Readers who may have stopped by here in recent months may have wondered what ever happened to the author. The answer is I am still here but have been pre-occupied with other matters, including other blogs. With this post I am happy to return here and to revive the discussion about the relevance of church music, along with its challenges.
T he pipe organ is called the king of instruments for a reason. But if we can't have kings in America, we need a different moniker. Calling it the "President" of instruments won't do. Maybe, for now, we can just call it God's instrument. Well, perhaps that's not humble enough, but it is certainly a truthful description of so mighty and useful an instrument.
At the article linked to below, you can find a fine history of the organ revival starting with Albert Schweitzer in the last years of the nineteenth century on into the twentieth century including the post-war years in America.
Sadly, the author, Lawrence Phelps, is no longer with us. We will need to pick up this subject later in order to provide a bit more history of the most recent years.
Still, the direction of American organ building, while not entirely clear, does seem to be heading in a very good direction -- one of greater clarity of tone as well as an appropriate richness of tone. These are opposites, of course.* I hope to have more to say about all this later.
The Organ Revival Movement Explicated
*
For more on opposites in music I recommend the writings of composer Edward Green, some of whose work is listed here: < http://www.edgreenmusic.org/1-technique-beauty.htm >.
