In which century was the hydraulis (water organ) first used in Greece?

The origin of the pipe organ can be traced back to the hydraulis (water) in Ancient Greece, in the 3rd century BCE. It worked based on the wind supply created by the weight of displaced water in an airtight container. By the 6th and 7th centuries CE, bellows were used to supply Byzantine organs with wind.

Beginning in the 12th century, the organ began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres (tone quality). A pipe organ with “great leaden pipes” was sent to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as a gift to Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 757 CE.

Pepin’s son Chalemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in Aachen in 812, beginning the pipe organ’s establishment in Western European church music.

Today, pipe organs are installed in churches, synagogues, concert halls, schools, other public buildings and in private properties. In the early 20th century, pipe organs were installed in theaters to accompany the screening of films during the silent movie era.