Today Ausra and I went to the wonderful Memorial Service at Vilnius Archcathedral for legendary Lithuanian organist, pianist and organ restorer Bernardas Vasiliauskas who died on February 22. He will be sorely missed by a large extended family and many dear friends and colleagues musicians in Lithuania and abroad. I hope you will enjoy some of the music from the service - Communion Ave verum by Edgar Elgar, Angelus Domini and Postlude (Fugue "Kyrie eleison" by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis). I was walking through the nave and you will be able to see the interior of the Archcathedral. The choir music was powerfully sung by Archcathedral Joint Youth and Schola Cantorum Choirs, directed by Violeta Savickaite, the organ was very skillfully played by Rimvydas Mitkus.

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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 676 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast.  This question was sent by Nick, and he answers my question, “What is your dream in organ playing in the next 3-6 months, and what are some challenges along the way?”  So he writes,

1. To be able to play a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ pieces suitable for service use.

V:  and challenges would be

2. Sight reading, sight reading and sight reading!

V:  Why do you think he writes “sight reading” three times?

A:  Because it’s his main challenge.

V:  Oh.

A:  But you know, I think that this sight reading is very important for him to achieve, that his first goal to have a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ repertoire suitable for service use.  I remember when I played at church in the United States.  Well of course, because I was always working on the big repertoire for my degree recitals, I was looking for easy church music to play, basically the pieces I could maybe sight read once or twice and then play for the services.  So basically it was really important to find suitable music.  And then after doing that for awhile, the sight reading just became so easy.

V:  Mm hm.  Did you prefer to play, sight read for service purposes, music of composers who lived in previous periods or contemporary music?

A:  Actually, mainly Baroque music, some Romantic music.  A little bit of Dupre, but not so much of living composers.

V:  Mm hm.  Nowadays there are some publishing houses, especially in the United States which specializes for service music for organists, accessible music basically.  Accessible may be quality music too.

A:  Yes, but it costs, and at that time I didn’t have any money, any extra money, additional money to get new scores, so I just had to pick up something that is accessible to me.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  So I really loved Dover’s publications because they were cheap and they had a large collection of music.  I remember buying like Pachelbel, and I played it - almost entire collection - sight read for services.

V:  If you had good improvisation skills at that time, would you rather have improvised than sight read?

A:  Yes, probably because it’s so convenient when working at church.

V:  Let’s say your pastor would select hymns, right, or some other music director select hymns for you.  And then you could improvise preludes and postludes and interludes, right?

A:  True, true, that would be very useful skill.

V:  That’s exactly what contemporary composers do.  Maybe they’re not improvising newly written repertoire, but they’re creating music based on those seasonal hymns, right?  Mostly. So that an organist could go to their catalog and order something suitable for that Sunday, particular Sunday.  And there are publishing houses like Lorenz or Wayne Leupold Editions.  I suspect there are many others too, but those two came to my attention just recently.  For example, Wayne Leupold Editions have periodical.  You can subscribe to, how it’s called… The Organist…Organ Companion I think.  Yes, Organ Companion.  We have two archival issues of this periodical, about 30 pages long, so maybe like nine or ten pieces in each issue.  Issued bi-monthly, every two months, and for any particular season in that period.  And one third of that consists of pieces of Baroque, 17th and 18th century music, one third of Romantic and early 20th century music, and one third of contemporary composers, specifically created for that purpose.  What do you think about that?

A:  You know, there was a time when I really thought, I had a very high opinion about Wayne Leupold’s Editions, in general on the music, because they were really good collections in terms of historical approach and performance practices.  They had extensive articles about what they are publishing.

V:  Yes, I will interrupt you, because in that Organist’s Companion, there are commentaries about each piece and extensive historical documentation too.

A:  But if we would look at the prices, what he offers, I think they are just enormously high.

V:  To add to this, maybe nowadays he offers alternative publications also, like PDFs.  Much much cheaper you can subscribe to PDFs every two months, and they are quite affordable.  You get constant flow of new repertoire.

A:  And in general, I remember listening to his presentation, live presentation back in the United States, I realized that he is more like businessman, not as musician, because he really knows how to sell his product very well.  He reminded me actually of that turtle from the Ice Age movie, remember?

V:  Yes.

A:  Who could sell anything!  Right before the flood coming.  So that reminded me a little of Wayne Leupold.  I hope he will not be offended of my comparison.

V:  But on the other hand, musicians also should be able to sell their art, don’t you think?

A:  Yes, that’s true.

V:  Otherwise you will end up in the drawer.

A:  Yes.  Except that you know the auditorium of musicians are never rich basically, and your products cannot be…

V:  Expensive?

A:  Expensive, yeah.

V:  But…

A:  …or so expensive, because our income is really low.

V:  …if you work at a large church, for example, sometimes your employer buys things for you.

A:  That’s maybe only in United States and a few places in United States.  But I don’t think that’s true in Europe.  Not in Lithuania, anyway.

V:  These purchases could be tax deductible, you know.

A:  Yeah.

V:  It’s still not free, but it’s a good support I think.

A:  Yeah.

V:  For professional material.

A:  But anyway, if you love to read and you like a historical approach, then yes, Wayne Leupold is a good place for new scores.

V:  Another place I found is Lorenz Publications from United States.  Carson Cooman, our colleague on YouTube, organist and composer, he is an editor there in Lorenz, and he manages those subscriptions also.  They have this subscription, monthly subscription, you pay a fee for a certain number of download credits.  And let’s say five or ten credits, you can select your own choices, or you can trust what the editor suggests for each season.  They send you like a subscription-based newsletter every month.

A:  That’s very good if you lack your own ideas, then you can be advised what to do and what to select.  It’s very handy.

V:  And it’s very affordable.  And if you’re not satisfied with what the editor suggests, you can go online to their catalog online and pick your own things from their publishing house of course.  And they specialize on affordable - accessible maybe - accessible contemporary organ repertoire for church use.

A:  Yes.

V:  So that’s two things to think about if you are not willing to improvise during services, right?  And if you need…of course, you still need sight reading skills for that, if you are constantly playing…

A:  But I think if you are having the church position, like regular church position, I think that sight reading skills will come to you.

V:  Sooner or later.

A:  Sooner or later, yes.  Because you will be forced to sight read every day.  Maybe you will have no time to prepare for each service, then what else can you do?  Just sight read.

V:  Yes, excellent.  So I hope this was useful to our listeners.  These ideas.  And please send us more of your questions.  We love helping you grow.  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 and get early access:

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

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: Hi guys!  This is Vidas.

Ausra:  And Ausra.

Vidas: Let’s start episode 644 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Paje, and this is the answer to my question, “What is the goal in organ playing, and what are some challenges that get in the way of this goal. So: 

“1. Dream to serve as an organist and lead the choir in my Church Organisation.
2. Lack of consistent mentorship, lack of accountability, lack of clarity on what to focus on first as a beginner.”

Vidas: Okay, so I think we need to discuss the challenges, probably. Right?

Ausra: Yes.

Vidas: The most apparent ones.

Ausra: Yes

Vidas: Because the dream to serve as an organist and lead the choir in the church is very common.

Ausra: Yes, that’s a very common wish for many church organists.

Vidas: So if someone lacks a consistent mentorship, what does it mean? Does it mean that they don’t have a teacher?

Ausra: Well, yes and maybe not, because mentorship is not the same as a teacher! The mentor and the teacher…

Vidas: And what might be the differences or similarities maybe. Because sometimes people call me teacher, sometimes they call me mentor, and I am confused.

Ausra: Well, I would make a difference between mentor and teacher. The teacher is actually  somebody who gives us actual lessons on something. And mentorship is probably a person whom you respect, whom you esteem, from whom you get your ideas, and who keeps you going. That’s what I see as the difference between teacher and mentor.

Vidas: I see. So lack of mentorship means that they don’t have a person whom they esteem, whom they look up to. Right? So that’s where we come in, probably. If they asked us for advice and write emails, probably we can be examples to them. 

Ausra: I hope so!

Vidas: Yeah, we hope so, too. So just follow our advice, follow our lead, and you will get, of course, leadership and mentorship this way. Look at what we are doing on line and listen to our videos, teachings, apply them in your practice, and you will start growing as an organist. What about lack of accountability, Ausra? Accountability probably means that if you have a goal and you want to achieve that goal and you are not sure if you’re progressing in the right direction. Right? Somebody else needs to tell you if you are doing right or wrong. Correct?

Ausra: Might be. Yes.

Vidas: So that’s like a teacher. They need a teacher or they need the examples from their peers! Maybe other students who are on the same path of becoming an organist in the church and leading the choir, and they are striving to do the same, and together they can hold themselves accountable, like a group.

Ausra: Sure. But you know, I… Well, this thing about accountability, I think probably it’s not very fair and not honest with him- or herself. Because I don’t know if anybody wouldn’t feel that he or she is doing progress or not… either is improving or not. Don’t you think so?

Vidas: Can you elaborate a little bit what you mean?

Ausra: Well wouldn’t you feel that you are doing progress or not?

Vidas: Right now, yes. I am educated enough to see if I’m progressing. What if I’m a beginner?

Ausra: Well, anyway, but even when I was in first grade, I would feel if I’m playing the piece already well enough or not, or if I’m still struggling with it. And if you are a church organist, you might measure your progress on how fast, for example, you can learn a hymn. Is it giving you as much trouble as it gave you a month ago? Still, there are some kind of measures how you can look at yourself and measure your progress.

Vidas: And for children it is different because they are not always very conscious of their goals. Parents set their goals for them, and therefore they need somebody else external outside of themselves to hold them accountable. But if you are an adult and you have a goal, you keep yourself accountable.

Ausra: Yes, that’s what I’m thinking, that the most important reason to be accountable is how you treat yourself.

Vidas: Lack of clarity. The next item on his or her list is lack of clarity on what to focus as a beginner.

Ausra: Well, I believe that in this case, you know, you just need, you know, to focus on what you need the most at the church. What is your church and what are your congregation’s needs. Do you have, for example, to play more solos or more accompany the choir, or congregational singing. Then you have to focus on what is the most important.

Vidas: I would add that they need to bring the church hymnal at home, the same hymnal that is used in their church, and start learning these hymns for the specific liturgical Sunday. If today is Lent, so you start learning hymns for Lent. Right? You might not necessarily be proficient in all of the Lenten hymns, but several, yes. Or if you want to start learning hymns for the future, for Easter say, you can do that, too, so that in a few weeks from now, you can be prepared to play a couple of Easter hymns. Correct?

Ausra: Yes, and not only hymns, because I don’t know exactly what denomination it is, but it also depends. You might need to play, for example, even the parts of Mass, like Kyrie, Gloria, and others, or whatever the congregation, denomination you are.

Vidas: Well, correct. You just need to ask either the pastor or priest what kind of music do they need, or you might know already, because they want to lead the choir in “my church organization,” so they already have this church denomination or congregation that they want to serve. So just, they probably know already what to play.

Ausra: Sure, and if somebody hires you, I guess you receive some sort of requests from your employer.

Vidas: Yes. And if in doubt, always consult your pastor or priest. That’s what will give you focus as a beginner.

Ausra: Yes, and if you are a music director, then of course you can set up your rules.

Vidas: Yes, but music directors probably will not be beginners in this case. Correct?

Ausra: Yes!

Vidas: So. Okay! We hope this was useful to you guys. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo

In this video you will hear liturgical music that I performed for Lithuanian Mass at St Joseph's Church in Vilnius (2020-09-30).

In this video you will hear me play and sing ABIDE WITH ME hymn in Polish ABIDE WITH ME Hymn in Polish (Stój przy mnie bo już wieczór zbliża się) at St Joseph's Church in Vilnius on September 26, 2020. Hope you enjoy it!

Last Sunday I went to St Joseph's church here in Vilnius to help my friend Paulius Grigonis at the Mass. During the Polish Mass we sang the Polish Agnus Dei (Baranku Boży) by O. Józef Ścibor C.CsR. I tested out Velesovo sample by Sonus Paradisi and Hauptwerk VPO software on Johannus Studio 150 organ. Let me know what do you think!

Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
 
Ausra: And Ausra
 
V: Let’s start episode 550, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by John. And he writes:
 
I believe you and Ausra would have had quite a bit of experience organizing the church music program in the US, including choirs? Would be great to learn some tips from you guys!
I would enjoy getting some advice from you on keyboard technique and finger accuracy.
 
V: How should we start, Ausra?
 
A: Well, I guess, yes, we have some experience organizing church music in America. But concerning choirs, I would say we have more experience organizing church music in Lithuania. Because before leaving to the United States we worked with two choirs in St. Johns church in Vilnius.
 
V: Yes, and in America we were organists, not…
 
A: Yes.
 
V: music directors.
 
A: So…
 
V: In Lithuania, if you want to lead the choir and direct the musical life within the parish, within your congregation, you needed to be in charge, not only of the choir, not only of choir rehearsals, but also think about what musical activities you want to do between Sundays.
 
A: Yes. And if we are talking about our choir groups in Lithuania that we had before going to the states, we had two choirs; one was a choir where mostly professionals sang, or at least people who had some professional musical education. And we sang, well, early music mostly. And I mean really early music, like Renaissance polyphony.
 
V: We even early sang the earliest surviving polyphonic Requiem which is by Johannes Ockeghem.
 
A: Yes and we also sang some masses of Jacob Obrecht and other nice Renaissance composers. And of course we did some Bach, Bach’s choral music as well. And it wasn’t very easy to keep this group because we were all, of them basically, almost professionals, or professional. And we asked them to come to church to sing each Sunday for free. But we, well, kept going it for a while, for quite a while. But of course when we left to the states, all this group disappeared. And another choir was the youth group. And they sang sort of easier music, like pop, pop, Christian pop music.
 
V: Yes.
 
A: With various instruments, with of course keyboards and guitars and I would play my recorder and we had little girl who would play some percussion.
 
V: It was fun.
 
A: Yes. And it we had some music that we brought with us from Austria. And actually I created the Lithuanian text for that music, so, we sang those.
 
V: In general, if we are talking about directing choral life around your congregation, you need to satisfy three, sometimes conflicting sides—yourself, right, musically it has to be pleasing to yourself. If you are not doing the work you are proud of, I think you will not continue to do it after a while.
 
A: Well, but you know, in this second choir we welcomed everybody who wanted to sing. And not everybody even had to know like good musical pitch.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: So, and some would sing out of tune. But because in this second choir we had lots of members.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: So we sang loud enough in order to diminish those who cannot sing well enough.
 
V: But what I mean is we were able to do both choirs because we really loved early music at that time. We were able to reconcile two different styles, two different even skill set levels, advancement levels of those members because we really loved early music and we understood if we only sang early music with that, the first choir, we would never be able to satisfy what congregation needs and wants.
 
A: Well, we did hymns too, of course, not...
 
V: Yes, but for the second mass they wanted some light music, right?
 
A: Yes, for youth.
 
V: For youth. By the way, for the second mass right now, they have gospel music, another group, quite well know group in Vilnius. And we’re not in charge anymore of any choral activities in that church. We’re only in charge of organ activities within the university. So, so if John is thinking about leading a musical life, including choral life in his congregation, I think he needs to think about what he wants, what congregation wants, and what his choir members want, also.
 
A: And what they can.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: Because you might want to do it but you cannot have ability to do it.
 
V: And you need to do sometimes, you sometimes have to meet them in the middle. If they want to do one thing and you want to do another thing, maybe you can agree to meet somewhere in the middle, like a compromise. That’s possible, if they’re open for compromises. Sometimes not. Sometimes they’re very direct and very specific about what they want. But I guess even in that situation, if you are forced to do something that you don’t want to do, maybe you have, you can have a corner of musical activity that you enjoy doing in that congregation. And because of the opportunity to rehearse with that ensemble for example, or, I don’t what John enjoys, maybe play organ music right? Maybe he can do something else as well, in addition to that, like a compromise, like a service for the congregation. But maybe I’m over exaggerating. Maybe he would enjoy doing all kinds of musical activities, and maybe that’s not a problem for him, right?
 
A: Yeah, sure.
 
V: So then, John was also asking about a couple of other things—advice about keyboard technique and finger accuracy. We could discuss this in another episode, right, because it’s kind of unrelated.
 
A: Yes, unrelated to the first half of the question.
 
V: Okay guys. So stay tuned for our next episode and we will discuss the rest of John’s questions. Thanks for listening. This was Vidas.
 
A: And Ausra.
 
V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice…
 
A: Miracles happen!

Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.

Ausra: And Ausra
 
V: Let’s start episode 479, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth. And maybe this is not a question per se, but an observation. I asked Ruth, who is our TotalOrganist student, to write what she has been working on and she wrote:

Our church organist has been in the hospital with a very serious illness.  I am an ordained minister, with some experience in music. In this geographical area, it is difficult to find substitutes for organists.  So, for several Sundays now, I have played the piano for the hymn singing and have also led the worship service. For special music, I played the flute,  on which I have done a lot of solo work. So far, it is working out fine, but I do not know when the organist will be able to return. For now, I practice music and also prepare the worship service.  Preaching is a major part of the service. For me, it takes a huge part of the week to prepare the sermon, with an effort to study the Biblical texts in great detail, since those texts form the foundation for the sermon.  So, my days consist of practicing music and studying for the sermon and service preparation. I ultimately have to write the service for the bulletin. Fortunately, this church has someone to type and copy the bulletin.
 
V: What are your thoughts, Ausra, after hearing this?
 
A: Well, I think she is doing a tremendous job. Ruth is being like a woman orchestra, basically, conducting all this entire service. People need just to appreciate her so much for what she is doing, basically, leading whole service by herself…
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: as a minister and as a musician. I have never heard about anything like that before. I think it’s quite amazing.
 
V: Yes! Amazing in both respects, that a musician can write sermons and deliver them also. And also that a minister can perform music. This is quite extraordinary. But I suspect that we have some of our listeners who are in similar positions too. Maybe not doing this consistently, but have this skills, I think too. So I thought of including her feedback here on the podcast. And I asked her, actually, I’d like to find in our communication on Basecamp—I asked her how long is her sermon and she wrote that it’s about fifteen or ten minutes. So she has to write it every week, I think.
 
A: Yes. For each Sunday.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Yes. She writes ‘they are usually about fifteen minutes. They have gotten a few minutes shorter since I started there. I noticed that the congregation listens better if the sermons are not too long’.
 
A: That’s I think a good way to understand that, because I have listened to a sermon that would last for almost forty minutes.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: And there the priest would start to talk about one thing and then would go and talk basically nonsense—it’s not related with the scripture at all.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: So I guess it’s probably, it’s ten to fifteen minutes is the optimum time that you can still grab the congregations attention.
 
V: It’s like a musical piece, also.
 
A: True.
 
V: If it’s a long piece, and it’s difficult to listen to it. If it’s a number of shorter pieces, it’s easier.
 
A: Yes. But envy sometimes people being protestants because usually in those reformed churches, sermons are much better than in Catholic churches.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: That’s my opinion from what I have heard.
 
V: And if she’s doing this week after week, year after year, she must have created a large body of work, of her sermons. So I asked her ‘what is she doing with the text after the service? Are they sitting in the drawer or is she publishing them?’
 
 A: She could publish them, definitely! (?)
 
V: She could publish them as a book, self-publish, or with publishing house or she could put them online and let her ideas spread. That would be I think the easiest thing to do.
 
A: And another thing that amazes me, how is she able to manage all the thing because I remember, used to, when I did my lecture recital for my Doctoral program, I played two chorale fantasies by Johann Adam Reincken and also talked about them. I was doing a comparative analysis of them, and I talked before one, then I went upstairs to the organ balcony and played it, and then I came downstairs again and talked about another one and then went and played the second one, which is probably the largest, the longest...
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: German organ fantasy. Well, and you know the hardest thing for me was to focus because of how after reading all the text, it was hard to focus and perform. So I really respect Ruth for doing it, when she has to leave the service and play it.
 
V: Would it be difficult for you today, to do this, after all those years?
 
A: Well, you know, it would still need to take an extra concentration.
 
V: It’s a different skill than…
 
A: Yes.
 
V: than just talking or just performing. You have to combine story–telling and performing which for some people is a challenge and this challenge of course might be overcome by developing this skill of story–telling. I just wanted to end this conversation with an advice for Ruth. If she hasn’t published her sermons, to check out Steem platform where we are publishing our work. They have [a] wonderful community and various interests in that community. You can find people who are interested in religion for example, and Christianity, and those communities or are as they call it, tribes, can be concentrated and people in that tribe can really support each other. And this is really great work to start your blog today. If I was doing the work from scratch I would start with Steem I think. Alright guys. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice…
 
A: Miracles happen!

 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
 
Ausra: And Ausra!
 
V: Let’s start episode 405 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Justin, and he writes:

​Hi Vidas and Ausra,

Greetings from Australia.

I’m wondering if you know of any settings of the psalms for liturgical use in Lithuanian? Ideally I’m looking for the responsorial psalms for Sundays only for all three years.

I would be grateful for any advice you may have.

Regards
Justin
 
V: It appears, Ausra, that Justin is interested in knowing more about Lithuanian psalms. Right? What we sing in churches, and how it is that we do it.
 
A: Well, because Lithuania is mostly a Catholic country, one psalm is required for each Mass.
 
V: Right. I was checking with our friend Paulius, who is the organist of St. Joseph Church here in Vilnius, if he knows of any collections of responsorial psalms, but, there seems to be a lack of such systematization in Lithuania, and what he does is he creates his own. So, Ausra, if you had to sing your psalm tune today—you went to the mass, and you found a text of the Psalm, and you had to figure out a melody, what would you do?
 
A: I would use those eight psalm tunes. But for a refrain, I would just use maybe one phrase from that psalm tune, or something in that mode.
 
V: Something like the notes of the mode?
 
A: Yes, something that would be easy for people to repeat, to remember.
 
V: I’d do the same, but sometimes I tend to repeat myself, and it’s kind of boring, too. So….
 
A: Well, you know, if I may say so, during psalms, not the melody is the most important thing, but the words! So, whatever. You can sing them on one single note, and it would be still okay, because it’s recited text, actually.
 
V: What if the Psalms, when, for example the cantor alone sings, is on mostly repeated notes, like in psalm tone, but the refrain is more or less fluid without too many repeated notes. Is it better?
 
A: Well, it might be difficult for the congregation to respond if the refrain is very elaborated. Because, I do have a very good musical memory, but sometimes the cantor picks up a very interesting refrain; even for me, it’s too hard to follow, and I remember it right after maybe three or four repetitions, you know, maybe at the last response of that psalm. But it needs to be memorable, that you would be able to remember it right away, after one repetition.
 
V: You’re right. And I would probably use the notes of the mode or the psalm tone, and start and end on the first note of the mode, so that people would know where the so-called tonic pitch is.
 
A: Do you remember that old Senkus book….
 
V: Hymnal?
 
A: Hymnal, yes. I think he had quite a few hymns based on Psalms, basically.
 
V: That’s right, I remember that. So, Senkus was a musically trained priest, who created two editions of his hymnal, and he composed his own refrains of the Psalms, too. So anybody with some training and musical knowledge in their own way, not only in Lithuanian, but in their own language too.
 
A: Sure.
 
V: So guys, we hope this was useful. Please experiment with your psalm tones, and let us know how it goes. And, please keep sending us your wonderful questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice,
 
A: Miracles happen.

Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
 
Ausra: And Ausra.
 
V: Let’s start episode 264, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by David. And he writes:
 
Dear Vidas and Ausra.

It seems to me that there are basically 5 types of music that the organist has to be ready to play in church other than accompanying hymns and choir anthems. They are: Preludes, Postludes, offertories, introits, and interludes. Perhaps interludes aren't so common in most churches now.

What are the important aspects to know about each of those in order for the organist to select or improvise an appropriate piece of music for each? Are Preludes usually longer, more meditative? Of course we know that Postludes must be played as loud as possible to prevent idle and rude chatter while the organ is playing (I'm joking, of course). But what makes a piece more suited for a Prelude, and another piece more suited for postlude. Do offertories have special characteristics? When a church uses them, what is appropriate for an introit? Are there any special guidelines that generally can be applied?

Obviously every church and denomination is different, and differing themes and seasons will affect this, but I'm looking for general principals for the average service or Mass.

Thank you,
David

V: What do you think, Ausra?
 
A: Well it’s a very broad question and as David said himself at the end of his question that everything is different in different church. Yes, different denomination, and different tradition, and depending on the season. But if we could give sort of general outline; I think what preludes differs from the postludes. I think preludes must be probably a little bit more solemn in character. And sort of not maybe as fast in tempo as postlude, because prelude is sort of preparation for the service itself. So it should not distract probably as much as postlude.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: What do you think about it?
 
V: I agree. And usually, we can take a look at introit and it’s text and it’s melodies. And David here mentions introits. But introits usually are sung, right? So,,,
 
A: That’s right.
 
V: So, if before the mass you sing an introit, it’s a good idea to play a prelude based on those ideas, and melodies and texts, and characters, too. So, sometimes if a Sunday is solemn and festive, introits will be also more festive and preludes therefore will be more festive with loud registration, that’s possible. And depending on occasion, it could be meditative character too.
 
A: What about length? Do you think that preludes should be shorter, or the same as postlude?
 
V: It could be as long as you want, but you have to end in time for the singers to sing. So you have to collaborate with whatever choir is singing at the church, or maybe you are leading your choir too, so you have to count those minutes, how many stanzas there are in your introit, or if you are in protestant denomination, then opening hymn, you have to count how many minutes do you need for opening hymn and then improvise or choose a prelude to fit that timing and end on time. What do you think, Ausra?
 
A: Yes, I think that’s a very good suggestion. Well, then let’s proceed further.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: What about offertory?
 
V: Offertory in Catholic Mass, has it’s own text and melodies, so if the choir is not present, you can improvise something based on those Gregorian Chant melodies, suited for that particular mass and liturgical calendar.
 
A: What if you are in protestant church?
 
V: In Protestant churches, I think it could be longer. Because the offerings are usually collected during that time, right?
 
A: But what about character? Should the offertory be loud or quiet or soft or meditative?
 
V: Remember in Baroque times, 18th Century, Cuperin and French classical composers created offertories very long…
 
A: Yes. I think the offering was the longest part of organ composition for the mass.
 
V: So that meant that at that time, before probably Vatican II, you were allowed to play almost non-stop during the mass, except perhaps for the Elevation, and then shortly picking up after that. So offertories could have been much longer and louder that way. Today, it’s different, right? I think today could be, depending on the length of the offering itself, you have to choose probably quieter character. What you think?
 
A: Yes, I think so. I don’t think it would be suited in church to play offering loud.
 
V: What about Ausra, communion?
 
A: Well, communion, well, could be I think a little bit maybe louder than offering but also quiet, not too loud.
 
V: I see what you mean. Because people are walking in the church, right?
 
A: Yes. So you need to sort of cover that noise.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: Step noise.
 
V: And usually they’re longer than offertories because it takes a while for everybody to take communion.
 
A: Well, and if choir sings during communion, that often happens. organist has to fill in after that.
 
V: Right. So choir could sing a hymn or two, and organist could gently continue in the same mood as the last hymn.
 
A: Yes, I think the selection of repertoire suited for service is nice if you play for your all the parts of the service something related to the hymns of that day. I think it’s very nice.
 
V: Right. Can you play Gregorian Chant melodies during the communion?
 
A: Of course you can do it. Why not?
 
V: Like Ubi Caritas.
 
A: Yes.
 
V: Or something suitable for that occasion. And every Gregorian Chant collection for the, from the Gradual of the mass, it has the place for communion too and you can choose the melodies and text for the service and liturgical calendar. And then, you could improvise, right? I always tend to look what Charles Tournemire did with his l'Orgue Mystique collection. He composed organ masses for every Sunday of the year, basically.
 
A: So you could just take his collection and use it.
 
V: You could. And Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Communion, four pieces are shorter and easier to play. And the last one, Postlude is long and elaborate, like fantasia.
 
A: Don’t you think it’s sort of pity that the postlude is place where organist can show himself, what he’s capable of, and not so many people will hear it because so many people after service just want to quit the church as fast as possible.
 
V: It is. And you have to sometimes get used to that congregation. Sometimes, make them, or help them trust you. Maybe talk to them afterwards in general, basically. Keep in touch with them. So then they will react to your playing more personally and don’t neglect it.
 
A: Yes. Hopefully. So let’s then conclude that preludes should be not as loud maybe and not as fast as the postlude. And if it’s occasion is solemn you could play a march too, solemn character. And then of course the all middle service might be played softer and slower.
 
V: And the postlude of course, has to be quite probably joyful, right Ausra?
 
A: Yes. Definitely! Of course if it’s Lent, maybe not as joyful, but anyway, it’s character must be more vivid than communion and offering.
 
V: Thank you guys. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice...
 
A: Miracles happen!

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