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Musical instruments having several pipes
were being played since more than 2000 years. Today, the bagpipes are the best
known type of such an instrument. An instrument of this kind became known as an
organ when man's own breathing was taken over by a man-made blower to provide
wind for the pipes.
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  The first
organ of this kind was developed by the Greek scholar Ctesibios in the 3rd
Century BC. It is interesting that this first organ was used not in temples for
religious purposes, but rather for incidental music, in the arena.
The earliest Church organs of Christian Europe date from the ninth
century. The organ has been developed continuously since then. Organ building
reached a peak in the baroque period of the 17th and 18th centuries. Even today
in this country, several organs survive from that period which still give
pleasure from their wonderfully rich tonal palette. That period was also rich
in composers who created supreme compositions for the organ. The greatest of
these was undoubtedly Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
The
artistry of both organ builders and pipemakers therefore lies behind organ
building over such a long period. A single important change must be mentioned:
until the 19th Century, the organ builder worked entirely alone to create his
instrument, installing such pipes as were necessary. From the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, the profession of "Pipemaker" began to become separated
from that of "Organ builder".
Today, the Tin-pipe maker - as the profession is known exactly -
became known as an independent profession. Organ builders and tin-pipe makers
must naturally work closely together, and each one depends very much upon the
other. |
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