List of organ symphonies

Last updated

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.

Contents

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 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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony</span> Type of extended musical composition

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Danzi</span> German conductor and composer (1763–1826)

Franz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi (1730–1798) and brother of the noted singer Franzeska Danzi. Danzi lived at a significant time in the history of European music. His career, spanning the transition from the late Classical to the early Romantic styles, coincided with the origin of much of the music that lives in our concert halls and is familiar to contemporary classical-music audiences. In his youth he knew Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom he revered; he was a contemporary of Ludwig van Beethoven, about whom he — like many of his generation — had strong but mixed feelings and he was a mentor for the young Carl Maria von Weber, whose music he respected and promoted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Alfvén</span> Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter (1872–1960)

Hugo Emil Alfvén was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.

Sinfonia concertante is an orchestral work, normally in several movements, in which one or more solo instruments contrast with the full orchestra. It emerged as a musical form during the Classical period of Western music from the Baroque concerto grosso. Sinfonia concertante encompasses the symphony and the concerto genres, a concerto in that soloists are on prominent display, and a symphony in that the soloists are nonetheless discernibly a part of the total ensemble and not preeminent. Sinfonia concertante is the ancestor of the double and triple concerti of the Romantic period corresponding approximately to the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asger Hamerik</span> Danish composer

Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period. Aged 80 at time of death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilding Rosenberg</span> Swedish composer and conductor (1892–1985)

Hilding Constantin Rosenberg was a Swedish composer and conductor. He is commonly regarded as the first Swedish modernist composer, and one of the most influential figures in 20th-century classical music in Sweden.

The Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21, is a work for violin and orchestra by Édouard Lalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Louis Nicodé</span>

Jean Louis Nicodé was a Prussian pianist, composer and conductor.

An organ concerto is an orchestral piece of music in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone.

Jean François Toussaint Rogister was a Belgian virtuoso violist, teacher and composer.

Graham Whettam was an English post-romantic composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony for Organ No. 6</span>

The Symphony for Organ No. 6 in G minor, Op. 42, No. 2, is an organ symphony by Charles-Marie Widor. Completed in 1878, the composer premiered it at the Palais du Trocadéro as part of the Paris World Exhibition. It was first published by Hamelle in 1879, together with the famous Symphony for Organ No. 5.

References

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