Organ Music I: Lucien Poirier

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

The Canadian Musical Heritage series is an ambitious project of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society to publish a comprehensive anthology of Canadian music. All surviving literature is considered for inclusion, and selection is made on the basis of artistic merit, historical significance in the development of Canadian musical life, and the availability of the work in its original form or contemporary arrangement. In keeping with the scholarly nature of the project, facsimiles of the originals are reproduced wherever possible, subject only to the requirement for a clear, performable text. This faithfulness to the original has dictated that Volume I of the organ music be published in two parts issued together, the smaller of which accommodates those selections published originally in oblong format. The historical and critical notes, in both French and English, will be of interest to the musical scholar and to the performer seeking to recreate the works as they are intended to sound on the organs of the day. The collection includes both church and concert pieces; they were often used interchangeably for service and recitals. This first volume covers the period from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the end of World War I. Its 33 chronologically arranged selections range from solemn processionals to the “Canada Pacific Railway” schottisch. There are a few instructional pieces, but they are not for the beginner. The works in this collection were composed by and for the use of professional organists.