regational singing it was found that the existing organs could
not make themselves heard above the voices. But it was discovered
empirically that by adding their harmonics artificially the organs
could be brightened up and even made to overpower large bodies of
singers. Hence the introduction of the Mixture stops (also called
compound stops), which were _compounded_ of several ranks of pipes.
The simplest form was the Doublette sounding the 15th and 22nd (the
double and treble octave) of the note struck. Other ranks added
sounded the 12th, 19th, and so on, until it was possible to obtain not
only the full common chord, but also some of the higher harmonics
dissonant to this chord, from a single key.

THE DECLINE OF MIXTURES.

Fifty years ago it was common to find the number of ranks of mixtures
in an organ largely exceed the total number of foundation stops.
Mixtures were inserted in the pedal departments of all large organs.
Organists of the time do not seem to have objected and many of the
leading players strongly opposed Hope-Jones when he came out as the
champion of their abolition. These stops greatly excited the ire of
Berlioz, who declaims against them in his celebrated work on
orchestration.

The tone of these old organs, when all the Mixture work is drawn, is
well nigh ludicrous to modern ears, and it is hard to suppress a smile
when reading the statements and arguments advanced in favor of the
retention of Mixtures by well-known organists of the last generation.
These mutation stops still have their place in large instruments, but
it is no longer thought that they are necessary to support the singing
of a congregation and that they should be voiced loudly. The decline
of Mixture work has in itself entirely altered and very greatly
improved the effect of organs when considered from a musical point of
view. The tone is now bright and clear. Mr. James Wedgwood says:

"The tendency to exaggerate the 'upper work' of the organ reached a
climax in the instrument built by Gabler, in 1750, for the Monastic
Church at Weingarten, near Ravensburg. This organ comprised no less
than ninety-five ranks of Mixture, including two stops of twenty-one
and twenty ranks, respectively. Toward the close of the Eighteenth
Century, the Abt Voegler (1749-1814) came forward with his
'Simplification System,' one feature of which consisted in the
abolition of excessive Mixture work. The worthy Abbe, who was a
capable theor