In 1923 when Widor authored the Preface to Jean Huré's L'esthétique de l'orgue, he observed, “Rare in our country are writings on the organ.” Citing only those by Raison, Schwartzendorf (Martini), Dom Bedos, Danjou, a more contemporaneous book by Cellier, and the prefaces in Guilmant's editions of earlier organ composers, Widor credited his own “general ideas on the subject” as important contributions. Keenly aware of the significance of such writings to future generations, he lamented, “What a shame that none of [Bach's] sons, students or choristers have left us notes on his customs at the organ, his playing, his procedures, his registration!” Among his own writings in this regard, Widor pointed primarily to the Avant-propos to his Symphonies pour orgue (appendix 1), the chapter on “L'orgue” in Technique de l'orchestre moderne (appendix 2), Albert Schweitzer's J. S. Bach: le Musicien-Poète, and the detailed analyses he provided in the French prefaces to volumes 1–5 of his and Schweitzer's grand edition of Bach's organ works: Jean-Sébastien Bach—OEuvres complètes pour orgue.

The Widor-Schweitzer Bach edition published by G. Schirmer remained a viable performing source for generations of organists due to the purity and general accuracy of the musical text. Widor affirmed that he and Schweitzer had taken great care to present an unadulterated edition: “It faithfully reproduces the Leipzig text, without additions of any sort (we have placed doubtful accidentals between parentheses, or proposed the solution to a few problems in small characters …); the organist has before him an absolutely pure text, free of all spurious indications, ties, staccatos, and nuances that could give the illusion that they come from the composer, when he has given none of them.” Consequently, instead of imposing personal editorial ideas onto the score, the editors posited their performance solutions in lengthy prefaces to each volume. Widor wrote, “I protest, in recent editions, against the nuances, articulations, and modifications irreverently credited to the master…. Always clear, [Bach's] thought manifests itself in contempt of all clever means of interpretation.”

Whereas Widor expressed his individual views on performance practice and technique and dealt with the distinctive characteristics of the Cavaillé-Coll organ in the prefaces to the French edition, Schweitzer authored the prefaces that appeared in the German and English editions.