Organo

As Printed on a Score

Labels the organ part (Organo; Org. later). A solo or obbligato part is written on three staves — two for the manuals and one for the pedals — while in Baroque scores Organo may head a figured continuo line to be realised. Registration and manual changes are printed above the staves, and Ped. or Pedale marks the pedal line.

Abbreviations: Org.

How Composers Use It

The pipe organ sustains indefinitely at a fixed loudness: crescendo and diminuendo come from adding or removing stops or opening a swell box, not from touch. Its power can match a whole orchestra, so in orchestral writing it is often saved for a climax — Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony is the famous case — or used for a soft pedal note beneath everything. Specify the registration you hear (soft 8-foot flutes, full organ) rather than leaving it entirely to the player.

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