E. Power Biggs

Person1906-1977

E. Power Biggs's albums, compilations, and singles and EPs discography with cataloged releases, editions, and credits

Edward George Power Biggs·United StatesUnited States· Westcliff-on-Sea

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English-born American organist, harpsichordist, and recording artist. Born March 29, 1906 in Westcliff-on-Sea, England, UK Died March 10, 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (aged 70) Biggs was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England; a year later, the family moved to the Isle of Wight. Biggs was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with G.D. Cunningham. Biggs emigrated to the United States in 1930. In 1932, he took up a post at Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived for the rest of his life. Biggs did much to bring the classical pipe organ back to prominence, and was in the forefront of the mid-20th-century resurgence of interest in the organ music of pre-Romantic composers. On his first concert tour of Europe, in 1954, Biggs performed and recorded works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Sweelinck, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Pachelbel on historic organs associated with those composers. Thereafter, he believed that such music should ideally be performed on instruments representative of that period and that organ music of that epoch should be played by using (as closely as possible) the styles and registrations of that era. Thus, he sparked the American revival of organ building in the style of European Baroque instruments, seen especially in the increasing popularity of tracker organs — analogous to Europe's Orgelbewegung. Among other instruments, Biggs championed G. Donald Harrison's Baroque-style unenclosed, unencased instrument with 24 stops and electric action (produced by Aeolian-Skinner in 1937 and installed in Harvard's Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts) and the three-manual Flentrop tracker organ subsequently installed there in 1958. Many of his CBS radio broadcasts and Columbia recordings were made in the museum. Another remarkable instrument used by Biggs was the Challis pedal harpsichord; Biggs made recordings of the music of J.S. Bach and Scott Joplin on this instrument. His critics of the time included rival concert organist Virgil Fox, who was known for a more flamboyant, colorful style of performance. Fox decried Biggs' insistence on historical accuracy, claiming it was "relegating the organ to a museum piece." However, most observers agree that Biggs "should be given great credit for his innovative ideas as far as the musical material he recorded, and for making the organs he recorded even more famous."[2] Despite different approaches, both artists enjoyed hugely successful careers and Biggs rose to the top of his profession. In addition to concertizing and recording, Biggs taught at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at various times in his career and edited a large body of organ music. For his contribution to the recording industry, E. Power Biggs has a star on California's Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6522 Hollywood Blvd.

Discography

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A Recital Of Bach Organ Music

1938

Studio Album

A Collection Of "Chorale Preludes" And "Noels"

1939

Studio Album

The Art Of Fugue (Die Kunst Der Fuge) Volume 1

1941

Studio Album

Processional And Ceremonial Music For Voices, Organ And Brass

1943

Studio Album

Concerto No. 13, In F Major For Organ And Orchestra ("The Cuckoo And The NIghtingale")

1943

Studio Album

Bach Organ Music

1946

Studio Album

Concerto For Organ And Strings In C

1946

Studio Album

Organ Concerto No. 10, In D Minor

1947

Studio Album

Organ Music Of Bach

1949

Studio Album

French Organ Music

1949

Studio Album

Westminster Suite/Recital

1950

Studio Album

Bach's Royal Instrument Volume 1

1950

Studio Album

Bach's Royal Instrument Part II

1950

Studio Album

Music of Jubilee

1951

Studio Album

Cathedral Voluntaries And Processionals

1952

Studio Album

Bach Festival

1953

Studio Album

Reubke - Liszt

1954

Studio Album

Toccata In D Minor (A Hi-Fi Adventure)

1955

Studio Album

Eight Little Preludes And Fugues (Played On Eight Famous Continental Organs)

1956

Studio Album

A Mozart Organ Tour

1956

Studio Album

Concerto For Organ And Chamber Orchestra, Op.46, No. 2 / Sonata No. 7 In F Minor For Organ Op.127

1957

Studio Album

Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78

1958

Studio Album

Auf Der Schnitger-Orgel Zu Zwolle

1958

Studio Album

The Organ

1958

Studio Album

A Mozart Organ Tour - Volume 1

1958

Studio Album

A Mozart Organ Tour - Volume 2

1958

Studio Album

The Organ Concertos Of Handel (Op. 7 - Nos. 1, 5, 6)

1959

Studio Album

Music For Organ And Brass: Canzonas Of Gabrieli And Frescobaldi

1960

Studio Album

Music for Organ and Brass: Canzonas of Gabrieli and Frescobaldi

1960

Studio Album

The Organ In America

1960

Studio Album

Joyeux Noël: 12 Noëls By Louis Claude Daquin

1960

Studio Album

Six Concerti For Two Organs

1961

Studio Album

Bach Organ Favorites

1961

Studio Album

A Festival Of French Organ Music

1961

Studio Album

Variations On Popular Songs

1962

Studio Album

Music For Organ And Orchestra: Festival Prelude For Organ And Orchestra Op. 61 - Organ Concerto In G Minor - Toccata Festiva, Op. 36

1962

Studio Album

Heroic Music For Organ, Brass And Percussion

1962

Studio Album

Organ Symphony

1963

Studio Album

Music For A Merry Christmas

1963

Studio Album

The Cuckoo And The Nightingale (Four Favorite Handel Organ Concertos)

1963

Studio Album

Music Of Jubilee (Favourite Bach For Organ And Orchestra)

1964

Studio Album

The Three Organ Concertos

1964

Studio Album

Bach Organ Favorites, Volume 2

1965

Studio Album

The 17 Festival Sonatas For Organ And Orchestra

1966

Studio Album

Holiday For Harpsichord

1966

Studio Album

Bach On The Pedal Harpsichord

1966

Studio Album

Buxtehude At Lüneburg - The Glory Of The Baroque Organ

1967

Studio Album

Plays The Historic Organs Of Europe / Switzerland

1967

Studio Album