Darius Battiwalla shows how improvising music for the movies differs from improvising during a church service, and suggests ways to develop the skills, and stamina, required.

Andrew Cantrill-Fenwick discusses how theories of aesthetics and performance practices from the last four hundred years can help organists breathe expressive life into their playing.

Tom Bell explains how organ builders exploit the archetypal organ pipe, the Diapason.

Simon Williams explains the circle of fifths, and shows how it is useful for both keyboard and written harmony.

Anna Lapwood discusses three very different but engaging pieces by Bach, which will enrich your repertoire and stretch your technique.

Andrew McCrea takes a brief look at the rich history of organ anthology production in Britain in the last two centuries.

The 2018 edition of the College’s annual research publication, The Journal of the Royal College of Organists, can be downloaded here as a complete edition.

Sir Herbert Brewer (1865–1928) was Organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death, and Simon Carpenter’s recent research for a University of Gloucestershire MA (from which this article is derived) examined his place in British music history, his educational philosophy, and the effect he had on the careers of his teenage articled pupils. The […]

Go with organist colleagues to an organ recital at the Royal Festival Hall, and sooner or later someone will strike up a nostalgic lament for Wednesdays at 5.55. Harry Hoyle has just published a history of this extraordinary series of weekly organ recitals on the RFH organ, which lasted for 34 years. His engaging account will interest both organists and anyone fascinated by the social history of classical music performance in the second half of the twentieth century.