David Spicer & His Passion for Organ Music
David Spicer’s annotations on Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” Op. 123
by Emma Markowski ’25, student assistant at the Watkinson Library
Carefully curated scrapbooks, boxes filled with sheets of organ music, and a multi-disc album of J.S. Bach’s organ compositions on shellac are just some of the items found in the newly accessioned music and manuscript collection of David Spicer. The collection at the Trinity College libraries offers material and inspiration for new and seasoned organists alike, as well as the chance for those less acquainted with playing the instrument to learn some of its history.
The scrapbooks within the collection document the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival. Albert Schweitzer, best known for his environmental philosophy and humanitarian work, also made important contributions to organ music through arrangements and publications of the work of Bach. To honor his passion for music, an organ festival was created in his name in 1979. The original festival had its home in the Netherlands, but was eventually cofounded in Connecticut by David Spicer (along with Dr. Harold Robles).
The collection was donated by Dana Spicer in memory of David Spicer in December 2023, and is slowly being made available for use and research in both the Watkinson Library and the Raether Library. A newly installed pop-up exhibit, curated by Emma Markowski, located by the main entrance to the Raether Library, displays key pieces from the festival’s history, including programs, pictures, speeches, and materials from David Spicer’s extensive collection of sheet music.
Spicer, a long-time player and appreciate of organ music, was the Minister of Music and the Arts at the First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, CT., and met Dr. Robles, the founder of the original Festival, through a church friend. The two worked together to establish the American Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival in 1997, and its first 5 years of existence are well documented within the collection’s scrapbooks. One can see advertisements promoting the event, programs from the day itself, as well as pictures of the contestants and judges.
The contestants represent the true heart of the festival, which has as its main goal to encourage young organists. Two divisions compete in rotating order biennially, with high school-aged organists competing one year and Young Professionals competing the year after. Winners have included Christopher Houlihan and Paul Jacobs. Houlihan competed in and won the High School division in 2003; he now serves as Trinity’s College Organist, as well as the Artistic Director of the Festival. Paul Jacobs won the inaugural competition in 1997 and went on to win the first Grammy for organ performance, awarded for his solo performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Livr Du Saint-Sacrement.
The festival remained at Wethersfield’s First Church until 2016. The move to Trinity College was facilitated by Spicer himself, as he wanted to ensure the longevity and legacy of the festival. Trinity allows the festival more resources and greater publicity, and the size of the chapel provides a larger space for audience and instruments alike.
The newly acquired collection contains more than just the Organ Festival. David Spicer owned a vast amount of sheet music, expanding beyond organ music. The scores span across various time periods, countries, and musicians, and reflect a man who had a deep appreciation and knowledge for music.
The unique manuscripts and organ scores of David Spicer, with autograph fingerings, markings, and arrangements, will eventually be made available for research through the Watkinson Library, while some of the music scores will be able to be checked out from the Raether Library’s circulating collection for budding organists to enjoy. A search of the Trinity College OneSearch library catalog for “organ music score” will turn up examples such as Ten Organ Chorales, Opus 39, for organ by Flor Peeters.