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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PEDAL ORGAN IN ENGLAND
In his Life of Bach the German writer Nicholas Forkel who lived from 1749 to 1818 wrote The Pedal is an essential pert of the Organ; by this means alone it is exalted above all other instruments ; for its magnificence, grandeur and majesty depend upon it. Thus it is somewhat surprising that more than four hundred years after music for an organ with an independent pedal had been written and played in Germany there were still important churches and other locations in England where the pedal clavier had not been adopted or where its use was despised.
Sir William Herschel, the distinguished Astronomer and Composer was in 1765 one of six candidates for the post of Organist at the parish church of Halifax. When it came his turn to audition he played with such a full volume of slow solemn harmony as to astonish the assembly. He later revealed his secret. When he sat at the console he removed from his pocket to pieces of lead. Placing one on the lowest key of the organ and the other one octave higher he produced the effect of four hands instead of two and thus accomplished the harmony he desired.
In 1800 the music of Bach was unknown in England, as was that of his predecessors or the music of the French school of organ composers. Thus, little need was felt for an independent pedal part, and the concept of playing a sole chorale with the feet was unknown. The Bach pedal fugues were a source of wonder when they were first played by Samuel Wesley. Not until the second half of the nineteenth century was some progress made by the pedal organs of Willis, Schulze and Caville-Coll and the extraordinary pedal work of W. T. Best which was not equaled by any other organist of the time.
In his Life of Bach the German writer Nicholas Forkel who lived from 1749 to 1818 wrote The Pedal is an essential pert of the Organ; by this means alone it is exalted above all other instruments ; for its magnificence, grandeur and majesty depend upon it. Thus it is somewhat surprising that more than four hundred years after music for an organ with an independent pedal had been written and played in Germany there were still important churches and other locations in England where the pedal clavier had not been adopted or where its use was despised.
Sir William Herschel, the distinguished Astronomer and Composer was in 1765 one of six candidates for the post of Organist at the parish church of Halifax. When it came his turn to audition he played with such a full volume of slow solemn harmony as to astonish the assembly. He later revealed his secret. When he sat at the console he removed from his pocket to pieces of lead. Placing one on the lowest key of the organ and the other one octave higher he produced the effect of four hands instead of two and thus accomplished the harmony he desired.
In 1800 the music of Bach was unknown in England, as was that of his predecessors or the music of the French school of organ composers. Thus, little need was felt for an independent pedal part, and the concept of playing a sole chorale with the feet was unknown. The Bach pedal fugues were a source of wonder when they were first played by Samuel Wesley. Not until the second half of the nineteenth century was some progress made by the pedal organs of Willis, Schulze and Caville-Coll and the extraordinary pedal work of W. T. Best which was not equaled by any other organist of the time.