Reconstruction of Historical Alloys for Pipe Organs Brings True Baroque Music Back to Life
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Historical Alloys for Pipe Organs Brings True Baroque Music Back to Life
B. Baretzky, M. Friesel, and B. Straumal Abstract The pipe organ is the king of musical instruments. No other instrument can compare with the pipe organ in power, timbre, dynamic range, tonal complexity, and sheer majesty of sound. The art of organ building reached its peak in the Baroque Age (⬃1600–1750); with the industrial revolution in the 19th century, organ building shifted from a traditional artisans’ work to factory production, changing the aesthetic concept and design of the organ so that the profound knowledge of the organ masters passed down over generations was lost. This knowledge is being recreated via close collaborations between research scientists, musicians, and organ builders throughout Europe. Dozens of metallic samples taken from 17th- to 19th-century organ pipes have been investigated to determine their composition, microstructure, properties, and manufacturing processes using sophisticated methods of materials science. Based upon these data, technologies for casting, forming, hammering, rolling, filing, and annealing selected lead-tin pipe alloys and brass components for reed pipes have been reinvented and customized to reproduce those from characteristic time periods and specific European regions. The new materials recreated in this way are currently being processed and used by organ builders for the restoration of period organs and the manufacture of new organs with true Baroque sound.
Introduction The first organ-like instrument was built around 246 B.C. by a Greek craftsman in Alexandria named Ktesibios. The oldest still-playable organ in the world, built in about 1435, is in Sion, Switzerland. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the art of organ building reached its peak. During the Baroque Age (⬃1600–1750), the concept of organ building was governed by the idea of replicating the orchestral sound. For the Protestant church, the organ was a central component of the church service. As a result, the rich and strongly Protestant regions of northern Germany and the Netherlands became primary centers for organ building during the Baroque era.
The industrial revolution, the influence of romantic and modern music styles, and an increasingly avid audience radically changed the aesthetic concept, design, and methods of organ building in the 19th and 20th centuries. Organs were now constructed in large factories by many workers and machines, in contrast to the previous small workshops with only a few artisans and an organ master. More expressive ranks and a crescendo pedal, along with modern technical innovations (e.g., electrification of the mechanical parts), new materials, and the demand for colossal orchestral organs, drastically changed the organ sound. As a result, the profound knowledge of
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 32 • MARCH 2007 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
Baroque organ building, which had been passed down and improved over generations, was lost.1–3
Recapturing a Lost Art The second half of the 20th century saw a revival of
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