The Organ and Christian Music
The Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and British Churches
Dec 28, 2008
The association of the organ music with Christian worship has led to various claims for its ancient use in church. In a Christian context, organs had their uses in earlier medieval times. By the 15th century, organ music was widely accepted as a part of worship.
All organs descended from pipe organ which uses wind moving through various pipes to produce sound.
The Roman Catholics
For a long time, the organ was mostly used to accompany congregational singing, but had its own voice, that is, it has an equal status to singers as well as independent of them.
If a hymn was to be sung on a solemn occasion, the choir would sing verses alternating with the organ, that is, the organist would play a verse on the congregation's behalf. This concept of substitution extended to the different parts of the Roman Catholic liturgy – antiphons, canticles, psalms or the Ordinary of the Mass. This gave the organ a central role in worship, which was an equal footing with the choir. For this purpose, an organ was installed at Notre Dame in Paris at the beginning of the 14th century.
The Calvinists
In the case of the Calvinists, the organ's secular associations had nothing to do with their stripping the Genevan churches of their organs. Although the melody of a hymn could bring its associated words to mind, for many reformers, this was not enough. They drove the organ out of the liturgy because it prevented the congregation from active participation in worship.
The organ use was confined to the musical adornment of joyful and public occasions, and therefore it was excluded for a long time from funeral rites, litanies and the burning of heretics. In France, there was also resistance to the use of the organ for the Credo and for the office of Matins.
The Lutherans
The Lutherans were ambivalent about the organ. Many large city churches had a fine instrument which they used in alternation with congregation or choir, primarily on special days like Easter and Christmas.
By the end of the 16th century, the organ's use in providing continuity of meditation was accepted and the status of organists in the Lutheran churches rose. They were permitted to play preludes on hymn-tunes, and to play during Communion, and possibly at either between the congregation's verses or congregational services.
Organ Music in Britain
In Britain, the chance of hearing organ music in village churches was remote. Often, organ music was confined to the larger and wealthier churches. It was also excluded from Scotland, which at that time had won its way to Calvinism under John Knox, in 1561.
The organ use in England was a continual source of controversy, but the manuscript collection Mulliner Book, which was written partially for St Paul's Cathedral, shows the role of the organ as a solo instrument in worship. The book contains music not only dating from before and after the Reformation, but also by some organists of the Chapel Royal, for example, Redford, Blitheman, and Tallis.
Related Links:
Source:
Wilson-Dickson, Andrew. The Story of Christian Music. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2003
 |
 |
 |
