French Ornaments

Vidas Pinkevicius: After yesterday's recital "Lithuanian Organ Music" dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Way. On August 23, 1989 millions of people from the 3 Baltic states stood on the highways connecting Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn holding hands to show the unity of the Baltic people in their peaceful resolve to become independent from the Soviet Union. In the background you can see the famous Gediminas Castle which is the symbol of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. That day the castle was covered by the the flag colors of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (3 colors each).

One of the most fascinating aspects of French Classical organ school is their ornaments. These ornaments, if performed right, add tremendously to the overall impact of the music. Without them, the music is much less interesting.

Today's piece for sight-reading is Fugue Grave (p. 4) from 5 Fugues et un Quatuor sur le Kyrie (1689) by Jean-Henry d'Anglebert (1629-1691). It's a four-voice fugue in the French tradition which normally didn't have any circle of fifth sequences. If you want to play the ornaments the right way, look at page 3 of this edition, where you will find the table of ornaments and their execution.

As I played it this afternoon, I noticed right away that the most difficult ornaments to execute are in the middle parts (alto and tenor). The outer part (soprano and bass) are not easy, either.

As you are focusing on these ornaments, don't forget to use articulate legato as people tend to forget it in difficult situations. Beginners can practice separate parts of this fugue.