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Topics - Max PB

#1
I'm new to this site and have had a quick(ish) look through topics over the past few days and can't find a section that best fits my own questions and my own passion for the organ in church. So I hope you will forgive me starting a new topic.

Does anyone on this site share my sheer excitement for the church organ?  I'm not takling about numbers of stops or applause after voluntaries, nor wind pressure nor necessarily the mechanical genius of the thing (although I am in awe of the beauty of the mechanical solutions developed over the years, and very aware of the ever-present symbiosis of maths, physics, art and wonder [can symbiosis exist between four things?!]).

But help, I'm getting lost in parentheses already, so can I ask my question? Why did the organ get into the church in the first place?  Was it just to give notes to the choir? Byrd, Tallis, Palestrina, Gibbons, Bull, Tye... did they need an organ? Some of them wrote extensively for the organ, maybe to give the choir a rest. Maybe because there are times in an ancient building at times of ancient ritual where the organ just does the job so much better than anything else available.

The organ is a solo instrument, but more importantly an accompanying one too.  Just as the priest has to lead the congregation, so does the organ. But whereas the priest rarely functions alongside the congregation (controversial statement?) the organist's skill is in supporting and developing everything around him or her. The season of the year, the season of the church, the weather, the life, birth, sickness or death of participants, the aptitude of the choir, the sense of the lessons or the thrust of the sermon. Or the stillness and serenity and hugeness of communion, or the anticipation and preparation before a service. 

The organ can do all these things better than any words or any other instrument in an ancient and resounding building - small organs for small buildings, bigger organs for big buildings. The organist is key to reflecting the occasion and to developing it beyond the capacity of any of the other participants.  There are times for the organ to be silent, and times for grandeur, and calm, and shock. 

Ritual is enhanced by the organ, both through sympathy and by stark contrast.

And all of this is part of a to thousand year old ritual. Always changing. Not always right. But the river of our lives is surely enriched by the organ more than anything else manmade.

is there place in this forum for talking about when the organ has made a difference? or what some of our significant experiences have been as listeners or players?