Scan 342
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
6 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1a solo stop that he fancies, then on a second manual he draws accompanying stops and proceeds to run his fingers over the first keyboard without any attempt at phrasing, rhythm, or musical form, and by way of accompaniment adds a few chords on the second manual and an occasional harmonious note on the pedal. The effect pleases an unthinking listener, but it should not be called music, and such a performance is to be condemned. Or he accompanies his solo stop by a bass formed from the repetition of the same chord, six, eight, or twelve times to each measure. There is no meaning in a bass of this kind and its effect is amateurish in the extreme. But the true art of solo playing is by no means easy, and, like everything else that is worth while, it requires skill and effort and thought.
3The kind of music that is best suited to the organ is that of the old composers. Each manual has planned for it its own distinctive part to play; the pedals do not merely fill in, supplying either an occasional deep tone or a regular droning bass, but every note arranged for them is a part of the harmonic whole and as necessary as the solo manual to an organic whole. The result is that the intellectual faculties are called upon in composer, organist and listener. It affords artistic enjoyment to all concerned, it is not a combination of sounds which affords childish delight to the unthinking and irritation to the scholar. The organ is so majestic, so dignified, that unless it is handled with the intelligence and respect due to its construction and power it offends the critic; it is not an instrument to be trifled with.
5One of the frequent faults with organists is to hold the notes beyond their time value while a change of stops is being made. By doing this the player spoils the rhythm, and rhythm in organ music must be maintained. The rhythm of all music is its soul, its character, and without it music becomes monotonous and meaningless. The rhythm in a piano is maintained by the accent, but the organ is incapable of accent, and everything depends upon the time rhythm, the correct phrasing of the notes. The pianist has both the
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