Organ repertoire

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The organ repertoire is considered to be the largest and oldest repertory of all musical instruments.

In France, baroque organ music (referred to as French classical music, despite being from the Baroque period) was almost exclusively liturgical in nature and composed and performed in a very systemized manner. In addition, the organs were built along standardized lines. The compositions were smaller scale compared with those in other countries. Some of the forms (the Plein jeu, the Récit de Cromorne, and the Tierce en Taille, for example) utilized almost no counterpoint, while others (the Duo, the Trio, and the Fugue) were contrapuntal in nature (though the counterpoint was not generally as complex as in Germany).^{[citation needed]}

England

Handel contributed significantly to the organ repertoire through his numerous organ concertos.

Germany

In Germany and Austria, baroque organ music utilized increasing amounts of counterpoint. Organ music in the baroque can be divided into works based on Lutheran chorales (e.g. chorale preludes and chorale fantasias) and those not (e.g. toccatas, fantasias and free preludes). There are marked stylistic differences between the composers of North, South and Central Germany such that further generalisation is inaccurate. The North German Praeludium (an important form consisting of alternating sections of free material written in the largely misunderstood stylus phantasticus and fugal material) reached its zenith in Dieterich Buxtehude, informed by Matthias Weckmann and Heinrich Scheidemann (influenced most strongly by Jan Peeterszoon Sweelinck and by the Italian school transported to North Germany by Heinrich Schütz and Samuel Scheidt). Georg Böhm remained firmly representative of the South German School, though Johann Pachelbel's influence as a teacher extended across North, South and Central Germany. Baroque organ music arguably reached its height in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Many of Bach's earlier free works are heavily influenced by Buxtehude's style, but much more importantly, Bach developed a style essentially separate from the predominant styles of North, South and Central Germany. The majority of his free works consisted of two parts: a prelude, toccata or fantasia, and a fugue. Bach also wrote a large number of chorale preludes.

Classical era

The great composers of the classical era wrote sparingly if at all for the organ: Haydn wrote for clockwork organs, and wrote several concerti for organ and orchestra. Beethoven and Mozart wrote only a handful of works. František Brixi and Georg Christoph Wagenseil also wrote organ concerti. All works are restricted to a single manual.

English composers John Stanley and William Boyce wrote a number of important works at this time but should be considered composers of the baroque, not classical era.

Romantic era

France

During the Romantic era, technological advances allowed new features to be added to the organ, increasing its potential for expression. The work of the French organ builder

Organ music in Germany at the end of the 19th century is dominated by the towering figure of Max Reger. Reger's works represent extreme Romanticism; extremely dense harmonies, sudden dynamic contrasts, and extensive forms are all present in Reger's organ works.

In the 20th-century, German organ music was strongly influenced by the neo-Baroque movement. A revival of interest in Baroque forms and performance practices led to a rejection of the complexity and Romanticism of Liszt and Reger. Important composers of this period are Hugo Distler and Paul Hindemith. Hindemith is widely known for his three organ sonatas. Distler's organ music is not as well-known, and Distler is remembered primarily as a choral composer. His most popular work is the Partita on "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland", a work which treats the old Lutheran chorale in a clearly modern idiom.

United States

In the United States, Dudley Buck was a prominent composer, although his work has remained largely unknown outside of the U.S.

During this time, transcriptions of other music (usually orchestral music or piano solos) for organ became popular. Often the transcriptions would utilize only an excerpt of the original piece. The most famous transcriber for the organ is Edwin Lemare. He transcribed hundreds of works for the organ, the most memorable being his transcriptions of Wagner works.

20th century

During the 20th century, there were a number of independent trends in organ repertoire:

• Composers making a major contribution to the organ repertoire include Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé, Herbert Howells, Jean Langlais, Jean-Pierre Leguay, György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Kaikhosru Sorabji and Leo Sowerby.
• The
  theater organ
  achieved a brief period of prominence from about 1900–1935, and had its own repertoire.
• The Hammond organ was used in jazz, popular music and rock, especially from about 1950–1975.
• There was an evangelical organ style derived in part from the southern gospel movement, with composers including Fred Bock, Lani Smith, and Harold De Cou.
• Transcriptions of previous works, and improvisations based on hymn tunes, continued to be written in a fairly traditional style by organist-composers such as Searle Wright, Dale Wood, E. Power Biggs and Pierre Pincemaille.

Timeline of composers for the organ

See also

• List of organ composers
• List of compositions for organ

References

External links

• Organ Music of the Day – A site devoted to the organ and its repertoire.
• Free recordings of organ music