ORGAN
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ORGAN
jection to the organ in church service remained pretty
general down to the twelfth century, which may be ac-
counted for partly by the imperfection of tone in or-
gans of that time. But from the twelfth century on,
the organ became the privileged church instrument,
the majesty and unimpassioned character of its tone
making it a particularly suitable means for adding
solemnity to Divine worship.
According to the present legislation organ music is allowed on all joyful occasions, both for purely instru- mental pieces (voluntaries) and as accompaniment. The organ alone may even take the place of the voices in alternate verses at Mass or in the Office, provided the text so treated be recited by someone in an audible voice while the organ is played. Only the Credo is ex- cepted from this treatment, and in any case the first verse of each chant and all the verses at which any liturgical action takes place — such as the "Te ergo quEesumus", the "Tantum ergo", the "Gloria Patri" — should be sung.
With some exceptions, the organ is not to be played during Advent and Lent. It may be pla.ved on the Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete) and the Fourth in Lent (Lajtare) at Mass and Vespers, on Holy Thurs- day at the Gloria, and on Holy Saturday at and, ac- cording to general usage, after the Gloria. Moreover, it ma3' be played, even in Advent and Lent, on solemn feasts of the saints and on the occasion of any joyful celebration — as e. g. the Communion of children [S. R. C, 11 May, 1878, 3448 (.5728)]. Moreover, by a kind of indult, it would seem, the organ is admitted, even in Lent and Advent, to support the singing of the choir, but in this case it must cease with the singing. This permission, however, does not extend to the last three days of Holy Week (S. R. C, 20 March, 1903, 4009) . At Offices of the Dead organ music is excluded ; at a Requiem Mass, however, it may be used for the accompaniment of the choir, as above.
It is appropriate to play the organ at the beginning and end of Mass, especially when a bishop solemnly enters or leaves the church. If the organ is played during the Elevation, it should be in softer tones; but it would seem that ab.solute silence is most fitting for this august moment. The same may be said about the act of Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. It should be observed that the legislation of the Church concerns itself only with liturgical services. It takes no account of such things as singing at low Mass or popular devotions. But it is fitting, of course, to ob- serve on such occasions the directions given for liturgi- cal services.
IV. Organ-Playing. — In ancient times and in the early Middle Ages organ-playing was, of course, con- fined to rendering a melody on the organ. But it is not improbable that the earliest attempts at poly- phonic music, from about the ninth century on, were made with the organ, seeing that these attempts received the name of OTganum. From the thirteenth century some compositions have come down to us under that name without any text, and probably in- tended for the organ. In the fourteenth century we hear of a celebrated organ-player, the bhnd musician Francesco Landino of Florence, and in the fifteenth of another Florentine player, Squarcialupi. At this time Konrad Paumann flourished in Germany, some of whose organ compositions are extant, showing the feature which distinguishes organ, like all instru- mental music, from vocal music, namely the diminu- tion or figuration, ornamentation, of the melodies. With Paumann this figuration is as yet confined to the melody proper, the top part. With Clauflio Merulo (1533-1604) we find the figuration extended to the accompanying parts also. More mature work was produced by Giovanni Gabrieli (15.57-1612) in his "Canzone e Sonate" (1597 and 161.5). Further devel- opment of a true instrumental style was brought about by Samuel Scheldt (1587-1654). Then follow a series
of illustrious composers for the organ, of whom we may
mention Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1644), Johann
Jacob Froberger (died 1667), Dietrich Buxtehude
(died 1707), and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750),
at whose hands organ composition reached its highest
point.
After Bach the genera! development of music, being in the direction of more individual expression and con- stantly varying emotion, was not favouraljle to organ composition. Accordingly, none of the best men turned their attention to the organ, Mendelssohn's compositions for the instrument being a notable excep- tion. In modern times a large number of composers have written respectable music for the organ, among whom we may mention the French Guilmant and Widor and the German Rheinberger and Reger. But none of them, with the possible exception of Reger, can be counted as first-class composers. The scarcity of really good modern organ compositions has led or- ganists to the extended use of arrangements. If these arrangements are made with due regard to the nature of the organ, they cannot be altogether objected to. But it is clear that they do not represent the ideal of organ music. As the characteristic beauty of organ tone lies in its even continuation, legato playing must be the normal for the organ even more than for other instruments. While, therefore, staccato playing can- not absolutely be excluded, and an occasional use of it is even desirable for the sake of variety, still the mod- ern tendency to play everything staccato or mezzo- legato is open to great objections. The alternation and contrast of tone-colours afforded by the variety of stops and the presence of several manuals is a legiti- mate and valuable device. But too much variety is inartistic, and, in particular, an excessive use of solo stops is alien to the true organ style.
A word may be added about the local position of the organ in the church. The considerations determining this question are threefold : the proximity of the organ to the singers, the acoustical effect, and the architec- tural fitness. The combination of these three claims in existing churches frequently causes considerable difficulty. Hence it is desirable that in planning new churches architects should be required to provide am- ple room for an organ.
There is no good history of the organ. On the ancient organ a good book ia Degerinq. Die Orgel (Miinster, 1905) ; of. M.\clean, The Principle of the Hydraulic Organ in Quarterly Mag. of the In- ternational Musical Society, pt. 2 (Leipzig, 1905), and Schlesinger, Researches inlo the Origin of the Organs of the Ancients, ibid,, pt. 2 (Leipzig, 1901). On the later history, Williams. The Story of the Organ (London. 1903) is fairly reliable. The historical part of Hopkins and Rimbadlt, The Organ, Its History and Construction (London, 1877), though out of date, is still useful. Further works are: Ritter, Zur Geschichte des Orgelspiels im 14, bis IS, Jahrhun- dcrt (Leipzig, 1884); Wangemann, Geschichte der Orgel (Leipzig, 1887); Gr^goire, Histoire de I'orgue (Antwerp, 1865); Hinton, Story of the Electric Organ (London. 1909) ; Bewerunge, Die Rbhrenpneumatik in Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch (Ratisbon, 1905); BuHLE, Die musikalischen Instrumente in den Miniaturen des frUhen Mittelalters: I. Die Blasinstrumente (Leipzig. 1903); ViOLLET-LE-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonni du mobilier franQais de I'&poque Carolingienne d la Renaissance: IL Instruments de musique (Paris, 1874).
On the construction of the organ the principal works are: Auna- LEY, The Art of Organ-Building (2 vols.. 4°. New York and Lon- don. 1905); Robertson, A Practical Treatise on Organ- Building (London, 1897) ; Topfer-Allihn, Die Theorie und Praxis des Or- gelhaues (Weimar, 1888) ; Hill, Organ Cases and Organs of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (2 vols., folio, London, 1883, 1891); Wedgwood, Dictionary of Organ Stops (London, 1905); Mat^ THEWS, .1 Handbook of the Organ (London, 1897) (t.eats also of organ-playing): DiENEL, Die moderne Orgel (Berlin, 1891); .Schweitzer, Deutsche u. franzGsische Orgelbaukunst und Orgel' kun.it (Leipzig. 190fi); Casson. The Modern Organ (Denbigh, 1883); Idem, The Pedal Organ (London, 1905); Idem, Modern Pneumatic Organ Mechanism (London, 1908): SwANTON, Lecture on Organ litoiving (London, 1905) ; International Rules for Organ Building, issued by the Third Congress of the International Musical .'Society (Leipzig, 1909).
The eoclesiaatical legislation on organ-playing is contained in the C'Tremoniale Episcoporum and in Decrees of the S. Congrega- tion of Rites. The latter, as far as they concern the subject, are conveniently put togeth^ in Auer, Die Entscheidungen der h. Ritcn-Kongregation in Bezug auf Kirchenmusik (Ratisbon and New York, 1901).
H. Bewerunge.
