Full organ

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the organ staves (Full Organ, Full) at the passage where the full registration is drawn; it holds until a new registration is named. It may be qualified (Full Swell, full to mixtures).

How Composers Use It

Full organ gives maximum power and brilliance and is usually kept for climaxes and final chords. It can overpower an orchestra or choir, so balance it carefully and give the other forces strong, sustained material against it. Name the registration more exactly where possible, since full means different things on different instruments, from a small chamber organ to a cathedral one.

Example

Holst, The Planets, “Uranus, the Magician”, organ, m. 220: “Full Organ”, the bar before the organ’s “glissando” at ffff.

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