Roman claviorgans and 'table organs with a spinetta on top, 1567-1753

In an absolute sense, the first mention of the term 'claviorgan'—in its modern meaning—is found in a couple of notarial deeds dated, respectively, 1568 and 1576, the last one also containing the first known contract for the making of such an instrument. Furthermore, a set of deeds dating from 1611–13 provides the first detailed description of the cheaper 'portable' version of this instrument, the 'table organ with a spinetta on top'. The organi a tavolino, chamber instruments often furnished with wooden pipes, enjoyed their maximum distribution in the first quarter of the 17th century, i.e. during the age of the so-called madrigali a tavolino concertati. Later they were replaced by the more sonorous organi ad ala, still 'portable' instruments, but better suited to the church polychoral performances which had taken over from the madrigali concertati.

The claviorgan also underwent a rather rapid decline from the mid-17th century onwards, precipitated largely by the problems of mistuning between the pipe- and string-sections of the instrument caused by variations in ambient temperature; a theoretical investigation of this problem perfectly agrees with the degree of mistuning reported in 1630–5 by Giovanni Battista Doni. Doni was also one of the most fervent supporters of using the graviorgano (as it was often called in Rome and in other Italian cities) for theatre music. Even if he does not provide documentation in this regard, it is known that this instrument was used in the commedie con intermedi and drammi in musica staged in Florence (c.1596–1645); it was also prescribed by Antonio Cesti for his Il pomo d'oro (Vienna, 1668) and, in 1699, recorded in the orchestra of a theatre at Pistoia. As far as Rome is concerned, according to a caricature by Pier Leone Ghezzi, a claviorgan seems to have been used much later at the Teatro Argentina during the Carnival of 1753, for the performance of Nicola Logroscino's L'Olimpiade.

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