Party Horns

(Video)Here's a very talented 17-year-old in the Netherlands doing a triumphant improvisation on the hymn "Holy Holy Holy", postlude style, showcasing the horizontal solo trumpet pipes. This organ is a beast... built the way they were built in the 1700's or so. Just keys mechanically linked to the valves and knobs mechanically linked to the stop sliders... and you're on your own from there. Hence the helpers. I think this organ would be nearly impossible to manage alone.

Here's another nice trumpet tune, this one by Handel, played by Timothy Grenz on a Holtkamp organ. This piece has better sound quality, but no picture (mp3 file). Direct-link used with permission from a great site, Organs and Organists Online. Check it out. (This post could use a nice picture of horizontal organ trumpets, if anyone knows of one).