Dudley Buck

“ During a considerable experience, both as a student and as a teacher of the violin, I have naturally pieced together quite a variety of small hints and items of information which, though modest enough individually, have been found on the whole to be of no inconsiderable value, not only with regard to my own playing, but also—and which is of far more importance—in enabling me to impart a knowledge of the art to others. ”

“ With the appearance of this great man the art of counterpoint reached its culmination, never surpassed, if even equalled in isolated instances, by any subsequent writer. His organ compositions cover every resource, both in design and execution, possible to the organ of his day; and yet, I do not think it too much to say that, had Bach never written a single organ piece, his claims for recognition as a great composer would remain substantially the same. ”

“ Grace and relative refinement had largely taken the place of the early stiffness of design and execution, and in sculpture and architecture were witnessed many of the results which are still the wonder of the world. With this refinement came a taste for luxury and a love of ornament which in the seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth century had extended to and affected organ-building, at least externally. ”

“ It would, however, be an interesting subject to trace this development down to Chopin, Liszt, and the modern Titans of the piano, showing how gradually the mutual treatment of piano and organ disappeared and what was substituted in their place. It could, however, only be satisfactorily done by musical examples.
Meanwhile the orchestra blossomed into a new significance. To us moderns who read its history, or look back into the scores which antedate this time, it does not seem so much a period to be described, as that of progress, as that of a veritable new birth itself, a new creation. ”

“ The history of the Organ runs back so far into the centuries, that no matter what point one might select for examination, it can scarcely be brought into the scope of a lecture except in a very empty and skeleton form. ”

“ The American student who would excel as an organist, must first be thoroughly educated in the German school of playing. Here alone can he gain the solid technique which will fit him for the execution of any tasks he may propose to himself. Only from that mine of musical wealth, the German school, especially as represented by Bach, can the suitable foundation-stones for the desired structure be derived. ”

“ This science, which has given polish to the mightiest thoughts of the greatest masters of our art (and in totally different departments than mere organ-playing) ,—a science, without a satisfactory knowledge of which no man can call himself a thoroughly educated musician,—sprang from just this source. ”

“ All writers attribute the origin of the organ to that simplest as well as most ancient of musical instruments, called by the Greeks the "pipes of Pan,"—Pan, in the ancient mythology, being the god of the woods and groves. ”

“ While the improvement of the organ, as respects both tone, mechanism and general capabilities, continued, and still continues at the present day, it is noteworthy that from the time of Bach, of all others, the influence of the organ upon music at large began to diminish. From this point we have to consider the decline of this influence, showing that music began to emancipate itself, each instrument claiming and receiving its own especial rights and treatment, long before a similar dawn of liberty began in the political world. ”

“ The process became inverted, and music began to affect the organ, rather than the organ it. To this we owe the vast improvements in the construction of the instrument, the many additions of new qualities of tone, and numberless new inventions of value still going on in our day, with a rapidity difficult to keep pace with. To fairly appreciate this past or present relation of things, it becomes necessary to take a hasty and necessarily superficial glance backward at the origin of the organ,—its invention and development. ”

“ The prevailing tone of the French organ-playing is dramatic, and, as before said, too often sensational. As might be expected from the national character, it forms a great contrast to the German style. The use of the pedal for melodic phrases is rare, it being more generally employed simply to give the fundamental support of the harmonies and passages executed upon the manuals. On the other hand, much attention is paid to registration, and frequently much talent displayed in this direction; besides, their organs are built in a manner calculated to assist the player in this respect. ”

“ Modern organ-building requires the most profound study of the laws both of mechanics and acoustics, and the German mind was constitutionally fitted, by a natural depth and thoroughness of thought, together with the truly artistic quality of patience, to be successful in solving this great problem,—the creation of the most complex instrument known. ”

“ Ignoring the emotional element in organ music to a great extent, and substituting the purely intellectual and technical. In their melodies we recognize the true inspiration of the great composers. The scientific setting they may give them, the technical dress in which they may clothe them, thus often greatly enhancing their beauty, is, after all, a matter of pure science acquired through schooling and dignified by talent. This appeals to the intellect, and is a most desirable object of study ”

“ The organ, as a keyed instrument, has all the main points of technique [Pg 38] in common with the piano. All the varied forms of scales, arpeggios, &c., together with the necessary independence of finger requisite to play in the legato style, should first be learned upon the piano, where, by the way, it can be more speedily acquired. Pupils who, having accomplished this, proceed to the study of the organ, can at once begin with the peculiarities and characteristic difficulties of the instrument, and as far as the pedal is concerned, will make far more rapid progress if fair manual players. ”

“ If often lacking the sublimity and solidity of tone characteristic of many of the famous German organs, they interest (particularly the American taste) by a greater variety of the so-called "fancy," or solo stops. This difference, too, has grown out of the nature of the duties demanded of the organ and the organist in the service of the Roman Catholic church, [Pg 37] and it is these differences of usage which in process of time, combining with further differences of national taste, led to that varied style and treatment which we denominate "Schools of Playing." ”

“ Nowhere can we find more evident signs of this time of experiment, this gradually leaving old landmarks and seeking a new form of expression, than in the works of Bach himself.
In the "Well-Tempered Clavier" we find preludes and fugues impossible to properly interpret on any other instrument except the piano, placed side by side with those whose real significance can only be developed upon the organ. In a portion of the pieces written especially for the organ, we find, on the other hand, passages which to modern ears are only fit for and tolerable on the piano. ”

“ The French school of organ playing is usually light, sensational, often pleasing, but too often frivolous and unworthy of the instrument. Yet in a certain direction they have had their great men. No one who has had the opportunity of hearing Lefebure Wely extemporize on that great organ at the church of Saint Sulpice, in Paris, but must acknowledge that the performance was masterly, although widely different from the German school. In fact, these extempore performances of Wely's were far better than his published compositions. ”

“ While the power, compass, and variety of organ tone, as well as the mechanism of the instrument, made steady progress throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the science of harmony in the largest sense kept even pace with it, and, perhaps, received even a [Pg 27] greater relative development. Meantime, the orchestral instruments of the day had received a fair share of improvement. The harpsichord had been invented, and sufficiently perfected to be worthy of the powers of such a master as Sebastian Bach. ”

“ In spite of the fact, then, that England has no distinctive national school of the instrument, still there is probably no country where so much interest is taken in organs and organ-playing as in the England of to-day. Her prominent organists are solidly founded on the German school; but while they execute these great works in a masterly manner, their repertoire extends over a far wider range and variety of compositions than the German school alone can supply. ”

“ Consequently, the title of the performer on this instrument, in the eleventh century, was not that of organ-player, but organ-beater, the keys being struck by the fist, which was protected by a heavy glove. There was, it must be remembered, but one rank of pipes, and these could seldom, if ever, have been in tune, from the fact that they had no means of regulating the wind pressure; while in organs of later date, and at the present day, an even wind is secured principally by weights placed upon the bellows, and the creation of a reservoir of compressed air. ”

“ In France and England it has been different, the organ having been employed to accompany many anthems and other extended pieces of music, which in Germany (at least in the larger cities) would be given with the orchestra. [Pg 31] It should be noticed that to England we owe one great improvement, which, especially for the rôle the organ is called upon to fill in this country, can scarcely be overrated. I refer to the invention of the swell, and the great variety of effects we are enabled to achieve by its means in both accompaniment and solo playing. ”

“ This in time led to the invention of the pallet, or valve, to control the admission of wind to each pipe, and by the close of the eleventh century we find it chronicled that there existed at Magdeburg an organ with a key-board comprising sixteen keys. From this time the name of the [Pg 15] instrument begins to correspond with our modern idea of the same; its invention was a realized fact, although but a germ of that development which has since raised organ-building to its artistic importance. It must be borne in mind that the pedal organ, with its keys for the feet, was a much later invention. ”

“ Absolute power, as represented by a monarch, became narrowed down, in the lapse of centuries, by external forces working out their own independence, thus checking and limiting this absolutism. Here, too, I will endeavour to draw a parallel, and show that as years rolled on, the influence of the organ upon music in the abstract diminished. ”

“ I am by no means arguing that the organist should avoid these stricter forms on this account; quite the contrary; but simply that the judicious liberalism above referred to should provide as great a variety of musical food as will suit and satisfy the musical appetite within the means of the instrument as it now exists. Nor should the "milk for babes" be despised. [Pg 44] The workings of this principle will surely attract rather than repel, and maturer musical strength will instinctively call for heartier food. We have to deal with men as we find them, and tastes vary. ”

“ Real musical hunger can only be satisfied with solids; but if we first quiet the deeper cravings with roast beef, I know of no moral obligation why we should not finish with ice-cream, if inclination should point that way. ”

“ Of course the Romish ceremonial, the universally dominant religion in France, gives much opportunity for display of this kind. To judge any of these varieties of organ-playing, it will be seen that the standpoint of use to which the instrument is to be put must be carefully borne in mind. Although this school is by no means devoid of excellencies, it is not to be recommended to the American student who is seeking a solid foundation in organ-playing. ”

“ Any other treatment is styled "illegitimate." I had hoped to avoid this terrible word,—the great bugbear among conscientious students of the organ,—nor do I propose to enter into any analysis of what the "legitimate" may or may not consist in. The fact is, we should all retain our original opinions very much according to our early education, natural tastes, and impressions. ”

“ The organ, then, is called the "king of instruments."
If we look at the phrase a little closer, it will be perceived that the simile is a striking one. A king, in the so-called "good old times of yore," if he were a man of any force of character, generally possessed, along with the divine right theoretical, any quantity of the human power practical. ”

“ The reason of this is to be found, partly in the extremely conservative character of their organ-builders, almost a national trait, and still more in the fact that but little use would be found for a swell organ outside solo playing. With us, nearly the reverse is true, the swell being most indispensable in accompanying choirs as here constituted. Notwithstanding this neglect of what seems to us an indispensable addition to the instrument, the glory of the invention and perfection of the organ justly belongs to Germany. ”