Orgue

As Printed on a Score

French for organ, written on three staves: two for the manuals and one for the pedals (Pédale, Péd.). French scores name the manuals — Grand orgue, Positif, Récit — and give the registration in words above the music (Fonds, Anches, Tutti), changing it at the bar where the new colour begins.

Abbreviations: Org.

How Composers Use It

The organ sounds as long as a key is held and has no touch dynamics: loudness comes from the stops and from the swell box (boîte expressive), so hairpins work only on an enclosed manual. In an orchestral score — Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony is the classic case — it adds a foundation no other instrument can; write sustained harmony and pedal points rather than busy figuration, which blurs in a resonant church.

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