THE ORGAN.
Ita Peculiar Fitness For tho Form of Com. position EnoTrn as tlio Fu^ne. The organ as it existed in Bach's day, and as in most essentials it exists now, is an instrument peculiarly cuggestive in regard to the realization of the finest and most complete effects of harmony, of modulation and of that simultaneous progression of melcdies in polyphonic combination which is most completely illustrated in the form of composition known as the fugue. It is so for two or three reasons. In the first place it is the only instrument in which the sounds are sustained with the same intensity for — »&y required length of time after they are first emitted. However long a note may have to bo sustained, its full value is there till the moment the finger quits the key, a quality which is invaluable wheu wo aro dealing with long suspen- ' Bions and chains of sound. Secondly, the opportunity of playing the bass with the feet on the pedals, leaving the left hand free for the inner parts, puts within the grasp of a single player a full and extended harmony and a freedom in manipulation such as no other instrument affords. Thirdly, and in the case especially of fugue compositions, the immense volume and power of the pedal notes impart a grandeur to the entry of the bass part in the composition such as no other medium for producing music can give us. In the time of Bach this splendid source of musical effect was confined to the great organs of Germany. The English organs of the day had in ( general no pedal board, and it is probably owing to this fact more than to anything else that Handel's published organ music ia so light, and even ephemeral in style as compared with Bach's ; that he treated the organ, as Spitta truly observes, cnesely like a larger and more powerful harpsichord. Without the aid of the pedal it would be rather difficult to do otherwise, and the English organ of the day was in every respect a much lighter and thinner affair than the "huge house of the sounds," the thunder of which was stored in the organ gallery of many a Lutheran church. — Fortnightly Review.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH18960730.2.20
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Manawatu Herald, 30 July 1896, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
374THE ORGAN. Manawatu Herald, 30 July 1896, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.