Old Masters of the Organ, Book 2: Organ, Collections, Book

Straube's editorial choices make these Baroque masterworks immediately playable without sacrificing their essential character. The eight pieces in Book 2 span toccatas, passacaglias, and chorale preludes, so organists encounter genuine variety in form and technical challenge within a single volume, making it ideal for building both repertoire breadth and interpretive range.

These eight pieces capture the restless energy and structural clarity of the German Baroque. Muffat's toccatas bristle with virtuosity and harmonic surprises; Pachelbel's chorale prelude and ciaconna unfold with architectural logic and warm familiarity. Scheidt and Walther bring devotional gravity to their chorale settings, while Strungk's piece adds lyrical gentleness to the mix.

Intermediate to advanced organists seeking grounded exposure to the Baroque repertoire, whether for recital preparation or regular liturgical programming. Students using these works will deepen their understanding of form, counterpoint, and the compositional practices that shaped Baroque keyboard writing. Teachers value this collection for its pedagogical sequencing and the breadth it offers across one volume.

• Listen closely to the harmonic rhythm beneath the figurations. These composers often use slow-moving bass lines to anchor elaborate manual passages; keeping the inner structure audible will ground the ornamentation.
• Attend to registration shifts between pieces and sometimes within them. Straube's scores indicate practical registration choices; honor these as a starting point, then experiment with your instrument's capabilities to discover what works best.
• Practice hands separately first, even in the toccatas. The independence of voice-leading in these works requires secure left-hand foundation before integrating the manual textures above.
• Shape phrases through articulation and rhythmic clarity rather than dynamic swells. Baroque organ technique values transparency and line definition over legato blending.

Book 2 works exceptionally well for building a mixed recital that showcases different Baroque forms and composers in a single performance. You might also draw pieces selectively for Sunday service repertoire, pairing a toccata with a chorale prelude from the same composer to deepen congregational exposure to Baroque masters over several weeks. Student organists benefit from working through the volume sequentially as a semester-long exploration of Baroque style.

• Baroque articulation and phrasing conventions
• Independent voice leading and counterpoint
• Improvisation and ornamentation within stylistic bounds
• Registration and tonal color suited to Baroque forms
• Interpretation of figured bass and harmonic structures
• Secure pedal technique in passacaglia and toccata contexts