CHAPTER VI.

RADIATING AND CONCAVE PEDAL BOARDS.

Pedal boards had always been made flat with straight keys until Willis and the great organist, Dr. S. S. Wesley, devised the radiating and concave board whereby all the pedal keys were brought within equal distance of the player's feet. This was introduced in the organ in St. George's Hall, Liverpool, in 1855, and Willis has refused to supply any other type of board with his organs ever since. Curiously enough, the advantages of this board were not appreciated by many players who preferred the old type of board and at a conference called by the Royal College of Organists in 1890 it was decided to officially recommend a board which was concave, but had parallel keys. The following letter to the author shows that the R. C. O. has experienced a change of heart in this matter:

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS.

LONDON, S. W., 27th May, 1909.

Dear Sir: In answer to your inquiry the Resolutions and Recommendations to which you refer were withdrawn by my Council some years ago. No official recommendation is made by them now. It is stated in our Calendar that the Council wish it understood that the arrangements and measurements of the College organ are not intended to be accepted as authoritative or final suggestions. I am,

Yours faithfully, THOMAS SHINDLER, _Registrar_.

The radiating and concave board has been adopted by the American Guild of Organists and has long been considered the standard for the best organs built in the United States and Canada. It is self-evident that this board is more expensive to construct than the other. That is why we do not find it in low-priced organs.

In most American organs built twenty years ago, the compass of the pedal board was only two octaves and two notes, from CCC to D. Sometimes two octaves only. Later it was extended to F, 30 notes, which is the compass generally found in England. Following Hope-Jones' lead, all the best builders have now extended their boards to g, 32 notes, this range being called for by some of Bach's organ music and certain pieces of the French school where a melody is played by the right foot and the bass by the left. The chief reason is that g is the top note of the string bass, and is called for in orchestral transcriptions. Henry Willis & Sons have also extended the pedal compass to g in rebuilding the St. George's Hall organ in 1898.

PEDAL STOP CONTROL.

For a long time no means whatever of controlling the Pedal stops and couplers was provided, but in course of time it became the fashion to cause the combination pedals or pistons on the Great organ (and subsequently on the other departments also) to move the Pedal stops and couplers so as to provide a bass suited to the particular combination of stops in use on the manual. This was a crude arrangement and often proved more of a hindrance than of a help to the player. Unfortunately, unprogressive builders are still adhering to this inartistic plan. It frequently leads to a player upsetting his Pedal combination when he has no desire to do so. It becomes impossible to use the combination pedals without disturbing the stops and couplers of the Pedal department.

The great English organist, W. T. Best, in speaking of this, instanced a well-known organ piece, Rinck's "Flute Concerto," which called for quick changes from the Swell to the Great organ and _vice versa_, and said that he knew of no instrument in existence on which it could be properly played. An attempt had been made on the Continent to overcome this difficulty by the use of two pedal-boards, placed at an angle to each other, but it did not meet with success.

The Hope-Jones plan (patented 1889) of providing the combination pedals or pistons with a double touch was a distinct step in advance for it enabled the organist by means of a light touch to move only the manual registers and by means of a very much heavier touch on the combination pedal or piston to operate also his Pedal stops and couplers. Most large organs now built are furnished with a pedal for reversing the position of the Great to Pedal coupler. Though to a certain extent useful when no better means of control is provided, this is but a makeshift.

Thomas Casson, of Denbigh, Wales, introduced an artistic, though somewhat cumbersome, arrangement. He duplicated the draw-knobs controlling the Pedal stops and couplers and located one set of these with the Great organ stops, another set with the Swell organ stops and a third with the Choir. He placed in the key slip below each manual what he called a "Pedal Help." When playing on the Great organ, he would, by touching the "Pedal Help," switch into action the group of Pedal stops and coupler knobs located in the Great department, switching out of action all the other groups of Pedal stops and couplers. Upon touching the "Pedal Help" under the Swell organ keys, the Great organ group of Pedal stops and couplers would be rendered inoperative and the Swell group would be brought into action. By this means it was easy to prepare in advance groups of Pedal stops and couplers suited to the combination of stops sounding upon each manual and by touching a Pedal Help, to call the right group of Pedal stops into action at any moment. The combination pedals affecting the Great stop-knobs moved also the Pedal stop-knobs belonging to the proper group. The Swell and Choir groups were similarly treated.

But the simplest and best means of helping the organist to control his Pedal department is the automatic "Suitable Bass" arrangement patented by Hope-Jones in 1891 and subsequently. According to his plan a "Suitable Bass" tablet is provided just above the rear end of the black keys on each manual.

Each of these tablets has a double touch. On pressing it with ordinary force it moves the Pedal stop keys and couplers, so as to provide an appropriate bass to the combination of stops in use on that manual at the moment. On pressing it with much greater force it becomes locked down and remains in that position until released by the depression of the suitable bass tablet belonging to another manual, or by touching any of the Pedal stop-knobs or stop-keys.

When the suitable bass tablet belonging to any manual is thus locked down, the stops and couplers of the Pedal department will automatically move so as to provide at all times a bass that is suitable to the combination of stops and couplers in use upon that particular manual.

On touching the suitable bass tablet belonging to any other manual with extra pressure, the tablet formerly touched will be released and the latter will become locked down. The Pedal stops and couplers will now group themselves so as to provide a suitable bass to the stops in use on the latter-named manual, and will continue so to do until this suitable bass tablet is in turn released.

This automatic suitable bass device does not interfere with the normal use of the stop-keys of the pedal department by hand. Directly any one of these be touched, the suitable bass mechanism is automatically thrown out of action.

The combination pedals and pistons are all provided with double touch. Upon using them in the ordinary way the manual stops alone are affected. If, however, considerable extra pressure be brought to bear upon them the appropriate suitable bass tablet is thereby momentarily depressed and liberated--by this means providing a suitable bass. In large organs two or three adjustable toe pistons are also provided to give independent control of the Pedal organ. On touching any of these toe pistons all suitable bass tablets are released, and any selection of Pedal stops and couplers that the organist may have arranged on the toe piston operated is brought into use. The Hope-Jones plan seems to leave little room for improvement. It has been spoken of as "the greatest assistance to the organist since the invention of combination pedals." [1]

Compton, of Nottingham, England[2] (a progressive and artistic builder), already fits a suitable bass attachment to his organs and it would seem likely that before long this system must become universally adopted.

[1] Mark Andrews, Associate of the Royal College of Organists, England, President of the National Association of Organists and Sub-Warden of the American Guild of Organists.

[2] Mr. R. P. Elliott, organizer and late Vice-President of the Austin Co., said on his last return from England that Compton was at that time doing the most artistic work of any organ-builder in that country. He is working to a great extent on the lines laid down by Hope-Jones, and has the benefit of the advice and assistance of that well-known patron of the art, Mr. J. Martin White. His business has lately been reorganized under the title of John Compton, Ltd., in which company Mr. White is a large shareholder.