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Literature.
exists still in the school a small organ , evidently of this date ; it may possibly be the identical instrument . It now contains six stops , and has a modern set of keys ; but an inscription upon it informs us that it ii-as repaired by Samuel Green in 1770 . " AVe may add to this account that this curious little organ contains what is noiv considered a rarity—a wooden twelfth . The author tells us that his principal object in publishing his
work , AA'as the hope that it mi ght , in some measure , check the great destruction of the fine old organs ivhich , for some sixty years , had been going on in this country . A practice heartily to be condemned , truly—AVIICU will people learn that old organ pipes will not bear to be replaced by neiv ones ?—an object praiseworthy in itself , but carried out to an excess which has gone far to damage the work itself , and mar the cause it advocates . A case in point
occurs to us . George III . once ou a time visited Salisbury Cathedral ; being much gratified Avith his visit he asked the dean what would be the most acceptable present he could make to the cathedral . "AVhy , " said the dean , " our organ is very old , and . " " Oh , I'll give you a neiv one , " said the king , and as the means of providing it chiefl y depended on the contributions ofthe gentlemen of Berkshire and AViltshire , desired that it mi ght be
considered his contribution as a Berkshire gentleman . A neiv and line organ AA- ; IS erected by Green , in Salisbury Cathedral , but St . Helen ' s Church , Abingdon , has since enjoyed the tones which Salisburv Cathedral has lost . The authorities of that church wero
not aware ol the fact ( as an eminent musician who knciv the instrument lately said , figuratively , to us ) that their organ possessed pipes of silver . " The reason , " says Sir John Sutton , " Avhy these beautiful instruments are so often destroyed , is , that the clergy and those in authority Eire persuaded by their organists that the instruments in question are not lit to play upon ; by ivhich they mean that it is impossible to show off
upon them iu the most approved fashion , for they have neither pedals , sivoll , or an } ' of those complicated contrivances with Avhich these modern music mills ( as 3 Ir . Jebb aptly calls them in his lectures on the choral service ) are crowded . Every lover of true cathedral music must have experienced hoiv much these modern alterations and additions to the organ mar the effect of that most devotional maimer of performing tho church service . "
_ He then proceeds to observe that the attention is continually dniAvn from the voices by the clattering of composition pedals and changing of stops ; that organists thunder on the pedals so as to droivn the small choirs our cathedrals IIOAV possess , consisting ( as he says ) of about ten boys aud six or eight men , three or four of Avhom tire most likely disabled b y oldage or drunkennessand much more to the same purpose . In fact Sir John Sutton
has clearly made his idea of giving a sketch of organ building from the revival of the art in the reign of Charles IT . to the present time , in a great measure an excuse for making a crusade against pedals , swells , and every conceivable mechanical contrivance for adding to the comfort of the organist and the poiver of the instrument . Again , after giving a fair account of the organs of St . Paul ' s Cathedral ; Christ ChurchOxfordand Trinity
, ; College , Cambridge , as built by the celebrated Father Schmidt , becomes to the Durham Cathedral organ by the same builder . After giving the particulars of such stops , & c , as it formerly contained , he proceeds as follows : —
It has been put into the hands of Mr . Bishop , who has added pedal pipes , new chorus , & c , & c . Tho instrument is now nearly tivieo the size it was ,-it first ; the tivo fronts being placed further apart than in the original arrangements , to give room fin- the additions . * The writer cannot but think the additions lately made to this organ unnecessary , a * tho instrument Avas perfectly effective before ; at the same time he docs not tear in this case the usual consequences of increasing the size of a cathedral organ , viz ., the destruction ofthe choral service , since the management is in the hands
of perhaps the first cathedral organist in England , . -ind ono AVIIO thoroughly appreciates the solemn choral services . " NOAA- , all this is reall y much too strong . AVe arc willing to agree with Sir John Sutton that " fugue playing is not the chief object in an English cathedral , " but by no means that the introduction of pedals and pedal pipes has " been so "mischievous" as he contends it has been . It is not our purpose here to enter into
a dissertation upon church music , which would perhaps scarcely be suited to these pages . AVe will merel y say that AVC go very far ¦ ¦ ' Since the publication of Sir John Sutton ' s book , the organ of Durham Cathedral has again undergone a change , aud has been moved from tlie choir screen to the ground ; a change on Avhich ( at least as regards its position ) AVO shall take the opportunity of saying a feiv words in the consideration of the architectural arrangement of organs . We may add that wo have every reason to believe that the services at Durham arc still in every way worthy of the praise bestowed upon them by Sir John Sutton .
with Sir John Sutton in his opinion as to the character of the music that ought to be performed in our cathedral churches—viz ., the music that was written for them—that is to say , the music of what may be called the Tudor School , the compositions of Tallis , Gibbons , Aldrieh , Farrant , Blow , Purcell , & c . —in short , that of which Boyce ' s score , in three volumes , may be taken as a type . Much as Ave love the compositions of Handel , Beethoven , Haydn , Mozart , & c , we by no means wish to see them introduced , as is but too often the case , into our cathedrals , and for these simple
reasons , viz .: 1 . That , grand as they arc , their character is different from that of the music of the English Church . 2 . That their composers never intended them for the service of the Church of England , or they ivould not have n'rittcii them in orchestral score . 8 . That , even had the } ' been so intended , we should not ivish to
have them performed otbenvise than in their integrity—that is , ivith that orchestra which in English cathedral services is out of the question . But , agreeing with Sir John Sutton in some points , and especially as to the excellence of tone in the old organs , which Avill probably never be surpassed—ivhy such a crusade against pedals and pedal ipeswhichwithout drowning the voices of
p , , one choir only , can be used with great effect with the full organ in accompanying both , or even one , and undoubtedly g ive at once depth , strength , and solemnity to the harmony ? And why should ilr . Jebb , ' * for whose opinion in many particulars we have the highest respect , call an organ with modern mechanical additions by the opprobrious name of a " music mill ? " AVhy should not our organs have the advantage of any mechanical
appliances that ingenuity can invent , to give variety to the music performed upon it ? As for the rattling of stops and composition pedals , of which Sir John Sutton complains , that evil has long been obviated—both stops and pedals being noiv made to work as quietly as the most fastidious person can desire , and composition pedals being by some makers dispensed with altogether by the application of the pneumatic principle to the draw stops in their
place . And why should Sir John Sutton suppose that the organist of Durham cathedral ( AVIIOSC taste we impugn not ) is the only organist in England who can refrain from using them all at once , and so making them a positive nuisance ? That some of onr cathedral choirs are small , no one will deny ; but why fix upon them the charge of drunkenness and inefficiency , when it is well known that , Avhatever cills of this kind may hiiA'c once
existed , they are fast disappearing ? And wh y suppose that organists generally have a tendency to overpower them when weaker than usual ? AVe cannot but think all this very uncalled for—very unnecessary—questionable as to its taste—and calculated to do rather harm than good . One word more before we pass to the consideration of Sir John Sutton ' s last chapter , on the important subject of the architectural
arrangement of organs . Our author appears to ns somcAvhat inconsistent , since , while he condemns some modern improvements , he praises others , and , though he abuses the additions of Bishop , 1 Till , and other eminent organ builders of modern date , as making organs too large , he commends the large organs built by Harris , Snetzlcr , and others , ivhich , from the account he himself gives of them , must have been nearly , if not quite equal , in size
to many of those built now , which he condemns as " music mills . " NOAV , as to the architectural question , we quite agree with him as to the quaint beauty of the form of Father Schmidt ' s organ cases , and prefer the tryptych form to any other . It is observable that all these old organs are built in what may be called the toAver form—that is to say , with four projecting towers of pipes ; whereas in most modern organs the front is entirelflatorif
y , , projecting in any part , still not curved . As for the "indelicate fat cupids by way of angels , " and other grotesque absurdities which adorned the organs of Harris , and the " innumerable pinnacles and incorrect Gothic details" which Green used to "engraft upon his tasteless boxes , " there can be no question about their propriety or impropriety . But AVC do not at all sec why Sir John Sutton should be so very severe upon the practice of placing the
cathedral organ upon the choir screen . In many cathedrals it would be difficult to place it anywhere else . Look at St . raid ' s , and who could lit int . of any other place ? In AVestminstcr Abbey , though the effect of the divided instrument is not as unsatisfactory as might have been expected , we yet cannot consider the change a happy one . Look again at the disastrous effect of the removal of the Canterbury Cathedral organ fiom the screen into the trifoiium * Rev . John Jebb , M . A ., Triii . Coll ., Dublin , Prebendary of Hereford , and late Prebendary of Limerick ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Literature.
exists still in the school a small organ , evidently of this date ; it may possibly be the identical instrument . It now contains six stops , and has a modern set of keys ; but an inscription upon it informs us that it ii-as repaired by Samuel Green in 1770 . " AVe may add to this account that this curious little organ contains what is noiv considered a rarity—a wooden twelfth . The author tells us that his principal object in publishing his
work , AA'as the hope that it mi ght , in some measure , check the great destruction of the fine old organs ivhich , for some sixty years , had been going on in this country . A practice heartily to be condemned , truly—AVIICU will people learn that old organ pipes will not bear to be replaced by neiv ones ?—an object praiseworthy in itself , but carried out to an excess which has gone far to damage the work itself , and mar the cause it advocates . A case in point
occurs to us . George III . once ou a time visited Salisbury Cathedral ; being much gratified Avith his visit he asked the dean what would be the most acceptable present he could make to the cathedral . "AVhy , " said the dean , " our organ is very old , and . " " Oh , I'll give you a neiv one , " said the king , and as the means of providing it chiefl y depended on the contributions ofthe gentlemen of Berkshire and AViltshire , desired that it mi ght be
considered his contribution as a Berkshire gentleman . A neiv and line organ AA- ; IS erected by Green , in Salisbury Cathedral , but St . Helen ' s Church , Abingdon , has since enjoyed the tones which Salisburv Cathedral has lost . The authorities of that church wero
not aware ol the fact ( as an eminent musician who knciv the instrument lately said , figuratively , to us ) that their organ possessed pipes of silver . " The reason , " says Sir John Sutton , " Avhy these beautiful instruments are so often destroyed , is , that the clergy and those in authority Eire persuaded by their organists that the instruments in question are not lit to play upon ; by ivhich they mean that it is impossible to show off
upon them iu the most approved fashion , for they have neither pedals , sivoll , or an } ' of those complicated contrivances with Avhich these modern music mills ( as 3 Ir . Jebb aptly calls them in his lectures on the choral service ) are crowded . Every lover of true cathedral music must have experienced hoiv much these modern alterations and additions to the organ mar the effect of that most devotional maimer of performing tho church service . "
_ He then proceeds to observe that the attention is continually dniAvn from the voices by the clattering of composition pedals and changing of stops ; that organists thunder on the pedals so as to droivn the small choirs our cathedrals IIOAV possess , consisting ( as he says ) of about ten boys aud six or eight men , three or four of Avhom tire most likely disabled b y oldage or drunkennessand much more to the same purpose . In fact Sir John Sutton
has clearly made his idea of giving a sketch of organ building from the revival of the art in the reign of Charles IT . to the present time , in a great measure an excuse for making a crusade against pedals , swells , and every conceivable mechanical contrivance for adding to the comfort of the organist and the poiver of the instrument . Again , after giving a fair account of the organs of St . Paul ' s Cathedral ; Christ ChurchOxfordand Trinity
, ; College , Cambridge , as built by the celebrated Father Schmidt , becomes to the Durham Cathedral organ by the same builder . After giving the particulars of such stops , & c , as it formerly contained , he proceeds as follows : —
It has been put into the hands of Mr . Bishop , who has added pedal pipes , new chorus , & c , & c . Tho instrument is now nearly tivieo the size it was ,-it first ; the tivo fronts being placed further apart than in the original arrangements , to give room fin- the additions . * The writer cannot but think the additions lately made to this organ unnecessary , a * tho instrument Avas perfectly effective before ; at the same time he docs not tear in this case the usual consequences of increasing the size of a cathedral organ , viz ., the destruction ofthe choral service , since the management is in the hands
of perhaps the first cathedral organist in England , . -ind ono AVIIO thoroughly appreciates the solemn choral services . " NOAA- , all this is reall y much too strong . AVe arc willing to agree with Sir John Sutton that " fugue playing is not the chief object in an English cathedral , " but by no means that the introduction of pedals and pedal pipes has " been so "mischievous" as he contends it has been . It is not our purpose here to enter into
a dissertation upon church music , which would perhaps scarcely be suited to these pages . AVe will merel y say that AVC go very far ¦ ¦ ' Since the publication of Sir John Sutton ' s book , the organ of Durham Cathedral has again undergone a change , aud has been moved from tlie choir screen to the ground ; a change on Avhich ( at least as regards its position ) AVO shall take the opportunity of saying a feiv words in the consideration of the architectural arrangement of organs . We may add that wo have every reason to believe that the services at Durham arc still in every way worthy of the praise bestowed upon them by Sir John Sutton .
with Sir John Sutton in his opinion as to the character of the music that ought to be performed in our cathedral churches—viz ., the music that was written for them—that is to say , the music of what may be called the Tudor School , the compositions of Tallis , Gibbons , Aldrieh , Farrant , Blow , Purcell , & c . —in short , that of which Boyce ' s score , in three volumes , may be taken as a type . Much as Ave love the compositions of Handel , Beethoven , Haydn , Mozart , & c , we by no means wish to see them introduced , as is but too often the case , into our cathedrals , and for these simple
reasons , viz .: 1 . That , grand as they arc , their character is different from that of the music of the English Church . 2 . That their composers never intended them for the service of the Church of England , or they ivould not have n'rittcii them in orchestral score . 8 . That , even had the } ' been so intended , we should not ivish to
have them performed otbenvise than in their integrity—that is , ivith that orchestra which in English cathedral services is out of the question . But , agreeing with Sir John Sutton in some points , and especially as to the excellence of tone in the old organs , which Avill probably never be surpassed—ivhy such a crusade against pedals and pedal ipeswhichwithout drowning the voices of
p , , one choir only , can be used with great effect with the full organ in accompanying both , or even one , and undoubtedly g ive at once depth , strength , and solemnity to the harmony ? And why should ilr . Jebb , ' * for whose opinion in many particulars we have the highest respect , call an organ with modern mechanical additions by the opprobrious name of a " music mill ? " AVhy should not our organs have the advantage of any mechanical
appliances that ingenuity can invent , to give variety to the music performed upon it ? As for the rattling of stops and composition pedals , of which Sir John Sutton complains , that evil has long been obviated—both stops and pedals being noiv made to work as quietly as the most fastidious person can desire , and composition pedals being by some makers dispensed with altogether by the application of the pneumatic principle to the draw stops in their
place . And why should Sir John Sutton suppose that the organist of Durham cathedral ( AVIIOSC taste we impugn not ) is the only organist in England who can refrain from using them all at once , and so making them a positive nuisance ? That some of onr cathedral choirs are small , no one will deny ; but why fix upon them the charge of drunkenness and inefficiency , when it is well known that , Avhatever cills of this kind may hiiA'c once
existed , they are fast disappearing ? And wh y suppose that organists generally have a tendency to overpower them when weaker than usual ? AVe cannot but think all this very uncalled for—very unnecessary—questionable as to its taste—and calculated to do rather harm than good . One word more before we pass to the consideration of Sir John Sutton ' s last chapter , on the important subject of the architectural
arrangement of organs . Our author appears to ns somcAvhat inconsistent , since , while he condemns some modern improvements , he praises others , and , though he abuses the additions of Bishop , 1 Till , and other eminent organ builders of modern date , as making organs too large , he commends the large organs built by Harris , Snetzlcr , and others , ivhich , from the account he himself gives of them , must have been nearly , if not quite equal , in size
to many of those built now , which he condemns as " music mills . " NOAV , as to the architectural question , we quite agree with him as to the quaint beauty of the form of Father Schmidt ' s organ cases , and prefer the tryptych form to any other . It is observable that all these old organs are built in what may be called the toAver form—that is to say , with four projecting towers of pipes ; whereas in most modern organs the front is entirelflatorif
y , , projecting in any part , still not curved . As for the "indelicate fat cupids by way of angels , " and other grotesque absurdities which adorned the organs of Harris , and the " innumerable pinnacles and incorrect Gothic details" which Green used to "engraft upon his tasteless boxes , " there can be no question about their propriety or impropriety . But AVC do not at all sec why Sir John Sutton should be so very severe upon the practice of placing the
cathedral organ upon the choir screen . In many cathedrals it would be difficult to place it anywhere else . Look at St . raid ' s , and who could lit int . of any other place ? In AVestminstcr Abbey , though the effect of the divided instrument is not as unsatisfactory as might have been expected , we yet cannot consider the change a happy one . Look again at the disastrous effect of the removal of the Canterbury Cathedral organ fiom the screen into the trifoiium * Rev . John Jebb , M . A ., Triii . Coll ., Dublin , Prebendary of Hereford , and late Prebendary of Limerick ,