The Organ in Worship

The organ is a very complex instrument both to describe and to play. The following article defines many of the terms used to describe and distinguish organs and identifies important issues in playing them in worship.

The organ was an invention of the Eastern empire early in the Christian era, where it was associated with court entertainment and was as a result never employed in church. When imported into the West about the eighth century, it was embraced by the church and became the archetypal instrument for the accompaniment of worship. Fully developed, the organ was, until relatively recently, the most elaborate mechanical device ever created, constructed by the cooperative act of numerous artisans, designed to be a worthy complement to the architecture and adornment of the worship environment.

The latest generation of instruments provides a summation of the best of the past and enables the performance of a wide variety of musical styles for a multitude of uses. A single performer, playing authoritatively, can provide both introductory, bridge, and closing music, accompany soloists and choirs, as well as play in concert with other instruments. Most importantly, the organ can lead congregational singing, a fundamental element in corporate worship.

The organ depends greatly for its effectiveness on the resonance of the building in which it is housed. The same acoustic environment which favors the organ aids singing, since singers feel more secure in a resonant building than in an acoustically dry space which results in vocal timidity and fatigue. Thus, it is best to avoid surface treatments that are overly absorbent of sounds, such as ceiling tile and carpeting.

Pipe Organs

The pipe organ is custom-designed by definition. It is expensive but can last for centuries. A pipe organ can be impressive visually, displayed sculpturally, or enclosed in a sound-focusing case. Considerable space is needed for the largest instruments. Where an elaborate musical program is projected, a pipe organ is ideal. A small chapel might be well served by a small pipe instrument despite its limited power and colors. For the most sensitive performance of early music, a tracker organ might be desirable, despite its higher cost. Naturally, only the most experienced builders should be considered if a sizable expenditure is to be made on a pipe organ.

Electronic Organs

The most recent electronic instruments, those in which the sounds of actual pipes are recorded digitally and stored in a computer, are sonically impressive. These can be of custom design, and vary from modest instruments, appropriate for a small church and congregation, to very large and complex ones. They may include useful features such as the ability to record complete selections using a computer sequencer and instantly alterable tunings. Naturally, since they are a product of the most recent electronic technology, it is impossible to predict their longevity with certitude, though it is probably considerably less than an instrument with actual pipes. Electronic instruments, providing a substantial quantity of varied sound at a price more modest than the pipe instrument, are a good value and musically effective.

Purchasing or Restoring Organs

Nowhere is there such a variety of issues to be faced as with providing an organ for the church. The cost of the instrument, the nature of the worship, the present and anticipated size of the congregation, the extent of the music program and number of choirs, and the amount of music that is actually used in a service are all factors to be considered. A large and expensive instrument is appropriate for a church with a professional-caliber organist and an extensive music program.

The restoration of older pipe organs should be decided on and undertaken with care. Some organs (despite sentimental attachment to them) were built at a time in the first decades of this century when organ design had descended to its worst. The advice of trained and impartial specialists is needed to appraise accurately whether such an instrument is worthy of preservation.

Often, for sentimental reasons money is repeatedly spent on organs that have in truth served their purpose and outlived their usefulness. They may never function adequately, either tonally or mechanically. Sometimes some pipework can be saved and revoiced and accompanied by new pipes, but this work should only be undertaken with a full awareness on the part of the church administration of what is involved. Having made such a decision, the church should only use a builder fully qualified to perform this work.

The Inner Workings of Organs

Organ stops, sets of pipes, or groupings of sounds, are designated by the approximate length of the pipe needed to produce their lowest tone. Thus 8´ represents the pitch of the piano. The pedal division is usually based on a 16´ principal, the next important keyboard or manual on 8´, the subordinate manuals on 4´ and 2´. Those stops with numbers less than eight, such as 4´ and 2´ are designed for what is called upper work, which gives brightness and carrying power. Off unison ranks, designated 1 2/3´, and so on, are called mutations and are used to color the unison stops. All stops should have individual character but should also blend into a cohesive ensemble.

Organs depend on a variety of sounds that have been produced historically by pipes of differing designs. The foundation is made up of the principals or diapasons, pipes of moderate size and scale, pipes of narrow scale. Flutes, open or stopped (closed), are stops of a wider scale. Hybrids are tapered pipes such as the Gemshorn which have a multipurpose use. The reeds have a vibrating tongue, not unlike a party horn and provide colorful solos or more full sounds used in climaxes. Mixtures are complex stops with more than one rank or sound per note and are used to blend the ensemble, giving brightness to the lower notes and added weight to the upper. Various percussive sounds such as chimes, bells, or harpsichord (in some of the electronic instruments), are also available, though not essential.

Registration is the art of combining stops appropriately, which constitutes a special demonstration of the organist’s refined ear for sound. The organist should avoid using numerous stops of 8´ or unison pitch, but selectively add upper work, especially when leading the congregation’s singing. It is best to rely on a principal tone with sufficient upperwork to produce a bright sound. The organ should be of sufficient power to support and envelop the voices. Most inexperienced organists play too softly for proper support of congregational singing. Further, softer voices of the organ should be dropped as louder ones are added to retain clarity. It is better to add upper work than more and more stops of unison pitch.

Inexperienced organists often make excessive use of the tremulant (or vibrato in certain electronic instruments). This device produces an undulation in the tone of the instrument. Normal organ tone is without it. It may properly be used to provide warmth and contrast either on a soft solo voice or a soft accompaniment. It should be avoided on louder combinations. [In black gospel worship, however, organists have long used vibrato as a coloristic device, bringing the vibrato to a stop, which functions as an expectant pause, then pushing it to a progressively faster rate as the next musical phrase begins. This kind of use of the organ had a great influence on the use of electronic keyboards in rock music.]

Organists

Most organists start their organ training after studying the piano, when they are able to read music well and play the simpler works of composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Schumann, and have a moderate degree of facility in scales and a basic understanding of harmony. While it is a keyboard instrument like the piano and harpsichord, playing the organ requires its own technique, notwithstanding the addition of performance on the pedalboard. The organist, having at his or her disposal an instrument that sustains tone, must learn to provide finger movement which connects tones smoothly, a technique called substitution, and to carefully articulate repeated notes. While formal instruction is desirable, a pianist who has been called to serve as organist in a small church can profit immensely from working through a good organ-method book. Churches might consider offering partial scholarships for organ lessons to young performers to ensure a supply of properly trained musicians and to relieve the regular musician of the feeling of being chained to the organ bench.

Organ Music in the Worship Service

In the use of solo organ music for the worship service, repetition and routine in registration and in the character of the music selected are to be avoided. Each service should be musically unique and the works to be played chosen carefully. It is best to begin by selecting hymns and anthems that reflect the topics or themes of the appointed scriptural texts and then choosing organ music to complement them. Often these can be an effective treatment of one of the hymn tunes to be heard in the service or one of the many organ works inspired by a line or two of Scripture.

The organ prelude, which prepares for the mood of the service, can be quite short. Prefacing a service with the common fifteen minutes of featureless and forgettable background music should be avoided. Postludes too can be quite short and varied in character. There are many ways of designing the musical architecture of the worship service. Sometimes, for example, the most substantial use of the organ might be in the center of the service, especially if the end suggests something more introspective.

For most churches the more extended works of Bach, for example, may be too long and grand; in all but the largest churches, the congregation may have already left before the conclusion of the piece. An occasional “recital postlude” might prove welcome. For someone of moderate organ technique, the so-called Magnificat fugues of Johann Pachelbel might serve as excellent postludes. Preludes and postludes based on hymns selected for the core of the service are especially good.

The amount of worthy organ music is vast, from all periods. It ranges through all degrees of difficulty from the simplest (much worthy music having been written for the hands alone) to the most virtuoso. Almost all major composers are represented as well as some lesser-known who have made an especially great contribution to the instrument.

In order to avoid the inevitable sense of isolation and enervation that develops when one plays week after week, the solitary organist should avail himself of the opportunity of growth through membership and participation in the many events sponsored by the American Guild of Organists and various other organizations devoted to church music. In addition, listening to recordings of all kinds of music, not just those for their instrument and for the church, is desirable. Attendance at services and musical events sponsored by other churches will provide positive experiences. Hearing performances of symphonies and opera will also stimulate an awareness of the varied power of music. Ongoing musical, liturgical, and theological inquiry is essential. Churches should encourage this through affirmation and budgetary support. The organist is a privileged minister able to proclaim the gospel powerfully.