This article is a fine introduction to the extremely important collection of musical manuscripts and letters in the Pierpont Morgan Library. The author traces the history of the library and some of its acquisitions, which include such divers items as Antico's Motetti e canzoni (1521), Handel cantatas, Haydn’s E-flat symphony (Hob: 91) and Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron. While this article is not a catalog of the items, the author does offer some specific titles found in the collection. César Franck is represented by several letters and a full score of his oratorio, Les Béatitudes.

An extremely valuable contribution to the study of the organ and its repertory, this monograph is divided into four main sections with two of these being dedicated solely to the music of Franck. The first section, “From the Revolution to Franck,” contains essays dedicated to two lesser-known but very influential composers of organ music, Boëly and Lemmens. Also addressed is the issue of liturgy and music (“Organ Music in the Mass of the Parisian Rite to 1850”), a topic which has heretofore received little serious treatment. The second section of this collection is dedicated to “Franck: The Texts” and contains two articles, one of which explore manuscript studies of Chorale no. 1, and the other which examines a unique manuscript and how it sheds light on the composer's resgistrational practices. The following section, entitled “Franck: Issues in Performance,” contains essays written by two prominent organists, Marie-Louise Jaquet-Langlais and Daniel Roth. Jaquet-Langlais's contribution investigates editorial and performance problems of Franck's works, while Roth offers some thoughts on the interpretation of Franck's organ music in light of the tradition established by fellow Belgian organist, Lemmens. The final section of this study (“Widor and His Contemporaries”), examines repertory post-Franck with essays on Guilmant's L’Organiste liturgiste, Widor’s Symphonie romane, and a substantial look at the organ of the Trocadéro and its performers.