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

DICTIONARY OF ORGAN STOPS. J
BARYTON — (Sp.) Varitono. (Gr.) fiapiig = heavy. tovoq = tone.
16 ft. j 8 ft.
A reed stop of metallic tone, somewhat akin to the Cor Anglais. Very
rare. Albert Hall, London (Willis, 1871; ; Seville Cathedral (reconstructed
with electric action by Aquilino Amezua, 1903). The instrument of the
name (obsolete) possessed six or seven catgut strings played with a bow.
Under the fingerboard were metal strings, varying in number from nine to
twenty-four, pinched with the thumb of the left hand, and serving as
sympathetic resonators. It was known also as Viola di Bardone or
Bordone (cf. Bourdon). Leopold Mozart, in his " Violin School," contends
that the tone of the sympathetic strings was suggestive of the hum of bees.
(See Grove's " Dictionary of Music and Musicians ").
Bass Flute— 8 ft.
The name is altogether illogical since (1) the orchestral Flute extends
to fiddle G only, (2) the Pedal organ Flute forming a bass to the manual
is of 16 ft. pitch. Flute 8 ft.— plain and simple—would be free from
objection. The pipes of this stop are sometimes open, and, when indeed
such pipes can be afforded, preferably so. But generally the pedal Flute
is economically derived by extension and transmission from the Sub-bass
16 ft. Pedal organ octave stops serve to impart definition and firmness to
the 16 ft. tone. They would, nevertheless, seem quite unnecessary in very
small organs, the amount of money they cost, even though small, being
open to more effective use in other directions.
Bass Horn—8 ft.
A Pedal organ reed, now obsolete. It was similar in construction and
tone to the manual Horn. The orchestral instrument was of the Bugle
family.
Bassanelli — Werkmeister states that these were reeds. They were
obsolete even in his time.
Basset Horn—Corno Basso. (Low Lat.) Bassus = low. 8 ft.
A stop unknown in this country and but rarely found abroad. It is a
free reed stop with short wide tongues, and the tone is generally sweet
and soft. The Basset Horn is either entirely unprovided with tubes, or
possessed of tubes of inverted conical shape, increasing rapidly in diameter.
Riga Cathedral (Walcker, 1883); Ulm Miinster (Walcker, 1856). At
Ulm the stop possesses no tubes. The orchestral instrument is a tenor
Clarinet. The Corno di Bassetto, as an organ stop, is a full-toned
Clarinet (q.v.).
Basso Profundo— (Lat.) Profundus = deep. 16 ft.
A deep-toned pedal stop equivalent to Major Bass. Milan Cathe-
dral, 24 ft.