Part III
of the _Clavierübung_. On comparing these indications with others,
## particularly with those in the _D_ minor (Doric) Toccata, one may
decide to play upon the great manual (_Oberwerk_)[178] all that is written with pedal; where the pedal is silent, one may change to the choir (_Rückpositif_). In carrying this deduction to its limits, one might even formulate the rule that when the parts are reduced to two, they should be played upon the swell (_Brustwerk_).
[Footnote 178: _Oberwerk_ means literally the higher manual; in two-manual organs the stronger was, at that time, found above the other. The name _Rückpositif_ came from the custom of placing the pipes behind the back (_Rücken_) of the organist. Finally, the swell bore the name _Brustwerk_, the pipes being placed facing the breast (_Brust_) of the player. In a three-manual organ the great keyboard was situated between the swell, which was above, and the choir, which was below it.]
III
In connection with the foregoing it will be interesting to learn the specifications of the principal organs of which Bach was able to avail himself during his long career. We find details concerning them in various works, notably in Adlung (_Musica mechanica organoedi_), or in the supplement which J.F. Agricola, an esteemed pupil of Bach, added to this work, published after the death of its author; and in the contemporary writings of local historians.
The organ at Arnstadt, the first at which Bach held the position of organist, possessed twenty-four registers, divided among two manuals and the pedal:[179]
[Footnote 179: This instrument was constructed in 1701, by J.F. Wender, an organ-builder of Mühlhausen. [The specification as compiled from the existing stop-handles by Mr. C.F.A. Williams ("Bach": J.M. Dent & Co.: London), differs slightly from the above, which is given by Spitta.--TR.]]
_Great Organ._
1. Principal, 8' 2. Viola da Gamba, 8' 3. Quintatön, 16' 4. Gedackt (Bourdon), 8' 5. Quinte, 6' 6. Octave, 4' 7. Mixtur, 4 ranks 8. Gemshorn, 8' 9. Cymbel, 2 ranks 10. Trompete, 8' 11. Tremulant 12. Cymbelstern[180]
[Footnote 180: A sort of Glockenspiel, which produced _l'accord parfait_ [undoubtedly the major triad].]
_Choir Organ._
1. Principal, 4' 2. Lieblich Gedackt, 8' 3. Spitzflöte, 4' 4. Quinte, 3' 5. Sesquialter 6. Nachthorn (night horn), 4' 7. Mixtur, 2 ranks
_Pedal Organ._
1. Principalbass, 8' 2. Subbass, 16' 3. Posaunenbass (trombone), 16' 4. Flötenbass 4' 5. Cornetbass, 2'[181]
[Footnote 181: This was a reed stop.]
The organ in the palace at Weimar contained the following stops, according to A. Wette:[182]
[Footnote 182: _Historische Nachrichten von der berühmten Residenzstadt Weimar._ Weimar, 1737, p. 175, 176.]
_Great._
1. Principal, 8' 2. Quintatön, 16' 3. Gemshorn, 8' 4. Gedackt, 8' 5. Quintatön, 4' 6. Octave, 4' 7. Mixture, 6 ranks 8. Cymbel, 3 ranks 9. Glockenspiel
_Choir._
1. Principal, 8' 2. Violdigamba, 8' 3. Gedackt, 8' 4. Trompete, 8' 5. Kleingedackt (small bourdon), 4' 6. Octave, 4' 7. Waldflöte 2' 8. Sesquialtera
_Pedal._
1. Gross-Untersatz, 32' 2. Subbass, 16' 3. Posaun-Bass, 16' 4. Violon-Bass, 16' 5. Principal-Bass, 8' 6. Trompeten-Bass, 8' 7. Cornett-Bass, 4'
We have mentioned the special feature of the organ in Cöthen: a pedal which boasted of two octaves and a half, from great _C_ to _f'_ sharp; we should further emphasize in this organ, otherwise not especially noteworthy, the quality of the _Principal_[183] in the great organ, and of the eight-foot Trumpet in the pedal.
[Footnote 183: [The _Principal_ here referred to is undoubtedly the eight-foot Diapason.--TR.]]
The organ in the University church in Leipzig, of which Bach made an expert examination December 17, 1717, was a remarkable instrument, which he was very fond of playing. It was one of the masterworks of the manufacturer Scheibe. It had the following registers:
_Great._
1. Gross Principal (of pure tin), 16' 2. Gross Quintatön, 16' 3. Klein Principal, 8' 4. Schalmei, 8' 5. Flûte allemande, 8' 6. Gemshorn, 8' 7. Octave, 4' 8. Quinte, 3' 9. Quint-Nasat, 3' 10. Octavina, 2' 11. Waldflöte, 2' 12. Grosse Mixtur, of 5 and 6 ranks 13. Cornetti, of 3 ranks 14. Zink (a species of _cornett_), of 2 ranks
_Echo._
1. Principal (in front), 8' 2. Viola di Gamba naturelle, 8' 3. Grobgedackt (large scale bourdon) 8' 4. Octave, 4' 5. Rohrflöte, 4' 6. Octave, 2' 7. Nasat, 3' 8. Sedecima, 1' 9. Schweizerpfeife, 1' 10. Largo.[184] 11. Mixtur, of 3 ranks 12. Helle (bright) Cymbel, of 2 ranks
[Footnote 184: Undoubtedly _larigot_.]
_Choir._
1. Leiblich gedackt, 8' 2. Quintatön, 8' 3. Flûte douce, 4' 4. Quinta decima, 4' 5. Decima nona, 3' 6. Hohlflöte, 2' 7. Viola, 2' 8. Vigesima nona, 1-1/2' 9. Weitpfeife, 1' 10. Mixtur, of 3 ranks 11. Helle Cymbel, of 2 ranks 12. Sertin (serpent?), 8'
_Pedal._
1. Gross Principal, 16' 2. Gross Quintatön, 16' 3. Octave, 8' 4. Octave, 4' 5. Quinte, 3' 6. Mixtur, of 5 and 6 ranks 7. Grosse Quintenbass, 6' 8. Jubal (open flute), 8' 9. Nachthorn, 4' 10. Octave, 2' 11. Second Principal, 16' 12. Subbass, 16' 13. Posaune, 16' 14. Trompete, 8' 15. Hohflöte, 1' 16. Mixtur, of 4 ranks
Finally, the specification of the principal organ in the _Thomaskirche_ in Leipzig, installed in 1525, twice rebuilt during the seventeenth century, enlarged in 1670; and considerably repaired, in 1721, by Johann Scheibe:[185]
[Footnote 185: Vogel, _Leipziger Chronicke_. Vol. iii, chap. vi, p. 110.]
_Great._
1. Principal, 16' 2. Principal, 8' 3. Quintatön, 16' 4. Octave, 4' 5. Quinte, 3' 6. Superoctave, 2' 7. Spielpfeife (a species of flute), 8' 8. Sesquialtera 9. Mixtur, of 6, 8, and 10 ranks
_Echo (Brustwerk)._
1. Grobgedackt, 8' 2. Principal, 4' 3. Nachthorn, 4' 4. Nasat, 3' 5. Gemshorn, 2' 6. Cymbel, of 2 ranks 7. Sesquialtera 8. Regal, 8' 9. Geigenregal[186] (Violin-regal), 4'
[Footnote 186: In combination with the _Quintatön_ of eight feet, says Adlung, the _Geigenregal_ sounds almost like a stringed instrument.]
_Choir._
1. Principal 8' 2. Quintatön, 8' 3. Lieblich Gedackt, 8' 4. Kleingedackt, 4' 5. Querflöte (_Flauto traverso_), 4' 6. Violine, 2' 7. Rauschquinte doppelt 8. Mixtur, of 4 ranks 9. Sesquialtera 10. Spitzflöte, 4' 11. Schallflöte, 1' 12. Krummhorn,[187] 16' 13. Trompete, 8'
[Footnote 187: _Cromorne._ Also called _lituus_ (clarion) by Praetorius (_Syntagma musicum_), Tome ii, chap. xv, p. 40. Adlung suggests this simple derivation: _cor_ and _morne_ (sad, reserved).]
_Pedal._
1. Subbass (of metal), 16' 2. Posaune, 16' 3. Trompete, 8' 4. Schalmei, 4' 5. Cornett, 3'
The St. Thomas church possessed in addition a small organ. This instrument, at one time abandoned, and later again brought into service, stood at Bach's time in a gallery, opposite the large organ. It possessed a stop called _Trichter-Regal_, a sort of _Vox humana_. This organ was used in performance of the St. Matthew Passion music, in coöperation with the other.
When Bach played for strangers, he was fond of astonishing them by his originality in registration. "After having first of all censured as ill-advised the combination of certain stops," says Forkel,[188] "the listeners were greatly surprised upon hearing the admirable effect produced by these very combinations, suddenly drawing from the organ a sonority at once original and varied, whose attainment might have been vainly sought by following older methods....
[Footnote 188: _Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke._]
"In trying an unfamiliar organ, his first step was to draw all the registers and to play upon the great manual with all couplers. He was in the habit of saying, jestingly, that he wished at the outset to know if the instrument possessed good lungs."
With this art in registration was combined the greatest facility in improvisation.
"It was often the case," writes Kirnberger,[189] "that friends asked Bach to play to them at times other than during religious service. Then he would choose some theme and treat it in every form of organ composition, playing without interruption for two hours or more, yet without exhausting his resources. Perhaps he made use of his subject first in a prelude and fugue for all the foundation stops. Then his genius in registration was displayed in a movement in three, or in four, parts, always upon the same theme. Now followed a chorale, and the subject served as a counterpoint to the chorale-melody, in ingenious imitations in three or four voices. Finally he concluded by a fugue for _organo pleno_, based upon the same subject, interweaving the previous variations of it he had made."
[Footnote 189: _Die wahren Grundsätze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie_ (Berlin, 1773) p. 53. See also Mizler (_Necrolog_, p. 171) and Forkel (p. 22).]
IV
In a technical work compiled for his son Friedemann, Bach left us an explanation of the signs employed by him to indicate the various ornaments which he calls _Manieren_. They are thus illustrated:
[Music:
Trillo. Mordant. Trillo u. Mordant. Cadence. Doppelcadence.
idem. Doppelcadence und Mordant. idem. Accent steigend. (rising.)
Accent fallend. (falling.) Accent u. Mordant. Accent u. Trillo. idem.]
The greater number of these ornaments,[190] as we see by the table, do not begin upon the given note. However, if a turn occur at the beginning of a piece, or if it ornament a characteristic interval (as, for example, in the fugue in _F_ minor), the essential note should be struck first; even if such a rendering produce a discord with the other parts.
[Footnote 190: _Clavierbüchlein, vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach angefangen in Cöthen den 22. Januar, anno 1720._]
The mordent--it is the _pincé simple_ or the "pluck" of Chambonnières, Couperin, and Le Bègue, who had borrowed it from lute-players[191]--is generally diatonic, although with this exception: if the note which it affects be marked with an accidental in the same measure, the accidental must be observed in executing the mordent.
[Footnote 191: See A. Méreaux: _Les Clavecinistes de 1637 à 1790. Tableau synoptique et comparatif de tous les agréments avec leur signes et leur effet_. Heugel, Paris.]
These ornaments should be played "with regard for their value and upon the beat";[192] however, an excessive rigor in this respect should not be affected; Bach did not exact such precision, and did not attach to these figures such great importance that he did not feel at liberty to substitute for them, in copies of these same pieces made by himself, other and practically equivalent ones. Certain of them are, moreover, quite rare; for example, the _accent_. We find it employed, at least in the organ compositions, only in an arrangement of the chorale _Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'_ (_Gloria in excelsis_). No piece could be more elaborated than this one; and in it are introduced a majority of the signs employed by Bach; we borrow from Mr. E. Dannreuther's interesting work, "Musical Ornamentation,"[193] the transcription of the first six measures of this chorale, fully written out. Such an example will be more instructive than all we could say upon this subject, if the reader will take pains to compare this interpretation with the musical text as found in the well-known editions:[194]
[Music]
[Footnote 192: L. Diémer: _Les Clavecinistes français du XVIIIe siècle_ (Durand and Schönewerk).]
[Footnote 193: This work contains, with numerous examples, a study of ornamentation, from G. Diruta to J.S. Bach in the first part, from Ph. E. Bach to our own period in the second. (London: Novello, Ewer & Co.)]
[Footnote 194: P. vi, 9. B.-G.]
This is evidently a species of appoggiatura, as also in the chorale _Vater unser im Himmelreich_ (_Clavierübung_,