The portative organ

Portatif organ, portativ organ, organetto, or even just portative

Oct 14, 2023

The hand-held organ

This is a unique little instrument that I only just came across a couple of days ago. When it comes to early music, I really need to get out of my lute bubble… Enter the portative organ. Its name describes it well, as it is basically just an organ that sits on the performer’s lap. Lately, I’ve been digging into pre-Renaissance music and medieval instruments, and this one caught my attention. This miniature organ sits on the lap of the performer, who plays with one hand while pumping a billow with the other hand. It gives the portative a distinct sound. As the billow is quite small, it continually needs to be pumped by the player, and the process of playing this organ and pumping has a unique effect on the music—it very much reminds one of a singer pausing to catch their breath. The unique sound and ability to closely match the phrasing of a vocalist make the instrument itself feel much more human.

The portative organ appears in iconography dating back to the 12th century and looks to have been played up into the 16th century. The repertoire for this instrument is mostly melodic in structure, occasionally utilizing a drone. The force the performer uses with the bellow can also accentuate the notes that are being played to achieve dynamics in volume and other embellishments. I have seen constructions that use both metal and wood pipes, each producing a distinct tone.

Thank you for reading early music. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Demonstrations

To get a deeper understanding of the instrument and its history and repertoire, you can find a very insightful interview with a portative organist on the Early Music Muse. I recently discovered this site which is loaded with tons of great information on all things early music! Here are a few demonstrations of the portative organ:

Bonus fact!

While looking into portative organs and their origins, I also found that they were loosely based on early organs of Greek and Roman design.. yes, the organ itself dates back to Ancient Greece. The key difference is that these ancient organs used a hydraulic system that leveraged water rather than strictly air to produce a tone. You can find more information on these ancient organs here.