Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. He entered the famous Paris conservatory being 11 years old, and his teachers were such influential personalities as Paul Dukas, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupre. In 1931, Messiaen became an organist at the church of La Trinite in Paris where he worked until his death. Messiaen's compositional style was very complex - he used Greek and Hindu rhythms, and specially designed modes of limited transposition. In addition, some of his other significant influences include his profound Catholic faith, music of exotic cultures (Japan, Indonesia, and Gamelan). He also had a curious ability to see his modes and harmonies in different colours which he also used in his works. However, perhaps the most important influence on Messiaen's style was bird songs. He travelled widely, recorded, transcribed songs of birds of various regions of the Earth, and used them extensively in his compositions. Because of all these influences Messiaen's style is very unique, and it is almost impossible to mistake him with somebody else. "Le Banquet Celeste" (Heavenly Feast) is one of his earliest compositions. In this incredible slow-tempo work, his truly original conception of time is apparent. Although the piece is only 2 pages long, it lasts about 7 minutes. This slow tempo is a symbol of the heavenly feast which lasts eternally. In fact, it raises certain challenges to the performer which are quite different from fast compositions. Both performers and listeners have to employ all their mental powers, focus and treat this piece as real meditation. This way one can dive for 7 minutes into the depths of the limitless time. You can listen to the superb playing of Pierre Cochereau of this mysterious composition at the end of this article. One of the most significant compositional technique that Messiaen uses in this piece is the Octatonic mode. This mode is built of succession of 8 notes which alternate in half steps and whole steps. For example, the Octatonic mode from the note C is formed from these 8 pitches: C D flat E flat E F sharp G A and B flat. Messiaen composed "Le Banquet Celeste" using this mode almost exclusively. This mode provides many possibilities to built some very colorful chords: among others Major and Minor chords from C, E flat, F sharp, and A; Dominant seventh chords from C, E flat, F sharp, and A; fully diminished seventh chord from each note of the mode. All of these chords with some other additions are present in this composition. In order to avoid tonal monotony in this piece, Messiaen transposes this mode every few measures. This means that the same mode with alternating half steps and whole steps can be built from not only from C, but also from C sharp, and D. The Octatonic mode can be transposed only twice. Because of regular succession of half steps and whole steps, the transposition from E flat would inevitably sound the same as from C. Therefore, this mode belongs to modes of limited transposition that Messiaen either invented himself or borrowed from already known modes. If you want to get Alphonse Leduc edition of Le Banquet celeste just click on this link. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" here: http://www.organduo.lt/organ-tutorial.html
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Because the pipe organ is the most complex of all musical instruments, it is only natural, that the art of organ playing is very complex. It is easy for the beginner to be overwhelmed by the various details, such as articulation, registration, correct notes, rhythms, fingering and pedaling. However, very first thing an aspiring organist must do is to learn the correct manner of posture and sitting on the organ bench.
So, how do you sit on the bench? We sit in the middle of the organ bench. The height of the bench should be such that your feet should be slightly touching the pedal board. Not pressing the pedals, but hovering. Put the bench in a position exactly in parallel with the keyboards. I have seen people position the bench in such a way that its left side is farther from the keyboards than the right side. They claim this is more comfortable because the right foot does most of the work with the swell pedal. This is not correct. If you put the bench in this position, then when you sit, your body is positioned not straight but stretched to the left side. Over time, this type of sitting may cause problems for the body. So it is best if the organ bench is in parallel with the keyboards. The distance of the bench from the keyboards should be such that your toes should almost be touching the sharp keys. By the way, this is very useful if you want to hit the right notes on the pedal board. If your feet touch the edges of the sharp keys, you will feel the arrangement of the sharp keys in groups of two and three. The empty spaces between B flat and C sharp and D sharp and F sharp will show you exactly where the white keys B and C, and E and F are located. This helps in getting to know the pedal board. When you sit on the bench, try to keep your back straight, shoulders down and relaxed, breath normally. Your arms should be positioned close to the body. However, it is not uncommon for people with some piano experience to keep their arms stretched out to the sides a little. Although this position might work on the piano, it is not really correct on the organ. It is so because many pieces for the piano involve large leaps for both hands. Therefore, the arms may not be close to the body and they must be ready to jump. But with organ music the leaps are mostly done from manual to manual. Consequently, the elbows must be close to the body. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" here: http://www.organduo.lt/organ-tutorial.html Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) was a legendary Dutch Master organist, composer, and pedagogue of the 17th century. He is most renown for not only for his great polyphonic choral writing but also for being a founder of the North German Organ School.
He is also frequently called "Maker of German organists" because of his influential teaching activities that helped propel and flourish the renown North German Organ School. His most famous students include Samuel Scheidt, Heinrich Scheidemann, Melchior Schildt, Jacob Praetorius II, and Anders Duben among many others. Sweelinck's keyboard style was influenced mostly by two major trends: Italian vocal polyphony and English virginal composers. From Italians the composer inherited beautiful linear counterpoint writing with mostly constant number of parts in the composition. From the English virginalists, he took over their virtuosic figurational writing which consisted of frequent passages, runs, arpeggios, flourishes, diminutions and various other types of figuration. Ballo del Granduca is one of today's favorites pieces by Sweelinck. Its authenticity is doubtful as it might have been composed by Samuel Scheidt. The title of the piece refers to the Balleto (or little dance of joyful character of the Renaissance) of the Great Duke. It is a set of theme on a dance tune and 4 variations, although the opening section is called variation 1. Variation 1 consists of many colourful and joyfully sounding chords with a characteristic long-short-short rhythms. It contains 5 sections each one with a duration of 4 measures and ends with strong closed cadences at the end of each phrase. The cadences are in G major (the tonic key of the piece), C major, A minor, G major, and G major. The first and the fifth phrases are repeated. The second variation features many passages and runs in the right hand part with eighth or sixteenth notes rhythms while the left hand plays chordal accompaniment in two or three voices. In variation 3, the hands switch: eight note diminutions are transfered to the left hand part and the accompanimental role is given to the right hand part. The 4th variation contains most of the virtuosic sixteenth note passages and diminutions in the right hand part which are so characteristic of Sweelinck's style. The variation cycle ends (variation 5) with eight note motion in the right hand part (in double thirds and sixths). Technically speaking, this is the most challenging variation and therefore a culmination of the entire set of variations. I use the Barenreiter edition of Sweelinck's works, which is quite reliable. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. I often get asked what kind of organ shoes does one need to play the pedals? Can you play the organ with your street shoes, tennis, or running shoes? Or perhaps we can play the pedals without any shoes at all?
For an organist, this question is quite important. Correct organ shoes can help you to develop a better pedal technique. In some cases, the shoes can even determine whether or not some particular pedal line can be played or not. The correct organ shoes should have a fairly narrow tip, so that you could play just one pedal key at a time. A very flat tip would give you some trouble in hitting the right notes. The soles and the heels should be made from leather so that you could slide from key to key, if necessary. The heels should be about 1 1/4 inch (or about 3 cm) high for the optimum toe/heel technique. Women's shoes are best with stretch band with buckle. It is not uncommon for women organists to use higher than 1 1/4 inch heels for organ playing. There are numerous stories about famous French women organists who can play virtuoso pedal lines with high and narrow heels. How can they manage that I have trouble imagining. Whether you order professionally made organ shoes, or just find the similar ones in your closet, DO NOT play with shoes you walk on the street, running shoes, tennis shoes etc. I've seen some people just use their street shoes for organ playing, but I don't recommend that for these reasons: First, it is very important that the dirt from the street would not stick to the pedals. It can even make some damage to the construction and mechanics of the pedal board. Second, if you use just regular street shoes, the heel might not be with the right height which in turn might make your pedal technique develop incorrectly. By the way, I know some organists who play the organ without shoes at all... It might seem strange, but they use thicker socks so that their feet will not get cold, especially in the winter. They claim that direct contact with the pedals is the best. But of course they can't take advantage of the heels which make playing toe/heel technique quite difficult. At any rate, it is better just to take your street shoes off and play without them until you find the right ones you will use specifically for organ playing. Often organists use dancers shoes for organ playing which usually works well for pedal playing. So, where you can find the right organ shoes? If you want to get suitable organ shoes you can take a look at these shoes for women and men. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. Many of my organ students ask me what is the secret to a perfect pedal technique? They want to know how they can achieve the ability to play intricate pedal lines, pedal scales, arpeggios, even chords with their feet with confidence and precision.
I always tell them that it is quite simple. Right from the beginning you have to use pedal preparation. Just as with finger preparation, this technique helps to prevent mistakes in the pedal line. Moreover, it gives you the feeling of confidence. In other words, if you use pedal preparation, very soon you will know without looking at the pedal board where any given note is. The way we use pedal preparation quite straightforward. When you have finished playing one note with the left foot, slide it right away to the next note of the same foot. Don't press it yet, but wait for its turn. The same is done with the right foot. This movement should be done with one quick, precise, and clear motion of the foot. Note that I use the word "slide", not "lift". when you slide, then your foot is touching the pedal board. This is very important: keep your feet in contact with the pedal board at all times. Although this technique is quite simple, I know that in reality not too many people use it. Very often they practice the pedal line, or an entire piece of music without even thinking about pedal preparation. This is largely because of laziness. It is easier to play the piece of music a few times through without giving attention to such detail, as pedal preparation. It such case, an organists may just go though the motions, their technique may not improve much. On the opposite, if we practice and don't pay attention to details, then we continually form bad habits. In other words, if we practice this way, we may never achieve the same level of superb pedal technique that masters have. I've seen high level organists who constantly use pedal preparation even be able to play in very fast tempo and their feet arrive to the desired pedal key just a moment before they have to play it. Believe me, both the view and the sound of such performance was very exciting, stable, solid, and confident. The good news is that you really have to think about pedal preparation only for some months. Later, you will form a good habit of playing the correct way. Your feet will instinctively move to the next position instantly. By the way, if you want to perfect your pedal technique, check out my Pedal Virtuoso Master Course - a 12 week training program designed to help you develop an unbeatable pedal technique while working only 15 minutes a day practicing pedal scales and arpeggios in all keys. When we listen to organ playing of real high level experts, we often marvel at how they can play without a single mistake. It seems like their music can be released directly to a CD recording. Moreover, these people can play flawlessly for hours.
Although there are a number of important reasons why real masters can play without mistakes, one technique which will help to achieve that is finger preparation. Although very powerful, finger preparation is quite often overlooked and many people forget to take advantage of it. It seems so insignificant that they don't pay any attention to it. The way finger preparation works is very simple. Your fingers should be in position for the next note right after they have finished playing the previous note. In other words, when you release the note, you have to be aware what the next note for this finger will be. For example, when playing the scale passage, we use thumb under technique. To play the ascending C Major scale with the right we use 123 12345 fingering. This means that the note C should be played with the thumb, D - with the index finger, E - with the middle finger, F - again with the thumb, G - with the index finger, A - with the middle finger, B - with the ring finger, and C - with the little finger or pinky. To apply the finger preparation technique for this passage, move you thumb in a position for F right when it finishes to play C. And the moment you release the E, your all five fingers should be prepared to play F, G, A, B, and C. This is a very simple passage, of course. For more involved episodes, we have to think about the best ways to use finger preparation. In addition, this technique is very useful for large leaps. It helps to prevent mistakes which otherwise may occur. When you encounter a large leap in the part of one hand, after finishing the previous note, try to move it right away to the position after the leap. This motion should be not circular but straight because it is the most efficient. If you practice this movement at least ten times, then it will begin to be very efficient. At first, you will have to constantly keep your attention to this technique for several months at least. Later, however, if you insist on using finger preparation, it will become automatic and you will not need to think about it. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. Pedal playing is perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of organ playing. Everyone wants to start playing those flashy virtuoso pedal lines of Bach's d minor toccata, a large North German Baroque style Prelude or the Flight of the Bumblebee.
But, of course, we don't start pedal playing with such virtuoso music. We keep it really simple at the beginning, just a few long sustained notes played with alternate toes only. Just as with manual playing, the very first thing you have to learn when playing the pedals is how to depress and release the pedal keys correctly. So, what is the correct way to do that? The normal way we depress the pedals is through the light, swift, and precise motion of the ankle. In this case, the ankle serves as a fulcrum. As with manual playing, do not lift your feet from the pedal board. Keep the feet in contact with the pedal board at all times. This is really important. Always feel the surface of the pedals with your feet. In fact, the way we sit on the bench already helps to do that. The height of the bench should be adjusted so that your feet should be touching the pedals lightly. Not pressing, of course, but touching. If you lift your feet off the pedals in the air and let them hanging there, then there will be a couple of problems. First, very quickly you will feel some tension in your legs. You see, to let the feet be relaxed and touching the pedals is easier than to lift them. Therefore, this tension, which arises from the incorrect motion of the leg gradually will begin to form an incorrect habit and technique. Second, as with finger work, the releases will not be precise and clear which in turn will lead to the imprecision of the rhythms in the music. On the other hand, if you keep your feet in contact with the pedals, you will coordinate the releases much easier. Your pedal technique will be much more precise. Another thing to keep in mind is that the pedal should be pressed with the inside of the foot. This can be achieved, if we keep both the heels and the knees together. For smaller intervals, up to a fifth, you will have no problems playing this way. However, for large intervals, of an octave and others, it will not be possible to keep the heels together. It this case, just keep the knees together. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. When I teach my organ students, one of the most apparent things I notice right away is whether or not their depression and release of keys is correct. If they come to the organ with some experience with the piano playing, then naturally they try to recreate the same feeling on the organ.
The thing is, although both the organ and piano have the same keys (black and white, sometimes white and black), their action and sound production is inherently different. On the piano it is quite natural to lift high the fingers and attack the keys with some force if you want to play louder, or with less force if you want the piano to sound softer. All of this is unnecessary on the organ because the instrument does not react the same way the piano does. For instance, whether or not you play stronger or softer, the organ will sound the same. This is not entirely true in some cases, but in order not to complicate things too much right from the beginning, let's stay with the most obvious feature - the dynamics on the organ is done differently from the piano. So, how do you depress and release the keys on the organ correctly? Well, it's quite simple. With one crisp and precise motion of the finger, press the key down and hold it until you have to release it. Do not make any unnecessary movements with the arm or had while holding the key depressed. Any circle motion that we do on the piano is not really needed on the organ. Of course, we have to be always aware if there is any tension in the shoulders, or the arms, or the hand, the wrist etc. If there is, just try to relax it. Conscious deep breathing while playing helps to achieve that. If you want to release the key, do not lift the finger from the key. Let it stay and rest on the keyboard. Remember, the less movement you do on the organ, the more precise your playing will be. In this way you will be able to control and coordinate the releases much better. So, the main thing to keep in mind here is: KEEP THE FINGERS IN CONTACT WITH THE KEYS AT ALL TIMES. If you come to the organ from the piano, it will be quite difficult to do it at first. You will have to think constantly about it. However, after some months of correct practice, you will form a good habit and never have to think about it again. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. |
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