SOPP559: Are the compositions of yours and music which has had fingering applied to it something that Total Organist members have to pay extra for?

 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
 
Ausra: And Ausra!
 
V: Let’s start episode 559 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Arthur, and he writes:
 
“Hello Vidas,
I resigned up for Total Organist in August and was just trying to download some music that you have composed tonight and for some reason I can’t download it without paying extra for the music. Is this the case for Total Organist members? Are the compositions of yours and music which has had fingering applied to it something that we have to pay extra for?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Arthur”
 
And I wrote to him:
 
“Thanks Arthur! Up until now my compositions were not available for Total Organist community.
If you think they might be interesting to people, I can add them to the list.
Please let me know.”
 
And Arthur continued:
 
“Hi Vidas,
 
I didn't realize that they weren't part of the Total Organist "package" as it were. I listen to and watch your youtube improvisations as a way of studying what you do with harmony and have gained very much from doing this. I recently heard a recording of one of your works that was put on Contrebombarde.com - which is a site where organists from all over the world post music which they have recorded on a Hauptwerk virtual organ. This particular piece of yours was posted there by Carson Cooman. I really enjoyed the piece and wanted to study the score to analyze it and learn about some of your composition techniques from this process of analyzation. The particular piece of music was ‘Meditation in D, Op. 35’. Here is a link to the post: http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/36764
For me it is one thing to learn by listening but there are some things that I learn more easily from looking at the music.
On the other hand, I understand the need and desire of a composer to make an income from their music so I'm not asking you to do something that isn't part of what you have already set up.
Sincerely,
Arthur”
 
And I wrote:
“Thanks Arthur! I hope you will enjoy playing this piece.” and I sent him the score of my ‘Meditation in D, Op. 35’ to which he replied:
 
“Thank you very much, Vidas! I really appreciate it and know that it will be a piece that I'll play for our church here in Pleasant Hill, California more than one time - so many people here will enjoy it as well.
Warm regards,
Arthur”
 
So, Ausra, what do you think? Should my music be available to Total Organist subscribers?
 
A: I guess because you are an author it’s for you to decide!
 
V: What would you do if it was your music?
 
A: Well, good question. I would have to consider it very seriously.
 
V: What points would you have to consider? What would the consideration imply? I mean, what are some pros and cons?
 
A: Well, I probably would include them to the Total Organist package.
 
V: Expand the value of the entire program.
 
A: Yes, and that way, you also will become more popular as a composer, I think.
 
V: You know, you’re right in some part, of course. The reason I haven’t included in the past is that I didn’t know that it was a need. You know? Nobody really from the Total Organist community inquired about that. That’s one point, and another point is that with Total Organist, we teach people how to play the organ, and the needs for this group is different than the needs of organists who are looking for new music that I create. But sometimes they overlap, like in Arthur’s case.
 
A: Yes, I think is the kind of piece that is well suited for church music, and it’s not that hard to learn, so it might be beneficial for church musicians.
 
V: On the other hand, yes, I have played most of my pieces in liturgical settings, and they worked in my church, so there is no reason they shouldn’t work in other churches. Right? Except that sometimes  they’re too difficult, sometimes maybe the requirements of our organ might be too great for what they have. If they have one manual and it’s a three manual piece, let’s say, but I think in my catalog, there are a variety of pieces that he could choose from. And there are really playable one or two manual organs as well, and three manual also. It’s really a good point that Arthur is asking, right?
 
A: So how many opuses do you have now?
 
V: I think… let me check…
 
A: You have lost the number?
 
V: Yeah. Let’s see. I have my catalog up in our Secrets of Organ Playing store, and there are collections of various scores and training programs, and one collection towards the end of the page is Vidas’ compositions. So that’s what I put all my music in, and let me sort these courses by date from new to old… and the newest is “Echo” from “Organ ABC.” Before that, “Dulcian” from “Organ ABC,” “Contrabourdon” from “Organ ABC,” and “Bellows” from “Organ ABC,” and before that was “The Advent of our God", Op. 70. So I guess Op. 70 is the latest one, complete opus, because what I’m doing with “Organ ABC” is I’m releasing separate parts so that people could play, beginners basically could play, with fingering and pedaling written in—those simple one page pieces. But later, when it’s done, I will compile them into one collection of all 26 pieces that are like a part of the Latin alphabet. But that will be later, and the opus number will be assigned, probably, at a later date. So I guess opus 70 for now is the last one, and right now I am transcribing my organ improvisation based on the “Silent Night” Christmas carol from 2016, I believe. It was improvised during the recital—Christmas recital, I think, on Christmas carols. And just recently, our friend and student John Higgins from Australia sent me an email asking if I would consider transcribing this piece, and I thought it would be a nice composition to have, because it worked for me as an improvisation, it’s a beautiful tune, and people could play it for next Christmas. So I’m working on that and basically taking audio dictation from my audio recording and notating what I hear on Sibelius notation software. It’s a slow process, therefore. I need to repeatedly listen to a small fragment over and over.
 
A: I guess it’s much easier for you to improvise than to transcribe your improvisations.
 
V: Definitely! You know, I have this fantasy that somehow this technology development would advance so much that I could upload an mp3 or another sort of audio file, and automagically the nice score would appear after improvisation. That would be really…
 
A: I don’t think it will happen the near future.
 
V: If I played a piano keyboard instrument with no acoustics, no sound distortion, that would be much simpler, but with organ and different registration, what the software hears is multiple octaves and overtones. It’s simply, for now, too difficult to process sound. But I think it could get there. It would be magic, right? You play in the church, you record, and then go back at home, upload the file, and in a few minutes you have a score, and next time, the next day, you can improvise something new and release the score an hour later. Wouldn’t it be great?
 
A: Yes, but I’m a bit afraid of that, because we would be overloaded with your improvisations.
 
V: With my...?
 
A: Yes!
 
V: Not only mine, perhaps. I always wondered why so few great French improvisers notate their improvisations. In Paris, there are quite a few people improvising, but very few of them are real composers. I suspect it’s because it’s easier for them to play than to write. But if the process was facilitated, imagine how this would benefit the organ world in creative ways. Right?
 
A: Yes. Who would learn all that music?
 
V: People like Arthur who would rather play somebody’s music than to learn to improvise. You see? I am always amazed when people play my music, especially at the Unda Maris studio, for example. Last time, somebody wanted to play my music, and I said why don’t you learn to improvise, too, and take my composition only as a starting point, maybe as a model, but grow from there.
 
A: Well, I don’t think that people in Unda Maris studio have that ability to improvise yet. That’s my opinion.
 
V: Ability to improvise, everyone has that, but just what kind of level. Right? And I don’t think they have the desire to improvise yet. That’s the most important thing. Some of them do, like my Unda Maris member Maris, but he has to learn to play from the score, too. Without the scores, it’s pointless.
 
A: I have nothing to add to this.
 
V: Okay guys, I guess we will end this conversation with the question for all of you. If you think that it would be helpful for the Total Organist community to have access to my organ compositions at no additional cost, please let us know, and if there is enough demand, we can really start uploading those scores into the Total Organist training material file. That would be easy, right?
 
A: Yes.
 
V: And for now, I have just uploaded this work to one person who asked, basically Arthur. Okay guys, 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!

UPDATE: Upon careful consideration I decided to offer my compositions without extra cost for Total Organist members. Not only I hope this will expand the value of the program immensely but also many more people will have the chance to enjoy my music. So when you sign in into our Basecamp communication channel for Total Organist and click on "Announcements" you will see this announcement about my music as a separate post with the coupon link for free downloads. Enjoy!