Dr Francis Jackson’s work at York Minster, coupled with his activities as a world famous recitalist, made it impossible for him to devote regular hours to composition. That he has composed such a large body of work in a variety of different genres is testimony to his talent as a composer and his devotion to the craft.

In this article originally appearing in the RCO Journal of 2017, Philip Moore analyses Jackson’s compositional techniques, his approach to word-setting, and gives some suggestions on the interpretation and registration of Jackson’s choral and liturgical works.

Sir George Thomas Smart (1776–1867) is not as well known to the general musical public as he should be, not least because he was the first British musician to wield a baton over his forces and the first to take sole charge of a musical performance. The famous and misleading quote in the title is one of the most widely known anecdotes from his life, but this humorous aside does not reflect Smart’s attitude to the organ and its music in 1851, nor his reforming zeal.

In this article from the RCO Journal of 2017, John Scott Whiteley examines Bach’s selection of traditional hymns for the Orgelbuchlein, and the tensions between Pietism, a Protestant renewal movement, and Lutheran Orthodoxy, in his sources.

The 2017 edition of the College’s annual research publication, The Journal of the Royal College of Organists, can be downloaded here as a complete edition.

The 2016 edition of the College’s annual research publication, The Journal of the Royal College of Organists, can be downloaded here as a complete edition.

With the formal winding up of the Percy Whitlock Trust in 2017 due to the lapsing of copyright, Robert Gower gives a summary of the aims and achievements of the Trust during its existence, and discusses Whitlock’s musical legacy.

For the Centenary Celebrations of the College one event in particular stands out, a concert organised by Peter Hurford at the Royal Albert Hall on 24 September 1966 entitled ‘Organ, In Sanity and Madness’.  At the viewing distance of a half-century, it is timely to note its context, its impact, and subsequent repercussions.

Christopher Kent examines the life and times of William Sterndale Bennett: his contribution as organist, composer and conductor to nineteenth century musical life, and his contribution to the growing nineteenth-century appreciation of J S Bach.

Sidney Campbell was appointed Organist of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1961, and went to considerable lengths to ensure the Harrison & Harrison organ there met his exacting criteria.  Relf Clark studied with Campbell at St George’s, and gives an outline of Campbell’s career and achievements.