The organ was rescued in 1979 from an antique gallery in Florence, where it likely would have been sold as furniture.\u00a0After being fully restored in Germany, it was purchased by the Eastman School and installed in the Memorial Art Gallery\u2019s Fountain Court in the fall of 2005, making Rochester the only place in North America to hear authentic performances of 18th-century organ music written for a large Italian instrument. In addition to enhancing organ study at the Eastman School, the organ benefits the singers and instrumentalists who perform with the instrument, visiting scholars, practitioners of organ restoration, and visitors to the Memorial Art Gallery.<\/p>\n
The organ is an ancient instrument whose \u201cgolden age\u201d was the 17th and 18th centuries, when Italy was at the center of the musical world, says Honey Meconi, professor of musicology in the College Department of Music.<\/p>\n
![\"numbered](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/inline-italian-baroque-organ-how-it-works-418x630.jpg\")
How does the Italian baroque organ work?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe wind bellows operator or calcant (1)<\/b> depresses the pedals with his feet, forcing a column of compressed air through the wind trunk (2)<\/b> to the wind chest (3)<\/b>, an airtight wooden box below the pipes in the organ case.<\/p>\n
Each row of pipes (4)<\/b>, or rank, representing a particular tone quality, is controlled by a stop knob (5)<\/b>.<\/p>\n
When the organist pulls the knob, a mechanical link moves a wooden slat or slider (6)<\/b> beneath the pipes.<\/p>\n
Holes in the slider are lined up with the pipes, allowing them to be played.<\/p>\n
The organist presses a key (7)<\/b> and a wooden panel or pallet (8)<\/b> opens, allowing the pressurized air in the wind chest to flow into the key channel (9)<\/b>. Now the rank of pipes connected to that channel will sound or speak.<\/p>\nFountain Court<\/strong><\/h3>\nNow home to the baroque organ, this room at the museum\u2013designed in 1926\u2013has architectural proportions similar to those of a small Italian Renaissance church, says Higgs, which adds to the preservation of authentic 18th-century sound. The organ is surrounded by more than 30 major baroque paintings and sculptures from the gallery\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n
Bellows<\/strong><\/h3>\nAn organ\u2019s bellows are \u201cthe lungs of the instrument,\u201d says Higgs. These bellows, located in a small room adjacent to the Fountain Court, probably predate the 18th century. They provide air through the wind trunk to the wind chest, which supplies the air to sound the pipes. An electric blower is used to operate the bellows for rehearsals, but for most public performances\u2014which occur regularly, including every Sunday\u2014a person, called a calcant, operates the bellows by foot. \u201cIt gives more liveliness to the sound,\u201d Higgs says.<\/p>\n
Console<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe keyboard, pedals, and stop knobs\u2014which open and close various sets of pipes\u2014form the console. The combination of stops, pipes, keys, and pedals allow the organ to produce a wide range of sounds. \u201cIt\u2019s like an orchestra in one instrument,\u201d says Meconi. Performers\u2019 fingers from over the centuries have worn indentations into the organ\u2019s keys that manifest the tight connection between the player and the organ. \u201cThe instrument tells you what you have to do,\u201d says Edoardo Bellotti, an\u00a0associate professor of organ, harpsichord, and improvisation, likening it to a living thing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Diptych](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/inline-italian-baroque-organ-details.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>Pipes<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe organ has almost 600 pipes made of tin and lead alloy and wood, which range from the size of a pencil to more than six feet in height. Some of the pipes, like the wind chest, date from circa 1670. \u201cImpurity in the metal pipes is one ofthe secrets\u201d of each pre-modern organ\u2019s unique sound, says Bellotti.<\/p>\n
Hand crafted<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe lavishly decorated, wooden organ case features carved ornamentation, classically inspired painted vases, and an elaborate gilded crown ornament depicting Saint Andrew, perhaps a reference to the patron saint of the unknown church or chapel where the organ was first located. The case probably dates from between 1730 and 1770, when the original instrument\u2014from around 1670\u2014was enlarged and reinstalled in the new case, likely built to match the ornamentation of its surroundings.<\/p>\n
Fountain Court<\/strong><\/h3>\nNow home to the baroque organ, this room at the museum\u2013designed in 1926\u2013has architectural proportions similar to those of a small Italian Renaissance church, says Higgs, which adds to the preservation of authentic 18th-century sound. The organ is surrounded by more than 30 major baroque paintings and sculptures from the gallery\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n
Bellows<\/strong><\/h3>\nAn organ\u2019s bellows are \u201cthe lungs of the instrument,\u201d says Higgs. These bellows, located in a small room adjacent to the Fountain Court, probably predate the 18th century. They provide air through the wind trunk to the wind chest, which supplies the air to sound the pipes. An electric blower is used to operate the bellows for rehearsals, but for most public performances\u2014which occur regularly, including every Sunday\u2014a person, called a calcant, operates the bellows by foot. \u201cIt gives more liveliness to the sound,\u201d Higgs says.<\/p>\n
Console<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe keyboard, pedals, and stop knobs\u2014which open and close various sets of pipes\u2014form the console. The combination of stops, pipes, keys, and pedals allow the organ to produce a wide range of sounds. \u201cIt\u2019s like an orchestra in one instrument,\u201d says Meconi. Performers\u2019 fingers from over the centuries have worn indentations into the organ\u2019s keys that manifest the tight connection between the player and the organ. \u201cThe instrument tells you what you have to do,\u201d says Edoardo Bellotti, an\u00a0associate professor of organ, harpsichord, and improvisation, likening it to a living thing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Pipes<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe organ has almost 600 pipes made of tin and lead alloy and wood, which range from the size of a pencil to more than six feet in height. Some of the pipes, like the wind chest, date from circa 1670. \u201cImpurity in the metal pipes is one ofthe secrets\u201d of each pre-modern organ\u2019s unique sound, says Bellotti.<\/p>\n
Hand crafted<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe lavishly decorated, wooden organ case features carved ornamentation, classically inspired painted vases, and an elaborate gilded crown ornament depicting Saint Andrew, perhaps a reference to the patron saint of the unknown church or chapel where the organ was first located. The case probably dates from between 1730 and 1770, when the original instrument\u2014from around 1670\u2014was enlarged and reinstalled in the new case, likely built to match the ornamentation of its surroundings.<\/p>\n
An organ\u2019s bellows are \u201cthe lungs of the instrument,\u201d says Higgs. These bellows, located in a small room adjacent to the Fountain Court, probably predate the 18th century. They provide air through the wind trunk to the wind chest, which supplies the air to sound the pipes. An electric blower is used to operate the bellows for rehearsals, but for most public performances\u2014which occur regularly, including every Sunday\u2014a person, called a calcant, operates the bellows by foot. \u201cIt gives more liveliness to the sound,\u201d Higgs says.<\/p>\n
Console<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe keyboard, pedals, and stop knobs\u2014which open and close various sets of pipes\u2014form the console. The combination of stops, pipes, keys, and pedals allow the organ to produce a wide range of sounds. \u201cIt\u2019s like an orchestra in one instrument,\u201d says Meconi. Performers\u2019 fingers from over the centuries have worn indentations into the organ\u2019s keys that manifest the tight connection between the player and the organ. \u201cThe instrument tells you what you have to do,\u201d says Edoardo Bellotti, an\u00a0associate professor of organ, harpsichord, and improvisation, likening it to a living thing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Pipes<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe organ has almost 600 pipes made of tin and lead alloy and wood, which range from the size of a pencil to more than six feet in height. Some of the pipes, like the wind chest, date from circa 1670. \u201cImpurity in the metal pipes is one ofthe secrets\u201d of each pre-modern organ\u2019s unique sound, says Bellotti.<\/p>\n
Hand crafted<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe lavishly decorated, wooden organ case features carved ornamentation, classically inspired painted vases, and an elaborate gilded crown ornament depicting Saint Andrew, perhaps a reference to the patron saint of the unknown church or chapel where the organ was first located. The case probably dates from between 1730 and 1770, when the original instrument\u2014from around 1670\u2014was enlarged and reinstalled in the new case, likely built to match the ornamentation of its surroundings.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Pipes<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The organ has almost 600 pipes made of tin and lead alloy and wood, which range from the size of a pencil to more than six feet in height. Some of the pipes, like the wind chest, date from circa 1670. \u201cImpurity in the metal pipes is one ofthe secrets\u201d of each pre-modern organ\u2019s unique sound, says Bellotti.<\/p>\n