The Iberian organ repertoire is some of the most overlooked in all of organ music. This could be for a variety of reasons, including the relatively traditional structures of the pieces as well as the incompatibility of the modern organ to play this music well. However, the few people who are familiar with this music…
In recent years, many pieces have surfaced by well known classical composers. Among these newly discovered works are a string trio by Mozart, a late character piece by Liszt, and a waltz by Chopin. While these discoveries are very exciting in their own right, these compositions recently confirmed to be by J.S. Bach are of…
The composer Max Reger is almost completely forgotten today. However, during his lifetime he was very well known in Germany. While he only lived for 43 years, he was extremely prolific, nearly reaching Op. 150 by the time of his death. His oeuvre is extremely diverse, ranging from simple piano miniatures to large scale organ…
In the vast world of Romantic piano repertoire, few composers are as mysterious and misunderstood as Alkan. He was a contemporary of Chopin and Liszt, but remained unknown even during his lifetime due to his reclusiveness. This resulted in the majority of his work being forgotten. Only in the last fifty years has his music…
Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) was a prolific German composer. From a young age he demonstrated great potential in music, and eventually studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. His greatest contributions to classical music were mainly works written for the pipe organ and harmonium. These pieces range from small chorale preludes or character pieces all the way to…
Late romantic composer Max Reger was admired by composers like Schoenberg, and was one of the greatest composers of the German organ tradition. His music has always been very controversial. Paul Rosenfeld reviewed Reger’s music, writing, “His works … are like mathematical problems and solutions, sheer brain-spun and unlyrical.” He even went on to call…
Franz Liszt is a name that strikes fear in the hearts of pianists. His incredibly difficult and virtuosic works for piano are major milestones in piano repertoire, even when compared to some contemporary pieces of music. Hungarian composer Franz Liszt was born in 1811. He was one of the major composers of the Romantic period,…
For organists, it is usually difficult to get a lot of time to practice. Most organs are located in churches, which means that the organist doesn’t have many opportunities to go in and practice. This is a problem I have had ever since I’ve started playing, which really limited my ability to improve. About a…
In Eenum, a small village in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, there is a small organ built by Arp Schnitger. The church in which it was built is one of the oldest churches in the Netherlands, dating back to the late 12th century. The organ was originally built in 1704 by Arp Schnitger….