Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 165 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent in by David. “In the US, we are taught to play pedal using both feet, including toes and heels on both feet. Would I be correct in thinking that in most of Europe, most of the pedaling is done only with toes?” A: Well it does not depend on the country that you are in. Either US or Europe. It depends on what style of music you are playing. If you are talking about baroque music or you’re talking about romantic and modern music. V: In Lithuania for example, there are plenty of organists that would play early music with heels and toes. A: But it just means that they don’t have a sense of good style. V: And they haven’t tried historical instruments. Just as in the U.S. there are plenty of organists who can play early music with toes only. A: That’s true. V: Because they have that experience. A: And they have many replicas too. Wonderful instruments built by great American organ builders. V: So, we highly recommend wherever you live in the world to travel a little bit around your area and see if you could explore historical instruments because even organs build at the beginning of the 19th century a lot of times they have the baroque layout and baroque type of pedalboard and for those reasons you would not be able to play with heels successfully on those instruments. A: Yes, and for example imagine if you are studying a piece for example by J. S. Bach and your playing it on a generic instrument, of course you could use both heels and toes but think maybe someday you will get a chance to travel and to play it on a historical instrument so it would be better if you would learn it right away in the right manner and use only your toes. And, for example if you are working on a romantic piece it means that you know that if you will get a chance to play on 17th or 18th century instrument you will not play that particular piece because it will not fit for that instrument. V: Ausra, should we say the right manner or something different? A: I don’t know. V: Because when we say the right manner we imply that some people play incorrectly or the wrong manner. What is right and wrong here? Can we decide? A: You know, it’s basically how would you defer what is Ketchup and what is tomato sauce. Are they same or are they different. V: In some people’s minds they are the same. A: But we are different. V: How? A: We are different in the way we are made up. Their taste is different. Although there is one ingredient in common that’s tomatoes. But that’s about it. V: Exactly. A: And you know if you are making Italian pizza you probably wouldn’t put the Ketchup on it. V: But if you don’t know the tradition you would put the Ketchup and you would say “Oh, what a lovely pizza.” A: Well, yes but would it be stylistically correct? I don’t know. It’s up to you to decide. V: Remember the first time we tried to eat pizza. That was right after independence I believe because in Soviet times nobody made pizza in Lithuania. And, the first pizzas we ordered from public restaurants there were imitations of pizza, right? A: And they were made with Ketchup, actually. V: Maybe we could say not the correct manner or the wrong manner here but maybe let’s use the term “historically informed performance practice.” A: OK, I’m sorry. I did not want to offend anybody. V: I didn’t mean you offended. No, no. Just to clarify that we don’t know all the answers here. And nobody knows actually. But it would be better to say “historically informed performance practice” because then a person can choose whether he likes it or not. A: Well you know I’m talking from my experience because you know I studied six years in the Lithuanian Academy of Music and I was taught some things good and some things not very good. But historically I don’t think that way of playing music was correct way or right way. And then I went to study abroad, I traveled quite a lot, I tried historical instruments, I tried replicas, I know I worked with Dr. Ruiter-Feenstra, and George Ritchie and of course I took many master classes with people like Harold Vogel, Bill Porter, Hans Davidsson, and I could go on and on naming them all, Olivier Latry and you know it sort of broadened my perspective. And I’ve re-learned to play the organ. I’m trying to do everything historically right. V: Historically informed way. A: Informed way, yes. Because if you sit down at a historical instrument and you would just apply what I have learned at the Lithuanian Academy of Music I would be screwed up. I could not play anything. I could not register right. I could not play pedals right. Especially if I would sit and play the pedal clavichord. That wouldn’t work at all if I tried to use modern fingering and modern pedaling. So, since have these two sides of my life I can compare it very well. So I think the later way what I learned was the correct way. At least for me. I would never go to that alt habit. V: You know Ausra, it’s very well to say for you, easy to say right? Because it changed your mind. But what about a person who sees a video on YouTube played by let’s say Cameron Carpenter right? He’s a fantastic virtuoso organist. Right? But he doesn’t necessarily play in the historically informed manner, right? But people love how he plays, how he presents organ music and his showmanship, right? So we definitely are not criticizing him here. But, an organist who sees Cameron for example thinks this is the correct way, right? But then Vidas and Ausra tells them no, no, no, you should read about historically informed performance practice, right? And then he says look at this video. If the master Cameron Carpenter plays right how can you say it is not correct? A: Well, go to Europe and try some historical instruments. That’s what I would suggest for them to do. We will speak for themselves and then we don’t have to argue. Because no, while going to the States I wouldn’t think I will find a society of organists so historically well informed. And I was actually amazed about it because before going to the United States that’s what I thought. That you know that Americans play organ fast and loud. That was my personal opinion. V: And you changed that opinion. A: I changed that opinion, yes. Of course there are still many organists that play fast and loud but there are many others that are real scholars. That can see a difference between Tomato Sauce and Ketchup. V: And the best part of this is people who know the early style and later style which is for example, being taught in the Richard Stauffer Organ Method book. They can adapt and play romantic pieces just beautifully on the romantic or modern instruments. And the early music just beautifully on the modern instruments too but using early technique. Right? A: Yes. V: So if you know more stylistically informed performance practices you can choose from them. You don’t necessarily have to use them but you have to understand why there are and how they change the style that you like. A: And I think the true artist know to show the best qualities of the organ and not of yourself. V: Why? A: Because I think organs are standing for so many centuries already, some of the older historical instruments and though even when we will die they will still keep standing. V: On this optimistic note, we have to finish here. Please guys send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And Ausra and I are hoping that this was useful to you. In at least raising the questions right? Not necessarily we have all the answers but we could elevate a discussion and tell us what you think. Send us your opinion. This was Vidas… A: And Ausra. V: Remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
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Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 164, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. And this question was sent by David. He writes: “I'm working on a "paper" about understanding what 18th century French classical registrations really mean when an organ of that period is not being used, since, of course, the French Revolution wiped most of them off the face of the earth. It’s easier to find unicorns!” V: So it’s a fascinating question, right, Ausra? A: It is. But I can think that it still would be harder to find the Unicorn. V: Yeah, we should ask David if he found any Unicorns. A: Yes, if you would look, let’s say at Paris, in Paris, you would search for French classical organ, you wouldn’t find them, but if look in the provinces, like tiny villages, in those you can still find French classical instruments. V: And there are of course modern day replicas being built. A: Sure. V: Great. The basis for understanding 18th century French classical organ registration, probably relies not only on the organs, but on the registration suggestions by the composers. A: Yes. And I think actually, if you have little experience, I think it’s easier to register French classical pieces of organ music comparing to let’s say, German. V: What do you mean? A: Well, because, as you talked earlier, composers indicate what they want from a piece, how they should be played and registered, and French are just very systematized. V: So, people who don’t understand the system probably don’t read French. A: Yes. I mean if you know what Plein Jeux or Grand Jeux is, then you should be able to register, you know. V: Do you think that a lot of people understand the terms Plein Jeux or Grand Jeux? Maybe we should explain a little bit. A: Yes, so Vidas, let’s tell us or remind us what the Plain Jeux or Grand Jeux and what is the difference between them. V: In general terms, Plein Jeux is the sound that reminds of the organum plenum sound. Except with some difference maybe from the German. But it has, I think, Principles, right, of many pitch levels, and it has the Mixtures together, right? A: Yes. V: And if it has the term Grand Plein Jeux then you add the 16’ Bourdon in the manuals too. And very often you would need Cantus Firmus in the pedals, then you would need, I believe a Trompette 8’, maybe together coupled with the Flute 8’. Or if you have Clarion 4’, you could add 2’ to reinforce the sound of the pedals, but no 16’ in the pedals. A: Well, what about Grand Jeux? V: In my understanding here, it’s more of a flute sound combined with the cornets, flutes and reeds. A: Reeds, yes. V: Which means, Trumpets, then Cornet either real Cornet with five ranks, based on flute sounds; 8’, 4’, 5th, 2 1/3, right? Or you can select those five flute sounds from the manual and add them to the general plunger sound, right? Do you need the 16’ in the manuals here? I believe so. A: I think so, yes. V: Mmm, hmm. A: And what about solo registration for solo voices? What if you have tierce en taille? V: Those characteristics stops that French organs have, I think, they have specific meaning and specific function, right? Tierce registration means you use a third based on 1 3/5 sounds. But in addition to that you of course need 8’ flute, right? And then a Tierce sound, and maybe even a fifth sound to remind a little bit of the Cornet. You have to check on you balances on your organ, if it’s not your know, historical French organ, if you’re adapting it. A: Yes, and my next question would be, do you think it’s okay to play the French classical music on modern instruments. V: I think it’s okay to play whatever a person wants and likes, right? But the result will not necessarily be the same as on the historical French organ. A lot of people don’t care about that. They just love the music. A: Well should you then just follow closely to the original registration? You should look for and make up your own registration, depending on the sound of a particular organ. V: Yeah, I believe you’re right. You should listen to some recordings, not necessarily of the same piece but maybe a typical French classical registration that you are looking for, like Tierce en Taille or dialogues of the Voix Humaine or the Crumorne registration, right, or the Cornet, all those things. You could listen to a piece like that, and then check if your organ has similar kind of stops. If it’s not you have to, you know, adapt. A: Yes, but for example, if you are playing a German organ, those reeds are different from the French reeds. What would you do then? V: I wouldn’t play French music on a German organ. A: Okay. V: But you know, a lot of people think differently, and they have the right to do so, right? We’re just telling people, sharing with people our experiences, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And you don’t necessarily have to agree with us. And I believe people who are opposed to that, their opinion might change if they try out a lot of historical organs. A: Yes. V: French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, right? And all those areas have different styles and different types of music. A: Yes. And what is your favorite French classical composer? V: Ohhhh, a tricky question. Mmm, A: I have my favorite. V: Let’s see. Does it start with the letter called ‘G’? A: Yes. How do you know? Yes. Nicolas de Grigny. Yes, that’s my favorite. V: Nicolas de Grigny was very polyphonically oriented composer, because a lot of French composers like Couperin not necessarily wrote polyphonically advanced music. They wrote a lot of harmonically advanced pieces, and their harmony system is basically a pioneer system of the system that we used today. It’s based on the Rameau treatise, right? A: Yes. V: But Germans were more keen to the polyphony, right, just as Italians were a century later, or earlier, in the Renaissance, even in the 16th Century or the beginning of the 17th Century. But then the Italians started to play those different types of pieces, like Scarlatti, right? A: I know, it’s just like everything an opposite way. V: Polyphony changed. But Germans were more strict with polyphony with Bach and that tradition. And French were more eager to explore the sounds and the colors. A: But yes de Grigny polyphonic pieces were quite complex. You can even find 5 part fugue. V: And Bach also learned from de Grigny. He copied his Livre de Orgue and based some of his earlier compositions, Fantasy and Fugue in C Minor, for example, or other pieces, like Piece d’Orgue for example. A lot of pieces which have five part texture, they’re based on the French model. A: Yes, that’s true. V: And do you know Ausra, why French wrote five-part textures and not four-part textures like Italians? I’ve read that Italian string chamber music, was, A: I think they had an extra voice, yes? V: Italians, four parts, and then, A: Like string quartets, yes? V: Yeah, two violins, viola and the cello. But French had one extra instrument: two violins, two violas, and one violone. A: Two violas, yes, wow. That’s amazing. V: And they used different kinds of clefs. And people sometimes today like to read those clefs, right? Some crazy organists. A: Yes, like Vidas. V: Like Vidas. Are you a crazy organist, Ausra? A: Well, not as crazy as you are (laughs). V: You are sort of in between normal humans and you can relate to normal humans, right? A: Yes. V: You can read the music that normal people read. And I can do too. But sometimes, I’m not satisfied with normal stuff so, I get crazy. Alright, guys. Please explore the French classical registrations. It’s really a fascinating topic. We could actually recommend a book, right? Maybe Fenner Douglass and Barbara Oven. They both wrote interesting treatises about organs and registrations, so if you read the transcript from these podcast you could click on the link and check out those books. A: Yes. They would be a big help exploring different registrations. V: Wonderful! Thank you so much for listening, and applying our tips in your practice. 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 163 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Anne. She writes: Good Morning Vidas and Ausra – I have a question for you. I am working on Bach’s Christ Lag In Todesbanden from the Orgelbuchlein (Riemenschneider Edition). The Key Signature for the Chorale is D minor (B flat) but there is no B flat in the key signature for the Prelude. However the piece is apparently written in D minor. I’m assuming it’s modal. My question is how do I determine which mode it is written in? BTW, I am working on your pedal exercise from the Bach BWV 540 in all Major keys and the Cadence transposed to 24 keys. I really like them to get warmed up on before my daily practice. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! Thanks! Anne Kimball (Total Organist subscriber) So that’s great, that Anne is practicing all kinds of exercises from the collection that we have in the Total Organist training system, right? A: Yes. V: So, going back, Ausra, to the question about modal pieces and their key signatures--do you think that--Do you know this piece? It’s in d minor, but there is no B♭ next to the clef. But it starts and ends on a d minor chord. A: I know; and actually, this is not the only case that composers in the Baroque period did that. But it just means that the piece is written in Dorian mode, D Dorian mode. V: D Dorian. So this system, of course, is much older than the major/minor system? A: Yes, it is. And although I’m telling that this piece is written in D Dorian mode, it’s yes and no, because it already has that tonal system--major/minor system--but also preserves some features of that modal system as well. V: You know what would be modal? I think the chorale melody is modal. A: Yes, yes. V: But their harmonization--harmony, chords, and polyphony--I think it’s quite normally minor. D minor. A: So...and you know, she asks about how to determine which mode it is. So this is sort of simple: for example, like in this case, it starts and finishes on D. Not on A, as it should be if the key were a minor. So if it finishes on a different note, then you can suspect that the mode is in D. V: Mhm. And, is it a major or a minor mode? A: It’s a minor mode. V: Why? A: In this case. Because if you would take a piano--all the white keys--and start playing from each of the keys, you could get a different mode each time. V: Like from C, would be one mode… A: Yes. Maybe let’s start from A. Maybe we could talk about all of them. V: Alright. So, what kind of mode would you get if you started playing a scale with white keys starting from A? A: This would be Aeolian mode. V: And it doesn’t differ from any normal, natural minor, right? A: Yes. It’s like natural minor. And because it’s natural minor, it doesn’t have that raised seventh scale degree and sixth scale degree; it sounds modal. V: Mhm. And then, if you start with B with white keys only, it’s not b minor then. A: Yes, it’s not b minor. It’s Locrian mode. V: Locrian. I don’t think we teach that in school very much. A: Well, we don’t teach that in school. But I think it’s crazy, because actually, the head of our department, he is crazy about math. Actually, I believe that he’s a true mathematician, but not musician! V: Oh? A: Because he teaches kids that there are 3 major modes and 3 minor modes; and if he adds Locrian mode, then there are 7 modes, and it’s not right for him mathematically. But actually Locrian is a minor mode. So in that case, if you would teach it, you would have 4 minor keys and 3 major modes. 3 major, 4 minor. V: It’s not symmetrical. A: I know, and it doesn’t suit him. So...well, I teach my kids...at least I say that there is a seventh mode, too. V: Exactly. I think that you have to understand that from the B note, when you start playing the scale, it’s more minor than major, because B Major has 5 sharps from B, and b minor has only 2 sharps. A: Yes, and you can sort of imagine that it’s a minor-minor-minor key: compared to natural minor, it has a lower second scale degree and fifth scale degree. V: Aha, so even tonic triad or tonic chord is not minor there; it’s diminished. A: Yes. V: Hmm. A: It’s sort of the most awkward mode of all. V: Mhm. A: Of those seven modes. V: Very sad mode, right? A: Yes, it is. V: Saddest of them all. What about if you start from C? A: Well, you have Ionian. V: Ionian. Okay. What about...Is it different from C Major or not? A: No, it’s actually the same. V: Natural major. A: Yes, natural major. V: I see. And then from D would be our beloved Dorian mode. A: Yes, and it’s very common. Many composers actually use this D Dorian mode in their compositions. V: Why is it related to minor and not to major? A: Well, because it’s based on the d minor scale--you could say that. Only, it has the sixth scale degree raised. V: B natural. A: Yes, yes. And if you would look at the tetrachords, there are 2 tetrachords each in this mode. You have a minor tetrachord at the bottom, and then again you have a minor at the top; so 2 minor tetrachords. V: Mhmm. A: That’s why it’s minor mode. V: I see. And D Major should have 2 sharps. A: Yes. F sharp and C sharp. V: It’s more distant from all-white-keys then. A: That’s right. V: Alright, how about from E? What happens? A: You would have Phrygian mode. It’s a minor mode too; but compared to e minor key, it doesn’t have the F♯. So it has a lower second scale degree. V: Mhm. And about the F mode--it would be, what? Lydian. A: Lydian, yes. Comparing with major, that’s a major mode. It wouldn’t have the B♭, so you would have the 4th scale degree raised. V: So the last would be from G. A: Yes. V: And it is Mixolydian. A: Yes. It’s also a major mode, and you could compare it with G Major key, but it wouldn’t have F♯. So it has the seventh scale degree lowered. V: Mhm. So all those early Baroque pieces, even Renaissance pieces, were written in a modal system, right? A: Yes. V: And only later composers adopted a major/minor system. And as late as Bach, sometimes he adhered to the rules of modal writing, even though he clearly wrote in major or minor mode. A: Yes, but also, not only Baroque composers--like later composers, especially French composers, they liked to use modes, too. V: 20th century composers. A: Yes, 20th century. Composers like Langlais, for example. V: Organ music suits very well for the modal system. Somehow in my church, when I improvise, I use modes all the time. A: Yes. And if you would look at any hymnal, you would find quite a few modal hymns, too. V: Right. So guys, if you decide to check out some modes, practice them by playing just a single melody with one hand; and adapt and transpose to any other note system, starting from C or E♭, or B, or G♯--whatever starting point you can do, it’s okay. So then, your melody will have different modes. And you can transpose to major, also, related modes. Like Lydian, Mixolydian, and Ionian. Or minor related modes, as Ausra said, Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian. A: And Locrian! V: And Locrian, if you want to be complete. Thank you so much, guys, for listening to us. 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 162 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. Today’s question was sent in by John who is preparing for his upcoming April recital in our church, at Vilnius University St John’s church and he asks the following question: It would be wonderful to hear you and Ausra to speak about how you prepare for an overseas recital where you haven't played the organ before and you don't know any of the people or their culture. It’s difficult to say about the future although in July we will be playing in London, St. Paul’s Cathedral. But let’s talk a little bit about the past experiences right? A: Yes. V: Last summer we played where? In Sweden. A: In Sweden and then in Poland at the beginning of September. V: OK. So how did we prepare for the Sweden experience? A: Well you know how it is when you have internet and you have so many valuable sources and you can find out about instruments you will be playing. Quite a lot of information. But of course, the smart thing to do would be just to contact the local organist and ask him or her about the instrument. V: I suspect that when a person is scheduled to play a recital they will contact the organist anyway, right? A: Sure. V: And ask about the instrument and the style of the instrument or course. The organist might send the disposition of the stops or specification and pictures of the stop layout. A: It’s not that you will have a lot of time to practice the instrument that you will be performing as we had actually in Stockholm. And it was real nice. But even if don’t have much time or almost no practice time on that organ you can still do your registration. V: In advance. A: In advance, yes, if you have the specification for that particular instrument you can write it all down in the score before even practicing on the real instrument. V: And, when you go to the local organ there, when you arrive at the church or the instrument, then of course you will need to check and correct some things because you might be wrong or off in a few places but maybe not in the majority of places. A: Yes, and the most important thing is to choose your repertoire wisely and what I mean by saying this is you have to know what kind of music will fit and will work on that instrument. Because you know you might want to play a piece by Messiaen but the organ may not be suited for that. So you really need to select your repertoire carefully. Because you know if you will select your repertoire well then things will work out well too. V: There are two kinds of organists in the world who tour and play international recitals. One kind of organist plays on generic instruments and plays the same program over and over for one year. And then during some off months they would learn a new repertoire for the next year and then they schedule the next tour, global tour, world tour, and they do the same in different places but basically playing the same repertoire over and over. But we have to remember they normally select only the generic instruments. Not necessarily romantic ones or not necessarily baroque instruments. They’re sort of mixed instruments where you could play in a rather satisfactory manner a lot of different music. A: Well, like in Sweden there was no instrument that was suited for really baroque music. V: Why? A: Because you had meantone tuning so basically you could not let’s say play like Bach and do for example like Prelude and Fugue in F Minor. It wouldn’t work for instrument like this. V: Yes, advanced keys don’t sound well. A: So, we selected repertoire like composers like Sweelinck and Scheidemann, Praetorius and these worked very well on that instrument. But for example when we went to Poland where we played on the baroque instrument but from late Baroque times. V: 1719. A: That instrument is sort of a contemporary of Bach. V: Hildebrandt organ in Paslek. A: Yes. So we selected baroque music mainly but we selected, you know, late Baroque music like Bach Brandenburg Concerto for example and we also did some contemporary music too. V: Because even in early style instrument you could play some contemporary music which is written in a very light style. It would have to be a very transparent style, not fixed chords, not very dissonant. But we played our friend, Dutch composer Ad Wammes and his style is… A: minimalistic. V: He wouldn’t agree actually. He says his music style is influenced by symphonic rock which has this minimalistic drive. But is not like Philip Glass. A: I just can make a joke you know about any composer. If he or she thinks that no, he or she composed a piece and everybody has to think about that piece as he or she thinks. That’s wrong. You know it’s like a baby since you’ve adopted, just let it go and let it live his or her own life. The same is with a piece of music. If I’m playing this music and I see minimalistic features, that’s my opinion and nobody can take it away from me. V: I didn’t mean to take away your opinion, of course. I just wanted to say that Ad Wammes was influenced not by let’s say Steve Reich or Philip Glass but from the music by symphonic rock composers. A: It just means that that style also has minimalism in it. V: It has similar features. A: Because they have those repetitions over again so how else would you call it if not minimalism? It doesn’t matter where picked it up it is still minimalism. V: We have to double check where Philip Glass got his influence. A: Yes, that’s true. Because likely I would see half of Lithuanian composers. They are very minimalistic. It’s fairly common in Lithuania to use a minimalistic style. I also don’t think we were influenced by Reich or Glass. Maybe we were influenced by Goretsky maybe or I don’t know, Taverner, Part maybe. V: I bet Philip Glass had some influence taken from rock music, synth rock too. A: Could be. Because everything is all mixed up and all criss-cross. V: It’s called crossover music. Excellent. So, it’s really a matter of having well rounded taste in music when you select your pieces for unfamiliar instruments. Right? The more experience you have with playing different kind of styles, different kinds of music, and different kinds of instruments, the more you can adjust and see which will work and which won’t work. A: That’s true. I think it’s also very important to keep in mind that first of all, you need to show the best qualities of the organ, of the instrument itself and not your own skill. V: You don’t mean you have to play music that you don’t like. A: Well, no. That’s not what I meant. V: For example if you didn’t like early music at all would you play in Stockholm, the German church where we played last summer, on the Duben instrument from the 17th century, replica of that 17th century organ. A: No. you shouldn’t even play such an instrument if don’t like that music. V: You wouldn’t play Reubke Sonata there if you liked Reubke so much. A: No, oh no. That’s a thing of being an organist, you need to show the best qualities of the instrument. V: Right. So, you have to have the right variety of favorite styles, as many as you can. Don’t try to be a one-sided organist unless you want to have very limited choices of what to play. A: I don’t know there are many instruments in the world where you can play anything. The trouble with those instruments is that for my ear, for my taste, nothing sounds right on them. V: On a generic concert instrument. A: That’s my personal opinion, I don’t know what you think about it. V: It’s easy to play. It has combination action and pistons and multiple levels of memory. You can set in advance your combination and with the push of a button, you can do all kinds of loud and soft contrast. It is much easier for the player. But, as you say the music loses some color. Especially early type of music created before 19th century. A: I know, it is just like cooking. And using for example with each dish you are cooking you would use the same spices. Anything would taste similar. V: There are some restaurants like that. A: I know, especially those chain restaurants. V: Of course some people will not agree with us. Especially those who like concept instruments. But that’s OK. We don’t try to force our opinion on them. We just share what we think. What we like. It is not necessarily the true way. Right? In organ there is no true way. Because every instrument is different and you can try many things and see what works well. A: But I think you know if you would listen to historical instruments, if you would have a chance to play one yourself, I think even people who just play generic instruments, even their opinion might change. V: Exactly. Sometimes we receive letters from people who disagree with us that early music should be played without heels. And then I ask them if they ever played historical instrument or a copy of a historical instrument and the answer was “No.” So before even probably stating that playing early music with toes only is a nonsense, that it couldn’t be done virtuosically enough. You have to try for yourself that kind of instrument and see if you can satisfactorily with heels. And the answer will be… A: No. So you can argue but it’s like you know how can they tell if snails are tasty. I have never tried them so. I cannot discuss that question. V: Some people will not even try snails. A: I know. V: They dislike the idea of eating snails. A: I know. I wouldn’t try them myself. V: Because you know how they are prepared. It’s cruel. A: It’s just awful. V: So, for John and other people who will be traveling abroad and playing unfamiliar instruments the number one advice from my side probably would be to think over you repertory choices and if it fits the instrument well. What would your recommendation be Ausra? A: Well, you know if you are traveling to an unfamiliar organ, if you know that you will not have much time to practice on it, just choose easy pieces. Don’t try to put the hardest pieces that you have in your repertoire to play for that particular recital. Choose easy repertoire. You will just benefit from it. V: Especially if you don’t have a lot of time to rehearse on that instrument so better to choose pieces that you has played a lot of times. A: Yes, and that you feel safe and comfortable playing them. It will give you less stress during performance on that unfamiliar organ. V: Memorize your piece. A: Yes. V: And prepare your registrations in advance. A: That’s true. V: Then you will save time and then you spend quality time on the actual organ that’s given to you at the moment. So, thank you guys for listening. We are going to play some organ music now and we hope you do the same. Because remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen. AVA161: How To Build A Principal Chorus On The Organ At Vilnius University St John's Church?2/21/2018 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 161, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. We’re continuing our discussion about the preparations that John from Australia, John Higgins is doing in order to be well prepared for his upcoming recital in April in our church, Vilnius University St. John’s church. In the previous podcast we discussed the questions about the action heaviness, about the situation with the swell pedal, right? About English speaking listeners and if we can translate English speaking words from John that he will be saying in between the pieces, right. And now, let’s start a little further bit further. He asks: 5) How many people who might attend my recital would speak English? I'm guessing my poster and program need to be in Lithuanian and you would have to interpret any words I say? 6) Would people expect me to speak at the beginning of the recital and then play all the pieces, or is it ok to play groups of 3 pieces and introduce each bracket of three pieces? If it takes a long time to walk from the organ loft, this may not be possible unless there is a wireless microphone? 7) On the St John's organ playing Bach fugues, would you normally register the pedal with principal chorus and no couplers, plus the pedal Posaune or is this reed too loud? I am used to playing small organs more in the English style, so you always use the Great to Pedal coupler. Sometimes on Australian organs the pedal Posune is too loud for fugues, so you might use the Swell 16’ reed coupled to the pedal with the Swell to Pedal coupler, and just use the Great principal chorus in the manuals. Can you believe it's only 9 weeks to go! Look forward to hearing for you! I hope you have a lovely day, Take care God bless, John... V: So, Ausra, it’s a very simple situation, right, we have? A: Yes, we have a wireless microphone. V: No, it’s, a cord, we record. A: It’s a cord? V: Yeah, it’s an old-fashioned microphone you have to A: It’s connected to that speaker. I remember now, yes. V: So the system is this; before recital, I turn on the lights and we have the headlights pointing to both sides of the organ loft and beautiful organ facade is lighted in golden colors then. And then I take out the speaker from the inside of the organ and put it someplace close to the balcony, eh, balcony rim. And then, what happens; I connect the microphone and I recommend then probably you could do both ways: You could speak just at the beginning of the recital and then play all the pieces of your program non-stop, right? Or you could talk between each of the pieces, or between some groups of the pieces, like John says, three pieces, and then play. What would you prefer, Ausra? A: Well, if I would be listener or if I would be a player. Because you know if I would be a player then I would just talk at the beginning and then would play the entire recital through. But if I would be a listener I would prefer that somebody would speak, maybe in groups of three pieces as John suggested. V: And, I know what you mean. For a player, you concentrate better if you play non-stop. A: Yes. V: But it’s also more difficult to concentrate for an hour, right, non-stop. So if you talk and play, talk and play, talk and play, you could kind of switch actions and activities and can start afresh in each piece. A: Well it depends what is easier for you, to talk or to play. For me it’s easier to play than to talk. V: Of course, John is a great storyteller. It will be easy for him to talk. A: So what I would suggest is that he would talk , you know, during the recital. V: Mmm, hmm, as many times as he wants because we can translate it for people. Excellent! Another question that he had is that about playing Bach fugues on this organ. He says ‘would you normally register the pedal with principle chorus and no couplers, plus the pedal Posanne, or would this be too loud?’ No, I wouldn’t say it’s too loud, right? If you have, let’s say, full Principle Chorus on the great, like Principle 16’, 8’, 4’, 3’, 2’ and a Mixture, maybe some flutes, 2’, 8’ and 4’, and if you like you could add a Tierce, right? A: This is on the right side, yes. V: You could also have many stops in the pedals; 16’ Principle, 16’, another, you know, wooden stop, and then maybe full basso 8’ level, and then 4’ flaut bass, and then you could add Posanne. Right? A: Yes. V: Would you need, Ausra, pedal coupler for these two? A: I wouldn’t have pedal couplers. If I have Posanne, it is not necessary unless you want to have more pedals. V: For example, if you have a large pedal solo. A: Then yes, you could do that. V: Because at the moment our mixture, pedal mixture is not working. A: Then you could add the coupler. Great to the pedal. V: Then of course, and then you could use the pedal coupler in spaces when you need the manual coupler too. 3rd’: to the great, 3rd to the first coupler and 2 principle choruses combined then, and you would need it and you need more pedal power too. You see what I mean? A: That’s right, yes. V: If you couple two manuals, then you might probably need pedal coupler as well. A: Yes. V: Excellent. Wonderful! So, nine weeks to go for John to prepare because of course, it’s a long process to adjust, adjust to the unfamiliar organ. And we’ll be talking about the next question. How we prepare for our international tours on unfamiliar instrument, especially when we don’t have a lot of rehearsals scheduled, right? A: That’s right? V: This summer, we’ll be going to St. Paul’s Cathedral to play in London and before that we’ll going to go to the oldest organ in the Baltic States. What is it? A: Yes, it’s Ugale, in Latvia. V: Yeah. Our friend, organ builder Janis Kalnins has restored this beautiful Cornelius Rhaneus from 1601 or 1701, I forget. It doesn’t matter. 100 years older or younger, who cares... V: But you find a beautiful movable eagle. A: This reminds me of a duck, because as an eagle seems too fat. So I imagine that it’s a duck with eagle wings. V: Oh, I remember, it’s 1701. A: Yes, 1701. V: Yeah. So, but we’ll be talking about how we will be preparing for these unfamiliar instruments in the next conversation. In the meantime, go ahead and try to practice some more because it’s really a wonderful day, right Ausra? You will be playing today, some of the pieces solo, recital pieces on your program for the upcoming Bach recital, and will be playing organ duet pieces. A: Oh yes, that’s right. V: Everyone knows your playing E Flat Major Prelude and Fugue by Bach. How’s that going for you? A: Well, it’s going well. I just have to repeat it time after time just to keep myself in good shape. V: It’s not a big deal. A: Yes. It’s not a big deal. It was a big deal you know, last year when I played it after like ten years after not playing it. V: And you are scheduled to play this piece in Notre Dame in Paris, A: Yes, that’s true. V: in a couple of years. A: Yes. V: So, wonderful piece, wonderfull instrument too. And Ausra, what about our Duets? Are you enjoying the quick runs with your right hand from the Bach arias we’re playing together? A: (Laughs) Are you teasing me? V: Of course! That’s my, that’s my character, always. A: Yes, we are working on two duets from Cantata 140 which is probably my most favorite cantata by J. S. Bach. V: Wachet auf… A: Yes, Wachet auf. V: You remember, guys, BWV 645 is taken from this cantata. A: The 1st of the Schüblers chorals. V: Yes, Middle movement from the cantata. And we’re playing organ duet arrangements from that cantata. A: Yes and we are playing one which has the nice oboe ritornello? V: Ritornello? A: Ritornello. And another one which has violin ritornello. And I play that ritornello with my right hand in both of these duets, and then with my left hand I am playing, you know, one of the soloist, I think the rhythm parts of soloists. Because these are sort of like that between bass and soprano. And of that you know, ritornello of the solo instrument. And then of course there is the continuo parts. So with this playing the continuo part and doing one of the soloists, the bass soloists, and I’m doing the other two. So my, my sort of role is small, virtuoso and I’m not enjoying it so far. Maybe I will when I will learn the text. V: Are you enjoying the third eye, I remember from, it’s called Mein glaubiges Herze. It’s Cantata No. 68. But we have to read from the C clef. A: Yes. Actually it’s okay because when I have the C clef I have only one voice. And then later on when I have the two other parts and two voices I have two treble clefs so that’s fine with me. What about you? V: In my part of the third, this aria, or duet, probably I need only two bass clefs, no C clefs for me. Umm, which is easier then. But I don’t mind C clefs. I enjoy them. It takes a little more time to get used to them, especially in, you know, live situation, when you play in public. But it’s not a big deal anymore for me. But playing together with you is really fun, especially to see how your right hand is running all, in all passages up and down. A: Yes. And now when we’re talking about clefs, I remember a funny story we had that just happened when you just started learning your organ book. I remember you were talking about or writing about clefs, and instead of bass clef, you just left that ‘B’ letter, you know, just by accident. V: Ah, I see. A: And, and when you did the spell check it still, you know, showed it’s okay because such a word exists. And then you received a letter from one of your readers, you know, telling you, ‘O Vidas, look at this! Was this a new class that starts not with the ‘B’ letter but with the letter ‘A’?’. V: Exactly. A: it was so funny. Funny, funny joke. V: I felt embarrassed. A: I know. V: But uh, I corrected my, my typo right away. A: Yes. That’s funny. V: Excellent, guys. So we’re going to stop this recording now and go ahead and practice some duets and solo pieces. And we hope you do the same, right? A: Yes. V: Please send us more of the questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen! Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: We’re starting Episode No. 160 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by John, and he writes: Hi Vidas and Ausra, How are you today? I am quite excited I have almost finalised my program for April 7th and I am designing a poster/invite for the recital. I wanted to ask a few questions: 1) is this score attached the correct one for the Lithuanian national anthem? I'm trying to learn some basics about your country. Does the piece end at the end of the score or does it repeat some of the phrases? 2) Could you please send me some photos of the stop jams on the St John's organ so I can be more familiar with the layout? 3) Does the St John's organ have a balanced swell pedal on the swell division or is it a trigger lever pedal off to the right hand side of the pedalboard? 4) How heavy is the mechanical action, I remember one of your podcasts was with an American organist and he said it was the heaviest he'd played. So, how are you today, Ausra? A: I’m fine. V: What does that mean? A: I just feel fine. V: Do you feel better than yesterday? A: Well, yes, I feel better. Because today is Saturday, and I don’t have to teach classes, so I’m very happy. V: Exactly. Yesterday was quite a strenuous day for you, right? You played for diploma ceremonies. A: Yes. And because I had to go to that ceremony right after five classes that I taught in school. It was a very busy and stressful day. V: Yeah. We have to think about our planning for the upcoming Bach’s birthday recital, which also will be in the evening of Friday. A: Yes, it will be hard, actually, to play a recital after a working day. V: So, John writes those questions because he is coming to play a recital at St. John’s in April. A: Yes, in April. I’m looking forward to finally meeting him in person! V: Exactly. So this is really exciting. And we feel that we know him and his family well through, what, six years of interaction? A: Yes. V: But never having actually, physically, met him. A: Sure. V: So that will be the first time. We spoke with him on the podcast--at least I did--but, of course, we both read his emails and feedback he sends frequently. So we feel like we’re very much connected to his experience in Australia. A: That’s true. So now, let’s help John to get an impression about what our organ is, and how he needs to prepare for his recital. V: Exactly. A: So, maybe we first will talk about the action. V: Yes. But before that, he also asked you--or asked us--“Could you please send me some photos of the stop specification of the St. John’s organ, so that I can be more familiar with the layout.” Of course we can do that. The layout is very simple, if we can just say a few words, right, off the top of our heads. When you sit on the organ bench, you face the music rack; what do you see to the right hand side, Ausra? And to the left hand side? A: Well, you see stop knobs. And there are like 4 rows on each side, of stop knobs. V: Vertically. A: Yes. They are all vertical; and sometimes it’s hard to pull them out, because they are sort of heavy mechanical wooden sticks. V: Mhmm. A: With knobs at the end. So...And then, the principle is that the farther from your both sides are the pedal stops. V: Mhmm. So, it’s a symmetrical layout, right? A: Yes. V: The closest row to the organist is the Great. A: Yes, the Great, or the first manual, actually, because on many organs in other countries you have the second manual is called the Great, but here the first manual is the Great. V: Okay. What’s the next row, then? A: Then you just keep moving up. So the second row is the second manual.. V: That’s the swell pedal. The swell box. A: Swell box. And the swell box is located right in the center, in the middle of the pedalboard. V: Between E and F notes. A: Yes. V: Of the tenor octave. A: Yes. And actually, it opens fairly easily. V: It opens up when you… A: Push down. V: Push...just like accelerator pedal in a car. Right? A: That’s true. V: Because there are opposite systems sometimes--when you open the box, you have to press with your heel, not with your toe. A: Yes. Then the third row on both sides is the third manual. V: Mhm. A: Which is sort of a little bit imitation of a Great, and actually the first and the third manuals, they are very well suited for Baroque music, for early music. And the second swell division is small--you know, suitable for Romantic music or later music. V: And we have to remember that the third manual is positioned on the highest level of the organ… A: Yes, it’s Oberwerk, basically, compared to German organs. V: And the scaling of those principals in the Oberwerk is rather narrow. So we have to keep in mind when registering any kind of music, because normally, we double them--Principal plus Flute of the same pitch level. A: Yes. V: And it’s a more rounded feeling. Even though it is Baroque-like. A: Yes. And what else could we tell about our organ? That on the left side, louder stops are located. V: More principal… A: Yes, more principals, mixtures, and you know, loud reeds, and… V: With the exception of Bombarde. A: Yes, and Unda Maris is on the left side, too. Yes, on the left side which is [? 8:37]... V: And..go ahead. A: And on the right side we have like, string stops, and flutes; softer reeds, like Oboe on the Swell division.. V: Vox Humana… A: Vox Humana, and of course, with the exception of Bombarde, as you talked about. V: Bombarde is on the Great. So here on this organ we have 16’ stops on every division. A: Yes, so you basically can have a pleno on each single manual. Of course, we have manual couplers, too; but basically, you don’t have to use them. V: Mhm. A: I actually don’t think any of those couplers are really needed for this instrument. But of course you can use them, if you need them. We have pedal couplers, and manual couplers. V: Yesterday evening, I just had a chat with an organist who will be playing a recital tonight, and he is going to play a lot of Romantic pieces, including Sonata by Roethke, on this organ; and he loves to play with couplers. And he, you know...not complained, but was sort of a little bit worried that the action then becomes extremely heavy. A: Well, don’t play such repertoire on this instrument. It’s highly unsuited for Roethke’s Sonata, or for, I don’t know, Vierne’s Symphony. V: It could be done. But… A: But the result won’t be...will not be satisfying. V: Unless you just love a big sound. A: Because especially, you know, the Swell division is very heavy. V: Yes, because… A: And you cannot play Sonata by Roethke without Swell divisions. So...I wouldn’t play music like this. V: The tempo must be slower then, because of the acoustics, also: 5 seconds of reverberation. A: I think, like, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Liszt, sounds nice on our organ; but probably not the pieces beyond that--not like Roethke or Vierne. Or Franck… V: Yeah, early Romantic music works well, because of the Kirnberger III temperament, of course. A: Yeah, so you know, for anybody who selects pieces for our organ, I would suggest that three accidentals are, you know, the most--the top of accidentals that you choose in your pieces. V: To get the best result. A: Yes. V: You can play anything on this organ--even Volumina by Ligeti. But...but, you know, will you like the result? Will your listeners enjoy the result? It depends, right? If you compare this organ with a real Romantic organ, where you could play, you know, German Romantic or French Romantic music extremely well, then this organ is more suited for the Baroque organ. But if you compare St. John’s organ with a neo-Baroque instrument--like we have several of those in Vilnius--then of course our instrument is superior to these neo-Baroque organs, even for Romantic music. A: That’s true, because we have nice flutes, and nice string stops. So you can, you know, do a lot of things, but...but probably not Reubke. V: Well...the actual advice would be to probably see and exploit the best qualities of the instrument first; and then go ahead and maybe play some music that you enjoy the most, you know, in addition to that. Because you have to play what you enjoy, right? A: Yes, that’s true. V: Especially if you enjoy Romantic music, and you would only have to play, imagine, just the Baroque or earlier music on this instrument. You would suffer, you would be frustrated. But if you play a part of the program Romantic music, and part of it Baroque music, that would be like, a win-win situation! Right? A: That’s true. V: What about modern music, Ausra? Does it work here well? A: Yes, it works well. V: Better than Romantic? A: Yes, I would say that it works better than Romantic. V: So that’s the reason I keep improvising in a modern style; and it works well for me. Of course, when I improvise, I choose the layout of the stops and the stops themselves that work for my music. I adjust; I don’t force, I don’t put my music ahead of the instrument. I always listen to how it sounds, what the instrument wants. I suggest you do the same, when you play this instrument. A: Yes. V: Allright. So, another question John had was about English-speaking listeners...and, um, will we have tourists in April? A: Some, we might; not, probably, as many as we wish for, but some might attend the recital. And you know, if John wants to speak English, to introduce his program to the audience, that’s very nice; and then Vidas can translate it. We’ve had those cases in our past V: Definitely. A: And Vidas was a wonderful translator. V: We have a microphone right in the organ balcony, and we can take turns, right--John and myself. A: Yes. V: And I can introduce him in Lithuanian, and then he can play and talk, and I can translate. So guys, I hope some of these remarks were useful to you. This is not all of these questions that John sent, but since our time is limited, we’re going to discuss the rest of them in the next podcast conversation. So stay tuned for the update! Okay, 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 159 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent in by Monte and he asks about organ Sight-reading Master Course. Vidas, Toward the end of days 5, 6 and 7 of week 1 in Organ Sight-Reading Master Course a second voice sneaks in. Is this meant to be added to the right hand playing up to that point, or does the left hand participate ? Thanks. Monty (this course should culminate in something like the award of a Master's Degree in Counting!) V: This course should culminate in something like the award of a Masters Degree in counting. Ausra this is the course based on the Art of the Fugue by Bach. I remember creating this course a number of years ago with the hope to help people to enhance their sight-reading skills. Especially in early sight-reading skills. So, or course this is a very simple solution, right? The course is structured that you have all the fugues or counterpoints specifically for one hand and then for another hand. I think Monte should play with just the right hand in that case, right? A: Fantastic also. V: Because just adding one additional note just for the left hand doesn’t make sense at this point. A: That’s true. V: Because later, in a few weeks when two-voice structure will come in. Maybe then he will need to use both hands. A: Yes, that’s true but you know with the Art of the Fugue I have thoughts. Quite a few performances you know actually on organ and harpsichord as well. So in terms of which hand needs to play what it is questionable. It’s a good question for discussion. Because you would do it one way if you are playing it on the organ and another way if you are playing on the harpsichord. What do you think about it? V: You are right because with the organ you could add the pedal line. A: Sure and I think those who perform that fugue on the organ definitely play it with the pedal. V: But not every fugue is done with the pedal. It’s not possible to play those canons for two voices with the pedal. A: Yes, because I don’t think you would have enough space in the pedal part. V: It goes too high. In general, Ausra, is it a good exercise to try to sight-read one line at a time of such polyphonic pieces from the Art of the Fugue? A: Yes, I think it is a good way. V: I made this course a little bit easier than I practiced myself because originally I practiced Art of Fugue with the intent of mastering clef reading, not only sight-reading because originally it is written in four different clefs. Soprano clef for the soprano voice, alto clef for the alto voice, tenor clef for the tenor voice and bass clef for the bass voice. The bass clef is the most familiar for everybody, right? And there is no treble clef here right? A: Yes. V: So, instead of playing with the treble clef, originally it was written for the soprano clef. We have remind how does it read, right? A: Yes, soprano clef is on the first bottom line of the staff. V: Which note? A: In the treble clef it would be E on that line. But the soprano clef always marks the C note. V: On the first line. A: Yes, on the bottom line. V: And the second voice, alto clef has also C clef but on the middle line, on the third line. A: Yes. V: What about the tenor line? A: Tenor line is on the fourth line. V: C note is on the fourth. A: Yes. Because in general all these clefs they always mark the note C of the first octave. V: Do you think people would have practiced these scores more eagerly using original C clefs or with simple today’s treble and bass clefs? A: Well you know, knowing how my students at school don’t like to sing solfege exercises for the C clef and those have only two voices I believe only a few would love to practice using those clefs. V: Too few. A: Yes, too few. V: Too few people are like me. A: Well you know it is hard for your brain. Not everybody could comprehend it. V: Not too many people are as crazy as myself. A: That’s true. V: So, with our blog of Secrets of Organ training and these podcasts do we try to help people become as crazy as we are or not? A: I don’t know what you mean by it, but… V: A little bit more similar to us or not? A: Probably yes. But you know it’s good sometimes to sight-read from the clefs, not too much probably but because we still have editions and use them such as eastern German edition of Peeters which has published lots of work by J. S. Bach and Buxtehude and other German masters and it has some spots that you have treble clef and bass clef but sometimes the C clefs appear. Not for a long time, maybe for like 2 lines or 4 lines and it means that if you want to play from that edition you have to read C clef because it wouldn’t just make sense for you and the note to write down those spots, to transpose them to like treble and bass clef. V: It’s like driving the car with stick shift and automatic shift. Automatic shift is easier, you have just the gas pedal and the brake pedal. But stick shift you have to think about the clutch and about manipulating with your right hand the gear. You see, not everyone prefers to do that extra work today, right? A: Yes, especially in the US. V: But guess what kind of cars do racers drive in marathon drive, you know car races. Of course, not automatic but manual shift. A: Yes, you can do more in that car especially in extreme situations. V: So guys, if you are satisfied with your current level of sight-reading ability then reading treble clef and bass clef only is surely enough. Right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: But if you want to go beyond that and advance to the unknown world of something that was done in the past or some things that people with lots of experience do today, it doesn’t hurt trying practicing other clefs. Maybe take one, just one clef and do sight-reading for one month in that one clef. A: Yes, that’s true. Trying some music written for alto for example because alto instrument plays from the alto clef. V: Or you could transpose because reading clefs is an exercise in transposition. A: That’s true, yes. V: If you take any kind of melody which is written in the treble clef and pretend it is in the bass clef, right? You could play it with your left hand and play two octaves and a sixth below so basically it transposes up a third interval, right? A: Yes. V: So you know two clefs very well now. Treble clef and the bass clef. If you pretend it’s not a treble clef but let’s say soprano clef you can do the same with your right hand. You just simply transpose to another key. So that’s what I did also. And you could do that too. That’s why it is beneficial. It also helps for improvisation because then in your mind you transpose the themes in various keys simply by changing the clef. A: Yes, and some actually solfege systems use that movable do, so called. And I think it’s right from the beginning from early age learn how to transpose, how to change keys very quickly. V: Yes, so, our Organ Sight-Reading Master Course is not the only way to improve your sight-reading, of course. You could just as well take any collection of music that you like and simply open it and practice one piece a day and in nine months you will improve a lot, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: But what I did which you will not find anywhere else is that I transposed those fugues for the Art of the Fugue to various keys. Not only from the original key of D Minor but to various keys with ascending numbers of accidentals so you could sight-read in all the keys, in minor keys, not in major keys. Then as a supplement of this course, as bonus material, I think we have seven additional weeks of legato, romantic organ settings based on the chorale preludes by Max Reger. So it’s also beneficial to expand your sight-reading into romantic legato style. Thank you guys, this is 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 158 of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. And this question was sent by Steven. He writes: Good morning Vidas, Thank you for posting the explanations, guidance, and helpful suggestions in the "Ask Vidas and Ausra" series. I would also like to submit a question to this series, if I may ... Organists today know to use articulate legato (so-called "ordinary touch") in all the parts when performing early (pre-1800) organ music, such as the fugues of Bach and other polyphonic pieces, and to employ legato and all of its associated techniques for all organ music written during or after the 19th century, unless otherwise specified by the composer. It's conceivable though, that in the course of our studies we may run across a polyphonic piece, such as a stand alone organ fugue, written pretty much in 18th century common practice style by a modern composer ... where the music is very busy and actually sounds in places like it could have been written in the last half of the 18th century by an acolyte of the Bach school ... and the score has no indications about the touch. All we know is, it was written in the 21st century. In this situation, how do we determine a starting place for the touch? ... do we follow the rule that the date of composition in each and every case determines what kind of touch should be used and employ legato in all the parts as a starting place ... or should we take the polyphony of the piece into consideration and employ articulate legato from the beginning to keep all the moving parts clearly audible to the listener? I was wondering how you and Ausra may feel about this ... whether the music's date of composition should be considered more important than it's style when choosing a starting place for the touch. Thank you once again for all the help, aid, and assistance, it's much appreciated. Steven V: As I understand, Steven asks about the situation when a person creates a modern composition but written in the old style, right Ausra? A: Yes, and that’s what I understand from the question. V: And what should the touch be? What’s your opinion today? A: Well, you know, if it’s written in baroque style, let’s say a fugue in baroque style, I would use ordinary touch. That’s my opinion. What about you? V: It’s the same as improvisation, I would say. Whenever we improvise in the historical styles, we use the touch of those styles, even though it’s improvised today, in the 21st century. Right? Somebody could even record this improvisation and transcribe it into musical notation and make it a finished, polished piece, and it would sound like more or less early composition but created today. A: Yes, because I think the style is more important the the date that the piece is written. Because nowadays all those styles mixed up together and you can create whatever you want. And if you feel that sort of style is more close to you, or you are more related to it and you create compositions like this then they definitely have to be performed with ordinary touch. That’s my opinion because otherwise it might just sound muddy and unclear. V: I’m just trying to think of any recordings that I heard recently when improvisation was done in the old style by living of course performer. But none come to mind, right, because every good improviser knows the difference of touch in historical styles and tries to emulate that touch. Although, in the past might have been some people who played baroque style polyphonic pieces like that. But that’s because everyone else was playing legato at the same time, baroque pieces. Right, Ausra? A: Yes. I think so because just tendencies are like this in those days and everything changes and we have talked about in earlier podcasts. V: Yeah. I just remember now, one instance I wrote seven chorale improvisations very early in my career. I think just after graduating from UNL, and those were based on my improvisations. I recorded them and transcribed them into musical notations, and then I thought maybe somebody could publish them, right? That was before the days of this blog of course, because today I would just post it from the internet to myself, and send it to Wayne Leupold Editions, and after while I receive and answer, a very nice polite answer, that, ‘it’s wonderful that you are interested in submitted for possible publication’. And those pieces could be considered in the stye of Crebbs I would say, not Bach, but a student of Bach, let’s say. So when Leupold wrote that, however nobody can really compete with Heir Bach, Master Bach, right? So he doesn’t see or didn’t see the point of publishing early sounding pieces today where there are thousands of original music written. So I stopped doing this, of course on paper. Maybe on the instrument is a another story, when you improvise. What do you think about that Ausra? A: Yes, actually, you know, it’s better probably to leave that early style for improvisation already, instead of composing in that kind of style, but of course we have free will to choose for ourselves. V: Exactly. Let’s say Bach would have thought the same and would try, would have tried to imitate styles of early composers who came before him. And he did actually. A: He did, actually, yes. V: But while doing that, he did this very creatively and combined several styles in one piece; Italian, German and French. A: And actually yes, you can hear in his compositions and see and hear the early styles Stile Antico, so called, and you know the baroque, high baroque style. That was his contemporary style, and then you know, you can already get the tendencies of actually that period that came after baroque and between the classical style. V: Gallant Style. A: Gallant Style, that his sons used when composing and creating compositions. So basically Bach observed all those tendencies and used them in his compositions. V: I would say today, if you want to be original, you have to combine several sources, sources of inspiration, not one. A: Yes, because so, so many things are already written and composed and sent, so you probably just have to mix things together. V: Exactly. Take one realistic approach from one composer that you like, another from a another school, right? Maybe if you like polyphonic you can keep that but add special specific modal writing style that you like from the later schools, right? Something that is rarely combined, and that will make your music more unique. A: Yes, it’s like Paul Hindemith created Ludus Tonalis, and of course I think, the inspiration for him to compose probably was from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. V: Yes. A: Or like Shostakovich also played relative too. But still we have to have our own unique style, but of course we know that they studied Bach too, so that’s the way how things should be done. V: I think our final word of advice besides articulating early style of music whether written or improvised today, should be, I think, be very open minded and look broadly at your influences, right? And then you can mix things up, creating different order. And you don’t know what will come out. Maybe the result will not be something you like. Maybe that will be another level of training that you do. But maybe the next step will lead to something with more interest, right Ausra? A: Yes, because I think you need to mix the elements of early and modern even if you are creating in that early style. Because if you would just create in that early style it would be like copying that style, and if you will not add anything new, then, I don’t know if it is worth doing. What do you think? V: In music, musical world today, there isn’t much success with this, I think. I think only in improvisation, yes, but if it’s written piece, people will not be too impressed if you just imitate somebody’s style, right? That’s in music, but let’s say in art, in art visual art, if you imitate style of dutch Renaissance or Baroque or something, if you can do this, people somehow will be very impressed and could pay a lot of money for just observing the pictures or photos of your paintings today. That’s a very weird situation, right, to create something old fashioned and people will be very happy. Because, you see, people like to look at stuff they could recognize, right? A: Yes, that’s true. The things that are familiar to them. V: That’s why people keep drawing pictures of Superman and Batman and other superheroes, right, characters. They are not inventing their own. Sometimes they do, but not always. They recreate them from the past movies, let’s say, or stories. Because their audience loves to look at stuff or read stuff that is familiar, right? A: Yes, that’s true. V: That’s why we keep playing masterpieces of 17th, 18th and 19th century in the concerts of organ music, right? Instead of constantly creating something original in 21st Century style. Right, Ausra? A: Yes, that’s right. V: We do sometimes create and incorporate but not always. There are people who do exclusively unique stuff, but they are, I think, in the minority. A: Mmm, hmm, that’s true. I think it’s hard to be always original. V: Yes. So with that optimistic note, we could end this discussion, and we hope to get more of your questions and feedback. Please send us. We love helping you grow as an organist in various spheres in organ playing. 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. Vidas: Let start episode 157 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent in by Marco and he writes: Hi Vidas, I'm an organ student. I'm trying your method of subdividing a piece in fragments and voices and it's very helpful. My problem is that I find the practice quite stressful mainly for the following reasons: 1. There are sometime fragments that I cannot play correctly no matter how many times I repeat it. 2. I easily become anxious when I repeat a fragment, especially for the third time, because if I make a mistake I have to start again and repeat it at least three more times. Do you have any suggestion to make the process less tiresome? Thank you, Marco V: Do you think Ausra that people should be so severe when they practice a piece of music? A: I don’t think so you can hurt your nerve system if you will be always anxious and be so stressful about your practice. V: Almost you can feel that a person feels a guilt right, about making a mistake and feeling bad about himself or theirself that this mistake was made. Actually there is a saying that the person who makes the most mistakes will win actually in the long run. The person who fails the most will win. Do you know why Ausra? A: Why? V: Because they will try it many more times than the other person. A: That’s true. And to know I just thought about, you know, him saying that sometimes he makes mistakes and you know he cannot not sort of correct them and then he gets frustrated because he knows that has to repeat that part at least three more times and I’m thinking you know if there is certain spots that are possible for you to play correctly it means that you are doing something wrong in that spot and I would suggest for you to revise those fragments. Maybe, you know, you are playing them too fast. V: Or, you are making the texture too thick. A: Sure, maybe you are using a wrong finger because something is probably not right in those spots. Or, maybe you are just too anxious to get a good result. Things like this take time and it’s normal. V: Remember in our school there are a lot of students banging the piano as fast as they can in short fragments repeatedly over and over again like ten or twenty or fifty times. A: And it’s funny but they are repeating the same mistakes all over. Over and over again. V: Do you know what insanity is? The definition of insanity? A: No, I don’t know. V: Alfred Einstein said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The definition of insanity. A: No. V: So, simply you have to change something in order to expect different result. And I’m not meaning Marco or any of our students in this way. I’m just illustrating how extreme this approach can become, right, if you play too fast or the the texture is too thick. For example, if you’re not ready to play without mistakes that fragment, maybe you could play just one line, one voice. A: Sure, but you have to know to do something about it. V: Change. A: About that, yes. V: You make a mistake and you are not satisfied with that mistake. That’s OK even though you are feeling angry or frustrated with yourself is not the best feeling but OK for now let’s say that you are angry. You accept that. You admit that you are angry and then you think “What can I change about the situation or about my feeling of the situation.” Right. If I cannot change the situation why should I become angry. Right. If I can’t change the situation then maybe I become less angry about that. A: Yes and no, if some particular spot give you so much trouble maybe just let it to rest for a while. Maybe you know, stop practicing that piece for a day and come back to it later, you know next day. Or, do a break of two days, because sometimes you know, you need to give for things time to rest and then you will go back to them and things will work well. I’ve had this experience many times, have you had it too? V: Obviously, yes. Of course what happens at the time when you rest, your mind is bombarded with another set of information and your old influences and inputs, informational inputs are no longer the current ones and you maybe tend to forget what happened bad in your past, right? And when you come back to the old spot when you made mistakes your fingers might feel like their at a fresh spot and forget that this was a difficult spot. A: Yes. V: So, maybe a week or so of playing something else would be beneficial and then coming back to the old spot. Ausra, do you make a lot of mistakes yourself when you practice? Do you allow yourself to make mistakes when you practice? A: Actually, no because the more mistakes I will make during my practice, the harder it will get to correct them. V: Exactly. So, you are doing something different that a lot of people, right? You are not allowing yourself to make those frequent mistakes. A: That’s right, so you just have to be really focused when you are practicing. V: Even at this level, right, very far advanced level we could play a piece, a familiar organ piece and make many mistakes if we are not careful, if we are playing too fast, if were playing it with the wrong fingering. You could do that, but we don’t allow ourselves. For example this morning I recorded my sight reading of BWV 552, the E-flat Major Prelude and Fugue by Bach which will later be used for transcription purposes of fingering and pedaling from the new score. So, I had to play almost cleanly and without mistakes so that people who will help to transcribe this score will understand what I’m doing, right, and the choices that I’m making with fingering would be more or less correct. Of course, I can edit them later in the first draft of the transcription. But, I tend to use more or less logical fingering, right? A: Yes. V: So how do you do that, Ausra, at the early stages of development, if a person doesn’t have advanced skill of playing difficult and advanced organ music. A: I think the most important thing at least for me is to know to practice with my actually mind first. That no if I have no sort of fresh head when I can practice. If I feel tired that I cannot understand what I am doing I stop practicing because I just don’t like that purely mechanical playing. V: So it’s a complex phenomenon. You have to understand how the pieces put together. In order to do that you have to have a good grasp of music theory and harmony and musical analysis and form. Right? So you think what the composer thought when he or she created this piece. Moreover, you have to have your own experience at creating music in the moment like improvisation or in a written form like composition or in the perfect scenario, both. Right? That would be the ideal situation. Of course, so my advice for all the people who are listening to this would be to have a complex education and expanding your entire musical horizons not only organ playing from score but many supplemental things. A: Yes, and always listen to what you are doing. That’s important too. Because so many people are just playing whatever, fast and loud. V: Do not worry about how fast or how slow you will achieve that results. Do not worry how much there is still to learn, right? And how many years it will take to perfect your art. It doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that you perfect your art just one percent a day. One percent. And every seventy-two days this percentage will double and at the end of a year you will perfect your art, your complex organ art. Not only organ playing or sight-reading skill, but everything together put together. You’ll perfect it thirty-eight hundred percent if you do that every day. That’s all. That’s enough. OK. So I think that this is the best we can hope to inspire you today. Go ahead and practice and don’t be frustrated with your mistakes. Or, even better, play as slowly or as transparently that you will not make those mistakes at all. A: True. V: Thank you. We hope this was useful. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. An remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 156, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast V: This question was sent by Monte. He writes: "Maybe one day you could create a course revealing how you decide to articulate legato fingering for the Bach scores that you recently made available. It’s kind of mysterious. The Ritchie and Stauffer organ technique book has a lot on this, but having you explain and demonstrate adds a lot of value." V: That’s an interesting question, right Ausra? A: Yes, it is. V: We have talked a lot about the principles behind early music fingering, but we haven’t created a step-by-step course on this, right? Like, for example, what Monte probably means, is that the camera would point somewhere from our shoulder, right? And as we are playing it, this choral or music order let’s say in this case Bach music, the camera would point to our hands, right? And then as we’re playing, we should probably demonstrate and explain the changes of the fingering we’re making. A: Well, yes, and I would like actually to separate these things; you’re talking about Bach as early music. I would not call Bach music early, and I would not use fingering in Bach music. For example I use when I play, let’s say, really early pieces, Estampie Retrove from Robertsbridge Codex, or Faenza Codex or really early stuff. Because Bach music is already such a complex music that you can not sort of use only early fingering. For example, in many cases you have to use the thumb or the black keys or accidentals, yes. V: I think you are right Ausra, because simply this of fact; Bach uses many more accidentals. A: I know, and the more accidentals you have, the more you have to use things like thumb under, or thumb on the accidentals. And all kinds of tricks, and you know what I think Monte is talking about is that he wants to get from us some sort of a system. But I don’t think that there is complete system that you can apply to any given piece of music, because each music even by J. S. Bach is so unique that sometimes you have to have unique solutions. V: And I fully agree with you. I just want to add of course I’m talking about Bach because that’s what Monte is interested in. And we’re talking about early music. And the only thing that I wouldn’t do with Bach in comparison to real modern music or romantic music is probably finger substitution and glissando. A: Yes, that’s definitely. V: You could get away without that. A: Sure, sure, you wouldn’t want to do that in Bach. V: Even when you have two voices in each hand, you could still play without finger substitution, I think, in most cases. But there are exceptions, there are exceptions, even in Bach. So remember we could each talk a little bit about our experience in playing E flat Major Prelude and Fugue, because you are practicing it currently for the upcoming Bach birthday recital. And I, this morning, actually recorded a video with the camera pointing right above my hands so that my transcribers could transcribe fingering and pedaling from this video played at a very slow practice tempo. And probably this score of E Flat Major Prelude and Fugue by Bach BWV 552 will soon be available if you want to master this piece without much frustration in figuring out your own fingering, right? So Ausra, do you use a lot of thumbs on sharps and flats, lets flats because it’s E Flat music? A: Sure. Not a lot but I use some definitely, yes. You cannot avoid that especially when the texture is so thick. If you would think about the first fugue, for example, there are two lines that are just killing me in that fugue, the ending of it and then ending of the first half of it. It’s really very complex. Sometimes I just feel that I’m playing with both my hands fully with all my fingers at the same time because of the thick texture. Don’t you get that feeling? V: Absolutely, it’s a five part texture. A: Sure. V: Right? And I can guarantee, that if you wrote down your fingering, or somebody recorded you playing this piece from above, right, and if our transcribers would transcribe your own fingering and compare it to my own fingering, it would not necessarily coincide, right? A: Yes, but, V: And the learning also choices might be different. A: Well, I think on the pedals we would agree more than on the fingering probably. V: But when fingering gets very individual because the hand layout for each person is a little bit different, right? And the span of the palm is different for each person. You can, I don’t know, can you reach a tenth? A: Some of the times I can reach with my left hand, not with my right hand. V: Right. So, there are people that can hardly reach an octave. A: I know. V: So then they figure out some other ways to play those middle voices. Maybe they sometimes migrate from hand to hand. A: Yes. For example, composers like Cesar Franck, he had such a wide hand. I was already, I almost forgot about it but recently I started to play sort of the second chorale in d minor by Cesar Franck which is probably my most favorite piece written by him. And sort of I remember how wide some of the intervals are. And if you have that Dover publication of his complete organ works, it has a picture of him. V: The famous painting. A: Yes, and you can see how wide his hands are. And in pieces like Choral No. 1 in E Major and in his Priere and his 2nd Chorale in B minor, those intervals are just enormous. And you just have to do transfers with one hand, at least. V: It might not be a painting but every photograph of him. A: Could be, could be, yes. V: So going back to let’s say, example Bach’s BWV 552, we have talked about importance of placing the thumb on the black keys. Of course sometimes even in this advanced E Flat key, we have instances when you could play with early fingering. Let’s say if you have parallel Intervals of thirds or sixths. You easily play thirds with 2-4, 2-4, 2-4, if they’re not too fast. Or the sixth could be played 5-1-5, and 5-1-5. Don’t you think, Ausra? A: Yes, there are places like this. But of course another thing which is very important when practicing this piece or any other Bach pieces that has multiple voices, that you have to know which hand is playing which line. Because it would be very easy, that’s why I like trio sonatas so much, that you have a single voice for each hand and one voice in the pedal. And you always know that is that way throughout the piece. But in a piece like E flat Major, Prelude and Fugue, you know sometimes you have to pickup a line from the bass line and play with your right hand, and sometimes you have to pick up some music from the treble clef and play with your left hand. And it’s very important to mark you score in those particular spots. V: Before. A: Before writing down anything. V: So, when you write down fingering for yourself, do you notate divisions of the hand for the entire piece or go page by page? A: Well I do it for the entire piece because it’s very important. V: I have a different method because I’m very lazy. I tend to have a short attention span and I only can focus at one page a time. So when looking at one page at first, I divide the hands, and look at the places where my middle voice and my great from hand to hand, notate it in pencil, or if I’m doing this on the computer, I do this directly on the computer. And only then I would add fingering, right, for that particular page. I don’t go to the next page right away. So Ausra, do you think that this system is better than yours or not? A: I don’t know, it just depends on what your character is, or how long can you stay focused. I think the result would probably be the same. V: Of course, but still you will need fingering, right? You will complete the fingering whether you are working for one page at a time or the entire piece. A: Yes, and for doing this division thing you have to sight-read the piece at the beginning to feel both hands. We often talk during our podcast, that you have to learn things in combinations and start to play everything together, right at the beginning. But you have to sight-right a piece first, with both hands and probably both feet. And this doesn’t matter that you may play half of the notes wrong. But when will you get to know the understanding where you will have to do the division between your hands. And after that you can write down correct fingering. V: Well actually, if you make too many mistakes, then it might mean that this piece is too difficult for you at the moment. A: Yes, that’s true. Because when you sight-read the piece through it gives you sort of an understanding how long it will take for you to learn it. Not to that final stage. V: What do you mean Ausra? Do you have a system, a precise system of calculating the number of repetitions? A: Well, no. But I sort of have a right intuition for things like this. V: Let me say that I have a system that might work for you and it might not work for you, or other people, but it works sometimes for me. Whenever I play the piece and I sight-read it at a concert tempo, and I make mistakes, I have to record myself, and then play back that recording, and mark the mistakes on the score. And then I will count those mistakes and that will tell me how many repetitions do I need to play, because with each repetition, I usually master one mistake. Is this realistic enough, Ausra? A: (Laughs). Well you know, yes and no, because mistakes are different. Sometimes you can just hit the wrong note but sometimes it might real technical difficulty. But you need many different repetitions to overcome. V: So but I mean of course you have to sight-read it at the concert tempo while recording yourself and counting mistakes. A: Is this possible to sight-read each piece at recital tempo? V: Everything is possible but the result might be something you want to hear of course. A: Yes. Try for example, one of Reger’s fantasies, chorale fantasies, and look how it works. For example, Fantasy on BACH and play it at concert tempo. Good luck with that. Have fun. V: That simply means probably that you need to have many hundreds of repetitions. A: That’s true. V: It’s all about numbers guys. And math is our best friend. Thanks for listening, and remember to 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! |
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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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