Organists and Organ Playing in Nineteenth-Century France and Belgium

Now in paperback! Organists and Organ Playing in Nineteenth-Century France and Belgium Orpha Ochse From the catastrophes of the French Revolution to a Golden Age of organ culture. [O]ne simply must recommend this highly coherent and well-illustrated book...."-L'Orgue Even the well-informed reader will find a number of surprises. Who knows, for example, that Fryderyk Chopin played the organ for a funeral service and that Lefebure-Wely, in turn, played the great pianist and composer's Preludes for his funeral at the Madeleine? The abundance of details, we should add, does nothing to obscure the architectural clarity of this book." -La Flute harmonique Now Ms. Ochse has succeeded in producing still another landmark work.... Although the work is extraordinarily well documented, the prose retains a narrative quality throughout, at times even taking on the character of good storytelling." -The American Organist Orpha Ochse, Professor Emerita at Whittier College, is author of The History of the Organ in the United States (Indiana University Press). She is well known as a teacher, lecturer, recitalist, and church musician.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments I. Prelude: Music for a Revolution Part One: Performers and Programs II. In the Wake of the Storm: 1800-1809 III. Years of Rebuilding: 1810-29 IV. The Romantic Dawn: The 1830s V. Contrasts, Conflicts, and Conquests: The 1840s VI. Mid-Century Masters and Their Programs VII. New Horizons: The 1860s VIII. Tragedy to Triumph: The 1870s IX. Renaissance Achieved: The 1880s X. Years of Fulfillment: The 1890s Part Two: The Organist as Church Muscian XI. Historical Background XII. Organ and Liturgy XIII. Notes on the Repertoire Part Three: Great Schools and Famous Teachers XIV. The Paris Conservatory Organ Class: Sejan to Franck XV. The Brussels Conservatory Organ Class: Fetis to Mailly XVI. Lemmens, a Closer Look XVII. Widor as Teacher XVIII.Guilmant as Teacher XIX. The Niedermeyer School XX. Organ Study at the Niedermeyer and Gigout Schools XXI. The Schola Cantorum XXII. Postlude Appendix A. Organ Performers by Cesar Franck Appendix B. Students in Franck's Organ Class Appendix C. Oragan Performers by Camille Saint-Saens Bibliography Notes Index

About the Author :
ORPHA OCHSE, Professor Emerita of Music at Whittier College, is author of The History of the Organ in the United States (another Indiana University Press paperback). She is well known as a teacher, church musician, recitalist, and lecturer.

Review :
"Highly recommended ... the story of a remarkable renaissance." -Choice "Orpha Ochse has ... concentrated more on the personalities, the institutions, or the relations between the Church and its employees than on the music itself. The choice is perfectly justifiable, and one simply must recommend this highly coherent and well-illustrated book... --L'Orgue "Even the well-informed reader will find a number of surprises. Who knows, for example, that Fryderyk Chopin played the organ for a funeral service and that Lefebrure-Wely, in turn, played the great pianist and composer's Preludes for his funeral at the Madeleine? The abundance of details, we should add, does nothing to obscure the architectural clarity of this book." --Ton van Eck in La Flute harmonique "Now Ms. Ochse has succeeded in producing still another landmark work... Although the work is extraordinarily well documented, the prose retains a narrative quality througout, at times even taking on the character of good storytelling." --Agnes Armstrong in The American Organist "This book is a success story from beginning to end, both from the point of view of the subject matter ... and in the manner of its presentation." --James B. Hartman in The Diapason " ... in Organists and Organ Playing in Nineteenth-Century France and Belgium, the American musicoligist Orpha Ochse provides not just an authoritative and thorough survey of the period, ... but also shows how the changing fortunes of organists and their newly built instruments relfected the social and political upheavals of the time... an absorbing achievement."--Times Literary Supplement, 26 April, 02