Modern Organ Music.—Organ playing and composition have kept pace with the mechanical and artistic evolution of the instrument, and the lines between the various schools are becoming less closely drawn. The tendency of builders to imitate orchestral tone and effects has had influence on composers and players alike. This tendency is less noticeable in the works of the German school, where a modified polyphony still flourishes, based on the principle of the classic treatment of the chorale and growing out of the music of the Lutheran Church. The organ compositions of the modern French school are characterized by grace, refinement and originality, coupled with a certain dignity and elegance. They combine free harmonic treatment and modern polyphony, together with certain ornate characteristics, growing out of the elaborate ceremonial music of the Latin Church, and bringing into play all the resources of tone color and expressive treatment of the modern instrument. Much the same may be said of the modern English school, which nevertheless still shows traces of the early English style, based on the dignity and purity of cathedral use and tradition. The orchestral tendency, both in composition for the organ and in the transcription of orchestral works for the instrument, shows itself more or less in all schools, and the organ, in addition to its position in the church, is becoming more and more a concert instrument. The compositions of the American organists reflect, in a measure, the characteristics of the schools in which they have been trained, and in particular show traces of the styles of the masters with whom they have chiefly studied.[9]
- References.
- Grove.—Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Articles on the Organ,
- and Organists mentioned in this lesson.
- Williams.—Story of the Organ.
- Lahee.—The Organ and its Masters.
- Matthews.—Handbook of the Organ.
- Pirro.—J. S. Bach: The Organist and His Works.
- Audsley, G. A.—The Art of Organ Building, 2 vols.
Questions.
In what early instrument is the germ of the organ found? Describe its gradual development.
Describe the general character of the early organs.
Describe the various mechanical improvements.
When and by whom were pedals introduced?
Mention some of the early organists.
In whom did the Polyphonic Period culminate? Who is the source of modern organ composition and playing?
Mention some German organists since the time of Bach.