There is no doubt that the organ is now beginning to ‘find itself.’ The organ of the future will be as much like an organ as ever--only more so, if possible! We shall still regard mechanism as a means to an end, and not as an end in itself. We shall insist on simplicity of control, at the key desk, however vast and sonorous the tonal appointments. Finally, we shall honor and encourage the master voicers in their efforts to use the best methods of the past, and to adapt them to the new mechanical conditions. For in the last analysis the sense to which the organ makes its true appeal is not that of touch, through the player’s fingers, nor that of sight, through the impressive appearance of tracery and noble towers of pipes, but that of hearing, for the ear is the most marvellous acoustic instrument ever conceived and is capable of appreciating the most refined as well as the noblest organ tones. R. L. McA. FOOTNOTES: [92] An interesting example of the primitive application of the hydraulic principle in producing musical sound is afforded by the ‘whistling jug’ of the Peruvian Incas. Here water flowing from one jar to another, through the medium of a cross-channel, forced the air through a whistle set over the mouth of the second jar, with a resulting musical note. The inverse tipping of the jar drew in the air again through the whistle. [93] Vitruvius, the Roman engineer and architect, who lived in the reign of Augustus, has also described the hydraulic organ of Ktesibos in his _De Arch._ lib. X, cap. II. [94] Though the first keyboard (of sixteen keys), according to Prætorius, was introduced into the organ of the Magdeburg Cathedral toward the close of the eleventh century. [95] ‘Regals’ from the Italian _rigabello_, an instrument used to support the plain-chant in the church. Perhaps, also, in allusion to the quality of ‘the king of instruments.’ The ‘regal’ may be regarded as the ancestor of the modern harmonium. CHAPTER XV THE EARLY ORGAN MASTERS The old Italian masters: Landino to Frescobaldi--Early German masters; the forerunners of Bach; Hassler, Pachelbel, Buxtehude--J. S. Bach: the toccatas, the preludes and fugues, the sonatas and other works--The early French composers: Couperin and Rameau; Spain and Portugal; the Netherlands--The early English masters; Tye, Tallis, Byrd, Bull, Gibbons, etc.--Purcell; Handel. I