Effects of World War II on Organs and Organ Music

From pipe-organ.wiki
(Redirected from WWII)
Jump to navigationJump to search
The bells in the Marienkirche, Lübeck, which were destroyed on Palm Sunday, 1942.

In addition to bombings, genocides, and horrific loss of human life and destruction, WWII was devastating for the pipe organ in Europe. Countless priceless historical organs were destroyed, manuscripts were taken away for safe-keeping and never found after the war, organists and musicologists were drafted into the war and killed or held in concentration camps. The effects of World War II continue to be felt in modern-day musicology of early organ music, as many important manuscripts continue to be lost, forcing musicologists to rely on earlier musicological editions.

This article is an incomplete overview of different ways that World War II impacted the organ, its music, and its performers and studiers. Please refer to each article for references for each of these facts (except for bullet points which to not link to any articles).

This article is a stub, you can help expand it with more information and citations!

Germany

Poland

  • The depressingly-small number of known tablatures of early organ music in Poland was made smaller by the burning of some manuscripts, including organ tablatures such as the Warsaw Musical Society Tablature.
  • The musicologist Jerzy Gołos was deafened in one ear due to an explosion during the Warsaw Uprising.

Italy

  • In a POW camp in Bellaria near Remini, a pipe organ was constructed out of scrap metal and wood.