| Contents |
British organ music at the dawn of the century -- Hubert Parry -- Charles Stanford -- Basil Harwood -- The pivotal role of the Royal College of Music-Walter Alcock and Charles Wood -- William Faulkes, William Wolstenholme, Alfred Hollins, and Edwin Lemare -- Ralph Vaughan Williams and Frank Bridge -- Edward Bairstow -- John Ireland, William Harris, and Harold Drake -- Healey Willan -- Herbert Howells -- Percy Whitlock -- Celebratory music -- New wine in old bottles -- Three midcentury composers of Gebrauchsmusik-Alec Rowley, Eric Thiman, and William Lloyd Webber -- Francis Jackson -- Serialism -- Peter Fricker -- Arthur Wills -- Kenneth Leighton -- Malcolm Williamson -- Avant-garde program music after 1950 -- Maxwell Davies -- William Mathias -- Alan Ridout -- Roman Catholic organ music and Colin Mawby -- The path taken in the twentieth century and a look at what may lie ahead -- Catalogue of works. |
| Abstract |
This is the first book-length survey of twentieth-century British music for solo organ. Beginning with a discussion of British organ music in the last decades of the Victorian era, the book focuses on composers' works, musical styles, and possible influences on specific compositions. Arranged in chronological order according to birth date are detailed studies on important composers who made especially significant contributions to organ music, including Hubert Parry, Charles Stanford, Healey Willan, Herbert Howells, Percy Whitlock, Francis Jackson, Peter Racine Fricker, Arthur Wills, and Kenneth Leighton. Composers' biographies, the role of organs and organ-building developments, influential political and sociological events, and aesthetic aspects of British musical life are examined. The concluding chapter covers the major phases and achievements of the century and gauges what might lie ahead in the new millennium. |
