How this repertoire was compiled

Every work, date and post cited comes from an open source. Nothing was taken from memory.

• The IMSLP score library, for titles, catalogue numbers and editions
• Wikipedia articles in French, English and German, compared with one another
• The MUSEFREM database of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, which reconstructs the careers of late 18th-century church musicians from archival records, for the posts of the organists of that period
• The standard catalogues of works (BWV for Bach, BuxWV for Buxtehude, and so on)
• Collections and early editions digitised by libraries, including those that can be browsed on Internet Archive from the composer pages

The repertoire includes only music intended for the organ: organ alone, or organ with accompaniment, such as Handel’s concertos. Music written “for keyboard” with no stated destination for the organ is not included. This is why neither William Byrd nor the harpsichordists appear, however important they are.

A work whose title could not be found in any source was removed, even when it seemed plausible. A shorter list is better than a doubtful one. Removed works are kept aside and may return if a source attests them.

The repertoire does not aim to be exhaustive: for each composer it offers a selection of representative works, not a complete catalogue.

Four checks were carried out across the whole repertoire.

• Titles: each work was looked up under its exact title, with its catalogue number where one exists
• Biographies: each composer’s dates, places and posts were compared against at least two sources
• Listening links: each recording offered was checked to make sure it matches the work announced
• Images: portraits, title pages, autographs and manuscript copies come from public collections and are credited

Each work carries a marker: core, compatible, accessible or exploratory repertoire. It expresses no judgement on the value of the music. It indicates how close a work stands to the artistic orientations of the project, whose heart is the French classical organ.

Three things are taken into account: the school to which the work belongs, its scale, and the keyboard compass it requires, compared with the compass the programme provides for the instrument’s manuals. An intimate piece by an early master thus stands closer to the centre than a large symphonic movement. A composer’s marker summarises that of their works.

This classification is an orientation, not a technical promise: apart from the compass of the manuals, the characteristics of the instrument will be defined with the organ builder selected through the consultation.

Some works still rest on a single source. The major musicological dictionaries have not been consulted. For lesser-known composers, the sources themselves sometimes disagree on a date or a post; we then kept the best-supported version, or dropped the statement.

The recordings offered are hosted by third parties: a link may disappear overnight.

Errors certainly remain. Each composer page carries a “Report an error” link: any correction backed by a source will be taken into account.