The quote above by Tertullian refers to a predecessor of today's organ: The Hydraulic Organ. It was invented around the 3rd century before Christ. The earliest known organist was Ctesibius of Alexandria, who lived around 200 B.C. Pipe organs existed throughout the ancient world although they were quite different from the organs of the 16th century and later, which are the organs familiar to us today. The Hydraulic organ used the weight of water to keep the wind under pressure so that the wind blowing through the pipes would be steady. These early organs did not have manuals but used levers. The levers were further apart than today's keys on a manual. These organs did not have pedals because the pedalboard was not invented until the late 15th century. The largest organs had 22 pipes and four different kinds of pipes per note. Today's organs have 61 notes an d can have over 100 different kinds of sounds per note, although the average large organ will have about 50 to 60 different sounds to use. When Tertullian wrote about the organ, he was speaking of the small organs of ancient times. Imagine how he would fe el if he heard today's organs! (Audsley, George A., The Art of Organ Building.)

This site is part of the Pipe Organ Education Project. © Copyright 1996 by Marya J. Fancey