In watching the following video, it occurs to me that only racism would have kept this music from most Americans for fifty years. Let this be the year of new seeing and new appreciation.
Friday, June 12, 2015
What Serious Church Musicians Will Be Studying: Duke Ellington
Thursday, April 2, 2015
A Bit of Twentieth Century History: the Revival of the Organ
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 >.
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 >.
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