Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast 526!
Today's guest Carson Cooman who is an American composer with a catalog of hundreds of works in many forms—from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. He was already a guest on our podcast in episode 84 talking about creating and promoting contemporary music. His music has been performed on all six inhabited continents in venues that range from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the basket of a hot air balloon. Cooman’s music appears on over forty recordings, including more than twenty complete CDs on the Naxos, Albany, Artek, Gothic, Divine Art, Métier, Diversions, Convivium, Altarus, MSR Classics, Raven, and Zimbel labels. Cooman’s primary composition studies were with Bernard Rands, Judith Weir, Alan Fletcher, and James Willey. As an active concert organist, Cooman specializes in the performance of contemporary music. Over 300 new compositions by more than 100 international composers have been written for him, and his organ performances can be heard on a number of CD releases and more than 2,000 recordings available online. Cooman is also a writer on musical subjects, producing articles and reviews frequently for a number of international publications. He serves as an active consultant on music business matters to composers and performing organizations, specializing particularly in the area of composer estates and archives. In this conversation, Carson shares his insights about how he has managed to create on average one composition every week for 27 years. Enjoy and share your comments below. Listen to the conversation And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Relevant links: http://carsoncooman.com Carson Cooman's YouTube Channel
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It's early Sunday morning for me. Yesterday evening the results of Round 1 of Ciurlionis organ competition were announced but I still need to review the remaining 5 contestants from the first day of Group 3. I'm listening from the live-stream video from about 1 hour 50 minutes into the recording: The first is No.11 Josef Kratochvíl from the Czech Republic. He starts with the Praeludium in E Minor (large) by Nicolaus Bruhns. An exciting introduction leads to a calm 1st fugue performed with 8' principal. At the end I notice a couple of small mistakes. In the fanfare episode he doesn't use reeds but adds them later. The arpeggio section is registered with 4' flute in the manual and 8' flute in the pedals. Only some basic flourishes in the episode leading to the 2nd fugue which is played with a small principal chorus sound. The ending is traditionally very exciting.
The next piece is Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The registration seems to be 8' and 4' flutes on different manuals and 16' and 8' in the pedals. The pedals seem to be a bit too loud but could be a recording issue because of where the camera is positioned. I'm not sure. The playing is well-controlled with one audible mistake until the end. The last piece is "Toccata" by Faustas Latėnas. The organist starts off with reeds which are later juxtaposed with mixtures. The episode in the middle is registered softer but the power and excitement returns later. The ending with 8' principal in the bass seems to be too loud in comparison with the flute 8' in the upper range. Now is the turn for No. 12 Péter Mekis from Hungary. He starts with the Bruhns' Praeludium. After energetic beginning the first fugue seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes and 8' principal. Good balance between the parts. Calm playing. The fanfare episode has some mistakes. The arpeggio episode seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manual and 8' flute in the pedals. No improvisation whatsoever in the episode before the 2nd fugue. The sound is intensified with reeds both in manuals and pedals. The piece ends without any good or bad surprises. The next piece is "Ad libitum" by Faustas Latėnas. The beginning has powerful 7th chords and other advanced chords. It's a rather short piece in comparison with other compositions by Lithuanian composer's on the competition's repertoire list. The performance left a good impression on me. The organist ends his program with Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. It seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 16' and 8' flutes in the pedals. I notice some mistakes which shake up the flow of music. I think I spot mordents playing incorrectly and some undesired legato in articulation. The next contestant is No. 13. Anastasiia Igoshina from Russian Federation. She plays Praeludium in E Minor at the beginning. After quite rhythmical entrance the first fugue seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 8' flute in the pedals. The arpeggio episode is played with 4' flute in the manuals and 8' flute in the pedals. Strange contrasts in the next episode with some trills. The 2nd fugue has some rush before the ritardando. The piece ends without too powerful Plenum sound. The next piece on the program is Bach's Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664. It seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 16' flute and 8' principal in the pedals which might be a little too much for the balance between the parts. Some incidental mistakes occur which don't disturb the flow of music. The organist loses a pedal part towards the end but keeps going. And the last piece on her program is "Ad libitum" by Faustas Latėnas. Imaginative not too powerful registration with Vox Humana stop in the quieter places. Now is the turn for No. 14 Ae Shell Nam from South Korea. He starts with Praeludium in E Minor by N. Bruhns. The 1st fugue seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manual and 8' principal in the pedals. The fanfare episode has some curiously placed echos. The arpeggio episode is registered with 8' flute in the manual and 16' flute in the pedal. I expected more improvisation from him in the following episode. The 2nd fugue is played with powerful reeds. I hear the cipher on the high F# in the manual towards the end. The organist finishes strong nonetheless. Now he plays Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. The registration seems to be 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 16' flute and 8' principal in the pedals. The playing sounds too mechanical without too much consideration for the pulse, harmonic changes and polyphony. The last piece on his program is "Ad libitum" by Faustas Latėnas. Here I hear interesting dynamic contrasts as well as seamless crescendos and diminuendos. I don't remember anyone demonstrating so many colors of this organ in such a brief period of time. A hard work for 2 assistants for sure but well worth the effort. I'm beginning to like this piece more and more. The last contestant for today is No. 15 Yeri Ahn from South Korea. She plays exactly the same program as the previous 3 organists and starts with the Praeludium by Bruhns. The 1st fugue seems to be registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals but end with a passage with a trumpet which seems to belong to the fanfare episode in her mind. The arpeggio episode is played with 4' flute. Too much virtuosity and not enough improvisation for my taste in the episode before the 2nd fugue. It has some nice flourishes in manual parts. Where was she earlier with this imaginative playing? I want more of it in such music. Nice echo registration at the end of the fugue. The ending seems to lack rhythmical unity with the rest of the Praeludium. Now the organist plays Bach's Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664. The piece is registered with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 8' principal in the pedals. Too much sound in the bass at least in the recording. I can hear some mistakes although they don't disturb the musical flow. And the last piece for today is again "Ad libitum" by Faustas Latėnas. She starts with a full organ sound but quickly explores softer registration as well. The full organ sound returns in the recapitulation. A solid performance but not enough to make me jump in excitement. Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm There you have it! I think I've listened to every contestant in the competition's Round 1 except to those organists whose recording wasn't available. I didn't get to hear to contestant No. 5 Wenying Wu from China, contestant No. 6 Magdalena Moser from Austria and the 1st piece of No. 7 Sunghyun Park from South Korea. After 1200+ words of writing and 2 hours of listening I'm ready to have some breakfast. I hope to see some of you during the 2nd Round tomorrow at St Casimir's church which starts at 3 PM Vilnius time (1 PM UTC). Live streaming should be available from competition's website: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Good luck to the contestants who advanced to the 2nd Round! Much larger organ and a fabulous acoustical environment awaits you... Round 1, Group 1 review Round 1, Group 2 review Round 1, Group 4 review Round 1, Group 5 review [Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion which may or may not coincide with the reader's opinion. If you don't like it, write your own.] I'm sitting at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Vilnius right now, after having gone to the university for a quick drink of tea and a chocolate bar. The break is over and the jury decided to announce the results of the Round 1.
Here are the people who were chosen to advance to the 2nd Round:
Congratulations everyone! You all did a terrific job. Even if you weren't chosen to advance to the 2nd Round, I'm sure you learned a lot while preparing and performing here. I'll see you on Monday at St Casimir's church for Round 2! It starts at 3 PM Vilnius time (1 PM UTC). If you want to watch a recording of the live-stream, check it out here: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm Round 1, Group 1 review Round 1, Group 2 review Round 1, Group 4 review Round 1, Group 5 review Alas, I didn't get to drink any coffee during the break but I had 2 chocolate candies instead given to me by the security guard of my church earlier today to refresh me. This should be enough to hold me attentive for the next hour or so...
So the first performer after the break is No. 20 Jan Šprta from Czech Republic. He starts with the Praeludium in E Minor (large) by Nicolaus Bruhns. The opening was really powerfully registered but the fugue creates a nice contrast with 8' principal in the hands and feet. I wish for more calmness here, just like it these dramatic rests at the end of the fugue. The arpeggio episode is also played with the 8' principal. The organist shows some creativity in the flourishes before the 2nd fugue. The registration of this fugue is very loud but some of the articulation is too staccato... No surprises at the end except maybe for the final tempo rush... The next piece on our menu tonight is Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach. The registration is rather heavy, sounds like 8' and 4' principals in the hands but the pedals are well-balanced with 16' and 8' principals. Not surprisingly fast tempo but good control of situation. However, lacks in listening to the dialogue between the two upper voices. The organist ends his appearance tonight with "Inspiration" by Vytautas Barkauskas. A well-thought out chaos reigns in this piece including dramatic replicas with Posaune in the pedals. Fast and slower sections are separated by the rest just a tad too large which doesn't create forward motion. Nice choice of mutation stops for slow episode before the end. Two more Bruhns performances to listen tonight and we're done! I'm sorry Master Nicolaus! But 23 times of E minor in an equal temperament of the modern organ is a heavy test on the listener with a short attention span like myself. So next comes No. 21 Veronika Lobareva from Russian Federation. The jury and the listeners are clearly tired now. A couple of the people sitting opposite to me start to talk between themselves and everybody is looking at them... The first fugue is registered with 8' flute and 4' principals in the hands and 8' in the pedals. The fanfare episode suddenly revives me! I like imaginative runs but would have chosen a more balanced pedal stop combination. The arpeggio episode played with the 8' flute in the manuals and 16' flute in the pedals. I have expected more improvisation from the organist before the 2nd fugue. Now the finish line is getting close. This fugue and the ending are performed with much excitement which suits the character of the piece very well. Now comes Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr", BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. I expect the dynamic level to decrease a bit after such a dramatic performance of the Bruhns. And yes, it's soft enough to enjoy (8' and 4' flutes in the hands against 16' and 8' flutes in the feet) but now some mistakes spoil my appetite for this gourmet dish. Maybe the last piece will be a good dessert? And so, the organist starts "Inspiration" by Vytautas Barkauskas with some good inspiration with the feeling of sort of like trying out the organ for the first time! Soft contrasting episodes lead to the culmination after which I really enjoy how the organist explores mysterious flute sounds. The finale sounds powerful and dramatic. Probably the best performed version of this piece for me (but keep in mind I didn't hear yesterday's last few performers). OK, three more pieces to go and I'm outta here! Here comes No. 22 Hyun Sun Park from South Korea. Oh not the Bruhns again! The organ is also not happy - a cipher in the beginning episode... I think I hear 8' principal and 4' flute in the manual part of the first fugue. The pedal 8' principal alone is too soft for this combination, in my opinion. A sudden appearance of the pedal 16' stop at the end of the fugue isn't what I had expected. For the fanfare episode the organist chooses to use 8' trumpet in the manual which works well here. In the arpeggio episode I hear 4' flute in the manual and 8' flute in the pedals. I want to thank the organist for entertaining me with some really imaginative flourishes before the 2nd fugue. Keep it up until the end! The reed registration is a little unusual but works for me, including the echos. The organ again misbehaves with the cipher on the high F# making the last chord sound like a 9th chord! Great trick to wake the audience up! Let's now all pray to the organ gods who wield the power of ciphers to be merciful during the last two pieces. First comes Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. The organist uses flute registration here. I like the balance between the hands and pedals. A question: Why does everybody play these trios really fast? An answer: To make themselves instead of the piece look good through their virtuosity. Of course, it's nice when an organist has a skill to do it but why not wait for the next toccata? And so in the "Toccata" by Faustas Latėnas the organist is displaying her control of the instrument really well. A strange effect after hearing this piece many times - I suddenly appreciate repetitions of the same passage much more. Exciting runs lead to the calm and strange ending which the audience meets with the audible relieve... Now after an hour and 20 minutes we'll find out who's staying for the 2nd Round. Stay tuned... If you want to watch a recording of the live-stream, check it out here: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm Round 1, Group 1 review Round 1, Group 2 review Round 1, Group 4 review [Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion which may or may not coincide with the reader's opinion. If you don't like it, write your own.] Here we are again! I'm sitting at the Evangelical Lutheran church here in Vilnius where the final day of Round 1 of organists will play as part of the 8th International Piano and Organ Competition. I have yet to listen the last 5 contestants from yesterday on the video recording. I promise to create a post about it later.
The first today is No. 16 Filip Šmerda from the Czech Republic. His program starts with Praeludium in E Minor (large) by Nicolaus Bruhns which is an obligatory piece for every contestant. His registration of the first fugue is 8' and 4' principals accompanied by 16' flute and 8' principal in the pedals. A small mistake towards the end didn't throw him of balance. The arpeggio episode is played by a single 8' flute in the manual and 16' and 8' flutes in the pedals. The episode before the 2nd fugue could have had more elements. I've heard people play with more intricate flourishes. The 2nd fugue is registered with Organo Pleno and 16' Posaune in the pedals. The ending lacks a bit of emphasis in phrasing, in my opinion and because of that feels a little rushed when played with a large registration. The next piece on his program is Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach. The registration is skillfully chosen with flute stops without 16' in the pedals. I like it a lot even though playing Bach's trio without 16' in the pedals is somewhat unorthodox. I think he plays the left hand part one octave down with an elegant 4' flute and 8' and 4' flutes in the right hand. Very stable playing, excellent listening to the dialogues and duets between the voices. The last piece on his program today is "Toccata" by Faustas Latėnas. The organist doesn't start with loud registration like most other people I heard before but instead smoothly rides with crescendo into mixture and Posaune sounds. By the way, solo Posaune in the pedal has very colorful effect on this organ and clearly the organist has enough artistic experience and good enough taste to show it. In the middle soft section he explores flute combinations and at this moment I thought I would gladly play this piece myself. It's always a good sign for the performer when that happens. A side note: personally I would have finished this piece much softer with a mysterious combination and flutes. Now is the turn for No. 17 Alexander Little from the United Kingdom. He starts with Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. Luckily for the previous organist, he makes a few accidental but noticeable mistakes here and there plus the pedals are too strong for my taste - 8' principal (maybe with 16' flute, I'm not exactly sure) in the feet versus 8' and 4' flutes in the hands. Otherwise, the performance is elegant enough. Next I hear "Shine" by Faustas Latėnas. The opening registration is indeed "shiny" with high-pitched mutations, including 1 3/5'. I wished for more contrast between waltz and fast motion episodes. Everything is played in one tempo and character. He could have been more creative I'm sure, not to mention about the exploitation of rests. "Shine" ends without much mystery at all. Oh and by the way, it's a mystery to me why this didn't happen... Maybe we will hear something special in the last piece? So, the organist finishes the program with Praeludium in E Minor by Bruhns. After the exciting opening the first fugue is played with 8' and 4' flutes in the manual and rather balanced 8' sounds in the pedals. Interestingly, the end of the fugue features a colorful passage with Vox humana stop in the left hand. The next section with echo is rushed, I think. The arpeggio episode is played by the 4' flute accompanied by 8' flute in the pedals. The 2nd fugue sounds convincing except for a strange single principal passage as echo even though ending loudly. To eliminate any doubts for the jury the piece ends powerfully and brilliantly. After this comes No. 18 Bart Verheyen from Belgium. We can compare another Bruhns performance right away. He uses expressive echo at the beginning but strangely unbalanced registration between the hands just before the first fugue. The registration of the fugue is Vox humana in the hands and 8' principal in the pedals. Sounds like a Renaissance wind consort. I would have coupled manual with the pedal to preserve consort registration. The fanfare episode has nice dramatic rests and brilliantly played runs between the hands. The arpeggio episode again is played with the 4' flute and 16' (!) and 8' stops in the pedals. Organists' creativity is apparent in the episode leading to the 2nd fugue which is played with a loud registration including 8' trumpet in the hands and Posaune in the feet. Again, here was nice to observe dramatic use of rests between the phrases. In the ending, he makes use of various oratory technique including Abruptio (sudden rest). Overall a very strong performance. Now the organist plays Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach with a rather heavy registration in the pedal - 16' and 8' principals against 8' and 2 2/3' flutes in the right hand and 8' principal in the left hand. The tempo is quick but the organist displays a good control of polyphonic texture and not for a moment loses his nerves. Although personally I would have reduced the tempo just a bit to have a more relaxed character. The last piece on his program is "Toccata" by Faustas Latėnas. The registration is brilliant with mixtures in the hands and reeds in the pedals to begin with. But not too overpowering to leave some room for growth later on. This contrast between two dynamic layers continues until the middle episode. It is played with 8' trumpet in the right hand part and produces a curious effect of craziness. I like it. More rests when flutes come in... The organist listens very carefully to the acoustics of the room. Big sound returns with brilliant virtuosity. A sudden stop and a solo flute at the last episode make a hanging effect, amplified by the pedal questions. Excellent performance! The last organist we'll hear before the break is No. 19 Jihyun Kim from South Korea. She starts with the Bruhns. After a powerful beginning the first fugue is played with 8' principal both in the hands and in the feet. Assistants make a mistake of leaving a Posaune stop in the pedals! Luckily the organist continues to play almost like nothing happened. Good dynamic contrast follow afterwards. In the arpeggio episode she chooses 4' flute in the hands and 8' principal in the pedals. I thought pedals were too strong. Sadly, no improvisation in the following section... The 2nd fugue is played with a loud registration including 8' trumpet in the manuals. No echo at the end. Almost the same sound for the ending with the addition of Posaune in the pedals. Rushed feeling and a wrong chord before the end... Now is the time for Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. The registration sounds medium loud - I can't say for sure but it seems like 8', 4' and 2 2/3' flutes in the right hand as well as 8' and 4' flutes in the left hand against 16' and 8' principals. Didn't hear anything special regarding listening to the dialogues and duets between the parts as well as appreciating key changes. A few mistakes here and there may or may not have an influence on the decision of the jury... Before the coffee break we'll also be hearing "Shine" by Faustas Latėnas. Some accidental slips again. Registration with mutations. The waltz is played with loud stops including 8' trumpet in the hands. Before the recapitulation - solo Vox humana in the right hand. Too many mistakes to be ignored... I like this very slow ending tempo which is true to composer's intentions. But the registration is too loud for my taste. Now let's have some coffee and come back after 15 minutes to hear the last 3 contestants. And later tonight results of Round 1 will be announced. Stay tuned... If you want to watch a recording of the live-stream, check it out here: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm Round 1, Group 1 review Round 1, Group 2 review [Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion which may or may not coincide with the reader's opinion. If you don't like it, write your own.] It's early Saturday morning for me. Just woke up and am ready to write a review of the 8th International M.K. Ciurlionis piano and organ competition, the 2nd group of organists Round 1. Yesterday I didn't get to listen to it live at the Evangelical Lutheran church of Vilnius so now I'm ready to listen to the recording from the competition's website:
http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ It seems the video is only available from contestant No. 7. Sunghyun Park, South Korea. I didn't get to hear to contestants No. 5 Wenying Wu, PR China and contestant No. 6 Magdalena Moser, Austria. Not sure if the organizers will make their recordings also available at a later date. By the way, I had a hard time recognizing the contestants and spent a lot of time comparing faces, repertoire and performance order because the announcer spoke really softly. I noticed this even yesterday while sitting in the church so it was much more evident in the recording. Sunghyun Park's recording starts from his 2nd piece - Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by Johann Sebastian Bach (there is no recording of his performance "MKČ" by Algirdas Martinaitis). So anyway, "Allein Gott" it seems to be registered by flutes 8' and 4' on two manuals. I thought it was a nice, stable playing. His last piece on the program is Praeludium in E Minor (Large) by Nicolaus Bruhns. After the loud entrance he plays the 1st fugue with the principal 8' without 16' in the pedals. The fanfare episode is played without the reeds in the hands but with the trumpet 8' in the pedals. The arpeggio episode is played with 2 flutes of 8' and 4' (I think). Overall, this piece was well performed to my taste. Next comes contestant No. 8 Ivan Tsarev, Russian Federation. He starts with the Praeludium in E Minor by Bruhns so I get to hear two performances of the same piece back to back. This organist has a good sense of early performance practice. This is evident in his treatment of ornamentation. The 1st fugue's registration was chosen with 8' principal while the fanfare episode sounded with the Trumpet. The arpeggio episode had a nice contrast with the 4' flute. I liked his improvised flourishes in the next chordal episode which leads to the 2nd fugue. The piece ends strong with a full principal chorus and reeds. The next piece on the program is Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach. The registration is similar to the previous version with a couple of flutes on separate manuals. The performance had a calming effect on me. The organist finishes with "Moonlight" by Vidmantas Bartulis. The beginning hypnotizes the listener with constant repetition and variation of the same motive. The energy level and dynamics rise throughout the next few minutes until it reaches a climax which gets abruptly cut off and moves to the soft section. The piece finishes like it started with the recapitulation of the beginning idea. His performance make me want to study this piece even deeper. Next is contestant No. 9 Andrzej Turek from Poland. He starts with Praeludium in E Minor by Bruhns. He made one slip at the beginning episode. The fugue was registered with the 8' principal. The next episode was performed rather sloppy. Mistakes didn't stop after that either. Not sure what happened. Maybe the assistants didn't do a good job. I liked his improvisatory flourishes before the 2nd fugue. This fugue he also performed with clear mistakes. For a contest of this level it might be a problem. The pedal trumpet was too loud comparing with the manual registration in the hands for my taste. The next piece on his program is Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach. The registration for the right hand part was chosen with the sesquialtera sound (2 2/3' and 1 3/5'). The left hand was played without mutations, perhaps with flutes 8' and 4'. I thought the pedal stuck out a little too much with 16' and 8' principals while the left hand sounded more like an accompaniment. At one point the organist made a mistake towards the end and almost stopped the flow of the piece. He finishes his program with the Toccata by Faustas Latėnas. The free improvisatory character was a nice contrast with the previous two pieces. I thought it was the strongest performance from his program. The final contestant before the break is No. 10 Vladimir Skomorokhov from Russian Federation. He starts with Bruhn's Praeludium in E Minor. In the opening episode the hands were a bit too weak in comparison to the pedals. The 1st fugue was performed the slowest from the people I've heard so far. The flow of the music stopped. But afterwards the flow reappeared. The arpeggio episode was played with a 4' flute accompanied by the 8' flute in the pedals. The organist was more creative than some of the people I've heard before with his flourishes before the 2nd fugue. This fugue was performed without a plenum sound. The contestant displayed his creativity even in the echo passages and finished the piece strongly without mixtures. Next the organist plays "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach. The registration was chosen with 8' and 4' flutes in the manuals and 16' flute and 8' principal in the pedal. Why not 16' principal and 8' flute? With this soft registration in the hand parts the principal 8' sticks out in the high range a little too much. Of course, I can't be sure that the balance was like this out in the church since I'm listening through the headphones which is far from ideal experience compared to what I heard yesterday live. Nevertheless, I'm writing from experience here and comparing other contestants in my mind so I might be right. But other than that the performance was solid and calm. And the last piece before I take a break is Toccata by Faustas Latėnas. I like his imaginative approach to registration here. In soft episodes tremulant helped a lot. One thing that I have my doubts about is the rests between the phrases in the soft section. They might have stopped the flow too much. But later the flow recovered. Now I think I earned my breakfast and will come back to listening to the rest of yesterday's organists later in the day. I will have to run some errands and bring program notes of tonight's recital by organist Jurate Landsbergyte and flutist Vytautas Oskinis to VU St John's church but I hope to come to the Evangelical Lutheran church and listen to the rest of Round 1 contestants live. If you want to watch a recording of the live-stream, check it out here: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Specification of the organ: Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm Round 1, Group 1 review [Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion which may or may not coincide with the reader's opinion. If you don't like it, write your own.] I'm sitting at the Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran church right now where the 1st Round of Ciurlionis organ competition is about to begin. The first contestant is Yohan Chung from South Korea. He started Praeludium in E Minor (Large) by Nicolaus Bruhns with a heavy registration which included manual reeds. The fugue sound was reduced to 8' and 4' Principals in the manual and without 16' in the pedals. I wanted more calmness here. The fanfare episode was played with the trumpet stop which sounds quite convincing on this organ. The arpeggio episode was played with a Principal 8' alone. The sound was increased gradually until the full Principal Chorus in the last fugue. The reeds are added for the ending of the piece. We will hear this piece by Bruhns 29 more times in the 1st round. Overall a few little mistakes here and there didn't bother me too much. Not sure about the jury though...
The next piece on the program is Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It seems like the organist chose to register this trio with flutes 8', 4' and 2 2/3' in the right hand versus principal 8' in the left hand. The pedals were quite strong with Principals 16' and 8'. A beautiful piece, especially when listening the first time in the contest. The organist finished his program with the Toccata by Faustas Latėnas. It starts with the dialogue in octaves and sevenths between the hands and feet. The piece has a free spontaneous character and the organist showed it quite successfully throughout the performance. The toccata is full of contrasts and I thought this was the most excitingly performed piece from his program. No. 2 on the menu is Tyler Jason Boehmer from the United States. He also started with the Praeludium by Nicolaus Bruhns. During the opening section a nasty cipher in C# disturbed playing for a minute or so. Luckily the organist kept playing almost like nothing happened. In the 1st fugue he felt relaxed enough to add interesting ornaments. The opening was with mixtures and reeds and the fugue to me sounded performed with a single 8' principal both in the hands and feet. The fanfare section was played with without the reeds or mixtures. I think maybe Principals 8', 4' and 2. The arpeggio section was played with the 8' flute accompanied by the 16' Subbass alone. Then we hear crescendo with the gradual addition of Principals and Mixture. I liked nice flourishes and what he did between the phrases. In the 2nd fugue he added the reeds. Maybe because of the excitement a few mistakes could have been heard in the middle of it. The end of the piece was solid but a little bit rushed. Next he played Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676. Started quite fast and thought at this speed he will not be able to listen to intricate contrapuntal work of the composer. The organist chose to use Principals 8' and 4' in both hands on different manuals and for the pedals - Principals 16' and 8'. In the second half of the chorale prelude the tempo was normalized and I didn't hear any rushed passages. The program concluded with "Inspiration" by Vytautas Barkauskas. It has many echo passages between the hands and curiously sounding Posaune exclamations in the pedals. Like a lot of Lithuanian organ pieces it sounds like improvisation without too much thought about the form. Three-note motive is repeated and developed constantly. I thought the soft sections were done nicely. The reed sections can serve like a nice demonstration of Posaune and other stops. No 3 on the program is Ilaria Centorrino from Italy. She started with the E Minor Praeludium by Nicolaus Bruhns. Differently from the preceding two contestants, she played the first fugue with the Vox Humana 8' stop both in the hands and pedals. Not sure if the Dutch would like it. But I'm not Dutch so it was OK for me. Vox Humana is notoriously difficult to tune and we could hear this challenge in the tenor range. The arpeggio section was played by the Flute 4' accompanied by the flute 8' in the pedals. Refreshing sound considering the fact that in this church the organ sounds really in your face. Perhaps a smaller instrument might have been ideal here. The registration grew until the 2nd fugue with the addition of mutations and mixtures but the 2nd fugue was reduced to a few principals. A bit unusual but convincing, especially the echo effect in the end of the fugue. What sound we lacked in the fugue, was compensated in the ending part of the piece with the powerful Plenum sound. Next we hear Chorale Prelude "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr", BWV 676 by J.S. Bach, like at the previous contestant's program. The registration was softer - perhaps flutes 8' and 4' in the left hand juxtaposed with flutes 8', 4' and 2 2/3 in the right hand. The pedal played with flutes 16' and 8' stops. Solid and calm performance. The program was concluded by "Shine" by Faustas Latėnas. The fast section sounded quite humorous which I think worked very well. The slow waltz was quite mysterious. The recapitulation brought back the opening theme and tempo. The ending could have been much slower and more mysterious to my taste... The last organist I will hear is No. 4 Somang Lee from South Korea. She started with Praeludium in E Minor by Bruhns. If I'm not mistaken, her opening section was without reeds in the manuals. The 1st fugue was played with principals 8' and 4' accompanied by principal 8' in the pedals (I think without 4'). She has a rare skill to listen to rests (at least in this fugue). The episode after the fugue was played with a heavy registration full of mixtures. The arpeggio section I think was registered with the octave 4' in the manuals and 16' and 8' principals in the pedals. In the second fugue she also listened wisely to the rests. Too bad the acoustics in this church lacks a few more seconds of reverberation. My spirits were elevated with the ending bravura. Next we're listening to Trio super ''Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'', BWV 664 by J.S. Bach which we heard performed by contestant No. 1. Now the registration is different. I think I hear a registration of flutes 8', 4' and 2' in the right hand and two principals in the left hand. The pedals sound heavy and a little too pronounced. I'm not particularly fond of the color in the right hand. The last piece before the break is "Ad libitum" by Faustas Latėnas. It adds some freshness in the atmosphere because the organist cleverly uses the juxtapositions between the loud sections and softer sounding 9th chords. Now I'm ready to go back home and listen to the second part of Round 1 from the live-stream: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ Specification of the organ: Specification of the organ: http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_liuteronu.htm [Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion which may or may not coincide with the reader's opinion. If you don't like it, write your own.] Schedule for the 8th International Ciurlionis Piano and Organ Competition:
http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ/schedule I highly recommend listening to as many contestants as possible. There should be a live-stream from their website. It's like the Organ Olympics in Lithuania. You will have a tremendous experience. You can get the program here: http://ciurlionis.link/en/b/organ/other/a/repertoire Round I starts today at 1 PM UTC. I will try to report about the performances from the competition later. This morning I came to my church and the first thing I did was to improvise 2 pieces from the Gregorian chant book "Graduale Triplex". The first was called "Dico vobis" suited for Communion. I played it with 4' flute registration and created a canon between the right hand and the pedal parts. It's a melody in the 5th tone so I started and ended in the mode of F. In the middle I traveled to various other modalities through different manuals and rhythmical figures to create a contrast. Then I played a piece for the Alleluia part of the Mass "Beatus vir, qui timet". It's also in the 5th tone but this time I started and ended with loud foundation stops with mixtures on the 1st manual and a Posaune in the pedals. I put my "Graduale triplex" book with the theme on the organ bench because it wouldn't stay open on the music rack. The middle of the improvisation was softer - with foundations 8' and 4' of the 3rd manual. I treated the chant phrases through different modes and eventually returned to the mode of F. When I was working on the computer later on, a colleague from the university museum came up to the organ balcony and unlocked the door which leads to the room next to the organ balcony. It's like a storage room for old artifacts which wait for their restoration. I saw some sculptures and parts of old organ bellows and probably windchests there. I hope sometime in the future this room can be my office, haha! Now I'm getting ready to prepare the program notes for tomorrow's recital at our church and then later will have some lunch with Ausra at the university cafeteria and later I will go sit and listen to the 1st round, 1st group of performers of the 8th M.K. Ciurlionis International Piano and Organ Competition. I will report my next post from there. These rounds should be live-streamed from their website so if you are curious, click through and stay tuned. It starts at 1 PM UTC.
I'm a little worried because right now there is a deceased person in one of the chapels here in the church waiting for the funeral service tomorrow. But the organist who is going to perform a recital tomorrow night is scheduled to come and practice with the flutist. I just hope their music making will be calm enough to not disturb the quiet too much. These things can't be planned but we have to deal with them constantly in our church. Yesterday evening in our church there was a memorial service dedicated to those members of the university community who died this year. I improvised 4 pieces on the organ for Prelude, Offertory, Communion and Postlude. Now I'd like to share with you these videos and hope you will enjoy listening to them. Prelude - Requiem aeternamOffertory - Domine Iesu ChristeCommunion - Lux aeternaPostlude - Dies iraeYesterday also I was contacted by one of my former music history teachers at Klaipeda E. Balsys Art Gymnasium which I graduated from back in 1994. She runs music theory department there now. She noticed how much I travel with recitals and improvise and wanted me to share something with the school as well. She hope she can organize my meeting with the current students. I wrote to her that I will have to investigate the possibilities and thanked her for the invitation.
By the way, a long time ago it was she who gave me a gift of the copy of "Graduale Triplex" Gregorian chant book which I use even today for my improvisations and compositions. If I go, I would definitely want to share my online experiences and introduce students and teachers to Steem and blockchain. |
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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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