- Today, we know pipe organs for their ability to produce an array of different sounds – Pipe organs pack in the sounds of an entire orchestra!. But until about 1500, organs could only produce one sound, no matter the number of pipes!
- When an inventory of Henry VIII’s estate was taken, it was learned that he owned more than a dozen pipe organs. A few for each wife, perhaps?
- Queen Elizabeth of England, seeking the Sultan of Turkey’s good graces in regards to trade, sent him a self-playing organ in 1599. The Queen was known for her love of organ music.
- The organ’s steam-powered, circus-famed cousin, the calliope, was developed in Worchester, England by Joshua C. Stoddard. It was deemed by Worchester City Council to be too loud and therefore banned to be played within city limits!
- When films were still silent, organs were installed in movie theaters and equipped with sound effects to be played during film screenings. These were phased out when movies began to use sound!
Want to know more? Visit the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.
