Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 375 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Howard and he writes: “Hello Vidas, Happy New Year, and I am wishing you all the best for Total Organist in 2019. I noticed and appreciate the program you did on piston programming for larger modern organs. I have another question inspired by today's topic on "I cannot use someone else's fingerings". This is EXACTLY my problem that is holding me back from becoming a full subscriber to "Total Organist". But my question is more direct and I am hoping you will consider it as a program topic or as a direct answer to me, your choice :-) Basically, as I understand it, the fingerings for Early Music which, to be honest, is 90% of the material that you offer for study, those fingerings are for baroque style keyboards which are much shorter than AGO spec keyboards. I am wondering why the focus on using fingerings inspired by these older keyboards? I'd say that 99% (seriously) of the music that I own does not have fingerings. One of the exceptions is a Kalmus edition of several Mendelssohn works including all six Sonatas. I've spent the most time with Sonata #4 in Bb. The fingerings suggested and the fingerings that make sense to me are not even from the same planet! Especially the 3rd movement. The way the Kalmus editor fingered it, the running figure in the left hand is entirely independent from the right hand. Completely. I've worked very hard on doing it this way but my natural inclination is to pass notes back and forth between the hands and I can do this and still preserve the independence of the polyphony. I know that you have fingered the Widor Toccata and a few other modern works, and I am assuming you use 'modern fingerings' for those, but I can't help but wonder why you don't just make life easier for yourselves and use modern fingering for everything? Is there really something to be gained by using Early Fingering at all in the 21st Century, especially for Bach who, it must be said, transcended his time period. And here is one more idea for a program topic that you may (or not) want to touch ... two years ago on my way to church, I had a hard fall onto my left side. When I got up I realized I had bashed my left hand and my pinky finger was bleeding slightly. I was playing the "Cortege et Litanie" that Sunday. I thought I was just a little sore and could play through it, but ever since then the pinky and ring finger of my left hand refuse to open fully. Only a very, very few people know this. My employers do not know. I can still play most things as before, but the big stretch near the beginning of "Cortege et Litanie" is impossible. Scalic passages that should naturally begin with the left hand pinky or ring finger are extremely hard now and often don't work. To be honest it has affected my typing much more than my organ playing. I used to be a terrific typist but now the left hand keys are impaired. I am terrified of having surgery done because of a.) the potential downtime and impact on work, and b.) the potential for success of such surgery. I did see an occupational therapist and had several weeks of various stretching exercises that produced no results. I have recently heard of a colleague who seems to have a similar injury except his has no known cause. He has stepped down from playing but his church is still paying him to be a Music Director. I have another acquaintance with a similar problem (Dupytrenes Contracture) and has had two unsuccessful hand surgeries. My hand therapist didn't even know what to call my injury. She just say's "its weird". That wasn't encouraging so I stopped going to appointments. I am beginning to wonder about why this has happened because more recently, about 3 months ago, I had someone crush my hand in a handshake. All the fingers of my right hand have recovered fully except the ring finger which is trying to act like the one on the left hand. I knew of musicians who refused to shake hands but I've never thought I was worthy of that kind of concern. My attainments have been so humble. Do you have any experience with occupational injuries and what musicians do about them? There you have it. More than you wanted to know about my travails, but I don't have anyone else I can tell. Anyway, don't think about this too much. I am working. I am not suicidal. I'm just wondering if there is more I could do. Or what someone else might do in the same situation. Be well. Howard” V: That’s a long story Ausra. A: It is. V: Let’s start with occupational hazards and probably a person like Howard should consult many different or several different physicians. A: You know if I would be a very mean person I could make a very bad joke about his question because I could relate the second part with the first part. V: Uh-huh. A: Because when you were reading that first part it just took my breath away and I could tell that all these professional injuries happens because of not playing let’s say baroque music with early fingering. But that’s just a really bad joke. I think there is connection in everything that we do. V: But don’t you think that if his therapist doesn’t even know what to call his injury probably she is not the person to help him. A: Yes, it seems to me that he has to change his doctor. V: And probably go to several different people to check their opinions and sooner or later, maybe sooner than later he will find a person who will know what to do in his situation, what caused this, and how to treat it. A: But in general I think that every person has sort of limitation of the joints and of the fingers and probably there is a limit of movements you can make in your lifetime, maybe for some it’s I don’t know. Hundreds of millions of movements and for somebody maybe it’s less than that. Maybe he is having overused syndrome. V: I wonder if he’s wearing any rings on his fingers. A: I don’t know but rings are bad actually. V: Umm-hmm. A: In most of cases for musicians I wouldn’t wear rings. But if such an action as shaking the hand might hurt his hands, that is really bad. That just shows that something is really wrong with his hands and that he needs serious attention from a good physician. V: Exactly. So talking about the first part it’s a little bit easier, right? A: Well I wouldn’t want to go into those details because I think I have talked about it many times and I think everybody who listened to my talk knows my opinion about how I feel about playing baroque music. Well, I guess if I would live all my life somewhere in the United States where I would not have an access to the historical based instruments although there are places that you can do that in the United States as well, let’s see, in Oberlin, in Omaha at St. Cecelia’s Cathedral and there are other wonderful places where you could go to try those wonderful instruments. I will just try to give one example with the food. Imagine that you have let’s say cheeseburger from MacDonald’s and cola and you wonderful nice French meal with good wine. They both are food, yes? And you would satisfy your hunger maybe with eating both of them, but in terms of quality would you still disagree that French meal is better and has a higher value? V: Umm-hmm. Obviously the answer is very clear. A: And I don’t know but maybe somebody with fast food would still agree with me but… V: In which sense are you comparing modern fingerings with fast food, can you clarify? A: Well I’m just talking that early fingering does not work for late pieces, romantic and later period but that modern fingering doesn’t work for early music and it seems like Howard is not very happy that we deal so much with early music but let’s face it, Bach is the main composer for the organ. I doubt that anybody would argue that so come on, Bach wrote his music in the baroque period. V: I would add that the reason that we are using early fingerings for early music is that it makes sense because it’s early music. You don’t know if you will have a chance to visit an early instrument. A: And even if you don’t have a chance, even if you are playing on American modern instrument you still need to articulate so it still makes sense to use early fingering. V: When you use modern fingering you have to think about articulation mentally and when you are thinking you are missing something probably in the middle voices, in the pedals too. You maybe aware of some significant details but not everything when you on the contrary are using early fingerings it takes care for itself, right? For example, a simple fact that the same intervals as a rule are played by the same fingers. For example, an interval of the sixth can easily be played by the fingers 1 and 5 and if you have parallel sixths you play 1,5, 1,5, 1,5 and so forth. It seems detached and unmusical but we are not advocating for playing unmusically. We are recommending to play those intervals as slurred as possible but not legato. That’s in between of legato and non-legato in a singing manner which Bach would call cantabile manner of playing. Would you agree? A: Yes, because if you are professional you need to notice those subtle things that might not be understood by amateurs and if we would tell you just play whatever and play however you want we wouldn’t be professionals so we teach what we believe in. But it’s up to you to choose believe us or not and you do whatever you want to do. V: And there are people who play early music with modern fingerings and if Howard would rather play early music with modern fingerings then probably he would find more benefits from studying with them, right? A: Sure, of course. V: That’s simple. We are not trying to convert people who do not believe what we say, right? Everybody has their own choices and preferences and people like us tend to stick in our circle, right? A: That’s right. V: People who trust us, right? That’s very simple. So that’s a lot to think about but obviously fingerings are just a simple detail but I worry about Howard’s hands so he should really seek out several physicians and get several opinions of his hands what’s happening. A: But actually nowadays many people get that wrist surgery because of problems similar to Howard’s and not only musicians but also people who work on the computer a lot too. So you are not alone. V: Exactly. Thank you guys, I hope this was useful and please send us more of your questions, we love helping you grow. And remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
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Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 365 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Neil, and he writes: Hello Vidas, My big problem is confidence but last night it went very well probably because I practiced everything and marked up the service booklet and went through the service in my mind. Neil V: So, Ausra, do you feel confident when you play? Because, sometimes I do not feel that confidence, but I still have to play it, regardless of how I feel. A: Well, I think that each of us are not having confidence every time we play, and the reasons might be various. We might be unprepared, or we might not feel well… V: Or we might just lack experience. A: True. So, there might be different reasons. But, if a person says that he or she has confidence every time, always, then I just think that either the person is insincere, or that something is wrong with him or her. V: Or that person doesn’t challenge himself or herself enough. Right? A: It could be true, yes. V: Playing pieces that are too easy. A: That’s right. V: Then we can feel really confident. A: Yes. But, as was mentioned in the question, I think it’s very important to have that preparation. And both physical preparation and mental preparation for an event. As Neil said, he studied the booklet—he circled the service booklet...important spots. And he went through the service in his mind. I think this is a very important thing. V: So imagine this scenario. You have to play a church service, and usually people just show up and play. Maybe they know the hymns in advance, they practiced them, or prelude and postlude or communion piece, whatever, but other than that, they sit down and try to play the service as it happens in the real time. What sometimes happens, is that there are some changes—unexpected changes, and you don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know how to react. You are sometimes thrown out of the path, and some people are better than others with dealing with uncertainties. And, then, if you feel some stress, you can panic easily. A: Of course! V: And mess up… start to play the wrong hymn, for example, or with the wrong registration, or in the wrong tempo, or in the wrong key. A: Or in the wrong spot. V: Yes. Or just miss an entire hymn. Just miss it entirely. Did you have those experiences, Ausra, missing hymns? A: Of course I had those experiences. But not because of a panic. V: You just missed on purpose? A: No, I was delayed. V: By whom? A: By a postman. V: Oh, tell us! A: I think I told the story that at Eastern Michigan University, not at the university itself, but I was subbing for Vidas during Lent services in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. And, there was a postman who came in the middle of the service, and since the pastor in front was busy, and at that time I was at the end next to the organ and I was not playing, he came to me, and I had to sign for some kind of parcel, and he looked at my last name and asked to spell it, because obviously it was the first time for this man that he saw such a long last name, and while I did that, I didn’t notice what was happening near the altar, and the postman left, and there was suddenly a strange silence in the church, and then I just noticed the pastor looked at me and said, “And now we will sing hymn number blah...blah...blah.” Then I started to play, but obviously, I was late. V: But he wasn’t mad. A: No. V: Interesting. I messed up my first, very first, church service, when I was just a kid, playing in my local parish, where my mom and I would go when we were on Summer vacations. And it was a wooden church, and the local priest noticed how I played hymns (I was maybe in the 6th or 7th grade), and he asked me to play a service for a wedding anniversary of an elderly couple. And I foolishly agreed, and I missed Sanctus—Holy Holy Holy part. A: Well, I know why, because it’s a tricky…one of the most tricky parts in a Catholic Mass, to know when to play Sanctus. V: So this was fun. The priest was really happy afterwards. He said it’s not a big deal, and he gave me candy! A: Well, I messed up my first Mass. It wasn’t actually my really first Mass, but maybe my 3rd or 4th, and it was held by a Cardinal. V: A Cardinal! Oh! A: Yes. The only one that we have now, in the Holy Cross Church. It was the special service in February. I don’t know what that festival day is called in English. Do you know, Vidas, what I’m talking about? V: Yeah, the day before Lent. Ash Wednesday? A: No, it’s not Ash Wednesday, in Lithuanian, it’s called Grabnyčios. V: It wasn’t Wednesday? A: No, it wasn’t Ash Wednesday, I know what Ash Wednesday is. It’s the day when the candles are put around peoples necks. Do you know this occasion? Because it is believed that it will heal your throat if you have trouble with it. V: Interesting. I think it’s not Lent, right, yet? A: No, it’s not Lent. It’s before that. It’s always in February. V: Baptism of the Lord? No? A: I don’t think so. V: You don’t think so… I’m looking on line… in February. Presentation of the Lord maybe? A: Yes, I think this is what it is, but we never call it like this in Lithuania. V: Mardi Gras, no? No! Mardi Gras is on Tuesday. A: Yes, it was on Tuesday! If it’s always on Tuesday, yes, it might be. V: Užgavėnės! No… A: No… V: Mardi Gras is Užgavėnės… so then, probably it’s this Presentation of the Lord. A: Anyway, so I missed The Lord’s Prayer. It wasn’t fun. V: Right. And was the Cardinal’s name Cornelius? A: No, it’s our bird name from Pinky and Spiky comics. Stop joking about things, because you might be kicked out of the church entirely! V: I see! Ok, so let’s continue our conversation about confidence, right? You had confidence issues and I had confidence issues, and Neil has it sometimes, and probably everyone from time to time experiences confidence… and it’s a good thing, right Ausra? Because it means we are challenging ourselves with things that are a little bit beyond what we are capable of. A: Yes, I think it’s a right thing to have this problem sometimes. V: What Neil does, or did, to combat insecurity like this is he marked up the service booklet and went through the service in his mind in advance. Basically, he visualized the service from the beginning until the end, what comes next… A: Yes, it’s very good. V: It really helps. A: It’s really how it should be. Maybe not always when he will play for services for 20 years, maybe he will not have to do it, but for right now, I think that this is the right way. And in general, I think that it’s very good that he has this good experience with having a service well done! Now I think that he has to stick to this memory, and I think it will give him more confidence next time. V: Right. And for other services, which might be different from time to time, it’s a good idea to also go through it in advance, visualize it at home or on your organ bench, ahead of time, too. So, Ausra, tell us: if you will be playing a service any time soon, will you be confident or not? A: Well, not so much, because it has been a while since I played in a real service, an entire Mass. I would have to refresh some parts of it. V: But it comes back pretty quickly. A: Yes, I think so. V: Like riding a bicycle. A: That’s right. V: Sometimes, when I don’t play a service regularly, I get invited in the Summer for example, to substitute for an ensemble of some sort who is on vacation, I then sometimes forget some words from the prayers—maybe some Sanctus words, so then I have to double check the words—the lyrics. But generally, the order of the service, or the order of Mass is pretty set. But, if we both went to another denomination, like a Lutheran church or a Reformed church, or a Methodist Church, then it would be something new. A: Well, but you know in the Lutheran church, everything is pretty much the same as in the Catholic Church. They have only one thing replaced comparing to the Catholic, so. It’s not a big deal. V: Not a big deal. A: True. V: Good. So it’s good that we have commonalities, because organists many times play for different denominations, right? A: Yes. V: And, they have to change in their minds very quickly what kind of congregation this is. Am I in a Lutheran Church, or am I in an Anglican Church now, for example? A: Or am I in a Christian Scientist Church? V: Did you play for Christian Scientists? A: Yes, for two years! This was my favorite church position. V: Why? A: Well, they paid well, and sort of I played hymns and one solo piece with a soloist, and then I did a few solo pieces by myself. V: You told me that you had much freedom. A: Yes, and they never complained. Whatever, they would appreciate everything that I have played and did, and it was just fun. V: Yes, appreciation and freedom are the two big things. A: And, I was actually very worried when I began to work for them, because I thought maybe they would try to convert me to their beliefs in Science and Health, but they never did it, and it was very nice. V: Nice. A: And, to tell the truth, I wasn’t sick for those two years that I worked for the Christian Scientist Church, so maybe I need to go to the States, and find a Christian Scientist Church and start to work for them! V: Okay, I’ll look for plane tickets now. A: Okay. V: Going to America now. Okay, guys, thank you for sending those wonderful questions. Please keep writing to us; 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 372 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jonathan and he writes: “Reaching a third with left foot when above middle C. Here's an example. In the "10 Day Pedal Playing Challenge" in exercise No 3, the left foot needs to stretch for thirds a number of times in the area above middle C. I can barely reach middle C to the E above; this is with toe on middle C and heel on E above. Any higher combinations (and the exercise wants me to use my left foot as high as F above middle C reaching to A) is impossible for me. I've made sure I've been pivoting to the right. I've tried lowering and raising the bench. I've moved the bench closer and farther away. I've been working on ankle flexibility for the two years I've been studying organ. Perhaps some of us just aren't built that way. (My left leg is shorter than the right. And my upper legs are long and lower legs are short, compared to the average person's build.) Is it okay to reverse the parts of the left foot used - to begin with the heel and end with the toe, when ascending, if I can't do what the pedal notation asks for? Or should I try something else?” V: Ausra first of all I would suggest that any person who feels stress on the ankles or legs would not torture himself or herself. A: Sure. V: This is rather dangerous, right? A: It is and of course I understand the meaning of this exercise, why you sometimes need to play a lot with your left foot even in quite a higher range because a lot of music is created in romantic and later period has this kind of thing that you have to leave your right foot for using of the swell box mainly, that’s very often the case so in terms of learning such music you need to do as much work with your left foot as possible. But of course you don’t have to hurt yourself and if somebody it’s really impossible for you a particular exercise or particular piece you need to know to find other solutions. V: Because in real life for example if the reason you had to use your left foot alone for those intervals of thirds was that the right foot was occupied with the swell box, right? Imagine a piece like that by Cesar Franck for example, and you cannot do it, then you simply would probably avoid using the swell box in this case. A: Yes, I guess so. V: Right? And use both feet in that place. This is acceptable because swell box is just for expression purposes, it’s not life or death situation. Ankle strain might be some complications for your body condition and feeling well. A: Yes, and as Jonathan said in his letter that everybody has a little bit different body construction, and proportion of legs and hands and entire body so you really need to adjust yourself. V: Exactly. A: And if something is very, very uncomfortable for you it means that maybe this particular spot doesn’t work for you in that way and you need to change it because your body sends you a signal that something is probably wrong. V: You know I wrote to Jonathan that technique set ups the person and not the other way around. It’s good to have some virtuosic moves from your ankle and it’s like something to be proud of but it doesn’t replace real music, right? Jonathan is talking about 10 Day Pedal Playing Challenge and those are exercises, not real musical compositions. And again, you have to feel your body and don’t fight with it and if this doesn’t work move on to some other exercise, right? A: That’s right. V: You will still be exercising your ankles. So that’s my recommendation I think Ausra would you agree on this one? A: Definitely, yes. So whatever you do you need to be careful about things. V: Umm-hmm. Other people in general don’t like exercises. They just play organ music and they develop their pedal technique this way. Of course it’s a little bit limited because organ music doesn’t involve all kinds of moves with your ankles and feet and that could be isolated with any particular exercise but that’s what other people like, they like musical challenges, not technical challenges. It’s like comparing with athletics or maybe body strengthening exercises. Some people want to lift weights, isolated exercises, and other people just prefer running or walking. It depends on what your body feels and what your goals are, what your preferences are. That’s why we have all kinds of aspects in organ playing that you could improve including but not limited to improvisation, repertoire playing, music theory and harmony, hymn playing, and repertoire playing and organ technique as well. All kinds of areas put together form a nice total organist. A: That’s right. So you always need to listen to your body and then make a right decision for yourself. V: Umm-hmm. Great. Thank you guys for sending those wonderful questions, we hope this was useful to you and please keep sending us your feedback and challenges because we might be able to help you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
First of all, I want to remind everyone who is planning to enter our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 1 that less than 24 hours are left to submit your entry. We already have the first contest entry. Congratulations @savagirl4! The future belongs to the brave and curious.
And now let's go to the podcast for today. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 367, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Leon. And, he writes: Galsworthy encouraged Streatfeild to know three times more than she needed to about whatever she chose to write. Does it take three times the knowledge of music to be able to compose? V: So this question Ausra, is taken from our correspondence with Leon, and he sent me a link to the biography of an English author, Mary Noel Streatfeild, who is best known for her children’s book, including the ‘Shoes’ Book. And this citation which John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, that wrote the Forsyte Saga, basically suggests that Galsworthy recommended for Streatfeild to read three times as much as she writes as a writer, right? To read more than you would write. It makes sense, actually, right? You cannot really write anything of value if you are not knowledgeable about your field. You have to get expertise by reading many books. A: True and you have to increase your vocabulary. V: I just wrote to him that for example, Voltaire recommended reading 100 books in order to be able to write one. So it was maybe different area, different, maybe background. He was maybe talking about encyclopedic knowledge, not necessarily life experiences. But Leon is wondering about how it relates or translates to musical composition. A: Well, it’s obviously that since very early times, composers studied each others music. Think about young Bach, what he did when he copied the scores from his brothers library, at night in secret. It means that it meant a lot to him and he learned a lot from those scores. Because can you imagine just writing by your hand, copying all those scores? It’s a long process. V: And by this process, that was one of the main exercises to learn copying… A: Sure. V: Other composers music. A: And I think now we are missing this much because we are not copying by hand and sometimes it’s probably would be a nice thing to copy something by hand. V: I actually did… A: Just really internalize it. V: I copied C major invention by Bach. Taken not from modern edition but from his handwriting. A: Mmm-hmm. V: Just for fun, you know, like, Pamela is also very, Pamela Ruiter–Feentra, our former professor, is very enthusiastic about copying by hand so, she knows the value because she did the research about Bach and improvisation. So then, I thought maybe I could also try copying just one to see. I didn’t notice any miracles happening right away, but maybe that’s because it was just a single piece. A: You need to write down, to rewrite and copy all of his inventions. Anyway... V: Yes. A: Now I think we have all this modern technique that allows us to copy easily things. V: Too easily. A: Yes. Too easily. V: Mmm-hmm. Things get too fast for us. A: Yes. But now I think that it would be very beneficial if many young composers would try to study other composers as well not just create their own music. Because what is happening right now in Lithuania, maybe in other countries too, that there are so much more people who are creating music and composing music, that it’s sort of like a new fashion. V: Really? A: Really. Because, like in our school, earlier, we would have very little students who will study composition. But now it’s almost like a, I don’t know, infectious disease. V: You mean like a fashion? A: Yes, like a fashion. Let’s say if you are incapable of playing instrument well, or you are incapable of doing something in the music well, ‘oh, okay, I’ll be a composer’. That’s a new fashion and it’s just bad and it makes me really sick and upset and I think it’s a very, very, very bad thing—very bad tendency. V: You know what they say, Ausra, ‘those who cannot play, create. Those who cannot create, teach. Those who cannot teach, criticize’. (Laughs) A: Well, I guess there might be some part of truth of each of the saying, maybe not entirely true but there is certain true about it. And I cannot force myself to perform a music, by let’s say by a contemporary so-called composer that I cannot respect—that I know that let’s say he or she or whatever, cannot do something for themselves with the music. Because I know instances for example, people who have no, or I would say, a man who has no musical pitch… V: Mmm-hmm. A: Composes. And believe me, I have heard these stories both in the United States and in Lithuania as well. V: Mmm-mmm. A: Because now we have all wonderful technology, all this music systems, Sibelius and so on and so forth, that any of us can compose. V: It’s a double edge sword, or knife. A: But do I really need to spend my time, to waste my time of learning a composition that is written by somebody that… V: Cannot perform. A: True. V: Cannot play. A: And cannot hear what he or she writes. V: Uh-huh. By hearing you mean that they need to play back the music to them in order to hear it. They don’t hear it inside their head. A: Not only that, I’m not talking only about inner pitch, I’m talking about musical pitch at all. V: Really? A: Yes. In general. V: So serious then. A: It’s very serious. It’s really serious, so now when talking about contemporary composers you really need to select carefully that you wouldn’t waste time for worthless music. I’m sorry to say it but so it is—at least that’s my point of view. V: Wouldn’t you think that people somehow should—your not talking about people, your not suggesting for people to stop creating, no? You are advocating for people to start developing other skills in their vocabulary, that they could actually understand the music they’re creating, and even sometimes perform. If it’s their instrument of course. A: Well because if you would look at the back at the musical history, all the great composers, their performances, well, and they started by performing other composers music and studying other composers music. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And now some of these young composers, that they cannot play, that they haven’t studied enough other compositions, they start to create music of their own. V: You mean like reinvent the wheel? A: Yes. V: They don’t know what came before them, and they think ‘oh, I have a clever idea. Nobody else had it before, and maybe I will be unique.’ A: Well, be honest. By now, I think all those possibilities are almost exhausted… V: Mmm-hmm. A: And if you do something a little more creative than another, it doesn’t mean anything, at least for me. Because trying to compose without having this good musical education or this understanding about musical history, about other composers, not having any skills of yourself, it’s like building a house from roof. V: Maybe what hasn’t been done enough, is to create music out of combinations of various different elements. For example, let’s say you like this genre of the fugue, but fugues have been written thousands and thousands of times before. It’s nothing new. But you could take another genre and combine it with the fugue. And maybe it has been done also, so maybe you need three things to mix in this pot to be at least partly original. What do you think, Ausra? A: Yes, I think it’s a good thing. V: But for this to happen, just like Leon says, or Galsworthy, you need to be knowledge about other works that came before you and read a lot and basically sight-read a lot, study other works, so that you could take those elements with your, within reason. A: Yes. And you know what I’m talking and criticizing in this podcast, I don’t think it applies let’s say for church musicians. Let’s say you are an organist, and you really need to have a new hymn composed or any kind of composition for your liturgical works, you can easily do that, because you know what you really need. And it’s I think very fine and I encourage people doing that. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because sometimes we really need to know good liturgical works right away and you know what, let’s say what our choir is capable of singing, or what we are able to play or what our congregation likes, but I’m talking about that sort of very high professional composers who pretend to very high professionals. V: Academic. A: Yes, academic, and who creates sort of non-sensical piece and want to push it to international festival to be performed, let’s say by a great orchestra. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I’m talking about these kind of things. V: Right. A: I’m talking that nowadays, maybe ambition of some young composers are way too high, for let’s say the beginners. V: But you know, what I can relate a little, at least a little bit, partially—I can understand a little bit why they are ignoring other composers, other works of previous generations—because they want to be original, right? And that’s the thing that matters—novelty, originality, uniqueness. And they feel that everything was created and so it’s better even not to bother with old stuff and start from scratch, in their mind. That’s how they think maybe. A: I’m not telling that you have to copy all composers, that’s not what I’m meaning, and that’s not what I’m telling. I’m just telling that before composing your own you need to know that history. It will enrich your understanding about things. V: Definitely. Yeah. A: Because I think it’s very fascinating that if you think about music that it’s only twelve different notes, and all that music was made and created out of only twelve notes. It’s truly amazing. V: Mmm-hmm. And if you know the history of music, you can better be equipped of creating the future of music. A: True. Because I really think that music needs to have substance. It needs to have it’s form. V: But again, this is within reason. I know one professor in musical academy in Lithuania who is probably world-class expert in musical history and musical theory in general, analysis. And he knows everything that there is to know. And he’s already in his 70’s I believe. And only a few years ago he started to compose, because he said to one of his students, ‘now I know everything, and now I’m ready to create.’ Which is kind of craze to me. A: Well I that preparation time for composing for every person is different. V: But waiting until you are seventy… A: I think it’s okay. V: Why? A: Well, sometimes it’s enough to write one genial composition for people to remember you. V: But don’t you think that this professor knew enough to start with, like twenty, thirty years ago? A: Well you just can do whatever you want with your life. You cannot do something others lives. You cannot enforce people to do what you want. V: Silence! Let’s listen to the snow. A: Vidas is, to wake up my words, because I don’t think he likes them so much. V: I’m just saying that, no, you cannot influence others, of course. You’re right. And... A: You can do influence. You can try to do influence, but you cannot force them to do what you want. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And sometimes I think when you want to make influence for somebody, you need to find subtle ways to do it, rather than push forward. V: Let me then clarify a little bit my thought: I think that particular professor didn’t create music, not because he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to begin with, maybe decades ago, but maybe he had another reason. He was telling official reason, and he had another true reason. What do you think? A: Probably yes. V: That’s more plausible explanation. A: Sure! V: Right? Because why did he start now? Maybe... A: Maybe now he has more free time. V: Oh! That’s right. That’s right. A: Because some people cannot create when they are under pressure under all kind of activities—working, raising family, doing all kind of stuff. And maybe now it’s time in his life when he can do it and enjoy it. V: Okay guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please send us your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen! SOPP364: It's really worth trying to play a dress rehearsal at least two months before the recital1/5/2019
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 364, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. Today we would like to talk a little bit about the recital that we witnessed before Christmas. Our friend Paulius played short, half-an hour recital at Vilnius Cathedral. A: Actually, it lasted 25 minutes. V: 25 minutes. A: Mmm-hmm. V: Okay. And it was a big deal for him because it was Vilnius Cathedral—a big place, and many people came, and it was organized as a Christmas organ series by National Association of Organists in Lithuania, and Paulius played one of the recitals, last Saturday. First of all Ausra, what do you think about this? Did Paulius make a good progress, considering your last experience of him playing the organ? A: Do you want me to be honest or do you want me to tell that he did the progress? V: Do you think that these two things are mutually exclusive? A: I don’t know. Well, anyway, let’s start our talk with what you told me a night before his recital because Vidas was just turning pages for him. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And night before recital, what Vidas told to me, I thought that I will hear a very sloppy performance, but it didn’t happen. So I guess he made overnight progress. V: He played much better during the recital than in the last rehearsal. I only heard him once, right? I didn’t go to the cathedral a few times before when he was playing. I couldn’t come. So yes, I was stressed out and he was stressed out too, rather scared, I guess, for the upcoming performance, which was sort of very natural because we all are scared when something big is approaching and we’re not really feeling secure. A: But you know, he has this wonderful quality that he did such a good job comparing to what he could do, and what he did a night before, and that’s a very good sign. Very few of us I think have this quality. Because usually under the pressure, people do much sloppier job than they could do. V: Are you one of those people? A: Mmm. V: Cause I am, usually. A: Well, I don’t think so, but it’s very hard to judge yourself and to be sort of objective when talking about oneself. V: And actually, there are different instances, different experiences in our own life. Sometimes we play better during the public performance and sometimes a little bit worse. A: You know, I just draw a very useful lesson after this recital, and it was a nice recital, I mean I enjoyed much of it. But also I thought how it could be if things would be different, and I like that you need to prepare in advance and it does matter what because before this recital he could not practice enough. And he know probably about it in advance I believe because he knew that this is the time before Christmas which is very busy for church organists, and gives all kind of additional work. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And therefore you need to prepare in advance. For your sake, for listeners sake, for everybody’s sake. V: I didn’t ask him but it would have been really worth trying to play a dress rehearsal at least two months before. A: And I think that how George Ritchie and Quentin Faulkner advised everybody to play. V: For professionals, I think one month before is acceptable. A: And that’s what we did—we had to play entire program one month before in public. V: But for people who are still learning, I think two months before the public performance, you have to play the run through. A: Because you always have to take in mind that things might happen. You might get sick for a week or two or something might happen, accident, whatever. And expect it work, jobs and all kinds of complication. So in that way if you will be ready in advance, you will not be so much stressed out. V: What to you mean by run-through? Is you have to play your entire program? A: Without stopping, from beginning to the end. V: In concert tempo? A: Yes. V: With as many mistakes as you like—it doesn’t matter. A: Well, but if you will make mistakes in every measure that means that you are not ready to play through. V: But, well, within reason... A: I don’t agree with you... V: Without reason. A: By mistakes. V: But do you even imagine that the person would make mistake in every measure, and still would play in a concert tempo? I couldn’t imagine it. A: Well, you know, miracles happen, as we daily say on our podcast. V: If you could play your program in a concert tempo, then feel free to make mistakes. A: I have seen people who are very self-conscious and that are very sort self-confidence. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And you never know who you are talking to. And sometimes people are very having very good, very high opinion about themselves and sometimes another way, so… V: Oh! You mean that things that we are talking right now, would be perceived differently by other people. A: That’s right. V: By different people... A: That’s right. V: Differently. A: Yes. V: When I say, ‘please do as many mistakes as you like’, then that person would really play absolutely horribly but still think ‘oh, Vidas let me play with mistakes.’ A: So don’t tell that because you need to do as little mistakes as you can. That’s the purpose. V: For me, the purpose is to play in concert tempo, and within reason to make mistakes. I mean not to focus on the mistakes, but focus on the tempo, and then you will have two months to reduce those mistakes. A: Well, but anyway, what I’m talking about and what I’m keeping in mind and what is very important for me that, if I play a recital and I’m really ready for it, I know that I did what I could… V: Mmm-hmm. A: And then let’s say something will happen to me during recital—some unexpected mistakes, or I don’t know, the organ would break or something else—then I would just know that I did what I could and know what happens, just happened. And I would be sort, well… V: Pleased. A: Pleased, yes. But if I wouldn’t be ready for recital for some reasons and I would do a sloppy job then I would feel really guilty. V: By this time probably our listeners are wondering, ‘what did Paulius play?’, right? We’re talking about recital and they don’t know what he performed. So, the first piece on the program was Nun komm, BWV 599 from the Orgelbuchlein by Johann Sebastian Bach. A: And I think the next two pieces also were from the same collection. V: Right. Then the second was BWV 600. If the first was BWV 599 then the next one in the program was in order—600, and then BWV 601. All three of them together. And then Paulius played Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland... A: ... From the Leipzig collection. V: Exactly! From eighteen great chorales, BWV 659, I believe, where the choral melody is in the right hand, ornamented, the famous advent choral. And then, what came next? A: Demessieux V: Jeanne Demessieux. Also ornamented choral on Rorate Coeli. A: That’s right. And then he did his own improvisation, which I think was the best on the program. V: Uh-huh. And the themes for this improvisation was also advent hymns. A: Then then he finished with a toccata, French style toccata by... V: Eh, Carter. A: Carter. V: Mmm-hmm. A: It came from the Oxford Collection of Christmas music. V: Yes. So it took about 25 minutes… A: Yes. V: To perform. It... A: Well actually, he had to take less than 25 minutes because I believe that that last toccata by Carter was performed probably, I would not say maybe double as slow as it should be, but maybe one-third slower than it should be. V: Was it that obvious? A: Well, in some parts, yes. V: Cause he started normally… A: Because tempo wasn’t steady... V: Slowed down. A: That’s what I noticed in that toccata so… V: Uh-huh. A: You just felt that organ is controlling him, not he is controlling things. V: But Orgelbuchlein chorales were performed, I think, well, A: Yes. That’s true. V: All three of them. A: That’s true. Not the last one from the last Liepzig collection. V: Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn, BWV, 601 Paulius played it many years ago, and it repeated it just for this performance, and was feeling very shaky the night before about it. So I was kind of really surprised that he managed to play it very well. A: It’s not an easy choral. V: Especially if you don’t play it with care and precision. A: It’s the first Orgelbuchlein choral that I have learned in my life. V: Maybe it was one of his firsts, too, when he was studying with me. But that was like at the beginning of our friendship so right when we returned from the United States. A: That’s right. V: In 2007. A: But in general I think that he has a great potential and he showed it on this recital. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I’m just sorry that he doesn’t feel very well himself… V: I think… A: And he knows why, but… V: I think that Nun komm, BWV 659 from Leipzig collection, could have been played even better because he messed up a little bit in ornamented places. He didn’t sometimes know how to perform correctly ornaments. And the easiest way to do this is just to listen to my… A: To listen to recordings. V: To my recording for example. I’m not being very… A: ‘To my recording’... There are wonderful recordings by other organists. V: Wait a second… I’m not being very, what is this word I’m looking for—modest, right, Ausra? A: That’s right? V: But that’s because he’s playing… A: Everybody noticed. V: But that’s because he’s playing from my fingered and pedaled score. He is using my score so he could listen to my performance on Youtube and that would take him five minutes. A: That’s right. V: Unless he doesn’t like my recording. Then he would need to listen to your recording. A: Have I recorded this choral? I don’t think so. V: Then he could ask you to record it. A: But in general if we are talking about Leipzig collection, this is probably the easiest choral from the Great Eighteen Chorals to play. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And it’s a very good piece if you want something not too complicated and beautiful to play. V: Do you think that Paulius could benefit from harmony studies a little bit more? A: Of course, I think…. V: But was it obvious from listening? A: Well, yes, sometimes yes, because I think he needs, and everybody needs, to play more attention to chord structures, to harmonic structures. Then it will help you to show your audience what is more important and what is less important. V: Well to put it another way, the piece will start to speak to you… A: That’s right. V: In a musical way. A: Because it will help you to internalize it’s structure. V: Maybe it now speaks on emotional level, like it’s beautiful, you feel the flow, you feel mood, but you don’t know what’s happening inside. You don’t know how the composer created it, this piece. I’m not even talking about Bach or Carter—any type of music that you play, if you don’t know what’s going on inside, then you’re missing something, right? So Paulius could really benefit from harmony studies. But in general, to summarize, I was really pleased. I thought that he has great potential, considering the circumstances that he was in. So Paulius, if you listening to this, don’t stop. Continue practice. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 366 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lukasz and he will be visiting us in February so we’re looking forward to it. He is going to try out our St. John’s organ with the very hard key action and he writes now: “Hi, You're touching my favorite problem again ;-). I want to share with you my biggest problem with fingerwork. 1. I cannot use someone else's fingerings - it always is uncomfortable for me. I tried and instead of thinking about music - I'm beginning to think about fingers - and this does not lead me anywhere. I know that I make by this my life more difficult in many situations. But I can not. I think this is more psychological barrier than physical, because from the youngest I was taught to seek more my own solutions and ways in music than to copy someone else's. Well, sometimes it means, that I'm breaking already open doors... 2. I am often not able to use my own fingerings from the start of work with the music. At the beginning of it my fingering is often completely different than when I learn more about structure, accents etc of the music. Therefore I never write fingering, except the places that absolutely require it - and I still write at most one or two fingers. Why? Because even after learning of the music and playing it in up-tempo, sometimes - to my great irritation - my hands prefers other fingers! I discovered that playing slow I use other fingers than playing fast. Sometimes I have the impression, that my hands have too much - autonomy ... I have written use third finger - my hand says - No! You will be playing it with the second finger! In this situation, I start to wonder why. Sometimes - very rarely - it turns out that in the next measure, moving from another finger gives a more interesting musical clue. But most often it's a forcing of my hand to make a movement that it does not want at all ... and this is the most annoying part of the practice! Merry Christmas and All the best... and of course see you in February. Lukasz” V: So Ausra what are your experiences with fingering? Do you write it at the beginning of studying your music or later. Do you write it at all or not? Do you write it sparingly? What’s your take on this? A: Well now I don’t write fingering. Only in very, very few spots because I don’t need it because I have a pretty good notion of it. But I think that is really bad thing if you have one fingering written in and you use another fingering. That’s inappropriate. V: Umm-hmm. It’s better to not have fingering written in than to use a different fingering every time I guess. A: Because if you a using different fingering every time that you play as Lukasz mentions it means that something is not good with it. V: With the fingering. A: Yes. V: Umm-hmm. Maybe I also can share a few things. Like you I also have much experience with playing the organ and don’t need to write in fingering most of the time. Just in a few maybe troublesome places like Ad Patres Sonata by Kutavicius. To facilitate learning process I wrote fingering in one episode, maybe 10 measures, and since this episode is repeated 13 times I copied this fingering 13 times in the score just because it makes the work easier and the time is limited. A: Interesting then I learned that piece I would just, if you are talking about that episode that repeats itself, I would just clip all those pages together and I would know how many times I have to repeat that thing and then I would just turn all those pages all at once and you would just have to write your fingering once. V: That’s clever. You are the smarter one in the family. A: Thank you, I don’t think so but still thank you, it’s a nice thing to say. V: And you know I sight-read music in a very slow tempo and produce correct fingering right away. I’m thinking about what’s the best way to put my fingers and pedaling too and I record it with my phone, put it on YouTube and then our team of transcribers make transcribed scores with fingering and pedaling from this so I have to be good right away. It’s not easy, it requires lots of work and lots of practice and constant development but they say the first twenty years is difficult, afterwards it’s easier. A: Sure. V: You have to constantly sight-read new music then it gets easier and fingers somehow become second nature to you. I have to say that early fingering is much easier for me than modern fingering somehow. What about you? A: Well, actually it really doesn’t matter because I think both are easy for me because before playing organ I played piano for many years so I don’t feel uncomfortable fingering romantic or later music. V: But there are many more options with modern music. A: Sure. So you just see what works for you and in general when you are fingering romantic and later music don’t try to write fingers down right away before even playing the piece. That’s what people often do and I think it’s a mistake. You need to play it through at least a few times and to see what works and what not because if you finger your score without playing through then these problems might happen that you write in one fingering and you are using another one. V: That’s how we were taught actually, our professors in Lithuania at least said practice the piece a few times and get to know it and then write in fingering. A: Sure. In general I think that you need to be able to play both ways, without fingers and with fingers. V: And I guess why. A: Because if you, well… Remember when we studied with Leopoldas Digrys he always forced us to write every single finger. V: That’s because he did it himself. A: Yes, for entire life and after playing with him for some time I realized that I cannot play music without fingering written in. V: Yes, so most of the time for example people sight-read and it doesn’t have fingers written in. What can you do then? You have to guess, you have to… A: I felt sort of like having a disability. That I am incapable of doing something and then I just dropped writing down every single finger. V: What about when you improvise? A: Sure. But of course there is advantage if you have fingered score because it means that you save time and you save trouble fingering yourself and if you go back to the same piece after many years it will be easier for you to recollect it and to play it. V: I guess it depends on the goals of each individual person, right? If we want to learn the piece inside out and come back to it after a decade or so and still be able to play it more or less in a slow tempo of course then writing in fingering is a good idea but then the amount of music that you are going to learn in your life is greatly diminished, is greatly limited actually, because it’s a slow process, you have to write in every finger or most of the fingers in every score. Obviously it slows down your practice so then you will not be able to sight-read as much music, right? So it depends what you want from life for your organ playing activities. A: But definitely if you are in the learning process and you are a beginner or intermediate level still the fingering is very important. V: Umm-hmm. Having great foundation is crucial. Afterwards you have to choose for yourself what suits best your needs. A: And I think especially this is true with baroque music because very often baroque music didn’t have so much right choice, less than later music and I think that it’s very important to get good advice and play from well-edited scores. V: Yes, guys, we hope this was helpful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow as an organist and remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Just a quick reminder about the poll we are having where we would like to know your opinion about our new Secrets of Organ Playing Contest. If you haven't voted, please do so by the end of this week in this post.
Also we'd like to congratulations to Nancy and Lev who recently took advantage of 50% Christmas discount of Total Organist. We're sure they will advance faster in organ playing than on their own! And now let's go to the podcast for today.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 362 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent sent by John, and he writes: Dear Vidas, I'm lucky that a former pupil will be playing organ voluntaries for me (i) at Midnight Mass (Widor - Toccata) and (ii) at the Carol Service (Joie et clarite - Messiaen). He's just 17 and has won a place at Chetham's school of music in Manchester. I shall re-learn Dupre's Prelude and Fugue in B major in the New Year. I studied it during my student days, but as you know, it needs constant performance to keep it up to scratch. An enlightened wedding couple have asked me for Mullet's Carillon-Sortie later in the year. A project for 2019 will be to write some short pieces for manuals only as a homage to Vierne's 24 Pieces. I adore Vierne's music and think him a much better composer than Widor. I am at present writing a S. John Passion for a village choir to sing - simple chorus parts, but a good [tricky] evangelist solo line. I shall also learn later in 2019 Bach's "Komm Gott" fantasia, a piece I have never played and hopefully it will be ready for Pentecost. I'll send you the church Spring term's music list when it is finally drafted. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, John V: So, Ausra, John is quite advanced in organ playing and also probably in composition, if he is composing Saint John’s passion. A: Definitely, he’s very advanced, because the pieces he mentioned that on his list are really difficult to play. V: One thing that I found interesting is Dupré’s “Prelude and Fugue in B major”, and he will be planning to relearn it in this new year! A: It will take some time! I remember I did that piece; It’s not an easy piece—especially the fugue. The prelude is quite comfortable, but the fugue, you have to put some effort into it, because the subject, the theme of this fugue has quite wide leaps and a very fast tempo, and to play it all legato, it’s quite a challenge. V: Mhm. I also played this piece many years ago. A: Did you? V: As a student, I think. A: No, I don’t think you did. V: I think I played all three of them. A: Really? When? Was it in the United States? Because, I cannot remember you playing any of these pieces. V: Maybe I was dreaming about them. A: Maybe you are getting old, because I know that I have played B major in the Academy of Music. V: Maybe you are getting old! A: During my first year of masters studies. V: Maybe I played it with Pamela, no? A: All three of them? But how come I don’t remember it at all? V: You were focused on other pieces? A: I don’t think so. V: What were you playing with Pamela? A: For my recital? V: Mhm! A: Bach’s “C major Toccata”, “Adagio and Fugue”, then Reger’s “Fantasie 135B” (“Fantasie and Fugue,” of course), then I did Franck’s “B minor Chorale”, and a piece called “Walpurgisnacht,” from Petr Eben’s “Faust.” V: “Walpurgis Night,” right? A: Mhm! V: So, you see, maybe you were so focused on your repertoire that you didn’t pay attention to what I was playing! Is that possible? A: I don’t think so, because at that time, you, I believe, played Reger’s “Ein’ Feste Burg.” I don’t think it would be suited to play together with Dupré’s “Three Preludes.” V: But, I think I played them all. A: Maybe you did, I don’t know. V: But A: Not in a life with me! V: In another life! A: Yes. V: Interesting. I remember those Carillon sounds in B major prelude by Dupré. A: It was beautiful when I played it. I just felt that I’m standing in front of Notre Dame de Paris. Somehow this piece reminded me of this place. V: But you didn’t choose this piece for your Notre Dame recital. A: Maybe we wouldn’t have picked it anyway, so... V: Yeah, as you say, Fugue is more advanced. The theme is sort of tricky to handle in the pedals. Or not? A: Yes, it is, and that is what I was talking about. V: Mhm.. Dupré knew how to write fugues, I think, very well. A: And somehow, I don’t know… everybody says that third one, “Prelude and Fugue” is the hardest one. V: “G minor”? A: Yes. But then, I sight read it, I found that B major is harder. V: Maybe because of the tempo! A: Because of the Fugue. V: Maybe because of the tempo, “G minor” seems very virtuosic. And then the fugue expands into maybe a scherzo like motion towards the end. Maybe that’s what frightens people. A: True, but as we once heard in the Oberlin Conference, where one lady performed all three of them… V: All three of them! We will not mention her name…. A: And she switched the B major and G minor places, so she played G minor first, and she left the B major for the end, and she screwed up totally in the B major one. Although, the entire performance was quite sloppy. V: And she was apologizing before even playing! A: Before playing, yes. So, I guess if you are not ready and something is wrong, you’d better cancel your recital. V: We heard also a very very sloppy performance of Bach’s Klavier Übung part 3. A: That’s right. V: Also will not mention who played it, out of respect. A: But these were high professionals, and they have played them extremely well before, so… V: They are internationally renown organ players. Virtuosos. A: So I guess if you are not ready, you just need to cancel. V: Another thing that stuck from John’s message is that an enlightened wedding couple asked him to perform Mulet’s “Carillon Sortie” later in the year…. Do you know if any weddings that are played when a wedding couple would ask such a piece besides Widor Toccata…. Widor Tocatta is possible, right? But in Lithuania, it’s not even probably known very well. But “Carillon” by Henry Mulet would be even very remote choice. A: Oh yes! But it shows that that couple really knows things about organ music, about organ repertoire, so…. V: I hope that John will enjoy this piece a lot. A: But I wonder how much they are willing to pay for him to do this piece, too, because probably it’s not something that’s very common in every organists repertoire. V: But once he learns it, he can play it for recitals in another occasion. A: That’s true. V: Re-purpose. Recycle. He says that he likes Vierne’s music better than Widor’s. Do you agree… A: Well, actually, he formulates that…. In a different question, he thinks that Vierne is a better composer than Widor. And personally, I like Vierne’s music much better, but I would never say that Vierne is a better composer than Widor, because who are we that we would say such a thing? V: It’s difficult to judge, right? A: Yes, you just can say based on your personal taste that you prefer one composer’s music and not another’s, because they are very different, and I like Vierne much better, and I wanted to find out, to understand, why I prefer Vierne above Widor, and I realized that Vierne’s forms of musical compositions are very classical and easy to understand. And that’s why, probably, he’s my favorite. V: But on the other hand, the forms of Widor sort of are much more free and flexible and spontaneous. Doesn’t it mean that he was more creative than Vierne? A: Well, it’s hard to tell. V: From that point of view. Not looking at the harmonies. Probably the harmonies are stronger. A: Vierne’s harmonies are much more complex and much more complicated, and really, much more advanced than Widor’s. V: True. Well, I guess it’s a personal preference of people, right? A: But anyway, I think they were both great composers and left a significant input for the organ world. V: And one would not exist without the other, probably. A: I think so, yes, because somehow they are always mentioned together, of course, because they both wrote organ symphonies. V: Right. So, let’s wish John a great new year, and a very creative and passionate new year, that he would continue to create and work on his projects and wish him success. A: Sure! V: And everyone else, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen.
Just a quick reminder about the poll we are having where we would like to know your opinion about our new Secrets of Organ Playing Contest. If you haven't voted, please do so by the end of this week in this post.
Also we'd like to congratulate Nancy and Lev who recently took advantage of 50% Christmas discount of Total Organist. We're sure they will learn a lot and advance much faster than they would on their own! And now let's go to the podcast for today.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 363 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Leon and he writes: “Dear Vidas and Ausra: I had a mild case of the flu from Saturday through Tuesday. Seemed like a cold for the first two days, but "the grippe" was there when I awoke Monday. Thanks to the flu shot in September all was able to be treated with symptomatic meds, and no fever. So when I got back to practice yesterday, I decided to retry the OrgelBuchlein. I was able to do No. 1 at half speed with only two mistakes. And rediscovered that I had done the 15-step method on them all from November 2017 to March of this year. I'd completely forgotten that, but the penciled in evidence is there on the music - computer-printer copies from IMSLP. So, an unexpected early Christmas present thanks to you two. Merry Christmas! Leon” A: Very nice letter. V: Let’s start with the flu. How are you feeling by the way today, Ausra? A: I’m a little bit sick and I have a little bit of fever since last so I might be getting flu as well. V: Let’s hope that it will pass like Leon’s case. A: Let’s hope for it because I also got my flu shot in October. V: Umm-hmm. A: So I’m sort of ready for flu season. V: And then he writes that he practiced OrgelBuchlein No. 1 at half speed with only two mistakes. That’s a good evidence that he’s progressing with his organ playing don’t you think? A: Yes, I think that’s a good sign. V: In general I think that when people are stuck and doing things step-by-step they are not really noticing their own progress and that’s OK. We all are in this situation so then we suggest that after three or six months that you go back to some previously more difficult pieces that you even didn’t play but just played as a sight-reading exercise and try it out now and chances are if you were diligent in your organ playing and sight-reading over the course of six months that this particular piece would go much easier this time. A: Yes, in general I think that when we practice on a daily basis often we cannot notice our progress but if we do a break and then we come back to it then we can see it more clearly as it was in Leon’s case. V: Do you like the 15-step method Ausra? You know what I am talking about, right? Solo parts, then two-part combinations, then three-part combinations, and then four-part structure, if the piece has four parts of course. A: Yes, I know this system, I think it’s excellent if you have patience and if you have enough time. V: But it’s not for everyone, right? A: True. V: For example right now I’m practicing Sonata "Ad Patres" by Bronius Kutavicius, a living Lithuanian composer, and my recital is coming up in January and this is a playable piece, not too difficult except for the middle section, quite virtuosic, but this section is kind of repeating itself sort of like 13 times and if you learn one or two repetitions you learn the entire thing. So what I’m doing now I’m not playing 15 step combinations but I’m gradually expanding the fragments by starting every quarter-note, every half-note, every measure, every two measures and so on, doubling the length of each fragment. A: I think that this approach of 15 steps I think it’s very worth trying if you are learning pieces by J.S. Bach. V: Polyphonic music. A: Polyphonic music, yes. V: Umm-hmm. A: Because for some pieces there might be other things you need to work on. V: Right and plus it depends on your level of advancement. A: That’s right. V: Maybe I would do 15-step method on a very complicated fugue but not necessarily on a Orgelbuchlein chorale. A: But if you are a beginner then I think this approach would be useful to probably any piece. V: Obviously. Yes, definitely, 100 percent correct. And if the piece is not polyphonic but has a few layers, right-hand, left-hand and pedals, three layers, then we need to look at it from a different perspective, maybe work one hand at a time, that would be right-hand alone, left-hand alone, and pedals alone, also in fragments and then two-part combinations would be right-hand and left-hand, right-hand and pedal, left-hand and pedal and only then the last combination all parts together. So 7-step method here would be possible to do if the music is not polyphonically created but again it depends on your level of advancement. A: That’s right. V: Umm-hmm. So it seems like Leon is having a great time practicing, hopefully next year will pass without flu. A: Yes, let’s hope for that and let’s wish everybody good health because it’s sort of a mean thing to everybody. V: Umm-hmm. And when we receive messages like that when he writes “an unexpected early Christmas present thanks to you two” it’s really very pleasing to read, right Ausra? A: Yes, then I feel like Santa. V: You are Santa? A: Yes. V: Oh no, I thought Leon was Santa. Maybe you are right and I am right too, maybe you both are Santa’s to me (laughs.) Again, we give presents all the time, right? We give advice freely and for people who take the advice and apply them in their practice this becomes a present. Not only advice but something that they can apply in their lives and improve their lives. A: True. V: Hopefully sometimes not even organ playing but sometimes other things. So those people like Leon who practice diligently will I think sooner or later reap results, don’t you think Ausra? A: Obviously, yes. V: If you are just banging your head against the wall then sooner or later something will break (laughs.) A: You are making rather funny comments. V: That’s good. A: That’s usual. V: So wonderful, thank you guys for sending those questions and please continue to do so even in the next year because next year maybe will be a new beginning to you. Maybe you will start to look at your own organ playing activities from a different perspective. Maybe you will have something like New Years Resolutions but I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions don’t you Ausra? A: Well, me too because usually it doesn’t work. V: Yeah, it works for two weeks. A: Because when we attend our gym we always notice that before New Years and right at the beginning of New Years there are so many people attending the gym but then in the middle of January they are disappearing. V: Yes, they say “Oh I will start losing weight” or “Oh I will start going to the gym every day” or “Oh I will lift the weights every day” and this is too much. It’s better to say “Oh I will practice for 15 minutes a day” whatever it means practice, doing push-ups, or taking a walk or running or swimming. For organ playing the same, you don’t need to practice for 3 or 4 hours like some of our students do obviously at the beginning, maybe later you will have the strength to do that but first you have to get the stamina and the best way to do that is step-by-step maybe gradually increasing the length of practice time by ten percent a week. A: And if you want to watch something funny for New Years Resolutions you can watch Bridget Jones movie, the first movie. V: Bridget Jones Diary. A: Yes, where she gives New Years resolutions. V: Oh, (laughs) we will not say anything more. A: True, I hope you will enjoy it. V: No spoilers. Thank you guys for listening, for applying our tips in your practice, please keep sending us your wonderful questions, we love helping you grow and remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Just a quick reminder about the poll we are having where we would like to know your opinion about our new Secrets of Organ Playing Contest. If you haven't voted, please do so by the end of this week in this post.
Also we'd like to congratulate Fidelma, Danielle, Emogene and Andrei who recently took advantage of 50% Christmas discount of Total Organist. We're sure you'll learn a lot! And now let's go to the podcast for today.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 361 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lisa and she writes: “Why is it bad to double the bass line in the pedals? I don’t notice much difference in the sound. I’m a new organist, having played the piano for church for 30 years.” V: That’s a nice question, right Ausra? A: It is. V: And we have talked about it a few times but for people who come to the organ from piano background it’s not so apparent. A: True and it’s like a regular kitchen and dishes is comparing to gourmet kitchen and dishes. That’s what it is when you double pedal with your left hand and then you don’t. You need to develop a keen sense of what you are playing and you really need to develop your ability to listen and to hear things. It comes with experience. V: Umm-hmm. I wrote to Lisa that if you double the pedals you won’t be able to develop left-hand and pedal independence. That’s the main thing and independence is needed when playing real organ music. But if organists work at church don’t have any interest in real organ music and they only stick to hymns then what we’re talking about is not really understandable to them. It sounds well, it really does and there are organ pieces like that where pedal bass is doubling the left-hand bass, for example right now I am playing Priere by Juozas Naujalis and throughout this piece somehow he wrote this doubling in the pedals and in the left-hand maybe because he didn’t have in mind a big enough organ, I don’t know, but he had many instruments at hand … A: Look if you have let’s say big organ you are adding big registration, what happens when you double bass and left-hand. That’s already each organ stop, if you pull out 8’ stop and 6’ stop and then you put let’s say 4’ and 2’ and blah, blah, blah, and mixtures, how many already sounds do you have for each single note, it’s above all imaginable. V: In the pedals, right? A: Yes. V: Umm-hmm. A: And in any also in the manuals because no, you rarely play with one stop pulled out . V: Umm-hmm. A: It already doubles in itself in that single voice. It already doubles itself and triples and quadruples. V: Huh, I see. A: So why do you need to do that unless it was composers’ wish. V: But I don’t understand why this wish was Naujalis position. A: Well I don’t care so much about it, maybe he really didn’t have a big pedal. V: Or maybe he wrote this piece for organists who couldn’t really play pedals and left-hand independently in Lithuania. A: That’s more possible because he worked for many years as organ teacher too so maybe he noticed this problem as well. V: And that’s why he wrote those wonderful organ trios. A: But anyway, when a composer does that he probably wants to give more gravity to the pedals and to the lower parts of a piece. But I don’t’ think it’s so much stood for him, that’s my opinion, and do whatever you want, you know you are free person. V: So for Lisa and others who are wondering why we do not double the bass line in left-hand… I was just reading this question one more time and she is asking backwards. “Why is it bad to double the bass line in the pedals.” In the pedals it’s good, but in the left-hand it’s not good. A: Yes, that’s what happens to you because when you have a hymn it’s four voices most often and what people do is they play all four voices on the manuals and then put the lowest voice on the pedal part and what we are meaning is that you need to play three voices on the manuals, so soprano, alto, tenor and then to play the bottom line with your pedals. V: I think Lisa needs to try this technique, right? It’s rather new to her and rather uncomfortable probably at the beginning and she will struggle with those hymns and that’s OK. It will just mean that if she’s up to the challenge, it is a challenge for beginners. A: It’s just that I did not understand her question right from the beginning. V: I understood the question but she is writing it backwards. In her mind probably it’s normal to play the bass line in the left-hand and then why do we need to double the bass line in the pedals. A: We need to play the bass line with the pedals and not with your left-hand. V: Exactly. If you play without any pedals then obviously play the bass line with the left hand. But that is the point, if you always play without pedals you will never learn to play the pedals and then it will be hard to call yourself a real organist. A: True, then better stick with the piano if you don’t want to play the pedals. V: Charles Tournemire once wrote that organists who cannot improvise are just half organists. So what would he call people who play the organ without pedals? One-third organist or what? A: One-fourth? V: One-fourth probably. We are not making fun of Lisa or anyone else of course. We’re just suggesting to try out this technique and not to play as it’s written right away but just play it and treat it as a real organ piece. It’s very small maybe one page long, one minute long, right? And you first master it probably voice by voice, and then two voice combinations, and then three part combinations and only then tackle four-part texture. For Lisa if she has played piano for church for 30 years maybe she doesn’t need to play separate voices at first, maybe she can do two voices but definitely she needs pedal line separately. A: Sure and why pedal, the bass line on the pedalboard sounds better than on the manuals, that’s because you have more 16’ stops on the pedal and you give it gravity which is very nice for hymn accompanying and congregational singing. V: Yeah, it’s like having double basses in the orchestra. A: You will not have that effect if you will only use manuals even if you put the 16’ on the manuals but will not use the pedal the effect will not be as nice. V: I haven’t thought about that for many times but now it’s very obvious, if you omit double basses from the orchestra it’s not just the 16’ is missing it’s the entire foundation is missing. A: That’s right. V: The same is for organ too. A: I don’t think you would be able to listen to the violin for such a long time without double basses. V: Exactly. Well, people need to try those challenging things, right? That’s why we are learning. That’s why we are trying to get better at things we couldn’t do yesterday, right? There wouldn’t be a point of practicing and spending hours on the organ bench if all we ever wanted to do was to play the hymns in way that we always play. A: That’s right. V: Even playing the hymns are maybe ten or twenty or thirty different ways and that’s another challenge in itself, but that’s the theme for another Podcast. Thank you guys for listening, this was fun, and please keep sending your wonderful questions and we hope to help you grow and remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 360 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent sent by Rob, and he writes: Hello Ausra and Vidas, Enjoyed the story featuring pointed high heel shoes and what Anders said in today’s post about his organ shoes. So, let me share my organ shoes (well, not literally, of course) with you, Anders and all other readers of your posts. Nobody plays the organ wearing gloves, it wouldn’t make sense. Yet, in a way, we do wear “gloves” on our feet. (I remember that Rhoda Scott played her Hammond organ pedals with bare feet). Just as much as we need to feel the manuals in our fingers/hands, we need to feel the pedals in our feet. My organ shoes are supple (i.e. not too thick or sturdy) leather shoes with thin leather soles, almost (but not quite) like moccasins. The soles are “slippery” and without patterns or anything like that. These shoes are a snug fit on my feet so my feet can’t move about in them. They are not too tight by any means. They are round shaped where my toes are and have a normal, round heel (certainly not high heels, haha). These shoes enable me to slide over the pedals and dance when required. In shape, as I said they are round (slightly pointed is also an option) so moving from one black key to the next (adjacent) black can easily be done without getting stuck between black keys and white keys. Heel-to-toe movement is natural and without effort. The thin soles allow me to really feel the pedals, and there is the similarity with fingers feeling the keys on the manuals. In these shoes, my feet know the “topography” of the pedal board so it is rarely necessary to look down to direct my feet on sight. These, all in all, are the characteristics of my organ shoes. They are now more than 35 years old (my second pair of organ shoes) and I only wear them when playing the organ. I will never ditch these shoes of course (unless my feet change in future or when these shoes fall apart). Hope this helps when folks think about/need to select organ shoes. And so, with good organ shoes, pedal miracles will happen! (to put a little twist on your tagline). Best to both of you and Merry Christmas, Rob V: That’s, I think, a very interesting story, Ausra. Right? A: Yes, it seems like Rob is really in love with his organ shoes, because he describes them so carefully and in great detail. V: Couldn’t they be so flexible and sensitive because they are very old? A: I think that adds to that, as well, to this quality of being flexible. And of course he loves them, because he has played with them for so many years! V: Mhm. A: I guess when you wear some kind of shoes for so many years, you don’t feel them! You can get a feeling that you’re barefoot, as well! V: Right. So, playing without shoes, barefoot, is quite tricky, and not practical at all, actually! A: Well…. V: Because, the pedal board is messy and dusty. A: You may have to vary your playing socks! You come to church and bring your socks, you know, and change them! V: With socks there is a possibility, but then I think you damage your socks pretty easily and soon. I think if you have leather soles on your woolen socks, that might better. But you still need the heel! A: Sure. And let me talk a little bit about comparing the manual part with that pedal part. I don’t think it’s a fair thing to compare these two, and to put an equality sign between them. Because, look at the score—how many notes you have to play with your hands, and how many with your feet—and you will notice a great difference. So, I don’t think it’s comparable, you know, the difficulty of the pedal—playing pedals—and playing the manuals. I think in general that the problems with playing pedals are greatly exaggerated. That’s what I feel about it. And also, that problem of finding the right shoes is also greatly exaggerated. Because, I think that hitting the right key in the pedal board is not so much of having the right shoes as it is having the right muscle memory. V: And it also depends on how many organs you have played. If you’re playing just one organ, than you can really play with your eyes closed! A: True, because that muscle memory develops. V: If you have played five organs, and you have to switch to the sixth organ, then I think the problem is apparent right away. But, it reduces with each new instrument that you try, I think. A: True! And let’s say you are a beginner and you play on one instrument, only, and you get fairly comfortable with that pedal board, and then you move to the next organ with the same shoes, actually, and you see that you cannot hit the right keys, and you have to look. V: Yes, I have experienced that many times! A: Have you changed your shoes? No! If you just changed the pedal board, that’s where the problem is. V: Exactly! If you have a problem with playing pedals, change the pedal board! A: I don’t mean that, but that’s a great idea! V: Yeah, until you find the perfect one. A: True. And also, I wanted to comment a little bit about that Rob said that you don’t play organ with gloves on your arms, and that’s not exactly true, because sometimes you use the gloves when you are playing in Lithuania in Winter in the middle of a no-heat church. You use gloves. Of course, you just have to cut off the tips of the fingers. V: I’ve played in them many times. They’re quite good for keeping the fingers warm. A: Maybe you will not be able to play a very virtuosic piece with things like this on your hands, but still, you will be okay with hymns or simple pieces. V: Simple pieces, yes. Improvisations. Some churches now are heated, luckily. A: Some. Way too few, I think. V: Right. Just a few days ago, organ builder Janis Kalninš, from Latvia, came to visit our church, and he brought a colleague organist from Poland, Andrzej Szadejko, who wanted to try out our instrument in our church, and he played there for about one hour or so, and then we talked. He was surprised that it was so warm in our church. A: Well, it’s heated! V: And I asked him if many churches in Poland are heated, and he said, “no.” A: And it’s a big country, so it has many churches. V: Right. Of course, our situation is different, because our church is owned by the university. A: Well, but also, you know, I don’t think that the university first installed the heating system, it happened during the Soviet times, because the church was converted into the museum of science, and that’s when they added those radiators. Plus, this year, this last Summer we had such hot weather all the time, and even in September, so the temperature got pretty high. V: And with each degree when you have a rising in the Summer, the temperament and the pitch level rises, also. Approximately 1 Hz per one degree, I could say. So, if you have about 440, in 18 degrees Celsius, then you will have 441 when you have 19 degrees. When you have 20 degrees, 442, something like that. In the Winter it’s lower, then. A: True. V: Okay, so, I guess Rob’s points are very valid here: You need to think carefully about how to select organ shoes, and sometimes your first choice is not the most fitting one. A: That’s right. V: And that’s okay, right? You have to look around and try out several organ shoe pairs. And one final advice would be probably to look at dancer’s shoes. Right? A: And, I think we have talk about it before. V: Dancer’s shoes are very similar to organ shoes, and there are more dancers than organists in the world, I guess, so therefore, dancer’s shoes are more popular and easier to find. A: Well, not every dancer’s shoes will fit for the organ. V: Exactly. And, the feet are like the third hand to me. Right? You need to treat your feet playing like one additional hand. Don’t you agree, Ausra? A: Well…. V: Say “yes!” A: So, still, I think hands are more important. V: Yes, but together, you have in one hand you have five fingers. With both feet, you have 4 options to play the pedals. toe toe, and heel heel. A: So you have 10 fingers in your hands, yes, and 4 fingers in your feet? V: Exactly. That’s what I was trying to say. A: Nice. V: Okay, guys, thanks for sending these questions. We’re hoping to help you grow, so please keep sending them in the future. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. |
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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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