Organ Music & Research Resources
The Vox Humana Editorial Board has compiled the following list of resources about organ music around the world. If we have missed anything, or you know of a new project we should add, please write the Editor.
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Digitized Manuscripts & Monumental Editions
As many libraries globally have digitized their music manuscripts, we can only list the largest online collections here. However, when looking for a particular source, check RISM first (see below) to find the holding institution, and then check that library's catalogue; if it is not online, we recommend you write the librarians, who are often very happy to help.
Bach Digital
Most of J.S. Bach's manuscripts, digitized by Bach-Archiv Leipzig. (DE)
Books of Hispanic Polyphony
Catalogue of polyphony and keyboard manuscripts from Spain and New Spain, managed by the Institució Milà i Fontanals, Barcelona. (ES)
British Library Digitised Manuscripts
Primary sources and scores digitized by the British Library. (UK)
Cantus Manuscript Database
Medieval plainchant manuscripts digitized by the University of Waterloo. (CA)
Useful for examining variants of canti firmi in early organ music, and for improvisation.
Classical Scores Library
Collection of digitized scores managed by the Alexander Street Press. (US)
C.P.E. Bach: The Complete Works
New critical editions of the works of C.P.E. Bach. (US)
DIAMM: Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
Archive of medieval manuscript editions, managed by the University of Oxford. (UK)
Digital Mozart Edition
Neue Mozart Ausgabe digitized by the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg. (AT)
e-manuscripta
Digitized manuscripts in libraries throughout Switzerland. (CH)
Early English Church Music Primary Source Database
Online version of the Early English Church Music sources volumes. (UK)
Gallica
Score manuscripts and primary sources digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. (FR)
IMSLP: International Music Score Library Project
One of the largest collections of digitized scores of works in public domain. (US)
Juilliard Manuscript Collection
Manuscripts owned and digitized by the Juilliard School of Music. (US)
RISM: Répertoire International des Sources Musicales
Database of extant music sources around the world. (FR)
Manuscripts owned and digitized by the University of Rochester. (US)
Yale Manuscripts and Archives Digital Images Database
Manuscripts owned and digitized by Yale University. (US)
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Online Research Resources
Concert Programmes Database
Database of concert programs held in European libraries dating from the eighteenth century to the present day. (UK)
Digital Resources for Musicology
List of major open-access projects related to music, managed by Stanford University. (US)
Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology
Database of doctoral dissertations in musicology compiled by the American Musicological Association. (US)
Early Music Sources
Primary sources and iconography digitized by independent scholars and faculty at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. (CH)
Gallica
Score manuscripts and primary sources digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. (FR)
GOArt: Göteborg Organ Art Center
Research center that integrated studies of instruments and performance; the institute is no longer active, but their materials are still available. (SE)
Grove Music Online/Oxford Music Online
Searchable encyclopedia of most topics in organ music. (UK)
Hofmeister XIX
Searchable version of the Hofmeister Monatsberichte, a nineteenth-century monthly catalogue of all major music publications released in Europe. (UK)
The Hymn Tune Index
Searchable index of all hymn tunes with English-language texts printed before 1820. (US)
JSTOR: Journal STORage
Comprehensive library of digitized articles from peer-reviewed journals. Note that none of the organ-specific peer-reviewed journals are indexed here. (US)
MGG: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
The German-language equivalent of Grove. (DE)
MusRef
A guide to more than 11,000 print and internet music references resources. (CA)
Music Festivals Database
Searchable database of repertoire performed in British music festivals from 1695–1940. (UK)
RILM: Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale
Comprehensive music bibliography database for secondary sources. (FR)
RIMAB: Recherche, Iconographie, Musique Ancienne Bâle
Large-scale research portal on research, iconography, and early music created by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. (CH)
RISM: Répertoire International des Sources Musicales
Database of extant music sources around the world. (FR)
WorldCat
Searchable catalogue of most major libraries in the western world.
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Peer-Reviewed Journals
There are many peer-reviewed journals that may include organ-related articles, so we cannot list every journal in existence. The most likely sources for organ-specific topics are listed below. Search JSTOR (see above) for specific queries, but note that several of these are not indexed in JSTOR, and therefore will not appear in their search results.
Acta Organologica
Annual journal of the Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde, in German. (DE)
Bach Perspectives
Annual journal of the American Bach Society, published by University of Illinois Press. (US)
Early Music
Quarterly journal focusing on performance practice, published by Oxford University Press. (UK)
Historical Performance
Annual journal focusing on performance practice, published by Indiana University Press. (US)
JAMS: Journal of the American Musicological Society
Triannual journal of the American Musicological Society. (US)
Keyboard Perspectives
Annual journal of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies. (US)
Music & Letters
Quarterly journal on general musicology, published by Oxford University Press. (UK)
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Trade Magazines
Trade magazines are often publications of organ associations, and typically their tone aims toward a more general audience than peer-reviewed journals. There are many trade magazines that focus on church music and include organ topics, so we have only included publications in which the primary topic is the organ. The links below are all the English-language versions of the websites (where they exist), but note that most of these resources are generally best viewed in their original language.
Multilingual
ISO Journal: International Society of Organbuilders Journal
Triannual journal of the International Society of Organbuilders in English, French, and German. (BE)
Organ Canada | Orgue Canada
Quarterly journal of the Royal Canadian College of Organists in English and French. (CA)
English
The American Organist
Monthly journal of the American Guild of Organists. (US)
BIOS Journal: British Institute of Organ Studies Journal
Annual journal of the British Institute of Organ Studies. (UK)
The Diapason
Monthly independent journal. (US)
Choir & Organ
Monthly independent journal. (UK)
Journal of American Organbuilding
Quarterly journal of the American Institute of Organbuilders. (US)
RCO Journal: Royal College of Organists Journal
Annual journal of the Royal College of Organists. (UK)
The Organ
Quarterly independent journal. (UK)
Organ Historical Trust of Australia News
Quarterly journal of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia. (AU)
The Organ Yearbook
Annual independent journal focusing on the organ, published by Laaber-Verlag. It was peer-reviewed until 1993; from then articles are published according to an editorial process. (DE)
The Sydney Organ Journal
Quarterly journal of the Organ Music Society of Sydney. (AU)
Theatre Organ
Bi-monthly journal of the American Theatre Organ Society. (US)
The Tracker
Quarterly journal of the Organ Historical Society. (US)
French
La Flûte Harmonique
Quarterly journal of the Association Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. (FR)
La Tribune de l'Orgue
Quarterly independent journal. (CH)
L'Orgue francophone
Biannual journal of the Fédération Francophone des Amis de l'Orgue. (FR)
L'organiste
Quartely journal of the Union Wallone des Organistes. (BE)
Musique Sacrée — l'Organiste
Quarterly journal of the Assocation Jeanne d'Arc. (FR)
German
Ars Organi
Quarterly journal of the Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde. (DE)
Die Hausorgel
Annual journal of the Arbeitskreis Hausorgel (committee of the Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde), focusing on house organs. (DE)
Das mechanische Musikinstrument
Quarterly journal of the Gesellschaft für Selbstspielende Musikinstrumente, focusing on musical automatons. (DE)
Organ
Quarterly independent journal. (DE)
Das Orgelforum
Annual journal of the Österreichisches Orgelforum. (AT)
Principal
Quarterly journal of the Verein der Orgelfreunde. (AT)
Italian
Arte Organaria e Organistica
Triannual independent journal. (IT)
Arte Organaria Italiana
Annual journal of the Associazione Giuseppe Serassi. (IT)
Informazione Organistica
Biannual journal of the Fondazione accademia di musica italiana per organo. (IT)
L'organo
Annual independent journal. (IT)
Organi Liguri
Annual independent journal. (IT)
Spanish
Cabanilles [No website]
Triannual journal of the Asociación Cabanilles de Amigos del Organo. (ES)
Japanese
Orugan-Kenkyū
Annual journal of the Japan Organ Society. (JP)
Danish
Organistbladet
Bimonthly journal of the Dansk Organist og Kantor Samfund. (DK)
Dutch
Het Orgel
Bimonthly independent journal. (NL)
Orgelkunst
Quarterly independent journal. (BE)
Swedish
Orgelforum
Bimonthly journal of the Svenska Orgelsällskapet. (SE)
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Organ Databases by Country
AU: Organ Historical Trust of Australia
CA: Orgues au Canada/Organs in Canada
CH and LI: Orgelverzeichnis Schweiz und Liechtenstein
CN: The Pipe Organ in China Project
MX: Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca
Database of historic organs in the state of Oaxaca.
NZ: New Zealand Organ Preservation Trust
See the Gazetters
PH: Organographia Philipiniana
UK: The National Pipe Organ Register
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Builder-Specific Organ Databases
Arp-Schnitger-Gesellschaft
Organization dedicated to promoting and cataloguing the work of Arp Schnitger. (DE & NL)
Gottfried-Silbermann-Gesellschaft
Organization dedicated to promoting and cataloguing the work of Gottfried Silbermann. (DE)
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List of country abbreviations
AT: Austria
AU: Australia
BE: Belgium
CA: Canada
CH: Switzerland
CN: China
DE: Germany
DK: Denmark
ES: Spain
FR: France
IT: Italy
JP: Japan
LI: Liechtenstein
MX: Mexico
NL: The Netherlands
NZ: New Zealand
PH: The Philippines
SE: Sweden
UK: United Kingdom
US: United States of America