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For Good Measure: In the Beginning
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For Good Measure

In The Beginning

Organ History with Dr. Robert M. Thompson

The organ has gone from possibly accompanying the deaths of Christians in the arenas of ancient Rome to forming a major support for worship music and hymnody in churches around the world.

In the third century B.C. an engineer in Alexandria, Egypt named Ktesibios built the first organ, called the hydraulis, sometimes referred to as a “water organ.” This term can be misleading, since the sound is not produced by water, but by the weight of water on leather “diaphragms,” thereby forcing air into the pipes. Being an engineer, it is possible that Ktesibios was not so much interested in creating a new, unique musical instrument, but in a study of hydraulics to enlighten other engineers. Little did he know what he had done! The organ as a musical instrument would evolve as a major player in the secular and ecclesiastical worlds to this day, 2300 years later!

Notice in the image below that the handles alternate pumping air into the bottom of cylinders filled with water with a membrane at the base.

Black and white photo of water organ with handles on each side

What is missing here is a view of the “keys,” levers unlike modern keyboards. The hydraulis had very few pipes compared to their successors, only one raucous row.

Musicologists have studied the pitches of these organs in order to understand the musical scales used at the time. The hydraulis had a very loud, strident sound and was used at first only at gladiatorial combats and other outdoor events. It is quite likely that Christians were thrown to the lions to the tune of one or more hydraulis organs.

More on that in the next article.

Mosaic showing ancient Roman hydraulis and horn players

Just outside of the city of Budapest lie the ruins of an ancient Roman settlement called Aquincum, where archeologists discovered parts of the only existing hydraulis. From these fragments and from drawings and other facts gleaned from ancient scrolls, a new hydralis was built.

Notice, in the image, the large keys and the limited range of less than two octaves. When pressed, the keys open a slider seen here at the base of the pipes. This represents the “new and improved” later models of the hydraulis because there is more than one row of pipes.

Hydraulis organ type of musical instrument showing pipes and levers

This is the famous Aquincum hydraulis reconstruction.