【初因初音】第四篇〜管風琴如何發出百變音色〜(part 3)

Orgelkids China執行長蔣士挺(Justin Berg)「兒童管風琴教育專欄」【初因初音】(My First Sound)。 "Making Itself Heard: The Many Voices of the Organ" from the column【My First Sound】 by Justin Berg, the Executive Director of Orgelkids China. (In English below)

我們再往前走,聆聽整個伊比利半島各地(以及後來傳到美洲)的管風琴,就會遇到與法國類似的概念。當地的管風琴建造家也採用豐富的簧管音栓,同樣是與笛管分別做不同的使用。但伊比利半島的建造家又更進一步,他們還在管風琴的外側加上水平式的16呎、8呎、4呎音高的小號音栓。這些大型音管很大器地向整個空間伸展出來,彷彿要直接衝進聽眾的耳中。當然,它們發出的聲音就可以貫穿最寬闊的空間,不管你站在建築物裡的哪個位置,都很容易聽到管風琴的聲音。後來這種稱為水平式喇叭音管的簧管在世界各地蔚為流行,現在已經是大型管風琴相當常見的配置了,尤其是用於音樂廳 (附圖1+2)。
法國及伊比利半島的管風琴偏好令人陶醉的簧管,荷蘭和英國及德國的管風琴則較常使用加倍笛管,而奧地利的大型管風琴則採取介於這二者之間的做法。參觀奧地利管風琴時,會發現它們採用明亮的簧管,並將之調整得能夠與笛管搭配,甚至以好幾排加倍音管形成非常龐大的混搭,做出從32呎或16呎的音高以上的基礎音栓的完整音栓組合 (附圖3)。以奧地利教堂的龐大空間來看,管風琴建造者為了讓聲音填滿整個空間而融合法式和德式的做法,或許並不足為奇,而他們也的確製造出從古至今最雄偉、最權威的管風琴 (附圖4)。
再往南走便可進入義大利,也就是這次旅行的最後一站。歐洲各地區都忙著製造加倍音管並增加簧管,但是義大利管風琴建造家則大無畏地選擇了完全不同的方向,他們並沒有試圖造出威力強大或光彩奪目的管風琴,而是選擇建造比較單純的樂器。參觀義大利古老的管風琴時,就會發現大部分都只有一排手鍵盤 (附圖5),腳鍵盤則很少甚至闕如,而音栓都只有基礎音栓,頂多加上一兩個笛管,幾乎不用任何簧管。聆聽義大利管風琴演奏時,會聽到以低風壓送出的輕柔音管聲,這些相對比較寧靜的管風琴使用的發音方法,讓音管用緩慢輕柔的方式送出音樂。它們不使用加倍音管,而是根據泛音系列的八度音階和五度音階,為愈來愈高的管列進行調音和定名。如果你學過泛音就會知道,演奏或演唱一個音符時,它會自然包含幾個更高音,就是從八度到十二度(八度加完全五度)、十五度(兩個八度)、十九度(兩個八度加完全五度)、二十二度(三個八度)、二十六度(三個八度加完全五度),有時甚至到二十九度(四個八度)。利用幾個八度加上完全五度,這個簡單的方法讓義大利管風琴具有清澈明亮的聲音,加強較高的音調。由於人類的耳朵會先注意到音樂中的最高音,之後才聽到較低的聲音(這正是大家通常比較容易聽到主旋律,而不是低音部或中音部的原因),用這種方法建造的管風琴便可讓大型空間充滿音樂。聆聽義大利管風琴演奏時,會聽到一種崇高的簡樸感,同樣會傳送到整個大教堂空間的各個角落 (附圖6+7)。
快速瀏覽歐洲各地的管風琴之後,可以從每個種類的管風琴中發現什麼道理?或許最有趣的發現就是,為了滿足特定空間的音響需求,以及購買者的條件,管風琴的設計可以做各種充滿巧思的變化。別忘了,前面提到的只是讓音樂充滿空間的幾種方法,並不是完整的答案。例如在19世紀,管風琴建造家還是繼續實驗運用新的方法增加音量,特別是大幅增加風壓,而本文所介紹的只是讓管風琴的美妙樂音充滿整個空間的其中幾種方法而已。(全文完)

Making Itself Heard: The Many Voices of the Organ (part 3)

Traveling again, we encounter an idea similar to the French while listening to Portuguese and Spanish organs, those instruments found throughout the Iberian peninsula (and later to the New World). There, builders also employed a wealth of reed stops, which also were to be played separately from the flue pipes. However, the Iberian builders went a step further and added horizontal Trompeta stops at 16’, 8’ and 4’ pitches on the outside of their organcases. These bold pipes roared directly into the room, as if lunging at a listeners ears. Of course, the result was a sound that penetrated the largest spaces, making it easy to hear these organs no matter where you stood in the building. In time, such horizontal reeds, known as chamades, became popular throughout the world. Today, we find that they are a relatively common stop on large instruments, particularly those in concert halls.
Somewhere between the French-Iberian appetite for ravishing reeds, and the DutchEnglish-Germanic focus on doubled flues lies the solution found in large organs throughout Austria. Visiting them, we find that they also incorporate bright reeds, though tempered enough to be usable with the flue pipes, even the complete chorus of principals from 32’ or 16’ pitch up through exceptionally large mixtures that boast several doubled ranks. Considering the vast size of the churches in Austria, it is perhaps not surprising that builders there tried to blend the French and Germanic solutions to filling space. The results are some of the grandest, most magisterial organs ever to be built.
Turning south from Austria, we arrive in Italy, our final destination on this trip. While the rest of Europe was busy doubling ranks and adding reeds, Italian builders bravely chose a different direction. Instead of trying to create powerful or brilliant organs, they chose to build simpler instruments. Visiting the old organs there, we discover that most of them only have one manual, no or few pedals, and their stops are all principals except for one or two flutes (seldom any reeds!). And when we listen, we hear pipes that have been voiced gently on low wind pressure. These relatively quiet instruments used a kind of voicing that allowed pipes to speak a little slowly and gently. Ranks were not doubled, but successively higher ranks were pitched and named according to the octaves and fifths found in the overtone series. If you have already learned about overtones, then you know that when a note is played or sung, it naturally includes several higher pitches, starting with the octave, then twelfth (octave + perfect fifth), fifteenth (two octaves), nineteenth (two octaves + perfect fifth), twenty-second (three octaves), twenty-sixth (three octaves + perfect fifth), and even sometimes the twenty-ninth (four octaves). This simple method of repeating octaves and fifths gives Italian organs a lucid sound that reinforces higher pitches. Because the human ear tends to notice the highest sounding notes in music before it hears lower ones, organs built in this way could also fill large spaces with their sound. (This is why, for instance, people usually hear melodies more easily than bass lines or inner harmonies.) When we listen to these organs, we hear a noble simplicity that still easily breathes through the entire space of a large cathedral.
Now that we have completed our quick trip around Europe, what have we discovered from our brief visit to each type of organ? Perhaps the most interesting thing we found is that the design of an organ can be changed in many ways in order to meet the acoustic needs of a given room, as well as the requirements of the people buying it. And remember, the above list of methods for filling a large room with sound is very incomplete. In the 19th century, for instance, builders continued to experiment with new ways of increasing an organ’s sound, especially by raising the wind pressure considerably. At least for now, we have heard a few of the many interesting ways that organs fill rooms with their wondrous sound.

▍繼續閱讀其他部落格文章

▍部落格分類