Specifically the manual of an organ, usually its fourth, given to strong solo stops (flutes, strings and reeds) which are not normally intended to blend into any traditional manual chorus. Many 16th-century Brustwerke, containing only a regal or two, could be considered a kind of Solo organ, as could the new Récit de cornet manuals of the 17th (St Séverin, Paris, 1610). While French builders went on to develop their Récits (i.e. short-compass melodic manuals), some began to separate off the larger reeds, putting them on their own chest for purposes of steady wind-supply rather than specific music (Notre Dame, Paris, 1733); at the same period, some German builders gave their organs Solowerke with more stops than the usual Petite écho manuals (Solowerk of 16.8.8.8.8.8.8.8.4.4.4.4. at Ochsenhausen, 1729). The orchestral idea of organs encouraged by such writers as Vogler and J.H. Knecht (Vollständige Orgelschule, 1790) led to the secular organs of the mid-19th century that very often contained extravagant manuals devoted to solo stops. Hill's development of the high pressure reed (Birmingham Town Hall, 1840), Cavaillé-Coll's harmonic registers, and the pungent string-toned stops refined by builders throughout northern Europe and America provided the essential elements and made possible Solo divisions such as those at Leeds Town Hall (Gray and Davison, 1859), Boston Music Hall (Walcker, 1863) and Alexandra Palace, London (Willis, 1873). Later, extensive enclosure (in swell boxes) and extreme tonalities were adopted (Woolsey Hall, Yale University: Skinner, 1928; Royal Albert Hall, London: Harrison, 1934). In the modern eclectic organ the Solo has regained its chorus structure (Royal Festival Hall, London, 1954), sometimes combining this with the role of a Bombarde division (Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, 1992).
PETER WILLIAMS/NICHOLAS THISTLETHWAITE