The Centenary Celebrations of the College included the launch of a fund-raising Appeal, and of all the Centenary Appeal fund-raising events, one 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, if any. This article looks at some performance history of the time, the event itself, the people involved, the results for the College and its Centenary Appeal (both financial and reputational), and ends with an attempt to summarise subsequent directions and innovations for the College and for organ recital programmes in general.

This article was originally written by Catherine Ennis for the RCO Journal for 2016.

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