This Companion is an essential guide to all aspects of the organ and its music. It examines in turn the instrument, the player and the repertoire. The early chapters tell of the instrument's history and construction, identify the scientific basis of its sounds and the development of its pitch and tuning, examine the history of the organ case, and consider the current trends and conflicts within the world of organ building. Central chapters investigate the practical art of learning and playing th...

• 1 Origins and development of the organ Nicholas Thistlethwaite
• 2 Organ construction Stephen Bicknell
• 3 The physics of the organ John Mainstone
• 4 Temperament and pitch Christopher Kent
• 5 The organ case Stephen Bicknell
• 6 Organ-building today Stephen Bicknell
• 7 The fundamentals of organ playing Kimberly Marshall
• 8 A survey of historical performance practices Kimberly Marshall
• 9 Organ music and the liturgy Edward Higginbottom
• 10 Italian organ music to Frescobaldi Christ...