Bombard Quint English? Bombarde Quinte French Quinte Bombarde French

This stop is listed only by Irwin under the name Bombarde Quinte, in which he says:

A Chorus Reed of 5-1/3' on the manuals, and 10-2/3' on the pedals, formed from Bombarde pipes of less than average loudness and brilliance. Since this stop froms the third harmonic of the sub-unison series, it is found in only the largest organs, and should be drawn only with a loud Chorus Reed, of 16' manual and 32' pedal pitch. With the lighter-toned ensembles it creates tonal ensembles. Reeds at these “quint” pitches have a limited use, which is mostly to complete the louder choruses in the pedals and manuals.
. . .
The forty to sixty overtones that each pipe of the two ranks would add to any ensemble are all completely off the pitches of both the notes of the scale and the overtones of all other ranks (except other stops of these same unusual pitches).

Irwin is only half correct. If properly tuned, the overtones of any quint stop will be exactly in tune with those of its relative unison pitch. On an equally-tempered instrument, the only overtones that are exactly in tune with their nearest notes on the keyboard are those that sound at octaves.

Audsley also mentions this stop, saying:

In [Cavaillé-Coll's] notable scheme for the “Orgue Monumental” to be erected in St. Peter's, at Rome, we find in the Pedal Organ a Contre-Bombarde, 32 ft., a Bombarde, 16 ft., and a Quinte Bombarde, 10-2/3 ft. The tonal effect of these three commanding voices in combination, heard in such a building as St. Peter's, is beyond one's power to imagine.

The St. Peter's organ, first proposed in 1875, was never built.

Examples

Bombard Quint 10-2/3', Pedal; Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; Midmer-Losh 1929-32. (This stop is unified from a 32' rank, and thus is not properly in tune.)

Bibliography