Pipes of the Past: Registration Practices of Selected Composers for the American Centennial Era Organ

Abstract

American organ music prior to the twentieth century is a somewhat neglected area of organ study due to biases of early-twentieth-century academia. This lecture seeks to better familiarize the audience with a small section of that neglected study by examining the relationship between the organs, composers, and compositions of the Centennial era (ca. 1870–1900) through the lens of organ registration. This particular period of nineteenth-century American music became the era when American composers developed a quintessentially American culture around the organ—a culture which would provide the foundation for much of what came after it. By examining this period and its contributions, we gain a better understanding of later musical developments in the organ world and an appreciation for what came before.