Biographical studies about composers, and instrument- and organbuilders Archival studies, archival research Manuscript studies Organ building history in North Germany and the Netherlands Tuning, temperament Ensemble intonation Supervisors: Sverker Jullander Phone: +46-703-164174
Organ tuning and temperament are essential elements of the soundscape of an organ.
It is commonl... more Organ tuning and temperament are essential elements of the soundscape of an organ.
It is commonly assumed today that organ temperament practice shifted away from the well-documented standard of meantone temperament toward circulating temperaments (well-tempered or equal) around 1700. Written records and evidence from extant instruments, however, strongly suggest that unmodified meantone temperament remained common practice in North German organs until the 1740s. Even advocates of the new temperament designs such as Andreas Werckmeister had to admit that organ builders did not follow their suggestions. There is no evidence that retunings resulted in well-tempered systems; only meantone and equal temperaments are mentioned in the sources for retunings.
The reason for suggesting new temperament systems was the requirements of ensemble accompaniment. The simultaneous use of instruments tuned at different pitches (Chorton, Kammerton) required extensive transposition, a practice that, due to the development of major-minor tonality, became increasingly difficult if not impossible with organs tuned in meantone temperament. Modifications of this temperament were suggested and sometimes carried out, but were generally not successful.
Re-tempering an existing organ was a time-consuming task: in a large organ it could take months of work even for an experienced builder. The circumstances under which the organs had to be tuned constituted an important impediment to the introduction of new temperaments. An analysis of payments to bellows-treaders as recorded in church account books shows that the organs of St. Marien, Lübeck, were not retuned during the tenures of Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude. Thus, some of their organ works could not have been played on the organs available to them during their lifetimes. At this time, however, playing from a score was not acceptable for a professional organist, who was expected to extemporize even complex contrapuntal music. Organ music seems to have been written down mainly for study purposes.
The chain of reasoning in Bradley Lehman's article in Early music, xxxiii (2005), pp.3–2... more The chain of reasoning in Bradley Lehman's article in Early music, xxxiii (2005), pp.3–23, 211–31, is full of weak links. The notion that Bach followed a mathematical rule when tuning is contrary to relevant ...
Google Earth Community Http Bbs Keyhole Com Ubb Showthreaded Php Cat Number 789972 Page Vc 1 Phpsessid Post789972, 2007
These place marks for (Google Earth) contain the places of organs, that Arp Schnitger (1648?1719)... more These place marks for (Google Earth) contain the places of organs, that Arp Schnitger (1648?1719) ? built new, ? enlarged (marked EW), ? rebuilt (UB), or ? repaired (Rep.; only more substantial repairs). The countries (according to modern borders) in/for which Schnitger organs have built or whereto they were sold, given as a gift ... include Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, UK (England), Russia, Spain, Portugal, Brazil Schnitger's output is here grouped by decades 1674?1679 1680?1689 1690?1699 1700?1709 1710?1719 In case of instruments which were destroyed (not seldom also the churches were destroyed) the original location was tried to be traced back as precisely as possible. Otherwise the place mark leads to the church in which they have been or are still today. Those of his instruments, which have later been placed in other churches in other towns, are marked as in the following case: The organ, nowadays in Grasberg (near Bremen), was originally built for the church of the Waisenhaus (orphanage) in Hamburg: You'll find the place mark in Hamburg (indicating whereto the organ was moved): Hamburg, Waisenhaus, 1684 (--> Grasberg) In Grasberg you'll find the clue for the origin of the organ. Grasberg (<-- Hamburg-Waisenhaus 1694) House organs (like in Stade or Hamburg, for example) were placed in the middle of the town (in Hamburg for example they are in the lake "Alster")
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SwePub titelinformation: Subsemitones in organs built between 1468 and 1721. Introduction and com... more SwePub titelinformation: Subsemitones in organs built between 1468 and 1721. Introduction and commentary with an annotated catalog.
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Organ tuning and temperament are essential elements of the soundscape of an organ.
It is commonl... more Organ tuning and temperament are essential elements of the soundscape of an organ.
It is commonly assumed today that organ temperament practice shifted away from the well-documented standard of meantone temperament toward circulating temperaments (well-tempered or equal) around 1700. Written records and evidence from extant instruments, however, strongly suggest that unmodified meantone temperament remained common practice in North German organs until the 1740s. Even advocates of the new temperament designs such as Andreas Werckmeister had to admit that organ builders did not follow their suggestions. There is no evidence that retunings resulted in well-tempered systems; only meantone and equal temperaments are mentioned in the sources for retunings.
The reason for suggesting new temperament systems was the requirements of ensemble accompaniment. The simultaneous use of instruments tuned at different pitches (Chorton, Kammerton) required extensive transposition, a practice that, due to the development of major-minor tonality, became increasingly difficult if not impossible with organs tuned in meantone temperament. Modifications of this temperament were suggested and sometimes carried out, but were generally not successful.
Re-tempering an existing organ was a time-consuming task: in a large organ it could take months of work even for an experienced builder. The circumstances under which the organs had to be tuned constituted an important impediment to the introduction of new temperaments. An analysis of payments to bellows-treaders as recorded in church account books shows that the organs of St. Marien, Lübeck, were not retuned during the tenures of Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude. Thus, some of their organ works could not have been played on the organs available to them during their lifetimes. At this time, however, playing from a score was not acceptable for a professional organist, who was expected to extemporize even complex contrapuntal music. Organ music seems to have been written down mainly for study purposes.
The chain of reasoning in Bradley Lehman&#x27;s article in Early music, xxxiii (2005), pp.3–2... more The chain of reasoning in Bradley Lehman&#x27;s article in Early music, xxxiii (2005), pp.3–23, 211–31, is full of weak links. The notion that Bach followed a mathematical rule when tuning is contrary to relevant ...
Google Earth Community Http Bbs Keyhole Com Ubb Showthreaded Php Cat Number 789972 Page Vc 1 Phpsessid Post789972, 2007
These place marks for (Google Earth) contain the places of organs, that Arp Schnitger (1648?1719)... more These place marks for (Google Earth) contain the places of organs, that Arp Schnitger (1648?1719) ? built new, ? enlarged (marked EW), ? rebuilt (UB), or ? repaired (Rep.; only more substantial repairs). The countries (according to modern borders) in/for which Schnitger organs have built or whereto they were sold, given as a gift ... include Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, UK (England), Russia, Spain, Portugal, Brazil Schnitger's output is here grouped by decades 1674?1679 1680?1689 1690?1699 1700?1709 1710?1719 In case of instruments which were destroyed (not seldom also the churches were destroyed) the original location was tried to be traced back as precisely as possible. Otherwise the place mark leads to the church in which they have been or are still today. Those of his instruments, which have later been placed in other churches in other towns, are marked as in the following case: The organ, nowadays in Grasberg (near Bremen), was originally built for the church of the Waisenhaus (orphanage) in Hamburg: You'll find the place mark in Hamburg (indicating whereto the organ was moved): Hamburg, Waisenhaus, 1684 (--> Grasberg) In Grasberg you'll find the clue for the origin of the organ. Grasberg (<-- Hamburg-Waisenhaus 1694) House organs (like in Stade or Hamburg, for example) were placed in the middle of the town (in Hamburg for example they are in the lake "Alster")
Din webbläsare stöder inte JavaScript! Hoppa till textinnehållet. Göteborgs universitets logotype... more Din webbläsare stöder inte JavaScript! Hoppa till textinnehållet. Göteborgs universitets logotype, länk till universitetets startsida. ...
SwePub titelinformation: Subsemitones in organs built between 1468 and 1721. Introduction and com... more SwePub titelinformation: Subsemitones in organs built between 1468 and 1721. Introduction and commentary with an annotated catalog.
Din webbläsare stöder inte JavaScript! Hoppa till textinnehållet. Göteborgs universitets logotype... more Din webbläsare stöder inte JavaScript! Hoppa till textinnehållet. Göteborgs universitets logotype, länk till universitetets startsida. ...
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Books by Ibo Ortgies
It is commonly assumed today that organ temperament practice shifted away from the well-documented standard of meantone temperament toward circulating temperaments (well-tempered or equal) around 1700. Written records and evidence from extant instruments, however, strongly suggest that unmodified meantone temperament remained common practice in North German organs until the 1740s. Even advocates of the new temperament designs such as Andreas Werckmeister had to admit that organ builders did not follow their suggestions. There is no evidence that retunings resulted in well-tempered systems; only meantone and equal temperaments are mentioned in the sources for retunings.
The reason for suggesting new temperament systems was the requirements of ensemble accompaniment. The simultaneous use of instruments tuned at different pitches (Chorton, Kammerton) required extensive transposition, a practice that, due to the development of major-minor tonality, became increasingly difficult if not impossible with organs tuned in meantone temperament. Modifications of this temperament were suggested and sometimes carried out, but were generally not successful.
Re-tempering an existing organ was a time-consuming task: in a large organ it could take months of work even for an experienced builder. The circumstances under which the organs had to be tuned constituted an important impediment to the introduction of new temperaments. An analysis of payments to bellows-treaders as recorded in church account books shows that the organs of St. Marien, Lübeck, were not retuned during the tenures of Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude. Thus, some of their organ works could not have been played on the organs available to them during their lifetimes. At this time, however, playing from a score was not acceptable for a professional organist, who was expected to extemporize even complex contrapuntal music. Organ music seems to have been written down mainly for study purposes.
Papers by Ibo Ortgies
It is commonly assumed today that organ temperament practice shifted away from the well-documented standard of meantone temperament toward circulating temperaments (well-tempered or equal) around 1700. Written records and evidence from extant instruments, however, strongly suggest that unmodified meantone temperament remained common practice in North German organs until the 1740s. Even advocates of the new temperament designs such as Andreas Werckmeister had to admit that organ builders did not follow their suggestions. There is no evidence that retunings resulted in well-tempered systems; only meantone and equal temperaments are mentioned in the sources for retunings.
The reason for suggesting new temperament systems was the requirements of ensemble accompaniment. The simultaneous use of instruments tuned at different pitches (Chorton, Kammerton) required extensive transposition, a practice that, due to the development of major-minor tonality, became increasingly difficult if not impossible with organs tuned in meantone temperament. Modifications of this temperament were suggested and sometimes carried out, but were generally not successful.
Re-tempering an existing organ was a time-consuming task: in a large organ it could take months of work even for an experienced builder. The circumstances under which the organs had to be tuned constituted an important impediment to the introduction of new temperaments. An analysis of payments to bellows-treaders as recorded in church account books shows that the organs of St. Marien, Lübeck, were not retuned during the tenures of Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude. Thus, some of their organ works could not have been played on the organs available to them during their lifetimes. At this time, however, playing from a score was not acceptable for a professional organist, who was expected to extemporize even complex contrapuntal music. Organ music seems to have been written down mainly for study purposes.