The Oxford Book of Organ Music by Women Composers presents a comprehensive survey of historical organ pieces by women composers alongside six newly commissioned works. The music is stylistically varied and encompasses secular and sacred repertoire from a range of periods. In addition to original organ repertoire, the collection also contains several organ transcriptions in new arrangements for the instrument. ? 42 pieces for manuals and pedals, in a variety of musical forms, suitable for use at church services or as recital repertoire ? Original music for the instrument, spanning the sixteenth century to the present day, including compositions by Amy Beach, Clementine de Bourges, Nadia Boulanger, Jeanne Demessieux, Cecilia McDowall, Clara Schumann, and Ethyl Smyth, plus commissions from Kristina Arakelyan, Miriam Carpinetti, Ghislaine Reece-Trapp, Isabelle Ryder, Amy Summers, and Rebecca Groom te Velde ? Standalone miniatures, movements from organ sonatas and symphonies, transcriptions of piano, harpsichord, and flute pieces, and an orchestral opera overture ? A variety of difficulty levels, from ABRSM Grades 2-3 through to Diploma standard, with a graded index provided

Martin Luther. Par SCHNEIDER ENJOTT. On the occasion of the quincentenary of Reformation Day in 2017, the composer Enjott Schneider thoroughly studied Martin Luther the individual and all his contradictions. The result is a brilliant, demanding organ symphony which is perfect for concerts on the subject of Reformation and Martin Luther. The composer describes the five movements of the symphony as follows: '1st movement: Wir glauben all an einen Gott with its quintuplet-like beginning is very Gregorian in style, outlining the range of Lutheran emotionalism between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The irrationality of 'faith' ultimately has priority over any thought and evidence. At the beginning of the movement, sounds of knocking on wood remind of the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of churches in Wittenberg. The chorale melody sometimes hides with an almost rough medieval saltarello, referring to Luther's robustness and vitality with which he knew to carry away even common people. 2nd movement: In 1530, the electoral prince of Saxony presented to Luther at Coburg Castle the golden signet ring with the 'Luther rose' which became the symbol of his theology of grace. A white heart with black cross is fixed on a five-petalled rose. To him, 'white' is the colour of angels and ghosts, 'black' stands for the pain of crucification: 'The just shall live by faith, but by faith in the Crucified.' But the fact that the rose and the heart are the dominating symbols shows how Catholic Marian piety remained an ingredient of Luther's spirituality throughout his life. In line with the dominant five-petal structure of the rose, this movement was composed, to a large extent, in accordance with the floating, lyrical rhythm in 5/8 time. 3rd movement: The omnipresence of death and dying – from the plague and war to the never-ending dangers of daily life – was an essential part of the world view of that time. Fears ensued that might heighten into the grotesque, e.g. in the pictures of Hieronymus Bosch. The 'Danse macabre' was a popular motif in those years. Luther's chorale 'Mitten wir im Leben sind / mit dem Tod umfangen' from 1524 ('Enchiridion' from Erfurt) is based on the Gregorian chant 'Media vita in morte sumus' created in France around 750 and, with its idea of transience, inspired a simplistic air. 4th movement: The famous confession delivered at the Diet of Worms in 1521, 'I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen', are not Luther's words but the version later used as text for a pamphlet. However, it represents quite plainly the straightforwardness and inevitability of his mission. Musically, it was made into a 'perpetuum mobile', i.e. a dogged, ostinato and never-ending musical air. 5th movement: The 'Mighty Fortress', on the other hand, is one of the great symbols of Martin Luther which, with its shining C major key, embodies the Protestant ideology and willful nature of the Reformation unlike any other song. Heinrich Heine called it the 'Marseille anthem of the Reformation', Friedrich Engels the 'Marseillaise of the Peasants' Wars'. This disputability is not thought through to the end but rather interrupted: With a jubilant 'birdcall version' of the melody, the finale shows a rather chamber-music-like side of the 'ideals of freedom of Christians'.'/ Répertoire / Orgue

Organ Chorales from the Neumeister Collection-Organ Chorales from the Neumeister CollectionYale University Manuscript 'LM 4708'In 1985 Christoph Wolff working at Yale University discovered a collection of 82 chorales compiled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1756-1840) which contained 38 compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. They reveal great stylistic variety whose forebears stem from the Northern German organ tradition. Already these early works comprising fantasias fugues fughettas and imitative techniques employing motifs from chorale melodies bear witness to Bach?s broad compositional spectrum.This newly published volume is an updated edition of Series IV/9 of the ?New Bach Edition? (NBA) edited by Christoph Wolff and based on this source.In addition to a newly added concordance and corrections to the musical text it also contains a detailed Foreword by Christoph Wolff with further information on the Neumeister Collection and hymnological details. The source of the complete Neumeister Collection has recently been made available on ?Bach digital? shedding light on the manuscript for the very first time.Links to major sources have been provided in collaboration with the Bach Leipzig Archive and its database ?Bach digital?. The desired page of the source can be accessed quickly and conveniently via URLs at http://links.baerenreiter.com. The links stored there are examined for their validity on a regular basis.Any complete scholarly critical edition of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach must incorporate new research findings in the interest of scholars and performers alike. Now all of Bärenreiter?s new performing editions of Bach?s organ works are being revised to reflect the current state of scholarship and to convey maximum fidelity to the sources by being linked to ?Bach digital?.- Links to relevant sources in ?Bach digital?- Detailed new Foreword about the Neumeister Collection by Christoph Wolff (Ger/Eng)- Complete new engraving