CFP: The British Organ in the 20th Century and Beyond (Oxford University)

THE BRITISH ORGAN IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND BEYOND

OXFORD ORGAN CONFERENCE 2010

15 - 18 APRIL 2010

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Betts Fund of the University of Oxford, and the British Institute of Organ Studies are pleased to announce the last conference of a four-year sequence entitled 'The Organ in England: Its Music, Technology, and Role through the Second Millennium'. This year, the Royal College of Organists will be holding its spring meeting in Oxford at the same time and some joint events will be included in the Programme.

The conference will take place from 15 to 18 April 2010 at Merton College, Oxford, and will cover the organ and its music in the present era and into the future. The title for the conference is 'The British Organ in the Twentieth Century and Beyond.'

300-word proposals for 20-minute papers and lecture-recitals are welcome on any and all relevant topics. The following broad areas are given as suggestions for possible lines of enquiry, and are not meant to be limiting:

The organ in musical and artistic culture

* The changing sound of the organ from Edwardian to neo-baroque to modern

* The rediscovery of the organ case its form and function

* The interest in new organs in historic styles

* The presentation of the organ in audio and visual media

* Historically informed performance and the organ

Organ Builders

* The decline of nineteenth-century factory builders and the rise of a new generation

* The impact of electrical and electronic technology for organ control and sound

* The rediscovery of classical principles

* Changing attitudes to conserving and treating old organs

* The impact of imported organs in the UK

* Future clients for future organs

* Specific builders

Composers, Performers, and Teachers

* Who wrote for the organ and what did they write?

* Who performed it?

* Who were the prominent teachers, and what was their impact?

Organ builders and organists in association

* The emergence of amateur and professional associations for organists and organ builders, and their impact

Twentieth-century icons

* Organs, organists or advisers who reshaped organ culture in the UK

Abstracts will be due by 11 December, with responses from the panel of readers by 18 January.

For more information, please contact:

Dr Katharine Pardee

Betts Scholar in Organ Studies

Director of Chapel Music

Wadham College

University of Oxford

kfpardee [at] yahoo.com