E. Power Biggs Explained

E. Power Biggs
Birth Date:March 29, 1906
Birth Place:Westcliff-on-Sea, England, UK
Death Place:Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation:Organist, harpsichordist
Spouse:
  • Colette Josephine Lionne, pianist (1933–1944) (divorced)
  • Margaret Allen ("Peggy") (1945–1977) (his death)

Edward George Power Biggs (March 29, 1906 – March 10, 1977) was a British-born American concert organist and recording artist.

Biography

Biggs was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England; a year later, the family moved to the Isle of Wight. Biggs was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with G. D. Cunningham. Biggs immigrated to the United States in 1930. In 1932, he was appointed to a post at Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he resided 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 pre-Romantic composers. 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. Thereafter, he believed that such music should ideally be performed on instruments representative of that period and that organ music of that epoch should be played by using (as closely as possible) the styles and registrations of that era. Thus, he gave significant impetus to the American revival of organ building in the style of European Baroque instruments, seen especially in the increasing popularity of tracker organs—analogous to Europe's Orgelbewegung.[1]

Among other instruments, Biggs championed G. Donald Harrison's Baroque-style unenclosed, unencased 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 three-manual Flentrop tracker organ subsequently installed there in 1958. Many of his CBS radio broadcasts and Columbia recordings were made in the museum. Another remarkable instrument used by Biggs was a pedal harpsichord by John Challis; Biggs made recordings of the music of J. S. Bach, Vivaldi, and even went as far afield as Scott Joplin and Tchaikovsky on this instrument.

Biggs' critics of the time included rival concert organist Virgil Fox, who was known for a more flamboyant and colorful style of performance. Fox decried Biggs' insistence on historical accuracy, claiming that it was "relegating the organ to a museum piece". Artistic rivalries aside, many 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] Despite different approaches, both artists enjoyed hugely successful careers and Biggs rose to the top of his profession. In addition to concerts and recording, Biggs taught at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at various times in his career and edited a large body of organ music.[3]

Biggs was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1950.[4] For his contribution to the recording industry, Biggs has a star on California's Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6522 Hollywood Boulevard. He was one of the artists honored to celebrate the New York Philharmonic's 125th birthday celebrations in December 1967.[5]

Selected discography

Biggs recorded extensively for 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. He was represented by Mercury Music in the 1950s.[6]

Awards and recognition

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance

Notes and References

  1. Barbara Owen, E. Power Biggs: Concert Organist, Indiana University Press (1987)
  2. Richard Torrence, Virgil Fox: The Dish, Circles International (2005)
  3. Web site: E. Power Biggs—Biography, Albums, Streaming Links. AllMusic.
  4. Web site: Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. July 20, 2011.
  5. "Crozier and Biggs Honored Guests at Philharmonic Party" (PDF). The Diapason. 59 (2): 1. January 1968.
  6. "E. Power Biggs" (PDF). The Diapason. 47 (2): 27. January 1, 1956.
  7. "E. Power Biggs" (PDF). The Diapason. 47 (2): 27. January 1, 1956.

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