Practical Organ-building


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The Art of Organ-building


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Organ-building in Georgian and Victorian England


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Established for the building of keyboard instruments, by the mid-1790s the workshop of brothers Robert and William Gray had become one of the leading organ-makers in London, with instruments in St Paul's, Covent Garden and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Under William's son John Gray, the firm built some of the largest English organs of the 1820s and 1830s, as well as exporting major instruments to Boston and Charleston in the United States. In the early 1840s, with the marriage of John Gray's daughter to Frederick Davison - a member of the circle of Bach-enthusiasts around the composer Samuel Wesley - the firm became 'Gray & Davison'. Davison was a progressive figure who reformed workshop practices, commissioned a purpose-built organ factory in Euston Road and opened a branch workshop in Liverpool to exploit the booming market for church organs in Lancashire and the north-west. Under Davison's management, the firm was responsible for significant mechanical and musical innovations, especially in the design of concert organs. Instruments such as those built in the 1850s for Glasgow City Hall, the Crystal Palace and Leeds Town Hall were heavily influenced by contemporary French practice; they were designed to perform a repertoire dominated by orchestral transcriptions. Many of the instruments made by the firm have been lost or altered; but the surviving organs in St Anne, Limehouse (1851), Usk Parish Church (1861) and Clumber Chapel (1889) testify to the quality and importance of Gray & Davison's work. This book charts the firm's history from its foundation in 1772 to Frederick Davison's death in 1889. At the same time, it describes changes in musical taste and liturgical use and explores such topics as provincial music festivals, the town hall organ, domestic music-making and popular entertainment, the building of churches and the impact on church music of the Evangelical and Tractarian movements. It will appeal to organ aficionados interested in the evolution of the English organ in the later Georgian and Victorian eras, as well as other music scholars and cultural historians. NICHOLAS THISTLETHWAITE has written extensively on the history of the English organ and other aspects of English church music, and his book, The making of the Victorian organ (1990) is recognised as the standard work on the subject. He has acted as consultant for the restoration and rebuilding of organs, most recently at St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Christ Church




The Cambridge Companion to the Organ


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This Companion is an essential guide to all aspects of the organ and its music. It examines in turn the instrument, the player and the repertoire. The early chapters tell of the instrument's history and construction, identify the scientific basis of its sounds and the development of its pitch and tuning, examine the history of the organ case, and consider the current trends and conflicts within the world of organ building. Central chapters investigate the practical art of learning and playing the organ, introduce the complex area of performance practice, and outline the relationship between organ playing and the liturgy of the church. The final section explores the vast repertoire of organ music, focusing on a selection of the most important traditions.




Arp Schnitger, Organ Builder


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Peggy Kelley Reinburg has written the first comprehensive book in English to chronicle the remarkable achievements of Arp Schnitger, whose influence extends to the twentieth century with the current interest in Baroque instruments and performance practice. The book gives an account of organ-building activity in North Germany and the Netherlands prior to Schnitger, describes in detail many of his constructions as they related to various periods in his life, and comments on Schnitger's impact on trends in organ building. Specifications are given for twenty-two extant organs, and appendixes include a glossary of German-English technical terms, complete scalings for several Schnitger organs, and a chronological listing of all Schnitger instruments.




Hamburg's Role in Northern European Organ Building


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Contains information about German organbuilders, including Heinrich Niehoff, Jacob Scherer, Dirck Hoyer, Hans Bockelmann, Hans Scherer, the younger and elder, Gottfried and Hans Christoph Fritzsche, Arp Schnitger, Friedrich Besser, Gregorius Vogel, Joachim Richborn, and Friedrich Stellwagen.




The Contemporary American Organ - Its Evolution, Design and Construction


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Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.




Atlantic City's Musical Masterpiece


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