The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1922-02-11

81 &A@ASAS
I though, of course, these were not
all speaking stops. II was announced
a little while ago that a Philadelphia
has offered his city $4,000 to build
the largest organ yet constructed.
Portland. Maine; Denver, st. Paul,
San Francisco and a score of other
cities have municipal organs. where
concerts are given regularly. 1t form
erly was quite out of the question for
a church I % spend $4,000 on an or
gan, but there are many such In the
United States to-day. Many wealthy
individuals have placed pipe organs
in their homes, playing them with
rolls of music like player pianos.
What is the significance of all this
organ fever? 1t simply means that
America is rapidly taking the lead of
the world in organs. Nearly every
steamer brings n or more organists
from the Old World cathedrals and
churches, who set out to try their
fortune In the United States. Most
of them tour the country giving reci-
tails and when a good offer m
their way they accept, and settle
down in America. America is rapid
ly developing many organists of world
reputation, both as concert players
and composers, and American invent
i've genius has outstripped scores OF
the great organs in other countries.
The greatest marvel of the organ
to-day Is perhaps not so much the
harmonies that come from its depths
as 1t is the wonderful mechanical de-
velopments that make this music pos
sible. An organ builder must, of
course, be an artist at his work, but
when it comes to making possible
this great instrument of to-day, al
least half the job is just downright
mechanical and inventive genius. I'm
der the old system of building organs
1t would be impossible to play any of
the huge modern instruments. No
man would have strength enough to
hold down the keys when playing on
the full organ. And so electricity has
come to the aid of the organ builder,
as 1t has to the aid of so many other
builders of modern civilization.
To-day the keys of many organs
are so susceptible to pressure that a
breath of air will move them. 1t for
merly required a finger force of two
pOunuS " uOPtCoo a olh6iC hCys oAhOO
one actually did all the work of OPP
ening the pipes with the fingers. No
wonder the great majority of organ
lists were men!
But to-day imagine hundreds of
little telegraphs all carrying messages
FROM keyboard to organ. Every time
a key is depressed a tiny current of
electricity operates a magnet and
opens a pipe. That accounts for many
organs being divided into several
sections and scattered about an aud
itorium or theater, with the keyboard,
or console, perhaps 100 feet away.
Usually on both sides of the keys
and above the keyboard one sees
scores of knobs or little tablets. Each
one of these is a stop or coupler, or
some other mechanical accessory. A
stop brings into play a row of pipes,
and is the same as adding another in
strument to the orchestra. The coup
lers serve to make 1t possible to bring
! into play the keys an octave higher
or lower than those one Is playing,
and also to couple together practic-
ally any rows of keys.
The development of theater and
4 ICSluCuCO OI6duoy tO6ClnCI WILL JUL
cert organs for town halls, opened an
entirely new field. in organ building.
There Immediately came an insist
ence on greater orchestral tone and
less insistence on the traditional
churchly quality of tone. Theaters
usually installed an organ either to
eliminate the orchestra altogether or
to give it an occasional rest. Persons
who installed organs in their homes
wanted to play o%vertures as we'll as
church tunes, ard so it came about
that the modern organ has changed
considerably. There are organs to-
day that have a grand piano attached.
On some theater organs the second
bank of keys Is a piano as well as an
organ. Even the percussion instru-
ments, such as drums, chimes, sleigh
bells and usual oddities of the or
chestra, are found on many instru-
ments. The harp effect, which has
become so popular on many organs
to-day, is procured by a row of metal
or wood plates, placed over ~resonat-
ors, and struck by padded hammers.
There is, however, one organ which
to my knowledge makes use of a
PAdShCo otiAh6 W oOtaAi tAAo OhCOt.
Many large residences now have
pipe organs, thanks to the develop
ment of player attachments. These
player organs relieve a person of all
the details of organ playing, auto
matically adding appropriate stops
when called for by the music.
But there is no instrument in the
world where SO much is left for the
performer. 1t is as II an entire SYM
phony orchestra raj set before him.
He may take a simple tune and de-
velop 1t in a score of different ways. |
The horn-like tones of the oboe may
give way to the flutes; there may be |
the soft music of violins; in the very
back of the church or auditorium
may be the organs own choir of del
icate voices, reproduced by the vox
humana ON the echo organ, a stop |
surprisingly like a choir of human |
voices when heard a distance off;
there may be the tolling of bells; or
there may be the crash of the brass
instruments of the orchestra, or the