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DICTIONARY OF ORGAN STOPS. 179
dued, smothered tone, conveying the effect of distance. Some years ago
it was frequently the custom to ensure this by stuffing up the pipes of the
Vox Humana with cotton wool. With the wider use of capped reeds the
practice has been almost entirely discontinued. As in the case of the
Physharmonika, the effect of the Vox Humana is almost entirely dependent
upon the acoustical properties of the building in which it is situated. No
amount of care expended in the voicing will render the Vox Humana, located
in a non-resonant edifice, aught but a ludicrous caricature of the human
voice. * Used with the Tremulant, in a very large or reverberant building,
it may, by reason of its peculiar " nervous " fluttering effect, and by force of
contrast with other stops, be caused to simulate a human singer, especially
in the tenor portions of the compass, and still more in chords may it
suggest the idea of a choir singing at a distance. There are very good
specimens at the Albert Hall, London (Willis,
Cathedral (R.C.), Leeds (Norman & Beard, 1905).
187 1) and St. Anne's
However much cynics
may protest that the Vox Humana was never found to bear the faintest
resemblance to the human voice, it is a well-authenticated fact that the
uninitiated are constantly deceived into believing that they are listening to
distant voices. In fact, the author distinctly remembers that when, as a
boy, he heard the Albert Hall organ for the first time, he asked why " the
man sang from the back of the organ." Many of the organs in large
Continental cathedrals, in themselves of very indifferent voicing, never-
theless appear to be of magnificent tone by reason of the favourable
acoustical conditions under which they speak. Sound, indeed, is always
enhanced by reflection. Thanks to the building, and to the lavish state-
ments of the guide-books, the Vox Humana at Fribourg Cathedral,
Switzerland (Mooser, 1834), enjoys a reputation almost world-wide, whilst
tourists flock in crowds under the auspices of the " Polytechnic " to derive
their pabulum of edification from the organ recitals at Lucerne (Geissler,
1 651), in which thunderstorms and Vox Humana effects figure very
conspicuously.
Sometimes with a view to heightening the effect of distance, the Vox
Humana is detached from the rest of the organ, forming, perhaps, together
with other stops, an Echo or Celestial organ. Norwich Cathedral (Norman
& Beard); Westminster Abbey (Hill). It is sometimes even suspended
somewhere up in the roof {e.g., Grace Church, New York, Roosevelt,
1878), a position at variance with one of the most elementary principles
of organ architecture, which demands that the various portions of the in-
strument shall be situated in atmospheric surroundings of identical, or at any
*So much so that the Vox Humana and Tremulant effect has even been dubbed the
" Nux Vomica with the gargle ! " The peculiar " flavour " of the stop has also led to the
mock-name of the "gas-pipe !"