Volume 3 in our series of easy nineteenth-century organ music provides semi-professional organists with another collection of short one or two manual organ pieces. The editor Martin Weyer , an organist regarded as an authority on nineteenth-century organ music, has limited his selection to works that combine solid craftsmanship with ease of performance.
In essence, volume 3 follows the editorial principles of its two predecessors while increasing the number of truly easy pieces. Among the composers represented is the Dutchman Johannes Barend Litzau (1822-1893), whose Preludes op. 13 and 17 are simple yet elegant works for beginners. The Czech composer Johann Beranek (1813-1885), on the other hand, was more concerned with counterpoint, his Ten Fugues appear here for the first time with detailed analyses to underscore the volume's 'learned' slant. Carl Gottlieb Umbreit (1763-1829) and his colleague Michael Gotthard Fischer (1773-1829) stand at the borderline between a galant organ st yle derived from Kittel and the early romantic age. Another composer who took part in this subtle stylistic evolution was Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck .
The brevity of the compositions makes them perfectly suitable for use as preludes and postludes in church services of all denominations. The volume contains detailed comments on performance practice and a list of sources.
- Technically easy romantic literature
- Also playable on smaller instruments
- Short pieces well suited for use in church services
- Notes on performance practice