The Nineteenth Century
Introduction

The "peaceful revolution" -- the Industrial one -- eventually made the greatest impact on organ building. In France, Germany, England -- even in North America -- organs were built in factories -- large industrial concerns that employed many people and machines doing the work that had previously been done by a small number of artisans. Bound up in this new way of doing the job was a new way of looking at the instrument, and by the end of the century new solutions to mechanical problems lead the way to radical changes in the concept of what an organ should be like as a musical instrument. These two elements, then, characterize the organ of the nineteenth century:

• Changes in the aesthetic concepts of the organ as a musical instrument.
• Changes in the design of the organ as a complex mechanism.

Although the earlier pages of this tutorial are limited to describing organs in churches, you'll find that limitation eroding during the nineteenth century. The increasingly avid audience of the nineteenth century provided a force that prompted not only the building of civic and municipal concert halls, but also the erection of concert organs within them. In fact, it's not stretching the truth to say that some of the most notable instruments of the period -- in the Trocadero in Paris and in Birmingham's Town Hall, for example -- were built not in churches but in public concert halls. We must add "place," then to the changes made in organ building during the nineteenth century.

All in all, the nineteenth century saw change everywhere, and these changes produced different results at the hands of diffrent builders. Even so, you can still look at and listen to different organs from the nineteenth century and find national traits revealed in them.

• In England the first half of the century saw both the adoption of "German compass" for manual keyboards and the development of new high-pressure reeds such as the Cornopean and the Tuba. In the second half of the century, the defining characteristics of the Victorian organ emerged, creating an instrument whose influence is still felt both in England and in the United States. The efforts of Hill, Willis and Harrison created musical instruments of lasting value, and their contributions are still evident in their instruments.
• After the dust of the Revolution had settled, France saw one man -- Aristide Cavaillé-Coll -- become its leading organ builder. With his skillful adaptation of technology, his creation of new stops, his astute business practices, and a working life that spanned more than a half century, his name became synonymous with the French symphonic organ. It is difficult to name another organ builder who was both so prolific and so influential.
• In Germany instruments continued to develop along lines set by the central German builders of the eighteenth century. Organs were made larger than before, with more and more colorful flue stops added to the traditional choruses of principals and flutes. The large instruments built by Sauer in Berlin and Leipzig, for example, still stand as monuments to this type of instrument, characterized by a subtle variety of quiet colors.
• In Italy instruments retained the traditional basis of a ripieno, but additions in the form of reeds and more flutes were seen more and more through the century. The addition of drum stops to the "toy" category -- one that included the "ussignoli" in centuries past -- made these organs better suited to playing the opera transcriptions favored at the time.
• In North America the first half of the century saw the emergence of an organ-building tradition based on English models. As the century progressed, a multitude of builders slowly filtered down to those names we recognize from their surviving instruments. Names like Goodrich and Appleton gave way to Hook and Hastings, Möller, Pilcher, and others whose firms survived into the twentieth century.

As I am wont to do at every opportunity, I ask you to look at each of the instruments described on the accompanying pages and consider it as a unique creation. Think of its place in history, how it relates to its own past, how it is innovative -- all of those things, to be sure. But also think of it as it must have been used, think about the music that was played on it, the way it fits into the overall music culture of the nineteenth century. The possibilities each instrument offered for musical creation form one of its most important legacies.

Enjoy the trip through history these instruments can give you. As you have with instruments from other centuries, think about each one's disposition, its mechanics, its appearance. But now, add to those thoughts a consideration of the building and its purpose. Ask yourself "where" the instrument was installed and consider its other attributes as they relate to place. Above all, listen with your mind's ear to the music written for each one, both in general and in particular, and remember that these marvelous, innovative machines were -- and in many cases still are -- great musical instruments.