No comments about Improvising: How to Master the Art.

No comments about American Organ Music of the Twentieth Century: An Annotated Bibliography of Composers (Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography).

2 comments about At the Organ With Virgil Fox.

1. I love the book....it has the best arrangements!! Received in a timely manner in great condition.



2. Virgil Fox was one of the greatest. His stylistic editions are a joy to explore. I suggest getting all the recordings of his you can.

1 comments about Gellerman's International Reed Organ Atlas, Second Edition.

1. The Atlas is an excellent resource for those who wish to research a particular organ, or to acquaint themselves with the various manufacturers of Reed Organs. The book is arranged like a dictionary, and includes the names of the individuals involved in manufacture, as well as company names, and related suppliers. The volume lists US and International manufacturers. The book is very helpful for basic information, but does not give great detail on any one manufacturer, or provide information on the price or rarity of specific instruments. It does supply some serial numbers and the corresponding dates of manufacture. There are pictures (black and white) of organs, advertisements, and related items throughout the volume, but they are not extensive, and seem to be more for 'decoration' than reference. If you are looking for information on that dusty old parlor organ you found in Grandpa's barn, this is a great reference to get you started. The author has also published several other books that deal with the restoration of these instruments you might find helpful. Another excellent book (which is in Gellerman's bibliography) is Michel's Reed Organ Atlas, (1969) . It has more extensive photo plates, but is harder to find. (I found it in my local library) Good luck if you are researching a particular instrument. Chances are you will find SOME information about it in Gellerman's International Reed Organ Atlas.

1 comments about The American Reed Organ and the Harmonium: A Treatise on Its History, Restoration and Tuning, With Descriptions of Some Outstanding Collections, Including a Stop Dictionary and a Directory of.

1. This book offers an in-depth look into the history of the reed organ. This is the stregnth of the book. It discusses how the reed organ grew in popularity, why it flourished in the society of its time, and then describes its demise. The restoration information is also good. The workings of the organ are described in a fair amount of detail. The tuning section is quite good. It gives exact methods and tells how to make various tools. It includes stop faces, a stop dictionary, company logos, and other useful information. As I mentioned before, though, the real stregnth of this book is the history! A great read for anyone interested in reed organs.

5 comments about Art of Organ Building (Volume 1 of 2).

1. This as well as volume 2 is a critical part of anyone's library who wish to learn about construction of the pipe organ. Although the books are very old, they are a treasure of otherwise unpublished information on the historic details of organ building world-wide.



2. A nice fascimile of an old book. It has his own value as a historical piece. Though the interesting stuf is published in volume two, which apparantly is not jet reprinted by doover



3. The book is a complete treatise on the field of Organbuilding, albeit the information is a bit dated! The original copyright date was 1905!!! With that aside, there is still very useful information in regard to various mechanical actions, pipe building and mitering, well, everything relevant to organ building! There are some obvious mis-telling of the future, as for the very unlikely adoption of fan type blowers (now virtually universal) and the comdenation of unification!
   Not a book for starters in organ building for sure, but with a basic grasp of apprentice level organbuilding skills, the book is informative. Be forwarned: George is willing to share an opinion or two! Highly recommended for somone wishing to learn about organ building practices in common use in the early part of the last century.



4. This book and the somewhat more interesting Volume 2 are, to be sure, excellent if you want to know the basics about the construction of the pipe organ. The illustrations are mainly drawings (excellently presented) and some rather uninspiring black and white plates (photos).
   
   I have issues with the text, Mr. Audsley's language is extremely flowery. He makes comments about the organ in Sydney (for example) and its voicing (esp. the lack of swell boxes for non-swell divisions). To be sure this was an issue when the book is written but, he doesn't validate his comments by stating that he actually heard the beast in operation.
   
   The second criticism I make is this: if your French is not good the wonderful quotes contained will be meaningless. And certain ones are by the highly esteemed Cavaille-Coll and worthy of an appendix giving translations (which is missing).
   
   However, I adored Book 1 as its history of the organ is fascinating reading. Indeed, Volume 2 gets down to the nuts and bolts of design, acoustics, couplers, action, wind-chests, pneumatic levers ... et cetera et cetera.
   
   A wonderful tome, to be sure ... if you can tolerate the ponderous Edwardian language.



5. This book probably was a classic (in 1905). Many organs built since then clearly reflect those who read and believed. Many organs built in the US until 1940 seem like they could have been influenced. Very British - opinionated and pompous. No room for debate, etc. No offered credentials other than - because I say so. The real book (Vol 1) begins at about pg 350-400. The technical content and drawings are outstanding -- for 1905.
   
   He had no foreknowledge of the classical revial of post-WWII. He figured -- if we have technology, why look back. It was a different age so many of his opinions sound silly -- like -- let's rename all the stops. Am I glad I read it? -Absolutely. Will I refer to it? - Undoubtedly. Will I read it again? - No -- once is enough. Age 56.

1 comments about The Fugues on the Magnificat for Organ or Keyboard.

1. Pachelbel is famous for a single work, but he wrote a trainload of beautiful music. In Seventeenth Century performances of the Magnificat the organist was expected to improvise short preludes in all eight of the medieval modes. Or he could draw on this collection of 95 fugues in all the modes. Pachelbel generally uses short fugue subjects (typically 8 notes) to keep the pieces short, but there are some exceptions, including a few double-fugues. Most of the fugues require manuals only. (I play them on harpsichord.) Most are easy (for fugues). A few are two-voice fugues. Most will delight listeners just the way the famous canon does. Typography is superb and the price is unbeatable.

No comments about Organ Music by French Masters: 13 Works by Gounod, Saint-Saens, Chausson, Satie and Others.

5 comments about All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ And Its American Masters.

1. For centuries pipe organs were the most complex mechanisms the human race had devised, but only a handful of books have surveyed its history. In All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ And Its American Masters, Craig Whitney, NY Times Journalist and editor, focuses on the history of the American pipe organ and its fans, surveying both master organ builders and players alike. An excellent history is revealed in a specialty item which will appeal beyond the classical crowd.



2. The pipe organ - "the King of Instruments" -- has long been worshiped by Bach lovers but underappreciated by other classical music fans. At music conservatories, organists have been outsiders joined by a common passion. All that may be changing thanks to a pipe organ renaissance underway in this country and swell of interest generated by this book. Organist and New York Times writer and editor Craig Whitney clearly knows how to tell a good story. Rather than turn out a muddled and boring history with every name, place and date, he tracks the competing ideas and conflicting personalities of America's top organ builders (Edward Skinner, Donald Harrison, Charles Fisk) and its two most influential performers ("purist" Powerful Biggs and "showman" Virgil Fox). It's a dramatic story of clashing egos, cultural shifts, economic realities and esthetic choices. As a Bach organist, I long wished for this book but thought it a "pipe dream." Bravo, Craig Whitney.



3. All the Stops is a pretty concise overview of the hitsory of the pipe organ in North America. There's lots of information but it's not written in a text book way.



4. What a excellent book about the pipe organ and some of the major artists that played the instument in America. It is highly informative about the lives of E. Power Biggs and Virgil Fox, two very prominent organists in developing interest in the pipe organ in America. It is a "must-read" book for anyone who enjoys the "king of instruments"!



5. Even though I don't play the organ and don't read music or know much about the instrument--I loved this book just because I have always loved organ music. I found it a very enjoyable book to read. It brought me closer to the world of organ by reading about the makers and artists and showing me the progression of organ popularity over the centuries. LONG LIVE THE PIPE ORGAN (and all organs--too much disuse of them these days).

2 comments about The Cambridge Companion to the Organ (Cambridge Companions to Music).

1. Those who are used to the Oxford series of "Companions" will be surprised to find this Cambridge Companion is not an encyclopedic reference book. It is a collection of articles on a broad range of topics--construction, esthetics, performance technique and the repertoire--with a very uneven level. Some articles address the basics (sit up straight while you are playing) while others assume that you know everything already (off hand references to organs you should know about.) Almost all the organs discussed in any depth are the German-Dutch baroque instruments and their modern replicas, with just a few words on large romantic instruments. In sum, it may be an interesting "read" for the connoisseur, but it isn't very useful as a reference for the interested amateur.



2. The comments from "a reader" (anonymous and pseudonymous reviews should be discouraged as a matter of Amazon.com policy; in non-life-or-death matters like critiques of musicology texts, surely the courage to sign your name is a prerequisite?) indicated a rip-off. In fact this publication turns out to be useful far beyond the confines of Dutch and Central European baroque topics. There can be no argument with complaints about unevenness. One section (the chapter on Austrian / South German baroque composers) is written with genuine panache; another (on Franck, his precursors, and his successors in the Gallo-Belgian romantic repertoire) is almost equally worthwhile; the advice on optimal practice methods for organists is uniformly well-judged; alas, all too many of the other sections read like - and probably were - extracts from humdrum doctoral dissertations.
   
   The treatment of Spanish and Portuguese 16th- and 17th-century organ writing is, at least to the non-specialist writing this review, largely incomprehensible (and where not incomprehensible, is dubious: can it really be true that the "royal trumpet" stops which characterized Iberian organs, and which so well suit 17th-century Iberian "battle music", are an 18th-century invention?). A more obviously encyclopedic approach, such as Julie Anne Sadie employed when she edited Cambridge's COMPANION TO BAROQUE MUSIC, would have been superior to what we have here.
   
   Still, here is one church organist who feels very grateful to this tome's staff-notation passages for having introduced him to valuable pieces by Teutons (the mid-17th-century's J. K. Kerll), Americans (the late-19th-century Dudley Buck), and Englishmen (somebody named Henry Smart, who apparently died in 1879), hitherto mere vaguely-contemplated names, or else, in Smart's case, not even that. Better to treat this COMPANION as a goad to the performer who seeks fresh and agreeable sheet music, rather than as a reference resource.