Bombard English? Bärbommer German Bommer German

In his entry for Bombarde, Audsley says:

There was an old lingual stop sometimes called Bombard, but more commonly Bommer or Bärbommer, evidently deriving its name from Bombardo - a mediaeval reed instrument of large size and course intonation and probably the precursor of the Fagotto and Oboe. The old instrument, or some modification of it, was called Pommer, and led to a formation of a family of six instruments under the name. According to Wolfram (1815), the old Bommer, Bombard, or Bärbommer, was a pedal organ reed stop of 16 ft. and 8 ft. pitch, having resonators of wood, which were sometimes partly covered to soften the tone.

From this description it is not clear whether these names are synonyms for Bombarde. However, Locher describes it thus:

Bombard appears as a 16-ft. and 32-ft. striking reed on the pedals. With regard to power it stands between Trombone and Bassoon. It is seldom found on the manuals. There are, however, organs in France, on which the third and fourth manuals form together a so-called Bombard-manual based on the 16-ft. tone; for instance, St. Sulpice, St. Eustache, the Madeleine, and St. Denis.

The French divisions mentioned by Locher are spelled Bombarde, which lends credence to the idea that these stop names are synonyms for the stop of the same name.

Examples

Bombard 4', Pedal (2nd touch); Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; Midmer-Losh 1929-32.

Bibliography