SOPP531: Michael Calabris on the Importance of Finding Your Own Voice as an Organist Composer12/15/2019
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast 531!
Today's guest is Michael Calabris who is a Northeast Ohio-based composer, organist, harpsichordist, and clavichordist. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from the University of Akron and his Master of Music (Composition) from Cleveland State University. In January 2017, Michael’s composition Kyrie Eleison (for SATB Choir) was premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Choir, directed by Dr. Scott MacPherson. His string trio, Aria, was premiered by members of Cleveland’s NO EXIT New Music Ensemble in March 2018. Michael is currently completing Master of Music Performance degrees in both Organ and Harpsichord at Cleveland State University, where his instructors include Todd Wilson (organ) and Joela Jones (Harpsichord). During his time as a graduate student at Cleveland State University, Michael has been the recipient of several academic awards, including the Bain Murray Award for Excellence in Music Composition and the Leonard and Joan Terr Ronis Memorial Scholarship. On the podcast we talk about the importance of finding your own voice as an organist composer. Listen to the conversation Related links: Michael Calabris on SoundCloud and Steem
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SOPP536: How can a self-taught organist become proficient and get to the master level of the organ?12/13/2019
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 536, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This questions was sent by Kirk. And he writes: Vidas It has been a long time since I have written you. How are you doing? I am working out of Marcel Dupre 79 Chorales for Organ. Talk about working on coordination, for me to do them I am practice between 50-60 MM. And if I mess up I go to the measure and practice at least 10 times just to start. Question besides having a teacher, how can a self-taught organist become proficient and get to the master level of the organ? V: Well, Ausra, I guess our website is all about being self-taught and getting help, not from a physical teacher but from online sources, right? A: Yes, true. If I would be in Kirk’s shoes and I would like to learn organ, to play organ, to be proficient, I would gather information that I need, let’s say from our web site or in general, books, and get the scores that I need. Then I would keep working and following those guidelines. And then of course I would record my work and listen back to it. Because I would have to be teacher for myself so I would have to listen to my recordings and be critical about them and then try to improve them. But of course, it’s always nice when somebody else will listen to your recordings and excites you. V: Then you need to have a teacher—online teacher, right? A: Yes, online teacher. V: Mmm-hmm. Get online coaching. I guess with technology today it’s possible to live in one side of the world and be taught on another side of the world, or get access to a teacher if you are living in an area without teachers. Right? It’s all about just being open to new possibilities. But as he says, practicing each measure ten times at least to improve and avoid mistakes, is a good start. A: Yes, it is. Although I myself never count how many times I have practiced certain measure or certain spot. I’m not a number person so if I would have to count each time how many times I played certain measure, I would just give up practicing at all. V: You know, there are all kinds of people who prefer methodical learning, counting the repetitions. Some don’t because it’s boring for them. Some prefer scales and arpeggios and exercises. Some want to go straight to music. I think a person has to choose whatever works for them and stick with it. Any method will work. Maybe some methods work better than others but as long as you keep practicing regularly and diligently, you will keep doing progress. A: But you know about this playing, let’s say certain measures, certain numbers of times, yes? V: Mmm-mmm. A: I think it doesn’t work. You know why? Because I don’t know any of piece of music that would be equally hard from first measure to the last measure. There are always easy measures in the piece and there are always harder and very hard measures in the piece. And if you will play exactly the same number, each measure, then certain spots will be harder for you to play. You will never master it. You will never be comfortable with entire piece. V: But I can write to you equally well designed measures and you can practice them ten times. A: No thank you! V: (Laughs). It would be very boring. For example, I’m practicing right now the two Bach’s chorales from Eighteen Great Preludes, or Leipzig Collection—Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 660, and BWV 661. And at first I started really counting repetitions and being very methodical about that. But after about third day, I understood that it won’t last with me—this kind of method, because I’m not a beginner anymore and I can master things naturally, really. And now I’m just enjoying myself and still making progress. Would you say, Ausra, that this is more beneficial to my situation? A: What, counting or not counting? V: Not counting. A: I think it’s more beneficial. V: Mmm-mmm. But for some people, they do like to count. They do want to feel the need to see a progress. Maybe they don’t understand if they’re playing better or not but if they count the number of repetitions, they feel that they’re progressing. It’s maybe a different thing. A: But still you need to work on some starts more than on the others. Because, believe me, for example, now I know that sort of repeating the Wachet auf, from Bach’s Schubler Collection… V: Yes. A: The famous C flat major, which is the work that Bach himself really done from his Cantata 140. V: This is BWV 645 in Schublers Collection. A: Yes. And it has this common form for most of the Lutheran’s chorales. He has a bar form which has an A section repeated and then the B section which is a new one. V: Bar, meaning like B-A-R, right, the word? A: Yes, B-A-R, and it has, if I would have to draw a form of it, it would be like A-A and B. So you have the A section repeated. V: And B is usually longer than A. A: Yes, that’s right. And because I don’t have much time to practice so usually I play it, well once a day… V: Mmm-hmm. A: And now after practicing it for what, three weeks, I notice that, that A section goes just so well. V: Because? A: Because I play it twice. Because that’s how the music is written. But the B section is much harder now. V: And longer. A: And longer. V: Mmm-mmm. So naturally if you repeat some things more times, you learn it better than other spots. Yeah. So I hope Kirk would take advantage of that, will take advantage of our courses that we have to offer because you can only learn so much from those free conversations that we provide. And if he needs more specific guidance, we have many training programs and scores with fingering and pedaling which will save him tons of time too. Thanks 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!
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast 530!
Today's guest is Samuel Giddy, young and talented organist from Australia. Described as “one of the finest young musicians of his generation” (The Sydney Organ Journal), Samuel has rapidly established a reputation as one of Australia’s leading young organists. After studying piano with Israeli pianist Arnan Wiesel, Samuel began learning the organ in 2011, taking lessons with Philip Swanton in Canberra and practicing at St Clement’s Church in his home town Yass. He gained his Licentiate in organ with distinction at age fifteen. Two years later, he began his studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, majoring in organ performance and graduating in 2019. During this time, he served as the inaugural organ scholar at St Mark’s, Darling Point, as organist at St Paul’s, Burwood, and (from 2019) in his current role as senior organ scholar at St Andrew’s Cathedral. Performance highlights include inaugurating the successful St Mark’s Organ Scholar Recital series, winning the 2018 Sydney Organ Competition, being a finalist in the 2019 Gottfried Silbermann Competition in Freiberg (Germany), and undertaking a 2019 recital tour of England (including performing at Chester and Guildford Cathedrals). In addition to liturgical playing, Samuel performs regularly in Sydney and elsewhere, also teaching organ students at the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy. His aim is to use music to bring enjoyment to others and praise to God. Listen to the conversation Relevant links: Samuel Giddy on Facebook and SoundCloud SOPP523: I must get moving soon or I will not be qualified to call myself an organist any more12/7/2019
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 523 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Robert, and he answers my question where I asked him how is his organ practice going. He writes: “Oh I wish you hadn't asked. Not well I haven't practiced in a very long time. Health and other things are preventing me. I must get moving soon or I will not be qualified to call myself an organist any more. I do read and soak in and enjoy and certainly appreciate receiving the emails and all the good instructions. Hopefully soon I will be applying it. Thank you for asking. Best regards, Robert” What can you say for starters, Ausra, to Robert, who hasn’t practiced in a very long time? A: Well, a term “very long time” is sort of relative, because for some people a week without practice might seem as a very long time, but for others, half a year might not be a long time. So, I wish people would be more specific about terms like this. V: True. He writes about health and “other things,” which is also not specific. A: True. So we can just imagine things in all that, because if it’s health, then you need to know if it’s a constant problem or it’s a temporary problem, and other stuff. V: But he writes in the next sentence that he must get moving again or he will not be qualified to call himself an organist anymore, which means that he can start practicing. Right? Even though health and other things are preventing it. So it’s subjective challenges that are bothering him. A: I think it’s not only for Robert. I think it’s true for everybody, that we try to find excuses if you don’t want to do things right away, sort of we are trying to procrastinate. V: Do you think that Robert needs a little push? A: Yes, a push might help. V: Like extra encouragement and external motivation; you know what I mean. A: Yes, to schedule recital to play in. Then you have to move. V: Oh, no! No! That’s too harsh for people who haven’t practiced for a long time. I think our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest would be helpful. Just one video a week. It doesn’t have to be long… A: You know, for somebody, one video a week, that’s a real challenge. It might take too much energy and time to do it. V: Imagine just one hymn a week, then. It still counts! A: Well, as you say. V: I think so, yeah, if he wants it badly enough. First of all, he has to be willing to sacrifice the comfortable feeling of being where he is now. In this situation, he is comfortable. Even though he hasn’t practiced in a very long time, he is in a known area, a known environment, and when he starts practicing, he will become progressing somewhere he doesn’t know, and this might become uncomfortable. So first of all, he has to be comfortable with being uncomfortable to extend his comfort limits. Don’t you think? A: Yes! What would be other options without your competition and steam platform? V: That’s a tricky question, because it helped me, it helped people who participate… A: Do you think that like a regular church service on Sundays might be something, too? V: No! Obviously it’s a big motivation to perform in public even in a church service, yes! But what’s easier? To find a church service and start playing in public, or just to take out a cell phone and record yourself? A: Well, but thinking about the future, and about all those perspectives, I would think finding a church to play in is more… V: More beneficial. A: More beneficial. V: Because when he plays in church, he still can participate in the contest, too. A: Sure, so you could, so to say, shoot two bunnies with one shot? V: To shoot two bunnies with one shot. Exactly, yes. A: Not a very nice idiom, but I think you get the idea. V: Two birds, maybe, English speaking people, say. A: It could be. V: Lithuanians don’t hunt birds, only bunnies, it seems. So, this is our advice for Robert and many other people who are sort of stuck in a state without practicing for some time. It could be a week, or more, or it could be in between projects, in between recitals… A: Well, sometimes we have to take time off. V: How much time is needed? A: It depends on the specific situation. V: Plus or minus. A month or less? A: Two weeks, I would say. V: Two weeks? A: Because sometimes one week is not enough to have a rest or break. V: Yes, you need to adjust and during that week maybe you can plan things ahead. A: Well, planning is also a work, so… V: Okay, two weeks without any organ practice, any thinking about organ… does reading about our conversations and podcasts count? A: I guess! V: So people could still read them, but take two weeks off if they deserve it. Right? A: Sure. Maybe somebody doesn’t need it… doesn’t need to take breaks. V: Excellent. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 520 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. A few weeks ago was quite a difficult trip to Vabalninkas for me to demonstrate pipe organ to bunch of 8th graders and 9th graders. And from that trip the most difficult thing was to get them to play this 19th century organ. They were very shy. Too shy, I should say… So, Ausra, this is my question. Right? How to get young kids to be more excited during such events and willing to try things that maybe are difficult for them, or overcome their fear of other teenagers, their friends. A: You know, the question that I have raised in my head while reading your question was, “why are they so shy?” And I think that the answer might be smartphones. V: You mean they are not accustomed to be active socially with normal people? A: Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. I remember last night we were driving your car and were stuck in a traffic jam, and I noticed there was a bus station nearby, and I could observe those people for a few minutes. There were like maybe 12 people standing and waiting for a bus. All the young ones were holding their smartphones and surfing through them, not paying any attention to the outside world. V: But this is Vilnius! This is the capitol! This is the center of Europe, maybe! A: Well, do you think that kids, let’s say in a province, are much different than kids in Vilnius? I don’t think so! They also have this dependence on modern technologies. V: It might make sense, so, maybe eliminate phones from their lives? Maybe that would be the solution? A: Well, yes, but I think unfortunately it’s impossible to do. It was just a dream. But what I’m thinking, is that probably for the youth, all these demonstrations should, if we want to attract them, they should be probably more technologically based. V: Oh, I see! A: Yeah, and interactive. That’s probably what modern kids would understand better. V: Interactive. You mean that kids should be a part of that lecture/performance/storytelling event right from the beginning, not at the end, right? A: Yes, plus I think you should involve the modern technologies more into your demonstrations. V: What kind of technologies, Ausra? A: Well, at least PowerPoint. V: Ah, visual material. A: Yes! V: But it’s strange… they are already seeing what I am talking about in front of them. It’s not like I’m talking to the blind audience... A: Well, I think because it’s not on the screen, it’s not affecting them. V: But how do you explain the fact that in my other demonstrations, kids were more active, more engaged? A: Well, what about age difference? Were they the same age? V: I’ve done most of my demonstrations for kids—for very little kids—or for adults. For Kindergarten or primary school, elementary school kids. But for teenagers, I’ve done a few, not so much. But I’ve done recently from Vilnius International School. One teacher brought me English speaking kids. So they were very active and willing to play four-hands and even 6-hands at one time. A: Well, let’s face it; it’s a big difference between Lithuanian province teenagers and kids from the International School. Basically, kids in the International School have a very different background. They have much bigger interests in life, and much bigger expectations in life, because I think the kids in our province are basically abused kids in many ways. V: Right. A: And I think that for many of them, the closest friend, the biggest friend is their mobile phone. V: Very interesting. A: That’s my guess. And when you are, for example, giving a performance and demonstration for kindergarten kids, they are still curious about things. They are still not so much affected by all the negative things and technological things, because usually parents strive to avoid their kids using too much technology at very early age. V: So, for example, you, Ausra, if you had an opportunity to go to Vabalninkas before me a few weeks ago, and you knew this would happen ahead of time, very shy kids, perhaps, not so engaged… even then, the question is, “Is there any way that you could engage them with the means that you have at hand?” You will not be able to bring a PowerPoint there, right, probably? A: Sure. But you know, I still don’t know why they didn’t want to try that organ so badly. Maybe their teacher just scared them before the event and told them just to be very quiet and polite. V: Could be! Yeah, the teacher might be one of the reasons, too. We don’t know. A: Were they noisy during your demonstration or were they very quiet? V: No, quiet! Quiet. There were one or two instances when they maybe wanted to engage with themselves a little bit, but not that this would be a disturbance of the demonstration. A: Another thing is that probably that in the teenager years, your social life is organized in some sort of gangs. Yes, it’s like in wolves! V: A wolf pack. A: A wolf pack, yes. They have one leader and everybody follows the rules, and everybody plays their role in this sort of gathering. So maybe that’s the same with those kids. V: I needed to identify the alpha male? A: Yes, maybe the leader just said, “This is all bullshit, don’t do it!” And nobody could do it because maybe they didn’t want that others would laugh at them all alone. That’s my best guess, but maybe I am wrong. I don’t know. V: But why did two people from one group and one person from another group play the organ, then? A: Well, there are all these people who do not fit into those groups. They are basically outsiders—losers, probably others would call them. V: Hmm… Strange. Okay, that makes sense of course. In one group, one boy was encouraged to play by the music teacher, and then she said, “You are very gifted, show off yourself.” And then, he played. But in the first group, two friends played four hands, and not badly at all. They explored the sounds and made some rhythmical arrangements of a popular song they knew. It was interesting. A: So, this case also shows that they sort of lack better musical education! Because those two kids who played the duet, and another kid whose teacher encouraged him to play had some musical training. Extra musical training, compared to the other ones. And maybe they just felt too shy to play anything, because they knew that they couldn’t do it. V: Yeah, lots of things to think about. A: And well, you know, if you are not well educated musically, then you don’t have interest in that thing because you cannot enjoy it. Because, let’s face it. To enjoy music, you still have to have some sort of musical pitch, and at least some kind of musical training. Because the things that you cannot understand and comprehend, they usually don’t attract yourself. V: Or, it has to be very interesting and engaging technologically for that kind of age group. A: Yes. Yes, I think so. Some sort of thing like… I don’t know… the keyboard that plays itself… nowadays, there are things like this. V: I have some hope about the paper organ when it arrives next year in February, and maybe if this project gets funded and Wolfram Kampffmeyer produces this instrument, it’s like a modular kit organ you can assemble your several pipes with a balloon and the balloon blows air, it’s really fun from the video that he produced. So maybe this kind of small, basically game instrument, would be fun to show them in addition to the real thing. A: Yes, that might help. V: To get them more engaged. You know? A: True. V: They would play with their hand on the paper organ, and maybe on the real thing afterwards. A: Yes. V: And break my paper organ! A: That might happen, because a paper organ is so fragile. V: Right. Excellent, guys. Alright, we’ll see in the future how it goes next time. Thanks for your questions… well, that was my question. A: Thank you for this question. V: Excellent. And please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. Do you like helping me grow, Ausra? A: Yes. Very much. V: And remember; when you practice, A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 517 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lee, and Lee commented on the YouTube video of mine where I talk about articulate legato touch in early organ music. I demonstrate how it sounds vs. normal legato. Normal legato is when notes are connected, and articulate legato are where there is some detachment between the notes. Right? So he asks: “"How would "articulate legato" be notated in a score vs. normal legato? Thanks."
A: Well, this question makes me smile a little bit, because articulate legato is supposed to be played for… it’s intended for Baroque music, for early music. So, if you are playing, let’s say, a piece by J. S. Bach, or Dieter Buxtehude, or other early masters, you simply know that everything that is written, and it’s written in a normal score without any articulation marks should be played in articulate legato.
V: Right. But… A: But…. You only play legato whose parts are specifically written in. V: Ah, I see… A: Plus, you need to find a good edition. It means, if you will pick up, for example, an edition made by Marcel Dupré, you can simply just throw it away, because it’s all marked in legato and other articulation marks, but these are not original. These are added later by Marcel Dupré. V: Yeah, and Marcel Dupré legato fingering and pedaling are dated. They are basically not used in historically informed early performance practice style. We don’t, of course, have CD recordings from the Baroque times. A: From the 17th and 18th century! V: Yeah. But remember, Ausra, we do have, for example, several pieces recorded on a mechanical clock from the 18th century—Handel’s Concerto, for example—with multiple virtuosic embellishment. A: Yes. That’s right. Plus, you know, the greatest evidence that we have are surviving instruments. Simply, if you would play legato on the Baroque instrument, it wouldn’t work. V: And we just have to look at other instruments which share the same articulation. Strings, winds… A: Yes, and you know, we have also many treatises from that time survived about playing various instruments, not necessarily the organ, but let me just mention, probably, the few famous ones such as C. P. E. Bach’s “The True Art of Playing Klavier,” then the big book of Joachim Quantz on playing a flute, then Leopold Mozart on playing violin, and basically, if you would read all these books, you would find the sections talking about articulation, and you will see that baroque music was all about articulation. V: And similar to keyboard, string music, like violin music, also had a similar articulation done with bowing. A: Yes, and the bow itself was shorter than it is in a modern violin or other stringed instrument, so obviously, you had to articulate much more. V: Exactly. And you know, when you change the direction of the bow, there is a slight break between those two notes, and that’s what creates this ideal articulation! A: Yes, but for many beginners, when they start to articulate baroque music, they simply start to play it too detached. It sounds just like staccato, and it makes me laugh, because it really sounds like a comedy. V: Artificial! A: Artificial. It’s not like it needs to sound. V: The principle is that you sort of play with one finger but as legato as possible. A: So basically, to master this ordinary touch, it takes time. It takes time, and it takes effort, and it takes to listen carefully to what you are doing. You cannot do it in one night, or in one year, I would say, too, unless you are really sufficient in your practice. V: What about the wind instrument, tonguing? Is it also similar, too? A: Yes, it’s very similar. V: ...to what we do? A: Practically, they had to tongue each single note in most of the cases. V: Unless it’s written “legato.” A: Yes, that’s right. V: or staccato. Then it would be shorter. A: And wind instruments and organ have so much in common, because they both have pipes. So, I guess this also suggests to us that the correct way to play Baroque music is to articulate it. V: So guys, if you want to find out more about articulation of early music, check out those three treatises. We will link them in our description of our conversation—the one with the treatise by C. P. E. Bach about playing keyboard instruments, basically Klavier, as he says, and the next is by Joachim Quantz about playing the flute, and the last one is by Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s father) on playing violin. A: Yes. V: And those three treatises, will give you a great, great introduction, not only to this idea of ordinary touch, or as we call it today, articulate legato, but also to all kinds of performance practice issues including fingering, ornamentation, for example, diminutions—all those details that make your Baroque piece sound like it might have been performed back in the day. A: Yes, and the biggest counter argument that I heard about why we need to do it nowadays, they most simply are the modern instrument and so on and so forth, but even if you play articulate legato on a modern instrument, it still sounds better in this kind of music, at least for my ear. V: Obviously, yes! It’s more difficult to articulate on a modern instrument, because the keys are wider and longer, and the feeling of the keyboard is different. Right? But if you apply this ordinary touch right away, you don’t have to relearn it if you ever have a chance to practice on an historical instrument, or a copy of the historical instrument. A: True, and that’s what I think it is that separates just an ordinary musician from an excellent musician, is that you learn in time. Because, for example, the older generation, for example our professors, Quentin Faulkner and George Ritchie, they had to relearn it, because as young people, they were taught to play legato, and to do only some articulation in Baroque music. But later on, all this big discovery basically based on German organists such as Harold Vogel or Ludger Lohmann became famous throughout the organist world, and some of the older generation didn’t want to accept it. I have met some of them personally, and they would be complaining, “Oh, there are these youth that nowadays play all Bach non-legato, and they call it ordinary touch, and they say that this is the way that Bach played...” V: And this youth was over 50 years old! A: Yes, but that guy who told me that, I think at that time he was more than 80 years old already. He was a pupil of a famous German organist, Karl Straube. V: Yes. A: And Straube was the same in Germany at the time as Marcel Dupré in France, so really a leading figure. And of course, he taught this guy that I knew to play legato, and he trusted him because he was such a renowned organist who worked widely in his days. But life is changing, and new discoveries are made. So our professors, Ritchie and Faulkner simply relearned everything. V: Yeah, and as long as you keep learning, you postpone the aging process, which is really good news. A: And anyway, when you hear one performance and another one and you compare them, then you know right away which is the right one, because your intuition tells you that. And after trying that ordinary touch, you will never go back to playing Bach legato. V: Thank you 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!
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 533, of Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by May. She’s our Total Organist student. And he writes: Hi Vidas, I read from your post that you classify BWV 565 as advanced level. Actually, which part of this piece do you think is the most challenging? I personally find the fast passage towards the end (especially that part to be played by hands only with alternate hands. I find it very difficult to play each note evenly and clearly. Is this the most difficult part of this piece in your mind? What do you suggest I can do to improve my playing of such fast passages? Vidas: Do you like playing Hanon exercises, Bach Inventions and Sinfonias? May: Thanks Vidas! I wish I played more technical exercises before. The fact is, my piano teachers never instructed me to do so in the past (when I was a teenager). My piano at home is now awfully out of tune. I seldom play it ever since I started learning organ. To be honest I would rather spend time on compositions that require pedals. I always choose compositions that require more hands-feet coordination and less manual techniques. This doesn't mean I do not want to improve my manual skills. I just don't want to spend too much time on manual only pieces like Bach's inventions and sinfonias. I have little knowledge of Hanon exercises. How many of exercises does it have and how many shall I work on? I assume I'll have to practice them on the piano... Thanks again, May Vidas: How about Bach's Orgelbuchlein? How many chorales have you mastered from this collection? May: Hi Vidas, With the Orgelbuchlein, here's the list of pieces I have played in the Church and that I am fairly comfortable with. BWV 609, 610, 621, 623, 625, 627(verses 1,2,3), 631, 636 Below is the list that I believe I have mastered. BWV 599, 602, 605, 606, 613, 626, 630, 639. I am quite comfortable with BWV 659 and 645. V: By the way, 659 is Nun komm from Eighteen Great Chorales, the first one, and 645 is "Wachet auf" from Schubler collection. May: I have been playing them in Church during the advent season in the past few years. Any advice from you will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, May Vidas: And I finished my writing to her like this: Thanks May! There are 45 chorale preludes in this collection. It's worth mastering them all. Also the Schubler chorales. Do one per week. In fact, you can record one piece every week for our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest. This would quadruple your results. V: What do you think, Ausra? A: Well, I think that you never give up a chance to advertise your competition on the… V: But it’s our competition. A: Well, it’s more your competition than mine. But anyway when May mentions that she struggles with D minor Toccata by J.S. Bach, I thought that she really needs to exercise on the piano and to do the manual part because those spots that she indicated shows the lack of muscle strength, strength from on her fingers. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because I think that D minor Toccata in general is the piece suited actually for piano performers, because it doesn’t require a lot of pedal technique, but it takes good finger work. V: What about the fugue? A: Well the fugue is already more complex piece. V: Mmm-mmm. Toward the end of the fugue there is this passage or couple of passages with a little more pedal involved. But yes, it’s sometimes difficult to play in a fast tempo reliably those passages in the hands which have echo between the hands, alternating hands. You jump from manual to manual. This is difficult for me too. So, yes, playing exercises like Hanon, wouldn’t hurt for her. But if she wants to play something with pedals, I definitely recommend Bach’s Orgelbuchlein and Schubler Chorales—all of them. A: Well, you know, I love Schubler Chorales, but to be honest, some of the Orgelbuchlein Chorales are boring for me, for example. Of course I’ve played them all but… V: What do you mean, boring? A: Well, they are, most of them are not exactly like concert level pieces. They are well suited for liturgical purposes. V: Mmm-mmm. A: And for in general studying the style of Bach, and baroque figures too. But it’s not the most exciting collection Bach composed. V: But in her situation it would work, wouldn’t it? A: Yes, of course. And she has learned already quite a lot of them. V: But she only had mastered one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight. Eight out of forty-five. A: Do you think it’s crucial to master all of them? V: I think it wouldn’t hurt, yes. A: But I always go back to that question and ask myself ‘why Bach hasn’t finished composing this collection’. V: And, your answer is, what? A: That maybe he got bored with himself. V: Like you are bored with… A: In that collection. Is that possibility? V: He clearly didn’t think it as a priority at the time. He got distracted by more important projects, probably. A: Well… V: But these pieces which were created, right, only a third I think from the planned collection. There should have been much more, many more. Those which are created would serve pedagogical level very well because in every piece pedal is completely obbligato. A: Yes, that’s right. And there are some really, really tricky pieces, like Hilf' Gott, dass mir's gelinge, BWV 624 for example. V: Mmm-mmm. A: He used various polyphonic techniques and it’s quite challenging. Actually I would find some of those chorales actually even more challenging than that spot of D minor Toccata that she describes. V: Definitely! A: So… V: And if she masters all of them once a week, in let’s say, in a year or even less probably, she can come back to D minor Toccata and check how she is doing with that difficult passage. My guess is, it will not be as difficult any more. A: Yeah. Could be. V: Thank you guys, for listening, for applying our tips in your practice. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast 529!
Today's guest is French organist Christophe Mantoux who is Professor of organ at the PSPBB and the Conservatoire régional of Paris and titular organist of Saint-Séverin Church in Paris, Prof. Mantoux studied organ and improvisation with Gaston Litaize and harmony and counterpoint at the National Superior Conservatoire of Paris. In 1984 he won the first prize in Interpretation of the Chartres International Organ Competition, an accomplishment that propelled him into an international career as a concert artist and has led him to more than 25 countries in Europe as well as the USA, Canada, South America, China, South Korea, and Japan. Titular organist of Chartres cathedral between 1986 and 1992, professor of organ at the Strasbourg Conservatory from 1992 to 2011, member of the French National Commission of Historical Monuments (organ section), Ch. Mantoux is regularly invited for masterclasses in International Academy of Haarlem, Groningen, Lübeck, Berlin, Yale University, University of Notre-Dame, and others. He is also invited as a jury member for international competitions in Freiberg, Nuremberg, Groningen, Erfurt/Weimar, Chartres, Miami, Tokyo, etc. He was invited to teach for the Fall semester 2018 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Listen to the conversation Prof. Mantoux is represented by Penny Lorenz Artist Management Watch the videos of Prof. Mantoux performances
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 512 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Alex, and he writes: “Hello Vidas, My dream as a long-time pianist/harpsichordist and new organist is to be an excellent performer of early music and hymnody. The three biggest obstacles: 1) Pedal technique 2) Lack of practice time due to graduate school (in choral conducting) 3) Physical limitations in my neck, back, and arms which keep me from being able to practice more than about 90 minutes per day. Thank you for receiving feedback. I absolutely love all the content on your wonderful website. God’s blessings on your excellent musical endeavors!” So, Ausra, Alex wants to be an excellent performer of early music and hymnody! A: Well, that’s a nice dream. V: But, so far, he lacks pedal technique, A: Which is natural, because he played piano and harpsichord before now, so he’s a new organist, so that’s natural. V: Two, lack of practice time, because he is in school, A: Well, I think we all need more practice time, and we all lack time in general. V: And then, he can’t practice for a longer period of time over 90 minutes. A: Well, since his dream is to become an excellent performer of only early music, I would say that 90 minutes is plenty of time to practice on a regular basis, if you play only organ. But of course, if you have to divide this 90 minutes between all three of these instruments that he has, it’s not enough. V: Piano, harpsichord, and organ. A: Yes. V: Out of these three obstacles, I think pedal technique is the least important. Don’t you think? A: Why do you think so? V: Because, if you keep practicing, you will advance in your pedal technique with time. A: True, if you will practice, which is the most important thing. V: And, the physical limitation in his body prevents him from practicing for a longer period, but as you say, it’s quite enough for early music to practice that much, with breaks, probably, too. A: Yes! And, you know, if you have some sort of physical limitations, it means that you need to find time some how to improve your body’s state. V: Yes. A: And maybe to strengthen your muscles, which, in the long term, would allow you to practice for longer periods of time. V: Why do you think people lack practice time while they are in school? Because being in school is one of the best times in life, I would think. A: Well, I don’t know what his position is, what else he does, if he only studies, or he has a part time job somewhere, or he works on campus, so it’s hard to tell, but yes, I remember my study years, and I haven’t practiced so much now as I had during my studies. V: Me, too, because when you graduate, all kinds of life things get in the way, and not only things, but problems, challenges… you have to think about feeding yourself and your family, perhaps, so you have to find a stream of revenue—preferably several—in order to feel secure, and this occupies a lot of brain space. A lot of thinking goes into this, and a lot of energy. A: So, I guess while being a student is an excellent opportunity to build up good organ technique. You will appreciate it later. V: Yes, whatever you build up right now will become the foundation for you later on. Can you advance after school? A: Yes, you can, but you will need to double your efforts to achieve that. V: Because school is designed to help people stay motivated and keep on track with deadlines and due dates and exams. Basically, all the thinking is done for you—all the curriculum—so you just have to follow the path. It’s not the most realistic path, of course, in life. When you graduate, you become sort of on your own. You no longer have the support of professors and other students. You might have support, but you have to seek it out actively in other ways. A: And the worse thing is that so many people nowadays work in something else, not in the field of expertise. V: Yes. So their profession becomes like a hobby to them. A: I know! Like for example, how my parents hired one man who did some work at their house V: With metal? A: With metal, yes. And he actually graduated...his major is architecture. But he doesn’t do anything like that, because he wasn’t able to find a job according to his profession. I hear many cases like his. V: Right. I think just yesterday, I was in my church in the morning, preparing to record a sample with experiments in organ sound, how two Timpani pipes sound, and how the organ sound is disappearing when you turn off the organ blower while still holding the chord. We were doing this together with one artist from the art academy—it’s part of our collaboration between the university and the art academy—and I asked her, she’s an instructor at the art academy, and I asked her, “What about other students at the academy? Are they building their portfolios while they are still in school, or are they waiting to get their diploma?” What I’m referring to is, of course, if they are putting their work online, where people can find them, therefore their reputation would grow over time if they kept posting and uploading. You know what I mean, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And it appears that this instructor, this artist, says that most of them are waiting! Just maybe 1% of them are doing something with their work, and putting them online, outside of what is required. You know? A: They are waiting for a miracle after studies. I remember when we came back from the United States and wrote to our professors, Quentin Faulkner and George Ritchie, that we only received a position teaching at Čiurlionis National School of Arts in the Music Theory department, that Quentin Faulkner wrote us back that it would be a dream job for most Americans who graduated from the university in Fine and Performing Arts, and at that moment, I thought, “Wow, I have a Doctoral Degree in Organ Performance, and I have to satisfy myself with teaching basically in the arts school, which is not even at the university level, it’s more like at the high school level, a specialized school. But now, after teaching there for 14 years, I understand what he meant. And seeing life around myself and meeting other people who work doing, let’s say, not what they have studied, I feel that I’m really lucky. V: Me, too. Even though I no longer teach at school. Maybe that’s why I’m lucky. Alright guys, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. SOPP528: Martin Sander About Organ Playing, Being Competition Judge And Physical Chemistry11/24/2019
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast episode 528!
Today's guest is a German organist Martin Sander who is an internationally renowned concert soloist and professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music) Detmold as well as at the University of Music in Basel. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Ulrich Bremsteller, organ, and Gerrit Zitterbart, piano and received his "Konzertexamen" degree in 1994. Master classes with Harald Vogel, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Flor Peeters, Daniel Roth and other renowned teachers completed his musical education. After having won one of the highest national awards, the Mendelssohn Prize in Berlin (1986), he succeeded in winning three of the most important international organ competitions:
Other successes were the 2nd Prize at the International Organ Competition "Anton Bruckner" in Linz, Austria (1986) and the 2nd Prize at the First International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo (1988). He has given recitals in many important churches and concert halls (amongst others, Cathedrals in Passau, Munich, Vienna, Helsinki, and Trondheim, Berlin Philharmony and Schauspielhaus, Herkules Hall Munich, Meistersinger Hall Nuremberg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Brucknerhaus Linz, Dvorák Hall Prague, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, Kapella and Philharmony St. Petersburg, Suntory-Hall Tokyo, Izumi-Hall Osaka, Aichi Arts Center Nagoya, Teatro Municipal de São Paulo) and performed at renowned festivals (Bach Festival Stuttgart, Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg, Göttinger Händelfestspiele, Niedersächsische Musiktage, Musikfestspiele Saar, Prague Spring Festival, Wiener Musiksommer, Bach-Tage Odense, Festival Toulouse-les-Orgues, Philadelphia Bach Festival, and others). Read some press reviews here. Among the orchestras he played with as a soloist are the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Händel Festival Orchestra Halle/Saale, Radio-Philharmonie Hannover, Bochumer Symphoniker (all in Germany), Basel Sinfonietta (Switzerland), Szolnók Symphonie (Hungary), Filharmonia Pomorska Bydgosz (Poland), Fukuoka Symphonietta (Japan), Orchestra of the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo (Brazil). Various German and foreign stations recorded many of his concerts and invited him for productions. Especially successful was a TV recording of the organ sonata by Julius Reubke which also appeared on CompactDisc and was awarded the German critics' prize, "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik". His other CompactDiscs span the range from North German baroque music to the 20th century. A number of live recordings are available on YouTube. From 1999 to 2012, he worked as a professor of organ at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik (College of Church Music) in Heidelberg. Since 2011, he is professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music) in Detmold. Additionally, from 2008 on, he is teaching at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music) in Basel (as the successor of Guy Bovet). He conducted numerous master classes, amongst others in Prague (State Academie of Musical Arts AMU), Warsaw (Academy of Music "F. Chopin"), St. Petersburg, Kazan, Seoul (Yonsei University), São Paulo, and at historical organs of different times in Salzgitter-Ringelheim (Schweimb and John 1696/1707), Grauhof near Goslar (Chr. Treutmann d.Ä. 1734-1737), Verden/Aller (Furtwängler&Hammer 1916), and Heidelberg (Voit&Söhne 1903). Martin Sander is regularly invited as a member of the jury of international organ competitions, such as the Prague Spring, „M.K. Čiurlionis“ Vilnius, the J.S. Bach Competition Wiesbaden, the Buxtehude Competition Lübeck, the Helmut Bornefeld Competition Heidenheim, the competitions in Rome, Kazan, and Heidelberg (Ph. Wolfrum). His main interests and repertoire priorities center around:
In this episode Prof, Sander shares his insights about organ playing, being competition judge and physical chemistry. Listen to the conversation Relevant link: http://www.martinsander.de |
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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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