List of organ symphonies

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An organ symphony is a piece for solo pipe organ in various movements. It is a symphonic genre, not so much in musical form (in which it is more similar to the organ sonata or suite), but in imitating orchestral tone color, texture, and symphonic process.

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Though the very first organ symphony was written by German composer Wilhelm Valentin Volckmar in 1867, the genre is mainly associated with French romanticism. César Franck wrote what is considered to be the first French organ symphony in his Grande Pièce Symphonique several years earlier, and the composers Charles-Marie Widor, who wrote ten organ symphonies, and his pupil Louis Vierne, who wrote six, continued to cultivate the genre. Modern composers such as Jean Guillou have written organ symphonies as well. The genre is considered to have been brought to fruition in the second organ symphony of André Fleury.

The term organ symphony is also used occasionally to refer to orchestral symphonies with a prominent solo role for an organ (as distinct from an Organ Concerto). The best known examples of such pieces are Camille Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3 and the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra by Aaron Copland, though strictly speaking such pieces are closer in form to orchestral symphonies than to the solo organ works described above.

This page lists the best known symphonies for solo pipe organ and symphonies for orchestra and organ. Organ concertos (such as those by George Frideric Handel, Francis Poulenc, and David Briggs) are not listed here; neither are orchestral symphonies featuring calling for organ where the organ does not have a prominent solo part (such as those by Gustav Mahler or Arnold Bax).

Symphonies for solo organ

Kalevi Aho (1949–)

Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929)

Augustin Barié (1883–1915)

Edward Shippen Barnes (1887–1958)

Joseph-Ermend Bonnal (1880–1944)

Émile Bourdon (1884–1974)

Alexandre Eugène Cellier (1883–1968)

Pierre Cochereau (1924–1984)

Clarence Dickinson (1873–1969)

Marcel Dupré (1886–1971)

Olle Elgenmark (1936-2016)

André Fleury (1903–1995)

Jean-Louis Florentz (1947–2004)

César Franck (1822–1890)

Marc Giacone (1954)

Jean Guillou (1930-2019)

Georges Jacob (1877–1950)

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877–1933)

Jean Langlais (1907–1991)

Lazare-Auguste Maquaire (1872-1906)

Frederik Magle (1977)

Allan J. Ontko (1947)

Pierre Pincemaille (1956-2018)

Charles Quef (1873–1931)

Léonce de Saint-Martin (1886–1954)

Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892–1988)

Leo Sowerby (1895–1968)

Fernand de La Tombelle (1854–1928)

Charles Tournemire (1870–1939)

Louis Vierne (1870–1937)

Wilhelm Valentin Volckmar (1812–1887)

Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937)

Malcolm Williamson (1931–2003)

Symphonies for organ and orchestra

Kalevi Aho (1949–)

Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929)

Aaron Copland (1900–1990)

Marcel Dupré (1886–1971)

François-Joseph Fétis (1784-1871)

Louis Glass (1864-1936)

Alexandre Guilmant (1837–1911)

Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008)

Joseph Jongen (1873–1953)

Tālivaldis Ķeniņš (1919-2008)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)

Ture Rangström (1884-1947)

Poul Ruders (1949–)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)

Esa-Pekka Salonen (1958-)

Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen (1838-1915)

Tomáš Svoboda (1939–)

Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)

Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Percy Whitlock (1903-1946)

Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937)

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Enregistrements". Official website of Pierre Pincemaille. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
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