The most honorable place in musical life The 17th century was occupied by an organ with its repertoire. The time will come - and organ art will recede into the background (already in the era Viennese classics). In the 17th century it enjoyed the greatest reverence. At that time the organ was considered “the king of all instruments” and it really justified this description:
- with its impressive polyphonic sound of a wide range, which exceeded the range of all instruments of the orchestra;
- the brightest dynamic contrasts;
- enormous timbre capabilities (the number of registers in large organs reaches up to 200, but the main thing is that the combination of several registers gives rise to a new timbre, completely different from the original one.
The newest instruments use a “memory” device, thanks to which you can select a certain combination of registers in advance and make them sound at the right time). In the sound of an organ, you can hear both the choir and all the instruments of the symphony orchestra, which is why they say that the organ is a “big Symphony Orchestra, played by one person." All this brought the organ to first place among instruments XVII century, and even the orchestra of that time could not compete with it.
The organ is a keyboard and wind instrument that has a very long history. Already in Ancient Egypt and in ancient Greece there was a so-called hydraulics- a water organ whose pipes sounded using a water press. Gradually, the structure of the organ became more and more improved. In a modern organ:
- from 800 to 30 thousand pipes of different sizes and each has its own timbre;
- several keyboards, which are located in steps one above the other and are called manuals;
- many pedals forming a kind of foot keyboard - the organist plays with both hands and feet, so notes for the organ are written on three rulers;
- air blowing mechanism - bellows and air ducts;
- department where the management system is concentrated.
Organs have always been built for specific rooms, and organ builders took into account all their features, sizes, and acoustics. Therefore, there are no two absolutely identical organs in the world; each is a unique creation of a master. One of the best organs in Europe is located in Riga, in the Dome Cathedral.
The organs of the 17th century no longer differed sharply in sound from modern organs, although their technical improvement continued. They were indispensable participants in church services, and were also performed outside the church - in private homes. Was several varieties organs:
- in large cathedrals there were the most perfect, majestic organs of gigantic size with two or three manuals;
- in home life, in small churches have become widespread positives(room) and portables(portable) organs; in theaters, small chapels, on the streets one could hear regal - a small organ with a shrill, somewhat nasal sound.
Dutch organ school
Composers from various European countries participated in the development of organ music in one way or another. Almost everywhere in Western Europe, in large cathedrals and churches, first-class organists worked - composers and performers in one person, which was the norm for that time. For example, in Holland, in Amsterdam, the activity of a brilliant performer-improviser on the organ took place Jan Pietersa Sweelink- representative Dutch schools s. The first public events in the history of music are associated with his name. organ concerts, which Sweelinck organized right in the church where he worked. He willingly passed on his experience and knowledge to numerous students who came from different countries. Among them is the later famous German organist Samuel Scheidt.
Italian organ school
Italy at this time put forward the great Girolamo Frescobaldi. “Italian Bach”, “father of the true organ style” - that’s what he was called later. Frescobaldi's activities took place in Rome, where he was organist of the Cathedral of St. Petra. Frescobaldi's works were born in close connection with his performing activities. Rumors about a brilliant organist attracted large audiences to Rome, who flocked to the cathedral in droves, as if to concert hall to listen to him play.
German organ school
However, the most important role in the development of organ music was played by the Germans. IN Germany organ art reached an unprecedented scale. Here a whole galaxy of great and original masters emerged who held primacy in the development of organ music until the time of Bach.
The first German organists were students of the great Venetians - Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, organists of the 16th century. Many of them studied with Frescobaldi and Sweelinck. The German organ school, thus, adopted all the best that composers from other countries had, synthesizing the achievements of both the Italian and Dutch schools. Of the numerous organists in Germany, the most famous are Samuel ScheidtJan Adam Reinken, Dietrich Buxtehude(representatives of the North German school), Johann Pachelbel.
The development of organ music is associated with the flourishing instrumental polyphony. The creative efforts of German organists were aimed primarily at the genre fugues- the highest polyphonic form. The fugue in the works of German polyphonists developed in its “pre-Bach” form, not yet reaching its highest maturity. It will acquire a classically perfect form a little later, in Bach’s work.
Another favorite genre of German organ music is chorale prelude. This is an organ arrangement of the tunes of a Protestant chorale, that is, spiritual chants of the Lutheran Church. They originated during the Reformation and were based on German folk melodies. This is a native German national genre. The duties of the German organist included accompanying the singing of the community chorale and “preluding” chorale themes during the service (alternating with the singing of the parishioners). Choral arrangements have many varieties, from the simplest harmonizations of choral tunes to elaborate choral fantasies.
The organ is an ancient instrument. His distant predecessors were, apparently, bagpipes and pan flute. In ancient times, when difficult musical instruments not yet, several reed pipes of different sizes began to be connected together - this is Pan’s flute.
It was believed that it was invented by the god of forests and groves Pan. It is easy to play on one pipe: it needs a little air. But playing several at once is much more difficult - you don’t have enough breath. Therefore, already in ancient times, people were looking for a mechanism that could replace human breathing. They found such a mechanism: they began to pump air with bellows, the same as those that blacksmiths used to fan the fire in the forge.In the second century BC in Alexandria, Ctesebius (lat. Ctesibius, approximately 3rd - 2nd centuries BC) invented a hydraulic organ. Note that this Greek nickname literally means “Creator of Life” (Greek Ktesh-bio), i.e. simply the Lord God. This Ctesibius allegedly also invented a float water clock (which has not come down to us), a piston pump and a hydraulic drive
- long before the discovery of Torricelli's law (1608-1647). (In what conceivable way in the 2nd century BC was it possible to ensure the tightness necessary to create a vacuum in the Ctesibius pump? What material could the connecting rod mechanism of the pump be made of - after all, to ensure the sound of an organ, an initial excess pressure of at least 2 atm is required. ?).
In the hydraulic system, air was pumped not by bellows, but by a water press. Therefore, he acted more evenly, and the sound was better - smoother and more beautiful.
Hydraulos was used by the Greeks and Romans at hippodromes, in circuses, and also to accompany pagan mysteries. The sound of the hydraulic jet was unusually strong and piercing. In the first centuries of Christianity, the water pump was replaced by air bellows, which made it possible to increase the size of the pipes and their number in the organ.
Centuries passed, the instrument was improved. The so-called performance console or performance table appeared. There are several keyboards on it, located one above the other, and at the bottom there are huge keys for the feet - pedals that were used to extract the most low sounds. Of course, the reed pipes - the flutes of Pan - were long forgotten. Metal pipes began to sound in the organ, and their number reached many thousands. It is clear that if each pipe had a corresponding key, then it would be impossible to play an instrument with thousands of keys. Therefore, register knobs or buttons were made above the keyboards. Each key corresponds to several dozen, or even hundreds of pipes, producing sounds of the same pitch but different timbre. They can be turned on and off using register knobs, and then, at the request of the composer and performer, the sound of the organ becomes similar to a flute, an oboe or other instruments; it can even imitate birdsong.
Already in the middle of the 5th century, organs were built in Spanish churches, but since the instrument still sounded loud, it was used only on major holidays.
By the 11th century, all of Europe was building organs. The organ, built in 980 in Wenchester (England), was known for its unusual dimensions. Gradually, the keys replaced the awkward large “plates”; The range of the instrument has become wider, the registers have become more diverse. At the same time, a small portable organ, the portable, and a miniature stationary organ, the positive, came into widespread use.
The Musical Encyclopedia states that the organ keys date back to the 14th century. were huge
- 30-33 cm long and 8-9 cm wide. The playing technique was very simple: these keys were hit with fists and elbows (German: Orgel schlagen). What sublime divinely inspired organ masses could be heard in Catholic cathedrals (it is believed that from the 7th century AD) with such a performance technique?? Or were they orgies?
17-18 centuries – “golden age” of organ building and organ performance.
The organs of this time were distinguished by their beauty and variety of sound; exceptional timbre clarity and transparency made them excellent instruments for performing polyphonic music.
Organs were built in all Catholic cathedrals and large churches. Their solemn and powerful sound perfectly suited the architecture of cathedrals with upward lines and high arches. Top musicians the world served as church organists. Much excellent music was written for this instrument by various composers, including Bach. Most often they wrote for the “baroque organ,” which was more widespread than the organs of previous or subsequent periods. Of course, not all music created for the organ was cult music associated with the church.
So-called “secular” works were also composed for him. In Russia, the organ was only a secular instrument, since in the Orthodox Church, unlike the Catholic Church, it was never installed.
Since the 18th century, composers have included the organ in oratorios. And in the 19th century he appeared in opera. As a rule, this was caused by a stage situation - if the action took place in or near a temple. Tchaikovsky, for example, used the organ in the opera “The Maid of Orleans” in the scene of the solemn coronation of Charles VII. We also hear the organ in one of the scenes of Gounod's opera "Faust"
(scene in the cathedral). But Rimsky-Korsakov in the opera "Sadko" commissioned the organ to accompany the song of the Elder Mighty Hero, who interrupts the dance
Sea king. Verdi in the opera "Otello" uses the organ to imitate the sound of a sea storm. Sometimes the organ is included in the score symphonic works. With his participation, the Third Symphony of Saint-Saëns, the Poem of Ecstasy and “Prometheus” by Scriabin are performed; the symphony “Manfred” by Tchaikovsky also features an organ, although the composer did not foresee this. He wrote the harmonium part, which the organ often replaces there.
Romanticism of the 19th century, with its desire for expressive orchestral sound, had a dubious influence on organ construction and organ music; masters tried to create instruments that were an “orchestra for one performer,” but as a result, the matter was reduced to a weak imitation of an orchestra.
At the same time, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many new timbres appeared in the organ, and significant improvements were made in the design of the instrument.
The trend toward ever larger organs culminated in the enormous 33,112-pipe organ in Atlantic City, New York.
Jersey). This instrument has two chairs, and one of them has 7 keyboards. Despite this, in the 20th century. organists and organ builders realized the need to return to simpler and more convenient types of instruments.
The remains of the oldest organ-like instrument with a hydraulic drive were found in 1931 during excavations at Aquincum (near Budapest) and dated to 228 AD. e. It is believed that this city, which had a forced water supply system, was destroyed in 409. However, in terms of the level of development of hydraulic technology, this is the middle of the 15th century.
The structure of a modern organ.
The organ is a keyboard-wind musical instrument, the largest and most complex of existing tools. They play it like a piano, pressing the keys. But unlike the piano, the organ is not a stringed instrument, but a wind instrument, and its relative is not a keyboard instrument, but a small flute.
A huge modern organ consists of three or more organs, and the performer can control all of them simultaneously. Each of the organs that make up such a “large organ” has its own registers (sets of pipes) and its own keyboard (manual). Pipes lined up in rows are located in the internal rooms (chambers) of the organ; Some of the pipes may be visible, but in principle all the pipes are hidden by a façade (avenue) consisting partly of decorative pipes. The organist sits at the so-called spiltish (cathedra), in front of him are the keyboards (manuals) of the organ, arranged in terraces one above the other, and under his feet is a pedal keyboard. Each of the organs included in
“large organ” has its own purpose and name; among the most common are “main” (German: Haupwerk), “upper”, or “overwerk”
(German: Oberwerk), “ruckpositive” (Rykpositiv), as well as a set of pedal registers. The “main” organ is the largest and contains the main registers of the instrument. The Ryukpositif is similar to the Main, but is smaller and softer sounding, and also contains some special solo registers. The “upper” organ adds new solo and onomatopoeic timbres to the ensemble; Pipes are connected to the pedal, producing low sounds to enhance the bass lines.
The pipes of some of their named organs, especially the "upper" and "rukpositive", are placed inside semi-closed louvers-chambers, which can be closed or opened using the so-called channel, resulting in the creation of crescendo and diminuendo effects that are not available on an organ without this mechanism. IN modern organs air is forced into the pipes using an electric motor; Through wooden air ducts, air from the bellows enters the vinladas - a system of wooden boxes with holes in the top lid. Organ pipes are reinforced with their “legs” in these holes. From the windlade, air under pressure enters one or another pipe.
Since each trumpet is capable of reproducing one sound pitch and one timbre, a standard five-octave manual requires a set of at least 61 pipes. In general, an organ can have from several hundred to many thousands of pipes. A group of pipes producing sounds of the same timbre is called a register. When the organist turns on the register on the pin (using a button or lever located on the side of the manuals or above them), access to all the pipes of that register is available. Thus, the performer can select any register he needs or any combination of registers.
There are different types of trumpets that create a variety of sound effects.
Pipes are made of tin, lead, copper and various alloys
(mainly lead and tin), in some cases wood is also used.
The length of the pipes can be from 9.8 m to 2.54 cm or less; The diameter varies depending on the pitch and timbre of the sound. Organ pipes are divided into two groups according to the method of sound production (labial and reed) and into four groups according to timbre. In labial pipes, sound is generated as a result of the impact of an air stream on the lower and upper lips of the “mouth” (labium) - a cut in the lower part of the pipe; in reed pipes, the source of sound is a metal reed vibrating under the pressure of an air stream. The main families of registers (timbres) are principals, flutes, gambas and reeds.
The principals are the foundation of all organ sound; flute registers sound calmer, softer and to some extent resemble orchestral flutes in timbre; gambas (strings) are more piercing and sharper than flutes; The reed timbre is metallic, imitating the timbres of orchestral wind instruments. Some organs, especially theater organs, also have percussion sounds, such as cymbals and drums.
Finally, many registers are constructed in such a way that their pipes produce not the main sound, but its transposition an octave higher or lower, and in the case of the so-called mixtures and aliquots, not even one sound, as well as overtones to the main tone (aliquots reproduce one overtone, mixtures – up to seven overtones).
Organ in Russia.
The organ, the development of which has since ancient times been associated with the history of the Western Church, was able to establish itself in Russia, in a country where the Orthodox Church prohibited the use of musical instruments during worship.
Kievan Rus (10th-12th centuries). The first organs in Russia, as well as in Western Europe, came from Byzantium. This coincided with the adoption of Christianity in Rus' in 988 and the reign of Prince Vladimir the Saint (c. 978-1015), with an era of especially close political, religious and cultural contacts between Russian princes and Byzantine rulers. The body in Kievan Rus was stable integral part courtier and folk culture. The earliest evidence of an organ in our country is in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, which, due to its long construction in the 11th-12th centuries. became the “stone chronicle” of Kievan Rus. There is a fresco of Skomorokha preserved there, which depicts a musician playing positively and two calcantes
(organ bellows pumpers), pumping air into the organ bellows. After death
During the Mongol-Tatar rule (1243-1480) of the Kyiv state, Moscow became the cultural and political center of Rus'.
Moscow Grand Duchy and Kingdom (15-17 centuries). In this era between
Moscow and Western Europe developed ever closer relations. So, in 1475-1479. Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti built
The Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, and Sophia's brother Paleologus, niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI and since 1472 the wife of the king
Ivan III, brought organist John Salvator to Moscow from Italy.
The royal court of that time showed a keen interest in organ art.
This allowed the Dutch organist and organ builder Gottlieb Eilhof to settle in Moscow in 1578 (the Russians called him Danilo Nemchin). A written message from the English envoy Jerome Horsey was dated 1586 about the purchase of several clavichords and an organ built in England for Tsarina Irina Feodorovna, sister of Boris Godunov.
Organs have become widespread among common people.
Buffoons traveling around Rus' on portables. For a wide variety of reasons, which was condemned Orthodox Church.
During the reign of Tsar Mikhail Romanov (1613-1645) and further, up to
1650, except for Russian organists Tomila Mikhailov (Besov), Boris Ovsonov,
Melenty Stepanov and Andrey Andreev, foreigners also worked in the amusement chamber in Moscow: the Poles Jerzy (Yuri) Proskurovsky and Fyodor Zavalsky, the organ builders, the Dutch brothers Yagan (probably Johan) and Melchert Lun.
Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, from 1654 to 1685, Simon served at court
Gutovsky, musician “jack of all trades” of Polish origin, originally from
Smolensk. With his multifaceted activities, Gutovsky made a significant contribution to the development musical culture. In Moscow he built several organs; in 1662, by order of the Tsar, he and four of his apprentices went to
Persia to donate one of his instruments to the Shah of Persia.
One of the most significant events in cultural life Moscow was founded in 1672 by the court theater, which was also equipped with an organ
Gutovsky.
The era of Peter the Great (1682-1725) and his successors. Peter I was keenly interested in Western culture. In 1691, as a nineteen-year-old youth, he commissioned the famous Hamburg organ builder Arp Schnittger (1648-1719) to build an organ for Moscow with sixteen registers, decorated with walnut figures on top. In 1697, Schnitger sent another one to Moscow, this time an eight-register instrument for a certain Mr. Ernhorn. Peter
I, who sought to adopt all Western European achievements, among other things, commissioned the Görlitz organist Christian Ludwig Boxberg, who demonstrated to the Tsar the new organ of Eugen Casparini in the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Görlitz (Germany), installed there in 1690-1703, to design an even more grandiose organ for the Metropolitan Cathedral in Moscow. Projects for two dispositions of this “giant organ” for 92 and 114 registers were prepared by Boxberg ca. 1715. During the reign of the reformer tsar, organs were built throughout the country, primarily in Lutheran and Catholic churches.
In St. Petersburg, the Catholic Church of St. Catherine and the Protestant Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. For the latter, the organ was built by Johann Heinrich Joachim (1696-1752) from Mitau (now Jelgava in Latvia) in 1737.
In 1764, weekly concerts of symphonic and oratorio music began to be held in this church. Thus, in 1764 the royal court was captivated by the playing of the Danish organist Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau (1741 or 1742-1813). At the end
1770s, Empress Catherine II commissioned the English master Samuel
Green (1740-1796) construction of an organ in St. Petersburg, presumably for Prince Potemkin.
Famous organ builder Heinrich Adreas Kontius (1708-1792) from Halle
(Germany), mainly working in the Baltic cities, and also built two organs, one in St. Petersburg (1791), the other in Narva.
The most famous organ builder in Russia at the end of the 18th century was Franz Kirschnik
(1741-1802). Abbot Georg Joseph Vogler, who gave in April and May 1788 in St.
St. Petersburg, two concerts, after visiting the organ workshop, Kirshnik was so impressed by his instruments that in 1790 he invited his assistant master Rakwitz, first to Warsaw and then to Rotterdam.
The thirty-year activity of the German composer, organist and pianist Johann Wilhelm left a famous mark on the cultural life of Moscow.
Gessler (1747-1822). Gessler studied organ playing from a student of J. S. Bach
Johann Christian Kittel and therefore in his work adhered to the tradition of the Leipzig cantor of the Church of St. Thomas.. In 1792 Gessler was appointed imperial court conductor in St. Petersburg. In 1794, he moved to
Moscow, gained fame as the best piano teacher, and thanks to numerous concerts dedicated to the organ work of J. S. Bach, he had a huge influence on Russian musicians and music lovers.
19th – early 20th century. In the 19th century Among the Russian aristocracy, interest in playing music on the organ in home conditions spread. Prince Vladimir
Odoevsky (1804-1869), one of the most remarkable personalities of Russian society, a friend of M. I. Glinka and the author of the first original works for organ in Russia, at the end of the 1840s invited the master Georg Mälzel (1807-
1866) for the construction of an organ, which went down in the history of Russian music as
“Sebastianon” (named after Johann Sebastian Bach). It was about a home organ, in the development of which Prince Odoevsky himself took part. This Russian aristocrat saw one of the main goals of his life in awakening interest among the Russian musical community in the organ and in the exceptional personality of J. S. Bach. Accordingly, the programs of his home concerts were primarily devoted to the work of the Leipzig cantor. Exactly from
Odoevsky also issued a call to the Russian public to raise funds for the restoration of the Bach organ in the Novof Church (now the Bach Church) in Arnstadt (Germany).
M. I. Glinka often improvised on Odoevsky’s organ. From the memoirs of his contemporaries we know that Glinka was endowed with outstanding improvisational talent. He highly appreciated the organ improvisations of Glinka F.
Sheet. During his tour in Moscow on May 4, 1843, Liszt gave an organ concert in the Protestant Church of Sts. Peter and Pavle.
It did not lose its intensity in the 19th century. and the activities of organ builders. TO
In 1856 there were 2,280 church bodies in Russia. German firms took part in the construction of organs installed in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the period from 1827 to 1854, Karl Wirth (1800-1882) worked in St. Petersburg as a piano and organ builder, who built several organs, among which one was intended for the Church of St. Catherine. In 1875 this instrument was sold to Finland. The English company Brindley and Foster from Sheffield supplied its organs to Moscow, Kronstadt and St. Petersburg, the German company Ernst Rover from Hausneindorf (Harz) built one of its organs in Moscow in 1897, the Austrian organ-building workshop of the brothers
Rieger erected several organs in churches in Russian provincial cities
(V Nizhny Novgorod- in 1896, in Tula - in 1901, in Samara - in 1905, in Penza - in 1906). One of the most famous organs of Eberhard Friedrich Walker with
1840 was in the Protestant Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg. It was built on the model of the large organ built seven years earlier in the church of St. Paul in Frankfurt am Main.
A huge rise in Russian organ culture began with the founding of organ classes at the St. Petersburg (1862) and Moscow (1885) conservatories. A graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory, a native of Lübeck, Gerich Stihl (1829-
1886). His teaching activity in St. Petersburg lasted from 1862 to
1869. In the last years of his life he was the organist of the Olaya church in Tallinea Stihl and his successor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory lasted from 1862 to 1869. In the last years of his life he was the organist of the Olaya church in Tallinea Stihl and his successor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Louis Gomilius (1845-1908 ), in their pedagogical practice they were guided primarily by the German organ school. In the early years, organ classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory were held in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, and among the first organ students was P. I. Tchaikovsky. Actually, the organ appeared in the conservatory itself only in 1897.
In 1901, the Moscow Conservatory also received a magnificent concert organ. For a year this organ was an exhibition piece in
Russian pavilion of the World Exhibition in Paris (1900). In addition to this instrument, there were two more Ladegast organs, which in 1885 found their place in the Small Hall of the Conservatory. The larger of them was donated by a merchant and philanthropist
Vasily Khludov (1843-1915). This organ was in use at the conservatory until 1959. Professors and students regularly participated in concerts in Moscow and
Petersburg, and graduates of both conservatories also gave concerts in other cities of the country. Foreign performers also performed in Moscow: Charles-
Marie Widor (1896 and 1901), Charles Tournemire (1911), Marco Enrico Bossi (1907 and
1912).
Organs were also built for theaters, for example for the Imperial and for
Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, and later for the Imperial Theater in Moscow.
Jacques was invited to succeed Louis Gomilius at the St. Petersburg Conservatory
Ganshin (1886-1955). A native of Moscow, and later a citizen of Switzerland and a student of Max Reger and Charles-Marie Widor, he headed the organ class from 1909 to 1920. It is interesting that organ music belonging to Peru professional composers Russia, starting with Dm. Bortyansky (1751-
1825), combined Western European musical forms with traditional Russian melos. This contributed to the manifestation of special expressiveness and charm, thanks to which Russian works for organ stand out with their originality against the backdrop of the world organ repertoire. This also became the key to the strong impression that they make on the listener.
Handheld portables were also made. Such an instrument was hung from the neck. With one hand the performer pumped air, with the other he played simple melodies.
With the invention of reed pipes, small tabletop organs with only reed registers began to be built. They were called regalia. Due to its sharp sound, regal was readily used during processions to support the choir.
Various representatives of the branched family of organs, which became widespread in the musical practice of the era, were the material basis on which it became possible development special organ creativity and performance. However, for a long time, music for organs did not differ in style from that created for his keyboard contemporaries (harpsichord, clavichord, clavicembalo, virginel) and was united with it under a common name - music for clavier. Independent organ and harpsichord styles crystallized gradually over a long period of time. Also in J. S. Bach’s collection, published under the general title “Klavier Exercises” (“Klavierubung”), there are pieces for organ and harpsichord. At the same time, with the development of large forms of choral polyphony in church music and the penetration of polyphonic techniques into secular polyphonic song, already in the 15th century the organ sphere was felt more and more clearly. Organ tablatures containing pieces appear different composers. New organs are being built. In 1490, a second organ was installed in the Cathedral of St. Stamp in Venice. Church buildings with their sonorous acoustics were the best place for the construction of large organs, and the listening audience from parishioners of a wide variety of social groups and positions forced vivid imagery and definiteness of musical forms when creating organ works.
Parisian publisher Pierre Attennan publishes the first collections of music. Four of them contain songs and dances, three present the liturgical repertoire for organ and spinet - this is an arrangement of choral parts of masses, preludes, etc.
During the Renaissance, the formation of national organ schools began, emerging on the basis of the activities of outstanding organists of their time. The oldest of them is the poet and composer of Florence, representative of the Italian ars nova Francesco Landino (1325-1397). “Divine Francesco”, “Cieco degli Organi” (“blind organist”) - this is what his contemporaries called him. The son of an artist who lost his sight as a child, Francesco became a poet, crowned with a laurel wreath from the hands of Petrarch in 1364, and an inspired improviser on the organ. IN Church of San Lorenzo he performed sacred music on a large organ. At the ducal court, Francesco Landino played music on a portable device, playing secular pieces and accompanying singers. After Landino in Italy great fame acquired by Antonio Squacialuppi (d. ca. 1471), the famous Italian organist of the 15th century. Nothing of his compositions has survived, except for the collection of works by other composers he published.
Germany produced the best figures in the organ culture of the Renaissance. These are the composers Konrad Paumann (1410-1475), Heinrich Isaac (1450-1517), Paul Hofheimer (1459-1537), Arnold Schlick (approx. 1455-1525).
Among them, the figure of the famous Nuremberg organist Konrad Paumann especially stands out. Great musical talent and exceptional memory allowed Pauman, who was blind from birth, to master playing the organ, lute, violin, flute and other instruments. Frequent trips outside of Nuremberg bring Pauman wide fame: at the age of 37 he becomes a prominent personality in his hometown. In recognition of his musical merits, he was awarded a knighthood. This fact is especially significant because Pauman came from the lower classes. Raoul Hoffheimer, the organist of Archduke Sigismund in Innsbruck, was later awarded a knighthood.
A well-known historical fact testifies to the great respect that organists of that era enjoyed: some of them were elected burgomasters, and their assumption of the position of city organist was accompanied by a magnificent ceremony. Already in old age, Paumann was invited to Munich as the court organist of Duke Albrecht III. In Munich's Frauenkirche, where famous organ Pauman played, a tombstone depicting the great organist with a portable in his hands has been preserved.
Received historical significance creative activity Pauman. His major work “Fundamentum organisandi” (“Fundamentum organisandi”, 1452-1455) was the first guide to organ playing and the technique of instrumental transcriptions. It contains a large number of arrangements of secular and spiritual songs. Examples are given for the first time instrumental interpretation vocal melodies using so-called coloring (melodic coloring of the main tune). Paumann’s propositions were continued and supplemented by the Heidelberg organist Arnold Schlick in his work “Mirror of Organ Builders and Organists.” The works of Paumann and Schlick testify to the emerging desire for a “theoretical understanding of the processes occurring in the field of organ culture.
In the middle of the 16th century, the Venetian composer school, the founder of which was the Flemish Adrian Willart (d. 1562). Organ music This school is most clearly represented by the works of Andrea Gabrieli (1510-1586) and, especially, his student and nephew Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). Having written vocal and instrumental music in a wide variety of genres, both Gabriels in the field of organ music preferred the polyphonic forms of canzona and ricercara. In G. Gabrieli we find, in all likelihood, the first example of a fifth fugue with interludes, which he still, according to tradition, calls a ricercar.
The outstanding organist and harpsichordist from Brescia, Claudio Merulo (1533-1604), is known for his organ toccatas, ricercaras, and canzones, which testify to the influence of the traditions of choral music on the organ style. In 1557, the young musician was invited to Venice as the second organist of the Cathedral of St. Mark and entered the galaxy of composers of the Venetian school.
The flourishing of church music in England under King Henry VIII entailed the formation of the English organ school. In the 1540s and 1550s, the organist and composer John Moerbeck (d. 1585) came to prominence. History has preserved the names of organists and composers - his contemporaries. These are Christophe Tee (d. 1572), Robert White (d. 1574), Thomas Tallis (d. 1585).
A classic of French organ music is Jean Titlouz (1563-1633). He was a famous performing organist and author of collections of organ plays. In the preface to his works, J. Titlouz writes that his goal was to distribute an organ with two manuals and a pedal for separate, clear performance of polyphony, especially when crossing voices.
The traditions of organ playing in Spain go back centuries. There is evidence that around 1254 the university in Salamanca needed an organ builder. The names of organists of the 14th-15th centuries are known. Among them are not only Spaniards, but also representatives of organists of other nationalities. Even against the background of the general flourishing of the musical culture of Spain in the 16th century, achievements in the field of organ music stand out. The outstanding theorist Juan Bermudo (1510 - d. after 1555) writes a large treatise - “A Book Calling for the Study of Musical Instruments” (“Libro llamado declaracion de instrumentos musicales”, 1549-1555), in particular keyboards.
Top examples are represented by the work of Antonio de Cabezon (1510-1566), a blind cembalist and court organist of the Spanish King Philip II. Accompanying the king on trips, Cabezon traveled to Italy, England and the Netherlands. Among his works, a significant place, like Pauman’s, is occupied by works of a pedagogical nature. Of the musical works, Cabezon was most attracted to the tiento (From the Spanish tiento - “touch”, or “staff of the blind”). These are large polyphonic plays, close in form to ricercar and ancient fugue. In addition to the tiento, small pieces such as preludes were popular in the works of Spanish composers of the 16th century. They were called verso, or versillo - a term borrowed from the sphere of poetry (verso - verse).
Surviving Polish organ tablatures of the monastery of St. Spirit in Krakow (1548), Jan of Lublin (1548) and others give an idea of the organ music of Poland in the 16th century with its rather pronounced national flavor. The names of a number of composers of the 16th century are known. These are Mikolay from Krakow, Marcin Leopolita, Vaclav from Szamotul and others.
At the same time, the high rise of European organ culture during the Renaissance was accompanied by periods of difficult trials. An organ so widely used in countries Western Europe, was expelled from the church more than once. The turbulent events of anti-feudal uprisings and wars often took the form of religious struggle against catholic church and the papacy. Protestantism fiercely opposed not only the ideological, political, theological and organizational positions of Catholicism, but also all external manifestations of the Catholic cult. Everything that gave pomp and grandeur to the divine service was persecuted. Statues were destroyed, icons were destroyed, polyphonic masses were replaced by simple choral chants, and the national language was introduced into the services in place of Latin texts. The organ also suffered a cruel fate. Thus, in England, the wonderful instrument of Westminster Abbey was completely destroyed, and its pipes, made of an expensive metal alloy, were sold in a tavern for a glass of beer. The Thirty Years' War in Germany led to the impoverishment of the country, numerous destructions and the decline of musical culture. In monasteries and cathedrals they limited themselves to the singing of Lutheran chorales, which were performed by the entire community. At the same time, it was at this time that the intonation a new style, which ended with the work of J. S. Bach. F. Engels wrote: “Luther cleaned out Augean stables not only churches, but also German language, created modern German prose and composed the text and melody of that chorale, imbued with confidence in victory, which became the “Marseillaise of the 16th century.” (Engels F. Dialectics of Nature. Introduction. M., 1950, p. 4).
Organ music has long featured arrangements of Gregorian chant melodies. Now the basis for such arrangements in the works of German composers are the melodies of Protestant choral chants. The genre of choral prelude, choral fantasy, and choral variations is widely developing.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF ORGAN MUSIC
At the end of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century, the most important figures in the field of European organ culture were three composers: the Dutchman Jan Peterson Sweelinck, the Italian Girolamo Frescobaldi and the German Samuel Scheidt. Undoubtedly, the formation of the organ style was also influenced by the work of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), the creator of sacred music based on national culture, Bach’s greatest predecessor in the field of cantata-oratorio genres. Sweelinck (1562-1621) was in his area the heir of the Dutch polyphonic school, which, starting from the 15th century, asserted the dominance of the vocal-choral style. Sweelinck's creative and performing activities took place in Amsterdam. As a church organist, he composed choral religious music. Being a remarkable performer, Sweelinck increasingly individualizes the organ part, introducing elements of virtuosity into it. In an Amsterdam church, he organizes independent organ concerts, turning the church building into a hall for promoting new forms of music-making. Sweelinck performs his toccatas, capriccios, and the famous “Chromatic Fantasy”. On the harpsichord and a small positive organ he performs with variations on folk melodies and adaptations of folk songs and dances. Many famous North German organists studied with Sweelinck: Melchior Schild, Heinrich Scheidemann, Jacob Pretorius and others. Among his students we see the greatest master of German organ music of the first half of the 17th century, Samuel Scheidt.
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) is the founder of the Central German organ school (J. S. Bach's uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Pachelbel and others, belonged to it). He worked in Halle, was a composer and teacher, court and church organist, bandmaster, and served as the city music director. His largest work was the three-volume “New Tablature” (1614-1653) for organ and clavier, which included toccatas, fugues, variations on the melodies of chorales and folk songs, fantasies, etc. Scheidt was especially famous as a master variation form and author of various chorale arrangements.
Brilliant German composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eeyenach (Germany) on March 31, 1685. in the family of the hereditary musician I. A. Bach. From an early age the boy sang in the choir, learned to play the violin from his father, after whose death he moved to his brother in Ohrdruf, then to Lüneburg.
While studying at school, the young man entered the choir and orchestra, studied musical works, transcribing them for himself, went to Hamburg to listen to the game famous organist I.A. Reinken. But even starting after finishing school (1703) independent work a violinist in Weimar and then an organist in Arnstadt, Bach continued to study. Having received leave, he went on foot to Lubeck to listen to the performance of the most prominent composer and organist D. Buxtehude.
Improving in organ performance, Bach reached unsurpassed artistic heights and became widely known as an organist and organ connoisseur - he was invited to perform music and receive new and updated organs. In 1717, Bach agreed to come to Dresden to participate in a competition with the French organist L. Marchand, who, however, avoided the competition by secretly leaving the city. Bach played music alone in front of the king and his courtiers, delighting the audience.
In Arnstadt, Mühlhausen (1707-1708) and Weimar (1708-1717) the musical creativity Bach, the first experiments in which were made in Ohrdruf. Over the years, many works have been written for organ, clavier, and for vocal performance (cantatas). At the end of 1717, Bach moved to Köthen, taking up the position of conductor of the princely orchestra.
The Köthen period of Bach's life (1717-1723) is characterized by the widest scope of his compositions instrumental music. Preludes, fugues, toccatas, fantasies, sonatas, partitas, suites, inventions for harpsichord, violin (solo), cello (solo), for the same instruments with clavier, for orchestra, famous collection“The Well-Tempered Clavier” (first volume - 24 preludes and fugues), violin concertos, 6 Brandenburg concertos for orchestra, cantatas, “St. John Passion” were written in Köthen - about 170 works.
In 1722, Bach accepted the position of cantor (regent and teacher) at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig. The St. John Passion, one of Bach's greatest creations, was performed here.
During the Leipzig years, about 250 cantatas were written (more than 180 have survived), motets, the High Mass, “St. Matthew Passion”, “Mark Passion” (lost), “Christmas”, “Easter” oratorios, overtures for orchestra, preludes and fugues, including the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, organ sonatas, keyboard concertos and much more. Bach led the choir, orchestra, played the organ, led a large pedagogical work at the school at Thomaskirche. His sons also studied with him, who later became famous composers, organists and harpsichordists, who for a time eclipsed the glory of their father.
During Bach's life and in the second half of the 18th century. Few of his works were known. The revival of Bach's legacy is associated with the name of F. Mendelssohn, who performed the St. Matthew Passion in 1829, 100 years after its first performance. Bach's works began to be published, performed and gained worldwide fame.
Bach's music is imbued with the ideas of humanism, deepest sympathy for suffering people, and hope for a better future. Nationality, following the high classical traditions of German, Italian, French art inspired Bach, created the soil on which his amazingly rich creativity blossomed. Jubilation and sorrow, joy and sorrow, sublime and confused - all this is inherent in Bach's music. The composer's spiritual experiences found such a truthful embodiment in it that it does not age; new generations find in it something in tune with their feelings and aspirations. In Bach's music, the art of polyphony (polyphonic music) has reached its highest perfection.