(The Language of the Classical French Organ: A Musical Tradition Before 1800) Author: Fenner Douglass published on (September, 1995)

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Cavaille-Coll and the French Romantic Tradition

(Organists, scholars of the organ and its music, and liste...)

Organists, scholars of the organ and its music, and listeners who love French romantic organ music will all welcome this definitive account of the early career of Aristide Cavaille-Coll, the greatest organ builder of nineteenth-century France. Based on the author's earlier Cavaille-Coll and the Musicians, this engaging book describes Cavaille-Coll's relationships with Cesar Franck and such other contemporary composer/organists as Lefebure-Wely, Danjou, and Lemmens. Fenner Douglass draws on previously unavailable primary archives to highlight the projects that were pivotal to Cavaille-Coll's success, among them the magnificent instruments he designed and installed in St. Denis, La Madeleine, St. Vincent-de-Paul, and other churches in and around Paris. Of special interest is the documentation Douglass presents pertaining to the instrument for Franck at Ste. Clotilde in Paris.In the final chapter, the author discounts the popular belief that Cavaille-Coll in his old age foresaw the future popularity of electropneumatic key action and regretted his inability to become involved in that development. In fact, Douglass says, the organ builder had little interest in the use of electricity as a supplementary source of energy for the organ.

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The Language of the Classical French Organ: A Musical Tradition before 1800, New and Expanded edition

( The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries witnessed the ...)

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries witnessed the growth of a unique relationship between the French organ and the music written for it. Until recently, however, the roots of this precise musical tradition lay hidden in the sixteenth century. Illuminating these mysteries for the modern audience, Mr. Douglass has traced the development of the French organ from the sixteenth century through the Classical Period (1655-1770). For the first time in English, an explanation is given of the role of mixtures in the plenum of the French instrument of the Classical Period. Because the plenum determines the very character of the organ, and because the mixtures exert the strongest influence upon its sonority, the reader will be able to understand why French composers were writing music for the plenum sharply different from that of their contemporaries in northern Europe. Especially useful is the first complete compilation of known sources of information about French classical organ restriction. Having assimilated the historical facts about the instrument, the reader will be ready to interpret the music of this period on a modern organ. Mr. Douglass is professor organ at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.   This authoritative study of the French classical organ is a major source for the interpretation of early French organ music. For this new edition, the author has added a chapter on touch in early French organs and its importance for practice. The bibliography has also been extensively revised.   Reviews of the previous edition:   "The extensive and valuable materials assembled in this study will make it indispensable to both the performer and the scholar of French organ literature."—Almonte C. Howell, Jr., Notes   "The only work of its kind in English. . . . Bringing together all of the sources into one volume was alone a task of considerable proportions, and the many conclusions drawn from a careful study of the sources make it a necessary reference for any further study. It should be not only on the shelves but also in the mind of every organ devotee."—Rudolph Kremer, Journal of the American Musicological Society   "Douglass has shown us the way that organ studies ought to develop over the next few decades."—Music and Letters

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Cavaillé-Coll and the Musicians: A Documented Account of the First Thirty Years in Organ Building

(Two volumes, hardbound, 10-1/4" x 7" overall, 1,534 pages...)

Two volumes, hardbound, 10-1/4" x 7" overall, 1,534 pages. At no time in its long history has the organ been more thoroughly transformed within a short time than in France during the 1840's. An astounding development was set in motion by the invention of pneumatic devices to assist the manual key touch and the coupling of keyboards. Barker's invention was the crucial ingredient; but it was the young and venturesome Aristide Cavaille-Coll, rather than the established organ builders, who recognized that the little machines provided the key to a new tonal world. Thus, Cavaille-Coll gained a place in history. The extended success of his enterprise relied upon the favorable response of musicians as well as those who controlled the allocation of funds. For this reason, an account of his early years in business includes the reactions of the world about him, and of his own success in exerting control over those reactions. This is not a technical study. No tables of measurements, scales, or other precise data will be found, other than what appear in the letters and contracts included in the archives of the company until 1859. The author presents a chronological account of the influences exerted upon Cavaille-Coll's thought and activity as seen through the documents themselves and the criticisms of his contemporaries. There are also facts concerning musicians in Cavaille-Coll's circle, including new information on his relationship with Cesar Franck and the famous organ at the Church of Ste. Clotilde, Paris. The numerous letters, contracts, and progress reports (all published here for the first time) clear up, once and for all, certain lingering problems about the Ste. Clotilde specification and the registration of Franck's organ works. Author Fenner Douglass (1921-2008) wrote on organ performance and organ music history, most notably this 2-volume set and another book on French organs and music. He taught for many years at the Oberlin Conservatory, then Duke University.

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