The Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement) in Europe and Britain, Part I
John Rowntree
The Organ Reform Movement stems from the musical experience, thinking and writing of Albert Schweitzer – scholar in both music and theology, and organist. Stemming from his dissatisfaction with the organs of his time, in particular the organ by Weigle in the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart (1897), he spent the years from 1896 to 1906 researching many organs, old and new, as well as researching and writing on Bach. In 1906 he published his pamphlet The Art of Organbuilding and Organ Playing in Germany and France. In this he outlined the pillars of organ reform, mechanical action, better tone-quality, adequate choruses and good location. At the same time, he sowed the seed of the eclectic organ, an organ which united the German and French organ schools.
Schweitzer’s foundation was the return to mechanical action – “only with the tracker does one come into a really intimate relationship with the organ” – noting that the tracker action at St Thomas’s in Strasbourg was over 100 years old, and one on which everything comes forth so clearly and precisely. His ideas gradually attracted attention. In 1909, Schweitzer addressed the Third Congress of the International Music Society in Vienna. As well as developing his fundamental thinking, he stressed the need for organs of quality in tonal, mechanical and architectural terms. He also suggested that fine old organs should be classified as historic monuments. The same year, 1909, saw Walcker building a ‘reformed’ organ in St Reinoldi, Dortmund, which attempted a synthesis of German and French styles.
