Description of the image
The organ is a musical instrument with a keyboard at the bottom middle side, and three bodies ended at the top with a sharp tower, respectively, two higher bodies and a central one.
The image shows the organ console, from the lateral side, on the left, with the organist in profile, sitting on a chair, playing at the organ, on the right.
The organ is represented full of relief, and the organist is dressed in clothing rendered by oblique and parallel lines and trousers highlighted by the texture of thick squares.
Historical data
The organ, a musical instrument with tubes and keyboards, is often described as the queen of instruments, a title claimed, among others, by the violin. Writer Bujor Nedelcovici describes the organ not as a single musical instrument, but as “dozens of orchestras” [Bibliography 1]. At the same time, the organ was the instrument of veneration of the Byzantine emperors [Bibliography 2] for a thousand years, from the time of Emperor Constantine (272-337) and until the fall of Constantinople (1453),.
However, the history of the organ is not very clear. It is appreciated that the organ is one of the most durable musical instruments, whose appearance is indicated to be in Greece in the third century BC. e. n .., from where it came to the Roman Empire. According to Professor Lucian Drâmbărean, the organ was initially used for “fun” and “entertainment”, especially in circuses, during gladiator fights [Bibliography 3], but also for banquets and weddings. It was used in church as early as the eighth century , but it was only found in Catholic, Protestant, United, and not Orthodox churches. The Greek engineer Ctesibius from Alexandria is considered the inventor of the organ [Bibliography 4].
Museographer Daniela Voitescu classifies organs into two categories, tube organs or tubeless organs, the latter also being of two types: electronic and mechanical, and depending on the placement of the instrument in room organs, church organs and theater. The main components of an organ are the keyboard, the traction, the tubes, the registers, the pedalboard, the air supply mechanism [Bibliography 5]. Some of the most famous organs in Romania are those from the Radio Hall, the Evangelical Church in Sibiu, the Black Church in Brașov or the Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bucharest.
Bibliography
- Bujor Nedelcovici, Cine sunteți, Bujor Nedelcovici?, București, Editura Alfa, 2001.
- Daniela Voitescu, Orga Rieger, accesibil online la adresa http://peles.ro/patrimoniul/instrumente-muzicale/orga-rieger/ [23 februarie 2019].
- ***, Povestea celui mai longeviv instrument muzical¸accesibil online la adresa http://www.monitorulcj.ro/actualitate/53806-din-arenele-de-lupte-cu-gladiatori-in-bisericile-din-cluj-napoca_-povestea-celui-mai-longeviv-instrument-muzical-%E2%80%93-foto-si-video [23 februarie 2019].
- ***, The History of the Pipe Organ, http://www.classichistory.net/archives/organ [23 februarie 2019].
- Daniela Voitescu, Orga Rieger…
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