The Claviorgan | Resource Compilation
This compilation of material begins with an article by Terence Charlston examining the Theewes claviorgan in detail, and how an instrument of this type might inform our view of the solo repertoire of the time and change our understanding of keyboard instruments in ensemble performance.
It also includes an inventory of surviving claviorgans and a series of short recordings of the Goetze & Gwynn reconstruction of the Theewes’s organ part combined with a Flemish-style harpsichord by David Evans.
RCO Journal Volume 9, 2015
The 2015 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 solo organ works of Judith Bingham
Judith Bingham’s contribution to the solo organ repertoire spans some forty years, and organ writing has been a constant feature of Bingham’s compositional activity. This survey from Stephen Farr examines this important oeuvre from several performance related perspectives.
A cruel reversal of fortune? Peter Racine Fricker and the perils of pan-Atlanticism
Richard Moore provides a catalogue of Peter Racine Fricker’s organ works, and discusses why he fell out of favour in the 1970s, in spite of writing prolifically until his death in 1990.
The influence of the American Classic Organ on Ralph Downes and on the organ of the Royal Festival Hall
Ralph Downes was strongly influenced by his experience at the London Oratory and time spent in Holland and France, when it came to designing the revolutionary Royal Festival Hall organ. Jonathan Ambrosino suggests that the seven years Downes spent in the United States could also have influenced his ideas – in particular his friendship with G Donald Harrison of Aeolian-Skinner.
Max Reger as ‘Master Organist’? What we think and what we know
Christopher Anderson discusses perceptions of Max Reger as an organist rather than composer, and the layers of assumptions which grew around the composer during his lifetime as to his status as organ virtuoso.
Musical influences on the young J S Bach
Tom Wilkinson considers the surviving early keyboard works of J S Bach, and suggests that his codification of tonal harmony, and his ability to employ it at the service of structure, began back in his teenage years.
Rediscovering the sound of the sixteenth-century organ – the Early English Organ Project
A dairy door in a 17th-century house in Wetheringsett, Suffolk, and a piece of decaying timber found behind old pews and lumber in the churchyard shed at Wingfield, Suffolk, have transformed our knowledge and understanding of the pre-Reformation English organ.
This article and free download includes detailed descriptions and specifications of the Wetheringsett and Wingfield Organs, along with a look at the culture of the English church before the Reformation, including the use of the organ and its music within the liturgy.
Jerome-Joseph de Momigny and French classical organ registration
Composers of the French organ school of the Classical period were meticulous in writing out types of registration. Alexei Panov discusses evidence for the exact composition of Grand Jeu and Plein Jeu registrations, in the light of writings of the time.
