mistletoe
New member
A question which scarcely raises its head in connection with any other instrument is, What is the connection between the instrument and the music? Even where historic instruments are concerned, a violin remains a violin, an oboe remains an oboe. Though the difference in sound and playing technique may be considerable whether you are thinking Baroque or Romantic, no one thinks about any lack of connection between the instrument and its music.
With the organ, we often have an amazing gulf between instrument and music. We dont even know which organ(s) to choose for J.S. Bach! At least we know which instruments were played by Buxtehude and Messiaen, and we know quite a lot about what instrument Couperin had in mind, even though in his case almost every original has been irretrievably altered.
There was a time when some people thought you could have a universal instrument. But now everyone appears to be more specialized, and the famous recitalists are known for their Franck/Widor/Vierne playing, or their German pre-Classical (or whatever the term is this month), but not for playing the gamut of the repertoire.
For me the ideal is the right instrument for the right music. In these days of continual travel, it is fun to plan a trip to France and think of what you will play there, to go to different parts of Germany and discover the differences between north, central and southern instruments and their music. It is a thrill to hear music that once seemed rather ordinary come to life once you touch the keys of the right instrument.
As organists we are allowed to be adventurous in a way other players may not always be. Our world is far from peoples notion about increasing grief at funerals. It is a developing world, with a stream of wonderful new restorations, new ideas about what and how to preserve our history. It is also an endangered profession, with the decline in churches congregations and therefore money to pay for organists and their instruments. It is also somewhat threatened by the advance in electronic organs with their astonishing realism, but also enhanced because people hear such exciting sounds and want to listen!
With the organ, we often have an amazing gulf between instrument and music. We dont even know which organ(s) to choose for J.S. Bach! At least we know which instruments were played by Buxtehude and Messiaen, and we know quite a lot about what instrument Couperin had in mind, even though in his case almost every original has been irretrievably altered.
There was a time when some people thought you could have a universal instrument. But now everyone appears to be more specialized, and the famous recitalists are known for their Franck/Widor/Vierne playing, or their German pre-Classical (or whatever the term is this month), but not for playing the gamut of the repertoire.
For me the ideal is the right instrument for the right music. In these days of continual travel, it is fun to plan a trip to France and think of what you will play there, to go to different parts of Germany and discover the differences between north, central and southern instruments and their music. It is a thrill to hear music that once seemed rather ordinary come to life once you touch the keys of the right instrument.
As organists we are allowed to be adventurous in a way other players may not always be. Our world is far from peoples notion about increasing grief at funerals. It is a developing world, with a stream of wonderful new restorations, new ideas about what and how to preserve our history. It is also an endangered profession, with the decline in churches congregations and therefore money to pay for organists and their instruments. It is also somewhat threatened by the advance in electronic organs with their astonishing realism, but also enhanced because people hear such exciting sounds and want to listen!