The Practical Organist: 50 Short Works for Church Services (Dover Music for Organ)

Was not what I expected and item returned.The only “view” was the cover and not actual music selections to know what I was purchasing.

I have had some quality issues with some but not all Dover reprints in the past. Happily this is quite good and usable. It is reprinted from the 1889 American publisher, Schirmer, with Samuel P. Warren's editorial liberties made for American organs and organists. Guilmant's original suggested registrations (probably with his Cavaillé-Coll organ at La Trinité in Paris in mind) are missing, but the suggested American/English substitute registrations make sense, especially if one has not made a study of organ registrations from various time periods, countries and builders. The original French recommendations are partially available in the public domain online if one needs them for reference. My other nitpick is that the editor gives metronomic tempo recommendations that do not always seem appropriate to either me or Guilmant's traditional Italian (fuzzy, open to interpretation) indications, e.g. andante, allegro, adagio. Metronomes were available to Guilmant, but I don't think he had metronome markings in his original 1871-80 French 12 self published editions.This is actually a new 2001 edition with Guilmant's original ordering restored. He intended these pieces for the liturgical church organist. I think the translation of Practical from the French gives the wrong impression. These works were meant for organists that actually practice the art in churches. They are not meant to be instructional per se or easy. I did, however read through all 226 pages over the course of two weeks and found them to range from easy to quite challenging, at least from a sight reading standpoint. They were almost all universally inspiring. I am a retired (part time) organist with conservatory training and twenty years "practical" experience in liturgical Christian church music. This would have been helpful in my work back then, but it was published after I retired.The books are for "Harmonium" which is also something of a misnomer also. I'm sure he had his three manual with pedal La Trinité pipe organ in mind, but the harmonium was more often available in both homes and smaller churches in 19th century France. I am fortunate now to have a modern digital virtual pipe organ with good samples of French Cavaillé-Coll organs with which to play these works and it is quite a thrill. Guilmant happens to be a great-grandfather teacher of mine, which added to the pleasure for me.

As a church organist, I need to have a number of short preludes and interludes available to play before or during Mass. I haven't been through all 50 pieces yet, but I've looked through the first 20 or 25 songs, and I've marked about 10 that I really like. There's a couple that are only one page, which makes a great "filler" piece that's easy to learn. Some of these are almost sight-readable, but are still quality music. I highly recommend.

A fellow organist friend suggested this book to me when I got a church organist gig. I haven't had a chance to perform a lot of them yet, but after sight-reading through a few, I'm definitely a fan of Guilmant's music. The level seems to be for intermediate to early-advanced. One minor detail is that it's one of those books whose spine is too thick to break, so I had to get it plastic-bound. Over all, definitely a good investment for the practical organist.

I am by no means crazy about whatever works of Guilmant's I have ever heard. But I found a number of decent, practically sight-readable, pieces here to serve generic preludes, and they seem well-received by the somewhat Baroque-weary parish where I play. The book is very well produced. It is sawn not glued which, together with the type of paper used, allows it to open flat easily and stay flat on the music stand. The print is large and easy to read. It is a very good deal for what I paid on Amazon.

I cannot recommend this collection enough if you are a church organist who has to play a lot of filler music. These are all short pieces, 3-8 min, that are fairly easy to read They are also pleasant to listen to but they are not examples of crappy music. They are however, definitely a product of late 19th century France so if you do not like the French Romantic style of organ music, don't bother.

Varies from easy to play to challenging. Some pieces are too long to be useful in my church setting. Had to find a way to cut them. Appropriate sacred music.

Nice book, clear printing,, book is somewhat wobbly on the stand :-) It also misses the original French registrations (but these you can find on IMSLP.org )

I gave this to a friend who is my music teacher, the organist of a large church with a first class choir, and a lecturer at the Scottish Conservatoire. His comment was that it "was, without being in any way derogatory of previous Christmas gifts, the best ever." He went on to say that each of the peices stands alone and is the perfect length for use in church services for the uplifting of the offering, introductory pieces etc.

Being an organist in a very small village with a single manual, short pedal board organ, I was perhaps being a little over optimistic as to how helpful this book would be. Generally, the pieces are good, but its usefulness was limited in my context.

Well set out and the music is lovely, many a smile on a Sunday morning.

Non tutti i pezzi sono brevi e solo pochi sono a portata di organista principiante.

Bella raccolta di pezzi per organo di Guilmant, alcuni brani utili da inserire durante il servizio liturgico