CHAPTER XVII_The art of music, Vol. 06 (of 14)

MODERN ORGAN MUSIC

Supremacy of modern French organ music; Saint-Saëns;

Guilmant: sonatas and smaller works--Widor: organ symphonies;

Dubois; Gigout and other French organ-writers--German

organ composers; Piutti; Klose; Reger: chorale-fantasias;

Karg-Elert and others--Organ music in Italy; Capocci; Bossi;

Busoni and others--English organ composers since 1850--Organ

music in the United States; early history; Dudley Buck;

Frederick Archer and Clarence Eddy; contemporary American

organ composers.

It is always an interesting and fruitful task to dive beneath the

surface of historical events and discover the contributing causes that

have led to the supremacy of certain nations at certain periods in

certain departments of musical activity. For the past three decades

at least, French organ-music has occupied a position of supremacy

in certain important respects, among which may be named brilliance

of technical finish, glowing variety of tone-colors as expressed in

skillfully thought-out registration, interesting and piquant rhythmical

figuration and melodic outline, combined with modernity of harmonic

treatment. A group of elder composers, of whom Saint-Saëns, Guilmant,

Widor and Dubois are the chief ornaments, laid the solid foundation

of this school into which they were careful to build a deep and

intelligent appreciation of Bach’s organ art, which had only recently

been transplanted into France. Rooted in such a fertile soil French

vivacity and lightness of feeling took on a deeper color and a richer

luxuriance that combined substance with beauty of external expression.

In this genial and healthy atmosphere the younger generation of French

organists have lived and from its stimulating nourishment they have

developed many fascinating traits of strong and virile individualism.

Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (born 1835), the Nestor of French

composers, has demonstrated an unusual versatility in composition

and has contributed to nearly every field of musical activity. He is

not only a great pianist but also an organist of great ability and

from 1858 to 1870 was the organist at the Madeleine, Paris, where

he became famous for his improvisations and his many excellences as

a performer. Under the spell of his imagination the organ becomes a

flexible and elastic instrument of which he demands pianistic lightness

and orchestral richness of color. In this respect the few organ

works of Saint-Saëns stand at the head of all French contributions

to organ literature. Freedom from all scholastic tradition and the

improvisation-like character of most of his organ works make them

highly interesting. The Fantaisie in D-flat major (opus 101), his best

work, is appropriately named, for it is music without prearranged

plan and is harmonically most piquant, especially the ending with its

descending harmonies over an organ-point. His three Rhapsodies are all

brilliant and attractive concert-pieces, as are also his Preludes.

Only in the Fugues associated with these Preludes does Saint-Saëns, in

common with all French composers except César Franck, fall short--the

fugue is essentially the property of German art.

Felix Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), one of the most celebrated

French organ composers and virtuosos, extended his fame by many concert

tours throughout Europe and two in the United States (in 1893 and

1903). The larger part of his compositions is for organ. These show

rich, fluent melody, always clear form and a rare skill in utilizing

the possibilities of organ tone-color. The popularity of his works

among organists is enhanced by the moderate technical demands required

for their performance. Guilmant possessed astonishing facility in

improvisation (an interesting feature on most of his concert programs)

and won the admiration and respect of musicians of all countries by his

propaganda for the classical masters. His historical recitals at the

Trocadéro during the Paris Exposition of 1878 attracted international

notice and later he published a large and valuable collection entitled

_Archives des maîtres de l’orgue_. From 1871 to 1902 he was organist at

La Trinité, Paris, which position he gained by his remarkable playing

at the inauguration of the organs at St. Sulpice and Nôtre Dame. His

organ compositions are numerous and highly original. The most important

of them are the eight sonatas. Of these the first sonata in D minor,

opus 42, is the favorite one among organists and the finest in breadth

of conception and unity of construction. It is grateful, effective

concert music, very clear in form and typically French in invention.

The first movement is powerful and majestic, the Pastorale tender and

most expressive, and the Finale a brilliant display-piece with its

toccata-like motive. This sonata is also published as a symphony for

organ and orchestra--a most impressive work. Sonata No. 3 in C minor,

opus 56, is a fine work with an excellent Finale (Fugue). Sonata No.

5 in C minor, opus 80, possesses a strong, passionate first movement,

an effective Scherzo with its ingenious little staccato fugato and a

Finale that is one of Guilmant’s best and most forceful movements.

The sonata is dedicated to Clarence Eddy and in the last movement

the composer ingeniously and tactfully builds his theme from the

initials of his own name and that of the American organist--C-G-E-A.

The sixth sonata, opus 86. is a beautiful work in all its movements.

Sonata No. 8 in A major, opus 91--he calls it ‘Symphony for organ and

orchestra’--has an especially attractive Scherzo and the Finale is

brilliant and strong.

Besides the sonatas, Guilmant has written prolifically in smaller

forms and in various styles, in all of which he makes excellent

practical use of the possible effects of the instrument for which his

music is so well adapted. The ‘Fugue in D’ is one of the strongest

French fugues and shows how deeply he had lived into Bach’s favorite

form. The ‘Religious March’ is cleverly constructed on a theme from

Handel’s ‘Messiah’ and is built up with an original secondary subject

(a smooth, brilliant fugato) to an imposing climax. The ‘Funeral March

and Seraphic Song’ enjoys deserved popularity. The Finale (‘Seraphic

Song’) is especially notable with its double pedal effect (the melody

being played with the right foot) and sparkling harp-like arpeggios

on the manuals. In all his writings Guilmant reveals a fanciful

imagination and is always sure of good effect. In ‘Lamentation,’ for

example, he displays his artistic resourcefulness in transforming the

sad march-like theme (in the pedal) of the first part into a theme of

religious consolation at the end (Hymn: _Jerusalem convertere_).

Charles Marie Widor (born 1845), organist of St. Sulpice in Paris

since 1870, is the most distinguished of the living French organists

and organ composers. Having succeeded César Franck as professor of

organ-playing at the Conservatoire in 1890 and Dubois as professor

of composition in 1896, he occupies a position of extraordinary

importance in contemporary French organ-music as composer, teacher

and performer. While he is known in America almost exclusively by his

activities associated with the organ, he has written extensively for

the pianoforte, the voice and the orchestra (two symphonies, three

concertos, etc.) and much in chamber-music forms. His best writings for

organ are ten symphonies which together constitute one of the noblest

gifts that any composer has ever made to organ literature. In these

works he shows himself a thoroughly representative French composer,

combining all the brilliant qualities of the modern French school.

Influenced somewhat by Liszt and Berlioz in his earlier works (the

first series of symphonies), he represents the finest progress in the

French art of organ-playing in the last three decades.

His first eight organ symphonies (in reality sonatas) were published

in two series--opus 13 (Nos. 1-4) and opus 42 (Nos. 5-8). These are

in a class by themselves and deserve especial attention and study.

The title ‘symphony’ is often justified in the enlarged form used

and in the elaborate development of individual movements. Most of

them contain from four to six movements. In the first symphony in C

minor the best movements are the first, second and fifth. The first

two movements of the second in D are the most attractive. No. 3 in E

(a kind of suite, consisting of Prelude, Minuet, March, Canon, Fugue

and a brilliant Finale) is the easiest of the symphonies and of less

importance than the others. No. 4 is excellent throughout, the first

and fourth being possibly the best movements. The first of the second

series of symphonies--No. 5 in F--is probably the most popular of the

ten among organists, since it possesses the double merit of being fine,

inspiring music and at the same time offering excellent opportunity

to display both the performer and the resources of the modern organ

to good advantage--especially in the first movement (_Allegro vivace_

in variation form), in the second (_Allegro cantabile_) and in the

_Finale_ (Toccata) with its brilliant staccato technique. No. 6 is

musically far superior to No. 5 and is one of the most masterly works

in the entire organ literature, the first movement being particularly

imposing in its breadth and grandeur of conception, and the second

rich in noble sentiment. In No. 7 the fourth and last movements are

especially interesting. No. 8 is one of the most beautiful of Widor’s

works--the first movement being of brilliant effect and the second full

of musical warmth.

In addition to these eight, Widor has written the _Symphonie Gothique_

in C minor, opus 70, and the _Symphonie Romane_ in B minor, opus 73.

The former is one of his most notable compositions; in the first

movement sombre-hued, suppressed emotion is portrayed in a most

interesting harmonic garb, while the fine melodic line of the second

movement forms effective contrast, and the Finale displays brilliant

technical features. In the first movement of the _Symphonie Romane_

there is a very ingenious and original elaboration of a Gregorian chant

used as theme. The Cantilena (third movement) is lovely music and the

Finale brilliant and dashing. The _Symphonia Sacra_, opus 83, is a

massive work for organ and orchestra constructed on a theme borrowed

from the melody of the old Latin hymn of St. Ambrose (fourth century),

_Veni redemptor gentium_, a hymn which Martin Luther translated for

Johann Walther’s _Gesangbuch_ (1524) under the title of _Nun komm der

Heiden Heiland_. Upon this chorale (which Bach has also used in several

of his organ preludes) Widor builds up a mighty Gothic cathedral in

tones, in the construction of which organ and orchestra vie with each

other in supplying vital plastic material. The employment of the

chorale in this modern French work, coming as it does contemporaneously

with Reger’s remarkable Chorale-Fantasias in Germany, is evidence that

the resources of the old church-chorale have not been exhausted and

that the classic circle beginning with Pachelbel and Bach has expanded

its circumference to embrace congenial masters from any country; and

here the modern Frenchman, Widor, touches elbows with the German,

Reger. This interesting work was given its first American performance

by Wilhelm Middelschulte with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in

February, 1911.

Clément François Théodore Dubois (born 1837), organist at the

Madeleine from 1877 to 1896 (succeeding Saint-Saëns) and director of

the Conservatoire, after Ambroise Thomas’ death, from 1896 to 1905,

occupies a respected position as an organ composer. Much of his best

composition, however, is in other fields. His shorter organ pieces

are numerous and generally effective, especially for church use.

His melodies are mostly noble and fluent and his harmony modern and

interesting, inclining toward orchestral effects. The pedal part

frequently lacks independence. These compositions are so well known

that it would be superfluous to name more than a few of the more

familiar ones: _Messe de Marriage_, _Fiat Lux_, ‘Hosanna,’ ‘March

of the Magi’ (with the highest B held through the entire piece,

representing the star in the East), and _In Paradisum_.

Eugène Gigout (born 1844), organist of St. Augustin and director of an

organ school in Paris, is one of the first names among French writers

for organ. He inclines more to the classical style than do most of

his French colleagues. Among his best pieces are _Prière en form de

Prélude_, _Pèlerinage_, _Andante varié_, _Marche religieuse_, _Marche

funèbre_, _Andante Symphonique_.

Théodore César Salomé (1834-1896), for many years second organist at La

Trinité, is best known by his Sonata in C minor, an effective work.

Samuel Alexandre Rousseau (1853-1904), pupil of César Franck and

chapel-master of St. Clotilde, Paris, wrote valuable compositions for

the organ that show much creative power. Of these the _Double Thème

varié_ is the best.

Leon Boëllmann (1862-1897) was a fine organist in Paris, the full

development of whose artistic powers was prevented by his early death.

He was nearly equally successful in all styles of composition, leaving

no less than sixty-eight published works. The _Suite Gothique_ in

C minor is his most popular organ work. He also wrote a _Fantaisie

dialoguée_ for organ and orchestra.

Ferdinand de la Tombelle (born 1854), a pupil of Guilmant and Dubois

at the Conservatoire at Paris, has written much organ music that has

enjoyed a measure of popularity both in England and America.

The school of younger French organ composers shows a well-defined

tendency to adopt an impressionistic style, without losing, however,

the characteristically French brilliance, grace and melodic charm.

Among its leaders will be found Joseph Bonnet (born 1884 at Bordeaux),

organist at St. Eustache and Guilmant’s successor at the Paris

Conservatoire. Other young French composers are A. Maquaire, a pupil

of Widor, whom he assists at St. Sulpice; Charles Quef, organist at La

Trinité; J. Ermand Bonnal, and others.

III

Germany always has been, and still is, the special champion of

intellectual organ music, as France has been of brilliant, melodious

and colorful organ music. Bach and the churchly function of the organ

have been the two factors in German organ music that have determined

its lines of development almost up to the present. The concert organ

placed in public halls, that has been such a prominent element in the

development of organ music and its popular appreciation in France,

England and America through the giving of concerts or recitals, has

only recently made its appearance in Germany. There the organ is

still a church, not a recital, instrument. Then, too, modern German

organ-builders have been much slower than either French, English or

American builders in adopting mechanical improvements. Until very

recently an organ suitable for the adequate performance of a monochrome

Bach fugue has been the ideal of the German builder, and at the opening

of the twentieth century there were hundreds of such organs in large

German churches, with eighteenth-century mechanical appliances. The

‘swell-box’ was not adopted until late in the nineteenth century; and

the wonderful development in nineteenth-century German orchestral art

found echoes only here and there in German organ music. In the past

three decades, however, some magnificent modern instruments have been

installed in Germany and there are already abundant evidences that a

progressive spirit has taken firm hold upon its organ-builders and its

organ-music. At present Germany possesses but few composers for the

organ whose works have exerted large influence, but these are very

important in their relation to the development of organ music.

Carl Piutti (1846-1902) was born in Elgersburg, Thuringia, and educated

at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he taught from 1875 until his death.

After 1880 he was organist at the Thomas Church. Of his comparatively

few organ compositions, his Sonata in G minor, opus 22, deserves

special mention; it is imposing in its proportions and is one of the

most brilliant examples of modern German organ art.

Ernst Hans Fährmann (born 1860), organist of the Johanneskirche in

Dresden, is an excellent composer for his instrument. His best work is

Sonata in C major, opus 22; the Sonata in A minor, opus 18, is also a

brilliant and effective work.

Friedrich Klose (born 1862 in Karlsruhe, lives in Munich) has written

much for orchestra with organ, but has contributed one important

work for organ alone--Prelude, Double Fugue and Chorale (Chorale at

the conclusion for 4 trumpets and 4 trombones). This work, which is

dedicated to Anton Bruckner, had its origin in an improvisation by

Bruckner in Bayreuth. Klose, an enthusiastic admirer of the Viennese

master, uses the theme of Bruckner in building up an imposing, powerful

work--very impressive in the introduction and majestic in its great

climax (over an organ-point of thirty measures).

Max Reger (born 1873 at Brand, Bavaria) is the greatest living master

of organ composition. Astounding mastery over the technical side of

composition (he is probably the greatest contrapuntist since Bach),

wonderful richness in his harmonic formations, and a phenomenal power

of expression, are some of his admirable traits. He is the leader

of the ultra-modern German school and, though still a comparatively

young man, is one of the most prolific writers in all musical history.

Of his first hundred opuses, twenty-two are for organ, each ranging

in size from a set of from four to ten pieces to a sonata or a

chorale-fantasia. He is a distinct innovator in his harmonic scheme,

but is often accused of lacking warmth. Intensely modern in his

harmonic feeling, his novel harmonies do not spring so much from chord

movement in the ordinary sense as from the happy sounding together of

independently moving melodies. The influence of his exuberant polyphony

is everywhere felt in his writings. He is clearly an intellectualist

and his art appears at its highest in the most complicated structures,

such as the chorale-fantasias and variations, where he presents

movements of sublimest beauty and greatest depths, as only a great

master can.

The chorale-fantasias of Reger cultivate a new field, suggested,

however, by Sebastian Bach in his one example, _O Lamm Gottes,

unschuldig_, where he composes three verses, not variations. The

characteristic is that each verse, according to the poetic suggestion

of the text, assumes an entirely original form, but all are organically

molded into one whole. At the end there usually appears a colossal

fugue, where the melody of the chorale is interwoven with the themes

of the fugue. His great chorale-fantasias are: _Ein’ feste Burg_;

_Freu’ dich sehr, O meine Seele_; _Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern_;

_Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn_; _Alle Menschen müssen sterben_;

_Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme_. Next in importance come the Fantasia

on B-A-C-H, opus 46, and the Symphonic Fantasia and Fugue, opus 57.

There are two sonatas--opus 33 in F-sharp minor and opus 60 in D

minor--and several sets of short pieces. Among the latter group several

of the Monologues (opus 63), and several of both opus 59 (Benedictus

and Pastorale in particular) and opus 69 are favorite numbers with

recitalists.

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (born 1878, lives in Leipzig), though a young man,

is an important figure in German music of to-day. He has already

published over a hundred works and they bear the stamp of talent of the

highest order. He is a modernist of pronounced, sometimes extravagant,

type in his harmonic feeling and combines with this a brilliant style

of expression. His Passacaglia in E-flat minor is a scholarly work;

the Sonatina No. 1 in A minor, opus 74, is built on large lines,

notwithstanding the title; of his groups of smaller pieces, some of

the better known are Three Impressions, opus 72 (‘Moonlight,’ ‘Night’

and ‘Harmonies of Evening’), and Ten Characteristic Pieces, opus 86

(_Prologus Tragicus_, ‘Impression,’ ‘Canzona,’ etc.).

The most prominent of living Danish composers for the organ is

Otto Malling (born 1848, living in Copenhagen), whose works are

both numerous and strikingly individual. The majority of his organ

compositions take the form of mood-pictures inspired by biblical

subjects, most of which centre around the life and times of Christ, as

the ‘Holy Virgin’ suite of six pieces, opus 70 (‘The Annunciation,’

‘Mary visits Elizabeth and praises God,’ ‘The Holy Night,’ etc.).

Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century organ music in Italy

had remained practically where Frescobaldi had left it. Very little

progress had been made during the intervening two centuries either

in organ music or in organ-building. Musical Italy was almost wholly

absorbed in vocal music and the opera. Church music had sunk to

lamentable depths of triviality and secularity. Independent organ music

received only the slightest attention and absolute stagnation reigned.

When Guilmant, in the eighties of the last century, opened the new

organ in the church of St. Louis des Français in Rome by giving daily

recitals for two weeks, he gave many of the well-known Bach and Handel

works their first performance in Italy! Even now there are very few

modern organs in Italy. The names of Italian organists, therefore, are

very few in number, even when the present generation is reached.

In the eighteenth century only one Italian organist stands out with any

prominence, Francesco Antonio Vallotti (1697-1780), chapel-master of

the Church of San Antonio in Padua. He was recognized as a great writer

of church-music and Tartini, his contemporary, spoke in warmest terms

of his playing. He was the teacher of the famous Abbé Vogler.

Marco Santucci (1762-1843), _maestro_ of the cathedral at Lucca, wrote

12 fugued sonatas for organ and Vincenzo Antonio Petrali (1832-1889)

had a great reputation as an improvisator and virtuoso.

Of the living Italian organists the most prominent and influential

are Capocci and Bossi, both of whom have striven valiantly to bring

Italian organ-art back to the place of eminence it occupied in the

early centuries. The elder of these musicians, Filippo Capocci (born

1840), has been the organist of St. John Lateran in Rome since 1875

and his organ is said to be the finest in Italy. He is not only a

fine performer, but also a gifted composer of serious aims. He has

written six sonatas and twelve volumes of original organ-pieces, mostly

attractive and valuable. The sonatas are his best works, in which he

follows classical lines.

Enrico Marco Bossi (born 1861) was organist of the Cathedral of Como

from 1881 to 1891, in 1896 he was appointed director of the _Liceo

Benedetto Marcello_ in Venice, in which institution he also taught

organ and advanced composition, and since 1902 he has been director of

the _Liceo Musicale_ in Bologna. He is Italy’s greatest organist to-day

and has also been a prolific writer in many fields--organ as well as

choral, orchestral and chamber music. His fine inventive genius, bold

harmonic feeling and originality of design, coupled with a certain

severity of style, are well illustrated in his best works--a concerto

for organ and orchestra, opus 100 (especially the first movement of

which is built up to a powerful climax), two sonatas (opus 60 and

opus 77), and a large number of compositions in smaller forms, such

as Marche Héroique, Étude Symphonique, Toccata, Romanza, Idylle, Hora

Mystica, Scherzo in G minor, etc. In 1893 with Tebaldini he published

‘A School of Modern Organ-Playing,’ which is a standard work.

Oreste Ravanello (born 1871), organist of St. Mark’s, Venice (1892),

and director of music of Antonius Basilica in Padua (1898), is to be

named among the best Italian writers of the present. His Fantasia in F

minor is an effective concert number.

Lorenzo Perosi (born 1872) was appointed by Pope Leo XIII musical

director of the Sistine Chapel in 1898 and has written trios and

preludes for the organ.

Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni (born 1865 at Florence), the profound

Bach scholar, has made the most important contribution to modern

organ literature by an Italian--the _Fantasia contrapuntistica_ (on a

fragment by Sebastian Bach). Bach’s last unfinished work was intended

as a fugue with four themes, but only the first, second and part of

the third fugues were left. What the fourth theme was to be, remained

a mystery until the well-known theorist Bernhard Ziehn (1845-1912)

of Chicago solved it convincingly, thus showing the possibilities of

Bach’s fragment. With this suggestion Busoni has accomplished the

gigantic task with admirable result. The work really consists of seven

fugues, three of them being variations (a new idea in this form) of the

preceding fugues. It exists in three versions: for piano by Busoni;

for organ, transcribed by Wilhelm Middelschulte; and for orchestra

and organ, transcribed by Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago

Symphony Orchestra. As an organ piece it is the most difficult work in

the entire organ literature.

About 1850 the widespread dissatisfaction of English organists

with the crude and incomplete instruments of the period began to

have an appreciable effect on English organ-builders. In the years

soon following the middle of the century notable improvements were

made--larger and more complete organs were built, pedals were more

common in church organs and complete pedal-boards were introduced, the

obsolete ‘unequal temperament’ system of tuning was generally discarded

and the ‘swell to tenor G’ half-keyboard was discontinued. When these

necessary improvements were made, English organ art advanced rapidly

and an array of eminent organists came into view whose united labors as

performers and composers brought the organ into its present position of

great influence in England and made possible the fine achievements of

the present generation of younger British organists and organ-composers.

Prominent in this group are the names of Sir Herbert Stanley Oakley

(1830-1903), professor of music at Edinburgh University from 1865

to 1891 and regarded as a player of exceptional ability and a good

composer; George Mursell Garrett (1834-1891), organist to Cambridge

University and the composer of much church and organ music; Edmund

Hart Turpin (born 1835), for many years regarded as one of England’s

greatest concert organists; Sir John Stainer (1840-1901), one of the

most prominent English musicians of his day, organist at St. Paul’s,

London (1872-1888), professor of music at Oxford University from 1889

and composer of many sacred cantatas and much church and organ music

of serious character; Sir Walter Parratt (born 1841), since 1883

professor of organ at the Royal College of Music and since 1893 master

of music to the royal household; Albert Lister Peace (born 1844), a

fine organ-virtuoso, the successor (1897) of W. T. Best as organist

of St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, which is regarded as one of the best

appointments in the United Kingdom; Sir John Frederick Bridge (born

1844), organist of Westminster Abbey from 1882, composer of much good

church music and the author of text-books on counterpoint and organ

accompaniment; and Sir George C. Martin (born 1844), organist of St.

Paul’s Cathedral, London, after 1888 and a distinguished writer of

dignified music for the church service.

The best known of the younger generation of English organists and

organ-composers in America is Edwin Henry Lemare (born 1865), who is

generally regarded as Best’s legitimate successor in the organ-concert

field. He first attracted large notice by his recitals while organist

of St. Margaret’s, London. His reputation in the United States

was greatly increased during his two years’ tenure of the post of

organist of Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg (1902-1904), and by several

extended concert tours before and after that appointment. In his organ

compositions, which are very numerous, he cultivates mostly a ‘light’

or ‘popular’ style, though his writing reveals a facile command of the

means of musical expression. His Symphony in D minor is his largest

work and it is a brilliant, strong composition.

William Wolstenholme (born 1865), though blind from birth, has attained

a high place for himself both as a performer (he made a short tour in

the United States in 1908) and as a composer of exquisite invention.

Over sixty of his compositions for organ are published, including two

sonatas. Alfred Hollins (born 1865) is also a blind organist, whose

compositions for the organ have the same qualities of lovely melody and

interesting harmony. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

William Faulkes, organist of St. Margaret’s church, Anfield, Liverpool,

England, is a prolific writer of organ music of the ‘attractive’ type.

Sir Edward Elgar (born 1857) has written very little for the organ. His

Sonata in G, opus 28, is important, however. The ‘Pomp and Circumstance

March,’ so popular with organists, is an arrangement from a march for

military band written for the festivities of the Coronation of Edward

VII, played for the first time at the Promenade Concert, London, Oct.

22, 1901.

Basil Harwood (born 1859) is a composer of serious aims and ample

technical equipment. His organ works include a Sonata in C-sharp minor

and ‘Pæan.’ Other prominent English organ composers of the present

generation are Julius Harrison, now living in London, Hugh Blair and

Purcell J. Mansfield.

The history of organ music in the United States is difficult of

comparison with that of European countries, for its development

here has been so recent. Organ-building on a large scale did not

begin until about 1850 and organ-music of intrinsic value by native

composers did not appear until a couple of decades later. But since

then progress in every branch of organ art has been truly remarkable,

and this cumulative development has atoned in large measure for earlier

backwardness and slowness. In the quality of both organ-building and

organ-music produced in this country at the present time, American

achievement need not shun comparison with the best contemporary

European efforts.

The rapidly increasing popularity of the organ as a recital instrument

in America is traceable to several causes. At the foundation, of

course, is the widely diffused public appreciation of good music

of all kinds, fostered and stimulated by the annual flood of

concerts--orchestral, choral and chamber-music--and by the recitals

of individual artists in every field that are given even in cities of

comparatively small size. But two causes have contributed particularly

to the appreciation of organ music: (1) the rapid progress that has

been made in the last twenty-five years by American organ-builders in

all matters pertaining to mechanical appliances and tone-quality, with

the result that magnificent instruments are now to be found in almost

every city in the land, some of which are in public halls, municipally

owned and maintained for purposes of public culture; and (2) a notable

improvement in the standards of organ-playing and general musicianship

among organists themselves. A factor of large importance in this

movement has been the activity of the American Guild of Organists,

modelled after the Royal College of Organists in London and founded

in 1896 in New York City ‘to raise the standard of efficiency of

organists by examinations in organ playing, in the theory of music and

in general musical knowledge; and to grant certificates of Fellowship

and Associateship to members of the Guild who pass such examinations.’

(Excerpt from the Constitution of this Guild.) This Guild now (1915)

numbers among its members over 1600 prominent organists in the United

States and Canada. Part of its regular propaganda is the giving of

public services and organ recitals of high musical quality.

The first organ in America was the famous old Brattle organ, imported

and left by Thomas Brattle, treasurer of Harvard College, by his

will in 1713 to the Brattle Square Church, Boston. But since the

church voted that it was not proper ‘to use said organ in the public

worship of God,’ it was erected in King’s Chapel, Boston, in 1714,

where it remained until 1756. For eighty years after this date it was

in constant use in St. Paul’s Church, Newbury. It was then sold to

St. John’s Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was in existence in

1901, when it was displayed at an exhibition of musical instruments

in Horticultural Hall, Boston. This historically interesting old

instrument had only six stops.

John Clemm is said to have erected the first American built organ in

Trinity Church, New York, in 1737. This organ had three manuals and 26

stops and was followed eight years later by a two-manual organ built

by Edward Bromfield in Boston. Until the days of the Revolution it was

in the Old South Church, but was burned during the siege of Boston.

Many other small organs were built or imported for the larger churches,

but organ-building in America may properly be said to begin with the

erection in 1853 of the large four-manual organ with seventy stops and

3096 pipes, by Hook and Hastings in Tremont Temple, Boston. This was

an organ of concert proportions and others soon followed in the large

cities; chief among these early large organs were the one erected in

Boston Music Hall (completed in 1863) and the one in the Cincinnati

Music Hall in 1878.

American organists of the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth

centuries have no particular interest for us, save as mere historical

reference. About the middle of the last century, however, coincident

with the widespread awakening of popular interest in musical matters,

there appeared a number of young organists, all of them with European

training (mostly at Leipzig), who were well-equipped to handle a large

organ and to play the organ music of the classical masters. Among these

pioneers appear prominently the names of James Cutler Dunn Parker (born

1828), Benjamin Johnson Lang (1837-1909), and Samuel Parkman Tuckerman

(1819-1890), among the group of Boston organists; George Washbourne

Morgan (1823-1892), an Englishman who came to New York in 1853 and

who was considered the first concert-organist in America; John Henry

Willcox (1827-1875), a native of Georgia, educated at Trinity College,

Hartford, Conn., and for the rest of his life an organist in Boston;

Eugene Whitney Thayer (1838-1889), for many years organist at Music

Hall, Boston; George William Warren (1828-1902), a self-taught musician

who was for thirty years organist of St. Thomas’s in New York; and John

Knowles Paine (1839-1906), from 1876 professor of music at Harvard

University, who was one of the first, if not the first, American

concert-organist who measured up to German standards of classical organ

playing.

American organ music, however, begins with Dudley Buck (1839-1909),

for he was not only a performer of finest attainments, but was the

first American composer to gain general recognition, and among his best

compositions are some large works for organ. For three years preceding

the great Chicago fire of Oct. 9, 1871, he was organist of St. James’s

Church in that city and for twenty-five years (1877-1902) he was

organist of Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn. His organ compositions show

the influence of classical models, expressed in fluent, pleasing melody

and attractive harmony with an always clear sense of form. His best

organ-works include two sonatas (in E-flat, opus 22, and in G minor,

opus 77), Concert Variations on ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ and many

smaller pieces, such as the familiar Idylle, ‘At Evening.’ In addition

he wrote a great deal of church music with organ accompaniment. From

the pedagogical side his work was equally valuable, including ‘18

Pedal-Phrasing Studies’ and ‘Illustrations in Choir-Accompaniment, with

Hints on Registration,’ the latter of which is still of great practical

value to organists.

The number of fine concert-organists increased so rapidly since those

named above that no attempt will be made here even to enumerate them.

The field of concert-organists cannot be passed over, however, without

mention of two of their number whose influence, especially in the

transitional years of the last two decades of the last century, was

enormous in creating an interest in, and love for, good organ music.

These organists are Frederick Archer (1838-1901) and Clarence Eddy

(born 1851), both organ-virtuosos of the first rank, whose numerous

and extended recital tours brought them into every part of the United

States. Archer, who gained his first laurels as organist at Alexandra

Palace, London, came to America in 1880 and became organist in Boston,

Brooklyn, Chicago, and finally (1896) in Pittsburg where he served as

city organist and musical director of Carnegie Music Hall. Clarence

Eddy’s playing has brought him an international fame; he now (1915)

resides in Chicago as concert-organist, teacher and writer.

Passing to the group of organ-composers, the endeavor will be made

to name some of those--and a few important ones will doubtless be

omitted where a choice must be made from a list that is increasing so

rapidly--who have made substantial contributions to organ literature

in the larger and more serious forms. This will of necessity leave

untouched a multitude of worthy organ pieces of lighter vein that have

already found much favor with organists.

In the front rank of American composers who have written worthily for

the organ Arthur Foote (born 1853) must be named. His compositions

in this field are not many, but they are important for their solid

musicianship, clear form and eloquent melodic and harmonic expression.

They include a much-played Suite in D and many short characteristic

pieces. Arthur Foote has always lived in Boston.

Horatio Parker (born 1863), who has made such large contributions

to choral and vocal fields, has written also for the organ, but

almost exclusively in larger forms: Concerto in E-flat for organ and

orchestra, Sonata in E-flat, and five sets of concert pieces.

Homer N. Bartlett (born 1845) is one of the most prolific of American

composers in many fields and among his most important compositions are

several organ works. His Suite in C, opus 205, is not only his most

important organ composition, but it may well be named among the best

American organ compositions. He has been for many years a prominent

organist of New York City.

Horace Wadhams Nicholl (born 1848), an Englishman who came to America

in the seventies, wrote 12 Symphonic Preludes and Fugues for organ,

also a symphonic poem called ‘Life’ in six movements, which display

scholarly attainments and command of intricate forms of writing.

James Hotchkiss Rogers (born 1857), who has lived in Cleveland since

1881, has written several notable things for his instrument, including

two sonatas, a concert overture, and many small pieces.

William H. Dayas (1864-1903), though born in New York, went abroad when

a young man and, after studying with Haupt in Berlin, succeeded Busoni

in Helsingfors and later moved to England where he died. He left two

brilliant organ sonatas--opus 5 in F major and opus 7 in C major.

Foremost among foreign-born organists and organ-composers who have

made America their home, must be named Wilhelm Middelschulte (born in

Westphalia, 1863), who has been the organist of the Chicago Symphony

Orchestra since 1894. His compositions are all in large contrapuntal

forms and display complete mastery of Bach’s intricate art. They

include a Passacaglia in D minor, a Concerto for organ and orchestra,

Canonic Fantasie and Fugue on four themes by J. S. Bach, and Canons and

Fugue on the chorale _Vater Unser im Himmelreich_.

Among the large works of the earlier American composers that still

survive are Eugene Thayer’s Sonata No. 5 in C minor, George E.

Whiting’s Sonata in A minor and Henry M. Dunham’s two sonatas in F

minor and G minor.

The number of organ works of really imposing proportions and

solid musical worth by American composers is quite significant of

the powerful undercurrents that are silently shaping the future of

American music. If one were to select the living composers who are

representative of the best present tendencies in organ composition

in large forms in America, the following names, in addition to those

mentioned above, would undoubtedly be among them: Mark Andrews,

New York; René Becker, St. Louis; Felix Borowski (born 1872, lives

in Chicago); Rossetter Cole (born 1866, lives in Chicago); Gaston

M. Dethier (born 1875 in Belgium, lives in New York); Gottfried H.

Federlein, New York; Ralph Kinder (born 1876, lives in Philadelphia);

Will C. Macfarlane (born 1870, city organist of Portland, Maine);

Russell King Miller, Philadelphia; and Harry Rowe Shelley (born 1858,

lives in New York).

LITERATURE FOR VOLUME VI

_In English_

G. Ashdown Audsley: The Art of Organ Building (1905).

Dr. Theodore Baker: A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians

(New York, 1905).

Dr. Charles Burney: History of Music, 4 vols. (London, 1789).

Edward Dickinson: Music in the History of the Western Church

(New York, 1913).

Edward Dickinson: The Study of the History of Music (New

York, 1911).

C. A. Edwards: Organs and Organ Building (1881).

Arthur Elson: Modern Composers of Europe (Boston, 1905).

Famous Composers and Their Works, ed. by Paine, Thomas and

Klauser (Boston, 1891).

Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5 vols., revised

(London, 1904-10).

W. H. Hadow: Studies in Modern Music, 2 vols. (New York,

1892-3).

F. X. Haberl: Magister Choralis, transl. by Donnelly (New

York, 1892).

Sir John Hawkins: General History of Music (London, 1853).

Arthur Hervey: French Music in the 19th Century (New York,

1903).

Edward Burlingame Hill: Vincent d’Indy: an Estimate (Musical

Quarterly, April, 1915).

E. J. Hopkins: The Organ: Its History and Construction (1877).

Otto Jahn: The Life of Mozart, 3 vols., transl. by Pauline

Townsend (London, 1882).

H. C. Lahee: The Organ and Its Masters (Boston, 1903).

Mrs. F. Liebach: Claude Achille Debussy (London, 1908).

M. Montagu-Nathan: History of Russian Music (London, 1915).

J. A. Fuller-Maitland: English Music in the 19th Century (New

York, 1902).

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Letters from Italy and

Switzerland, transl. by Lady Wallace (New York, 1868).

Arthur Mees: Choirs and Choral Music (New York, 1911).

Emil Naumann: History of Music, Vol. I, transl. by Praeger

(London).

Oxford History of Music, 5 vols. (Oxford, 1901-05).

Sir C. H. H. Parry: The Evolution of the Art of Music (New

York, 1896).

Annie W. Patterson: The Story of the Oratorio (London, 1902).

Waldo Selden Pratt: The History of Music (New York, 1907).

Philipp Spitta: Life of Bach, 3 vols., transl. by Clara Bell

and J. A. Fuller-Maitland (London, 1884-88).

George P. Upton: Standard Concert Guide (Chicago, 1912).

Dr. Karl Weinmann: History of Church Music (New York, 1910).

C. F. A. Williams: The Story of Organ Music (London, 1905).

_In German_

A. W. Ambros: Geschichte der Musik (Breslau, 1862-78).

Dr. Rudolph Cahn-Speyer: Debussy; eine kritisch ästetische

Studie von Giacomo Settaccioli, besprochen (Die Musik,

August, 1912).

Dr. Karl Grunsky: Musikgeschichte des 17. und 18.

Jahrhunderts (1905).

Hermann Kretzschmar: Führer durch den Konzertsaal; 2te

Abteilung; Kirchliche Werke (Leipzig, 1905).

Hermann Kretzschmar: Oratorien und weltliche Chorwerke

(Leipzig, 1910).

Monographien moderner Musiker, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1906).

Karl Proske: Musica Divina, Tome I (Ratisbon, 1853).

Hugo Riemann: Handbuch der Musikgeschichte, Vol. II (Leipzig,

1911).

Hugo Riemann: Musiklexikon, 8th ed. (Leipzig, 1914).

A. G. Ritter: Geschichte des Orgelspiels im 14-18.

Jahrhundert (1884).

Arnold Schering: Geschichte des Oratoriums (Leipzig, 1911).

Max Steinitzer: Richard Strauss (Berlin and Leipzig, 1914).

Zum 40. Tonkünstlerfest des Allgemeinen Deutschen

Musikvereins in Frankfurt a. M. (Die Musik, Vol. 4, 2tes

Maiheft).

_Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikaesellschaft_

(Leipzig).

_In French_

Gaston Carraud: La musique pure dans l’école française

contemporaine (S. I. M., Aug.-Sept., 1910).

D. Chennevrière: Claude Debussy et son Œuvre (Paris, Durand,

1913).

F. A. Gevaert: La mélopée antique dans le chant de l’église

latine (1895).

Jules Combarieu: Histoire de la musique, Vol. II (Paris,

1913).

M. P. Hamel: Manuel du facteur d’orgues (1849).

A. Pougin: Essai historique sur la musique en Russie (Paris,

1904).

Romain Rolland: Musiciens d’aujourd’hui (Paris, 1908).

Paul de Stoecklin: Max Reger (Le Courrier musicale, April,

1906).

Maurice Touchard: La musique espagnole contemporaine

(Nouvelle Revue, March, 1914).

Jean d’Udine: Rimsky-Korsakoff (Le Courrier musicale, July,

1908).

Egon Wellesz: Schoenberg et la jeune école Viennoise (S. I.

M., March, 1912).

_In Spanish_

Pedrell: Organografia musical antigua española (1901).

INDEX FOR VOLUME VI

_A cappella_ singing, xvii-f.

Abert (Bach transcription), 438.

Abington, Henry, 447.

Abrici, Vincenzo, 425.

Abt, Franz, 177.

Accompaniments, (Scarlatti), 108;

(Carissimi), 108f.

Act of Supremacy, 89.

Acworth, H. A., 213.

Adam de la Hâle, 25f.

Adams, Thomas, 475.

_Adieu, mes amours_ (in French mass), 42.

Agnus Dei, 47f.

Agricola, Martin, 51.

Akimenko, 396.

Albert V, 56, 57.

[d’] Albert (Bach transcription), 440 (footnote).

Albert Hall, London (organ in), 411.

Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg, 458.

Aldrich, Richard (cited on Roman liturgy), 341.

Alexander Severus, 399.

Allegri, Gregorio, 66f.

Alphege, Bishop of Winchester, 401.

Amateur singers, xv.

Ambrogio, Alfredo, 393.

Ambros (cited on Palestrina), 68.

[St.] Ambrose, 8ff, 484.

Ambrosian hymns, 9.

America (choral music), 379ff;

(organs), 408;

(organ music), 495ff.

American Guild of Organists, 496.

Ammerbach, 428.

Andersen, Carl, 170.

André (organ builder), 405.

Andrews, Mark, 501.

[d’] Anglebert, Jean Henri, 442, 443.

Anglican Church (origin of), 89f.

Anglican Church music, 93ff;

(second period), 133f;

(third period), 134f;

(introduction of hymn), 135f;

(nineteenth century), 184f;

(use of Magnificat), 321.

Animuccia, 224.

[d’] Annunzio, Gabriele, 387.

Antegnati, Constanzo, 423.

Anthem (English), 90, 133f, 134f.

Antiphonal singing, 8.

Antokolsky, 395.

Arensky, 395;

Fountain of Bachtchissarai, 395.

Arne, Thomas (English organ composer), 472.

Arnold, [Sir] Edwin, 219f.

Arnold, Robert Franz, 353.

Arras (festival to Adam de la Hâle), 26.

Assyrians, 1.

Attaignant, Pierre, 441.

Attengnati family (organ builders), 405.

Aubade, 25 (footnote).

Austin, John T., 409.

Augsburg (as centre of organ music), 431.

Avery (organ builder), 406.

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 88, 91, 117, 119_ff_, 432, 434, 468;

(attitude toward church music), 121;

(arias), 122;

(church cantata), 122f;

(and the chorale), 123;

(vocal polyphony), 124;

(motets), 138;

(oratorio), 239f;

(mass), 319;

(church music), 325f;

(organ fingering), 423;

(chorale preludes), 429;

(organ music), 435ff, 456;

(pupils), 457f.

‘_Ich hatte viel Bekümmerniss_,’ 125.

‘_Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit_,’ 125f.

‘_Ein’ feste Burg_,’ 126f.

Christmas Oratorio, 240.

Passion According to St. Matthew, 241f.

Mass in B minor, 325ff.

Magnificat in D, 327.

Organ Preludes and Fugues, 437.

Fantasia in G minor, 438.

Organ sonatas, 439.

Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann, 456, 457.

Back positive. See Rückpositiv.

Baini (cited on Palestrina), 64;

(cit. on Frescobaldi), 424.

_Baisez-moi_ (in mass), 42.

Bantock, Granville, 371f.

‘The Fire Worshippers,’ 372f.

‘Omar Khayyam,’ 372f.

Masses, 374.

Barker, C. S. (organ builder), 407.

Barnby, Joseph, 208.

‘Rebekah,’ 208.

Bartholomew, William, 179, 284.

Bartlett, Homer N., 499.

Basilica, Antonius, 491f.

Bassani, Giovanni Battista, 109, 425.

Basso ostinato. See Ground-bass.

Bates, Arlo, 222.

Batiste, Antoine Édouard, 467f.

Battishill, Jonathan, 472.

Bau, Édouard, 305.

Beach, Mrs. H. H. A., 222.

Becker, René, 501.

Beckwith, John Christmas (English organ composer), 472.

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 144f, 324, 458;

(oratorio), 264;

(mass), 319, 335f;

‘The Ruins of Athens,’ 144f.

_Die Weihe des Hauses_, 145.

‘The Glorious Moment,’ 145f.

‘Christ on the Mount of Olives,’ 264f.

Missa Solemnis, 335f.

Benedict, [Sir] Julius, 178f, 282.

‘The Legend of St. Cecilia,’ 179.

‘Benedictines of Solesme,’ 467.

Benedictus, Jacobus de, 320.

Bennett, Joseph, 207, 306, 308, 314.

Bennett, W. Sterndale, 183f.

‘The May Queen,’ 183f.

The Woman of Samaria, 282f.

Benoist, François, 466f.

Benoît, Pierre Léopold, 301f, 392.

_Lucifer_, 301f.

Berg, Alban, 353.

Berger, Wilhelm, 357.

Berlioz, Hector, 156ff, 170 (footnote).

The Damnation of Faust, 157f.

The Childhood of Christ, 286.

Requiem, 337f.

Te Deum, 339.

Bernard de Morlaix (12th cent. writer), 315.

Best, William Thomas, 477, 493.

Bird, Arthur, 460.

Blair, Hugh, 495.

Blasi, Luca, 405.

Blitheman (English organist), 448.

Blockx, Jan, 392.

Blow, John, 451, 475.

Blowers (organ), 403.

Boehm, 131.

Boëllmann, Leon, 486.

Boëly, Alexandre Pierre François, 466.

[St.] Bonaventura, 320.

Bonnal, Ermand, 486.

Bonnet, Joseph, 486.

Book of Common Prayer, 90.

‘Book of Orm,’ 369.

Borowski, Felix, 501.

Bossi, Enrico, 393; (organ music), 491.

Boston, U.S. (Handel and Haydn society), 219, 242, 314, 380;

(early and famous organs), 496f.

Boulestin, Xaver M. (quoted on Holbrooke), 376.

Bourgault-Ducoudray, 392.

Bourgeois, 96.

Boyce, William (English organ composer), 472.

Brahms, Johannes, 193f, 334;

(as organ composer), 463f.

Song of Triumph, 194.

Song of Destiny, 195f.

‘Rinaldo,’ 196.

German Requiem, 292f.

Brattle, Thomas, 496.

Brattle organ (America), 496.

Breitkopf & Härtel, 65, 71 (footnote), 332.

Brewer, A. H., 379.

Bridge, Sir John Frederick, 493.

Bridges, Robert (poet), 210.

Brockes, B. H., 244.

Bromfield, Edward, 496.

Brosig, Moritz (church composer), 324.

Browning, Robert, 369, 458.

Bruch, Max, 197ff.

‘Frithjof,’ 197f.

‘Fair Ellen,’ 198f.

‘The Cross of Fire,’ 199f.

‘Lay of the Bell,’ 200.

_Odysseus_, 200f.

_Achilles_, 201.

_Arminius_, 201.

Brucken-Fock, G. H. G. von, 358.

Bruckner, Anton, 488.

Bruneau, Alfred (quot. on Debussy), 387.

Buchanan, Robert, 369, 370.

Buck, Dudley, 218f, 498.

‘The Golden Legend,’ 219.

‘The Light of Asia,’ 219f.

Budapest Conservatory, 277.

Bull, John, 448, 449.

Bülow, Hans von (quoted on Verdi’s Mass), 344.

Bungert, August, 355f.

Burney (cited), 72, 102f.

Burns, 210.

Busch, Carl, 384.

Busoni, Ferruccio, 440, 492.

Buus, Jacques, 417.

Buxtehude, Dietrich, 433f, 436.

Byrd, William, 75, 98, 136, 449.

Cabezón, 445.

Caccini, 101.

Callaerts, Joseph, 470.

Calvin, 95, 96.

Campbell, 211.

Campion (English writer of odes), 141.

Candeille, 466.

Canon (earliest example), 32f.

Cantata, ix, 91, 99ff;

(German Church), 91, 113ff;

(first use of name), 101;

(17th cent.), 103f;

(early examples), 104;

(Italian), 109f;

(in France), 111;

(in Germany), 111f;

(texts), 117f;

(in 19th cent.), 142ff;

(chronological grouping), 189;

(modern), 189ff;

(English, late 19th cent.), 208;

(in United States), 218.

Cantata da camera, 101.

Canterbury Cathedral (organ), 408.

Cantors, 87f.

Cantus firmus, 20.

Canzona Francese, 418.

Canzonet, 25 (footnote), 140.

Capel-Cure, [Rev.] E., 361.

Capocci, Filippo, 491.

Cardiff Festival, 369.

Carissimi, Giacomo, 101f, 108, 227f;

(contemporaries), 230;

(oratorios), 247.

_Jephta_, 228f.

Carlyle (quot. on Séjan), 466.

Carrera, Rafael, 232.

Catoire, Georges, 396.

Cavaillé-Coll, Aristide, 407, 411.

Cavalieri, Emilio de, 100, 101 (footnote), 224f;

(contemporaries), 227.

Cecilia Society of Frankfort, 270.

Cecilian Society, 323.

Celles, Dom Jean François Bedos de, 445.

Cesti, Marc’ Antonio, 105.

Chadwick, George Whitfield, 221, 381, 464.

‘Judith,’ 381f.

‘Noël,’ 382.

Chamber organ, 411f.

Chamberlyn (organ builder), 405.

Chambonnières, Jacques Champion de, 442.

Chanson, 25 (footnote), 29, 46ff.

Chant, 21;

(oral transmission of), 5.