Details
Image(s)
TitleChamber Barrel Organ
Creator Honoré Davrainville (organbuilder)
PlaceParis (France)
Year ca. 1827
Object number0079
Object categorymechanical instruments with organ pipes
Object namechamber organ, organ with cylinder
Description
Both the father and son Davrainville were responsible for improvements in the arrangements of mechanical organs in terms of the precision of the mechanism. The here cylinder has a spiral notation. That means that while playing, as the cylinder rotates, it advances much more slowly. This makes it possible to create longer musical notations.
Accompanying textsThe spiral-notated cylinder has 4 melodies and makes 8 revolutions. That means there are two revolutions per melody.
We don't know much about the Davrainvilles, except that they worked for the aristocracy and that the younger Davrainville managed to expand the business greatly. It is thought that almost 900 organs were produced by the firm. All his work is signed and numbered. But today we know of the existence of only 23 organs. Of these, about 13 are owned by museums. The remaining pieces belong to private collectors. Fortunately, the technical improvements he made to his work can also give us a lot of interesting, substantive information. In his organs, for instance, the organ pipes were often arranged from large to small, with the largest on the left and the smallest on the right. If the largest pipe did not have enough space, he had it run in a curve instead of straight. Instruments made by the Davrainville family were (and still are) among the absolute top mechanical musical instruments made in the 19th century. The Davrainvilles gained this position thanks to the remarkable precision with which they made their instruments and the high-quality reproduction of music on the cylinders.
We don't know much about the Davrainvilles, except that they worked for the aristocracy and that the younger Davrainville managed to expand the business greatly. It is thought that almost 900 organs were produced by the firm. All his work is signed and numbered. But today we know of the existence of only 23 organs. Of these, about 13 are owned by museums. The remaining pieces belong to private collectors. Fortunately, the technical improvements he made to his work can also give us a lot of interesting, substantive information. In his organs, for instance, the organ pipes were often arranged from large to small, with the largest on the left and the smallest on the right. If the largest pipe did not have enough space, he had it run in a curve instead of straight. Instruments made by the Davrainville family were (and still are) among the absolute top mechanical musical instruments made in the 19th century. The Davrainvilles gained this position thanks to the remarkable precision with which they made their instruments and the high-quality reproduction of music on the cylinders.
Dimensions
geheel height: 42 cm
geheel width: 64 cm
geheel depth: 33 cm
geheel width: 64 cm
geheel depth: 33 cm
Digital references