Gemshorn Sayings

In medieval times there was a flute like instrument called the Gemshorn. Made from the horn of an ox, it was played much like the modern ocarina. It had a sweet flute like tone, and often a pronounced chiff at the start of each note. In modern use the term refers to a pipe organ stop that in principle operates in a similar way. The tone has changed a great deal over the centuries, but it still tends to be on the sweet side, although in many instruments with a subtle string like tone.


Gemshorn Sayings is built around that stop on an organ (though several other flue stops are included to add to the tonal variety of the piece. Like my “Contractual Obligations,” it is dedicated to two of my favourite organists, Vernon Williams of Trinity Church, Moorestown, New Jersey and Susan Carroll of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Rhode Island. This performance is via the Hauptwerk program, and neither of them should be held responsible for its inadequacies.