This piece was created for Palm Beach AGO 2024-2025 composition contest. Although it wasn't chosen as one of the winners, I had much fun creating it. This composition features the tune of St. Theodulphus, often sung to the text of "All Glory, Laud and Honor" mixed with the exciting trumpet tune in Bb major and will be an effective choice for the Palm Sunday. I recorded it using Sweelinq Goch sample set. Hope you will enjoy it!

Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/processional-on-all-glory-laud-and-honor-op-281-organ-solo-by-vidas-pinkevicius-22945556.html?aff_id=454957

You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join

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PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius

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Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-​

Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!

Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist.

V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius...

A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene.

V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ

A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011.

V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today.

A: We hope you’ll enjoy it!

V:  Hi guys!  This is Vidas.

A:  And Ausra.

Vidas:  Let’s start episode 714 of Secrets of Organ Playing podcast. This question was sent by Kathrin, and she writes:
 
“When I first write fingerings in the score, partly it doesn't work anymore, when I play the piece faster. In some pieces it is necessary to play one or two or more notes in the first line in the left hand or vice versa. So both hands have to work together. I can only write fingerings for both hands together. How to study pieces with chords like in the French romantic for instance and with more than one note in every hand?
Kind regards,
Kathrin”

Vidas:  So if I understand correctly, if you have a passage of single melodic line in each hand, then for Kathrin, it’s easy to write in fingerings. But if you have more than one voice in each hand, then she has trouble figuring out fingerings. correct?

Ausra:  What I understood from this letter is that she has trouble when the left hand has to play some notes from the upper staff.

Vidas:  Yeah, let’s discuss both instances, this migrating voice, this middle voice which migrates between hands, and also an instance of two voices in each hand.

Ausra:  Because if you have only one voice in the hand then it’s not a problem. You can write down fingers right away. But if you have, let’s say, a middle voice which is shared for both hands, yes, first of all you have to know which hand is playing which note, and you have to make markings in your score, and only then to write the fingering down.

Vidas:  Yeah, exactly. Not the entire piece will be written this way. Some passages will treat the middle voice for the right hand, and some passages will treat the middle voice for the left hand. So isolate those passages, and then write in fingering separately for those passages, not linearly from the beginning until the end the right-hand part. Right? It’s more difficult this way. But in episodes where the migrating voice starts to migrate to another hand, then you stop and then you complete the fingering for the previous passage.

Ausra:  Yes, and you know, another thing is that if you have in chords, then I don’t see what is the problem for you with the fingering, because if you, let’s say, are playing French Romantic music, as Kathrin mentions here in the question, then you need to use a lot of finger substitutions. And if the texture is really thick, then what is the problem? You have only five fingers in one hand and five fingers in another hand. And if you have full chords, then you have very limited options what to use. Usually in the right hand, for example, you often substitute the fifth finger with the fourth finger, and it can last pages and pages long, this substitution.

Vidas:  If you, for example, play a passage in ascending motion and you need to play legato, as Ausra says, you have to substitute the upper voice—substitute fingers four to five, four to five, four to five, in order to have space for the next note. But when going downwards if you have a legato passage, then five to four, five to four, on the top note, and the same is for the left-hand part. Outer notes, bottom notes of the left-hand, and upper notes of the right-hand will be most important to keep it legato.

Ausra:  Yes, …

Vidas:  Because they are the best heard. They have the...the outer voices are the most easily heard.

Ausra:  Yes, and for me, for example, the hardest thing when playing French Romantic music is to shorten by half the repeated notes in the inner voices, which is a really tricky part to do in a thick texture, but you have to do it.

Vidas:  Yeah, Ausra is referring to this technique of French Romantic and Symphonic music, legato technique, basically, but it has special places where you don’t play legato, like repeated notes. And in those instances, we don’t just play repeated notes not legato, but we actually very carefully shorten the notes exactly in half. Sometimes not in half, but in a third. It depends on the smallest unit rhythmical value of the piece. Let’s say if the smallest, most often used rhythmical value in the piece is an eighth note, so you shorten this repeated note by an eighth note. That was the method that Marcel Dupré taught. But if it’s a triple meter, for example, 6/8, and there’s a dotted note somewhere, so you cannot really shorten it in half, so you still look what is the smallest unit value—the smallest rhythmical value of the piece, and then shorten it by that rhythmic value. Most often it will be an eighth note. For faster passages it could be a sixteenth note, also.

Ausra: Another thing, my advice to Kathrin would be, don’t be hasty in writing fingering down. My advice would be to sight-read through the piece a few times and only then write the fingering down. And do it while sitting on the keyboard so that you can check if that really works. That way, you would not work in vain, and you would not have to write your fingers down again. Because you know, if you wrote your fingerings down and then you played it, it did not work, it means that you chose the fingering wrong.

Vidas:  Probably because theoretically in your head it looked fine, but when you tried it out, it didn’t work anymore.

Ausra:  And like, you know, anatomically we are all a little bit different. Of course, similar, at the same time, but a little bit different. So what works for one person might not work for another one.

Vidas:  Some people have smaller hands, some fingers smaller fingers. Some people have a second finger longer than the fourth finger. It also influences the choice of fingering, sometimes. There are some general ideas about fingerings which work for everyone, but then there are some nuances which depend on the physicality of each person.

Ausra:  The same for the pedaling. For example, comparing me when I was 20 years old and comparing me now, I use completely different pedaling than what I used many years ago, because my joints are getting old, and when you have to sort of do to be gentle for yourself and not to overstretch too much.

Vidas:  And when we get questions like this from people, sometimes I have a feeling that organists try to play more difficult music than they are currently able to do. So that’s why writing-in fingering or figuring out fingering is very challenging for people like this. Because they want to play… I don’t know… Toccatas and very advanced pieces too soon without having played intermediate stuff. Right? Without having played even basic stuff! So for Kathrin, I would suggest probably choosing French Romantic music, but easier Versets, not symphony movements, let’s say. Right? It doesn’t have to be a famous piece of music, because if it’s a famous piece, a lot of times it will be difficult, and vice versa. If it’s difficult, we have a chance to have heard it. So I suggest maybe like León Boëllmann’s Versets or even pieces by César Franck, but from the L’organiste collection—at first—and do it a few months, and then progress to another level. Do a little bit more difficult music for a while, for a few months also. There are stages for your advancement, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to skip all those stages.

Ausra:  Yes. You know, good results takes time, and I think, you know, that good organists know patience and time. Without those two, you cannot succeed.

Vidas:  And if you don’t have patience, you can always look at our suggestions from the Secrets of Organ Playing store. We have hundreds and hundreds of scores with written-in fingering and pedaling for you to save time. So, I hope this was helpful to Kathrin and others who are having similar fingering problems. Please let us know what you think, if you have any other questions and requests. And remember, when you practice,

Ausra: Miracles happen!

​V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online.

A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online...

V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more…

A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime.

V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform:

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2025 marks 150th anniversary of the greatest artist from Lithuania of all time - composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). So today I'm continuing to share with you his little preludes from the collection of 15 Little Preludes. They are perfect pieces for beginner organists. I recorded them at Vilnius University St. John's church. Hope you will enjoy Little Preludes Nos. 7-9!

00:00 7. Little Prelude in Bb Major, VL 94
01:04 8. Little Prelude in Eb Major, VL 95
02:18 9. Little Prelude in D Minor, VL 100

Score: https://musiclithuania.com/products/mazieji-preliudai-ir-fugetes?_pos=2&_sid=59fd810eb&_ss=r

You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join

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Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-​

Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of Fugue in C Major by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784) who was the eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. I recorded it at Vilnius University St. John's church. Hope you will enjoy it!

We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en

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Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

​Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw

Welcome to Learn with Vidas series! This is Part 2 of the tutorial on how to improvise an effective yet accessible variations on the hymn tune BELMONT, often sung to the words "My Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want". It was requested by the Total Organist member Dawn and my friend Rien Schalkwijk. In Part 1 I taught you how to play a bicinium and trio and today I will be focusing on four-part playing. Don't forget to send me your requests of what you would like to learn next. Hope you will enjoy it!

Watch Part 1 here: https://youtube.com/live/nipqroxPNnI

Today's sample set - Sweelinq Lutheran Church, the Hague

You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join

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Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist

Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

​Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-

Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of The Transfiguration by Dom Paul Benoit (1893-1979), composer, organist and a Benedictine monk from Luxembourg. I performed it as part of the live mini recital on the Alexander Schuke organ at Vilnius Cathedral which was organised by the National Association of Organists in Lithuania. Hope you will enjoy it!

Organ specification: http://vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_arkikatedra.htm

We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en

If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo

PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite

My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html

Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist

Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

​Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw

Today I'd like to share with you my improvisation on Gregorian chant tune Kyrie Deus sempiterne. I recorded it on the great organ at Vilnius University St. John's church which was recently renovated by Ugale Organ Workshop from Latvia under direction of Janis Kalnins. Hope you will enjoy it!

You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join

If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo

PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius

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My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html

Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist

Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

​Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-

Today I'd like to share with you 3 Easy Duets by Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933), written under the pseudonym of Teo von Oberndorff, Op. 2. These delightful pieces originally were written for harmonium and piano but work splendidly well for our folding reed organs Leonardo and Henrietta, which were restored by Marcin Majak and tuned by Jakub Wszołek from Gdansk. We performed them last summer during a live recital at the village church in Dusmenys. Hope you will enjoy it!

00:00 1. Lied ohne Worte
03:18 2. Bagatelle
05:01 3. Gondoliera

We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en

If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo

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Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist

Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

​Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw

2025 marks 150th anniversary of the greatest artist from Lithuania of all time - composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). So today I'm continuing to share with you his little preludes from the collection of 15 Little Preludes. They are perfect pieces for beginner organists. I recorded them at Vilnius University St. John's church. Hope you will enjoy Little Preludes Nos. 4-6!

00:00 4. Little Prelude in C Major
00:54 5. Little Prelude in A Minor
02:24 6. Little Prelude in A Major

Score: https://musiclithuania.com/products/mazieji-preliudai-ir-fugetes?_pos=2&_sid=59fd810eb&_ss=r

You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join

If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo

PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius

We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en

My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html

Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist

Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt

Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-

Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!

Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist.

V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius...

A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene.

V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ

A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011.

V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today.

A: We hope you’ll enjoy it!

V:  Hi guys!  This is Vidas.

A:  And Ausra.

V:  Let’s start episode 713 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jim, and he writes:

I'm trying to think when, if ever, someone would want to use a 16' stop when playing on the manuals. It seems that practice would give a very thick and muddy sound to the part written for the manuals. Can you give an instance or example of when it would be appropriate to use a 16' stop for the manuals, or one of the manuals, please? I am just having trouble imagining what type of sound that would be. Thank you very much.  ~Jim

A: Yes, that’s a very good question.  And actually quite an easy one to answer, because the 16’ stop if used appropriately in the manuals does not make sound muddy, because you just have to know the instances when it’s best to use it, and when it’s better not to use it.  For example, at St. John’s, if I’m playing the plenum registration on the Hauptwerk, on the first manual, on the Great, I always add the 16’ Principal. Because the plenum with the Mixture and without 16’ Principal will sound not as good.  It sort of completes, rounds up that plenum sound.

V: It depends on the Mixture composition. Because on other manuals, we don’t need 16’ stop - we don’t necessarily need it, right?  We could use it, but not always. As Ausra mentions, on the first, on the Great manual, there is this Mixture which is ranked lower.  It’s a low Mixture based on 16’ harmonic series, not on 8’ harmonic series. So if you don’t use 16’ stop together with this Mixture, what happens then?

A: Well, then the sound is sort of screamy-like. And in order to round it up, you need to add the 16’ Principal. Then it sounds nice and complete.

V: I think the lowest rank of the Mixture starts at 2⅔. So that’s pretty low.  You need the 16’ stop Principal or the Bourdon to make it blend with the chorus.  For example, on the third manual, Oberwerk, it’s not as low.  It could be 1⅓, we have the Cymbel, which is even higher, so it’s a brighter sound, and we don’t need 16’ stop then all the time.

A: Then another instance when I have to use the 16’ stop on the manual is when I’m playing a texture which has like a solo voice in the right hand and some sort of accompaniment in the left hand. And then if you would have two different manuals and the 16’ in your left hand, and solo voice in another manual, the 16’ stop would add some sort of pedal sound in the left hand.  It would trick sort of your ear and your mind, and you could imagine that you are playing the pedals instead of the left hand. That a nice way, and sometimes I like to teach too, when I don’t want to use pedals too much and I don’t have time, I just play the pedal part with my left hand on the 16’ stop. Of course, you never use the 16’ stop alone in the manual, unless it’s a reed stop.  Then it’s another question and another manner of registering.

V: It’s an interesting observation, Ausra.  A lot of trios written in the Baroque period with cantus firmus in the middle voice, in the tenor, can be played both ways: with the pedals taking the bass line, or with the pedals taking the tenor line. And if that’s the case, in the pedals we wouldn’t use 16’ registration, only 8’ bass stop, like a reed, but in the left hand part, like Ausra says, we could use 16’ and 8’. There is even actually a theory you could play the famous “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” from the six Schubler chorales by Bach this way - right hand could be played on the Principal 8’, left hand could take 16’ and 8’ flute stops as the bass line, and in the pedals you could have 8’ reed playing the tenor line, the cantus firmus.

A: Yes, it’s very handy to have this option. What would you do if you have 16’ reeds on the manuals - how would you register?

V: That’s a nice idea, too. On the big organs, there are a few 16’ reeds. Like we have, for example, 16’ Bombarde on the first manual, on the Great, and do we have on the Swell, we have Fagott, not Fagott, it’s called…what’s it called?

A:  ??

V: I think it’s called Basson. Yeah, like the German version.

A: So it’s Fagott.

V: German, English or French version of the Fagott, of the Basson. So basically it’s a softer reed than the Trumpet, but it works very well for playing fast bass lines, fast-running bass passages on the pedals - on the left hand part. So, there is like this famous “Christ Unser Herr…

A: ..zum Jordan kam”

V: Yes, from the Clavierȕbung Part 3 by Bach. And it has a running left hand part which could be effectively played with this 16’.

A: Yes, that’s a very nice option actually.

V: Then you would have tenor cantus firmus in the pedals, 8’ reed, and some other stops in the right hand playing the canon.

A: Yes, and in general, I like having 16’ stop on the manuals, because for me somehow it helps to make organ sound too screamy because it has so many mutations, and 2’ and 1’ stop, and 16’ to balance.

V: If the reed is loud, 16’ reed is loud like Bombarde 16’, then probably it’s best to reserve it for chordal texture, like chorus, fanfare-like sounds if you want to use on a bigger registration, in addition to other stops you would add 16’ Bombarde.

A: To make powerful sounds even more powerful. And you know, people often ask us how to reharmonize for example, the last stanza of a hymn, then in some cases it would be just enough to add the Bombarde for the last verse of the hymn.

V: I also notice that this Bombarde might make sound muddy if we’re not using even more high pitched stops.  So we already probably would have used mixture on the first manual before drawing the Bombarde 16’, and I like to add the Tierce, a third sound, 1⅗ together with the Bombarde, which then brightens up this powerful sound on the first manual.  Or if we have strong fingers, we could add a coupler to the Oberwerk, to the third manual, and then we will have an even brighter mixture together with the first manual.

A: So in any case, you need to experiment with your organ. Try various combinations and see what works, what does not work, and decide for yourself.

V: Then there is also this regional tradition. For example, in the Netherlands, there is interesting tradition to sing psalms - in the right hand part you would have solo melody which would be registered on the 8’ manual, registration but also on the 16’ registration in the right hand part, in the soprano. And we were told that it is due to the fact that the sound was sung by men one octave lower. So every country has its own tradition. For example, in the middle of Lithuania, this village church which has one manual organ without any pedal, just one single manual, and it has 16’ trumpet.

A: Yes, it’s very bizarre, yes.

V: Historical organ, amateur organ builder, by the way. Monastic - it is like an organbuilder/monk.  But he built an organ with a 16’ Trumpet.

A: And it doesn’t have divided keyboard.

V: No.

A: So that’s very bizarre.

V: I remember visiting that church long time ago with Professor (12:28) as part of the trip, organ study trip throughout Lithuania, with Ausra and some other colleagues from the Academy of Music in Lithuania, and we all tried this instrument, and I didn’t know what to play on that 16’ Trumpet, and I think I played Hindemith’s music a little bit.

A: Yeah.

V: Paul Hindemith. Okay, so I think we have discussed the 16’ registration on the manuals pretty extensively today. If you have any other observations and questions, please let us know. And remember, when you practice,

A: Miracles happen.

V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online.

A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online...

V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more…

A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime.

V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform:

​A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo