!!!Middle Ages/Geistliche Kultur
!!Regal or portable reed organ

%%columns-fill
[{Image src='Wissenssammlungen/Musik-Lexikon/Regal/040104a.jpg'
height='250' alt='Regal' caption='Regal\\© Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien' width='299'}]
----
[{Image src='Wissenssammlungen/Musik-Lexikon/Regal/040104b.jpg'
height='250' alt='Regal' caption='Sound spectrum of a Regal\\© Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien' width='412'}]
%%


The illustration shows a Regal (ca. 1580, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna).
The existence of such small portable organs can be documented from as
early as the 11th/12th c. and were called by this name during the
15th-17th c. The instrument consists of a narrow chest which contains
the wind chest and reed pipes. In front of these is a keyboard where a
musician plays the instrument, and in back, two bellows which require a
second person to pump. When it was being played, the Regal was set on a
table. It was extremely popular not only in church music but also in
the theatre, at banquets (Tafelmusik), dances and private music-making.
In the 18th c., musical tastes changed and the Regal went out of
fashion because of its nasal-sounding, overtone-heavy texture.
The musical example ''Ave maris stella'' does not
come from Austria. It should however serve as a listening example of
the Regal. (E. Stadler)

!Sound Clip
[{Audio src='Wissenssammlungen/Musik-Lexikon/Regal/040104am.mp3'
caption='Audio sample of a Regal\\© Romano Zölss, Frankenau (Burgenland). Aufnahme und Klangspektrum: GM-Tonstudio-Musikverlag Dr. Werner Jauk'}]

[{Metadata Suchbegriff='' Kontrolle='Nein'}]

%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|Wissenssammlungen/Musik-Lexikon/Regal|class='wikipage austrian']
%%