ORGAN TRANSCRIPTIONS 3OI 



feels that as in the realm of organ tone the fugue rules supreme, so in 

 that of the orchestra the eternal Tightness of the symphony must be 

 recognized. 



But who shall say that there exists an impassable boundary- 

 line which neither the organ nor orchestra can cross ? If, for example, 

 musicians welcome a Bach fugue arranged for the orchestra, why not 

 accept at least a few movements from Beethoven's symphonies arranged 

 for the organ ? While it is true that the symphony loses much in being 

 thus transferred from the orchestra to the organ, it is also true that it 

 is not in every respect a gain to the organ fugue to be transferred to 

 the orchestra. But the logical argument is after all based on the fact 

 that the orchestra is hungry for a Bach literature, which it possesses 

 only in a limited sense, unless orchestral arrangements are resorted to; 

 and for the same reason the organists' hunger for a Beethoven literature 

 can only be satisfied by transcriptions. While the mistakes of organists 

 are many, not only in attempting at times the impossible — to say nothing 

 of their often most unworthy interpretations of orchestral works — yet 

 the motive is not an unworthy one when prompted and guided by true 

 musicianship. And again, one must not forget that some of the greatest 

 composers were organists, in some cases preferring the organ to any 

 other instrument. Take, for example, Beethoven. One hardly thinks 

 of him as playing exclusively the fugues, etc., of the early period of 

 Bach's time, but rather as finding through the medium of the organ 

 an expression for his creative energy — in other words as improvising. 

 Now, while we have no exact record of these improvisations, we can 

 imagine the same Beethoven at the organ that we know in his sonatas, 

 quartettes and symphonies. We cannot know what he dreamed at the 

 organ. Perhaps at the sacrifice of some of the immortal works he has 

 left to the world he might have enriched organ literature. But this is 

 only dreaming of what might have been. 



Let us now turn to the more technical questions, explaining also 

 some of the limitations of the organ and also why transcriptions are 

 either justly or unjustly criticized. A subject of vital importance in this 

 connection is that of registration (the use of organ stops). While the 

 possibilities of an organ to reproduce approximately certain orchestral 



