Early English Organ Music From The Middle Age To 1837

Studies in English Organ Music is a collection of essays by expert authors that examines key areas of the repertoire in the history of organ music in England. The essays on repertoire are placed alongside supporting studies in organ building and liturgical practice in order to provide a comprehensive contextualization. An analysis of the symbiotic relationship between the organ, liturgy, and composers reveals how the repertoire has been shaped by these complementary areas and developed through history. This volume is the first collection of specialist studies related to the field of English organ music.

This Companion is an essential guide to all aspects of the organ and its music. It examines in turn the instrument, the player and the repertoire. The early chapters tell of the instrument's history and construction, identify the scientific basis of its sounds and the development of its pitch and tuning, examine the history of the organ case, and consider the current trends and conflicts within the world of organ building. Central chapters investigate the practical art of learning and playing the organ, introduce the complex area of performance practice, and outline the relationship between organ playing and the liturgy of the church. The final section explores the vast repertoire of organ music, focusing on a selection of the most important traditions.

This 1996 book describes the history of organs built in England from AD 900 to the present day.

Nicholas Temperley has pioneered the history of popular church music in England, as expounded in his classic 1979 study, The Music of the English Parish Church; his Hymn Tune Index of 1998; and his magisterial articles in The New Grove. This volume brings together fourteen shorter essays from various journals and symposia, both British and American, that are often hard to find and may be less familiar to many scholars and students in the field. Here we have studies of how singing in church strayed from artistic control during its neglect in the 16th and 17th centuries, how the vernacular 'fuging tune' of West Gallery choirs grew up, and how individuals like Playford, Croft, Madan, and Stainer set about raising artistic standards. There are also assessments of the part played by charity in the improvement of church music, the effect of the English organ and the reasons why it never inspired anything resembling the German organ chorale, and the origins of congregational psalm chanting in late Georgian York. Whatever the topic, Temperley takes a fresh approach based on careful research, while refusing to adopt artistic or religious preconceptions.

Divided into two parts, Organa Britannica provides in the first: a short history, a description of source material, a detailed glossary of terms, indexes of short and long biographies on organ builders and groups of organ builders, and a classification of species of organ cases by type. The second part provides a detailed inventory of early British organs, organized geographically. Illustrated.