In this paper, originally given at the conference to mark the RCO’s 150th Anniversary, and subsequently printed in the RCO Journal for 2014, David Wright discusses how the RCO played an important part in the move to ‘professionalize’ music in Victorian Britain, and give musicians and their activities a new status that was both respectable […]

In this article Rosemary Golding examines the professional status and remuneration of the organist in the run-up to the foundation of the College of Organists in 1864, by examining contemporary advertisements and correspondence in The Musical Times and similar publications.  It originally appeared in The RCO Journal in 2014. RCO Journal 2014_Golding  

In this article from the RCO Journal from 2014, Andrew McCrea describes the foundation of the College of Organists in 1864 (the Royal Charter came later) and looks at the characters and preoccupations of the founding fathers.  His sources include the earliest minute books of the College, which have survived in the archives, and have […]

This article is a continuation of the Peter Horton’s article on Hopkins in RCO Journal 2009, on the composer, organist and organ historian Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901), who was a third-generation musician.  His close relations included three cathedral organists—his brother John (Rochester Cathedral) and cousins Edward (Armagh) and John Larkin (Rochester Cathedral and Trinity College, […]

Rather early in his life Robert Schumann developed the tendency to focus his compositional work on a specific genre for a certain period of time. Sometimes, for instance, he would compose almost nothing else but Lieder for a whole year. In 1845 it was the turn of the organ, an instrument that he might have […]

In comparison with Austria or Germany, England hardly competes in the musical dynasty stakes. But the focus of this two-part article by Peter Horton (part II appeared in 2010), is the composer, organist and organ historian Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901),who was a third-generation musician.  His close relations included three cathedral organists—his brother John (Rochester Cathedral) […]

There has been a tendency in recent years to view Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s organ playing and composition for the organ as an almost exclusive product of his musical education in the ‘Bach tradition’. Why this is the case is a topic for another study, but in this essay Johannes Geffert considers some aspects of performance in […]

This essay on the centenary of Murrill’s birth gives a brief outline of Murrill’s career and achievements and, given the context of the journal of a college of organists, concentrates on his church and organ music. Written by Relf Clark, it first appeared in the RCO Journal of 2009. RCO Journal 2009_Clark    

For many decades interpreters of Vierne’s organ music have had little choice other than to play from scores which have been quite difficult to read; differentiating between sharps and naturals has often been a problem, for example. Publishers have frequently resorted to photocopying old printed editions for a new print run, with an inevitable loss […]