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Bibliography and archaeology

Some select sources and references


Archaeological relics


Klaus-Jürgen Sachs Mensura fistularum Die Mensurierung der Orgelpfeifen im Mittelalter Stuttgart 1970

Incipit in black = earliest mention - Incipit in grey = later copies of earlier tracts

(Red-coded details are chronologically ordered, but otherwise need to be read in conjunction with Sachs).


Christhard Mahrenholz Die Berechnung der Orgelpfeifenmensuren vom Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts Bärenreiter 1938 (English translation by Andrew H. Williams, published Positif Press 1975 as The Calculation of Organ Pipe Scales from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century.)


Other literary references - (cf. Also Paolo Dessì in The Organ Yearbook 2009)


Modern (after 15thc) books and articles

(Bolding = an identification, or specially relevant to mediæval pipe design)





Antiquity - the ancient sources


Vitruvius - written Rome 33-22BC; survival through much later copies.


3rdc


Aquincum (Archaeological remnants) different-scaled ranks, but constant within the one rank

Pompei (Archaeological remnants?)

Avenches (Archaeological remnants - no pipes)



9thc


Scolica enchiriadis

    At si mensionum quoque probationem desideras ...

     Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...


9th/10thc


Paris lat. 12949 (also found in MS of 12th and 13thcs)

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)



9th to 11thc

Christhard Mahrenholz quotes some 29 sources

the following 10 are seemingly additional to K.-J. Sachs’:

(bolding indicates those that have some bearing on pipe width)

all appear to be constant scaling although Mahrenholz states that “[pigeon’s-egg scaling] in the 11th and 12th centuries seems to have increased ...”

3) in primo diapason (Hucbald c840-930 or Bernelinus c990)

4) mensuram fistularim et monochordi (Bernelinus)

7) Monitum ad semitonium inveniendum (Bernelinus)

8) Organicae dispositionis mensura (attrib. Aribo *c990- †1031 Apr 6)

15) Sicut in monochordo (Bernelinus)

17) Nova fistularum mensura quae remittitur (Aribo ascribes it to Wilhelm of Hirsau †1091)

20) Aribunculina fistularum mensura (Aribo)

25) Antiqua fistularum mensura quae intenditur (Aribo)

28) Igitur verbi gratia (Bernelinus)

29) Igitur ut breviter (Bernelinus)


10thc


Berlin 1817

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Sankt Gallen 242 (also 11th and 13thc)

    Mácha dia eristun solanga ...

Saint Blasien Codex Gerbert (10thc disappeared 1768)

Strasbourg undated = Codex Gerbert (disappeared 1870)

Wolfenbüttel 72. Gud. Lat.20 (also 11thc)

Mácha dia eristun solanga ...

Zürich Car. C 176 (also 11thc)

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Wulfstan: metrical prologue to a poetic life of St. Swithun (984-1005) makes reference to Winchester, Old Minster c994, seemingly a relatively large Blockwerk with B


10th/11thc


Bern B 56 Codex Berne

    Cuprum purissimum tundendo ad summam tenuitatem extenditur ...

     Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Einsiedeln 319

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Köln W 331

     Fistulam quam longam latamque volueris accipe ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Paris nouv.acq.lat. 1618

     Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

Rochester ML 92 1100 (“10th and 11th”)

     Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

     Prima fistula in octo divisa octava pars auferatur ...


11thc


Montpellier H 491

     Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...

München clm 14836

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

München clm 18937

     Prima fistula in octo divisa octava pars auferatur ...

München clm 23577

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

Prima fistula in octo dividitur ...

München clm 27300

    Mácha dia eristun solanga ...

Paris lat. 1684

     Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

Praha XIX. C. 26

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

    Symphonias autem sex esse constat ...

Roma Vat.lat. 3101 (1077)

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Quicumque cupit organicas fistulas metiri ...

Roma Palat.lat. 1346 (also 12th and 14thcs)

    Ad fistulas naturaliter operandas sic operabis ...

Roma Urbin.lat.290 (also 13thc)

    Primam fistulam quam longam latamque libuerit facies ... (II)

Sélestat Ms. 17 (“10th-12thc”) [clarification of a Blockwerk? III? 8'+8'+6'? 8'+6'+4'?]

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Wolfenbüttel 334. Gud. Lat.80 (also 12thc)

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...


11th/12thc


Bruxelles 10078/95

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

     Si numeri quorum loca vacant non tibi occurrunt ...

Darmstadt 1988 ca 1200)

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Karlsruhe 504

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

Leipzig paul. 1493

    Mácha dia eristun solanga ...

     Prima fistula in octo divisa octava pars auferatur ...

München clm 14965a

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Primam ad votum tuum compone ...

Paris 7377 C

    Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...

     Prima fistula in octo divisa octava pars auferatur ...

    Primam fistulam quam longam latamque libuerit facies ... (II)

Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis erunt ... (II)

    Si quis concordiam organorum scire voluerit ...

Paris 10275 (also same text in 13th/14thc Ms)

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Roma Regin.lat. 1661

    Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis erunt ... (II)

    Si quis concordiam organorum scire voluerit ...


12thc


Cambridge R. 15. 22 (early 12th)

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Inter quascumque fistulas tonus est ...

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)


Avranches 235

    Cuprum purissimum tundendo ad summam tenuitatem extenditur ...

München clm 9921 (ca. 1160)

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Cambridge O. 3. 42 (late 12th)

    Cuprum purissimum tundendo ad summam tenuitatem extenditur ...

Kassel 40 Ms. Math. 1

    Primam fistulam quae et longissima est ...

København 73, 80

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Leiden L 194

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Madrid 9088

    Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...

Milano M.17.sup.

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

München clm 14823

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

München clm 14965b

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

Primam fistulam quae et longissima est ...

München clm 18914 (“11th-13thc”)

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

München clm 19421

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

Primam fistulam quae et longissima est ...

Oxford Rawl. C 270

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Fistulae mensurentur a plectro usque ad summum ...

    Mensuram et ordinem organici instrumenti ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Paris 8121 A

Primam fistulam quam longam latamve libuerit facies ... (I)

Paris 10509

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

Rochester ML 92 1200

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Primam fistulam quam longam latamve libuerit facies ... (I)

Salzburg a V 2 (10)

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Saint Florian XI 35 [(variable) scaling]

San Juan Capistrano (Honeyman library) Gen.Sci.I (“12th and 13thc with later additions”)

    Cuprum purissimum tundendo ad summam tenuitatem extenditur ...

Washington ML 171 C.77 (and 14thc)

     Prima fistula in octo divisa octava pars auferatur ...

Wien cpv 51

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Wien cpv 787

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...


12th/13thc


Roma Vat.lat. 3123 (mid-12th, beginning of 13thc)

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

Berlin Phill. 1694

    Arbitrij lima formetur fistula prima ...


München clm 13021

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...


13thc


München clm 80 375 =Cim.13) (beginning of c)

Octavam partem diametri primae fistulae affige ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

London Arundel 339 (1st half of c.)

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...

München clm 2599

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

Reims (doc) 1275

    Arbitrij lima formetur fistula prima ...

Wien cpv 2503

    In mensuris fistularum istae sunt voces ...

Octavam partem diametri primae fistulae affige ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)


13th/14thc

 

Jerome of Moravia - in Tractatus de musica (1272-1304) first clear mention of lead as a pipe material


Oxford 188 (“13th and 14thc”)

    Longissimam fistulam quantae longitudinis latitudinisve ...


14thc


Milano D.5.inf.(beginning of c.) [(variable) scaling]

    Formata prima voce etc. dividatur totum gamma ut ...

Erfurt Ca 80 94 (early-mid-century)

    Inter quascumque fistulas tonus est ...

    Primam ad votum tuum compone ...

    Primam fistulam quam longam latamque libuerit facies ... (II)

Bruxelles II 4141

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

    Primam fistulam quae et longissima est ...

Erfurt Ca 80 93 (2nd half of century)

    Octavam partem diametri primae fistulae affige ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Erfurt Ca 20 395 (ca. 1373) [(variable) scaling] [useful description of bordunes]

    Incipit mensura ad faciendum opus organicum ...

Paris lat. 7400 A [(variable) scaling]

    Si quis concordiam organorum scire voluerit ...


14th/15thc


München clm 5539

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)


15thc


Graz 509 (early)

    Primae ergo fistulae quantitas in octo dividatur ...

Bruxelles 10162/66

    Primam fistulam tantae longitudinis ac latitudinis delibera ...

    Nos autem in utraque progredientes ...

    Sicut fistulae eiusdem sunt grossitudinis ita laminae ...

Oxford Bodl. 300 (first half of c) [(variable) scaling]

    Circa latitudinem fistularum est sciendum ...

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Oxford Bodl. 842 (first half of c)

Fidiculae sive fistulae si aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Princeton Garrett No. 95 (first half of c)

    Prima fistula ad arbitrium mensoris tendatur ...

    Primam fistulam quantae magnitudinis vis facies ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Cambridge 410 (Part I) [(variable) scaling]

    Ad similitudinem autem monocordi sunt organa construenda ...

Cesena (1418-1465)

    Prima habeat octies suum diametrum ...

Prima per octavam metiatur ...

Prima quantaecumque quantitatis ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

    Si quis concordiam organorum scire voluerit ...

Erlangen (1450-80)

    Primam fistulam quae et longissima est ...

 

Milano H.233.inf [(variable) scaling]

Paris lat.7295 (Arnaut de Zwolle) [(variable) scaling]

    Compositio fimbriae quod est initium organorum ...

Roma Vat.lat. 4539

    Rogatus a pluribus quam saepe pro captu ingenii demonstrare ...


“Anonymous Cambrai” MS - Cambrai Médiathèque Municipale Ms. 976(874) ff 465r-472r, 472v-475v.

- two temperings are referenced: Pythagorean and a mean-tone variant

- pipe diameters are thin and only decrease slowly (not 2:1)

- pipes an inverted conical shape (cf. Norwegian relics, Hamar)

- assumes a single rank (or putative Blockwerk)

see Patrizio Barbieri in The Organ Yearbook 1989 pp5-14. The French MS is printed out pp14-18. The Cambrai MS is 17th/18thc, but the organ section is clearly earlier as it is dealing with late 15thc organ building issues. Barbieri estimates this MS as being of comparable importance to that of Arnaut de Zwolle.


Some pipes from a pre-Reformation instrument at Hamar Cathedral (N) (Archaeological remnants - also “inverted conical in shape”?)



15th/16thc


Paris hébr. 1037 folio 27 two items in Hebrew: (Tekhūna hajeschana [(variable) scaling] and

Tekhūna chadascha [(variable) scaling] [2 ranks, quint, upper ranks “according to size”]


16thc


München clm 18695 (1529-31) [(variable) scaling]

Nunc de calamorum seu fistularum ad sonos habitudine ...


18thc (dealing with an earlier era)


Bologna A 43

    Fac tibi fistulam secundum aestimationem ...

    Primam fistulam quam longam latamve libuerit facies ... (I)

Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum (Gerbert St. Blasien 1784)

Fac tibi fistulam secundum aestimationem ...

    Fidiculae sive fistulae si aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ...

Prima habeat octies suum diametrum ...

    Prima per octavam metiatur ...

Prima quantaecumque quantitatis ...

    Si fistulae aequalis grossitudinis fuerint ... (I)

Si quis concordiam organorum scire voluerit ...


19thc (dealing with an earlier era)


Bruxelles FA 54-525 (Coussemaker 1866)

    De organis. Conquista omnis ...



---------------------------------------------------------

Post mediæval - modern sources and commentaries

---------------------------------------------------------


16thc

* 1511 Schlick “Spiegel ...”


17thc

* Praetorius, Michael. Syntagma musicum. II: De Organographia. 1619. Facsimile reprint ed. edited by Wilibald Gurlitt. Kassel, Germany: Bärenreiter, 1958.

* Mersenne, Marin. Harmonie Universelle. 1636. Facsimile reprint ed., Paris: Centre nationale de la recherche scientifique, 1975.

* Werckmeister, Andreas. Orgel-Probe. 1681. English translation by Gerhard Krapf. Raleigh, NC: Sunbury, 1976.

* Bendeler Johann Philipp Organopoeia oder Unterweisung wie eine Orgel nach ihren Hauptstücken [...] zu erbauen, Quedlinburg 1690. Facsimile edition ed. by Rudolf Bruhin. Amsterdam: Frits Knuf, 1972.


18thc

* Adlung, Jacob. Musica mechanica organoedi. Ed. by J. L. Albrecht and J. F. Lorenz. 1768. Reprint ed. edited by Christhard Mahrenholz. Kassel, Germany: n.p., 1931.

* Bedos de Celles, (Dom) François. L'art du facteur d'orgues. 1766-78. Facsimile reprint ed. edited by Christhard Mahrenholz. 3 vols. Kassel, Germany: Bärenreiter, 1934-36.

* Sorge G. A. Der in der Rechen- und Meßkunst wohlerfahrene Orgelbaumeister, Lobenstein 1773

* Sorge, Georg Andreas. Die geheim gehaltene Kunst der Mensuration der Orgelpfeiffen/The Secretly Kept Art of Scaling Pipes. Facsimile edition with English translation by Carl O. Bleyle. Buren, Netherlands: Frits Knuf, 1978.


19thc

* -. Die Theorie and Praxis des Orgelbaues. 1888. Facsimile reprint ed., Buren, Netherlands: Frits Knuf, 1972.

* Cavaillé-Coll, Aristide. Complete Theoretical Works of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Facsimilie edition with introduction and notes by Guilbert Huybens. Buren: Frits Knuf, 1979.

* Robertson, F. E. A Practical Treatise on Organ Building. 1897. 2 vols. Facsimile reprint ed. Braintree, MA.: Organ Literature Foundation, n.d.


20thc

1900

* Audsley, George Ashdown. The Art of Organ-Building. 1905. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1965.


1930s

* Mahrenholz Chr. Die Orgelregister. Ihre Geschichte und ihr Bau, Kassel 1930

* Mahrenholz Chr. Die Berechnung der Orgelpfeifenmensuren vom Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Kassel 1938 English translation by Andrew H. Williams: The Calculation of Organ Pipe Scales from the Middle Ages to the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Positif, 1975.


1950s

* Poul-Gerhard. Andersen, Orgelbogen (Copenhagen, 1956). Transl. by Joanne Curnutt as Organ Building and Design. London: Allen and Unwin, 1969.

* Töpfer, Johann Gottlob. Lehrbuch der Orgelbaukunst. 4 vols. Weimar 1855. Edition by Paul Smets. Mainz, Germany: Rheingold Verlag, 1957-70.


1960s

* Sundberg J. Mensures betydelse i oppna labialpipor. Studier av resonansegenskaper insviingningsforlopp och stationiirt spektrum, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Nova Series 2, Uppsala 1966

* Karl Bormann Die gotische Orgel zu Halberstadt: Eine Studie über mittelalterlichen Orgelbau, Merseburger, 1966

* Rudolf Quoika Vom Blockwerk zur Registerorgel, Bärenreiter 1966

* Adelung, W. Die Auswertung und Berechnung von Orgelpfeifenmensuren mit Hilfe eines neu artigen Rechenstabs, in: AO 16 (1968), S. 1190-1199

* Rensch, R. Mensur-Rechenschieber fur Orgelpfeifen, in: ISO Information 1 (1969), S. 47-54


1970s

* Sachs, KI.-J. Mensura Fistularum. Die Mensurierung der Orgelpfeifen im Mittelalter, Bd. 1: Edition; Bd. 2: Kommentar. Stuttgart bzw. Murrhardt 1970/1980

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol II - 1971 Thomas and Rhodes Schlick, Praetorius and the History of Organ Pitch

* Jean Perrot (translated by Norma Dean), The Organ, from its invention in the Hellenistic Period to the end of the Thirteenth Century, London, Oxford University Press 1971

* R. Rensch, Jann G. Versuche mit Zungenstimmenmensuren, in: ISO Information 9 (1973), S. 633-646

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol IV - 1973 Klaus-Jürgen Sachs Remarks on the Relationship between Pipe-measurements and Organ-building

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol V - 1974 James W. McKinnon The 10th C. Organ at Winchester

* -. The Organ-Builder. Translated and edited by Charles Ferguson. 2 vols. Raleigh, NC: Sunbury, 1977.

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Volume VI - 1975 Bleyle C.O. Georg Andreas Sorge: an 18th-century Proponent of logarithmic Scaling for Organ-pipes

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol VI - 1975 Nicolas Meeùs Some Hypotheses on the History of Organ-Pitch before Schlick

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol VI - Beth Barber Arnolt Schlick, Organ Consultant, and his 'Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten'

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol VII - 1976 Marco Tiella The Positive of Lorenzo da Pavia

* Fletcher, H. N. Scaling rules for organ flue pipe ranks, in: Acustica 37 (1977), S. 131-138

1980s


1980s

* Blanchard, Homer D. "De Mensura Fistularum." Diapason 73, no. 3 (1982).

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XIII - 1982 Edmund A. Bowles A preliminary Checklist of 15th-c. representations of Organs in Paintings and manuscript Illuminations

* Sudak, B. Genese der mittelalterlichen Theorie des Mensurierens von Orgelpfeifen, in: AOL 16 (1982), S. 217234

* McNeil, M. A theory of voicing and scaling flue pipes / Zur Intonation und Mensurierung von Labialpfeifen, in: ISO Information 23 (1983), S. 3-24.

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XV - 1984 Marco Tiella Renaissance and baroque musical Instruments and their 'Pronuntia'

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XV - 1984 Herman Greunke The structural Stability of Lead-Tin Alloys used in Organ-Pipes

* Kares M. Mensurdarstellungen - Vorschlag einer zeitgemäßen Vergleichsmethode, in: AO 34 (1986), S. 218-222

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XVI - 1985 Douglas E. Bush Musicus Consummatus: the Biography and Organ Music of Arnolt Schlick

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XVIII - 1987 Kimberly Marshall Bourdon Pipes on late-medieval Organs

* McVicker. W. R. An analytical approach to open, cylindrical organ-pipe scaling from an historical perspective, with special reference to the scaling practices of selected organbuilders, Diss. University of Durham, 1988

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XX - 1989 Patrizio Barbieri An Unknown 15th-c. French Manuscript on Organ Building and Tuning (return to reference above)

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XX - 1989 Douglas E. Bush Organ Music in the 15th-c. German Liturgy: a Reconstruction

* Klotz, H. über die Orgelkunst der Gotik, der Renaissance und des Barock, Kassel 21975

* Erdman, J. Ein Rechenmodell für historische Mensurationsmethoden

* Kimberly Marshall Iconographical Evidence for the Late-Medieval Organ in French, Flemish and English Manuscripts (2 Volumes) Garland Publishing 1989


1990s

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXI - 1990 Peter Williams Theophilus and Early Medieval Organ Building

* Friedrich Jakob et al, Die Valeria Orgel, Verlag der Fachvereine, Zürich 1991

* Peter Williams The Organ in Western Culture 750-1250 Cambridge 1993

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXVI - 1996 Dominic Gwynn Two English pre-Reformation organ soundboards

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXVIII - 1998/9 G.A.C. de Graaf Scales of historical organ stops and their interpretation


2000-

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXX - 2001 Patrizio Barbieri Alchemy, symbolism and Aristotelian acoustics in medieval organ-pipe technology

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Volume XXXII - 2003 Patrizio Barbieri The technology of metal organ pipes: Italy vs. France c1300-1900

* Michael Markovits, Die Orgel in Altertum, Brill 2003 ISBN 90 04 12575 2

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXXIII - 2004 Christian Meyer Les mesures de tuyaux médiévales dans le contexte de l'ars musica

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXXV - 2006 Michael Markovits Die Orgel Gerberts von Aurillac

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXXVIII - 2009 Paola Dessì L'organo tardoantico: the organ of late antiquity

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXXVIII - 2009 John Koster The Harding Bible organ in perspective

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XXXIX - 2010 David Yearsley Bernhard the German and the invention of the pedals

* The Organ Yearbook (ed. Williams): Vol XL - 2011 Hugo Bakker Arnolt Schlick’s ‘Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten’: mirror of Renaissance culture?



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See also on this site:

Glossary of medieval organ topics

Explanation of Gothic-mediæval organ types

A general background to Gothic-mediæval organ culture





Oldest surviving organs - mainly pipework -


Switzerland:

Sion (CH:) originally thought to be c1380 is now regarded as c1435? It also has changes and pedal additions from 1686-1688 to which state it was restored in 1954.


Germany:

Rysum (D:) variously dated c1425-57 is the earliest still playable organ in Germany

Ostönnen, Andreaskirche (D:) dates from c1430, restored to a mostly 18thc form it retains early 15thc pipework and woodwork

Altenbruch, St. Nicolai (D:) has some pipework from 1498

Kiedrich (D:) dates possibly from 1500-20 with about 80% original material;



Italy:

Bologna, San Petronio (I:) has facade pipes from 1474; the organ is restored to a 1535 form


Netherlands:

Alkmaar, Grote of Sint Laurenskerk (NL:) 1511 (and small later changes) is the oldest playable organ in the Netherlands

Krewerd, Hervormde kerk partly dates back to the 15thc

Leiden, Pieterskerk 1643 - Earliest pipework (1446) is attributed to van Bylsteyn (part of all Hw ranks except Bdn 16 and Tr 12 and Ped Octaaf); From Jan van Covelens (1518) Rp Oct 4, Super 2, Mixt, Scherp, Schalmei, Bw: Holp, Gemsh; other builders include Hagerbeer (1643), Duyschot/Duytschot (1687); Assenfeldt 1745 and Verscheuren (1994-8)

Middelburg?


Denmark:

Hillerød, Frederiksborg Slotskirke 1610




(Revision June 11, 2012)