Welcome to episode 508 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Today's guest is an American organist, carillonneur, improviser and composer Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra from Ann Arbor, MI. She was a guest on the podcast several times before and in episode 3 she talked about improvisation in the Bach style. In episode 15 she was back on the show and shared her perspectives about creativity and musing with children, and in episode 120 she talked about her Bach style improvisation treatise. Most recently I met her a year ago in Poland, at the Paslek International Organ Music Festival where she performed a splendid recital on the 1719 Hildebrandt organ and gave a lecture about Bach and improvisation for listeners who came to the event. It was amazing for me to reconnect with her, and this event was a pinnacle of the fall of 2018 for me. Today she will be sharing her insights about improvisation as the key of playing any instrument, carillon playing and composing as well as lifting up marginalized voices by music. Listen to the conversation You can listen bellow to carillon audio recording of her composition "Our Time: Me Too" and a video of her playing the Yale carillon with my Belonging: A Carillon Call to Care for All. Find out more about Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra and her work by visiting her website at https://www.pamelaruiterfeenstra.com
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Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 506 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brendan. And he donated us £10 and we were so surprised when we received his Paypal donation. And I wrote a thank you message to him, and then asked him about his organ playing, too. So he writes, Hi Vidas, Just thought I'd be able to buy you a coffee! You guys put in so much work! My playing is improving - which is good news - but slowly. While I was working regularly, it was hard to practice as I worked away from home. Now that I'm approaching retirement I've space to practice daily. I'm going back through your sight reading material - which is very useful. I've even been able to cover in church services while our regular organist took a couple of short breaks. Might not seem much - but a huge milestone for me! Enjoy the coffee. Best wishes to you both. ~Brendan A: Very nice. We are very grateful. So now, we can go and get some coffee. V: And then work in the garden. A: True. V: Wonderful. You know what fascinated me the most, that he was able to substitute regular church organist for a couple of times. A: It means he is doing progress! V: Yes. It means that he is not panicking when mistakes occur, he can keep going. Not to freeze, doesn’t freeze. A: And it’s nice, because if you can substitute for somebody it means that in time you can take a regular position as a church organist. V: Yeah, for example part time position. Even when you are retired. I know many people do that, and it’s a good supplement. A: True. It goes both ways. You can learn some, you can earn some additional income which is always nice, and you can also have some things to do, which slows down you getting old. V: Yeah, you postpone your aging process by having more interest in the world, and more specifically, in organ music. And this external motivation when you have to show up on the organ bench at church every week or even less often gives you boost in productivity and practice efficiency, because you know many people depend on you. A: Plus, being able to play organ shows that you are also keeping some sort of physical health, because you cannot be completely cripple and still play organ. You still need to sit down on the organ bench, and play pedal, and use both your hands and feet together. V: Yeah, it’s a total body and mind coordination. Good. Do you think, Ausra, it’s a challenge at this age, when he’s approaching retirement, to do this? Because, when he had to work, and he didn’t have time to practice, it was one thing, but now when he has more time to practice, maybe he has even other interests, maybe his other hobbies might take more time than organ playing. A: That’s true. But usually it’s the case that the more you do, the more you can do, and when you do just very few things then you might stop doing anything at all. Because usually busy people do enormous amounts of various things. Don’t you think so? V: Yeah, but they lack sleep. A: I know. But sometimes, when you are thinking, “Oh, I have a free day - I will do this and this and this and that” and finally the day comes, and you do nothing. Have you experienced it? V: Not recently, because I’m always running around like a squirrel with all those activities that I have to do. For some people, my activities might seem very unworthy of attention, right? A: That’s what I thought when you said it. V: (laughs) And that’s why I replied before you commented. I know how you think. A: I know, yes! V: We know each other too well. A: That’s right. V: So anyway, thank you so much, Brendan, for sending us some coffee money, and we really appreciate your support. You’re very generous. And to other people who are supporting us, we really are very grateful 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 505, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Diana. And she writes: I’ve been struggling with fingering the most this week. I didn't have piano lessons, so I don't know when I can cross fingers, how to change positions. V: Do you know Diana, Ausra, from our organ studio? A: Yes, of course I know her. V: Unda Maris. A: Yes. V: And she is very active on Steam, submitting her videos to our Secrets Of Organ Playing Contest, and actually she also everyday shares her organ playing experiences. Basically she is starting to adopt this sharing mentality. And she only started playing the organ last year. But she has some experience with playing violin, but no piano lessons. How can [a] person like this learn fingering? A: Well I would suggest that she would play organ compositions from finger score. That way she could save time and be learning from right fingering. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because it might be too hard for her to do her own fingering yet. Basically when you practice piano, the best notion of right fingering gives to playing scales, chords and arpeggios. V: And I suggested [to] her to basically look at the examples from more experienced organists. So I assigned her to the fingering and pedaling team so that she could transcribe fingering and pedaling for us while looking at my videos recorded above the keyboards. My hands are visible, sometimes even feet, and she can study my own fingering while I’m playing, and transcribe, and get access to Total Organist this way. A: I think that’s a good way of learning, too, when you see master player playing. V: Mmm-hmm. She has already produced, I think, two or three short trios by Lemmens, fingering and pedaling from these videos. And I hope this will be useful to her. A: Excellent. V: So, guys, if you are struggling like Diana with fingering and you don’t have an experience with piano playing scales, arpeggios and chords, you need to study how more experienced organists do, from up close. Obviously you can find some videos on Youtube where other organists are performing and recording from above so that hands are clearly visible. But they are not necessarily practicing. They might play fast, and I strategically sight-read course very slowly so that people can learn. A: Excellent. But I think that she still needs to play skills on the piano because she talks that she doesn’t know when to cross fingers. V: Uh-huh. A: And I think skills really teach you how to do it. Especially when you have to put your thumb under. V: Yeah, it’s just a simple system but you need to learn it. Once you learn it you can apply it to many, many organ pieces. A: That’s right. 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 495 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Andrés, and I asked him how his organ playing is going these days, and he writes: “Well... unfortunately the organ music is almost dead here in Costa Rica, learning organ playing here is almost impossible. Fortunately I have access to a pipe organ and I give the maintenance but I don't have a teacher who can guide me in organ playing." V: So, Ausra, I think this feedback applies to a lot of people around the world who live in countries where there is not much interest in organ music. A: True! And in general, some how, when I read the name Costa Rica, other things came into my mind. Maybe I’ll tell this funny story, V: Sure A: Because my school of art is desperate for all kinds of foreign relations, and one of the piano teachers has an old Russian friend in Costa Rica who teaches piano there. So she made all this big international relationship with Costa Rica, established it, and she’s so pompous and so proud about it, but it makes me sort of smile all the time, because I don’t think Costa Rica has an old classical music tradition. So, maybe if you would establish relationships with such a country such as an Austria, or Germany, or France, maybe that way you could be so proud and pompous about it. V: Yeah A: Of course, for money, you can get good teachers there as well, but still, I don’t think it’s a country that dictates a fashion of classical music, and of organ music, too. V: Plus it’s a personal relationship. A: Yes, it is. V: Person to person. Exactly. I was thinking about this when Andrés writes that he has a pipe organ. This is a privilege, right? A: Yes, it is, and I think that he is lucky to be living nowadays when there is this great Internet connection with the global world. So, I don’t think it’s a problem getting information nowadays, and studying online. V: He has access to a pipe organ. It’s not the same as owning a pipe organ, of course, but still, if he can use it, it’s very convenient. A: Yes, it is actually! V: And, he mentions pipe organ, not electronic organ, so, it’s a double privilege in my mind. A: True. V: And, as you say, Internet can be a great help. Information is abundant today, and with our Website, with our courses and training programs that we offer through the Total Organist, for example, it’s really possible to advance in your organ playing using nothing else; only online material. A: Yes, and of course, you have other advantages in Costa Rica. I think the country in itself must be very beautiful. V: And it’s relatively well developed! A: Yes, because our principal and some other ….. of the staff from administration went to Costa Rica, pretending also on these deep scientific relations. V: Part of the project. A: Yes, part of the project. So… V: And probably, they had a good time. A: I guess so, yes! Enjoying the nice nature of Costa Rica, the friendly people… V: Yeah, all of us should go there if it’s so nice. A: Yes, maybe you could give some master classes on that pipe organ. V: Yes. A: that Andrés is mentioning. V: Well guys, I think you get the point, that today, of the Internet age, sometimes we even have 5G Internet in some countries already, but in other countries, 5G will come quite soon. So, if you have a lesser quality Internet, not as fast, it’s still fast—much faster than it was in the 19th century, for example. A: True. V: You guys can laugh, but if we think about it, we all have, even the poorest people today, have more resources than the king of France had back in the 18th century. A: I think you are right, actually! V: King of France! Yes. So, if you are reading this or listening to this podcast, you have more resources than the King of France back in the day. A: Yes! I think the trouble is that sometimes people don’t know what to do with these technologies, and they just use them for nonsensical things. V: Yes, cat videos! A: Well… Sometimes maybe you… V: We need them, too… we need to smile sometimes, and laugh. Alright guys, 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 503, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Maureen. And she writes: Vidas and Ausra, My three dreams are these. I would love to be able to play Widor’s Toccata, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D minor and to be a very good organ player for Mass including the Mass music and hymns. Thank you, Maureen V: What’s the deal with Widor’s Toccata? Why people want to play Widor’s Toccata? A: I guess this is probably the most known organ piece besides Bach’s D Minor Toccata and Fugue. V: But she doesn’t want play Bach’s Toccata in D Minor. She wants to play Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D Minor. Which one? A: I don’t know. I guess she might mean Toccata... V: Toccata, right? A: and Fugue in D minor. Because there is really not such a famous D Minor Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach as his Toccata. V: Mmm-mmm. A: I guess what that might mean maybe people who like these two pieces, it’s okay. It’s sort of common way. V: Imagine what would happen—she will learn to play Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s D Minor Toccata, and become a very good player for Mass including music for Mass and hymns, right? She can play the hymns and everything else that is required for Mass, plus Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s D Minor Prelude and Fugue. So imagine she will play Bach’s D Minor Prelude and Fugue for the beginning and then Widor’s Toccata at the end. And then hymns and other Mass music in the middle. How would that sound? A: Well, after a few Sundays of these I think… V: Right! A: people will get tired. Because even the best piece doesn’t have to be played all the time, over and over again. V: Yeah. I think there is such a variety of organ music, vast variety that people don’t even, not only know about but don’t even, are not aware of them, right? You cannot know if you like those pieces because you even don’t know they exists. A: True, that’s true. And while talking about Widor’s Toccata, well, if you would listen other great French masters, and their toccata’s, such masters and Duruflé, Vierne, well, then might this Widor’s Toccata wouldn’t seem to nice to you. Because, honestly, what I think about for me, it sounds quite primitive. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And the same over and over again. V: True. It’s the most popular organ toccata, obviously, besides D Minor Toccata by Bach, but not the most artistically interesting, I would say. A: True. V: Mulet Carillon Sortie is much more interesting to me. As you say Dureflé’s Toccata is such a fantastic piece. But all of them require at least intermediate organ skills. A: True, and you should know really one thing—when you are picking up and playing the piece that the whole world knows by heart, such as Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s Toccata, you need to be brilliant in it. Otherwise it will be just a filler. V: Yeah, it will be a joke. A: True. Because in our school we have all these, such concerts, its traditional concerts. It takes place each year before Christmas break. It’s called Viva La Musica. And we have big competition because everybody wants to participate in it, and what teachers do, they select very well-known pieces for various instruments. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And I stopped going to that concert because then you are picking up really popular repertoire that everybody knows. You need to do it on the highest level. V: Yeah. I just remember this summer, I think, was one concert at the cathedral where one organist played something really recognizable to general audience, and there were two tourists from Russia. And Russian tourists are generally musically quite… A: Advanced, you mean, yes? V: Yes, advanced, and they have… A: Knowledgable. V: Yes, knowledgable, and they have good taste in music because of Russian music education obviously. A: And organ recitals are very popular in Russia because we don’t have organs in churches, obviously… V: Yes. A: because of the Orthodox of traditions. So they know that this concert repertoire. V: So this organist played the D Minor Toccata, and… A: And she was really sloppy. V: and very, very sloppy. Was it a lady or a man, do you remember? A: A lady. V: Lady. Okay. So then those two tourists left in the middle of the recital. A: True. V: Right? I’m not saying Maureen will play those pieces at the recital, perhaps not yet at least, but if you ever want to play them in church, then consider raising your skill level at least to the intermediate level. Basically before playing Widor’s Toccata, you need to be able to play in public, at the good level, easier toccata’s, like Gigout Toccata, Dubois Toccata, Boellmann’s Toccata. A: That’s right, yes. V: And before playing Bach’s D Minor Toccata and Fugue, consider playing in public at the good level, easier Bach’s free works, easier preludes and fugues. Maybe not even Bach’s, but maybe Eight Little Preludes and Fugues, and progressing through a little bit longer preludes and fugues, 533, 535, maybe Fugue in G minor 578, something like that. And then you might be ready for BWV 565, D Minor Toccata and Fugue. Right? But since Maureen has a dream besides those two big pieces to become a good, very good organ playing for Mass and play hymns, it means that she’s not there yet, right? So she needs to focus first on the hymns and easier organ music which could be played during Mass, as preludes, postludes, offertories and communions. A: True. And by expanding that easier repertoire, she can start to practice some harder organ works. And another thing that struck me, always strikes when people mention Bach’s Toccata in D Minor—it’s so funny because it’s possible that it’s not a Bach’s piece. V: Yes, it is possible. A: Because it’s so bizarre… V: It might be… A: comparing to his other pieces, other toccatas. V: It might be his youthful work, right? His student time work when he was maybe 16 years old. What kind of masterpiece is this? A: I know, so even while comparing Bach with his other works, I don’t think D Minor Toccata is the greatest piece, that… V: Yeah. A: J.S. Bach has written. V: It was made popular from 1940’s, Walt Disney Fantasia, when it was arranged for the organ and performed as a soundtrack of the movie. Hollywood made it famous, so it’s not Bach’s masterpiece that, not Bach’s genius that made it famous. A: I know because when you are thinking about pieces like E Minor Prelude and Fugue which, or Eb Major Prelude and Fugue from Clavierubung Part 3 and other great works, I think it’s, you cannot even compare those. They are so different. V: And Bach would have thought of this piece as a masterpiece. He would surely have... A: Published it. V: preserved and published for future generations, like Clavierubung. And we have Eb Major Prelude and Fugue from this collection. So. And the last thing that is missing from Maureen’s answer to me, I usually ask people about their dream in organ playing and challenges that they have to overcome in order to reach their dream. And she didn’t write anything about the challenges. A: True. V: And that’s what is the most important thing. We might talk for hours, right, about what she needs to do, but we don’t know anything about her. A: Mmm-hmm. V: What’s stopping her? Why she cannot play hymns now? So, guys, please be more—I wouldn’t say more specific, but be more honest, right? And tell us everything that you want to, that you want to say. Tell us everything that you wouldn’t say to anybody else, because we might know your situation then better and be able to recommend some things for you. Otherwise it’s just theoretical talking which may or may not help. Okay. 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: So I'm here with Auke Jongbloed, an organist from the Netherlands, talking over the internet. I'm in my church and Auke is my friend from the Steem platform. We got to know each other from his participation in our weekly Secrets of Organ Playing Contest. And I was so surprised and delighted to hear North German and a little bit of Dutch oriented organ music on Steem, 17th century, even older probably. And he has a business of transcribing old manuscripts into modern notation which is called Partitura Organum. So thank you so much and welcome to the show!
Listen to entire conversation To find out more about Auke Jongbloed and his work, please visit: Partitura Organum Auke's profile on Steem Auke's channel on Contrebombarde Auke's channel on YouTube
Vidas: So, I'm here at St John's church in Vilnius with Jonathan Embry, organist from the US who recently graduated from McGill University in Canada. He had an interesting adventure in the Baltics. I remember going to his recital at Vilnius Cathedral at the end of August but afterwards he went to other places to play in Lithuania and then he went to Russia, to Kaliningrad and then came back. So today is Monday, September 2, 2019 and we're starting our conversation. This is Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 491 and I'm really delighted that we can meet face to face so I'm going to just congratulate you on this wonderful occasion. Thank you so much and welcome to the show!
Listen to the entire conversation
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 500, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. A: Wow! We made it—500! Can you believe it? V: Yeah, we can stop now. A: No! Now we have to reach 1000. V: Do you believe we can reach it? A: I don’t know. When we just started it I thought, ‘oh, maybe we will do fifty of them or maybe one-hundred. But we reached 500 so… V: Our horizon is always moving further away. A: True. And because of all your wonderful questions. V: Yes. In this episode today, we wanted to give a little bit of overview of what we’ve been talking about over those few years. Obviously, in our website, you will find all of them and also on our Soundcloud channel as well. But to make a long story short, I started those podcasts as interviews with organ experts and organ builders and organists from around the world, maybe three years ago, I believe. But then, started another podcast called AskVidasAndAusra. Remember, Ausra? A: Yes, I remember. I think you started your interview podcast earlier than three years ago. V: Earlier, right? A: Probably. V: I will just quickly check when was the first episode published on Soundcloud. Yeah very easy to check—number one was four years ago. A: I told you it was more than three years. V: With Gene Bedient on historically inspired organ building. And then number two was George Ritchie on playing Bach’s organ music. And number three was Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra on improvisation in the Bach’s style. And number four was Jan Karman about writing organ fugues on the melodies of the Geneval Psalter. Number five was Mary Murrell and Quentin Falkner on Bach’s organ world. So basically those first maybe ten people that were from our early circle with the exception of perhaps of Hans-Ola Ericsson who visited the Vilnius and gave a masters class and played a recital here. And it was really exciting. Before we started, or I started those podcast interviews, it was always a thought in my mind, ‘will I have enough people to talk about from around the world’, because some organists are difficult to reach. You write a message to them and some reply and some don’t. And since we’re now at 500 apparently, we haven’t stopped. A: Well, but remember that now we talk with each a lot... V: Yeah. A: answering questions. V: For a while I had two podcasts in parallel of each other—one was Secrets of Organ Playing podcasts with experts and organists and guests, and the other was our talks with Ausra answering your questions. And we basically called it AskVidasandAusra, remember perhaps. But then, for a while, I stopped interviewing people from other countries and only we talked… A: With each other. V: with each other. A: So why have you stopped them? Was it too hard for you or too time consuming or too stressful? V: It was not stressful obviously but time consuming, chasing those experts and following them up and looking for good material to talk about, editing, doing research about them and it seemed like it was a lot on my plate to do two podcasts together. A: But now you have renewed doing it. V: Yeah. Starting from this summer I think… A: Yeah. V: A few months ago I renewed. And the reason was that because I no longer work at school. I have much more free time and can interview guests much more easily this way. A: So, what do you remember most out of those four years? V: Each and every one was really unique, those guests you mean, right? A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. Those guests probably, not all of them on the same level. Sometimes we interviewed our students, sometimes colleagues, sometimes really experts which are hard to reach. Like for example, at number forty-three, yeah, Guy Bovet on the future of organ art. We talked on the phone with him because he couldn’t connect his video camera. And it still worked, you know, it was wonderful. But I was really afraid to talk with such a master, right? And then sometimes people who knew previously, like Sarah Schott from our Grace Lutheran church. She talked about working with bell choirs and Alain Truche who was our colleague at Lincoln, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is living now in Asia. And there were many other people who I really enjoyed talking to. Some people visited Vilnius with recitals like Charles Spanner, for example, and he shared his own experience with trying out different organs. I remember four years ago, was exactly the time when the last international organist competition of Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis happened in Vilnius, so I interviewed two jury members - Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin from Paris, and also Michael Bauer from University of Kansas. We were sitting in the hotel lobby. It was really interesting to talk to them but also at the same time to hear the background noises of the kitchen. There were other guests and other very interesting organists, like Peter Sykes and Gavin Black, and Nico Declerck who has organ radio project now called Organ Roxx. And we talked with James D. Hicks who visited Vilnius with his Nordic Journey project. He actually even climbed the bell tower of St. John’s church. It was really a fabulous experience. I even interviewed one organist who is also a pianist on a cruise ship. So it was really interesting to hear his different perspective. Carson Cooman obviously organists in residence from the Harvard University—very prolific composer of new organ music. Lydia Vroegindeveij and Erin Scheessele about OrgelKids, you know this little project that you can educate young people how the organ is constructed by building the organ in front of them and deconstructing and reconstructing them. They have organ positiv design for that too. A: So this is amazing how many people you have interviewed… V: Mmm-hmm. A: and what sorts of variety you find on your podcasts. V: Jean-Paul Imbert for example on lessons from the great masters. We just recently met him in Vilnius… A: True. This summer. V: but because of this podcast he invited us to perform at... A: Alpe d'Huez. V: Exactly. In the French Alps. You know, all kinds of doors started opening to us. Tore Bjorn-Larsen for example was an example on podcast number seventy-nine. And he is a composer in Denmark in Svendborg. And afterwards he also invited us to play in his church—St. Nicolai church, which we played just a few... A: Last summer yes. V: Yeah. A: This summer. V: A few months ago. A: Wasn’t a few months. It was July 31st and now it’s September, so it’s not a few months. V: One and a half months. A: Yes. V: Excellent! Interesting, for example, I interviewed sometimes people who were not organists, actually, but from different professions. But they had some sort of connection with the organ world, through restoration, for example. This was with Robin Gullbrandsson who visited Casparini organ in Vilnius here and we talked about that. And then what, two years ago, we started this AskVidasandAusra podcast. And the first episode was about how to keep a steady tempo when you play the organ. Remember Ausra, why we started talking about that? About talking with each other, in addition to interviewing the guests? A: I think because this is one of the major problems that many organists encounter. V: Mmm-hmm. We wanted to help you grow and to answer your questions on the podcast. Yeah. So those episodes were also numerous, and we sometimes kept going in parallel with Secrets of Organ Playing interviews. But then as I said earlier, I found it too difficult to continue and only started talking with Ausra. But now we merged two podcasts into one and only have Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast, and today, is episode number 500. A: Amazing! V: Yes. We hope you guys find value out of our conversations and continue asking questions, giving feedback, because I recently started doing those interviews with guests, so I hope you will find those interviews also useful. Please let us know and please let our guests know and feel appreciated because it’s really important for them to know if their interview has resonated or not with the audience from around the world, from eighty-nine countries. It’s amazing. A: Do you know what I remember the most? V: No, Ausra. A: One organist by name of Ugochukwu. V: Ugochukwu. A: There was a time when he just kept sending us a questions and we kept answering them. But then he was disappointed because he could not get answers right away. And he stopped actually, I think, following us. V: Uh-huh. A: But it’s so funny because it’s such a remarkable name, Ugochukwu. And I wasn’t sure if I’m pronouncing it right. V: He’s African, I think. A: So after even when he stopped asking us questions I would still remember his name. And each time when Vidas would tell me that this question was sent by somebody, I would, in my mind I would keep telling myself, by Ugochukwu. V: (Laughs). And sometimes we really had funny situations while talking with Ausra. A recording beginning of podcasts were especially funny sometimes, and tricky, when I announce this is the opening episode of number, let’s say, three hundred or two hundred and something, and then I have to announce the question. And sometimes by reading this question I get stuck and you have to do it again and again and again. I remember one episode we started laughing hysterically, right Ausra? A: Yes. I guess we were just so tired, and, yeah. V: I even saved this podcast which was as a hysterical laugh, so maybe when the time comes, we can laugh together again. A: Let’s hope so. V: Yeah. Listening together. A: And of course there were questions like sent by Michael, where he asked a lot of things and suggested various topics for our podcast. And we haven’t answered him yet, but maybe someday we will come back to that question and… V: Yeah. A: we’ll explore more. V: It was like a list of ten or fifteen questions like… A: True. V: like a true master class, one week long. A: That’s right. V: It’s not for ten minute conversation obviously. So thank you guys. Please continue sending us your questions. We love helping you grow. And it’s really amazing to be on this journey and we hope to reach 1000. A: Let’s do it. V: This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 492 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth, who is our Total Organist student. She wrote: “I wonder what are the best ways for teaching new hymns. I am also the pastor. So, I have had some choice in the hymns. I wonder, though, how others teach new hymns. And, which ones have been loved by your congregations? Have some choices been a surprise?” I guess it would be wonderful for our community to jump in and leave some feedback about hymns; how they teach new hymns, and what the communities/congregations love the most. A: I think this is, in general, a very important question, and I think it touches many church musicians, because it’s a number one issue, about how to choose hymns, how to sing hymns, how to teach new hymns. V: I had an experience in teaching new hymns at our St. John’s Church, but a long time ago, when we were both regular organists. You would play the organ… A. True. And you would conduct the congregation from downstairs. V: It’s a two person work, then, like a teamwork. A: But, if you know you don’t have such a large church building as ours and as St. Johns’, and maybe you have some sort of keyboard downstairs. You could use it. I think that would be an idea. Maybe your organ is upstairs, but maybe your piano is downstairs. V: Yes. And the piano, maybe, is in the visible place where people could see you. Some places you could even move the piano closer to the center during the rehearsal. I just had this podcast conversation with Andreas Spahn, organist from Germany. He is a church musician. But, as I understood, he has these organ or choir rehearsals with the congregation, but they’re not long. They are just three or five minutes long, before the service starts. I thought, “Why is he doing them so short? Why not 15 minutes, like we would do.” It appears that people are gathering at the church at the last moment, and there are not many people 15 minutes before the service. A: Sure, time is money, so… everybody is counting. V: Everybody is making money on Sunday morning. A: Well… V: Yeah… well, hopefully, this approach is really applicable for a lot of situations. Not only for new hymns, but maybe old hymns that have been forgotten and need to be resurrected. How would you, Ausra, conduct this rehearsal, if you had to choose. A: Well, I would just go through each line. V: How many hymns? A: Well, I think for such a rehearsal you may do only one thing. So, basically, if you are leading a service, I wouldn’t choose all new hymns. You can only introduce one new hymn per service. V: Why not two? A: It might be too difficult—too much new information. V: You’re right. Does it matter where this new hymn comes in the service? In the beginning? Middle? End? A: I don’t think it’s so important. But, of course, if you just rehearse before the rehearsal, then it really would be an opening hymn, right from the rehearsal to performance. V: Is it okay if I did a rehearsal when I first sang the first verse, and then asked them to repeat phrase by phrase, line by line? A: Yes, I think it’s nice. It should work. But, I think it’s also important that you would sing all verses that you are intending to sing during the service, because for me, the biggest problem is to do the second, the third and the other verses. Because usually, what you have in some hymnals, at least in Lithuania, is that you have the first verse written underneath the score, and it’s very convenient, because you see the music and the words together. But other verses, they are written below the page after the score is finished. So, it’s not so comfortable to do it, because you have to still look at the music, especially if you are accompanying yourself, and then to be able to follow the words. V: You’re right. I think in Western hymnals, they have three or four verses written under the notes. A: But still, it’s not as comfortable to see them, to follow them as the first verse. V: Yeah. That’s right. So, basically, go through each verse, and then this melody will sing by itself, probably, into their memory. A: True! Plus, I think a lot of success also depends on the meter of the hymn. If it has a regular meter, strong beats in every measure, then it makes life easier. But if you choose something based on Gregorian chant, or sort of modal, also based on modes, that might not be as easy to sing for a congregation, because I think rhythm is crucial for congregational singing. So I would suggest maybe just to avoid such hymns. V: I think this might work, too. A: You also need to include your choir into your rehearsals. That might be a big help for you and for your congregation. And I remember that what else you could do, of course, the choir might show an example of that unfamiliar hymn for a congregation, but later on during the service, you might spread your choir throughout your congregation. Let’s say you have 20 choir members, and you have a hundred rows in the church. You might divide your choir members between those rows, that you might help your congregation to sing better. I think this might work, too. V: This is really a clever idea, and it has been done before, and usually the congregation feels more confident when there are people around them singing with confidence. A: So you might try that, as well. V: Do choir members have to be dressed like civilians or in robes? A: I don’t think it’s important. It’s up to the tradition, so… V: Concealed! They have to conceal themselves. A: Not necessarily, I think. V: If they are members of the congregation, people will recognize them, anyway. A: But anyway, I think it’s a wise solution to listen to the service from downstairs, even for an organist or music director, because that way, you might notice and listen to members of your congregation who sing very well, and that might be a possibility to choose new members of the choir. So, anyway… V: Good idea. Ok guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: I'm here with Andreas Spahn from Germany whom I met last Thursday at Vilnius Cathedral during the recital of Lithuanian organist Balys Vaitkus, but before that Andreas contacted be via email asking about the opportunity to hear me play because his son is going to start studying at Vilnius University Medicine Department. So I mentioned him that recital at Vilnius Cathedral and he came - it was a big surprise to me last Thursday. I'm really glad that we're meeting here at Vilnius University St John's church. This is Monday, September 2 and today we have a big celebration at the opening of the academic year at the university and we're going to talk now in depth about what Andreas is doing, what is he practicing, what is he working on at church and things like that. So thank you so much Andreas and welcome to the show!
Andreas: Thank you Vidas! It's a really big pleasure for me to be on your podcast. V: Andreas before we started this conversation tried out this instrument for a while playing some of popular organ music, modern creative organ music and it sounded sometimes like music from the movies to my ears and it seems like Andreas' congregation is enjoying this music. So Andreas, can you introduce your congregation to us , what you do there, and what's your current environment? A: OK! You know my name - Andreas Spahn and I've been playing the organ for 35 years, the church organ. I started my organ training first on an electronic organ, I think I was 10 years old and it only had a short pedal - one and a half octave. I was too small to play those pedals. I learned for 4-5 years electronic organ and then I changed to the church organ. After some years I took the C level exam. It's a level for lay persons. I've been training on the service and playing during Mass and at the time I've been studying liturgical singing, choir conducting, singing in the choir, hymnology, organ building, music theory and ear training. It was 3 year training. V: And now you can play in church, right? A: I've been playing in church for 35 years. In Catholic and Protestant churches. V: In which town? A: In a small town near Stuttgart, in Leutenbach. It's about 20 kilometers away from Stuttgart in Germany. And in Birkmannsweiler. I've been playing 3 small but very interesting organs. V: It's very interesting to hear you play and you mentioned that your Lutheran congregation stays after the service and listens to your playing while Catholic congregation just walks out after 30 seconds. Do you think it depends on their music education level or mentality or what is causing this difference? Listen to the entire conversation Here is more information about Andreas Spahn and organ-related activities in Leutenbach and Birkmannsweiler: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011248180510 https://www.facebook.com/FvKKLeutenbach/ https://www.kirche-leutenbach.de/foerderverein-fuer-kultur-und-kirche-leutenbach/ https://www.ev-kirchengemeinde-birkmannsweiler-hoefen-baach.de/fileadmin/mediapool/gemeinden/KG_birkmannsweiler/Rueckblicke/Rueckblicke_-_Teil_2/Orgeleinweihung_BMW/Festschrift_Orgeleinweihung-9MB.pdf https://www.kirche-leutenbach.de/fileadmin/mediapool/gemeinden/KG_leutenbach/Plakate/120412_text11.04.pdf |
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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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