Organology
Organology is the study of
musical instruments. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and
musical instrument classification. There is a degree of overlap between organology,
ethnomusicology, and
musicology.
A number of ancient cultures left documents detailing the musical instruments used and their role in society; these documents sometimes included a classification system. The first major documents on the subjects from the west, however, date from the
16th century, with works such as
Sebastian Virdung's
Musica getuscht und ausgezogen (1511), and
Martin Agricola's
Musica instrumentalis deudsch (1529).
One of the most important organologists of the
17th century is
Michael Praetorius. His
Syntagma musicum (1618) is one of the most quoted works from that time on the subject, and is the source of much of what we know about
renaissance musical instruments. Praetorius's
Theatrum instrumentorium (1620) contains possibly the first pictures of
African instruments in a European publication.
For much of the
18th and
19th centuries, little work was done on organology. Explorers returned to Europe with instruments from different cultures, however, so that by the end of the 19th century, some musical instrument collections were quite large. This led to a renewed interest in the subject.
One of the most important organologists of the
20th century was
Curt Sachs, who, as well as writing
Real-Lexicon der Musikinstrumente (1913) and
The History of Musical Instruments (1942), devised with
Erich von Hornbostel the
Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of instrument classification, published in 1914. This remains the most common classification scheme used by organologists today, despite some criticism.
A number of societies exist dedicated to the study of musical instruments. Among the more prominent are the
Galpin Society, based in the
United Kingdom; and the
American Musical Instrument Society, based in the
United States.
*
The Galpin Society*
The American Musical Instrument Society*
Experimental Musical InstrumentsLess commonly,
organology can refer to the study of
anatomical organs.
