 |
| About Organ Music: |
| This article originally appeared in "The Organ: King of Instruments," a booklet published by the Westfield Center as part of Festival Organ, a travelling program in celebration of organs and organ music. Introduction First, the reality - organs are meant to be heard live. To fully understand this instrument's persuasive power, you must encounter it on its own terms, in its space. Nonetheless, there exist more interesting instruments than there are opportunities to hear them in person, so modern recordings offer convenient and efficient access to time and space. German Music Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) was a true multiculturalist and artistic anthropologist, who blended matters of heart and intellect and the styles of diverse epochs and nationalities into a remarkable synthesis of universal significance. Listen to Bach. Then listen again, and again. Bach is, or should be, every organist's touch - stone. His music is more often played and more often recorded than any other organ composer. To Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) we owe a debt for refocusing European musicians in the early nineteenth century on the then largely forgotten works of Bach. A charismatic pianist, conductor and organist, Mendelssohn was the idol of the intellectual crowd. Among his many worthy compositions are Six Sonatas for Organ, Op. 65, and Three Preludes and Fugues, Op. 37, all notable for melodious grace and thoughtful structure. Recent discoveries have unearthed more than a dozen heretofore lost works. French Music If German organ music is distinguished by its logical structure, French music would be unimaginable without colour. Indeed, in the Baroque period, composers wrote specific kinds of music with particular organ registrations in mind (using the principal chorus for the majestic plein jeux, flutes and mutation stops in the passionate tierce en taille, the dramatic grands jeux showcasing the reeds, often in dialogue, etc.). These recipes sufficed for nearly three centuries, up until the Revolution. After the devastation of the Revolution, a new French organ type, the symphonic organ, evolved with its own distinctive palette first explored by Franck and his followers, Widor, Vierne, Dupre and even Messiaen. As for specific important post - Revolution composers, Cesar Franck (1822 - 1890) deserves special credit for inventing the solo organ symphony by taking logical advantage of the innovative new instruments which Aristide Cavaille - Coll was building in Paris. Franck may also have been urged on by his friend, pianist Charles - Valentin Alkan (1813 - 1888) who three years before Franck's Grande Piece Symphonique (dedicated to Alkan) had himself composed both a four - movement symphony and an immense 45 minute concerto for solo piano (!). After Franck came Charles - Marie Widor (1844 - 1937), whose ten organ symphonies more or less wrote the book on that topic. Remember, the Fifth (with the famous Toccata) and Sixth are the best of the bunch, though the more cerebral Ninth and Tenth have their advocates. And don't pass over Widor's grandiose Mass for Two Choirs and Two Organs. The somewhat more intense works... six symphonies and several dozen imaginative character pieces... by the perpetually sight - impaired and chronically depressed Louis Vierne (1870 - 1927), organist at the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, are even more interesting than those of Widor. |
|
 |
 |