The largest organs in the world. The largest musical organ in the world

Musical Instrument: Organ

The world of musical instruments is rich and diverse, so traveling through it is very educational and at the same time an exciting experience. Instruments differ from each other in shape, size, structure and method of sound production and, as a result, are divided into different families: strings, winds, percussion and keyboards. Each of these families, in turn, falls into different types, for example, the violin, cello and double bass belong to the category of stringed instruments. bowed instruments, and the guitar, mandolin and balalaika are plucked strings. The horn, trumpet and trombone are classified as brass instruments, and the bassoon, clarinet and oboe are classified as woodwind instruments. Every musical instrument is unique and occupies its specific place in musical culture, for example, the organ is a symbol of beauty and mystery. It does not belong to the category of very popular instruments, since not everyone can even learn to play it. professional musician, but deserves special attention. Anyone who hears an organ “live” at least once in a concert hall will receive an impression of a lifetime; its sound is mesmerizing and leaves no one indifferent. One gets the feeling that music is pouring out from heaven and that this is the creation of someone from above. Even appearance An instrument that is unique evokes a feeling of uncontrollable delight, which is why it is not without reason that the organ is called the “king of musical instruments.”

Sound

The sound of an organ is a powerful, emotionally affecting polyphonic texture that evokes delight and inspiration. It amazes, captivates the imagination and can bring you to ecstasy. The sound capabilities of the instrument are very great; in the vocal palette of the organ you can find very diverse colors, because the organ is able to imitate not only the sounds of many musical instruments, but also the singing of birds, the noise of trees, the roar of rockfalls, even the ringing of Christmas bells.

The organ has extraordinary dynamic flexibility: it can perform both the most delicate pianissimo and deafening fortissimo. In addition, the audio frequency range of the instrument is within the range of infra and ultrasound.

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Interesting Facts

• The organ is the only musical instrument that has a permanent registration.
• Organist is the name given to a musician who plays the organ.
• The concert hall in Atlantic City (USA) is famous for the fact that its main organ is considered the largest in the world (455 registers, 7 manuals, 33,112 pipes).
• Second place belongs to the Wanamaker organ (Philadelphia USA). It weighs about 300 tons, has 451 registers, 6 manuals and 30,067 pipes.

• The next largest is the organ of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is located in the German city of Passau (229 registers, 5 manuals, 17,774 pipes).
• The instrument, the predecessor of the modern organ, was already popular in the first century AD, during the reign of Emperor Nero. His image is found on coins of that time.
• During the Second World War German soldiers The Soviet BM-13 multiple launch rocket systems, popularly known as “Katyusha”, were called “Stalin’s organ” because of their terrifying sound.
• One of the oldest partially preserved examples is an organ, the production of which dates back to the 14th century. Tool in given time is an exhibit of the National historical museum Stockholm (Sweden).
• In the 13th century large organs, called positive, were actively used in field conditions. The outstanding director S. Eisenstein in his film “Alexander Nevsky”, for a more realistic depiction of the enemy camp - the camp of the Livonian knights, used a similar instrument in the scene during the bishop’s celebration of the mass.
• The only organ of its kind, which used pipes made of bamboo, was installed in 1822 in the Philippines, in the city of Las Piñas in the Church of St. Joseph.
• The most prestigious International competitions organists currently are: M. Ciurlionis Competition, (Vilnius, Lithuania); competition named after A. Gedicke (Moscow, Russia); name competition I.S. Bach (Leipzig, Germany); performing competition in Geneva (Switzerland); competition named after M. Tariverdiev (Kaliningrad, Russia).
• The largest organ in Russia is located in the Kaliningrad Cathedral (90 registers, 4 manuals, 6.5 thousand pipes).

   

Design

An organ is a musical instrument that includes great amount different parts, so detailed description its design is quite complex. The organ is always made individually, as it is necessarily determined by the size of the building in which it is installed. The height of the instrument can reach 15 meters, the width varies within 10 meters, and the depth is about 4 meters. The weight of such a huge structure is measured in tons.

It is not only very large in size, but also has a complex structure, including pipes, a machine and complex system management.

There are a lot of pipes in the organ - several thousand. The length of the largest pipe is more than 10 meters, the smallest is a few centimeters. The diameter of large pipes is measured in decimeters, and small ones in millimeters. Two materials are used to make pipes - wood and metal (a complex alloy of lead, tin and other metals). The shapes of pipes are very diverse - they are cone, cylinder, double cone and others. The pipes are arranged in rows, not only vertically, but also horizontally. Each row has the voice of an instrument and is called a register. The registers in the organ number in tens and hundreds.

The organ control system is a performance console, which is otherwise called an organ pulpit. Here are the manuals - hand keyboards, pedal - foot keyboard, as well as a large number of buttons, levers, and various indicator lights.

Levers located on the right and left, as well as above the keyboards, turn the instrument registers on and off. The number of levers corresponds to the number of instrument registers. A warning light is installed above each lever: it lights up if the register is turned on. The functions of some levers are duplicated by buttons located above the foot keyboard.

Also above the manuals there are buttons that have a very important purpose - this is the memory of organ control. With its help, the organist can program the order of switching registers before a performance. When you press the buttons of the memory mechanism, the registers of the instrument are turned on in a certain order automatically.

The number of manual keyboards on an organ varies from two to six, and they are located one above the other. The number of keys on each manual is 61, which corresponds to a range of five octaves. Each manual is associated with a specific group of pipes and also has its own name: Hauptwerk. Oberwerk, Rückpositiv, Hinterwerk, Brustwerk, Solowerk, Choir.

The foot keyboard, which produces very low sounds, has 32 widely spaced pedal keys.

A very important component of the tool is the bellows, into which air is pumped using powerful electric fans.

Application

The organ today, as in former times, is used very actively. It is also used for accompaniment in Catholic and Protestant services. Quite often, churches with an organ serve as a kind of “decorated” concert halls, which host concerts not only of the organ, but also chamber And symphonic music. In addition, nowadays organs are installed in large concert halls, where they are used not only as soloing, but also as accompanying instruments. The organ sounds beautiful with chamber ensemble, vocalists, choir and symphony orchestra. For example, organ parts are included in the scores of such wonderful works as “Poem of Ecstasy” and “Prometheus” A. Scriabina, symphony no. 3 C. Saint-Saens. The organ also appears in the program symphony “Manfred”. P.I. Tchaikovsky. It is worth noting that, although not often, the organ is used in opera performances such as “Faust” by Charles Gounod, “ Sadko"N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, " Othello» D. Verdi, “The Maid of Orleans” by P. I. Tchaikovsky.

It is important to note that organ music is the fruit of creations very talented composers, among whom in the 16th century: A. Gabrieli, A. Cabezon, M. Claudio; in the 17th century: J. S. Bach, N. Grigny, D. Buxtehude, I. Pachelbel, D. Frescobaldi, G. Purcell, I. Froberger, I. Reincken, M. Weckmann; in the 18th century, W. A. ​​Mozart, D. Zipoli, G. F. Handel, W. Lübeck, I. Krebs; in the 19th century M. Bossi, L. Boelman, A. Bruckner, A. Guilman, J. Lemmens, G. Merkel, F. Moretti, Z. Neukom, C. Saint-Saens, G. Foret, M. Ciurlionis. M. Reger, Z. Karg-Ehlert, S. Frank, F. List, R. Schumann, F. Mendelssohn, I. Brams, L. Vierne; in the 20th century P. Hindemith, O. Messiaen, B. Britten, A. Honegger, D. Shostakovich, B. Tishchenko, S. Slonimsky, R. Shchedrin, A. Goedicke, S. Widor, M. Dupre, F. Nowoveysky , O. Yanchenko.

Famous artists

From the very beginning of its appearance, the organ attracted great attention. Playing music on an instrument has always been not an easy task, and therefore only truly talented musicians could become real virtuosos, and many of them composed music for the organ. Among the performers of past times, special mention should be made of such famous musicians as A. Gabrieli, A. Cabezon, M. Claudio, J. S. Bach, N. Grigny, D. Buxtehude, I. Pachelbel, D. Frescobaldi, I. Froberger, I. Reinken, M. Weckmann, W. Lübeck, I. Krebs, M. Bossi, L. Boelman, Anton Bruckner, L. Vierne, A. Guilman, J. Lemmens, G. Merkel, F. Moretti, Z. Neukom, C. Saint-Saëns, G. Faure M. Reger, Z. Karg-Ehlert, S. Frank, A. Goedicke, O. Yanchenko. There are quite a lot of talented organists nowadays, it is impossible to list them all, but here are the names of some of them: T. Trotter (Great Britain), G. Martin (Canada), H. Inoue (Japan), L. Rogg (Switzerland), F. Lefebvre , (France), A. Fiseysky (Russia), D. Briggs, (USA), W. Marshall, (Great Britain), P. Planyavsky, (Austria), W. Benig, (Germany), D. Goettsche, (Vatican ), A. Uibo, (Estonia), G. Idenstam, (Sweden).

History of the organ

The unique history of the organ begins in very ancient times and goes back several thousand years. Art historians suggest that the predecessors of the organ are three ancient instruments. Initially, it is a multi-barreled Pan flute, consisting of several reed tubes of various lengths attached to each other, each of which produces only one sound. The second instrument was the Babylonian bagpipe, which used a bellows chamber to create the sound. And the third progenitor of the organ is considered to be the Chinese sheng - a wind instrument with vibrating reeds inserted into bamboo tubes attached to a resonator body.

The musicians who played the Pan flute dreamed that it would have a wider range; for this they added a number of sound tubes. The instrument turned out to be very large, and it was quite inconvenient to play it. One day, the famous ancient Greek mechanic Ctesibius, who lived in the second century BC, saw and took pity on an unfortunate flutist who was having difficulty handling a cumbersome instrument. The inventor figured out how to make it easier for a musician to play the instrument and first adapted one piston pump, and then two, to the flute to supply air. Subsequently, Ctesibius, for a uniform supply of air flow and, accordingly, smoother sound production, improved his invention by attaching a reservoir to the structure, which was located in a large container with water. This hydraulic press made the musician's work easier, as it freed him from blowing air into the instrument, but required two more people to pump the pumps. And so that the air does not flow to all the pipes, but precisely to the one that was supposed to sound at the moment, the inventor adapted special dampers to the pipes. The musician's task was to open and close them at the right time and in a certain sequence. Ctesibius called his invention hydraulics, that is, “water flute,” but people began to call it simply “organ,” which translated from Greek means “instrument.” What the musician dreamed of has come true, the range of the hydraulics has expanded greatly: a large number of pipes have been added to it different sizes. In addition, the organ acquired the function of polyphony, that is, it could, unlike its predecessor Pan's flute, simultaneously produce several sounds. The organ of that time had a sharp and loud sound, so it was effectively used at public spectacles: gladiator fights, chariot competitions and other similar performances.

The largest organ in the world December 13th, 2015

Another addition to our .

In the large sports and concert hall Boardwalk Hall, located in the American city of Atlantic City, the largest organ in the world is located. The unique musical instrument consists of 33,000 pipes and 1,200 keys. Air is forced into the pipes by fans that rotate electric motors with a power of 600 hp. With. Now the organ is far from being better condition. In 1944, it was damaged during a hurricane, and in 2001, workers negligently destroyed part of the main pipes. They are trying to restore the organ, however, this will take several years.

Let's find out more about it...

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Atlantic City's historic Boardwalk Hall is the city's most important convention center. All the big events in Atlantic City are held there. Boardwalk Hall has hosted numerous sporting events(boxing, basketball, football, wrestling, figure skating, etc.), music concerts (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Madonna and Lady Gaga celebrities to name a few), political conventions and even the Miss America Pageant. This entertainment complex occupies 7 acres of land with its own power plant, radio station, kitchens and telephone network. When it opened in 1929, the structure was an incredible feat of development. Another outstanding feature of Boardwalk Hall is the largest pipe organ in the world, which is the subject of this article.

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At that time, organs were standard equipment for any entertainment complex, being used mainly for musical accompaniment films (film dubbing technology had not yet been developed at that time). In those times average theater could seat 2,000 to 3,000 people, but the Boardwalk Hall's capacity was a whopping 42,000 spectators. The enclosed space of the hall reached 5.5 million cubic feet in area and filling this huge volume with music presented a big technical problem.

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The task of building the organ was entrusted to Midmer-Losh Inc. from New York. They created a giant instrument that broke all possible records. Hall Hall is still the proud owner of the large organ in the world and one of the most unique musical instruments on Earth. Made from 33,000 pipes, this gigantic instrument easily covers a huge hall area and sounds louder than the loudest train. To produce such a deafening sound, the organ uses a 600 horsepower electric drive capable of blowing 36,400 cubic feet of air per minute. The main control panel of the organ is also the largest control panel in the world. It took three years to build the organ - all work took place directly inside the building. The tallest chimney reaches 20 meters in height.

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Not only do Germany have some very ancient organs, we have probably the oldest (and most recently restored) active organ in the world. Probably because this church “Methuselah” was born from the Westphalian city of Söst-Ostönnen, in 1425–1430, and the organ of the Swiss church Tous-les-Saints, located on the territory of the castle of Valery, or De Valere (Sion, canton of Valais) was created in 1390. But now experts are arguing about the oldest surviving parts of the organ (it is clear that over the centuries complex instrument repeatedly “patched”, repaired, replaced worn out parts with new ones). And it turns out that optically (that is, in terms of external details) the “Swiss” is older, and acoustically (that is, in terms of internal details) the “German” is older.

This dispute does not prevent Germany from remaining a country of organs (it is not for nothing that most of the parts of the instruments have German names). Judge for yourself. In the evangelical church of the village of Risim (East Frisia, Lower Saxony) there is a Gothic organ dating from 1457. Unique organs are also located in Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein) - in the Church of St. Jacobi (1467), Kiedrich (Hesse) - in the Church of St. Valentine and Dionysius (1500), Luneburg (Lower Saxony) - St. Johannis (1553) , Norden (East Frisia, Lower Saxony) – St. Ludgeri (1567).

To be fair, let’s say that similar elders live in other European countries. So, in the Netherlands there is an organ from 1482 in the Martinikerk church in Groningen, an organ from 1511 in the Sint Laurenskerk church in Alkmaar, from 1534 in the Grote Kerk church in Breda, and from 1565 in the Hooglandse Kerk in Leiden. In France, the oldest organ (1501) is perhaps located in the Eglise du Gros Bourg, in Lorris-en-Gâtinais. In Denmark, the oldest organ (1554) flaunts in the Dome Cathedral of the city of Roskilde, in Austria - in the Court Church of Innsbruck (1558), in Portugal - in cathedralÉvora (1562).

Well, actually, the organ is such an ancient invention of mankind that the exact date It is very difficult to call the “birth” of the first organ. In ancient times, perhaps, any musical instrument was called an “organ” (from the Latin organum and Greek organon - instrument, instrument). The remains of the oldest organ-like instrument were found during excavations at Aquincum (near Budapest); scientists date them to 228 AD. e.

It is believed that the organ, or more precisely the hydraulos, was invented by the Greek engineer Ctesibius, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt in 296–228. BC e. From the name you probably guessed that it was a water organ, hydraulis, hydraulikon (from the ancient Greek hydor - “water” and aulos - “pipe”). A complex structure where the required air pressure entering bronze pipes was supported by a column of water. The Greeks and Romans used the hydravlos with its strong and piercing sound at hippodromes, in circuses, and during pagan mysteries.

In the first centuries of Christianity, the water pump was replaced by air bellows. Such instruments appeared in the 4th century. in Byzantium, from where they came to Western Europe, began to be manufactured in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Introduced the organ into Catholic Church in 666 by Pope Vitalian.

“The King of Instruments” is what the wind organ is called for its enormous size, stunning sound range and unique richness of timbres. A musical instrument with a long history, which has experienced periods of enormous popularity and oblivion, it served both for religious services and secular entertainment. The organ is also unique in that it belongs to the class of wind instruments, but is equipped with keys. A special feature of this majestic instrument is that to play it, the performer must masterfully control not only his hands, but also his feet.

A little history

The organ is a musical instrument with a rich and ancient history. According to experts, the ancestors of this giant can be considered the syrinx - the simplest reed flute of Pan, the ancient oriental organ made of sheng reeds and the Babylonian bagpipe. What all these dissimilar instruments have in common is that to extract sound from them, a more powerful air flow than human lungs can create is required. Already in ancient times, a mechanism was found that could replace human breathing - fur, similar topics, which were used to fan the fire in the blacksmith's forge.

Ancient history

Already in the 2nd century BC. e. The Greek craftsman from Alexandria Ctesibius (Ctesebius) invented and assembled a hydraulic organ - hydraulics. Air was pumped into it by a water press, and not by bellows. Thanks to such changes, the air flow was much more uniform, and the sound of the organ became more beautiful and smooth.

In the first centuries of the spread of Christianity, air bellows replaced the water pump. Thanks to this replacement, it became possible to increase both the number and size of pipes in the organ.

The further history of the organ, a musical instrument, quite loud and little regulated, developed in such European countries oh, like Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

Middle Ages

In the middle of the 5th century AD. e. organs were built in many Spanish churches, but due to their very loud sound they were used only on major holidays. In 666, Pope Vitalian introduced this instrument into Catholic worship. In the 7th-8th centuries the organ underwent several changes and improvements. It was at this time that the most famous organs were created in Byzantium, but the art of their construction also developed in Europe.

In the 9th century, Italy became the center of their production, from where they were distributed even to France. Later, skilled craftsmen appeared in Germany. By the 11th century, such musical giants were being built in most European countries. However, it is worth noting that a modern instrument is significantly different from what a medieval organ looks like. The instruments created in the Middle Ages were much cruder than later ones. Thus, the sizes of the keys varied from 5 to 7 cm, and the distance between them could reach 1.5 cm. To play such an organ, the performer used fists rather than fingers, hitting the keys with force.

In the 14th century, the organ became a popular and widespread instrument. This was also facilitated by the improvement of this instrument: the organ keys replaced large and inconvenient plates, a bass keyboard for the feet appeared, equipped with a pedal, the registers became noticeably more diverse, and the range was wider.

Renaissance

In the 15th century, the number of tubes was increased and the size of the keys was reduced. During the same period, a small portable (organetto) and a small stationary (positive) organ became popular and widespread.

Musical instrument XVI century becomes more and more complex: the keyboard becomes five-manual, and the range of each manual could reach up to five octaves. Register switches appeared, which made it possible to significantly increase the timbre capabilities. Each of the keys could be connected to dozens and sometimes hundreds of pipes, which produced sounds that were the same in pitch but differed in color.

Baroque

Many researchers call the 17th-18th centuries the golden period of organ performance and organ building. The instruments built at this time not only sounded great and could imitate the sound of any one instrument, but also entire orchestral groups and even choirs. In addition, they were distinguished by their transparency and clarity of timbre sound, most suitable for the performance of polyphonic works. It should be noted that most of the great organ composers, such as Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Bach, wrote their works specifically for the “baroque organ”.

"Romantic" period

Romanticism of the 19th century, according to many researchers, with its desire to give this musical instrument a rich and powerful sound inherent in a symphony orchestra, had a dubious, and even bad influence. Masters, and primarily the Frenchman Aristide Cavaillé-Cohl, sought to create instruments capable of becoming an orchestra for one performer. Instruments appeared in which the sound of the organ became unusually powerful and large-scale, new timbres appeared, and various design improvements were made.

New time

The 20th century, especially at its beginning, was characterized by a desire for gigantism, which was reflected in organs and their scale. However, such trends quickly passed, and a movement arose among performers and specialists in the construction of organs, promoting a return to comfortable and simple tools Baroque type, with a genuine organ sound.

Appearance

What we see from the hall is the outside, and it is called the façade of the organ. Looking at it, it’s difficult to decide what it is: a wonderful mechanism, a unique musical instrument, or a work of art? The description of the organ, a musical instrument of truly impressive size, could fill several volumes. We will try to make general sketches in a few lines. First of all, the facade of the organ is unique and inimitable in each of the halls or temples. The only thing in common is that it consists of pipes assembled into several groups. In each of these groups, the pipes are arranged in height. Behind the austere or richly decorated facade of the organ lies a complex structure, thanks to which the performer can imitate the voices of birds or the sound of the sea surf, imitate the high sound of a flute or an entire orchestral group.

How is it arranged?

Let's look at the structure of the organ. The musical instrument is very complex and can consist of three or more small organs that the performer can control simultaneously. Each of them has its own set of pipes - registers and manual (keyboard). This complex mechanism is controlled from the executive console, or as it is also called, the lectern. It is here that the keyboards (manuals) are located one above the other, on which the performer plays with his hands, and below there are huge pedals - keys for the feet, which allow you to extract the lowest bass sounds. An organ can have many thousands of pipes, lined up in a row, and located in internal chambers, closed from the viewer's eyes by a decorative facade (avenue).

Each of the small organs included in the “large” one has its own purpose and name. The most common are the following:

• main - Haupwerk;
• top - Oberwerk;
• "ruckpositive" - ​​Rückpositiv.

Haupwerk - the "main organ" contains the main registers and is the largest. Somewhat smaller and softer sounding, the Rückpositiv also contains some solo registers. “Oberwerk” - “upper” introduces a number of onomatopoeic and solo timbres into the ensemble. “Rukpositive” and “overwerk” pipes can be installed in semi-closed chamber-blinds, which open and close using a special channel. Due to this, effects such as gradual strengthening or weakening of sound can be created.

As you remember, an organ is a musical instrument that is both keyboard and wind. It consists of many pipes, each of which can produce a sound of one timbre, pitch and strength.

A group of pipes producing sounds of the same timbre are combined into registers that can be activated from the remote control. Thus, the performer can select the desired register or a combination of them.

Air is pumped into modern organs using an electric motor. From the bellows, through air ducts made of wood, the air is directed into vinladas - a special system of wooden boxes, in the top covers of which special holes are made. It is in them that they are strengthened organ pipes with its “legs”, into which air from the vinlad enters under pressure.