The art of transcribing orchestral accompaniments for organ is one of the most difficult problems which organists must face. Although a few will become professional recitalists, most organists will at one time or other have a church position and be required to play oratorios and other large choral compositions which were originally scored for orchestra. Several of the most popular of these works (Handel's Messiah, Saint-Saëns's Christmas Oratorio, Fauŕe's Requiem) have already been arranged for organ, but the majority are available only in piano reductions. The main body of the paper deals with this latter group of works, for it is here that the most urgent problems exist. However, some of the organ arrangements now available need considerable revision because they try to imitate the whole orchestra and are virtually impossible to play. Therefore, some preliminary comments on already existing transcriptions seem necessary.

The poems of Mignon have inspired song writers for almost two centuries. They have served as the texts for more composers than almost any other single set of poetry. The Romantic composers were especially fond of the words. The poems are full of sadness and yearning and composers found they could be set in different moods. Some settings are in major tonalities while other settings of the same poem can be found in minor. Simple harmonies are used in some settings while others contain more complex harmonies. There are those composers who would have Mignon appear as a lost soul throughout all the poems with each song quietly sung, while others use a variety of dynamics adding drama to the setting and picturing Mignon as full of optimism at the end.