Stunning images of church organ pipes

[boingboing]

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/09/stunning-images-of-church-orga.html

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[plc]

Many organs have decorative non-functional “facade pipes” on the front for prettyness. The first 2 images likely show organs with non-functional pipes. The giveaway is that they are truly symmetrical. No two pipes in a functional rank (set) of pipes will be the same size. If you look at the third picture, while the case is symmetrical, if you compare the 2 biggest pipes on each side, you’ll see that one is slightly longer than the other.

Of course, on many organs there are no speaking pipes at all because the sound is produced electronically. Many organs with actual pipes will have some digital voices, particularly for the very low stops because of cost or space constraints.

[sockdoll]

I love the videos that show traditional organ pipe making, sometimes using modern tools.

[Beanolini]

I like the Spanish style with protruding pipes:

[hecep]

No one tackles Liszt’s Ad Nos like Lidia, here.

[hecep]

@Beanolini

I like the Spanish style with protruding pipes

Protruding pipes, indeed.

Raoul and his codpiece say “thank you”.

[PatRx2]

Trompette en chamade. It’s pretty common in French organs as well. From a Casavant:

[wolfman_al2]

Those are absolutely gorgeous. I always liked church organs, its a musical instrument and at the same time a sculpture, a melange of different artforms.
I always loved the massive organ of the cathedral here in Frankfurt http://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/d-o-m-iii-werner-sperl/17409524
It impressed me ever since I first saw it.

[anon68952647]

They’re removing (for a total rebuild) the pipe organ in my church. Been there >100 years, time for a tune up. Heck, the organist has been there nearly 50 years now! Takes the shop a full year to restore one (an organ) (and reinstall it). Seems a lot of it is done off-site.

[bill_posters]

fearful symmetry

[L_Mariachi]

Some of these look they were designed by the same builder who did the one I grew up with:

No, I don’t know why the photographer couldn’t wait until the guy was finished packing up and out of frame.

[randywalters]

I love pianist Keith Jarrett’s work; I’ve been a fan for over 45 years.

While he’s best known for his improvised solo piano concerts, he also has some very interesting albums that feature him playing pipe organ. Hymns/Spheres has him improvising on pipe organ alone, while Invocations/The Moth and the Flame also has him on soprano sax and piano.

If you’re interested in hearing some eclectic and often non-traditional pipe organ performances, I highly recommend both of these albums. Here’s a wonderful introduction – his “Hymn of Remembrance.”