2024 is an anniversary year for both Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, and Sir Walter Parratt, a close friend and colleague of Stanford. This article by Andrew McCrea mainly looks at Parratt, a famous organist and teacher, through the Stanford association, and argues that inspecting Stanford’s dedications to Parratt can enrich our understanding of these two national figures.

Maria Jenner marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Franz Schmidt (1874–1939) as she views this significant Austrian composer through the lens of two of his most important pupils: Susi Jeans (née Hock) and Friedrich Mihatsch.

This film looks at the early life and training of Charles-Marie Widor, and examines his development as a composer in the context of the composers who immediately preceded him.

A film by Fugue State Films exploring the life of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the greatest organ builder of the 19th century and also probably the most famous of all organ builders. Creator of such instruments as those in St Sulpice, Paris, and St Ouen, Rouen, he devised a new way of building organs that led directly to the development of the French Romantic school of organ composition.

Stéphane Mottoul improvises two pieces in the Early Romantic style and discusses the typical structure and harmonic progressions for this music, and comments on how to create a suitable registration scheme.

To mark the 2023 Reger anniversary year, Peters Edition have published a new Urtext edition of his seven chorale fantasias, edited by Martin Schmeding, to reflect the current state of research into Reger’s music and modern performance practice. 

A talk on Spanish and Portuguese organ music in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, written and presented by Martin Schmeding. This is the set history period for ARCO written papers, 2 July 2022-January 2023.

A talk on Brahms and the organ, written and presented by Martin Schmeding (Professor of Organ, Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Leipzig), of particular interest to FRCO students.

Andrew McCrea discusses how to approach the organ repertoire question of the CRCO written paper with particular reference to Stanford’s Six Short Preludes and Postludes, Op.101 and Op.105, the set repertoire for July 2022–January 2023.