In his Organ Stops and their Artistic Registration, Audsley lists Gedecktquinte with the following description:

A covered harmonic-corroborating stop of 5-1/3 ft. pitch, belonging to the 16 feet harmonic series, and, accordingly, suitable for insertion in any division of the Organ in which there are important stops of 16 ft. pitch. When combined with a stop of 8 ft. tone it creates the differential 16 ft. tone. Of 10-2/3 dt. pitch it belongs to the 32 ft. harmonic series, and is suitable for the Pedal Organ, where in combination with the Diapason, 16 ft., it generates the differential 32 ft. tone. These differential tones, however, are not so effective as those generated by open stops.

In The Art of Organ-Building, he adds: “its harmonic-corroborating character is greatly extended when it is made of the Quintaten class”. The “differential tones” Audsley describes are only discernable to the human ear in the lower octaves; see Resultant. Irwin also lists Gedecktquinte, saying:

A large-scaled Gedeckt of 5-1/3' on the manuals, and 10-2/3' on the pedals, pitched at the third harmonic of the sub-unison series of stops. A sub-unison stop should be drawn with it.

Adlung lists Gedackte Quinteflöte without defining it; we assume it to be a synonym.

Examples

All known examples are listed below. No examples of Diapente Pileata or Pileata Diapenta are known. Contributions welcome.

Gedeckt Quint 10-2/3', Pedal; Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina, USA; Aeolian 1932.

Gedacktquinte 5-1/3, Manual I; Cathedral (Dom), Berlin, Germany; Sauer 1905.

Gedacktquinte 5-1/3,Solo; Hans-Sachs-Haus, Gelsenkirchen, Germany; Walcker 1927/1982.

Bibliography