Walter Parratt

Though there are few compositions by Parratt his revitalization of organ music in England is particularly striking. He was a phenomenal player holding an organ position at the ripe old age of ten. The prowess with which he handled his positions was remarkably influential. Stations which he held included organist at Magdalen College at Oxford from 1872 and St. George's Chapel in Windsor from 1882. Parratt was also the Master of the Queen's Musick from 1893 and a professor at the Royal College of Music from its beginnings in 1883. With Parry and Stanford, Parratt was instrumental in a renaissance of English music as well as organ music lauding Bach as the greatest composer of all time. Parratt was opposed to using the organ simply as an instrument of reduction, rearranging original scores to make the organ sound like a pallid orchestra. Rather, Parratt advocated the use of Baroque registrations on the organ and the use of original compositions, not the enfeebled rearrangements advocated by others. ~ Keith Johnson