Would you like to learn Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr by Johann Ludwig Krebs? If so, this PDF score with complete fingering, registration suggestions and basso continuo realization will save you tenths of hours and enable the most efficient and stylistically appropriate practice. Because of this fingering, you will be able to play with articulate legato touch naturally, almost without thinking. 4 pages. No pedals. PDF score will be available immediately after your payment. 50 % discount is valid until Semptember 27. Free for Total Organist students. Enjoy this practice video. Thank you Kae for transcribing the fingering from this slow motion video (as well as Bach's Pastorella, BWV 590). This was tremendous help. By the way, if anybody is interested in doing fingering/pedaling transcriptions from similar videos for a fee in the future, please let us know. Here's is another video of this piece that Ausra has recorded at the concert tempo:
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Vidas: Let’s start Episode 56 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Morton, and he writes:
“Greetings, Vidas, I really as so happy that you are able to send transcripts of your podcasts. I feel that these transcripts make all the difference in the world for your subscribers. In this transcript, you mention the phrase "easier toccatas." In a future podcast, would you please introduce us to some of the *easier* toccatas? In my case, I learned to play the Toccata from Suite Gothique by Boellmann when I was about 16 - and when I practiced after school five days a week and also played most of our church's 9:30 AM services (except for the offertory anthem). A few years ago I was able to bring that Toccata back to life... I'm looking forward to a podcast transcript in which you mention some of the easier toccatas. Best wishes, Morton” Okay, so this question is about toccatas. What would you recommend, for starters, Ausra? Ausra: Well, I think that the Toccata, Boëllmann’s Toccata from Suite Gothique is a fairly good example of easy toccatas. Vidas: Usually people start with Boëllmann, I would say. Ausra: Well, yes, I know so many cases where people started with this toccata. Because it really fits hands comfortably and it’s not too complicated. Vidas: It has maybe these famous double-pedal passages at the end, but it’s not too difficult. Ausra: Well, it’s not so hard, I think. Vidas: Because it’s in parallel octave motion. Ausra: Yes. What would you suggest as other easy toccatas? Vidas: Obviously Gigout Toccata. It’s also not too complex. You don’t have to play it too fast. You can choose your comfortable speed. And the pedal line is not too complex; usually in French toccatas, coordination between hands and feet is not too difficult because there is not too many things going on together at the same time. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: In French toccatas, often there is this famous toccata motion in the hands, motoric motion in the fingers; and then there is one melodic line, either in the pedals or in the soprano (which you play with your little pinky or the ring finger in the right hand), or sometimes in the tenor on the separate manual. So it alternates. Do you think that sometimes composers write counterpoint, like a parallel contrasting melody with the theme, like a dialogue between the theme and the countersubject? Ausra: Yes I think so, that’s often the case. Vidas: So that’s more complex, then. Ausra: Yes, definitely, and while we are comparing different toccatas, I would say Bach’s toccatas are very hard, or at least much harder than those toccatas which you talked about. Vidas: Yes. The term toccata is very old. It’s not originated with the French symphonic repertoire, of course, but it comes from Italian word called... Ausra: Toccare. Vidas: Toccare. And it means… Ausra: To touch. Vidas: So it is a term which describes a piece specifically for keyboard instruments. “To touch the keyboard,” basically. So, in early Baroque times, Gabrieli, Merula, and Frescobaldi and others--they all wrote toccatas. So sometimes, they were improvisation-based pieces; but later on, they started to add imitative sections, like in the fugue, but there were no fugues in that time. So they would call them differently. What was the precursor of the fugue in those days? Ausra: Ricercar, and canzona, of course. Vidas: Mhm. So, those sections between the free improvisatory toccata passages were like ricercars. Ausra: Sure. And what is the easiest and the hardest toccata that you have played, Vidas? Vidas: The easiest was probably by Boëllmann. Or maybe by myself. I wrote a few toccatas, too. I wrote a toccata on themes by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis back in 2011. I first improvised this piece in the concert during a live performance at the Philharmonic hall in Vilnius, Lithuania, and later came back and wrote down and expanded and polished the written-out version. So it’s not a difficult piece, but it has this toccata-like figurations and a nice chorale section in the middle. (I don’t have to say nice, right? Other people have to say nice.) Ausra: Yes, and what is the hardest toccata? Vidas: And the hardest toccata probably is by Maurice Duruflé. Ausra: Oh, I’ve thought about it, too. Vidas: Maurice Duruflé, from the Suite op. 5. Ausra: Yes, I think it’s the op. 5. Vidas: Yes, so the prelude for the suite is not too difficult, dark mood, and long, prelude in slow motion; and then the sicilienne, the second movement, is like a dance, rocking rhythm, back and forth, but not too difficult, too. But then the toccata comes, and that’s a challenging piece. What about “Dieu Parmi Nous” by Messiaen? Is it difficult? Ausra: Well, it is difficult… Vidas: But easier than Duruflé. Ausra: Yes, I think so, it’s easier than Duruflé. Vidas: So, other French composers also have wrote other toccatas. Ausra: Like the most famous, probably, one by Widor. Vidas: Widor toccata...Like every symphony by the French composers must end in a finale; and finales, a lot of times have toccata-like motoric motion, right? Ausra: Sure, like the last movement of Vierne’s First Symphony or the Third, I had played finale; I actually played the whole symphony, the Third Symphony by Louis Vierne; and it wasn’t so hard, but it always sounds very nice and grand. Vidas: What about, what was your least difficult--the easiest toccata, for you? Ausra: Hmm...Maybe by Frescobaldi. And actually, the easiest toccatas to play are toccatas per l’elevatione. But of course, it’s a different genre than the regular toccata. Vidas: Yeah, no fast motion, no virtuoso passages at all. That was another occasion for elevation section of the mass. So you would not play very fast there. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: And what about the most challenging toccata for you? Ausra: Well, let me think about it. Vidas: You asked me this question, so I give it back to you! Ausra: I don’t know, at one point it probably was Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C-Major by J. S. Bach. Vidas: Right. Ausra: It’s quite challenging, not because it’s technically so difficult, but it has all those various episodes, and to put them together like, grand opening of the hands, and then you have pedal solo, and then all things together...That’s a nice piece but it has its hard things. Vidas: Exactly. To play toccata alone is not too difficult, but when you play it with the fugue--Toccata Adagio and Fugue--as a cycle, then it’s challenging enough. Ausra: Yes, because that fugue has that fast tempo, and it’s a dance fugue, so it’s not easy. Vidas: So guys, start with Boëllmann, I would say, then go to Gigout; Dubois, it’s probably also doable, too. So three toccatas, right? For starters. Easy toccatas. And then, if you like more French stuff, then you can… Ausra: Play Widor! Vidas: Play Widor, yeah. But then you need a good manual technique for that. Ausra: But it’s also nice thing about practicing French toccatas--that you can do much of your work on the piano, if you have a piano at home; because it fits so nice to piano keyboard. And that’s a very good way to practice, as you know; and then later you will add the pedals when you will have access to the organ. Vidas: So guys, I hope this was useful to you; and remember, when you practice… Ausra: Miracles happen. After weeks and weeks of painstaking work, long awaited practice score with complete fingering and pedaling of Piece d'Orgue, BWV 572 is finally ready!
Would you like to save yourself tenths of hours of tedious work when writing the most stylistically appropriate fingering and pedaling yourself for efficient practice? If so, check it out here. 50% discount is valid until August 23. Among other things, Ausra and I discuss the best way of mastering this piece in the last chapter of our e-book "Is It Possible to Learn to Play the Organ When You Are 56 Years Old". PS This score is free for Total Organist students When we play Gentle Breeze by our friend Dutch composer Ad Wammes, we feel like precious summer wind would be blowing.
Doesn't matter if it's the sounds of a rusty old piano in our summer cottage which stands untuned for decades or a splendid largest pipe organ in Lithuania with 3500 pipes and 5 seconds of reverberation. All around us is lazy satisfaction up in the hot air. Definitely vacation time. What do you feel when you listen to this piece? PS Our 2nd e-book I Don't Have Time to Practice Organ Playing (And Other Answers from #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast) right now has a low introductory price of $2.99 until August 16. It's dedicated to all our students who don't have enough time in their days and still continue to practice. I couple of days ago we went to our church and practiced our organ duet program for upcoming concerts and one of the pieces we recorded was Beethoven's Adagio for mechanical clock. It's such a heavenly sounding piece.
It's the favorite of Ausra's brother and his dog always wants to join playing with us when she hears us practicing together. The moment she sees us playing, she starts nagging at our backs. :)) We hope you'll enjoy it too. PS Our 2nd e-book I Don't Have Time to Practice Organ Playing (And Other Answers from #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast) right now has a low introductory price of $2.99 until August 16. It's dedicated to all our students who don't have enough time in their days and still continue to practice. Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #106!
Today's guest is an American organist Weston Jennings who is quickly establishing himself as a talented and engaging international performer. We recorded this conversation before his concert at Vilnius University St. John's church which was about a month ago on July 1. On his thoughtful program - works of Felix Mendelssohn, Edwin Lemare, Arvo Pärt, Johannes Brahms, David Conte and, of course, Johann Sebastian Bach. Having first encountered the pipe organ at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp (Michigan) at the age of sixteen, Weston later graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy. At the Eastman School of Music, Weston earned his Bachelor of Music Degree and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. He recently completed two years in England as the Organ Scholar of Canterbury Cathedral and Chelmsford Cathedral. During this time, he was also appointed the first Organ Scholar to the Royal Festival Hall, London. Weston currently studies with Thomas Murray at the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Former organ teachers include Michel Bouvard, Hans Davidsson, David Higgs and Thomas Bara. Following his recital debut at The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) in 2009, he has performed across the United States and Europe, including Westminster Abbey (London), Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue (New York), The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles), The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver), the Chapel of the Queen’s College (Oxford), Royaumont Abbey (France), and the Berliner Dom (Germany) and St Paul's Cathedral (London). On the Newberry Memorial Organ of Woolsey Hall, Weston has performed with The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, The Yale Concert Band, and The Yale Symphony Orchestra. As a part of the London Handel Festival, he collaborated with the Apollo Baroque Consort in a concert of Handel Organ Concertos from Mayfair’s Grosvenor Chapel. Weston is an enthusiastic advocate for new music and has premiered compositions by Molly Joyce, Soosan Lolavar, Mark Carroll, and Allison Willis. His performances and interviews have been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Committed to the education of new organists, Weston presently serves as Instructor of Undergraduate and Secondary Organ at Yale College. He has served on the faculty of the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, the Department of Music at The King’s School, Canterbury, and taught and performed at several Pipe Organ Encounters across America. Forthcoming recital engagements include St. George’s Chapel of Windsor Castle, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Moscow), Hildesheim Cathedral (Germany), and Kelvingrove Art Gallery (Glasgow). In this conversation Weston shares his insights on finding the right bench height, your favorite repertoire, and letting the instrument tell you what it wants. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. And if you like it, please head over to iTunes and leave a rating and review. This helps to get this podcast in front of more organists who would find it helpful. Thanks for caring. Listen to the conversation Related Link: http://www.westonjennings.com By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)
Over the last 6 weeks I've been busy helping Victoria analyse 3 pieces - Ich ruf zu dir, BWV 639 from the Orgelbuchlein by J.S. Bach, Menuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 114 and Menuet in G Minor, BWV Anh. 115 from the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach. Today I'm very excited to announce that all these 3 audio trainings with PDF scores are available for you too: Deciphering Ich ruf zu dir Deciphering Menuet in G Major Deciphering Menuet in G Minor 50 % discount is valid until July 5. Free for Total Organist students.
Welcome to Episode 3 of #AskVidasAndAusra!
Today we are broadcasting from our car while going to the birthday party of our friend. Today's question was posted by Ana Marija who is our Total Organist student. Here's what she asks: "When you have really a lot of repertoire to be done, how would you organize your practice? The situation is like this: Beethoven piano sonata, Brahms Fantasy's, a Chopin Etude, Rachmaninov etude and for the organ Brahms Prelude and Fugue in g-minor, Bach Fantasy and Fugue in c-minor, Prelude and fugue in f-minor, Toccata and fuge in dorian mode... I want to play a few chorals too. And I simply must play the first keyboard concerto! Maybe i can find a way to play it with the orchestra somehow. Would be awesome. So, what would you do? Do you think it is manageable in about three months? Should I cut out some program (hopefully not)? I can not seriously practice all the pieces in one day... or do you think I should work on all of them at once? Does it happen to you, choosing much new program in a limited time? Any ideas? Do you make a plan like this: today I will practice exactly these bars, I am going to use following methods (rhythm variations, memorizing, harmony...). Do you make a plan for some time beforehand (a week, a month)? Or you decide on which pieces to work? And just do with them what you think it is necessary in the moment?" Listen to our answer. If you want us to answer your questions, post them as comments to this post and use a hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra so that we would be able to find them. And remember... When you practice, miracles happen. Vidas and Ausra (Get free updates of new posts here) TRANSCRIPT Vidas: Okay, guys, this is Vidas Pinkevicius. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Wonderful, and we are now broadcasting live from our car, and this is episode number three of #AskVidasAndAusra. This question was sent by Ana Marija, and she wrote that she has a lot of pieces to practice, maybe ten pieces for piano and for organ at the same time to practice. It was Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Brahms, Bach, maybe a few chorale preludes, even a concerto for the orchestra, and she also wants to do this in three months because a public performance, as we understand, is in three months. So she asked for our help to help organize her practice, make a schedule prep, basically. How to organize this practice when you have limited amount of time, but a lot of pieces, maybe ten pieces in your program. Of course, she didn't write how much time she can devote per day every day to practice. What do you think, Ausra? Is it realistic? Ausra: Well, I wouldn't do it myself, personally. If it would be only on one instrument, then it's okay, but because you can't divide your attention between organ and piano, I wouldn't do it. Vidas: Every instrument that requires its own attention, right? So if you are a professional on the organ and on the piano, you have to divide equal time, probably, right? Maybe a couple of hours per day on the organ and the same amount of time on the piano. That's minimal, probably. Ausra: Well, with pieces like this, I would need to spend at least three hours on the organ and three hours on the piano every day. Vidas: We have to properly ask Ana Marija, for example, if she can spend six hours a day practicing. Ausra: Well, if these are new pieces, then yes, and if these are old pieces, if she performed them for them, then it should be okay, it should be fine, but if this is all new repertoire, then you have to practice a lot on the organ. Vidas: Right. And you really can't learn everything in three months, right? If it's new. Ausra: Yes, I would say so. Vidas: If it's new, it's really, really tricky. Ausra: Because, if you want to perform in public, you have to be able to play them fluently in public, again, for your recital. Vidas: Exactly. So, Ana Marija and other people who are in this situation who have a lot of pieces to prepare, but only a few months, right? Ausra: I don't know how she plays organ, from memory or from the score, but on the piano, I guess she will have to play from memory, and if these are new pieces, I don't know how fast will she memorize them. Vidas: Exactly, it's really, really tricky to play from memory, and to feel this pressure, that you have a limited amount of time, not enough time, basically, then probably she can't really relax and enjoy the performance because she knows that she's running out of time all the time. Ausra: But, I think it's when, if you really have to do it and devote it, then just do it, but you have to divide your practice. I mean, to be really prolific. Vidas: Every day? Ausra: Every day, yeah. Vidas: Don't make any excuses, right? No matter what. Sick or not sick, hungry or not hungry, tired or not tired. You're a professional at this. If you decided to play that many pieces in three months. But it's risky, it might not work. Ausra: Actually, what I would suggest, maybe it's possible to change the repertoire a little bit, like not to play only these new grand pieces, but to add, like, little pieces to the repertoire. Vidas: Chorale preludes, right? Maybe not everything new, but maybe half the program new. I remember because I play constantly regular recitals at St. John's Church her in Vilnius. I have a similar problem. I have to prepare an hour of music every month, right? But I never play everything new. I would improvise, or to repeat a lot of pieces. I repeat, and then I can learn a few new pieces during that month. I can do this. Plus, I can sight-read very well. Ausra: And, you know, I don't know how about her responsibilities, what else in life she does. If she only practices one, it should probably be okay, actually, be still on time. Vidas: But can you spend six hours on the benches? It's insane. It's really, it's not good for your body. Ausra: Yes, for your muscles, for your eyes, for your brain. Vidas: Right. You can only play with rigor and focus for 25 minutes, then you have to stop and make a break for five minutes, and then you can come back, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: So it's really, really important to schedule and do a realistic, healthy practice. You know, what I suggest- I would recommend probably to reduce the number of pieces she wants to learn. We don't know. We don't even know if all this repertoire is required for her, or if she just practices for fun. She wants- she has a lot of wants and needs. That's maybe too much. Maybe she can do the same thing, but in three years, or in two years, right? Ausra: Because it's also important to spend some time, some real time with each piece that you are learning, because for some repertoire, I believe it's not enough only to play the notes correctly. Vidas: Right. You have to. The repertoire has to sink in into your body, basically, into your brain. Ausra: Because otherwise sometimes the result can be disappointing. Vidas: Right, if you do rushed practice all the time, you have to enjoy it and let it ripen, probably. Ausra: Because when I heard the discussion, it sounded a little extreme. Vidas: It seems like she wants to do everything at once. Right? But we have all the time we need in the world, why don't we play it in two years or in three years, and not in three months, right? That's completely realistic, I think. So Ana Marija is our Total Organist student, fairly new one and I hope she can progress towards her dreams faster than on her own, because we have, right now, a lot of organ programs in coachings, and videos of thousands of exercises, and of course, right now, 30 days free trial is possible to take. So, I hope she can benefit from that also. You know, she wrote that she has a lot of this repertoire to practice, but she's now Total Organist student, right? So she will be paying us for a number of months, but it's unrealistic to play our repertoire, our practices and coaching programs and study with us, plus to do this, all those recital things on her own, right? She has to choose, basically, or divide a healthy amount of time between piano, organ, and Total Organist. Ausra: Yes, because I'm afraid of traumatizing her arms. Vidas: Yeah, it's very, very dangerous. Ausra: Because, if you have the problems with your muscles because of over-practicing, then all those problems, they just won't leave you for the rest of your life. It's very easy to damage your muscles, but it's very hard to recover. Vidas: So, I hope people like Anna-Maria can take this advice very seriously, and don't push themselves too much, right? Take it one step at a time. Take things slowly enough and enjoy. Ausra: And, you know, if you will be practicing for so many hours, just be more careful and take some time off between your practices. Vidas: Every half an hour. Ausra: Just plan everything very carefully and notice. Don't forget to take walks, to relax, to breathe, to eat and to sleep. Vidas: Right. Okay, so, I think this advice is quite comprehensive now, and we are almost arriving at our destination. By the way, we're going to the birthday party of our friend, so we'll see you soon, and this was Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And remember, when you practice ... Ausra: Miracles happen. By Vidas Pinkevicius (get free updates of new posts here)
Do you need to sing each significant melody in your piece? I think you have to, if you want to play expressively. Some pieces don't lend themselves naturally for singing but Widor Andante Sostenuto is a notable exception. Not only you hear a beautiful melody in the soprano but usually the pedals have this surreal counterpoint in the right foot. Learning this piece was not so easy. The left hand repetitive double arpeggio accompaniment gave me a lot of trouble. Sometimes I kept hitting the wrong notes in the extreme right edge of the pedalboard. I don't know if you can sense it at 2:30, but the registration change to pull this Principal was problematic. On top of that, the right foot needed a few high f's with the pedal coupler which didn't work for this note. So in addition to all the thickness of texture, I had to press f' on the third manual with my thumb. The thing that saved me from panicking and being overwhelmed was of course to remind myself to sing each line. This singing and breathing at the end of phrases gave me the necessary air supply to finish strong. I hope this will help you too (and your listeners will marvel at your ability to make the organ sing). By Vidas Pinkevicius (get free updates of new posts here)
On the day I tuned the reeds of my organ, one of my students helped me by pressing the keys. After the tuning was over, he had a nice chance to practice on his own. Currently he is practicing Pachelbel’s Chaconne in F Minor. Although I worked on my own things during this time, I overheard him play and couldn’t resist the urge to help him a little with this piece. So here’s what we found out. 1. Start And Finish on Principal 8’ Although Mattheson from the 17th century argues that Chaccones and Passacaglias have to be played on Organ Pleno registration, I used a different approach because we played a rather modern and eclectic organ. Isn’t it nice to hear a simple Principal 8’ on its own? This could work for the theme in the beginning and the end of Chaconne. When my student played, I didn’t hear anything wrong with this kind of registration. Yes, you could start and finish with Principal Chorus and mixtures, Posaune in the Pedals, but remember, this Principal chorus should be of very high quality to be able to hold the listener’s attention for a long time. 2. Find One or Two Culminations When you try to register this piece using a different approach from that of Mattheson, you have to find one main culmination and at least one other variation with the close level of loudness. Preferably the main culmination shouldn’t be in the middle but towards the end of 2/3rds of the way or maybe 3/4ths in other cases. The main idea is that the way which leads to the main culmination is longer than the way which leads from the culmination to the end of the piece. It’s true in this Chaconne also. We have found a very active variation in the manuals where some of the loudest stop combinations could be employed. 3. Change Manuals on Each Variation Should you change manuals on each variation or should you play on a single keyboard all the time? Again, it depends on the nature of the instrument and its stops. On my organ more variety is always a pleasant thing (although I shouldn’t say that the Organ Pleno sound for extended periods of time couldn’t be pleasant in some cases). But it’s always a good idea to be gentle with listeners ears and changing the manuals frequently allows for an easier change of registration on mechanical action organs. That’s just the nature of this beast. 4. Contrast Same Color Stops on Different Divisions When you decide to change the manuals frequently, you obviously are left with the question of what colors to use? One of my favorite techniques is to register each variation so that one hears Principal 8’ contrasted on a couple divisions in a row, then perhaps Principals 8’ and 4’ and so on. Because of this approach the listeners will also get a nice glimpse into the color possibilities of your organ. By the way, if you don’t like any particular division on your organ, don’t use it on every piece. On my organ, the Swell works well for the Romantic and Modern music but for the Baroque style it’s too dark. That’s why I use Great and Positiv only for early music most of the time (with some exceptions, of course). 5. Too Much Loudness Isn’t Always a Good Idea At first my student and I came up with the concept to keep adding stops until the main culmination and then gradually subtracting them. But the result was too loud, I think. I even played on Bombarde 16’ with manuals coupled. That sounded more like a Romantic idea. When you couple the manuals together and use doublings of the same pitch level throughout the piece, little by little you forget that it was written in the Baroque period, even though the harmonies and figuration remind you of that. It’s not that in the Baroque times they didn’t play loudly but it’s this thickness of sound which reminds more of the Romantic school of writing and playing the organ. 6. Achieve Crescendo Up to Mixtures, Trompette or Manual Coupler We decided to add principal stops gradually until the 1st culmination, then to back off a little, playing without some of the loudest stops. This way we could postpone them until the real culmination came in. The result was I think we used Principal Chorus with mixtures and Manual Coupler or Trompette 8’. 7. Use Flute Combinations for More Variety You probably have a question if one can use flute stop combinations for more variety in places which have a thin texture or slow rhythmical values. In other words, can you use flutes in pieces like Passacaglia and Chaccone? It’s not a convention, of course, because traditionally the flutes might be suited well for chorale variations or chorale fantasias to showcase the colors of the organ. But again, it depends on what kind of instrument do you have at hand. On a real Baroque organ I wouldn’t need to use flutes because the Principal chorus sounds convincing and not too much in your face. On the modern eclectic instruments – feel free to experiment any way you like because the most important thing is whether or not the piece will connect to your audience. 8. If In Doubt, Simplify What if you don’t know what type of sound combinations sounds best on your organ? What if you lack experience in playing hundreds of different instruments which will provide you with good taste eventually? I always try to simplify things – I stay on the same manual when there isn’t a real need to switch, I don’t change the stops more often than you need to. It’s rare that my performance will improve because of this. In a high quality piece, music will speak for itself (don’t play any other kind of music, by the way). 9. Pedals Can Have Posaune in Culmination I’ve heard an idea before that the pedals should stay on the same registration throughout the Chaconne or Passacaglia. It depends on the piece, really. It’s nothing wrong to add Posaune 16’ at the culmination, even if you don’t use Principal Chorus throughout. In this Pachelbel’s Chaconne, the secondary culmination also asks for Posaune. So my student and I ended up not softening the pedals until the main culmination after which we gradually reduced to Principals 16’ and 8’ in the pedals. 10. Analyze Harmony of the Theme to See Patterns It seemed strange to me that after working on different layers (right hand, left hand, and pedals) and combinations my student couldn’t play the piece quite fluently. Not only his technique needed more work but there was something else too that was going on. I felt that he couldn’t recognize the harmonies and patterns he was playing. It’s important because we all know that Chaconne or Passacaglia has a number of variations on the ground bass. This means that the theme in the pedals most of the time stays the same and the harmony doesn’t change. The only thing that changes are figurations. So I suggested him to analyze the theme and its chords which should help him eventually. 11. If You Like This Chaconne, Use the Same Figuration for Different Themes Here’s the thing – any piece can be used as a model for improvisation or composition. So one thing you can do is to come up with a different 8 measure theme and apply the same type of figuration throughout each variation. I once took a longer Gavotte by Rameau, converted the theme into triple meter, analyzed another Chaconne by Pachelbel and improvised my own set of variations based on his model. It’s a very fun process, you’re sort of becoming a student of any particular composer that you like. (And.. if nothing else, you can try to make friends with an octopus. They're really smart.) |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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