Geigen Octave German/English Geigenoctav German Octave Geigen English/German Viol Octave English

A Geigen of 4' pitch. Irwin says that “many organists consider [it] to be the superior Octave, because it imparts liveliness, great clarity, and a ‘fiery’ quality to the unisons without giving the string-like sound.”

Examples

No examples of Viol Octave are known (contributions welcome). Osiris contains two dozen examples of Octave Geigen, three at 8' pitch and the rest at 4'. Of the fifteen examples of Geigen Octave in Osiris, two are at 8' pitch in pedal divisions, and the rest are all at 4' in Swell divisions, with one exception.

Geigenoctave 4', Recit; Philharmonic Hall, Munich, Germany; Klais 1988.

Geigen Octave 4', Swell; Temple Sherith Israel, San Francisco, California, USA; Harris 1905.

Geigen Octave 4', Swell; Greene Memorial United Methodist Church, Roanoke, Virgina, USA; Skinner 1926.

Geigen Octave 4', Great; St. Paul's Anglican Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Casavant 1914.

Bibliography