Ideal position for flute Cornet

[Guest]

I've had this on my mind for the last few days:

Where is the ideal (as in the most sensible for interpreting literature) position for the Cornet Decompose on the organ?

I've always liked the thought of placing the Cornet of Flutes on the Choir, like the English instruments. (Or the ones that actually have them! [:O]) Close to where I live, there are some Quimby instruments with the Flute Cornet on the Great division. Seemingly in the U.S.A., most are generally on the swell division. Is there any particular reason/advantage for it to be there? Is there a downside to placing them on the Choir? Why put it on the Great?

Violoncello

[soubasse32]

Re: Ideal position for flute Cornet



Interesting questions.

First, a recommendation tostamp out the term Cornet decomposé - contrary to what you might think, this term is notused in France (it conjures up images of death and decay)! [:O]

The proper term is Cornet composé.A Cornet made by drawing individual stops is said to be 'composed' (i.e. 'made up').

There is no "down side" to placing flute mutations on the Choir - in fact, French music requires it! If you look at historical precedents in organbuilding, you will see that virtually all French classical organs contain such a chorus on the Positif. Often times you will find a Prestant 4' and a Doublette 2', but no corresponding flute stops; nevertheless, Positif mutations were invariably wide-scaled flutes.

If youhave narrow-scaled mutations you will end up with something a bit more Germanic.

Flute mutations in the Swellare fine too, especially if they are in addition to the ones in the Choir.In French classic music you will find a lot of music in which you must dialoguea Trompettewith a Cornet. That will be exceedingly difficult if your Trompetteand mutations are bothin the Swell!

Sometimes you will find mutations on the Great - these might be a Quint and Tierce, or a Sesquialtera. These are typically Principal-scaled stops, whichare nicefor Germanic literature. In French organbuilding, the Great (Grand-orgue) is usually the home for a flute-scaled Cornet. The Cornet isexcellent for solos, but was/is also used to bolster the trebles of the Trompettes and Clairons.

Looking at organ literature, wide (flute) mutations are slightlyless useful on the Great. They can't be used in the plenum; and you might want to have a 4'Flute on the Great if you want to make a Cornet.Many French Cornets start at middle C - here is one situation where you wouldn't want the mutations to go below the middle of the keyboard. If you are making short-compass mutations for thepurpose of synthesizing a Cornet, it is betterto just havea Cornetstop!

Cornets are short-compass, mutations should not be.

Which reminds me...I note with dismay a cost-cutting trend bycertain organbuilders to limit mutations to tenor C - that is very bad news for French classic literature. [^o)]

[markn]

Re: Ideal position for flute Cornet



Another consideration is that for some French classical music, if your only Cromorne is on the Choir, you might need a Cornet or Nazard + Tierce on a different manual to play 3 manual dialogues and certain duos and trios. It's easier if there are mutations on both Choir and Swell, or better yet, a real Cornet on the Swell and mutations on the Choir. This assumes a bright, quick-speaking Trompette on the Great. The Cornet can be coupled to the Great for the grand jeu, unlike a 3 manual French classical organ which didn't usually have a Recit to G.O. coupler, so we don't necessarily need a Great Cornet with the coupler cheat.

But for English classical music, the Swell Cornet III was intended as a echo to the Great Cornet V. If the Swell Cornet is strong enough for French classical, closing the shades will make it work for English music. But not the other way around if it's too weak.

[Guest]

Re: Ideal position for flute Cornet



Thank you for the corrections, Soubasse32.

On which division would you rather have the Cornet composé? Just curious.[:)]

Also, in the new "The American Organist" magazine, the instrument featured has a 2' Fifteenth on the Great and a 2' in the Mixture IV. I'm not the sharpest when it comes to mixture compositions, but I was wondering what the purpose of having both a 2' Principal and a 2' Principal in the Mixture?

Thanks again for your input.

Violoncello

[soubasse32]

Re: Ideal position for flute Cornet



Because I'm such a fan of French music (and French composers can be so demanding when it comes to registration [:)]) I much prefer the Cornet composé to be on the Choir.

(in case that wasn't clear from my earlier post...) [;)]

A 2' Principal helps you build up the chorus in a sort of tonal pyramid. So, you have 8'; then 8', 4'; then 8', 4', 2 2/3'; then 8', 4', 2 2/3', 2'. Then you can add the Mixture. With an independent 2' you can also do what is known as "skip registration", so you mightdraw an 8' Gedeckt, skip the 4', and draw the 2' (or the 2 2/3') tocreate a colorful registration.

Mixtures almost always contain at least one2' (sometimes several), only because they break back many times across the gamut of the keyboard. That 2' within the Mixture may not even exist at some point on the keyboard, so the independent 2' Principal will serve to fill such gaps that exist.Becauseof this 'breaking back' feature,Mixturesserve a different purposefrom independent stops. A Mixture is typically high-pitched in the bass (to provide clarity), and lower pitched in the trebles (to provide a bit of weight and complexity to an otherwise thin or screechy top).

Whenever multiple pipes represent the same pitch (called doubling)a goodbuilder will make themof slightly different scales,and with pipe feet of different length. These things are done in order to keep otherwise identical pipes from conflicting with each other within a division.