The History of Organ Pedagogy in America, Part 2

Introduction

Before examining the history of the development of organ pedagogy in America, it is necessary to understand some background on the early use of the organ in this country. The organ as an instrument of worship had a difficult journey to acceptance in the United States. The Puritans outlawed the use of instruments in their churches, partially as a revolt against what they regarded as the pretentious services of the Church of England1, but principally in support of the anti-instrumental music views of the Fathers of the early church.2

The Lutherans and Anglicans, however, bore no such prejudices, and can be recognized as having introduced the liturgical use of the organ to the colonies. Anglican churches were especially important in the growth of organ usage in the United States because of the number of organs they imported from England throughout the eighteenth century. The wealthier Anglican churches also imported organists; as William H. Barnes comments:

Organists too, were imported and we hear of those who functioned as dancing masters, clerks, and grocers and wine merchants like Boston's organist-composer Selby . . . ship masters and business men were deputized by their parishes to contract for organs, or to hire musicians, whose ability in more than one case, was to "Play upon ye organs with a loud noise!"3

Eventually, Puritan liberals began to raise the issue of using organs in their own churches. Finally in 1786, the First Church in Boston installed a permanent organ, followed in 1790 by the Brattle Square Church.4 The battle for acceptance of organs was not over, but the tide had turned decisively, and the installation of organs began in earnest.

In small city churches and rural churches, the acceptance of organs took a different route. Objections to instrumental music were initially compromised by the introduction of the violoncello to accompany congregational singing, which had sunk to a deplorable state. This was followed, according to Nathaniel Gould (in his significant book, Church Music in America, published in 1853), by the flute, hautboy, clarinet, and bassoon. Gould attributes the final sanctioning of organs to the problems caused by this array of instruments, including their competing for attention in performance and their propensity for tuning while the minister was speaking.5 Despite these problems, the installation of organs into smaller, rural churches was a slow and highly-contested process. Even in the early 1800's (and sometimes as late as 1850) some congregations were still reluctant to install organs.6

Once organs were installed, the difficulties were often only beginning. Accounts of the reactions to the use of the organ in church were varied. Gould, after writing of the complaints of congregations regarding singers, comments that "in regard to the organist, there is less knowledge, and if possible, more complaints, or diversity of opinion,"7 both in regard to the repertoire used in church and the general role of the organist. These issues were complicated by the fact that as organs were finally accepted they were installed at a relatively rapid rate, making it difficult to find competent organists, particularly ones who could play well enough to accompany singers.

Despite the relative abundance of information on early American organs and organ builders and the organ acceptance controversy, there is little information about the organists themselves and how they were trained in the United States for their roles in the church. Louis Elson mentions that Christ Church in Philadelphia had an organ soon after 1700, and that a few music teachers settled there at an early date.8 Boston, New York, and Charleston were also centers where foreign-born professional organists performed and taught.9 One citation from 1799 describes a Mrs. Von Hagen of Boston who taught organ lessons, her curriculum including theory, lessons, sonatas, concertos, and church music.10 These accounts suggest that private organ instruction was already taking place in the 1700's, despite the controversy over the use of the organ in worship (possibly supported at least in part by the existence of a fair number of "parlor organs" during the pre-revolutionary war era in homes).11 However, early organ education in the United States involved not only training enough organists technically to suit the increasing demand, but also training both American and Continental organists to meet the specific service-playing needs of American churches. There is a fascinating relationship between the development of organ "methods" and other instructional publications and the emergence and development of the role of the church organist in worship.

In fact, in examining the overall history of American organ methods, it becomes apparent that the emphases of these works varied rather consistently according to their chronological period. This is the first of a series of articles which will examine the evolution of these changing emphases, their relationship to changes in organ construction and the musical tastes and sophistication of American religious and musical society, and most importantly, how they reflect the development of the role of the organist in American society. This exploration will begin with publications to about 1850 which focus on the role of the organist as a player of hymns and accompaniments.

The Earliest Organ Publications: The Organist as Accompanist and Hymn-Player

The controversy over the appropriateness of organs in worship was not unique to the United States. For several centuries the English battled over the same issue, so that even throughout the eighteenth century the use of organs was only common in large urban churches.12 Two of the most outspoken proponents of instrumental music, Thomas Mace (1676)13 and John Newte (1700)14, justified using the organ in assisting vocal music rather than as a solo instrument in worship. This concept of the church organist as accompanist was carried over to America, where the earliest defense (e.g., James Lyon, etc.) and acceptance of the organ was in accompanying the congregation and later the choir. As Orpha Ochse comments, "their [organs] acceptance has usually been ascribed to a more liberal attitude, but actually, the deplorable state to which congregational singing had fallen prompted some of this liberality."15

A detailed discussion of the attempted "reform" of congregational singing, the advent of American "Tune Books", and the rise of singing schools is beyond the scope of this article. However, several relevant points should be noted.

The earliest extant music printed in the United States was an appendix to the Psalm Book of 1698 printed for colonists in Boston. Directions given at the beginning were extremely basic, and indicated the very low level of musical knowledge in the United States at that time. Under each note was the initial of a syllable used to sing the pitch.16 Over the next 100-150 years, many more of these tune books were published, although it was not until 1804 in the Bridgewater Collection that instrumental accompaniments or interludes first appeared.17 Sacred vocal music monopolized the American publishing scene. George Hood, in his annotated listing of all music books printed in America to 1800, lists only singing and psalm books,18 while Frank Metcalf, in 54 pages of descriptions of American books on sacred music between 1721 and 1820, lists only one book related to keyboard music, Andrew Law's The Art of Playing the Organ and Piano Forte, published in 1809 (to be discussed shortly).19 Up to this point, the absence of organ materials speaks eloquently of the organ conflict.  Daniel Bayley, in his A New and Compleat Introduction to the Grounds and Rules of Musick (1766), offers some pro-organ comments in the preface to Book One, but then comments at the end of the introduction that his work is specifically not intended for instrumentalists. After covering the rudiments of music in his introduction, he comments "There are some other things that occur . . . (especially) in Instrumental Music; but as they do not concern this undertaking, I shall take no notice of them."20  Similarly, Thomas Walter's method of 1721 explains that there are "Rules for the right Management of an Instrument"21--but he does not explain what they are.  Clearly organists are left to fend for themselves--or to turn to European teachers or methods.

In 1786, the first American document which provides instructional directions for the church organist appeared in the form of a letter written by Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), an eminent statesman, organist, and composer. Hopkinson's stated purpose was to "suggest a few rules for the conduct of an organ in a place of worship, according to my ideas of propriety."22 Hopkinson examines the musical parts of the Episcopal service, making interpretive and technical suggestions for the organist and emphasizing the role of music in accompanying and interpreting the spoken and sung texts of the worship service.  However, his letter was addressed to Bishop William White of Christ Church and St. Peter's, Philadelphia, and therefore apparently was not intended primarily for the edification of his fellow organists. Its instructional merit may have been realized later, since the letter was reprinted between 1827 and 1829 in several Episcopal periodicals in articles on the organ and church music.23 In any case, his didactic comments would be useful only to organists who had already acquired their basic technique elsewhere and required instruction in specific aspects of service-playing.

Andrew Law, however, took a different approach. Law (1748-1821) published his Harmonic Companion, and Guide to Social Worship . . .  in 1807, and two years later published a companion guide for a keyboard player: The Art of Playing the Organ and Piano Forte, or Characters Adapted to Instruments. Law taught extensively along the eastern seaboard, and devised a "shaped note" system for indicating the sol-fa syllables of pitches.24 (The use of these syllables dates back to the earliest tune books.) Law's system involved the use of four shapes without regular staff notation. This system is used in both of the aforementioned methods. In The Art of Playing the Organ, Law states that his main purpose is to train people to play from the same music as the singers (presumably making it easier to accompany them). Law makes some interesting comments in the Introduction, where he states that this method will allow a child to learn to play the piano forte in one year as well as he could from the "old method" in two years. He goes on to state that this is important because:

it may be asserted with truth that there are a hundred who learn vocal music to one who learns instrumental of any kind. If therefore it should appear, that no gain is made in instrumental music, still the gain must be vastly great in a full view of the subject.25

Law's The Art of Playing the Organ is more significant for its appearance than its content, as it is the first American organ "method". After the five pages of the Introduction, which is mostly commentary, he spends only three pages on charts of symbols with brief explanations, making the entire "method" eight pages in length. (See Example 1.) However, his work was recognized as significant even in his own time. Samuel Worcester, the pastor at the Tabernacle Church in Salem, Massachusetts, gave a significant address on sacred music in 1810 in which he recommended Law's work. Worcester speaks at length on the need to select good hymnody and psalmody and perform it well, concluding with an endorsement of musical societies "since so little encouragement is given in our country to good musical instructors."26 It is interesting to note that in his Essays on Music Law comments on the difference between sacred and secular music and does not limit his definition of sacred music to psalmody27; however, he never publishes or endorses any keyboard music beyond that required to accompany the singing of psalmody.

Many people apparently tried Law's organ method, lured by the promise of learning to play psalmody quickly. However, as Gould suggests, they found it took longer than they had anticipated.28 Although influential in its day, Law's method was never revised or reprinted.

By the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the debates over the suitability of organs in worship had generally ended. A new body of writings appeared: suggestions for the role of the organist and complaints about how the instrument was being used.29 In 1822, Thomas Hastings wrote a notable treatise, Dissertation on Musical Taste, which raises some important considerations in these areas. Hastings concludes that the organ is a useful accompanimental instrument when played skillfully, which apparently was not the case very often. He goes on to make a plea for the proper training of organists by quoting the Bible: he cites the psalmist's charge to "play skilfully [sic]" as well as a passage where the chief of the Levites "instructed in the music because he was skilful.[sic]"30 This treatise is interesting from several aspects. First, it indicates that the focus at this point was still on accompanying rather than solo playing. Second, it shows the progression in acceptance of the organ. In earlier years, it was common practice to quote scripture in defending the use of organs themselves, while this treatise takes this technique a step ahead and applies it to organist education.

Hastings makes two other thought-provoking comments. One is an elusive remark that "printed instructions are readily obtained"31 on the subject of style in instrumental music. Since this comment follows the section discussed above on the necessity of training for organists, it would be interesting to know what sort of "printed instructions" Hastings is addressing.

The other intriguing comment has to do with Hastings' disappointment in the effect achieved by instrumental accompaniments. He suggests that perhaps organists should only perform pieces they can play easily, and then wonders how much their abilities should be "heightened by cultivation."32 Hastings clearly emerges later as a champion of organist education. However, his comment raises the possibility that the lack of native organ instructional materials in the first part of the nineteenth century may have been due at least in part to a lack of interest in having organists develop a more advanced technique unnecessary for accompanimental duties.

The next organ "method" to appear was Instructions in Thorough Base; Being a New and Easy Method for Learning to Play Church Music upon the Piano Forte or Organ, published in 1844 by Artemas Nixon Johnson (1817-1892). Johnson was a well-rounded musician: a European-trained theoretician, music educator, music publisher, and a practicing church musician, principally at the Park Street Church in Boston. Johnson's wide array of instructional materials were based on the principle of "learning by doing."33 In the introduction to Instructions in Thorough Base, Johnson states that "this book is, strictly, an instruction book in the art of playing Church Music."34 Johnson presupposes that the student will be "acquainted with the Elements of Music, . . . and also know at least enough of the Piano Forte, to be able to find the letters readily."35 The book contains forty lessons followed by nine "miscellaneous examples", with explanations of the exercises in the back of the book (in case the book is used without a teacher). Aside from Johnson's own exercises, the music includes exercises by Lowell Mason and German chorales, which Johnson recognizes as "some of the most difficult exercises."36 The lessons train organists to accompany not only psalms and hymns but also anthems, thereby going one step further than Law's method. (See Example 2 for  a lesson and its accompanying instructions).

Johnson's "thorough base" method apparently answered a need which had developed since the tune books of Law's day which often used symbols and solmization syllables.37 All tune books by this time used normal musical notation for the vocal parts, and many added a figured bass accompaniment which was optional. One tune book, however, notes in the introduction that,

Instead of a figured bass, the music has all been carefully arranged for Organ or Piano-Forte, from the conviction that many performers on those instruments have not had the opportunity to perfect themselves sufficiently in the science of music, to play the harmony with facility, even of plain psalmody, from figures.38

Like Law's method, Johnson's approach was claimed to be fast and effective. George Root testifies that he started using this book after only two weeks of organ lessons, and that he was able to begin playing for prayer-meetings immediately.39

By the middle of the 19th century, then, the primary responsibility of a church organist was still to accompany choral and congregational singing. Thus far, however, the materials examined have been "methods" which have addressed specific basic techniques of reading music without exploring any other aspect of how to accompany.40 The several books on sacred music in the United States (principally histories) which appeared around the middle of the century are full of suggestions. For example, Nathaniel Gould (1853) speaks at length of the responsibilities and problems of accompanying the choir or congregation in hymns and psalms; he says that organists are successful in this when "instead of placing the crash of the organ before the voices, and obliging them to fight their way not with but after them, the organ lays a foundation, and sustains the harmony, and even seems to assist them in speaking and giving expression to words and sentiment, altogether making a solid body of harmonious and devotional sound."41 This section emphasizes not only the necessity for the organist to play in such a way technically that his hands stay together and he is with the congregation rather than ahead of them, but also the importance of the interpretation of the hymn text.

Gradually, toward the middle of the nineteenth century, sources finally appeared for the organist which provided instruction in aspects of church music beyond reading notes. The first of these publications was Church Music, consisting of New and Original Anthems, Motets and Chants, for Public Worship (1831), by Charles Zeuner, a well-known organist in Boston and Philadelphia. As its name suggests, this book is a collection of vocal music, but it includes a lengthy and cleverly-written Preface. Although the majority of the text is devoted to vocal music, Zeuner also makes some comments on organs and accompanying rules for organists.  His approach clearly contends that the organ is subservient to the singers. For example, he cautions the organist not to hold out the final notes of a piece longer than the singers do:

On the contrary, it must stop a little before, in proportion as the final notes or chords are longer or shorter, playing, where there are long or final rests or pauses, the bass alone--perhaps an octave lower--in order to give opportunity for a display of the voice.42

Zeuner was a pious Lutheran concerned with establishing a more pure style of church music. One Boston magazine wrote of him in 1840, "he has contributed materially toward elevating our style of church music by his publications."43 It is significant that his instructional comments for organists appear in the Preface to one of his vocal collections and make no mention of any other purpose for organs beyond accompanying, although he does advocate the installation of larger and better organs. Zeuner did publish collections of his own organ voluntaries for service use, although these books contain no Prefaces.

In 1845, Thomas Loud published an important method which details the breadth of his concerns in its lengthy title: The Organ Study: Being an Introduction to the Practice of the Organ; together with a collection of Voluntaries, Preludes and Interludes, original and selected; a Model of a Church Service; Explanations of the Stops and their Combinations; Studies for the Instrument; and Examples of Modulation intended to aid the Extempore Student; accompanied by An Engraving and description of the Mechanical construction of the Organ. Loud describes himself as the "Organist of the St. Stephens Church, and until recently, Organist of St. Andrews Church."44 After providing some basic information on the organ, Loud discusses how to accompany singers before moving into the more technical aspects of his method, reflecting the continuing importance of this topic. He provides specific instruction on stops to be used, emphasizing that "the organ is the accompaniment, not the principal in vocal music."45 His general accompanying guidelines are particularly interesting; he explains how the previous practice of introducing a chant, psalm, or hymn with a "shake" (trill) is now out of style. Instead, organists are urged to " . . . close the prelude or interlude with the final chord, and then lead up, from the bass note, the first chord of the tune (the voices falling in when the chord is full) . . . "46, reversing this process at the end. This concept is exemplified in Loud's "Model Service for the Episcopal Church," which includes voluntaries, chant accompaniments, psalms, hymn tunes, introductions, and interludes, along with some notes on their proper performance. (See Example 3.) Loud's method will be discussed at greater length in the next article in this series.

A final significant book of the mid-nineteenth century in linking the role of the organist to instructional materials is American Church Organ Voluntaries, published originally in 1852 by A. N. Johnson. Johnson wrote some of the compositions in this volume and an introduction on the church music and organs of his time, as well as editing and publishing it. Thus, this anthology is significant both for being the earliest anthology of organ music compiled by a native American, and the earliest published by an American.47 In addition to Johnson's important commentary which touches on a variety of topics related to the church organist, the collection contains opening and closing voluntaries for service use. Johnson was noted for his American bias and rejection of European influences,48 thus making his volume an excellent source for studying the relationship between theory and practice in the role of the American organist. It is also important because it is the first book of American organ repertoire with instructions for the organist, rather than being a vocal collection or accompanimental manual.

Cutler and Johnson address the subject of hymns and accompaniments briefly in their "Remarks". They comment that "the organist should watch carefully the varying sentiment which the different stanzas of the Psalm or Hymn express, as by want of attention in this respect, all efforts on the part of the singers to give an appropriate rendering of the music, will be unavailing."49 Their emphasis, then, is not on the technical aspects of hymn-playing, but rather the interpretive aspects. According to Stephen Pinel, this concern with the texts reflects a very American aspect of this volume, since Europeans of this period were noted for their secular approach to music during the Mass.50 It also implies a spiritual or ministerial facet of the role of the organist in the interpretation and illustrating of texts.

The concern for the integrity of the hymn is carried over into Cutler and Johnson's comments on hymn interludes, which they say should "partake of the general style of the tune to be sung."51 They give specific instructions for the length of interludes (they should be as long as the last line of the hymn), so that the congregation does not lose the rhythmic connection to the rest of the hymn. Although there were no examples in the main body of Cutler and Johnson's American Church Organ Voluntaries, there are some sample interludes by John Zundel in an advertising section in the back of the book, added in the 1856 edition. These interludes are generally 4, 6, or 8 measures long, and most begin with an anacrusis. Several are unusual in that there is a sudden stylistic change in the middle, combined with a change to a solo registration featuring an hautbois or flute melody. One can only presume that these were justified as a transition between verses with different textual meanings.

The admonishing comments by Cutler and Johnson regarding hymn playing were apparently warranted in view of practices which were developing into problems. For example, a worshipper in 1835 described the problems with lengthy and highly-embellished hymn introductions by saying that "I have often seen persons, who were in the habit of singing in church, shut up their hymn book, supposing some new production was to be performed, though in fact they were perfectly familiar with the air."52 He goes on to add that by the time the congregation figured out the tune and started singing, it was time for the interlude, which was equally showy and often included a modulation, so that the congregation did not want to start singing again and interrupt the organist.53 Episcopalian writings from Hopkinson's letter of 1786 to "Suggestions for Congregational Singing" included in The Tune-Book of 1858 include allusions to this problem,54 and Thomas Loud's "Model Service for the Episcopal Church" of 1845 offered examples of short, proper interludes. Interlude abuse was apparently very widespread.

Oddly enough, one of the best instructional sources for playing interludes is not a method or collection for the organist but another mid-century book, Our Church Music: A Book for Pastors and People by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900). Willis describes specific ways in which interludes were abused in his chapter on "Mutilation of Hymns". He goes on to make specific suggestions for playing formal interludes, relating to the use of keys, cadences, etc.55 Although his language is not extremely technical, it clearly uses more music theory terms than the "pastors and people" would generally understand.

The basic issue underlying the complaints about hymn interludes and introductions was the tendency to showmanship on the part of the organist and its appropriateness in church. This problem will be discussed in more detail in Part  Two, when the rise of solo playing brings this issue to the forefront.

The earliest history of organists in the United States, then, is principally that of accompanist to congregations and choirs, with some opportunities for personal expression in the hymn interludes. This was due not only to the slow approval of organs, but also the instruments themselves, which were generally quite limited in their dimensions. The format of the earliest materials allowed them to be self-taught, reflecting the interest in developing a number of organists as quickly and easily as possible. Despite this intent, most organ training was apparently done in private lessons, using either the few available American materials or imported methods. The increasing popularity of organ playing, however, is illustrated by the documentation that some private religious schools (at least Episcopalian ones) were beginning to include organ instruction as part of their curriculum.56 As the interest in organ playing grew and the basic skill level of organists improved, there was also a rising concern in educating organists to recognize their role in the church as interpreters of the texts they were accompanying, as reflected in new educational materials which were textual rather than (or in addition to) technical. In the transition which occurred near the middle of the century from basic note-reading approaches to more sophisticated interpretations of the organist's role, a new epoch in the position of the organist and in church music in general was beginning.            

Notes

                  1.              Nathaniel D. Gould, Church Music in America (Boston: A. N. Johnson, 1853), p. 168.

                  2.              Robert Stevenson, Protestant Church Music in America (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1966), p. 49.

                  3.              William Harrison Barnes and Edward B. Gammons, Two Centuries of American Organ Building (Melville, New York: Belwin Mills, 1970), p. 9.

                  4.              Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England: An Account of its Use and Manufacture to the End of the Nineteenth Century (Raleigh: The Sunbury Press, 1979), p. 4.

                  5.              Gould, p. 174.

                  6.              Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), p. 107.

                  7.              Gould, p. 206.

                  8.              Louis C. Elson, The History of American Music (New York: MacMillan Company, 1915), p. 25.

                  9.              Byron Adams Wolverton, Keyboard Music and Musicians in the Colonies and United States of America before 1830 (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms Inc., 1967), p. 436.

                  10.           Henry C. Lahee, The Organ and Its Masters (Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1927), p. 245.

                  11.           Barnes, p. 8.

                  12.           Ralph T. Daniel, The Anthem in New England before 1800 (Evanston IL: Northwestern University Press, 1966), p. 30.

                  13.           Thomas Mace, Musick's Monument (London: T. Ratcliffe and N. Thompson, 1676), pp. 9-12.

                  14.           John Newte, "Preface" to Henry Dodwell, Treatise concerning the lawfulness of instrumental musick in holy offices . . . (London: printed for W. Hawes, Henry Clements, and W. Burton, 1700), p. 2.

                  15.           Ochse, p. 45.

                  16.           George Hood, A History of Music in New England: with Biographical Sketches of Reformers and Psalmists (Boston: Wilkins, Carter and Company, 1846), p. 57.

                  17.           Owen, p. 5.

                  18.           Hood, p. 154- .

                  19.           Frank Metcalf, compiler, American Psalmody, or Titles of Books, Containing Tunes Printed in America from 1721 to 1820 (New York: Charles F. Heartman, 1917), introduction.

                  20.           Daniel Bayley, A New and Compleat Introduction to the Grounds and Rules of Musick, in two books (Boston: Thomas Johnston, 1766), p. 24.

                  21.           Thomas Walter, Grounds and Rules of Music Explained . . .  (Boston: J. Franklin, 1721), p. 1.

                  22.           Francis Hopkinson, "A Letter to the Rev. Doctor White, Rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's on the Conduct of a Church Organ" (1786) in Ochse, p. 427 (Appendix).

                  23.           Jane Rasmussen, Musical Taste as a Religious Question in Nineteenth-Century America (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1986), "Notes", Chapter One, #47, p. 466.

                  24.           Russel N. Squire, Church Music (St. Louis, MO: The Bethany Press, 1962), p. 220.

                  25.           Andrew Law, The Art of Playing the Organ and Piano Forte, or Characters Adapted to Instruments (Philadelphia: Jane Aitken, 1809), p. 5.

                  26.           Samuel Worcester, An Address on Sacred Musick, delivered before the Middlesex Musical Society and the Handel Society of Darmouth College . . . (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1811), p. 21.

                  27.           Andrew Law, Essays on Music (Philadelphia: "printed for the author", 1814), p. 20.

                  28.           Gould, p. 180.

                  29.           It is interesting to note that this is about the same time that Francis Hopkinson's letter, dealing with these issues, was printed for public use.

                  30.           Thomas Hastings, Dissertation on Musical Taste; or General Principles of Taste Applied to the Art of Music (Albany: Websters and Skinners, 1822), p. 80.

                  31.           Hastings, p. 81.

                  32.           Hastings, p. 62.

                  33.           Jacklin Bolton Stopp, "A. N. Johnson" in The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, Volume Two (E-K), ed. H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie (London: MacMillan Press Limited, 1986), p. 576.

                  34.           A. N. Johnson, Instructions in Thorough Base; being a New and Easy Method for Learning to Play Church Music upon the Piano Forte or Organ (Boston: George P. Reed, 1844), p. iii.

                  35.           A. N. Johnson, p. 86.

                  36.           A. N. Johnson, p. iii.

                  37.           Some tune books in the late 1700's also used figured bass; see for example, Jonathan Benjamin, Harmonia Coelestis: A Collection of Church Music (Northampton: Andrew Wright, 1799).

                  38.           Joseph Muenscher, "The Church Choir; A Collection of Sacred Music, Comprising a Great Variety of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Anthems, and Chants Arranged for the Organ or Piano-Forte" (Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co., 1839) cited by Jane Rasmussen, Musical Taste as a Religious Question in Nineteenth-Century America (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1986), p. 206-207.

                  39.           George F. Root, The Story of a Musical Life (Cincinnati: The John Church Company, 1891), p. 10-11.

                  40.           Francis Hopkinson touches on this subject. However, his letter was probably unknown outside of Episcopal churches, and there is no way of determining how widely it was read even within the Episcopal church.

                  41.           Gould, p. 181.

                  42.           Charles Zeuner, Church Music, c

Introduction

John Stanley (17121-1786), as organist of All Hallows, Bread Street, London (1723-1726), of St. Andrew's, Holborn, London (1726-1786), and of the Temple Church, London (1734-1786), was primarily a church organist. It sometimes helps to state the obvious, since Stanley was many things besides. He was, for example, Master of the King's Music after Boyce's death in 1779, a fine teacher, a successful concert organist, the composer of a number of popular oratorios and concerti, Handel's literary executor, the youngest person ever to obtain a Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford University. Etcetera, etcetera. And, of course, he managed all of this in spite of being blind. Stanley published his organ works in three volumes, each comprising ten voluntaries. These were Opus 5 (1748), Opus 6 (1752) and Opus 7 (1754).2 Besides these, as we shall see, it is possible to recover a number of additional voluntaries, some of which date from considerably earlier than 1748.

As a musician whose primary responsibilities were liturgical, John Stanley was required to accompany the service music every Sunday, and also to improvise voluntaries at various points in the service. A voluntary, incidentally--in its classical meaning--was a piece produced extemporaneously by the will, the voluntas, as opposed to a composition, a piece written down on paper. As Nicholas Temperley has shown,3 before the nineteenth century in the Church of England there were two principal forms of voluntary. These were a First Voluntary--generally an introduction and a movement or two for solo stops such as the trumpet or cornet--placed between the psalms and the first lesson at Morning and Evening Prayer, and a Second Voluntary--generally an introduction and fugue--at the end of the service. Some churches had an additional voluntary before the service, but this seems to have been of less importance and far from universal.

So far as organ music is concerned, therefore, John Stanley's primary responsibility for sixty-three years was to improvise a voluntary before the first lesson, comprising an introduction and an additional movement or two for the solo stops, together with an introduction and fugue at the end of the service. Stanley had doubtless spent many hours during the week practicing on the harpsichord at home, and had a good idea at least of what he intended to improvise on Sunday, but there was still a sense in which these pieces were extemporaneous. According to Burney, Stanley's improvisations were so fine that on Sundays none other than Handel himself, who attended St. George's, Hanover Square, would sometimes leave church early and rush over to the Temple Church to hear Stanley's final voluntary.

Most voluntaries were never written down as compositions, and most of them are thus lost to posterity. There is nothing unusual about this. In nineteenth century France, Gabriel Fauré was a church organist for over sixty years. His contemporaries thought him a better player than Franck, Saint-Saëns or Guilmant. Yet he never wrote down a single improvisation; he did not produce a single composition for organ. Indeed, George Bizet thought it rather surprising when he discovered that his friend César Franck had published compositions for the organ. Improvisations were spontaneous, vibrant, exciting. Compositions were stereotypical, dull and wooden.

Stanley as composer

Perhaps, therefore, the question we should be asking is why organists should have written down their improvisations as compositions at all. In answering this question it is important to note that very few voluntaries for organ were published in England before Stanley's Opera Quinta of 1748. The obvious reason for this is that in early eighteenth-century England, organ music had a very limited market. Most of the comparatively small number of organists there were had positions in important churches and were competent musicians well capable of improvising their own voluntaries. They had no need to use the compositions of others. There was therefore a minimal market for published compositions for the organ and it would consequently have been almost impossible for Stanley to have found a publisher before 1748. Nevertheless, some organists did write down some of what they considered their finer improvisations in manuscript form.

Manuscript compositions were used for two main purposes. First, they were often used for recital purposes, as for example when organists like Stanley played at the dedication of a new instrument. (The reason for this is not entirely clear in view of the fact that improvised voluntaries were considered more interesting than compositions. Nevertheless, this seems to have been what was done.) Secondly, manuscript compositions were widely used as exercises for instructing apprentices or students who were learning the organ, or for "beginning organists" to play in church. For example, Stanley remained organist of St. Andrew's, Holborn after taking the more important post as organist of the Temple Church in 1734. He would therefore have needed to use assistants and apprentices to cover the services at St. Andrew's on most Sundays. In some cases these substitutes would have been insufficiently experienced to be capable of improvising their own voluntaries competently, so they would have played from manuscripts of their master's compositions or those of other "eminent masters."

Some of the manuscript collections produced for this purpose have survived. One important collection of this kind is the so-called "Southgate Manuscript," a collection of sixty-four voluntaries in the library of the Royal College of Organists in London. This seems to have been compiled around the year 1750, possibly under the aegis of Dr. Maurice Greene, in order to instruct choristers of the Chapel Royal who were learning the organ. This manuscript, as we shall see, contains several of the early organ works of John Stanley. Furthermore, some publications of the later eighteenth-century, such as A Collection of Voluntaries for Organ or Harpsichord, Composed by Dr. Green, Mr. Travers, & Several other Eminent Masters,4 and a collection of voluntaries "by Eminent Masters" which Edward Kendall of Falmouth published in around 1790, seem to have had their genesis as manuscript collections of a similar kind.

Recycling--eighteenth-century style

Once John Stanley had written down one of his voluntaries as a composition, he was sometimes wont to use the material for other purposes. Op. 6, No. 7, for example, is an Introduction and Fugue in G major such as Stanley would normally have improvised at the end of a service. This voluntary is also found, however, as the first two movements of the overture to Stanley's oratorio Jephtha written circa 1751-57.5 Its rather orchestral form makes it highly suited to the purpose, and indeed in this instance it is possible the oratorio version came first. Another movement from a voluntary, recycled by Stanley in a different context, is the first movement of Op. 5, No. 10, the introduction from an Introduction and Fugue in A minor. This is found transposed into B minor as the second movement of Stanley's Concerto No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra, one of Stanley's Six Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ, published in 1775.6 Similarly, Op. 7, No. 10, an Introduction and Fugue in F major, is also found as the first two movements of the overture to Stanley's cantata Pan and Syrinx, of circa 1730.

Once it is realized that John Stanley frequently recycled his material in other forms, it becomes possible by studying the forms of his music to find other pieces that probably had their genesis in a similar way. For example, the first movement of Concerto I in D major7 has very much the appearance of the introductory movement of a Second Voluntary, while the penultimate movement of Concerto 2 in B minor8 appears to be a fugue from such a voluntary, perhaps originally paired, like the fugue in Op. 5, No. 10, with the Adagio from the same concerto. The first two movements of Concerto 3 in D major,9 an Adagio and the famous "Bell Allegro," similarly form an Introduction and Fugue that was probably originally composed as a voluntary for the organ.

In the case of Stanley's earlier works for organ, the inability to find a market for the organ voluntaries per se may have led Stanley deliberately to rewrite some of the pieces in other forms in order to make them publishable. For example, Stanley's Opus 1 of 1740 consisted of Eight Solos for a German Flute or Harpsichord. The fourth of these, an Allegro in D major, is also found as the second movement of a Cornet Voluntary, No. 36 in the Southgate Manuscript.10 In this instance it seems likely that Stanley felt that there was more of a demand for music that could be played by simple chamber ensembles than for organ voluntaries, and accordingly recycled some of his organ voluntaries as solos for the German flute. This kind of music would have been in demand among the gentry as something that small chamber ensembles could play at intimate soirées in the music rooms of country houses.

Another early Stanley voluntary that found its way into the Southgate Manuscript is an Introduction and Fugue, Southgate Voluntary No. 57.11 This is found in two other forms. It formed the Overture to Stanley's cantata The Power of Music, which he submitted as his exercise to obtain the Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford University in 1729. Stanley also later revised it again as the overture to his oratorio, The Fall of Egypt, 1774.12

Recovering Stanley's lost voluntaries

A third organ voluntary found in the Southgate Manuscript is a variant version of one of Stanley's published voluntaries, Op. 7, No. 8. In the published form it is a four-movement voluntary in A minor, comprising Andante Staccato - Allegro - Adagio - Fugue. In Southgate Manuscript Voluntary No. 4, the fugue from Op. 7, No. 8, is found paired with a Largo introductory movement.13 In this form it is a classic example of a Second Voluntary, and there seems little doubt that this was its original form. It is instructive to examine the form of Op. 7, No. 8, and to attempt to determine how Stanley treated it during the editorial process. When this is done it becomes apparent that Op. 7, No. 8 includes movements that were apparently originally part of at least three separate organ voluntaries from an earlier date. The first movement (Example 1) is a short Andante Staccato for Full Organ, that appears originally to have been the introduction to a Second Voluntary or Introduction and Fugue in A minor. This leads rather awkwardly and suddenly into an Allegro, apparently also for full organ, though ill-suited to it (Example 2). As I have argued elsewhere,14 this looks much more likely to have had its fons et origo as the second movement of a First Voluntary in A minor for cornet or for a solo reed such as the vox humana, bassoon or cremona. The fugue that follows (Example 3) quite obviously belongs originally to a Second Voluntary, and indeed this is the form in which it is found in Southgate Voluntary No. 4. What, therefore, Stanley seems to have done is to take movements from at least three separate voluntaries and knit them together, apparently rather hurriedly judging by the degree of awkwardness of the transitions, into a four-movement voluntary--essentially a concerto--for some public concert such as the dedication of a new organ.

The next question to ask is whether Stanley created concertos by knitting together earlier organ voluntaries on other occasions. A study of the published voluntaries suggests that he did so to create at least one other published organ voluntary. Op. 6, No. 6, is a Trumpet Voluntary. As we have it, the voluntary comprises an Adagio for Diapasons, a Trumpet Andante, an Adagio on the Swell, and an Allegro Moderato for "Ecchos and Flute." The last of these movements (Example 4) is especially interesting. It is strongly influenced by Handel's Organ Concerto Op. 4, No. 1, of 1735, but is really rather poorly suited to "Ecchos and Flute." Once again, examining its form suggests that it was originally--like the Andante second movement of Op. 6, No. 6--a trumpet movement. Here again it seems likely that Stanley has combined movements from two separate voluntaries--in this case two Trumpet Voluntaries--in order to create an extended concerto for some special concert.

Summary

When we examine the surviving works of John Stanley it becomes apparent that a number of early organ voluntaries survive in other forms, both as earlier recensions of later published organ voluntaries, and also among Stanley's other works as concertos, the overtures of cantatas and oratorios, and suchlike. In some cases the earlier forms of Stanley's voluntaries seem to be more satisfactory than the later recensions, which have sometimes been rather awkwardly edited from earlier voluntaries. In the past this repertoire has remained unplayed, but once we are alerted to its existence there is ample opportunity for playing it. It is my hope that this music will be rescued from obscurity to enjoy a well deserved popularity in the future.

Notes

                  1.              His dates are often erroneously given as 1713-1786.

                  2.             The thirty volumes of Stanley's Op. 5-7 are available in facsimile form (ed. Dennis Vaughan, 3 vols., Oxford University Press, 1957), and as modern edition in the Hinrichsen Tallis to Wesley series (ed. Gordon Phillips). Individual voluntaries are also found in numerous modern anthologies.

                  3.              See, for example, Nicholas Temperley, "Organ Music in Parish Churches, 1660-1730," BIOS Journal, 5 (1981), pp. 33-45. For an extension of this argument, see also John L. Speller, "Organ Music and the Metrical Psalms in Eighteenth-Century Anglican Worship," The Tracker, 39:2 (1995), pp. 21-29.

                  4.              4 volumes. London: Longman, Lukey & Co., 1771.

                  5.              See H. Diack Johnstone's editorial note on p. 4 of An RCO Miscellany: 18th. Century Organ Voluntaries, ed. H. Diack Johnstone (Leigh-on-Sea: Basil Ramsey, 1980). The oratorio, based on a story in the Book of Judges, tells the tragic tale of a Jewish military commander who unwittingly promises to sacrifice his daughter in return for victory in battle.

                  6.              A modern edition of Concertos 1-3, edited by Greg Lewin, has recently been published by Hawthorns Music of Wheaton Aston, Stafford. The Adagio in B minor, transposed and transcribed from Op. 5 No. 10, is found on p. 10.

                  7.              P. 1 of the same edition.

                  8.              Pp. 16-18.

                  9.              Pp. 21-24.

                  10.           A modern edition of this movement can be found in An RCO Miscellany, pp. 25-26.

                  11.           Pp. 35-38 of the foregoing edition.

                  12.           See H. Diack Johnstone's editorial note on p. 4 of An RCO Miscellany.

                  13.           The introductory movement is found on pp. 7-8 of the foregoing edition.

John L. Speller, "Before the First Lesson: A study of some Eighteenth-Century Voluntaries in relation to the instruments on which they were played," BIOS Journal, 20 (1996). p. 77.

John L. Speller was born and educated in England. He obtained science and arts degrees at Bristol University, and has a doctorate from Trinity College, Oxford. He works as an organ builder with Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc., of Warrensburg, Missouri. He is the author of numerous articles on the history of the organ.

A Beginning Keyboard and Pedal Method for the Organ

Wayne Leupold is president of Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc., in Colfax (Greensboro), North Carolina.

The Discover the Organ® beginning keyboard and pedal method for the organ, published by Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc., now provides an opportunity for upper-elementary and middle-school students to study the organ at much earlier ages than in the past. This method has been in development for ten years and is the result of contributions by six editors, over 100 composers, a graphic artist, and over 50 test teachers.

Since there were no similar classically oriented, elementary keyboard methods published for the organ as models, a test-teacher program was instituted to evaluate the materials before they would be published. The feedback from these test teachers has been invaluable in developing materials that appeal to young students and develop sensitive musicianship and solid technical facility.

The Discover the Organ® beginning keyboard and pedal method for the organ is now available in four different levels: the beginning series (Discover the Basics®: A Beginning Series for Any Keyboard Instrument) and levels one, two and three in five different series (Basic Organ Repertoire, Modern Keyboard Technique, Christmas Season at the Organ, Easter and Pentecost Seasons at the Organ, and Organ and One Instrument). Volumes in levels four and five are in preparation.

The beginning series, Discover the Basics®: A Beginning Series for Any Keyboard Instrument, co-edited by Wayne Leupold and Lucy G. Ingram, utilizes an intervallic approach to reading music and consists of four successive books (A, B, C, and D). Each book is complete in itself, in that it contains lessons, theory, repertoire, and technique materials, therefore eliminating the need to buy multiple books for each level. Book A introduces intervals up to and including fifths. Book B reinforces these intervals within the context of the grand staff. Book C presents eighth notes and beginning two-part playing. Book D introduces the intervals of sixths, sevenths, and octaves, more expanded two-part playing, and the beginning playing of three very easy simultaneous parts, and emphasizes note spelling. Many pieces have optional pedal points and approximately 70 percent of the compositions in all four books have a duet part for the teacher to play. Folk songs and spirituals from many different countries and cultures are used extensively. The four families of organ tone are gradually presented (illustration 1) and practice suggestions (illustration 2) throughout the four books assist the student in developing good practice habits. Several distinctive features with many illustrations broaden the student's general musical knowledge: (1) a brief history of the organ at the beginning of Book C (illustration 3); (2) a brief history of stringed keyboard instruments (clavichord, harpsichord, and piano) at the beginning of Book D  (illustration 4); and (3) brief biographical sketches of composers, throughout books B, C, and D, who significantly contributed to the organ, piano, and harpsichord literature (illustrations 5 and 6).

Book A may be begun with students as early as the third grade. Older children and adult beginners may begin with Book B. Book B also may be used for adult beginning class keyboard instruction. In our test-teacher program the B, C, and D books have been used successfully in colleges and universities as the texts for their beginning class keyboard courses. A supplemental beginning book of hymns and carols also is available: Christmas Season at the Organ (beginning level).

While studying in the beginning series, a student may use any keyboard instrument for daily practice, i.e., a piano, electronic keyboard, or an organ. When the student has progressed to the level one materials (see below), it is recommended that he or she have at least one practice session a week at an organ to become comfortable with the optional simple one- or two-note pedal parts.

Discover the Basics®: A Beginning Series for Any Keyboard Instrument may be used in a variety of different ways: (1) it can be the beginning method for a student beginning keyboard study exclusively on the organ; (2) it can be the beginning method for a student beginning keyboard study exclusively on the piano, with no interest in ever playing the organ (in such a situation, the explanations about the organ sounds, the registration suggestions, and the suggestions for optional pedal points can be ignored); and (3) this beginning series also can be used in an approach of blending the initial teaching of the keyboard between both the piano and the organ. In such a situation, the student can use a piano for daily practice and can take his/her weekly lesson on a piano. However, in addition, the teacher also may take the student to an organ during the weekly lesson, where he/she again may play some or all of the assigned pieces on the organ, utilizing the suggested registrations and pedal points for the feet. Because of the thoroughness of the Discover the Basics® beginning series, a separate piano primer series is not necessary. A student could continue this simultaneous study of both instruments indefinitely. When he/she has finished the Discover the Basics® series and has progressed to the level one books for continued organ study (see below), he/she also could progress into any standard classical piano literature series for continued piano study. This approach would give the student the exposure to and advantages of both keyboard instruments. The profound advantage of the first and third approaches, from the perspective of the organ, is that more students will be exposed to the organ much earlier in their educational experience than traditionally has been done in the past. Hopefully, in the long term, this approach will generate more interest in the organ among more young students who then will continue to study the organ and will eventually become active organists (amateurs and/or professionals) and church musicians.

Upon completion of Book D, the student progresses to Discover the Organ® in the various series of level one (Basic Organ Repertoire, Modern Keyboard Technique, Christmas Season at the Organ, Easter and Pentecost Seasons at the Organ, and Organ and One Instrument). The first two are considered basic series, while the remaining three are supplemental. The levels one through four of Discover the Organ® method roughly parallel the technical-difficulty levels of the Bastien Piano Literature Series, volumes 1-4.

The Basic Organ Repertoire series, levels 1, 2, and 3, co-edited by Wayne Leupold and Naomi Rowley, contains both free compositions and pieces based on well-known hymn tunes and spirituals. Many different cultures are represented including Early American, African American, Native American, Hispanic, Jewish, and Asian, as well as many European countries. Over one hundred composers are represented in this series. Among the living composers represented are Michael Burkhardt, David Cherwien, Emma Lou Diemer, Alfred V. Fedak, Wilbur Held, Dan Locklair, Austin Lovelace, Robert J. Powell, and Larry Visser. The compositions were particularly written to appeal to young students. Students who like to play loud pieces will be delighted with Janet Correll's Fanfare (illustration 7), Procession of Praise, and Triumphal March found in the level one volume. They also will be fascinated with the many echo pieces, which require manual changes, such as Janet Correll's Carol of the Birds, Alfred V. Fedak's Echo Dialogue and Antiphonal Hosanna, Larry Visser's Echo  (illustration 8), and Randolph Currie's "Little Jesus, Sweetly Sleep," all also found in the level one volume. Levels 2, 3A, and 3B also contain similar types of compositions. Children who like to play fast with a loud registration will find many toccatas in this series beginning in level two, i.e., Toccatina by David Schack, level 2 (illustration 9); Toccata by Emma Lou Diemer, level 3A (illustration 10); and Toccatina on "Here, O Lord, Your Servants Gather" by Larry Visser, level 3B (illustration 11). A unique feature of this repertoire series is the appearance in each level of an original sonatina for organ by Larry Visser (level 1 - Sonatina on Spiritual Themes: I "Somebody's Knocking at Your Door," II "Steal Away to Jesus," III "Standing in the Need of Prayer"; level 2 - Sonatina on Themes of Creation: I "This Is My Father's World," II "Morning Has Broken," III "All Things Bright and Beautiful"; level 3B - A Sonatina for Holy Week: I "He Is King of Kings: He Is Lord of Lords," II "Were You There?," III "He Arose"). These compositions give the organ student exposure to many of the classical forms traditionally associated with the sonatina and sonata, i.e., sonata allegro form (illustration 12), ABA song form (illustration 13), rondo form (illustration 14), and ritornello form (illustration 15). Practice suggestions appear where needed throughout these volumes, with an introduction to the organ at the beginning and a glossary at the end of each volume. This series contains compositions in a variety of keys, textures, and styles, and is intended to expose the student to a very broad spectrum of music.

The Modern Keyboard Technique series, edited by Wayne Leupold, is intended to develop a solid keyboard technique on the organ. This series contains legato "organ" exercises, exercises by Hanon and Czerny, and scales and arpeggios. A unique feature of the legato exercises is the grouping of musical compositions after each exercise that emphasize within a musical context the specific technical feature presented in that exercise (illustration 16).

The Christmas Season at the Organ series, arranged by Alred V. Fedak, contains carols, hymn tunes, and other seasonal melodies associated with Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (illustration 17). Each volume also includes a preface explaining these seasons.

The Easter and Pentecost Seasons at the Organ series, also arranged by Alfred V. Fedak, contains hymn tunes and other melodies associated with Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, Reformation, All Saints, Thanksgiving, weddings, funerals, Communion, baptisms, and patriotic occasions (illustration 18). Each volume includes a preface explaining these seasons and occasions (illustration 19). Also included are easy arrangements and transcriptions of compositions all organists play, such as J. Clarke's The Prince of Denmark's March  (illustration 20) and H. Purcell's Trumpet Tune (illustration 21).

The Organ and One Instrument series, arranged by Allan Mahnke, provides an ensemble experience for the young organ student. Many of the compositions are based on well-known hymn tunes. The instrumental parts, in both the C and B-flat versions, are of a comparable or easier level for the instrumentalist (illustration 22).

All the compositions in the entire Discover the Organ® method are carefully edited and fingered. The inside back cover of each volume contains a registration information page that presents an explanation of the different pitches of organ pipes and lists of the names most commonly used for the four families of organ tone. Practice suggestions, in addition to appearing throughout the beginning series (Discover the Basics®) and the Basic Organ Repertoire® series, also are in all the other series. Although primarily included to help students develop effective learning habits, practice suggestions also have been provided to assist any teachers who have had little or no previous teaching experience.

While the Discover the Organ® method focuses primarily on developing manual skills, elementary pedal concepts are introduced. The Discover the Organ® method also may be used as an introductory organ method for students who have or are presently acquiring keyboard skills through piano study. A piano student may begin simultaneous study with this organ method at any time or switch over to this method from piano study at any level.

By the time the student is in the level three materials, his/her manual facility should be sufficiently developed so that simultaneous study in a traditional organ method, such as the First Organ Book, may begin. This assumes that by this time the student also has long enough legs to do traditional legato, toe-heel pedaling. For the continued development of manual technique, the student should continue in the various series through levels four and five of the Discover the Organ® keyboard method, particularly the Basic Organ Repertoire series and the Modern Keyboard Technique series. Such a constant and thorough approach will ensure the development of a solid keyboard technique at the organ.

Many young people find the organ fascinating with all its keyboards, pedals, buttons, stop knobs, and multiple sounds. Children can become interested in the organ through exposure in their church services, demonstrations by the church organist, and different types of events presented by AGO chapters or other groups of interested individuals. When such interest is awakened, there should be an immediate follow-up. Immediately get them on organ benches, studying and playing the organ at whatever keyboard level they are. If they have no keyboard experience, start them on the organ from the very beginning, for now there is a keyboard method available that can develop a child's keyboard ability on the organ from the very beginning of his/her study of music. (Other instruments also could be studied simultaneously, if desired.)

For the organ to remain the principal instrument in the church, we must train more organists. To accomplish this we must first expose the organ to more young people, and second, begin to teach the organ to children at much earlier ages than previously has been done. There is no reason why young children cannot begin both their musical education and the development of their keyboard stills at the organ. Let's have more children Discover the Organ®!

This is a revised and enlarged version of the article that first appeared in The American Organist (September 2000).

In the Three Motets of Serenity 2000), Nine Marian Anthems,and Five Motets in Honour of the Trinity (composed 2000; both still manuscripts), Mawby expresses more overtly than usual a deeply felt nostalgia for the earlier part of his life.31 The quoting of plainsong and composing chant-like melodies suggest his retrospective mood. Another clue is that all these works are a cappella settings of traditional Latin texts, the four-part mixed choir frequently dividing, sometimes into as many as eight parts. The Nine Marian Anthems and Five Motets in Honour of the Trinity  are written for specified days of the Catholic Church's Year, but the Three Motets of Serenity may be performed on any occasion deemed appropriate.

The Three Motets of Serenity are dedicated to the memory of Cardinal John Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster between 1963 and 1975, a period that coincided with most of Mawby's tenure of the Master of the Music position there. For SSAATTBB choir, they are based on three of Mawby's favorite plainsong tunes, which he describes as "superb, evocative and compelling [and] . . . central to the motets."32 In performance they should be treated as serene "musical prayer[s]," should sound unrushed, and display a chant-like meditative quality.33

Organ Music

Mawby had written no organ solos by the age of fifty-five, but Kevin Mayhew had a hunch that there was an as yet untapped vein of talent in that direction in the composer, and offered to publish any that he might care to produce. He had a strong background in organ, having been a fine organist as a boy, and, as was noted earlier, had majored in the instrument at the Royal College of Music. During the years as a church musician he had, on occasions, played for services, and had written many choral works with organ accompaniments. Thus it is not surprising that Mayhew's insight proved correct. What was unexpected was the heavy flow of pieces that poured from Mawby's pen once he started in 1991.

Unique among English organ composers, Mawby has written almost exclusively for church services.34 This may be explained by the role the instrument has played in his life. When he worked for the Roman Catholic Church, he occasionally performed on the organ, but primarily he was a choirmaster, and assistants usually played the instrument. Thus, he tends to see the instrument as a major adjunct to worship, as the provider of accompaniments for vocal music, the creator of "walking music," the furnisher of music to fill awkward silences, and generally supply background music at appropriate mo-ments in services. At the same time, though, he appreciates and values highly the traditional solo repertoire of the instrument. "Organ music," he says, "has a unique power which can move people deeply."35

The scores indicate that he thinks, broadly, in terms of a traditional large, four-manual, Romantic, orchestral instrument, such as the one built between the World Wars by Henry Willis at Westminster Cathedral.36 At least one enclosed division is necessary for the execution of the crescendos and diminuendos that are a part of Mawby's style. There should also be a supply of accessories, in order to realize the occasional terrace dynamics, the gradual orchestral-style piling up of power, and various other dynamic fluctuations within a piece. He quite regularly marks melodies to be soloed, without usually specifying specific stops. The one exception is that he sometimes marks entries of the tuba at climactic moments, a reflection of his lifelong love of the sound of the tuba at Westminster which is sui generis, a rank on thirty inches wind with an agreeable rasp about it, a sort of "edge." In the tradition of early 20th-century English organ composers,37 in loud passages he will sometimes call for a tuba solo in the tenor register in the left hand to roar out within a texture provided by the pedal and right hand. Less frequently, the tuba is given a soprano solo or plays chordal fanfare phrases.

Very prominent in his organ music are verbatim fragments of plainsong melodies or plainsong-like themes and phrases. This reflects his fondness for plainsong that he has felt ever since he sang the ancient chants for the first time at the age of nine.38 His organ works are usually between two to four pages in length, and are for performance by average to good church organists. Homophonic textures are the norm, as is the developing of material in a free, improvisatory manner that usually does not conform to one of the traditional organ forms. His music is almost completely free of the influence of the major organ composers past or present. Thus, there are no preludes and fugues, passacaglias, or sonatas, and hardly any of the other types of pieces favored by organists, such as toccatas, scherzos, intermezzi, and arias. Most of his pieces have been inspired by sacred texts or images, or have been written for situations in church services where organ music is useful, such as processionals, recessionals, and, as noted above, music to fill awkward silences during the service.

The first works, Quiet-Time: Fifteen Interludes for Organ (1991), follow, at least in spirit if not musical details, down the path blazed by his friend, Gregory Murray, in his monumental seven-volume collection of Short Organ Interludes for Liturgical Use (published between 1935 and 1987).39 Mawby's miniatures are untitled except for being numbered, are printed on two staves for an organ with two manuals and pedal, and employ modality, and plainsong or pseudo plainsong mel-odies. One may see an indication of Mawby's future mature organ style in the spirituality of the Quiet-Time interludes, but the pieces occasionally lack the flow and sense of inevitability that surrounds the better pieces that were written later.  Chords frequently fluctuate from four to five and six parts and sometimes more. Dissonances are frequent, quite often being those created by seventh and ninth chords, added seconds, and voice leading that is not always concerned with consonant vertical alignments.

With the trilogy Gregorian Calendar: Thirty Contrasting Pieces for Organ Based on Plainsong Melodies (1993), Gregorian Communion:  Twenty Pieces for Organ Based on Plainsong Melodies (1995), and Gregorian Processionals:  Twenty Pieces for Organ Based on Plainsong Melodies (1996) Mawby supplied a large collection of pieces for the organ in its role as a major adjunct to worship.

Gregorian Calendar comprises works of between two and four pages length for use throughout the liturgical year. Each season has one loud and one soft voluntary, and six shorter pieces for general use are attached at the end of the book. In the Foreword, Mawby says "the chant's rich variety of moods and modes [provided] a generous reference point from which to explore the inherent prayerfulness of the music." Entire Gregorian melodies are used as the basis of some pieces. Others, like the composition based on the All Saints Day plainsong Placare Christe Servulis, are built from one or more Gregorian fragments.

Placare Christe Servulis is developed from the first six tones of the chant. At the outset, the pentatonic plainsong fragment, set in 7/8 time, is enunciated four times, unaccompanied, in the rich soprano register of the tuba, and thereafter reappears periodically throughout the work, each statement being regenerated by some type of transformation. Characteristic of many of Mawby's organ pieces, in Placare Christe Servulis he writes what appears to be a newly-composed melody that is, in fact, derived from the plainsong motif introduced in bar one. Example 8 shows a version of this tune in the right hand part at bars 28-31. Reflecting the unmetered nature of plainsong, the main meter of 7/8, which Mawby usually divided in eighth notes as follows:  3 + 2 + 2 (see bars 32-33), is disturbed by regular changes of time signature, thus disrupting any lengthy impression of metric rhythm. This allows the plainsong style to pervade the piece, and also enervates the forward thrust of the music because it is rhythmically unpredictable. The triads are often larded with seconds and sevenths, less frequently ninths (bar 31), and, occasionally, elevenths (bars 32-33). These added tones create a different acoustical dimension from conventional triadic harmony, a more dissonant accompanimental foundation for his tunes. The off the cuff patchwork of contrasting ideas in Placare Christe Servulis, often heard over pedal points, suggests that the work was originally improvised and then written down.

The methods of Gregorian Calendar continued in Gregorian Communion  and Gregorian Processionals. This may be seen, for instance, in the dreamy improvisational chorale prelude on Adore te devote in Gregorian Communion. Although soloed statements of the opening line of the plainsong are heard near the beginning, and there is a presentation of the second half of the hymn tune near the end, the focus of Mawby's interest is in subtly weaving short phrases of the Gregorian melody into the delicately meandering, dreamy harmonies.  The essence of his use of ancient chants is that he likes one to hear snatches of motifs derived from the original theme, but only rarely quotes them unchanged and entirely. The accompanying left hand and pedal parts of the Adore te devote setting are concordant with the right hand much of the time, but extremely strident cluster chords occasionally result when preeminence is given to the horizontal movement of the parts.

With Hymns for Occasions for Manuals (One Hundred Special Arrangements) and More Hymns for Occasions for Manuals (One Hundred Special Arrangements) (both 1997) Mawby joined the ranks of such 20th-century English composers as Tertius Noble, Edward Bairstow, Eric Thiman, Henry Coleman, Harrison Oxley, Richard Lloyd, and Noel Rawsthorne, all of whom have contributed collections of varied keyboard accompaniments to hymn tunes sung by a church congregation. The above long list of composers suggests that the field was already crowded before Mawby added his arrangements, but some of the earlier collections were hardly usable because they never rose above the mundane and, by the 1990s, others had become old-fashioned.

Furthermore, Mawby's are different from the collections by the men listed above in that he provides more than simply a single varied accompaniment for each hymn. Each starts with an introduction for organ solo that captures the mood of the words and melody of the hymn, and this leads without break into two organ accompaniments for the congregational singing, the first a standard harmonization of the hymn tune, with first ending, marked dal segno, for repeating the same music for more verses, the second ending leading into the last verse, which is a more complex harmonization. Dovetailed into the end of the hymn proper is a concluding flourish of a few bars for the keyboard alone that is often a development of the introduction material. The organist chooses all or part of each arrangement as befits the occasion.

Much of the harmony is conventional four-part hymn style, but the composer is clearly attracted to the tension-creating attributes of dissonance, and he indulges with abandon his liking for this element in the varied accompaniments for the last verses. The end of the setting of  Crimond, shown in Example 9, illustrates the point. Several of the dissonances in this passage are traditional nonharmonic embellishing tones, such as the appoggiatura at bar 42 in the left hand part, and the suspension at bar 44 in the right hand, both of which resolve downwards by step. Dissonant clashes occur between the tonic pedal point and the manual harmony at bars 43-46, and there are numerous mildly dissonant seventh chords that are redolent of the musical theater style of Lloyd Webber.

Some of the touches of chromaticism that ratchet up the element of surprise and excitement in the varied harmonizations for last verses involve seventh chords. See, for instance, the secondary dominant seventh chord at bar 40, the diminished seventh chord at bar 41, and the half diminished seventh chords on the dominant at bars 44, 46, and 50 in Example 9. The major chord on the flattened mediant at bar 49 is a chromatic touch that some may feel is quite exhilarating.

Hymns for Occasions and More Hymns for Occasions are written with a sense of bold confidence and sheer enjoyment, coupled with thrilling, often unexpected delightful harmonic ventures, and they may well revive stale choirs and congregations who have become bored hymn singers.40

Given the above inspired arrangements of hymns, it is something of a disappointment that the composer has chosen to write almost all the twenty or so voluntaries on hymn tunes41 in the improvisational, homophonic, formally free style of the Gregorian trilogy discussed earlier. William Lloyd Webber was particularly fond of the style for some of his pieces based on hymn tunes.42 But he avoided the sameness of Mawby's compositions by sometimes using techniques and forms of the past, such as imitative counterpoint including canon,43 writing alla Bach,44 and casting the music in one of the chorale prelude forms.45 Yet this is not to say that one cannot commend some of the Mawby hymn preludes. Unto Us Is Born a Son (1994) and O Filii et Filiae (1995), for example, are vibrant and alive, and entirely convincing.

Unto Us Is Born a Son is so intensely joyous and melodious, and enriched with warm seventh chords and chromaticisms, that one might not notice the art concealing art, for the preexistent melody is subjected to continuous development, without any sense of it being an intellectual, technical study. The old Christmas tune traditionally associated with this text appears in a multitude of guises. Sometimes it is heard as a soprano melody with or without intervallic or rhythmic modification.  In one ruminative soft passage, there are vague reminiscences of the carol theme showing up fleetingly in a melismatic right-hand solo, accompanied by whole-note chords in the left hand, over a long pedal point. In the growing excitement leading to the closing apotheosis, parts of the Unto Us Is Born a Son melody appear in an inner part over an extended tonic pedal point. At the start of this passage, the first and third phrases of the preexistent melody are stated without break. Then the first two phrases of the hymn tune are presented in a particularly grand and "in the face" manner in augmentation, enunciated in stentorian, raspy tuba chords in the left hand, sandwiched between fortissimo accompanimental right-hand figurations and a pedal point in the feet. The last phrase of the carol tune is never stated in the work.

O Filii et Filiae is unique among the hymn preludes in that it is built around a full, uninterrupted statement of the preexistent melody. Mawby retains the modality and moderate pace of the ancient Easter plainsong tune, but removes the original free rhythms in favor of triple meter. A rhythmic, one-bar motif involving octave leaps in the right hand, over dotted half note left-hand chords, provides the material of the opening prelude, and returns in modified forms in interludes later.  In the first section, this leaping material frames presentations of the first and third lines of O Filii et Filiae in the mixolydian mode on G, followed by a repeat of the third line, now in the mixolydian on C. Next, via an eight-bar dominant pedal point that is ornamented by references to the leaping motif, there is a loud, majestic complete statement of the modal plainsong on C in manual block chords over dotted half notes in the pedals. In the third section, with a growing sense of excitement engendered by syncopations, more dissonance, and a gradual increase in organ volume, the ancient melody is presented a final time, broken into separate phrases and supported by a foundation of material derived from the preludial leaping motif.  The coda is both sublime and breath-taking: above a fortissimo fifteen-bar dominant pedal point, the left hand plays the first two lines of O Filii et Filiae in the tenor register on the solo division tuba stop, accompanied by chords in the right hand on the great manual. Finally, the last phrase of the hymn, marked Adagio, appears in the pedals, under a series of massive, held chromatic manual chords. A thunderous full organ C major chord closes the work.

Compline (1993) is an example of some fifteen pieces composed for the so-called "Reluctant Organist"--someone who can only play simple pedal parts consisting of mainly lower notes (which are easier for beginners to play) under a more difficult keyboard part.46 Such restrictions do not seem to have hampered the composer, for Compline unfolds naturally, with a restrained beauty and calm spiritual tone that is entirely appropriate for Compline, the final service before retiring in the Roman Catholic Church.  Two musical ideas are developed in a series of short alternating sections. The one idea is introduced at the start, and is a solemn, reverent theme in solid quarter and half note chords that are generally dissonant. Noticeably more concordant, the other idea is a faster moving, sinuous, melismatic, widely spaced theme.

The Weekend Organist: Service Music for Manuals (1997) is similar to the Gregorian Calendar, Gregorian Communion, and Gregorian Processionals in that it is a resource volume for church organists. The book comprises eighteen Fanfares, ten Processionals, seven Meditations, and nine Recessionals. The envisaged user is "the busy weekend organist who, while anxious to contribute to a vibrant weekly liturgy, has little time to undertake systematic and concentrated organ practice."47

In the Preface, Mawby suggests that the nine longer Fanfares could be used as an introduction to the hymns on special occasions, or might be played as greetings for an important visitor, or even to mark the arrival of the ordinary procession. They are in the nine most common major keys for hymns:  the first in C major, followed by one piece for each of the major key signatures from one to four sharps and flats.  A large two manual organ that includes a trumpet stop, reed chorus, and enclosed swell seems to be in the composer's mind.  Mawby has a fine grasp of the need, when writing fanfares, for a vibrant sense of dash, staccato articulation, repeated-note rhythms, triadic melodic motifs, and, perhaps in order to keep the audience alert, brief surprising chordal digressions here and there. The harmony is modern-sounding but tonal, with frequent progressions to unexpected chords, and is encrusted with traditional nonharmonic embellishing tones. One does not sense that the composer has labored long and hard on polishing, with the result that there is a pleasant easy flow about the music, which can be magnificent and emotionally stirring.

Mawby says the nine shorter Fanfares should be played as prefaces to the Gospel reading on feast days, but they might introduce hymns at important services.

The Processionals and Recessionals are divided into three categories:  (1) loud two-page works; (2) quiet two-page pieces; and (3) short compositions that are mostly only three systems long.  Mawby envisages them as interchangeable, and may be shortened if necessary.

To some degree, in the Processionals and Recessionals, but especially in the quiet, two-page Meditations, plainsong's contours pervade the melodic material.  The Meditations are also endowed with a contemplative, spiritual mood that is the world of the Roman Catholic Church's High Mass, with its chiming altar bells, smell of incense and candles, and Gregorian chant. Optional cuts, marked by square brackets, are provided in the Meditations, to facilitate the tailoring of the length to suit a particular occasion.

A procession of majestic pseudo plainsong melodies dominates the joyful  voluntary Praise the Lord with Mighty Sounds (1997). Cast in ternary form, a celebratory mood is established immediately in Section A with detached, dense, chordal writing for full organ alternating with skipping plainsong-like interjections. After developing these ideas, a subdued middle section is ushered in with a short lyrical new melody that again suggests the influence of ancient Catholic chant. Initially this tune is soloed in the left hand, accompanied on another manual by detached repeated chords in the right hand, and then it undergoes development, with fragments of the piece's principal melodic material appearing here and there. Section A1 sees a return to the dynamically powerful, dignified ideas of the opening. These are developed briefly, after which, with the organ blazing away at full throttle, there is a closing cadential affirmation of Christ's majesty over his people.

Triptych for Organ (1997), Mawby's only large scale,48 technically difficult work, is for top recitalists. It requires a large Romantic orchestral organ with at least one enclosed division.  In using the term triptych Mawby was likening his three pieces to an altarpiece painting in three hinged-together panels, such as the 1432 Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, which he loves.49 The three movements are titled "The Energy and Humanity of Christ," "The Mystery of Communion," and "Christ is Risen, Alleluia!" and are independent programmatic pieces that are related by their Christian theology but nothing more. The work's modality, pseudo chant motifs, free use of successions of different meters, and through-composed, improvisational style are vintage Mawby. Dissonances are much more pervasive and abrasive than usual, notably in the greater than usual use of cluster chords. Despite the religious titles of the movements, the composition is not in cyclic form, but similarities in the main motifs of each of the movements (marked with brackets in Example 10a-c) help to bind the work together thematically.

Marked Allegro feroce, the first movement opens with the principal idea, a five-tone motif, in the pedals (Example 10a). This eventually gives way to subordinate material consisting of a series of syncopated, detached, agitated, repeated-note, sixteenth-note patterns. The opening five-tone motif returns, transformed into a jaunty modal dancing theme, and then is truncated, against a backdrop of savagely dissonant cluster chords. Then a new, less dramatic subordinate melodic idea appears, duplicated at the fourth and sixth below, thus forming parallel first inversion triads. This material returns in various guises throughout the rest of the movement. As the triumphant close approaches, both the principal five-tone motif and the syncopated, sixteenth-note motif are brought together in a series of overlapping entries, against a backdrop of busy, high pitched, sixteenth-note figurations in the right hand. In the breathtaking lead up to the final chord, the first motif is dominant.

The second movement, marked Andante ma un poco rubato, is characterized by a rather static, spiritual atmosphere that Mawby first used in Mass in Honour of Christ the King (1967) and had turned to so effectively a number of times later.50 The structure is a series of smoothly joined sections in which the movement's chief motif (which is similar to the first movement's principal motif) undergoes a series of transformations, against slower moving ethereal-sounding chords. First, it is reiterated like an ostinato in the pedal. Then it turns into a wide-ranging, serpentine, high-pitched, fragmented solo (Example 10b). At the approach to the climax the motif is obsessively repeated, after which it returns to the pedal.

A similar motif to the first movement's principal idea opens the finale, and this is followed by a bridge passage of agitated sixteenth-note figurations that are also reminiscent of the beginning of the composition. Then a secondary idea, a rhythmic, wide-ranging melodic fragment for a solo reed in the style of a pompous heraldic fanfare, is introduced. With deep, highly emotional religious fervor, the composer alternates the movement's principal motif and the solo reed fanfare idea in an extended, wildly ecstatic movement of metamorphosis. Mawby, as if overcome with enthusiasm, and drawing upon his whole arsenal of improvisational effects, seems to lose himself in what is the most extensive display in his organ music of colorful, sonorous, acoustical effects.

After so many pieces of between two to four pages length written principally for church service use, Triptych's larger canvas  is a major departure for Mawby.  Its positive attributes are the fluency of the writing, the vivid pictorialism, and the courageous daring the composer demonstrates in experimenting on a much larger canvas than before. But the composer's improvisatory, through-composed methods, that work well in shorter structures, are put under unbearable stress in here.

The 20th-century English Catholic composers of significant church music are probably Edward Elgar, Edmund Rubbra, Lennox Berkeley, Anthony Milner, and Colin Mawby. Unlike the others in this group, Mawby has concentrated almost entirely on writing liturgical church and organ music. He has a keen appreciation of, and affection for, religious texts, and responds to them creatively and with finesse. This factor, combined with his superlative mastery of the techniques of writing for voices, accounts, at least in part, for his best church works probably being unequaled by other living English Catholic composer. In the organ works, plainsong has perhaps been allowed to be too influential, and preoccupation with loosely evolving, improvisational development of material monopolizes the scores. Salient positive features of his organ compositions are the excellent under-the-fingers style and feeling for what sounds well, and the music's appropriateness for the occasions for which it has been written--its ability to beautify and bring into focus the moods of the various situations that call for organ music in church services.

The conviction, inspiration, sincerity, and warmth of expression in his church and organ music, are expressions of the two paramount galvanizing forces in Mawby’s life:  his love of God, and devotion to the Roman Catholic Church.

A consideration of the record series made by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company

John A. Hansen, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, began his pipe organ career at the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in Boston in May of 1961, working in the console shop. Most of his time at the firm was spent in the Engineering Department. Sensing trouble in the distance, he left the company in 1965, returning to the Omaha, Nebraska, area (of which Council Bluffs is a part) to become a tuning and service technician. In 1985 he became Regional Representative of Austin Organs, Inc., for Nebraska and Western Iowa.

The arrival of the post-World-War-II 331/3-r.p.m,
high-fidelity, long-playing recording was 
embraced by the legendary Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston as a
means of promoting its product. In the course of approximately twenty years,
thirty volumes of the series, entitled The King of Instruments, were released.
The series can be divided into three groups, (1) The Harrison Era, (2) The
Whiteford Era, and (3) The Post-Whiteford Era. The impetus for entering into
the venture came from Joseph S. Whiteford, who served as associate and
successor to the legendary English-born President and Tonal Director, G. Donald
Harrison.

The Harrison Era

Perhaps the most important recording of the entire series is
Volume 1, The American Classic Organ, a lecture-demonstration narrated by no
less than G. Donald Harrison. Many of the tonal examples were recorded at the
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, the organ there played by George Faxon.
Other organs used were those in Symphony Hall, Boston; First Presbyterian
Church, Kilgore, Texas; and New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, played
by Thomas Dunn, Roy Perry, Norman Coke-Jephcott, and Mr. Whiteford.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  (The latter's efforts include the
improvised demonstration of the legendary St. John the Divine State Trumpet.)
The urbane, English verbiage of Mr. Harrison and the very persuasive musical
presentations are, even after almost fifty years, highly contagious. (Roy
Perry, however, did express to the writer regret that the examples of
string-tone stops were from Boston's Symphony Hall rather than those in the Kilgore
organ, which he felt were superior.)

Volume 2, Organ Literature: Bach to Langlais, features the
organs of Symphony Hall, Boston; the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston; and
First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas. The playing of, respectively, the
Bach Trio Sonata No. 1 and the
Allegro  from the A Minor
Concerto of Vivaldi/Bach by George Faxon at
St. Paul's Cathedral may be the chief treasures of the disc, followed closely
by Roy Perry's unique rendition of Davies' A Solemn Melody
style='font-style:normal'>. Thomas Dunn is said to have played the three Bach Schübler
Chorales and the Alain Litanies
style='font-style:normal'> at Symphony Hall, listed as the "Staff
Organist," while William Watkins received a similar listing, very
effectively playing the Sowerby Carillon on the Kilgore organ. It might be argued that the use of three organs
to demonstrate the versatility of Aeolian-Skinner's work would have been better
served by a single instrument, but the recording is still very effective.

The next two issues, Volume 3, Organ Recital: Robert Owen
and Volume 4, Hilliar at St. Mark's, employed organs somewhat unique, in that
they both had divided Swell divisions. The first of these was recorded at
Christ Church, Bronxville, New York, and garnered perhaps the highest critical
praise of the early releases in this series, with the possible exception of
Volume 1. Owen's playing of the Walther Partita, Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht
style='font-style:normal'> and Messiaen's The Prayer of Christ
ascending to the Father may be the high
points of that recording. Edgar Hilliar was organist at St. Mark's Church, Mt.
Kisco, New York, and his playing of the Bach Trio Sonata No. IV in E
Minor is truly a marvel--a brilliant
example of how deft touch control can affect the pipe speech of a
non-mechanical action instrument. The Mt. Kisco acoustic is very dry; and,
perhaps somewhat unique in this series, no attempt was made to add artificial
reverberation to it. (The writer had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Hilliar in
recital at St. Mark's and will never forget his masterful playing of the Bach
"Little" Fugue in G Minor,
using but a single flute stop.)

The "dry" acoustic at Mt. Kisco is placed in sharp
contrast by Volume 5,  The Music of
Richard Purvis, recorded in the spacious confines of San Francisco's Grace
Cathedral. Despite the listing of the player as the "staff organist,"
the organist was, in fact, the composer of the music. (One can only assume that
the player's designation was designed to avoid conflict with his other
recordings.) The most notable piece is the Partita on
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Christ ist Erstanden
style='font-style:normal'>.

New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the setting
of Volumes 6 and 8. The former, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New
York City, is played by Alec Wyton and is perhaps most notable for Sowerby's Prelude
on  Deus Tuorum Militum,
style='font-style:normal'> written for the Cathedral's justifiably famous State
Trumpet. The latter, Norman Coke-Jephcott at Saint John the Divine, features
Wyton's Cathedral predecessor. Whereas Volume 6 was somewhat closely
"miked" to deal with the lengthy reverberation, Volume 8 seems to
revel in the vastness of the space. Coke-Jephcott's Toccata on
"St. Anne" is very exciting, and
the four opening notes on the lower registers of the State Trumpet in his Bishops'
Promenade are truly awesome!

One of Harrison's landmark organs of the mid-thirties is
that in St. John's Chapel of the Groton (Massachusetts) School, and it was used
for the series' Volume 7, Marilyn Mason in Recital. In addition to a very
spritely performance of Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Major
style='font-style:normal'>, the recording is also notable for the performance
of Robert Crandell's Carnival Suite for Organ
style='font-style:normal'>.

The largest organ built by Aeolian-Skinner was that in the
Mother Church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston. Volume 9, The Mother
Church, Boston, features Ruth Barrett Phelps, for some years organist at the
Mother Church. Her playing of the Buxtehude Prelude and Fugue in G Minor
style='font-style:normal'> stands out in the writer's consideration, proving
that a large, electro-pneumatic-action organ can be a model of clarity. (The
writer once played the Buxtehude on this record for an organ-enthusiast friend
without telling him what the organ was, and asked him what sort of instrument
he assumed it might be--his response was that it must have been a North
European tracker!)

Volume 10, Music of the Church, was recorded at First
Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas, where Aeolian-Skinner's first horizontal
Trompette en Chamade was installed. Four anthems, with Roy Perry at the console
and the church's choir augmented by the choir of Austin College, make up the
bulk of the recording. A rousing performance of C. Hubert H. Parry's I was
glad--including the Coronation vivats
style='font-style:normal'>--begins the record. While the tempi, particularly in
the John Ireland Greater Love hath no man and David McK. Williams' In the Year that King Uzziah died
style='font-style:normal'> are sometimes unusually slow, the performances are
still quite beguiling, certainly helped by the removal of the church's
carpeting for the recording. (The Texans certainly sang with great zeal, and
the "quasi-tympani" effect of multiple notes played on the 32'
stops after the words, . . . and the house was filled with smoke, in the
Willams anthem is especially notable.) Perry's playing of the evocative,
impressionistic evensong Prelude on Iam Sol recedit igneus
style='font-style:normal'>, by Bruce Simonds, is a wonderfully quiet conclusion
to this, one of the series' most popular releases.

Henry Hokans at All Saints' is the title of Volume 11,
comprising pieces by Walond, Whitlock, Franck, and Dupré. The Worcester,
Massachusetts, organ was another of Harrison's "landmark" instruments
of the 1930s. As it evolved over a number of years, it was perhaps the most
"French" of his organs until his final one in St. Thomas' Church, New
York City. Mr. Hokans, successor to William Self at All Saints' Church, is one
of the most gifted players the writer has ever heard. His performance of
Dupré's Variations sur un Noël,
Opus 20, is absolutely electrifying!

Volume 12, Pierre Cochereau at Symphony Hall, contains, not
surprisingly, all French literature. Most significant is the player's Triptych
Symphony, in Four Movements, a splendid
example of the art of improvisation. Works of Fleury, Dupré, and Vierne
complete the release.

The Whiteford Era

The death of G. Donald Harrison in 1956, while he was
completing the great organ in St. Thomas Church, New York, although portending
a gloomy future for Aeolian-Skinner, did not, by any means, spell the end of
the company's record series. An alliance was forged with Washington Records,
the first release of which was Volume 13, Organ Music and Vocal Solos, recorded
in the Mother Church, Boston, featuring organist Ruth Barrett Phelps and the
church's then tenor soloist, Frederick Jagel, who had a long and distinguished
career on the opera stage. Of the organ works, the Franck Fantaisie in A
style='font-style:normal'> and the Buxtehude Ciacona in E Min
style='font-style:normal'>or are particularly memorable.

Volume 14, also on the Washington Records label, is entitled
New Dimensions in Organ Sound and features Catharine Crozier playing the large
organ in the Auditorium of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints in Independence, Missouri. The major work on this release is the
monumental Sonata on the Ninety-fourth Psalm of Julius Reubke, and the issue was the first to incorporate stereo
sound. The mystical atmosphere of Crozier's performance of Alain's Deuxième
Fantaisie is notable, as are the
reservoir-bottoming tone clusters! Joseph Whiteford, who seemed afraid of bold
sounds, felt that the tapes made at the Crozier recording sessions had too much
mid-range emphasis and instructed Mr. John Kellner, who had made the tapes, to
electronically lessen that emphasis while adding artificial reverberation from
the company's then-new reverberation system. Unhappily, the final tonal results
have a harsh, thin ambiance.

A number of the Harrison Era recordings were re-issued on
the Washington Records label.

The technical quality of the Washington Records releases was
a disappointment, and Volume 13, originally issued with monaural sound, was
re-released, under the previous arrangements for pressings, in stereo. (Interestingly,
it was found that the vibrato of Mr. Jagel--well past his prime when the
recording was made--was too slow; so the master tapes were speeded up, raising
the pitches of all pieces on the recording--vocal and organ--almost a
semitone.) At the same time, because of popular demand, Volumes 1 and 10 were
also re-issued. Since more pieces were recorded by Crozier than appeared on
Volume 14, two releases, Volumes 15 and 16, called, respectively, Catharine
Crozier, Program I and Catharine Crozier, Program II, were issued, with the
elegance of the Bach Trio Sonata No. 5 in C Major being perhaps the most particularly special addition.

The instrument used in Volume 17, Phillip Steinhaus, was
that in All Saints' Church, Pontiac, Michigan, a three-manual organ of more
modest proportions than most used in this series. Steinhaus, who would
ultimately serve a brief tenure as a company vice-president in the later 1960s,
recorded a diverse program ranging from Buxtehude to Langlais, with Paul de
Maleingreau's Tumult in the Praetorium
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  being perhaps the most unusual. Also
quite different is the rendition of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C
Minor, which contains a cadenza, adapted
from the same composer's Prelude and Fugue in F Minor.

Two Great Organs is the title of Volume 18, which features
Albert Russell playing, respectively, the organs in Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln
Center, New York City, and in Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford.
(Russell was organist/choir director at the Hartford church.) The sound of the
now former concert hall instrument, playing pieces by Dupré, Buxtehude,
Bach, and Langlais, is impressive, invoking sadness that it was not retained in
what is now called Avery Fisher Hall. The writer, while an employee of
Aeolian-Skinner in the early 1960s, served on the installation team of the
Hartford organ and considers it one of the best of the Whiteford organs. Roy
Perry, who began the tonal finishing, agonized to Mr. Whiteford that he could
not get what he desired out of the Great 8' Spitzprinzipal, which, with
its tapered configuration, reflected Whiteford's reluctance to create a bold
principal chorus. (Donald Gillett, chief tonal finisher and, briefly, company
president after Whiteford's departure, liked to refer to "Joe's
'string-quartet' Greats!") After promising a new set of pipes, the
replacements had even more taper than the originals, prompting a plea to Arthur
Birchall, Assistant Tonal Director, from Perry. The third--and final--set, sent
by Birchall, was not tapered and was quite satisfactory. A large, four-manual
Austin console, which had replaced that of the previous E.M. Skinner organ,
contains the pressure regulator of the Rückpositiv division, making it
perhaps the only Austin console in which there is pressurized wind. The major
work played on the recording at Asylum Hill Church is Healey Willan's massive
Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue; and, even though the composer expressed
reservations about Russell's performance, it is a splendid reading.

The Hartford organ was also used in Volume 19,
Duruflé: Requiem. The writer had
the pleasure of hearing Albert Russell conduct and accompany this glorious work
on two occasions, once at Asylum Hill Church and later at Trinity Church,
Boston. Unforgettable was the sight, at the latter venue, of Russell's
gyrations while directing from the console and delivering a beautifully
conceived and executed organ accompaniment. The recorded Hartford performance
is superb, with the unnamed mezzo soprano's singing of the haunting Pie Jesu
bringing one close to tears. The Requiem is preceded by Myron Robert's Prelude & Trumpetings
style='font-style:normal'>, in which the opening ascending notes in the lower
register of the Krummhorn are very effective.

While at Aeolian-Skinner, the writer had the very good
fortune of hearing John Weaver in recital on the famous Walcker/Aeolian-Skinner
organ in Methuen. His program concluded with an astounding performance of
Liszt's massive Fantasy and Fugue on Ad nos, ad salutarem undam.
style='font-style:normal'> As the final thunderous chord began to die away, one
could clearly sense the audience gasping! Fully equal to that transcending
performance is the one on Volume 20, John Weaver playing Liszt and Mozart,
recorded at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, New York, where Mr. Weaver
was organist and choirmaster at the time of the major rebuilding by
Aeolian-Skinner of the E.M. Skinner instrument in the mid-1960s. There would
doubtless be those who would express dismay at Weaver's use of shimmering
celestes at the beginning and closing of the Mozart Fantasy in F
Minor, K.594, but the performance is most
convincing even so. (It is sad to consider that an organ sounding so fine was
ultimately removed!)

Bob Whitley was organist/choirmaster at St. Luke's Episcopal
Church, San Francisco, where Volume 21, Music at St. Luke's, was recorded. Side
1 comprises pieces by Sidney Campbell, Leo Sowerby, Frederick Karam, Helmut
Walcha, and Jean Langlais, while Side 2 offers Searle Wright's fine cantata, The
Green Blade Riseth. The small choir, while
obviously well trained, did not have a good blend--too many wide vibratos.

Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, was the venue of Volume
22, Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé. Madame Duruflé is heard
on Side 1, the major work being her husband's Prelude, Adagio, and Choral
style='font-style:normal'> with Variations on Veni Creator
style='font-style:normal'>. While she was generally considered the virtuoso of
the pair, her husband's playing of his own Prelude from the Suite, Opus 5, and
of Tournemire's majestic Improvisation on the Te Deum
style='font-style:normal'> are perhaps the chief glories of this very
impressive recording. Before coming to St. Louis, the Duruflés expressed
reservations about the organ's specifications but became quite enthusiastic
about the instrument after playing it.

The St. Louis organ was also used for the final King of
Instruments recording of the Whiteford Era, Volume 23, Ronald Arnatt. Arnatt,
at the time of the recording, was organist/choirmaster at the Cathedral. The
writer was on hand for the recording sessions, contributing a last-minute
tuning of the hooded Trompette de Reredos, located at a dizzying height behind
the stone reredos, and by holding one of the narthex doors to prevent rattling,
in soft passages, caused by the very effective electronic 32' Bourdon. The
soft movement of Sowerby's Sonatina is a
highlight of this release, which also includes works of Brahms, Bach, and
Arnatt.

Some of the Whiteford Era releases were issued as
pre-recorded, reel-to-reel tapes by Ampex. The writer has three of these
(Volumes 15, 16, and 18). The acetate backing of the tapes has not held up
well.

The Post-Whiteford Era

In 1966, Joseph Whiteford moved to the desert southwest,
assuming the title, Vice Chairman of the Board. At that time, John J. Tyrrell,
who had been company President since 1960, became the Board Chairman. In 1968,
Tyrrell left Aeolian-Skinner, and Whiteford sold his controlling interest in
the firm to Donald M. Gillett, who became President and Tonal Director. Gillett
was soon joined by Phillip Steinhaus, the organist featured on Volume 17, who
became Executive Vice President. Within three years the company's financial
condition had deteriorated significantly, and the controlling interest was
purchased by E. David Knutson, of Oklahoma, in 1969. Knutson appointed Dallas
tracker organ builder Robert M. Sipe to the position of Vice President, and
Sipe quickly became in charge of Aeolian-Skinner's operations. The company's
record series was of interest to him and; even though two post-Whiteford
recording sessions had been carried out prior to Sipe's arrival, he saw to it
that the next issue would be Volume 24, Paul Van Veelen, with that Dutch
organist playing the 18-rank, 2-manual Sipe & Yarbrough mechanical action
organ at St. Stephen United Methodist Church, Mesquite, Texas, built in
1963--six years before Sipe's association with Aeolian-Skinner. The program
consists of shorter works, ranging from pre-Bach to Piet Kee; and the sound of
the little organ, while rather arresting, is far removed from the
"American Classic" sound that had been associated with the company's
work. It is obvious that Sipe was making a clear declaration that
Aeolian-Skinner was heading in a much different tonal--and
mechanical--direction.

The next record to be issued--Volume 25, Clyde Holloway--is
the first of the two pre-Sipe recordings referred to earlier. Mr. Holloway plays
the Liszt Prelude and Fugue on BACH;
Mozart's familiar Fantasy in F Minor,
K.608; and the Reubke Sonata.
(The latter work also appears on Volume 15.) The organ used is that in the
National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.

A pet project of Phillip Steinhaus was the organ for the
Cathedral Church of Christ the King, Kalamazoo, Michigan, which was used for
Volume 26, Alexander Boggs Ryan. Mr. Ryan played a varied program, with the
Franck Choral III in A Minor and the
Reger Fantasy on Wachet auf!
being perhaps the most notable. Aeolian-Skinner was very late in completing
this organ; and, because a dedication recitalist had been contracted for well
in advance, it was necessary to temporarily install the small organ that had
been in Steinhaus' residence and would ultimately find a home in Memphis.
(Organ builders would be well advised to include an iron-clad clause in
new-organ contracts prohibiting the scheduling of opening recitals until
installation has been completed!)

When Robert Sipe came to Aeolian-Skinner, he brought with
him a contract for a 3-manual, mechanical action organ for Zumbro Lutheran
Congregation, Rochester, Minnesota, components for which were already on order
from a German organ supply house. Robert Anderson, of Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, was engaged to play for three releases in The King of
Instruments series. The first of these, Volume 27, Robert Anderson in a Program
of 20th Century Organ Music, consisted of two LP discs; and some of the pieces played
are very much avant garde, such as Ton Bruynèl's Reliëf
style='font-style:normal'> (Organ and 4 Electronic Sound Tracks). While the
writer feels that the Zumbro organ is not ideal for the Alain Trois
Danses, Anderson's performances are very
convincing. Also included, among others, is Vincent Persichetti's Shimah
b'Koli, which was commissioned for the
opening concert on the company's short-lived organ in Philharmonic Hall,
Lincoln Center. Of the three players on that remarkable program, Virgil Fox
(the other recitalists being Catharine Crozier and E. Power Biggs) was given
the task of performing the premiere of the Persichetti twelve-tone
composition--hardly typical of the traditional Fox repertoire! (Joseph
Whiteford was, like Virgil, less than kindly disposed to the work.) The writer,
who was in attendance at the premiere, also heard the piece played by Anderson
in a recital on the superb Aeolian-Skinner in First Central Congregational
Church, Omaha, Nebraska; and, while he is not sure that such serial
compositions fully qualify as music, he feels that Anderson did a masterful job
of splashing tone colors around the church and made the listening experience a
compelling one!

Volume 28, Robert Anderson in a Program of 19th Century
Organ Music, includes music by Schumann (Six Fugues on the Name BACH),
Franck, Widor, and Ives. The familiar Variations on America by the latter
composer is perhaps this disc's greatest success. While quite a step away from
traditional Aeolian-Skinner sounds, those of this tracker organ prove that
romantic literature can be played successfully on such an instrument, although
not as effectively as on the organs used previously in this record series.

Volume 29, Robert Anderson in a Program of 18th Century
Organ Music, comprises works by Cabanilles, Seger, Zipoli, Greene, C.P.E. Bach,
Dandrieu, and J.S. Bach--literature, along with some of the pieces on Volume
27, better suited to this organ.

As Aeolian-Skinner was in its early-70s death throes, the
final King of Instruments record, Volume 30, was issued, interestingly using
the title of Volume 10, Music of the Church. Zumbro Lutheran Congregation,
Rochester, was the recording's venue. That church's choir, along with the
Parish Choir of Calvary Episcopal Church of the same city, was conducted by
composer Gerald Near, with Zumbro's organist at that time, Merrill N. Davis
III, at the console. Davis opens the program with a quite rousing performance
of Vierne's Maestoso in C-sharp Minor,
an organ solo arrangement by Alexander Schreiner of the Kyrie from the Messe
Solennelle. The well-trained choirs sing
works by Fetler, Near, Vaughan Williams, Scheidt, and Zimmerman, while mezzo
soprano Anne Suddendorf is very effective in Hovhaness' Out of the
Depths and Ives' Abide with Me
style='font-style:normal'>. Avant garde composition is also represented by
Felciano's God of the Expanding Universe, for organ and electronic tape.

Reverberation

One of the chief interests of Joseph S. Whiteford was the
acoustical properties of churches and concert halls. Correctly observing that a
majority of American churches, often because of lack of knowledge on the
subject and inept planning by architects, are acoustically hostile to organ and
choral music, he set about to design a synthetic reverberation system as a
cost-effective remedy to this situation. The result was a system consisting of
a specially modified tape recorder in which the tape would pass over one record
head, where the live sound would be planted on the tape, and then pass, in
turn, over eight playback heads, each sending its sound to its own series of
amplifiers and loudspeakers. (A patented randomizing circuit was also used to
smooth out the reverberation.) The most remarkable use of such a system was at
an outdoor concert, conducted by Thomas Schippers, concluding the 1960 Festival
in Spoleto, Italy. (A most fascinating description of this project, written by
John Kellner, company recordist [succeeding Mr. Robert Breed], reverberation
system builder, and the person who set up and ran the system in Spoleto,
appears in Charles Callahan's great 1996 book, Aeolian-Skinner Remembered--A
History in Letters [ISBN 0-9652850-0-6, published by Randall M. Egan].) With
the possible exception of Volume 21, all of The King of Instruments releases
from the Whiteford Era had artificial reverberation added, with Volumes 14, 15,
16, 17, 18 (Asylum Hill Church only), 19, 22, and 23 using the Aeolian-Skinner
system. For those volumes, the system set up in the company's electronics
department, on the fourth floor of its South Boston plant, was used; and it was
necessary for John Kellner to add the reverberation in the "wee hours of
the morning" in order to avoid noises generated by vehicular traffic,
aircraft, office personnel, the pipe shop, and the voicing rooms.
Interestingly, nothing on the record jacket notes indicates use of synthetic
reverberation.

Jacket Art

The jacket fronts of the original issues, Volumes 1 through
8, designed by John Tyrrell, are rather simple, having two sketches of classic
moldings, with a background of a large color panel (different colors on
successive issues) and a smaller white one. Pictures began to appear on the
jacket backs with Volume 6; and the front of Volume 9 has a large picture of
the Mother Church organ façade, with Mrs. Phelps, at the console,
pictured on the back. Volume 10 has a large picture of the Kilgore, Texas,
Trompette en Chamade, below a stained-glass window, on its cover; and the same
picture was used on the fronts of Volumes 13 (first release), 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 22, and on the re-releases of Volumes 1 and 10. Volumes 11, 13
(second release), 23, 24, 25, 26, and 30 have front pictures of the respective
organs used. (On the jacket fronts of Washington Records' original release of
Volume 13 and on the re-releases of the earlier recordings, the ubiquitous
Kil-gore cover appeared with varying, much-less-than-flattering background
colors.) The cover of Volume 12, Pierre Cochereau at Symphony Hall, is a
departure from the norm, containing instead a sketch of Notre Dame, Paris,
drawn by Aeolian-Skinner Assistant Vice-President M. A. Gariepy, on the lower
left and a drawing of three manual keyboards on the upper right. (There are no
pictures of the artist or of the Symphony Hall organ on Volume 12.) The front
of Volume 14, from Washington Records, has a picture of the Independence,
Missouri, organ (arguably one of the finest examples of an uncased pipe
display, a marvelous testimony to the architectural artistry of John Tyrrell);
but, unfortunately, the pipes in the picture are gold in color, which is not
the case in actuality. ("Let's have some razzmatazz!!") Although the
Kilgore picture "graces" the front of Volume 18, Two Great Organs,
fairly large pictures of both of the organs used appear on the back; and there
is an insert with programs, stop-lists, and a picture of Albert Russell. The
Antiphonal division of the National Presbyterian Church instrument ap-pears in
a somewhat fantastical, kaleidoscopic manner on the front of Volume 25. The
jacket fronts of the three Robert Anderson releases are a major departure, each
containing its own original drawing by Jeanne Bastinier, who was a company
secretary during some of the firm's waning years. Because it contains two LP
records, the first Anderson issue has a folding jacket, with program notes and
the artist's picture on the insides of the folds. Volumes 28 and 29 have
inserts with those items. All three Anderson volumes have a large photograph of
the handsome Zumbro organ and its stoplist on the jacket backs.

In Conclusion

Aeolian-Skinner was not unique among organ companies in
issuing recordings of its instruments; but, to the writer's knowledge, no other
builder has ever come close to the sheer number of volumes that comprise The
King of Instruments series. Those, like the writer, fortunate enough to possess
the entire series doubtless realize what a treasure they have; and, if they
have access to a computer that can "burn" compact discs, they may
wish to follow the writer's example and copy the series to that format. (A tip:
both of the releases featuring the organ in the Cathedral of St. John the
Divine [Volumes 6 and 8] fit nicely on a single CD.)

To the writer's knowledge, three professionally issued
compact discs containing parts of the series are available. JAV Records has
issued their JAV-121, entitled Studies in Tone & King of Instruments,
containing both Volume 1 and an early-1940s 78 r.p.m. recording entitled
Studies in Tone. (John Kellner recollects of being told that Studies in Tone
was narrated by an English organist who sounded very much like G. Donald Harrison;
but, given the similarity of the verbiage to that of Volume 1 and the sound of
the narrators' (?) voices, the writer is hard-pressed to detect that different
persons narrated, respectively, the two recordings.) The William Watkins'
Kilgore, Texas, performance of the Sowerby Carillon, which is part of Volume 2,
Organ Literature: Bach to Langlais, is included on Raven OAR-310, Lorenz
Maycher plays Sowerby  (also
recorded at Kilgore). Pierre Cochereau's improvised, four-movement Triptych
Symphony at Boston's Symphony Hall is
included on a two-CD set, Cochereau Les Incunables, available from the Organ
Historical Society as SOCD-177/8.

Mr. William T. Van Pelt, of the Organ Historical Society,
relates that Mr. Knutson "bequeathed" a large number of tapes, possibly
including the masters of The King of Instruments series, to the Society. The
tapes are apparently in very poor condition.

Those interested in the fascinating history of
Aeolian-Skinner are urged to read the Charles Callahan book mentioned earlier
and also his 1990 masterpiece, The American Classic Organ--A History in
Letters (ISBN 0-913499-05-06, published by
The Organ Historical Society).

A sad testament to Aeolian-Skinner's demise in the early
1970s exists at the bottom right-hand corner of the back of the jacket of the
writer's copy of Volume 30--the final issue. A small box declares that the
record was "Produced for Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc., by King of
Instruments Records," addressed at a post office box in Dallas. The name
of the supposed record company and its address are rather crudely blocked by an
office stamp giving the organ company's address as 29 Melcher Street, Boston.
The once-great firm had degenerated to a small office that would soon also be
only a memory.

William Dickinson is past Dean of the River Valley Chapter AGO.

For this year's conference, entitled "Let All the World . . . ," Delbert Disselhorst (head of the U of I organ department) and his committee engaged three presenters who are distinguished in their respective fields of endeavor: Martin Jean, associate professor of organ at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music; Paul Westermeyer, professor of church music at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, director of music for the seminary, and director of the Master of Sacred Music program at St. Olaf College; and Carlton R. Young, currently visiting professor of church music at Tainan Presbyterian College and Seminary in Tainan, Taiwan; Dr. Young is emeritus professor of church music at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

Thursday

The conference opened on Thursday afternoon with the first part of Paul Westermeyer's lectures entitled "Congregational Song as Global and Particular." Westermeyer advanced his thesis that congregational song is global--that "the church takes flesh in many different times and sings in the idioms of many different times and places." As he pointed out, any one hymnal has many examples of congregational songs that are both multicultural and global. Westermeyer further stated that congregational song is catholic (small c) in that the message emanates from all people and from all time periods. Congregational song is alien because God is the source of the message and that message will not touch everyone in the same universal manner. Dr. Westermeyer used chant as a perfect example of congregational song that is at once global, catholic and alien. Chant can be sung by anyone (global), stands above indigenous congregational folk song (catholic) and does not integrate with folk songs of any given people (alien). Finally, congregational song is about texts. The text must have meaning and must reflect the fact that congregational song is truly global. The text of congregational song will be called into question if it in any way infers that it is better than that of another culture.

Carlton Young completed the Thursday afternoon session with the first of his two-part presentation "Congregational Song in Global Perspectives," which covered the development of Christian global song from apostolic times (Palestinian-Hellenistic missional settings) to twentieth-century mission hymns. Dr. Young noted that "song became an important means of passing on the religious and social ethos and identity of one generation to another and for restating them in new languages and cultures." He traced the development of Christian evangelical hymns from Western (Roman) and Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity through the monastic period (Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, etc.) to the Roman Catholic Church's missionary effort, all of which he termed Global Phase One. Global Phase Two was the development of Christian evangelical song from the 16th-century Protestant Reformantion to Anglo-American evangelical hymns. Two important compilations during this period were The Whole Book of Psalms (London 1562) and John Wesley's A Collection of Psalms and Hymns 1737, which many hymnologists, according to Young, consider the first missionary hymnal. Dr. Young then discussed the consequences of both the "First Great Awakening" (1730 to 1750) and the "Second Great Awakening" (from around 1787 to the current times, at least in the South, in the minds of some commentators) and the resultant effects of the Euro-Anglo U.S. missionaries bringing the worship-song of their respective traditions, and linking these repertories to the development of Native American and African-American indigenous religious song. Young discussed the camp meeting movement that developed in the Second Great Awakening and how, in Reconstruction times, the Baptists moved away from the camp meeting format while the Methodists took it to new heights. Young then gave a short introduction to twentieth-century mission hymns, the discussion of which would be further developed in the second part of his presentation on Friday afternoon.

Following a dinner sponsored by the River Valley Chapter AGO on Thursday evening, conference participants attended a worship service at the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City. Martin Jean was organist and Paul Westermeyer gave the meditation. The cantor for this service was Dennis Ungs of the River Valley Chapter. The highlight of the service was the premiere of a hymn commissioned especially for this conference. The hymn, with text by Thomas H. Troeger ("Let the Truth Shine in Our Speaking") and music by Carlton R. Young, is named RAHN in memory of Frederick T. Rahn, Sr., whose family fund, the Frederick T. Rahn Memorial Fund, has been very supportive of the University of Iowa organ department for over 30 years (see sidebar).

Friday

Martin Jean opened the Friday morning session with his lecture "The Church at Sea: Navigating the Signs." The theme of Dr. Jean's presentation was that the canon of church music is expanding and that there is less time for the so-called "high art" (classical) tradition. Jean noted that in the reality of today's contemporary society, the debate continues as to just how classical church music can successfully continue to function. And, if the notion is that high-art, or classical, music has less relevance to today's more contemporary style of worship, then what is to become of the heritage of hundreds of years of classical church music?

The church, Jean feels, is no longer as homogeneous as it once was. Churches today are often made up of congregants with many different denominational backgrounds. And, often, today's congregations are made up of people who have not been long-time active members of the Christian faith. Therefore, today's church musicians are being forced to move beyond old assumptions of just what constitutes "proper" church music because so many of today's congregations are not wedded to a particular style of liturgy or liturgical music. To illustrate his point, Jean first played a videotape of a very large Assembly of God congregation in Georgia which uses a contemporary form of worship service and the so-called "praise" style of congregational song. Jean felt that this tape demonstrated how this style of music allowed the people to step into the mood of the service instantly. For his second example of an alternative style church worship service music, he discussed the use of the bluegrass religious music being used by a church in Minnesota. While admitting that the use of bluegrass music is somewhat unusual, he found the music to be incredibly beautiful and to be a type of church music that has to evaluated in more than a musicological vein--more than just notes on a page.

Jean concluded this lecture with the following pointers for church musicians who are being faced with changes in their church's changing style of worship and liturgical music: realize that the church today is made up of congregants from many different cultural backgrounds; listen to what is taking place in a particular situation, and don't dictate; bring your talents humbly and look for God in all types of music; develop a cooperative dialog with your pastor and then begin to educate the congregation through a number of venues such as adult forums, choir rehearsals, sermons and bulletin announcements.

The Friday morning session concluded with a recital by U of I undergraduate and graduate organ students. The recital began in the Krapf Organ Studio on the 1986 Taylor and Boody organ featuring performers Timothy Duhr, David Vanden Berg, and Hanna Lee. The concluding half of the student recital was held in Clapp Recital Hall on the 1971 Casavant organ with Sean Vogt, Eunjin Choi, Anna Eriksson, and Linda Hakken. Hakken was joined by baritone Stephen Swanson, percussionist Chris Foster and Tim Duhr, electronics, in Richard Felciano's Glossolalia (Psalm 150).

Paul Westermeyer opened the Friday afternoon session of the conference with the second part of his theme, "Congregational Song as Global and Particular." That congregational song is particular means that "the church takes flesh in a specific time and place and sings in the idiom of a specific time and place." Dr. Westermeyer began by citing three hymnals from German groups in the U.S. that relate to their time and place in spite of their presumed postures and perceived characters. For instance, the 1941 Hymnal was accused of being entirely German, but in reality was not. The service music was Anglican chant and though most of the hymn tunes were of German origin, 287 of the hymns were of Anglo-American heritage. Westermeyer pointed out that what the church actually uses may not be what is perceived to be in the hymnal. Perceptions don't make for the real world as we sing in the idiom of a given time and place even if we don't realize it.

Congregational song has a blurring reality to it as the text must be in our language or we would not be able to sing it. The distinction between what is global and what is particular is that the two mix with each other--some places are more in flux while others are more stable. There is always a moving stream--not a fixed point. There is a duration to the time of congregational song and the particularity of the song is indigenous. Indigenous song is a result of itice. Westermeyer noted that performance practice for each congregation is made up of the individual language of that congregation. He also feels that it should come as no surprise that i (incarnational) and that the church takes place among real people in a real time and place.

The particularity of congregational song protects the church from becoming a i. There is a temptation for the church to become a museum, but if, in fact, the church is a constantly moving stream, then it must sometimes cleanse itself. Dr. Westermeyer concluded with these three points: these are complimentary, not contradictory, realities; congregational song is intrinsic rather than extrinsic; congregational song cannot be forced, but is learned from the inside out. Finally, he noted that congregational song is inherently musical (to be human is to sing) and that it is authentic, not derivative.

Carlton Young concluded the Friday session with part two of his lecture "Congregational Song in Global Perspectives." Young called this session "Global Song Three" and began by discussing contextualization as it relates to the indigenous congregational songs of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America and Asia. Young explained the term contextualization as the process whereby concepts, words and symbols from one cultural setting are received, embodied and expressed in the concepts, words, and symbols of a different cultural setting. In examining the African congregational song, Young noted three distinct characteristics of it as being the orality, communal nature and the sensuality inherent in it. According to Young, the hymns used by the African churches were developed by the Dutch Reformed, British Methodist, Anglican, the Church of Scotland and the Lutherans. The 1960s and 70s saw ethnomusicologists and their African students encouraging the use of indigenous music in African-style liturgies. Dr. Young then cited a number of examples of recent African Christian congregational songs and had the participants sing a stanza or two of each.

Christian worship music in the Latin American and Caribbean countries and islands goes back to the time of Columbus in the Caribbean islands and to the 16th and 17th century Roman Catholic missionary efforts in South and Central America and Mexico. The music of the islands features reggae and calypso rhythms. Young noted that it has only been in recent times that these songs have been collected, recorded and published, including Sing a New Song (1981) and Caribbean Praise (1999). The alabados (songs of praise) are the typical indigenous folk-hymns in Central and South America. Young stated that Protestant hymn writers have recently begun to compose hymns of liberation and hope and that popular dance rhythms, including the samba and tango, have been used in hymn tunes. He feels that Pablo Sosa (b. 1933) is one of the most influential composers of Latin American Protestant church music. Sosa is editor of the six-volume Cancionero Abierto (Open Songster) of 1974-90. Again, the conference participants were encouraged to sing a number of examples of Latin American and Caribbean folk hymns.

In the case of Pan Asian Hymnody, Young feels that the contexturalization of Asian Christian song is counter-cultural, in and out of the church. The E.A.C.C. Hymnal (1964) was the first attempt at compiling a collection of significant contextualized Christian song and, for the first time, featured a selection of pan-Asian religious song in one volume. Dr. Young noted that the successor to the E.A.C.C. Hymnal is the collection of pan-Asian Christian songs entitled Sound the Bamboo (1990) which includes a greatly expanded repertory and instructions for performance practices.

Young concluded his presentation with the following points for consideration: church musicians should offer Christ not only in Western-style music, but also in diverse tonalities, rhythms, scales and styles of the various cultures of the global family of God; the training of music ministers for service in this country and around the world should include the history, worship practices and music of non-Christian religions; finally, graduates of schools of music and of seminaries that prepare ministers of music should be "bi-musical"--they must be required to demonstrate that they can teach songs in a second language, understand and be able to perform blues and gospel songs and can arrange and teach congregational song in three styles: Latin American and Caribbean, Asian gamelan and African-American gospel. Young also suggests that these graduates be required to complete an onsite mission assignment in a non-Western culture.

Every Institute for Sacred Music Conference has included an organ recital in Clapp Recital Hall (Marilyn Keiser in 2000 and Gerre Hancock in 2001), and Martin Jean's concert on Friday featured a varied and eclectic program.

Saturday

The conference concluded on Saturday morning with Martin Jean's final presentation "Revisiting the Basics of Liturgical Accompaniment" and a panel discussion by all three presenters. Dr. Jean began by stating that as church musicians we must bring a humble approach to hymn playing. The church musician needs to keep in mind that the earliest congregational song was unaccompanied. The earliest reports of accompanied congregational hymn singing were in North Germany around 1630 or so. In England and Holland accompanied congregational song began in the 18th century. Jean quoted Nancy White (in "Philosophy of the Hymn"): "Briefly, the hymn is an idea-emotion, born of Christian experience, through the media of poetry and music; and in turn, transmitted through the media of poetry and music, it nourishes Christian experience."

Jean then presented what he feels to be eight principles of good liturgical music: it is doxological, profoundly scriptural, liturgical, participatory, traditional, eclectic, creative and, above all, aspires to excellence in concept and execution. The question as to what constitutes the ideal instrument for accompaniment (type of organ) is best answered by the fact that we as church musicians must use what we have at our disposal to the best of our ability. Jean noted that the early North German organs had very bright mixtures and heavy and loud pedal stops to counter the very loud congregational singing.

Jean outlined a number of techniques to use for better hymn playing. First, it is key to listen to just how the congregation sings hymns. Congregations can become easily fatigued and the organ can help by allowing a little extra breathing space between stanzas. He recommends using varied types of accompaniments such as no pedal, use of a solo line in the treble, tenor or bass parts, the use of varied registrations and the use of canons and alterations of voices for each stanza. He also advocates adopting a style of playing in which articulation is applied to the particular time in which the hymn was written.

The majority of the time given to the concluding panel discussion centered on what constitutes good and bad liturgical music. For instance, in answer to the question of what makes a text banal, Paul Westermeyer answered that beauty is not necessarily a universal given--there is such as thing as craft. He felt that the universal church will not tolerate banal texts or music over time. Martin Jean felt that there is a tendency for classically trained musicians to adopt somewhat of an arrogant attitude when it comes to alternative styles of liturgical music such as praise music--and if there is something to be said against popular praise texts and music, it should be done with humility. Martin Jean also felt that standards have been lowered to achieve higher congregant numbers for Sunday services, but, he would rather err on the side of being open to changes in the styles of liturgical music. Westermeyer feels that the either/or of folk vs. "high art" is a false dichotomy. Like the global and the particular, they are complementary, not contradictory, as the church has demonstrated by its practice of alternation: all is for all, though not all do all as is true of any healthy body. Carlton Young felt that the more that we try to suppress pop culture-related church music, the harder it will be to stop its use. He again stressed that the training of church musicians must include a strong emphasis on congregational song.

Once again, congratulations to Delbert Disselhorst and Brett Wolgast of the University of Iowa School of Music faculty and to T. Andrew Hicks and Robert Triplett of the River Valley Chapter AGO for their combined efforts in producing another very fine and enlightening Institute for Sacred Music Conference.

--William Dickinson