June 2001

Cover

Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc.,

Warrensburg, Missouri

Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, The Time-Union Center for
the Performing Arts, Jacksonville, Florida

Historical Carillon Recording

Historische Beiaardopnamen - Volume 1 - 1925-1950. Vlaamse
Beiaardvereniging, 2000.

Marion Herfort Pelton, of Manhattan, Kansas, died on March
1. She was 97 years old. Born on November 1, 1903, in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, she
had been a Manhattan resident since 1928. Miss Pelton was Associate Professor
of Music at Kansas State University from 1928 to 1972, and had previously
taught in the Shorewood, Wisconsin public schools in 1927-28. She served
as organist for several churches in Manhattan, including the First
Congregational Church for 13 years and the First United Methodist Church for 10
years.

A recent trip to Europe afforded my family and me an opportunity to hear, see, and in one instance, play organs ranging from the early Baroque to the present day. The first one we encountered was a one-manual Bazzani organ in the resort community of Cavallino, Italy, dating from 1891. Its builder, Giacomo Bazzani, was the youngest son of Pietro Bazzani, also an organ builder. Pietro learned organ building with the great Venetian organ builder Callido, who learned building organs from Nacchini, so the organ at the Church of Santa Maria Elisabetta represents a tradition dating back to the 17th century.

A concert by Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and Gustav Leonhardt at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, held on October 27, 2000, provided the inspiration for writing an article on the historical Italian organ, its tradition and development. My goal is to give a panoramic view of the subject, and anyone knows that when looking at a panoramic view much of the detail is lost. Still, such an attempt is worth carrying out because some general guidelines can in any case be drawn. To do so, it is necessary to go back a number of centuries and try to understand the original role of the organ in the musical world of Italian churches.