The Salzburg Bull
By Jan Kijlstra
Nearby Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, is "Hohensalzburg", a fortress on a rock which is the home of "der Salzburger Stier", "the Salzburg Bull."
This is an old barrel-organ (1502) of exceptional dimensions, placed in the outer wall of the fortress where it looks out (and sounds over) the city of Salzburg. Since its sound (of dubious musical quality) was meant to be quite massive (and it is) in order to be heard downhill, it soon acquired the nickname "der Stier" ("the Bull"), to indicate its tonal qualities.
This organ, as well as the Salzburg carillon, is still in use, and nowadays they can be heard, one after another, three times a day.
By the way, the Salzburg carillon is placed in the "Neue Residenz", a former palace of the Salburg sovereign-bishops. It has 35 bells.
Jan Kijlstra
[ Editors note:
[
[ My German dictionary says "Der Stier" is no ordinary bull --
[ he battles toreadors !
[
[ In his book about Waldkirch Organs, author Herbert Juettemann
[ mentions the great organ at Salzburg, and notes that "the pinned
[ cylinder was made from maple-wood, of length 170 cm (5.6 foot)
[ and diameter 25 cm (10 inches)."
[
[ Robbie Rhodes
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(Message sent Thu 13 Feb 1997, 12:26:49 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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