Nunc Dimittis

by James B. Hartman

James B. Hartman is Senior Academic Editor for publications of the Distance Education Program, Continuing Education Division, The University of Manitoba. His recent publications include articles on the early histories of music and theater in Manitoba. He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and articles to The Diapason.

Like the members of any other profession--usually defined as an occupation requiring special education and training--organists possess skills that set them apart from other people. Their teachers certify their competence either through private instruction or in an institutional context such as a university or academy. They may also receive public acknowledgment of their status through specialized professional designations relating to organists' "guilds"--A.G.O., R.C.O., and R.C.C.O.--and by membership in their professional organizations. All of these connections serve to establish and reinforce the mastery of a unique musical tradition. In the performance of their work they exercise a fairly high degree of autonomy, even taking into account the kind of cooperative decision making that organists normally make with clergy, choirmasters, and concert managers. Unlike profit-oriented occupations, such as those related to business, organists are members of an altruistic profession that embodies cultural values supported by considerable public recognition, whether localized in the case of church organists or internationally in the case of widely known concert organists.

The role of family influence and associations in the
training of organists is seldom known for at least two reasons: (1) the
relative isolation and invisibility of the training of organists generally, and
(2) the historical time lag before the accomplishments of successive
generations of organists can be documented and evaluated. This article will
chronicle the highlights of the lives and accomplishments of several Canadian
families of organists, chiefly of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.1

Ambrose

Charles (1791-1856) was born in England where he served as
organist at Chelmsford Cathedral before coming to Canada in 1837. After
spending several years as a farmer, in 1845 he became organist-choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Hamilton, Ontario, where he taught piano and organ. He composed Three Grand Sonatas for piano.

Robert (1824-1908), the son of Charles, was also born in
England. After accompanying his family to Canada he also worked on the farm, and
then in 1847 he joined a brother who was a music teacher in Kingston, where he
became organist-choirmaster at St. George's Church. In 1863-83 he was
organist-choirmaster at the Church of the Ascension in Hamilton and also taught
at a women's college. In 1891 he was president of the Canadian Society of
Musicians, which had been founded in 1885 to encourage musical art in all its
forms and to promote the interests of the profession. He was a prolific
composer of songs and instrumental pieces. One of his songs, "One Sweetly
Solemn Thought," was recorded many times by various performers, including
singers Ernestine Schumann-Heinck and Alma Gluck. It was arranged for organ
solo and for other instruments; it was also a popular piano roll.

Paul (1868-1941), the son of Robert, studied piano with his
father and also in New York, where he studied composition with Bruno Oscar
Klein and orchestration with Dudley Buck. He served as organist-choirmaster at
Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church 1886-90 and at several other churches
in the New York area before retiring to Hamilton in 1934, where he was guest
organist at Christ Church Cathedral. He served as president of the National
Association of Organists in the USA for four terms and was elected president of
the Canadian College of Organists in 1939. He composed many songs, choral
works, and pieces for both piano and organ. His anthems, in particular, were
performed throughout North America.

Carter

The four brothers of the Carter family were born in London,
sons of the English organist John Carter. The details of their lives are rather
sketchy and the respective death dates of three brothers are unknown.

John (1832-1916) came to Canada in 1853 and served as
organist at the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity in Québec City
1853-6. In 1856 he moved to Toronto where he founded and conducted the Sacred
Harmonic Choir, whose performance of Handel's Messiah on 17 December 1857 was
probably the first complete oratorio performance in Upper Canada (Ontario). He
was organist at St. James Cathedral, Toronto 1856-78, and in 1861 he
established the Musical Union, a Toronto choral and orchestral society that
performed large-scale works intermittently from 1861 to 1867. He gave piano
recitals in Toronto and conducted a Verdi opera in 1866 as well as a cantata by
his brother William (see below) in the early 1870s. The extent of his
professional activities after 1878 is unknown.

George (1835-?) was a pupil of Sir John Goss in London. He
gave recitals in England, Europe, and the USA before coming to Canada in 1861,
where he served as organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Montréal, for
about ten years. While there he organized a series of five chamber music
concerts. In 1870 he returned to England where he was organist at Royal Albert
Hall for several years. His compositions included songs, operas, cantatas,
organ works, and miscellaneous pieces.

Henry (1837-?) also studied with Sir John Goss and other
organists while still in London, and with Karl August Haupt and others in
Germany. After his arrival in Canada he was organist at the Anglican Cathedral
of the Holy Trinity in Québec City 1857-61. He founded one of the
earliest oratorio societies in Québec and was the English choirmaster of
the Québec Harmonic Society, a group of amateur singers and orchestral
performers that existed intermittently between 1819 and 1857. In 1861 he moved
to the USA where he was a church organist and taught at the College of Music,
Cincinnati 1880-3. In addition to giving recitals he composed songs, two string
quartets, and a large-scale anthem.

William (1838-?) studied organ with his father and Ernst
Pauer before serving as organist at several churches in England. In 1859 he
exchanged positions with his brother Henry at the Anglican Cathedral in
Québec City. While there he conducted what probably was the largest
Handel festival in Canada up to that time, on 13 April 1859, to coincide with
the centennial of Handel's death on the following day. His compositions
included songs, part-songs, anthems, choral arrangements, and a cantata,
Placida, the Christian Martyr.

Gagnon

Three members of this family successively occupied the
position of organist at the Québec Basilica; their total service
altogether amounted to almost a hundred years between 1864 and 1961.

Ernest (1834-1915) received piano instruction from his older
sister in his early years in Rivière-du-Loup-en-haut, a Québec
provincial town, and later at Joliette College 1846-50 where he won first prize
in a music competition. He moved to Québec City in 1853 where became
organist at St-Jean-Baptiste Church. He was one of the founding members and the
first music instructor at the École normale Laval in 1857. In the same
year he travelled to Paris to study piano, harmony, and composition; while
there he met several major musical figures of the day, including Rossini and
Verdi. On his return to Québec City and the École he served as
organist at the Québec Basilica 1864-76. As an organist he was reported
to be a virtuoso performer and fluent improviser. He was one of the founders
and the first director of the Union musicale de Québec, a choral
society, in 1866. He was also one of the founders of the Académie de
musique du Québec in 1868 and served as its president for four terms to
1890. Later he abandoned his musical activities for a career as a provincial
civil servant, then published several historical works and essays on musical
life in seventeenth-century France and in Québec. His compilation of
folk songs was reprinted many times, making it one of the most widely published
books in Canada. In 1902 he became a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

Gustave (1842-1930) was also born in Rivière-du-Loup-en-haut and studied piano in Montréal with his brother-in-law Paul Letondal (see below) 1860-4. He succeeded his brother Ernest as organist at St-Jean-Baptiste Church in Québec City 1864-76. Like his brother he also went to Europe where he studied organ and harmony with different teachers and met several famous musicians, including Saint-Saëns. On his return to Québec City he succeeded his brother as organist at the Québec Basilica in 1876, where he remained until 1915. He, too, taught at the École normale Laval 1877-1917 and also at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, a teaching establishment for training clergy. With his brother Ernst he was one of the founders of the Union musicale de Québec in 1866, and he was also one of the founders of the Académie de musique du Québec in 1868, serving as president for nine terms between 1878 and 1902. He participated in the founding of the Dominion College of Music in Québec City and was the first director of the school of music at Laval University 1922-5 and taught there 1922-30.

Henri (1887-1961), the son of Gustave, was born in
Québec City where he studied piano with his father and organ with
William Reed, a noted Québec organist. At the age of 13, with his
mentor, he played an organ concert before a huge audience at the Pan-American
Exposition in Buffalo. He continued his organ and piano studies in
Montréal before going to Paris in 1907 where he studied with various
noted musicians, such as pianist Isidor Philipp and organists Eugène
Gigout and Charles-Marie Widor. In the summers of 1911, 1912, 1914, and 1924 he
studied in Paris with Joseph Bonnet and Widor. Like his brothers he served as
organist at the Québec Basilica 1910-61. He, too, also taught at the
École normale Laval and at the Petit Séminaire de Québec
1917-33.  In addition to teaching
piano and organ at Laval University, he was one of the first teachers at the
Conservatoire de musique du Québec and served as director 1946-61.

Letondal

Paul (1831-1874) was born in France and lost his sight in
early childhood, so he received his musical training at the Institut des jeunes
aveugles in Paris. Upon moving to Montréal in 1852 he taught at the
Collège Ste-Marie and was organist at Gesù Chapel 1852-69. He
performed frequently and was involved in a business of importing French pianos.
He had many noteworthy pupils and was a founding member of the Académie
de musique du Québec, serving as its president 1882-3 and 1888-9. He was
also a founding member and director of La Revue canadienne. He is considered to
be one of the pioneers of the music profession in Canada. In 1860 he married
Élisabeth Gagnon, sister of Ernest and Gustave Gagnon (see above), thus
reinforcing an interfamilial musical connection.

Arthur (1869-1956), son of Paul, was born in Montréal
where he studied music with his father before obtaining his diploma at the
Académie de musique du Québec in 1886. He taught briefly at the Collège Ste-Marie. Like other gifted pupils of his father, he studied in Europe 1890-4, first at the Paris Conservatory, then at the Brussels Conservatory where he studied organ with Alphonse Mailly and theoretical subjects with other tutors. Upon his return to Montréal he served as organist at Pères du St-Sacrament Church 1894-1900, at Gesù Church 1900-23, and at St-Jacques-le-Majeur Cathedral. He taught at the Canadian Artistic Society Conservatory 1895-1900, the Institut Nazareth after 1901, the McGill Conservatorium 1904-10, and at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, where he trained several winners of the Prix d'Europe. He was a member of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs (Paris) and served as president of the Académie de musique du Québec for four terms between 1898 and 1923. He was also honorary president of the Schola cantorum, Montréal. His compositions included works for organ, piano, and religious songs. He lectured extensively and wrote articles for several publications. His son Henri apparently was not interested in the organ but developed his career as a cellist, critic, administrator, playwright, and actor. 

Piché

This family of organists--Joseph and his sons Eudore and
Bernard--were all born in Montréal.

Joseph (1877-1939) studied organ, piano, and harmony with
several instructors in Montréal. He first served as organist in the
churches of Notre-Dame-du-St-Rosaire in 1898, St-Denis in 1900, and
Sacré-Coeur in 1908-26, before becoming the regular organist at St-Victor
Church in 1930. He also taught at the Collège Ste-Marie 1905-37 and then
at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. His wife, Yvonne Corbin, formerly
a pianist, conducted choirs and served as deputy organist at two
Montréal churches after her marriage.  

Eudore (1906-1967) entered the priesthood for a short time
before working as an administrator for an encyclopedia publisher and as a radio
producer. He was organist at Ste-Madeleine Church in Outremont, Québec
1950-65 and at St-Joseph Church in the Town of Mount Royal 1965-7.

Bernard (1908-1989) became organist at St-Nicholas Church in
Ahuntsic in 1926 and then moved to Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense. After
winning the Prix de Europe in 1932 he studied organ, piano, fugue, and
counterpoint with Paul de Maleingrau at the Brussels Conservatory and then went
to Paris to work with Charles Tournemire. He was the regular organist at the
Trois-Rivières Cathedral where he gave daily recitals consisting mainly
of Bach organ works for six weeks in 1934. In 1945 he recorded the music for
The Singing Pipes, a National Film Board production about Casavant
Frères, on the instrument in the Québec Basilica. In the same
year he began a series of several tours in Canada and the USA (covering about
twenty states) and served as organist at St. Peter and St. Paul Church in
Lewiston, Maine 1945-6. He taught at the Conservatoire de Trois-Rivières
from 1966 until his retirement in 1973. His compositions included several
pieces for organ and a mass for four mixed voices and organ.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> 

Warren

The large family related to or descended from the prominent
Canadian organbuilder Samuel Russell Warren (1809-1882)--born in Tiverton,
Rhode Island; worked in Boston; emigrated to Montréal in 1836; produced
more than 350 notable pipe organs for use in Canada and the USA--included two
organists who developed their own independent careers.

William Henry (18??-1856), one of the brothers of Samuel
Russell, was born in the USA and eventually settled in Toronto where he became
organist at St. James Cathedral in 1834. Several years later he moved to
Montréal where he was appointed organist at Christ Church Cathedral in
1838; he remained there until his death. His parallel occupations included
those of music teacher at a boarding school for girls and piano tuner.

Samuel Prowse (1841-1915),2 the eldest son of Samuel
Russell, was born in Montréal and began studying organ at the age of 11.
He was organist at American Presbyterian Church in that city until 1858. In
1861 he went to Germany where he studied organ with Karl August Haupt. He
returned to Montréal in 1864 and moved to New York in 1865 to become
organist at All Souls Unitarian Church. He also served at Grace Episcopal
Church 1868-74 and 1876-94. While there he inaugurated a series of over 230
weekly recitals covering a wide range of organ literature, which created for
him a reputation as one of the foremost concert organists in the USA. Other
appointments included Holy Trinity Episcopalian Church, New York 1874-6 and
First Presbyterian Church, East Orange, New Jersey, from 1895 until his death.
He was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists in 1896, becoming
honorary president in 1902. His collection of rare books and musical
manuscripts was one of the most complete in America. He was a close friend of
the French organ virtuoso Alexandre Guilmant. His professional activities
included conductor of the New York Vocal Union, examiner for the Toronto
College of Music, administrator of the American College of Musicians, and
member of the Boston Conservatory. Few of his numerous compositions--piano and
organ pieces, anthems, and songs--were published during his lifetime.
Nevertheless, he prepared an edition of Mendelssohn's organ works for Schirmer
music publishers, edited a church hymnal, and transcribed some of the works of
Beethoven, Schumann, Wagner, and Weber for organ. He was widely recognized as a
teacher, and many of his students went on to distinguished careers.

Organist families

The family, a basic unit of social organization in which the
members live, at least initially, in close proximity, is one in which musical
education and development can flourish, provided that other favourable
circumstances exist, such as social, economic, and emotional security. It can
be assumed that all these were present in the foregoing cases, where the
symbiotic and supportive relations between members--fathers, sons, and
brothers--supplied the motivation and encouragement for the development of
musical abilities relating to the organ. While the inheritance of musical
ability was likely an important factor, the superior advantages of a nurturing
family environment, along with the outside associations and inspiring social
contacts that they brought, were crucial factors in the development of these
talents to a high level. Recognition and status was achieved not only locally
but also internationally in some cases. A distinguishing feature of many of
their careers was their versatility; professional occupations represented
included organist, choirmaster, composer, teacher, examiner, conductor, editor,
arranger, founder and officer of musical societies, and institution
administrator.

The fact that this activity flourished in eastern Canada is
related to two historical factors: (1) the first appearance of organs from
France in Québec in the late seventeenth century, and (2) the
development of organbuilding in Québec and Ontario from the
mid-nineteenth century onward. The early careers of most of the organists
considered here all began in the later years of the nineteenth century and
developed further in the early years of the twentieth century. The
opportunities for the emergence of latent organist talent were clearly
connected to the heightened activity in organbuilding and organ performance
around this time, and to the general public acceptance of, and enthusiasm for,
the organ and its music.  

by Charles Callahan, Albert Neutel, Herbert Huestis

Mark Buxton's sudden and unexpected death on December 18, 1996 was a loss to all of us in the organ world. See his "Nunc Dimittis" notice on page 4 of the February 1997 issue of The Diapason. His work as a church organist, recitalist, and organ consultant was well-respected and of an enduring quality. Even more so, his voluminous writings will remain as a significant legacy to our profession. The following tributes are offered in his memory.

In Memoriam--Mark Buxton

by Charles Callahan.h2>

The sudden passing of a fine
musician and writer has left a sadness in all of our hearts. A graduate of
Durham University, Mark spoke French fluently and was an especially gifted
improvisateur, having studied with Jean-Jacques Grunewald in Paris. As the
author of countless articles on matters of interest to the organ world, Mark
was known here in North America and abroad. But for those of us who knew him not
only as a colleague but also as a friend, the loss is intense.

For Mark personalized a quality
of idealism that has become all too rare today. His standards of excellence
were accompained by high hopes for a renaissance in the best possible standards
in church music, organ playing, and indeed business and personal relationships.
As a sensitive and dedicated musician, Mark was certainly out of step with the
many clerical types sadly all-too-prevalent in today's church music circus.

For this alone, he would have
earned much admiration! But he "moved ahead" and carved a
well-respected name for himself through his many recitals, reviews, and feature
articles. Those of us who were blessed by his friendship cherished his calls
and cards that demonstrated his care for us, his true friendliness, and his
great civility in a world that sadly needs much more of the same.

Only days before his passing, I
received a postcard from him from St. Mary Redcliffe in Bristol--saying
"what a superb organ it is!" Of course he know how I would revel in
his enthusiasm for one of the supreme examples of English organ building.

Our thoughts and prayers go now
to his wife Sandy and the two children. May he rest in peace, and may perpetual
light shine upon him.

Mark Buxton

by Albert Neutel

To write about Mark Buxton is
about as difficult as it was to get to know him. No, I don't mean to imply that
Mark was a difficult person, in fact, quite the opposite was true. It was
difficult in that Mark was "many faceted" and a complex man while at
the same time one of the clearest thinkers and most articulate writers of our
time. Does one write about his phenomenal keyboard skills, his keen
understanding of the literature, his interest in research and writing? I will
leave these to others who have a deeper understanding of the subjects. One
thing was very clear about Mark: he suffered no fools or idle talk. His respect
for worship and the meaning of the liturgy helped to make Mark what he was: a
consummate musician with great skills to communicate the beauty of all styles
of music to the listener with simplicity and ease.

It was my privilege to have
known Mark for almost three years. It all started with discussions about what a
church organ ought to be. To Mark's mind there are only two kinds of organs:
good organs and bad organs. The size of the organ had no influence on his
simple philosophy. A good organ could consist of four stops and he had many
examples of bad organs that consisted of 40 or more stops. His simple
philosophy extended also to organists as musicians.

During our many discusions,
several times Mark insisted that we go back to visit the small eight-stop
"Willis on wheels" organ in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to prove
his point of how a few stops, well chosen, wisely scaled and exquisitely voiced
can fill the space of a room, accompany the choirs and be a perfectly fine solo
instrument.

It was a real honor and treat to
have had Mark as our colleague at Reuter. All of us have learned much, gained a
deeper appreciation and found a new desire to continue to build instruments
worthy to be placed in a house of worship to serve the people and our Creator.
He will be missed by us as well as his many friends around the world. Our
heartfelt sympathy to his family Sandy, Kevin and Joanna in Toronto, as well as
to his mother, brother and sister in Manchester, England.

Mark Buxton -- An Icon of Political "Independence" in the Organ
World

by Herbert L. Huestis

Mark Buxton's untimely death at
the age of 35 ended a writing career that was just hitting full stride. He
published over 50 articles, music, book and record reviews in The Diapason and
brought to the magazine a refreshing perspective filled with musicality and
personal experience. He was a master reviewer, able to discover the essence of
a book or recording, abstract it, and reveal its essentials quickly. He did all
that and kept an engaging personal style, filled with pithy quotes that helped
sustain the reader's interest. He could sneak in bits of musical philosophy by
telling a story--its conclusion would reveal his point of view.

Mark preferred the eclectic in
organs as well as organists. He was always open to individualism in organ
building, but was particularly aghast at what he considered "slavish"
copying by organ builders who subscribed to what he considered "historical
trendiness." That point of view came to light with a delightful story in a
review which was published in December 1995. He told a tale of attending a
reception after a recital where he dubbed both food and program as
"provender of dubious provenance." He declared that this fare caused
him to "repair to a pub to fix the damage with pork pie and real
ale."

He disliked the performance of
big Bach works on "tiny scale registrations, which robbed them of their
dignity." He put this notion into especially colorful language:

The organ world suffers from a
pandemic surfeit of Cassandras, blithering on about how large, unwieldy
instruments are bad for our communal health. 

He contended that a certain disk
by Frederick Swann "answered the prayers of those who crave deliverance
from the 'Organ Lite' movement:"

Here is a top-notch musician,
who really knows how to play and project a large organ with spectacular
conviction. Hats off to one of this continent's finest exponents of our
instrument for his devotion to music-making rather than musical trendiness.
This disc will win friends for the organ, and might just remind some of us why
we took up playing in the first instance. It would be gratifying to think that
Mr. Swann likes Lincolnshire pork pipe and ale, and that he sautées his
food in real butter.

There were no holds barred in
the reportage of the organ world for Mark Buxton. Yet humor was always lurking
between the lines and often bubbled up between them. His vocabulary was
extensive and often colorful. He was adept at the sometimes necessary
situations where he felt compelled to remark on various aspects of organs that
he didn't like. This he could do with a certain penache that belied the negative
impact of his commentary.

For example, in a review where
he did not take a shine to the organ, he put it this way:

The organ and the repertoire are
not always the most comfortable of bedfellows.  Frankly,I found it an unlovable instrument, although some
smiles are coaxed from what often appears to be a sullen beast in an
unflattering acoustical cage.

He could be relied on to find a
sly way to deliver a swift kick, when an organ could not do the musical job at
hand:

The various undulants go some
way to imparting a bloom to the sound that otherwise would be absent . . .

Mark had a definite preference
for large, eclectic and interesting organs.  In his commentary on the famous Longwood Gardens Aeolian, he
said the organ was "a sumptuous behemoth if ever there was one." He
continued . . .

The instrument's seemingly
endless and eclectic tonal palette, including strings by the desk and entire
clans of Vox Humanas will curl the ponytails of the purist fraternity . . .

Writing can be a solitary job,
especially for free lance reporters like Buxton.  He divided his time between England, his birthplace, Canada,
where he lived with his wife, and the U.S., where he eventually hoped to
settle. On the subject of expatriate writers, Brian Moore, the author of The
Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne1, observed:
"When you emigrate, you are never quite from anywhere--you are not at home
at home . . ."2

Mark put it this way in
"Off the Beaten Track in England" (April, 1995):

Returning to the land of one's
birth is a peculiar business for the expatriate.  Will things have changed beyond recognition? Will those
favorite places still be there? Will one still feel at home? Or uncomfortably
out of step with current tastes and fashions?

Like Brian Moore, Mark Buxton
was a chronicler and had the knack of making a strong start in his writing. He
could hook the reader's interest and hang on to it until the end of the
article, whether it was an interview, record review or opinion piece.

The tragedy of his early death
denied him the happy ending most of us anticipate.  But within the short period of six years, he contributed
extensively to The Diapason. 
Within that opus we can see an enthusiastic, upbeat and independent
spirit, always communicating the presence (or absence) of music as the real
subject for all that he wrote.

This adds up to a terrific loss
for The Diapason and other journals which benefited from his free-flowing pen.
Filling in that gap will be a demanding burden that will probably require a
team effort. One can only imagine from such beginnings, how magnificent his
contribution to organ reportage would have been. However, the opus that remains
with us is full of insight, sparkle and wit, often punctuated with a good
story. If you collect the issues of The Diapason with Buxton offerings, you'll
have a 2-inch thick pack to go through, but it will be worth the effort. You'll
chuckle at his witticisms, revel at his insights and weep that he is no longer
with us.

A few "Buxtonisms"

On Richard Strauss: "Would
that the composer of Salome and Electra have favored our instrument with a
piece from his top drawer!"

On Edwin Lemare: "Thomas
Murray's recording of music by Lemare, yet another step in the composer's
rehabilitation, serves to prove one again that Fortune's Wheel does indeed turn
. . . After a lengthy period in musical purgatory (a spacious resort, one would
imagine) Lemare's name is back in recital programs, and in recording
catalogs."

Reflecting on an English Organ:
"I cannot disguise a lack of affection for some of the chiffy flues and
assertive upper work heard here . . .. The Tuba Mirabilis has the requisite
hint of good flat lukewarm British beer!"

Some recommended reading

These references do not include
all of Mark Buxton's writings in The Diapason. They are those selections which
are most highly recommended by the author.

Articles and Interviews

October 1992 Daniel Roth at 50

April 1994 Ralph Downes: An
Appreciation

May 1994 A Conversation with
Thomas Murray

August 1994 A Conversation with
Oliver Latry

February 1995 George H. Guest: A
Guest at Cambridge

June 1995 Stephen Cleobury--A
Profile

March 1996 A Conversation with
Martin Neary

Surveys of Organs and Organ
Builders

May 1995 An American Landmark in
Canada, The Schoenstein Organ at Islington Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

July 1995 Off the Beaten Track
in England, A Survey of Interesting English Organs

July 1996 Restoration of
the  Casavant Organ at Redlands
University, Redlands, California

February 1997 Rieger-Orgelbau:
The First 150 Years, History of the firm and interview with Christoph
Glatter-Götz

Reviews of recordings

June 1991 An Evening with Edwin
H. Lemare, Thomas Murray, Austin Organ, Portland, Maine

January 1992 The Symphonic Organ
Thomas Murray, Skinner Organ, Woolsey Hall, Yale

February 1992 Marcel
Dupré--Le Chemin Du Croix, François Renet plays the
Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Sernin de Toulouse

February 1993
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The Mystic Organ, Frederick Swann,
Möller organ, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC

February 1993 Romantic Organ
Music, Mikael Wahlen plays the Organ of The Jacobskyrka, Stockholm, Sweden

May 1993 Daniel Roth interprets
César Franck on Three Cavaillé-Coll Organs

September 1993 Charles-Marie
Widor: Symphonies III and IV, Ben van Oosten plays the Cavaillé-Coll
organ of St. François-de-Sales

October 1993 Poesie de l'orgue
symphonique, Odile Pierre plays two Cavaillé-Coll organs

October 1993 Music of Alexandre
Guilmant, François Lombard plays the Cavaillé-Coll organ of St.
Omer Cathedral

November 1993 Organ Duets,
Sylvie Poirier and Philip Crozier play the Aurèle Laramée Organ
in the Chapel of the Maison Provinciale des Frères Maristes, Iberville
Québec. Organ built by Mariste brother Aurèle Laramée

March 1994 The Organs of Oxford,
Nine Organists Play The Organs at Oxford

April 1994 Organ Music of
Franck, Boëllmann, Mendelssohn, Reger, and Grunenwald. Veronique Choplin
plays Cavaillé-Coll at St-Sulpice. (Note: Mark Buxton studied with
Grunenwald, former organist.)

August 1994 Anthems and Motets,
Choir of St. John's Episcopal Church, Samuel Carabetta, director. Lafayette
Square, Washington, DC ("Church of the Presidents")

September 1994 César
Franck--Music for Harmonium and Piano, 
Joris Verdin and Jos Van Immerseel play harmonium and nineteenth-century
piano

October 1994
Reger-Organworks--Heinz Wunderlich at St. Jacobi and St. Michael's, Swabish
Hall. Nelly Soregi, violin

December 1994 Vierne--Works
for    organ, Wolfgang
Rübsam, E.M. Skinner organ at Rockefeller Chapel, Chicago, IL

January 1995 Well Tempered
Organ, John Wells plays the Letourneau organ at St. Paul's Collegiate School,
Hamilton, NZ

May 1995 Organ works of Basil
Harwood.  Roger Fisher plays the
organ of Chester Cathedral Whitley organ, rebuilt by Gray & Davidson, Hill,
and Rushworth & Dreaper

July 1995 Sigfried
Karg-Elert--Organ Works, Wolfgang Stockmeier plays the organs of
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  St. Johannis, Osnabruck, St Martin, Bad
Lippsprige and Herz-Jesu, Bremerhaven-Lehe

July 1995 Hear My Prayer--Choir
boy and choir girl competition--RSCM choir boy and choir girl of the year, 1992

August 1995 The Historical St.
Thomas Organ, Pierre Cochereau plays the organs of St. Thomas Church, NY

September 1995 The Organ Music
of Alfred Hollins, David Liddle plays the organ of Hull City Hall

November 1995 Stars and Stripes
Forever: Organ Duets, Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault, Skinner organ of
Washington National Cathedral

November 1995 Longwood Pops--The
Longwood Gardens Organ, Michael Stairs plays the Longwood Aeolian Organ

December 1995 Four Masterworks--Frederick
Swann at the Crystal Cathedral--Ruffatti organ

June 1996 George Walker--A
Portrait

September 1996 Olivier Messiaen
--Complete Organ Works, Gillian Weir, Frobenius Organ, Arhus Cathedral, Denmark--Early
Frobenius with French reeds

Book Reviews

May 1991 Charles Callahan--The
American Classic Organ: A History in Letters

August 1994 Jane Langdon--Divine
Inspiration, A review of the "organ" novel

Reports

October 1992 AGO National
Convention, Atlanta, GA (with Jess Anthony)

March 1993 Herbert Howells
Centenary Concert, Westminster Abbey

April 1994 21st Lahti Organ
Festival, August 2-7, 1993

Notes

                  1.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Moore, Brian. The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.

                  2.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Wyman, Max  "Profile--The loneliness of the long-distance writer". Vancouver: Vancouver Sun, January 1997.

by James B. Hartman

James B. Hartman is Senior Academic Editor for publications of the Distance Education Program, Continuing Education Division, The University of Manitoba. His recent publications include articles on the early histories of music and theater in Manitoba. He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and articles to The Diapason.

                  All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.

--Baruch Spinoza, Ethics (1677)

 

The organ has been a prominent feature of the musical life of Canada since the earliest days of the first European settlement. The first organs were brought from France to Québec City around 1600 and organbuilding flourished mainly in Québec and Ontario from the mid-nineteenth century onward.1 Growth in organbuilding accelerated in the years 1880-1950 following the establishment of Casavant Frères in 1879 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec. Therefore it is not surprising that organists became prominent around the same time.

As soon as trained musicians began arriving in Canada, usually from England, many of them opened music studios to offer private instruction in piano, voice, organ, and violin. Some were also active in community orchestras or served as church organists and choirmasters. A few took employment in local music stores to supplement their meagre income from professional duties. With the advent of silent films in the early 1900s some organists obtained positions at theaters that had installed pipe organs where they played improvised or specially arranged accompaniments to the events unfolding on the silver screen.

Although the great majority of organists were known only in their local communities, some gifted individuals achieved wider recognition by making exceptional contributions to the musical culture of the country. This article will chronicle the careers and accomplishments of seven such outstanding organists who were active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Frederick H. Torrington (1837- 1917) was born in Dudley, near Birmingham, England, where he received his early musical training. Later studies in piano, organ, theory, and choral music led to his position as organist at St. Ann's Church in Bewdley at the age of sixteen.

Torrington moved to Canada in 1856, first working as a piano tuner in Montréal then as organist-choirmaster at St. James Street Methodist Church. He taught privately and at several schools, and conducted instrumental and choral groups, including the Montréal Amateur Musical Union. For three years he was bandmaster of the 25th Regiment, Queen's Own Borderers. In 1869 he organized the Canadian section of an orchestra that performed in the First Peace Jubilee in Boston. In the same year he settled in Boston to become organist at King's Chapel and to join the New England Conservatory of Music as teacher of piano and organ; he also conducted various choral groups and was violinist in the Harvard (later Boston) Symphony Orchestra. He gave organ recitals in Boston, New York, and other eastern cities.

In 1873 Torrington returned to Canada to become organist-choirmaster at Metropolitan Methodist Church in Toronto and conductor of the Toronto Philharmonic Society 1873-94. His influence on the musical life of Toronto included conducting choral-orchestral works and organizing musical festivals. Other activities included director of music at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby, conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Society in the 1880s, and founder of the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1888, serving as its director until his death.

In the late 1880s Torrington became president of a group modelled on the Royal College of Organists, founded in England in 1864, dedicated to uniting organists and raising the standards of the profession. Although his group did not last for long, it was a predecessor of the Canadian College of Organists, founded in 1909. Torrington's work with various amateur orchestras led to the formal establishment of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1906. He left his organist post at Metropolitan Church in 1907 for a similar position at High Park Methodist Church.

It should be recalled that in these times the organ was regarded as a substitute for the orchestra; consequently, organ recital programs usually included a number of transcriptions. For example, one of Torrington's recitals in 1869 included Rossini's William Tell Overture and the Andante from Beethoven's Septet on the same program with Mendelssohn's Organ Sonata No. 1. Nevertheless, Torrington championed the music of Bach, and his performances of the master's works were enthusiastically received by his audiences. He composed several patriotic songs, a choral work, and some organ music.

Herbert A. Fricker (1868-1943) was born in Canterbury, England, where he received his early musical training as a chorister, and later as assistant organist, at Canterbury Cathedral. In London he studied with Frederick Bridge and Edwin Lemare. His subsequent career in Leeds included city organist, symphony orchestra founder and conductor, and festival choirmaster, along with other positions as organist in various churches and schools, and as a choral society conductor.

Fricker came to Canada in 1917 to become conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, a position he held until 1942. His cross-border musical activities began immediately with his choir's program with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski in 1918; this reciprocal association continued for seven years. Under Fricker's leadership the choir gave Canadian premieres of several major choral works by such composers as Beethoven, Berlioz, and Walton. Fricker served as organist at Metropolitan United Church, Toronto 1917-43, organ instructor at the Toronto Conservatory of Music 1918-32, staff member at the University of Toronto, and conductor of the Canadian National Exhibition chorus 1922-34. He was an active organ recitalist and adjudicated many competition festivals. He was president of the Canadian College of Organists 1925-6.

Fricker composed several organ works and made arrangements for organ, all published by various London firms. His choral pieces included both sacred and secular works. Over his lifetime Fricker accumulated an extensive library of books and musical scores that were given to Toronto libraries after his death.

William Hewlett (1873-1940) was born in Batheaston, England, where he was a choirboy at Bath Abbey before moving to Canada with his family in 1884.

In his new country he enrolled at the Toronto Conservatory of Music where he studied organ, piano, theory, and orchestration, graduating in 1893 with a gold medal for organ playing and extemporization. While in Toronto he served as organist-choirmaster at Carlton Street Methodist Church at the age of seventeen. In 1895 he moved to London, Ontario, to become organist-choirmaster at Dundas Centre Methodist Church and conductor of the London Vocal Society 1896-1902. Later he moved to Hamilton, Ontario, to become musical director at Centenary Methodist Church 1902-38; his Twilight Recitals on Saturday afternoons were a significant aspect of the Hamilton music scene for about twenty-five years. He was one of the founders of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and served as its first accompanist 1895-7, and he accompanied the celebrated singers Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Dame Clara Butt when they visited Canada. He was one of the co-directors of the Hamilton Conservatory of Music and served as its sole principal 1918-39; during this time he travelled widely in Canada as adjudicator and examiner. He conducted the Elgar Choir, which was frequently joined by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. In 1927 he conducted a 1000-voice choir in a celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.

Hewlett was a prolific composer in the smaller forms; he contributed to the Methodist Hymn and Tune Book (1917) and was one of the compilers of the United Church Hymnary (1930). He was one of the most respected Canadian organists of his generation and an expert on church organ installations. He served as national president of the Canadian College of Organists 1928-9.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was born in Balham (later part of London), England, and was taught music at the age of four by his mother and his governess. At the age of eight he entered St. Saviour's Choir School, Eastbourne, where he studied piano and organ. By the age of eleven he directed the choir and alternated with the incumbent organist in playing evensong services. After private organ study in London he served as organist-choirmaster at three churches in various parts of England in succession 1898-1913. During this time he developed a reputation as an authority on plainchant in the vernacular (i.e., English, not Latin).

Willan came to Canada in 1913 to head the theory department of the Toronto Conservatory of Music and to become organist-choirmaster at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Toronto. His recital programs around this time exhibited his comprehensive repertoire, including much English music. In 1914 he was appointed lecturer and examiner for the University of Toronto and served as director of the university's Hart House Theatre, writing and conducting music for plays. He was vice-principal of the Toronto Conservatory of Music 1919-25 but his position was terminated as an economy measure and possibly on account of internal politicking involving Ernest MacMillan (see below). In 1921 he became organist-choirmaster at the Anglican Church of St. Mary Magdalene, an association that continued until his death; while there he introduced an Anglo-Catholic style of service music.

Apparently Willan possessed a facetious brand of wit: he was heard to say that the organ was a dull instrument, that organ recitals bored him, and that he was unable to play his own major compositions. On being elected president of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in 1923 he promptly set its constitution to music.

Willan held many influential appointments: member of the Arts and Letters Club for fifty years, president 1923; president of the Canadian College of Organists 1922-3, 1933-5; honorary president and life member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists; university organist at the University of Toronto 1932-64 and teacher of counterpoint and composition 1937-50; president of the Authors and Composers Association of Canada 1933; chairman of the board of examiners of Bishop's University; summer guest lecturer at the University of Michigan 1937, 1938; chairman of the British Organ Restoration Fund to help finance the rebuilding of the organ at Coventry Cathedral 1943; summer guest lecturer at the University of California at Los Angeles 1949; co-founder and musical director of the Gregorian Association of Toronto, 1950; founder and musical director of the Toronto Diocesan Choir School; and fellow of the Ancient Monuments Society of England. He was commissioned to compose an anthem for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, the first nonresident of Britain to be so honored.

Willan's public honors included the Canada Council Medal 1961, Companion of the Order of Canada 1967, and a diploma from the Province of Ontario in recognition of his role in Canadian musical life. A group of his admirers formed the Healey Willan Centennial Celebration Committee to encourage activities marking the centenary of his birth in 1980, and the Canada Post Office issued a commemorative stamp bearing his portrait.2

Willan was a prolific composer. His works encompassed dramatic music, vocal music with instrumental ensemble, works for orchestra and band, chamber music, piano works, organ works,3 and choral works; many of the latter have been recorded by groups in Canada, the USA, and England. He also wrote twenty-four articles on church music and organ playing.4

Lynwood Farnam (1885-1930), who became a legend in the organ world, was born in Sutton, Québec, a small town southeast of Montréal. Following basic musical training he continued his studies for three years as a scholarship student at the Royal College of Music in London, England, beginning in 1900. He held several church positions in Montréal and taught at the McGill Conservatorium until accepting a post at Emmanuel Church, Boston, in 1913. The story is that he impressed the audition committee by presenting a list of 200 pieces that he had committed to memory, stating that he was willing to perform any of them; he was hired immediately.

After overseas service during the war Farnam became organist-choirmaster at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, in 1919. By the time he played his last recital there in 1920 he had given 500 organ recitals. As a concert organist his performances were noted for their flawless technique, infallible memory, and profound musicianship. His reputation was consolidated among his colleagues by a dazzling performance for the American Guild of Organists in 1920. In 1925 he made organ rolls for two companies that manufactured player organs. 

Farnam's New York fame gained him an appointment in 1927 as head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where he taught weekly until his death at the age of forty-five. His pupils included a number of prominent Canadian and American organists. At the climax of his career in 1928-9 he played the complete organ works of Bach in twenty recitals in New York, repeating each program at least once in response to public demand.

Although Farnam did no improvising and composed only one piece for organ, he was one of the great interpreters of his time, introducing North American and European audiences to contemporary organ music, particularly that of French and American composers, as well as to the forerunners of Bach. Louis Vierne dedicated his Organ Symphony No. 6 (1931) to Farnam's memory.

Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973) was born in Mimico (Metropolitan Toronto), the son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister who became an internationally recognized hymnologist. He began his organ study at the age of eight with the organist of Sherbourne Street Methodist Church in Toronto and performed in public shortly thereafter. He accompanied his father to Edinburgh, Scotland 1905-8, where he had the opportunity to take lessons from Alfred Hollins, the noted blind organist, occasionally substituting for him at St. George's West Church, Edinburgh. Around the same time he enrolled in music classes at the University of Edinburgh in preparation for his first diploma. Upon returning to Toronto, now at the age of fifteen, he took an appointment as organist at Knox Presbyterian Church, where he remained for two years. He then returned to Edinburgh and London to complete his work for the Fellow, Royal College of Organists diploma and extramural Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford University, both awarded in 1911 before his eighteenth birthday. Back in Toronto he served as organist-choirmaster at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, commuting on weekends.

Thinking that his piano training had been neglected on account of his concentration on the organ, he went to Paris in 1914 for private study. While visiting Germany at the outbreak of war he was detained as a prisoner of war; there he befriended other English composers (including Quentin Maclean, see below), organized a camp orchestra for musicals, and concentrated on composition, including a work later submitted as part of the requirements for his Doctor of Music degree from Oxford University.

Back in Canada in 1919 he embarked on a lecture-recital tour of the west in which he played organ pieces and described his experiences as a war prisoner. In 1920 he began teaching organ and piano at the Canadian Academy of Music, and in 1926 became principal of the amalgamated Toronto Conservatory of Music. As an examiner and festival adjudicator, he travelled extensively throughout Canada offering stimulation and encouragement for musical development in small centers. In the following year he became dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, initially a titular position.

By this time MacMillan had moved away from the organ as an exclusive preoccupation; his new interests included education, administration, and developing systems and policies, although he continued to conduct and to compose new music and arrange old music as required. One of his unusual projects, in collaboration with an ethnologist in 1927, was recording and notating music of native peoples in northern British Columbia. In 1931 MacMillan became conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a position that enabled him to develop an unused potential. In 1935 King George V knighted him for his services to music in Canada. In the late 1930s he gained fame as a conductor in the USA, appearing in such prominent series as the Hollywood Bowl concerts and with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

1942 was a banner year for MacMillan: first, he was offered, but did not accept, an invitation to succeed Donald Francis Tovey in the Reid Chair of Music at the University of Edinburgh; second, he succeeded Herbert Fricker as conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (see above). In 1945 he filled conducting engagements in Australia, and in Rio de Janeiro in the following year. Also in 1946 he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Music Council and served as president of the Composers, Authors, and Publishers Association of Canada until 1969; one of his first projects was the organization of a concert of Canadian music for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As part of his renewed interest in the piano he performed piano concertos with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, gave recitals, and made radio broadcasts. In 1950, during a weeklong festival to celebrate the Bach bicentenary, he offered a lecture-recital on the Clavierübung, playing all of Book 3 from memory. Although he resigned as conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1956, and of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in 1957, he still accepted conducting engagements with other musical organizations, travelled throughout Canada to initiate new projects to encourage young musicians, and acted as a classical disc jockey for a Toronto radio station.

MacMillan was a productive composer of musical works for the stage, orchestra, orchestra and choir, band, chamber groups, keyboard, and choir and voice. His writings included works on music instruction, articles in music journals, and other publications. He has been the subject of numerous articles by other writers.

Recognized as Canada's musical elder statesman, in later years MacMillan served as a member of the first Canada Council 1957-63 on account of his extensive participation in the musical arts. He participated in the formation of the Canadian Music Centre, serving as its president 1959-70, and of the Jeunesses musicales of Canada, serving as its president 1961-3. He received the Canada Council Medal in 1964. He was recognized by many public tributes on his seventieth and seventy-fifth birthdays, and these events were marked by special publications and revivals of his works. In 1970 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Quentin Maclean (1896-1962) was born in London, England, and studied organ there in the early 1900s and with Karl Straube (organ) and Max Reger (composition) in Leipzig 1912-14. During World War I he was interned in Germany where he met Ernest MacMillan (see above). In 1919 he served as assistant organist at Westminster Cathedral, then toured British theaters with newsman Lowell Thomas, providing background music for a lecture-film on Palestine. He was theater organist at many English cinemas 1921-1939 and began to broadcast regularly on BBC radio in 1925.

Maclean moved to Canada in 1939 where he continued his theater organ career in Toronto for ten years. He became one of the best-known organists of his time for his frequent radio broadcasts of background organ music for plays, poetry readings, and music for children's programs. He was organist-choirmaster at Holy Rosary Church 1940-62 and taught at the Toronto Conservatory of Music and at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto.

Maclean composed concertos for organ (two), harpsichord, piano, electric organ (two), harp, and violin; works for solo organ (eight), pieces for orchestra and other solo orchestral instruments, a string quartet, piano pieces, a cantata, and other choral works, among others. He was noted for his diverse musical interests, technical skills, musical memory, and high standards in the composition and performance of serious music, secular and liturgical.

*

Two features are noteworthy with respect to the individuals surveyed here. With the exceptions of Farnam and MacMillan they were born in England and received their early musical training there, which undoubtedly influenced their later musical orientation. Two of them lived for some time in the USA: Torrington 1869-73 and Farnam 1919-30, periods in which their careers flourished. The wide range of the experience and achievements of the seven organists is impressive. Taken collectively, they exhibited exceptional competence in a broad variety of activities: church musician, concert recitalist, teacher, lecturer, composer, arranger, conductor, festival organizer and adjudicator, examiner, writer, academic administrator, academic staff member, president of a professional organization, and expert on organ installation. At least one became a recognized authority in a specialized field (Willan, plainchant). All of them can be counted among those who have contributed significantly, in their specialized fields, to the musical life of Canada. 

 

Notes

                  1.              For a brief history of organbuilding and the major manufacturers, see James B. Hartman, “Canadian Organbuilding,” The Diapason 90, no. 5 (May 1999): 16-18; no. 6, (June 1999): 14-15.                 

                  2.              With Canadian soprano Emma Albani (1847-1930), who was commemorated in the same way at the same time, Willan was the first Canadian musician to be honored in this fashion.

                  3.              Willan made significant contributions to music for the organ. His monumental Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue (1916) was described by Joseph Bonnet as the greatest of its genre since Bach. Other works combine Englishness and European chromaticism reminiscent of Reger and Karg-Elert. After 1950 his works became more contrapuntal, and chorale preludes became his most frequent form of expression.

                  4.             See, for example, “Organ Playing in its Proper Relation to Music of the Church.” The Diapason 29, no. 10 (October 1937): 22-23. He discusses the different--but sometimes overlapping--functions of concert organists (excelling in technique) and church organists (beautifying the liturgies or verbal forms, supporting the congregation, accompanying the choir, and welding the entire service into an appropriate whole). “As a general rule, I do not like large organs, large choirs or large noises of any sort, but there are occasions when grandeur is not only appropriate, but positively necessary . . .” (23). 

 

The biographical information in this article is derived from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, Second Edition, and is used by permission from the University of Toronto Press.

Kenneth Kajkowski, age 43, of Helena, Montana, died April 19 following an automobile accident southeast of White Sulfur Springs, Montana. Born in New York City, he studied organ with Dr. George Powers and attended Manhattan School of Music and Queensborough School of Music. He learned organbuilding as an apprentice with Louis Mohr in New York City, and later formed his own company, Kenn Pro Co., in Maspeth, New York. He moved west in 1976 to work with the Hendrickson Organ Company in St. Peter, Minnesota. In 1978 he opened his own shop in Great Falls, Montana, moved it to Deer Lodge in 1983 and then to Helena in 1992. A recent project was the rebuild of a 1912 Bennet organ for the First Presbyterian Church of Lewistown, Montana. He was a member of the OHS and the AIO. He is survived by an 8-year-old son, his father, and his aunt. Funeral services were held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Helena.

Charles Myers, of Clitheroe, England, died on February 27. Born in London in 1923, he grew up during the inter-war years in Worcester, where he was educated at Worcester Cathedral Choir School and at Worcester Cathedral King's School. He was a treble in the Choir of Worcester Cathedral under Sir Ivor Atkins, and later studied with Herbert Sumsion. Mr. Myers followed courses at Trinity College of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music, where he won the Sir Augustus Manns Memorial Prize for Organ Playing. He was also awarded diplomas from the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal College of Organists. In 1944 he was appointed Organist of St. George's Church, Barbourne, Worcester, and in 1948 became Assistant Music Master at Monkton Combe School near Bath. While at the school he met Rowena Jenner, a qualified nurse, who had become the School Matron. They were married in 1950. That same year they moved to Clitheroe, where Charles was appointed Organist and Choirmaster of the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene. He also held teaching appointments at both Clitheroe Royal Grammar Schools for Girls and for Boys for well over 20 years. During his time at Clitheroe, he founded and organized the Clitheroe Parish Church Organ Society, which hosts concerts by both "up-and-coming" and internationally renowned artists. For many years he was editor of Musical Opinion and continued writing reviews until this death. Myers had a special interest in organ construction and had been consultant to a number of churches for improvements to their instruments. In 1975, he accepted an invitation from the Lord Bishop of Blackburn to become the Organ Adviser for the Diocese.

R. Franklin Mitchell died March 31 in Lawrence, Kansas. Born on March 30, 1917, in Murphysboro, Illinois, he joined the Reuter Organ Company in 1951 as special representative and consultant, and in 1957 was appointed Tonal Director. He was elected Vice President of the company in 1965. In 1980 he assumed the position of President and Partner, a position he held until 1983 when he became Chairman of the Board, continuing in that position until his retirement in 1995. Mr. Mitchell and the Reuter Organ Company both celebrated their 81st birthdays this year, Mitchell on March 30 and Reuter on March 3. During his 44 years of service, he was involved with the design and tonal finishing of over 1,000 pipe organs. Mitchell received the BA in music from Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, in 1938, and the MMus in organ from the University of Michigan in 1943. In 1945-50 he did graduate study at Union Theological Seminary. In 1969 and 1972 he toured Europe to study European pipe organ design and construction. He held the position of organist of the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor 1941-44, at the Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina 1946-47, and when he began work at Reuter in 1951 he was named organist and director of music of the First United Methodist Church in Lawrence, a position he held until 1961. Mitchell was also a teacher and professor of music. After his graduation he became Instructor of Music at Missouri Valley College 1939-41.  He served in the Air Force during World War II and was a chaplain's assistant. After the war and his service in Spartanburg, he was professor of organ at Linfield College, MacMinnville, Oregon 1947-49, and was instructor in music at Northwest Missouri State College when he accepted the position with Reuter. He served as Visiting Lecturer in Organ for 10 years, 1968-78, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Missouri Valley College. He is survived by his wife Adeline, a son, two daughters, and two grandsons.

Dana Cottle Brown,
Minister of Music Emeritus at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Alexandria,
Virginia, died on March 9, after an extended illness. Born on August 10, 1930,
in Woburn, Massachusetts, he began his musical career at the age of fifteen as the
organist in two Congregational churches in his home town. He then entered the
Boston Conservatory of Music, majoring in organ, and upon his graduation in
1952 was awarded the Conservatory Silver Medal for High Honors. During his
conservatory years, Mr. Brown served as assistant organist and choirmaster of
Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston. He received his Master of Sacred Music
degree from the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, New York
City, serving during that time as director of music at Hollis Presbyterian
Church, Hollis, New York. Upon graduation, he served two years in the Armed
Forces as a chaplain's assistant at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Prior to
being called as Westminster's first minister of music in 1957, Mr. Brown
earned his AGO Choirmaster's certificate; he later was dean of the
Alexandria AGO Chapter from 1963 to 1965, also serving as conductor of the
Guild's senior choir and junior choir festivals. In 1999 he was awarded
an Honorary Life Membership in the Northern Virginia AGO Chapter.

Mr. Brown served Westminster Church for 33 years: he
directed four choirs, including the establishment of two handbell choirs; he
oversaw the installation of the four-manual Moeller pipe organ and arranged for
its dedication recital by Virgil Fox; he gave many organ concerts, both at
Westminster and as a guest of other churches; and he initiated the Westminster
Concert Series and Young Artist Series, made possible by gifts from the Rosalee
Brown Stubbs Memorial Fund. He retired in 1990, but contined to assist the
church's music and worship program until his death. He is survived by a
brother, a nephew, and a sister-in-law. A memorial service was held at
Westminster Church on March 18. Participating in the service were organists
David Erwin and Lawrence Schreiber, the Westminster Choir, and soprano Marilyn
Moore-Brown.

 

Paul Sifler died on
May 20 in Hollywood, California. He was 89 years old. Born in Ljubljana,
Yugoslavia, the son of an organ builder, Sifler became an American citizen in
his youth. Prior to establishing his residence in Los Angeles, California,
where he served as organist of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hollywood and
Temple Sinai in Glendale, he held similar posts in New York City, including St.
Paul's Chapel. Sifler's work as a composer, organist, and
choirmaster was a life-long pursuit. Among his many works are the oratorio, In
the Days of Herod the King, the Mass for Voices and Marimba, and Seven Last
Words of Christ for organ. His monumental achievement is Hymnus, five volumes
of organ works based on hymns. Many of his choral and instrumental works have
been published and recorded, including The Despair and Agony of Dachau,
published by Belwin/Mills and recently recorded by Mary Preston on the Meyerson
Center organ in Dallas, Texas, for the Gothic label. Most of Sifler's
works are available from Fredonia Press, 3947 Fredonia Dr., Hollywood, CA
90068.

 

Guy Thérien
died on May 11 in St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, after a brief battle
with cancer. Born in 1947, he studied organ with Bernard Lagacé and
served his apprenticeship with Casavant Frères from 1965 to 1968. In
1968 he joined Orgue Providence, Inc., and in 1978 this company was renamed
Guilbault-Thérien, Inc., after the partnership of André Guilbault
and Guy Thérien. Over 50 new organs of tracker and electro-pneumatic
action were built under his supervision, in addition to more than a hundred
rebuilding and restoration projects of existing instruments. Since 1992 Mr.
Thérien served as president and owner of the firm. He was a founding
member of the Pro Organo Society (1970) and Amis de l'Orgue de Montréal
(1991). Among his notable instruments are those at the Grand Séminaire
Chapel in Montréal and in the chapel at Brick Presbyterian Church in New
York City. He is survived by his wife Lyne and four young children (Jean-François,
Jean-Chris-tophe, Jean-Philippe, and Marie-Ève).
Guilbault-Thérien, Inc. continues its work under the direction of
longtime partner and chief voicer Alain Guilbault.