Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society

 

 

2004年　定例会

「賞賛されるべきフォルテピアノ――

デューク大学楽器コレクション所蔵・イギリス・アメリカ・ウィーンの楽器｣

日時・2004年3月11日~13日

場所・Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

定例会詳細　http://www.sehks.org/conclave.html

参加レポートへ

 

日程と内容

 

3月11日（木）

 

3月12日（金）

 

3月13日（土）

 

学会･音楽祭　トップへ　

ホームへ

 

※     オルガンについての詳細（デュークチャペル・ホームページより転載）

The Flentrop organ, located over the entrance to Duke Chapel, was installed in 1976 and dedicated to the memory of Benjamin N. Duke (the primary benefactor of Trinity College after it relocated to Durham). The organ was built in Zaandam, Holland, at the famous organ shop of Dirk A. Flentrop. It was the last major instrument whose design and construction Mr. Flentrop supervised before his retirement. Planning, design, and construction took six years.

Both tonally and visually, the Flentrop organ reflects the characteristics of Dutch and French organs of the early 18th century. It is not a copy of any specific baroque organ, but was designed especially for Duke Chapel according to the rediscovered principles of 18th-century organ building. Only natural materials — wood, metal, ivory, and leather — were used in its construction. Located in a magnificent and ideally suited Gothic structure, the Flentrop organ allows us to hear in the most authentic way the great compositions of Bach, Couperin, and other composers active during the Golden Age of the organ.

At Mr. Flentrop’s suggestion, the acoustics of the Chapel were adjusted to provide an ideal environment for the organ. When the Chapel was first built, its acoustics were deliberately deadened through the use of special sound-absorbing stone tile. With the help of Bolt, Beranek and Newman, the famous acoustical consulting firm, a solution was found to make the acoustics livelier while accommodating the spoken word. The absorptive tile was sealed, increasing the maximum reverberation time from about 3 seconds to about 8 seconds, and a time-delay speech-reinforcement system was designed and installed.

The organ contains 5,033 speaking pipes, played by four manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard. The main case houses four divisions of pipes; it rises approximately 40 feet above the gallery floor and is only about 4-1/2 feet deep. A smaller case, located on the gallery rail, houses one division of pipes; it is 10 feet high and 4 feet deep. The cases are made of solid African mahogany, painted and decorated in gold leaf and harmonized colors. The gallery, designed and built for this instrument in Durham by William T. Muirhead, is constructed of solid oak in the classical style.

The organ was first played publicly in an informal preview for Duke University students on December 6, 1976, and in the Sunday morning worship service on Founders Day, December 12, 1976. An inaugural recital was played at 5:00 that afternoon by Fenner Douglass, University Organist at that time.

The Flentrop organ is used mainly for recitals and for hymns and voluntaries at worship services and university events. The organ gallery is not open to the public, but demonstration concerts are presented most weekdays at 12:30 p.m.

 

 

The Brombaugh organ was built especially for the Memorial Chapel, in the south transept of Duke Chapel, by John Brombaugh, one of the world's most distinguished organ builders. Construction began in 1995, and the organ was installed in 1997. The dedication recital, played by University Organist Robert Parkins, took place on October 26, 1997.

The Brombaugh organ reproduces the characteristics of Italian organs before the time of J. S. Bach - its approximately 960 pipes are modeled after examples from 1480, 1551, and 1612. The organ has two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard. The sounds it produces are those of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods, suited to the works of composers such as Frescobaldi or Pachelbel. The sound is sweeter and milder than that of later organs, as is appropriate for the smaller space of the Memorial Chapel. To fit in conveniently in the Memorial Chapel, the organ is located in a "swallow's nest" loft, built by Brombaugh to match the organ case, in Italian Renaissance style.

Perhaps the most significant feature of the Brombaugh organ is its use of the historical "meantone" tuning system. In the modern "equal temperament" tuning system, the octave is divided into 12 equal half-steps, rather than being based on the natural scale. This allows modern keyboard instruments to play in any key, but it means that most intervals are not "pure," according to the natural scale. In contrast, the meantone system uses pure tuning for major thirds. This means that it favors certain intervals, chords, and keys, while making others unusable. In the "good" keys, the contrast between consonance and dissonance is enhanced. Early music that might seem bland when played on modern instruments "springs to life," in the words of University Organist Robert Parkins. Only a handful of modern meantone organs exist in the United States, and its early Italian design makes the Brombaugh even rarer.

 

学会･音楽祭　トップへ　

ホームへ