ORGAN FRANSCRIPTIONS 303 



compositions it would be better to adhere strictly to one or the other 

 of these plans, while in others the advantage and even necessity of com- 

 bining them would be apparent. When one hears an organist play the 

 opening theme from the Pilgrim's Chorus from Tannhauser on a vox 

 humana stop in a tempo rubato style, one wishes there was an inter- 

 national law consigning all such offenders to exile on some far-away 

 island — offenders to be found in the ranks of organists who consider 

 themselves musicians and who hold good positions even in large cities. 

 This is but one of many illustrations of compositions where the organ 

 reproduces, or at least suggests, the orchestral effects, and where any 

 failure to interpret the true spirit of the composition is utterly unpar- 

 donable. In the case of Beethoven's "Coriolanus" overture a free 

 translation on the organ is much better than an attempt to follow the 

 score, for thus interpreted it becomes a noble organ composition — one 

 can almost think that had Beethoven written for the organ he would 

 have composed for it a "Coriolanus" overture. 



It is interesting to note the attitude of the German, French and 

 English organists in this matter — an attitude influenced by national 

 temperament, often by local conditions, and most certainly by the 

 demands of the church. The conservative musicianship of Germany 

 and France has prevented many serious mistakes; but in England there 

 has been less opposition. While the masterly transcriptions of W. T. 

 Best and a few since are worthy additions to organ literature, unques- 

 tionably the mania for transcribing has been allowed to run riot and, 

 especially in America, those organists who so far forget the nature of 

 their instrument as to attempt almost everything in piano literature 

 from Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" to the Rhapsodies of Liszt — to say 

 nothing of their devouring hunger for orchestral works — deserve severe 

 criticism. Granting there are temptations in this country to make 

 concessions to a public taste which is far from an understanding of the 

 true organ style, either in composition or performance, and that the 

 organ is too often considered as a concert instrument with no reference 

 to its proper architectural environment, it is still the duty of the organist 

 to remain true to certain ideals, and not to degrade his noble art merely 

 to flatter superficial public taste for selfish personal reasons. 



