[AMS-announce] CONF: The Organ in German Culture, U. of Calgary, July 2007

[ams-announce-admin at list.bowdoin.edu]

The Organ in German Culture

Summer Seminar led by Prof David Yearsley, Cornell University

University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In partnership with the 11th Annual International Summer School at Mount Royal College Organ Academy

July 23, 25, and 27, 2007

In the summer of 2006 a new organ by Jürgen Ahrend Orgelbau was installed in the Rozsa Centre at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada . Following an Inaugural Festival and Symposium held in September 2006, and an Inaugural Season of Organ Concerts, the University will host a Summer Musicology Seminar in partnership with the 11th Annual International Summer School at Mount Royal College Organ Academy from July 23-27, 2007. The Seminar topic has been inspired by the Ahrend organ and will be led by leading musicologist Prof. David Yearsley of Cornell University, USA.

The seminar draws on a range of readings both of general interest for organists and organologists, and relevant to David Yearsley’s current scholarly project on the unique significance of the organ in German culture. The central argument pursued in this project is that the organ was crucial to German cultural identity from the Early Modern Period, when German-speaking Europe shows a fascination with, if not an outright subservience to, Italy and France in virtually every other cultural sphere. In the 19th century crucial aspects of the German ideal came to dominate European organ culture, and have subsequently shaped that culture globally.

Given that Prof. Yearsley is mostly interested in somewhat broader cultural issues, this seminar will not primarily be concerned with issues of performance or organological issues, though both will be considered as they arise and as they are of interest to the participants.

In Session 1  (July 23) the reading material is Schlick’s seminal-and still insightful-treatise on organ building along with some secondary literature by important contemporary writers on the organ (Peter Williams and Arnfried Edler). The hope is to get a general sense of the outlines of German organ culture in the Early Modern Period.

In Session 2  (July 25) the reading is another influential treatise on organ building, Werckmeister’s Orgelprobe. From there, discussion will include Bach and some contemporary accounts of him in performance at the organ; students will also examine the early reception of him as organist, particularly in the first full biography (Forkel), a work which develops many important themes about the position of the organ in culture and the enduring status of Bach as organist. In addition, there will be dialogue regarding Bach’s organ aesthetics (Adlung) and the classic survey of the organs of this part of Europe (Williams).

Session 3  (July 27) will consider technological developments in organ building in the 19th century. Discussion will consider a contested historiographical moment, Hesse’s introduction of the Bachian organ tradition to Paris in 1845. To conclude, students will look at the recent rebuilding of the landmark Frauenkirche in Dresden (destroyed in 1945) and the controversial decision not to reconstruct the masterpiece organ of Gottfried Silbermann, the mighty instrument that graced the church before its destruction. This fascinating case will allow students to treat some larger issues of European organ culture today and its complex relationship to its own past. As a background for these discussions students will read the final chapter of John Butt’s Playing with History, which presents a broader perspective on issues of cultural reconstruction, historical awareness, and musical performance.

The seminar will involve the active contributions of the participants in the form of presentation of one or more of the readings and engagement with fellow seminar members in discussion.

Prof Yearsley will perform a solo organ concert on the Ahrend organ on Thursday July 26, 2007.

For a full reading list, and for details on registration, please visit the following web site:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/conservatory/intsumschool.shtml

For information on the Ahrend organ:
http://www.finearts.ucalgary.ca/rozsa-organ/home/index.php

Questions may be directed to:
Neil Cockburn
The Cantos Music Foundation Organ Scholar
University of Calgary
cockburn at ucalgary.ca
+ 1 (403) 440-5648