold leaf.

Within the case, all the pipes rest on windchests. Although
most historic Italian organ builders used an unusual construction known as a
"spring chest," the more conventional European type, the "slider
chest," was occasionally found in Italy as well. The Memorial Chapel organ
employs slider chests, but the stops operating the Italian registers (located
on the left side of the keydesk) are fashioned after the ancient spring chest
levers.

The wind system includes one large wedge bellows and a small
electrical blower (the latter a minor concession to modernity). The wind
pressure is only 47 mm, considerably lower than was common for northern
European organs. The simple tremulant (after Schnitger) is adjustable in its
intensity. Components of the wind system, as well as the largest bass pipes,
are placed in a chamber behind the organ case, accessible by means of a spiral
staircase not visible to the audience or congregation.

--John Brombaugh

GREAT (Man. I)

                  16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bourdon

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principale

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Voce
umana (discant)

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Rohrflöte

                  4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Octave
(discant/full)

                  4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Flauto
in VIII

                  22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Flauto in XII

                  2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Fifteenth

                  11/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Nineteenth

                  1'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Twenty-second

                  2/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>         Twenty-sixth

                  1/2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>         Twenty-ninth

                  1/3',
1/4'              Thirty-third
& Thirty-sixth

 
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                III
style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Cornettina
22/3, 2', 13/5' [includes Flauto in XII]

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet
(bass)

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet
(discant)

BRUSTWERK (Man. II)

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oak
Gedackt

                  4'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Oak
Flute

                  2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Querpfeiff

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Regal

PEDAL (from Great)

                  16'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>          Bourdon

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Principale

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Trumpet

Great/Pedal coupler

Tremulant (adjustable)

Tiratutti pedal (ripieno)

Eb/D# and G#/Ab levers

b/c'-c'/c#' knob (Man. I)

Great: CDE-c''' (broken octave)

Brustwerk: CDEFGA-c''' (short octave)

Pedal: CDE-d' (after Schnitger)

Mechanical key action (suspended)

Mechanical stop action

Wind pressure: 47 mm

Pitch: one semitone below a' at 440 Hz

Temperament: 1/4 comma mean-tone

Fratelli Ruffatti, Padua, Italy
Wesley Chapel, Elkton, Maryland

From the builder
Fratelli Ruffatti is mostly known in the United States for building large four- and five-manual instruments with electric action. Two five-manual organs have been completed in the past 15 months, and two four-manual organs are currently being manufactured in the Ruffatti workshop. Few people, however, know that the majority of instruments that the firm produces outside of the United States are of mechanical action.
In tune with the trends and ideas that were coming from across the Alps at the beginning of the 1960s, Ruffatti was among the first in Italy to restore the tradition of building pipe organs with suspended mechanical action. One of the most famous of these instruments is in northern Italy, installed in 1970 in the parish church of the small medieval city of Noale. It is not a huge instrument, numbering 27 stops and 35 ranks of pipes over two manuals, but it became quickly famous from the beginning as the concert instrument for the first Italian competition of young organists. It is still today the centerpiece of a quite famous concert series, involving big names among international organists.
Ruffatti is here presenting to the American organ community an instrument that is quite small, but of large significance. Everyone knows that ancient Italian organs were, for the most part, of small size—one manual, with a limited number of stops—but quite musical and versatile. Since our predecessors could not depend upon a large number of voices to produce variety, they refined their voicing techniques to the point that every sound could be combined with every other to produce the most versatility even within a very limited number of stops. This is the tradition that Italian organbuilders come from and that constitutes the inspiration for Fratelli Ruffatti even today, whether it may be applied to very large or, even more importantly, to small instruments.
The organ manufactured for Wesley Chapel of Elk Neck is a good example of how a very small instrument can be pleasing and effective in spite of its very limited size. With only one manual and a total of six stops, including the Pedal, it is difficult to imagine any kind of versatility at all. However, a few special ingredients grant this instrument a real flexibility: the divided stops, the composition of the Mixture and, above all, the voicing techniques.
Splitting the stops in bass and treble is an old practice in ancient organs, as we all know, and it allows the organist to create two different tonal “platforms” within the same manual. In this case, both the Principal and the Spitzflöte are divided between C and C# in the middle of the keyboard, thus increasing the number of possible combinations. The Mixture, whose composition is shown below, has been designed in such a way that no “double pitches” occur when combined with the 2′ Fifteenth. The Fifteenth and Mixture are conceived as an effective three-rank Mixture when pulled together, but at the same time the Mixture can also be independently used in a “mezzo ripieno” combination without the Fifteenth, creating a very interesting tonal color.
Although English names have been chosen for the stops, as a sign of respect for the users, a number of tonal features are present that link this instrument in many different ways to the classical Italian tradition.
The Principal pipes, both internal and in the façade, are without “ears,” as in the classical Principale. The low octave of the stop is made of stopped mahogany pipes, housed against the ceiling inside the case. They are connected to the windchest through a complicated series of metal windways. A stopped wooden low octave for the Principale is a common feature of the Positivo Italian organs of the 17th and 18th centuries, and effective ways have been refined over the centuries—through proper scaling and voicing—to make the bridge between wood and metal remarkably smooth.
The Octave is of slightly smaller scale, or relative diameter, than the Principal, as found in many historical organs of northern Italy, as are the Fifteenth and the subsequent Mixture ranks.
The 4′ Spitzflöte is an almost identical replica of the Flauto in Ottava, a stop of rare singing quality used by Gaetano Callido1 in his instruments.
With the primary purpose of providing a good foundation, especially considering the rather dry acoustical environment of Wesley Chapel, an independent, real 16′ Bourdon has been provided for the Pedal, with pipes made of African mahogany, which are located behind the organ case.
The voicing technique is probably the element of highest significance. At the lowest wind pressure allowed by the acoustical conditions of the room (65 mm at the water column, or slightly over 21⁄2 inches), all pipes have been voiced with completely open toe and a minimum number of barely visible nicks at the languids. The result is a very pleasing, singing tone without excessive chiff or unnecessary non-harmonic overtones. This constitutes the foundation for a successful blending of the stops as well as for the creation of successful, pleasing solo voices. The pitch is 440 Hz at 20° Celsius and the temperament is equal.
Architecturally, the organ case has been designed to fit in the historical surroundings of Wesley Chapel. Although inspired both mechanically and aesthetically by the ancient Positivo organs, it must not be defined as a copy: its design is definitely a new, original creation. It features a façade composed of 22 pipes divided in two symmetrical sections. Each is topped by a hand-carved panel designed to add beauty to the ensemble while at the same time allowing for maximum sound egress. Two hand-carved wooden elements at the sides provide the necessary continuity between the top and the lower part of the case.
The casework is made completely from solid African mahogany. The keyboard features bone naturals with carved key fronts, and natural ebony sharps with bone inlays. The key cheeks are inlaid with thin strips of bone. The draw knobs are of ebony, with maple insets. The concave and parallel pedalboard (BDO measurements) is made of oak, with the sharps topped by ebony.
The mechanical action is suspended. The rollerboards are made from solid aluminum rollers with wooden arms.
The task of designing and manufacturing an instrument within such a small space has not been an easy one. In spite of this, every part is easily accessible for maintenance and ordinary tuning. The layout of pipes over the slider windchest in particular has been carefully designed to allow favorable conditions for the radiation of sound from all pipes.
—Francesco Ruffatti

Notes
1. Gaetano Callido was the most famous Venetian organbuilder of the 18th century. A pupil of Pietro Nacchini, he built over 430 organs in his lifetime, many of which are still preserved.
2. The basic principle of the open toe voicing technique is that of leaving the pipe toe completely open and regulating the sound volume by reducing the opening at the flue, or lower lip of the mouth. By operating this way several advantages are achieved, among which are a less turbulent air supply through the pipe foot and a more focused wind column at the mouth. These features are effective in reducing the “mouth noise” or “air noise” and, consequently, in reducing the need for languid nicking, a practice that can alter the natural timbre and that tends to reduce the development of upper partials in the sound spectrum.

From the organist
Several years back Glenn Arrants inquired: if he purchased an organ, would I play it?—and fortunately I said yes. He then informed me this would be no ordinary organ, but a pipe organ to be built in Italy. Through the months ahead, Glenn kept me informed of the progress.
The anticipation increased over the two and a half-year wait for the organ to be built. Finally we received word it would be delivered to the chapel on July 3, 2007. I was so excited about the opportunity to see this process firsthand, that I took off from work to be there to take photos and witness the arrival.
Spread throughout the chapel were all of the pieces that would be assembled into a pipe organ—in two weeks! I thought I understood the complexity of the pipe organ until I witnessed this firsthand. Imagine my excitement to hear that I would be playing the organ the first time that Sunday morning, although the pedals were not completed—the sound filling the sanctuary that morning was just a sweet taste of what was to come the following week when the instrument was complete.
There was concern that a pipe organ would overpower the small sanctuary and the congregation, but this is not the case. The sanctuary is filled with wonderful music, and the congregation’s voices are supported beautifully. Even with full organ, there is no vibration anywhere in the 177-year old chapel.
To be the first organist of the Wesley Chapel Fratelli Ruffatti pipe organ is indeed an honor, and a once in a lifetime opportunity. One cannot help but think of the dedicated craftsmen who built the organ, all the attention to detail, and the beautiful voices of the pipes. It gives me great joy to be able to sit down and play this organ, so much so that what seem like minutes in time are actually hours of enjoyment—this fine instrument will serve the congregation and community of Elk Neck for generations to come.
—Alice Moore

From the dedication recitalist
It was a great pleasure to prepare a program for the dedication of the new Ruffatti organ for Wesley Chapel of Elk Neck. It turned out to be much less of challenge to prepare for a “small organ” than one might have suspected. The organ is well capable of playing standard literature, Bach and Telemann, and there is, in fact, wonderful variety to be had in various combinations of the voices. Most surprising was the excellent way the organ could be adapted to the modern works of Michael Burkhardt and Donald Johns in hymn-based partitas. Equally important, the gentle and very artistic voicing of this instrument allows it to lead congregational song with all the color and emotion one could ask for in an instrument of larger design. The divided stops are an ideal way to get “more organ” than the package seems to contain. Bravo Fratelli Ruffatti and congratulations to Wesley Chapel of Elk Neck.
–Donald McFarland

A brief history of Wesley Chapel of Elk Neck, Elkton, Maryland
Elkton, Maryland, a city of some 13,000 people, sits on Chesapeake Bay near the Delaware border. It dates from the 1700s and was a strategic crossroads during the Revolutionary War. Washington and Lafayette passed through it frequently, and it is very near the spot where the British landed for their march on Philadelphia. The Wesley Methodist Society formed its congregation there in 1797 and, in 1830, the parcel of land was bought “for and in consideration of the sum five dollars current money of Maryland,” and the Reverend William Ryder laid the cornerstone of a new building in which to hold the society’s services. Handhewn beams formed the 25′ x 30′ single-room chapel on a fieldstone foundation. The little building has several features that make it a particularly important structure architecturally, including a perfect half-circle arched ceiling, and varying-width clapboards that hide its vertical plank construction. Wesley Chapel seats about 50, and is one of the oldest rural chapels still in use in the area.
Glenn Arrants remembers how his mother served as church organist for almost 50 years. She played on an early 20th-century Möller organ, which took up considerable space in the tiny building. In the mid-1990s, the chapel went through a complete restoration and the Möller, which was then beyond repair, was replaced with a restored Estey reed organ. Church members missed the sound of a pipe organ, however, and, in 2005, set in motion plans to acquire an instrument specially built for the chapel. Because of the design work, the quality of construction, and the reputation of the company, Wesley Chapel chose Fratelli Ruffatti, distinguished pipe organ builders of Padua, Italy, to build its new instrument.

 

MANUAL—unenclosed, 56 notes (C–G)
8′ Principal Bass 25 pipes mahogany + 95% façade + 70% interior
8′ Principal Treble 31 pipes 95% façade + 70% interior
4′ Octave 56 pipes 70%
4′ Spitzflöte Bass 17 pipes 30% 1–8 common bass with Octave
4′ Spitzflöte Treble 31 pipes 30%
2′ Fifteenth 56 pipes 70%
II Mixture 11⁄3′–1′ 112 pipes 70%

PEDAL—unenclosed, 27 notes (C–D)
16′ Bourdon 27 pipes mahogany

7 ranks, 355 pipes
% = percentage of tin in tin-lead alloy

Composition of the Mixture II by itself
1–36 11⁄3′ 1′
37–48 22⁄3′ 11⁄3′
49–56 4′ 22⁄3′

Composition of the Mixture II together with the Fifteenth 2′
1–36 2′ 11⁄3′ 1’
37–48 22⁄3′ 2′ 11⁄3′
49–56 4′ 22⁄3′ 2′

Joyce Johnson Robinson

Joyce Johnson Robinson is associate editor of The Diapason.

In the 1980s I was a graduate student in Rome, doing research on oratorios in the archive adjacent to the sanctuary of the Chiesa Nuova (Santa Maria in Vallicella). That church, established by St. Philip Neri, witnessed the flourishing of the oratorio in the 18th century; more oratorio performances were held there than at any other venue in Rome. Oratorios, performed weekly from November through Lent, were written by the leading opera composers of the day.
Twice weekly (the archive was only open from 5–7 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays; this explains why my research took a while), I entered the large sanctuary and walked toward the altar on my way to the archive. Though the church still revealed its Baroque splendor, there was no splendid—i.e., in playable condition—organ. So I took no note of the instrument; lack of maintenance on an organ was not an uncommon situation in Roman churches.
Fast forward to 2003, to the office of The Diapason, where I was now on the editorial staff. A new CD had arrived,1 featuring organist Francesco Cera playing the Guglielmi organ at Santa Maria in Vallicella, the instrument having been restored by Fratelli Ruffatti.2 I was impressed by the marvelous playing and the incisive sound of the instrument. Even the temperament was revelatory; the meantone tuning gave the dissonances extra pungency and made their resolutions all the more satisfying.
Francesco Cera, born in Bologna, now resident in Rome, studied organ and harpsichord with Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and Gustav Leonhardt. He has appeared as a soloist in international festivals and has played historic organs in various European countries. His recordings of the complete keyboard works of Michelangelo Rossi, Tarquinio Merula, Bernardo Storace, and Antonio Valente were praised by the international press. He is currently the conductor of the Ensemble Arte Musica, which specializes in Italian vocal repertoire, from the madrigals of Gesualdo to 18th-century cantatas.3 Cera has led masterclasses and seminars at such institutions as the Accademia di Musica Italiana per Organo, Academie d’Orgue de Fribourg, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the University of Illinois, the University of Evansville, and the Eastman School of Music.
I felt it was worth a try to see if I could meet Mr. Cera in person. An e-mail was graciously answered and led to further exchanges, and my husband and I were able to meet Cera on our next trip to Rome. He was most kind and agreed to show and play the organ for us. We met at the church one December day, along with the organist of Santa Maria in Vallicella. After making our way up the curving staircase to the shallow loft, Cera fired up the instrument. He began playing some works by Rossi, but had not played for very long when the competition arrived—another organ was being played, to lead a rehearsal of children singing. We weren’t going to win this one, so we ceased and desisted and headed for the coffee bar across the street.
Time passed. Cera’s CD was given a glowing review in The Diapason.4 In October 2006 he made a tour to the United States to present concerts and masterclasses, to demonstrate Italian organ music of the 17th century. His tour included a stop in Chicago, where he played on the Flentrop organ in Holy Name Cathedral. We were able to meet up with him once again, to discuss the Guglielmi organ and its restoration in further detail.

JR: Was the Guglielmi organ in Santa Maria in Vallicella installed when the church was first built?
FC: The organ that we hear today is the second built by Giovanni Guglielmi for the church, and for centuries it was paired with a second organ, also built by Guglielmi, for the newly built church, in about 1590. The church of Santa Maria in Vallicella (called the Chiesa Nuova) was constructed at the request of St. Filippo Neri, who in the nearby oratory founded the order of the Philippine fathers; thus it is a crucial place in the history of the Catholic Church. The organ we hear was built in 1612, according to archival research.

JR: Is the Guglielmi organ typical of other Roman instruments? How does its design reflect the style of Italian organ building of the 17th century?
FC: Yes, the Guglielmi organ is a traditional type of organ quite frequently found in large Roman churches at the end of the 16th century. I would say that this organ is clearly distinct from those built in northern Italy during the same period, for example those of Antegnati and his followers. It is typically Roman because it exhibits construction characteristics that are very similar to those of organs built in Rome (such as in the 1598 Luca Blasi organ in the basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, in the small organ ca. 1600 by an unknown builder in Santa Barbara ai Librari, and later in the century in the 1673 Testa-Alari at San Giovanni dei Fiorentini). We can note these characteristics in even later instruments that have survived, and through descriptions in old contracts: a short-octave 50-key manual, C–f3 (plus five chromatic split keys for D-sharp/E-flat, and G-sharp/A-flat); a Ripieno based on a 16' Principal, an 8' Trumpet with full-length resonators (called Tromboni)5, and a pair of flutes pitched at 4' and 22⁄3'. The scales of the principals and of the Ripieno ranks are very narrow, giving much transparency to the 16' Ripieno, and a very silvery sound, full of light, to the organ. These narrow scalings produce a very clear and pungent timbre, compared to, say, Tuscan organs of the same period, which have wider scalings and tend towards a rounder sound. The Tromboni, frequently found in Roman organs, add power and color. The sound of the Guglielmi organ seems to reflect the grandeur and luminosity of Rome.

JR: The organ’s case design is something special, too.
FC: Its golden case, redesigned in 1699, is a triumph of the Roman Baroque, clearly inspired by Bernini’s style. Gilded carvings show angels that seem to float across the façade: bas reliefs with putti, garlands of flowers, and a big shell crowning the top just behind the major pipes. Three pipes are embossed with a twisting surface, including the central one, 16' low C. The pipe mouths are also gilded with decorative patterns.

JR: Is the Guglielmi organ similar to any of the masterpieces of Italian organbuilding?
FC: I don’t believe so. For example, the famous organs of San Petronio in Bologna (Lorenzo da Prato, 1475, and Baldassare Malamini, 1596) or the 1545 Antegnati at San Maurizio in Milan have quite a different sonority from the Guglielmi. In fact, the characteristic of Italian organbuilding of every era—from the Renaissance to full-blown Romanticism—is to conceive of nuances of sonority that are distinct in every single region (remember that Italy was divided into many small states until 1860).
At times we have stops typical of a school of organbuilding—for example, in the Venetian school, the 8' Tromboncini (a short-resonator reed); in the Lombardy school, the orchestral stops such as Corno Inglese or Flauto traversiere; or in the Tuscan school, the multi-rank Cornetti. But it is interesting to note how very many old organs having the same stoplist (for example, the most common in various parts of Italy is a Ripieno, a 4' or 22⁄3' Flauto, Voce Umana, and 16' Contrabasso in the pedal) offer quite diverse sonorities, above all in timbre (tone color), due to the scaling and type of voicing. The major organbuilders imparted a personal “character” to their instruments, and it was inevitable that a local “school” resulted. This is the great fascination of the Italian organ—the different nuances of timbre, which still needs to be better understood. The Guglielmi organ is a masterpiece of Roman organbuilding.

JR: The instrument is based on a 16' Principal—is that typical for that time?
FC: Almost all the large Roman churches had instruments whose Ripieno was based on a 16¢ Principal. This was probably felt to be necessary due to the vastness of the churches, but certainly also for the desire for a very solemn sound. At the same time, the narrow scalings provided great luminosity and clarity.

JR: Who played the Guglielmi organ? What documents refer to the organ?
FC: Among the famous organists who played the organ were Bernardo Pasquini, who was the organist at Vallicella from 1657–1664, and also in the 17th century Giovanni Battista Ferrini and Fabrizio Fontana (both of them, along with Pasquini, wrote organ music of high quality). Various documents about the organ and its maintenance through the centuries have been published by Arnaldo Morelli, in the musicological journal Analecta Musicologica.6

JR: When was the organ abandoned and no longer maintained?
FC: At the end of the 19th century, a romantic-style organ was built in the right-side choir loft, and from that point the old Guglielmi, after some mediocre work, was gradually abandoned. Yet most of the 17th-century pipework was not altered—neither the mouths nor the pipe lengths. Thus, notwithstanding the negligence, it was possible to again have the original sound, without having to reinvent it, as it was necessary to do in other cases. This was a very good thing.

JR: How did organ restoration in Italy begin and evolve?
FC: Historic restoration in Italy originated with the pioneering work of the celebrated organist Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and the great scholar, the late Oscar Mischiati. The first organ “saved” from restorations that had a tendency to alter and “modernize” historic organs was Graziadio Antegnati’s 1581 masterpiece in the church of San Giuseppe in Brescia, restored back in 1956. In subsequent years, following the directives of these two great experts, it became more common to respect the original features of every instrument, including the short-octave manuals and pedalboards, which previously had been “normalized” through the addition of chromatic keys. Then came the practice of reconstructing the pipes of lost ranks, with faithful copies of authentic pipes by the same maker. In the late 70s there was a return to the old temperaments, where there had been some surviving traces (meantone and its variants). All this spread at first in the north, with the help of government financing, and since the 1980s, also in central and south Italy. Today my country can claim at least ten organ builders who have specialized for a long time in restorations of the highest quality—work that is on a par with the best carried out in the rest of Europe, perhaps even characterized by a deeper historic consciousness.

JR: Who provided the funds for restoring the organ? When did this come about?
FC: The Italian government provided funding for the restoration, and the work took place between 1998–2000. The superintendent of historic and artistic works of Rome entrusted the work to Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, due to their experience in restoring historic organs in various regions of Italy, with the leading expert Oscar Mischiati as consultant.

JR: What work needed to be done on the organ?
FC: The spring windchest that was found in the organ was almost destroyed by rainwater that had leaked in, but although it was probably from the 19th century it seemed inspired by 17th-century building technique—thus it was reconstructed with the same design. Also lacking was the console, but after an accurate analysis of the pipes, it appeared clearly that its compass was of 50 keys (c1 to f5, with the first “short” octave), plus five added “split” keys, for a total of 55 keys, and the stops arranged vertically.7 The keyboard and pedalboard were reconstructed according to models of the period. The surviving group of original pipes was simply put in the best possible playing condition, and the temperament reset to meantone, with the pitch being detected as A=400—quite low, but close to the documented pitch in use in Rome at that time (i.e., around A=390). Ruffatti’s work has produced a very satisfying result.

JR: What are some other important recent restorations?
FC: Italy has the good fortune to possess very many Renaissance organs, which have had only minor modifications. Among these are the two organs at San Petronio in Bologna (to which I referred earlier), whose restoration, done by Tamburini under the supervision of Tagliavini and Mischiati, was completed in 1982. These two organs have been recorded on many CDs and have been visited by many organists from all over the world. Then there is the splendid 1556 Giovanni Cipri instrument at San Martino (also in Bologna), and the 1521 Domenico di Lorenzo at the church of the Annunziata in Florence.
Among the most important recent restorations, I would name the 1509 Pietro da Montefalco in Trevi (Umbria), restored by Pinchi-Ars Organi, the 1852 Tronci with three manuals and two small pedalboards at Gavinana (Tuscany), restored by Riccardo Lorenzini, and the 1775 Gaetano Callido at Fano (the Marches), restored by Francesco Zanin. Lastly, there is the 1565 Graziadio Antegnati organ in the church of Santa Barbara in Mantua, within the Gonzaga palace, an imposing 16¢ instrument with seven split keys for D-sharp and A-flat, restored by Giorgio Carli. I had the honor of playing the inaugural concert.

JR: Has there been much publicity about the Guglielmi organ?
FC: Unfortunately, after the restoration, nothing was published regarding the organ, and few organists played it. Realizing its importance—a great Roman organ from the time of Frescobaldi!—I proposed to Radio France that they do a CD recording for their “Temperaments” series, and Gilles Cantagrel, artistic director and noted Bach and organ scholar, accepted right away.
The CD notably helped develop interest in this important instrument, which restores the authentic sonority of the organs that the great Frescobaldi—and also Rossi, Pasquini, and their German pupils (Froberger, Kerll, Muffat)—would have regularly played, and for which they conceived their organ works.

JR: Francesco, you have toured a few times in the United States. Do you find that American organists know much about Italian organs?
FC: Generally, I think that it’s quite a mystery—people have only a vague idea—but all the organists that I’ve met in America are very interested to know more! For example, someone who heard the Guglielmi organ through my CD was extremely surprised by the very clear, or as they say, “stringy” sound—but also by the presence of the trumpet rank. Both these aspects are not part of their conception of the Italian organ, if their idea of the Italian organ only comes from visits they made to organs in Bologna rather than Florence. In Italy today, the Italian language is spoken with many varied accents (in the past, dialects were spoken more than they are today), and these differences are found in our old organs as well. It seems to me that the interest in Italian organ music, and the desire to explore it in all its vast scope, is growing. I have the impression that lately, after having concentrated on German Baroque works, people are looking for new repertoire, and the Italian repertory is clearly gaining popularity!

JR: Tell us something about your latest trip to the U.S.
FC: I was surprised to be able to play two historic Italian organs! I had heard of the 18th-century organ at the Eastman School in Rochester, inaugurated last year and now at the center of a strong, thorough study of Italian organ music. Its placement within the museum is really splendid; being surrounded by Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, it is put in a cultural context that is so important for those who are knowledgeable as well as for American students. Equally excellent is the positive organ that I played at Cornell University in Ithaca—an instrument with a strong Neapolitan character, built by Agostino Vicedomini in the 1720s. I think that both these instrument were restored very well.
I was also delighted with the sound of the big Flentrop at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago—faithful to the Dutch Baroque aesthetic—and also the John Brombaugh organ in Springfield, Illinois, a fine balance between historic copy and personality. I hope that soon the United States can have more organs in Italian style, maybe entrusting their construction to Italian builders so that the true Italian sonority—luminous and full of character—can be more widespread. I think that in mid-size churches with good acoustics, such an organ could be successful, or in churches where in addition to a traditional instrument there is a desire for an organ with a different sonority. Why not?

The author wishes to thank Fratelli Ruffatti, and especially Francesco Ruffatti, for their kind assistance. All translations are by the author.

June 30-September 21, 2002

Sarah Mahler Hughes

Sarah Mahler Hughes is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Department at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. She teaches courses in music history, counterpoint, and women in music as well as organ, piano, and harpsichord, and she directs the Collegium Musicum. The recipient of scholarly/artistic and global studies grants from the College, she traveled to Italy and Germany in July and August 2002 to play historic organs.

On July 28, 2002, I had the good fortune to play a recital on two historic organs as part of the 15th annual International Festival of Historic Organs in Valsesia in the Piedmont region of Italy. Mario Duella, the founder and artistic director of the Festival, had invited me to participate as part of a reciprocal arrangement. From its beginnings in 1978 as a local event with five concerts, the Festival has become international in scope and this summer included 25 recitals on 26 instruments in 22 towns in the valley of the Sesia River. This region northwest of Milan is incredibly beautiful, with Alpine peaks, clear air, and rushing streams. Tourists come from every part of Europe to enjoy the scenery and miles of hiking trails. But the riches of the region are cultural as well as natural, and the former include centuries-old churches laden with art, precious artifacts, and organs.

Organbuilding in the Valsesia area began in the 1600s with artisans from Milan.1 Native builders began to flourish in the first half of the 18th century and even the smallest parish churches contained organs by the 19th century. Restorations and alterations seemed to begin soon after the organs were installed, and the two processes continued hand in hand until the mid-twentieth century. The number of organs in Valsesia increased steadily for three hundred years, beginning in 1601. A 38-year hiatus before and after World War II marked the only interruption in organbuilding activity. Restorations began again in 1975 and continue today. The most recent restoration, by the Novarese firm Krengli, is that of an instrument (1821) by Luigi Maroni Biroldi at the Church of Santa Croce in Rassa. Mario Duella played the dedicatory recital on August 2.

Mario Duella lives in Pray, one of the Valsesia towns, but his grandmother came from Rassa, farther west. He has a great love for his native region and is concerned about preserving the organ culture of the area. His efforts to call attention to instruments in need of repair has resulted in many successful restorations during the past 15 years. These instruments are then featured on the concert series he began. The Festival is supported by the Piedmontese regional government in conjunction with the Cultural Association for Historic Organs in Piedmont, a non-profit group. Other government bodies, principally the Province of Vercelli and the Mountain Commune of Valsesia, also lend financial support.

My recital began in the ancient Cappella di Santa Marta, an oratory in the church of San Giacomo in Campertogno, on an 18th-century organ (maker unknown) that was restored by Italo Marzi in 1981. The instrument has 50 keys (C1 to F5) on one manual with a pull-down pedal. Both manual and pedal have a short octave. The seven stops include a Principale 8', Ottava 4', Decimaquinta 2', Decimanona (11/3'), Vigesimaseconda (1'), Voce Umana, and Flauto in Ottava 4'.  The most memorable registrations are the Principale with Voce Umana, a hauntingly beautiful sound unique to Italian organs, and the Flauto in Ottava 4', which has a very pure sound. On this instrument, I played Sweelinck's variations on Onder een linde groen, a toccata by Bernardo Pasquini, and All'Elevazione and All'Offertorio by Domenico Zipoli. The meantone tuning made the dissonances of the Offertorio extremely pungent. Hearing them, one can understand why medieval theorists characterized tritones as the diabolus in musica.

After this initial portion of the program, we moved through a corridor into the sanctuary proper which houses an electropneumatic organ (1937) by Krengli. One of the last organs built before the war, this instrument is one of the most recently restored (2000) by the same firm. The organ comprises two manuals of 61 keys (C1 to C6) and a full pedal division. The stoplist is as follows:

 

Grand'Organo

                  16'          Principale

                  8'             Diapason

                  8'             Dulciana

                  8'             Flauto

                  8'             Unda Maris

                  4'             Ottava

                  21/2'      Duodecima

                  2'             Ottavino

                                    Cornetto 3 file [ranks]

                                    Ripieno 6 file

                  8'             Tromba

Organo Espressivo

                  8'             Principalino

                  8'             Bordone

                  8'             Viola da Gamba

                  8'             Concerto Violini

                  4'             Flauto Armonico

                                    Ripieno 3 file [mixture, 3 ranks]

                  8'             Oboe

Pedale

                  16'          Contrabbasso

                  16'          Subbasso

                  8'             Basso

 

The organ's tonal design reflects both the orchestral taste of the early 20th century and traditional Italian sounds. As one would expect from so many 8' ranks, the sound is both dark and rich in fundamental tone but weak in the upper partials. Other features of the organ include graduated general and divisional pistons (marked piano, crescendo, forte, ripieno) instead of programmable ones, and separate pistons for adding reeds and strings. Blue-tipped stop tabs indicate pedals, pink-tipped ones, manual stops. (It is difficult not to connect this distinctive feature with the Italians' gift for fashion and design.) For this final part of the recital, I played  Romantic and contemporary repertoire: Mendelssohn, Prelude and Fugue in G; Bossi, Scherzo in g, op. 49 no. 2; Brahms, Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, op. 122 no. 8, and O wie selig, op. 122 no. 6; Estrada, Chacona, Aspiracion; and Billingham, My Lord, What a Morning and I've Just Come from the Fountain. The acoustics were wonderful, a case of bare stone walls and bare floors creating the perfect atmosphere for the powerful sound of the full chorus, on the one hand, and the sensuous oboe stop, on the other.

The audience for this event was large and appreciative. Many faithfully attend the concerts in the series out of love for music and pride in their region's instruments. One man traveled 50 miles on mountain roads to hear this organ! The ushers for the recital were local women dressed in the traditional costumes of the Valsesia region, and as an extra bonus, they distributed prettily wrapped candy to the concertgoers. Perhaps this is an idea worth exploring for American audiences; i.e., strengthening the association between sweetness and organ music.

Many people contribute to making the Festival a success. Those with whom I came into contact were friendly and helpful at all times. I, a foreigner with minimal Italian language skills, was welcomed as an honored guest. Everyone, including the parish priest who wished me coraggio before I played, the church secretary who unlocked doors and gave me a ride back to Rassa after my practice session, the ushers and friends who accompanied us to dinner at a trattoria  after the concert, and above all, Mario Duella, his wife, Franca, and son Luca, who turned pages and assisted me with registration changes, was very hospitable. For those unable to experience these unusual instruments live, three CDs are available: Storici organi della Valsesia (1994; instruments by Vegezzi Bossi, 1911; Mentasti, 1872; and Lingiardi, 1875); Festival internazionale storici organi della Valsesia (1997; an anthology from the first 10 years of the Festival); and Storici organi della Valsesia (2001; instruments by Biroldi, 1822; and Krengli, 1937). For information on next season's Festival, contact Mario Duella at <[email protected]>.

 

Note

1.                    

Cesa, Alessandra et al. Organi e organari in Valsesia: Quattrocento anni di attività organaria. Borgosesia: Idea Editrice, 1997.

 

Regione Piemonte

Provincia di Vercelli

Comunità Montana della Valsesia

Associazione Culturale Storici Organi del Piemonte

XV Festival Internazionale Storici Organi della Valsesia

Borgosesia, Chiesa di Sant'Antonio, Alessandra Mazzanti (Italia)

Campertogno, Cappella di Santa Marta e Chiesa di San Giacomo, Sarah Mahler Hughes (Stati Uniti)

Borgosesia, Chiesa di Sant'Anna al Montrigone, Bernard Brauchli (Svizzera)

Foresto, Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, Robert Grudzien (Polonia)

Valduggia, Chiesa di Santa Maria, Robert Grudzien (Polonia)

Riva Valdobbia, Chiesa di San Michele, Karl Maureen (Germania)

Rassa, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Mario Duella (Italia)

Alagna, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Helmuth Luksch (Austria)

Mollia, Chiesa di SS. Giovanni e Giuseppe, Dietrich Oberdorfer (Italia)

Carcoforo, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Carlo Barbierato (Italia)

Scopa, Chiesa di San Bartolomeo, Ansgar Wallenhorst (Germania)

Brugaro, Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, Stefano Rattini (Italia)

Varallo, Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Luc Ponet (Belgio)

Piode, Chiesa di Santo Stefano, Giovanni La Mattina (Italia)

Crevola, Chiesa di San Lorenzo, Giorgio Fabbri (Italia)

Balmuccia, Chiesa di Santa Margherita, Roberto Padoin (Italia)

Rastiglione, Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo, Sandro Carnelos (Italia)

Scopello, Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta, Jean-Marc Pulfer (Svizzera)

Rossa, Chiesa di Maria Vergine Assunta, Roman Perucki (Polonia)

Borgosesia, Chiesa di Santa Marta, Mario Verdicchio (Italia)

Ghemme, Chiesa di Maria Vergine Assunta, Jean-Paul Imbert (Francia)

Romagnano Sesia, Chiesa Abbaziale di San Silvano, Mario Duella (Italia)

Bornate, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Emanuele Cardi (Italia)

Serravalle Sesia, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Andrea Macinanti (Italia)

Varallo, Collegiata di San Gauderizio, Winfried Engelhardt (Germania)

 

For information: Associazione Culturale Storici Organi del Piemonte, tel/fax 01576735, e-mail: <[email protected]>, web: <utenti.tripod.it/storiciorgani>.