EncyclopediaPORTATIVE ORGAN

In his work Instrumentos Musicales en los Museos de Urueña, the musicologist Joaquín Díaz introduces this instrument as follows, under the name of hand organ [órgano de mano]:

Hand Organ. A bellows feeds air into a closed chamber, which, thanks to a complex design of ducts, sends that air to tubes or flutes. This is done selectively via a keyboard. One hand of the performer handles the bellows while the other presses the keys. Due to the absence of a lung-bellows, i.e. a reservoir that regulates the constant flow of air, the instrument has to breathe, as a singer would, interrupting the emission to take in air.

The dimensions of these organs, also called portative, varied greatly and ranged from the smallest organs, which were hung over the shoulder by means of a strap, to the largest ones, which were placed on a table. The term portative means that they were quite easy to move around, as opposed to positive, which refers to the possibility of placing or positioning the instrument in different locations, in contrast to large organs, which are immobile¹.

Although the pipes of the portative organs preserved to the present day are similar to bevel pipes, according to musician Adolfo Salazar they could also be reed pipes (1989, 167-168).

Portative organ. JMBA collection, no. 1574. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

THE REPRESENTATIVE BODY IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

In the book Historia de la música medieval en Navarra (1970), by the musician and historian Higinio Anglés, there are mentions of portative organs in the Royal Court of Navarre in the times of Charles II ‘the Bad’ (1332-1387) and Charles III ‘the Noble’ (1361-1425), as well as in the court of Aragon². This work also lists some names of organ builders and players of this type of organ from the 14^th and 15^th centuries.

The study titled Iconografía Musical de la Catedral de Pamplona (2004) by Clara Fernández-Ladreda speaks of organs of different sizes and functions. It indicates that the two organs that can be found in the iconography of Pamplona Cathedral (see the section on iconography below) are clearly portative. However, documentation from Navarre mentions both types: 1) small portative organs, which were used not only in courts but also in secular celebrations, and 2) positive organs, slightly larger but not as big as the Carolingian ones, for example, those in the royal chapel and the church of Santa María in Olite (pp. 19-21).

(13/11/2024, TRANSLATING)

ICONOGRAPHY

The images of portative organs that we have found in the ecclesiastical iconography of the Basque Country are mainly from the 14^th and 15^th centuries.

Álava

VITORIA-GASTEIZ

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA

In the 14^th/15^th-century portico of the Cathedral of Santa María in Vitoria-Gasteiz there are excellent examples of musical iconography. On the first archivolt of the left-hand doorway one of the musicians is playing a portative organ, along with other performers.

Player of the portative organ on the left portal of the portico of Santa María Cathedral in Vitoria-Gasteiz. (Photo: JMBA)

LAGUARDIA

CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA DE LOS REYES

This church has a spectacular 14^th-century façade. Numerous kings and musical angels appear on its archivolts, and their instruments are created in great detail. Among the performers represented, there is one who plays a portative organ. All the features of the musical instrument and the strap that the musician wears around his neck are clearly distinguishable.

Portative organ player on the façade of the church of Santa María de los Reyes in Laguardia. (Photo: JMBA)

Biscay

LEKEITIO

BASILICA OF THE ASSUMPTION OF SANTA MARÍA

The Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Lekeitio, built in the 15^th century, has a rich musical iconography of the period. Many musicians can also be seen in the 19^th-century stained glass windows, among them, one playing a portative organ.

Portative organ player on the stained glass windows of the Basilica in Lekeitio. (Photo: JMBA)

SANTECILLA (Carranza Valley)

PARISH CHURCH OF SANTA CECILIA

In the parish church of Santa Cecilia in Santecilla (near Balmaseda), which dates from the 16^th century, in the niche above the doorway we see the image of Santa Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, holding a small portative organ³.

Santa Cecilia with the portative organ in Santecilla. (Photo: E. X. Dueñas)

Gipuzkoa

DEBA

CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA

In the polychrome portico of the church of Santa María in Deba (15^th century) there is a large and varied group of musicians made up of several angels, in which we can see players of plucked and stringed instruments, wind instruments such as the shawm and the bagpipe, as well as an angel musician playing a portative organ.

Player of a portative organ on the façade of the church of Santa María in Deba. (Photo: JMBA)

GETARIA (Askizu neighbourhood)

CHURCH OF SAN MARTÍN

The 16^th-century altarpiece in the church of San Martín de Askizu in Getaria depicts an angel playing the portative organ in the scene of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity⁴. On the other side of the stage there is a rebec player.

Portative organ player in the church of San Martín. (Photo: JMBA)

OÑATI

SANCTI SPIRITUS UNIVERSITY

In the 16^th-century chapel of Sancti Spiritus at the University of Oñati, the image of a putto playing a portable organ⁵ can be seen in the space the sections of the first part of the main altarpiece.

Portative organ player in the chapel of Sancti Spiritus at the University of Oñati. (Photo: E.X. Dueñas)

Labourd

BAYONNE

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA

Many musicians are represented in the rich iconography of Bayonne Cathedral, but only 13^th-century sculptures have survived in the interior in the portico of the sacristy, on the double Gothic doorway leading to the cloister. On the two archivolts of the left doorway there is a varied musical group made up of fourteen angels.

There are eight musicians on the outer archivolt. From left to right: a percussionist with cymbals, a xirolarru player, a hurdy-gurdy player, a musician with a single-handed flute and castanets, a square tambourine player, the portative organ player n below, a lyre player and a zither⁶ player.

There are six musicians on the inner archivolt. From left to right: a rebec player, a mandolin player, a musician with a single-handed flute and drum, a harpist, a rebec⁷ player and a musician with a three-pipe wind instrument.

Musician with a portative organ on the outer archivolt of the portico of the vestry in Bayonne. (Photo: JMBA)

BIARRITZ

CHURCH OF SANTA EUGENIA

The two stained glass windows in the neo-Gothic church of Santa Eugenia in Biarritz feature two sets of musical angels, each of which s an angel playing the portative organ. Below the Nativity stained glass window, in the frieze on the wall, a procession of women saints and virgins can be seen carrying the Holy Face, and among them one is playing the portative organ.

An angel playing the portative organ, at the top of the Nativity stained glass window in the church of Santa Eugenia. (Photo: JMBA)

Angel playing the portative organ, at the top of the stained-glass window depicting the Nativity in the church of Santa Eugenia. (Photo: JMBA)

Portative organ appearing among the group of holy women and virgins in the frieze on the wall below the stained-glass window depicting the Nativity in the church of Santa Eugenia. (Photo: JMBA)

Navarre

PAMPLONA

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA LA REAL

Pamplona Cathedral is a Gothic building dating from the 14^th century. It has an abundant and varied musical iconography: pipes, rebecs, hurdy-gurdies, pipe and tabor players⁸ and the well-known string dance [soka-dantza], not forgetting two portative organs.

At the base of the left jamb of the ‘Amparo’ doorway there is a musician with a portative organ in a trio with two other musicians who play the bagpipe and the rebec.

Portative organ player at the base of the left jamb of the Amparo doorway of Pamplona Cathedral. (Photo: JMBA)

In the archivolt that crowns the Epiphany of the cathedral, another musician can also be seen playing the portative organ together with other angel instrumentalists.

Angel playing the portative organ in Pamplona Cathedral on the archivolt crowning the Epiphany. (Photo: JMBA)

REFERENCES

¹ Díaz, J. (undated). Instrumentos Musicales en los Museos de Urueña. Órgano de mano. https://funjdiaz.net/museo/ficha.php?id=43.

Órgano de Mano. Un fuelle alimenta de aire una cámara cerrada, que, merced a un complejo diseño de conductos, envía ese mismo aire a unos tubos o flautas. Este envío se realiza selectivamente a través de un teclado. Una mano del intérprete maneja el fuelle, y la otra pulsa las teclas. Debido a la ausencia de un fuelle–pulmón, es decir, de un depósito que regule el flujo constante de aire, el instrumento tiene que respirar, como lo haría un cantante, interrumpiendo la emisión para tomar aire.

Las dimensiones de estos órganos, llamados también portativos, era muy variable y abarcaba desde los de menor tamaño, que se colgaba del hombro por medio de una correa, hasta los más amplios de tesitura, que se colocaban sobre una mesa. El término portativo se refiere a la movilidad relativamente fácil del órgano, frente al de positivo, que hace referencia a la posibilidad de emplazar o posicionar el instrumento en diferentes lugares, a diferencia de los grandes órganos, que son inmóviles.

² Anglés, 1970, pp. 259-260, 268-269, 298, 325.

³ Ríos Álvaro, 2019, p. 308.

⁴ Ríos Álvaro, 2019, p. 75.

⁵ Ríos Álvaro, 2019, p. 283.

⁶ The word psalterium is also used to designate the zither.

⁷ This instrument is also called bandurria.

⁸ The txistu musician in the Basque Country today is mainly called txistulari.

SOURCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANGLÉS, H. (1970). Historia de la música medieval en Navarra. Institución Principe de Viana.

DÍAZ, J. (d. g). Instrumentos Musicales en los Museos de Urueña. Órgano de mano. https://funjdiaz.net/museo/ficha.php?id=43. (Consulted on 20/10/2021)

FERNÁNDEZ-LADREDA, C. (2004). Iconografía musical de la Catedral de Pamplona. Música en la Catedral de Pamplona Nº 4. Capilla de Música Catedral de Pamplona.

RÍOS ÁLVARO, K. (2019). Iconografía musical en el País Vasco hasta 1600: Catalogación y estudio Tomo I. [Unpublished doctoral thesis].

SALAZAR, A. (1989). La música en la sociedad europea. II. Hasta fines del siglo XVIII. Alianza Editorial.