Hope you can join our duet recital from our home. It starts at 12 PM UTC. On the program - music by Buxtehude, Beethoven, Bach, Naujalis and Pinkevicius.
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Today is Thursday and the last day of summer lunchtime organ recitals at Vilnius Cathedral. This time Balys Vaitkus played Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 and German composer's Philipp Wolfrum's Sonata No. 1 in Bb Minor, Op. 1 from the late Romantic period. While Bach's work is probably the most famous organ piece in the world, Wolfrum's Sonata No. 1 is rarely performed. But surprise isn't here. Keep reading.
I came to the Cathedral about 20 minutes prior the recital, made some photos of the interior and was about to find a place to sit when a man came up to me and introduced himself. This was Andreas Spahn, German church organist and member of our Secrets of Organ Playing community who wrote to me some time ago about the possibility of listening to me play while he was visiting Vilnius. I told him that during that time I'm not playing any recitals in Vilnius but invited him to come to this concert at the Cathedral. But completely forgot until now. So you can imagine how I felt when he introduced himself. We sat down together before the recital started and I suddenly had an idea. I asked him if he wanted to be a guest on my Secrets of Organ Playing podcast and he agreed. Then we talked a little about how he first fell in love with the organ, what was the first organ that he heard, what is he currently working on, what are some of the challenges that he has to overcome etc. It was sort of a pre-interview, like a short rehearsal so that he could think over about the answers over the weekend and come to the church on Monday relaxed and ready to talk. Then the recital started and we heard the unforgettable opening sounds of Bach's D Minor Toccata. This music is quite spontaneous, like an improvisation. The passages run up and down the keyboards with quite a few echo effects. The fugue started a bit too fast for my taste but the organist managed to play it at this tempo without skipping a beat proving his virtuosity. In the middle of the fugue we could hear nice echos between the manuals which led to the strong culmination. The fugue ended similarly like the toccata had started - with the virtuoso runs and passages. Wolfrum Sonata has 4 movements - a medium-tempo prelude with dramatic harmonies, a slow movement with lyrical melodies, a solemn choral which leads into a fast-motion fugue which again sounded a bit too fast to me. Nonetheless the recital was very solid and I had a great pleasure listening to rarely performed German Romantic work by Wolfrum. Balys did a very good job at making this Neo-Baroque organ sound as Romantic as possible. And Bach's D Minor toccata and fugue is always fun to hear as well. When the concert ended Andreas and I went to congratulate the organist Balys Vaitkus. I introduced him Andreas in English but as soon as Balys found out he's from Germany, they switched to German. I had to remember what's left from my non-existent German language skills. We parted ways agreeing to meet on Monday for the podcast conversation and I went to meet @laputis at school where she had 3 faculty meetings today. The school hasn't started yet but meetings already have. It might well happen that @laputis and I will have an opportunity to play at Andreas' church next summer because we are invited to perform organ duets at the organ festival in Schabischgmunde near Stuttgart. Incidentally, Andreas' church is also about 50 km from Stuttgart so he invited us to perform there too. I never know what kind of surprises are waiting for me when I go to organ recitals so I try keep my options open. @laputis and I are sitting at Vilnius Cathedral right now where organ recital of Jonathan Embry from USA has just started. It's 27 degrees Celsius outside and inside we can enjoy the coolness of the building. Jonathan has just completed his doctoral studies from McGill University in Canada where he was a student of Hans-Ola Ericsson and Christian Lane.
The first piece on the program is organ partita "Wachet auf, ruft uns the Stimme" by Hugo Distler, a German composer who lived in the 1st part of the 20th century. The trills remind me of bird songs, Posaune in the pedals nicely emphasize the choral tune, imitations between voices in the fugue create a fabric of texture where you can feel the influence of Baroque masters, open fifth sounds arrive like from a Gothic period. The trills lead to a large and exciting culmination with chordal texture towards the end. The next piece on the program is a chorale prelude "Allein Gott", BWV 662 by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Great 18 Chorales. It starts with points of imitation between the lower 3 parts played by the Principal 8' stop of the Swell division and soft 16' and 8' stops in the pedal. Not long after an ornamented elegant chorale line in soprano enters which sounds like from heaven because of tremulant some kind of flute combination, most likely 8', 4' and 2 2/3' in the Oberwerk. Bach continues imitations between the lower parts in the second half of the choral prelude while the listeners are enchanted by the beauty of the melody, sonority of solo combination and lush harmonies. Nothing short of meditation. The piece ends with a brief recitative flourish in the right hand followed by the final cadence. Jonathan Embry is not only an organist but also a composer. So the next piece on the program is his own Rhapsody No. 1. It reminds me of movie music in a good way. The trills and the sparkling high-pitched registration produce an impression of bird song. The tempo moves freely, like in a improvisation. Jonathan likes open 4th sounds. The organ is fit for that. A clever use of Vox Humana reed stop contrasted with the flutes. Really sounds like spontaneous invention. The interest level diminishes with decreasing tension but composer skillfully returns to the first episode of trills, open 4ths and high-pitched stops. The piece ends with an exciting episode of Principal Chorus registration in the manuals and Posaune in the pedals. The next piece is opening "Tempo moderato" movement from the 4th Sonata by Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, a German Romantic composer and organist. Here I hear exciting advanced harmonies and a Magnificat psalm tone juxtaposed with chromatic counterpoint. Although the organ at the Cathedral is Neo-Baroque, Jonathan does a fine job of employing a few foundational stops to make it sound as Romantic as possible. Without a device called "Rollschweller" or Crescendo Pedal it is very difficult to create natural waves of increasing and decreasing dynamic levels and the final episode seems to jump with mixtures out of context. Jonathan ends his recital with two movements of "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" by Matthias Weckmann, a North German Baroque composer from Hamburg. The pause before this piece is long enough that people started applauding and some kid yelled, "Bravooooo!!!" So anyway, Jonathan now is playing Sextus Versus. This is a very complex chorale fantasia with 6 parts - solo part in the right hand, 4 parts in the left hand and the bass part in the pedals. The solo part is played by the Trompete 8', the lower manual part - by Principals 8' and 4' and the pedals take Posaune 16' and Trompete 8', among other stops. Weckmann, being a student of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, writes very complex counterpoint in the lowel parts which is reinforced by the solo flourishes, runs and diminutions in the right hand part. Some drunk has walked into the church and started yelling in Russian, "I'm God! I'm God!" I'm not sure wheather he was compelled to do so by Weckmann's music or by the chanting of "Hareh Krishna" outside the Cathedral. For a modern listener without specialized knowledge this kind of music is hard to bear. It doesn't mean that it shouldn't be played though. Finally the last plagal cadence has arrived... Jonathan's last piece today is Septimus et Ultimus Versus from "Es ist das Heil" by Weckmann. He started it without any break from the previous verse, probably in fear that the audience will start clapping again... This verse has 6 parts - two in each of the hands and two in the pedals! Very exciting to play those double pedals. I remember playing it some years ago at St Casimirus church here in Vilnius. For the final piece to be more effective I would love to have heard a much more powerful Organo Pleno sound. Perhaps if there was the 4th manual... The recital has ended. Standing ovations from the audience. Time to greet Jonathan who agreed to be a guest on my Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. Stay tuned... And in the meantime @laputis and I will have some coffee with our friend @pauliakaz and discuss what we have just heard... As many of our subscribers know, this summer Ausra and I played at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Today we'd like to share with you audio recording. Here's what we played: 1. Sonata in D Major for organ duet, K. 381/123a by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Allegro-Andante-Allegro molto This is a sonata, originally intended be played on the piano for 4 hands but as many pieces from this period, sounds wonderfully on other keyboard instruments, such as the organ. As is the case with most classical sonatas, the middle gentle and slow movement is surrounded by the energetic and fast-paced outer parts. 2. Adagio für die Flötenuhr, WoO 33/1 by Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven composed this piece as part of the suite for the organ in the mechanical clock. Here enchanting melodies and lush harmonies alternate to create a dream-like delightful atmosphere. 3. Fantasia on the Themes by M.K. Ciurlionis, Op. 11a (2013) by Vidas Pinkevicius, arranged for organ duet by V. Pinkevicius This Fantasia originally was created for flute and organ and is based on the themes taken from 2 piano preludes by the greatest Lithuanian painter/composer of all time, Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875-1911). The themes alternate in different keys, played by various voices, sometimes in original and sometimes in inverted version. 4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, III Part, Allegro, BWV 1046/3 by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged for organ duet by V. Pinkevicius This is the 3rd movement of the beloved Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in which you will hear Bach's orchestral writing in new colors. It fits the organ texture so well that the listeners might wonder if this is a long forgotten organ composition by the great master. Listen to the audio recording here Let us know your thoughts... We'd like to welcome James Trundle who has just joined Total Organist! We're looking forward to helping you grow. Let us know your dreams and challenges in organ playing...
By Vidas Pinkevicius (get free updates of new posts here)
Merry Christmas! I hope you will enjoy the video of my latest Christmas organ music recital "In dulci jubilo": Video Part I Video Part II Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #73!
Today's guest is Dr. Jeannine Jordan who is a champion of the organ and its music. She has traveled throughout the US and the world promoting and sharing organ music through her innovative concerts. As a professional organist she enjoys a varied career. Besides concertizing and recording, Jeannine has held university teaching positions and has served in a variety of positions in church music ministry. She is also the President and founder of Pro-Motion Music — a company celebrating the world of the organ. Dr. Jordan was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance and Music History from the University of Oregon where early American organists was the subject of her dissertation. This study led to further research and collaboration with media artist, her husband David Jordan to create From Sea to Shining Sea. David Jordan, a skilled pianist with a Master of Music degree in composition from Ball State University, is also a media artist. Whether creating the visual portions of the Pro-Motion Music concert multi-media events, re-imagining photographs, his work inspires and mesmerizes its viewers. His work guides you through the programs with images, videos and live cameras following Jeannine and her incredible expertise on the organ. He helps the audience experience the story in the moment; hearing the music, seeing the images, and simultaneously feeling the pulse of the space in which the image existed. His multi-media approach is simply an extension of what he likes to experience every day of his life; an awareness of everything going on around him in the moment. The Jordans are the creators and performers of the live organ and multi-media concert events Bach and Sons, celebrating the life and times of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family, From Sea to Shining Sea, the story of the organ and its music in the colonies and new United States, and Around the World in 80 Minutes featuring global repertoire by native composers. In this conversation we will find out everything about Jeannine and David's multimedia organ concerts. Listen to the podcast By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)
What if I told you that most people get the idea of playing an organ recital wrong in this day and age? What if for many people playing an organ recital and using common sense no longer works anymore? It used to be that an organist would learn some exciting organ pieces (about 50-60 minutes total), find a venue or receive an offer from organizers, schedule a time for the recital and perform for an excited audience. You see, people have changed. Times have changed. Today people have so many choices if they want some cultural and/or entertainment activity besides going to your recital - they can go to other peoples concerts, opera, theater, museums, movies. Or they can be wherever they want and watch online videos on their smartphone. Or they can read a book (fewer and fewer people do, apparently). You get the picture. The choices are enormous. On top of that, your organ recital is competing with a billion channels on YouTube. That's why nobody cares anymore (well, some of us do, but we're in the minority). So how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you get noticed, liked, trusted, and talked about? The rule is NOT to compete. The rule is to avoid competition altogether. The rule is to be unique, to do things that nobody else can. So if I can substitute one organist for another and the recital would still make sense, it's not a good recital anymore. But... (and this is a big but)... ...what you offer should not only be unique every time. It should also be desired by your fans. No wonder, why so many organists are struggling. But it's worth thinking about it now, than wondering why you are no longer relevant later. By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)
It's funny how often people regret having made too many mistakes when playing organ in public. These mistakes convert into panic. Panic ruins the entire recital. Let's step back for a second and ask why do mistakes happen? Because we don't have enough self-control and confidence. And confidence comes from knowing your piece inside out. Can you take it from the middle? Can you take it from the end backwards? Do you know how to start each segment of 4 measures not in the right order? If you don't know, it's time you learn it this way. Believe me, it will save your recital. How to connect with your listeners when you play organ in public? Watch this video with insights from me and Ausra. Do you remember an experience from your life when you could or couldn't touch people's hearts with organ sounds? Share your thoughts in the comments. Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #42! Do you want to find out what does it take to increase public's interest in organ recitals, when church attendance in Western society is slowly declining? Listen to the conversation with Dr. Carl Dodrill who is past dean of the Seattle AGO Chapter and also president of the Pipe Organ Foundation. Ausra's Harmony Exercise: Transposing Sequence in G Major: IV6-V65-I |
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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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