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A comprehensive dictionary of organ stops - Allen Organ Studio of ...

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132 DICTIONARY OF ORGAN STOPS.<br />

Regal—The Regal was originally a keyboard reed instrument. The date<br />

<strong>of</strong> its invention, none the less than the origin <strong>of</strong> its name, is<br />

obscure. Some refer it to the XlVth or XVth century, others, to<br />

the Xllth ; but there is little evidence to support the view that this<br />

last named date is not fictitious.<br />

The derivation <strong>of</strong> the name is still a puzzle to antiquarians. It is<br />

probably inspired by the fact that the instrument was extensively used in<br />

royal processions. There was an Italian instrument named Rigabello,<br />

from which Dr. Rimbault triumphantly derived the title. He omitted,<br />

however, all enquiry into the origin <strong>of</strong> this fresh name, which, in all pro-<br />

bability leads us round in a vicious circle back again to the starting point.<br />

One <strong>of</strong> the earliest representations <strong>of</strong> a Regal occurs in the famous series<br />

<strong>of</strong> woodcuts, known as the Triumph <strong>of</strong> the Emperor Maximilian, drawn<br />

by Hans Burkmeyer in 1516. The instruments therein represented are<br />

a Positif <strong>organ</strong> and a Regal, mounted on a car in the procession. The<br />

Curious Forms <strong>of</strong> Regal Pipes.

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