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What about composers for organ?

Izabella

New member
Hi,I know that I'm new here but as I was looking through the topics I have'n found composers and..actually that is what brought me to this forum(amongst other things)
See I'm writting a paper for my diploma and I'm trying to find out who wrote,what was written,and which music forms were used in romanticism for organ?coul anyone help me with ANY of theese questions....Pleeeeeeease?
 

Thomas Dressler

New member
Ok, let's try to clarify your question, and I'm sure we'll be able to help! Are you asking ONLY about Romantic composers and forms? Or do you want a general list of the most famous organ composers from all periods?
 

Thomas Dressler

New member
Hi--sorry I didn't get right back, I'm trying to do several things at once to get ready for a busy weekend at church, and I do have to run very shortly. I don't have time to sit and write something comprehensive, so I'm going to just write out some ideas off the top of my head, and I'm sure others on here will have something to contribute.

Forms for organ music expanded during the Romantic era, just as forms for other instruments and orchestra. As the sonata developed during the Classical era, mostly for piano, some Romantic composers wrote sonatas for organ. Mendelssohn did, though he is transitional and almost more Classical than Romantic. Another really good composer of organ sonatas was Josef Rheinberger, who was influenced by Mendelssohn's work. Some composers continued to write choral preludes, as Brahms did at the end of his life, though Brahms wrote very little for the organ compared to his other music. There was Max Reger, who wrote very expansive chorale based works. In the French school, there was Cesar Franck, who experimented with the more current freer forms, or freer methods of using traditional forms. His Grande Piece Symphonique is cyclical, and it paved the way for the organ symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor, which are sometimes more like suites than like symphonies, as they do not always use traditional forms (sonata form, for example) in their movements. Rheinberger's sonatas are actually more like symphonies in some ways than Widor's symphonies. In America, two of the better Romantic organ composers were Chadwick and Arthur Foote, but there were others as well.

Romantic organ composers continued to attempt to write fugues. Mendelssohn wrote fugues, as did Rheinberger, and Brahms also. An important late French Romantic composer was Marcel Dupre, who wrote Preludes and Fugues as well as more expansive, freer forms, sometimes programmatic. Another such composer (and I'm sure Giovanni would hit me if I forget) was Tournemire, who based some music on Gregorian chant.

This is just a start with the ones that come immediately to my mind. I'm sure we could go on and on with this, and that would be good. Please don't take this as comprehensive, as I'm in a hurry and don't really have time to sit and think about it. Start with a search on the composers I mentioned, and you'll have plenty of material to get you started. Good luck, and let's see if this develops into an interesting thread!
 

giovannimusica

Commodore de Cavaille-Coll
Dear Tom,

I am not a tyrant as you eluded to that I was going to hit you. I admit to being extremely passionate and maybe at times very opinionated but i sincerely wish to help and be of service to those in need, to the best of my ability.

This much I do know, you are much better of a professor/teacher than I. The composers you have spoken about are most definitely in the romantic realm. Vierne was also a romantic and his organ symphonies are very cyclical. I think of his 6th symphony which formly bursts at the seams with *Leitmotiv*.

Giovanni
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acc

Member
Tom's reply is right on the mark. Maybe I'll add just one thing: talking about sonatas, another French romantic organ composer, Alexandre Guilmant, wrote eight of them, which are very beautiful. (Two of his contemporaries are also worth mentioning: Eugène Gigout and Léon Boëllmann.)
 

Thomas Dressler

New member
Dear Giovanni,

I was only teasing you!
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We're all passionate and opinionated! LOL (At least I hope we are!)

And you're right--how could I forget Vierne? That's what I get for trying to write something quick, but I didn't want to leave Izabella with no answer over the weekend. I get so busy sometimes I can't get to the computer until Sunday evening or Monday. And with that, I'll be out the door very shortly. (I'm sure there are others I didn't think of and I'd be happy for anyone to add to the list!)
 

giovannimusica

Commodore de Cavaille-Coll
Dear Tom,

I know you were teasing - please excuse my Italian passion for spilling over. Since you wrote your answer to Izabella so quickly and that my name got included, I wonder if that means that I have gotten into your subconsciousness?
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Respectfully yours,

Giovanni
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ps. Here's an mp3 I found while surfing the world-wide reticular:

http://www.jotpuree.com/~apd/music/low_fat/Puttin%20On%20The%20Ritz.mp3

I hope it's not dead when you *open* it
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Izabella

New member
Than you,thank you,thank you...now I can really get started!!
Till now I was stucked on the first page of my paper,now,finaly I have some work to do...
Thanx again...and I'll let you know how everything is going...:)

Yours truly Izabella
 

giovannimusica

Commodore de Cavaille-Coll
Hi Izabella,

I'm sure your paper will be excellent - writing a paper can be like composing some music i.e. Introduction - Development - Coda.

Giovanni
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yury habrus

Banned
And of course you shouldn't forget names as Liszt (in genre of Fantasia etc.), Saint-Saens, Schumann (6 fugues on name BACH), Felix Nowowiejski (Polish composer who made a lot in organ symphonie genre).
 

Thomas Dressler

New member
Yes! I'm not familiar with Nowowiejski, but while the others wrote primarily for instruments other than the organ, they also wrote a some very important works for organ!
 
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