This is an electronic version of an article from
The Musical Quarterly, Volume IV, Number 3, July 1918. 12 pages.
The Musical Quarterly is a periodical first issued by G Schirmer, now by Oxford Journals, and was
designed as a compendium of writing on all aspects of music. Size of journal is 6.5" x 9.5". Free.
Should you prefer a text document formatted for 8.5" x 11" paper,
a PDF is available
here, free for you.
I hope that you will read and share this short article to learn about these influencial
organists and composers from the perspective of another great organist writing
in the last months of World War I. Read the entire
Volume IV (about 700 pages) on Google Books.
An aperçu is a quick opinion or judgment, and Harvey Gaul offers them
on these well-known organists and their music. If you read the article, you
will find these gems of wisdom and much more:
They are not only writers, but they are teachers, and above all, players.
Under them organ technique has advanced. It is no longer a matter of lifeless
legato, but approaches an orchestra performance, with light and shade,
delicacy and force. |
The last work in the [Bonnet] volume is a Poème Tchèque.
It is by far the most important of the twelve pieces. Strange to say,
it is hardly ever heard here in America. |
Bonnet knows the concert organ and registers for it. Every shade of
tonal effect is on his palette and when he calls for sustained fortissimos,
with an occasional sforzando, he means specifically that. Furthermore,
he approves of the crescendo pedal, which some of his English confreres
with antedediluvian instincts spend so much time decrying. |
Bossi’s organ style, in a way similar to Karg-Elert’s, lies
chiefly in his harmonic structure. It is characterized by aggressive masculine
chords. Rose-water and talcum powder compositions are not found in his
catalogue. |
The Pièce Héroïque [by Bossi] is as interesting as
César Franck’s work, even if the second section does bear
a faint resemblance to Dvořák. |
Karg-Elert is in German organ music what Rachmaninoff is in Russian
orchestral music. Both are moderns and neither is perverted with that
undecipherable Futurism that enthralled the world before the year 1914. |
While he sometimes snubs the small organ, he knows the ramifications
of the concert organ. If Karg-Elert has done nothing else, he has helped
administer a soporific and narcotic to the Merkel-Rheinberger school of
organ music. |
Bonnet’s
Douze
Pièces (Twelve Pieces),
mentioned in this article, are available now. I
hope to restore more music by these organists, and these editions will
be available on our site. If you are not on our announcement list and would
like to be notified of future restorations, you may
join
the list here. Many of these restorations are due to suggestions from
members of this list.