Bombardon French Bombardone Italian

A reed stop of 32', 16' or 8' pitch, usually found on the pedal. Adlung, Grove and Wedgwood list it as synonymous with Bombarde, but Audsley says: “The Bombardon has been confounded with the Bombarde, but they are properly two distinct stops tonally. The voice of the Bombardon should be between the voiced of the Bombarde and the Bassoon, while partaking of the character of both.” Grove also describes it as a “mild-toned English Bombarde of c1850”. The stop is named after the orchestral instrument of the same name, which it is supposed to imitate. The Italian word Bombardone means "great Bombarde".

Variants

Examples

Osiris lists eight examples of Bombardon at 32' pitch, five at 16', and one at 8'. Only one example of Bombardone is known.

Bombardon 32', Pedal; Cathedral, Riga, Latvia; Walcker 1883 (restored 1983).

Bombardon 32', Pedal; Christ Church, Christiana, Greenville, Delaware, USA; Brombaugh 1990.

Bombardon 16', Pedal; Monastery Church, Zwettl, Austria; Egedacher 1731 (restored 1983). This is the oldest known example.

Bombardon 16', Pedal; Votivkirche, Vienna, Austria; Walcker 1878.

Bombardon 8', Fanfare, Pedal; Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; Midmer-Losh.

Bombardone 16', Pedale; Chiesa di San Tommaso Apostolo; Castelfranco di Sopra, Italy; Mascioni 1957. Essentially a Bombarde.

Bibliography