French Classical Organ Music and the Liturgy

Abstract

The study of liturgical organ music has often failed to take into adequate account its liturgical role. The following is an attempt to remedy this failure in respect of French classical organ music. It will reveal something of the nature and the extent of the use made of the organ in French churches and religious houses during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and thereby I hope create a perspective in which the extant literature of organ music of this period may be viewed. The essential nature of my inquiry is that it investigates the organ's role in the liturgy not primarily from the extant literature of organ music, but from the documents issued by the Church to regulate its role. Whilst these documents are prescriptive rather than descriptive, there can be no doubt that they reflect contemporary practices. Indeed, it is clear from a reading of some of them that prescription sprang directly from established usage. After reviewing the types of ecclesiastical legislation upon which we are dependent for our information, the main part of this article will be taken up by a close study of the role of the organ in various liturgical items belonging to the Mass and offices. A final section will discuss the alternation of polyphony with organ music.