This entry is still under construction. The next time you visit, check the Revision History to see what's been added.

A covered flute of 32', 16', 8', 4', or (rarely) 2' pitch. It is perhaps the most common covered flute stop. It is similar to, and occasionally synonymous with, Bourdon, Stopped Diapason and Tapadillo.

The earliest examples of Gedeckt and Gedakt appear to postdate the earlest examples of Gedackt and Gedact by about a century. These names are, or are derived from, the past participle of decken, meaning to cover. The name Vox Pileata comes to us only by way of a footnote in Audsley[1]'s entry for Pileata in which he quotes Regnier. While the name Flet is described in the literature as a synonym for Gedeckt, it is more likely that it is a synonym for Flute.

According to Grove[1], the name Flautado de Violon means neither a Diapason, as implied by Flautado, nor a string, as implied by Violon, but is the Spanish synonym for Gedeckt. See also Flautado Violón.

See also Flautonne, Stopped Metallic.

Tonal Attributes

Construction

Variants

Examples

Osiris contains around 560 examples of Gedackt, around 300 examples of Gedeckt, around 40 examples of Gedact, and around 20 examples of Gedakt; the earliest ones are listed below. The same source contains two examples of Pileata (both in the same location), four examples of Flet, and four examples of Flautado de Violón. Examples exist in nearly every organ that employs German stop names at all. No examples are known of Obtusa, Obtusior, Pressior, Tonbass, Thunbass, or Vox Pileata.

Flautado de Violón 8', Manual Left; Parroquia de Santa María, Lerín, Navarra, Spain; Cadiños 1859.

Flautado de Violón 8', Organ Mayor (left); San Pedro, Fuentes de Nava, Palencia, Spain; unknown c18??.

Flautado de Violón 8', Organ Mayor (left); Santa María a la Real, Xunqueira de Ambía, Orense, Spain; Valdonado 1759.

Flautado de Violón 8', Manual Left; Parraquia, Medinacelli, Soria, Spain; Verdalonga 1797.

Pileata 8', Pedal, Epistelorgel; Cathedral, Passau, Bavaria, Germany; Steinmeyer 1924-28.

Pileata 16', Pedal, Laurentius-Organ; Cathedral, Passau, Bavaria, Germany; Steinmeyer 1962, 1974, 1985.

Flet 4', Echo, Dreifaltigkeits-Orgel; Abbey, Ottobeuren, Germany; Riepp 1766.

Flet 4', Positiv; Dreifaltigkeits-Orgel; Abbey, Ottobeuren, Germany; Riepp 1766.

Flet 4', Manual; St. Mark's Church, Krakow, Poland; Sapalski 1856.

Flet 8', Manual; St. Mark's Church, Krakow, Poland; Sapalski 1856.

Gedackt 8', Rueckpositiv; Jacobikirche, Hamburg, Germany; Scherer 1543-1622.

Gedackt 8', Ruckpositiv; St. Jacobi, Lüdingworth, Germany; Wilde 1598.

Gedact 8', Rueck-positiv; Katherinenkirche, Hamburg, Germany; Stellwagen 1543.

Gedact 8', Rueckpositiff; St. Stephanskirche, Tengermuende, Germany; Scherer 1624.

Gedeckt 8', Rueckpositiv; Marienkirche, Stralsund, Germany; Stellwagen 1659.

Gedeckt 8', Oberwerk; St. Georg, Gartow, Niedersachsen, Germany; Hagelstein 1735-40.

Gedakt 8', Oberwerk; Cathedral, Freiberg, Germany; Silbermann 1710-14.

Gedakt 8', Pedaal; Bovenkerk, Kampen, Netherlands; Freytag & Schnitger 1790.

Sound Clips

See the Sound Files appendix for general information.

Bibliography