Music Trade Review
Issue: 1881 Vol. 5 N. 2 - Page 14
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
American piano manufacturers rn^et in convention
and decide that a common pitch shall control this
country's musical matters. France and England
have had war after war upon the subject, yet every
amicable effort has been made at the beginning of
conventions to settle upon a mean pitch for the
two countries. Before, however, they separate
from their French neighbors the English manage
to have it understood that the only way out of the
difficulty is for the continental authorities to yield,
grant the precedence to England and surrender to
her pitch. It is difficult for the French to do this,
in fact they absolutely refuse, and so the instru-
mentalists grumble and the singers rebel, but all
to no purpose, and things remain as they have ex-
isted for centuries.
It would be a matter of little importance to
Americans what they did across the water if we
were not dependent upon European minds for
pretty much all that we live upon in musical mat-
ters. Our nation, however, is growing, in one
branch of the art at least, less and less dependant
each year, and in instrument making of a certain
kind we are equal to the European manufacturers.
Our pianos are better, foreigners acknowledge,
and of late years our stringed instruments are com-
ing into a prominence that suggests rivalry. This
advance is to our own credit, but still we are not
free, even though we have done so much in a cen-
tury, and must wait patiently for our composers
to step to the front and compete with those in
Europe who are making this century a wonderful
epoch in the history of music. To be just to
these composers we should perform their work as
nearly in accordance with their ideas as possible.
We have pupils who study and labor to approxi-
mate this and that composer's ideas, theoretically
and practically, with the hope of giving a correct
interpretation of their music, but the question of
key never enters into consideration. If for in-
stance we should take one of the Mendelssohn
songs without words written in E flat and play it
upon a Steinway piano the tonic would be almost
F natural; on a Chickering it would possibly be in
E natural; on a Weber, between the two; on a
Steck, sometimes in one and sometimes in the
other, and on other pianos, more or less above or
below! Had Mendelssohn intended to write in E
or F he certainly would have done so, and it is
therefore reasonable to believe that he took E flat
from choice. How unjust is it then for those who
play his music to alter the key and defeat the com-
poser's intention! We are in the hands of our
manufacturers to a degree and must accept what
they give us, unless these makers can be compelled
or persuaded to adopt a mean pitch, and that
somewhat near those used by the composers
whose works we present. It would be impossible
to change the pitch to accommodate German,
French and English music, but we might strike a
happy medium and adhere to it. Violinists might
consent to make their playing a little less brilliant,
in order that the voice should be of better quality
by not being forced to almost unutterable heights.
It makes a great difference whether one must sing
C or C sharp in all, and it is still more difficult to
raach D. As we have our concert pitch to-day,
most of the great arias are a half, a whole, and in
some cases a tone and a-half higher than the com-
posers wrote them. What is to be gained by the
added acuteness of the pitch ? It certainly is not
agreeable in nine cases if it is in the tenth, and yet
every vocalist strives to be the one successful
singer who can make the highest sound.
these instruments together they are of no use until
a tuner has worked several hours in lowering or
raising two of them, and even then they are not cor-
rect, for the sudden change throws them out of har-
mony. When concerted music is much used these
troubles are not at all small, but prove so annoying
that the result does not compensate for the exer
tion. This, however, ought to be remedied, and it
can be if our tuners would meet and agree upon a
pitch for the city. This experiment was tried very
successfuly last year by a club of ladies who em-
ployed one tuner, and had each piano used in the
club tuned at the same pitch. Each party, vocal-
ists and pianists, had to make some concessions,
but it proved a wise step in the end. Each manu-
facturer is a stickler for his own pitch, but if the
purchasers gave it to be understood that these con-
cert pitches were more and more at variance with
the pitch in which the best music was written and
declined to use them, it would work a change soon-
er or later.
There is an idea that letting a piano down injures
it. A prominent manufacturer tells us that it does
not nearly so much as raising it half a tone. The
increase of strain upon the frame in raising the
pitch is very great, but the decrease is not so haz-
ardous. But a better plan than lowering the pitch
is to urge our manufacturers to take a mean pitch
and adhere to it. Some piano firms have two and
frequently more pitches, according to the quality
of the instrument made, so that we have at least
three pitches in this country, if not a greater num-
ber. Public opinion will control abuses, and the
sooner musical people unite in rebelling against
this upward tendancy of the American pitch, the
sooner it will be abandoned and a standard adopted.
—Courier, Buffalo.
LONDON COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS.
CONFERENCE ON ORGAN CONSTRUCTION.
HE Council of the College of Organists of
England have just issued a Report giving
T
the result of their review of the opinions expressed
in the course of the series of Public Conferences
on Organ Construction held during the early part
of the present year.
It must be well known to many of our readers
that organists labor under exceptional difficulty in
performing upon their instrument, owing to the
fact that, in addition to the vast complexity of the
resources to be controlled, it is exceedingly rare
to find two organs with identical external arrange-
ments. • Even in so essential a matter as the rela-
tive position of pedals and manuals no absolute
rule is uniformly observed. The position of the
draw-stops again would seem to follow no higher
law than that of chance, or the convenience or
whim of the builder; and the methods of locking
or unlocking the swell pedal are as diverse as the
corresponding treatment of country gates. Each
builder seems to pride himself on discovering
some new way by which to accomplish this very
simple end.
The unhappy organist, when called upon to per-
form on a strange instrument—and this generally
happens before a critical audience—finds all his
former experience of little use to him. The pedals
are possibly one note to the left or right of his
ordinary experience. The swell draw-stops are in
the place where he would look for the great draw-
stops, and the pedal-stops in the position in which
he expects to find the choir-stops. The fixing of
the swell pedal is an enigma, and the only mental
In the economy of our musicaj. instruction in note he can make as to the arrangement of the com-
America, transposition enters very lightly or not position work is that it is contrary to all his ex-
at all. It is a moral impossibility for most of our perience, and very inconvenient.
vocalists to accompany themselves, and when it It was to provide a remedy for this disagreeable
comes to transpositions, they are immediately out and unnecessary variety in the external incidents
of depth and as helpless as if they knew nothing of of the instrument that the Council of the College
music. This want of ability to assist themselves of Organists first called the Conference, and in-
debars them from a great deal of pleasure from vited the expression of opinion from those inter-
music that they might enjoy if they could once sing ested in, and competent to advise on, the several
a work in the original key. As it stands it is " too points from time to time submitted for considera-
high," and though legitimately in the range of the tion. The result of the Conference has been care-
ordinary soprano voice, yet according to the im- fully balanced with other collateral evidence, and
proved concert pitch entirely out of reach. Some the Council now give the result in a series of Reso-
of the composers abroad, or rather compilers of lutions and Recommendations. We trust they
songs, have cognizance of this tendancy of our piano will receive the well-merited attention of organ-
manufactures and transpose their music so as to builders and others, as the adoption of any such
meet the difficulty. The London Boosey editions plan of uniformity cannot but advance the art of
of songs are all thus arranged, and thus a very beau- organ-playing.
tiful collection of arias, ballads, etc., are brought
within the scope of those who possess the voce di The chief decisions of the Council are expressed
camera. Among them one recognizes errors where as Resolutions, while certain other points, less
the original pitch has been tampered with, but essential for uniformity's sake, are expressed as
they are exceptions to a very good rule and the ef- Recommendations.
fort is to be encouraged. In our own city we have We append both Resolutions and Recommenda-
agents for almost all the prominent pianos^ and even tions :—
among a small circle of friends one can sing the
RESOLUTIONS.
same song in at least three different keys in the same
evening by using three different pianos. If we bring 1. That the compass of the pedals be from CCC to
F, i.e., thirty notes. 2. That the pedals be parallel.
August 20th, 1881.
3. That the pedals be concave, with radical top fac-
ings ; and that the concavity be the arc of a circle
having a radius of eight feet six inches. 4. That
the length of the centre natural key of the pedals be
not less than twenty-seven inches. 5. That the
front of the pedal sharps form an arc of a circle hav-
ing a radius of eight feet six inches; and that the
length of the centre short key of the pedals be not
less than five and a half inches. 6. That the pedal
scale be two and three-eighth inches from centre to
centre of two adjacent natural keys. 7. That a
plumb-line dropped from the middle C of the manuals
fall on the centre C of the pedal-board. 8. That a
plumb-line dropped from the front of the great
organ sharp keys fall two inches nearer the player
than the front of the centre short key of the pedal-
board.
9. That the height of the upper surface of the
great organ natural key, immediately over the centre
of the pedal board, be thirty-two inches above the
upper surface of the centre natural key of the pedal-
board. 10. That the relationship between manuals
and pedals be subservient to the fixed relative posi-
tion of the great manual keyboard and the pedal-
board already defined; it being understood that the
position of the great manual will determine the posi-
tion of the other manuals. 11. That it is undesir-
able to alter the relative positions of the several
manual keyboards as commonly found in English
organs, viz., swell above the great, choir below the
great, solo above the swell. 12. That the compass
of the manuals shall be from CC to G in alt at leant,
i.e., not less than fifty-six notes. 13. That the
length of manual natural keys be five and a half
inches, and the amount of overlapping of the upper
manual keyboards be one and a half inches. 14.
That the height from the upper surface of the
natural keys of one manual to that of the next
manual above it do never exceed three inches.
15. That the position of the great organ draw-
stops be on the right-hand side of the performer.
16. That the position of the swell organ draw-stops
be on the left-hand side of the performer. 17. That
the position of the choir organ draw-stops be on the
right-hand side of the performer. 18. That the po-
sition of the solo organ draw-stops be on the right-
hand side of the performer. 19. That the position
of the pedal organ draw-stops be on the left-hand
side of the performer. 20. That the position of the
draw-stops of the couplers be on the left-hand side
of the performer. 21. That the several groups of
draw-stops be placed in following relative posi-
tions : Left-hand side from top to bottom—swell
organ, pedal organ, couplers. Right-hand side from
top to bottom—solo organ, great organ, choir organ.
22. That the swell pedal shall project from the
front panel, over the upper E and F of the pedal-
board. 23. That the swell pedal shall be locked
down by a swinging-rod, and that it be liberated by
moving the rod from left to right.
24. That the order of composition-pedals, ventils,
thumb pistons, or other mechanical means of com-
bination, from piano to forte, be in all cases from left
to right; and that the various sets shall be distinctly
grouped. 25. That the several groups of composi-
tion pedals stand in the following order from left to
right from the front panel: pedal organ, swell organ,
great organ. But if pedals are applied to the coup-
lers that they be placed between the swell and great
compositions; and that if composition pedals are ap-
plied to the choir and solo organs that they project
from the right jamb.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
1. That the consideration of organ-builders be di-
rected to the widely expressed desire for some
means of operating on the swell, in addition to the
ordinary swell pedal. 2. That there should be some
contrivance to fix the swell pedal at any point of its
descent at the will of the performer. 3. That some
plan be devised to bring the swell shutters into oper-
tion more gradually, so as to place the crescendo and
decrescendo perfectly under the control of the per-
former.
4. That the composition pedals affecting the
great organ include porportionate combinations of
the pedal organ; but that a ventil be provided to
shut off the pedal organ to a soft sixteen-feet tone by
dra.v-stop and double-action pedal. 5. That the
more important and commonly used couplers should
be acted upon by pedals as well as by draw-stops.
6. That the great to pedal coupler h ve a draw-stop
knob both on left and right-hand sides of the
manuals.
7. That the draw-stops project from perpendicular
jambs. 8. That in the case of large organs the
dra*-stop jambs be placed obliquely. 9. That no
key-slip be placed between the different manual key-
boards.
10. That the short keys of the pedals be either
lengthened or raised at the back, in such a way as
to assist in the cultivation of a more legato style of
pedalling.
11. That the consideration of organ builders be
directed to the desirability of securing all centre-pins
in the various actions.
12. That the attention of those engaged in the
preparation of organ specifications be directed to
the desirability of including sixteen, eight, and four-
feet pedal organ stops, of characteristic qualities of
tone, suitable for melodic use.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
American piano manufacturers rn^et in convention
and decide that a common pitch shall control this
country's musical matters. France and England
have had war after war upon the subject, yet every
amicable effort has been made at the beginning of
conventions to settle upon a mean pitch for the
two countries. Before, however, they separate
from their French neighbors the English manage
to have it understood that the only way out of the
difficulty is for the continental authorities to yield,
grant the precedence to England and surrender to
her pitch. It is difficult for the French to do this,
in fact they absolutely refuse, and so the instru-
mentalists grumble and the singers rebel, but all
to no purpose, and things remain as they have ex-
isted for centuries.
It would be a matter of little importance to
Americans what they did across the water if we
were not dependent upon European minds for
pretty much all that we live upon in musical mat-
ters. Our nation, however, is growing, in one
branch of the art at least, less and less dependant
each year, and in instrument making of a certain
kind we are equal to the European manufacturers.
Our pianos are better, foreigners acknowledge,
and of late years our stringed instruments are com-
ing into a prominence that suggests rivalry. This
advance is to our own credit, but still we are not
free, even though we have done so much in a cen-
tury, and must wait patiently for our composers
to step to the front and compete with those in
Europe who are making this century a wonderful
epoch in the history of music. To be just to
these composers we should perform their work as
nearly in accordance with their ideas as possible.
We have pupils who study and labor to approxi-
mate this and that composer's ideas, theoretically
and practically, with the hope of giving a correct
interpretation of their music, but the question of
key never enters into consideration. If for in-
stance we should take one of the Mendelssohn
songs without words written in E flat and play it
upon a Steinway piano the tonic would be almost
F natural; on a Chickering it would possibly be in
E natural; on a Weber, between the two; on a
Steck, sometimes in one and sometimes in the
other, and on other pianos, more or less above or
below! Had Mendelssohn intended to write in E
or F he certainly would have done so, and it is
therefore reasonable to believe that he took E flat
from choice. How unjust is it then for those who
play his music to alter the key and defeat the com-
poser's intention! We are in the hands of our
manufacturers to a degree and must accept what
they give us, unless these makers can be compelled
or persuaded to adopt a mean pitch, and that
somewhat near those used by the composers
whose works we present. It would be impossible
to change the pitch to accommodate German,
French and English music, but we might strike a
happy medium and adhere to it. Violinists might
consent to make their playing a little less brilliant,
in order that the voice should be of better quality
by not being forced to almost unutterable heights.
It makes a great difference whether one must sing
C or C sharp in all, and it is still more difficult to
raach D. As we have our concert pitch to-day,
most of the great arias are a half, a whole, and in
some cases a tone and a-half higher than the com-
posers wrote them. What is to be gained by the
added acuteness of the pitch ? It certainly is not
agreeable in nine cases if it is in the tenth, and yet
every vocalist strives to be the one successful
singer who can make the highest sound.
these instruments together they are of no use until
a tuner has worked several hours in lowering or
raising two of them, and even then they are not cor-
rect, for the sudden change throws them out of har-
mony. When concerted music is much used these
troubles are not at all small, but prove so annoying
that the result does not compensate for the exer
tion. This, however, ought to be remedied, and it
can be if our tuners would meet and agree upon a
pitch for the city. This experiment was tried very
successfuly last year by a club of ladies who em-
ployed one tuner, and had each piano used in the
club tuned at the same pitch. Each party, vocal-
ists and pianists, had to make some concessions,
but it proved a wise step in the end. Each manu-
facturer is a stickler for his own pitch, but if the
purchasers gave it to be understood that these con-
cert pitches were more and more at variance with
the pitch in which the best music was written and
declined to use them, it would work a change soon-
er or later.
There is an idea that letting a piano down injures
it. A prominent manufacturer tells us that it does
not nearly so much as raising it half a tone. The
increase of strain upon the frame in raising the
pitch is very great, but the decrease is not so haz-
ardous. But a better plan than lowering the pitch
is to urge our manufacturers to take a mean pitch
and adhere to it. Some piano firms have two and
frequently more pitches, according to the quality
of the instrument made, so that we have at least
three pitches in this country, if not a greater num-
ber. Public opinion will control abuses, and the
sooner musical people unite in rebelling against
this upward tendancy of the American pitch, the
sooner it will be abandoned and a standard adopted.
—Courier, Buffalo.
LONDON COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS.
CONFERENCE ON ORGAN CONSTRUCTION.
HE Council of the College of Organists of
England have just issued a Report giving
T
the result of their review of the opinions expressed
in the course of the series of Public Conferences
on Organ Construction held during the early part
of the present year.
It must be well known to many of our readers
that organists labor under exceptional difficulty in
performing upon their instrument, owing to the
fact that, in addition to the vast complexity of the
resources to be controlled, it is exceedingly rare
to find two organs with identical external arrange-
ments. • Even in so essential a matter as the rela-
tive position of pedals and manuals no absolute
rule is uniformly observed. The position of the
draw-stops again would seem to follow no higher
law than that of chance, or the convenience or
whim of the builder; and the methods of locking
or unlocking the swell pedal are as diverse as the
corresponding treatment of country gates. Each
builder seems to pride himself on discovering
some new way by which to accomplish this very
simple end.
The unhappy organist, when called upon to per-
form on a strange instrument—and this generally
happens before a critical audience—finds all his
former experience of little use to him. The pedals
are possibly one note to the left or right of his
ordinary experience. The swell draw-stops are in
the place where he would look for the great draw-
stops, and the pedal-stops in the position in which
he expects to find the choir-stops. The fixing of
the swell pedal is an enigma, and the only mental
In the economy of our musicaj. instruction in note he can make as to the arrangement of the com-
America, transposition enters very lightly or not position work is that it is contrary to all his ex-
at all. It is a moral impossibility for most of our perience, and very inconvenient.
vocalists to accompany themselves, and when it It was to provide a remedy for this disagreeable
comes to transpositions, they are immediately out and unnecessary variety in the external incidents
of depth and as helpless as if they knew nothing of of the instrument that the Council of the College
music. This want of ability to assist themselves of Organists first called the Conference, and in-
debars them from a great deal of pleasure from vited the expression of opinion from those inter-
music that they might enjoy if they could once sing ested in, and competent to advise on, the several
a work in the original key. As it stands it is " too points from time to time submitted for considera-
high," and though legitimately in the range of the tion. The result of the Conference has been care-
ordinary soprano voice, yet according to the im- fully balanced with other collateral evidence, and
proved concert pitch entirely out of reach. Some the Council now give the result in a series of Reso-
of the composers abroad, or rather compilers of lutions and Recommendations. We trust they
songs, have cognizance of this tendancy of our piano will receive the well-merited attention of organ-
manufactures and transpose their music so as to builders and others, as the adoption of any such
meet the difficulty. The London Boosey editions plan of uniformity cannot but advance the art of
of songs are all thus arranged, and thus a very beau- organ-playing.
tiful collection of arias, ballads, etc., are brought
within the scope of those who possess the voce di The chief decisions of the Council are expressed
camera. Among them one recognizes errors where as Resolutions, while certain other points, less
the original pitch has been tampered with, but essential for uniformity's sake, are expressed as
they are exceptions to a very good rule and the ef- Recommendations.
fort is to be encouraged. In our own city we have We append both Resolutions and Recommenda-
agents for almost all the prominent pianos^ and even tions :—
among a small circle of friends one can sing the
RESOLUTIONS.
same song in at least three different keys in the same
evening by using three different pianos. If we bring 1. That the compass of the pedals be from CCC to
F, i.e., thirty notes. 2. That the pedals be parallel.
August 20th, 1881.
3. That the pedals be concave, with radical top fac-
ings ; and that the concavity be the arc of a circle
having a radius of eight feet six inches. 4. That
the length of the centre natural key of the pedals be
not less than twenty-seven inches. 5. That the
front of the pedal sharps form an arc of a circle hav-
ing a radius of eight feet six inches; and that the
length of the centre short key of the pedals be not
less than five and a half inches. 6. That the pedal
scale be two and three-eighth inches from centre to
centre of two adjacent natural keys. 7. That a
plumb-line dropped from the middle C of the manuals
fall on the centre C of the pedal-board. 8. That a
plumb-line dropped from the front of the great
organ sharp keys fall two inches nearer the player
than the front of the centre short key of the pedal-
board.
9. That the height of the upper surface of the
great organ natural key, immediately over the centre
of the pedal board, be thirty-two inches above the
upper surface of the centre natural key of the pedal-
board. 10. That the relationship between manuals
and pedals be subservient to the fixed relative posi-
tion of the great manual keyboard and the pedal-
board already defined; it being understood that the
position of the great manual will determine the posi-
tion of the other manuals. 11. That it is undesir-
able to alter the relative positions of the several
manual keyboards as commonly found in English
organs, viz., swell above the great, choir below the
great, solo above the swell. 12. That the compass
of the manuals shall be from CC to G in alt at leant,
i.e., not less than fifty-six notes. 13. That the
length of manual natural keys be five and a half
inches, and the amount of overlapping of the upper
manual keyboards be one and a half inches. 14.
That the height from the upper surface of the
natural keys of one manual to that of the next
manual above it do never exceed three inches.
15. That the position of the great organ draw-
stops be on the right-hand side of the performer.
16. That the position of the swell organ draw-stops
be on the left-hand side of the performer. 17. That
the position of the choir organ draw-stops be on the
right-hand side of the performer. 18. That the po-
sition of the solo organ draw-stops be on the right-
hand side of the performer. 19. That the position
of the pedal organ draw-stops be on the left-hand
side of the performer. 20. That the position of the
draw-stops of the couplers be on the left-hand side
of the performer. 21. That the several groups of
draw-stops be placed in following relative posi-
tions : Left-hand side from top to bottom—swell
organ, pedal organ, couplers. Right-hand side from
top to bottom—solo organ, great organ, choir organ.
22. That the swell pedal shall project from the
front panel, over the upper E and F of the pedal-
board. 23. That the swell pedal shall be locked
down by a swinging-rod, and that it be liberated by
moving the rod from left to right.
24. That the order of composition-pedals, ventils,
thumb pistons, or other mechanical means of com-
bination, from piano to forte, be in all cases from left
to right; and that the various sets shall be distinctly
grouped. 25. That the several groups of composi-
tion pedals stand in the following order from left to
right from the front panel: pedal organ, swell organ,
great organ. But if pedals are applied to the coup-
lers that they be placed between the swell and great
compositions; and that if composition pedals are ap-
plied to the choir and solo organs that they project
from the right jamb.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
1. That the consideration of organ-builders be di-
rected to the widely expressed desire for some
means of operating on the swell, in addition to the
ordinary swell pedal. 2. That there should be some
contrivance to fix the swell pedal at any point of its
descent at the will of the performer. 3. That some
plan be devised to bring the swell shutters into oper-
tion more gradually, so as to place the crescendo and
decrescendo perfectly under the control of the per-
former.
4. That the composition pedals affecting the
great organ include porportionate combinations of
the pedal organ; but that a ventil be provided to
shut off the pedal organ to a soft sixteen-feet tone by
dra.v-stop and double-action pedal. 5. That the
more important and commonly used couplers should
be acted upon by pedals as well as by draw-stops.
6. That the great to pedal coupler h ve a draw-stop
knob both on left and right-hand sides of the
manuals.
7. That the draw-stops project from perpendicular
jambs. 8. That in the case of large organs the
dra*-stop jambs be placed obliquely. 9. That no
key-slip be placed between the different manual key-
boards.
10. That the short keys of the pedals be either
lengthened or raised at the back, in such a way as
to assist in the cultivation of a more legato style of
pedalling.
11. That the consideration of organ builders be
directed to the desirability of securing all centre-pins
in the various actions.
12. That the attention of those engaged in the
preparation of organ specifications be directed to
the desirability of including sixteen, eight, and four-
feet pedal organ stops, of characteristic qualities of
tone, suitable for melodic use.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).