Mortier
Encyclopedia
Mortier is an organ
manufacturer from Antwerp, Belgium
that made orchestrion
s, fairground organ
s, and mostly dance organ
s from 1898 until 1950. The company was founded by Theophile Mortier (1855–1944).
, in a period when the French and German organ industry was in full bloom. Theophile Mortier was originally the manager of a dance hall, in which there was always a Gavioli
organ playing. He made it a habit to sell the installed organ after a short while. He was fortunate enough most of the time to make a profit on selling these used organs. As time went by he became more and more an organ dealer and a very good customer of Gavioli. He set up a repair shop in order to provide maintenance and repair for the organs, which he had sold. The organ builder Guillaume Bax managed this shop. In 1906 Mortier started to build organs himself, as an annex of the Gavioli company.
Due to internal operations difficulties, Gavioli could after a while not deliver enough orders and Mortier began to manufacture the dance organs under his own name. After the First World War the company expanded to a size where they employed 80 personnel and had a capacity to build about 20 large dance organs per year. No other manufacturer has matched the cubic meter volume of organs produced by Mortier. The company stayed active until 1948.
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
manufacturer from Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
that made orchestrion
Orchestrion
An orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is usually produced by pipes, though they will be voiced...
s, fairground organ
Fairground organ
A fairground organ is a pipe organ designed for use in a commercial public fairground setting to provide loud music to accompany fairground rides and attractions...
s, and mostly dance organ
Dance organ
A dance organ is a mechanical organ designed to be used in a dance hall or ballroom. Being intended for use indoors, dance organs tend to be quieter than the similar fairground organ...
s from 1898 until 1950. The company was founded by Theophile Mortier (1855–1944).
History
The Mortier company started in 1898 as a vending agent for the Parisian organ builder Gavioli & CieGavioli
Gavioli & Cie were a Franco–Italian organ builder company that manufactured fairground organs in both Italy and later France.Gavioli was founded in 1806 in Modena, Italy, by Giacomo Gavioli . Giacamo's hobby was the development of automatic playing musical instruments like bird organs and flute...
, in a period when the French and German organ industry was in full bloom. Theophile Mortier was originally the manager of a dance hall, in which there was always a Gavioli
Gavioli
Gavioli & Cie were a Franco–Italian organ builder company that manufactured fairground organs in both Italy and later France.Gavioli was founded in 1806 in Modena, Italy, by Giacomo Gavioli . Giacamo's hobby was the development of automatic playing musical instruments like bird organs and flute...
organ playing. He made it a habit to sell the installed organ after a short while. He was fortunate enough most of the time to make a profit on selling these used organs. As time went by he became more and more an organ dealer and a very good customer of Gavioli. He set up a repair shop in order to provide maintenance and repair for the organs, which he had sold. The organ builder Guillaume Bax managed this shop. In 1906 Mortier started to build organs himself, as an annex of the Gavioli company.
Due to internal operations difficulties, Gavioli could after a while not deliver enough orders and Mortier began to manufacture the dance organs under his own name. After the First World War the company expanded to a size where they employed 80 personnel and had a capacity to build about 20 large dance organs per year. No other manufacturer has matched the cubic meter volume of organs produced by Mortier. The company stayed active until 1948.
See also
- Museum Van Speelklok tot PierementMuseum Van Speelklok tot Pierementthumb|Replica of a 1598 musical clock by Nicholas Vallin, that plays its music on 13 bellsMuseum Speelklok is a museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It has a collection of automatically playing musical instruments, most of which still work and therefore still can play their music...
, UtrechtUtrecht (city)Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features... - National Heritage Museum, ArnhemNational Heritage Museum, ArnhemThe Netherlands Open Air Museum is an open air museum and park located near Arnhem with antique houses, farms and factories from different parts of the Netherlands.-Museum History:...
- Pipe organPipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
External links
- Fairground organs, with a photograph of a colorful 112-key Mortier dance organ
- Dance Organs (Dansorgels)