E. Power Biggs
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Edward George Power Biggs (March 29, 1906 - March 10, 1977), more familiarly known as E. Power Biggs, was a prominent concert organist and recording artist of the twentieth century.
He recorded extensively on the Columbia Masterworks Records and RCA Victor labels for more than three decades. Between 1942 and 1958 he also hosted a weekly radio program of organ music (carried throughout the United States on the CBS Radio Network) that introduced audiences to the pipe organ and its literature.
Born in Westcliff-on-Sea, England, and trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, he emigrated to the United States in 1930. In 1932, he took up a post 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 18th century composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach. He believed that such music should ideally be performed on instruments representative of that period and became an influential advocate for tracker organs. In addition, he taught that organ music of that epoch should be played by using as closely as possible the styles and registrations of that era, insofar as research could ascertain. [1]
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. That tour sparked the American revival of organ building in the style of northern 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 un-enclosed, un-encased 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 3-manual Flentrop tracker organ subsequently installed there in 1958. Many of his CBS radio broadcasts and Columbia recordings were made there.
His critics of the time included rival concert organist Virgil Fox, who was known for a more flamboyant, colorful style of performance. He 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]
In addition to concertizing and recording, Biggs taught at the Longy School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory at various times in his career.
Many of his stereo recordings from the 1960's have now been re-mastered and re-released on CD's and are again widely available. For his contribution to the recording industry, E. Power Biggs has a star on California's Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6522 Hollywood Blvd.
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[edit] Selected discography
- Bach: Four Great Toccatas & Fugues
- Works for Organ: Essential Classics
- Bach: Great Organ Favorites
[edit] Awards and Recognitions
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
- Vittorio Negri (conductor), E. Power Biggs & the Edward Tarr Ensemble for Glory of Gabrieli Vol. II - Canzonas for Brass, Winds, Strings and Organ (1969)
[edit] References
- ^ Barbara Owen, E. Power Biggs: Concert Organist, Indiana University Press (1987)
- ^ Richard Torrence, Virgil Fox - The Dish, Circles International (2005)
