A Century of Organs and Organists
The Organ Club Centenary Compendium, 2026
A Century of Organs and Organists
The Organ Club Centenary Compendium, 2026
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Publisher: RSCM Publications
ISBN: 9780854023684
Published: 21/03/2026
Published to mark the centenary of The Organ Club, this expansive compendium celebrates the “king of instruments”, its literature, and those who play it.
With a foreword by distinguished organist Dame Gillian Weir, this book situates the activities of The Organ Club within the wider context of numerous aspects of the world of organ and choral music over the past 100 years; it aims to explore in depth several topics that are not only central but also unique to this remarkable century of change; and to provide an accurate and fairly comprehensive portrayal of British organ and church music from the 1920s to the present 2020s.
Organised four parts – The Club, The Organ, Church Music, Organ Performance and Teaching – the book includes contributions from leading organists such as Graeme Keir and Thomas Trotter
Jonathan Rennert (President of The Organ Club) writes:
Do you enjoy listening to organ music? Are you an organist, an organ builder, a teacher, a student, a musicologist, or a lover of the sound of diapasons and tubas? For one hundred years, since 1926, The
Organ Club has catered for enthusiasts of the world’s most complex and resourceful musical instrument. Mozart called it The King of Instruments. This fat book celebrates the Club’s centenary by presenting chapters which cover a wide range of subjects: organ building, organ recording, teaching children and adults to play the organ, and personalities of the organ world. The authors are experts in their fields. The editor, Paul Hale, is himself a fine recitalist, cathedral organist and consultant on organ projects.
I am full of admiration for The Organ Club…. I am delighted to have been one of the Organ Club’s Vice Presidents for many years, and to have the opportunity now of commending the extraordinary range of interests and activities available to its members. Explore these pages and marvel at the pleasures described within. Dame Gillian Weir
Contents
Foreword Dame Gillian Weir DBE, Hon D.Mus (Vice President) v
Preface Paul Hale (Past President) viii
The Club
Chapter 1: Henry Willis III: Joint Founder and First President of The Organ Club Bruce Buchanan 1
Chapter 2: The Life and Work of Father Willis Henry Willis III (1889-1966) (A talk given to the Club in 1933, as its first President) 14
Chapter 3: Organ Club personalities over the decades Colin Menzies OBE (Past President) 19
Chapter 4: The Organ Club abroad John Sayer (Past President) 26 The Organ
Chapter 5: A Century of the Liverpool Cathedral Grand Organ Dr Peter Lynan 51
Chapter 6: A voice from the past: Tonal Structure (first published in the Organ Club’s 21st Anniversary Handbook, 1947) Lt. Col. George Dixon (1870-1950) 67
Chapter 7: Developments in pipe organ technology during the first century of The Organ Club Geoffrey Coffin & Andrew Moyes 74
Chapter 8: General Cancel: Organs and Organists at the BBC Graeme Kay 119
Chapter 9: British organ case design in the 20th Century John Norman (1932-2025) 140
Chapter 10: A century of organ recordings in the UK Gary Cole 149
Chapter 11: The digital take-over: pipeless organs over the past century Richard Lowe 163 A Century of Organs and Organists iv
Chapter 12: The British Institute of Organ Studies, 1976-2026 Revd Dr Nicholas Thistlethwaite 176
Chapter 13: Gloucester Cathedral: the 2026 Nicholson organ Paul Hale (Past President) 182 Church Music
Chapter 14: Reflections on a century of church music in Britain Andrew Reid 199
Chapter 15: Ernest Lough and the bel canto chorister “One hundred years from hence, people will still be moved by this boy’s voice” Stephen R. Beet 219
Chapter 16: Half a century of organs and organists in the City of London Jonathan Rennert (Centenary President) 228
Organ Performance & Teaching
Chapter 17: W.T. Best (1826-1897): a Bicentenary Tribute (first published in Organists’ Review, November 1997 & February 1998) Dr Roger Tebbet (1947-2023) 236
Chapter 18: British organ music, from the 1920s to the 2020s Kevin Bowyer 265
Chapter 19: Teaching the organ today
(i) Introducing children to the organ Jeremiah Stephenson 282
(ii) Inspiring young organists James Parsons (Vice President) 286
(iii) Teaching adult organists Professor David Baker 291
Chapter 20: Reflections of a Concert Organist: an interview with Thomas Trotter (Vice President) Mark Joyner 296
Chapter 21: Aspects of Vision Dame Gillian Weir DBE, Hon D.Mus (Vice President) 307
Appendix 1: Contributors 311
Appendix 2: The Organ Club: Presidents, 1927-2026 317
Appendix 3: The Organ Club: Personnel, 2026 318
Appendix 4: The Organ Club: How did it all begin? 319
