(Ger.: ‘breast department’; Dut. Borstwerk).
A small organ-chest, usually with its own manual, encased compactly above the keyboards and below the Hauptwerk, ‘in the breast’ of the organ. Many early examples contained a regal or two only, and even later the department usually kept its character as a regals or chamber organ. Such subsidiary chests were common in the 17th century, the pedal keyboard sometimes communicating with a so-called Brustpedal chest in north European organs. The term Brustwerk belongs only to 18th-century theorists like Agricola who standardized terminology; previous names had been ‘positive forn an die brust’ (A. Schlick, 1511), ‘voer yn dye borst’ (Amsterdam Oude Kerk, 1539), Brustpositiff (M. Praetorius, 1619; A. Schnitger, 1682), ‘in der Brust zum Manual’ (Praetorius, G. Silbermann, 1710). Some builders between about 1710 and 1730 in central Germany referred to the ‘Unterwerk’ as Brustpositiv or Brustwerk. If the Brustwerk regal rank (placed near the organist for convenient tuning) were played by the main manual's keyboard, as sometimes happened in Italy, Spain and Austria, there might be no written indication that an organ contained such a department. In modern ‘organ revival’ organs, the Brustwerk is often, as a compromise, given the shutters of a Swell organ instead of the usual solid doors.
See also Chair organ.
PETER WILLIAMS/BARBARA OWEN