FRENCH ORGAN REGISTRATION

IN THE EARLY 16TH CENTURY

By FENNER DOUGLASS and M. A. VENTE

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In order to gain any insight at all into the 16th-century art of
registration on the organ, it is necessary to refer to sources other than
the surviving music. Indications for registration were contained in con-
tracts for the construction of organs, and in the special instructions
addressed to the organist. Such documents still exist in limited numbers
in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain.
It is expected that the material re-examined here, some of which is
published for the first time, will shed new light on the general history
of the organ, and, moreover, will correct some previous misunder-
standings about the performance of French organ music of the 16th
century — especially the works published in Attaingnant's celebrated
collection of 1531.
The greatest contribution of information on this subject has come
from two publications of Dufourcq, the first of which contained a col-
lection of texts unknown up to that time (1934). 1 The conclusions he
subsequently drew from those documents2 expand upon and reconfirm
certain interpretations previously published by Rokseth.3 In the light
of what was known thirty years ago, these conclusions were not un-
reasonable but today they need to be reconsidered.

With respect to exterior influences, organs in France during the

16th century may be classed in two general groups, namely those in
the northern part of the country, which submitted to numerous innova-
tions from the Netherlands, and those in the south, which had a tend-
l
N . Dufourcq, Documents inidiis relatifs a Vorgue frangals, Vol. I, Paris, 1934.
"See Dufourcq, Esquisse (Tune histoire de Porgue en France du XHIe au XVIIIe
sieclc, Paris,. 1935.
3
Y. Rokseth, Deux livres d'orgue parus chez Pierre Aliaingnanl en 1531, Paris,
1925; and La Musique d'orgue au XVe sieclc et au debut du XV/e, Paris, 1930.
614
 French Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century 615

ency to be strongly influenced by the highly refined Italian style of or-

gan building.4 Already in the early years of the 16th century, there
was a marked difference between these two types. In Italy, it appears
that a relatively stable approach to specification had taken root, which
persisted at least until the early 17th century.6 There are still several
excellently preserved instruments in Bologna and Brescia that reflect
the structural and tonal attributes of Italian organs as far back as the
16th century. In the northern countries, on the other hand, the 16th
century was a period of rapid change and inventive activity. The
Netherlands not only led the world in discovery, but they built some

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of the most elaborately equipped organs of any era.
The idea of stops, or registers, in the organ was quite new in the
second half of the 15th century. Many 16th-century instruments re-
tained characteristics of the earlier period, the most important of which
was the incapacity for tonal variety within each division, or section, of
the organ.8 As mechanical means weTe invented for providing free choice
of stops within the resources controlled by a particular wind chest,
a new tonal dimension was introduced. Many old instruments were
partially rebuilt or enlarged according to the new fashion, and new in-
struments reflected the most advanced developments. Quite naturally,
there was a tendency among organ builders (many of whom were also
organists) to advertise the merits of their proposed instruments by list-
ing some of the tonal combinations that would be possible. Such was
certainly the case in Bordeaux, where a number of intriguing contracts
have come to light.
*It is likely that until around 1500 in southern France, most organs were not
markedly different from those built in the previous century. An instrument built by
Maitre Dominique de Castelbon, a Spaniard, for the Cathedral of Bayonne, In 1488,
was stopless, and contained only principal pipes (text reprinted in Pierre Slcard, Les
Orgues du diocese de Bayonne, Lescar, Oloron, Lyon, 1964, p. 17). But the instru-
ments that Interest us here, built from 1510 In Bordeaux and Toulouse, were con-
structed In an altogether different style, which was probably revolutionizing standards
hitherto accepted in that area.
'That remarkable structural stability was reflected In the organs of southern France
bulh In the Italian style from the early 16th until the early 17th century. Compare the
specification of the organ for the church of Saint-Eloi, Bordeaux, below p.620(1529)
with that of the Couvent des Freres Mlneurs, Vaucluse, 1626 (contract printed in N.
Dufourcq, Documenis inedils. . ., Doc. 259): 3/onj/r<r (8'); Octave (4'); Fifteenth (2 1 );
Nineteenth (1 1/3'); Twenty-second (l'X Simballes; Grosse flutte, wood (8 1 ); Octave,
lead (flute 4'); Twelfth, lead, "appde nazar"(2 2/3'); Fifteenth, lead, "en flutte" (2 1 ).
'In Germany, these Indivisible mixture organs were called Blockwerk, or Principal,
and In France the forniture, or principal.
616 The Musical Quarterly

The Rokseth-Dufourcq approach to interpreting 16th-century prac-

tice of registration has been based chiefly upon two groups of docu-
ments. These are:
1. a) Contract and expertise for the reconstruction of an organ by Loys Gaudet
(Gondet)for the church of Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, 1510.7
b) Instruction pour lejeu d'orgues, same date and church."
2. Contract and related documents for the reconstruction of an organ by Jacques
Cormier in die church of Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, 1513.'
In support of our new interpretation of these important documents,
material will be introduced from other Bordeaux contracts, diree of

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which are published here for the first time. They are:
1. Contract for die reconstruction of an organ in die church of Salnt-Seurin, Bor-
deaux, by Arnaud Guyssaurret, 1514."
2. Contract for the construction of an organ in die Couvent des Freres Mlneurs,
Bordeaux, by Jacques Loup, 1518."
3. Contract for die construction of an organ in die church of Saint-Eloi, Bordeaux,
by Bertrand Jehan, 1529. u
4. Contracts for die construction of an organ in die church of Sainte-Eulalie, Bor-
deaux, by Olivier Hertault (case) and Jean de Cyvrac (organ), 1548. u

Information valuable for purposes of this discussion is of three

sorts, namely, the specifications of the organs, lists of possible regis-
trations, and the keys to those lists, given in terms of the specifications.
In none of the documents known from this period in France are all
three kinds of information combined. Furthermore, there is confusion
owing to ambiguity in the word "jeu," which can be either a single
register (stop) or a combination of several registers.14

'Arch. dep. de la Gironde, G 2238, Nos. 47, 51, and 52. Reprinted In Dufourcq,
Documents inedits. . .. Doc. 140-142.
•Arch. dep. de la Gironde, G 2238, Nos. 40 and 41. Reprinted ibid.. Doc. 143.
•Arch. dip. de la Haute Garonne, 3 E 7067. Partially reprinted in J. Anglade,
Contribution d Vhistoire de Part meridional, in Amxales du Midi, 1917-1918, Tou-
louse, pp. 255-57. See also new transcription by P. Roudle In our list of supporting
documents.
10
Arch. dep. de la Gironde, G 1162,f.202v. Reprinted in Arch. hist, de la Gironde,
Vol. 52, p. 57 (transcription by Cluzan).
"Arch. dep. de la Gironde, 3 E 9456.
"Arch. dep. de la Gironde, 3 E 7143, f. 129r-130r.
"Arch. dip. de la Gironde, 3 E 6557 f. 128v; 3 E 6557, f. 129v.
"This confusion might have been avoided had Mersenne's division of jeux into
jeux simples and jeux composes been universally applied a century earlier.
 French Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century 617

Organ contracts of formeT centuries, like those of today, did not pre-
scribe many of the important details of specification and design. This
general failing is nowhere more apparent than in the contracts of 16th-
century France, where extremes of vagueness are sometimes encoun-
tered.18 In a period from which no correlative instruments have sur-
vived, it is necessary to piece together fragments of information from
a number of sources.
Contractual documents have survived that give valuable informa-
tion about five early 16th-century organs in Bordeaux alone, and one
other in Toulouse. From these six contracts, and another important

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document from Bordeaux, quoted below, it is immediately apparent that
a number of organ builders in that area were erecting instruments
bearing marked Italian characteristics. That is to say, the main sec-
tion {grant jeu, grand orgue, gros corps de boucque) contained a
number of single-rank principal stops pitched from a 12' or 6' funda-
mental (comparable to our 16' or 8', but commencing on F). A more
or less complete series of harmonics was supplied in single principal
ranks. These were supplemented by two or three flute voices.18 When
a positif existed, it was modeled after no Italian prototype, but rather
resembled the small guide chant instruments with 4' or 4' and 2'
pitches. The positif was placed in a separate case behind the player, on
the gallery rail.17
In Table I essential information from five organ contracts and the
famous Instruction of 1510 is arranged in categories for purposes of
our discussion. In three of the contracts, the actual stop list was given,
"For example, Loys Caudet (Gondet) built an organ for the church of Sainte-
Crolx, Oloron, in 1521. It was the same Master Loys who constructed the famous
organ of Saint-Michel in Bordeaux (1510). For the Oloron Instrument, the contract
stated no details or specification whatever, but merely gave a comparison: "a promts
et promect fatre unes orgues de la grandeur sorte et manlere de celles de l'egllse de
Salncte-Eulaye de Bourdeaux et icelles mectre et pouser en l'eglise de Saincte Crolx
dX)loron en Bearn. . ." (Arch. dep. de la Glronde, 3 E 6650, f. 221r-222r. Trans-
cription by Paul Roudie.)
"The introduction of a reed voice In Toulouse, 1531, and Sainte-Eulalle, Bordeaux,
1548, was not typical of the normal Italian procedure.
"The positi/s mentioned In contracts for the churches of Saint-Michel and Salnt-
Seurln, Bordeaux, were actually positifs-d-dos: for Saint-Michel, 1510, the contract
stipulated, "la chelere de devant la ou sera Porganiste, oii il y aura ung Jeu d'orgue
qul sera une chose slngullere"; for Saint-Seurln, 1514, we read, "ung petit davey et
ung petit orgue qui sera darrey aquest qui sonneja loddl orgue." Such was also the
physical arrangement for the rugwerk of the Netherlands and the Rbckpositif of
Germany, which underwent rich development In the 16th century.
618 The Musical Quarterly

unmistakably, along with mention of various numbers of "jeux,"

bearing names characteristic of musical instruments, and other sounds.
It will readily be seen that for these three organs, it remains only to
discover which stops were used for each "jeu"; but that for the other
two contracts, which fail to give specification, a meaningful interpre-
tation of the jeux can be given only in terms of the other organs'
specifications. Similarly, the Instruction of 1510 supplies a unique
definition of the jeux for all the Instruments, provided it is interpreted
in terms of the specification of Saint-Michel's organ of the same year.
Had that spedficatioq been given in the contract, the problem of in-

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terpreting die numbers in the Instruction would not be troublesome
today.
Our method of extracting Important data from die contractual docu-
ments may be examined with relation to the texts themselves. Pertinent
sections of all these contracts are given at the end of this article, with
the exception of the better-known Saint-Michel contract and Irjtruc-
tion, which have been published by Dufourcq (see footnote 7).
It is Immediately apparent that these contracts did not always trouble
with the details of specification. Yet, for die interpretation of any sort
of comment on registration, a stop list is needed. Unfortunately, this
is missing from die most important of this series of documents, diose
written for the church of Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, In 1510 (A and B).
The key to the meaning of die unique Instruction for Saint-Michel's
organ depends upon a reasonable reconstruction of die missing speci-
fication.
Up to this time, various attempts at reconstructing die actual stop
list of Saint-Michel's organ have been based upon the notion diat the
seven jeux mentioned in the contract were die names of seven of die
instrument's nine stops. The assumption has been diat die remaining two
stops, to make up die total of ninewhich we know existed in die organ,
must have been inadvertendy left out. Thus, reconstructions of Saint-
Michel's specification have hidierto been founded upon die names of
die seven jeux plus two more, placed in some sort of order diat could
be accommodated to die numbering system of die Instruction.
Such an Interpretation of documents A and B (1510) is based upon
what we consider a faulty reading of die contract for die organ at
Saint-Michel. The error, which originated, apparendy, in Randier's early
(1922) reconstruction of a specification for diat organ,18 has been re-
"Set Randier, Les Orgues et Us organistes de Peglise priniattale Saint-Andre de
Bordeaux, du XVe siecle a nosfours, Bordeaux, 1922, p. 9.
 Table I

Date, place, builder Specification Jeux

1510 —Bordeaux Principal 12'(16') 1. Grand Jeu

Church of Saint-Michel 2. Jeu de papegay
Loys Gaudet (Gondet) Total of nine stops in 3. Jeu de fleutes a 9 pertuys
grand orgue 4. Jeu de hauboys, ou comes
5. Jeu de cymbaUes s
6. Jeu de fleutes d'alemans p
3
Positifhdos 7. Jeu de chantres to

Deux anges sonnant

les trompettes
Saint Michel qul il
combattra le dlable 5'
Estoilles D
Testes (masks) 5'
om http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015 n
B. 1510—Bordeaux 1. Le grand jeu M
P
Church of Saint-Michel 2. Jeu du papegay
3. Les cornds
Instruction pour lejeu de 4. La fleute
I'orgue 5. Les cymbales B
6. Les chantres o
7. Les fleutes d'alement n
8. La petite dmbale
9. Les gros cornetz
10. Le grand Jeu doulx
11. Jeu de grans cornetz
12. Jeu des chantres
 620

Table I (Continued)

Date, place, builder Specification Jeux

C. 1514 —Bordeaux 1. Principal (16') 1. Joes de Papegueytz petltz

Church of Salnt-Seurln probably from F 2. Joes de Papegueytz grans
Arnaud de Guyssaurret 2. Octave (8') 3. Plusleurs Jocqs de Acquebutez
3. 15th (4 1 ) 4. Jocz de cornetz
4. 19th (2 V,') 5. Joes de grosses fleustes d'alemans
5. 22nd (2 1 ) 6. Petit Joes de chantres
6. 26th (I'/, 1 ) 7. Joes de cymbales
7. 29th (I 1 ) cr
n
8. 36th (V,') or Flute2' "and many other joes. . ."
9. Flute 6'(8 1 ) C
10. Flute 3' (4')
iicai

D. 1518 —Bordeaux New chest and key- om http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015 ". . .Plus sera tenu ledlt malstre de falre ung
Couvent des Freres Mineurs board using old pipes, jeu de fleutes de plomb d'allemant tout neuf c
p
Jacques Loup probably from earlier a la mode nouvelle avec sept tirans, lesqueulx
blockwerk. tirans se joueront en qulnze ou seze fa§ons."
rterly

E. 1529 —Bordeaux 1. Principal 6'(8')

Church of Saint-FJoi 2. Octave (4')
Bertrand Jehan 3. 15th (2')
4. 19th(lVV)
5. 22nd (I 1 )
6. Slmballes
7. Flute octave (4')
8. Flute (2%') "pour falre les Jeus de canars"
9. Flute (2') "qul sert d'ung petit Jeu de flauloles de Poltou"
 Table I (Continued)

Date, place, builder Specification feux

F. 1531 —Toulouse According to contract: 1. Le grand Jeulx

Cathedral of Salnte-Etlenne 1. Principal (8') 2. Lejeulx de papegayl
Jacques Cormier 2. Octave (4') 3. Lejeulx des chantres
3. 15th (2 1 ) 4. Lejeulx des fleustes dallemans
4. 19th (1VV) 5. Le jeulx de plfres D
5. 22nd (I 1 ) 6. Lejeulx sourt SS
6. Grossefleute(8') 7. Lejeulx de nazars petit
7. 12th flute (2 VJ 1 ) 8. Lejeulx de nazars gTOulx c-
8. 15th flute (2 1 ) 9. Lejeulx des cornes nr
p
9. Jeu de regales 10. Lejeulx des slmballes
11. Lejeulx des fleustes D
12. Le jeulx de petit carillons B"
According to list bearing 13. Lejeulx de petltes orgues
Cormier's signature: 14. Lejeulx de petlstes orgues en fleustes n
rom http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015
1° —6. same as above et le sic de allis
7. Les comes
8. La petite fleute 15.,Le tabourln
9. Les hautz bols 6-
16. Ung jeulx de regalles n
G. 1548 —Bordeaux Principal 12'(16')
Church of Sainte-Eulalle "avecques les Jeuz qui s'ensuyvent":
Jean de Cyvrac Total of twelve stops, In-
cluding regalles. 1. Le principal
2. Fleustre 6 pieds
3. Heustre a neuf trous
to
 to
Table I (Continued) NO

Date, place, builder Specification feux

G. 1548 —Bordeaux Estoilles 4. Fleustre d'alleniant

Church of Sainte-Eulalie 5. Flageotz
Jean de Cyvrac 6. Doulssannes
(Continued) 7. Canards
8. Nazards gros
9. Molens nazards
10. Petls nazards H
11. Petls cornetz n
12. Saqueboutes
13. Volx humalnes
14. Musette n
15. l'etlts phlffres EL
om http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015 16. Gros cornetz
17. Papegaulx
18. Cyniballes
19. Musette grande
20. Principal ou grand Jeu fleustre
 French Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century 623

peated again and again by Rokseth, Dufourcq, and others. It is prob-

ably also at the root of another regrettable mistake that has gained
substance by reiteration, namely, the failure to recognize the real speci-
fication for the organ in Toulouse Cathedral, 1531.18 As a consequence
of these misunderstandings, our study of early 16th-century French
organ registration must be based upon a corrected notion of what or-
gans in that time were like.
Our interpretation of the contract for Saint-Michel is founded upon:
1) A new reading of the document.

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2) The actual specification of the Toulouse organ, according to the
contract of 1531.
3) Comparison of 1) and 2) with the facts given in die contracts
for four other Bordeaux organs (C, D, E, G above).
1) Portions of the text of the 1510 contract of Gaudet for Saint-
Michel were first published by Randier in 1921,10 and a more complete
transcription by Dufourcq appeared In 1934." A comparison of these
two transcriptions widi a photograph of die contract reveals that in die
sentence dealing widi specification, die Randier transcription is more
faidiful to the original text. Here are die two:
Dufourcq: "et premierement a promis le dit maistre Loys faire les
dltes orgues tous completz ainsi qu'il s'apartlent, a la longueur de
dotze pietz le greus tuyau, garny de neuf tuyaulx et neuf mitres. Pour
la differance des sons, le Grant jeu. . ."
Randier: "Premierement sera complet l'orgue de fornitures, ainsi
s'apartient a la longueur de dotze piez le gros tuyau garny de neuf
tuyaux et neuf mytres. Et pour la difference des sons le gTant jeu. . ."
We translate die text thus: "and first, die orgue de fornitures will be
completed, as required, at die lengdi of twelve feet for die largest pipe,
equipped widi nine ranks [tuyaux]32 and nine mytres.*3 And for tonal

"See Y. Rokseth, Deux livres (Torgue. . ., p. XVI.

" F . Randier, Les Orgues et les organistes dePeglise Saint-Michel de Bordeaux du
XVe siecle a nos jours, in Revue historique de Bordeaux et de la Gironde, Vol. XIV,
1921.
"See Dufourcq, Documents inedits. . ., Doc. 140.
B
The word tuyau was used ambiguously, meaning either a single pipe or a rank of
pipes; cf. contract for Saint-Seurln,Bordeaux(1514):"logTOS corps de boucque garnyt
de huict tuelx. . ."
D
"Neuf mytres" probably referred to the groupings of front pipes for the case.
624 The Musical Quarterly

variety, the grant jeu. . ." Then follow the seven jeux (see A in Table
I), which are not stop names, but registrations.
The orgue de fornitures refers, without doubt, to the earlier non-
selective "mixture organ," which was now about to be rebuilt with
modern stops. The important instructions, for purposes of the contract,
were that the orgue de fornitures would be based on a twelve-foot
principal, and completed as required with nine registers. The new and
attractive tonal effects possible with this arrangement would be the
grant jeu, etc. The most typical registrations were then identified by
names that were borrowed from other musical instruments {flute d1

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allcmand, etc.) or sounds (chantres,papegay).
2) The registrations, or jeux,2* listed in die contract for die Cathe-
dral of Sainte-Etienne, Toulouse, 1531, cannot be mistaken for stops.
Yet in the introduction to Rokseth's superb edition of the celebrated
Deux livres d'orgue, published first by Pierre Attalngnant in Paris In
1531, die fifteen-odd registrations, given as jeux, were published as the
actual specification! In order to correct this misreading, we have given
uie pertinent portions of the original documents, which include two
listings of the specification for that organ.25 A strong stylistic connec-
tion between Toulouse's organ of 1531 and die series of Bordeaux In-
struments from die same period becomes immediately noticeable.
3) As we have noted (p. 617 above), die specifications of several
instruments in die period under discussion showed marked Italian at-
tributes. We know, also, diat Italian organs diroughout die 16di cen-
tury showed remarkable stability as to tonal design. It is not sur-
prising to find that the known specifications for die churches of Saint-
Seurin and Saint-Eloi (Table I, C and E), and for Sainte-Etienne,
Toulouse, are not only Italian in concept, but very similar In detail.
The wording of the contract for die organ of die Couvent des Freres
Mineurs, Bordeaux (1518), reveals diat a jeu frequendy referred to a
grouping of registers, or a registration: "to make a jeu de {levies de
plomb d'aUemant altogedier new according to die new style, widi seven
draw knobs, which can be played in fifteen or sixteen ways." The
fifteen or sixteen ways mentioned here correspond widi die twelve
jeux listed for Toulouse, die seven for Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, and so
"The ambiguous use of the words tuyau and jeu (see abovefootnote14) was
common in French contracts of this period. It is curious that jeu has retained its
double meaning up to the present day.
"See F in Table I and supporting documents.
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""Ci-'firr

A page from the documents concerning reconstruction of the

organ in the church of Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, 1510
(see p. 616)
 Downloaded from http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015

List o£ "jeulx" and specification for the organ oE Saint-

Etienne, Toulouse, 1531, with signature oE the builder,
Cormier (see pp. 621, 635)
 French Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century 625

on. Indeed, it would be quite impossible to accept the twenty jeux

listed for the twelve-foot organ of Sainte-Eulalie, Bordeaux (1548), as
stops! Once more, they are registrations.*8
Below are three modern reconstructions of the specification for the
organ in the church of Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, 1510.

Rokseth (1930) Dufourcq (1934) Douglass- Vente (1965)

1. Principal 1. Flute 12' 1. Principal 16' (from F)

2. Fournituxe 2. Nasard & Quarte de 2. Octave 8'

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nasard (Papegay)

3. Papegay 3. Flute d'alkmand 3. Fifteenth 4'

4. Fleutes a naif pertuys 4. Flute a neuf trous 4. Nineteenth 2 2/3'

5. Cornet 5. Hautbols-Cornef 5. Twenty-second 2'

6. Cymbale 6. Cimballes 6. Twenty-sixth 1 1/3'

7. Fleutes d'almans 7. Fourniture 7. Twenty-ninth 1'

8. Chantres 8. Chantres 8. Flute 8'

9. Petit nasard 9. Petit nasard 9. Flute 4'

As an example of the confusion resulting from acceptance of the

Rokseth-Dufourcq reconstructions, we cite four contrasting definitions
of the jeu de papegay. These follow different systems of numbering the
stops, none of which is orderly or feasible, in terms of tonal structure.
Jeu de papegay = Quinte 4 1/21 (Rokseth)
Jeu de papegay = Nasard and Quarte de nasard (Dufourcq)
Jeu de papegay = Petit nasard or Larigot (Gravet)*7
Jeu de papegay = Foundations 8' and 4' (Hardouin)28

"This Is demonstrated by the wording of the contract "falre leurs orgues de douze
pledz a douze tirans avecques les jeuz qui s'ensuyvenl. . ."
" N . Gravet, L'Orgue et Fart de la registration en France, du XVIe au debut du
XIXe slide, In L'Orgue, No. 100, Paris, 1961, pp. 202-57.
" P . Hardouin, La Composition des orgues qui pouvent toucher les musidens
parisiens aux alentours de 1600, In La Musique instrumentale de la Renaissance, ed.
J. Jacquot, Paris, 1955, pp. 259-69. Hardouln's reconstruction Is so far the most
plausible solution.
626 The Musical Quarterly

According to our new reconstruction of the specification, with the

stops listed in the order customary for organ contracts, the Instruction
would be deciphered in a manner quite unlike any odier published
comments. The Instruction is given below, our decipherment in Table II.

Instruction for thejeu of the organ

1510, church of Saint-Michel, Bordeaux

a. Grand jeu: all stops except the first.

b. Jeu de papegay: 1, 2.

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c. Les comes: 1, 5, 6; Jeu de grans cornaiez: 1, 5, 6, 9 (second version).
d. La fleuste: 1 alone.
e. Lescimbales: 1,2,6,9.
f. Les chantres: 1, 8; or 1, 2, 8 (second version)
g. Les fleutes d'Alement: 3, 8.
h. La petite dmbale: 1, 6.
1. Les gTOS cornetz: 1, 2, 5, 6.
j. Le grand jeu doulx: 1,2, 3, 8, 9.

Additional support for our new version of the Saint-Michel specifi-

cation may be found in the following broad considerations:
1) In view of the Italian influence prevalent in southern France dur-
ing the first half of the 16th century, particularly in the city of Bordeaux,
as evidenced in the contracts for organs in the churches of Saint-Seurin
(1514) and Saint-Eloi (1529), and that for the Cathedral of Toulouse
(1531), it is not unreasonable to attribute Italian characteristics to the
instrument for Saint-Michel, Bordeaux, which was built only four years
earlier than Saint-Seurin's Italian-style organ of 1514. Indeed, we have
yet to discover any trace of an organ in the area whose specification
did not derive from Italian roots. That the sister instruments of Saint-
Michel and Saint-Seurin, Bordeaux, were very similar in tonal structure
is vasdy more plausible than the idea that they were conceived in two
opposing tonal worlds, as acceptance of the Rokseth-Dufourcq solution
would suggest.
2) Organ contracts not infrequently expressed a competitive spirit,
which was one determinant in the extravagant development of the in-
strument during the 16th and 17th centuries. We may observe it in
the contract for Saint-Michel's organ, already quotetl above;29 and it is
quite possible that the ten stops of Saint-Seurin's organ were deliberately

"See Dufourcq, Documents inidlts. . ., Doc 140: "this master Loys [Gaudet] has
promised to construct this organ Just as well and beautifully as any organ to be
found within thirty lieux around Bordeaux, in terms of size and plan."
 Table II

Key to Instruction according to new reconstruction of Salnt-Mlchel's specification (1510)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I
er
Jeux Principal 16' Octave8' Fifteenth 4' 19th 2 % ' 22nd 2' 26th I 1 /,' 29th 1' Flute 8' Flute 4' O
3
Grand Jeu X X X X X X X X S3
Jeu de papegay X X en

Les corned X X X I
5'
Jeu de grans cornatez X X X X D
5"
La Fleuste X om http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Manitoba on June 25, 2015 5-
a>
Les dmbales X X X X M
P

Les chantres X (X) X

Les fleutes d'Alement X X o

a
a
La petite dmbale X X

Les gros cornetz X X X X

Le grand Jeu doulx X X X

NO
628 The Musical Quarterly

planned to be just one more than Saint-Michel's nine. We have noticed,

also, that in 1521 the church of Sainte-Croix, Oloron, ordered an or-
gan to be built by the same Loys Gaudet, just like that of Sainte-
Eulaye (Eulalie), Bordeaux (see footnote 15). Other interesting indi-
cations of the competitive urge are found in the following contracts
from France and the Netherlands:
a) Contract of 1455, Oudekerk, Delft:" " a new 16' organ to be made. . .in the same
manner and shape as the organ In St. Martin's Cathedral In Utrecht; better,
and not worse."

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b) Contract of 1504, Notre-Dame des Tables, Monipellier:31 "this organ to be
made better beyond comparison than that of the Couvent des Cordeliers In
Montpelller."
c) Contract of 1542, St. Walburga Church, Oudenaarde:11" Let it be known that
Meester Cornells de Moer, organ builder living in the city of Antwerp and now
being in this city of Oudenaarde, personally appeared before die elders of the
city, and agrees to make. . .for the church wardens of the parochial church of
St. Walburga In Oudenaarde an organ, under such conditions as follow: it
must have a case made in exactly the same manner, with the same materials,
and everything else of the same size, even die stops belonging to it, after the
example of the large organ in St. Mlchlel's Church In the city of Ghent, not
worse or smaller, but preferably bigger and better. And moreover the afore-
said Meester (Cornells), by express promise and condition, must make and
deliver one extra stop in this organ. . .than is now In die aforesaid organ of
St. Michiel,. . .and it is decided that if any stops presently in the organ at St.
Michiel might be changed, then in such a case the same Mr. (Cornells) must
alter his design accordingly, as the church wardens with advice from the city
elders would like to have it. . ."

d) Contract of 1551, Sainte-Etienne, Troyes:" "equipped with pipes as large as the

montre pipes in the organ at Sainte-Genevieve, Paris."

3) The language of the jeux. The similarity of terms used for regis-
tration (jeux) in the Bordeaux and Toulouse contracts proves that, at
least for organs in southern France, there was already a simple system

"Quoted in M. A. Vente, Bouwstoffen lot de geschiedenis van het nederlandse orgel

in de 16de eeuw, Amsterdam, 1942, p. 112.
"Quoted i n j . Plante, La Facture des orgues au XVIme siecle, in Bull, de la comtn.
hist, et archeol. de la Mayerute, 2eser., I (1888), 251.
"Quoted in M. A. Vente, Proeve van een repertorium van de archivalia betrekking
hebbende Nederlandse orgel en zipi makers tot omstreeks 1630, Brussels, 1956, pp.
134-35.
"Quoted in A. Gastoue, L'Orgue en France, de VanOquUk au debut de la periode
classique, Paris, 1921, p. 69.
 French Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century — 629

of combinations in use, based upon familiar names of musical instru-

ments, etc. This nomenclature, as employed in Bordeaux, was not
necessarily the exclusive property of organ builders in southern France
who made instruments in the Italian-oriented style, and listed jeux for
them. It appeared also in the north, where the details of applying it
on other sorts of instruments, as we shall see, could not have cor-
responded exactly with definitions used in Bordeaux. In 1515 the build-
er Pierre de Estrada agreed to build an organ 'probably quite unlike
the instruments of Bordeaux, for the church of Saint-Vivien in Rouen.

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After promising to install a new principal par devant and second
principaulx de derriere from old pipes, Estrada stated that he would
"construct many diverse jeux as follows: the double principal all alone
if one wishes, [ or] with a jeu de haultboys, les cornetz, les flustes
dAUemaigne, les cimballcs, les roussignolletz which will sing with the
organ, les flaiolletz, with which the flustes d'Allemaigne will sing when
simphronye is desired and a tabourin de Suisse, and all together at
the wish of the player with another feu de trompes clerons, and another
de douchaivnes. . ."M
Exactly what the jeux meant for this organ cannot be clarified until
more is learned about organs of Rouen in the early 16th century. It is
quite possible that only the principal par devant and the principaulx
de derriere actually belonged to the specification of the organ, while
the jeux were, once more, registrations that could be used along with
the double principal, or for purposes of relief from it. We can be sure
of two observations: that the language of the jeux moved from organ
to organ and from style to style, and that any continuity of meaning
with respect to that language must have depended first upon stylistic
continuity in the instrument. Still, the use of the language encountered
in Bordeaux and Rouen persisted. It was incorporated here and there
in the nomenclature for single or compound stops throughout the 16th
century, and even into the jargon of classical French registration. By
1560, many jeux were separate registers, as well as combinations of
registers, as exemplified in the organ of Sainte-Chapelle, Dijon, built
by Francois des Oliviers.36 Mersenne, while clearly differentiating be-
tween jeux simples and jeux composes, troubled to record the heritage
of the language of thefeux in his epochal lists of registrations.**
"See Dufourcq, Documents tnedits..., Doc. 58.
"Ibid., Doc. 118.
"See M. Mersenne, Harmonic UniverseUe, The Books on Instruments (transl. R.E.
Chapman), The Hague, 1957.
630 The Musical Quarterly

From the facts we have given above concerning the organs of Bor-
deaux and Toulouse, we have reconstructed a key to die puzzling, yet
potentially informative Instruction of 1510, using a new approach to
the specification for Saint-Michel's organ (Table II). In the same
manner, we might reconstruct an Instruction for die organ of Sainte-
Etienne, Toulouse, 1531, using die known specification and die jeux
listed by Cormier, die builder. For jeux not mentioned in die earlier
contracts of Saint-Michel and Saint-Seurin, Bordeaux, odier sources
must be used to complete die guess. We offer such a solution to

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Toulouse's jeux (see Table III) in order to demonstrate more accurately
than has been previously shown just what sorts of sounds might have
been possible in die performance of die music published by Attaingnant
in 1531.
But we are still left widi die conclusion diat the application of die
language of die jeux as employed in Bordeaux and Toulouse between
1510 and 1531 is uu more suitable to die performance of French
pieces published in Paris dian it is to die music of die Venetian com-
posers during die same years. Organists in Bordeaux or Toulouse
may well have played die anonymous French pieces on instruments
widi Italian attributes, wherever die music and die instruments hap-
pened to be working togedier. But instruments of diat sort have not
been found in Paris, or in Rouen. Thus it is more likely diat an or-
ganist in northern France would have played die music contained in
the Deux livres cTorgue upon an instrument built in die new northern
style.
The grand orgue of an organ of diis type would have been strongly
influenced, as we have remarked earlier, by die splendid innovations
of die NedierlandeTS. Its stops might, perhaps, have included some
single-rank principal registers, as in die soudi, but the completion of
the plein jeu, or fourniture, would have been accomplished by a rich
development of mixtures, derived from die ancient fourniture, or block-
werk. Flute and reed voices may have been found in such an instru-
ment, providing tonal colors diat, in organized and balanced groups,
were to be die bread and butter of instruments of die next century.
While die eventual function of the positif a dos had not yet been brought
into focus, a large instrument in die north would very likely have in-
cluded such a division. And diere may well have been a number of
trompes, which were long flue pipes employed for die bass, and played
widi die feet, or from a special manual keyboard (clavier de teneure).
In closing this study, we offer die specification of an instrument built
 Table III
A Feasible Solution to the Registrations for Salnte-Etlenne, Toulouse, 1531

n
Jeux Principal 8' Octave 4' Fifteenth 2' 19th 1V, 22nd I1 Flute 8' Flute 2 % ' Flute 2' Regal
Grand jeu X X X X X (X)
I
Papegayl X X S
P
3
Chantres X X SO
Fleustes d'allemans X X
Plfres X X p
o
Sourt X p
Nazars petlts X X X 5'
B-
Nazars grands X X X X X
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Cornez X X X X
Slmballes X (X) X
Fleustes X
n
Petit carillon n
Petltes orgues
Pet. org. en fleustes
Tabourin
Regalles X (X)
632 The Musical Quarterly

in 1537, only six years after the publication of Attaingnant, for the
church of Notre-Dame in Alengon. The elaborately carved case of this
instrument still stands. The extraordinary development in the grand
orgue of principal and flute choruses, and the use of reed stops in the
positif demonstrate the sharp contrast between organs in southern
and northern France, and leave us with a broader and more accurate
impression of the kinds of stops that were available to the performer
of France's earliest known compositions for the organ.

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The organ In Ndtre-Dame, Alencpn, 1538, built by Gratlen de Cailly*7

Grand Orgue ("le corps d'Orgues")

1. Jeu de douze pledz estaln Principal 16' (from F)
2. Jeu de six pledz, estaln Principal 8'
3. Jeu de troys pledz, estaln Principal 4'
4. Fourniture dTiuyct tuyaulx sur marche Fournlture VIII
5. Cymballe Cymballe
"These five stops serve the principal du corps
[plefnfeu] for the organ."
6. Jeu de flustes entonnee de six piedz, estouppee
pour falre le nazard qui sera de plomb Flute 8'
7. Fleuste de troys pledz, plomb Flute 4'
8. Jeu de doubles flustes, plomb Flute 4'
9. Fleuste de pied et demy, plomb 1

pour servir au Jeu de nazard Flute 2'

10. Fluste hors du ton, plomb Flute 1 1/3'
11. Petit Jeu de nazard Flute 1'
12. Jeu tremblant Tremblant
13. Jeu de Rosslgnol, ou de Bedou Rossignol
->sUifh </os(" positif du pourtraict")
1. Jeu de trompettes de six pieds Trumpet 8'(from F)
2. Jeu de volx humalnes Volx humaine
3. Jeu deharpes Harpes

Supporting Documents
1. Contractfor the construction of an organ by Amaud de Guyssaurret for the Church
of Salnt-Seurln, Bordeaux (1514), transcribed and published by Mile. Ciuzan In
Archives historiques de la Gironde, Tome 52, p. 57. Arch. dep. de la Glionde,
serieG, 1162, f. 202v:
". . .Premeyrament, refiara leddt de Guyssaurret lo sommler et totz les autres
faultz sommiers duddt prlndpau sommler, despendes et porte vens, segont l'ordre
et forme et manejTa que court per lo temps present.
"Quoted from the text of the contract as published in G. Desplerres, Les Orgues
de Ndtre-Dame a"Alen$pn, Argentan, 1888, p. 6.
 Trench Organ Registration in the Early 16th Century — 633

Item, sera touslours lo gros corps de boucque garnyt de huict tuelz, tant prln-
dpau que furniture, per marches sens les jocz de las fleustes.

Item, a promes de y far detz corps d'orgues qul se peyran Jougar cascun per
sin et cascun dlsferent en multlpllcant l'armonye touslours.

Item, fara et a promes de far loddl de Guyssaurret jogar lo prindpau per stn
segond son regestre.

Item, apres a promes far Jougat. semblablement la double deudeit prindpau per
sin et en son regestre, et sera tengut la mectre sur la monstre ayssl cum lo prin-

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dpau.

Item, a promes deudeit prindpau ayssl media per sin et per son regestre.

Item, et la super douzalne cum les autres et per son regestre.

Item, la XXII semblablement per sin et per son regestre.

Item, la double de la sobre douzalne per sin et per son regestre.

Item, apres la XXIX ayssl medis per sin et per son regestre.

Item, la double de la XXIX ou ben une petite fleuste et double dessus les
autres doas, dessoubz nompnadas et declaradas et a la voluntat deu medis de
Guyssaurret ou ben atau cum sera dlvisat en fasen laddta besonhe.

Item, apres fara des Joes de fleustes de plomb en una grossa fleute de plomb de
seys petz de long per sin et per son regestre.

Item, apres une petit fleuste double de laddte precendente fleuste, et par aqueras
doas fleustes ab las autres aqueras precedens se poyram multipllcar les Jocqs deus-
delts orgues en meys de seyssante maneyres toutes dlfferentes, comme de joes de
Papegueytz petltz et grans, ensemps plusleurs Jocqs de Acquebutez, Jocz de cornetz,
joes de grosses fleustes d'alemans et de petit joes de chantres, Joes de cymbales et
plusieurs autres joes qul monterant quant loddt orgue sera prest et se poyran Jugar
cascun par sin ayssl cum dolct es, et multlplicquera en nau vegadas nau, en toute
verayTe et bonne armonye.

Item, a promes et promet far loddt organlste ung petit davey et ung petit orgue
qul sera darrey aquest qul sonnera loddt orgue et sera de la qulnzeyne deu prin-
dpau deuddt orgue et furnyt de sa double et tout per cum et par aquest clavier et
petit orgue plan nes deyat et compartlt ab loddt grant orgue, tout ayssl cum deu
sera lo jogador qul sonnera deusdeits orgues qul semblablement se trobera tres en
grant armonye et douce mdaudla en pluslors sortes de differences."
634 The Musical Quarterly

2. Contract for the construction of an organ by Jacques Loup for the Couvent des
Freres Mlneurs, Bordeaux (1518), transcribed by Paul Roudie. Arch. dep. de la
Glronde, 3 E 9456, 23 fevrier, 1518:

". . .Plus sera tenu ledlt malstre de falreungjeu de fleutes de plomb d'allemant
tout neuf a la mode nouvelle avec sept tlrans, lesqueulx tlrans se Joueront en
qulnze ou seze facpns."

3. Contract for the construction of an organ by Bertrand Jehan for the Church of St.
Elol, Bordeaux (1529), transcribed by Paul Roudie. Arch. dep. de la Glronde,
3 E 7143, f. 120r-130r:

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"Sensuyt se que Je suis tenu de faire pour les orgues de Salnct Eloy et prlmo
hung orgue de six pies, comme ll pert au fustalge vleulx qui est en l'eglise dudict
salnct Eloy, et dans ledit fustaige et tabernalgle Je suys tenu de forny les jeus qul
sensuyvent et prlmo hung Jeu de six pies en tonnes en ton de chappelle.

Item hune octave dudict principal de six pi&.

Item une qulnzlesme.

Item hune XlXme.

Item hune XX lime.

Item ung jeu de stmballes et le tout dessus nommes de boon estalng.

Item j'ay encores trols Jeus de plomn, le premier octave octave du gros Jeu de
six pies, le segonnt ser pour faire les Jeus de canars, le tiers set la qulnzlesme de
Qautes qul sat d'ung petit Jeu de flauloles de Polton, et le tout de plomn, set assavolr
ses troys Jeus, et le tout estolt prest a monte et achevi quant Je fls ma protestadon. . . "

4. Contract for the construction of an organ by Jean de Cyvrac for the Church of
Salnte-Eulalle, Bordeaux (1548), transcribed by Paul Roudie. Arch. dep. de la
Glronde, 3 E 6557, f. 129v:

" . . .Scavolr est que ledlt de Cyvrac a promls, doibt et sera tenu faire leurs
orgues de douze pledz a dome tirans avecques les jeuz qul s'ensuyvent PTemlere-
ment le principal, fleustre de six pledz, fleustre a neuf trous, fleustre d'allemant,
flageotz, doulssannes, canardz, nazards gros, molens nazards, petls nazards, petis
cornetz, saqueboutes, voix humalnes, musette, petltaphifrres, gros cornetz, papegaulx,
cymballes, musette grande, principal ou grand Jeu fleustre. . ."

5. Contract and additional document relative to the construction of an organ by

Jacques Cormier for the Cathedral of Saint-Etlenne, Toulouse (1531), transcribed
by Paul Roudie. Arch. dep. de la Haute Garonne, 3 E 7067:

a. "Sachent tous, presens et advenir, que comme alnssl soyt que messieurs les
bailies regens et surentendens de la table et confrairle du corps de Dieu, en
 French Organ Registration In the Early 16th Century — 635
leglise metropolitalne Sainct Estlenne de Tholouse Instltuee, heussent bailie a
reffalre les orgues dc ladlcte table a malstre Jacques Cormier, malstre orgueniste
de TOUTS, et ce a £alre auxdltz orgues les Jeulx qul sensuyvenl, ascavoir est le
principal, la octave, le XVme, la XIXe, la XXIIe, la grosse fleute, la Xlle de
la fleute, la XVe de la fleute, et ung jeu de regales, que montent tout neuf jeux
dlfferens, pour le prlx et somme de cent quarante Uvres tournols..."
b. "Sansult les diferand des jeulx de l'orgue
Et prerolerement
Item le grand Jeulx

Item le jeulx de papegayl

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Item le Jeulx des chantres

Item le jeulx desfleustesdalletnans

Item le jeulx de plffes

Item le Jeulx sourt

Item le jeulx de nazars petit et groulx

Item le jeulx des comes

Item de Jeulx des slmballes

Item le jeulx des fleustes

Item le jeulx de petit carillons

Item le jeulx de pttltes orgues

Item le jeulx de petlstes orgues en fleustes

et le sic de allls

Item le tabourln."