author
George Laing Miller
A skilled church organist and music writer, he captured a moment when organ building was changing fast and becoming more inventive. His best-known book opens a window onto the technology, sound, and craftsmanship behind one of music’s grandest instruments.
1 Audiobook
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building Being an Account of Modern Developments
by George Laing Miller
About the author
George Laing Miller was an early 20th-century writer on organ building whose best-known work is The Recent Revolution in Organ Building (1913). Contemporary editions of the book identify him as a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, a Bachelor of Music of Durham, and organist of Christ Church in Pelham Manor, New York, with earlier work in Scotland.
His writing focuses on the dramatic technical changes that reshaped the pipe organ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than treating the instrument as a mystery, he explained new mechanisms, tonal ideas, and design trends in a way that helped readers understand both the engineering and the musical possibilities.
Today, Miller is remembered mainly through this book, which remains of interest to organists, instrument historians, and curious readers who enjoy seeing how craft and invention meet in music. His work preserves a clear snapshot of an era when the organ was being reimagined for modern performance.