Shoes, Part VI

(con't from Part V)
This pedalboard (photo) from the historic Merklin organ at the Basilica of St. Michael in Bordeaux and others like it is the reason why pre-1750 French organ music does not have elaborate pedal parts.

Many pieces by Couperin, Clerambault, DeGrigny, DuMage, et.al. have no pedal part at all due to the nature of the instruments built in France prior to the mid-18th century for which they composed.

France still maintains many historic instruments like this with stubby pedals of heavy action in places like the Cathedral of Poitiers and others that are best suited to holding down a pedal drone beneath manual figuration.

The music of these masters comes across extremely well when performed on an organ like this to which it is especially suited, but, as expected, it comes at a price ... the French Romantic repertoire of later composers (Franck, Widor, Vierne, Dupre, et.al.) with its intricate, highly-wrought pedal lines upon which the entire effect of the music depends simply will not work, this because they wrote for the instrument they themselves knew and was equipped with an entirely different pedalboard.

NOTE:  The need for an organ that did everything at least fairly well (maybe with 60 per cent authenticity) but nothing poorly is actually what gave rise to the American Classic concept in organ building first developed by the Aeolian-Skinner Company in the 1930's under the direction of G. Donald Harrison. 

An organist's footwear is no different -- it also needs to be able to do everything at least fairly well, but nothing poorly.

The pedal compass of this instrument (photo) runs a full 3 octaves from low F up to E but with very short, inclined keys built with toes-only pedaling in mind.

Additionally, the low pedal F is the F below what we think is low C [the note being played in the photo], the very lowest notes below low C are only the big reeds, and the effect is said to be otherworldly.

So, in a case like this where the player is presented with a shorter, more primitive pedalboard and toes-only pedaling, narrow street shoes (as long as they're built on a straight last so the soles do not project) would be entirely sufficient no matter what the heels look like.