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Early History Of The Pipe Organ

Early History of the Pipe Organ


The "king of instruments" has a long history, one which can arguably be traced
to the concept of a collection of "fixed-pitched pipes blown by a single player
(such as the panpipes)" (Randel 583).   The first examples of pipe organs with
the basic features of today can be traced to the third century B.C.E. in the
Greco-Roman arena; it is said to have been invented by Ktesibios of Alexander
and contained "a mechanism to supply air under pressure, a wind-chest to store
and distribute it, keys and valves to admit wind to the pipes, and one or more
graded sets of fixed-pitch pipes." (Randel 583)   These early organs used water
as a means to supply air-pressure, hence the use of the terms hydraulic and
hydraulis.

Hydraulic organs were in use for several hundred years before the concept of
bellows, similar in concept and style to those of a blacksmith, came into use
with the organ.   Numerous bellows were used to supply air to the wind-chest,
often being pumped in pairs by men.   The disadvantages of this method of air
supply include the lack of consistent pressure, which leads to inconsistent
pitch and tuning; also, many people were required to operate the bellows since
there were upwards of twenty-four bellows per organ (Hopkins & Rimbault 35).
Also, with organs of this size, the bellows took up large amounts of space, thus
forcing the organ to be located in a fixed place, such as a church.

Up until the eleventh century (approximately), pitch and range of organs were
extremely limited, mainly in part to the lack of a any style of keyboard.   Keys
of a sort were introduced around this time, though not in the manner we are
accustomed to.   "The earliest keyboards were sets of levers played by the hands
rather than the fingers." (Randel 428)   They looked similar to large rectangles "
an ell long and three inches wide" (Hopkins & Rimbault 33) and were played by
pushing on them with a hand, although some were large enough that one might need
to...