Organ concerto
Encyclopedia
An organ concerto is a piece of music, an instrumental concerto
for a pipe organ
soloist with an orchestra. The form first evolves in the 18th century, when composers including George Frideric Handel
, Antonio Vivaldi
and Johann Sebastian Bach
wrote organ concertos with small orchestras, and with solo parts which rarely call for the organ pedal board. A few Classical
and Romantic
works are extant. Finally, there are some 20th- and 21st-century examples, of which the concerto by Francis Poulenc
has entered the repertoire, and is quite frequently played.
The organ concerto form is not usually taken to include orchestral works that call for an organ used as an extra orchestral section, examples of which include the Third Symphony
of Camille Saint-Saëns
, Gustav Holst
's The Planets
or Richard Strauss
's Also sprach Zarathustra
.
Organ concertos arranged from Concerto Grossi, Op.6:
movements contain extensive organ solo parts. One example is Cantata 146, whose first and second movements are adapted from the keyboard concerto BWV 1052. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/146.php. Cantata 35 contains two instrumental Sinfonia
s with organ solo, the first of which agrees with the fragmentary keyboard concerto BWV1059. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/035.php. (A recording of a reconstruction of this as an organ concerto was made by Ton Koopman
. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/NVP/Koopman-NV3.htm
Bach's admiration for Vivaldi and the Italian style led to several transcriptions of instrumental concertos for solo organ:
wrote six concertos.
wrote examples, including the following.
wrote six concertos for two organs (without other instruments):
, http://www.guilmant.nl/ wrote one of his organ sonatas (1874) in two versions http://www.guilmant.nl/opus_3544.html, one as a symphony for organ and orchestra:
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
for a pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
soloist with an orchestra. The form first evolves in the 18th century, when composers including George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
and Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
wrote organ concertos with small orchestras, and with solo parts which rarely call for the organ pedal board. A few Classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
and Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
works are extant. Finally, there are some 20th- and 21st-century examples, of which the concerto by Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
has entered the repertoire, and is quite frequently played.
The organ concerto form is not usually taken to include orchestral works that call for an organ used as an extra orchestral section, examples of which include the Third Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Saint-Saëns)
The Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, was completed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 at what was probably the artistic zenith of his career. It is also popularly known as the "Organ Symphony", even though it is not a true symphony for organ, but simply an orchestral symphony where two sections out...
of Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's The Planets
The Planets
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
or Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Also sprach Zarathustra
Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt...
.
G. F. Handel (1685-1759)
Handel wrote organ concertos as interludes for his oratorios—playing the organ part himself while directing the orchestra. Some are arrangements of his earlier works, or of works by other composers. For more details see the list of Handel's concertos. Many alternatives exist, so it is difficult to precisely number his organ concertos, however it is generally accepted that he wrote 16:- HWV 289 - Op. 4 No. 1 in G minorHandel organ concertos Op.4The Handel organ concertos Op 4, HWV 289–294, refer to the six organ concertos for chamber organ and orchestra composed by George Frideric Handel in London between 1735 and 1736 and published in 1738 by the printing company of John Walsh...
: larghetto, allegro, adagio, andante - HWV 290 - Op. 4 No. 2 in B flat major: tempo ordinario, allegro, adagio, allegro ma non troppo
- HWV 291 - Op. 4 No. 3 in G minor: adagio, allegro, adagio, allegro
- HWV 292 - Op. 4 No. 4 in F major: allegro, andante, adagio, allegro
- HWV 293 - Op. 4 No. 5 in F major: larghetto, allegro, alla siciliana, presto
- HWV 294 - Op. 4 No. 6 in B flat major: andante, allegro, larghetto, allegro moderato
- HWV 306 - Op. 7 No. 1 in B flat majorHandel organ concertos Op.7The Handel organ concertos Op 7, HWV 306–311, refer to the six organ concertos for organ and orchestra composed by George Frideric Handel in London between 1740 and 1751, published posthumously in 1761 by the printing company of John Walsh...
: andante, allegro, largo, adagio, allegro - HWV 307 - Op. 7 No. 2 in A major: overture, tempo ordinario, tempo ordinario II, allegro
- HWV 308 - Op. 7 No. 3 in B flat major: allegro, fuga, spiritoso, minuets 1 & 2
- HWV 309 - Op. 7 No. 4 in D minor: adagio, allegro, adagio, allegro
- HWV 310 - Op. 7 No. 5 in G minor: allegro ma non troppo, adagio, andante, minuet, gavotte
- HWV 311 - Op. 7 No. 6 in B flat major: pomposo, adagio, tempo ordinario
- HWV 295a - F major (No. 13): largo, allegro, larghetto, allegro
- HWV 295b - second version: larghetto, allegro, larghetto, allegro
- HWV 296a - A major (No. 14) : largo e staccato, andante, grave, allegro
- HWV 296b - second version, Pasticcio Konzert: andante, adagio, grave, andante allegro, a tempo ordinario
- HWV 304 - D minor (No. 15) : andante, adagio, allegro
- HWV 305a - F major (No. 16) : concerto, allegro, andante, andante allegro
- HWV 305b - second version: overture, allegro, andante, andante allegro
Organ concertos arranged from Concerto Grossi, Op.6:
- HWV 297 - D minor, after HWV 328: overture, air, allegro, allegro, allegro moderato
- HWV 298 - G major, after HWV 319: a tempo giusto, allegro, adagio, allegro, allegro
- HWV 299 - D major, after HWV 323 : larghetto e staccato, allegro, presto, largo, allegro, minuet un poco larghetto
- HWV 300 - G minor, after HWV 324 : largo e affettuoso, a tempo giusto, musette larghetto, allegro, allegro
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- D minor for violin, organ and strings, RV541
- F major for violin, organ and strings, RV542 (allegro, lento, allegro)
- C major for violin, cello, organ and strings, RV554a
- F major for 2 violins, 2 organs and double orchestra, RV584 (incomplete)
- C minor for violin, organ and strings, RV766
- F major for violin, organ and strings, RV767
- C major for violin, organ and strings, RV774 (incomplete)
- F major for violin, organ and strings, RV775 (incomplete)
- C major for 2 organs and strings, RV793 (incomplete)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
There is no clearly named "organ concerto" (i.e., for organ and orchestral ensemble) by Bach, but several cantataBach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
movements contain extensive organ solo parts. One example is Cantata 146, whose first and second movements are adapted from the keyboard concerto BWV 1052. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/146.php. Cantata 35 contains two instrumental Sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
s with organ solo, the first of which agrees with the fragmentary keyboard concerto BWV1059. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/035.php. (A recording of a reconstruction of this as an organ concerto was made by Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/NVP/Koopman-NV3.htm
Bach's admiration for Vivaldi and the Italian style led to several transcriptions of instrumental concertos for solo organ:
| BWV | key | source | movements |
|---|---|---|---|
| BWV 592 | G major | after Johann Ernst de Saxe-Weimar Transcription of a concerto for violin, strings and continuo |
allegro, grave (E minor), presto |
| BWV 593 | A minor | after Antonio Vivaldi Based on Op. 3 No. 8 for 2 violins and basso continuo (RV 522) |
allegro, adagio (D minor) senza pedale a due claviere, allegro |
| BWV 594 | C major | after Antonio Vivaldi Based on Op. 7 No. 5 for violin and basso continuo (RV 208) |
allegro, adagio (A minor), recitativ, allegro - cadenza - allegro |
| BWV 595 | C major | After Johann Ernst de Saxe-Weimar | Uses the first movement only. |
| BWV 596 | D minor | after Vivaldi or W.F. Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach , the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer... Based on Op. 3 No. 11 - RV 565 by Vivaldi or Op. XII by W.F. Bach |
allegro - grave - fuga, largo e spiccato, finale allegro |
| BWV 597 | E flat major | unknown composer | Gigue |
Michel Corrette (1709-1793)
The French organist-composer Michel CorretteMichel Corrette
Michel Corrette was a French organist, composer and author of musical method books.-Life:Corrette was born in Rouen, Normandy. His father, Gaspard Corrette, was an organist and composer. Corrette served as organist at the Jesuit College in Paris from about 1737 to 1780. It is also known that he...
wrote six concertos.
- Concerto No. 1 in G major: allegro, aria I, aria II, allegro
- Concerto No. 2 in A major: allegro, adagio, allegro
- Concerto No. 3 in D major: adagio, aria, andante, adagio, allegro
- Concerto No. 4 in C major: allegro, aria, allegro
- Concerto No. 5 in F major: allegro, aria, allegro
- Concerto No. 6 in D minor: allegro, andante, presto
Thomas Arne (1710-1778)
The English composer Thomas Arne composed six concertos.- Concerto No. 1 in C major: largo ma con spirito, andante, allegro, minuetto
- Concerto No. 2 in G major: allegro, lento, moderato, allegro, con spirito
- Concerto No. 3 in A major: con spirito, con spirito, minuetto, moderato
- Concerto No. 4 in B flat major: con spirito, minuetto, giga moderato
- Concerto No. 5 in G minor: largo, allegro con spirito, adagio, vivace
- Concerto No. 6 in B flat major: allegro, moderato, ad libitum, allegro, minuetto
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
The German composer C. P. E. BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach
right|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
wrote examples, including the following.
- Concerto for organ and orchestra No. 4 in B flat major: con spirito, minuetto, giga
- Concerto for organ and orchestra No. 5 in G minor: largo, allegro con spirito, adagio, vivace
- Concerto for organ and orchestra No. 6 in B flat major: allegro moderato, minuetto - variations
- Concerto for organ, strings and basso continuo in G major: allegro di molto, largo, presto
Antonio Soler (1729-1783)
The Spanish composer Antonio SolerAntonio Soler
Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, usually known as Padre Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos was a Spanish Catalan composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras...
wrote six concertos for two organs (without other instruments):
- Concerto No. 1 in C major: andante, minué
- Concerto No. 2 in A minor: andante-allegro, tempo di minué
- Concerto No. 3 in G: andantino, minué
- Concerto No. 4 in F: afectuoso, andante non largo, minué
- Concerto No. 5 in A: cantabile, minué
- Concerto No. 6 in D: allegro-andante-allegro-andante, minué
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901)
- Organ Concerto No. 1 in F Major http://www.carus-verlag.com/index.php3?BLink=KKWerk&WerkID=7490&Action=kkwerk
- Organ Concerto No. 2 in G Minor http://www.carus-verlag.com/index.php3?BLink=KKWerk&WerkID=7489&Action=kkwerk
Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant Alexandre GuilmantAlexandre Guilmant
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer.- Short biography :Guilmant was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer...
, http://www.guilmant.nl/ wrote one of his organ sonatas (1874) in two versions http://www.guilmant.nl/opus_3544.html, one as a symphony for organ and orchestra:
- Sonata No. 1 in D Minor / Symphonie No. 1 in D Minor for Organ and Orchestra: Introduction et Allegro / Pastorale (Andante quasi allegretto) / Final (Allegro assai)
20th and 21st centuries
- Marcel DupréMarcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
(1886–1971): Concerto in E minor Op. 31 (1931)
- Hans GálHans GálHans Gál was a composer, teacher and pianist.Gál was born to a Jewish family in the small village of Brunn am Gebirge, Niederösterreich, just outside Vienna. He was trained in that city at the New Vienna Conservatory where later he taught for some time. While a student he won the K. und K...
(1890–1987): Concertino for Organ and String Orchestra Op. 55 (1954)
- Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
(1895–1963):- Kammermusik No. 7, concerto for organ and wind band, Op. 46 No. 2 (1927)
- Concerto for organ and orchestra (1963)
- Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
(1899–1963): Concerto for organ in G minorOrgan Concerto in G minor (Poulenc)The Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G minor is a concerto composed by Francis Poulenc for the organ between 1934 and 1938. It has become one of the most frequently performed pieces of the genre not written in the Baroque period....
(1938)
- Flor PeetersFlor PeetersFlor Peeters was a Flemish composer, organist and teacher.-Biography:Born and raised in the village of Tielen , he was the youngest child in a family of eleven...
(1903-1986): Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, op.52
- Normand LockwoodNormand LockwoodNormand Lockwood was an American composer born in New York, New York. He studied composition at the University of Michigan from 1921–1924, and then traveled to Rome and studied composition under Ottorino Respighi from 1925 to 1926, and during this time he also had composition lessons with Nadia...
(1906–2002): Concerto for Organ and Brasses
- Jean LanglaisJean LanglaisJean Langlais was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser.- Biography :Jean Langlais was born in La Fontenelle , a small village near Mont St Michel, France...
(1907–1991):- Concerto No. 1 for organ or harpsichord and orchestra (1949)
- Concerto No. 2 for organ and string orchestra (1961)
- Concerto No. 3 Réaction for organ, string orchestra and timpani (1971)
- Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
(1910–1981):- Toccata Festiva, for organ and orchestra Op. 36
- Charles ChaynesCharles Chaynes- Biography :Chaynes studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Darius Milhaud and Jean Rivier. In 1951 he won the Prix de Rome with the cantata Et l'homme se vit les portes rouvrir...
(b. 1925): Concerto for organ, strings, timpani and percussion after the Spiritual Canticle of St. John of the Cross (1973)
- Jean GuillouJean GuillouJean Victor Arthur Guillou is a French composer, organist, pianist, and pedagogue.-Life:Following autodidactic studies in piano and organ performance, Guillou became organist at the church St. Serge in Angers at age 12. From 1945-1955, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Marcel Dupré,...
(b. 1930):- Invention for organ and orchestra (concerto No. 1) Op. 7
- Concerto Héroïque for organ and orchestra (concerto No. 2) Op. 10
- Concerto No. 3, for organ and string orchestra Op. 14
- Concerto No. 4, for organ and orchestra Op. 31
- Concerto No. 5, Roi Arthur for organ and string quintet Op. 35
- Concerto 2000 for organ and orchestra Op. 62
- Concerto No. 6 for organ and orchestra (triple woodwind, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, percussion, strings) Op. 68
- Concerto No. 7 for organ and orchestra Op. 70
- Thierry EscaichThierry EscaichThierry Escaich, born 8 May 1965 in Nogent-sur-Marne, is a French organist and composer.-Life:Born in 1965, Thierry Escaich studied organ, improvisation and composition at the Paris Conservatory , where he won 8 “first prizes” and where he has taught improvisation and composition since...
(b. 1965):- Concerto for organ and orchestra (Concerto No. 1, 1995)
- Concerto for organ, string orchestra percussions (Concerto No. 2, 2006)
- Daniel E Gawthrop (b. 1949): Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (premiere 2004)
- Stephen PaulusStephen PaulusStephen Paulus is an American composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His best-known piece is his 1982 opera The Postman Always Rings Twice, one of several operas he has written for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, which prompted The New York Times to call him "a young man on the road...
(b. 1949):- Concerto for Organ, Chorus and Orchestra
- Concerto for Organ, Strings and Percussion (1992)
- Grand Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (2004)
- Double Concerto for Piano and Organ with Strings and Percussion (c. 2010)
- Eugenio Maria Fagiani (b. 1972):
- Concerto for Organ and string orchestra Op. 98 (2009)
- Frederik MagleFrederik MagleFrederik Magle is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He studied composition and music theory with Leif Thybo and attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music where he studied composition and organ...
(1977):- Concerto for organ and orchestra "The Infinite Second" (1994)