Seventeen organ improvisations by Andrew Cyprian Love OSB of Glenstal Abbey.
Organists are perhaps the classical musicians most responsible for keeping the improvisatory tradition alive. They often have to find music for silent points of unpredictable length in church services. Since to existing piece of music is likely to be of exactly the right length to fill the space, the most artistic solution is to make up some music on the spot. Here, of course, improvisation is often seen as expedient rather than as something of value in itself. However, we should realise that improvisatory music is, in the first instance, something positive. It is not the poor relation of normal composition, but a remarkable aesthetic in its own right.