Vox Retusa Latin

Wedgwood lists this stop with the following description:

(Lat.) Retusus = dull. A soft-toned Gedeckt. In the middle ages the adjective retusus was sometimes used to designate stopped pipes. Lund Cathedral, Sweden.

Audsley also lists it: “a labial covered stop of subdued tone ... in the Organ in the Cathedral of Lund, Sweden.” In a footnote he quotes Seidel as follows:

Vox Retusa, 8' von Zinn ist ein Flötenregister, welches im obersten Manual der Domorgel zu Lund in Schweden vorhanden ist. Retusa ist eine veraltete Benennung welche eine gedämpfte Stimme anzeigt. Ein ähnlicher, aber richtiger Ausdruck ist das schon erwähnte Obtusa.

Here is an English translation:

Vox Retusa, 8' of metal is a flute register, which is available in the highest manual of the cathedral organ at Lund in Sweden. Retusa is an outdated designation for a subdued stop. A similar, but correct term is the Obtusa already mentioned.

Obtusa is a synonym for Gedeckt.

Examples

All known examples are listed below.

Vox Retusa 8'; Cathedral of Lund, Lund, Sweden. See above.

Vox Retusa 8', Manual II; Blauen Halle, Stockholm, Sweden; Walcker 1925.

Vox Retusa 8', Huvudverk; Norbergs kyrka, Stockholm, Sweden.

Vox Retusa 8', Manual II; Bosebo kyrka, Sweden; Hammarberg 1996.

Vox Retusa 8', Manual III; Sofia Kyrka, Stockholm, Sweden; 1951. Alastair Disley describes this stop as “a moderate, slightly stringy principal ... Definitely not stopped”.

Bibliography