By BRYAN LOHR

Craig R. Whitney is the author of the book All the Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters (published by Public Affairs). He has worked for The New York Times as an international reporter, foreign editor, and Washington editor and is currently the assistant managing editor of The Times. Whitney began organ studies at age 13 and has played and written about organs around the world.

Craig Whitney (Photo by Lisa Yelon>

On October 16, the Juilliard organ department welcomed Whitney to its weekly performance class, where the students played works by Bach, Franck, Dupré, John Weaver, and a transcription of Rachmaninoff. Whitney said that the visit confirmed his impression that the quality of organ students has never been higher, and went on to speak about historical issues and various styles of organ building. He then took a number of questions from the students, who conversed with him about the future of the organ and were fascinated by his accounts of musical experiences as a correspondent in East Berlin and Moscow.

A few days before Whitney's visit, organ student Bryan Lohr sat down with him for the following conversation about issues surrounding the organ and those who play it.

Bryan Lohr: Today, the organ is in a fragile state; some would call it a crisis, some would call it just a slump. In conservatories like Juilliard, organ departments are aloof from the other instruments. Many people in classical music think the sounds of the organ are overly rich and the people who play them are overly eccentric. How did we get here?

Craig Whitney: Well, my thesis in All The Stops is that organists and organ builders did this to themselves by becoming fixated on historical performance and authenticity, more so than any other group of musicians. Obviously this can be a good thing, unless it is taken to an extreme, which is what happened with the organ. We (I mean the organ world) removed ourselves from the world at large and neglected some things that would have kept the organ more popular. Popularity isn't a bad thing, when you want to keep the instrument and its literature alive for people to listen to and enjoy.

BL: What can be done to get the organ enthusiasm to what it was, say, 50 years ago?

CW: I think that, over the last decade or so, there have been so many great new instruments built in churches and concert halls across the country—of better quality than any that were built in the century before—and these could set the stage for a renaissance. We may be able to get some of the way back to where we were 50 years ago … if organists will take advantage of these instruments, and engage with audiences. Organists need to reach out with music that can be appreciated by anybody. That doesn't necessarily mean one should play concerts full of mushy, romantic orchestral transcriptions … but throwing one in the mix doesn't hurt.

BL: A little variety (or a lot of it) in programming an organ recital can make all the difference.

CW: Yes, and it's the organists who take advantage of variety who have a good chance of making a comeback. I think the low point of the instrument's popularity is behind us; it's on an upward slope now.

BL: This month, the Juilliard Symphony will be performing the Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony. We are lucky to have an organ in Alice Tully Hall; there is a notable lack of organs in concert halls throughout America.

CW: Notably Avery Fisher Hall. Remember that Philharmonic Hall had an organ—and it was thrown out in what I call an "acoustical convulsion."

BL: And many people don't realize the extent of the orchestral repertoire that calls for the organ. Respigi's Pines of Rome, of course the Saint-Saëns…

CW: … Poulenc, Mahler, Copland … and there are many more. But of course, some of the best organs are found in churches. Here in New York City we have some of the best in the country. Organists already know this, but you can certainly have a good concert experience in a church. Although I do think it helps a lot, whether in a church or a concert hall, if the organist can be seen and not "hidden," if the console is out of sight. And there are ways to get around that.

BL: Such as closed-circuit video projections of the organist at the console.

CW: And if you can't do that, the organist can come out and talk to the audience. Audiences love it.

BL: And that is something that the great concert organist Virgil Fox (who is discussed at length in All The Stops) did—and ever since, organ audiences expect some kind of verbal commentary.

CW: [Laughing] Virgil did it over the top, though, like he did everything.

BL: On the topic of churches: Do you think the organ's close association with sacred music and organized religion hurts its potential as a concert instrument with some people?

CW: I don't think it has to hurt it at all. There is a big appetite for sacred music, too. People just generally seem to associate the organ with church music or horror films … or baseball games. It just shows, maybe, that a lot of people have never really heard the organ. If you can get people exposed to the organ in church, that's fine. You've got a captive audience; show them what the organ can do. I know lots of people who have heard the organ in church and were profoundly moved by it … and they went to concerts because they heard a good performance in a worship service. Who knows? Maybe it even got them interested in classical music as a whole.

BL: There is very little music being written for the organ by composers who are non-organists.

CW: Well, the thing is that organists need to reach out more to the classical musicians. Works that are commissioned for organ and orchestra by orchestras tend to not work very well, because the composers don't know how the organ sounds or what works best on it. When E. Power Biggs had his weekly radio show on CBS in the '40s and '50s, he worked closely with composers (who didn't write for organ) and commissioned new works … and he played them. These things don't happen by chance; you have to help composers discover the organ.

BL: Improvisation is an art that is practiced by organists and not many other classical musicians.

CW: I think improvisation is a great hand that organists have … and you should play it for all it's worth. I can only encourage organists to develop that skill. When the great French organists Marcel Dupré and Louis Vierne came to this country in the 1920s and '30s, there was always an improvisation on a submitted theme on the program—this was one of the biggest draws they had. That fascinated people. It adds an element of spontaneity and excitement that you won't find in any other classical music setting.

BL: It's one thing to get people listening to the organ and another to get people to play it. Fewer and fewer students are pursuing the organ.

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CW: Enrollment is just following the cycle of decline in the general interest in and use of the pipe organ. Although, if I were asked what is the single most significant thing that could be done to increase the number of people studying the organ, I would say raise their salaries in churches—because that's where most organists will find work. I think organists have been way underpaid in this country for many years.

BL: Do you have any advice for young organ students?

CW: If you've got it, flaunt it. It's a splendid instrument! It can do things that no other instrument can … it can produce unmatched effects and has charms that I think the public will recognize and respond to if organists reach out to them with music they can appreciate. I would encourage young organists to persevere against all odds, and by fighting the good fight they will hopefully turn things around—for themselves and all the rest of us.

Currently, Juilliard has eight organ majors and one organ minor. The School is fortunate to have the newly renovated Holtkamp organ in Paul Hall, a Rodgers digital organ in the Bruno Walter Orchestra Studio, and three pipe organs on the fifth floor. Visitors are welcome to the organ performance class, held each Thursday at 11 a.m. in Paul Hall.

Bryan Lohr is a third-year organ student.