Yesterday I forgot to add a link to Sweelinck's More Palatino variations. Some of my readers may have missed it.
Check it out here Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 175 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Howard. He writes: “I’m working on #8 of Bach’s Eight Little Preludes and Fugues. In my organ practice I find that measures 5 and 6 are a challenge to do smoothly. I'm sure fingering is an issue. In the fugue the "rocking" motion of the fifths and sixths can be a challenge to do well.” Ausra, this is a fascinating prelude and fugue, right? The last of the series. A: Yes. It’s the most fun to play! V: And the entire collection of Eight Little Preludes and Fugues can help organists to boost their technique and skill level quite fast. A: That’s right. V: And they’re artistically very pleasing. A: That’s true. V: Which one is your favorite, by the way? A: Well...each is different, and actually, I love them all! Right now, I would say probably F Major. V: Right now I’m thinking about B♭ Major. This one, which Howard is studying, too. A: Okay. Yes, it’s very exciting, especially that pedal solo. V: Yeah, after the manual entrance. So, Howard is struggling with measures 5 and 6. These are basically passages downward and upward: at first a scale downward, where hands interchange R, L, R, L, with 4 notes in each hand. And then arpeggio upwards, between the hands, on a G Major chord. Do you think that you need to do some special fingering here, downward? A: Well, that fifth measure, I think it’s very simple. V: Yeah. A: I would play it in my RH, 5-4-3-2, and then with the LH, 1-2-3-4; and then again with RH, 5-4-3-2, and then again with L, 1-2-3-4. V: Why 5-4-3-2, and not 4-3-2-1? A: Well, I think it’s simpler. Well, you could do it both ways, but… V: I see. Of course, if you use 4-3-2-1, then you can connect easier with the previous measure’s F in the RH, remember? A: That’s true; maybe then start with 4-3-2-1. But what I mean is that you have to keep your fingering consistent. V: Mhm. A: So if you decide to play 4-3-2-1, and then 1-2-3-4, so just do it, and don’t experiment. V: Do you recommend making articulation between each note here, or slurring every 4 notes? A: Well, you would still have to do some articulation. V: Mhm. A: What about you? V: Agreed. Me too. A: Yes, I would articulate each note. And I would say probably m. 6, the next measure, is probably a little bit more complicated. V: It’s because this arpeggio doesn’t seem so visually easy to understand what is going on in terms of poles. A: Yes, because it’s divided between hands. And like in the previous measure, we had sections of 4 notes, groups of 4 notes, so here we have sort of groups of 3 notes. V: Yeah. A: And that’s a bizarre-looking thing in common meter. V: Exactly. So in order for the grouping to be consistent with the meter, the composer writes 3 notes in the LH, and then detached the note in the RH, and then 2 notes which are tied together; right? And then again, 2-1-3-3-1...It’s complicated even to understand. I think Howard would benefit from marking the subdivisions of the beat with a pencil. A: Yes, that’s true, because actually here you play 3 notes with your LH, then 3 with R, then again 3 with L, 3 with R, then 3 with L, and one with R. V: Mhm. A: And then go to the next measure. But I think you really need to know where the middle of the measure is; because right in that middle section, you have to make an accent again. Thinking about strong and weak in common meter. V: Exactly. We were talking about articulating between each and every note; but what Ausra means is that before the stronger beats, 1 and 3 here, you have to make an even larger space. A: That’s true. So keep that in mind. This might be a little bit tricky, because when you are playing that second group with your LH (which is G, B natural, and D), you have to articulate more before the D note, because this is the 9th sixteenth note of the measure. V: Exactly. Exactly. And going on to, let’s say, the pedal solo--is that complicated to learn, do you think? A: Well, I don’t think so, unless you try to play some notes with the heels. V: Mhm. A: But if you are using toes, it should be pretty straightforward. V: And for most of the time, it’s alternate toes, right? A: Yes, that’s true... V: Starting L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R... A: I think it’s all the time, alternating left and right. V: Yeah. A: The only one complication comes at the last measure of that pedal solo, where you have two 32nd notes. But still, it’s R-L-R. V: True. A: Or it might give you a sort of rhythmic spasm. V: And the structure of this beginning is very similar to how, let’s say, German Baroque composers would write: Buxtehude, or Lubeck or Bruhns, right? A: You mean Stylus Phantasticus? V: Mhm. A: Yes, it sort of resembles it, at least in part. Because it has sections. V: Plus, the first passaggio with hands, it establishes the key of B♭ Major, although it quickly modulates to the dominant key of F Major also; and then the pedal solo enters with its own theme, in B♭ Major, and finishes in B♭ Major. And then what happens later, Ausra? A: You have sort of a combination of those previous sections. But at the same time, both hands and pedals are playing, but you sort of also have that opening motif. V: Mhm. A: In the manual part. V: Yeah. A: But it’s a thick texture. It’s very exciting. V: So, Howard and others who are studying this need to be careful about practicing separate lines first. Maybe RH first, and then LH. And then pedals. A: Yes. What about that measure where all voices come together after the pedal solo? Would you play 3 voices in your LH, or 2? V: 3, definitely. Because they’re different textures--soprano and the rest. So it’s easier, of course, for people to divide the texture between the two hands. A: Yes, that’s right, because if you would try to play that lower voice of the upper staff with your RH, you would get in trouble sooner or later. V: Mhm. A: So better learn it right away, in the correct way--and the easier way, actually, and play 3 voices with your LH. V: Remember our student from Unda Maris Organ Studio here in Vilnius--Regina? A: Yes, I remember her. V: She played this one, I think right at the beginning of her studies with us, and at first she didn’t understand why I chose this kind of fingering and pedaling, early type fingering and pedaling. But later she told me that it makes sense, because she can produce the articulate legato automatically, almost without thinking. A: Excellent. V: And she has a goal to master all 8 of the Preludes and Fugues in this collection. A: And I think she’s on the right track; I think she’s almost done with the whole collection... V: Should be only a couple left. A: Yes. V: The fugue is kind of...in a different meter. What is the meter, Ausra? A: 3/4. V: 3/4. Is it easier than 4/4 for you to understand, or not? A: Well, no actually, the common meter is easier for me to understand. Because there are actually 2 ways you can treat the 3/4 meter. One way is: the first beat is the strongest one, the second is lighter, and the third one is the lightest. But I have heard some other opinion, that the first of course is the strong one, then the second one is the lightest one; and then you have a little accent on the third one. V: That’s how Johann Kirnberger wrote. A: Yes, and that’s actually how George Ritchie taught me to play 3/4 meter. Making a slight accent on the third note. V: Mhm. A: Because if you will do that, it will lead you nicely into that strong beat of the next measure. V: This is true for minuets, right? A: Yes. V: And this fugue reminds me of the minuet, as well as A Major Fugue from the A Major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 536, also. It’s in ternary meter and reminds of the minuet, too. So it wouldn’t hurt to make an accent on the first and on the third beats here. A: But of course, that third accent, on the third beat, should not be as big as on the first, on the downbeat. V: For Howard, I think what is difficult here in the LH part, most of the time--sometimes they have rocking perfect fifths and minor sixths playing, in repetition--right? But I don’t know what is difficult here. He wrote that “in the fugue, the rocking motion of the fifths and sixths can be a challenge to do well.” Maybe articulating? A: Well, yes, you need also to divide between strong and weak beats. But if you will lean enough on the strong beat, on the downbeat, I think you should be just fine. V: Mhm. A: Then just lean down on the first beat, on the downbeat, and then just relax. And I think your head will do it. V: And of course, keep counting, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, right? A: Mhm. V: And make an accent on the first and on the third beat as well, a little bit. A: And then again, at the end of the fugue, be careful that you would learn to play the inner 2 voices with your LH, not 2 voices with your RH. V: Mhm. So if people are using my fingered score, I notate accordingly, and this will be easy to understand. Actually, I gave B♭ Major Prelude and Fugue score to Howard, because he didn’t have that before. Excellent, guys. We hope this was useful to you. And please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: Okay. And we’re going to practice now, and we hope you will practice, too, because when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
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Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 174 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent by Russell. He writes “How to make sense of the chords in the third movement of Messiaen's L’Ascension in order to learn them fairly fast.” Oh, this is a very famous movement, right Ausra? A: Yes, it is. V: And very interesting question. I played this piece a number of years ago and I it’s a fantastic movement. I think I’ve even recorded a video of this performance from St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Nebraska, Lincoln. On the organ built by Gene Bedient. Remember that recital? A: Yes, I remember it. V: And I think one of comments I received from one of the YouTubers was that I shouldn’t teach people because I play with mistakes. That was really funny. Because, yes, in one of the passages I made a mistake or two in this particular movement. Usually I don't reply to such comments but this time I couldn't resist and asked if he has his own video of this piece from which I could learn. Of course he didn't reply... People who put themselves on the line normally don't criticize others because they know what does it take to be vulnerable. So, then the question is how to make sense of the chords?Obviously, Russell has to be familiar with the modal system that Messiaen is using, right? A: Yes. V: And the best place to get familiar with this is his treatise which is called “The Technique of My Musical Language” which in French is “Technique de mon langage musical.” Forgive my french pronunciation. So, basically in this book Messiaen writes out his influences, rhythmic influences, modal influences, even gregorian chant influences, bird calls influences, hindu rhythms and other things. Right, Ausra? Let’s suppose Russell has read a chapter or two from this book where he would find information about the modes. Right? What else? A: Well that’s the thing. I have you know, read quite a few books actually about Messiaen compositions, about his compositional techniques, which basically consists of you know imitating birds singing, the modes of limited transposition, added note values, and some hindu rhythms, some gregorian chants, you know, influences. But basically, I don’t think it helped me to learn his music faster. Maybe it helped me to understand his music better, but then working on the music itself, on his texts himself, I think I still have to struggle quite a lot. V: Me too. It’s not an easy technique. It’s not an easy writing style. Because he was so original at the time. But what helped me was really to study the modes one by one. And by studying I mean is playing a scale based on this mode from the note C with my right hand only in an octave, a range of one octave, then in two octaves, then in four octaves, then with the left hand up and down, then two hands up and down and treating this mode just like a regular C Major scale and getting familiar myself with it. And then transposing from the note C# and then from D, and then from any other note that it’s possible. Because their modes of limited transposition and you cannot transpose them endlessly. A: Yes, since you reach a certain point you cannot transpose them anymore, that’s why it’s titled modes of limited transposition. V: And then you could play scales of double thirds, or scale of double fourths, or even sixths in each hand just like regular warming up exercise you would find in Hanon or anywhere else. A: But what about particular L’Ascension cycle? What would you do with those chords? V: You take an opening, remember you have big chords at the beginning and then you have to decipher those chords which means you write down on the staff the scale based on those chords and you find out what the mode is. A: But technically would it help you to apply it to the keyboard? V: It would help me. A: And you play it with mistakes, yes? V: Yeah, I’m famous for playing with mistakes. But that doesn’t stop me from playing you see. And the person who makes the most mistakes wins always because they try the most. And Russell can try the most also if he tries to transpose those opening fragments or in the middle whenever he is struggling, wherever he finds difficult spot. A: Wouldn’t it mix him up even more, and would make things even harder? V: Yes and no because Messiaen himself transposes fragments of his modes in the same piece too, in several spots. A: So then why just not you know to exercise more to work on those spots, hard spots more? V: That helps. A: In various tempos, in a slow tempo first and then move tempo ahead a little bit and maybe you know to practice in different rhythmic formulas. V: Dotted rhythms. A: Yes. V: You are right it will help. But you see what you need to do if you are Russell, you need to understand how the fragment is put together, you have to basically deconstruct it. And by creating a mode, right, a string of notes, ascending string of notes based on those chords would help you to understand which mode of limited transposition Messiaen is using at the moment. And then you see “Oh, it’s a second mode”, “Oh, it’s a third mode”, “Oh, maybe it’s a fourth mode.”, you see and maybe even label them on the score with pencil. A: Yes, but it’s very much time consuming don’t you think? V: Oh, what’s the rush Ausra? A: I don’t know. V: We have all the time in the world I think, right? And we are not competing with anybody, right? We are not competing with Messiaen, he’s dead already. May he rest in peace. And we are only competing with ourselves, right? What we achieved yesterday, and today, and tomorrow maybe if we live. Anything else Ausra for parting advice for Russell and others who want to study Messiaen. A: Well be patient. That’s a hard music to learn. V: And if you have never played Messiaen before don’t start with L’Ascension. Right? A: Start with “Le Banquet Celeste.” That’s I think a good piece to start. V: Or maybe “Apparition de l’eglise eternelle” A: You know they both use extremely slow tempo but I think that’s a good way for beginning to learn Messiaen. V: But don’t play “Diptyque”, right? A: Yes, it’s just the second piece that Messiaen composed to the organ but it is very hard. V: Ausra has special memories about this piece. A: Yes, and you know I don’t like those memories. V: It’s more similar to Vierne style than to Messiaen. A: I had to learn it like in a week or two and play it in master class, that’s what’s an awful way to do. V: OK guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please apply our tips in your practice and send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 173, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. Today’s question was sent by Tony. And he writes: Hello Vidas - in answer to your quarry regarding my advancement in organ playing, I am a person who is 'legally blind' and thus can not site read music. I have a very modest ability to 'play by ear' and would like to discover a better way to play than using automated functions for single finger or simple chord methods; I find these limited at best. I am self taught as far as my abilities go. What I want to accomplish is to develop my ability to tease apart the music so I can reproduce hymns, and popular music and be able to play the music so I at least sound like I have a reasonable degree of ability to play music. Any suggestions you might make on how to accomplish these goals would be greatly appreciated. Thank-You for asking, I look forward to your suggestions. Tony U.S.A. V: So, Ausra, Tony is struggling with reading music, right? Definitely. He probably can play a little bit by ear. A: Yes. V: and playing simple chords, right? A: Yes. V: Probably it means that he is using a synthesizer to play with one finger, the left hand chords, but with one finger only, which is sort of a short cut. And he writes he is legally blind, which is in quotation marks. So what does it mean, Ausra? We don’t know. We just can guess that he probably means that he doesn’t know how to do this. He just guesses some methods as he writes. As he writes, he is self taught, right? A: Yes. V: All right. So, imagine we have a student coming to us and asking for help to start reading music. I believe he, if we put a score in front of him, right, and ask him to play just one voice, he couldn’t do this, I think. Either in treble clef or bass clef. What do you think? A: Probably not, if he cannot read music, but it’s crucial that he would learn to do it if he wants to, you know, to achieve his goal. V: Alright, Ausra. Of course you learned to read music a long time ago. And, huh, we almost forgot how we did it, right? Because at that time, we were what, six years old? And uh, teachers just forced us to do this and we did it without any thought. A: Well I was five when I learned how to read music. And actually treble clef first of all, then later on bass clef and my teacher told me that I was, and she was an elderly lady, that she had a lot of experience, teaching experience. She told, you know that I was a fastest learner of the bass clef, so, and I don’t remember that I had struggled with it. I just remember my mom at that time, she’s not musician and she cannot read music, although she sings well from her ear, but she would help me learning, and simply she would just ask, ‘lets see, bass clef, third line, what note it is’, you know, and that’s D, and what is this on upper line that’s, A and so forth and so on, and I learned pretty fast. V: And this was mom who tested you? A: Yes. V: Wow! My mother-in-law. Wonderful. She’s so courageous. I don’t remember my mom teaching these things, to me. A: Yes. V: But, I remember struggling with sharps and flats. I think it took me half of the year to learn seven sharps and seven flats. A: Well, that’s very easy because we have sort of, you know, to learning in art school, we had sort of, like, poem about V: Uh, huh. A: sharps and flats: fis-cis-gis-dis-ais-eis-his, b-es-as-des-ges-ces-fes. Once you learn them you never forget them. V: What you said just a second ago, it’s still confusing to me but, but, I had to figure out another system without using those poetry elements. But it was really hard. A: Well… V: (Laughs) A: It’s different I think, for everybody. V: For adults it’s much easier I think. A: Although, look now, I think you read from C clef better than I do. V: You don’t know, we never,,, A: Although, I’m better than the average musician in reading C clef, but still I think you are better than me. V: You don’t know; we never did an olympic competition on that. A: (Laughs). Maybe we should do. V: We could do, but music is not competition, right? It’s not a sport. A: Yes. And now if you go back to Tony’s question; I think, you know, you could do it in two ways; you could do whatever you are doing right now, and then your progress will be almost non-existing, or you can you know, force yourself to learn how to read music. And maybe this won’t be an easiest way, but I think finally it will be the most gratifying, and most satisfying. What do you think with this about it? V: I have probably two suggestions for him. One would be to try my organ playing, master course. I think it’s level one, just for beginners, where right hand plays a single melody in very long note values, then the left hand in the bass clef. Here I didn’t put the note names. I assumed that people could figure out themselves, where C is, where G is, because it’s so slow and so, basically easy. So that’s one thing. Whenever a person is just a beginner, but especially adult, right, who can force themselves to figure out some note names, this course would be very beneficial because at first it’s in whole notes, then in half notes, then in quarter notes and this level ends in, I think sixteenth note runs, so, but with single melodic line. Level two would be for two voices in two hands. A: How did you write something about how to read music? How to learn to read music? I think you had some material about it. V: In Lithuanian, yes. I had a four week course about that, but just in Lithuanian. A: Maybe you need to do it in English. V: I could. A: And then, you know, people like Tony could benefit from it. V: Yeah. You're right, probably. Yeah, that’s preliminary step, right? Before learning any note names, basically before taking this course, which I’m talking about now, Organ Playing Master Course Level 1, you need to be familiar with note names and where they’re positioned on the stave and the system of the clefs, treble and the bass clef. But if you know it, you could proceed exactly to this course already. So that’s suggestion number one. And the second suggestion, how about, Ausra, if Tony could try to improvise based on just four notes. Remember my favorite exercise; you pick four notes, any type of notes, C, D, E, F, or C, E flat, G and B flat; any sort of strings of four notes, and improvise something interesting, in let’s say, ten minutes, without talking. A: Well you could to that. It’s a good exercise but it’s not final. I mean you cannot just stick with those four notes and improvise for the rest of your life. V: No, you could do this with five notes, and six notes, and seven notes,,, A: Well you know what I mean, you know what I mean. V: And then later twelve notes. A: Because if you will just do that it will be a dead end after while. V: (Laughs). A: That’s my opinion. V: Dead end. Well of course you need a lot of theory and other technical things to do and to know and study in order to be a complete musician. But that’s a good staring point if you want to develop your creativity a little bit at first. A: That’s true. V: So, guys, apply our tips in your practice, whatever suits you, right? It’s just our ideas, how we would do, at least how I would do. Ausra is not necessarily agreeing with me in this, but she is very opinionated and has her own advice for you. That’s okay. We’re different. Because you are different too. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen! Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start Episode 172 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Žiga and she writes: Dear Dr. Vidas! I have studied your most excellent Ultimate Guide to Organ Practice e-book. I just read it again. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift! It has helped me immensely in my organ learning efforts. My playing and practice efficiency improved a lot by following your advice. Although I am only an amateur, I really enjoy playing and I love Bach’s music immensely. Some years ago I got my hands on an awesome CD by the great Simon Preston, playing Bach/Vivaldi concertos and have ever since desired to be able to play them. It seemed completely impossible at the time, but now I believe I will actually be able to achieve this. But some more work is still needed! I would like to share with you an interesting learning experience, which I have not seen mentioned around much; about two years ago I figured I should study Bach’s Applicatio from Wilhelm Friedemann piano book - one of the very few pieces fingered by Bach himself. A very short piece, only 8 bars, but what a marvel it is! Quite challenging, too, it required quite a bit of practice to play fluently! However this little gem has improved my hand posture and fingering tremendously!!! Figuring out good fingering is now much much easier for me, much more automatic, often I just do it. It is so incredibly clever! One of the most useful exercises I ever played. Thank you again for sharing and the very best of luck and health to you! Žiga So Ausra, do you know this Bach’s Applicatio? A: Yes. Most organists know it, in general. People who study Bach. V: I remember we studied it in eastern Michigan, I believe, with Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. A: Yes, yes. V: She introduced us to this exercise, which includes 8 measures of 4-part music, fingered by Bach himself. A: Yes. V: And at the time, didn’t it feel strange to you, this kind of fingering? A: Yes, a little bit strange. V: Why? A: Well, because at that time I was not familiar, or not very familiar, with historical fingering. V: Mhmm. And what’s the most striking feature of that fingering, that you noticed at the time? Probably the use of fingers without finger glissando and substitution, right? In order not to achieve legato? A: Yes, that’s true. V: What about...Was it easy for you to play? It wasn’t, for me. A: Well, it was easy for me. I just felt that it was very natural, and that that’s how it should be played. It wasn’t hard to adjust, for me. V: Now, when I look at it, it’s very simple and self-explanatory--the technique, right? Intervals of the same quality are played with the same fingers, right? And basically, it helps people achieve articulate legato probably automatically, almost without thinking. A: Yes, that’s true, but you still have to think, at least a little bit. V: It’s probably true for most of early music, but not necessarily the entire works of Bach, right? This kind of fingering. A: Yes, yes. Because the harder the key is, the more sophisticated fingering you have to use. V: And Applicatio, I think, was written in C Major, yes? A: I believe so. V: So it’s a relatively simple structure, although 4 parts in 2 hands is not easy to do. But if you transposed it into, let’s say, D Major, it would have been already a different story. A: Yes, that’s true. V: Or E♭ Major. Right? Then it becomes quite tricky to do with early fingering. And I believe you don’t necessarily have to use early fingering, with advanced keys. A: You wouldn’t be able to do that. That’s for sure. V: Or with advanced textures--very thick textures. A: Yes, and because Bach’s texture is usually very thick, unless it’s a trio texture. So you have to use your own fingerings. V: But what about--remember the 3rd Kyrie from Clavierübung by Bach, where the cantus firmus is in augmentation in the pedals, in the bass voice; the hands have 4-part texture, and it’s very thick, almost chordal texture; but it’s written in imitative style, with legato technique. So I’ve noticed--because I’ve been practicing it now, for our upcoming Bach’s Birthday recital--I’ve noticed that I still can apply early fingering there, although it’s in B♭ Major, with thick chords. Although I still can play those parallel 3rds or 6ths with the same kind of fingering. What about you? A: Good for you. V: Did you...Of course, you played it awhile ago, but--did you run into trouble there? A: No; and actually, I never thought about fingering when playing that particular part, although it’s one of my favorite pieces by Bach. V: Mhm. A: This third Kyrie from Clavierübung. V: Yeah. It has such a chromatic ending! A: It does. V: Such a haunting harmony at the end. A: But I guess I have that early fingering so well managed by now, that I often don’t think about it. V: Mhm. A: I just think about meter, about articulation, and that’s it. V: What about Fantasia Chromatica by Sweelinck? For me, I knew the principles of early fingering and everything; but it wasn’t easy, especially those runs, for me. A: Well, it’s not an easy piece to play; but actually, this is a piece where you should use early fingering, and it will help you. It will help you to play those scales right, and not mess them up. V: Right. So if anybody is looking for some principles and tips to finger their early music pieces--some of the things you have to avoid are probably finger substitution, glissando...what else? Placing the thumb on sharps, right? If possible. A: Yes. But again, this applies only to certain keys, that have not so many accidentals. V: Yeah. And trying to play the same intervals with the same fingers. For example, an interval of a third could be played with 2/4: 2/4, 2/4, 2/4, 2/4. That’s in ascending motion, or descending. Or a sixth could be played 1/5, 1/5, 1/5, 1/5. But not too detached, right? Try to be as legato as possible, right? A: Yes. It sounds a little bit crazy; you use, let’s say, 2/4, 2/4, 2/4, 2/4, and you try to play legato. V: Yeah, and you can achieve this cantabile style, then--articulate legato. This is in between legato and non-legato. A: Yes. V: Any other ideas for Žiga, Ausra? A: Well, I’m glad she liked that Applicatio, and she found it helpful. So I suggest for every beginner to try to play that Applicatio exercise from Wilhelm Friedemann’s book. Because it’s a good pedagogical tool, actually. Because Bach wrote it for his eldest son, so...because he wanted him to be an excellent musician, so I think he did his best. V: If I’m not mistaken, it’s one of the first pieces in this book, right? A: Yes. And it just means that Bach understood how important it is to have a good technique foundation. So very soon in a few years, he already wrote the Trio Sonatas for his son to play. So… V: Yes, it’s just too bad that his health, Wilhelm Friedemann’s health, wasn’t strong enough to last, in the future; and he couldn’t stay in one organist position for a long time, right? He switched positions, and then later in life I think he even stopped being an organist altogether. Right? A: I think so, yes. C. P. E. Bach actually, I think, did better with everything. V: Yes. So guys, please keep up your health; it helps in the long run. And in order to be healthy, you have to sleep at least 8 hours, and then probably exercise--right, Ausra? And then, obviously, eat in moderation. Thank you, guys! 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 171 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. Today's question was sent by Allen. He writes: Hello Vidas and Ausra, I am thinking of going on this tour: http://www.musicalcollaborations.org/organ-tour-italy-poland-2018. I am really not a very good organist, but would love to be able to get up close to some interesting instruments and this seems to be a good way to do that. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions? We are big fans of Italy, which is really the only reason that this particular tour appealed to us. Regards, Alan V: So Ausra he is in need to our advice right? Where could they go to Europe to visit old instruments. What would you suggest first? What idea comes to you? A: This is how you understood this question? V: Yes. A: I did not understand it in that way. V: He thinks that he needs our opinion if this tour is worth going to right? Or maybe we could have some other recommendations of going to European organ tours. First of all, maybe he could go to Bach Organ World tour remember, that Quentin and Mary Murrell Faulkner used to lead. A: I understood this question completely different. I understood that Allen loves Italy and he wants to see Italy. And that’s why he chose this tour because it will take part in Italy and a little bit in Poland. So, I don’t think the Bach tour would work for him because that would take place in Germany. V: Unless he loves Bach, right? A: Yes, but I see why many people love Italy because it’s a nice climate and good food, good wine you know and it’s very nice. V: And how is that related to Poland then. Italian culture. A: That’s a good question and it’s these two countries are far away one from another. But actually Poland and Lithuania because at one time we had the one country with Poland. V: Yes, commonwealth. A: Yes, commonwealth country. So, all this you know part of central Europe and of Northern Europe were heavily influenced by Italian artists. V: Especially the Catholic portion. A: Yes, yes, and because Poland and Lithuanian are Catholic countries we have so many churches and palaces built by Italian architects. And all other appearances of the Italian culture. Especially it was prominent in the Renaissance and Baroque and not so much later on but still you can see some spectacular cathedrals. And tend to feel like you are in Italy although you would be standing in the middle of let’s see Krakow or Vilnius. V: I see so it’s where we’re going to such tours if you like old cultures. A: That’s true. And you know Allen since he wrote that he is not a very good organist I think Italian tour would do him good since Italy is a Catholic country they did not have much of congregational singing, as for example Germany did, so the instruments usually are not as large and often does not have a sophisticated pedalboard or many stops on the pedalboard. So, you know, he can just pick up some manual pieces and I think they would work very well in Italy. What do you think about it? V: Pieces from Fiori Musicali by Frescobaldi right? Pieces by other Italian composers, Domenico Zipoli, or maybe Toccata Elevazione slower movements of the output that more well know Italian composers like Merulo or even Frescobaldi himself wrote. Fiori Musicali is a great place to start I think. A: Yes, it’s a great collection of music. V: It has a lot of pieces, a lot of episodes. You can stop in any place you want. You don’t have to play let’s say Kyrie from the beginning unto the end. You can stop after two episodes or after three episodes. Right? A: Yes. V: Because in those days the Kyrie had nine parts, not three like today. A: That’s true because you know, it is all segmented so you can play a many episodes as you want. V: Why it was segmented by the way and not through composed. Do you think it has to do something with alternating practice? A: I think so, yes. V: What does that mean? A: Well when you play on the organ one verse of a certain hymn or another liturgical piece and then choir or cantor sings another one, and then again organ, and then again cantor, so that’s so-called alternating practice. Actually it was banned later on, but it survived many centuries. V: What is the reason behind this ban? Do you know? A: I don’t know, maybe you know compositions became more elaborated and took too long, I’m not sure. I have heard the whole story but now I cannot recall it. V: Was it because Second Vatican Council or the First Vatican Council, might be the first, that people couldn’t understand the words when you play the organ in between that chorale, schola cantorum or choral pieces, so they decided that all the words have to be audible and sung. A: Oh, yes. That makes sense. V: I only don’t remember was it after Vatican Two, or Vatican One? A: Well, anyway. V: Do think that it was a good tradition to do alternating practice? A: Yes, I liked it very much. V: Do you like it because you can rest between playing organ and turning the pages and registrations for yourself or for some other reason? A: Well, if you just think of a long, long hymn for example like Veni Creator, I think it might get so boring after a while and more interesting musically for me when you know it’s done in alternating. V: Isn’t that the reason why in Catholic tradition organ became less prominent when they banned alternating practice. Because look, now the choir can sing everything. A: Organ was never so important in Catholic churches as it was in the Protestant churches. V: Why? What is the deal with Protestant concept? A: Well, especially when I talk about Protestant I mean especially Lutheran tradition. V: Right. A: Because you know Luther loved music himself. He had a very high opinion about any music. He himself created the hymnal actually. He wrote some hymns himself. V: And some hymns he adapted from Gregorian Chant. A: Yes, and some from I think German folk music. So that’s why I know musical tradition in the Lutheran church was so rich, so much richer than in Catholic churches because there was congregational singing, the organ was very important, and all kinds of examples. V: In Catholic tradition organ was just tolerated. A: Yes. V: And today it is like this. A: Yes, definitely. V: Especially if you try to play something more advanced and more extended they always tell you “Oh, it’s a concert and the church is not the place for concerts.” Right? A: I know. And the repertoire sometimes is so bizarre in Catholic churches that you know it makes me sometimes laugh, sometimes cry. V: In our church, Vilnius University, Saint Johns Church they probably don’t use the organ in services, systematically, regularly, maybe on special occasions. But, they have guitars and drums which they use more often, but, from time to time when those guitars and drums are away on vacations, they ask me to play the organ. And then I play the organ as much as I can and the last time I played I remember the microphone was broken so I even didn’t sing Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei part from the balcony. I played everything on the organ. It was like an organ mass. And you know what kind of comment I received from one of the priests? A: I don’t know. V: That it sounded like he was in Notre Dame in Paris. Because I improvised everything, of course. To which I replied that was my intention, of course, to show the bright side of this instrument, what it can do without attracting too much of attention from the liturgy, right? I only played in certain parts of the liturgy. I never hijacked the liturgy. Didn’t play an elevation, didn’t play in places where I didn’t supposed to play. But wherever I could I showed the instrument to best of it’s ability. And that’s I think our responsibility as organist. A: Yes, nicely said Vidas. So, for Allen just have fun you know and enjoy your trip to Italy and Poland. I bet you will see very many exciting things. V: And for other people who want to try historical instruments and immerse themselves in historical local cultures in Europe they could go to the Netherlands, to France, to Spain, to Portugal, to Germany, right? To central Germany in the footsteps of Bach, to northern Germany in the footsteps of Buxtehude, let’s say. And other countries. The more you go, the more you discover right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And the better the musician you will become in general I think the more broad minded. A: Sure, organ world is you know, so vast, has so many different countries, so many instruments, so much variety. V: One closing idea for Allen, and others. Wherever you go make sure you do some research, which churches will you visit in advance. And contact local organists of those churches via social media. It’s so easy to find now everybody. In six clicks I can find anybody on earth basically, and you can too. So if you contact local organist and say “Hello, I am such and such organist from such and such country and I will be visiting your church with this tour. Can I please try out and have access to this instrument or other instruments in town.” Maybe you will have this connection for a lifetime afterwards. A: That’s possible. V: OK. Thanks guys. Ausra and I are going to practice some organ playing and I hope you will do too, because when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 170, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by Francois. He writes: Dear Vidas and Ausra, Many many thanks for this email about fingering in Bach's keyboard music. I also can’t find any system that works for Bach's keyboard music. But I prefer to refer to this topic in terms of articulation. And this brings me to a question about how you think. An example: in the c-minor invention, the 2nd of the 15 inventions I find different possibilities for articulation, based on resolutions, and fin different solutions good. No way to decide definitely. Maybe its ok to let some points open and offer different interpretations of the same piece, but that doesn’t satisfies me. Because I bet Bach had a clear idea about what he wanted for each piece he wrote. How do I find Bach's musical purpose, with details, for each of his pieces? Do you have an answer? Or a way to think about? Thanks in advance, Francois V: This is an advanced question, Ausra, right? A: Yes, a very advanced question. V: Do you believe that Bach always played his pieces, just in the one way, or maybe he changed some things? Adjusted. A: Oh, I think he had to adjust some things, probably. Because there are places in his music where you cannot play exactly as he wrote them, because he was so careful about his voice leading, especially his late pieces. That sometimes, you know, have to make some adjustments. V: What do you mean? A: Well, for example, in the E Flat Major, V: right A: Prelude, there is one spot where you hold a long note in your left hand, but at the same time, you are playing, you know, sixteenth notes also with your left hand. And some of those sixteenth notes are not the same as that long note that you are holding. And then you know, you just think, ‘what to do’? I will, you know not to play those sixteenth notes, or just to not hold that, that long note. So what would you in a situation like this? V: I would play the sixteenth notes… A: Yes,.. V: Because their more accurate,, A: That’s what they do. But it’s interesting you know. And I analyze that place and he did it because of voice leading. V: I see, right? It looks better on paper. A: Yes, V: this way. A: Yes. Yes. V: what he wrote. But in practice when you play it, exactly as it’s written, it’s unclear. A: That’s true. V: Right? You have to sacrifice some things and make adjustments in order for your listener to be able to hear what he wrote. A: I know, but it just shows how important for him, was actually the rules of voice leading. V: The rules meaning of avoiding parallel fifths, A: Yes. V: and things like that. A: yes, and all those, you know, bad things. V: Mmm, hmm. But didn’t he break the rules from time to time? A: Sure. Of course, he did that. He was an innovator in that way. V: He knew the rules but he could expand them and go beyond them A: Sure. V: when he needed. A: But I think he always knew exactly what he was doing and I think it’s very hard for us, you know to solve some mysteries of his music because I think there were hidden symbols in his music throughout his compositions. And I think, you know, it’s probably very hard for modern people to understand it. V: We lost long ago, the language of rhetorical figures, right? A: Yes. And like for example, he often used his birthday as a signature in his musical compositions. That’s what I heard about famous, choral from the Clavierbung third part “Vater Unser”. V: Right. A: Which has that bizzare part in the pedal line in the middle of the piece, it’s very odd. A: In exact middle of the piece, there is this spot which is, which might be a musical signature of Bach. A: Yes. And of course you can often find his real signature B-A-C-H. And so on and so forth. It’s a real mystery and a life-long study. V: For us in modern day, when we see what’s written on the page, we tend to analyze the harmony, the polyphony, the voice leading, the form, the texture. But for him, it was more than that, right? It was an idea first, probably,,, A: Yes. V: what he needed to create. He didn’t probably think ‘oh, I need to create a prelude in E Flat Major today, and it will have three themes, and eight episodes, and let’s see, maybe I will use the Italian concerto form with ritornello, okay. Maybe my ritornello will be part A, then B, then I will repeat section A in the dominant, then B again in the dominant. What about C then, will come the part? C-A-B, A-B-A-C, A-B-C-A, and that’s it. Eight parts, and I’m done’. No he probably thought about the symbolic meaning about the keys, right, three flats,,, A: Yes, V: about the whole thing. A: Yes, very symbolic, yes. V: What else did he think about, Ausra? Can you… A: What are you asking me? Do you think I’m closer to Bach than you are? V: Of course! A: I don’t think so. V: You have studied your entire life Bach’s works, and maybe you can think deeper than I do. A: Well, I don’t think so. I really don’t think so. But, you know, if we would go back to the fingering and articulation question about playing Bach’s music: I for example always think about meter first, and actually meter is, is you know, the main object for me when playing his music. That’s how I select my articulation. What about you? Is the meter important for you, when selecting articulation and fingering? V: Meter is probably the most important thing for me, yeah. It used to be a different thing in the past for me, but now, I always tend to think meter, about the pulse. A: Yes. V: when I play, and whenever I remember to count in strong and weak beats and make alternations between strong and weak beats in terms of articulation, right? Then, then the composition comes to life. And I might not understand all the symbolical figures, right, that Bach put, the sigh motive, the Figura Corta, A: Cross sign. V: Cross, exactly. All those intricate details that he knew and people back in the day knew. At least educated people back in the day knew. Because you have to remember, his music is like musical sermon. Cantata are like that, right? And if he had an idea, a religious idea for example, he put those religious objects into his music. A: Yes, especially in choral based music because it has text. So you can find lots of text painting. V: Mmm, hmm. It’s hidden in the music. But today, we have lost a lot of that, right? We don’t speak that language anymore. Even if we find excerpts of that, and we can, you know, discover, oh, this is one motive, it means like that, it means one thing, and another motive means another thing. Yes, but we are not relating to those things anymore. We have to remember Bach was one of the last composers in the western tradition, who believed the old belief system, world conscience, remember, A: Yes. V: he thought about the universe as the force which is greater than man, right? A: That’s true. V: That’s what Christianity tells us, right? And in modern days, composers think that, you know, science can solve a lot of problems, at least in the future, right? Not maybe today but it will be developing fast, with leaps and can solve a lot of mysteries in the universe. Bach, on the other hand, believed that some mysteries are never meant to be solved, probably. A: And I think he was right, probably. V: Excellent, guys. Let’s keep the mystery going. A: Yes, and I think, you know, going still back to that question, I think, you know, that learning any piece of Bach is a life-long process. And maybe, you know, now your playing in this manner and maybe after ten years or after five years, it will change your opinion a little bit and you play it a little bit different. A little bit different articulation, a little bit different tempo, and you know, you will feel it a little bit different, and it’s okay. V: It’s not okay, Ausra, it’s wonderful. It’s the way it should be because we think about that, about Bach as a demagogue, right? But he wasn’t an artist, basically. And artists never do the same things twice. A: Yes. V: They try to invent, recreate old ideas in new ways, combine them. So I think the best way you could approach Bach’s music is, today you play one way, and tomorrow you try to find out a little bit different angle, how you can articulate or finger something, or create a different version of pedaling. And maybe on Wednesday, you will do something different still. That’s okay. It’s actually encouraged to do this way. A: Yes. Because his music is so rich that each time you play the same piece, you can find new things. V: Mmm, hmm. A: And you know, to find a new way how to approach a particular piece or a particular spot. V: What would happen otherwise, if a person discovers a real true Bach system, and says, ‘oh, I’m set for life now’? A: Well, then it will be over. V: That person won’t evolve anymore. A: That’s true. V: Mmm, hmm. I hope we can do better than that. Thanks guys, this was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen! AVA169: Is There Anybody In The World That Can Properly Play Baroque Pieces With Toes Only?3/3/2018 Vidas: Let’s start Episode 169 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. Today’s question was sent by Mike. He writes,
Hello Vidas. Are there any YouTube examples of Bach's main fugues, toes only? Is there anybody in the world that can (properly) play the great 'g minor fugue' toes only? Can you? If not, i 'rest my case' - knowing 'pigs can't fly'. If there are - i will ask the pope for forgiveness. Best, Mike Do you know, Ausra, what he’s talking about? It’s an excerpt of our correspondence via email. I decided to answer his question here publicly, too, because he thinks that Bach’s fugues cannot be really played with toes only, virtuosically enough. A: On the pedal? In the pedal part? V: Yeah. For example, the famous Gigue Fugue, BWV 577--especially in the upper register, where you have the theme in the tenor octave. So, he thinks that you need heel for that, not only toes; and I wrote to him that of course it can be done, but it doesn’t have to be played very fast, of course. A lot of people play it very fast. But when people observe, let’s say, Cameron Carpenter, right--and he plays virtuosically with heels also--then it really is difficult to prove the historical way of playing pedals, right? A: Well, some people are just stubborn, I guess! V: Or, you know...Cameron Carpenter in their mind is a demigod, right? Because he can do anything, right, and therefore what they see on YouTube is probably more convincing than what we tell them. Right? I don’t feel that we need to convince anybody here. A: Me too. Whatever. Whatever he chooses--whatever suits him. V: Mhm. We just share our experiences, how we do things, right? A: Yes, yes, yes. V: Would you play BWV 577 fugue extremely fast? A: No. V: Even if it’s a gigue, right? A: Yes. It shows just poor taste, in my opinion. V: Is it a dance, or a race? A: Well, it’s a dance! V: Exactly. For people who are probably wondering about the tempos in dance-like fugues, they need to get familiar with the dance tempos, too... A: Sure. V: And dance steps, and dance figures--how they are taught to dance, historically. Right? So we were, in those seminars, remember? A: Yes. I think the most important thing for any musician is to learn to hear what you are playing, actually--to really listen to what you are playing. And if you would pick an extremely fast tempo, I don’t think you will be able to hear what you are playing. V: Mhm. A: And then, in my opinion, music loses its sense...its main purpose. V: You said Mike is stubborn. But we are stubborn, too. A: I didn’t say that Mike is stubborn! I think, you know, well...If somebody already knows our opinion about playing Bach with toes only, and still sends these questions, it means...you know… V: They don’t believe us. A: Yes. So, you know, I am not in a position to try to convince him to accept our opinion. It doesn’t matter what anybody will tell me, I will just stick to my opinion. V: Mhm. We are also stubborn, right? A: Yes. Yes, I’m stubborn. And I have tried enough historical instruments that were built during Bach’s lifetime, that I would know that it’s impossible on those instruments to use the heel. So...why do I have to play it with the heel, if I can play it perfectly with only my toes? V: Exactly. And we were not always that way, right, Ausra? We were taught to play historical music with heels as well, in the beginning. A: Yes, we had to relearn it. V: Mhm. It wasn’t easy. A: Yes, it was hard. V: Who first introduced you to historical techniques? A: Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. V: Right. And in Lithuania nobody really told you about that, or…? A: No. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody! Absolutely nobody! V: I see. A: Because everybody at the Academy of Music in those days taught to play Bach combined--combining, you know, toes and heels. V: You know, I feel that our former professors in Lithuania had their own version of historical techniques, right? Their own understanding, and how they applied it in their own playing, and it’s not necessarily historically accurate. A: But let’s be, you know… V: Honest? A: Honest, yes. That’s the word I was looking for. That nobody in Lithuania taught us historical fingering; nobody taught us historical pedaling. That’s it. They had, sort of, their own mixed version of what is historical and what is not. And I remember right now, when playing pieces, for example, by Buxtehude or Bach, and if there would be a suspension on the strong beat, I would be told sometimes, even, just… V: Make a rest? A: Make a rest. Instead of that suspension. Which is, I think, highly inappropriate. V: To lean on dissonances. A: Yes, you have to lean on dissonances. You have to even prolong them. And not make rests instead of them. V: Mhm, mhm. Why? A: Well...I think it’s because of the historical tunings, probably. One of the reasons. And another thing: I think dissonances are more important in music than consonances. V: Obviously, because dissonances give music color. A: Sure. V: Spice. A: Yes. V: Like your breakfast for today--it had some spices, right? It wasn’t a very boring breakfast--you put some...What did you put, by the way? What spice? A: Crest salad. V: Crest salad, right. Do you like to water it in the morning? A: Yes. V: Do you like to talk to it in the morning? A: Yes. V: What did you say to that Crest salad this morning? A: “Good morning!” V: “Good morning?” A: “Grow up faster, and we will eat you!” V: Hahaha! A: Soon. V: Was it happy? A: Yes. V: That’s what they do, right? A: Yes. V: They serve us. And actually, we have to be grateful that these little plants give their lives for us. Right? A: They give us vitamins that we need, so… V: Exactly. And we try to give our best experience to you guys. And we hope that it’s helpful to you. And even if it’s not, it’s okay, right? We don’t try to convince you to follow a historical way of playing. I think our understanding of the historical way of playing stems from our knowledge of historical instruments, right Ausra? A: Sure. V: And what it means is that you guys probably need to try out as many historically built instruments--either real historical organs, or replicas built in modern times, right? So THEN you will have an informed opinion on what is possible or not. A: That’s true. V: Right? Right now, probably your opinion is limited to your current understanding of what you see on YouTube. But YouTube is not everything. A: Hahaha! Yes. V: So, any closing ideas, Ausra, for them? For our listeners? A: Well, just try to expand your horizons. V: And talk to your Crest salad. It’s good for plants. Thanks, guys, this was Vidas! A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start Episode 168 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Gunilla, and she writes: Greetings! My name is Gunilla Hedkvist and I started taking organ lessons in 2003. The year before I had been more or less ”forced” to play in church services in a small church when they lost their regular organist. They needed someone who could at least just play the melodies of the hymns. And that was my level when I started. I then learnt how to accompany the hymns with chords also. Three years later I started to learn hymns playing SATB. Very difficult for me and time consuming to learn. By now I have played all eight little preludes and fugues by Bach and some other choral preludes, three of the Suite Gothique pieces by Boellmann and some César Franck (L’Organiste) and Jean Alain among others. 1. My dream in organ playing is to have a repertoire where I can play the liturgy and hymns with ease and also make my own improvised hymn introductions. I also want to know a good selection of music to use as postludes. 2. I struggle with sight reading more than one voice at a time. (But now using your suggestion to sight read for 15 minutes a day). Because I started playing late in life it is more difficult to learn and remember, and learning a piece takes a lot of time. I am a slow learner. I need to get better at using efficient practice methods. When my organ teacher gave me Krebs ”Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” as homework I found your youtube recording and listened to it several times and that helped me to practice slowly. So that was the story of Gunilla, right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: Probably a lot of organists from around the world would share some of the things from her experience. A: Yes. V: Having a church, and having modest skills of sightreading (just the soprano part), and then having the dream of being able to play the repertoire and the hymns at sight in church, and even improvise the hymn introductions, right? But she’s still struggling to sightread more than one voice at a time. But...do you think, Ausra, that she’s on the right track? A: I think so, yes. And actually, when I read about Krebs’ “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen,” I thought that it’s a good idea, Krebs’ Clavierübung, because it has so many chorale tunes, and it’s sort of like a prelude when it’s a chorale--yes, an ornamented chorale. And then, there is like, you know, the… V: Chorale harmonization. A: Chorale harmonization. Of course he does not give it in full, but you can write it down, depending on the numbers. V: Or sightread it with continuo notation. A: Yes. So I thought that Krebs actually would work in liturgy, too. You could play the big opening piece as a prelude; then, you know, that ornamented chorale version as an offering; then you know, to play the end with organo pleno for your postlude. V: Absolutely. And you do that, too, sometimes, if you have to play in church. A: Yes. I do it. V: You have several favorite pieces by Krebs... A: Yes. V: And apply them according to the situation! A: That’s right. It’s very handy, because it’s not so hard, and does not have lots of pedal. V: You could add pedal at the end, for the last harmonization, but it’s not required. A: Yes, yes, yes. Of course. V: Yes. And remember that this is the first part of Clavierübung by Krebs. He wrote two more Clavierübung parts, which have dance suites, and something else, I forget--I think also some kind of suite. So make sure you Google Krebs on Petrucci Music Library, and you will find free scores there. And you can play a lot of interesting repertoire just based on Krebs. A: Yes. V: They are keyboard pieces, of course, without pedals; but good for your fingerwork. And beautiful to listen to. So, if we talk a little bit about, let’s say, the repertoire, right--she dreams about having a repertoire where she could play the liturgy and hymns with ease--like prelude, postlude, offertory, and even communion, probably. As you say, Krebs works well. What else could work? A: Well, I would think about Frescobaldi’s Fiori Musicali. V: Mhm. A: “Musical Flowers.” I think this collection would work well, too, for liturgy, and it’s not too hard. And the other composer that I thought while reading the list of composers that Gunilla had played, was actually Pachelbel. Don’t you think that Pachelbel would work, too? V: Absolutely. Because we both played a lot of Pachelbel back in the day, when we played in liturgy. A: Yes. I remember having that Dover edition--the complete organ works of Pachelbel--and it helped me a lot, when selecting preludes and postludes and offering. V: I remember you used to sightread pieces from Pachelbel, for Christian Scientist liturgy. A: Yes, yes. That’s what I did.And also that’s what I did with Frescobaldi. V: Did you do that with Cesar Franck’s L’Organiste? A: Yes, I did that as well. That’s a nice collection for a church organist. V: And should we advise Gunilla to improvise as well? A: Yes, that’s a good way too, to be able to expand your ability, and to improvise. Then, you know, sometimes you don’t have time to find any music, or to repeat any music; so just improvise! V: Especially if you are not a very advanced sightreader. A: Yes. V: So sometimes it’s easier to sightread a melody of a hymn tune, and just add a polyphonic second voice from your head, and vice versa. A: Yes, and while talking about repertoire, also try some Italian composers. They created quite a lot of easy organ music--composers, like for example, Domenico Zipoli. Like his Pastorale, that’s a very easy piece, but a nice one. And I also know his Elevatione, and Offering, they are nice and easy, too. V: Mhm. A: And they have very little pedal. V: And chorale Partitas by Böhm or Pachelbel would work for that. A: Yes, yes, yes. And because they are segmented, like chorale bass variations, you can play as many as you wish, or as many as you need. If you don’t need much, you can only play one; but if you need more music, then play a few of them. V: I somehow don’t think that French music would work for her, well. From French classical, I mean. A: Probably not. V: Too difficult. A: Yes. Too many ornaments, probably, and,... V: Maybe later. A: Yes. V: When she gets more skill in this, and can advance to the next level, along with improvisation. So, do you think that she could benefit from playing harmony exercises, in addition? A: I think it’s beneficial to any musician. V: Maybe not dry harmony exercises, but let’s say, harmonizing hymns. A: Sure, why not. V: Not looking at the hymnal, but adding your own harmonization. Or alternative harmonization for the last stanza, let’s say. Good, I see you agree with me. So...anything else that you could add for Gunilla, today? A: Just to encourage her to keep going, and to keep practicing. V: And report us back your progress, right? In 3 months, in 6 months, in one year from now. A: Yes, and you know, don’t blame yourself for being a slow learner. You are doing just fine! It’s excellent that you started to learn to play at this early age. I think it’s wonderful. I think many people would just envy you, and would sort of feel amazed by your courage. And by your progress. V: Do you think that Gunilla is competing with other organists, or no? A: I think that the most important thing is to compete with yourself. V: What do you mean? A: Because if you compete with others, I think it’s unfair. Because you could compete only with somebody who was in the same situation throughout life as you were. V: That’s you. Only. A: Yes. Otherwise, it’s sort of unfair game. And I don’t think it’s a good thing. V: Sometimes people, when they look at videos on the internet, they get the wrong impression, right? Instead of being inspired by that video, they feel discouraged. A: Intimidated, sort of, yes. V: Intimidated, yeah. Okay, and try to be better a little bit today than yesterday, and a little bit worse than tomorrow. Right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: Thank you guys. 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 167, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by David. And he writes: Today I had to play "O Worship the King" for service. I wanted to make it a little more exciting, so instead of playing just the last part of the hymn as an introduction, I improvised a short modulating fanfare with Trompette En Chamade on the Swell, then on the Great with a rather full sounding registration continued with the the second half of the hymn only slightly re-harmonized followed by a one beat rest to let the congregation know it's time to join in. It was very well received, and it was fun to play, but I wonder if you have any suggestions for beginner/intermediate organists for both hymn introductions and alternative harmonizations. I think some time ago either you or Ausra indicated that one has to be careful with alternative harmonizations and that are not a good idea on the last stanza as a general rule, but in our congregation they seem to work well and add interest, and the people seem to sing all the more enthusiastically. Perhaps you have a suggestion or a formula for improvising Hymn introductions or could recommend a publication with somewhat simple introductions. Anything you can suggest would be wonderful. Thank you! V: Ausra, this is a question that is probably bothering a lot of church organists. A: Sure, because you know it is a big part of your job. V: To introduce the hymn. What’s the most common introduction? Probably to play the entire stanza in four parts for congregation. A: Well or just the last eight with sometimes even four measures. V: The last phrase or two. A: Yes. V: Mmm, hmm. Or the first phrase and the last phrase. A: That’s true. V: Is this a boring way to introduce a hymn? A: Well, not necessarily. It’s sort of a traditional way. V: Do you think that David should do this or, anything else you could add? A: Well, you can do it for some hymns and then for other hymns you may, you know, play an elaborate introduction. V: If you were invited to play in David’s church what would you do? A: Well, now when I know that his church, his congregation loves elaborated preludes, maybe I would play some fancy introduction too. V: Would you play with ornamented chorale in the right hand, version? A: Yes, could be. V: Or in the left hand, tenor line. A: Maybe I would do it in the right hand. It would be easier. V: What about in the pedals with augmentation? With Posaune. A: Well, yes but I wouldn’t play introductions with Posaune, I think it would be too crushing, too loud, probably. What would you do? V: I think any example that we can find from Bach’s Orgelbuchlein would work well here, except, except in those days, the hymns were played rather slowly, and if you notice the texture of their chorale prelude and the rhythm of that tune is basically twice as slow, which means probably that the entire piece would last a minute or two, here. And that’s usually in modern terms, too long. A: Yes, for example, I myself don’t like long introductions to the hymns. I mean it’s okay to play, you know, to do fancy postludes for example, but if you do long introductions for each hymn, I believe the service might become longer and longer. V: So if you take for example the first phrase and the last phrase, but treat it as a chorale prelude based on the model from Orgelbuchlein, would that be sophisticated and creative enough? A: I think so yes. V: And not too long. A: Yes. Plus you know, in America there are so many publishers that publish church music, and you can find actual introductions to various hymns. Although you have to check and to be careful that you play your introduction and your hymn in the same key. Because there might be different keys in those. V: And then they have alternative harmonizations for the last stanza usually. A: Sure. Yes. V: Would you play the last stanza somewhat different then? A: Well, it again depends on the hymn itself. Because not for each hymn is the proper way to do it. Especially, for example, if you are playing in a Catholic Church and you playing, let’s say during Lent, I wouldn’t do it. But if it’s Easter on Sunday, then yes, okay. Why not? V: Mmm, hmm. And you can even transpose your harmonization, up a step or an entire step, entire whole tone higher. A: Would it like in pop music, yes? (Laughs) V: Exactly. A: Yes. It would give your more excitement. V: Would you then choose to play modulating interludes between those two stanzas? A: No. I wouldn’t do that. V: Why? A: I’m afraid I might be kicked out of the church, as Bach was. V: What’s wrong with that? Look at Bach, (laughs) what he achieved later? A: Well, but at that time, he lost his job. V: That’s okay. He found another. And you know, if you did that consistently, their basically voice about you would, you know, spread around the mountains, across the globe, that you are one and only. A: Yes. I think, you know, sometimes it’s a problem that organists wants to demonstrate his or her ability, above everything else. But you know, while playing in church and especially doing hymns, because we always have texts, and I think the texts in hymns are the most important part. So, and I mean that your accompaniment should never, you know, sort of cover the text. That’s my opinion. V: Yes. You should probably choose the texture and the registration based on the text. A: Yes, I know, and you can register the hymn accordingly. V: That’s obviously for another topic of discussion; registrations, right? It’s not things that David is asking, but, yeah, he could probably use some alternative harmonizations and make introductions, and sometimes even modulating fanfares, right? It’s nothing against the rules, right, if it’s a solemn occasion. If it’s a festivity like Christmas or Easter or Pentecost. I think one of the easier ways to introduce a hymn is to start with a single voice, let’s say soprano. Then after the first phrase, you add the altos, so then two part texture. After the second phrase you add the tenors, then the three part texture. And for the last phrase, all four parts come in. A: That’s a nice way to introduce a hymn. V: Gradually making it more sophisticated, more thicker texture and a little bit louder, right? That’s if the hymn has four phrases. A: Yes. V: What about if the hymn has six phrases, Ausra? You should add the six voices then? A: (Laughs). No. V: Why not? A: (Laughs). Would you like to do that? V: Yes! Double tenor. I love it. A: Well it would be very hard. Go ahead and do it. V: I did actually. It didn’t work. So I stopped doing it. A: So I would rather stick with four voices on hymns. V: Or even two voices. What’s wrong with two voice introductions? You could have a Bicinium, right, for entire stanza. Or even the first phrase and the last phrase, very thin texture, soprano and the bass playing basically outer voice, outer voices of the hymn. Maybe a little bit with embellishment in the right hand or the left hand or in alternation. Would that work? A: I think it would work just fine. And because you have to play in church each Sunday and do a few hymns, so, well you can use all these methods and see what is working for you. V: And don’t forget the three textures where you play three parts and you can place your hymn tune in any of the parts, soprano, tenor or the bass. A: That’s right. V: Excellent. So guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of the questions. We love helping you grow. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen! AVA166: How To Handle Large Quantity Of Music For Prelude, Postlude, And Offertory Every Week?2/26/2018 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 166 of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by David and he writes: Dear Vidas and Ausra, At the churches where I play, the organists have to play 2 or 3 hymns every Sunday, plus a prelude, postlude, offertory, and Doxology (old 100th), and sometimes accompany a choir anthem as well. That is between 6 and 8 pieces every week. Do you have any suggestions how to handle that quantity of music? Especially the Prelude, Postlude, and Offertory... Thank you! V: That’s a lot of music every Sunday. A: Yes, but that’s life of the parish organist. That’s what we did when we worked at church. V: Do you remember the time when you first started playing in church in Vilnius. A: Yes, I remember it was the second year of my organ study at the Academy of Music I had to work at church. V: Did you have to play the hymns only or also some organ music. A: Well, I had to play both. Plus because it was a Catholic Church we had lots of other stuff going on playing such things like litanies for example, and Psalms and so on and so forth. V: And the masses were not only on Sundays but every day. A: Yes, every day and we had that you know Adoration hour of the sacrament. So also every day. And this was sort of a little bit of nonsense because we would have to play two hymns at the beginning of it and two at the end of it. And it lasted for like an hour and the church was unheated and it was horrible, horrible you know to spend those fifty minutes in that cold church between two hymns and two hymns. V: And doing nothing. A: Yes, I know it’s impossible to play when it is so cold at least for me. V: Is it, you know sometimes if you pray very hard you can heat up the area around you. A: Well, I can’t maybe you can. V: I tried and nothing happened. A: I know. But in terms of my starting playing in church, of course at that time pedalling was still challenging. But for me the biggest challenge was to follow that liturgy. Because in Catholic Churches we have those invocations and each priest sings a little bit different, and in different key and you have to catch up. And some priests are so badly musically educated that they cannot keep the tune and they modulate like a few times and you never know on which key you will end up so all this gave me such a big stress. V: How did you handle the stress then? A: Well little by little I learned everything. V: Uh-huh. Like we have a saying, like a dog which is being led to be hanged too frequently. This dog basically get used to that. A: I don’t think it makes sense in English. V: Probably not. They have a better expression. A: I’m sure of it. There are so many idioms in English. So, let’s go back then to the question. Well you know I received such a good school in the Catholic Church that later on while playing in the Christian Scientist Church in the States and also the Lutheran Church in the States it seemed so easy and so nice. But in terms of selecting the right repertoire I think this is very important for David and for other church organists. At least if you don’t have very good technique, well advanced technique, it’s better to choose easier pieces for prelude, postlude, offering. And if you are new in church so each Sunday it seems like new hymns are sung and you have to learn how to play the new hymns but after a while we, you know repeat themselves. V: So after one, two or three years. A: Yes, that’s true. And even actually sooner because some of the hymns are repeated quite often, as for example Doxology. V: Well yes, my own church playing experience started early on when my Mom and I went to the church nearby where we had this summer cottage that was where her parents lived at the time. And this was a wooden church and it had an antique 19th century organ by anonymous organ builder and my Mom asked the priest to let me play because I was studying at the music school at the time maybe it was like sixth grade I think. And I started playing excerpts of my choir repertoire from school. I sang a soprano part and little by little I sort of harmonized those excerpts without even knowing anything about the chords. And actually at that time I started to remember how my friends were fooling around during recess, or intermissions between the classes. They were sort of improvising and playing popular melodies but adding on-the-spot accompaniment with the left hand. So I started doing that myself. A: In church. V: In church. And it wasn’t so bad actually. A: Did you do that during service? V: Just for fun, for me. Yes, and then the priest heard and they didn’t have a local organist that Sunday or any other Sunday I guess. And he asked me to come and play and it was a very solemn occasion I think the golden wedding anniversary of some couple. And I foolishly agreed in sixth grade to play a wedding and the mass also. I remember that the priest let me to come and practice during the weekdays of that week preparing for this wedding and mass and I found the hymnal, handwritten scores and I tried to practice those hymns selecting the repertoire as I thought it would work and then when the time came I missed the Sanctus part. A: It’s to know when to start it because if you don’t know the Catholic Mass there is that moment when the priest does his prayers and after that he sort of has to cross his arms to put his hands together in front of him and that’s the sign for you to begin Sanctus. And sometimes from the organ loft it’s very hard to see that he is doing this so you can easily miss it. V: So he started saying the Sanctus instead of playing. Then after he said the Sanctus I started playing. A: That’s funny. You usually don’t do it twice. V: But he was actually happy with that mass considering my age probably and my inexperience. A: That’s nice. I remember when I started to work at the church in Vilnius, Holy Cross Church, it was probably my third or fourth mass that I had to play and it was actually a cardinal who had to lead the service. I was so scared, I was freaking out. I think I missed something or I played something in the wrong spot. V: What was scarier? The cardinal on that occasion or myself coming occasionally to your organ loft. A: Neither you nor the cardinal. The scariest part of that church was those elderly ladies who are so devoted to the church that we spend all day each day in the church and we sort of searching for trouble and there are all these complaints about everything that you are doing, that everything is wrong, tempo is wrong, you dress is not appropriate, or you didn’t make the sign of the cross in the right moment. V: And that ended my career in that church. A: Yes, I remember that old lady chasing you throughout the downtown Vilnius. V: So, Ausra is there a shortcut that David could take in order to facilitate his liturgical playing and make life easier for him? A: Well, yes and no. Because still you will have to overcome all obstacles and all those difficulties but in order to help yourself just select easy organ music at the beginning. Maybe less pedal stuff and then later on you will catch up and will start to play harder things. Maybe you know if you are playing, I don’t know, if you have like regular Sunday service or you have like festival like for example Easter or Christmas when you have to play more sophisticated organ music. V: But that’s only several times a year. A: Yes, but for other Sunday’s you can just pick up something easier because you know if you will play easy music well it will still sound fine. But if you will pick up pieces that are two hard for you to play and you will make lots of mistakes for example, or you keep unsteady tempo then everybody will notice it and nobody will appreciate that you are playing hard stuff. The most important thing is play right. V: And probably what you are saying is that you will not get a medal for playing advanced music. A: Yes, yes, I guess so. V: Nobody will appreciate that. A: Well, yes and no. You never know. V: I mean you could play advanced repertoire when you are ready. A: Yes. V: But for now, as Ausra says, probably it is better to focus only on manuals only pieces and occasional pedal parts, maybe long sustained pedal points, which would make your life so much easier. And sight-read as much as you can. A: Yes, this will help to improve with time. And you know when playing hymns is to keep a steady tempo especially if your congregation sings together with your playing. V: I would say three things here which helped me and maybe it will help David. Sight-read as much as you can, play harmony exercises as much as you can, and improvise as much as you can. And over time, maybe in a few months even, you will notice considerable improvement. Right? A: Of course, yes. V: If you do this every day after one year your organ playing skill will be completely changed. A: Yes, and you know you can even sight-read from a hymnal for example, from your hymnal of your church. It will help you later on you know for playing hymns. V: OK, guys. We hope this was useful to you. Please apply our tips in your practice and send us more of the questions. We love helping you grow. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen. |
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